Hey Y'all

So, hey.

I'm back, after one heck of a hiatus. In truth, I didn't intend to stop blogging, I just got caught up in a vicious cycle of not having anything to say, then having something to say but not being near a computer, then doubting the merits of that thing once I was back online. Not particularly exciting.

I just returned home after a long trip to visit my family for the holidays. Going home makes it emotionally harder to live far away, but I'm honestly exhausted and excited for a return to my work-work-sleep routine.

My new year's resolution--after I failed miserably at my one and only resolution for 2010--is to be more environmentally conscious. Not to be a perfect Eco Ellie, but to actually make an effort to bring old newspapers to the recycling bin instead of throwing them in the trash. To use my reusable shopping bags, a la Swistle. To throw my empty cans in the right bins. I already do these things, to some extent, but I want to get better about it.

On my frequent walks to the Metro, I often see the huge trains of trash cars chugging along. That is a lot of trash. I should make the effort to lessen my contribution to that.

Also, I won't call this a resolution, but I have gotten out of the practice of cooking for myself and packing lunches and I want to get back on the ball with that, as it's good for me for a number of reasons, including my finances and my health.

She's No Bob Woodward

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah, she looks like an investigative journalist. Most hard-hitting journalists I know wear halter tops to do live TV reporting.

Update on the dining room table: it is clear! I have placemats on it now!! I actually cleared everything off of it and put that stuff away, then wiped the table down. I was able to put out some placemats I've been storing in the closet for a few months! Hooray!

Update on the back pain: I took a bunch of stuff out of my purse yesterday to lighten the load, and spent the evening cleaning and straightening rather than sitting in my favorite chair. I took some ibuprofen right before bed (which I had been doing, with no result) and I had a peaceful night. I did sleep poorly, but at least it wasn't because of back pain.

I think I need to revamp my bedroom and gear it towards restfulness. Step one could be cleaning my room so that there's no clutter, and I can look around me before bed and see tidiness and calm. Step two could be to move the cable modem and router to under my bed so there are no intermittently flashing lights in my room. Step three is probably to find a louder fan to block out some of the worse noise coming from my upstairs neighbors. OK, those all seem like good things to work on this weekend.

I made a to-do list yesterday on the metro ride home and managed to cross off several things, so I'm feeling pretty good about continuing with the to-do list thing. Some items for this weekend:

• Complete at least three loads of laundry (that means washing, drying, folding/hanging up, and putting away)
• Revamping my sleep space
• Arts & Crafts

Whoops! How'd that get on there? Well, it's on the list, so I'd better get it done so I can check it off.

Why I Consider Hiding under my Desk

Can I just tell you that it makes me strangely uncomfortable when the cleaning people come through my office to empty the trash? I'm not really sure why that is, but I feel like I should be helping or something? I mean, granted, it's usually like an empty ketchup packet in my trash can, so it's no heavy lifting, but I still feel weird about it. Thus, I always try to escape to do something else when I hear them coming.

A New Year, A New...ish Me. Just Kidding, I'm Just the Same.

Sometimes I feel guilty for swearing. This is a good thing. I need to act like a lady more. Also, I need to stop saying that I want to punch people in the throat. However true (and appropriate) it may be, it probably gives the impression that I am a violent person.

I made Smitten Kitchen's chocolate chip sour cream coffee cake on New Year's Eve (which was a quiet evening) and it called for a whole bag of chocolate chips, which was way too much. If I make it again (and I will, when more than three people will be eating it), I will definitely use only half that much. The chocolate chips compete with the other delightful flavors too much.

Last night! I made Smitten Kitchen's (man, I love her) black bean soup in my Crock Pot. I put it on to cook when I went to bed and completed the prep work when I woke up this morning--pureeing half of it in the blender. Then, because it was hot, and contains no perishable ingredients, I left it on the counter to cool while I am at work. I will have my first taste for lunch today! My usual black bean soup recipe is "put beans and whatever else is on hand in pot. Cook." So, I am eager to see if following this recipe (which was pretty easy) will have a profound and favorable effect on the flavor. I am hopeful. It did require two cooking vessels and a small appliance (pan in which to saute veggies pre-soup, Crock Pot, blender), so it had better look like being tasty or I will punch it in the throat.

I am going to dinner tonight in the city with my friend and her boyfriend and brother, and I need to go home between work and dinner to pick up my car, put away the soup, and wash the blender. I could also, oh, I don't know--PUT ON MAKEUP? CLEAN SPOT OF OATMEAL OFF OF DRESS? BRUSH HAIR? Yeah, my personal beauty standards for work are pretty lax.

