skylark913

I realize I've referenced my journal both on Facebook and on various email lists.  It is friends only, so if you want to be able to actually read the stuff written here, leave a comment on this post. 

I'm also on LJ, but since it's being dumb (and has been being dumb) here's a new journal.

LJ addy, for those interested: http://skylark913.livejournal.com

 Saturday started out normal enough.  Last time Thom came up we went to the Park of Roses and walked around, talking about how we should come back next time to take pretty pictures.  So when he came up this weekend it was completely unexpected that he suggested we go back to the park to take pictures.  We got lunch at Mark Pi's (my fortune was "You will do something different this coming weekend."  Maybe I should put more stock in fortune cookies...) and then headed back to the apartment to grab jackets and cameras.  It was kind of sprinkling outside, but not bad, and stopped by the time we left.  We got the Park of Roses, Thom with his video camera, and me with my digital camera.  He was video taping, saying things like "And this is the Queen Anne rose" and stuff like that.  Naming the roses varieties as we went along.  We each went off in our own directions.  I was taking close up shots of the flowers and he was doing an overview of the garden in general it seemed.  We'd call each other over to see particular varieties of roses that we found particularly appealing so the other could see them.  The sky was beginning to get rather ominous when Thom called me over to take a look at a pretty variety of rose.  I got distracted a few times on the way over, seeing flowers that I needed to take pictures of :).  Right as I was getting up to head over, it started raining.  Thom was kneeling beside the rose bush and I looked down and saw the ring in the center of one of the roses.  He looked up at me and said "I beleive this is the 'will you marry me rose'."  I squeed, said yes, kind of fell down on to Thom to hug him, and then go drenched as it started down pouring in earnest.  I slipped the ring on, and we walked back to the car, not even really caring about the rain, save that it was really cold. I don't know that I've ever actually been so happy that I cried before.

So, I've been trying to find recipes for cold dishes, and came across a recipe for Chilled Avocado Cilantro Soup.  I thought, well, I like cilantro, and I love avocados, so why not.  It actually turned out really tasty!  It's more filling than I thought it would be, too.  Bonus lunches this week!

Here's the Recipe:

INGREDIENTS 

• 4 avocados - peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 3 1/2 cups cold chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon tequila (optional)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large food processor, combine the avocado, shallot, chicken broth, tomato paste, hot pepper sauce, lime juice and tequila. Reserve a little bit of cilantro for garnish, then put the rest into the processor. Process until smooth. If you have an immersion blender, you may do this in a pot or large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
2. To serve, divide the soup between four chilled bowls. Top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of cilantro.

Some changes I would make next time:
- more cilantro (definitely more), hot sauce and lime juice (i like a little more of a kick)
- add a little garlic
- use veggie broth instead of chicken broth
- nix the sour cream, I thought it took away from the lovely buttery avocado taste

 

I'm worried about Velcro.  He's been acting out of sorts these past couple days and I noticed tonight when I got home that he seemed to be warmer than usual.  Amanda concurred that he's toasty.  I don't know how to tell if a cat has a fever or not, or if it's even something to worry about.  He's seems to be alternately being really touchy and really lovey.  And while, it's Velcro, and I expect him to be more skittish than a lot of other cats I know, it's been more so than usual, and then more lovey than he normally is too.  I called Jeff for advice.  He's grown up with cats and told me what else to watch for (bloody stool or urine, makes sure he keeps eating and drinking and using the litterbox); things I generally already know, but it was good to be reassured that I am indeed watching the right things.  The difficult think is going to be telling what Velcro's doing vs what Diego is doing and watching Diego to be sure he doesn't start showing any of the same signs.  Velcro's never had a hairball, and has eaten things I didn't even think were possible to eat and has never had a problem before.  He did get sick last year when he was at home and was "pitiful" according to my parents for a few weeks.  Now I'm trying to remember what month that was, and if there's any possible correlation...  *sighs* maybe I'm just being paranoid and he's just sad that Spring went away again so soon too.  

EDIT:
Velcro seems to be doing a little better this morning.  He's still more spazzy than usual, but his energy level seems to be picking back up.  He and Diego are doing their morning "run."  At least he's not as 'blah' and listless as he was yesterday.  Maybe he has just been having a bad couple days.  We'll see how he is when I get home from work today.  Hopefully Diego hasn't driven him to murder by that point.

We went camping this weekend at Hocking Hills.  Lot of fun, even though it was cold and wet.  I had work until 4 on Friday, so Rob, Amanda, Kyle and I got there a little later than everyone else.  When we got there, after having gotten my tent all set up and whatnot, Kyle, Liz and I went exploring down in the ravine and looked out at the lake.  Peaceful, naturey goodness.  When we wandered back to camp the deliberation over how to start a fire began.  When we'd finally gotten some dry wood Rob, MJ and I got to work and building the fire and being a 3-way bellows system to get it nice and hot.  I luckily remembered to bring a fire-proof glove.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the other one, so we only had a glove for the right hand.  I tended the fire while the others got the ingredients for ho-bo dinners all prepared.  Tasty tasty ho-bo dinners with sausage, ground turkey, garlic, red and green peppers, onions, corn, pepper-jack cheese, and S&P.  I had the fire glove so I did most of the putting the aluminum foil wrapped dinners in the fire and taking them out again, trading off the duty so I could eat when mine was done.  Then it was s'mores time!  Tasty grahams, dark chocolate, and marshmallows.  People who like the flaming 'mallows are silly.  You must roast them to perfection, where they are golden brown all the way around and gooey on the inside.  Nomnom!  Then off to bed and talking and whatnot.  Liz, Kyle and I had the right idea, and shared a tent.  Everyone else insisted on cramming into the two remaining tents packed like sardines.  They said it was for body heat, but we were fine in our tent with the three of us and plenty of blankets.  Not to mention we had room to roll over and breathe without feeling as though we were being smothered.  

