Lately, I have neglected my blog. I have all of these aspirations of what I want my blog to be and needless to say my follow through is lacking. I want my blog to be a daily refection of my thoughts. What is going on in my mind and how it is responding to my life.
So here are some Thursday thoughts:
I love Chinese food. As much as I love all food I'm pretty sure I could live on Chinese food and tacos and be a happy camper.
I am looking forward to going to my Mom's house tonight to eat tacos and watch Love Actually.
I used to hate The Office, I didn't think it was funny and Michael just stressed me out, but it has wormed it's way into my heart and now I love it.
We once again have no Internet or cable. We temporarily had Internet but once again decided against it. There is something really refreshing about coming home to no Internet or TV. It forces you to interact, read, walk, clean house, visit with friends and so on.
Don't get me wrong we still watch TV. We check out TV shows from the library. Right now we are watching Myth Busters, The Office, Cheers, and Gilmore Girls (I am, Mr. P refuses).
I am adjusting to my job. I still love it and find it stressful, but I feel like I am returning bit by bit to my normal home life. I'm reading more, picking up more, walking. This is good. For the first couple of months it was just work work work collapse.
I found my dream couch at crate and barrel this weekend then almost started crying when the sales girl told me it was being discontinued. So sad.
I am having a really hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I honestly feel like it is just one more thing I have to do. And I am having a hard time focusing on the true holiday. This is really sad, I know. I'm not even sending out Christmas cards this year. I am however looking forward Christmas Eve service and getting out of town for a few days.
Tomorrow is the third day in a row I have to be at work by 7am. Needless to say, I am super excited for Saturday and some extra sleep!
Showing posts with label this and that. Show all posts
Showing posts with label this and that. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
This and That
Yesterday evening I took a piping HOT BATH, put on FLANNEL pajama pants and my college sweatshirt, settled on the couch under a WOOL blanket in front of the ROARING WOOD STOVE. Now I ask, what is wrong with this picture???
The date yesterday was June 16, that is what's wrong with this picture. The weather continues to be very unpleasant. I thought summer had finally arrived after a warm beautiful weekend. Clearly, however, I was mistaken.
Recently during my many evening huddled under said wool blanket in front of the fire I read this book:
I have read a couple of books by Jane Kirkpatrick. She is from Oregon and her books are usually historical novels based on historical accounts of pioneers. Something you should know about me is I love pioneers. I love history, I am a complete geek in this sense, but I especially love the history of where I live, my ancestors and people and places I am familiar with. Having grown up in Oregon in a family very proud of their history coming west on the Oregon trail has made these sorts of stories especially interesting to me. Plus pioneers are very cool. First they had the guts to leave everything they knew and travel an dangerous exhausting journey across the country in a Wagon. Second they had to live in and out of that wagon for 4 months. Third they had to know how to cultivate the new land, build everything they needed, trade with Native Americans and so much more.
While I enjoy the history and the stories in her books I don't think Jane Kirkpatrick is that impressive of a writer. However, I think her subject matter makes up for it and I still find her books enjoyable. A Sweetness of the Soul was especially interesting because it took place along the Colombia Gorge. The book is full of descriptions of the wild landscape before the damn where put into place. This book also talks a lot about the Native American tribes who lived along the gorge. The descriptions of Salmon fishing were pretty incredible. All and all I would recommend the book especially if you are familiar with central Oregon and the gorge or like me you think pioneers are cool.
Lastly, look at this great picture Jessica took this weekend of our husbands fixing something in our car:
Aren't they funny? Mr. P is in the green and Mr. Wilson is in the blue.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Updates
With so much going on and so many changes I feel like I have left a lot of fragments on this blog that I want to catch up on.
