Feeling better

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So Thanksgiving morning, I woke up with what I thought was simply a particularly bad allergy-induced sinus headache. I medicated as I normally do and waited for it to go away. Sadly, it did not. I spent the day, pleasant as it was, feeling kind of achy and out-of-it. Friday was mostly the same; groggy and foggy-headed. Saturday and Sunday it all caught up with me. I slept a lot, sat on the couch and watched a lot of TV and movies, and didn’t leave the house. I tried to grade some papers on Sunday afternoon…I got a few done, and then had to stop because my energy reserve was completely sucked dry.

We’ve watched a bunch of episodes of The West Wing, the new Futurama movie Bender’s Game, The Thing, and some other things I can’t remember.

I ended up taking a sick day yesterday, so I could continue to recover, and it was more of the same. Sadly, Rand ended up catching…well, something. He went into work for a couple of hours yesterday and then came home and did the fever/chills thing for a while. I’m not sure he’s got what I have, because I didn’t run a fever like that. Today, I went to work and he stayed home.

I feel much, much better. I’m still a little tired, and feeling kind of behind in my work. Here’s to getting caught up. I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Thankful

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I don’t have a lot of time for a long and profound post this morning…we’re getting ready to head out to my second family’s Thanksgiving celebration. Suffice it to say that I have much to be thankful for. I have a family who loves me very much, and another one that has warmly welcomed me with open arms. I have amazing friends, both near and far. Even if I don’t get to talk to you as much as I would like, please know that I love you all dearly, and that I am so grateful to have you in my life. I have a job–a good job–that is helping me to gain valuable experience and become a better teacher. I have a home, and a wonderful husband who shows his love for me every single day.

So yes, I am deeply thankful.

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

When you say nothing at all

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I’m tired. And cold. Brrrr…

Tonight is yoga night, which is good…class was cancelled last week because my instructor had the flu. However, I’m feeling highly unmotivated to get up off the couch. Bleh.

I’ve been feeling like it should be Friday all day. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But alas, it is not. One more day.

Hmm. I must have had a point in mind when I started this post, right? Because I couldn’t possibly have opened up a post just to say that I’m cold and lazy and wish it were Friday, right?

Um, yeah. If I did have anything else, it’s gone now. Perhaps it will come back to me later. Or not.

Stay tuned!

It’s not you, it’s me

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So, how do you break up with your hairstylist?

I started seeing this guy in Orchard Park on the recommendation of a former coworker, and he’s great. I trust him, and I like what he does with my hair. On the other hand:

1. The salon is in Orchard Park. It seems like a waste of time, money and natural resources to keep driving to Orchard Park to get my hair done.

2. His schedule is insane. It took me nearly two months from the time I originally called to get an appointment. Once in, they make you schedule two appointments out, and if you have to cancel…well, good luck getting another one.

3. Did I mention the drive to Orchard Park?

So, I’ve cancelled an appointment I’d made for this coming Tuesday evening. I’m not in dire need of a haircut, but I am looking for a new place…one much closer to home. And back to my original question…what do you do? Do you just stop going and never be heard from again? Or do you say something? Hm…I just don’t know.

Anyway, that’s the big thing on my mind today. Aren’t you glad I posted? 😉

A quick update, and random internet things

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If I start to think about all the things I haven’t gotten around to posting about…well, I’ll just find myself getting horribly overwhelmed, and that would be counterproductive for me right now. I find it strange that my life feels SO much busier than it did at this time last year, when I had *more* going on. After all, I dropped my college class (I taught one class during the fall last year) AND I am no longer planning a wedding. So why do I feel so buried all the time?

I’m finding myself really missing the block scheduling that was introduced at the school where I worked last year. With that schedule, I found myself VERY busy two days out of every 8-day cycle, but the rest of the days were more gently-paced and productive. Now? I don’t feel like I’m ever caught up. I’m feeling better than I was at the beginning of the year, but still awfully crazy most days. And being an introvert by nature, I’m utterly exhausted by the end of the day…most Fridays, I feel ready to cry with relief when the last bell rings. This past week, I’ve been trying to focus on giving myself some time to relax and reenergize at the end of every day. I put on some calming music, light a candle, use my aromatherapy heat wrap, and this seems to be helping. I should also be working more yoga into my weekly schedule. I’ve been thinking about joining a gym as well. We’ll see…

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been looking at on the internet the past couple of days. This post, from cracked.com, might be the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen.

The 5 most horrifying bugs in the world

For the love of all that is holy, let me never come into contact with that Japanese giant hornet. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!

Then, just for kicks, I read this: a Roman Catholic priest threatened with excommunication for daring to suggest that hey, maybe Rome should consider the idea of ordaining women. That, along with the comments I’ve read on that article, remind me why I voluntarily announced my resignation from the Catholic Church a few years ago. I briefly considered writing a full-blown Catholicism-WOW! rant on this topic, but I just don’t have the energy.

