Feeling Culinarily Inclined

The other day I bought a $16 block of rosemary crusted goat cheese and simply kept missing my opportunities to share it with anyone. So, I said screw it and decided to cook. And cook I did. :-)

I took some pork out to thaw yesterday and when home over the weekend Dad gave me some fresh veggies. This is what I ended up with...



I seared the pork tenderloin after seasoning it with some rosemary season mix and salt. I sautéed bell pepper, onion, garlic, eggplant then mixed with fresh and crushed tomatoes and pasta. In a small baking dish divided with aluminum foil I placed the pork tenderloin on one side. On the other I put a blanched bell pepper, filled it with pasta and surrounded the pepper with the remaining filling. I topped the pepper and pasta with about 1/4 cup of the rosemary goat cheese. The dish went in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. It was crazy good. Seriously. I hate it that you were not having dinner with me last night. There are even leftovers. YUM-O!

Famous Friends

I have the coolest friends.

In this Big Idea blog about a guy named Cameron Johnson my buddy Jeremy is pictured!



And fancy Ms. Hodges was the star of an ad campaign!!

seconds are creeping

Tick.
Tock.

Tick.
Tock.

Seconds are creeping by, and considering Monday felt like Wednesday to me...today should be Sunday. I can't believe it is only Thursday though. And 3:19pm at that. Five o'clock cannot get here fast enough. I keep trying to find stuff that will keep my brain occupied, but it just is not working. I don't know how much longer I can audit requirements from BRD Drafts, prior-stage BRD Finals, and Requirements score cards. It's killing me. Seriously.

I have the promise of fun for the weekend though. My most bestest ladies will be here around 5ish tomorrow and we should most definitely have a grand time. Not 100% sure what we will do, but as long as we are together I think that is all that matters.

Now that I am back into blogging again I am wanting a better site design. I wish I was grahically inclined. But I am not. I reckon that is what I have friends for though. Right?

I miss intellectual blogging too. Perhaps I can work on fixing that as well.

I guess I ought to try and get some work done.

Initiation to BV

I feel like I was initiated this weekend. Or I at least started the process. Friday night my neighbor sort of conned me into going out by using the intercom in the building to call me. A co-worker that lives near BV also came to join us and on his way met 2 girls that we ended up hanging out with at Fox & Hound (we started at Corkscrew). It was a pretty late night, but fun.

Saturday morning Mark (co-worker) and I took his dog on a walk (more like quest) to find a park in the neighborhood next to BV. We were unsuccessful, or - what we did find was not what we were expecting. After that went and got my patio furniture - and it turns out my table was broken and I have to return it. Geez - can't anything be easy. But at least I have chairs now. :-)

The afternoon Saturday was spent at the pool with Chad (neighbor), Rob (friend of neighbor), and Amanda (met Friday). There were all sorts of other BV people there and I met a few of them too. At least I got my face out in front of everyone, so people will start looking familiar now. That night Rob, Chad, Amanda and I went to Sushi on The Lake for dinner and then chilled on my patio and played Wii for a few hours. (I have pics - they will come soon.)

Today was pretty lazy, and I liked that. :-)

Quest for Inner Peace

I guess this can kind of dovetail into my "getting back on track" post from last night. This is a retooling of something I said to a friend the other day.

-----
the quest for inner peace is sort of like christianity i think
they give jesus as the savior
knowing none can every really die and come back like that
or live in the way the bible describes
but we are told to try
knowing achievement is not possible
and we are told it is important to be comfortable with ones self
and love the skin we are in
and who we are
and not feel ashamed
no matter how hard we try it cant be achieved
even the most well adjusted people hate themselves sometimes
i am not perfect
neither are you
none of us are
(friend comments: I think I love my neighbor over myself")
but...loving ones self is a more important quest
because you can walk away from the neighbor
divorce the spouse
disown the child
but it is your skin you have to live in
24 hours a day
until you die
so yeah...
there
i don't know how to go on, i guess that was all
(friend comments: that was pretty good)
-----

Trying to get back on track

With losing weight...
For the past 3 weekends I have told myself...OK, Leslie...Monday - its on. You will eat better and start being active again. Well, it stuck this week. I had a big stumble last night - but survived. It helps that my GBNL and I are blogging on "Our Quest for Thin" and trying to hold each other accountable and stuff. So far it has been fun. Oddly enough, her week was corrupted by alcohol last night too.

