Super delicious

Do you want to know what is super delicious? I'll tell you.

It's this for lunch:

Whip up tuna salad real quick in the morning (with not too much mayo, but the real stuff, no fat free crap) with diced scallions mixed in (I would have added relish, but I couldn't find it in the fridge).

Boil a cup and a half (a cup seemed like too little and two cups seemed like too much) of whole wheat pasta. Drain, run cold water over. Put in Tupperware container.

Go outside into your yard and snip some parsley and some chives. Cut these into tiny bits and add to the tuna salad.

While outside, pick any ripe cherry tomatoes. Be sad that there are only four today. Examine pepper plant and be tempted to pick one. But be strong! It's turning red, but it's not there yet. Patience is a virtue.

Mix herbs into salad and then spoon salad onto pasta. Place tomatoes on top.

Bring in to the office and enjoy audibly (ie, lots of saying "mmmmm!" and "your lunch sucks compared to mine!")

The big dilemma

This is a dilemma that occupies too much of my brain, often when I'm walking by myself.

I fear that I'm going to be saying this too much nowadays, but, once again, "as Elizabeth Gilber wrote"... now that I'm in my early 30s, it seems like having a child soon is the prudent thing to do, mainly because now is the right time, biologically. I don't even know if this is the same thing as a biological clock. Isn't the biological clock the irrational feeling that you desperately want a baby, no matter if your life is ready?

I know, I know. My life is as ready as it absolutely needs to be. I'm happily married. We are both employed, etc. etc.

But we are so not ready!!! Maybe a few more, just to get the point across:!!!!!

But then I second guess myself and I think, well, maybe I think I'm not ready, but really that's just fear. But I'm not supposed to be afraid of the things I'm afraid of. Aside from the normal fear of pushing a slippery bag of cat food out my hoohoo (give or take a few pounds, hopefully take), I am seriously afraid of not getting enough sleep, having to get up really early after not having gotten enough sleep, falling asleep in my soup because of being overly tired, being way more cranky than I already am, due to extreme fatigue.

Aside from the sleep deprivation (a very real fear, I'm not making this up), there is the one about having to be on a strict schedule. Currently, I leave work when I feel like it. If I slack off a little bit during the day, I simply stay an extra hour. My job is not geared toward leaving work at 5 o'clock on the dot to rush home to pick up Junior at daycare. I've never had a job like that, actually. How does that even work? I guess one has to start the workday much earlier. And give up exercising in the morning, for sure. People with kids, it seems, go to the gym at lunch or take their kids with them to the gym, if they are so lucky as to belong to a gym with a daycare. That right there is depressing enough. I hate gyms.

And then there is this. I spend how many hours at home awake during the work week? Three per night, maybe? Assuming I did change my schedule so that I'm home at 6, then there are maybe 4 hours in the evening before I crash because presumably I'll be getting up before dawn in this wonderful babyful fantasy world.

Four hours per night is not a lot. And it's less than four hours spent with the kid, since the kid presumably will not go to bed at 10, although I guess you never know. Why do we want to throw our lives into chaos, just so that we can shuffle the kid off to daycare?

Of course I don't want to quit my job to have a kid. I haven't accomplished anything of note in my "career" yet, so why would I give it all up now? I say, oh well all I have to do is get a freelance gig going so that I can still work. Oh sure, easy enough. And people at work are always lobbying to get the one day a week where they work from home. As if that makes it all worthwhile! So one day a week the person is not giving work or the kid their full attention. Perfect situation!

Jeff and I don't want to give up traveling or eating out at nice restaurants. And I don't want to be the person who hasn't bought new shoes in years because all the money goes toward the kid.

So, does this all add up to our not really wanting kids??? Aren't we supposed to feel this incredible pang to give up everything we hold dear now so that we can instead hold dear a little mewling, puking, shitting infant?

I'm not listening

I'm finally reading Eat, Pray, Love. You know, the book that everyone was reading last year. While many people seem to have very strong opinions on it (including some who haven't read it, ahem, you know who you are), I find it incredibly heart-warming and all those naysayers can go bleat elsewhere. There is absolutely nothing to dislike about this book, except maybe that it reminds you that you are unable to take off for a year and travel around the world. Also, it reminds me of a blog. A really well-written and funny blog.

