2013 ended up being a pretty great year for me. I wanted to do one of those year in review memes to commemorate it, but I've only been able to find one and I don't really like the questions on it. So instead I'll just do a quick review of all the awesome things that happened in this past year.
In January I started a new job that I love completely. The commute is shorter, which means I have more time at home. I'm focused on a single project instead of juggling 4-5 at a time. And I actually work in the same building as my coworkers which has made it much easier to foster relationships and stay up to date and visible within the company. Switching was absolutely the right move.
But before I started that job, I took two weeks off from work and spent the days reading, watching TV, cleaning, and playing with Kina. At the end of this, Kevin's entire family came to Virginia to see his cousin perform at the Kennedy Center, and we hosted a large dinner for everyone. I only got a little stressed during this, and hosting large dinners started to become more exciting than stressful.
In March I committed to training for a 5K that my company was hosting in May. I didn't end up finishing that 5K for a few reasons, but I did run it. And running in general became something I'm a little more comfortable with. I still can't go out and run for a mile or two (or three or four), but I can do intervals for 20-25 minutes. Maybe someday I'll stop injuring myself and be able to stick to a training plan long enough to make more progress.
In April our friend Chev came to visit GW and we had mini college reunion. Chev ultimately decided to go graduate school in Boston, but the weekend was still pretty epic. And we haven't given up hope that she'll move to DC.
In May we went to our actual college reunion where Kevin proposed and I said yes. We've been planning the wedding in spurts ever since and are looking forward to making everything officially legal next year.
In July Jen came and stayed with us for a week while she looked for an apartment and a job in DC. She moved here shortly thereafter. A couple of weeks later, Zach and Sarah followed suit, and now we have all sorts of friends in DC. This has probably been very bad for our livers, but it's been excellent for our social calendars.
In the midst of all this we flew out to California for Ben and Autumn's epic wedding weekend. It's almost refreshing to know that our own wedding will never live up to theirs because it takes some of the pressure off. We also used the trip to visit Danielle and Eric, see their new house, and meet their dogs. Well, the one we hadn't met yet.
In September my mom flew out for a weekend and we went wedding dress shopping. It didn't take me too long to hone in on one I liked; Kevin's mom was impressed with my decisiveness. Even though the trip was short, we had fun visiting
October was an incredibly full month. We threw a dinner party to celebrate Sarah's completion of her PhD and Zach's birthday. My brother came to visit and we all went to the Renaissance Festival. Then we threw the annual Halloweiner, during which 13 people ended up sleeping at our house. Next year we need to get more beer and less meat, though.
In November I tore a ligament in my knee, because no year can actually be perfect. I went through physical therapy and it ended up healing fairly quickly. The saddest part was that I had to stop going to the gym for a while, but I was able to postpone my personal training sessions until after I healed. It shouldn't be too hard to get back on track in January.
My dad, brother, and cousin all came to stay with us for Thanksgiving. We spent the days playing games, cooking, eating, drinking, and hanging out. Then Kevin and I flew out to Colorado to spend Christmas with my family there.
We closed out the year, as has become tradition, at a party hosted by Zach and Sarah. I'm looking forward to even more awesome things happening next year.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Soup 4: Apple, Onion, and Cheddar
For Christmas, my mom got me a cookbook of soup recipes. I kind of stopped making soup when the insanity of the holidays kicked in, but I thought I'd get one more in before the end of the year. I chose this one to go with the turkey Kevin made for dinner last night, so we should have some good leftovers this week.
The recipe in the book said it made 12 servings, so I decided to halve it. Although for some ingredients it was closer to 2/3. It came out pretty good in the end, though. The nice thing about soups is that nothing has to be too exact.
Okay, that's way more cheese than the recipe called for. What can I say? I like cheese.
The recipe in the book said it made 12 servings, so I decided to halve it. Although for some ingredients it was closer to 2/3. It came out pretty good in the end, though. The nice thing about soups is that nothing has to be too exact.
The first step is to melt some butter on the stove while you slice the onions nice and thin.
Then sauté the onions with some garlic in the butter for about 25 minutes. While that's cooking, peel and slice your a apples and get the broth, cider, and spices ready.
The liquid base in this soup is three parts chicken broth, one part apple cider, to which I added a bit more apple cider.
The recipe called for 5 onions and 4 apples, which is hard to halve while getting the proportions right. Next time I'll either use less onion slices or another apple. Or maybe I'll just make the full recipe and find a way to eat it all.
Once the onions are nice and soft, add the apples and sauté for five more minutes.
Then add the liquids and spices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, then cover and let it simmer for 40 minutes. This soup smells delicious, and unlike anything I've ever cooked before. Though that's probably because this was the first time I used carroway seeds in anything.
While that's simmering, you can grate the cheeses. One cup of cheddar and 1/8 cup of Parmesan. You also need some heavy cream.
When the soup is done simmering, remove it from the heat and add the dairy. Stir until it's all melted, then salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup back to a simmer for a few minutes before serving. This tasted delicious, though I may need to chop the onions a little smaller next time. Or not. They ended up looking more like noodles than anything else.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Christmas Vacation
This year Kevin and I went out to Colorado for a whirlwind holiday trip with my family.
We flew out Saturday and got to my mom's in time for a late dinner. Then in the morning we woke up and went out to buy food for Christmas dinner. Then we met my dad at a local Steelers bar to watch the last quarter of the Redskins game. We stuck around for the first half of the Steelers game, which was an experience. I hadn't ever realized that their fight song includes a brag about going to the Super Bowl.
That night we made spaghetti and sausage for dinner and Connor's girlfriend came over. After she left, we opened presents and played some Scrabble on the super fancy board my dad got for Kevin and I. The next day was devoted to Pinocchle and cooking, with a trip to see American Hustle. For dinner we had a pot roast, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and lots of wine.
On Tuesday morning there was more Pinocchle, then we went to my aunt's house for dinner. She always does a big Turkey dinner, and this year there were enough people to warrant two turkeys. After we did presents with her husband's side of the family, we went back to my mom's house and opened presents with her.
On Christmas morning we woke up and puttered around for a while. Then Kevin and I started cooking the leg of lamb for Christmas dinner. My mom's sisters and a few of my cousins came over for more food, wine, visiting, and, of course, presents. We do a bunch of little gift exchanges, which I've come to prefer to one big gift exchange. It's more intimate with each group, it's easier to remember who gave and received what, and there's always a bit more to look forward to.
Boxing Day was mostly devoted to washing dishes and nursing hangovers. We rewatched the entire fourth season of Community while addressing wedding invitations. Then Kevin took a nap while Connor and I watched several episodes of Revenge.
On Friday my aunt threw a wedding shower brunch for Kevin and I. She made a delicious quiche omelet hybrid and there were plenty of mimosas and pool on their new-old table. That night we took my mom out for a nice steak dinner for her birthday.
As I said, the week was a whirlwind of family, food, and alcohol. It's always fun to see everyone, but it's also nice to get home and relax a bit before heading back to work.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Registering for Gifts
As you can tell, Kevin and I did a lot of wedding-related stuff last weekend. One of the strangest and most fun things we did was registering for wedding gifts.
We started at Crate and Barrel. We've received several sets of glassware from them as gifts over the years. I love that they sell everything separately, so we can easily replace broken glasses. I wanted to have the same flexibility with plates and flatware, so we went there looking for those things. We also found some small kitchen tools that we never quite got around to buying for ourselves.
Setting up the registry at Crate and Barrel was really easy. A lady gave us a scanner and showed us how to use it. There were kiosks set up throughout the store where we could use the scanner to set up our registry once we were done "shopping". I really appreciated the hands-off approach, because that's how I prefer to shop.