1. My reading challenge: As you may remember from this post I have challenged myself to read all the books we own that I haven't read before I buy any more new books. I made a list of all the books (this does not include philosophy books of Mr. P's that I don't want to read or college text books) we own that I haven't read. It is a long list. Out of about 630 books we own there are about 200 I haven't read. I am working off that list in no particular order. So far I have read, The Joy Luck Club, West with the Night, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath and Sweetness to the Soul.
2. Our House: We are much more settled in our house and are absolutely loving it. When I first posted about living in a house with another couple I got a lot of comments asking to hear how it works. Well so far it's wonderful. The one thing I was worried about going into this living situation was getting enough space and quite. While I did grow up in a big family I have never lived with a lot of people since leaving home. It helps a lot that our house is so spacious and has a large yard. Each couple has two rooms, a bedroom and a study, to themselves. The shared spaces are large enough that everyone has a place to be. Some evenings the Wilson's watch a movie in the family room while Mr. P and I read in the living room. If the guys have friends over and I want to go hide I can retreat into the our study or bedroom for quite time. The yard is enormous and offers plenty of room for going off and being alone.
One of my favorite things about living in a house with other people is the division of labor. We do all the food combined as a household. Jessica and I sit down and figure out which nights we are cooking and make a menu. We each cook three nights and Mr. P cooks one night. Once we have a menu and schedule worked out we make a grocery list and go to the store. We have a set food budget for the house that each couple contributes to it is divided to give us a weekly budget. Then whoever cooks dinner also cleans the kitchen. This way if it's your night off from cooking it's also your night off from dishes giving you a true night off. I love this! I have also found that because I'm cooking three nights a week instead of seven I have much more energy for cooking projects outside my dinner nights. It is also nice to have the variety of what the other person chooses to make. Jessica often chooses foods to make that I wouldn't have chosen and visa versa. We also divide regular household chores. Each person has a household chore group each week with one week off. The chores are: deep clean kitchen, dust, sweep and clean floors, and sweep and tidy porch, patio, walkways and drive. Then the bathrooms are a rotating every other week schedule. I feel like I spend much less time cleaning house and yet live in a cleaner house.
3. Gardening: Because the torrents of rain continued last week we still haven't planted our garden. Although our beds are ready and we have all of the starts and seeds ready to go in. It is going to be a later garden but such is the case for everyone in Eugene. Our garden beds are beautiful. It may be a strange thing to say about dirt but it very true. We will start planting this evening. We are planting tomatoes, cayenne and habenero peppers, fava beans, green beans, peas, chard, collards and mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce and acorn squash. That is just our summer garden. Mid summer we will plant fall crops as well. Eventually we plan to have a year round garden.
I hope to get some pictures soon to share of our wonderful house.
1. My reading challenge: As you may remember from this post I have challenged myself to read all the books we own that I haven't read before I buy any more new books. I made a list of all the books (this does not include philosophy books of Mr. P's that I don't want to read or college text books) we own that I haven't read. It is a long list. Out of about 630 books we own there are about 200 I haven't read. I am working off that list in no particular order. So far I have read, The Joy Luck Club, West with the Night, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath and Sweetness to the Soul.
2. Our House: We are much more settled in our house and are absolutely loving it. When I first posted about living in a house with another couple I got a lot of comments asking to hear how it works. Well so far it's wonderful. The one thing I was worried about going into this living situation was getting enough space and quite. While I did grow up in a big family I have never lived with a lot of people since leaving home. It helps a lot that our house is so spacious and has a large yard. Each couple has two rooms, a bedroom and a study, to themselves. The shared spaces are large enough that everyone has a place to be. Some evenings the Wilson's watch a movie in the family room while Mr. P and I read in the living room. If the guys have friends over and I want to go hide I can retreat into the our study or bedroom for quite time. The yard is enormous and offers plenty of room for going off and being alone.