I would have read it before, but I don't like paying full-price for books. I don't like paying full-price for anything, so it's not something I have against books. Yes, yes, I want the authors to get the money they are due, just like I want the musicians to receive the money they are due. I just don't want to be the one to pay them upwards of $20 for something I will most likely read once and then pass on to someone else. And I definitely do not feel the need to be the first one in my circle of friends to read a book. In fact, I prefer for everyone else to preview it for me. And then I'll get a cast-off copy of it and read it later, after I've heard enough people say it was worthwhile.

I am pretty certain that in no other country besides the US will you see a person carrying a canvas bag that says, "This is my plastic bag," or "I'm saving the Earth" or whatever. I want to go up to those people and give them a pat on the back and a "yay for you." Wouldn't they rather carry a bag with a pretty design?

Finally, I would like to point out that K-mart has once again introduced me to a fabulous new candy product: the dark chocolate mint Three Muskateers. It is lighter than a Peppermint Patty and less like brushing your teeth followed by eating chocolate (not that that is a bad thing, in fact, I'm all for it). The mint is more of a hint. All in all, two chocolatey thumbs up.

Also, I have taken up uttering again.

Three for Saturday

I ran for 40 minutes this morning and it felt great. I didn't know if I'd make it, but I did and I didn't even feel that tired afterward. I don't remember the last time I ran for that long. Every time I start running again, I seem to level out at 30 minutes and then keep with that time until I get out of the habit of running again. Earlier in the week I went for 35 minutes and it seemed like no big deal, so I figured I would up my time again and see how it went. The only problem with running longer is that I'll have to get up earlier on the weekdays.

I'm not saying that I'm breaking any records here. My speed is only a 9.5 min. mile. It wound up being 4.2 miles.

We had cherry tomatoes from our garden with our lunch and they were so super delicious. I have been trying the Andy Anchev method of not watering the plant very much so that it produces more intensely flavorful tomatoes. It must be working because they are incredible tasting. Of course, the fact that we grew them ourselves makes them that much more delicious.

Also, the plant is about 7 feet tall. It keeps growing and growing. It is taking over the herb/veggie patch. There are some chives that I planted next to the tiny tomato plant back in May or April or whenever it was and they are completely hidden. They don't sweem to mind, however.

Peppers (sweet ones) are growing and growing, too, but they refuse to change from pale yellow. I don't know what their deal is.

We are off to Sugarloaf and to the drive-in tonight. Double feature of Step Brothers and Pineapple Express.

New drink

There is a restaurant in Jersey City that advertises $4 Margheritas during happy hour. Have they invented a new drink or are they just not good at spelling?

If they haven't invented this drink, I think someone should try it. It would be made with tomato juice and basil and the alcohol would presumably be vodka. Would little mozzarella balls be overkill?

Where are all the hats?

Firstly: I got my hair cut short. I cannot say enough how much I love it. Okay, it's not super short, but it's above my shoulders. It's just longer than my chin, I'd say. It curls up great and it dries super fast. The real test was taking my hair with me on a flight to Texas. Both coming and going, when I got off the plane, my hair STILL looked great. This is not usually the case for me. The dry airplane air tends to cause all the curl to fall out and my hair to go completely flat and limp. But my shorter hair can withstand the power of the plane air! Now I just need to get a tattoo on my forehead that says DON'T GROW OUT YOUR HAIR because I tend to forget these things because it is tempting to want to be able to put it into a ponytail.

As for Texas, I was not impressed. Well, all I saw was Houston. I did not see a single cowboy. Not even a 10-gallon hat or even any cowboy boots with a suit. I also did not get any good Tex-Mex.

I went to a place called Cabo near my hotel that the concierge recommended (bad choice, I know). The salsa was great and the bartender was nice (he told me his life story and I barely got a word in edgewise). But the chicken tamale was the worst I've ever had. It was dry and did not have chunks of chicken. It was like a chicken roll wrapped in a leaf. I can get a way better tamale right here in Jersey City at Taqueria. And the tortilla soup was greasy. Maybe I just ordered wrong? The Shiner Bock amber was on tap for $3.75, so I drank two of those. It was a little tasteless for an amber, though.

