Me on a sugar high:

Styrdyst: should i get a bagel
Styrdyst: ?
Styrdyst: bagel?
Styrdyst: bagel?
Styrdyst: bagel
Styrdyst: bagel
Styrdyst: bader
Styrdyst: badger
Styrdyst: badger
Styrdyst: mushroom
Styrdyst: mushroom

This is a post (for Michael).

Mint chocolate and orange juice… two flavors that were not made to go together.

Frustrated with my body… I’m trying so hard to get better, I keep thinking, as if
I have any control over it.

I don’t know what’s with Firefox’s spell check but it seems to be dropping words.
Right now it’s having issues with my name. It suggests Rebeka, Rebeca, Rebbecca (my
least favorite misspelling) or Rebecka. Rebecca is apparently wrong.

A message to the warm people:

You always win the temperature wars with the line, “You can always put more clothes
on but we can’t take ours off.”

I don’t mind that to be comfortable at work in the winter I have to wear a fleece
jacket, fingerless gloves, wool socks, and sometimes leg warmer. (Even in the
summer, thanks to air conditioning.) However it’s a problem when I’m bundled up
like this and I’m still freezing cold.

My most hated words in the office are, “Man it’s warm in here.” That’s when I
realize that I feel comfortable, maybe don’t even need the jacket (but I’ll
leave it on anyway), and someone is about to ruin it for me.

And people who wonder how I can always be cold… I sit next to the door, which is
next to the back door of the building. So every time someone comes in or out of the
office, I get a blast of cold air, which is not as refreshing as the chewing gum and
shaving commercials would have you believe.

You know, for some reason this doesn’t mean I get a wave of warm air when someone
opens the door in the summer. Instead it’s the air conditioning vent, blowing
directly at me.

Warm people, how would you like to trade desks?

It’s not a New Years resolution. That’s too cliche. It’s a Christmas-is-over-and-the-brownies-are-finally-gone resolution, I will get in shape, even if it means looking silly in front of Andrew with my new Wii ‘My Fitness Coach’.

What a way to start the day…

My coworker picks something off the floor by my desk – a small, rectangle wrapped in yellow plastic – and looks confused until I say something about how it must have fallen out of my backpack and take it back.

I can’t help thinking how these things become less traumatically embarrassing as you get older. It helps that he was legitimately confused, and given how Jake used to insist that gay guys were terrified of menstruation, he may have never actually figured out what it was.

I’ve been sitting on this article trying to think of some commentary on the blatant dumb scare tactics. But even better was watching the video at the end, “Teens using nutmeg to get high”, with the sound off. It looks totally like a parody of a drug scare video, especially with all of the zooms on the nutmeg. I have that stuff in my cupboard!!

Funny thing is I had already heard of the nutmeg thing last year when I had accidentally ended up with two full bottles of the stuff and was searching for ways to use it up. Not exactly what I had in mind… I learned to make really good hot chocolate instead.

I noticed a few days ago that my fingertips are peeling. I thought I remembered reading bout this as some vitamin deficiency or another but I can’t find anything like that now, only a disease that affects mostly children, mostly in Japan, and mostly boys. Other causes are too much moisture or not enough moisture.

“Scientists now say carbs, not fat, are to blame for America’s ills“. I can’t believe the date on this this article was two days not two years ago. Weren’t carbs the big deal already back then?

Forget the blog post… I ate my cereal and I’m going to bed!

I don’t know if it’s the late night baking or the insane amount of drugs in my body right now (at least I start tapering the prednisone again tomorrow) but I could barely stay away through Michael Noodles and Mythbusters night. Or through part of the morning at work for that matter.

With how I start waking up this time of night no matter how tired I was, I’m having to curb my ambition to get a head start on tomorrow’s baking tonight. Got a head start on the dishes instead and I’m trying to see if I can settle down with a bowl of cereal and get a blog post written up, if not posted, by midnight.

After seeing another reference to kidney stones being more painful than childbirth, and realizing that childbirth is the standard for pain… I can’t help thinking, ‘I should hope for a kidney stone in the next year or so, that way when I start having babies I can look back during labor and think, “At least this isn’t as bad as a kidney stone!”‘

Andrew is complaining that I broke his printer again. I said that’s what he gets for marrying an artist.