Oh, I may not have to work this Sunday! This would delight me, even though I could use the money, because I really like just sitting at home sometimes and I have been making some progress with decluttering and would like to do a little more of it this weekend.

One of my projects at work today is to Google this woman we are going to be working with and come up with some cogent thoughts on how we should describe our upcoming project to her in a way that matches her philosophies and work styles. Is it weird that I'm really excited about this? She has written a lot of stuff about management, so I am mostly reading a bunch of articles by her and taking little notes. And, this takes precedence over everything else I am working on and HECK YES. I love putting other work on hold to Google things.

Also, I may have found a new hobby, but I won't tell you about it until I know how it is coming together and that will be in about 2 weeks! So, prepare to be excited!

Baked Potato Outrage and the Ethics of Free Condiments

Tragedy to end all tragedies--I went to Fuddrucker's no less than 30 minutes ago to get a baked potato. I was so excited about it. I've been on kind of a baked potato kick lately, mostly satisfying my cravings by going through the Wendy's drive-thru. (They're not great, but they are potato-y, and that's really all I'm after) So, in doing a little research, I discovered that Fuddrucker's sells baked potatoes, with bacon, cheese, etc. Only they don't. Yeah, not really. When I asked about a baked potato, I was met with blank stares. Fine. That's fine.

Anyway, I decided to make the best of it and get a burger and potato wedges. They have this "dress your own" principle in place there, which I rather enjoy. My burger goes like this: mayo, brown mustard, ketchup, lettuce, single slice of tomato, single ring of purple onion, and about five pounds of pickle slices. They even have that ever-so-delicious/revolting liquid cheese dispenser. So, I got one little container of liquid cheese for my fries. Then, as I was debating whether it was enough, it occurred to me to use the pico de gallo on the toppings bar to make a half-assed queso with the liquid cheese. My friends, I stand here today to tell you that I have had better queso, but not made from accoutrements on a toppings bar.

So, it came out quite good. I was pleased, in general. Now, here's the conundrum: I would like to make more toppings-bar queso some day in the future. And I know that it's a big no-no to just go into Fuddrucker's, not purchase anything, and fix myself a little plastic container of queso. What if, the next time I went in to get lunch, I just made an extra container of queso and kept it in my fridge? Does that violate the ethics of condiment offerings?

Here's another--the place near my office that has good fries doesn't have ketchup. I did once (gulp) just walk into McDonald's and grab some ketchup to eat with the fries purchased elsewhere. I still feel guilty about this. But what if I grabbed a handful of packets the next time I got some McDonald's (far too frequent), knowing I wasn't going to use them for that meal? I just don't know. I mean, I wouldn't walk into a regular restaurant, grab a glass of water, drink it, and walk out. Where do I draw the line?

Pestle 1, Mortar 0

I was making this Smitten Kitchen recipe the other night, for cauliflower and Brussels sprouts in some kind of sauce (I know that's not a good description. Lay off me.) and part of the instructions involved "pounding garlic with sea salt into a paste, using a mortar and pestle." Or was it "using a mortar and a pestle?" I don't remember. Not important.

Hold up! It turns out I am confusing the two pieces here. The bowl-like thing is the mortar!? And the stick thingy is a pestle!? Well, whatever. Pretend that that's true.

So, I start pounding the heck out of the garlic and I pound right through the mortar. So, yeah. I had to finish pounding the garlic in a bowl with the little pounding implement. I wanted to give you a picture and a confirmation that those are indeed the tools as I labeled them, but it's not working out for me. Anyway, I was pretty disappointed because I had been excited about my mortar and pestle ownership for the past few months and now it is to be no more.

Oh, right, the recipe -- it was intended to help me branch out of my broccoli rut by trying to cook and eat and like more vegetable varieties. I think I can add Brussels sprouts and cauliflower to things I will eat under some circumstances! I'm really growing as a person.

I may not be able to show you my tools, but I can show you the awesome Brussels sprouts stalk! I saw a stalk like this in a grocery store in Michigan a few years ago and was super excited. Now you can be, too! Look how pretty!

New Year, New You

I have two new year's resolutions:

1. Drink more water.

Because the amount of water I drink on a daily basis averages out to about .1 oz, I don't think it will be hard to achieve this remarkably vague objective.

2. Start a blog.

I've been inspired! Now that I know that this is what former (and current) English majors do, I think it's a brilliant tool for self-expression. I will do my best to be grammatically correct but, really, I make no promises.