kismet09

We started the day at Stumptown, which is practically next to our hotel. Excellent. Took a cold press coffee with cream to Saint Honore bakery, where I found a pastry I had never had before. It was basically a croissant dough with a salted, caramelized top. It was very rich, and the chewy-crunchy-salty top was so amazing. Crossed town to southeast - I don't think I had been there before - and visited Fizz, a modern take on an old fashion soda fountain. they had tons of homemade syrups including salted caramel, lavender, Meyer lemon and salted lime. You chose your syrup and had it made into a soda, phosphate, cream soda or milkshake. I finally decided on a black cherry cream soda - super good, though a little rich. Lost a game of scrabble, then headed to Powells to meet wisemonkey and olaugh. Didn't really look around much, so I'll try to head back there today. Walked over to food carts and had an order of penne with vodka sauce and sausage and an order of gnocchi with sun dried tomatoes and other fresh tasting stuff. Nibbled on macarons, Lost a second game of scrabble, did a bit of shopping, and walked across the bridge back into southeast for beers at Hair of the Dog partway into the beerage, I had to step outside and talk about scrabble ... After about 45 minutes, it was too cold to be outside and I put my phone on mute and finished my cider indoors.

Tmi went back to conference, and I hung out in the room, watched Rio on tv, wrote postcards and knitted my sock. When he was released from work, we wandered over to e-San Thai, where I had apps and larb, then ate half of a mango tango donut from voodoo. That brings us up to date.

Tomorrow maybe more powells, more food carts, more time in southeast. Scrabble at a market, dinner at pok pok if it isn't too busy, and more beer and coffee.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

Wednesday: arrive, dinner with Franz and Sherry
Thursday: if it's not too rainy, the Japanese Gardens. food carts. pearl district.
Friday: southeast during the day? scrabble with carl and dave in the early evening. dinner with tim.
Saturday: no idea. wander aimlessly. maybe scrabble.
Sunday: leave really early.

every day: Voodoo and Stumptown. we're staying a block from them, so it'll probably be irresistible.

Pack: headphones, scrabble set and score sheets, new socks i'm knitting, camera, iPad, chargers, gym clothes and shoes, umbrella, travel mug, water bottle.

i got a shiny new backpack to tote around. i'm finally giving in to the fact that day tripping with my timbuk2 is hazardous to my back, at least the way that i pack stuff for wandering around.

i'm not sure why i hit the tipping point, but i had finally heard enough about The Hunger Games to compel me to download it and give it a try. it probably didn't hurt that i was staying at a friend's house who keeps the thermostat around 50, so i was in bed under the covers quite early in the evening. i started reading around 10 (in bed, wearing my warmest hat), figuring i'd just read until i fell asleep. i finished the first book around 330, and downloaded the second one. i read until about 430, falling asleep with my iPad on next to me. obviously, it drew me in. stepping back and looking at it, i think it was good, but not amazing. i think some of the important moments could have been played up a little more, not in an overwrought way, but in the way that sometimes a song would be better with a bridge or a key change, or a baked apple crisp needs that hint of nutmeg to make it perfect. i don't know exactly what more i wanted from it and when, but i wanted it. maybe it'll come with the next two books.

i think the iPad's telling me what percent of the book i had read and what was left to go made me keep reading. once i hit 75% or so, i pretty much knew i'd have to stay up to finish it.

work was rough today. i really dont' know how to function on 2.5 hours of sleep. i did a lot of staring. luckily, tomorrow is a work from home day, which means if i read until 4am tomorrow, at least i can sleep in.

in aug 2009, cassie tore her left hind acl and had a very expensive surgery.

yesterday, she started limping around and favoring her right hind. we really can't afford another surgery. if she doesn't get better, maybe we'll just start toting her about in a wagon.

update: vet says most likely an ACL issue. recommends PT rather than surgery, plus painkillers. i wish our house had fewer stairs. i'm building my arm muscles carrying her up and down from the bedroom.

