Sometimes You Learn Something at the Grocery Store

Sometimes I learn things in weird ways. Like I occasionally have these strange but very instructive dreams, where when I wake up, I feel as though I've actually gained real insight into some kind of experience or situation. I can't really explain it, but I'm always thankful when I wake up and feel like I learned something. Very efficient.

Anyway, last night I learned things at the grocery store. I realized what I'm going to write is probably stuff that normal people know. However, I do not know a lot of things normal people here know, like how to take care of a lawn, run a lawn mower, or really anything else that has to do with the outdoors. I digress...let's just say I'd like to be more domestic than I am sometimes.

The biggest thing I learned is that you can buy just 1 piece of meat at the meat counter if you want. (I know...you already knew that) It may have to do with the fact that my family ate out for almost every one of my growing up meals, but for some reason it never dawned on me that you can buy just as much of something as you want at the meat counter. As a singleton and someone who doesn't especially love meat, I don't buy it a lot--the 12 pack of chicken breasts just doesn't seem very economical.

But I've had a bit of a grilling thing going on this summer. A couple weeks back I attempted a Korean BBQ recipe, after hearing from someone at my old church about this summer's picnic with the Korean church. The recipe I picked turned out good, so I saw a grilled pork with peaches recipe and thought I'd give it a try. But what to do with the 3 other pork chops in the package? Aha--the meat counter. I bought 1 pork chop, and the guy didn't even look at me funny. I also didn't waste any extra meat or have to spend an hour wrapping and freezing the other portions. Ingenious. And tasty.

The other thing I learned is that only Hispanics eat garbanzo beans. Seriously, not a chick pea to be found outside of the Hispanic foods section. I stared at the beans for probably 5 minutes, stumped by what I would use to make hummus if there were no chick peas...I saw every other kind of bean, including one called "red beans." Aren't most of them red? Anyway, then I was schooled by the midwestern grocery arrangement--only Hispanics eat chick peas. They also only eat imported chick peas. Who knew?

I'm going to make fun of people now

so if you don't like it, quit reading. Oh, and they're anonymous people, if that changes things for you.

My mom came up to hang out last night, and we went to one of favorite Italian restaurants here. It's been around for a long time, but they just moved into a new fancy-schmancy building that looks like it's trying to imitate the Cheesecake Factory decor, which is strange because it's an Italian restaurant. I don't know, maybe bland but gigantic and noisy wins.

Anyway, we sat outside on the patio, which put us quite close to the table next to us. As we were checking out the menu and realizing this new building also dictated a price increase, the girl across from us grabbed the oil and vinegar and started telling her boyfriend she wasn't sure she wanted soy sauce on her bread. Despite her hesitation, she dripped a little bit on her bread plate, and put the olive oil on her boyfriend's. She tasted it, but still wasn't quite sure...I laughed internally.

While we were eating our dinner, our waiter served other tables around us, also calling them things like "my lady" and "big boss." I could hear him a couple of tables behind us when a man must have asked a question about the menu. The waiter proceeded to explain what a "Mira pox" is, and I kid you not, he said "mira pox" at least ten times. Now this is kind of a snotty one, and I don't really expect your average citizen to know how to pronounce mirepoix, or know what it is, but I do have higher expectations of wait staff. Especially irritating ones who call me "milady" all night. My silly brain kept thinking "A mira pox on both your houses!"

It was good entertainent.

Blog, schmog...

So I'm still not sure I have much to say, so here's some random stuff that you may or may not be interested to know. And yes, this is the best I can come up with right now.

1) I have been craving mojitos all week. Guava mojitos, to be exact.

2) I am so not down with the bounce house my neighbors are putting up, undoubtedly for one of the ankle biters' birthdays. The kids play in the street too much. Get a backyard.

3) Have I mentioned how addicted I am to "The Wire"? Seriously. I finished season 4 last night, and I'm not sure I can wait until August for season 5.

