Post-holiday Lethargy

Thanksgiving turned out great this year, as all four of us kids chipped in to help. Thank the powers that be that I had the foresight to plan ahead and make bread and dessert the day before. We wrangled a 24lb bird for the dinner, which we slathered in herb butter. The gravy was thus very rich, oh yes. As part of my "make things simple" initiative, I also found recipes for slow cooker potatoes and a cranberry chutney. There was also a simplified recipe for a green vegetable with mushroom sauce casserole, roasted sweet potatoes and pears,  However, halfway through the day I experienced a bad episode of vertigo, so I was shoved into the conductor role from the couch as my two brothers and sister finished things. Here is a lovely pinterest menu.

School is wrapping up, it looks like I'll pass with good grades and thus be eligible for graduation from the Dietetic Technician program! What this will mean is that once the school processes my transcripts and classes, they will mark me as "graduated" and I will be able to take the credentialing exam to become a Dietetic Technician. With this national credential I can apply for a position anywhere in the U.S. of A!

Playing games: spent less than two days getting a 100% completion game for Psychonauts, including all the Steam achievements! So proud ^_^.
Other games I've played: Incredipede, Eets Munchies, and Fez. I'm also planning to replay Dust for more achievements, possibly Limbo, and then I think some quality time with Dungeon Defenders. I may bust out my consoles to play some Okamiden, or maybe Wind Waker...oh, I definitely want to reacquaint myself with Tomba, which my brothers got on PS3. It's still a touchy state of mind with trying to relax after so long letting my brain buzz with NEEDTOWORKWHATNEEDSTOBEDONE. I'll get twitchy in the morning, buzz around the house cleaning this and that before remembering to chill out, rest a bit, so as not to suffer another vertigo attack.

This season I seem to be in a better position to go to musical theater shows in town. I had the privilege to see my community colleges's fall musical, Rent with one of my good friends. This performance brought me to tears, as it usually does. The story of these friends throughout a year of struggling with relationships, art, and society in the 90s still resonates quite powerfully, I feel. In addition, as part of my birthday this year, my parents did an awesome thing and took me to The Addams Family Musical at one of the local theaters. This show is something to behold. While one may not think the Addams family is conducive to musical accompaniment, the show was amazingly well done. The plot for sure is much better than any of the film adaptations. There are snippets and amalgams of the Broadway performance on Youtube, if anyone is interested, and musical sites like Spotify have the soundtrack available for listening. Finally, I took my young niece to see the community college production of A Year With Frog and Toad. It was ADORABLE! Not only did the performing arts program make a great musical adaptation of the book series, but it did so in a way that was accessible for young children. The play was a series of short story performances, connected by the friendship of a frog and a toad (played by girls!).

Otherwise, I'm just trying to get back into creative output. I'd love to be making art again.

Christmas 2011

We didn't do Christmas officially until today, due to work schedules being a pain in the arse. I did make spiced sweet rolls for 12/25, but the family basically lazed about. Then this morning my father and I made a trip to the store for last minute ingredients for breakfast and the official holiday dinner. It was rather amazing to see the grocery store down the road from us so empty of, well, stuff! Luckily we found what we needed and could head back to the house with Starbucks drinks before getting to work.

After 20 minutes of cleaning the kitchen, we made eggs benedict, french toast, low sodium bacon, sausage links, and fresh fruit. It was quite nice to sit and eat breakfast at the table, we'd almost forgotten what it was like (those who know my family will find the situation just as hilarious as I did). It was a very pleasant brunch, and I was quite proud of my eggs benedict. Clearing the table and cleaning the mess from cooking breakfast took another 20 minutes; I do hate the small size of my parent's kitchen. I made up this pie, which was a big hit at Thanksgiving, and used the leftover pastry to do an apple tart-thing. I plan to enjoy a slice with this ice cream.

 

Ben was kind enough to take on the task of seasoning the roast, as I still don't like working with beef overly much. My parents managed to get a nice sized rib eye roast for about $25 USD. We're also going to have mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli, and this roasted cauliflower along with some homemade Challah bread a neighbor was nice enough to give us!

Anyhow, on to the loots! I received a sherpa blanket from my sister's gf, along with pink Tinkerbell slippers and a giant lavender candle. My sister got me a bag from our church boutique, which I'm pretty sure is 100% recycled fabric. Also I got a bottle of Bath & Body Works Twilight Woods soap, and an exfoliating mitt. My parents got me new measuring cups, a penguin flash drive, and foam shelf liner. The story with the shelf liner is that I'd bought some from Walmart to use for the cutting boards, since at culinary school we use the material as a means to prevent more knife accidents. It is amazingly effective at keeping the board stable while practicing knife work. My mother had gone and used up what I'd bought when she rearranged the kitchen about a month back, and of course I threw a hissy fit. So I suppose in apology they bought me more...

Sirenidi of course, made out like a bandit. Several people gave her books, clothes, and assorted bath goods while the family mostly bought her toys. Of note were some adorable Piglet socks and some fingerless gloves. Of the toys, she received a doll house, a toy kitchen, and some new stuffed animals. Here she is playing with a tin that some candy came in; there is no candy, but that didn't stop her much, she kept calling it "cereal" anyway. Also take note of the doll house in the background that she lost interest in after about 5 minutes:

My dad really enjoyed my infused pepper bacon vodka, thanks for the idea Brandon Matzek! My sister's gf and her family also got him a lot of train-themed items, including a gingerbread kit! I would find it interesting to see a train engine made out of gingerbread and candies...

The boys got clothes and apparently bought each other video games. My sister got pajamas as well, and my dad jokingly gave her and her gf a case of Bud Light xP

My mom got a bunch of random things from people at the church. Take note, my mother HATES Chardonnay and bright red purses. However she did like the chocolates and really big wine glass.

I'm sure there were other things, but I need to rest my back and order my family from the confines of a sitting position.