Grumpy.

I'm feeling grumpy today. My teeth are bothering me yet again, so much so that my petrified of dentists/doctors self researched local dentists trying to find one covered by our insurance, until I remembered that I have to take antibiotics before getting any dental work done and have NO idea how to get them since I don't have a doctor and haven't had one in 11 years. I need to call the dentist office and see if they administer them, but I'm guessing they don't take on new patients and immediately give them drugs. Ugh. All of my fears seem to be rolled into one, fear of talking on the phone, doctors, dentists and wisdom teeth extraction. Bleah

Eharmony boy emailed today, but used the phase "maybe we'll hang out when I get back from my trip" which put me in a funk. "Maybe"? I hate it when men use that word. It always sounds like "maybe we'll hang out if I get back, have nothing better to do and get down to the Ks in my phone book". I'm sure he didn't mean it that way, but I'm all fussy about it nonetheless. Luckily I only have one more hour of work, then I'm going to go home, eat pizza and watch Tivo the whole night and try to rid myself of the fussies.

The Date

Was absolutely incredible. When I walked up the stairs to the museum, he was already standing there holding a cup of coffee for me. Now anyone who knows me knows that they way to my heart is through coffee, so I was VERY impressed. We walked throughout the museum looking at the art and talking, every once in awhile he would put his hand on my back and he was so thoughtful the entire night. When we got in the car so he could take me home, he automatically changed the radio to jazz because that's what he knows I like. It was fairly early when he dropped me off so I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie. The movie ended at 12 and he left at 6am. We spent six hours just TALKING. (Those of you who know me are laughing, but I swear! Nothing but the occasional sweet kiss happened! We really spend the time talking!). I couldn't have asked for a better time. I don't have the best track record with men and this is the first time I've had a guy treat me so well. It's an amazing feeling. Unfortunately he leaves for a month long trip out of the country tomorrow, so we'll see what happens when he returns. He did say he wants to see me when he gets back, and he told me he would miss me, but a month is a long time apart after only a few days. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Challah Recipe

Here's the recipe for challah I've been using. I based it off of this one but modified it slightly.

2 teaspoons yeast
2/3 cup warm water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 large eggs (+ additional 1 for egg wash)
3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add rest of ingredients in the order given. Knead by hand and put in oiled bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let rise 1-2 hours. Most recipes say to let it "double in bulk", but mine never does the first time and it comes out fine. After first rise, punch it down, knead it a few times to get the air bubbles out of it, and divide it into six equal pieces. (You can also do a standard braid with 3 pieces) Roll out each piece into a long rope. I use the 2,1,5,6 method. Line the ropes up and take braid like this: 2 right, 1 middle, 5 left, 6 middle. Cover the loaf with a tea towel and let rise again, 1-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. This time it should rise quite a bit. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix 1 egg and one tablesoon of water. Brush egg wash over loaf and bake 30 minutes.

I have a roommate...

....who never leaves a mess, who always says "welcome" and who is thoughtful and courteous enough to record things they think I might like to watch.

I have TIVO!

Happy Birthday!

To my grandmother who is 80 years old today!

I know I say this EVERY year.....

and every year something comes up and I don't end up going, but I swear, this time I mean it. I'm going SNOWBOARDING! I've always wanted to try and each season I make plans and then something comes up, but this time I'm not letting anything get in the way. February 17-19 I will be on the slopes! Hurrah!


*T-24 hours until the arrival of my Tivo!
*4 days until my second date with Eharmony boy!

Just like old times..

My (failed) attempt at making my own pizza. It was just like old times, smoke filled the kitchen, the lovely stench of burned crust filling the air. I thought I had come so far :-(

As you can see I still scrapped off the top and ate it...couldn't let all that cheese go to waste!

Well if it was good enough for the baby Jesus....

Conversation from today:

C: What kind of glue should I use for this?
Me: Hmm...well I just used Elmer's when I broke my nativity. It worked well.
C: Oh ok. I'm athiest though, think that's ok still?
Me: Yeah I think it's fine.