(For the record, the printer isn’t broken, but there was an incriminating sheet of label paper jammed in it.)

I definitely got dressed in the dark this morning. Noticed in the car that my shirt was on backwards.

Attn: Seattle drivers

If you slow to a crawl every time it’s rained or looks like it might rain again, you leave no room to further mess up traffic when it’s actually raining.

Also, turn your headlights on. I wish there was a PSA out there to show you what your gray car looks like on the gray pavement in front of the gray sky. I don’t care what color you say your car is, by the way, everything looks gray in winter.

I wonder how much trouble I would get into if I added “not that you’re going to pay
attention to this anyway” to the paper reduction line. No one reads that far down
right?

I didn’t wait a week – I called my doctor on Tuesday asking if I could switch back
to the Lialda. She responded via her nurse yesterday, “It’s the disease that’s
making you feel bad, not the medication” and that I should stay on the Asacol since
it’s a stronger drug. Also raised my prednisone to 25mg temporarily, half a pill
more than I started on.

I wouldn’t be concerned if I hadn’t since read all the “bad things”. The only side
effects I’ve personally experienced are the increased appetite, and possibly
explains my being wide awake at 2am, but I don’t necessarily need a drug behind that
one.

One thing that led to the previous demise of happy-clicker is my tendency to focus
on whatever Big Thing is happening at the time. First I got a new job and all of my
posts felt like, “I got a new job! Yay new job! New job! I got a job! Stuff
about my new job!”

Then I got a car and it was, “I got a new car! Yay new car! Various observations
about driving that everyone else knows because driving’s not a new experience for
them.”

Then I just stopped writing…

Looking through my archives I realize I missed having this record of my life. I
came back sort of under the condition that I’m writing for myself first, so I’m
trying not to apologize for “The Disease” being the big focus of my thoughts at the
moment, and I haven’t even written the story of my diagnosis yet.

I did run across an Ulcerative Colitis forum recently (which finally occurred to me
that I should register and post, now that I’m “official”) which is nice to have a
place where people talk openly about stuff that can’t really be discussed in polite
company.

The funny thing is yesterday I saw a post of someone saying they finally announced,
to a filtered group on Facebook, that they have UC. People said it was brave. The
first thing I did when I was diagnosed was announce what was wrong with me
(unfiltered). I guess I value sympathy over privacy.

Morgan found out that a really fast way to wake Andrew up is to start playing with
his wedding ring. This morning she was going after my glasses.

Merlin’s trick is to walk across the headboard and leap off aiming at my stomach.
Andrew thought I was exaggerating about the “dive bombing” until he saw it done.

I have no idea why the cats are going after me when I’m not and have never been the
one who feeds them in the morning. They must think the humans are a single feeding
entity.

Normally when I look at my search query report for tavcooking I want to Google them to see how people are finding me. However “moldy toes” scares me too much that image search will show me things I don’t want to see.

There has to be a first time for everything… my first time tonight, I locked my keys in the car.

I went to JoAnn’s to pick up some very basic sewing supplies. Sewing looks like it could be a good or bad thing for me… too many shiny things and I don’t know what to do with any of them. I bought some orange-handled fabric scissors, straight pins with pretty pearlescent tops, a silver marking pencil, and a purple tomato pincushion (only because it came in purple).

And then at my car, in the rain, in the dark, my keys weren’t where they belong. They weren’t where I’d put them otherwise, like my coat pocket. They weren’t in my backpack anywhere, from a frantic search short of emptying the contents onto the sidewalk. They weren’t on the ground or in the store or at the cash register.

I have roadside assistance on my insurance but getting into my car won’t start my car, and won’t let me into my apartment. Andrew was in class for another hour. I couldn’t see in the car, in the dark, to see if my keys were there. By luck I tried the back door and… it was unlocked.

And my keys were sitting on the passenger seat.

The word “irony” is misused so often, I’m often afraid to use it at all. When I do I feel like I need to write up a separate essay justifying why I think my usage was correct.

We have mandatory email signatures at work, the usual bloated stuff – name, address, company logo, confidentially notice. Now we are told to add a “paper reduction note” that says “Before printing this e-mail, please consider if it is really necessary, thank you !”.

