Lamentations

I hate snow. My body hurts and my personal life currently calls for all sorts of communication skills that I don't feel like mustering up the energy to use. End of lament.

This Week's Most Successful Sweet Potato Recipe

Cajun-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

1-1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 Tablespoons bottled Cajun seasoning

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes with oil and seasoning; spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast until cooked through and browned in spots, about 25 minutes. Makes 2-4 servings.

This week's vegetable: Green Beans

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite Holiday and not just because of the obvious reason that I have a nationally endorsed excuse to eat tons of food. I love the fact that my extended family comes to stay with us, that we play all my favorite card games and stay up late talking and drinking wine. I love the cross country ski trips and the way that we take time every year to give Thanks in a new way. So needless to say, I was more than a little surprised to find myself unexcited to head home for Thanksgiving this year. "Surely you're just tired after travel season." I told myself. "And 8 hours really is a long time to be in the car by yourself," chimed in my happy to keep LN in denial voice. Bolstered by such logical and encouraging reassurances I ignored my growing unease and headed home.

And there was much fun to be had:


Good food and good company...



Stunning natural beauty...



Creative forms of exercise...




And even a little impromptu Holiday Dance Party action.

However, I still found it difficult to be home. It's painful to watch people I care about make the same bad choices year after year and it's discouraging to find myself just as immature as I was the last Thanksgiving. And the one before that. And the one before that... Family is hard.

I find it hard enough to exists as myself on a daily basis with all my emotions and thoughts, religious convictions and limited life goals. Then, during the holidays, I mix in 8 other people with their emotions and goals and convictions and weaknesses and things get complicated quickly. Just deciding what's for dinner becomes a major task. Aunt Super Health Freak is insisting on stir frying everything in coconut oil because it's healthier, while Mr. I Haven't Eaten A Vegetable Voluntarily Since 1953 and I'm Not About to Start Now is insisting on bacon fried hash browns. This brings out tears and a moral lecture from the Vegetarian followed by an uproar from the Non-Dairy contingent (of which I am a member) insisting that regardless of what is cooked, soy milk be used to substitute for any dairy products in the recipe. Never mind that two of the eight family members just had surgery and can barely open their mouths to eat in the first place.

Mostly, we make it through.

Someone suggests making tofu sausage to mix with the non-dairy stir fry vegetables and someone else offers to mash some potatoes. Uncle King of the Kitchen whips up a little gravy and before we know it we have a meal that everyone can eat. After we finish everyone helps themselves to two pieces of pie for dessert.

And maybe that's what family really is. A messy group of people that somehow keep finding a way to get everyone fed and occassionally agree on the important things in life; like pie.

Ln, Julie, Julia and Vegetables - A challenge...

I was recently inspired by friends and film to learn how to cook. I am hoping to increase my skill set, lower my monthly food budget, increase my health and just generally slow down and enjoy one of the better things in life; food.

To aid me in the reaching of the above goals I have decided to copy my dear friend Julie from Julie and Julia and issue myself a challenge. Due to the fact that I have both less time and less motivation than Julie my challenge only involves incorporating one new vegetable into my diet each week. I hope to use the book below as a guide:



Last week I took on Broccolli. This week: Sweet Potato.

Reading Season

This made my day today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DFJ2j3206k

Seemingly Upset

You know you might not have the best day ahead of you when you go to get in your car and this happens:

You've Gotta Be Kidding Me.

Some of you may remember my short lived efforts at taking an accounting class last summer. I was hoping to enter the MBA program at the University where I currently work, thus getting myself ahead in the world. Today, I got the below e-mail:

"Hi LN,

With the undergraduate year over, I was reviewing the MBA prerequisites. I noticed you had taken the first financial accounting test, but didn’t get a passing score. I have reset the test for you. Let me know if you need to meet with me and we can go over any topics you want me to cover! The course will need to be completed in order to enroll in the MBA accounting course.

