Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Volleyball can be maddening
Some days are sooooo great - I smash the ball down with impunity, I block the unblockable guys on the other team, I serve the sliciest spinning serves that the other team can't figure out how to return, and pass the smoothest passes to our setter.
Other days I'm shanking easy serves, faced with terrible off-sets that I can't slam, serves that are supposed to float just over the net instead get caught up, and guys dink perfectly over me all day long. Gah.
Today was the former day. :-D Yay for a great night!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Needs more taste - Gluten Free Ugali and Kale
So I'm adventurous in cooking. I'll try anything (gluten-free) once. Maybe. I'm not gonna end up like the girl who has only practically eaten McDonalds Chicken McNuggets since she was 2 years old. I'm gonna have a balanced, tasty diet of mostly food I cook and know what goes into it. To that end, I'm interested in trying my hand at staple African foods. My first adventure was last night, in an attempt to make ugali (African polenta) and kale.
Now, I've had kale before - once I've made this awesome awesome cream of potato soup and some barbecued meat with my buddy Charlie, but it didn't tickle my taste buds when it was a part of the soup. It was kind of an added filler to it, which was fine, but it didn't make me want more. The steak, however, was fabooooooooo.
African polenta, or ugali as they call it in the Swahili language in Kenya, is basically mush from corn, and the ingredients made me go "well, that's basically grits..." which are okay and somewhat even tasty when buttered and salted. Not the healthiest of meals, mind you, but edible and filling on cold days. Now, I grew up in a rather warm climate, so even during the winter I rarely had hot food. Most of the time it would be some kind of toasted waffle that I ate on the bus to school, or a bowl of sugared oatmeal with fruit (Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal was the BEST). Grits weren't on my meal list. Once I moved to St. Louis, I started looking for more, ah, temperature appropriate meals to make at home on cold days. Freeeezing days. Brrrrrr. So out came pop tarts and toasted bagels and stuff like that. When I went gluten free, meal choices became a bit harder to find. So grits made my list, as well as home made pancakes with chocolate chips... mmmmm! :-D
Anyway, so ugali sounds like butterless grits. Ehhhhh. Let's give it a whirl anyway!
Ingredients: (serves 6)
Ugali:
4 cups of water
2 cups of Gluten Free Red Mills Cornmeal from Hyvee
2 tsp of salt (I didn't have plain salt, so I left this out)
Stirfry Kale:
There are a bunch of different stir fry kale recipes out there, but I opted to just do olive oil and kale for this round:
3 tbs of Veggie oil
3 bunches of kale (I didn't want a lot of kale, so I only used one bunch of kale. I also got it from California! ;-) ).
Tools:
2 medium size bowls (bigger than 4 qts)
1 pot (4-6 qts)
1 stirfry pan (10-12 inches)
1 wooden stirrer
1 wooden flat headed stirrer
1 cup measurer
chopping block
knife
Instructions:
The ugali takes a while to cook and cool, so I recommend you cook the ugali first then cook the kale.
1) Measure 4 cups of water, put in pot. Turn on the stove heat for that pot to HIGH
2) Measure 2 cups of cornmeal, set aside.
3) When water reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium or medium low.
4) Start slowly adding the cornmeal into the boiling water while stirring. Some instructions say to add slowly by hand, letting it slip through your fingers into the water. You can also put the cornmeal into the bowl and slowly sift it into the pot.
5) Stir while adding, making sure you eliminate lumps ASAP. If you don't, the cornmeal starts bubbling and splashing hot cornmeal all over. It BURNS!
6) Stir for 10 minutes, eliminating lumps, scraping the bottom of the pot and the sides. You'll get a workout. Trust me, your arms WILL get tired.
7) 10 minutes are up! By now, the mixture should be very thick, and might not be sticking to the side of the pot anymore. Take it off the stove, Get that bowl, and scrape out the mixture into the bowl. Let it cool off a bit, maybe 10 minutes, you don't want to burn yourself when you start handling it.
Hopefully the ugali has cooled by this point. If you're able to handle the temperature of the ugali, I suggest you wet your hands, grab some, form into a ball, then put onto a plate to serve. Add the kale to the plate.
The idea is to use your hands to get a bite-size chunk of ugali, form into a flat shape, get some kale on it, fold it up, then eat it. Sound good?
It was edible, but very very very chewy - I almost didn't want to finish my plate. It was extremely close in taste to grits, and since this was without butter, it was quite bland. The kale was okay, but there is a bit of an acrid taste to kale that I can taste, so it's okay tasting while plain but it could definitely be tastier.
