Reflections on NaBloPoMo

I managed to post every single day in November. I'm really proud of that, especially given that the first half of the month was an absolute zoo for me.

After not much reflection, here's my take on what I learned:

• I got nothin. Really. Nothing to say. I don't think I wrote a single post that was important, intriguing, or really even interesting the entire month. Good thing I'm doing this for me, and not for you. You'd be really disappointed!
  
• My stats jumped immensely during November, despite the lack of photos, decent content, etc. Which leads me to the conclusion that there are a lot of bored, lonely people in blogland. It is kind of nice to eavesdrop on strangers, getting a sense of what their lives are like... but I can't believe how many people came here just because there was something new. And I feel like a lab mouse who has learned that I get a treat when I push a button- post, readers. Post, readers. It's kinda cool, but apologies for the lack of interesting stuff!
  
• I also learned that you guys really like the knitting posts- -my stats jumped every time I mentioned yarn or knitting in the subject line. Good to know. Wish I could give you more, but it's been a slow year. :-)
  
• Increasing blog readership is part brute-force and part good content. If it's great, but sparse, people will still read. If it's crap, but there's a lot of it, people will sill read. The ideal combo, obviously, is lots of great content, and my favorite blogs are a reflection of that. But it's nice to know the rest of us can get by with fairly regular episodes of posting about random stuff.
  
• I really do blog for myself. I haven't been analyzing my stats as much to see where people are from, how they got here, how long they spent, etc. I did it more to get something out in the ether, as a personal discipline. I completely lack discipline in almost every other area, so I'm really glad I did this! Probably my favorite aspect of the project.
  

Would I do it again? Sure! I just don't expect to contribute much that might be of use to the public discourse....

Back in the Day....

When I was a kid (good Lord, I must be getting REALLY OLD if I'm starting a story off this way) New Mexico actually had winters and substantial amounts of snow. I can remember one day in elementary school when it snowed so hard all day that school was let out at noon. By the time the busses got to the school there was a good 8 inches or so on the ground, and almost a foot by the time I got home.

We had a light dusting of snow last night- barely 1/32 of an inch in my nieghborhood. The roads were completely clear.

Yet the university is apparently either delayed or cancelled all classes.

PANSIES!

Well I'll Be Darned....

There's snow on the mountain! And it's COLD.

Brrrrr.

Our unseasonably warm weather has (at least temporarily) left. High today expected around 50, tomorrow around 40, allegedly with a chance of snow.

My birthday is in the first week of December, and it was frequently cold/snowy for my birthday growing up. By the time I turned 16, we hadn't had cold wintry weather on my birthday in years. My Mom had planned a big deal sweet-16 party, cooking for days and days before the big day. I jokingly said, "wouldn't it be great if we got a foot of snow for my birthday?" Sure enough, we got it. Of the 150 or so invited guests, only the neighbors were able to make it over.

We had LOTS of leftovers.

Knitters, Knitters, Everywhere....

I'm wearing my Misty Garden scarf today, and it sparked a conversation with a coworker about knitting. I guess she's picked it up in the last couple months and is in scarf-production mode for Christmas. I was at a party last night and overheard one group talking about law school and another talking about knitting. Who knew there were so many knitters!

This Misty Garden scarf has turned out to be one of my favorite FOs- I wear it at least once or twice a week in cold weather. (I obviously didn't gift it as I thought I would when I posted the original FO!)

Green Gable is still moving along- about 3 inches away from the end of one sleeve, and then the other left to do. The sleeves are going so fast!

Loved "Stranger Than Fiction"

C and I saw Stranger Than Fiction this weekend, and I LOVED it. The movie was funny, clever, and touching, without a lot of the slapstick comic antics Will Ferrell is known for. (For the record, I also loved Tallagega Nights and Old School. It's just nice to see Ferrell in this kind of role- he did a great job!)

Shopping!

No time to really blog, but did some shopping this weekend. C and figured out where we're going to register (whew) and I got some Christmas shopping done. We somehow managed to avoid the crowds, which was really a great surprise!

I also finished the body and half a sleeve on the green gables- sleeves are SO much faster than the body....

Nothing to post about!

C is here and we've had a great visit so far. Spent this afternoon up in Santa Fe poking around. Not much else to report!

Turkey Day!

We're done with dinner, and are recovering for dessert- family and friends are coming over to play scrabble, chickenfoot dominoes, and cribbage.

I hope you have a lot to be thankful for this year- I know I sure do!

Turkey Day Prep!

