Mishaps and other haps

I found an article on Dane101 this morning about Sucre, the new downtown patisserie I was raving about a month or so ago.

I was surprised to learn that they are in the spot that used to belong to McDonald’s. I had totally forgotten there used to be a McDonald’s on the Square and it hasn’t been gone more than … a year or two, I think.

When the commercial geography changes, it all looks totally different to me anyway. My last trip to Tallahassee, a city where I lived for five years, made this clear. Change a few roads, throw up some new businesses, and I am totally lost.

The Gibassier mentioned in the article are the anise yeast sweet bread/pastries that I thought were very possibly more appealing than the sweeter, richer desserts. There might very well be citrus in there, too– I thought so.

We have plans to go back sometime soon. I can’t wait for those Farmers’ Market Saturdays this summer.

Michael’s last day of work was Friday.  He is officially on the job market, although he’s taking the next month to visit some friends and generally have some much-needed vacation time.  The company was sold, so nothing could be done about the job loss.  He has a pretty good severance package.

Our roommate will also be looking for a job soon, so it will be an interesting time in the (potentially) 1/3-employed household.

It seems like most of my friends are on the job hunt in one way or another.  I guess that is typical for the late-twenties population as a whole.  Maybe we should be saying a mantra for the older generations to retire.  Too bad the incentives for saving money in our culture are so subtle.   Companies are laying employees off, older adults don’t have the money to feel safe retiring … making for a dissatisfying job market at the moment.

Hopefully things will set themselves right between now and summer.  There’s a lot of straightening-out that needs to be done and I really hope the stars align for everybody.  I just want to settle down, get married, and not really worry about anything else.

I noticed two things at yoga this evening which are significant changes:

1) My transition between poses is a lot smoother and more natural. Along with paying more attention to breathing and posture, I guess I am becoming more in tune with my body in general.

2) I almost fell asleep during the relaxation period at the end. The instructor had warned us on the first day that this might happen, but the preconceived notion in my head was that I was not the sort of person who would ever fall asleep during relaxation. That sort of person must be far more relaxed in general than I ever am, even when unconscious. (Ha!)
However, my general levels of “rested” and “relaxed” have changed significantly during the short period that I have been doing yoga. I have also been sleeping with black lights on for the past week and that seems to make my sleep more restful, though I have no idea why, or even if it’s supposed to.

I had a dinner date with Michael at The Claddagh after yoga. We sat right by a warm fire, with Michael Collins* looking down on us. Since we couldn’t order the same thing, I ordered his meal and he ordered mine and we shared chocolate cake and whipped cream.

* He died when he was just my age, but look at what he had been a part of and what he had accomplished.

I usually notice that March is a very windy month, but I just looked up long enough to pay attention today and the month is 90% done.

You know you’re busy when you find that you’re on the phone during your lunch break scheduling three appointments while microwaving semi-frozen chicken and rice, followed up with a trip to the ATM and hardcore checkbook balancing before heading back to your desk.

I keep meaning to write a whole post about leftovers and how much time and money they have saved me lately. On the brief side, I recommend leftovers. Potatoey things do not freeze well. Lasagna, leftover taco filling, and chicken and rice freeze very well. If you are going to a job, an insulated lunchbox is perfect for carrying leftovers and a frozen ice pack will keep lunch cool until lunchtime.

Happy birthday, Joe!

I think I am going to hit the pause button since people are at my house now for movies, but hopefully I can gather my thoughts for a more meaningful post this weekend.

My car should have hit 100K on the way home last night. I forgot to check while I was on the road. I’m not sure whether I am more impressed with the condition it is in at 100K or the fact that in ten years of driving it, I have *only* put 100K on it.

There was a nice get-together for Michael’s birthday at his Dad’s yesterday evening. Pizza was eaten and a chocolate cake was mostly devoured (there were two pieces left, which was just enough to share with our roommate and probably one piece leftover for the birthday boy).

The chocolate cake was not from my new Taste of Home Baking Book, but I did make chocolate cupcakes on Tuesday night that were from the new cookbook. I can already tell it was a good purchase.

The rest of my work week includes: 1) a class today and 2) a company half-holiday on Friday

My raise was verified yesterday. It goes into effect at the end of the month.

We have more family events happening Saturday, but I don’t think there is anything scheduled for Easter Sunday. This will be the first day with nothing planned that we’ve had in … at least two weeks I think. Looking at my calendar the other night, I realized there was about twice the amount of scribbling in March as there was in either of the first two months of the year. Busy days.

Happy Spring!  I think we’re expecting snow this weekend.

You can’t spell Munchkin without Munich.

In the past week, I have finally seen both 300 and Beowulf. On Movie Night Tuesday, we watched Harold and Kumar go to White Castle for the second time. It’s still funny– maybe not quite as funny as it was the first time I saw it, though.

I am developing an addiction to Scrabulous, although I am losing just about every match I have going on right now.