With saving for retirement...
I met with a guy from Ameriprise Financial tonight and had a really good experience. He is extremely competent and immediately started making suggestions on the things that I could be doing better. I the past I have worked with someone from Northwestern Mutual (that I am sure will continue to consult with), but that really is not full service planning - not like this guy is offering. It is relatively inexpensive too, so that is nice. We meet next week again to really start the process. I have to get a bunch of documentation together. So, I am breathing easier and that makes me happy.

With life in general...
I've been struggling with a variety of things lately, but the past 2 days have seemed to open up a wonderful light and make me feel like everything is going to be OK and I've made the right decisions. :-) There are a few key people that have made a difference in that and to you... thank you, thank you, thank you.

A Wii Evening

Yipee!! My Wii came yesterday! A day early. So I got it all set up
(super easy) and played lots of Wii Sports. I think the boxing is my
favorite so far, and tennis is the hardest. I can't figure out how to
aim the ball and the training gigs don't really help. I want
instruction, not to miss the ball and have to start over again, and
again, and again.

I also pulled out my free weights for the first time in a month, so I
imagine that by tonight I will not be able to move my upper body.

My set of games arrive today, so I will have more to play than just
wii sports. That will be pleasant.

Best scoot.

Writing

I don't know why the only times I really spend time writing is when I
am stress and going through emotional turmoil, but that is the way it
is. I would very much like to write more, and maybe I will get there
with time. But, I am in a writing phase now, and I cannot do it here.
I prefer not to give it to a general audience. I am doing it
anonymously under another domain, and I am loving it. No names really,
just output. Content that I know people would judge me for. It is
easier to do it without the label of "me." Some is true creative
writing and other is just ranting and blogging about stuff.

The bottom line is that it feels good to do it, and I guess that is
what matters.

For my birthday a friend wrote me a wonderful story. And after I read
it I began talking about writing in general...and this is what I said.

---
Good writing lets the reader infuse whatever emotion and memory,
thought they currently have and make it part of the story. A good
writer leaves that to the reader and doesn't force it on them. Let
them picture the past, present, and future.
---

So maybe one day I will release my writing, when the context and
connection to real life is not so close in terms of timing. I am just
happy to be getting it out.

Seeing Family

After my stop in Columbia Friday and Saturday I headed to Florence to check in on Grandma. I was there for only a few hours, and she actually napped most of the time. But I got to meet one of her sitters and the nurse from hospice. They both seemed nice. She has gotten a lot weaker though. They are using the wheelchair to move her around.

The biggest problem is still getting food and drink in her. She also has a touch of pneumonia, but I understand that it is cleaning up. Uncle Chuck was in town, but I didn't get to see him. He was still in bed when I arrived and I was gone before he was going for the day. That is unfortunate. I don't get to see him often. Mom & Dad are going to try and come up to visit this weekend, but it all depends on how Grandma is doing.

I am torn about how I feel when it comes to all of this. I wish I could be there with them more. If I was still at SCANA I know I could be, and that is the hardest part about it all. And with diesel being $4.79/gallon up here is makes going home a lot more expensive that I would like. Takes me about a half tank to get there and back.
Fortunately my commute to work is not too bad. I think I have found a good route to and from Florence though, so that is a plus.

It would be so great if they could get her throat well and she could start eating better. That is the real battle right now. If she doesn't start eating she is just going to get weaker and weaker. I can't imagine the hunger she must feel, but maybe pain in general masks that. I don't know. She has always been so strong. So full of life. I never really imagined she would ever be this way. I don't want her to continue feeling this way, but I don't want her to go either. Must stop writing...

On the market

Oh yeah, for those interested. My house in Columbia is on the market. You can check it out on realtor.com

Kathy Garrick from Prudential Midlands is the agent. You can reach her at 803.606.9163.

wii ordered

I am happy. I have a wii ordered. I ended up getting it from the evil big blue box retailer that I happen to hate, but they were like the only place I could find a wii. I ended up getting a package that came with 4 games and some accessories. So, whenever I priced it out - the numbers worked and I went ahead and got it.

I am not 100% sure of the arrival date, but I went ahead and got the 1 day shipping. It was $20. Either way...I have a wii on the way! Yeah!