4) I don't think I mentioned this when I first wrote about seeing Kathleen Norris. But it's stuck with me--she left. She no longer lives in South Dakota. She moved back to Hawaii, and abandoned the prairie, her roots, etc. So now when I think about how lame it can be to say you live in South Dakota, I can't think in my mind "yeah, well at least Kathleen Norris lives here too."

5) The Sioux Falls Humane Society has kickass cat/music combinations on their adoption videos. Check them out.

6) PhotoBooth is too much fun!

So, I check out the cats on the Humane Society webpage regularly, wondering when I pass the center of the catlady continuum. Anyway, today I saw this cat video, and it made me laugh out loud.

This Explains So Much...

I was driving for work today, and heard this article on NPR about the Dutch health care system, and its relation to the values of the Dutch. It seems like a good explanation of why everyone's Dutch grandmothers and grandfathers don't go to the doctor, and why my grandfather laid on the ground with a broken hip for about an hour while my grandmother tried to dress him.

Oh, and I'm glad I'll never (probably?) have a baby in the Netherlands. Drugs, drugs, drugs!

Do you really need a title after not posting for a month?

So hmm, blogging...it it obvious I've been avoiding it with pictures? I just haven't had much to say. I've been concentrating so hard on being content I didn't want to ruin the facade. But, alas, I took a very short weekend trip to northern CA and realized once again where my people are. Here's a hint--it's not in Okoboji or the Outdoor Campus.

Okay, so maybe that's a bit dramatic, it's the gins and tonic talking. Or gin and tonics? Either way, Tanqueray suckered me into the Rangpur gin, which seems a little obnoxious when you could just squeeze a lime into it.

The quick trip to SJC was superb. I saw just about everyone, hung out, ate Donna's amazing food and drank John's (superlative) drinks, and shopped for maternity clothes. The maternity world was a little overwhelming, so luckily there was a real pregnant lady shopping with me who could navigate it. I mostly made suggestions and praised good choices. I also could not avoid trying on the surrogate pregnant belly at A Pea in the Pod. It was lumpy and not at all baby shaped.

So other than the trip, there has been lake-going, most wonderful I should say. Most lake-going weekends include lots of eating out (what else in my family?), some shopping, and my favorite, cotton candy. Yes, I'm nearly 30, and still LOVE cotton candy. Deal. There is also some sunning, though with this super-white skin that includes a much too long dousing with SPF a billion before it can happen. Oh, and sometimes boat-riding is also included. Decent.

Now...more gin and tonic. I will try to be more inspired to write soon. If I'm not you'll know by the repeated landscapes of my backyard.

Here is me...

At my new favorite place...

The Outdoor Campus.

Summer at the Lake

Out for a boat rideAn Okoboji classic: Arnold's Park

Out for a walk

Meme-ing back in...

Not much blogging here lately...can't really say why, but I just haven't been moved. To ease back in though, I'll participate in the meme Ruth tagged me for.

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?

1. I was working on my M.A. in TESOL
2. I was hanging out on the Central Coast in CA, making the odd trip to SJC
3. I was discovering the joys of TiVo
4. I was furnishing my home solely with Ikea and hand-me-downs
5. I was really digging school

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

1. Get up at 4am to go outside and shut the gate that was slamming and waking me up, scared that someone was invading.
2. Get caught up on voicemail and e-mail from the long weekend...what a corporate whore.
3. Print pictures I took this weekend with my new digital SLR camera
4. Pilates DVD
5. Reassess the May budget

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Mangos!
2. Lately...popcorn
3. Anything with a combo of chocolate and peanut butter
4. Almonds
5. Cheese

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Not work for money
2. Write more (free time)
3. Bribe congress to strike down NCLB
4. Buy all my friends houses at Lake Okoboji
5. Spend free time coming up with good things to do with a billion dollars

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Hitting snooze at least twice
2. Yelling at other drivers...and remembering the windows are open
3. Being messy
4. Being oblivious to other people
5. Picking food up off the floor and eating it

What are five places where you have lived?

