Reverie – Kitchen confessions

If you want to really get to know a person, I think you should observe him or her in the kitchen. You simply can’t hide who you are when it comes to cookery.

Example 1: A detailed, perfectionistic, in-the-box thinking culinarian will not...

• venture out from tried and true recipes
• be okay with substituting ingredients
• ever really be happy with the end result

Example 2: On the other hand, an artistic, resourceful, easygoing chef will...

• never be able to recreate the exact same dish twice
• be pleased with nearly any outcome
• rock your socks off with amazing culinary delights

This is my theory, anyway, after observing the way Sam (Example 2) and I (Example 1) completely differ in cooking styles. I suggest you ask someone you know to create a meal for you to test this theory. If I’m dead wrong, well at least you won’t be hungry for a few more hours.

Update – Pack it in, pack it out

Right now we’re trying to figure out the best way to haul our stuff out to Ohio. This is a daunting task. The good news is that we currently live in a 400 square foot apartment. The bad news is that you can squeeze a surprisingly large amount of crap into 400 square feet and still live comfortably.

We’re right on the cusp of being able to pull a trailer or needing a truck. If we rent the truck and pull our car, we only get about 60 more cubic feet of packing space, but we increase our cost three fold! I’m so eager to get everything to fit in the trailer that I’m tempted to just throw everything out – clothes, dishes, bedding, everything! But, then I realize that we’d have to buy these things from scratch out in Ohio and then there goes that brilliant savings plan. So I guess I’ll just try to summon any packing powers I possess. When we unpack boxes in Ohio, it will look like Mary Poppins pulling a coffee table out of a small handbag. Well, let’s hope anyway.

Update - Burgled

As some of you know, our car was broken into a few weeks ago. The back window was smashed out and the only thing that was stolen was my work bookbag. All I had in the bag, to the chagrin of the thief I’m sure, was library books - teen library books! I continue to hold out hope that the thief either has lots of kids who are now benefiting from improved literacy, or that when he finishes reading them all, including the appropriate non-fiction book titled Thieves, he will act responsibly and drop them in his closest bookdrop. The window is now fixed and my bag has been replaced, but the books are still, as of yet, unaccounted for.

Reverie - Happy Father's Day!

It may seem obvious to most, but being a dad is a huge job! People say that your relationship with your father not only impacts in some way all of your subsequent relationships, but also your impression of God. That’s gigantic responsibility!

I have amazing fathers in my life…my dad, my father-in-law, and two grandfathers-in-law. Lots of people aren’t even lucky enough to have one great dad and I have four! Thanks to all of you for contributing to Sam’s and my (mostly) well-adjusted adulthoods. You guys rock!

Reverie - Refocused

When you title your blog something as lofty as “If today had a point, it might be…” it becomes somewhat taxing to come up with subject matter that measures up. But, because trying to find meaning in each day is worthwhile, I won’t give up quite yet.

On the other hand, I do have one tidbit to share that is not life altering, but somewhat interesting. I was recently visiting family in Wisconsin and I was reminded that the Madison Zoo does not charge admission! I’m so used to paying exorbitant prices to view imprisoned animals – who would have guessed that some cities let you do that for free? But one of the most interesting things about visiting the Madison zoo is that they have buffalo and prairie dogs – two animals we take for granted in Colorado. I felt ripped off in a way, despite not having to pay admission.

But as prevalent as prairie dogs are in Colorado, I actually ended up taking a picture of one of the little guys. Maybe it’s a way to pay homage to the poor little critter I accidentally hit when I first got my driver’s license. I can’t even explain the horror of that day. So, little prairie dog, we acknowledge you!

Okay, better luck on deep insight next time around.

Reverie - Quote

A great quote I came across today:

"I like a plastic bag and a bottle of water as much as the next self-involved me monkey, but it takes 430,000 gallons of oil to manufacture 100,000,000 grocery bags, and if I were capable of doing even the most basic arithmetic I'd say - well, who are we kidding? I'm not capable of doing even the most basic arithmetic - just know that we're in great danger of making Al Gore really, really mad." (From an article in O Magazine by Lisa Kogan)

Update - Calorie Counting

I've got a few pounds on my rear that are pretty stubborn. I try to do rear-specific workouts, but they resist my efforts. So I've summoned the aid of my diet to help combat the little pests.

Honestly, I really don't eat healthy at all. I don't choose great foods and I indulge way too much. So I figure by simply cutting out some of the less good-for-me calories and reducing the intake, I might make a little more progress. Simple, I know. And keeping track of my calories has actually been kind of fun (for the two whole days I've done it). It feels like maintaining a financial budget. You have this much to spend every day, so choose wisely.

We'll see how it goes!