So there ya go…enjoy, and have a happy Friday!

Housecleaning

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Not talking about my actual house, but about the blog…I want to change my template, but the thought of actually changing my template makes me want to die inside. I was thinking perhaps an exchange could be made…help with template in exchange for, oh, I dunno, cookies maybe?

I very seriously considered hopping to wordpress.com, until I discovered that eringoblog.wordpress.com is taken. By someone who is not using it. Meh.

I also need to clean up my sidebar. Let me know if I’ve got you linked and the link is broken or out-of-date, and I will be sure to fix it.

Thanks!

In other news, I am so far behind on so many things…I’m certainly going to enjoy my day off tomorrow! Hey, maybe I’ll even write an actual blog post with actual content. Later!

Best. Cookies. Ever.

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I’m reposting this for the benefit of both Debbie and my blogging-by-mail swap partner.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from the NY Times…you have to be a member)

cookies

Here’s the full recipe:

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons

(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

I used Ghirardelli baking chips, which I got at Wegmans. I also made much smaller cookies than the recipe says to make, so the baking time was cut down to about 12 minutes.

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Dead of Winter contest open

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Dead of Winter
The 2008 contest is now OPEN.

Dead of Winter is a fiction contest (any genre) for stories with supernatural elements or themes. Ideally, stories should be set in autumn or winter. The most original, most haunting stories will be chosen for publication.

Details, including specific theme and length, are announced November 1.

The deadline for submissions is December 21.

Entries are blind-judged by Baker & Billiard. Decisions are final. Winners are announced January 31.

Winning stories are published in the March issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.

Stories submitted to the 8th Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2008) should follow one* of the following themes:

* Alaska
* Alternative Santa
* Blood River Bridge
* Ventriloquist

The word limit is 4,500 words.

The contest opens on November 1, 2008 and the deadline for submission is December 21, 2008. E-mail entries to dow2008@toasted-cheese.com. Your subject line must read: Dead of Winter Contest Entry.

Post any questions you have about the contest in our DOW thread at the forums. Please do not post any part of your entry in the thread.

You may post your work for feedback at one of the critique forums but please title your post “DOW entry for feedback” or similar so that the judges don’t read it.

Be sure to (1) set your story in winter (2) write using supernatural elements or motifs (make our spines tingle, make us hesitate to turn out the lights, etc.) and (3) use one* of the themes provided.

*You are welcome to use more than one of the themes in your story (for example, you could write a story about a ventriloquist and set it in Alaska) but you must use at least one of them and make it strong enough so that we know which theme you’re focusing on.

Only ONE entry PER AUTHOR, not one entry per theme.

Blogging by Mail

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blogging by mail
Originally uploaded by erinbellavia27.

A full week ago (plus a couple of days…) I received my Blogging-by-Mail package from Holly, and it is pretty awesome. Seen in the photo–a calligraphy quill (that I have yet to take out of the package), a hazelnut candle, whole nutmeg, chocolate gingerbread cookies, and a spice grater (for the nutmeg, of course!). Not seen in the photo is a very nice jar that the cookies came in. The cookie recipe is in the post I linked to above.

I love participating in this event, and I want to thank my dear friend Stephanie for doing such a great job of coordinating it!

You can read about the package I sent to Natalie here. (I owe her some recipes, which I’ve promised to post here…soon, I swear!)

Happy Halloween!

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This is a photo of a house I pass by on my way to work. It reminded me of a hilarious Patton Oswalt bit about Halloween in the suburbs. I wanted to find a YouTube clip, or a transcript, but I had no luck. Basically, he talks about moving from the city, where Halloween was a cutout of a pumpkin on your door, to the suburbs, where people construct elaborate disturbing gruesome scenes on their lawns. It’s really funny, I swear. 😉

In other sort of Halloween-related news, I’ve been watching the VH-1 reality show Scream Queens with Rand. Ten actresses (or in some cases, “actresses”) compete for a role in the next Saw movie. I about fell over when they said Saw 6, as I was unaware of the existence of Saw 3-5. Why are we watching this? Because one of the judges is Rand’s man-crush, James Gunn. You may know him as the guy who made Slither. Or possibly as the guy who wrote the Scooby-Doo movies. Failing that, you might know him as the guy who used to be married to Jenna Fischer (Pam on The Office).

Anyway, the show is pretty hilarious…but even better than the show is the fact that Mr. Gunn blogs about the show on MySpace. It’s fantastic.

I do have to go all feministy for a second and complain about the way all reality shows make girls look like horrible catty bee-otches. Really. I can’t stand it. Is it because we’re really like this, or because this is the way society/media want to see/portray us? Sigh. Probably a question for another time.

Enjoy your Halloween!