1. San Jose, CA
2. Monterey, CA
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Haiti
5. The Midwest

What are five jobs you’ve had?

1. Pizza Ranch employee
2. Coffee House worker
3. Camp counselor/administrator
4. Teacher
5. Tutor

What five people do you want to tag?

1. Ang
2. Nellie
3. Megan
4. Tricia
5. Charity

O, Blogosphere!

There hasn't been much blogging lately...I've mostly been focused on a job opportunity, and felt weird writing about it while it was going on. It's past now...the position was offered, I declined. I can't adequately explain why, except to say that it was my intuition and a lack of peace, which seems to be one of the few ways I can really say I heard God's voice.

That whole process stressed me out quite a bit, thinking about another possible move, selling a house I love, etc. etc. Now that it's over, I am totally appreciating where I am again. This afternoon I sat on the back patio with a book and a drink, basking in the sun. I've said it many times, but I wish humans could do photosynthesis. I know there's that whole thing about Vitamin D, or is it K, but it would be nice to store up the energy sunshine brings after a cold, dark winter.

Since I'm not thinking about work, this weekend gave me time to do other things. I went to Ang and Ryan's b-day party for their little girl, gifting her with a "pasta plate." Remember when you stapled together paper plates and put beans inside to make a shaker? Same idea. It's still a loud, obnoxious toy, but I'm hoping the payback isn't quite so venomous.

I also finished sewing some cloth napkins I'd started on last weekend. I decided to reduce my paper towel use, and found some cotton fabric remnants that I really like. I'm not so into the details of sewing like measuring or pinning, so they're slightly haphazard, but functional. Pictures to come sometime soon.

As you all can tell, the list of books on the blog is pretty useless, so instead I'll just tell you what I'm reading. Tonight I finished Foreskin's Lament, a memoir by Shalom Auslander. I heard him first on This American Life, and wanted to read more. I really enjoyed his memoir, bitter and tormented as it is. His Jewish upbringing seems like a much exaggerated parallel to growing up in the biodome of N'west Iowa.

Luck

Today was a lucky day. I won an iPod shuffle at work for submitting a survey about our online benefits open enrollment (it kinda sucked), and I also found out I don't have to go to jury duty next week. I'm curious as to what might happen next.

Uncomfortable Situation

Fulfilling the promise I made when the Barack Obama headquarters opened here, I volunteered yesterday morning to make some phone calls. I think I've written before that I'm not really sure if political phone calls do any good, and I know I don't really care for them, but I wanted to do my part.

It should be no surprise to most of you that Barack isn't super popular where I live. If you're young and registered as a Democrat he is the favorite, but those who are young and registered Democrats are far and few between here. So I wasn't really shocked that most of the people I talked to weren't supporters, but their rudeness did surprise me.

I get hating telemarketers. I do too. Even so, I usually say "I'm not interested, thank you," and hang up. It's short, maybe snippy, but not mean. And, I'd like to point out that I would expected a different response to a telemarketer than to a campaign volunteer, though from my experience yesterday, that's not the case.

I was given a raft of senior citizens to call, and told that if I called anyone who was deceased, I'd get a free soda. The organizer shrugged her shoulders and said "it breaks up the day." I had a script, a list of names, and an elaborate coding system about the talk itself (refused to talk, call back, wrong number), and their presidential preferences (strong Obama, lean Obama, Clinton, Undecided). Most of my first calls were answering machines, and one nice, nice lady who had voted Republican her whole life and was now voting for Barack at age 68. She emphasized the 68 and told me her whole family was voting for him this time. I joked with her, and asked if she would speak to my family.

Another lady was undecided. She asked me how much I know about Barack, and I asked her if I could share my reasons for voting for him. She listened, then asked where he stands on abortion. I have no idea what her opinions on the topic were, but I tried to explain how I see him being pro-life in a lot of ways other than abortion.

