To initiate a hangout from an Iphone:
Just a quick post to commemorate the day, what with it being my last at [international hair and beauty corporation]. I’m officially a stay-at-home freelancer.
Image courtesy of Raving Dave
I heard a friend say this once, “If it makes you feel like you’re going to vomit, you’re on the right track!” She wasn’t talking about a night at the bar; rather, she was talking about how to know if a decision or life change was right. I’ve been thinking about this little saying for the past week or so, because as I’ve gotten closer to my end working date, the uncertainty of what I’m moving toward has become more real in my brain, more prevalent in my thoughts. It has made me feel like vomiting, a little! Because I have had a tendency, in the past, to go charging toward something thinking it will be the perfect thing, the solution I’ve been waiting for!, only to find that it, too, has its pitfalls.
This is a much different change, though, and I’m excited. I’m working with a great company, and the transition feels really natural, not at all jarring. The timing feels right, and I’m so excited to see what’s next!
It’s Sunday, which means I’m being a lazy-bones. It started last night, with a Fellini film I’ve had on loan from the Hennepin County Library for the better part of the past 4 months. The extended borrowing period wasn’t intentional; rather, it was an item I “lost” while packing, and which has recently resurfaced. [Side note: I just have to say, for the record, I don’t resonate with Fellini films. This particular oeuvre, 8-1/2, is hailed as one of the greatest films of all time. Interesting, perhaps, but life would have been just as well had I not seen it.] I slept on the couch, which always feels like a slumber party to me. I awoke at 6, then fell back asleep at 7 until approximately 8:30 (ok, 9).
This caught my eye whilst checking my social media sites, and, though I initially poo-poo’d the idea of making it, I changed my mind once I realized all the ingredients* were in my kitchen. The recipe is pretty forgiving, so improvise as needed!
Serves 8 (Calories: 187 / Carbs: 29g / Fat: 7g / Protein: 3 g)
*Before you go telling me how awesome this is, and what a great cook I am, I have to give credit where it’s due. This recipe was adapted from a little something I spied in my FB feed this morning, from Whole Living. I adapted it to exclude dairy and wheat, but if these things are of no concern to you, just follow that recipe instead!
This is it, we’re in the middle of it already! It’s the time of year that requires, to my way of thinking, the most adjustment: from Fall into Winter. Yes, capitalized, just like that. Its seems like only a few weeks ago that it was all sundresses, maybe paired with boots, but maybe not, maybe still with a bare leg and a cute heel. But now! No dice. Even though the temps can still be into the 50s and 60s, the morning-time is chilly-willy, down to the 30s. Even I, Winter Lover Extraordinaire, experience some difficulty in acclimating. No, it’s true. I love winter, but I become slightly squeamish about getting out and doing stuff when it’s cold-yet not winter, with wind-but no snow.
Par ejemplo, last night, I went for a run. But it took some mind-wrangling to get there. I came home from work and, realizing I had eaten way too much office-chocolate (this is not a euphemism, though it really could refer to a number of things… there’s chocolate and candy f’ing everywhere in the damn office. I look at it as a good exercise in self control, though it usually turns into let’s-eat-so-much-chocolate-at-work-that-it-makes-me-sick-and-I-don’t-want-to-eat-it-anymore, however. This experiment, as yet, has not proven successful.), and because I had chosen not to visit the gym, I decided on the running. I got home and started eating corn chips, mais oui. And I ate a lot of them. Stress-eating, you wonder? Procrastination-induced snacking? Yes, yes indeed. Because it was COLD (44 deg F, or thereabouts) and it was windy, and I simply DID NOT WANT TO. But, I went anyway, and once I got out there it was good.
The tricky part of cold-weather activity is managing the body-temp gap between starting the activity and being at the point of sweating. Layering! Of course! But if you run, you know it’s a real hassle to take shit off and tie it around your waist. Plus, you end up looking like an elderly woman mall-walking at 7am. So I dress sparingly, and hope I’ve struck the right balance. I did, last night, and the run was lovely.