Given the little logo in front, and the space before the ‘!’ I can tell this is blatantly ripped off from someone else’s email. I’ve seen this one and a number of variations before. I pointed out that it’s hypocritical, given that we’re required to print almost everything. I’ll be glad to get a job that’s not all about killing trees, but as long as someone sits at my desk there will be tree killing.

But not only that, I think it’s patronizing. Nobody ever stops with their mouse over the print button, sees that message and thinks, “Oh you’re right! I don’t need to print this after all.” It gives me the feeling of hovering over someone drinking a soda and saying, “You’re going to recycle that bottle when you’re done, right?”

The irony of it all, in the grand scheme of things, I wonder how often that extra line causes an email to print on an extra page.

My office suddenly smells like my sea bass marinade. While I know someone’s lunch is to blame, I find the smell extremely unlikely, since my marinade is half sake and mirin.

I guess the new battery didn’t magically fix my car. The familiar orange glow of the check engine light came back last night.

Amazon wishlists are kind of like finding the Christmas presents in the closet as a kid. I went to look at what Wii fitness games I had been interested in and Amazon says, “Are you sure? Someone may have purchased that for you recently.” It gives you the option to be told if that’s true, and then it says, “Yes, this item was purchased for you.” Unless it’s going to pop up that message randomly and say “Never mind, nobody bought it!” then it’s a pretty accurate indicator that you’re getting a present.

So I seem to be getting My Fitness Coach and an immersion blender.

From all the rants I’ve read on the internet, if there’s one annoyance everyone with some kind of health problem has, it’s the “miracle cure”. The person who’s friend/sister/cousin tried something and it cured them, so you just need to do that and you’ll be better. Or you just need to exercise more, lose weight, stop eating meat, fish, dairy, gluten, sugar, fruit, vegetables…. and start eating more fruit, vegetables, macadamia nuts, spinach, pro-biotics, antibiotics, you get the idea… or just take more vitamins!!

I’m at least thankful that the only person I’ve ever gotten this from (other than Selina trying to convince me to try gluten-free) is my boss. He already said, before I was diagnosed, that my problem is I eat too much “weird food” like meat and wasabi. Meanwhile my food journal tells me for a fact that meat and wasabi aren’t a problem for me.

So when I mention that I think it may be my new drugs making me sick again, he agrees, going on about how bad they all are, causing one problem to cure another. He says, “Do you know what I think of drugs?” I forget the answer, but it wasn’t positive. “You should do what I do and take more vitamins,” he says, “Vitamin C and vitamin D.”

He means well, like they all do, but… I like drugs. I like modern medicine, as a whole, it does a pretty good job at curing stuff. We don’t have a cure for cancer, because the technology’s not there yet, but we can get rid of a headache with pretty good certainty. Lamotrogine keeps me sane. Pantoprazole keeps me from being nauseous all the time from my quirky version of acid reflux, even though my insurance wanted to fight me over it. Birth control pills let me cheat my period and codeine gets me through the rest.

So I wish I could show him one of those wikipedia type pictures of a diseased colon (I have my own but that seems a little too personal) and explain, this is what I have. Vitamin C isn’t going to cure that. Prednisone, a necessary evil, will heal that and some form of big brown pills will hopefully keep it in remission. And I take my vitamins too.

This must be some kind of sadistic self-torture but I woke up with an elementary school Christmas show song in my head, that I can only remember the one line “Up on the rooftop reindeer pause…” Only because at the time I thought it was saying “reindeer paws” and the choreography pretending to be pulling on the reins didn’t make any sense to me.

I’ve gotten to where I can play DDR with an audience, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do an exercise video with someone else in the same room.

I’m still having trouble finding a good exercise video, although I’m limited to what’s on Netflix insta-queue unless I want to spend actual money, sight unseen. They all seem to be trying to out-extreme, out-intense, out-short each other. How about something beginner to moderate level, for someone willing to commit more than ten minutes to a workout?

My boss smells like bad olives.

I’m not sure if it’s something he eats that oozes back out through his pores, or something he wears like Vicks when he’s sick. I do remember that his partner, who is into things natural, is the one responsible.