After that, the people got mean. I called one house, and a woman answered. A man's name was on my list, so I asked for him. The woman yelled for him, and I heard him ask who it was. She replied "Your girlfriend." When I told him I was a volunteer for Barack Obama's campaign, he hung up on me. Some boyfriend.

Another lady thought that I was probably calling for her husband from the doctor's office (on a Saturday morning?) and some guy told me "I don't wanna talk, lady, I just woke up." I wanted to tell him he shouldn't have answered the phone then, but I didn't.

There was one response I got a few times, and it cracked me up. The script went like this: "Hi! my name is Bridget and I'm a volunteer with the Barack Obama campaign. How are you doing this morning?" I didn't have to read this part, and tried to sound genuinely interested.

The most common response to "How are you this morning?" was "I'm a Republican." I would say "Great, and do you know who you'll be voting for in this election?" and then they would say "I'm a Republican."

There seems to be a rule in play here that I did not know about. Republicans in South Dakota are not allowed to speak to Democrats, even if it's only to answer the question "How are you this morning?" They also must answer all questions asked by a Democrat with the words "I'm a Republican."

I grew up here, or near here, and I suppose I should have expected that response. I had hoped, however, that this election might not be so polarizing, or maybe those are just the Obama glasses I'm wearing. Regardless, I'm glad I called, and I may go and do some more again. Watch out Republicans, we just might ask you how you are.

PS: Having made these phone calls made me react much more kindly to the Nextel guy I ran into in the mall. He stopped me by saying "Hey miss, smile." I did, and he tried to be flattering...He said something like "wow, all redheads look good in green. What company do you have?" I said Verizon, and then he wowed me with incredible logic--he said "Hey, why don't you switch? I bet the Verizon guys don't tell you that you look good. I know they don't, switch to Nextel." I laughed and walked away.

This has been making me want to shout expletives all day long:

Good thing I got the grill and patio furniture out last week.

The Big Give

Has anyone else seen Oprah's Big Give? I have to say, I've only watched the first episode in its entirety. I do TiVo the Oprah show every day though, and she's spent a fair amount of time recapping the episodes, and talking with the "losers." Though these segments aren't as annoying as her constant yapping about the New Earth, I can't say I care for it.

I love shows like Extreme Home Makeover, but for some reason The Big Give makes me kind of angry. I think it's supposed to be a show about generosity, and giving back, but from what I've seen it seems more like a sales and marketing competition. The contestants run around, piling up more and more money, hoping to give away the most. Although some weight is given to what people need, the contestants seem to be judged on how much they give, not what they give and why.

Like I said, I've only seen one whole episode, so maybe I'm missing something. But to me, it looks like an exercise in being the best money hustler, and the giving is sort of a by-product of the amassing of cash. That just doesn't sit right.

Eventful

The blog has been quiet the last couple of weeks, but not for lack of activity. Last week I had a colonoscopy, which wasn't fun, but necessary. I hesitate to even say anything about it, but decided that medical tests shouldn't be embarrassing, despite where things take place. The results of the test were once again evil bacteria, and even more evil medication to kill said bacteria. So this week has been mostly focusing on not vomiting or becoming so nauseated I believe I will vomit. I should say that peppermint gum works wonders, as does anti-nausea medication, though the pills are more expensive than gum at nearly $600 a bottle (thank you, insurance!).

I also went and heard/saw Kathleen Norris speak. I was super excited about the event, the culmination of a college's day of learning in community. Though she wasn't as inspiring a speaker as I had hoped, I appreciated her speech about stability and change, and I'm now particularly interested in reading her new book about acedia. I'd never heard of acedia before, but it's apparently one of a group of ancient "bad thoughts," if I have it correct. I'm sorry I missed her morning talk, because as the girls behind me described she read a lot of poetry and talked about Brokeback Mountain. What I was not impressed with was the girl sitting near me who snapped her gum throughout the whole talk.

