Dispatches from the other side†

Well, it’s my third day of post-employment vacation.  Yesterday I stayed in bed reading until after 10am, which I haven’t done in a few years*.  Then I got up and instead of making breakfast, I made kasha (slow, so it was for lunch or a later meal), ravioli in the last of the sun-dried tomato pesto (store-bought), and banana oat muffins with the two very brown bananas I discovered at the bottom of the fridge.  (The third incredibly brown banana was wrinkled and sad… it became an offering to the compost.)  I also offered a bunch of sad old vegetables that were beyond saving, and squeezed all the citrus in the fridge into juice, except for one lemon (which Ben used today for our cucumber and arugula salad).  Then of course I had to wash dishes… and then I sat on the couch for the next several** hours watching various TV shows.  :)

Including Ally McBeal, which I never watched more than a scene or two of when it was originally on air.  I watched the season finale of Gray’s Anatomy, and decided I needed another show that’s overly melodramatic and unrealistic yet funny and requiring little brain power.  Ally McBeal seems to suit the purpose just fine; I watched the first four episodes.  :-D  So far it really is all about sex, but I like how Ally is generally honest about the fact that she still loves her many-years-ex-boyfriend Billy, who is now married.  Yeah, there are plenty of moments of self-deception and other-people-decption, but that one is generally right out in the open.  I’m having a little trouble with how awkward and stammery she gets.  It’s a cute character flaw, but occasionally over-done.  And I adore her best friend Renée, who gets to be honest and fabulous.  Of course, they have relatively few scenes with Renée (compared to any of Ally’s coworkers), probably because she’d take over the show.  So, good choice.  And I love Vonda Shepard.  Was she anybody before she played the music on the show?  I know her music well, but I don’t remember if she was famous before Ally McBeal.

Today we got up and went to the farmer’s market and grocery store, and now we’ve made cucumber salad (see above), prepped a summer squash, broccolini floret, and onion stir-fry for later, and prepped a lentil soup with barely, summer squash, broccolini stem, onion, celery (which I despise, incidentally, but usually put into soups because it makes soup taste better), and mushroom (which I hate the texture of, so we’re going to cook the celery and mushroom in broth and then puree it, then add that to the soup).

This week, my world is centering around food, books, and TV.  That seems just right.  Next week, I’m going sewing machine shopping***.

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† That phrase got stuck in my head and I can’t think of a better title.  So, there it is.  Speaking of the other side, my dad sent me the best email this morning, telling me that he’s proud of me for following my heart.  It made me really happy.

* So bizarre.  I used to read until 11 or noon easily on weekends.  (And occasionally on weekdays…)  Ben tends to want to get up and, you know, eat breakfast.  And then there were 7 or 8am meetings some mornings.  So I got in the habit of getting up early.  Even if I stayed in bed reading, 10 has been the latest unless I’m sick.  And, actually, I’d rather get up much earlier than 10 most days, to have plenty of time to enjoy the sunlight.  In the summer it’s not such a big deal, but come winter it’ll be important.  Another thing I’ve noticed is that I have this belief that evenings are for vegging out… even if I spent all day vegging and probably could muster the energy to be productive.  I’m not worried about it during my vacation, but once the Experiment starts, I’ll have to pay attention to that and make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.

** “Several” may actually be an understatement….  We also watched the fifth episode of Doctor Who Season 7 Part 2^, whose name I forget^^.  (Yeah, I’m a few episodes behind.  I’ve been busy and savoring. :) ) It was a fun episode with some entertaining bits, but it also strained credulity in a bunch of places.  This season isn’t as well written as the past couple of seasons have been.  The story-lines just aren’t as tight.  Even “Hide” (episode 4) was fun, but when I watched it a second time (so Ben could see it), it had lost all of the scariness and it seemed like some bits were just there for effect and didn’t have any bearing on the plot.  Again, weaker writing.  Sad.

^ What’s wrong with just continuing Season 7?  Why did it have to become part 2?

^^ I imagine I could look it up.%

% Ok, ok, I’ll look it up.  Oh right, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, which was actually a fabulous title.  And it really did live up to the title, and seeing the inside of the TARDIS was great fun (I loved the swimming pool), but it could’ve been more awesome.  Like why were the <REDACTED> trying to kill them?  And after the buildup in the last half season I expected to adore Clara… and while I do like her, she’s not nearly as spunky and funny as she was built up to be.  :-/

*** And maybe get a haircut, new glasses, and give my car an oil change and a car wash.  And also go shopping for a cabinet to store my routers and electronics in.  But since my biggest goal is vacating, I’m trying to keep it all low pressure.  :)