After Crate and Barrel we went to Macy's where there's a bigger selection and some higher quality products. The experience was really different there, as we were assigned an associate who helped us set up the registry. I always find this annoying because I'd mostly rather not be forced to interact with someone when I'm shopping. It didn't help that he was never actually around when we had questions, so the whole thing seemed a little silly.
Macy's has a ton of programs that we didn't sign up for because they made me feel greedy. For example, you can link a Macy's credit card to your account. Then 10% of every gift purchased through the registry comes back to you as cash. There are also a variety of bonus gifts that can be added on when you hit a goal amount in a certain brand. The whole thing made me feel vaguely uncomfortable, and we tried to avoid it. But we did end up adding a set of pots and pans that, if bought at full price, will result in a bonus frying pan. So we'll see what happens with that.
We're also unsure about how to add a few things to the registry. We could always use more serving dishes and utensils, but we don't have strong opinions about what those look like. In fact, we'd prefer an eclectic collection that represents our families and friends as much as ourselves. Likewise with artwork. It would be cool to have a few things to hang on the wall or put on a shelf, but we'd almost prefer for those to reflect the people we know and love rather than ourselves. Most of the chotchkies we already own are reminiscent of specific people, like Kevin's grandmother's lighthouse collection, or the angel I received as a gift from the family I stayed with in Mexico. These are things we'd never buy for ourselves, but they have a lot of meaning because of where they came from.
Aside from these two registries, we're also in the process of creating a honeymoon registry. The idea behind these is that someone can pay for a meal or a night in a hotel during your honeymoon. Since Kevin and I already have so much of the home stuff we need, this seems perfect for us. We still need to figure out some of the details before we can pull that together, but we have time. I don't think the registries need to be completely done until the invitations go out.
We started at Crate and Barrel. We've received several sets of glassware from them as gifts over the years. I love that they sell everything separately, so we can easily replace broken glasses. I wanted to have the same flexibility with plates and flatware, so we went there looking for those things. We also found some small kitchen tools that we never quite got around to buying for ourselves.
Setting up the registry at Crate and Barrel was really easy. A lady gave us a scanner and showed us how to use it. There were kiosks set up throughout the store where we could use the scanner to set up our registry once we were done "shopping". I really appreciated the hands-off approach, because that's how I prefer to shop.
After Crate and Barrel we went to Macy's where there's a bigger selection and some higher quality products. The experience was really different there, as we were assigned an associate who helped us set up the registry. I always find this annoying because I'd mostly rather not be forced to interact with someone when I'm shopping. It didn't help that he was never actually around when we had questions, so the whole thing seemed a little silly.
Macy's has a ton of programs that we didn't sign up for because they made me feel greedy. For example, you can link a Macy's credit card to your account. Then 10% of every gift purchased through the registry comes back to you as cash. There are also a variety of bonus gifts that can be added on when you hit a goal amount in a certain brand. The whole thing made me feel vaguely uncomfortable, and we tried to avoid it. But we did end up adding a set of pots and pans that, if bought at full price, will result in a bonus frying pan. So we'll see what happens with that.
We're also unsure about how to add a few things to the registry. We could always use more serving dishes and utensils, but we don't have strong opinions about what those look like. In fact, we'd prefer an eclectic collection that represents our families and friends as much as ourselves. Likewise with artwork. It would be cool to have a few things to hang on the wall or put on a shelf, but we'd almost prefer for those to reflect the people we know and love rather than ourselves. Most of the chotchkies we already own are reminiscent of specific people, like Kevin's grandmother's lighthouse collection, or the angel I received as a gift from the family I stayed with in Mexico. These are things we'd never buy for ourselves, but they have a lot of meaning because of where they came from.
Aside from these two registries, we're also in the process of creating a honeymoon registry. The idea behind these is that someone can pay for a meal or a night in a hotel during your honeymoon. Since Kevin and I already have so much of the home stuff we need, this seems perfect for us. We still need to figure out some of the details before we can pull that together, but we have time. I don't think the registries need to be completely done until the invitations go out.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Invitations
Kevin and I spent Sunday morning on the couch figuring out our wedding invitations. I really love that my iPad made it so easy to do this, because I'm not sure it would have gotten done otherwise. Both of us have set up our computers such that it's difficult for two people to be working on them at once.
Back in the Spring I rather impulsively picked some stationary for our save the dates. This didn't necessarily lock us into a specific design, but it was certainly easier to just go with it. Especially since neither of us had particularly strong feelings about paper.
Putting together invitations was surprisingly difficult, though. We went back and forth about whether we needed enclosure cards and place cards. It took us forever to figure out the wording we wanted in places. We also had to put in a special request because the RSVP card only had places for three entree choices and we have four entree choices. This may be the most ridiculous rich person problem I've ever encountered.
Ultimately we figured out what we needed to order and what we wanted everything to say. We'll get a proof of the design back in about a week, and after we approve that the invitations will be shipped to us. I'm hoping to have them in the mail by early-mid January, so keep an eye out for them next month.
This whole thing is really starting to come together. I'm getting excited!
Back in the Spring I rather impulsively picked some stationary for our save the dates. This didn't necessarily lock us into a specific design, but it was certainly easier to just go with it. Especially since neither of us had particularly strong feelings about paper.
Putting together invitations was surprisingly difficult, though. We went back and forth about whether we needed enclosure cards and place cards. It took us forever to figure out the wording we wanted in places. We also had to put in a special request because the RSVP card only had places for three entree choices and we have four entree choices. This may be the most ridiculous rich person problem I've ever encountered.
Ultimately we figured out what we needed to order and what we wanted everything to say. We'll get a proof of the design back in about a week, and after we approve that the invitations will be shipped to us. I'm hoping to have them in the mail by early-mid January, so keep an eye out for them next month.
This whole thing is really starting to come together. I'm getting excited!
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Honeymoon plans
We bought our tickets for the honeymoon, which means I'm starting to get really excited about it. We'll be in Europe for two weeks, splitting the time between Barcelona, Paris, and Ireland. There are so many things we have planned that I'm super excited about.
We'll spend some time exploring Barcelona, and probably get in any beach time Kevin wants while we're there. We're planning to take an overnight train from Barcelona to Paris, because traveling by train is fun and it will give us a chance to see some of the countryside. We're going to tour the Aran Islands and check out a distillery or two in Ireland. We're also definitely going to spend a night in a castle.
Beyond that, I'm hoping we'll have a lot of time to just relax and wander around. Go to some bars and see some local music. Soak up the fact that we won't have any responsibilities for two whole weeks.
I'm also really excited because the flights to and from Europe aren't actually that long. Every time I've gone, I've been living farther west, so the travel takes a whole day each way. But the flights we booked are comparable to flights from DC to California, time-wise. It's still a good chunk of time, but it doesn't feel quite as daunting as I was expecting. Europe is so close!
We'll spend some time exploring Barcelona, and probably get in any beach time Kevin wants while we're there. We're planning to take an overnight train from Barcelona to Paris, because traveling by train is fun and it will give us a chance to see some of the countryside. We're going to tour the Aran Islands and check out a distillery or two in Ireland. We're also definitely going to spend a night in a castle.
Beyond that, I'm hoping we'll have a lot of time to just relax and wander around. Go to some bars and see some local music. Soak up the fact that we won't have any responsibilities for two whole weeks.
I'm also really excited because the flights to and from Europe aren't actually that long. Every time I've gone, I've been living farther west, so the travel takes a whole day each way. But the flights we booked are comparable to flights from DC to California, time-wise. It's still a good chunk of time, but it doesn't feel quite as daunting as I was expecting. Europe is so close!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Thanksgiving
Kevin and I hosted Thanksgiving for the second time this year. It was a rousing success, possibly even more than last time. I didn't even get stressed at all!
