Starting finals week...Wish me luck

I have SOOO Many projects and presentations to grade!

This weekend I skipped my full kitchen day. I did just the bare necessities (dog food, post-workout smoothies, and Sunday's dinner), so I could have more time to grade.  I pulled a batch of root vegetable chili out of the freezer for one meal this week.  I also pulled out some home-made Italian sausage that will go well with a rice-lentil pilaf (that I have to prepare Weds.).  That's about as far as I got.  I spent the remainder of the day grading and getting the tree decorated (with L).  I will have more meal-prep work during the week, but I only have to go in for exams this week, so I get home early enough that I can handle it.

I'm running out of nearly everything, so it's time for a grocery store run again. I put those trips off as long as possible. Eventually, Luciana's whining about no "GOOD" food irritates me enough that I force myself to brave the horrible grocery store.  If I lived alone, I would probably endure several weeks of eating strange combinations and nearly nothing before eventually making the trip. I'm very lucky that M doesn't mind going out in public (I absolute hate going to stores, for a million reasons, but the big one being too many variables and too little control--I can't be fully prepared for every contingency, and that makes me very uncomfortable.) and volunteers happily to make little runs for produce and small incidentals. He doesn't do the full shopping, but I can get by for 3-6 weeks without going to a store, based on one large trip and several "Mark runs".

Sunday's dinner was:

• Chili-mac (made with leftover chili from baked potatoes)
• Roasted broccoli - this is one of Luce's favorite snacks/meals, and my favorite way to eat broccoli. I roasted almost three pounds of broccoli. We have none left.
• Baked tofu (pressed and marinated in spicy peanut sauce, dipped in ground walnuts/sea salt/cayenne, and baked--no recipe, but pretty easy to throw together)

M worked both Friday and Sunday at the light show. He also had to go to Madison early Sunday morning for a news interview. Because of the unseasonably warm weather, they've had phenomenal attendance at the show, which is great from a fundraising standpoint.  Unfortunately the warm weather came with rain/mist/fog and puddles, which make it really difficult to keep everything functioning at the outdoor light show.  M runs ragged flipping switches and re-wiring things due to the wetness. He's due for a little downtime, as he's been working too hard again lately--wearing himself out.

He has finally agreed to let me be his "trainer".  He won't work out with me--not even on the same floor, but he is going along with a program that I've created for him.  He already has a pretty healthy diet, simply because I prepare all three of his meals and makes sure they are extremely healthy and nutritious.  His snacks could be a little less carb. based, but that's not a huge issue. Anyway, I'm excited for him to start feeling more healthy, strong, energetic--probably in 6-8 weeks, he will feel like a new man.  I know how much better I feel and how every aspect of my life improved as a result of getting healthy and fit, and I wish everyone could experience the same!

Because of my obsessive nature, I'm compelled to learn absolutely everything about almost anything I become involved with. I could never just workout on a regular basis. I had to learn everything about the science of movement, nutrition, the muscular system, the main theories of fitness, and so many other topics.  When I started teaching, I became immersed in learning about the brain, how it learns, what inhibits learning, the history of education and all of the philosophies of ed. throughout history, etc.  I took college courses (grad & undergrad), many seminars, read dozens of books, joined websites, participated in hours of discussion and exchange of best practices.  I research, study, practice, ask questions--in short, become completely overtaken by the subject, until I feel that I've reached a level of mastery. Then I can happily practice and continue to use the concepts, or in some cases, once I've learned everything, I become bored and simply move on. I acquire far more knowledge on any given topic than is useful or practical, and I often feel guilty about it, because that's time that could be spent more productively or wisely. I try to assuage the guilt by 'reminding myself' that my hobby is the actual learning, more so the specific domain in which I'm currently dabbling, and indulging in a hobby is a healthy mental outlet.  Anyway, all this to say, it's really nice if I have the chance to help others with the ridiculous amount of  unnecessary knowledge that I've acquired in the pursuit of my learning hobby. In this case, helping my husband get fit and feel as good as I do, kind of helps justify the hundreds of hours I spent learning more than I ever need to know about health and fitness. :)

Last year was the first appearance of the surprise Shaun T tree ornaments, custom made by L. She cut the Shaun T images out of my Asylum volumes 1 and 2, and Hip Hop Abs and pasted different heads on the body to make them bobble heads that she hung on the tree. I think my T25 Gamma has been left untouched.  She dubbed our tree "The Shaun Tree."  We got the tree all done this year (without them), and she whipped out the Shaun T ornaments and put them back up. I guess they are tradition.

Lip balm

As someone who suffers from very dry skin and hair, I go through pounds of lip balm, especially in the winter.  Finding chemical-free, vegan lip balm isn't very easy, and it is typically fairly expensive, so I decided to try to make my own.  I found some recipes online to get a general idea of where to start, and then I modified until I liked the results.