Your Accounting Professor"

'Too bad I e-mailed you 5 months ago, Accounting professor who is also the master of poor communication and unprofessionalism, asking what I needed to do to pass.'

I have since moved on and am taking pre-requisites for a Masters in Counseling.

Some San Francisco Fun

How the evening began...




and ended.

Some Northern California Fun

"Good Day Sunshine"

And this is what greeted me on the ride home...

Talk about your mood swings.

Over the River and Through the Woods

This is what greeted me on my way to work this morning...

It's freaking April people!

Core 150 Revisited

Recently, my small group and I have dredged up some timeless questions in response to some of our reading.

1. Who are you ?
2. Why do you exist?
3. What does it matter?

Thanks to my excellent college education, I didn't have to ponder these questions for long before the answers became clear to me.

1. Don't be fooled by this one. Everyone knows that you are what you eat.
2. "You see, when a man loves a woman and they are in a committed loving relationship..."
3. It doesn't, unless you are majoring in philosophy, in which case, it's probably best if you switch from metaphysics to physics so that you have a chance at getting a job some day.

The Best Part of Having a Birthday is the Food

Another Question to Ponder

Is God a punishing God? Why or why not?

Winter Wonderland

On my way to work t the other day, I passed three Turkeys gobbling away in a neighbor's yard. The next day I was surprised and delighted to see a partridge cross the road on his way to finding a pear tree. Then, today, a frantic doe bounced her way through the parking lot of our office. That almost makes up for the fact that there is fresh snow on the ground in March.

(Please note the ice hanging from the roof)

The front entry way at work

Parking lot snow mounds

Here's a Question for All the Jesus Lovers Out There

"How does a Christian live free, knowing that they've been saved by God for a purpose, while still following His Commandments?"

Cook Books Can be Fun!

While reading up on how to make Japanese Goulash and Poppycock this evening, I found this little gem on on the bottom of page eighty; "Face powder may catch a man but baking powder will keep him!"

I love this cookbook!

I am going here

in 6 days. Thank God!

Choose Your Attitude?

I hate everyone and everything today and I'm pretty sure it's all chemical or hormonal. How is that possible or even remotely ok?!

0 for 2

"To be, or not to be; that is the question".

Do I keep at this accursed accounting deal until I pass no matter how much it costs because I need/want/am called to get a Masters in Business or do I recognize that this isn't my strength and try for something else? Maybe a Masters in Counseling or Teaching or Underwater Basket Weaving? It's a much more complicated question than I originally thought.

Many of the greats wouldn't be who they were if they had a let a few little set backs stop them (ie Michael Jordan, Einstein, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller etc.) along the way. But let's be honest here, am I really on the Jordan Einstein Edison Keller level in ability and drive? Also, there are plenty of examples of idiots who just didn't know when to quit throughout history too; probably more examples of those than anyone who we consider to have succeeded. So, how do we know when to call it quits and when to push through? Where do we draw the line between determination and insanity?

I've never believed (but always wanted to) the "You can be anything you want to be as long as you work hard enough" line. There are just too many pre-determined factors. Instead we should be telling our kids "You can be the best at one thing if you work really hard at it, already have some talent in that area, have the sensibility to recognize your potential and the monetary and emotional support to pursue a future in that area". I think this is a much more realistic approach. But even taking this approach, there are a lot of factors that have to fall into place. And so, I find myself at a loss for the ability to recognize my one talent, limited support and resources to pursue it if I knew what it was, only moderate motivation to be great, and a very strong temptation to be average at a lot of things rather than incredible at one thing. Just call me a sheep and shove me into the middle of the flock where I always swore I'd never go.

Wish me Luck- Take II

So, the first test didn't go so well but through the miraculous kindness of my Professor I get another chance this weekend. I've been bringing out all the stops on studying this time by recruiting accountants, managers and future accountants to my aid. I feel infinitely more confident and hope that the 20 some odd hours of studying will pay off soon.

To be continued...