I was able to finish the last of my ugali by adding some bacon salt to it in the end. Much better! :-)
Oh, yeah - if you're like me and eating for one, this recipe serves 6 - I cut down on the kale, but I didn't know how to scale down the ugali. Next time I'll scale that down too so there's less waste. Experimenting! Also helps to have a chip clip for the cornmeal bag... until next time!
Now, I've had kale before - once I've made this awesome awesome cream of potato soup and some barbecued meat with my buddy Charlie, but it didn't tickle my taste buds when it was a part of the soup. It was kind of an added filler to it, which was fine, but it didn't make me want more. The steak, however, was fabooooooooo.
African polenta, or ugali as they call it in the Swahili language in Kenya, is basically mush from corn, and the ingredients made me go "well, that's basically grits..." which are okay and somewhat even tasty when buttered and salted. Not the healthiest of meals, mind you, but edible and filling on cold days. Now, I grew up in a rather warm climate, so even during the winter I rarely had hot food. Most of the time it would be some kind of toasted waffle that I ate on the bus to school, or a bowl of sugared oatmeal with fruit (Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal was the BEST). Grits weren't on my meal list. Once I moved to St. Louis, I started looking for more, ah, temperature appropriate meals to make at home on cold days. Freeeezing days. Brrrrrr. So out came pop tarts and toasted bagels and stuff like that. When I went gluten free, meal choices became a bit harder to find. So grits made my list, as well as home made pancakes with chocolate chips... mmmmm! :-D
Anyway, so ugali sounds like butterless grits. Ehhhhh. Let's give it a whirl anyway!
Ingredients: (serves 6)
Ugali:
4 cups of water
2 cups of Gluten Free Red Mills Cornmeal from Hyvee
2 tsp of salt (I didn't have plain salt, so I left this out)
Stirfry Kale:
There are a bunch of different stir fry kale recipes out there, but I opted to just do olive oil and kale for this round:
3 tbs of Veggie oil
3 bunches of kale (I didn't want a lot of kale, so I only used one bunch of kale. I also got it from California! ;-) ).
Tools:
2 medium size bowls (bigger than 4 qts)
1 pot (4-6 qts)
1 stirfry pan (10-12 inches)
1 wooden stirrer
1 wooden flat headed stirrer
1 cup measurer
chopping block
knife
Instructions:
The ugali takes a while to cook and cool, so I recommend you cook the ugali first then cook the kale.
1) Measure 4 cups of water, put in pot. Turn on the stove heat for that pot to HIGH
2) Measure 2 cups of cornmeal, set aside.
3) When water reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium or medium low.
4) Start slowly adding the cornmeal into the boiling water while stirring. Some instructions say to add slowly by hand, letting it slip through your fingers into the water. You can also put the cornmeal into the bowl and slowly sift it into the pot.
5) Stir while adding, making sure you eliminate lumps ASAP. If you don't, the cornmeal starts bubbling and splashing hot cornmeal all over. It BURNS!
6) Stir for 10 minutes, eliminating lumps, scraping the bottom of the pot and the sides. You'll get a workout. Trust me, your arms WILL get tired.
7) 10 minutes are up! By now, the mixture should be very thick, and might not be sticking to the side of the pot anymore. Take it off the stove, Get that bowl, and scrape out the mixture into the bowl. Let it cool off a bit, maybe 10 minutes, you don't want to burn yourself when you start handling it.
Kale:
Now that the ugali is done, let's do the kale.
1) Get your pan, put on the veggie oil, turn pan heat on stove to medium
2) Using the knife and chopping block, chop the kale up into bite size chunks. The kale reduces a lot, so you don't need them to be small chunks.
3) The oil should be hot by now - you can check by holding your hand up over the pot and feeling the warmth, or by dropping a few droplets of water in the pan in the oil - they should immediately sizzle and evaporate.
4) Drop in your kale. The oil may get absorbed quickly, that's okay, the kale is very dry. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the kale is withered. Kale is normally a very light color, and when it's withered it's very dark.
5) Take out kale, put into another bowl.
Hopefully the ugali has cooled by this point. If you're able to handle the temperature of the ugali, I suggest you wet your hands, grab some, form into a ball, then put onto a plate to serve. Add the kale to the plate.
The idea is to use your hands to get a bite-size chunk of ugali, form into a flat shape, get some kale on it, fold it up, then eat it. Sound good?
It was edible, but very very very chewy - I almost didn't want to finish my plate. It was extremely close in taste to grits, and since this was without butter, it was quite bland. The kale was okay, but there is a bit of an acrid taste to kale that I can taste, so it's okay tasting while plain but it could definitely be tastier.
