The Art of Culinary Forgetfulness

I packed a lunch yesterday with a sandwich, a soda and an apple, but did not eat the apple, so I put it in the mini-fridge at work overnight.

This morning, I packed a lunch to go with the apple, but forgot it on the kitchen counter, so I was left with only the apple. I decided to go to the Haven on my lunch break again, so I was able to get chips and a Yoohoo to go with the apple.

When I took the apple out of the mini-fridge, it was weird-looking--the skin of the apple had wrinkled up, and it was textured kind of like the tops of the folding tables at church. I thought nothing of it, except that that's probably what happens when an apple is refrigerated, allowed to come to room temperature, and then refrigerated again.

So, I got to the Haven, and bit into the apple--it was frozen! I'd put it on the shelf of the mini-fridge right next to the freezer portion, and I guess it was just too cold there. So, I had a couple bites of frozen apple, a bag of Lays potato chips, and a can of Yoohoo for lunch today.

Hopefully, I'll actually remember my lunch tomorrow--at least I won't have to pack it.

New Computer!

My new computer came yesterday, and when I got home from the Haven around 7:30-ish, Dad was working on Kayla's (he'd bought one each for me, Kayla and Jason). The computer is a Compaq Presario CQ60-211DX Notebook PC.

I brought it to work with me this morning so that I could put some stuff on it from my external hard drive (which I also brought to work) like my iTunes library and a shortcut to my journal file, and later while I'm at the Haven I'm going to get some programs online that I usually use--like Gmail Notifier and Firefox.

Dad also bought an XBox 360 and a Wii. The console we played Anna's Rock Band 2 on the other night was actually Dad's. Last night, we played Wii Sports, and Dad also bought Wii Fit.

w00t!

Last night after I got home from class, I was talking to my mom in her room and my dad came in. He asked me what kind of computer it was that we'd looked at as my "dream computer," and how long it would take me to save up for it.

I told him it was some tablet-type PC, and it would take me 10-12 months. Then he showed me a print-out with a laptop (not tablet) and its configuration specs, that had the price blacked out. He told me that he would be willing to buy that computer for me in a week if I wanted it.

He must've gotten a really good income tax return, because he was talking about buying a new refridgerator for the pantry and a new computer for Jason (my brother, not any of the other Jasons I know) as well.

Considering I was not looking forward to keeping my current laptop (which takes at least 20 minutes just to boot up enough so that I can use it for browsing the internet) for another year, I agreed. This will also allow me to save up for other things, such as flight school at The Frederick Flight Center.

I've been looking into getting a private pilot's certificate, and I think I'd like to finance my flight training and ground school, but think I should at least save up some for the first few lessons and such. I'd eventually like to own my own four-seater plane too.

I won't start flight school until this summer at the earliest--got to finish out the semester at FCC at least. But when I do, I'll be going for my private certificate, and then I can go on to train on planes with two engines, and get instrumentation training so I can fly in bad weather. Eventually, I want to get a commercial license so that I can do charter flights.

So, instead of saving up for a computer, I'll be saving up for flight school.

Faster computation, here I come!

Okay, I want to sleep now . . .

After work (which was extremely frustrating, but in the end fruitful), I had Dad look at the job I'd done on my closet as soon as I got home. I'd put the bar back up on Saturday after six months of having no closet (plus the two months in the camper, where there wasn't a closet anyway). When I finished, it was level and seemed sturdy, but I wanted to be certain before I hung my clothes on it so I asked Dad to have a look.

It was fine, so I hung up my stuff and put my spare blankets on the rack. Then I arranged my shoes, toolbox, kite, luggage and laptop case on the floor.

From there, it was just a matter of getting things organized. I started by getting the trash (various papers I'd originally wanted to save but really had no use for in the long run, books which could go under the bed with the rest, things like that) out of the middle of the floor. Then I cleaned the Sterilite plastic storage . . . thing that Jason left when he moved rooms so that I could put stuff in it.