I used 4 tablespoons coconut oil (virgin), 4 tablespoons soy wax (pure, no additives other than natural soy), 1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil, a few drops of Tea Tree oil, and a few drops of an essential oil (optional - I used sweet orange for a citrus-scented balm).  Melt the soy wax (I used a glass dish in the microwave, but a double boiler works too), then stir in the coconut oil to melt. Add the essential oils, pour into containers, and let set. 

For a firmer balm, use more soy wax, for softer, use less.  

I also experimented with tinting.  I used beet juice in one, but I don't think I used enough. It doesn't have a visible tint, so I need to experiment more with that.  I also used a small chunk of a vegan lipstick to tint another, and that one turned out well.  

I had some containers lying around (I don't throw nice containers away, because I can always repurpose them), and I put in boiling water to sterilize and used those.

It was incredibly inexpensive, quick, and easy, and I don't think I will ever need to purchase lip balm again. Once I use up the remaining roll-up tubes I have, I will re-use those, so I can have a batch in tubes, in addition to the little makeup pots.

If you're interested in trying it and local, let me know, and I'll give you some soy wax.  I had to purchase a ten pound bag, which is inexpensive, but more than I will need in a lifetime.

FTP

Lila and her cute tongue

We've been streaming X-Files on Netflix and watching with Luciana. We started with the first episode and have been going through sequentially (still on first season, I think), and we've been really enjoying it. We kind of break the "healthy family dinner" rules, in that we generally have three or so meals per week in front of the television.  That's the only time we have television on, and we only choose shows we like to watch as a family (unless we're doing a family movie night or something like that).  I am aware that family dinners are important and should not involve TV, but we find this works for us. We have a lot of family together time and time where we chat at length about our respective days, but none of us likes to talk while eating. I have a strong preference to read while I eat, but basically anything is better than conversation. I'm the world's slowest eater, so conversation only makes that worse.  M & I (and Dej) watched the X-Files religiously the first time around.  The show was part of our dating life, as we had a standing weekly X-Files date before we moved in together.  It's fun to watch again almost 20 years later--it's still a good show, and we are enjoying sharing it with L.  It was an important show to us back then, when one still had to schedule one's life around the good tv shows, so our Friday nights (then Sunday nights) were dedicated to a special meal (enchiladas, pizzas--only the "special" meals that everyone loved and looked forward to were good enough for X-F) and the show. It's fun to pass that history down to L and let her experience it with us.  The theme is timeless and relevant:  The truth is out there (but our skeevy government will lie, cheat, and kill to hide it).

Jasper and his cute tongue

L & I have been reading, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, for our bedtime reading.  We're a bit more than halfway through. I haven't read this book for at least 15 years, and the last time I read it, we were so much farther from this being a reality than we are now. This book now seems closer to truth than fiction, and it's distressing to see how very close we are to such a dystopian nightmare. HT is an excellent and very important book but a fairly depressing read.  I wanted to jump to Upton Sinclair's, The Jungle, next, but we might need something a little more pleasant between the books about a dystopian future and nightmarish past. L is studying labor unions/labor issues in the early 20th century, so The Jungle would be a perfect complement to that. I may just assign that to her as independent reading rather than our bedtime reading. It's vital that she read it, but it's pretty depressing reading right before going to sleep. I have a couple of weeks to think about it and decide what's to do next.

Prior to this book, we read the very good but very long, "I Know This Much Is True", by Wally Lamb. That is such a good story--we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  I enjoy the interesting discussions we have after/while reading.

Damon's recurrent staph infection of his skin is back. I'm SO frustrated. He had the skin infection when we adopted him. He has not made it past three weeks without antibiotics since then. I give him his Cephalaxin as prescribed, completely finish the entire prescription, and everything clears up.  Within three weeks of going off the drugs, however, he ends up with another raging infection.  Always on the skin, but always different areas. I don't like him on so many antibiotics and I feel that he's had the same one enough that the staph is probably growing resistant. I have him on probiotics, which help, but I know that antibiotics mess up his digestive system, too.  Poor guy!  I'm going to start a major research project to see if I can come up with anything that will help.

Kitchen day this weekend produced dog food (which I guess will be an every weekend thing, so no need to continue to include it) and the following:

• Pizza
• Baked potatoes & chili
• Chickpea Ratatouille & quinoa
• Tempeh bacon (for tempeh, Tofurkey, tomato, and hummus wraps)
• Fudge. Delicious, fairly healthy-ish fudge.

Mark's Birthday

We've had a fairly social holiday weekend, especially considering I'm in my depressed-not-sleeping-don't-want-to-leave-the-house-mode.

Wednesday night was our annual comedy show outing to see my old college friend who started off in the same major as me and ended up being a professional comedian. I was not planning to go, as I had no sleep and wasn't in the frame of mind to talk to people or leave the house. We tried to give our tickets away, but it was very last minute (a couple hours before showtime), and nobody could make it. Mark really wanted to go, so I went ahead, and as it turns out, we had a lot of fun and laughed a ton.