I was able to finish the last of my ugali by adding some bacon salt to it in the end. Much better! :-)
Oh, yeah - if you're like me and eating for one, this recipe serves 6 - I cut down on the kale, but I didn't know how to scale down the ugali. Next time I'll scale that down too so there's less waste. Experimenting! Also helps to have a chip clip for the cornmeal bag... until next time!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Scrabble
I like to absorb stuff. Garbage in, no garbage out, sometimes is how I feel. I love to read and pick up mundane new tidbits of information, remain ahead of the game or the curve or the pack or whatever have you on tons of different things, be it the news or technical stuff or sports or art or geography or history. It's like I have a bottomless pit that I need to fill up with knowledge, stat!
Be that as it may, I do like to engage in battles of wordsmithing. Not so much that I would hold up an airplane by playing "Words with Friends," but I could dig a sit down session of Scrabble and see how many points I can score with the dictionary in my brain.
Funny thing is, I clearly remember which game got me into wanting to know more words to use and put together and have fun doing so. Boggle, which was a fantastic game for me at 5 or 6, was a blast to play, making a ton of noise while shaking up the word blocks (drove my parents NUTS) and then competing against my big brother to put words together. I don't know why, but not too many other people liked playing that game with me, opting for the more mainstream Scrabble. I can definitely remember a few nights at CSUN playing against my roommate Kyle and my buddy Charlie and Kyle would almost always win, it was sooooo infuriating! Stuff like that kept my brain fresh as we studied to compete in the National Association for the Deaf College Bowl which is held every two years at the NAD conference, alongside events such as the Miss Deaf America (now the Miss Deaf America Ambassador contest).
So, I really started drooling when I saw this over at the rather ridiculous portion of Hammacher Schlemmer's catalog - Hammacher Schlemmer, for those of you who don't know them, have been around for more than 150 years and have offered some oddball things in their catalogs, and this one takes the cake... and I want it! Scrabble on my basement wall!
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=11995&promo=Category-NewArrivals&catid=60
Edit: Bah, the college bowl link has zero, zilch, nada information as of this posting. I'll link to the 2012 NAD conference program page for some information, at least.
Be that as it may, I do like to engage in battles of wordsmithing. Not so much that I would hold up an airplane by playing "Words with Friends," but I could dig a sit down session of Scrabble and see how many points I can score with the dictionary in my brain.
Funny thing is, I clearly remember which game got me into wanting to know more words to use and put together and have fun doing so. Boggle, which was a fantastic game for me at 5 or 6, was a blast to play, making a ton of noise while shaking up the word blocks (drove my parents NUTS) and then competing against my big brother to put words together. I don't know why, but not too many other people liked playing that game with me, opting for the more mainstream Scrabble. I can definitely remember a few nights at CSUN playing against my roommate Kyle and my buddy Charlie and Kyle would almost always win, it was sooooo infuriating! Stuff like that kept my brain fresh as we studied to compete in the National Association for the Deaf College Bowl which is held every two years at the NAD conference, alongside events such as the Miss Deaf America (now the Miss Deaf America Ambassador contest).
So, I really started drooling when I saw this over at the rather ridiculous portion of Hammacher Schlemmer's catalog - Hammacher Schlemmer, for those of you who don't know them, have been around for more than 150 years and have offered some oddball things in their catalogs, and this one takes the cake... and I want it! Scrabble on my basement wall!
http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=11995&promo=Category-NewArrivals&catid=60
Edit: Bah, the college bowl link has zero, zilch, nada information as of this posting. I'll link to the 2012 NAD conference program page for some information, at least.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Happy holidays!
It's been mad busy this past year and finally things are starting to calm down a tad. A TAD. Hardly anything at all, but I am trying to finish writing letters, rip DVDs so I can watch them on my tablet when I travel (with captions!) and work out hard enough that I can barely push myself off the floor when I'm done. Heh.
Hopefully, the rest of 2011 will go nice and smooth. I'm changing my internet service provider at home, work a few more days to wrap up the year, and enjoy my hot cocoa without snow for a change. It is really weird to be in Kansas and yet not have seen snow - usually after Thanksgiving there's a blanket that coats everything, and I've even flown back from long trips to have to figure out how to drive in the slushy stuff again. Sometimes I can't even get in my front door!
Just got back from Nashville visiting family and friends, it was great to see a football game there and relax while enjoying the Nashville Science Center. Science rocks!
Until next time!