I got a lot of stuff off of my floor, and what wouldn't fit well into the storage thing, I just organized as neatly as possible, as close to the wall as I could get it. For instance, I've got the candles I bought for the large brass candlesticks in a basket in front of my ergonomic keyboard, which is sitting propped up against the wall. And the DVDs and scratch tape which I've been working my way through watching and/or re-watching (i.e. MacGyver, Firefly, Serenity, etc.) are all stacked neatly in front of the storage bin on top of which I've got my TV and VCR/DVD-R sitting.

I've run out of storage things and/or flat, elevated surfaces, so I'm leaving everything else as-is for now. Maybe I'll buy a small coffee table or something. I know my desk won't fit in here, and even if it would, that doesn't help me to organize the stuff I've got in here already--the desk is full as it sits in my storage unit. So I think I should probably get some sort of cabinet or dresser. That could help with the "gotta find a pair of socks in the next five minutes" thing I've got going every morning, what with living out of the laundry basket (which is where I've been keeping my clean clothes; the dirty ones are all in the hamper) and all.

And then there's all the other stuff that still needs organizing if I'm ever going to be able to consolidate these bins. But that's a project for another month--I've got to buy groceries after I get paid this weekend, and also need to save some for Anna's bachelorette and wedding gifts.

After I finished with the room, I took a shower and watched a movie (G. I. Jane), took a shower, and then was too awake to get to sleep. If I'd tried to go to sleep before the shower (when I was actually inclined and sleepy enough to do so), I'd have been wide awake by four in the morning or so, and been dragging my eyelids long before class is over tomorrow. Trying before the movie would have also resulted in a too early awakening. Going to sleep after the movie would've been ideal, but I was still too awake, so I got online and checked my e-mail, among other things.

Now, I'm pretty much just rambling, and I think I'm actually sleepy again, so I'm going to pop While You Were Sleeping (or maybe Sydney White) into the DVD player and set the sleep timer on the TV with the volume down way low.

Hopefully, I'll fall asleep before the opening credits are finished. Last night, I got to at least "Pick a Little, Talk a Little"--possibly further--in The Music Man before I was out.

Art and Taxes

I had my first class on Tuesday. It was long and boring, like most first sessions are, but it's looking like it'll get more interesting as the semester goes on. For classwork, we drew still life contour drawings. For homework, we have to do the same, only with three objects in our own house. It's due next Tuesday.

Yesterday, I stopped off at the storage facility to get my tax information from last year. I also had to get a new gate key, because the old one didn't work (it was a company-wide thing, so not my fault). In addition to the tax papers, I also got the sustain pedal and music stand for my keyboard.

When I got home, I went to put the pedal and music stand on the keyboard, but Anna told me she'd taken it to Tim's house! She said she needs it to do her homework for the piano class she's taking, but she didn't even ask to borrow it, much less take it out of the house!

Not to mention, there is at least one other electronic keyboard in the house which is much less expensive (ergo, less worry about Twigg pets and little children breaking it) and works just as well. She could've taken the other keyboard, which is also more portable than mine, and Kayla could've kept mine in her room where we'd put it, since I'm almost certain there's more room there than in the Twiggs' house. It just galls me that she had the nerve to just move my property to a completely different house where I can't keep an eye on it, and didn't even make sure it was okay with me first!

All of the stuff for my plan has arrived at the house, except for the mini-fridge. According to UPS Tracking, that should arrive today. So I can set it all up this weekend, but I won't be able to buy food to put in it until a week from tomorrow.

I finished my taxes last night. I owe $15 to the IRS, and Maryland is giving me $182. I'm filing by mail this year, because I really want that Maryland return as soon as possible, but I can't afford the $19.95 to e-File it. Plus, filing by mail means more time before my check to the IRS clears, so that's a plus. I didn't want to e-File the federal return, because then it would've come out of my account right away, and I didn't want that.

I tried doing the federal by mail and the state by e-File, but again the $19.95 e-File fee through TurboTax, and it wouldn't let me do one by mail and one by e-File anyway.

What the huh?

Anna says I "have to" get a date for her wedding (something about screwing up seating arrangements at the head table or something).