Thursday was a low-key Thanksgiving celebration at my parents' house. 

Friday was Mark's birthday. I hope he enjoys being 44 more than I did. He & Russ spent the entire day watching Game of Thrones season 2 (violence & porn, yay) and drinking beer. It was his request that I deliver his birthday meal of choice: shepherd's pie with spicy cashew gravy and fruit smoothies. My parents stopped by just as I was packaging the food, so they saved me from having to leave the house.

Saturday was M's birthday dinner party, thrown by our friend Julie. She is such a good cook and hostess that when she offered to throw a party for M, I knew it would be awesome and better than anything I could come up with. I try to emulate her awesome hostessing and cooking skills and always fall short. She makes everything from scratch, and it's always delicious. She would not let anyone bring anything!

The appetizers consisted of crudités, chips, crackers, and a choice of dips. Note that the silver candle had little Happy Birthday pendants dangling, and it spins when lit. There were several really good beer options as well as wine--M enjoyed the beer, but my stomach is not happy and I can't drink at this time).

The main course was pizza. She made and pre-baked the crusts when we arrived, then we each loaded our own with the homemade sauce, lots of veggie choices, vegan cheese choices, and protein choices (pepperoni, Italian sausage, salami, and the most delicious pizza-flavored fried tofu triangles, which Marina and I kept chowing on while making the pizzas). We munched on the appetizers and pizza toppings while our pizzas baked.

Dessert was a chocolate-raspberry cake with a rum-chocolate frosting. It was fucking phenomenal, of course. In addition to the crown she got him, she also had a lotus candle on the cake. I have never seen one of these before, but when the inside center wick is lit, it starts to spin, opening the lotus flower with each of the petal candles lighting, and it plays happy birthday. It was quite a show!

After eating way too much, we moved to the living room and enjoyed good conversation in front of a warm fire. It was such a pleasant evening, and we're so grateful to have a friend like Julie. She put in a tremendous amount of work in preparation. She was also very pushy about not letting anyone clean up, and it bothered Marina and I a lot to leave knowing she still had so much work to do.

It's technically my turn to host a get together for our group at some point this month. It's always hard for me to do this following a get together at Julie's, because there's no way I can match her skill.

I did my normal Sunday refrigerator clean out/organization before starting my cooking on Sunday, and was pleased to find that we have so many leftovers (good ones, too!) that I didn't need a full meal until Friday. I will throw that together on Friday. I used yesterday's kitchen time to make a giant batch of dog food and a giant batch (6.5 pounds!) of seitan. That should last us a couple of months. I cut it into small cubes, put 1 pound per freezer bag/container and freeze. It stores very well this way and retains its texture and flavor when thawed.  I use the seitan recipe from Vegan Vengeance, but this is also from Isa and is quite similar: PPK seitan. I also made some roasted red pepper hummus and a batch of my post-workout smoothies (bananas, beets, spinach, mixed berries, coconut milk, hemp protein powder).

Charlie and Tica (Oliver in the back); Charlie is more than twice Tica's weight/size!

Fiona & Przemek

One of the things that has increasingly interfered with my blogging is the little voice that worries that I'm repeating myself and looking senile.  Then I think I should probably search the blog to see if I've said this before, and that can be rather time consuming, and then I get frustrated--do I simply say it and risk repeating myself or spend time tracking everything down to check it out. Then it all seems to be too much effort, and I give up. I've reached an age where I do think I repeat myself sometimes. It makes me self-conscious, though I know it's typical. I talk to a lot of people, and it's hard to keep track of what I've said to whom.  My pride is often problematic for me, and I'm trying to commit myself to just blogging what I'm thinking at the time, repetition be dammed.  I have more thoughts and conversations than I am able to keep track of, and I'm a middle aged woman with too much on my mind most  of the time and far too little sleep. Repeating myself is inevitable. If you know me and catch me doing it in person, please stop me.  If I do it on the blog, just scroll. :)  I'm trying to let this go.

That said, I'm sure at least some of this is repetition. One of the most interesting things about living our very alternative lifestyle, with so many members of different species interacting as a big family, is the relationships that develop. I like to watch the relationships and track the ups, downs, and changes through the years. It is absolutely intriguing. In many cases I observe changes in relationships and am never able to figure out why the change occurred, in some cases, I can.  In all cases, they are mysteries for me to solve and ponder (when I'm not sleeping but trying), and keep life in our household very interesting.  I will forever wonder why certain cats go from being best friends for years to hostile enemies. I've clearly missed something monumental that happened between them, but WHAT?!