Hopefully, the rest of 2011 will go nice and smooth. I'm changing my internet service provider at home, work a few more days to wrap up the year, and enjoy my hot cocoa without snow for a change. It is really weird to be in Kansas and yet not have seen snow - usually after Thanksgiving there's a blanket that coats everything, and I've even flown back from long trips to have to figure out how to drive in the slushy stuff again. Sometimes I can't even get in my front door!
Just got back from Nashville visiting family and friends, it was great to see a football game there and relax while enjoying the Nashville Science Center. Science rocks!
Until next time!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Kansas Concealed Carry Handgun
What a weekend! Sometimes, I feel like I can hardly get anything done with the whirlwind I get caught up in. I know it's all by choice, and I could simply stay home and get stuff done there, but I'd much rather get up and go!
Saturday, I hit the road before sun up and was well on my way to the countryside when I spotted the sunrise over the lazy hills on the way to Holden, MO where I was to take a course in concealed carry for handguns. I have hardly ever handed firearms before and I think it is a good idea to understand what to know how to safely handle and use firearms. If the situation ever arose where I would need to protect myself, I'd rather be in the know. Kind of going along with the phrase of "better to have and not need, than to not have and need." So I made my way over to the ranch where Marksman Firearms (www.marksmanfirearms.com) was located, out in the relative boonies of Missouri for this city slicker.
Mind you, I've only fired a gun at one time - out in L.A., my buddy Charlie and I went to a gun range and rented out a Glock pistol for about an hour. Charlie's a guy knowledgeable about guns - he's grown up around them, his father was in the Army, and he's a bit of a reformed redneck. Not that's a bad thing, just when I first met him in college, I had no idea he had the kind of streak in him that compelled people to drive out to the woods, spend days camping out, and bringing home deer and other forms of wildlife in the back of a truck. He's now a schoolteacher in a rather upscale suburb of the Los Angeles area, and well respected in the community that doesn't take well to things like guns in their neighborhoods.
Anyway, I like school, and I like learning, so this was going to be an education for me. Tom Echerd and Kim Becker, experienced firearms guys and partners in the business, were absolutely fabulous about drilling safety and knowledge into us, and doing it in a way that was accessible and clear. I learned about protecting myself without a gun, being aware of my surroundings and my safety, and then understanding that if there's absolutely no other way out, then as a last resort take action to eliminate threats to my immediate safety via a firearm. After doing some testing and qualification to pass the concealed carry certification, we got to actually experience shooting different guns to get the feel of what to expect when you may have to pull the trigger.
All in all, I feel safer and have a greater appreciation for both sides of the debate on gun control and gun advocacy. I am responsible for my own safety when I'm at home and when I'm out and about, from downtown to the suburbs to the country. I always try to be aware of my surroundings, and hesitate to go places where I'm uncomfortable with the level of risk to crime that I could be exposed to. Even in the safest of places, I could be at danger at any time. I think it's smart to make sure I have all my options available to me at any time, and I think getting the Concealed Carry Handgun certification will be just another thing I can use to keep myself and my family safe when I need it. I hope I'll never have to use it!
Saturday, I hit the road before sun up and was well on my way to the countryside when I spotted the sunrise over the lazy hills on the way to Holden, MO where I was to take a course in concealed carry for handguns. I have hardly ever handed firearms before and I think it is a good idea to understand what to know how to safely handle and use firearms. If the situation ever arose where I would need to protect myself, I'd rather be in the know. Kind of going along with the phrase of "better to have and not need, than to not have and need." So I made my way over to the ranch where Marksman Firearms (www.marksmanfirearms.com) was located, out in the relative boonies of Missouri for this city slicker.
Mind you, I've only fired a gun at one time - out in L.A., my buddy Charlie and I went to a gun range and rented out a Glock pistol for about an hour. Charlie's a guy knowledgeable about guns - he's grown up around them, his father was in the Army, and he's a bit of a reformed redneck. Not that's a bad thing, just when I first met him in college, I had no idea he had the kind of streak in him that compelled people to drive out to the woods, spend days camping out, and bringing home deer and other forms of wildlife in the back of a truck. He's now a schoolteacher in a rather upscale suburb of the Los Angeles area, and well respected in the community that doesn't take well to things like guns in their neighborhoods.
Anyway, I like school, and I like learning, so this was going to be an education for me. Tom Echerd and Kim Becker, experienced firearms guys and partners in the business, were absolutely fabulous about drilling safety and knowledge into us, and doing it in a way that was accessible and clear. I learned about protecting myself without a gun, being aware of my surroundings and my safety, and then understanding that if there's absolutely no other way out, then as a last resort take action to eliminate threats to my immediate safety via a firearm. After doing some testing and qualification to pass the concealed carry certification, we got to actually experience shooting different guns to get the feel of what to expect when you may have to pull the trigger.