My dad, brother, and cousin all came in to town for Thanksgiving and stayed with us. Zach, Sarah and Jen also stayed at our house on Thursday so they wouldn't have to drive home after all the wine we drank. And Kevin's mom and her friend came over for dinner, filling out our table nicely.
We had so much food that I was stuffed even without seconds. Kevin grilled the turkey and I made my mom's stuffing recipe. We made two batches of it, one vegetarian-friendly for my cousin. We also did butternut squash and cranberry sauce and olives. Zach and Sarah brought potatoes, cheesy onion bread, gravy, and probably something else. Jen made two different green bean casseroles (with and without bacon) and whole-berry cranberry sauce. Kevin's mom brought pies and my dad took care of the appetizers. There was so much food that we were able to feed everyone staying with us on leftovers for the rest of the weekend. It was pretty impressive.
We also discovered a wealth of things that we can put on our wedding registry. The feast was served on a mix of three different plates. We definitely need a new tablecloth and some actual napkins. There are also a few kitchen tools we've been borrowing from Kevin's mom that we should actually acquire, like a meat thermometer.
After dinner I fell asleep for about an hour, but managed to wake up in time to play Cards Against Humanity and watch the Steelers game. I didn't pay too much attention to the game until the end, which was painful. It seemed like there was an injury every play.
On Friday everyone hung out and played board games and drank beer all day. It was a good way to spend the day after Thanksgiving, when no one really wanted to move yet. I think we've got this whole hosting thing down. I can't wait for the next one - when we'll actually have some matching plates!
My dad, brother, and cousin all came in to town for Thanksgiving and stayed with us. Zach, Sarah and Jen also stayed at our house on Thursday so they wouldn't have to drive home after all the wine we drank. And Kevin's mom and her friend came over for dinner, filling out our table nicely.
We had so much food that I was stuffed even without seconds. Kevin grilled the turkey and I made my mom's stuffing recipe. We made two batches of it, one vegetarian-friendly for my cousin. We also did butternut squash and cranberry sauce and olives. Zach and Sarah brought potatoes, cheesy onion bread, gravy, and probably something else. Jen made two different green bean casseroles (with and without bacon) and whole-berry cranberry sauce. Kevin's mom brought pies and my dad took care of the appetizers. There was so much food that we were able to feed everyone staying with us on leftovers for the rest of the weekend. It was pretty impressive.
We also discovered a wealth of things that we can put on our wedding registry. The feast was served on a mix of three different plates. We definitely need a new tablecloth and some actual napkins. There are also a few kitchen tools we've been borrowing from Kevin's mom that we should actually acquire, like a meat thermometer.
After dinner I fell asleep for about an hour, but managed to wake up in time to play Cards Against Humanity and watch the Steelers game. I didn't pay too much attention to the game until the end, which was painful. It seemed like there was an injury every play.
On Friday everyone hung out and played board games and drank beer all day. It was a good way to spend the day after Thanksgiving, when no one really wanted to move yet. I think we've got this whole hosting thing down. I can't wait for the next one - when we'll actually have some matching plates!
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Silver Linings
On the way home from work last night I decided to stop at Target. When I came back out to my car, it wouldn't start. It wasn't even trying. Turning the key had no effect - no sounds or lights or anything. I called Kevin to come give me a jump and went back inside to buy some jumper cables. So now I finally own jumper cables.
Kevin arrived and we attempted to jump my car. Once again nothing happened. So now we at least knew that the problem wasn't with my relatively new battery. Which is actually kind of a shame, since that battery is still under warranty. We called a tow truck and went to grab dinner while we waited. There was a decent taqueria in the same parking lot as the Target, which was nice.
The car was towed to the shop by our house, which was thankfully still open. While I was figuring out how I would get my car back so I could get to physical therapy on Wednesday, I realized that it sure was lucky I stopped at the Target. If this had happened Wednesday morning, I would have been more or less stranded - able to get to work but not physical therapy. This way I don't have to miss or cancel an appointment.
I also realized that my car is just about due for it's annual safety inspection. Since it's now in the shop anyway, I get to kill two birds with one stone. I likely would have forgotten about this otherwise, with Christmas coming and all. The next time I get a car I need to schedule this inspection for some month other than December. But now I won't get a ticket, so that's good too.
This morning we woke up to learn that nearly every car in our lot had been broken into. It doesn't look like anything was stolen - just teenagers pulling pranks. They dumped all of Kevin's gatorades into the snow. They cut the cord on our neighbor's phone charger but left her crock pot alone. Since my car is in the shop, I managed to dodge that bullet completely, which is something.
Now if only this wasn't costing me the portion of my Christmas bonus I had allocated to new boots. But that's a pretty minor thing to complain about in the long run. All in all this seems to be working out.
Kevin arrived and we attempted to jump my car. Once again nothing happened. So now we at least knew that the problem wasn't with my relatively new battery. Which is actually kind of a shame, since that battery is still under warranty. We called a tow truck and went to grab dinner while we waited. There was a decent taqueria in the same parking lot as the Target, which was nice.
The car was towed to the shop by our house, which was thankfully still open. While I was figuring out how I would get my car back so I could get to physical therapy on Wednesday, I realized that it sure was lucky I stopped at the Target. If this had happened Wednesday morning, I would have been more or less stranded - able to get to work but not physical therapy. This way I don't have to miss or cancel an appointment.
I also realized that my car is just about due for it's annual safety inspection. Since it's now in the shop anyway, I get to kill two birds with one stone. I likely would have forgotten about this otherwise, with Christmas coming and all. The next time I get a car I need to schedule this inspection for some month other than December. But now I won't get a ticket, so that's good too.
This morning we woke up to learn that nearly every car in our lot had been broken into. It doesn't look like anything was stolen - just teenagers pulling pranks. They dumped all of Kevin's gatorades into the snow. They cut the cord on our neighbor's phone charger but left her crock pot alone. Since my car is in the shop, I managed to dodge that bullet completely, which is something.
Now if only this wasn't costing me the portion of my Christmas bonus I had allocated to new boots. But that's a pretty minor thing to complain about in the long run. All in all this seems to be working out.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Wedding Flowers
Kevin and I finally put down a deposit for a florist. This took a little longer than I would have liked, mostly because we had trouble getting in contact with several people who came recommended. But I'm really happy with the people we decided to go with. They responded to us promptly, offered flowers at what I think is a reasonable price, and were incredibly accomodating.
We don't have any really specific ideas about flowers. We decided on a Spring wedding pretty quickly, mostly because we love all the natural flowers and how colorful they are. This has also affected the color scheme by convincing me that we don't need one. Our theme is seasonal flowers, and we're hoping for lots of color.
The guy we talked to at the florist understood this immediately. He has promised us something colorful and seasonal that won't clash with the bridesmaids' dresses. I probably won't have a better idea of what we're getting until they actually show up on the day. That's perfectly fine with me. I'm more than happy to let a professional handle this, especially because I still barely know the difference between different types of flowers.
Here's to checking one more thing off the to-do list. I can't wait to see what everything looks like at the wedding.
We don't have any really specific ideas about flowers. We decided on a Spring wedding pretty quickly, mostly because we love all the natural flowers and how colorful they are. This has also affected the color scheme by convincing me that we don't need one. Our theme is seasonal flowers, and we're hoping for lots of color.
The guy we talked to at the florist understood this immediately. He has promised us something colorful and seasonal that won't clash with the bridesmaids' dresses. I probably won't have a better idea of what we're getting until they actually show up on the day. That's perfectly fine with me. I'm more than happy to let a professional handle this, especially because I still barely know the difference between different types of flowers.
Here's to checking one more thing off the to-do list. I can't wait to see what everything looks like at the wedding.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Engagement Photos!