Today: gym, grocery, make pad Thai, start cleaning, watch more Grey's Anatomy, write a letter

Tomorrow: clean, make gumbo, gym, knit, chipotle, beauty and the beast 3d

Sunday: clean, chili, guacamole, people come over and watch football/play games.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

Current Location: US, New Hampshire, Portsmouth, Rockingham, Greenleaf Woods Dr, 1

I'm doing this! You should, too!

Slip Stitch Cowl, a photo by kismet09 on Flickr.

My second one of these, and it's still quite a fun and quick knit. I added a couple of pops of color with some orange and some blue/magenta/purple. Full pattern details on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/k8knits/slip-stitch-stash-hat

i have two weeks away from work, more or less. 34 hours of that time will be spent in the car, driving maine to chicago, round trip. i am driving-averse, so probably most if not all of that time will be spent in the passenger seat. that, plus lounging about at my parents' place for a week, plus another week at a scrabble tournament, means lots of knitting time. one of the luxuries of driving is that my luggage is not limited by one carry-on - i can bring all the yarn i want. it has been a busy knitting winter for me, and i'm still itching to do more. here's what i'm considering.

burberry cowl

slip cowl

dashing

burberry inspired cowl (on the left) - i did one of these and love the way it sits. i think the high variegation of rios will look great in this cowl, and i'll have something to match my dashing mitts (on the right). rav project link. or is this the tuesday night cowl? now i can't remember. they seem pretty similar to each other.
a plain garter stitch cowl - i have russian joined a bunch of odds and ends of purples and greens together, including some berocco jasper, cascade, karabella aurora 8, random stuff i dyed when trying out some potential yarn bases, and who knows what else. i'm hoping for something along the lines of this scrap-happy scarf (ravelry link), minus the fringe.
slip stitch cowl (in the middle) - another one that i just did and love, and i still have more random scraps left that could easily be incorporated into another one of these. my rav project page.

i guess everything i have planned at this time is for me... that isn't really intentional. i think i've made something for everyone i know in the past two months who i think might appreciate it!

deep fried turkey
gingered cranberry sauce
sugar and spice roasted butternut squash
maple mashed sweet potatoes
wasabi mashed sweet potatoes
cornbread stuffing
homemade bread
roasted beet salad with ricotta salata and lemon vinaigrette
spinach salad with goat cheese
pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream
chocolate espresso snowballs

the leaves are finally changing color, but now the rain is pounding them off of the trees. i hope some of them have the fortitude to hang on. i need more fall colors! it's sixty degrees and rainy today - it feels like portland, or san francisco. i love days like this. i'm listening to paul simon and drinking coffee, and i don't have too much that has to get done today, so maybe i'll unclutter my desk, finally.

we have somewhere between 10 and 12 people coming over this weekend. it's almost like we're hosting a party, but it's only the people who we know well enough that we haven't really even bothered cleaning. i guess i'll do a little bit of that tonight. most of them are going to a beer fest, and so they'll only really see the house when they can barely hold themselves upright. i guess maybe i'll just move breakable things out of reach.

i'm also cooking them all chili. keely is in charge of a veg version. i'm also thinking of doing these:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/beef-black-bean-chili-chipotle-avocado.aspx
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/smoky-turkey-chili

they clear a bunch of stuff out of my pantry. the squashes in particular are multiplying on my counter.

tim got an ipad yesterday because he had a small pot of money that had to be used for research and supplies, and it seemed like a good supply to have. i'm not researching productivity apps for him. few of the note-taking apps offer a free trial version, which makes me sad because most of them are 5-10 bucks. last night i wrote a note to someone in my handwriting and emailed it as a picture. it's almost like a handwritten letter, right?

a friend of mine lost her mom recently. i think about her all the time. this is an event that i cannot even fathom happening in my life. i think i would completely fall apart in unfixable ways.

i went to minneapolis and came back. it was great, although the scrabble left me feeling all empty inside. it's probably good that i'm taking a couple months off.