All in all, I feel safer and have a greater appreciation for both sides of the debate on gun control and gun advocacy. I am responsible for my own safety when I'm at home and when I'm out and about, from downtown to the suburbs to the country. I always try to be aware of my surroundings, and hesitate to go places where I'm uncomfortable with the level of risk to crime that I could be exposed to. Even in the safest of places, I could be at danger at any time. I think it's smart to make sure I have all my options available to me at any time, and I think getting the Concealed Carry Handgun certification will be just another thing I can use to keep myself and my family safe when I need it. I hope I'll never have to use it!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Chicken n' fries!
Yummy goodness. It's considered a Southern delicacy to eat some chick'n fries (or so I've heard), or more concisely, fried chicken and french fries with maybe some coleslaw on the side. Now, that's not such a great gluten-free meal, so tonight I'm making my own Dennis version of the meal - succulent roasted chicken breasts and crispy baked waffle-cut fries, smothered with some tasty gluten-free BBQ sauce and a side of buttery mixed veggies. Heck, I'm hungry for seconds now!
Cooking food is one of my great joys - it used to be that I absolutely hated it, wouldn't spend more than a minute to get something to eat, or else it was just way too much work. While I'm not yet at the point where I'll slave away for hours to make a meal, I'm seriously planning to execute a Once-A-Month-Mom meal plan. http://onceamonthmom.com/gluten-freedairy-free-may-2011-oamm-menu-oamc-freezer-cooking-bulk-cooking-power-cooking-2/ Looks like I will be spending my October 30th in the kitchen! In the meantime, I'm gonna be reading everything I can about how to manage that "day in the kitchen" since I don't know how to manage to cook an entire month's worth of food at a time. Gotta start somewhere!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to making this a good week - a friend is having her house warming party on Saturday, I'll be finishing a major work project, and hopefully write a letter or two to send internationally. Oh, yeah, and fix my freezin' furnace. Winter is coming, isn't it? Glad I got the gas leak fixed back in July - it's now October, I think I've put that off as long as I could!
Cooking food is one of my great joys - it used to be that I absolutely hated it, wouldn't spend more than a minute to get something to eat, or else it was just way too much work. While I'm not yet at the point where I'll slave away for hours to make a meal, I'm seriously planning to execute a Once-A-Month-Mom meal plan. http://onceamonthmom.com/gluten-freedairy-free-may-2011-oamm-menu-oamc-freezer-cooking-bulk-cooking-power-cooking-2/ Looks like I will be spending my October 30th in the kitchen! In the meantime, I'm gonna be reading everything I can about how to manage that "day in the kitchen" since I don't know how to manage to cook an entire month's worth of food at a time. Gotta start somewhere!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to making this a good week - a friend is having her house warming party on Saturday, I'll be finishing a major work project, and hopefully write a letter or two to send internationally. Oh, yeah, and fix my freezin' furnace. Winter is coming, isn't it? Glad I got the gas leak fixed back in July - it's now October, I think I've put that off as long as I could!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Good times, good friends
It was awesome getting out last night and visiting with 3 buddies, one from out of town, and enjoying some good eats at Houlihan's last night. It's been a while since I've had a good joke-fest so that was a great time. How many times can you hear and forget the same joke over a lifetime, and still completely forget it by the next time you hear it?
Thank goodness for the weekend, there's so much catching up I need to do. I've got to clean out my garage, tidy up my front yard, and cook my meals for the week. I got disrupted when I found 2 full-sized wasps in my house and needed to get them away from my pets. At first, I grabbed the extra-long feather duster and proceeded to swat them quite well - baseball and golf practice sure help with the hand-eye coordination! However, these must've been the steroid enhanced version of the wasp, because these guys took a lickin' and kept on ticking. I had a good 8 or 10 room clearing swats that connected, and moments later they were back fore more. This wasn't working - time to bring out the big guns! My vacuum hose wasn't as long as the duster, but if anything reached the end pointing away from me, it was a goner. These crafty pests kept hovering just out of reach, threatening to zoom in for the sting at any moment. Thankfully, I was able to corner 'em and dispose of them. However, if there are two, there most likely are more - and I'm off to do some wasp nest hunting!