This is the rare post that I'm putting here and on Facebook. But since the two places don't have 100% crossover, I think it makes sense. Kevin and I took engagement photos in late September, and now I can share them with the internet! Gotta love the modern age.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Hooray Insurance
The summer I turned 21, I sprained my ankle pretty badly. Due to a horrific combination of alcohol, stilettos, and old ballerina instincts, I attempted to leap over a group of people who were between me and the bathroom. I did not properly land the grand jete and was subsequently carried to my room. Having grown up dancing, I was no stranger to sprained ankles, so I wrapped it, iced it, kept it elevated, and mostly got on with my life.
But a week later it wasn't even beginning to feel better. I knew I had to get it looked at by a doctor. This presented a problem. It's not that I wasn't insured, but I was insured by through dad who lived in Colorado while I was spending my summer in California. I couldn't find a single doctor in network; even the urgent care wouldn't see me. I finally spent a long and boring afternoon in the ER only to learn that my ankle wasn't broken. All I could do at that point was wait for it to heal on its own.
It's probably no surprise that I continue to re-injure this ankle on a fairly regular basis.
Flash forward to this past week, when I hurt my knee thanks to a poorly executed squat at the gym.
Like past injuries, I wrapped it, iced it, and assumed that it would eventually get better. But Kevin insisted I go see a doctor because knee injuries can be really bad. I'd neglected to actually find a primary care physician since moving to Virginia, so I also had to set up a new patient appointment somewhere. It turns out that this was all super easy, and I was able to schedule everything for Thursday afternoon.
My knee oscillated between feeling better and worse, mostly being fine in the morning and getting worse as the day progressed. In the days leading up to my appointment I became convinced that I had seriously hurt myself and was doing my best to not move my knee at all. By the time I got to the doctor's office, I was fretting over the possibility of surgery.
My doctor determined that I had likely torn a ligament and relayed this information like it was no big deal. She referred my to a physical therapist and told me that I needed to start using my knee instead of just keeping it wrapped and still. I'm now on an Advil regimen to deal with the pain instead of trying to prevent the pain from happening at all.
I start physical therapy next week, and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to go through it all. The best part is that I don't think I'll need to pay out of pocket for any of this. There was no copay at the doctor's office, and I don't think there will be one for the physical therapy either, which is nice. Even if I do need to pay, I doubt it will be much. I'm really glad that I have health insurance and will be able to have this injury treated properly. Maybe now my knees won't give out completely when I'm 50.
But a week later it wasn't even beginning to feel better. I knew I had to get it looked at by a doctor. This presented a problem. It's not that I wasn't insured, but I was insured by through dad who lived in Colorado while I was spending my summer in California. I couldn't find a single doctor in network; even the urgent care wouldn't see me. I finally spent a long and boring afternoon in the ER only to learn that my ankle wasn't broken. All I could do at that point was wait for it to heal on its own.
It's probably no surprise that I continue to re-injure this ankle on a fairly regular basis.
Flash forward to this past week, when I hurt my knee thanks to a poorly executed squat at the gym.
Like past injuries, I wrapped it, iced it, and assumed that it would eventually get better. But Kevin insisted I go see a doctor because knee injuries can be really bad. I'd neglected to actually find a primary care physician since moving to Virginia, so I also had to set up a new patient appointment somewhere. It turns out that this was all super easy, and I was able to schedule everything for Thursday afternoon.
My knee oscillated between feeling better and worse, mostly being fine in the morning and getting worse as the day progressed. In the days leading up to my appointment I became convinced that I had seriously hurt myself and was doing my best to not move my knee at all. By the time I got to the doctor's office, I was fretting over the possibility of surgery.
My doctor determined that I had likely torn a ligament and relayed this information like it was no big deal. She referred my to a physical therapist and told me that I needed to start using my knee instead of just keeping it wrapped and still. I'm now on an Advil regimen to deal with the pain instead of trying to prevent the pain from happening at all.
I start physical therapy next week, and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long to go through it all. The best part is that I don't think I'll need to pay out of pocket for any of this. There was no copay at the doctor's office, and I don't think there will be one for the physical therapy either, which is nice. Even if I do need to pay, I doubt it will be much. I'm really glad that I have health insurance and will be able to have this injury treated properly. Maybe now my knees won't give out completely when I'm 50.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
SHIELD: The Well
So I missed writing about last week's episode. We watched it in fits and starts around phone calls from Kevin's office, so the whole thing is a bit disjointed in my mind. Then I never had the time or inclination to go back and watch it again. So I never really gathered my thoughts enough to write anything. Suffice to say that I liked seeing different partnerships. Simmons was adorable when proclaiming that following the rules made her feel nice and Fitz got to be both smart (breaking and fixing the fuse box) and stupid (eating a prosciutto sandwich) out in the field with Ward.
This week we get some more fun relationship stuff and a look at Ward's childhood. I've stopped caring about whatever the case of the week is. It's never really that good, and I don't know that the bad guys even had a reasonable motivation this week. But there were some good character beats mixed in between the show's attempt at a case-of-the-week plot.
The most interesting interaction was, of course, Melinda inviting Ward into her room at the end. I like that, for all of Skye's earnestness, Mae was the one who understood what Ward needed. Mae tends to understand what everyone needs in general. She's by far the most perceptive member of the team, and I like how down-played that is.
Strangely, the relationship I'm finding myself most invested in is that of Ward and Simmons. Their scenes together are adorable, and I find myself wanting them to spend more time together.
Despite the lackluster cases of the week, the reliance on action sequences instead of character beats, and the complete lack of any superheroes, I've managed to become invested in this ragtag group of characters. So I guess I'm in it for the long haul now. Let's just hope that the Captain America tie-in in the spring is more meaningful than this throw-away Thor tie-in.
This week we get some more fun relationship stuff and a look at Ward's childhood. I've stopped caring about whatever the case of the week is. It's never really that good, and I don't know that the bad guys even had a reasonable motivation this week. But there were some good character beats mixed in between the show's attempt at a case-of-the-week plot.
The most interesting interaction was, of course, Melinda inviting Ward into her room at the end. I like that, for all of Skye's earnestness, Mae was the one who understood what Ward needed. Mae tends to understand what everyone needs in general. She's by far the most perceptive member of the team, and I like how down-played that is.
Strangely, the relationship I'm finding myself most invested in is that of Ward and Simmons. Their scenes together are adorable, and I find myself wanting them to spend more time together.
Despite the lackluster cases of the week, the reliance on action sequences instead of character beats, and the complete lack of any superheroes, I've managed to become invested in this ragtag group of characters. So I guess I'm in it for the long haul now. Let's just hope that the Captain America tie-in in the spring is more meaningful than this throw-away Thor tie-in.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Exercising While Sick
Someone remind to just not go to the gym when I'm feeling under the weather.
The thing is, I'm not even that sick. I've got the remnants of a mild cold - some slight congestion and an occasional cough. Mostly I've just been tired, which could actually be more related to the lack of sunlight. At any rate, by the time I finish work I'm exhausted. So I've mostly been skipping the gym.
But I'm also paying a trainer to meet with me every week. I'm doing this so that I don't just stop going to the gym entirely in late Fall, like I have the past two years. Since I wasn't actually that sick, and since I don't want to stop working out entirely, I've been keeping these appointments.
Last week was okay. I told my trainer I was feeling a bit sick and we went slow. We did easier exercises and I was careful to stop when I felt myself approaching limits, which was happening quickly.
The biggest thing I noticed was a lack of balance. I don't have the greatest core muscles yet, so I usually expend a lot of brainpower making sure I stay upright. As fatigued as I was, I wasn't able to concentrate on this quite so much. So I had to go slow, use less weight, take more breaks.
I made it through last week without any injuries, though I was so exhausted I could barely stand by the end of it. This week I was feeling better, so I decided to go for a full workout. It turns out this was a bad idea.
