Spaghetti Sauce

Ok disclaimer, I don't follow recipes so these are more like instructions but you really can't mess it up so don't worry.

Ingredients:
Start with some canned tomatoes (1 big can depending on how much sauce you need), you want the whole peeled kind, they retain the best flavor.
Olive oil - if you have fancy olive oil use it
Garlic - To taste (1-3 cloves minced)
Shallot - Optional  (table spoon minced)
Herbs - you can use dried "Italian Seasoning" if you have that around. Or you can use fresh basil if you are feeling fancy

Chop up your tomatoes and stick in a bowl (you can leave them on the board but they are messy) Save the liquid!
Then put about a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and put on a med-low heat
Add your garlic and shallots - you don't want them to get brown us cook them gently like when you make onions see through. This is a good time to add some salt and pepper as well.
toss in your tomatoes and the liquid from the can
If you are using the dried herbs you can toss those in now.
Let is cook really low for a while, I usually add another healthy dose of olive oil at this time as well, but that is up to you.
At this point you can let it cool a bit and blend it in a food processor or a blender (great time to add the fresh basil if you went that route), alternatively you can leave it chunkier and just let it cook down until it is nice and soft (if you add liquid as it reduces I would go with chicken stock and just a couple of tablespoons at a time so you don't end up with a runny mess).

Truth

I haven't NEEDED to write. That doesn't mean that it doesn't help when I do.

I've been yelling at my poor kitties, barfing at work and being awfully hard on myself.

My dad has cancer. I started a new and harder, but also sometimes slow job. My 17 year old sister is pregnant.

I am 53 pounds overweight, Based on BMI not some crazy lady fantasy I pulled from the air. The truth is that I have only been skinny when I just don't eat. Or I do this yoyo between skinny and fat. Stretch marks aside, I think I am just meant to be a chubby happy cook,

I also like to run and love feeling like a badass about it.

Here is to a happy medium and a happy me.

Testy

Today, I was driving home when all of a sudden my radio stopped working, thinking this to be a minor problem I kept driving towards home. All of a sudden my car just died. The fan was still blowing but the poor little dude just couldn't turn over.

I was rational. I turned on my hazards and called a tow truck as quick as could be that was recommended by the service shop in my hood. It was soon very obvious that nobody could see my hazard lights so I did my best to waive them around. I started to get super anxious and all of a sudden turn to negative thoughts. I let a few slip out in the form of text messages.I didn't break my glasses or throw things, or freak out though.

Then, a really nice police woman stopped and helped me, we got my car to the side of the road and she parked behind me with her lights on until the tow truck arrived. I instantly felt better once she arrived and started thinking more positively about the situation. I started to think of strategies for the worse case scenario, and once I had come up with a few solutions I stopped trying so hard to invent problems I didn't yet have.

The tow truck driver was super sweet and took me right to the shop. The air conditioning in his truck was like a reminder that things would be ok. After being trapped in the tinted windows with the sun beating down on my face the relief of the cold seemed bigger than the financial stress or worries about how I was going to get to work the next day. .

After telling the cute boy at the garage what happened to my car I went home. I should know more on Wednesday. Normally I would sulk and worry, but instead I asked my neighbor to keep me company so I wouldn't get all wound up. We talked for a few minutes and then I walked down to Smith and had two beers and an order of fried green tomatoes.

While there I used google maps to find out how I was getting to work the next day. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was when I had looked it up on the metro website. I will have to take two busses and the trip will take about an hour. Not horrible, and it is summer, and I don't have class. So really not the end of the world.

We will see if we keep my broken car, or upgrade in a few months, or whatever...but, I didn't spaz out hardly at all.

Running

I'm glad I rode it out. When I am willing to look for it, I have quite a bit going for me. The last time I flipped out was at the doctor's office in May when I had to get my blood drawn. I seem to be able to chill out now. I think it is running.

Running has always been a part of my life, either doing it or wishing I was doing it. It seems to steady me. It is like hardcore meditation time if that is what you need, or it can be imagination playtime fun land with music and dancing. Lately it has been music and dancing, I think that is all that vitamin d I have been getting... From the sun dude. At any rate running has always been a calming force. I think I need to just commit to never ever stop.

It also makes me feel pretty and like a badass. I like to give myself really girly rewards running. When I had ran consistently an average of three times a week for four weeks, I got a pedicure and a manicure. My big goal is fancy jeans from Nordstrom when I have a healthy bmi.