It would be impolite to think that the smell is nauseating but I think that it pushed me over the edge into going home. I’m frustrated that I was getting better and then relapse so suddenly. (I think the proper term is ‘flare’ or ‘flaring’ but since I’m so new at this ‘relapse’ feels more appropriate at the moment.) I’m frustrated that I read (hopefully misread) my boss as annoyed when I said I was going home, probably because he called me into his office for something completely unrelated as I was trying to tell him I was going home, so I end up feeling bad for feeling bad.

Office culture isn’t set up to deal with chronic illness. People get sick and then they get better. Someone asks, “Are you feeling better?” You say yes, and then you’re committed. There’s no place for bad days that come out of nowhere. Even when I have a plain old cold I tend to feel bad, then better, then worse, all in the same day. I try to give noncommittal answers like, “a little bit”, “I think so”.

I always find myself over-analyzing when this happens, as if I figuring out a cause will keep it from happening again. Was it the fish sticks? (The box in the freezer is doomed to never be touched again.) Did spending the evening reading an UC forum I ran across give my body ideas? Can I blame the new drugs, which can have the side-effects-are-the-same-as-they’re-supposed-to-cure issue? I’m going to give it a week and then ask my doctor if I can switch back if I’m not back to normal.

Andrew warned me about posting the weird combination of food I eat to my cooking blog or people might think I’m pregnant. Dinner tonight was fish sticks and sushi. The weirdest part was that I’ve been wanting fish sticks.

Ten years and one day ago Andrew and I became an official couple. We celebrated in the traditional ways – dinner (ARTRestaurant), dessert (Dilettante), movie (The Princess Bride), and sex (with cats on the bed).

Taking pills with bubble tea is a challenge.

Firefox is flagging so many words as misspelled which Google says are correct, I don’t know who to believe anymore.

I never had a cat with litter box problems before Merlin. That’s the kind of thing you never say out loud, similar to “well my kids would never do that,” unless you’re prepared for some karmic payback. But poor Merlin, due to a combination of (painful) urine crystals and general litter pickiness has single-handedly caused us to lose our pet deposit.

I can’t blame him though. I refuse to use a certain brand of toilet paper for a similar, just as illogical reason.

I feel weird when I’m watching my cat in the litter box but I want to catch him actually peeing in the right place so I can give him a treat afterward. I always laugh when I see him get out and then start pawing at the carpet. I want to tell him “you’re doing it wrong!” but at least he’s got the important part right.

Someone else has stolen my word: Murpalicious Fringe Hammock Blanket Hanging Newborn Photo Prop. Is it just me or does that baby look like it’s in a really uncomfortable position?

My gastroenterologist is right next to Google. I have a feeling one of those places is more fun than the other, but since I’ve never actually been inside of Google, in my head it’s kind of a cartoon montage set to music.

My gastroenterologist is also right next to a PCC. Since I got there early I went for a walk and bought a bulb of garlic. Just one because it was $6.99/pound organic garlic.

This evening I’m reminded of how much of a black hole my backpack really is, when I open it and find a garlic bulb.

I’m not going to go as far as to say I hate Christmas music, but it’s about on the same level as Muzak, and more often than not it’s the same thing.

I installed Akismet which has dammed the flood of spammers coming to Tavnazian Cooking every day. One made it through, to be caught by WordPress itself, which sends me an email for approval. I feel like it deserves an honorable mention for the wonderful butchering of the language it accomplished.

“Several of the factors related with this weblog publish are usually beneficial nonetheless had me personally wanting to understand, did they critically suggest that? 1 point I have got to say is your writing expertise are excellent and I will be returning back again for any brand-new weblog publish you arrive up with, you may probably have a brand-new supporter. I guide marked your blog for reference.”

Social networking, what little I do of it, has corrupted me regardless. Detailed thoughts are getting condensed down to a line or two so I can try to go to bed at a reasonable time. Too bad it’s already not a reasonable time anymore.

I did just notice that I put a post about cookies and a better body next to each other.

I remember hearing once that every woman should have pictures of herself naked taken when she’s in her 20s, because no matter how you think you look at the time, you’ll look back and appreciate them. After looking through my digital photo archives, I know it’s true. I want that body back.

Being an adult means you can eat your dessert first without anyone telling you no.