One of my favorite things about living in a house with other people is the division of labor. We do all the food combined as a household. Jessica and I sit down and figure out which nights we are cooking and make a menu. We each cook three nights and Mr. P cooks one night. Once we have a menu and schedule worked out we make a grocery list and go to the store. We have a set food budget for the house that each couple contributes to it is divided to give us a weekly budget. Then whoever cooks dinner also cleans the kitchen. This way if it's your night off from cooking it's also your night off from dishes giving you a true night off. I love this! I have also found that because I'm cooking three nights a week instead of seven I have much more energy for cooking projects outside my dinner nights. It is also nice to have the variety of what the other person chooses to make. Jessica often chooses foods to make that I wouldn't have chosen and visa versa. We also divide regular household chores. Each person has a household chore group each week with one week off. The chores are: deep clean kitchen, dust, sweep and clean floors, and sweep and tidy porch, patio, walkways and drive. Then the bathrooms are a rotating every other week schedule. I feel like I spend much less time cleaning house and yet live in a cleaner house.
3. Gardening: Because the torrents of rain continued last week we still haven't planted our garden. Although our beds are ready and we have all of the starts and seeds ready to go in. It is going to be a later garden but such is the case for everyone in Eugene. Our garden beds are beautiful. It may be a strange thing to say about dirt but it very true. We will start planting this evening. We are planting tomatoes, cayenne and habenero peppers, fava beans, green beans, peas, chard, collards and mustard greens, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce and acorn squash. That is just our summer garden. Mid summer we will plant fall crops as well. Eventually we plan to have a year round garden.
I hope to get some pictures soon to share of our wonderful house.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Updates
I finished reading this book: 
To be honest I enjoyed the book. However, in the end, I felt some of the plot lines used by the author were in very poor taste given that the book was loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. If I was Laura Bush I would be pretty upset by this book.
We had a lovely weekend with sunshine, jogging with my dear friend Jessica, hanging out with friends and celebrating my Mom's birthday.
Which reminds me...Do you know what happens when you leave the eggs out of cupcakes? Very funny things, that's what. For my Mom's birthday Jess was supposed to do the cake but she forgot the eggs in the cupcakes and then they were very crumbly and wouldn't stand up. It turned out to cause everyone a lot of amusement so in the end it was okay.
Now I am reading The Shipping News by Annie Proux. So far it is a little slow but I have high hopes it will pick up because many people have raved about this book to me.
How about you? Reading anything delightful right now?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Red lipstick and a Fedora
1. I am wearing a Fedora and red lipstick as I type. It's my Halloween costume. Actually it's not my actual Halloween costume. My actual costume, a little lame, is a flapper. Mr. P and I are going to a Halloween costume party Friday night as a flapper and a 1920's gangster. But I have to dress up for a work Halloween function tonight and I didn't want to wear my skimpy flapper costume to a work function I'm going as the 20's gangster. Hence the Fedora. I am also sporting men's dress shoes, baggy black slacks with a white blouse and suspenders. I am throwing in the red lipstick for good measure!
2. The weekend away was so nice. I read a lot and I ate soup and watched the fire and played with my darling little cousins who are 2 and 4 and so cute.
3. I am reading a really good book. It is called the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I would highly recommend it.
4. Remember my lacto-fermendted corn relish. Last night for dinner I dredged thin cut pork chops in masa and fried them in a skilled and then topped them with the corn relish. It was super easy, fast and delicious.
5. Daylight savings is next this weekend and I am very happy as I love daylight savings. I am particularly looking forward to sleeping in Sunday and Monday with my extra hour.
2. The weekend away was so nice. I read a lot and I ate soup and watched the fire and played with my darling little cousins who are 2 and 4 and so cute.
3. I am reading a really good book. It is called the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I would highly recommend it.
4. Remember my lacto-fermendted corn relish. Last night for dinner I dredged thin cut pork chops in masa and fried them in a skilled and then topped them with the corn relish. It was super easy, fast and delicious.
5. Daylight savings is next this weekend and I am very happy as I love daylight savings. I am particularly looking forward to sleeping in Sunday and Monday with my extra hour.
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