Accentuate the positive

Reasons to be thankful:

1. Trauma tans
2. Sno cones
3. Card time
4. Surprise pizza
5. Not having to be involved in Orientation or Wildcat Warm-Up during the tornado aftermath
6. My wonderful and extremely understanding new work family at the ELP
7. Anna duty
8. Sister sing-a-longs
9. Skype
10. Water slides

This has not been my favorite week of all time, but because of the previous ten things, and my family's willingness to find laughter wherever possible, we are getting through. I am staying in Garden City another week, and will now start my job on the 23rd.


Oh- and quick Steven update- he arrived in Turkey safely, is happy, and besides a minor mishap with a snapping turtle, is adjusting well to international life. He starts teaching on Monday, and I am eternally jealous. Oh, and his blog is here: steven26.blogspot.com, if you feel like following his journey more closely.

Happy Father's Day to all.

Gainfully employed

I got a job! I actually got offered two jobs, and then got offered three more interviews, all today. Life is so mysterious. But I took the job as Administrative Assistant in the English Language Program, working with International Students and faculty and programs and doing all sorts of things. I fill out all my paperwork tomorrow and then start on June 16th.

I'm so relieved. It's a job. Full-time. With benefits. And because I don't start until the 16th, I can drive Steven to the airport on Tuesday, and then spend the rest of the week back at home before I settle down to this new part of life.

It's been three long weeks of job searching, but somehow, magically, it all worked out better than I could've imagined.

And now, Steven and I are setting up my Skype so we can talk while he's in Turkey, and then the rest of the day is full of reading, iced chai, darts, caribbean food and Gilmore Girls. (I got him hooked. That show can take down anyone.)

Today, adulthood feels all right.

Falafel

Steven and I both had the day off on Saturday so we decided to cook something complicated. And so began the great falafel adventure.

Here's our recipe:

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• oil for frying

There's also instructions for the cucumber sauce, but we just went to Pita Pit and grabbed a couple of containers of their tzatziki sauce in the interest of saving time. Also in the interest of being lazy and not owning a blender, we decided to chop all of the vegetables. Bad news. Especially when we discovered, 24 hours too late, that a clove of garlic is that little thing that comes out of the bulb of garlic that you buy at the store. So really we ended up making garlic and onion balls, with a splash of garbanzo beans. And it took three hours and 45 minutes.


I got to mash up the garbanzo beans and then mix all the vegetables together. So much onion. So much garlic.

Happy little Steven, spending a wasted hour chopping garlic. If only we had known!

I was also in charge of making bread crumbs. Somehow, when you're forced to do this for a meal, it's much more complicated. It was also complicated by my frustration and hunger and the fact that I didn't have any sandwich bread, old bread, a hammer, or any plastic baggies. After toasting and baking and mashing this new sourdough bread to no avail, we finally found an old box of croutons and beat them with a pair of pliers until we had bread crumbs aplenty.

The after dinner entertainment. Dan in Real Life is excellent- by the way. So sweet and funny and Steve Carrell-y.

And the after after dinner entertainment. Steven won. Again. Then he tried to teach me Monopoly strategy and I went bankrupt after two times around the board. How does that happen?

Back to dinner. Still going. We made the actual falafel balls wayyyy too big. They fell apart immediately. Also, they stay together and are much healthier if you bake them instead of frying them. But that takes longer, and we were finally resorting to shortcuts.

The fixings! Our pita bread was too small. I would recommend the actual pita pockets.

And finally on the plate, ready for eating. It doesn't look incredibly appetizing here, but that's just because of the orange plate and pink fork. They were really yummy, even with the excessive amount of onion and garlic. I promise.

On Memorial Day we watched a bunch of Food Network specials on barbequing. So tonight we're going to experiment with spices and create our own rub. I think we'll leave out the garlic.

Moving fun?

The guy who runs the flower shop downtown is also named Steven Miller. So Steven supported his business with these flowers for me. They did not survive the move, and are therefore memorialized here.


My bed in my old room. I've noticed that my bed feels different in each apartment. On Ratone it felt tiny. On Pierre it was always massive. And now it feels extra small. Why is that? The only similarity between the two apartments is a ceiling fan. Hmmm....