Being an adult also means accepting the consequences for doing those things that someone would have told you “no”.

Being an adult also also means knowing that often there aren’t any consequences so enjoy your cookie now!

Thanksgiving is over so Christmas season can officially start, per me. However my older coworker has not only discovered Pandora, but Pandora’s holiday station which she’s playing loudly.

I’m disappointed that I didn’t find this out until after the fact but November 11 was World Usability Day. What they describe as “Making life easy!” I like to call, “Making the world a less annoying place.”

It feels like the headline should read, Snowpocolypse 2010: at least we knew what to expect this time.

While watching the first season of Hoarders I have:

• Cleaned the kitchen and washed dishes countless times (it’s a never ending chore when you take up cooking, and photographing it no less.)
• Organized the wedding stuff and prepared the centerpiece bowls for selling/giving away.
• Organized and found a home for the Important Paperwork and shredded years of outdated check stubs and medical insurance statements.
• Purged my own hoard of old graphics software and found a new home for the rest.
• Assembled a new shelf for the kitchen, opening up a new world of storage space.
• Planned with Andrew how to open up the spare room for functional use instead of just storage space.
• Started setting aside books to be gotten rid of.
• Finally put my stick person collection into its intended book.

And as a bonus, after the season ended I finished my ongoing project to clean the bathtub to an as-good-as-it-gets state. I’d take a bath as a reward, but until they invent a waterproof laptop I get bored too quickly.

Also as an unintended side effect, I also realized that I really want a Kindle (or other ebook reader-I haven’t researched names yet) now. I’m not ready to give up physical books, but some, such as computer books would be great to have in portable electronic form and not taking up space when they’re obsolete.

Morgan is trying very hard to be Maru the cat but since she’s so small to begin with, she’s trying to stuff herself in a very narrow box.

First snow of the year and my car decided to die. Same as last winter, it doesn’t seem to like cold weather. Luckily I found out today and not in the morning so I have time to plan.

Then a few minutes ago the power flashed. I almost wish we’d get snowed in so I have a better excuse to not go to work than dealing with my car.

I just put on another episode of hoarders while I clean the kitchen (this show doesn’t let you just sit down and watch) and I’m feeling guilty about getting… I guess you’d call it entertainment, out of someone else’s mental illness.

It’s a bad sign when you’re thinking in cliches before the day even starts.

While I was reading about tea being healthier than water, it mentioned that one of the benefits is the relaxing couple minutes of time you take to make a cup.

We recently got a fancy water cooler at work to replace the Brita filter that was kept in the fridge. It’s one that has the instant hot water, which is something I consider magic and don’t want that ruined for me. It’s certainly saved me the frustration of finding the electric kettle empty all the time because I was the only one who bothered to fill it, but I’m missing the ritual of heating the water.

I think making tea, like books, is one of those things that won’t ever be replaced even when we have Star Trek-style replicator technology.

I spilled my wasabi-laden soy sauce all over my desk, and then all over myself. I feel well marinated now.

I wish they sold Silk soy nog year round. It’s the one food product I actually prefer in its artificial form. I like the taste of egg nog but the idea of what it is kind of freaks me out, especially the yes-there’s-really-eggs-in-here color.

It would get me to drink more soy milk. Soy is supposed to be good for cramps, and back when I had a phase where I was really into drinking a certain flavor (actually unflavor) of Silk it really made a difference. But once I lost interest it became empty calories I was forcing myself to drink and I have codeine these days anyway.

In fact, half a cup later, I think soy nog is losing it’s novelty already…

Andrew sent me a link to this Hello Kitty restaurant with the insistence that we have to visit Taiwan. I’m especially fixated on these cakes. I’m sure I could make them if I had the mold.

My new surfaces. Morgan approved.

I picked up some more background paper from Paper Zone for my photography. I’m afraid the colors are a little dull, but since their purpose is to be a backdrop for my food photography I think they’re supposed to be dull.

Since discovering the salad place by work a common lunch has become a small salad and loaded baked potato. Today I decided I wanted a large salad with my baked potato, using the divided container to take advantage of some of the hot food as well. Gluten-free macaroni and cheese and mashed sweet potatoes. Mmm… mashed sweet potatoes.

