this is what i get for thinking too hard on a sunday

not 15 minutes ago, the sky was dark and foreboding and rain poured down onto the streets as the wind whipped about. now, however, the sun is beaming, the leaves are verdant and there are birds gleefully chirping outside my window. this is some kind of weird spring day we're having.

so, it's sunday, and i'm getting that old familiar feeling of having to go back to the grind tomorrow. salimah and i were out and about earlier; i got some groceries and picked up a prescription at the weg, and then we went to the bux for some coffee and just to sit and chat and take pictures with our camera phones. i'm quite sure that i should now be doing some homework to get a leg up for the week. will i or won't i? that remains the question du jour.

for dinner tonight: some crab-stuffed tilapia (wegman's made), zucchini, and some whole grain melange i bought at trader joe's a few weeks back. in all likelihood, i shall watch some episodes of 'sex and the city' and perhaps prepare a few things for breakfasts this week. oh, who knows? maybe i'll just sit on my rump and do nothing. also a viable option:).

in other news, i've realized that, when it comes to relationships i'm becoming more and more practical and fiscally minded the older i get. things that used to seem preposterous to me are now filtering through my brain and being slotted in the 'reasonable' column (because you know, one must always categorize one's thoughts and ideas...separate the wheat from the chaff....that sort of thing): prenuptial agreements, separate bank accounts, eloping, casual relationships, etc. i'm not saying that i no longer believe in love and commitment and all of that. really, i still do. i just think that one must be reasonable and must not allow sheer emotion to rule the day. heavens!

okay, i think i'm having some sort of jane austen attack. must go do something not quite so heady. grad school homework....yes, that's it.

ttfn!

negativo

okay, so the redskins/ravens game i was supposed to attend yesterday didn't happen. basically, at the last minute, i got very sick to my stomach and wound up having to bow out. but as it happened, salimah and eu went down there as planned, and then after more than an hour of rain delay (due to thunderstorms), they decided to have kickoff in the pouring rain. the girls decided not to brave the storm and turned back for home. so in the end, it was good that i didn't attempt bravery. it would have meant a lot of standing around with thousands of other no-doubt disgruntled sports fans.

today is a new day, however. i got in a nice little weg's run this morning, stocked up for the next week or more, and stopped by the blockbuster to pick up some flicks and the dunkin donuts for an iced skim decaf coffee (super tasty, btw). i've showered and have a load of laundry in. i plan to do a tiny baby bit of tidying, watch at least 2 movies, and make something involving ground turkey for dinner.

oh, and the rerouting of the cable? not gonna happen today.

'waiter, there is too much pepper in my paprikash...'

all i'm saying is thank God it's thursday....which means that if i can make it through tomorrow, there is a little respite in my future. it's not like this week has been rough or anything, but i'm just tired and i've got things to do that i'm not able to do when i'm at my job all day.

speaking of being at my job, during my lunch break today, i went over to the weg with a friend and we were eating in the cafe upstairs when the power went out in the entire store. TWICE. needless to say it was pretty freaky. when we left, it was POURING outside, so in an effort to be valiant, i informed my friend i would just run and get the car (well, pseudo run), which would have been fine, except that i got to what i thought was bella, and i'm trying the door and thinking what the heck is wrong with my door lock?! when it dawns on me that i'm attempting at this point to force entry into someone else's vehicle. nice. so i turn around and look at my friend, standing under cover and in no way soaked the way that i am at this point, and she points to the next row over where my car plainly sits. so i run over there and throw myself into the vehicle. people, it was raining so hard that my underwear got wet from water coming at me from every which way (including up my skirt, apparently). it was sheer craziness. at least i managed to dry off by the time i left the office at 5....

so after a quickie nap (sorry to say, it was inevitable), i ordered myself some shrimp and broccoli for dinner (very low on groceries). because i was SUPER hungry, i clearly ate too fast, and now i sit here typing about my day's adventures with a case of indigestion. good times.

i'll take one weekend, please. well done.

i'm channeling effie white

i finally saw 'dreamgirls' this afternoon. well, i saw MOST of it. i fell asleep part of the way through and was zonked out for a good 25 minutes...so once it was over, i retraced my steps to the part where i lost consciousness. i must say, i'm not generally a huge fan of modern movie-musicals (chicago, evita, moulin rouge), but this one was really pretty good. there were a few scenes in which the music transitions were a little cheesy, but overall, it captured my attention and my emotion. and i'll tell you one thing - that jennifer hudson can BLOW.