Thank goodness for the weekend, there's so much catching up I need to do. I've got to clean out my garage, tidy up my front yard, and cook my meals for the week. I got disrupted when I found 2 full-sized wasps in my house and needed to get them away from my pets. At first, I grabbed the extra-long feather duster and proceeded to swat them quite well - baseball and golf practice sure help with the hand-eye coordination! However, these must've been the steroid enhanced version of the wasp, because these guys took a lickin' and kept on ticking. I had a good 8 or 10 room clearing swats that connected, and moments later they were back fore more. This wasn't working - time to bring out the big guns! My vacuum hose wasn't as long as the duster, but if anything reached the end pointing away from me, it was a goner. These crafty pests kept hovering just out of reach, threatening to zoom in for the sting at any moment. Thankfully, I was able to corner 'em and dispose of them. However, if there are two, there most likely are more - and I'm off to do some wasp nest hunting!
Monday, October 3, 2011
So I'm munchin' on some pan-seared Tilapia, chatting with my favorite person in the world when I'm thinking, so what's next here? I'm at a bit of a crossroads - some of the stuff I've been spending years working on is coming to an end, so my time will be freed up a bit more than it has been lately.
So what could I do with this newfound spare time? Find a new hobby? Paintball's fun, but there are a limited number of targets in this city. Volunteer? I'm already on a couple of executive and advisory boards that I'm going to put some more effort into. Make new friends? Everybody could always use some new friends.
I'm beginning to wonder if it makes sense to take things in a new direction. Maybe I should get a bold new haircut. *smirk* I'm actually thinking more along the lines of rebuilding myself, especially since it's been difficult lately to work out and feel stronger. Taking care of my health needs to be a priority and I think that's something I can do while I get other things in motion towards a fun, happy, and interesting future.
So what could I do with this newfound spare time? Find a new hobby? Paintball's fun, but there are a limited number of targets in this city. Volunteer? I'm already on a couple of executive and advisory boards that I'm going to put some more effort into. Make new friends? Everybody could always use some new friends.
I'm beginning to wonder if it makes sense to take things in a new direction. Maybe I should get a bold new haircut. *smirk* I'm actually thinking more along the lines of rebuilding myself, especially since it's been difficult lately to work out and feel stronger. Taking care of my health needs to be a priority and I think that's something I can do while I get other things in motion towards a fun, happy, and interesting future.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
TGIF
Thank goodness it's the weekend! It's been one of those weeks where you feel like you're swimming against the current and aren't getting anywhere.... and the name of the game at my work is "make progress!" My to-do list ballooned to somewhere in the range of 75 outstanding things I need to do... most of them by September 1st! I'll be working this weekend.....
I went to see Katy Perry during the week - yes, I did take some time off of catching up to those tasks to see this - and man that was a fun show! I pegged Katy as just going to be a minor distraction from the week's events and something to break up the monotony of summer - but she darn well entertained me and Kelly, and it got all my senses involved - hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and feeling!
Katy Perry was pumping out something called "Smell-o-Vision" which made the entire show smell like cotton candy.... very sugary, you could almost taste it. Of course, it didn't help that the entire time there were hawkers who were clamoring up and down the aisles selling pink cotton candy on light-up sticks. Once the cotton candy was eaten, you could wave the light stick during the show - way to go getting those young 'uns hooked on raves at an early age!
This weekend, my good buddies Val and Vic will be in town to enjoy the sights and sounds of KC - go Victory for getting a new job away from the 4th largest city in America (and the smelliest, or so I've heard). Reading all the doom and gloom about jobs in America makes me happy that there's still hope for upward mobility these days. Now if only my job will ease up and let me accomplish some serious business!
Coincidentally, this coming week is Kelly's 28th birthday - if you're reading this, Kel, happy early birthday! We need to celebrate soon!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
House electric switch replacement
I love my house that I've lived in for the past 5 years. I moved here from St. Louis, MO, or rather a suburb of St. Louis, back in 2006 when my job said I had to move to Kansas City... or else! Well, it being that I voluntarily applied for and got the promotion, I picked up my belongings and found this excellent location right across the street from a great elementary school.
My thinking was, well, when I have kids, I'd love to be able to watch them get to school safely right from my front door.... then I realized, oh, yeah, I normally have to get to work a bit earlier than when the kids get to school....
First things first when I moved in - change the locks. Seriously, I've heard stories of people who trusted their friends and others with their keys, then sell their house - and then those nefarious people with copies of the keys from the old owners just one day stroll up to your house, unlock the door, and pilfer your home without breaking a sweat. I like to make it just a little bit harder than that on 'em.
The next thing I did was get rid of the wallpaper in most of the rooms in the house - there were layers upon layers of new wallpaper thrown over the old, and I swear the rooms were much bigger once I trimmed the fat off the walls! Throw up a fresh coat of paint, and the house was looking practically new!
