Feb 16, 2006

on a roll

Posted by Mary |

Tom and I decided to stick with our Valentine's Day tradition of sushi. Because nothing says love like seaweed. This year, like last year, we had the sushi at home, but this year there were a few key differences

  • Tom learned to roll the sushi as well

  • we did not eat a roll that contained the following ingredients: banana, peanut butter and bacon and was then cooked by the following method: deep-frying. Last year's Elvis roll will not be repeated.


  • After an hour or so of prep work, we had the rice cooked, dressed and cooled, and all the ingredients were grilled/blanched/chopped/mixed, etc.
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    Tom watched me with the first roll, a peanut-glazed spinach roll, and then felt confident to try it with the next roll. He and I made Manhattan rolls and Green Goddess rolls.
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    Then came the piece de resistance - the Cowboy roll. This one was our clear favorite. It had grilled steak, wasabi mayonnaise, minced red onion, spinach and blue cheese.
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    Of course, no meal is complete without dessert, so I whipped up a Twinkie roll. The closest substitute I could find for tobiko was strawberry Nerds, which gave the roll a delightful crunch. As Tom said, "It tastes better than it has any right to."

Feb 15, 2006

heard after dinner

Posted by Mary |

If it was just about sustenance, I wouldn't eat quite as much.
--Tom, who gorged himself once again

Thanks to John Wilder, I've learned of the concept of the Bacardi post. And this is post #151 for me. Thanks for visiting, but I don't drink rum. Too much coconut involved in the mixed drinks. Instead, I raise my martini to you.

chagrined

Posted by Mary |

I don't normally buy into the materialism of Valentine's Day. Sure, we have a nice meal, but I don't expect a heart-shaped box of candy or jewelry. But when Don mentioned yesterday that he'd bought Jen roses, I started complaining about the fact that Tom never buys me flowers. To be fair, he's very financially practical, and what's more impractical than a cut-off plant that will soon die? But still, they're pretty. And it's not like he'd have to strain to figure out what I want. I've strived to make it easy for him to understand.

INT.TANANA VALLEY STATE FAIR AGRICULTURAL DISPLAY.DAY
MARY:Wow look at those lilies.
TOM:Yeah.
MARY:They're so colorful. And they smell wonderful too.
TOM:Yeah.
MARY:I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal out of roses. They're so run-of-the-mill. Lilies have such beautiful variety.
TOM:Uh-huh.
MARY:I mean, the calla lilies are gorgeous, but tiger lilies are vibrant. You know, lily of the valley is the flower for May.
TOM:Yeah.
MARY:And that's the month when I was born. That's probably why I like lilies so much. [smells flowers] Oh they smell so nice!
TOM:Hey, check out this tomato! It's, like, mutant or something.

So yeah, I bitched about his not buying me flowers. Then I got to the cabin and found Tom. With flowers. Lilies, to be exact. That he went to two stores to find. And brought home on his bike.

I do love that man.

Feb 14, 2006

heard at the commune

Posted by Mary |

Show us your cheeks.
--"One Glass" Gretta,
while watching Olympic skaters

fetal fears

Posted by Mary |

I have two friends who are pregnant right now. That's two women who are both pregnant, as I don't buy into that couple-y "we're pregnant" crap. Only one of you gives birth, so only one of you is pregnant.

Back to my point. One of my friends just stopped by my office with her young son and told me that she's been scheduled to give birth in 5 weeks. She has gestational diabetes, and is looking forward to having sugar again in about 6 weeks.

The other friend is pregnant with twins. By the look of the sonogram, they are positioned head to foot or, as she put it, "kicking each other in the face." Tom and I have been hard at work coming up with names for her babies. However, "Pocky" and "Pretz" are reserved for our future dogs.

And so, on this, the holiest of Hallmark holidays, I look over the ritual of pregnancy, birth and parenting and wonder why. Don't misunderstand me - I'm very happy for both of my friends, and I know their children will bring them joy. But for me, the whole concept of subjugating your life to another person for 18 years is completely foreign. From buying a house in a good school district to taking "fun" family vacations to Disney World to uttering the phrase "Make your poopies in the potty," I just don't get it.

And so today I pledge my love to Tom. He understands me. He loves me. He puts up with me. And he never, ever wants me to have a child.

