magazine mania

I have a hefty stack of magazines to read right now. Usually, I'm not so into magazines. I think that I am, but that never turns out to be the case. I've tried Real Simple a few times, but I feel like it's for people who have oh-so-much more money than I have. I'm definitely not the intended audience. I've also tried O, but I'm not connecting with that one either.

So, what do I have right now? Well, I just finished looking at many of the pages of the most recent Parents magazine. I haven't subscribed to this magazine in at least a year (and I think it's been longer), yet they keep sending it. They also keep sending notices threatening that if I don't resubscribe, they'll stop sending the magazine. The Magazine That Cried Wolf. (Of course, the January issue will be the last I ever receive. I'm well past my interest in the magazine, though, so that's okay.)

I also just finished browsing a Better Homes and Gardens. This one just appeared in my mailbox recently. I thought it was delivered to me accidentally, but, no, my name is on the cover. I'm not sure how I ended up with this, but it does make me wonder who BHG thinks I am. Hmm.

I have a Time I've checked out from the library. I haven't yet delved into it, but I'll be doing that soon.

I have the most recent Self. I do subscribe to this. I'm not as fanatic about it as I used to be, but I still like to read it. I'll be reading that as soon as I sign off here.

Last night, Cardo dropped me off at Barnes and Noble while he and Pic went to find a holiday gift for me. I so rarely spend time in B&N any more -- I've been there twice in the last year -- that I was actually feeling overwhelmed. I went straight to the magazine section to see if they had the most recent issue of Bitch, but I couldn't find it. I walked away to browse many books I had no interest in, but then came back to look for the magazine again. I finally found it next to the bridal magazines, which I found funny. So, I also have Bitch and BUST lined up to read. (BUST was on the opposite side of Bitch. There's an article by Rachel Dratch on Amy Poehler, which was the selling point for me.) Basically, I was indulgent in my magazine purchases, but what else was I going to do while waiting to be picked up? (Y'know, other than read every single title of every single movie they have for sale?)

So, I often wonder what my magazine reading could say about me. What kind of a persona would someone expect me to have knowing that my current stack of magazines consists of Self, Time, Bitch, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and BUST? Instead of contemplating it further right now, I'm going to take a quick but hot shower and got to bed...and at least flip through Self.

ww: child of mine

oh food, how i love you

I haven't written any food posts lately. Don't worry, we're still eating.

One day last week, Pic and I were on a baking kick, so we started the day with some cranberry muffins and ended with some homemade pizza.



Oh, these muffins were so good while they were still warm that I ate two of them. They were still good after they had cooled, but I much prefer them hot from the oven (okay, not really, if I burn all my taste buds off, I won't be able to taste them...but I do like them warm). The Fresh Cranberry Muffins recipe is from one of my Cooking Light cookbooks. I kind of never got around to making cranberry relish this year, so I really needed to use up my cranberries. (I've only ever made cranberry relish once, come to think of it.)



Oh, the pizza was also so good. I needed to use up some tomatoes and spinach, so a tomato and spinach pizza it was. I again used the pizza dough recipe from The New Moosewood Cookbook (the recipe is part of the calzone recipe and, one day, I'll make some calzoni). I brushed the prepared dough with olive oil, added some dried basil, mozzarella, sliced tomatoes and chopped spinach (I really, really like to chop my spinach). This was dinner one night and breakfast the next day. Oh how I love pizza for breakfast!

A couple more notes on muffins and pizza. Recently, I tried My Favorite Muffin and Bagel's fat-free cranberry orange muffin and it was delicious. I'll be having that again. As for pizza: last night we had zPizza's Italian pizza for dinner. It was good, except I'm not a fan of pesto. Next time, I'll ask for the garlic sauce instead. (We were sharing dinner with a friend and I didn't want to be too fussy.)

A final food note: Pic loves pointing out shapes that look like the shape of our state. How is that a food note? I'll show you:


That's Nevada there in the middle. The other two? Minnesota on the left and Ohio on the right. Fun with food! States in all their hammy glory!

a love story

My parents have been married for twenty-nine years today. My parents are symbolic to myself and to my sisters. They are symbolic of a perfect kind of long-term committed passionate love. I don't mean perfect in that there were never arguments or doubts or difficult times. I mean perfect in that they so obviously belong together and they grow closer and more in love with each other with every passing year. I know it's cliche, but I really do believe that they love each other more now than they did twenty-nine years ago. I wasn't around yet -- almost, but not yet -- but I have seen the growth of their love and their dedication to each other over the years.

This love, a love like my parents' love, is what I aspire to in my own relationship with Cardo.

Here's to many more wonderful, wacky and happy years.

why can't we be friends?

From the book I'm speed-reading because it's due back soon and I won't be able to recheck it:

... I think yes, a man and a woman can be good friends. But it isn't easy for them, being as no one else will suppose that that is what they are. (The Children's Book, p486)

I can't quote that without including this


[When Harry Met Sally(Men&WomenCanNotBeFriends)-Part I]*

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I don't have many friends and none of my close friends are male, Cardo excepted of course. However, I always wondered about this and how heteronormative assertions like this are (of course, I haven't always had the term 'heteronormative' in my vocabulary). Words like this make me think about rules that parents have, forbidding a child to be in a room with a person of the opposite sex if the door is not open. I always wondered, 'Okay, but what if someone of the opposite sex wasn't what one finds sexually appealing?' It seems that we so often just assume that everyone is going to grow up being attracted to someone(s) of the opposite sex.

Anyhow, I've gotten away from that opening quote, which I like. I like that the speaker (Elsie) believes that two people of the opposite sex can be 'just' friends but that she also understands that many others will assume that there is more going on between the two...between the sheets (sorry, I couldn't resist typing that last part).

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* These titles I include are not my own. I am just including the titles given for the videos in case a video doesn't work one day.

sending out for a little universal goodwill

Hello All,

I am writing to ask that you all please send along any extra good vibes you might have laying about. Please?

We are trying to secure a new place to rent (alas, we are nowhere near being close to buying a place) and we are to hear back either tomorrow or Saturday.

Considering no one pays me for raising Pic, I haven't been contributing to our finances for a while, although I'm definitely contributing to our bills. We need to move to somewhere more affordable. (Also, hello, we've been renting this specific place for almost a year. My restlessness is acting up big time. I need to believe that when I buy a place, it will be a forever place. Actually, I'd like to rent one single place for a good long while until we are ready to buy...it's just that we need to be able to afford the place we're renting, right?)

I know that my woes are so small compared to others' yet I'm still asking for a few good thoughts. Please.

Thanks ever so,
v

P. S. If you, any of you, need any good thoughts sent your way, I have plenty. Just let me know.

winter wonderland

That's about how it looks outside. And, it's not even winter yet. This morning, I really didn't want to emerge from the warmth of my bed. Oh, it was cozy. I curled up under the covers for waaay longer than I had intended. Oops.

The forecast right now is predicting a high of 48 degrees with partly cloudy skies for Saturday. I know that will probably change in the next couple of days, but, for now, I'm looking forward to it. We are so walking this weekend. It's been almost two weeks since we went as a family and I really depend on these walks as sanity savers.