I attended the Zilics’ bridal shower for Maretta today. There were a total of FOUR brides-to-be at the party. My wedding is the farthest out and pretty obviously the least-planned. I SHOULD REALLY BE PLANNING IT RIGHT NOW! We have discussed some ideas, but are at a point now where we need to estimate how many people we’re inviting before we can make any more progress with selecting a venue and setting the date in stone. We have the resources to move beyond this milestone, so we just need to sit down and make a list– it may not be the final list, but all we need is a roundish number.

Michael’s grandmother passed away Monday. Her funeral is this Monday. It’s the third funeral for his immediate family (and the fifth for his extended family) in seven months.

I was thinking about Michael’s birthday weekend.  He turns 27 this week.  He wanted to have a gaming party that lasted all weekend, so that is what we are doing right now. I am opting to participate to the extent that my current level of sanity allows and otherwise just be supportive and let other people entertain Michael and vice-versa.

Considering the amount of stress and other negative things going around, having 48 hours or so when people can let their hair down, hit the caffeine, game until their eyes bleed, and crash on a sofa … well, this is far tamer than a lot of things they could be doing. There’s nothing Michael loves more than having his people and cats at home spending time with him.

It’s too early to be 9:00. I felt much more productive when I thought I was getting out of bed at 7:30– then I realized my phone had not reset on its own, so I shut it down and restarted it. I hope my own harsh laziness edict doesn’t get me thrown into the wilderness to be eaten by starving wolves (who, no doubt, also hate the extended Daylight Savings and blame all humans for it).

Michael is in Chicago this weekend, Joe is visiting for his TWO weeks of Spring Break*, and I did most of my intended errand running and household chores yesterday because I expected to be busy with friends all afternoon and evening today. Now it looks like we won’t be gaming, as three people are missing from our game this week. This is OK. I just started a new book last night. I have a few other ideas if that doesn’t keep me entertained.

If there is downtime this weekend, that’s OK. Next weekend, nobody sleeps. That may be a slight exaggeration (and I intend to get some sleep even if I have to break heads** to make it happen), but 48 hours of LAN gaming (and possibly other types of gaming) in honor of Michael’s 27th birthday tends to outweigh the need to be rational. If we’re still doing this type of thing when he turns 40, I will have him dipped in bronze to commemorate his stamina.

Last night I was looking through cookbooks and found recipes to use the leftover blue cheese and feta that have been hanging around in the fridge a little too long. I just felt that I should mention that because it makes me feel efficient.

Small Horse would like for me to tell you that “meow” means both “look at me” and “pet me” and sometimes “stop typing, get up, come here, and play with me.” But it does not mean “pick me up” or “hold me”, activities which are detrimental to an active feline lifestyle.

*which I would have to harass him about if I were still in college or near enough that age that I resented only having ONE week of Spring Break, or if I still even remembered what Spring Break was

** or change my routine/expectations

I really, really hate the nearly two month extension of Daylight Savings Time that went into effect last year. In November, it made an impact on how I felt– the mornings kept getting darker and darker and it just felt wrong that the time change was pushed back so far. Now we can look forward to driving to work in the dark for the next month or month and a half.

I don’t hate the idea of changing clocks for the summer, but those late afternoons in the summer are really the only time it makes a positive impact, in my opinion.

But remember, the purpose is not to enjoy that extra daylight– it’s provided by law so that you can work harder and be more productive Americans! So go out there and have at it!

As an alternative to an extended Daylight Savings to rally productivity, why don’t we just get rid of ultra-lazy people and call it even?  See, I can express good, conservative American values.

Gary Gygax died today and Brett Favre retired. Different fans, different forms of mourning.

(Oh, I guess there might be some crossover.)

EDIT: In other news today, the cats turned 1 and I wrote a check for a large sum of money (yay for increasing financial security).

Michael relapsed Sunday night and has been doing a lot of resting over the past 24 hours. I recommend not getting the flu as the strain is nasty and long-lasting this year.

Anyway, he conked out early last night and I was flipping around trying to find a movie on cable to watch and settled on watching about half to three-quarters of The Devil Wears Prada. I had flipped through the book several years ago, so I knew the gist of the storyline.

One of the striking things in the movie for me (i.e. from the perspective of someone who works for a large corporation) was the change that happens when Anne Hathaway’s character stops simply being a person who happens to work for a fashion magazine and starts embodying the values of the corporation she works for. At first she does not fit into the organization at all because she is unfashionable (i.e. has her own style that she believes to be unique) and thinks of herself as a recent college graduate from a good school who wants to be a “real” journalist and is just doing what she has to until she lands her dream job. In a climactic encounter with her boss, her uniqueness is utterly shot down and she bottoms out at some point before returning to the office with a re-invented, designer-label wardrobe and attitude to match. She lives and breathes her job.

I didn’t see how she reclaims her identity by the movie’s end, but it reminded me of the kind of things that are intrinsic in corporate dress and socialization. Slight variations– like wearing cargo pants versus business khakis– whether you carry a backpack, a purse, a messenger bag or a rolling suitcase to work– who you hang out with during breaks– can make a difference in how you fit in and with whom, even where you “go” within a corporation. It’s not always as obvious as standing out like a sore thumb because you have your own “style”– it can be much more subtle, but this rule always holds true to some extent, regardless of other circumstances.