My route right now is heavy on hills and the heat has me sweating, but I seem to be abble to hustle through it and have been slowly adding more. I need to like drive to greenlake and do it twice, or go with sara at work or something. Because If I want to get leaner I need to go long. The hills are helping me build muscle fast and burn more fat, which is good because I was starting to look like the state puff marshmallow man. However, I don't want my thigh muscles to get all big which they will if I keep doing hills like crazy.

I can't wait to go tomorrow.

"There is a girl in New York City who calls herself a human trampoline"

"And sometimes when i am falling flying or tumbling in turmoil I say, oh so this is what she means" Paul Simon - Graceland

I feel like a human trampoline. I am lost and ungrounded and it is both terrifying and beautiful.
Most of the time I think that just like anyone else I try too hard to be "perfect" or "normal", and not enough of my time letting myself deal with my emotions.

It is easy to forget how much anyone person has on their plate at any given time. Each of us has family, work, friendships, relationships, maybe children, or second jobs, and in my case continuing my education. All of these areas of our lives require our attention, and this is on top of just our basic needs like sleep (when we are lucky), stuffing some food in our faces and taking a shower.

Maybe it is ok to feel like a human trampoline sometimes. Letting go of some control and allowing yourself to be sad, scared, mad, hurt, lonely, or whatever else you might be feeling is ok. Recognizing why you feel how you feel and validating those feelings by examining the stresses in your life can only help be better equipped to deal with the challenges, disappointments, or tragedies that you will encounter.

So in 2010, I am going to cry when I am upset or sad. I am going to let myself be mad if someone is inconsiderate of my feelings, and I will tell them so and why in a calm and articulate manor. When I want to be alone, I am not forcing myself to go out. When I am going through a lot, I will sit down and write about how I feel. Also I will not feel guilty if I need chocolate and girly movies.

DuckTales v. TailSpin, et al.

I love cartoons, and I hate being a grown up.

DuckTales is better. I still love Balo, wildcat, danger woman (aka molly), kit, louie, and even becky.

However, all of the duck related jokes in DuckTales, are way better than the sentiment of TailSpin.

Scrooge. TOTAL badass(He Swims In His Own Money).
also he wears a top hat and has a butler, don't even get me started on his feud with glomgord.

Treasure hunts, gold fever, the beagle boys, gyro, LunchPad MQuack (and family might i add, he is like the only character in any of these cartoons that have a typical family structure.)

The Boys:

Donald Duck's nephews and gung ho Jr. Woodchucks. Also, really good treasure hunters. Good and catching on to the beagle boys schemes and over all awesome. (no parents, donald isn't even scrooge's son, he is his nephews. no parents...)

Webigale and Beakly:

about ten times more bad ass than Molly and Becky...sorry ladies you are just lame.

Beakly and Webigale save the day in the episode with sailing, and the one with the penguins who love things with color.

Molly and Becky are stupid and I hate them. Sometime they are cute, but they are never really awesome.

I would just have to say that DuckTales is better than TailSpin.

<3

AMH

Charlie Quakenbush and I had SkittleBrau

skittle brau

Alaskan Summer Ale

random skittles-

The first sip was good not too much skittle contamination. The second sip was sweeter, but not gross, still pretty much the same just sweeter as the skittles sat. The bottom sips taste like skittles. it was gross.

Alaskan Pale Ale

random skittles-

Actually kind of good. Sometimes Pale Ale's have an aftertaste that is kinda gross, the sweetness of the skittles helped to balance that out. Again though, last sip. Gross.

Pale ale with four strawberry and two grape-

after about two minutes head has died down and we take our first sips, I go first.
A little sweet, but just kinda luke warm summer ale at this point.

Charlie didn't say anything, the lemon tree episode is on.

Second sip,kinda gross but in the end of a beer sort of way, like maybe if it was hella cold it would taste good.

After a skittle palate cleaner Charlie says, aww that is aweful!

I can't really taste the skittles, not as sweet as last time

Charlie says more sour but doesn't change the flavor just the sensation of the flavor, that didn't make sense at all, then he giggled about a Simpson's episode.

after five minutes it is fruit punchy and ready for a frat party.

This is the favorite so far.

Alaskan IPA

citrus two orange three lime and three lemon-

We both agree it tastes like an IPA except muted with a sweet finish, with a hint of tang(according to charlie) Charlie said, "tang."

After five minutes Charlie says it's like barf in my mouth, seriously it is triggering a gag reflex, then he sat back and cleared his throat. It was gross.

After that the IPA was refreshing we agreed.

four grape, three orange, one lemon,

Still IPA. Charlie says less punchy. I am over skittle brau at this point, but I had to have seen that coming, we have three beers in the fridge to drink plain :)

Charlie is calling it an evil IPA changed to a passable amber.