Other things...
I got John Mayer tickets today. Seena and I ordered 4 of them. So, I am now on a quest to find someone that wants to go to the concert with me.

Last night I had an incredible excursion out to Lake Murray and went swimming. It was a joyful evening.

I got paid.

Well, I guess it is really official now. I got my first direct deposit paycheck from the new employer. Now I just have to go and make sure all the number work like they are suppose to. If not, I guess I will start finding things to cut.

While I am on the topic of the new gig. I guess now that I have finished up my third week an update is needed.

I like it, I really do. I like the people - and I have a good cube (should take some pics one day). I am even starting to do work, and it makes sense. Next week will be a big test though. We are kicking off Stage 3 of the project and I will be owning the requirements for Marketing & Promotions. That means going through draft requirement documentation, pulling it together, and scheduling meetings with business owners in order to flesh everything out. There were originally 110 M&P requirements defined, but after going through a scoping process the list was shortened to 36 items. It is everything from the way coupons are handled, and how banner ads are displayed all the way to requirements around tracking e-mail campaign statistics.
It's too bad my favorite ESP (ExactTarget) already has a contract with the big orange competitor. :-( Because all these requirements would be met by ET's system. I can't believe we don't work with some sort of enterprise e-mail service provider. But, maybe we do and I will just find that out next week.

Administratively things are going well at work. There are only two open issues...1, installing the software that will allow me to synch my calendar to my blackberry. 2, VPN access so I can login from home if I need to. The expectation has been set that once things get into full motion I will be working 50ish hours per week. Maybe a little more during crunch time before a deadline. I am not going to want to do all that from the cube world.

One of the things worrying me about the job was going to be keeping up the professional look all the time. But, the more I am here, the more I am noticing it really is business casual. I wear a suit one day a week, and will throw jackets over stuff. It is not nearly as formal as I thought it was going to be. So, that's a very fantastic thing.

Best go spend my money now. Time to head to Columbia and visit with my peeps.

Patio Furniture = Purchased

Well. Sears was the solution. I opted to go with a little bistro set for now and will get a neat love seat sort of thing to go with it sooner or later.

I got the Garden Oasis Port Rochelle 3 pc. Bistro Set



Delivery would have cost $70 so I am opting to drive back over to Concord and pick it up myself. (They were out of stock in the store.) So I get to drive over there next week and pick it up. Sometime after Wednesday I think.

Mission accomplished, I guess. Best get packed and go to bed now. Its late and tomorrow will be a long day.

SHIT :: THIS

I was having a conversation with Justin the other day and he had a spectacular realization. "SHIT" is just "THIS" in an different order. I guess that is sort of appropriate because anything can be referred to as "SHIT" really.

And that thought caused me to look up this popular e-mail forward...

Shit may be the most powerful word in the english language:

You can be shitfaced, be shit out of luck, or have shit for brains. With a little effort you can get your shit together, find a place for your shit, or decide to shit or get off the pot.

You can smoke shit, buy shit, sell shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit, or tell others to eat shit and die. You can shit or go blind, have a shit fit or just shit your life away.

People can be shitheaded, shitbrained, shitblinded, and shitover. Some people know their shit, while others can't tell the difference between shit and shineola. There are lucky shits, dumb shits, crazy shits, and sweet shits.

There is bull shit, horse shit, and chicken shit. You can throw shit, sling shit, catch shit, or duck when shit hits the fan. You can take a shit, give a shit or serve shit on a shingle. You can find yourself in deep shit, or be happier than a pig in shit.

Some days are colder than shit, some days are hotter than shit and some Days are just shitty. Some music sounds like shit, things look like shit, and there are times when you feel like shit.

You can have too much shit, not enough shit, the right shit, the Wrong shit, or alot of weird shit.

You can carry shit, have a mountain of shit , or find yourself upshitcreek without a paddle. Sometimes everything you touch turns to shit and othertimes you swim in a lake of shit and come out smelling like a rose. Shit! When you stop to consider all the facts, it's the basic building block of creation.

And remember: once you know your shit, you don't need to know anything else.

Cake, Cakie, and More Cake

The nice financial planner guy brought a cake, my Director - Kimberley, brought cake. I am not really a huge cake fan, and by george, I am tired of cake.