My point being, though, that I have to remind myself every year that, while it stinks sometimes to get out there, it’s a matter of wearing the appropriate clothing, and then you can do anything. Right? I saw a guy driving to work yesterday morning, on a motorcycle, in 40-something degree rain. But he was wearing a nice motorcycle suit and I thought to myself, I’ll be he’s real comfy. And he probably was. Because he was protected by his clothing, which is the whole point. Here’s a good frame of reference:
Image courtesy of The Arctic Kingdom Polar Expeditions.
This may seem like the most asinine pastime in the whole world, but there are those who love ice-diving. I’ve heard it’s beautiful, though I can’t say for certain I’d ever endeavor. Properly clothed, though, it’s nearly the same as any other cold-water diving. It’s all about the equipment.
Thought of the day: it’s not that the customer/client is always right, but rather that I don’t always need to be right. Right?
I have a tendency toward know-it-all’ingness. It’s not pretty. I think there’s a gene in the family, probably on both sides, where we must be right, and we must know that you know that we are right. I’ve also been known, not willing to recognize the fault in myself, to scrutinize others for the same flaw. But, as with anything, knowing is half the battle.
I had a moment working with a client today where I held my tongue, made the requested edits, and moved on to the next task. Now, you can understand this was difficult, as the issue at hand was whether autumnal allergies could be caused by pollen, because isn’t pollen more a springtime thing? I looked it up, of course, and thought about tossing in an off-handed remark about knowing that, in fact, allergies at this time of year could indeed be pollen-related, because I, personally, suffer this particular malady, at this time, every year.
You can just hear the peevishness in my tone, can’t you. It’s there, and repeating it here makes it that much more obvious. And annoying. And petty-sounding. I mean, really. Why is it so important to expend energy thinking about setting him straight? And did I need to verify the facts on WebMD.com (and yes, this is the link to the Fall Allergies info page)? Or consider sending a link just so they would know I was right, or that this type of allergy was valid? A-nnoy-ing. Do you ever have moments when you wonder how the people around you even like you sometimes? I’m such a pain in the ass sometimes!
I am foraying into the world of self-employ. While I’ve been freelancing for almost a year, I am now at the point where the work I’m doing is enough to cut back my office-work schedule to 3 days/week, and I have more than enough work to do the remaining 4 days/week for my main client. I’ve fantasized for years about working for myself; it’s quite a different story when confronted with the reality of the thing, am I right? I don’t say this as a negative, it’s simply an adjustment in both daily habits and practices, and in mentality/perception. I’m loving it so far, and getting more disciplined about my work habits, primarily because I can see how easy it is to simply work all the time. Although, this isn’t really anything new for me, I’m fond of being a busy-busy-bee! I can also see the necessity of getting out and spending time with people, ie volunteering, and participating in a writing group (of which, incidentally, I found a really great one last week! through the Hennepin County Library system. Have I ever mentioned how much I looooove the library? Home away from home for this word nerd!).
What I love about working from home, more than anything, is that I get to decide my schedule. I do not enjoy the necessity of being at an office for a prescribed number of hours during a set time frame. This has always made me a little cray-cray, though I’ve spent years trying to convince myself that it’s what I need to adjust to to make a living in this world. I’m soooo happy to be finding out that there are other options- and they’re even viable options! What I love about freelance writing is, well, writing. Because the more you do of something you love, the more you do of something you love! Or, something to the effect of, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” While some may debunk this as bad career advice, I say it’s completely true!
At the moment, I’m taking a break from writing about various types of cancer for clients (just a little light writing for a Monday, thank you very much!). These are the ways I like to give my mind a rest:
Ha! No, more like this:
Except sh!ttier, with a lot of confused adjusting happening throughout.What do you do on your breaks, peeps who work from home and otherwise? I’m always fascinated by how people spend their downtime… or procrastinate-time.
I made these today.
I don’t love pickles, not really. Something about dill pickles just doesn’t suit my palate. Dill itself I think is quite divine, but dill pickles don’t interest me at all. Bread and butter pickles (I think this is the type, the sweet ones?), on the other hand, I do like these. Which are basically the same as refrigerator pickles.