About 15 minutes in, while I was doing my second set of squats, something went wrong. The next squat hurt in a way it wasn't supposed to. I quickly realized that I couldn't bend my left knee or put any weight on it. I'm not even sure what I did, except that I distinctly remember my knee hurting in exactly the same way a few times over the last decade or so.
We concentrated on arms and abs for the rest of the work out. I managed to hobble home, where I wrapped and iced my knee. Now I'm just hoping that it doesn't take too long to heal. I'd like to get to the gym this weekend, since I'll actually have time. But if I can't walk it'll be a moot point.
The thing is, I'm not even that sick. I've got the remnants of a mild cold - some slight congestion and an occasional cough. Mostly I've just been tired, which could actually be more related to the lack of sunlight. At any rate, by the time I finish work I'm exhausted. So I've mostly been skipping the gym.
But I'm also paying a trainer to meet with me every week. I'm doing this so that I don't just stop going to the gym entirely in late Fall, like I have the past two years. Since I wasn't actually that sick, and since I don't want to stop working out entirely, I've been keeping these appointments.
Last week was okay. I told my trainer I was feeling a bit sick and we went slow. We did easier exercises and I was careful to stop when I felt myself approaching limits, which was happening quickly.
The biggest thing I noticed was a lack of balance. I don't have the greatest core muscles yet, so I usually expend a lot of brainpower making sure I stay upright. As fatigued as I was, I wasn't able to concentrate on this quite so much. So I had to go slow, use less weight, take more breaks.
I made it through last week without any injuries, though I was so exhausted I could barely stand by the end of it. This week I was feeling better, so I decided to go for a full workout. It turns out this was a bad idea.
About 15 minutes in, while I was doing my second set of squats, something went wrong. The next squat hurt in a way it wasn't supposed to. I quickly realized that I couldn't bend my left knee or put any weight on it. I'm not even sure what I did, except that I distinctly remember my knee hurting in exactly the same way a few times over the last decade or so.
We concentrated on arms and abs for the rest of the work out. I managed to hobble home, where I wrapped and iced my knee. Now I'm just hoping that it doesn't take too long to heal. I'd like to get to the gym this weekend, since I'll actually have time. But if I can't walk it'll be a moot point.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Halloweiner IV: Quad Damage
This was our fourth year hosting Halloweiner, and I think we're really perfecting this party. Although we definitely got way too much meet this year. So much that I barely remember all the things we ate. And I was so busy cutting and serving it to our 30+ guests that I didn't even attempt to take pictures. So I'm relying on the help of my friends for this particular blog post, in terms of the list of meats and pictures of said meats. Our friend Alyssa takes far better pictures than I ever could, anyway.
We started the day by braising a pig's foot to be grilled later. We also set out some cured meats to snack on. I managed to get pictures of both of these things (with my crappy iPad camera) because no guests had arrived yet.
Like always, we had a rabbit. Although the popularity of this seems to be declining. Bunnies aren't large, but most of this one was put in a quesadilla a couple of days after the party. The stuffing went really quickly, though.
We also got a lot more seafood this year than in the past, including this catfish that was prepared three ways (and also went mostly uneaten).
We also got a Mako shark steak at the Eastern Market. The verdict? This basically tastes like swordfish.
But the real star of the night was the cow heart. Everyone was pretty excited about this. Unfortunately it took a really long time to cook and didn't make it to the table until everyone had already stuffed themselves. It was still fun to try a bite are pretend I was khaleesi.
Rather than talk about everything we cooked and tasted, I'll leave you with this list that Alex recorded through the night:
I'm looking forward to next year, when we will hopefully buy a little less meat. I'm not too fond of the leftovers that are currently (still) sitting in my fridge.
We started the day by braising a pig's foot to be grilled later. We also set out some cured meats to snack on. I managed to get pictures of both of these things (with my crappy iPad camera) because no guests had arrived yet.
 |
| Pig foot! It's already been braising for an hour or so at this point |
 | ||||
| Cured Meats. Some of these were spicy, some were fatty. They were all delicious. |
 |
| Mmmmm, bunny |
 |
| Catfish with a spice rub, a lemon-pepper rub, and unseasoned. I think there's also some conch meat in that pan. |
 |
| Shark steak! |
 |
| Zach is ready to demolish the heart |
 |
| Heart halved and cooking. Most of it is still in my fridge |
- Kangaroo loin
- Wild boar loin
- Mysterious fish (something flounder?)
- Chorizo sausage
- Lamb & herb sausage
- Squid
- Octopus
- Rock fish
- Wild boar sausage
- Pig foot
- Roast bunny
- Ostrich loin
- Asian barbecue sausage
- Mako shark
- Ox tail
- Bunny sausage
- Elk medallion
- Duck duck brandy (sausage)
- Conch
- Catfish
- Pulled pork
- Cow heart!
- Russo sausage
- Orata (fish)
- Calatrese sausage
- Heart sausage
- Eel (dry)
- Venison saddle
- Tofu bunny
- Octopus
- Venison pork cherry sausage
- Eel (wet)
- Cow tail
- Camel burger
- Salted jellyfish
I'm looking forward to next year, when we will hopefully buy a little less meat. I'm not too fond of the leftovers that are currently (still) sitting in my fridge.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
SHIELD: F.Z.Z.T.
We got an episode about Simmons! I was so excited to learn more about her character and watch her interact with more than just Fitz. Although it was also nice to see more definition in her relationship with Fitz.
Anyway, this was an exciting episode that kept me guessing. I liked that the monster of the week wrapped up so quickly and we were able to spend a bit more time with the team. I suppose that was an extension of the MotW, being the same virus and all, but it nice to see it contained to the main cast. After the third firefighter died, I fully expected the episode to turn to Coulson's resurrection, it being November sweeps and all. So I was surprised when it was revealed that Simmons was infected.
I really liked watching her try not to fall apart as she frantically searched for a cure for herself. It sure was lucky that she had three lab rats and it took her three tries to get the antiserum right. But I did like the breakthrough moment and Fitz rushing in to help her.
The whole skydiving bit was seriously thrilling, too. An excellent use of the huge budget this show has.
As for relationships, it seems the Fitz has a crush on Skye, though I doubt she reciprocates it. Simmons may or may not have a crush on Fitz (setting up a handy mirror of Buffy-Xander-Willow that I'm not sure needs to be repeated). But mostly I'm interested in Skye and Simmons' friendship. Skye clearly cares more about her (and probably all of them) than she's let on, and I want more of that.
This show definitely has the action scenes down. The witty dialogue is coming along. And now we need to work on all of the relationships. That's what tends to make a Whedon show special, so I'm glad that we're starting to deepen them.
It's also worth noting that the November 19th episode will apparently deal with aftermath of the Thor movie, which is an interesting ploy. I doubt there's anyone watching this show who wasn't planning on seeing that movie, so I don't think this is an attempt to boost box-office sales. As for getting more people to watch the show, well we'll have to wait and see if that ploy works. It better be an excellent episode, though, if that's what they're going for. Otherwise this will backfire horribly.
PS Does anyone know what F.Z.Z.T stands for?
Anyway, this was an exciting episode that kept me guessing. I liked that the monster of the week wrapped up so quickly and we were able to spend a bit more time with the team. I suppose that was an extension of the MotW, being the same virus and all, but it nice to see it contained to the main cast. After the third firefighter died, I fully expected the episode to turn to Coulson's resurrection, it being November sweeps and all. So I was surprised when it was revealed that Simmons was infected.
I really liked watching her try not to fall apart as she frantically searched for a cure for herself. It sure was lucky that she had three lab rats and it took her three tries to get the antiserum right. But I did like the breakthrough moment and Fitz rushing in to help her.
The whole skydiving bit was seriously thrilling, too. An excellent use of the huge budget this show has.