When we got Przemek, the little button quail, I assumed he would join the doves, as they are the closest to his species. One thing seems to hold true universally, regardless of species, gender, age, etc., we all like to be around those who are most similar to us.  There are those who exclusively prefer others of their own kind and those who are more adventurous, seeking out those who are very different and forming relationships (I call those the diplomats, more on that another time--very interesting phenomena I've observed!), but they still ultimately prefer those most similar. I found it surprising that Przemek, instead of the birds, formed his bonds with the rabbits and guinea pigs, almost completely ignoring the birds.

We have two rabbits (Fiona, female and Fergus, male) and two guinea pigs (Luna, female and Oreo, male). Przemek identifies as a member of that group, preferring to stay close to them and eat with them.  Przemek has extremely limited flight ability (similar to a chicken), unlike the other birds in the room, and I'm thinking that this is why he identifies as a furry, rather than a feathered creature. Though he spends time with his whole crew, he seems to be most strongly attached to Fiona, and then Oreo. He likes to be close to them, spending a great deal of time snuggled up with Fiona or Oreo (though Fiona seems to be his top choice, as he spend significantly more time with her).

I finally did get a picture of them together, but have high hopes for getting more.  He usually snuggles up in her neck, sometimes to her side, and sometime between her front paws, and that is absolutely adorable. She is aware that he's there and seems perfectly happy to have him around. I haven't observed her grooming him, though a) there are about 22 hours a day that I am not in there and may not catch it and b) she is a bit selfish about grooming--Fergus will groom her thoroughly for ages, while she relaxes with her eyes closed; she returns the favor with about two cursory licks back--poor Fergs!

I've spent 15 minutes thinking about a title and still have nothing.

I am happy to be married to my husband most of the time. I'm most grateful to be married, however, when it's snowy and gross and he's outside doing snow removal. I hate that job, and as much as I am not fond of all the time spent on meal prep and clean up every day, I would much rather do that every day than the winter snow duties my husband is taking care of right now!

This Sunday's meal prep was a little disappointing. I usually make at least one dessert/snack item, but I didn't get to it this week. It's probably a good thing, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.  My mom will be baking her traditional banana nut bread (YAY!) and probably some other sweets as well.  

I made another batch of dog food. They are loving it, and I will continue with this schedule--their morning meal is kibble and their evening meal is warm, yummy, and served on nice plates.  It's served on the dishes I usually only use for holidays, because they are very heavy and the washing/putting away is risky with my arthritic hands.  The home made food is easier for them to eat from a plate, rather than a bowl, and the plate needs to be heavy enough that it doesn't slide across the floor while they are eating.  I'm still working on finding efficient ways to store and serve. I don't like having to scoop out and measure the food then measure and add the supplements. There has to be a more efficient way, but I haven't found it yet. I'd love to store it all measured in the appropriate serving size for each dog, but that requires three small containers per day and 21 for a week's worth, and I don't have that many small containers.  I'll keep refining and tweaking and will eventually come up with a system that works well for all of us.

So besides the dog food (and packing lunches), I prepped/made:

• Pumpkin seeds (Still finishing up our garden pumpkins!)
• Dal (which we'll eat with Roti)
• Mac & Cheese (the Vega recipe--best ever!!)
• Tofurkey Roast w/ mashed potatoes & gravy (We'll have Thanksgiving with my parents, but Mark loves the Tofurkey loaves, and picked one up on a really good sale this week.)

My friend/office mate made and brought in two delicious-looking Indian dishes (Gobi and Chana (chole) Masala) for me today. I'm so excited!  We have a glut of food this week.  The Dal, Mac & Cheese, and Shepherd's Pie leave us with lots of leftovers. The Mac & Cheese is made in a 9x13" pan, and L doesn't like it, so only M & I eat it--leaving us with a ton of it. 

I didn't get to the dessert, and I still have to prepare the shepherd's pie and gravy that Mark requested for his birthday (Friday).  Instead, I installed some shelves in the kitchen and reorganized everything. I have so many spices and bulk foods, that I'm trying to come up with a more efficient way to store/organize everything.  I loaded, unloaded, and rearranged the shelves several times last night.  Right now they are functional--more efficient than what I had before, but I don't like the way it looks. Function trumps looks, so for now I will leave things as they are and live with this layout for a while until I come up with a better idea. I have tons of bulk items, but unlike the spices which are small and not that tough to find homes for, the bulk items take up a lot more space.  I need to keep these basics on hand all the time, as they are the staples of most of my meals, and then some additional items that I don't use as often (popcorn, couscous, millet, etc.):

• Black beans
• Kidney beans
• Chickpeas
• Adzuki beans
• Black-eyed peas
• Red lentils
• Green lentils
• Toor dal
• Chana dal
• Mung dal
• Urad dal
• Quinoa
• Brown rice
• Basmati rice
• Oats
• Barley
• Wild rice
• Raw cashews
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Peanuts
• Raw almonds
• Six different kinds of flour (for gluten-free cooking/baking)- I ran out of room for these on the new shelf, so they are still in a cupboard.