All summer long I’ve been splitting a CSA share with a friend. Every week we’d get something different – lemon cukes, edamame, kale, thyme, what-have-you. More than anything else though, we got BEANS. Every damn week, BEANS. Green beans, wax beans, I don’t know the exact nomenclature, but there were OODLES of them. And I loved to eat them, but I wasn’t creative enough, and got bored, and a lot of beans went to waste, unfortunately. The whole time though, I was thinking how great it would be to pickle them! But it seemed too daunting, and so I didn’t. I think I’m a little scared of canning because of something I read in a book once about botulism, maybe in East of Eden, or similar.
But, I digress. Refrigerator pickles, on the other hand, so easy! I found a few recipes, like this one, and just adapted it, because some of the recipes I found seemed like they wanted to be fancy and I just wanted the most basic one I could find. No fanciness of ingredient for me, just a plain old McDonald’s burger, thankyouverymuch. Also, I had this big old jar, so I adapted for the size of the thing.
Place cukes and onion in a gallon jar. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour liquid into gallon jar and refrigerate. Let chill 3-4 days. Pickles can be kept for up to 6 weeks.
Voila! I tried mine after they’d been in the fridge for about 12 hours. The cukes were still very raw and crunchy, but the flavor of the wash tastes about right, so I’m excited to test them again in a few days!
Are you a pickler, or a canner? Leave your tips in the comments below!
Two things today. Well, maybe 3.
1. Happy Fourth of July!
Interesting.
2. Full moon! Yesterday at 12:51pm. I couldn’t sleep, which got me to thinking about why we associate so much cray-cray with the full moon. I couldn’t find anything substantive (which is sort of a given, considering it’s all very woo-woo anyway), though I did familiarize myself with the myth of Luna (Latin), aka Selene (Greek), à la Edith Hamilton‘s Mythology:
Endymion the shepherd,
As his flock he guarded,
She, the Moon, Selene,
Saw him, loved him, sought him,
Coming down from heaven
To the glade on Latmus,
Kissed him, lay beside him.
Blessed is his fortune.
Evermore he slumbers,
Tossing not nor turning,
Endymion the shepherd.
Basically, we have the crazy-town, love-obsessed moon-goddess Luna, smitten with the shepard Endymion, who she turns into Rip Van Winkle, so she can gaze upon him nightly, eternally. And this, in a roundabout way, might give insight why the condition of lunacy is so named, if Luna was the goddess, and the moon’s phases are intrinsically connected to menses, and the goddess was cray… If, then. If you follow my line of reasoning. Which may be faulty and disjointed after a sleepless, moonstruck night.
3. Lastly, a friend posted this amazing story about Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee who will compete on South Africa‘s Olympic track team. This snippet is thought-provoking:
Pistorius, 25, was born without fibulas and had his lower legs amputated when he was 11 months old. He runs on carbon-fiber blades known as Cheetahs, which have stirred international debate over whether they give him an unfair advantage.
It’s a little mind candy to play with. A double-amputee. With carbon-fiber prosthetics. Yes, the material is probably superior to the good ol’ human leg, but is it an advantage? Discuss.
Oscar Pistorius
So many good things today. But this was a highlight:
I had lunch with my friend, Russ, today at the lovely Indian restaurant Gandhi Mahal, in South Minneapolis, near Lake St. and Hiawatha. We ordered the lunch buffet, which was loaded up with all gluten-free choices, plus a few dairy-free options. And dessert: 3 options, all gluten free. And some kind of magical fried chickpea patties, also gluten free. He had read an earlier post re: this album, and just happened to have it in his collection, and gifted it to me (Thanks Russ! Cherishing this as we speak!). A funny bit in this: Russ and I worked at a coffee shop together back when blogs were just becoming a thing. And I lamented them endlessly! How boring to read about what some joker had for lunch, or went on vacation… Clearly, I didn’t understand the depth and breadth of what one is capable of communicating via this commendable medium.
tinkerly. 