Potty Talk

There are two kinds of automatic toilets in this world: the ones that you're afraid are never going to actually flush, and the ones that flush too soon. The ones at the office I was in last week were pf the latter type. Seriously. If you just leaned a little for more... leverage, if you know what I mean, they would flush. Imma have to vote no to that. Though it's better than the ones I used once that I somehow always managed to make flush twice. Every time.

Tangentially, I've found I get a little flustered when a public toilet is NOT auto flush. Like, you really going to make me touch the toilet flush handle with my HANDS!? What really weird is that my new office has manual flush toilets, but automatic sink faucets.

Related: the stalls in the bathroom at my new church building were obviously designed to get as many toilets in the smallest space possible. What they were not designed for: having toilets AND people in them. It requires a bit of fancy maneuvering to get in, get the door shut,  and do your business, if you know what I mean.

Not quite as relevant: I was at theater the other day and the bathroom there had the fancy new hand dryers in them. Have you seen those? The ones where you like dip your hands into a jet stream of air that blows your skin into ripples. This particular dryer brand claimed to be the fastest and most hygienic hand dryer ever. Really? I'd like to see the studies on that. In what ways is this hand dryer more hygienic than any other automatic hand dryer with a sensor.

Gym Shower Fail

I'm taking a hiatus from running. The tops of both my feet have started bothering me while running, and my hip has been kind of achey, and it's always 100,000 degrees when it's a good time for me to run. So instead, I've decided that I'm going to go to the gym at work and use the elliptical.

The first day that I was going to go to the gym, I very carefully packed my bag with a towel and clean underwear and my hair dryer and make up because I was going to go out to dinner with a friend afterward. However, he texted earlier in the day and moved up out date by an hour. No time for the gym.

The next day that I was going to go to the gym, I wussed out and decided to visit Adopted Family instead.

Monday was the third day that I was going to go to the gym. I carefully packed my bag with gym clothes, etc planning to gym and then take a quick shower before the 45 minute drive home. Because I did not want to smell myself for 45 minutes. As I was changing, another lady stepped out of the shower wrapped in a towel and I realized that I hadn't packed a towel. Because I'm awesome.

Today was the fourth day I was going to gym. Remembering my 45 minute ordeal from Monday, I very carefully packed a towel so that I could shower. This was going to be extra great, because I was meeting friends later for half price movie night and that way I wouldn't have to drive all the way home first. When I got to the gym and started changing, however, I realized that I hadn't packed any clean underclothes. Because, as I mentioned before, I am awesome.

And then traffic was bad, so the commute was actually an hour and change. Gross.

I feel like it shouldn't be that hard to pack a gym bag...

On Eating

When I lived in Key West I participated in this organic vegetables co-op called Annie's Buying Club. The theory was that sourcing organic food in bulk reduces the cost, so a bunch of people pool their money, Annie orders bulk organic items, and then distributes a box every week. Or in my case every other week. I didn't care so much about the organic part (I think that organic farming has it's own tradeoffs), but when I joined I was looking to add vegetables in my life, and I was sick of broccoli. The co op forced me to learn new cooking techniques and to use tons of different vegetables, some of which I'd never even heard of.

The thing I liked most about the box was the Iron Chef like element to it. Here's a pound of green beans, kale, and and an eggplant... Go! Annie's provided an extensive list of recipes for the produce in the box and it was fun to scour the Internet to find a recipe because all I had left was, say, carrots and kale. It actually made menu planning really easy because I had to plan around the box.

By the end of my time in Key West, though, I was starting to feel like I wanted a little more control. I discovered that I'm not a huge fan of most root vegetables (though unlike many people, I do like beets), and I learned that I have exactly zero skill with Asian cooking which means that daikon radishes and bok choy were a major cooking challenge for me. So while I did look into the CSA option when I moved to maintain that same "here's a bunch of ingredients, go!" thing, in the end I decided that I didn't want to join one, first, because I wanted more control, and second, because CSAs source from a limited geographic area (unlike Annie's which sourced globally) which limits the kinds of produce you get.

