Depression

Depression is anger without enthusiasm.

A Close Call (RE-call that is)!

Tonight BF and I were checking out at the grocery store. Things were proceeding apace until the checker came to a package of Nissan chow mein that wouldn’t scan properly. Finally he called an assistant manager over to asked the price.

“Oh, these have been recalled,” explained the assistant manager. The checker and assistant manager just stood there dumbly for a moment not knowing what to say next.

“I don’t want it,” I said.

The whole way home I though about what could have possibly contaminated the chow mein and what evil fate would have befallen me if I had consumed it.

When I couldn’t stand it any more, I had BF google on “chow mein recall.” He discovered that the SHRIMP chow mein contained…SHELLFISH!

Specifically it contained lobster and cod. Hell! I’d pay extra for lobster and cod. I suppose it could harm someone with a shellfish allergy…but if I knew I had a shellfish allergy, I’d stay away from shrimp-flavored cup-o-soup. Some imagined terrors are just that.

First the pho, then the chow mein...This was my second near-death by noodles experience! I better just stay away from the noodles.

I’m Still Here

I know I’ve been TERRIBLE lately. The new job is indeed cutting into the blogging activities. I will try to do better.

Kalashnikov

Last Wednesday night, BF and I walked to the nearby pub for $2.50 clam night. When went to the lady’s room there, I found a stack of brochures (in the lady’s room) from a firing range in the Poconos that rented all different kinds of fire arms and welcomed beginners.
I brought one of the brochures out to BF who exclaimed, “This is the place I was telling you about! We should go!”

After church today, we drove out to the Poconos for a fine afternoon of shooting!

I never shot a gun before in my life. They gave me the safety talk and put a .22 rifle in my hands to start. I was terrified. I was amazed when I actually hit the target it was pointing at! Seeing the bowling pin swinging on the end of the rope at the end of the range was so cool!

BF was VERY wise to move me to a larger gun quickly, or I probably would never shoot anything but a .22…ever.

I shot an AK-47! A Kalashnikov!

Should I Laugh or Cry?

This morning while I getting ready for work, BF stared at my butt. "Robert Crumb would love your ass!" he proclaimed. Aaaaaagh!

I felt like Devil Girl all day.

Pounds of Pancakes

For several years now, BF has wanted to get a griddle. I’m less enthusiastic. We once read a review of a particular griddle in Cook's Illustrated. It said the griddle was a good idea if you “fry pounds of bacon and mountains of pancakes every weekend.”

While BF and I do love to eat, we do NOT fry pounds of bacon and mountains of pancakes every weekend! Every time BF has brought up the griddle idea since then, I quickly point out that we don’t fry pounds of bacon and mountains of pancakes every weekend.

Well, today, BF proved me wrong!

This morning, he got out his America’s Test Kitchen recipe for blueberry pancakes and fried up a stack of ‘em! I packed them neatly two in freezer bags with little pieces of wax paper separating them. BF has breakfasts for a week!

We’re nowhere near as organized as SA D…but hey! BF is trying…and I helped!

Business Lunch

Today was my second day at my new job. So far so good….although I’m still in the “Oh! My God! I hope I’m up to the challenge!” phase.

I left this wonderful stress-free job..Why did I have to go and upset the applecart? Etc…

I remind myself of course that I’m making almost double what I did at that stress-free job and that this position is comparable to the last professional position I held. Fundraising is my career path and if I look at it objectively, I am right on track (especially considering I just relocated here in October).

I’m not a socio-phobe, but I do have enough social anxiety going on that going on that going out and asking people for large amounts of money keeps my brain out the existential cesspool. So, this is actually “good” for me.

There is just so damn much information to absorb, that I’m totally overwhelmed and a bit scatter-brained as a result. Yesterday in the rush of getting ready to leave in the morning, I left the beautiful lunch I packed on the bed right in front of the dog’s crate. When I got home last night and let Mr. Twister out, he exploded out of his crate and made a b-line for the warm antipasto salad! Poor little bastard probably smelled it all day!

I’m working in a very small office right now and it is a little strange, especially after being at such a large for-profit corporation, albeit briefly. The group I work with now, all meet for lunch at the table in our break-room. We all sit-down to lunch together the way a family sits down to dinner. We each have our own “place” at the table. We typically each bring our own food to the table, although yesterday, the President treated us, since the “brand-new development gal” forgot her lunch. It’s part of the corporate culture and is therefore important. I am making the effort to fit in although it is my strong preference to eat in the privacy of my office.

BTW: I still have about an hour commute each way as the completion of our new headquarters is about a month away. Everything is going to change when we move into the new office. It’s really going to be a beautiful new setting…and yes, VERY close to home. I can’t wait. On a good day, I’ll be able to leave the house at 7:58 am, Go home for lunch and then leave for the day at 4:02pm. Unfortunately, as an exempt, salaried, professional, I’ll probably be able to do this less than 2 weeks out of the year.