Here are the problems with that pronouncement, in no particular order (except maybe my own head-logic):

• Most, if not all, of my current guy friends already have girlfriends. (If they don't, I don't know it; nor do I know how to find out if the ones whose girlfriends I don't already know or know about are single or not without seeming nosy. I refuse to ruin someone's relationship out of ignorance.)
• Even if they don't have girlfriends already, I haven't known any of them long enough to even consider dating them even just casually.
• I'm going to be meeting new people in my class this semester (which starts--belatedly--tomorrow, provided school doesn't get cancelled due to snow again), but the wedding is only two weeks away, and I won't have known anybody in that class nearly long enough to even consider them friends, much less as possible romantic partners.
• Asking someone to be a date to a wedding is a big deal, and in my opinion, should only be done between couples who have an established relationship. It's simply not a "casual date"-type event, and even if it were, I will never go on a blind date, no matter who is trying to set me up.
• Two weeks does not an established relationship make.
• Finally, and most importantly, all of these reasons add up to: I would not be comfortable so much as asking a guy to come to Anna's wedding as my date, and it's kind of presumptuous of Anna to try and dictate my love life all for the sake of filling a chair. Granted, it is her wedding, but even so, requiring that people bring dates, no matter their current relationship status, is going too far.

I shall now say no more on the matter. On to a different topic:

Last Monday, I had an appointment with the allergist (as opposed to just getting shots), and he gave me some Nasonex and an order for a limited sinus CT scan.

The Nasonex was to help with the stuffiness due to allergies. Even though I thought I had a cold as well, I think it might've just been extremely, severely severe allergic rhinitis, because I've actually been taking the Nasonex as directed every day for a week now, and early this morning, I found myself breathing through my nose as I drifted in and out of sleep!

Dr. M (the allergist) is out of the office this week, but I'll call him next week to get the results of the CT scan. He had me get it because I've had problems with my sense of smell for years now--in other words, I don't smell much of anything. The most common cause of a lack of smell (and by connection, a dulled sense of taste) is an inflamation of the sinuses in the forhead area pinching the olfactory nerve.

So, since I've had this problem for years, and he hasn't had much luck treating it so far, he told me to get the CT scan to make sure it really is a sinus infection, and not some other thing pinching the olfactory nerve.

Last Tuesday, my first class was cancelled due to snow. I was supposed to have Intro. to Business on Wednesday evenings, but that class got cut due to insufficient enrollment. I couldn't choose another section of the same class, since they all clashed with my work schedule, so my only choices were: a) don't go to school this semester, or b) choose a different 3-credit class that I can go to.

I looked in the course catalogue for all the subjects that seemed interesting and also had sections after 5:30 pm on weeknights (none of the courses I looked at had Saturday courses, I think, and I've never had school on Saturdays before so I'm not intending to start now), and came up with an English course and an Art course that looked promising.

The English course (or at least the section I was looking at) was full, but I was lucky enough to get the last seat in the Art class (Drawing I). It meets Tuesday nights from 6-10pm. Sadly, that means that I won't be able to play in the Paranoia game that Matt from the Haven was planning to start, but c'est la vie.

You win some, you lose some, I guess.

I think I have a new show. Yesterday, I hung out in Mom's room for hours, and she was watching The Closer. The 4-6 episodes I saw (they were having a marathon) were pretty good, and I like the characters and stories so far--even though Kyra Sedgewick always looks like she's going to cry for some reason. Maybe once I finish watching my MacGyver DVDs (and have some extra money) I'll get caught up on the series or something.

I have a plan to save money faster so I can get a new computer. I'm going to stop buying lunch at Beans & Bagels (except for on payday, to treat myself) and pack all my lunches from now on.

In order to do this, I have to make sure that there is always bread, lunch meat/cheese, other stuff to put in my lunches, and cereal and milk for breakfast in the house. So I bought myself a mini-fridge from Sears (it's going to be delivered sometime this week) and a bunch of storage drawers from Wal-Mart (also to be delivered this week) so that I can keep my own food and drinks in them.