I ditched school today (such a bad girl) and spent the day prepping for tomorrow with my Mom. We've been to the grocery store(s), make pumpkin bread, cleaned the house, and made pie crusts. I'm about to hit the shower then go pick up Mr. C! YAY!

Oh NOOOOOOOOO!

The first of the holiday gift baskets arrived at the office yesterday, and it was filled with REALLY YUMMY TREATS. Mexican wedding cookies, homemade caramel corn, fudge, chocolate covered pretzels....

This spells DOOM for the diet. Maybe I should take it as a sign to cut back on my hours so I'm not in the office exposed to the mounds of unhealthy treats that will be arriving in the next month....

I have been knitting.....

But the progress pictures are REALLY BORING. I've been working away on Green Gables, and am now within four inches of the bottom of the sweater. YAY! I am going to add long sleeves, so I will have lots more stockinette in the round to look forward to in the coming days.... Thrilling!

I'm still pessimistic about this sweater's potential for wearability. I know it's big enough, but is it too big? I'm working in Pakucho organic cotton purchased from elann a while back, and the Pakucho allegedly shrinks like Rowan Denim. Have I made the body long enough? Only time will tell....

I'm hoping to have this project wrapped up by mid-December so I can start on something more interesting after finals are over.

What Happened to Fall?

It is freakishly warm here- mid 60s every day- what happened to fall? I keep reading on other knit blogs about "cold November" and "winter really setting in...." NOT HERE!

What I Do When I've Had A Bad Day

My last job before law school was a mixed blessing. It came along when I needed it most and gave me stability and a whole new set of skills. My primary boss (the VP) was fabulous-a kind kind man with a wonderful heart-but my supervisor was the devil incarnate.

Towards the end, things got pretty ugly. I knew in March of that year that I was going to law school and would be quitting in July. She cornered me one day in late March to talk about "my future."

She confronted me about how miserable I was at work, and demanded an end game- what was I going to do to get myself out of this unhappy place?

Much to her surprise, my end game was clear- I was getting the hell out of there and going to law school, thankyouverymuch. I didn't plan on telling her until the absolute last second, but the conversation was so uncomfortable that I just spilled the beans.

WELL. She was pissed. And probably jealous, now that I think about it. But April, May, and June of that year were even worse than normal at work. This woman was a pain in the keister and would not leave me alone.

One day it was so bad that I got back to my desk after another lecture from her and was so frustrated that all I could do was write haiku about how much I disliked her.

Eventually the haiku became full blown sonnets- 14 lines, iambic pentameter, appropriate rhyming schemes, the whole nine yards. I found that the more restrictive the form and the more rules I had to follow, the more cathartic the results of my poetic efforts. I find that this set of rules makes for a wonderful release of negative energy, should you decide to sonnet your way out of a crappy day at work.

Things I'm Really Looking Forward To

I am really looking foward to getting married. Good thing it's only five months away!

In no particular order:

• Falling asleep next to Mr. C every night for the rest of my life. He's a great sleeping partner.
  
• Having someone to go see movies with. C has great taste in movies (except the B-list horror flicks) and am really looking forward to having movie dates.
  
• The smell of his skin. It's sweet and wonderful and smells like home.
  
• Access to his incredible music collection. I love music, and have eclectic taste, but easily get stuck in ruts and don't know how to break out. C LOVES music, has impeccable taste, and at times appears to have music ADD- he blows from song to song and genre to genre so quickly it can be hard to keep up.
  
• Being a wife. Seriously. I'm looking forward to cooking. And making a home. And taking care of him, and letting him take care of me. I'm going to need to work on the letting him take care of me bit more than I want to admit.
  
  

A Really Bad Idea

Is it just me, or is this a REALLY BAD IDEA?!?

Why would OJ write a book that says, "I didn't do it, but if I did, this is exactly how it would have gone down."

Aaaaand We're Back

I am finally feeling almost normal again. Last night I actually got a full night sleep- instead of waking up every 3 hours and 59 minutes desperate for the next dose of decongestant, I got a full, uninterrupted eight hours.

While I am not 100%, I am probably back up around 90%, which is pretty darn good give how sick I've been since Friday.

Cookbooks: Mark Bittman

I love books. Novels, poetry, knitting, cooking... Love love love love love.

When I find an author I like I buy everything they write. Eventually. Sometimes all at once. I was looking at my bookshelf and noticed some of my favorites.

This was going to be a single post about my various categories, but it's getting long and I'm just on Mark Bittman. Eventually I plan to expand this to talk about my cookbooks by Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson; my knitting books by Kaffe Fassett, Nancy Bush, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee; and my novels by Barbara Kingsolver, Dave Eggers, and Jane Austen.