Feb 13, 2006

ouch

Posted by Mary |

As part of my continuing efforts to get ready for the triathlon this year, I decided to throw on my Yak Trax on Sunday and go running with Tom on the ski trails and lakes behind our cabin.

Now, there was a period in high school when I went running fairly regularly, but that was a long time ago and often featured a break to go skinny-dipping in a local swimming hole. So I'm not exactly what they would call "in shape." And believe me, I'm feeling it today.

The trails are not ideal to run on, especially where William has not run his team. The snow is not packed down at all on Deuce Lake, and the trail turns very hilly and twisty on the other side. I switched from running to walking pretty frequently, and my hips are still killing me today. I think that's a pretty good sign that today should be a day of rest and yoga for me.

In related training news, I swam 2/3 mile in the UAF pool on Friday. My form is still horrible, probably because I am still unable to, say, put my face in the water. It's a testament to my tenacity, though, that I got in the pool, got crowded with two other swimmers joining me in the lane, but still kept going until I'd done 20 laps. I'm planning on signing up for some swimming lessons, and hopefully will be able to get past this mental block about water and my nasal passages.

The best part of getting health insurance, besides the dental work, was getting new glasses. For me, glasses are a fashion statement. As I browsed the selection at Fred Meyer, I came across a pair that had great potential.
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Funky shape? Check.
Unusual color? Check.
But they were still missing that special something. That glitz, that glamour, that je ne sais quoi.... However, I'm a creative person, so a trip to Michael's was in order. After the shopping was done, I gathered my supplies and got ready to turn my ordinary frames into Ethels.
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2 mm rhinestones, superglue and tweezers. I was good to go!
I tested out a pattern before committing myself.
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I ran into one small problem - Superglue doesn't dry well. It creates a pretty quick bond between surfaces (thus leading me to my first hint: Don't get it on your lenses.) but doesn't dry quickly when exposed to air. The drops of glue were bigger than the rhinestones, so I had to wait for the residual glue to dry.
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That leads me to my second hint: Don't touch the glue. If you do touch the glue, don't touch anything else. On the bright side, I did glue my finger to my thumb in a very pretty, mudra-esque manner. After separating my thumb and finger, I was able to work on the other side of the frames.
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And voila! The frames I have christened Ethel. Gretta tells me she had the same frames 50 years ago. Either she was a pioneer, or I am spearheading a whole new segment of the retro craze.

Feb 6, 2006

where the DEA meets the LOC

Posted by Mary |

I swear, I found this LoC entry by accident:

Cookery (Marijuana)

It is nice to know where to look for pot brownie recipes, though.

Feb 2, 2006

heard at dinner

Posted by Mary |

They're not friends with the bad Justin, are they?
--Jacob on potential satellite residents and
our wish to keep undesirables out of Hidden Hill

Feb 1, 2006

de-railed and re-railed

Posted by Mary |

Two days after vowing publicly to run a triathlon, I got walloped with a cold. Needless to say, I haven't been back in the pool since Friday, so my training has been a bit derailed. After taking 6 hours of sick leave yesterday so I could stare blankly into space at home, I'm starting to feel better. Hopefully I can get to the pool tomorrow for a swim, because this is First Friday week. First Friday = Free Wine and Snacks Friday. I'm all about the free wine and snacks.

Of course, I was also derailed in December, though it was due to nepotism, not germs. And I thought all was better when I was offered an editing job at UAF this week. Permanent, no less, which would take me off this grant-funded roller coaster at the library. And an office with windows! When you work two stories underground, you start to crave windows. So what's the hitch? Well, it's a permanent part-time job. My current job is temporary full-time. And according to the powers that be at UAF, I cannot go to temporary part-time and also hold a permanent part-time job. Two temporary part-time jobs? Yes. Two permanent part-time jobs? Yes. A part-time job and an adjunct position? Yes. A temporary part-time and a permanent part-time job? No.

Since the library is kind of up a creek without me, the people here are trying to see if they can switch my designation to permanent part-time so that I can hold both jobs. The editing position may eventually become full-time, but in the meantime I could stay at the library.

Will the library be able to pull it off? Or will I go back to one part-time job and search for more work? Stay tuned....

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