That makes for a lot of containers to store and organize. Someday, I will find the perfect system--one in which I find every item I need quickly and easily without having to move containers to get at it, and ideally, it will end up looking nicer than it does now.

A few bonus shots from this afternoon:  Jezebel is being perfect, as usual, looking out the window.  Damon is following me around, telling me he wants his walk RIGHT NOW.  

L-R: Grace Hopper, Hawking, PZ, Ada Lovelace, Hitchens, Hazel, Franklin, Poppy

 Same shot, different angle.  This time you can see Cypress (front left) and Valentina (front right). They are gathered over there eating their fresh produce (today: assorted mixed greens, parsley, and carrots). You can also see the splatters on the wall from where they shake their fruits and veggies while eating them (The berries are the worst!), leaving bits of them glued to the wall.  I have to occasionally steam clean the walls to get that stuff off.  They are very messy little creatures!  There's another produce plate on the other side of the room, too. Sometimes the thuggish little cockatiels like to fly down to the floor, eat the rabbits' and guinea pigs' produce, and then fly back up and eat their own. Smart, but naughty!

Przemek - He's very shy and very fast, so it's hard to get a picture in which he isn't just a blur!

Fergus and Fiona, snuggled up after finishing their afternoon produce

Przemek likes to eat his produce with the rabbits and guinea pigs. I started out putting his on his own food tray, but he prefers to hang with the others. When I adopted him, I assumed he would join with the doves, but instead he prefers the rabbits, particularly Fiona.  At least once a week I walk in to find him snuggled up in Fiona's neck. I NEVER have my camera with me when it happens, and as soon as he sees me, he runs under the big cages to his private space.  I need to make a point to carry my camera in more often, so I can try to catch this. It is one of the cutest things ever!

Damon, telling me it's time for his walk RIGHT NOW

Oliver, being dapper

Jezebel, being perfect

Dunkin' Damon

Winter arrived this week, bringing snow and my mild seasonal depression.  I am now pining for April and will be counting the days til nicer weather returns.  The daily dog walks are now an unpleasant chore, instead a nice way to unwind and chat with my husband after work.  Sunday night's walk (in the snow!) was quite tenuous, with each of us slipping and nearly falling on ice multiple times during the walk. We're taking bets on which of us gets a ice-related-dog-walk injury first (fingers crossed it's one of us and NOT one of the dogs!).

I will be scheduling another appointment for Damon to go swimming this week at Dunkin' Dawgs. He's gone once so far, and I've been short on time and unable to get him back.  Daisy likes swimming. Jezebel likes swimming but not in the doggy pool.  Damon--he lives to swim. On his first appointment, I had no idea how he would react to the pool. I had taken him swimming in the lake, but not in a pool. It became clear once we got into the facility, that he had been in a pool before. He charged right up the steps to the platform and leaped in, before I even made it up to the top. He spent the entire time fetching the squeaky toy I threw and bringing it back. We made him get out for a brief break, so his friend, Lily could take a turn without his giant self in the way, he whined and pulled, and it took two of us holding him with all our strength to keep him from jumping back in the pool.  He cried the whole time he was out. It's great for his arthritis, and he loves it so much, we will set up a regular appointment schedule for him. It was awesome to see him so happy!  His arthritis has improved quite a bit now that he's been on FlexPet for a couple of months. That has really made a difference in our dogs' health.

I've been feeling really guilty for quite some time now about the dogs' food. They get a high-quality vegan kibble, but it's always the same. Nobody likes to eat the same thing for every meal of their life--not any species, not any meal. I can tell by the quantities of salivation, that my dogs prefer some food over others, and almost any food over their standard kibble. I do try to mix it up a bit by adding different things in--a little veggie broth, a spoon of pumpkin, a little tomato sauce--anything to make it more interesting for them. I've wanted to make my own dog food for quite some time now but finally got around to it this weekend. I'm so happy I did it!  I am planning to feed them one meal of kibble (morning) and their evening meal of homemade "hot" food.  I followed this recipe:  Healthy, easy dog food recipe, and they loved it!  It was quick and simple.  I had some extra squash, green beans, and carrots I wanted to use up, so I threw those in as well.  All three dogs ate it with such vigor and obvious enjoyment, that we had a blast watching them.  It's fairly inexpensive, quick--just basically throw a bunch of ingredients in a big pot and stir from time to time, and I wish I hadn't put it off this long. I feel so much better giving my dogs a healthy meal that brings them so much joy and will continue to make it for them.

This week I didn't get as much done in the kitchen as I had hoped. I spent a good chunk of time cleaning the refrigerator. What started out as a five-minute clean up from a minor spill on a shelf of the fridge, turned into me taking everything out and wiping it all down. Glad it's done, but it really cut down my food production. Throwing the dog food prep in the mix also took up some of my cooking time, so I have to pull one of my pre-made freezer meals. This week's Sunday prep-meals:  

• Coconut curry red lentil soup
• Stir fry veggies (broc., cauli., carrots, water chestnuts, red peppers) & quinoa with peanut sauce (I made the sauce up last week and planned to have the meal on Friday, but we had so many leftovers I pushed it off to this week.)
• Lasagna
• Chocolate-peanut butter smoothies (from this vegan chocolate cookbook) -- They were so, so good!