Houston has tunnels underneath the downtown area so that you can avoid the heat. Although when you come out and have to still walk 3 blocks to reach your destination, you get just as sweaty.

I was in Houston for a training along with another department. It made me realize how nice it would be to be part of a department that is in this country. Only so much comraderie can be created over email.

Amtrak again

I'm heading back to DC on Amtrak for the second time this week. This time it's to pick up furniture from my granddad's estate.

Things that are of interest:

- the number of people who use a thin plastic sac for an overnight bag

- the number of women who wear painted-on denim shorts that don't use much more fabric than underwears

- the number of Wachovia ads in the Newark station and the complete lack of Wachovia ATMs

Quiet car

Thirty seconds after getting on Amtrak's quiet car, a suit was on his cellphone. The conversation concerned a good deal on a $100 watch and the fact that his had cost much more than that.

The conductor made an announcement over the intercom that in the quiet car no cell phones or loud conversations are permitted.

The man sitting across the aisle from me leaned in my direction and said in a stage whisper, "this car is a godsend!"

As the ticket agent passed through the aisle collecting tickets, a man could be heard from the other end of the car, possibly $100 watch man. He was leaving someone a message, stating the time and requesting the person call him back.

"I hear a voice!" the ticket agent said in an upbeat manner while walking toward the voice. "Sorry," the man said. "I had my headphones on when the announcement was made."

Toronto time

In the Pantages hotel where we are staying in Toronto:

-there is an incredibly long sink in the bathroom but only a tiny bit of counter space
-there is a fountain inside a tall pot of sticks
-there is an air cleaning machine
-the hallways are very dimly lit, like a club
-there are no free outlets except behind the TV

We thought the fountain would be distracting as we slept. Jeff thought it also might make him have to get up and pee a lot. But in fact, it's incredibly relaxing and we both fell asleep in record time. I thought fountains were tacky, but now I kind of want one.

Our only real plans while we are here are to eat and drink, to see Kate Musgrove, and walk around. Any specific recommendations?

ps: The Oasis restaurant has been renovated and is now tan on the outside, not that lovely blue. It was an unfortunate decision on their part.

Best for last

I took a break from the albums project due to forgetfulness more than anything. Although the week before father's day, when I stayed up until 3am one weeknight creating a scrapbook to give to my dad, I plowed through plenty of albums. I am totally over Chris Isaak, I'll tell you that much. I know this will sound blasphemous to some, but I'm saying it anyway. I used to love him so, so, so much. And now, just not so much. Now he sounds whiny to me. It kind of makes me sad to have come to this realization because I remember how much I used to savor him. And it also makes me sad because I shelled out so much dough on his albums. Oh well. More room on my iPod for new stuff.

Here are some things that are delicious that I did not previously eat:

- 3 blueberries speared on a fork and swept through a little Cool Whip
- Laughing Cow cheese spread on Wasa crackers (okay, calling that delicious is going a little far, but it's not as bad as I would have thought, by any means)
- carrot sticks. Yes, I had eaten carrot sticks before, but not very often and I kept forgetting how good they are. I need to specify that baby carrots are gross. I'm talking about big carrots cut into smaller pieces or even just one big carrot, gnawed on, bunny-style. (That sounds dirty.)
- turkey pastrami

This is by no means the least important thing I have to tell you. I don't know why I saved it for last. This morning we discovered cat pee coming through our ceiling from the condo above us. How fun is that? Not very fun at all! Booie was howling and she tracked it around before we realized what was going on. Then we thought she had made the puddle we saw on the floor. And then Jeff spotted yellow droplets way up by the ceiling on the heating pipes. I am just thankful that a) Booie didn't do it and b) that Booie does not have another UTI and c) if repairs need to be made, we will not be responsible for paying for them. Otherwise, I am enjoying telling people about this and seeing their reaction. And I'm not going to worry at this time about what our apartment may smell like come winter if it is not properly cleaned up. There is very likely cat pee inside our walls.