It's been kind of hard, though, to make the shift between "here's a bunch of ingredients, plan a menu" and "here's a menu, go buy a bunch of ingredients." I'm still learning how you decide what to make, because there are SO many yummy looking recipes in the world, it's hard to decide what I want without any limiting factors. So, all of you people who regularly make menus and then go shopping, how do you decide what your menu is going to look like? Where do you get your inspiration from? How do you avoid getting stuck in ruts? How do you sort through recipes?

Tangentially, here is what I'm planning to make this week (totally stole this idea from Erin):

Tropical Black Bean and Collard Green Soup

 by Fat Free Vegan

Pesto Stuffed Zucchini

by Simply Recipes

Zucchini, Corn, and Poblano Tacos

on Serious Eats

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Charred Chile and Corn

by Serious Eats

A Series of Short Epistles

Dear 2012,

Please stop picking on me. It's not funny anymore.

Love,

Not Your Own Size

Dear Chipotle,

It was great catching up with you after our long separation. Let's get together soon.

Yours,

Is There Any Cilantro In My Teeth?

Dear Reed's House,

Thanks for letting me stay with you, but is there anything we can do about the lighting situation in the vanity? Please?

Sincerely,

Had To Put on My Make-up in the Car

Dear Work Wardrobe,

I'm sorry I've been neglectful of you and you're now sad and depleted and one size too large.

Respectfully,

About To Be Much Poorer

Dear Household Effects,

Don't worry; I'll be springing you out soon. Hang in there!

XOXO,

Can't Wait To Move In

Dear Work,

I think we are going to be friends.

Much love,

Having a Pretty Good First Week

Dear Machu Picchu,

Maybe next year...

Disappointedly Yours,

Not Enough Leave

Dear Washington Metro Area,

I get that it's Summer, but let's bring it down a notch, mkay?

Regards,

Would Like To Go Running

Dear Ernest Hemingway,

Fine, you wrote one good book.

Grudgingly,

Just Finished Old Man and the Sea

Dear Target,

I don't understand how my cart magically fills up when I'm with you. Please stop having such awesome stuff. Just kidding. Please don't ever stop.

Yours Forever,

I Only Needed Three Things

Oh Yeah, This Why I Love NoVA

A nice couple from my new ward in invited me over for dinner today and they were actually interested when I brought up Teddy Roosevelt in conversation.

Best. Day. Ever.

The Epic (By Which I Mean Very Long) Conclusion to My East Coast Road Trip Report

Now that I am all settled in (at a friend's house for three-ish weeks until I can move into my place), it's probably time to tell you all about the awesome things I've been doing. I stayed in Virginia until Monday morning (2 July) and then drove all day to Vermont to visit the old pops. I eshewed driving the Jersey Turnpike on the way up and instead took some other highways through Pennsylvania and upstate New York. It was during this drive that I lived a moment of sheer joy, cruising the back highways of Vermont with perfect summer evening weather, the windows rolled down, and singing my heart out to Sarah Evans' "Stronger." Seriously. Bliss.

Vermont is gorgeous. We -- being myself, Pops, and Twerpy Teenage Brother who had spent the previous week with my dad -- spent Tuesday just chilling around the ranch. I went running in the morning, and then there was some lunch in town, and some swimming in the river, and some bike riding. During the aforementioned bike ride I was bitten by a horsefly. My advice: do not get bitten by a horsefly. They are nasty buggers. This one literally drew blood when it bit me and my arm swelled up around the bite and it was sore and itchy, and I still have a little bit of a bump from the bite, though it's finally almost gone.

Wednesday was the 4th of July (as you may recall.) I went on a run in the morning, and then we headed into town for the parade.

Most of the participants were throwing candy, but one threw cheese. Vermont sharp cheddar, YUM!

Bernie Sanders showed up just in time to march in the parade. And he shook my hand.

And here's the cutest kid on a tractor you will ever see.