Tica

Petey

I won this gorgeous cat bed (it could be a dog bed, but my dogs are too big for it) from the raffle at the AFAE Chili cookoff last month.  I was shocked, because I am incredibly unlucky and never win things. My husband is the opposite, and I was lamenting that I should have had him enter instead, when they called my name. It's such a pretty bed.  The cats love it, and it's frequently in use. Tica spends a lot of time on it, which is extra cute, because she's so tiny, and she looks even tinier in her palatial bed.  The bed was donated by MadCat, and they even threw in an extra cushion cover, which is great, since I've already cleaned several hairballs off the bed.  Mounds and MadCat are my favorite pet stores and the only ones I patronize.  Neither of them sells animals (disgusting!), and they both give/donate so much back to the animal community.

Treat Yo'self

I was thinking it had been about six weeks since my last post, but YIKES--more than two months. I really need to set aside a set time on at least a weekly basis, so I remember to blog. I'm still struggling with meeting my responsibilities in the too-short time I have each day, but additionally, I'm now out of the habit and simply forget to blog.

I got a very cool birthday gift this year.  (My birthday was last week.)  I don't generally like my birthday or like gifts/cards at all--for many, many reasons.  However, my friend, Julie (a smart and stubborn woman) was determined to get me a gift. She knows me well enough to know I am a nightmare to shop for. I don't like waste at all; I don't want stuff taking up space around my house and serving no purpose; I don't like my friends spending money on me (it could be donated to a better cause than me); I boycott the majority of companies/businesses for ethical/moral reasons, so finding vegan, fair-trade, ethically-sourced, high-quality products from a company with tolerable business practices is an epic endeavor. Other than wasting her time and a nominal amount of money, she got me a gift without throwing me into paroxysms of guilt.

First, the packaging: She used a wicker basket (we are rabbit people, so we buy those by the ton from thrift stores) from her rabbit supply.  The cool-looking bow was made with twine that held together the hay bales she buys for the rabbits.  The wicker basket, now that it's empty, will make a wonderful hay-holder/toy for the rabbits.  The twine is used by my birds, who love to separate the strands and build with them.

Then, the gift: She gathered one of each kind of organic root vegetable (garlic, onion, leek, each type of potato, each type of sweet potato/yam, celeriac, rutabaga, turnip, parsnip, carrot, etc.) and a handful of other veggies.  It was fun, and pretty, and very useful.

The next day was my "kitchen day" (usually Sundays, when I make/prep the majority of the meals for the week), so I was anxious to make something delicious. I turned all of that into this root vegetable chili.  I followed this recipe loosely, but I obviously had different/additional ingredients and a ton of it, so I modified and tweaked until I was happy with it.  I ended up with an enormous quantity of soup--enough for a full family meal (with lunch leftovers) and a second full meal to freeze for later. It was absolutely wonderful.

My parents & parents-in-law also insist on giving me a little cash to treat myself with, and that is paying for another workout program. I was hoping Shaun T's T25 Delta would be out by now, but no sign of it yet. :(  I have spent the last two weeks evaluating programs and have settled on Body Beast.  I'm as excited as I can be for a workout that doesn't involve Shaun T!  :)  I like the promise that it will build ten pounds of lean muscle mass in 90 days. I'd be quite happy with five!

One of the most common questions I get from vegans and non-vegans is, "what do you eat?"  Let's see how well I do at sticking with this...I'm going to try to list out my Sunday meal prep results each week, to give an idea of what we eat.  I generally focus on getting the first part of the week's meals done. I don't so much worry about Fri-Sun., as I have more time and flexibility on non-work days and often have leftovers that I use to fill in some of those meals as well.  It won't be a full week's worth of meals, but at least a general idea.  This is somewhat complicated by the fact that I don't really have names for many of my meals (and many are simply thrown together with no recipe). Also, food photography isn't my forte, and I don't want to post pictures that make delicious food look ugly. I will provide recipes if they're available digitally.

Yesterday, I prepped the following meals

• "Mexican lasagna" (Spanish rice, seasoned black refried beans, tomatoes, Daiya;  topped with tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream)     
• Minestrone soup
• Red beans & rice
• Stir-fried veggies (broc., cauli., carrots, water chestnuts, peppers) in peanut sauce (I will serve over barley or quinoa):  The linked recipe includes the burgers that this peanut sauce was originally intended for. The burgers are delicious, and I make them often. The sauce is fantastic and very versatile, so I tend to make a big batch of it and use it as a marinade, topping for burgers, or mixed in with any pasta/grain/veggie combo. It's an easy way to make quick, amazing dishes with minimal effort.