in other news, salimah stayed over last night and we went to wegman's (the weg, as i call it) at about 7:15 this morning. it was really the perfect time to shop....so few people around, it made maneuvering the little go-cart contraption rather simple. newsflash: i'm still not walking around much these days. one foot gets worse while the other gets better. or, more specifically, the thing that helps one foot makes the other worse. it's at the point where i'm applying for a temporary handicapped parking tag because the amount of walking i'm doing is NOT helping me in the least. i seriously hate being limited like this, but i don't know what else to do.

i'm hoping that things can heal significantly within the next month or so. i'm going to chicago on july 19 for a long weekend with salimah and my friend amy. can't wait. i need to find out just whether or not chicago really is my kind of town.

on the docket for tonight: cook up some chicken-feta-spinach burgers, watch a little tube, have a delicious phone conversation, and then sleep. i'm beginning to move some plans forward for myself, and i'm telling you one thing: i ain't quitting until something gives. sometimes it's all about that.

errands, chores, etc.

it's not quite 10 a.m. on sunday morning and already i've been up, had breakfast, and done a big shop at wegman's. (i haven't grocery shopped in awhile, and my supplies were either old or dwindling or both.) i have one more load down in the car of paper products (and maybe some bananas thrown in for good measure) and then i'm going to drop a bag of videos off at goodwill, take 2 bags of trash to the community dump, and come back home to clean, launder clothes, and do work. i intend to watch nothing on television or dvd until i feel i've gotten some things accomplished today.

wish me perseverance....

listy

1. my apartment is a wreck. it needs tidying, dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbing in parts.
2. my dear friend shona is coming to visit today. we've known each other since we were 13 or 14. scary.
3. as usual, i've got a bunch of stuff to do work-wise. i really shouldn't complain. really.
4. yes, my feet still hurt.
5. i'm listening to bach's brandenburg concerto. it's sprightly.
6. i ate far too many malted milk eggs the other night. i'm sure the yellow #s 5, 6, and whatever are pickling my insides.
7. last night i watched a program about seattle, and i felt such pangs of regret for not moving there in 1999.
8. i still think about moving there for a year, just to see what might happen.
9. wegman's subs are DELISH.
10. i need a shower. i'm going to take one now.
11. sorry this was boring.

cooking extravaganza!

last night (before the black ice incident) i went to wegman's and stocked up on some truly yummy foods (including cheese out the wazoo), and today i'm going to do some serious throwing down in my kitchen. here's what's on the docket:

1. a super meaty bolognese sauce, rich with wine (as of 11:30: done and simmering!)
2. an herb-and-oil-rubbed roasted pork loin
3. braised red cabbage with apples and onions (as of 12:30: done and roasting in the oven!)
4. either gnocchi with pesto or creamy polenta (perhaps with gorgonzola or something cheesy)

that's all for now. stay tuned. there might be something else that goes on the list!

as a backdrop for the deliciousness, it'll be all about jazz, laundry, and freelance editing. woo. hoo. :D

the doctor is in

you should all know that i'm slightly obsessed with diet dr. pepper right now. it's, like, my new favorite soda. something about the slightly cherry-ish quality of the bev helps mask the fact that it's diet. and what's even weirder is the fact that i can even handle diet sodas. for YEARS, i simply couldn't. oh well, i'm rolling with it....

now then, i found out about this other AMAZINGLY cool thing today (so cool, in fact, that i feel i'm going to feature it in some picture on my food blog this weekend). i was hella skeptical at first, but i'm completely lovin it...and, what's even better (for those of you who know what i'm talking about), it's only 1 point!! i'm so stoked about snack time tomorrow!

also, the smart ones and healthy choice meals were on sale at wegman's, so i stocked up big time when i went there on my lunch break today.

now, if only i had thought ahead to buy more of my lovely dr. pepper, things would be simply too lovely for words*....but then again, dear reader, i might have nothing to say to YOU:).

*don't worry, i don't drink that much of it - maybe a small glass a day or once every other day. i'm mostly a water drinker....