Now - I will say, the cake from Kimberley came from a place called Ketchie Creek Bakery in Montsville, NC and it is fabulous! She even called to see what sort of cake I wanted. My request? Butter/yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I am not sure it is exactly a butter cake, it might be pound cake - but damn. It is frikin tasty. I had a slice yesterday when I got home and then brought it to work with a cake knife today so I could share. At first getting people to eat any was about like force feeding the chicken biscuits the other morning. But, once word started getting around more visitors came to partake in the fabulocity. :-) All of it got eaten save just enough for me to compensate my buddy for going patio furniture shopping tonight. We will be heading out to do that shortly.

All this cake eating has made me feel frikin' fat though...and I had an interesting dialogue on the topic today.

What to do when you feel fat.

Friend: wonder what today holds in store
me: who knows - hopefully finding patio furniture
Friend: yes
me: and not eating much - i feel VERY fat
Friend: then just drink water - and eat ice cubes - and 1 unsalted cracker in the evening - and a picture of a carrot - in the morning:
1.5 oz of coffee, unsugard, uncreamed and then repeat with the water, ice chips, cracker and rotate between a picture of a carrot or celery stalk
Me: lol
Friend: :)

Smile. :-)

Encounters of a Nail Kind

Today was a hellaciously busy day after work. I scurried out the door and into TERRIBLE traffic. It took me about 30 minutes to get the 8 miles from Mooresville to Huntersville. I stopped by the bank to make a deposit into the ATM where I promptly put in a check backwards so the machine didn't read it and I was prompted to open a claim that would allow me to finish processing the deposit. Then I had to hurry home, park, run inside and grab a mail ticket, then hoof it down to the mgmt. office and pick up a package that was waiting. It was my Gyration keyboard and mouse + my $20 copy of Microsoft Office 2007 that I got through a work discount. (Yes, I think Microsoft Office is the devil, but I will explain more in a later post.) I trekked back to the apartment to drop off the goods and then went to get my nails done...hence the reason for this post, and I will promptly tell that story. After the nail thing I went to Staples and Target then returned home to play with stuff and actually had a quite productive evening in the apartment. It was grand. Now, onto the story...

There is a nail place next door to the pottery shop below me. I don't even know the name of it, and I think they are probably a little expensive, but they are extremely convenient and quite friendly. What I found out today was that they might be too friendly...

I needed my brows waxed, nail fill-ins, and a pedicure. (It was sort of a present to myself for my birthday.) Brows were done first, then they started my nails. About 1/2 through with the nails it was pedi time. So, I moved over to one of the chairs and the nail girl followed. Double service -that was nice. I got my nails finished while my toes were being done. Everything was pretty normal until the girl doing my nails finished. Then she spotted my cute green patent leather (I guess thats what it is) Ann Taylor bag. She must have commented to the girl doing my toes about it because they both stared asking questions, and the one doing my toes spoke better English. "oooo nice bag" she said, "esspensive?" she asked. No, I got it for something like $15 at Ann Taylor on clearance the other week. "Day have in black?" she wondered. Yes, they do. Pink, and blue as well. "Ooo, is sooo nice." Then the nail girl picks it up and starts prancing around the place with my bag and posing in the mirror. It was crazy. That was basically over, and I was back to flipping through the pages of Glamour magazine. When the toe girl asked me, "so you live here?" Yes, I am new the area I old her. "ahhh - das nice." Yes, I like it here. "Ar eu married?" No, divorced. "ohhhh. "you has kids?" Oh gosh no. Fortunately not. It made things much easier. "yes." - pause- "you has boyfriend?" No...but i did date someone for awhile. We broke up a few months ago. "ohhh. das sad." Well, it happens. "you very pretty. you should has boyfriend." Thanks. I'm young. I have time. Eventually I will meet someone. "Yes. you very young. very pretty." Thanks. - pause - "I thinks you find boyfriend fast cause you so pretty. so young."

Ok, you get the picture. It went on for like 5 minutes. That means the dialog was probably only for about 2 minutes, but it was incredibly awkward and she continually looked at me funny. It was almost like she was hitting on me in this really weird way that someone does when they are trying to figure out "which team you play for." Needless to say, I don't play for that team.

:-) Happy.