I returned to classes Tuesday and survived my first week. It will take a couple of weeks to get settled into the new routine/schedule. I always have a really hard time going back to work in the fall and leaving the animals alone so much. I have barely left the house this summer, so we have spent so much time together that it's been a tough week for all of us--especially Damon, who is my conjoined twin and becomes completely bereft when he can't get to me. It is, as always, thrilling to go back and meet the new students and see some of my returning students again. I've never quite figured out why my normally misanthropic self so adores and enjoys my students, but I'm certainly glad my brain works that way. I wouldn't be much of a teacher otherwise!

I'm fairly unhappy with myself about this summer. I was less productive than I've ever been. I also didn't really do anything fun or exciting. I can't really explain what happened, but I'm so frustrated to return to work with so little accomplished. I ended up in some kind of funk--maybe the health issues and our animal deaths caused it--that just sucked up my time with very little to show for it. I need to have a supremely productive fall to make up for it!

L also started school this week. She is taking two classes (math and science) at our local high school and will be doing at least one extracurricular activity as well.  She will continue to work with me on homeschooling for the other subjects. I will also still work with her on math and science, as I view this as a supplementary eductaion--not a replacement. I'm not at all thrilled about having to deal with the cluster of a mess that is our public schools. The superintendent and several board members are not very bright people and have really created a nightmare in the schools--both for the students and the teachers. I have no tolerance for incompetence, lack of logic, or time wasting, and those seem to be the three areas J'ville schools excel in. If transportation wasn't such an issue, we would put her in Milton schools, but we just can't swing that with our work schedules. I have absolutely no hope or expectations for her academically (overcrowded schools that are forced to teach to the lowest common denominator will not provide the education I want her to have), but it will be good for her to have the social engagement and start making friends her own age.  I am rarely so conflicted on anything, because typically, when I'm this conflicted about something, I stay away. I am not the only decision maker here, though, so M & L and I had to discuss and come to a consensus for this school year. It's going to be a really interesting year. I am already out of patience with this whole arrangement. M has been interfacing with the school (after 13 unpleasant years of this role with Dej, I vowed to NEVER do it again), and the staff at Craig seems to be very helpful and as distressed by the disastrous decisions that the district stuck them with as we/the students are. 

Our school district's fearless leader, Karen Schulte, continues to be a piece of work. She never met a decision she wouldn't bungle, and she never encountered an idea she wouldn't take credit for. It's sad to watch the overworked, under-appreciated school staff constantly suffer under her poor decisions and try to carry out her ill-conceived plans. I guess the good news is that she's not around too much, as she stays quite busy traveling the world fruitlessly on our district's educational dollars. Why educate our students when we can send Karen on another vacation.

Bill Sodemann has mentally anointed himself as King of the school board, holding court at the meetings, using them to mindlessly blather on about issues that are relevant to nobody but himself, and to openly discuss his political opinions. Neither of these are appropriate behaviors for any board member, but this continues on meeting after meeting. Sadly, as long as these two jesters hold so much sway over JSD, it will continue to lose good staff members (and the poor souls who remain are suffering low morale) and students and will continue to be seen as a joke throughout the county and surrounding areas. I desperately hope they are able to get rid of these destructive forces and turn the district back around.

She has attended four days this week, with one of the days being a game day of sorts--no classes or education. I'm fairly disappointed so far with the complete lack of academic progress, and I'm hoping next week picks up significantly. She is already making some friends, and it's been cute to listen to her bubble over with hours of conversation detailing everything that happened at school. 

She is at a new friend's house this afternoon. I know this is good for her, but I'm rather stressed about it. I don't know these people or their household. The girl seems very nice, and I trust L. She has good character and a stable brain.  I'm sure it will be fine. I'm just not used to her being with strangers and will be on edge all afternoon until she returns. She is less than a mile away, and I showed her various locations in the area "safe spots" she could go to if she needed. I will learn to be less neurotic about her.  ** Update: She returned from her play date safe and sound and had a great time. :)

Damon is such a character! It has been so much fun getting to know him and learning to communicate with him. He has some very distinct and unusual preferences and is quite stubborn. I did determine after some experimentation that it's the cold temperature water he prefers, not so much the freshness/cleanness of it. He just really likes his drinks icy cold, as do I. I am known for always having my ice water with me and drinking copious amounts of water. I cannot stand water that's not ice cold, though. So while people may mock me for running like a bitch 20 times a day to give him the cold drink he prefers whenever he asks, I will continue to do so, because I get it. I would become completely dehydrated if my only drinking choice were room temp. water. I'm sure he would get water for me if he were able.  His favorite foods appear to be cantaloupe and bananas.