It got pretty cold that first night and we did end up cozying together a bit.  Liz and I ended up waking up a little before five to go pee and found that Kurt and Sarah's dad were already up and had the fire going again.  So we huddled around that for warmth for a bit.  Soon Kyle wandered out complaining then when I got up I took my warmth with me and he was freezing.  As more people got up we started on breakfast: bacon and eggs over the fire.  Liz and I were doing most of the cooking and decided if people weren't up yet, then they would just have to cook their own breakfast.  We ended up breaking camp around 945 to start hiking.  I was carrying my hiking backpack filled with the lunches for the day, the first aid kit, and a water-proof blanket.  Decently heavy, but when I put it on and got everything all strapped down, it was like I was barely carrying anything.  I only noticed a touch of limited mobility.  It was pretty cool experiencing first hand how well hiking backpacks work.  

Liz and I trailed behind the rest of the group for most of the day.  Big groups of 14 people are silly, especially when you're out in nature and trying to enjoy the happy nature sounds and sights.  We took a few pictures and enjoyed the scenery.  Amanda was happy in her wellies, because she could walk in the river and ferry people across it and stuff.  We started a the Upper Falls and then worked our way towards Old Man's Cave.  I still like the dark tunnel that cuts through the cliff face.  After wandering around that area for awhile we headed out towards Cedar Falls.  The signs say it's two mile hike fro Old Man's Cave to the Cedar Falls, but we all agreed that was a horrible lie.  It was definitely farther than that.  But anyways, we made it to Cedar Falls, Liz and I almost the last ones to arrive.  But I wasn't worried, after all, I had the lunches :).  The only trouble I had with the backpack happened at this point.  We were jumping from rock to rock to get across the river to the other side where we were going to have lunch.  As I was jumping I slipped down the slope of the final rock and couldn't climb up the face of it because I couldn't curve my back to give my arms the proper leverage so I could push myself up.  I was able to hold myself there and Jake came over and pulled me up.  

Lunch was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  I could tell I was hungry because the peanut butter didn't bother me nearly as much as normal.  We also had cheese curls, pretzels and potato chips.  Lunch right next to the falls was really nice, though it started getting cold, especially as most of us were barefoot for the break in walking.  After lunch we headed up to the Gorge Overlook Trail, and nice easy trail compared to the two previous ones.  There were no boulders to climb over, or streams to cross or roots to navigate.  It was just a wide trail that meandered uphill towards the end.  When we got to the dam at the top of the trail we rested and waited to the rest of the group to catch up, while we sat at the edge of Rose Lake.  We weren't entirely sure which way we should go to get back to base camp, though we knee we were camped at the edge of the lake.  Figuring Jake and MJ could take care of the themselves, we decided to go around the lake to the right.  Bad choice.  It ended up being the most incorrect direction we could have picked.  If we had gone left, we would have reached our campsite in 5 or so minutes.  Instead we walked through the woods to the other tip of the lake, and realized that we must have gone the wrong way.  I enjoyed this portion of the hike.  Through the woods on a trail not much better than a deer trail, right along the edge of the lake.  We reached the Blind Observation Shed and decided that instead of walking all the way back around the other side of the lake to base camp, we'd head up the Lake Trail to the road that goes through the camp ground.  We followed that road back to base camp (stopping at the only working bathroom on the way) and gratefully collapsed back at base camp.  

It still was rather early, only 3 or so.  So we waited a bit and then got the fire going again.  Dinner was hot dogs and baked cinnamon apples.  So tasty. After dinner we sat around a played one round of Emporer's (a game played with a deck of tarot cards where you bet on people's fates) then I explained the basics of tarot with the help of my Rider-White deck.  


I've been too busy to finish updating about this, maybe later.  But here's this half.

Today was a good day.  We (guildies and others) celebrated the coming of Spring Indian style with the festival of Holi.  Basically you throw brightly colored powders on eachother.  It's the festival of colors.  There are some excellent pictures of us on Facebook.  The throwing of colors also involves eggs, yogurt, soda, among other things.  The weather was gorgeous and windy and it smells like Spring!  

For dinner (after a shower where it looked like blood was running off me) a group of us went to B-dubs and played some trivia.   This was all a way to hang out and pre-game before the Mythbusters talk.  On the way to the RPAC for the event we took a few minutes to play the outdoor metal drum set thinger.  

Mythbusters was awesome.  It was with Kari and Grant.  They talked about their favorite shows and myths and what they liked best about working on the show and blowing stuff up, etc.  Then they took questions from the audience.  Grant apparently worked on Battle Bots, and piloted R2D2 in the prequel movies.  

After that we wandered around outside and climbed trees on the Oval.  It was just windy enough to get a little sway in the upper branches.  The bad news about the day is I think I may be getting a cold or something.  My throat is killing me.  Although I think that may be because i swallowed to many of the colored powders this morning.  On the other hand I'm beginning to get achy.  So, no good.  I think I may be going to bed here shortly.

 I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

OSU M.Ed!!!!!!!!

I have another job interview thing tomorrow at 10 am. It's hard to stay motivated about these things when they seem completely pointless because it's damn near impossible to get a job anywhere.