I really really miss the big windowsill/bookshelf. But it is nice to be above ground again. My cell phone works much better.


My new apartment does not have two enormous closets.


Or adventure laundry. Though you do have to walk across the yard to a separate garage thing. And I got a key to it. So that's spiffy, I suppose.


My moving buddy.


First night in the new house. There's so much space in my bedroom! It's crazy. I have no idea what to do with all of it.


The new kitchen. It does not have a lot of space, but some really high cabinets that I put a bunch of extra dishes in. I had no idea that I had so many real dishes. I was finally ready to get rid of my plastic silverware and orange plates. Sad day.


To honor the apartment's first night, we played Monopoly. And I finally ended Steven's 7 game winning streak. The secret is the railroads. It's all about the railroads.



Game face.

a briefing

I am moved.

I am not unpacked.

I am still unemployed.

And now, I am going to get a slushie.

New music to love

Allie Moss- she just has demos right now, she does harmonies on a lot of Ingrid Michaelson's stuff. So far, all of the demos are incredible. Very simple, crazy pretty.

Vienna Teng- I have Betsy to thank for this one, since I discovered her via Betsy's Pandora radio station. Really pretty, soothing piano folk music. And a cool name to boot.

Also, Margo May just uploaded a new song this week.

It's perfect spring-rainy day- then sun- relax and eat bananas type music.

So listen and twirl. Twirl to your heart's content.

I never get over how music makes everything seem so much more beautiful.

Why not?

I wrote a poem today. Originally this blog was supposed to get me more comfortable with sharing my work. So... since I'm not really blogging about my life lately, here's a little ditty.


I have these dreams
of doing jigsaw puzzles
and listening to Prairie Home Companion.
I would drink white wine,
and cook what I pleased,
dancing in the kitchen to the sweet sound of Garrison Keillor.
And all of these dreams, include only me.
Ne’er a curly haired boy,
smiling down at me,
eyes a twinkle,
lips whispering odes in my ear.

Instead my dreams feature myself in my pajamas
comfortable in the peace of solitude.
It is in these dreams that I feel most connected to my mother
to my beginning
to my peace.

Dad mentioned that I never post anymore. Tis true. Much apologies to my loyal readership. I just haven't felt like reporting, or writing, or stepping into the shoes of creator, rather than observer. I've been reading constantly, consuming at a crazy rate, becoming addicted to fonts and characters and plots and completion. But now I've read everything Lorrie Moore has ever written and I feel lost, waiting for the next person that will strike me like she has. If you haven't read any of her work, I recommend starting with her first collection of short stories, "Self-Help." It's an experiment in 2nd person that actually works. And oh so funny. In addition to Moore, I'm trying to get through the complete works of TC Boyle and Antonya Nelson. Nelson is a Kansas writer, born and raised in Wichita, a KU alum. It's interesting to see Kansas from her perspective. But I'm almost finished with both of them, and looking for new writers, so let me know if you know of anyone.

I'll be moving back to Manhattan in less than a month. May 20th. I start packing up my apartment, and leave Hailey after 4 years. I never want to have another roommate ever. Maybe that's where the poem's inspiration comes from. Who knows. Being back here makes me feel nostalgic sometimes. I went to Abby's choir concert at Abe Hubert tonight. Being in the gym, remembering the locker room and the sporting events, the nervous nights in uncomfortable clothes, trying not to giggle in between songs, holding my breath looking for my crush to walk in the gym unexpectedly... the whole thing makes me feel young and optimistic. Or weary. Who knows. I just remembered my freshman year, auditioning for show choir, and Ryan peeking in the choir doors, mouthing the words to the song, willing me to smile and show off, hoping that I got in just as much as I did. Little moments like that, make me remember the importance of those first relationships. The shared goals. The shared anxieties, making you feel like all of your inadequacies and awkward gestures weren't uniquely yours. Everyone was figuring it out together. I hope it's still like that.

Have I talked about Margo May on my blog before? She's a singer from Manhattan, who plays in Kansas City and Chicago now, but I love her. Her song is on my myspace profile currently, so give her a listen if you have a minute. www.myspace.com/patchouli_pancakes