We have established some rules for him, because he always wants to be on top of me (literally sometimes!), and that can create some traffic problems. It has made my food prep difficult/dangerous, so I'm trying to establish an area in the kitchen where he can be close and see everything but not cause me to trip so much. We had to deal with the same issue several weeks ago with our workouts. He decided that he wanted to stand right next to me while I worked out. Initially, I tried to adjust and work around him. In addition to impeding the intensity of my workout, it also created some encounters that were uncomfortable to gross. He kept surprising me with random displays of affection, which are always quite wet and slobbery, and I wear very little when I work out. I did not like the surprise of a very wet lick complete with slobber strings on my back, stomach, neck (while lying on the floor with weights up in the air). No. 

We have some big fluffy comforters that we put on the floor for him to lie on (he's welcome on the furniture, of course), so I started using one of those in the workout room. I placed it in the room, near the doorway, and out of the way of our workout space. The goal is to keep him off the cushioned floor mats. That went really well for a few weeks. Then he started lying with half his body on the approved comforter and half on the forbidden cushioned floor.  Then we caught him moving his comforter onto the cushioned floor mats, which was quite clever of him and very cute to watch him slowly edge his blanket further and further into the room. We moved his blanket back to the approved spot, and he gave up (until the next night). Then suddenly a few nights ago, he just planted himself right back in the center of the room. He did the same next two nights, and very reluctantly moved back onto his blanket when called out. He is so darn cute!

Damon

 Damon joined our family two weeks ago today. He has become such a part of us that we can't imagine life without him. We picked Damon up from a Humane Society a few hours away (2.75 hrs), and we had to bring all human and canine family members to meet him before we could adopt. We borrowed my parents' van, removing all but one back seat, so the three dogs would have plenty of room for the long trip.  We had seen a picture of Damon, sitting in a large, empty room, and they had identified him as a chocolate lab, so when we arrived and they brought him out to meet us, we were shocked to find a lot more dog than we expected. He's huge!  He is probably mixed with Great Dane.  He was also hot and excited and had copious amounts of slobber hanging off his jowls, stuck all over his face, and he quickly slobbered us and the room up. I immediately thought "OH NO" and "I love this goofy guy".

He is happy, friendly, mellow, silly, quirky, and huge! I'm so glad we found him.  The trip home went well (more buckets of slobber), and the three dogs got along just fine. I was very concerned with the cats, because though he was temperment tested there and passed with flying colors, that's no guarantee that things would go perfectly in our home environment with uncaged cats.  I spent the first night having panic attacks ("He's huge, and I can't carry him if I need to."; "He could kill the dogs or cats if he got angry."; "I couldn't 'take him' if he got aggressive"; "The slobber", etc.), thinking "What have I done?"  The cats were not happy about him at all. Though they're exposed to many dogs, they've never met a horse-dog before. They spent the first two days on high shelves, looking like Halloween cats, watching him with antipathy and distrust.

As we got to know him and spend more time with him, my fears dissipated, because he's just awesome.  The cats are no longer concerned with him and treat him like they treat the other two dogs (some ignore him, some like him).  He has a variety of health conditions--he's ten years old, so we've been working on getting those resolved and/or stabilized. He has a troubling lump/growth of some sort on his spleen, so we are anxiously waiting to hear back on exactly what that is.

He's decided he's my baby, and follows me, always staying as close as he can to me. He loves the whole family but has decided I'm mom. He lived with his last mom from the age of 5 months until recently when he was left at the Humane Society due to his mom's poor health. How confusing and terrifying that must have been for my giant baby!

He's an extremely picky eater and has some very unique likes/dislikes.  He only likes to drink water that is fresh from the tap, so whenever he needs a drink, he will come get me and ask. It doesn't matter if the bowl is full of clean water, even if it's relatively fresh. He will not drink it. I theorize that it's a temperature preference for him--he likes it colder, and when it sits for even a half hour in the bowl, it's not cold enough. I'm not sure on this--just trying to figure out some of his strange preferences.

He needs to take medicated baths once or twice a week, so I was relieved to find that he's a really good boy about bathing. He steps right into the tub when I invite him, which is awesome, because I don't think we could get him in if he didn't choose to go.  He's very good about letting me medicate his ears, clean his eyes, etc.

He's quite playful and energetic for an old guy, but his arthritic body can't quite keep up with his energy level (I know very well how frustrating that is!). 

I'm not at all crazy about the name, but he knows it well, and I would never take away the only thing he came with.  We're working on his walking manners, because he currently pulls and bounces around like a drunkard with no spacial awareness at all. This makes it quite challenging when walking all three dogs.  I don't know if he was ever consistently walked in his past life, but he hasn't been for quite some time, due to his person's health issues. He's smart and wants to make people happy, so I'm sure he'll get better with his walks as time goes on. 

He's so sweet and funny, that I can't help but smile every single time I look at him!

He loves to go outside to a particular spot in the middle of the yard, flop over, and roll around in the grass. He is so joyful while he's doing it, that I usually stand and watch the whole adorable process.