Cookbooks: Mark Bittman

I love Mark Bittman. He's a columnist for the New York Times, writing as "The Minimalist." His whole approach to cooking is based on the premise that good recipes have two of the following: (i) a short ingredient list, (ii) a short instruction list, or (iii) a short cooking time. I took a cooking class with him when I lived in Austin, and I love him! So very New York- dry, no-nonsense, sophisticated and very casual/laid back all at the same time. I have most of his cookbooks. I don't own but would love to have his Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking and his Leafy Greens: An A-To-Z Guide to 30 Types of Greens Plus 200 Delicious Recipes.

I love the minimalist idea- very focused on letting good ingredients speak for themselves while keeping food very accessible to every day cooks. I LOVE his books because they provide a basic recipe- grilled chicken breasts, for example, then provide several variations, such as Mexican or Asian flavorings or how to dress the dish up for a special occasion. This is a fabulous way to learn how to really cook- master the basics, then get fancy.

If you only buy one Bittman book, it should be How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food. The slightly tongue in cheek title is not that far off- any time I need a random recipe I turn to this book first. It's like the Joy of Cooking or Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for our generation. I count on this book for fresh, fast, easy suggestions with plenty of room (and suggestions) for variations. The book introduces each chapter with an intro to the type of food (salads, for example) or main ingredient (beef- cuts, how to cook, how to chose, etc.) I can't tell you how much I've learned from this book!

The Best Recipes in the World is a similar book- huge, encyclopedic. Bittman focuses more on lesser-known cuisines, eschewing French and Italian for African/Asian/Latin American dishses that don't get much play in other international cookbooks. Again, Bittman pares the recipes down to their elements, and makes ingredients really accessible. Another great book.

Bittman has written a series of Minimalist cookbooks, all of which are fab. The Minimalist Cooks at Home: Recipes That Give You More Flavor from Fewer Ingredients in Less Time is the most basic- first in the series- and explains the basics of his approach, including excellent simple recipes. The Minimalist Cooks Dinner takes it a step further, with main dishes, salads, soups, sides, desserts... and The Minimalist Entertains contains seasonal menus based on a simple theme. These books are great because you can count on them for grouping ideas, variations, and simple but delicious food.

One of my favorite Bittman works is Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication, co-written with Jean Georges Vongerichten (uber chef). Talk about a teaching aid! This book takes a basic recipe- scrambled eggs, for example- and then elevates the recipe to four additional levels of formality/dressiness. The scrambled egg section starts off with basic scrambled eggs- eggs, butter, salt, pepper. The next recipe adds tomato and basil to develop the flavor. The next recipe starts with basic scrambled eggs, but incorporates cream cheese, smoked salmon, and sorrel. Next is scrambled eggs with crispy potatoes and prosciutto. The section ends with Oefs au caviar- a formal dish of scrambled eggs cooked with lemon juice and vodka, served in their own shells and topped with caviar. The book really explains how chefs start with a simple idea, then ratchet up the presentation/ingredient list until they have something worthy of a Michelin star or two. And the book is so accessible- I can make this stuff. It's great.

Anyway, I'm a BIG Mark Bittman fan, in case you have't noticed. His writing is clear and easy to read, he brings a very realistic approach to tacking dinner, but retains some of the creativity that makes cooking fun.

I love this man.

In 2003, C bought a 1981 Jeep Scrambler on eBay. (His is white with a tan hardtop- doens't look nearly as redneck as the one in that picture...) The Jeep was in California, so he flew out there to pick it up, and drove back to Austin. On the way back, he stopped in the Conejos River Valley, where my family had rented a cabin for the weekend. It was the first time he met my family.

This picture was taken on the way home. That was a LOOOONG day--850 miles across west Texas in July in a 20+ year old jeep with mud tires and no air conditioning. I was deaf, sweaty, and exhausted when we got home. But we sure had a good time!

Knitting for the Wedding?

A lot of people have asked me if I was going to knit anything for the wedding. I think NOT.

In June I thought about knitting a shawl or wrap for each of my bridesmaids, but people told me I was crazy. Then that same people suggested last week that I knit shawls for my bridesmaids, but there's just not enough time left. Besides which, even if I had started in June, that's a lot of lace knitting, especially given my utter lack of knitting time these days!

I love the huppahs people have knit as well, but we're our ceremony doesn't need one and I doubt that the church we're getting married in would allow it anyway.

I also thought about knitting an afghan or blanket or something for us to have at home after the wedding, but it would never be finished in time.

So no, I'm not knitting anything for the wedding. I might take my Birch shawl along for myself, since it will probably be chilly in the evening.

Still sick. Blech.