Challah - Try #2 Photo

This recipe turned out GREAT. Much better than try #1. My ends still need work, one end turned out well, but the other fell apart. Hopefully practice makes perfect. I love this recipe, it's much lighter and has the taste and texture I was hoping for. Yum!

Challah - Try #2

Challah 2 is currently rising on the table. I used this recipe instead of the one I did last week and am feeling better about this try. The dough was much easier to work with and I let it rise longer than last time so I'm hoping for a less dense loaf. Photo of the finished product to follow!

Tivo, Snow and a Date

- Still anxiously awaiting the arrival of Tivo. Starting to think I should have sprung for the overnight shipping.

- FINALLY it snowed!!! Not much accumulation, but enough that I got my snow "fix" for the season.

- Eharmony boy called and we have another date next week!

Sadly those are in order of excitement, but it's a close race I swear.

I am now the proud owner of....

TIVO!

I anxiously await its arrival in 4-6 business days.

In Order to Distract Me...

from thinking about why Eharmony boy asked for my phone number and still has yet to use it, I thought I'd do something I saw on another blog to encourage my lurkers to delurk (assuming I have any). You can ask me any question and I promise I will answer. Any burning questions about the life of Kai...now is your chance! Ask away!

The Date

Met Eharmony boy last night.....he was VERY cute. I can't tell if he liked me though. We got coffee and walked around....had decent conversation I think, but I didn't get the vibe he was into me. He did ask if he could call me though, and gave me a kiss on the cheek, but there is never any way to tell if that's the the obligatory "nice guy" goodbye or interest. My gut says like the many who have come before him, he'll fall into hot guy oblivion, never to be heard from again, but we shall see. I'll keep you updated.

Challah - Try #1 Photo

My first attempt at challah...not bad, the ends need some serious work. It tastes ok, a little more dense than I usually like...I'm not sure if it the recipe I had or something I did wrong in the process. I doubt it will become my regular bread, but I will definitely make it for special occasions.

Challah - Try #1

My first attempt at making challah bread is currently rising in the bowl. A friend at work brought a loaf in she bought at a bakery and I decided to try to make my own. It's supposed to be a very forgiving bread, so hopefully it will turn out. I'll post a pic if it turns out pretty!

I'm meeting up with a guy from Eharmony this weekend. I'm not very excited about it....we've been emailing for months and I think we've already talked about everything we have in common. I probably shouldn't go since I'm pretty sure I'm not interested in him, but I don't want to write someone off solely based on email. What can one cup of coffee hurt right?

Recipes! Recipes!

Anyone have any good vegetarian (or chicken) recipies to share? I'm new to cooking and need some inspiration! Email me or leave them in comments!

I may be on to something....

After last week's bout of insomnia I finally managed to get to bed at a decent hour last night. I was in bed by 10:45pm and got nearly 9 hours of sleep! Unfortunately though, my restful sleep was also accompanied by some very vivid dreams. I dreamt last night that I was in requited love with someone. I've dreamt that I was in love before, but never that I was loved in return. In those dreams I never knew who the other person was, but in this one it was a familiar face. The dream was such a happy one, and the snap back to reality once I woke up was very upsetting. I wonder if subconsciously my body is afraid to dream and the reluctance to let my guard down affects my ability to sleep.

"To sleep, perchance to dream". Yeah right Hamlet.

Update

No word on the cause of the smell, but I was just out for lunch and it seems to have dissapated. I love how CNN.com now says "Officials Baffled by Manhattan Stench". Clearly they've never ridden an unairconditioned subway car at the height of rush hour in August.

Got to love....

sitting at your desk in midtown New York and opening CNN.com to find the lead story:

"Mystery Odor Permeates Manhattan"

The smell is horendous and smells much like gas....it's a bit scary!! Stay tuned!

In like a lion out like a lamb?