I have a box I'm going to keep apples, oranges or other whole fruits (not grapes, cherries or strawberries--those are strictly fridge-bound) in, plus a set of plastic drawers for bread, bagels and lunch-size chip bags, and a crate-like-thing for cereal boxes. My new fridge has a place for soda cans to dispense vertically out the bottom, which I think is pretty darn cool. I would've gotten the 6 cu. ft. model, but that was way too expensive.

I don't have any money to put anything in it yet, so I'll just have to set it all up and wait to get paid again. I don't think I'd get a tax return before my next paycheck, even if I filed them today, so I won't hope for that to come first.

First Fitting

So, I headed to Hagerstown yesterday straight after work. I got to David's Bridal with a full half-hour to spare before my appointment, and sat outside the alterations area while the seamstress pinned up a bride's gown.

Once she was ready for me, I put the dress on (which definitely took more effort than typing about it) and did the whole "stand on the platform, walk back and forth" thing.

The dress fit perfectly--seriously, the bodice was nice and snug (but not tight), and the hem line was just where it needs to be. I'm a little disappointed that the dress is size 14, but that's my own fault for being a bit over-weight.

Anyway, since the dress was perfect, no alterations were needed, and I got to take the dress home. Before I left the bridal shop, I bought a nice ($10) dress bag for it. It's the most expensive dress I've ever owned (and also quickly becoming one of my favorites), so you'd better believe I'm going to keep it as nice as I can, and part of that is putting a sturdy dress bag on it while it's not being worn.

SNOW

Grrr . . . it snowed yesterday. I hate snow. I mean, it's pretty and all, but it's also cold and wet--one of my least favorite combinations.

The allergist was closed for shots yesterday, so I'm going this evening. Spring semester starts on Saturday, but my first class session isn't until a week from tomorrow. This Thursday after work, I'm going to David's Bridal for my first fitting of my bridesmaid's dress.

That last part is pretty exciting--I get a really nice gown to wear, altered specifically for me! But I won't have anywhere to wear it after the wedding, so it'll just sit in my closet getting old and tatty. :( I wish I could afford to take a ballroom dance class. Then maybe I could wear that to dance events and such.

Chinese Zodiac

Saw this on Heather's LJ this morning, so I decided to check out my year, and it kinda described me very well (entry title links to Chinese Zodiac site):

People born in the Year of the Pig are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever they do,
they do with all their strength. For Boar Year people, there is no left or right
and there is no retreat. They have tremendous fortitude and great honesty. They
don't make many friends but they make them for life, and anyone having a Boar
Year friend is fortunate for they are extremely loyal. They don't talk much but
have a great thirst for knowledge. They study a great deal and are generally
well informed. Boar people are quick tempered, yet they hate arguments and
quarreling. They are kind to their loved ones. No matter how bad problems seem
to be, Boar people try to work them out, honestly if sometimes impulsively. They
are most compatible with Rabbits and Sheep.

Better Holiday Memory by DSDragon

Setting: GGGoH

Author's Notes: The title kinda sucks, but it was the only thing I could come up with. The challenge said "a revelation or unexpected gift." They're not big, but I put one of each in this fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the settings in this fanfic. I only own the idea. The rest belongs to Warner Brothers.

-----

Perry had given Lois and Clark a few extra days down in Smallville to let Clark recuperate from the Trask debacle (they had sent the story to him by fax already) and to have time with his parents for an early Thanksgiving celebration. Lois, who never turned down food as good as what she'd been fed for the last few days, accepted the invitation to stay when it was given.

Sitting at the kitchen table, she watched Mrs. Kent--er, Martha--putter around her, preparing a full turkey dinner. Well, "putter" was really the wrong word. Martha's gait and ease on her feet were really too vivacious to call them "puttering." *The woman must live on Energizer batteries,* Lois thought. *She just keeps going, and going . . .*

"You seem contented," Martha remarked, startling Lois out of her reverie. "Kind of like the cat that ate the canary, what with that grin you've got."

"Oh!" Lois gasped. "Um, I was just thinking, that's all."

"Really? What about?"