Here's my present struggle. So I like to see when I'm walking around my house, and thus I use the light switches liberally. Well, so liberally I've worn a number of them out. I like living dangerously, so I've taken the task of replacing them myself. It's not hard.... unless you live in a house where the electrician really messed things up. Grrrrrrr.
Apparently the electrician who wired the house switches:
1) Let the house guys blast white paint all over wires and caps in the switch boxes. You're supposed to be able to tell wires apart by color. Red is live, black is negative, copper or green is ground. I seriously cannot tell the differences between the wires because they're painted all white!
2) Double and triple connects power together under one cap. That increases the chances of short circuiting house wiring and starting a fire. Yay, go him!
3) Did not use the ground wiring at all. ANYWHERE. He's tucked the copper ground wire in the back of the boxes, still painted dead white, and left me to try to fish it out behind all the triple-connected wires that take up all the room in the conduit box!
*sigh*
Two light switches down, taking about an hour longer than I wanted to. Maybe I should warn someone before I do it, just in case, y'know?
;-)
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Back to blogging again
So, I just completed a 90 day exercise plan where my focus was to ensure I stayed in shape throughout the summer. Man, that was tough! My schedule has been adding more and more work responsibilities so I'm losing free time that can be used to work out and make my 90 day goal. In fact, I didn't get 90 exercises in 90 days - I had 4 days of overtime where I doubled up most days, cramming in two exercise routines or even simply stretching for an hour to meet the goal.
Thing is, I had plenty of motivation to finish that plan - on July 31st, I ran through the Kansas City Warrior Dash, which was a hellacious 5 kilometer race with a dozen obstacles in the course. Having done the exercise (but little running practice) allowed me to finish in about 46 minutes and 30 seconds - frankly, that was a lot better time than I thought I would get! The day was an absolute scorcher, even at 9:30 in the morning, and even with plenty of the course running through water and mud.
What was my true motivation? Well, I had been looking forward to an excuse to snack again at The Melting Pot! I kid you not, that place is fabulous for happy hour and their gluten free options for cheese and chocolate fondue are to die for. I figured I worked off the calories for that meal in advance, so time to dig in! Happy hour from 4-7pm most days is a good deal for two people, $5 per person per kind of cheese or chocolate bowl... definitely worth the trip to the plaza for!
Happy Saturday! Am getting ready to head off to Rosedale Park for some disc golfing - been a while since I've heaved a frisbee into the trap, so time to brush off the cobwebs and roll some rounders!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Days 88-90, plus OVERTIME
Day 88- Monday 7/25 - Was supposed to do gym and stretching, but was stuck at home until 9 waiting for the painters to finish repairs. Yay for being done! Pulled a Kenpo workout instead! +10 extra workouts remaining
Day 90 - Wednesday 7/27 - Doubled up volleyball for the 3rd time in a row - that counts as two workouts! Woot! Did some cardio at the gym beforehand too, running on the elliptical and even did abs - down to +7 workouts!
Overtime +1- Thursday 7/28 - Stretch plus gymnastics class #4 without Kel - working hard! +5
Overtime +2- Friday 7/29 - Lunchtime workout! Then, when I got home I did some cardio to be ready for my run, then off to a movie for the night! +3
Overtime +4- Sunday 7/31 - Warrior Dash Sunday! Holy moly this should count as 10 workouts all by itself! Hot hot hot hot hot hot! Am soooooo glad I finished it though!
DONE! 90 days of exercise plus an extra 4 days to hash things out... off to The Melting Pot for our reward!
Day 89 - Back and biceps, then stretching. +9 workouts remaining!
Day 90 - Wednesday 7/27 - Doubled up volleyball for the 3rd time in a row - that counts as two workouts! Woot! Did some cardio at the gym beforehand too, running on the elliptical and even did abs - down to +7 workouts!
Overtime +1- Thursday 7/28 - Stretch plus gymnastics class #4 without Kel - working hard! +5
Overtime +2- Friday 7/29 - Lunchtime workout! Then, when I got home I did some cardio to be ready for my run, then off to a movie for the night! +3
Overtime +3 - Saturday 7/30 - Long walk and core! Down to one workout left!
Overtime +4- Sunday 7/31 - Warrior Dash Sunday! Holy moly this should count as 10 workouts all by itself! Hot hot hot hot hot hot! Am soooooo glad I finished it though!
DONE! 90 days of exercise plus an extra 4 days to hash things out... off to The Melting Pot for our reward!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Days 81-87
Day 81- Monday 7/18 - What a Monday! My house is being worked on by the roofers.... been waiting since April to get my overhead fixed. Finally! Worked out at the gym, did chest, back, arms, shoulders and abs....