2007 is not starting out to be a great year for me. The electricians and plaster guys finished up their work, but left the apartment in a complete state of chaos. Despite my lack of sleep I managed to stay up last night and move all the furniture back to its original location (NOT an easy feat to do all by yourself) and remove at least one layer of the fine white dust that now covers EVERY square inch of my apartment, but there is still a lot to do, I didn't touch the kitchen or the bath yet and I haven't mopped any of the floors. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and don't feel like I'll ever get my apartment clean again. I need to carry my very heavy comforter to the dry cleaner, but have no way to get it there.....not to mention how on earth I get this dust out of the drapes and couch. Breathing in all this stuff has caused my allergies to flare up and its zapping my energy level. Its one of the few times in my life when I realize that I can't do everything in life alone, and I hate that feeling. Though I have acquaintances in NY, I don't have anyone I can call up and ask to help me out in situations like these. I don't really know anyone outside of work, and asking a coworker over to help you move your bed is awkward and inappropriate. I have no choice but to do it alone and live in the dust until the task is done. I can only hope the end of 2007 is less chaotic.

2007: The Year of No Sleep

I've been plagued with severe chronic insomnia since my early teens, often sleeping only an hour or two a night, if at all. For about a year my sleeping pattern was that I slept every OTHER night, which oddly seems to be my natural sleep cycle. I've tried everything they tell you to do: remove work and distraction from your bedroom, make room dark, no caffeine, work-out (but not too close to bed time), establish a routine...and every natural home remedy/pill known to man, but absolutely nothing works. The few times I've brought it up to Doctors they have blown me off and told me it was just a phase and it would go away. 15 years later and I'm still waiting for it to "go away". Last night I didn't sleep at all, the night before I got 1 hour and the night before that a whole FOUR hours. I can usually function for two days on little to no sleep, but its that third day (today) when I start to get a little loopy. I'm not even sure if I'll get sleep this weekend, as they are doing major electrical renovations to my apartment and though they are supposed to finish today and re-plaster, there was no sign of them when I left for work this morning, so I'm a little wary. Keep your fingers crossed they do finish today so I can spend the entire weekend cleaning and getting everything back in order. I can't take much more of this.....

2006

After a tumultuous 2005, 2006 was to be a year of recovery and renaissance. New Orleans began the slow process of rebuilding lives and history. London restored their transit system and commuters took to their usual routes. Months of political scandal and Republican control were finally staved by Democrat victory during the Midterm elections. Tiny steps on a long journey still to be made.

2006 brought the execution of a dictator, but not the end of the war. The Iraq war casualty tally hit 3,002 lives. Violence on U.S. soil escalated with school shootings in the unlikeliest of neighborhoods. The sanctity of everyday things was compromised with the e. coli spinach scare, and a foiled London terrorist plot ended our freedom to carry toiletries on planes.

The Sago Mine tragedy and the death of a former President were bookends to the losses seen in 2006. The music world lost the Godfather of Soul, and animal lovers everywhere mourned the Crocodile Hunter.

In my own life, this was the year of frequent flyer miles. Multiple trips to Chicago and a dream vacation to London. It sent a best friend to Iraq and saw him safely home. It was the year I reconnected with a friend I hadn't seen in 20 years, and the year I realized I was now old enough to say statements like that.

I hope that 2007 is the year that finally brings an end to conflicts both global and internal. I look to it as a year of friendship, strengthing of old and forming of new. A year of continuing on the path to healing and rebirth.

May 2007 be a year of peace.

Happy New Year!

I'll write my annual year-in-review post later, just wanted to wish everyone a very happy 2007.

In honor of the new year I bought myself a present...a Sony Cybershot...it's the cutest little camera. I've been wanting an every day camera to carry in my purse, since my other digital is a pretty big SLR and this one is great. No more missing great shots because I don't have my camera with me. I promise to post anything good I get in my photo gallery!

Ok..no more spending..I PROMISE to start saving now!