As for relationships, it seems the Fitz has a crush on Skye, though I doubt she reciprocates it. Simmons may or may not have a crush on Fitz (setting up a handy mirror of Buffy-Xander-Willow that I'm not sure needs to be repeated). But mostly I'm interested in Skye and Simmons' friendship. Skye clearly cares more about her (and probably all of them) than she's let on, and I want more of that.
This show definitely has the action scenes down. The witty dialogue is coming along. And now we need to work on all of the relationships. That's what tends to make a Whedon show special, so I'm glad that we're starting to deepen them.
It's also worth noting that the November 19th episode will apparently deal with aftermath of the Thor movie, which is an interesting ploy. I doubt there's anyone watching this show who wasn't planning on seeing that movie, so I don't think this is an attempt to boost box-office sales. As for getting more people to watch the show, well we'll have to wait and see if that ploy works. It better be an excellent episode, though, if that's what they're going for. Otherwise this will backfire horribly.
PS Does anyone know what F.Z.Z.T stands for?
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Hurry Up and Wait
After realizing how much we still had to do for this wedding, Kevin and I sent out a flurry of emails to a wide variety of vendors so we could start nailing things down. That this happened to coincide with a major deadline at work did not do good things for my stress levels. But now we're in that frustrating place where all we can do is wait for people to get back to us. Which makes it hard to see the progress we're actually making. So I'm recording it here to make myself feel better.
Rehearsal Dinner. Kevin called a bunch of possible venues. Some were already booked, some couldn't accommodate our (admittedly large) party. Why do we both have such big families? At any rate, we narrowed it down to two possibilities and went to explore on Friday night with Kevin's mom. We got drinks at one and dinner at the other, and we have hopefully made a decision. But there are a bunch of details to iron out, along with payments to be made and contracts to be signed, before I can say anything more than that.
Flowers. We have feelers out to a couple of florists. One email bounced back to me, which was rather disappointing. The florist came highly recommended, but without a working email address I don't feel comfortable using them. We have one appointment scheduled for next Saturday and are waiting to hear back from another place. Hopefully we'll have a better picture of what's happening after that.
Cake. Much to my surprise, Kevin has decided that he wants to be in on this decision. Even though we are definitely getting a chocolate cake and he hates chocolate. So my plans to drag my Doctor of Honor, Sarah, along on a girl's day full of cake eating have been scrapped in favor of trying to squeeze in a tasting or two between everything else. Luckily, the place I contacted said we don't need to schedule anything until January. So I made an appointment, and I'm officially not thinking about this until next year.
DJ. Honestly, this was the easiest thing to scrap. It turns out I care way too much about the music to let someone else pick it. (Much to my horror, I'm mimicking my step-mom's behavior here from when she married my dad.) Plus this is an easy way to save money and (for now) sanity. Check back with me in the Spring when we're frantically trying to pull together a playlist, and you can laugh and say "I told you so" to your heart's content. But I've been to a few weddings that used iPods instead of professional DJs and I couldn't really tell the difference (except that the iPods tend to let the entire song play, I hate that mixing/fading thing DJs always do that cuts off the end of a song), so we're going to cross our fingers that this works out. It sounds like a perfect problem for future Caitlin and future Kevin to deal with.
Invitations. Um, well, I've looked at these. I think we have an idea of the design and all that. But we need to figure out what they're going to say and actually order them. I believe the plan is to send them out in early January. That means we probably need them by Christmas. Also, there is a surprising amount of work that goes into these, not to mention all the different pieces. At least this can be done during the week.
Honeymoon. Kevin's mom recommended a travel agent who we've been in contact with. Plans are becoming more solid, but they're still pretty up in the air. We probably ought to buy tickets soonish, though.
I believe that's everything we have to worry about now. There are a few things, mostly gifts, that are on the horizon, but can probably be put off until after Thanksgiving at least. I'll feel a lot better when we can check some of these off our list.
Rehearsal Dinner. Kevin called a bunch of possible venues. Some were already booked, some couldn't accommodate our (admittedly large) party. Why do we both have such big families? At any rate, we narrowed it down to two possibilities and went to explore on Friday night with Kevin's mom. We got drinks at one and dinner at the other, and we have hopefully made a decision. But there are a bunch of details to iron out, along with payments to be made and contracts to be signed, before I can say anything more than that.
Flowers. We have feelers out to a couple of florists. One email bounced back to me, which was rather disappointing. The florist came highly recommended, but without a working email address I don't feel comfortable using them. We have one appointment scheduled for next Saturday and are waiting to hear back from another place. Hopefully we'll have a better picture of what's happening after that.
Cake. Much to my surprise, Kevin has decided that he wants to be in on this decision. Even though we are definitely getting a chocolate cake and he hates chocolate. So my plans to drag my Doctor of Honor, Sarah, along on a girl's day full of cake eating have been scrapped in favor of trying to squeeze in a tasting or two between everything else. Luckily, the place I contacted said we don't need to schedule anything until January. So I made an appointment, and I'm officially not thinking about this until next year.
DJ. Honestly, this was the easiest thing to scrap. It turns out I care way too much about the music to let someone else pick it. (Much to my horror, I'm mimicking my step-mom's behavior here from when she married my dad.) Plus this is an easy way to save money and (for now) sanity. Check back with me in the Spring when we're frantically trying to pull together a playlist, and you can laugh and say "I told you so" to your heart's content. But I've been to a few weddings that used iPods instead of professional DJs and I couldn't really tell the difference (except that the iPods tend to let the entire song play, I hate that mixing/fading thing DJs always do that cuts off the end of a song), so we're going to cross our fingers that this works out. It sounds like a perfect problem for future Caitlin and future Kevin to deal with.
Invitations. Um, well, I've looked at these. I think we have an idea of the design and all that. But we need to figure out what they're going to say and actually order them. I believe the plan is to send them out in early January. That means we probably need them by Christmas. Also, there is a surprising amount of work that goes into these, not to mention all the different pieces. At least this can be done during the week.
Honeymoon. Kevin's mom recommended a travel agent who we've been in contact with. Plans are becoming more solid, but they're still pretty up in the air. We probably ought to buy tickets soonish, though.
I believe that's everything we have to worry about now. There are a few things, mostly gifts, that are on the horizon, but can probably be put off until after Thanksgiving at least. I'll feel a lot better when we can check some of these off our list.
Monday, October 28, 2013
SHIELD: The Girl in the Flower Dress
Every now and then work explodes and makes it difficult for me to watch (and then write about) tv. So I was late getting to this episode and even later to write anything about it. Frankly I was just too tired last week to really engage with this show.
Surprisingly, that made the show rather more enjoyable. Or maybe not surprisingly. Maybe the word I'm looking for is disappointingly. I want this to be a show that makes me think and that sparks interesting conversations. But it remains a collection of really cool action sequences strung together by a bunch of witty one-liners. And there's nothing exactly wrong with that. It's certainly a show that I will continue watching until it gets canceled. Or at least until the end of the season. I just wanted and, perhaps foolishly, expected more.
Then again, we're still only five episodes in. There's still time for it to be great.
In the meantime we're circling around to yet another shadowy organization. That puts the count at four, which is a lot to be juggling. Unless there's some nefarious connection between everything, which seems both likely and easy.
At least Skye has a more interesting motivation now that doesn't force her to constantly be a double-agent. Her loyalties are more clear now, and they're mostly to herself. She isn't in direct opposition with her team, though.
Here's hoping this show gets better. Or at least gives me more to talk about
Surprisingly, that made the show rather more enjoyable. Or maybe not surprisingly. Maybe the word I'm looking for is disappointingly. I want this to be a show that makes me think and that sparks interesting conversations. But it remains a collection of really cool action sequences strung together by a bunch of witty one-liners. And there's nothing exactly wrong with that. It's certainly a show that I will continue watching until it gets canceled. Or at least until the end of the season. I just wanted and, perhaps foolishly, expected more.