Day 82- Tuesday 7/19 - *grumble* My roof was supposed to be finished today... guess what? They aren't... and it's a bit hard to get outside and do some final trimming of my bushes and go for a walk when nails are strewn about and things could fall on you any minute. Where'd I leave my hard hat? I did about 30 minutes of Kenpo inside before focusing on other things for the day...
Day 83- Wednesday 7/20 - Doubled up volleyball for the 3rd time in a row - that counts as two workouts! Woot! Down to +10!
Day 84- Thursday 7/21 - Gymnastics class #3 with Kel - improving! I want to try some of those free running/parkour skills.....
Day 85- Friday 7/22 - Headed out early and visited someone recovering from surgery! When I got home I did some stretching to be ready for my run!
Day 86- Saturday 7/23 - Jingle in July run! Whoa it's HOT out! Wanted to double up, but that run wore me out! Onto the HearLife Expo!
Day 87- Sunday 7/24 - Yogaaaaa Sunday! Got up early to knock that out of the park!
Day 82- Tuesday 7/19 - *grumble* My roof was supposed to be finished today... guess what? They aren't... and it's a bit hard to get outside and do some final trimming of my bushes and go for a walk when nails are strewn about and things could fall on you any minute. Where'd I leave my hard hat? I did about 30 minutes of Kenpo inside before focusing on other things for the day...
Day 83- Wednesday 7/20 - Doubled up volleyball for the 3rd time in a row - that counts as two workouts! Woot! Down to +10!
Day 84- Thursday 7/21 - Gymnastics class #3 with Kel - improving! I want to try some of those free running/parkour skills.....
Day 85- Friday 7/22 - Headed out early and visited someone recovering from surgery! When I got home I did some stretching to be ready for my run!
Day 86- Saturday 7/23 - Jingle in July run! Whoa it's HOT out! Wanted to double up, but that run wore me out! Onto the HearLife Expo!
Day 87- Sunday 7/24 - Yogaaaaa Sunday! Got up early to knock that out of the park!
So, day 87, and +10 exercises to go! I'm not gonna be able to fit 10 in the next couple of days, so I guess it's... OVERTIME!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
PopSci
http://www.popsci.com/science/gallery/2011-07/big-science-universes-ten-most-epic-projects?image=9
I've always been interested in science and how to study the world around us. I'm an avid reader of Popular Science, which while often carries articles that are a bit far-fetched at times, does contain a solid reporting track in bleeding edge research. One such article from the recent magazine publication is the "World's Top 10 Most Epic Projects."
These 10 projects are huge collaborations that span hundred and thousands of scientists and engineers, all working together to research some tiny part of the universe. My favorite one is the Earthscope project, which tracks seismology data of North America - to better predict earthquakes and eruptions of volcanoes. That's of vital importance to me because I grew up around earthquakes happening on a regular basis - you could probably feel one or two a month, easily - and there's always that threat of the "Big One" happening that will tear California asunder and eventually move Los Angeles right next door to San Francisco. Of course, that'll still take a million years, but yeah, the commute is already brutal enough today!
Science rules!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Days 74-80
Day 74- Monday 7/11 - Oh no it's Monday again! Ended up working really late and was unable to get any workout time in, ended up walking a pittance too. Argh! +12 exercises with 16 days left!
Day 75- Tuesday 7/12 - Ran to the gym after work but was pressed for time, I had to get to an early HLAA meeting for dinner! Did 30 minutes of chest, pullups, arms and abs, then cleaned up and had some Mi Ranchito goodness with the gang! Brain and brawn food! ;-)
Day 76- Wednesday 7/13 - Doubled up volleyball - that counts as two workouts! Woot! Down to +11!
Day 77- Thursday 7/14 - Gymnastics class #2 with Kel - fun! Focused on improving my cartwheels so that I could face one way then face 180 degrees from where I started - haven't quite got them down yet, but next week I will!
Day 78- Friday 7/15 - Did some back and biceps and abs for about 30 minutes. Still need to get up to a full hour for a real workout!
Day 79- Saturday 7/16 - Took a long walk between dinner and frozen yogurt dessert! That was fun, discovering a hidden middle school that I never realized existed in my neighborhood....
Day 80- Sunday 7/17 - Yogaaaaa Sunday! It was nice to get in some vinyasas and moving asanas... then some streeeeeetching! Headed out to a pool party then watching some USA women's soccer at the World Cup! Go USA! So close this time, girls!
So, day 80, my goodness it's close to reward time! I can't wait to catch up on my +11 exercises as soon as I can so I can complete my goal of 90 days of exercising since May!
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