That’s where I realized I’m having a side of potatoes with my potato. I joked when I went to pay, “This can no longer be considered healthy in anyway.”

It’s funny, when you go to a fast food place you’re expected, even encouraged to eat unhealthily. The more the better in their mind. But when I eat at the hippie organic place, I’m embarrassed having someone know yes I’m eating all that food.

“I like cheese. I don’t want it to taste like cheese.”

Potential TMI but, on my coworker’s recomendation (the one who also has UC) I’ve started taking fiber. It has to be Metamucil she said, on her doctor’s insistance, which made me more reluctant because that’s the stuff my grandma takes but I’ve found it in pill form.

It seems counter-productive since people take fiber for constipation and I’ve been pretty much the opposite of constipated. Apparently it works both ways and today is the closest I’ve been to “normal” in a very long time.

Just read that, “New research from the UK suggests that tea may be a healthier drink than water.” Yeah!

This says the idea that caffeinated drinks dehydrate you is just a myth, unlike my high school health class teacher who insisted that you had to drink two extra glasses of water for every coffee/tea/soda you drink. If that was true everyone who lives off of caffeinated drinks would have shriveled up and died by now.

TavCooking has now been around just long enough to have a search query report. Okay who is searching for “chunk crinkle”?

Watching the first season of Hoarders on Netflix is making me want to go clean out the closet right now.

I bought a nice piece of solid black foam board from Target for my food photography. It was the last one so I hope I’ m not depriving some kid of their school project.

I was wondering if anyone could guess what I used as the background for the Hello Kitty utensils. Cropped closely, it’s the underside of my DDR mat.

There is a newish store at Northgate called Tokyo Lifestyle, not a Sanrio shop but with an obvious glow of Hello Kitty pink coming from within. The pull of Sanrio must have gotten weaker on me since I’ve only smiled at it as I’ve walked by until tonight. I am pretty sure I did an authentic wide-eyed, mouth gaping, slow walk across the store when I saw a display of Hello Kitty kitchen utensils.

I then wish someone was there to note one of the biggest displays of will power in my life, as I managed to turn around and leave the store empty handed. Even though I knew I would be back. Of course I went back. It’s no longer an impulse buy if I’ve taken the time to think about it.

I have a personal rule that I am only allowed to buy Sanrio products that I have an actual use for, to prevent the apartment from looking like a Sanrio shop itself. So I didn’t buy the full set, but a strainer that would be useful, a spatula that will be my new “brownie spatula” and a whisk that just seemed to complete the set.

“But I can take pictures/blog about it!” is becoming a convenient justification for buying just about anything remotely cooking related these days.

“Hi ma’am, how are you?” says the woman at the center mall kiosk, in that voice that obviously means, “I’m trying to get your attention so I can start selling to you.”

I say, “fine” without slowing down. I’ve learned to defend myself since the hair-straightener incident.

But why this stood out is, the kiosk was the one selling smokeless cigarettes. I wonder how she intended to sell to me if I said I don’t smoke. “Care to start?”

I’ve always wondered about the Proactiv stand as well. They can’t go out of their way to solicit customers without offending someone, if they imply you need their product.

A nearly straight rainbow looked almost out of place over Capitol Hill. No pun intended, uintil I realized there was one to be made.

I had a very late night cooking and watching movies with Jason. Worth it, but I haven’t gone to bed before 2am since Daylight Savings ended. I don’t even think I shifted in the right direction.

I was totally set to post that this loaded baked potato soup was misleading because it didn’t have sour cream. But sour cream was an option, and all the options were optional. This soup place wins.

Wii Fit: Would you like to hear a fitness tip?
Me: Is it about the banana?
Wii Fit: No.. um.. well… if you’re too hungry to exercise try eating a banana!

I downloaded a couple to-do list programs for my phone to try out. I want to like the one called Noodles the most just for the name. The sample list includes “eat ramen”.

QOTD: hentai pocky is made of tentacles

I think I’ve officially shown off TavCooking to all of my coworkers now, although I got a sad face in response from my boss when I told him to look at his own risk since I do cook meat and especially fish. Guess I’m not going to be winning any vegetarian fans.