Then again, we're still only five episodes in. There's still time for it to be great.
In the meantime we're circling around to yet another shadowy organization. That puts the count at four, which is a lot to be juggling. Unless there's some nefarious connection between everything, which seems both likely and easy.
At least Skye has a more interesting motivation now that doesn't force her to constantly be a double-agent. Her loyalties are more clear now, and they're mostly to herself. She isn't in direct opposition with her team, though.
Here's hoping this show gets better. Or at least gives me more to talk about
Monday, October 21, 2013
Revisiting the Venue
Over the weekend Kevin and I had a second meeting with the wedding venue to make sure everything's on track. We're a little behind where we should be, but I actually feel a lot better about this whole thing than I had been. It probably didn't help that I had my first wedding-based nightmare this week, in which our photographer refused to take pictures because it was raining and we had to share a ballroom with two other groups. It was basically a worst case scenario, which means there's no way things could possibly go that bad.
Anyway, we were able to meet with the actual wedding coordinator and get some definitive answers to our questions, previously we had met with the head of catering who didn't seem to have a clear idea of the big picture. The biggest takeaways are that the rooms aren't as small as we feared they would be, though they are smaller than typical hotel rooms. More exciting it that we get to offer our guests a choice of four different dinner options. I'm really excited for the tasting, which should happen in January.
The next big things we need to focus on are flowers and cake. So be prepared to hear about those adventures. We also need to order invitations, and send those out within the next few months. This thing feels like it's getting close! I think we're on top of everything though. Or at least we will be soon.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Fancy Dinner Party
Kevin and I had been wanting to cook a leg of lamb for a while. This isn't the sort of thing you can really just pick up and cook for two people. It's a lot of food. So we decided to have a dinner party. And when Sarah got her doctorate on her husband's birthday shortly before a college friend came to visit, well it was the perfect confluence of events to warrant a fancy dinner party. Not that we really needed a reason beyond wanting to eat lamb, but it's always nice to have something to celebrate.
I remained impressively calm throughout the experience. Kevin may disagree with this statement, but anything he calls stressing, I call planning. I mean, you need to figure out the menu and buy all the food and make sure everything's cooked on time. Figuring out the details is a necessary step.
We settled on a menu that was pretty easy to time. Soup and dessert were made early in the day. The potatoes were cooked in the toaster over. Roasted asparagus can be completed in the time it takes to carve the lamb. And if my scalloped potatoes were a little undercooked, Kevin's roasted potatoes were perfect.
We even remembered to put all the food on the table. Everything was delicious, although we drank entirely too much wine. I'm struggling right now between wanting to just buy kitchen things (particularly a larger variety of bakeware) and holding off until after the wedding.
At any rate, dinner was a wild success. We're getting better at hosting large dinners, which means I'm feeling almost no stress about Thanksgiving. Except for the part where I actually don't think we have enough plates for everyone we've invited. But we'll make do. In the meantime it turns out that good friends and food and wine is all you really need for an awesome evening. Even if it does result in a somewhat less than awesome morning/early afternoon.
I remained impressively calm throughout the experience. Kevin may disagree with this statement, but anything he calls stressing, I call planning. I mean, you need to figure out the menu and buy all the food and make sure everything's cooked on time. Figuring out the details is a necessary step.
We settled on a menu that was pretty easy to time. Soup and dessert were made early in the day. The potatoes were cooked in the toaster over. Roasted asparagus can be completed in the time it takes to carve the lamb. And if my scalloped potatoes were a little undercooked, Kevin's roasted potatoes were perfect.
We even remembered to put all the food on the table. Everything was delicious, although we drank entirely too much wine. I'm struggling right now between wanting to just buy kitchen things (particularly a larger variety of bakeware) and holding off until after the wedding.
At any rate, dinner was a wild success. We're getting better at hosting large dinners, which means I'm feeling almost no stress about Thanksgiving. Except for the part where I actually don't think we have enough plates for everyone we've invited. But we'll make do. In the meantime it turns out that good friends and food and wine is all you really need for an awesome evening. Even if it does result in a somewhat less than awesome morning/early afternoon.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
SHIELD: Eye Spy
SHIELD just keeps getting better, which is definitely a good sign. Elements of serialization are starting to leak in, and I'm sure they'll become important soon. The dialogue is getting better, and, in my opinion, the actors are getting better at delivering it. Unlike many others, I have no issues with Chloe Bennet. I think she's doing a pretty good job in this role, and she usually gets the most laughs out of me. Of course, she reminds me of no one so much as Eliza Dushku, and I always had more of a soft spot for Dushku than many others. Maybe I'm just more forgiving or more in tune with their acting choices or something.
This episode opened with a scene that was familiar to me. A bunch of people, dressed identically and wearing red masks and carrying briefcases all enter a subway station and board a train. This happened to a train I was on in London, except that they were wearing Guy Fawkes masks. It had the same sort of surreal feeling that this scene evokes. Of course, the people on my train were merely protesting the Church of Scientology not carrying diamonds. And there was no blackout during which they were all killed. So maybe not so similar.
The story of Akela unfolds really nicely, and I liked the mystery that surrounded her. Both exactly what her powers were (I was going with telekinesis while Kevin guessed super-hearing) and what her goal was. That she was ultimately a pawn who Coulson was able to set free was a really nice resolution.
Of course we now have another shadowy organization when what I really want is to learn more about Rising Tide. I don't think these two are connected, since they have polar opposite mission statements. Then again, you never know. At any rate, the previews for next week promise that we'll get back to Skye's divided loyalties soon.
All of the relationships on this show are also coming along nicely, and that's where Whedon shows always ultimately shine. We have Coulson mentoring Skye, Skye starting to establish herself as a partner for Ward, Mae's respect for Coulson while she's also willing to disobey him, and the sibling-like closeness of FitzSimmons. There's a lot to play with here, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone grow over the course of the season.
There were also a lot of cute little moments, which are really what make the show for me. Chloe not knowing the difference between the safety release and the magazine release was great, as was her meek "bang" right before Akela knocked their van over. Simmons needing to pee and Ward recommending the water bottle. And, of course, Akela wondering what happened to Coulson. I maintain that we should take the phrase "Tahiti is a magical place" at face value, but I'll be interested to learn the specifics of Coulson's resurrection.
This episode opened with a scene that was familiar to me. A bunch of people, dressed identically and wearing red masks and carrying briefcases all enter a subway station and board a train. This happened to a train I was on in London, except that they were wearing Guy Fawkes masks. It had the same sort of surreal feeling that this scene evokes. Of course, the people on my train were merely protesting the Church of Scientology not carrying diamonds. And there was no blackout during which they were all killed. So maybe not so similar.
The story of Akela unfolds really nicely, and I liked the mystery that surrounded her. Both exactly what her powers were (I was going with telekinesis while Kevin guessed super-hearing) and what her goal was. That she was ultimately a pawn who Coulson was able to set free was a really nice resolution.
Of course we now have another shadowy organization when what I really want is to learn more about Rising Tide. I don't think these two are connected, since they have polar opposite mission statements. Then again, you never know. At any rate, the previews for next week promise that we'll get back to Skye's divided loyalties soon.
All of the relationships on this show are also coming along nicely, and that's where Whedon shows always ultimately shine. We have Coulson mentoring Skye, Skye starting to establish herself as a partner for Ward, Mae's respect for Coulson while she's also willing to disobey him, and the sibling-like closeness of FitzSimmons. There's a lot to play with here, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone grow over the course of the season.
There were also a lot of cute little moments, which are really what make the show for me. Chloe not knowing the difference between the safety release and the magazine release was great, as was her meek "bang" right before Akela knocked their van over. Simmons needing to pee and Ward recommending the water bottle. And, of course, Akela wondering what happened to Coulson. I maintain that we should take the phrase "Tahiti is a magical place" at face value, but I'll be interested to learn the specifics of Coulson's resurrection.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
SHIELD: The Asset
As we get farther from the pilot, we're starting to get into the meat of what this show is capable of without the scaffolding of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And so far the results are promising. This was easy my favorite episode of the show so far.