After the parade we chilled out in the park for a while listening to this band play old timey music that was awesome. This lady was playing a saw:

And then we headed over to a ski resort called Sugarbush for festivities and fireworks. We became somewhat concerned, though, when a huge thunderstorm crawled in later in the evening. I don't know if you can tell from this picture but it was crazy amounts of rain:

Don't worry, though, it cleared up in time for some awesome fireworks:

On Thursday morning, we got all packed up and went to Maine! This was the part of the trip that I had been most looking forward too. Pre-automobile accident, I was scheduled to spend a week camping by myself at Acadia National Park, and I was VERY much looking forward to it. Then my crash got in the way of that, but at least seeing Maine was a priority for me for this trip, so instead, Pops, TTB, and I made reservations at a place called Sagadahoc Bay, which is just south of Georgetown.

I did a TERRIBLE job of taking pictures in Maine. Thursday night was pretty chill: setting up camp, burgers for dinner, campfire, heart to heart sibling bonding talk with TTB. Friday morning I went running, and then TTB and I somehow ended up pretty much by ourselves all day. We spent the morning playing out in the bay as the tide was coming in. Then there was a store run, because we forgot to bring marshmallows. The store happened to have a bit of an ice cream shop so we got Maine Blueberry Ice Cream cones, and BOY HOWDY! were they delicious. Then we found a secluded beachy area and covered the whole thing in silly drawings and stuff. At one point everyone laid down to get their outlines traced, and then the outlines were filled in with BBQ Magician, Lady Sherriff at Bar C Ranch, and an Ancient Mermail. TTB has a very... interesting imagination.

That night we made some yummo pumpkin soup and roasted marshmallows:

As you can tell from the above picture, someone (I) was not careful about using sunscreen at all. TTB also roasted an oreo:

Don't roast oreos. It's not as good as you might think it would be. We left the campground on Saturday morning, and on our way to Boston to drop TTB off at the airport for his flight back home, we stopped at Cape Elizabeth to see the lighthouse:

And of course, we had to have some lobster rolls before we left Maine:

Also, this is why Twerpy Teenage Brother is called that:

(We also sometimes call him Bucktoothed, Nappy Haired Ginger because we're a kind and loving family like that.) After dropping him off, Pops and I spent the night in Rhode Island, so I could run there in the morning and add another state to my collection of States I Have Run In (my new life goal is to run in all 50 before I die). Then we hopped on a ferry in Connecticut to head to Long Island in New York where my Uncle and his family live.

I was once again horrible with the picture taking. Pops and I wandered around Greenport where he grew up and were my Grandma, Great-Grandma, and another uncle are buried. They have a cute little destination downtown so that was fun, and we visited the graves and had a moment of silence. Then we pretty much hung around my uncle's house. Which was fun. I like my uncle and his family a lot. My aunt took me work clothes shopping, and we caught the last couple songs of a concert in the park, and we swam in the pool, and I did quite a bit of reading, and there was pasta and conversation and all kinds of goodness. I'm determined to spend more time with them now that they are much closer to me.

Finally, on Wednesday it was time to head back to Virginia. First, though, my uncle, cousin, her friend, and I headed in to New York City for a quick stop at the Museum of Modern Art. There's a lot of weird stuff in there, but there were also some really cool pieces. This one was one of my favorites:

And here's the city:

I can also add to my collection of experiences from this trip: driving in New York City. It's as crazy insane as you see on TV. I drove down 5th Avenue, and through Times' Square, and all of those downtown-y type areas. And I'm kind of proud of myself because I only got a teeny weeny bit stressy about it.

And now I am officially in Virginia. I start work on Monday, and I have to say that I am ready for it -- six weeks off sounded like WOW! SO MUCH FUN! and it was fun, but I'm ready to spend more than two or three nights in one place and to have a routine and most of all to cook my own meals and have time during which I am neither entertaining nor being entertained. I signed a lease on a sweet condo yesterday, which you will be hearing more about after I move in on the first and second of August. I'm definitely ready for this next chapter in my life.

Adventures Galore

So, I'm still in Northern Virginia. Last night we had this sudden, crazy lightning storm with tornado force winds that knocked out power to a million people. Amy's house was one of the million.

The most important part of the story, though, is that my new car did NOT get hit by falling tree branches.

Anyway, it's been like 100 degrees all day lately. We eventually sought refuge yesterday at a different friends' house, where we spent the night. Still no power today, and our area is on a boil water advisory.

The fun just never ends around here.