I remembered my mom keeping deodorant in the glove box for forgetful mornings where you realize in the car you forgot to use any. I remembered this because I was afraid for a moment this was one of those mornings.

But I then knew it wasn’t because that’s the time I notice lately that my arms are getting somewhat toned. Unfortunately it’s only noticeable in that position so I’d have to walk around in a pseudo-chicken pose for anyone else to get the benefit.

Giant cupcake cakes are not cupcakes.

I hereby resign myself from any NaBloP(l)oMo obligations.

First, I can’t match the spirit of the project. It isn’t designed for multi-site bloggers like me. I figured that as long as I updated one of my sites on any given day it would count (count for me, which is what counts), but the site I want publicity for, Tavnazian Cooking, I explicitly don’t want to update every day and set up a pace I can’t keep. Food blogging is a lot of work – I have to keep the kitchen clean!

And while I’m trying to get back in the groove of happy-clicking, I’ve found myself trying to force a pattern of ‘have one interesting thought a day and write about it’ which is counterproductive for a site that better resembles a web journal with ADD.

As far as interesting goes, I worry, I wrote about my cat. Does that count as interesting?? Or is that a precursor to being one of those people who only write about their children?

Which is not to say there’s anything wrong with writing about your kids, and I’m not just saying that because I think (hope) Shannon may be reading this. I genuinely like reading what she writes. But the small glimpse I caught of what I think is called Mommyblogging (I was afraid to venture too much further) seems to be writing about how wonderful it is to be a mother to your wonderful children and write about all the wonderful things they do.

Please don’t ever let me become one of those women.

You would think the sound of a tower of empty soda cans crashing to the ground would scare off the formerly most-skittish cat from trying to get onto the dresser. (The cans placed there for that purpose.) They don’t. The power of a laundry basket not yet slept and/or peed in is too strong. Merlin should write a self-help book on getting over your fears.

Driving to Northgate I suddenly thought, ‘I need to start thinking about Christmas shopping before the Land o’ Shopping becomes packed.’

And then, ‘No I don’t. I’m making brownies!”

Becoming someone who bakes has me pretty much set for life.

However I do still need to figure out what I’m getting for Andrew. While I know it’s not a competition, he’s always set the bar high in my mind for unique gifts that I can’t compare with “here’s a CD by a band you like”. And this year, since he’s admitted that he already spent his creativity this year writing me a song for our anniversary (writing me a song!), I feel like the onus is on me to make up for it.

Perhaps some bacon flavored soda?

The phases of wearing your shirt inside-out to work:

1. Oblivion – You go about your day completely unaware that getting dressed in the dark that morning (literally) led to getting dressed in the dark (figuratively).

2. Realization – That exact moment when you realize that something is off and wonder how many people noticed before you did.

3. Contemplation – Mentally calculate the odds that someone will walk into the back room in the exact second you’d have your shirt off to fix it then and there. Chances are prohibitively high.

4. Awareness – You walk around stiff-armed to cover up that tag that is now painfully obvious. Your clothes feel odd and uncomfortable. How could you not have noticed this for three hours?

5. The sneak-off – Finally an appropriate moment to sneak off to the bathroom and change. Hope not to run into anyone chatty on the way.

My personal definition of “rich enough and thin enough” is to wear matching bra/panties every day of the week, just in case you find yourself in a situation where you have to get “TV naked”. As I got dressed this morning I wondered if ‘off-colored from the wash’ on both counts as matching.

Hi me, welcome to NaBloPloMo!

That’s National Blog Plosting Month. That extra ‘l’ just won’t get out of my head.

Since finishing the cooking blog I feel like inspiration suddenly kicked me in the head with one of those cartoon boots on a stick as a wakeup call. If I wanted my own place to write, why was I so concerned about what to do with this one? Unfortunately inspiration was louder last night when I couldn’t sleep than this morning when Morgan woke me up at 6am.

The problem I’ve always had with Livejournal, Facebook, anything that calls itself social networking is the public room aspect. While that’s part of the appeal, it also means constantly being considerate to those around you whether it’s putting long posts behind cut tags or not inundating your friends (and relatives and that guy you met at a party once) with too many random thoughts. Looking at this empty space I want to scatter it with words and virtually mark my territory.

Mine mine mine.

So welcome back to me.