The reasons for that are, I think, two-fold. The characters are starting to get more fleshed-out, which was bound to happen over time. I have reasons to care about Agent Ward now, and I can see the common ground he might share with Skye. Skye's conflict is becoming better-defined (though it seems to boil down to which bad guys are the worst in any given situation). We still haven't learned much about Agent May's past, but since Ming-Na Wen may be the best actor on the show we don't really need to in order to care about her character. The fact the she's changed her mind about going into combat has me hopeful that we'll get her backstory soon. (Please, don't pull a Shepherd Book on us...)
I also like that the show seems to be getting more confidence. The advertising is absolutely abysmal (I cringe every time I hear a radio ad), but the plots are coming along. I liked that this one toyed with the idea of a super-villain who wasn't entirely evil. He did some bad things, but he also made some points that Skye agreed with. The titular asset is the one who's on the path to becoming a super-villain, trapped in the gravitonium and locked in an unmarked vault. If he's not just ignored for the rest of the show's run (which, given Whedon's track record he probably will be) he could pop up as a really great bad guy in a future episode.
There isn't a ton to say about this episode. It was fun. The banter between the characters is improving. Coulson's immediate past remains a mystery, and probably will until the season finale. At the end of the day, the show is entertaining and holds my attention. That's enough for now.
The reasons for that are, I think, two-fold. The characters are starting to get more fleshed-out, which was bound to happen over time. I have reasons to care about Agent Ward now, and I can see the common ground he might share with Skye. Skye's conflict is becoming better-defined (though it seems to boil down to which bad guys are the worst in any given situation). We still haven't learned much about Agent May's past, but since Ming-Na Wen may be the best actor on the show we don't really need to in order to care about her character. The fact the she's changed her mind about going into combat has me hopeful that we'll get her backstory soon. (Please, don't pull a Shepherd Book on us...)
I also like that the show seems to be getting more confidence. The advertising is absolutely abysmal (I cringe every time I hear a radio ad), but the plots are coming along. I liked that this one toyed with the idea of a super-villain who wasn't entirely evil. He did some bad things, but he also made some points that Skye agreed with. The titular asset is the one who's on the path to becoming a super-villain, trapped in the gravitonium and locked in an unmarked vault. If he's not just ignored for the rest of the show's run (which, given Whedon's track record he probably will be) he could pop up as a really great bad guy in a future episode.
There isn't a ton to say about this episode. It was fun. The banter between the characters is improving. Coulson's immediate past remains a mystery, and probably will until the season finale. At the end of the day, the show is entertaining and holds my attention. That's enough for now.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Reorganizing the Library
As Kevin pointed out on our wedding website, I reorganize my library a couple of times a year. This is mostly because I accumulate books constantly and occasionally need to move everything around so it all makes sense again. And sometimes I need to get a new bookcase, which is what happened this weekend.
I try to wait to get new bookcases until I can mostly fill them. Empty bookcases are just too tempting for me. I have to fill that space as quickly as I can, which results in me buying far too many books to quickly. This time I waited too long. Even with a fourth bookcase, my library is overflowing. Just barely - I found space for all my books except one. But I certainly didn't expect to fill it that quickly.
I am pretty proud of the organization, though. There a few oddballs, but almost everything makes sense. So I'm sharing it with you. Because this is my blog, and what I say goes.
Here's the first bookcase:
This is essentially the children's bookcase. It has a bunch of my books for kids, along with tons of books that Kevin's mom recently took out of storage. That sudden influx is why I filled up a whole bookshelf so quickly.
Starting at the top we have children's poems, fairy tale anthologies, and mythology
The next shelf has Shakspeare, Nancy Drew, old scout handbooks, and comics
Then we get to one of my favorite shelves. I know there are a lot of duplicates here, but I don't really care. I love that this section takes up an entire shelf. We have Laura, Jo, Anne, and Alice giving way to Jane Austen and Margaret Atwood. Literature by and about women for all ages!
The next shelf is lots of little kids books. A lot of them are falling apart, but this is where you'll find Dr Seuss and Winnie the Pooh. Again, there are actually a lot of duplicates here, including three copies of The Little Prince.
The last shelf is the "Grab in case of fire" shelf. I grew up in Colorado, and the fire seasons there taught me that I need to know what I would take if I needed to evacuate quickly. The answer is this shelf. It's closest to the door, and it has all of our yearbooks and photo albums.
The second bookcase is off in the corner, so it gets a lot of random things and books I'm slightly less excited about. It's sort of the catch-all case
The top shelf has my grandfather's books, Kevin's dad's Garrison Keillor collection, and miscellaneous literature that didn't fit anywhere else or warrant its own shelf.
The second shelf is "Crime, Autobiographies, and Memoirs". Okay, those don't really go together, but the number of books makes it work.
Then we get to sexuality, psychology, and history of science. Feynman probably belongs up with the biographies, but I like him on this shelf. Also, he fits better here. On the far left are the playbills of all the plays, musicals, and ballets I've seen.
Next comes history and historical fiction. Also books I had to read for school. It's sort of a theme.
Finally we get to Kevin's college textbooks.
The third and largest book case is basically science fiction and fantasy. I have a lot of that.
First comes science fiction. Plus a little bit of leftover historical fiction, mostly because Mary Doria Russell writes in both of those genres, and I didn't want to split up her books.
Then we come to the first of many fantasy shelves. If I had to grade it, I'd probably give this shelf a B. I liked these books, but they aren't among my favorites. We'll get to those later. This shelf has A Song of Ice and Fire, The Lord of the Rings, and anything pertaining to King Arthur.
Then we come to children's and young adult fantasy. Here you'll find Narnia, Tortall, Earthsea, and Oz.
Then we get to the "C" shelf. I like these books fine, but they all have their problems, too. Or they didn't fit anywhere else (that's a common theme). The bulk of this shelf is The Dresden Files, which I do intend to finish, and Sword of Truth, which I gave up on years ago but can't quite bring myself to get rid of.
The bottom shelf is my college textbooks. It's really similar to Kevin's college textbooks because we took so many classes together. I held on to a few more than he did, though.
Finally we get to the favorites bookcase. This is the one that probably sums me and my interests up the best.
The top shelf is Neil Gaiman with bonus Patrick Rothfuss. It's a good thing Rothfuss isn't too prolific yet. He can still fit here.
Then we have the Discworld shelf, which is something every good fantasy fan ought to have. There was a time when Gaiman and Pratchett shared a shelf, and I thought it was impressive that I could fill an entire shelf with only two authors. Of course, that was back in my first apartment when I only had one bookcase. I've come so far since then.
Here we have Discworld overflow, because there's a lot of those books. They get to share space with my horribly mismatched Harry Potter collection.
Then we arrive at the true display of my geekiness: The Whedon shelf. This has everything pertaining to Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. It also has my Middleman comic book, because it seemed to fit here. Also Of Human Bondage, which makes sense if you've seen the fourth season of Buffy. And if you're as obsessed as I am.
Finally there's the vampire shelf, with bonus zombies. Yes, Twilight made it onto my favorites bookcase. Don't judge me.
Then there's this small and completely random bookcase, which does double duty as a cat bed.
The top shelf has my "stack" of books to read. I'm actually impressed that it's not completely full at the moment.
Then there's all this random crap. I barely even know why I own any of these books. But there they are.
And that's my library! None of you are half as excited about this as I am, so I'm impressed if you made it all the way down here. Have a gold star. I'm just going to sit here and delight in everything having a place, because that's not going to last very long.
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