More inspiring, in a different way, was the opening of Obama headquarters here in Sioux Falls. It was an interesting event because as we stood listening to the SD campaign leader speak, everyone was looking around, seemingly surprised to see so many Democrats gathered in one room in South Dakota. From the looks of it, I was not the only one who hadn't seen anything like this before. Barack wasn't there, but the leader guy asked if some people wanted to share why they were at the opening, and why they were voting for Barack. One gentleman in particular was moving, talking about how the Native American people look toward the future, and that he was voting for Barack for his granddaughter whom he was holding.

Equally uninspiring was a few people spouting the usual jokes about how evil the Republicans are, and how graced we were to be Democrats, along with a high school student who went on and on about how Obama is his savior, his saving grace. But still, flawed and all, I'm hoping to volunteer for the campaign here, to get involved for once. Not that SD will probably really matter, but it's nice to feel like it might.

I am very much enjoying this episode of Speaking of Faith, titled "The Need for Creeds." One of the most interesting is this Maasai creed.

If Princess Pantaloons and Cow don't win the Humane Society calendar contest, Simone definitely should.

If you've got a dollar you want to burn, and you'd like to support me in becoming a full-fledged cat lady, click here to vote for my kittehs in the SF Humane Society calendar contest. Cat ladies unite!

Kinda like a funny kid story

I realize that my blog was much more entertaining when I was teaching, and the funny kid stories were abundant. Tonight, I have something I'm calling a funny kid story, though I'm making no promises.

I've been working with an applicant who is, well, different. When I met with him he told me he listened to a Prairie Home Companion, and collected stamps, not postage. Of course, I listed to a Prairie Home Companion, but I'm years older than he is...at least a few.

So today he sent me some questions about life in the program I recruit for. 5 pages of questions. Seriously. They were organized into categories, and a few made me laugh. As background, the program is a residential program. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Can I bring my fanny pack to wear?
• How hot does the water get?
• Can I keep a garden/plants?
  
• Will I be able to see/hear wild animals (birds, squirrels, odd dear?)
• Can I bring/order my own crafts?

These are only a few select questions...the entire five pages would be a bit too much.

Signs of....spring?

There are things I am good at, and things I am decidedly not good at. You could put all things mechanical and numerical on the "not good at" side, and this weekend consisted mostly of those items, and my attempts to overcome or bypass them.

One thing I feel pretty good at is computer stuff. I can tackle most everyday tasks, and an occasional challenge, but there is one nemesis. Formulas in Excel. For a few months I've been doing a written budget, and I have never been satisfied with a method of writing out my goals, and then having a good way of keeping track of how much is spent, and how much then left in each category. Of course I don't want to have to add it up myself, so I've wanted a program or spreadsheet, but one customized to how I do my budget. The only answer seemed to be to customize a spreadsheet myself.

I am ashamed to say it, but it took me almost 3 hours Saturday morning to get it all figured out, and probably 45 minutes of that was finding errors in the formulas...ick.

Slightly (slightly...) more exciting was figuring out how to take care of my lawn this year. Last year my parents had hired someone to mow before I moved, and so when I moved we kept that up. This year, I've been thinking that I really don't want to spend the money on that. However, I have never used a lawnmower before, and it falls under the "mechanical" category. I'm pretty sure I would mix up the gas and the oil, or break part of it off, or cut off my foot or something equally gruesome. So instead, I have decided to buy a push reel mower. The picture's of the little German model I ordered. Somehow I trust the Germans to know how to do something as orderly as mow a lawn.

Thinking about buying a mower had me thinking about spring. Today was kind of warm, at least warm enough that I shed my coat in between stores while running errands. Considering the day's warmth, it seemed like it would be a nice evening for a walk. I went out to walk the neighborhood, hoping to peek in the neighbor's illuminated windows, but it was ridiculously cold. Now that I look down at the weather in my browser, I see that it's 36 degrees and cloudy. I had no idea it was that cold....36 is definitely not walking weather.