and yet, i am insanely jealous that i can't be in poland playing at the world championships. this is ridiculous, as i don't like the international scrabble lexicon, and i don't particularly want to be in poland. but at the same time i want to be at that kind of event. maybe new orleans will be that kind of event for scrabble this year. i hope it is. i guess i have a lot of control over that since it's partly my event.

i'm wearing my long green tunic hoodie sweater and jeans today. i love fall.

i got two fillings in my front teeth today. my family is blessed with questionable teeth. i tried to drink coffee through a straw this morning and also dribbled it all over myself.

i think i'm going to make smitten kitchen's chocolate cake with wine tonight. sounds simple enough, and i'm making tim make risotto for dinner, so i should contribute something.

i think i need some new lj icons. these are all so old.

I have made it through September. Hooray! I met with all 45 or so of my freshmen, a handful of other students, went to a ton of programs, got my group launched successfully, and haven't run away or quit my job or anything. I even somehow made it to the gym all eight times last month (required in order for the gym membership to be free), and escaped to Chicago for a long weekend. And now I can breathe again. Hooray.

I spent much of this weekend doing the things I love most. I finished off a hat. I played three games of Scrabble and ate a lobster roll. I watched some grey's anatomy, some chopped, and probably some other things. I made it through about 10 magazines, putting recipes in my iPad so i could recycle the magazines. i baked and cooked. i stripped wood off of the deck with a power washer (oops). i listened to beauty queen sister a bunch of times. i took apart the big desk upstairs and replaced it with a smaller desk, thus opening up some more space in the study/library/tim's dressing room. my goal is for the chair to function as a chair instead of as a blanket holder.

Today is fall break day, which means low student traffic, so i'm actually getting through a lot of paperwork stuff too. fewer magazines, fewer student files, and less clutter. and the colors are starting to change. good stuff.

school started last week, but i started seeing my new freshmen this week. and i went to chicago for four days, which meant i had to be running-around-like-a-crazy-person just before and just after to be ready for them. and now i'm exhausted.

i made this for dinner last night:
make mirepoix-ish thing
pour three cups of water over it
mix in turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, ginger powder, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt
bring water to boil, pour in 2 cups of israeli couscous, pour in a large helping of raisins and currants, turn off heat, cover, and let sit until the couscous is tender (i went and sat on the couch and watched baseball, and then remembered it was on the stove. i guess that was about 15-20 minutes).
stir in some chopped up cucumbers and carrots, frozen peas, chickpeas... or whatever things you have running around. peppers would probably be good (if you like them), and chopped up snow peas, or edamame... you get the idea. you could even add some chicken.
add zest of one lemon, juice the lemon, mix the lemon juice with some olive oil til it looks vinaigrette-ish, pour that over too.
taste for seasoning, eat.

i also had some pizza.

i'm doing a ropes course with my students this weekend. i hate giving up part of my weekend and i'm all bitter. until i get there, and then i have so much fun and i love my job again.

i did this tuesday: walk 5 minutes, jog 3, walk 2, jog 3.5, walk 2, jog 4, walk 2, jog 4.5, walk 2, jog 2, walk 5. felt pretty good.

i did this yesterday: walk 5 minutes, jog 3, walk 2, jog 5, walk 2, jog 3, walk 2, jog 3.5 ish, walk 5. i almost died in the lungs. too hard at the end of the work week.

i ate a ridiculous amount in chicago. that will get its own, backdated post, hopefully tonight when i have time to think about it. i also broke my record points on foursquare. and got a lot of clothes for my birthday. i will have to keep up the exercise if i want them to keep fitting, especially if i continue to have eating weekends like i did in chicago, and there are at least two of those coming up (minneapolis at the end of this month, and vermont in november).

early birthday celebrations with the family!

friday - arrive. charlie trotters with tim for dinner
saturday - hair cut. no other plans yet. tim will run. hopefully scrabble with jeremy. hopefully see the nephews. maybe chinese food.
sunday - tim will run. maybe jeremy's trivia. probably out to dinner.
monday - brunch? fly home.

Had my first presentation for students yesterday - it's nice to have their energy back on campus. I'm home for my last work from home Friday today - it's move in for the freshmen, and they encourage everyone to not come and make the traffic patterns worse, and I'm happy to oblige.