I enjoyed this. :-)

And now I'm 26...

Being up here, with no friends yet (really), and new at work...I was not expecting much excitement for my birthday. I was wrong though. Yesterday was probably one of my coolest birthdays recently. Honestly, the last birthday I really have fond memories of was when I turned 23 and I hired a magician, rented a bouncing castle, and had a grand ole' time.

On birthday-eve I went to dinner at Dressler's with two of the IBM contractors and they were kind enough to pick up my tab considering the occasion. We shared some thai calamari that was outrageous, and I had mahi mahi as my entree. It was quite tasty.

Yesterday I seriously got 30 or so e-mails from people and phone calls from those close to me. When I got to work my boss had a card on my desk and a bag a of Chik-fil-a biscuits. I didn't expect that force feeding breakfast on people would have been hard, but it was. I guess it has something to do with the fact that a good number of people I work with are transplants to NC or contractors that are all from up north. Apparently they don't eat chicken for breakfast up there.

Two of the IBM contractors got me a nice card and some wine, then for lunch lots of us went to eeZ. When Mom and I came apartment hunting I filled out a card and won a free lunch for 15, and it was very convenient that we got to do it on my birthday. I ended up having 14 people, one of which was a friend I have met that lives right there in BV. The lunch was done by a financial planner who uses this as a way
to meet new clients. I had mentioned to him that it was my birthday and he was kind enough to bring a cake. So, we all enjoyed some fantastic food during lunch and had a really nice time away from the office.

Some of my old peeps from Cola had a meeting in Gastonia yesterday and were able to stick around to have dinner and drinks with me last night. Seeing Seena, Jason, and Paul was fantastic! I love those guys. We had dinner at Brixx and it just so happened that some Avenue A Razorfish people were gathering there that night. So, I felt uber cool when I knew people that were there.

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing on the sofa and responding to people on facebook and such. It was such a great day. I feel like I am really fitting in at work, and this week have actually started doing stuff to work on the project, so that is really nice. I just hope I don't start drowning in it all.

I hate that I didn't get any photos yesterday. That would have been a smart thing to do. I did put up pics of fishing with dad though.

I best go...

Sinking In

I went to Florence over the weekend. It was really great to see my family and actually be somewhere that feels like home, because Huntersville certainly is not "home" yet. It was birthday season that took me to Florence though, but timing changed the mood of the weekend, and its finally starting to sink in.

My grandmother (mom's side) has been pretty sick since Thanksgiving. She turned 80 last August, and for a bit I kind of joked that she turned 80 a broke. In August she had a fatty mass removed from her neck/shoulder area, then there was this…then that…and then in December she had her gallbladder out. After each visit to the hospital we thought it was all figured out, and she would feel better for a few days. But symptoms continually returned.

Well, earlier this year a series of tests revealed it was cancer. What kind? They were not sure, but more tests eliminated a few types and a course of action was planned. About 2 weeks ago now she finished up her last radiation treatment. There was a tumor in her neck and one in her stomach. The thought was that good progress was being made, but she just kept getting weaker.

Tuesday last week they took her to the hospital for what we have fondly come to think of as "go go juice' – meaning – an IV to re-hydrate her. They admitted her to run some tests to find out why she was so weak. Friday afternoon we got the news that no one expected, and that is just now beginning to sink in.

The tumor in her stomach did not respond well to the radiation or chemo medications. Either it has grown, or a new one has formed and it is starting to block her large intestine. There is nothing else they can do. We spent the weekend meeting with hospice, and she is scheduled to be discharged this afternoon. I know she is very ready to go home. I am just ready for her to be comfortable, and hope they can make her that way.

It could be three weeks – three months – three years. We just don't know. A lot will depend on how well she eats to keep her strength up, and how the tumor's growth progresses. I just wish I knew what to do…what to say. Right now all I know to do is blog…share some of the burden of learning this, knowing this, and feeling this as it starts to sink in.

My mom is amazing to have dealt with all of this over the past 8 months. I knew she was a strong woman, but she really has been remarkable. I hope now that hospice will be around for assistance that she can relax some and enjoy the time with grandma and take some time for her self. Fortunately, the school year is about over so that burden will be off her shoulders for a few months.

So if you pray, think about, or whatever…now is a good time for us. My grandmother and mom especially.