Thinking it would be rude to compare her hostess to the Energizer Bunny out loud, Lois improvised. "Actually, I was thinking how nice it is here. I mean, I wouldn't want to live here, but it's nice not to be mashed into a few city blocks with crowds of other people every once in a while."

"Huh," Martha said.

Perplexed, Lois asked, "What?"

"Nothing. It's just that, from what Clark's been telling us, and what I've seen so far, I was almost sure I had you pegged for the workaholic, never-leave-the-city-on-your-life type."

Caught, Lois blushed. "Well, yeah. But a girl can appreciate some time off; no matter how much she loves the work, can't she?"

"Absolutely."

Thinking it was time to change the subject, Lois asked, "So where are Cl--the boys?"

A twinkle in her eye as she turned back to the turkey in the oven, Martha answered, "Oh, they're around somewhere. Since this will be our only chance to have Thanksgiving with Clark this year, he and Jonathan decided to hang the Christmas decorations earlier than usual."

"What do you mean? Christmas isn't for another month and a half."

"We decorate on Thanksgiving," came the answer from the sink as Martha prepared some brussels sprouts for boiling.

"Why is that?" Lois asked. "I've never done much more than find a tree on Christmas Eve myself."

"Just a Kent family tradition, I guess. We don't take down any decorations until New Year's either."

"More than a month of Christmas?" Lois couldn't decide whether she was in awe or pure catatonia at the thought of all that . . . cheer. "How can you stand it? I can barely tolerate the decorations they put up at the Planet in the middle of December."

When Martha's answer did not come right away, Lois looked up. The older woman had a somewhat sad expression on her face. "Bad memories?" she asked.

Lois scrunched her head further onto her shoulders and rubbed her entwined fingers together on top of the table. "I don't really like to talk about it."

-----

Clark put the finishing touches on the staircase. He'd wrapped the rails in garland and white Christmas tree lights—for the next two months, his parents wouldn't have to worry about breaking their necks if they went downstairs for a midnight snack. And, hey, it was also festive!

Suddenly, his super hearing kicked in:

~"How can you stand it? I can barely tolerate the decorations they put up at the Planet in the middle of December."~

*Hmm,* Clark thought. *I wonder why Lois is so repulsed by Christmas decorations?* Shaking his head, he resolved to try not to eavesdrop anymore—and to help Lois enjoy the holidays.

But before he could turn off his hearing, he heard his mother's question. ~Bad Memories?~

Hoping it wasn't true, Clark's heart broke a little when his partner answered very quietly, ~I don't really like to talk about it.~

Desperate now to find a way to cheer Lois up about the season, Clark searched the room. He must have been staring in certain places, because his father was looking at him with a question in his eyes. Clark shook his head in a "not yet" gesture, then spotted exactly what he was looking for in a box balanced precariously on the back of the couch.

Going as fast as he could without alerting the kitchen's occupants (or rather one of the occupants) that he was super-speedy, Clark grabbed a bit of mistletoe, tacked it right outside the kitchen, and went back to his place by the stairs just as the door started to open.

-----

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Martha nodded, and turned back to her cooking just as a timer sounded. "Whoops! Looks like that's dinner. Want to help me get it all to the table?"

"Sure." Lois stood and took the dish of mashed potatoes toward the dining room. She carefully opened the door, and took only a step or two into the other room before Martha called, "Stop, Lois!" She stopped.

Looking back to the Kent matriarch, Lois asked, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," came the answer. "You're just standing under the mistletoe."

Lois looked up; sure enough, there was a tiny sprig of the dratted weed tacked to the ceiling just outside of the kitchen doorway. Her eyes widened--how the hell could she get out of this one?--"Oh."

Movements out of the corner of her eye made Lois turn her head. Clark was walking toward her. *He'd better not do what I think he's going to do,* Lois thought to herself in vain. Clark grabbed the potato dish from her nerveless fingers, gently set it on the table just to her right, and--quick and soft--put his lips on hers.

*Hey, where'd he go?* Her thoughts contradicted themselves as Clark pulled back with a smile.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Lois," he said as Lois mused to herself, *Maybe the holidays aren't so bad after all.*