Am vaguely doing c25k. I'm on week 3, and have been for awhile now, but I can't even follow those suggestions. I'm basically doing the drill (5 minute warm up, alternate 1.5 min jog/1.5 min walk and 3 min jog/3 min walk), and then adding one additional jog for as long as I can go without thinking I'm going to die (generally between 2 and 3 more minutes). It's kind of fun, though I'm getting bored with my songs.

We're supposed to get rain and/or wind this weekend from Hurricane Irene. UNH decided to change move-in day to Saturday rather than Sunday to try to get students here before the worst of the weather. It seems kind of surreal, since it's a perfectly beautiful late summer day today - sunny skies, mild. I've pulled out all of my rainy day music, and I plan to make gumbo today or tomorrow, which I've never made before. Sustained 65 mph winds currently forecast for Sunday. not even sure what that means for our house. Hurricanes in Maine...it should be an adventure.

this weekend: utica
next weekend: nothing?
8/29: school starts
9/2-5: Chicago for birthday celebrations
9/10: ropes course with students
9/12: actual birthday. probably do nothing.
9/28-10/3: minneapolis - scrabble + beer fest
10/14-16: probably lake george ny
11/10-13: pdx, wedding
12/20ish: chicago
12/30-1/2: albany ny
1/13-17: new orleans

Would also like to see

maratcal somewhere in there. and there may be scrabble in vermont in november. too much? probably.

ah, project runway. how i missed you. i hope the old guy does well.

i have such a crush on lauren gottlieb. melanie's and marco's dances were the best of the all star dances - i hope they make finals.

whitney looks like racheal ray's younger cousin.

the glee project is the best of the reality tv right now. they voted the wrong person off this week.

mthgeek is headed out of town on Monday, so i have to feed and care for myself for a full week. we have secured me a carpool for mon-weds, and then i'll work from home on thurs, and head to dallas for scrabble on friday.

i'm hoping to eat vaguely healthy food since the week in dallas will probably be just the opposite. i'm thinking of doing a pork tenderloin char siu style and eating it with noodles for a couple meals, and then possibly some curry chicken salad with yogurt in place of mayo wrapped in lettuce cups... the real trick is to make sure i don't just eat hot dogs and rice every night, which becomes the default when i don't feel like cooking.

facebook, google+, google reader, twitter, livejournal 1, livejournal 2, spotify, google music, foursquare... and then the rest of the interwebs... i am officially overwhelmed. this is not new news. i also get frustrated when i can't use some of the functions of one thing on another. why can't i 'like' someone's lj post or comment? why can't i tag a song on spotify (or iTunes for that matter) so i can see a list of all the songs with that tag (playlists aren't as easy as tags)?

in my real life, we took the kids to the beach yesterday. we threw the stick into the ocean (and they brought it back) for a good 10 minutes, and today, they can barely walk. it must be hard to be 84 and still think you're 7.

we're also hitting zucchini season. made veggie 'crab cakes' (a standby recipe), grilled some with olive oil. also experimented with sweet potato noodles last night improvising from this recipe - marinated tofu in brown sugar, soy, garlic. stir fried tofu, added carrots, peas, green onions (all from CSA share) plus onion and spinach, added leftover marinade to noodles, tossed it all together. tasty!

off to scrabble this weekend, thank goodness. scrabble will have a/c and the house does not. keep your pets and old people (and old pets) well hydrated.

went for a 8.5ish mile bike ride while tim ran today. if i had tried to do this a year ago (well, my doc woudl've killed me since i was still in surgery recovery) - even four months ago - i probably would've found it very strenuous. today, it was just a nice bike ride. it makes the 5th day this month of exercise, not including the canoe paddling that i can barely call exercise. not too bad (for me) considering it's only the 13th. we biked a road that parallels the water ... i guess it's a bay at that point, which is attached to the ocean. i do love the smell of the water and the feel of the breeze that we get on the coast.

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kismet09

June 2016

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