morganlf

It's really hard for me to find walking in the freezing wind and rain fun. K. and I walked around Greenlake yesterday, and while it was nice to see the hundreds of other plucky Seattlites out for their afternoon stroll, it made me feel like a whiny Californian. Sorry folks, I like being warm, which I'm sure everyone else was because they were wearing Seattle's finest. *Growl* Perhaps I should bite the bullet and head over to REI and bedeck myself in all things Northface.

Woah. I really must have woken up on the wrong side of the practical fleece jacket today.

I have been so strung-out lately. My mind is too hyped up to work on something substantive, so I went to the fabric store and bought some really cool fabric for making holiday gift bags. I know, I know, it's not very Christmasy, but I'd rather have a cute bag than a tacky holiday one, wouldn't you? I want to go see if the store has this pattern as well. So cute! (ceph, you will love this fabric!)

I also picked up some buffalo plaid (red and black) flannel to make myself a pair of pajama pants since every pair I own don't come close to being long enough. I'm totally stoked to start these projects!

As you can imagine, we're not very traditionally Christmasy at Chez Morgan, but soon, our Christmas Cthulhu will make his annual pilgrimage to the living room to brighten our spirits. :-) I'm sure he'll like my choice in gift bags.

K. made a yummy dinner for us tonight of Curried Squash Soup (a recipe from my mother's cooking blog). It was super tasty, especially after we added a little chili sauce and sour-cream on the top. Served with some Point Reyes blue cheese and crackers, it made a nice meal.

The job market is taking up way too much space in my brain, but editing butigotahelmet's dissertation is helping me focus (especially since it's a CS dissertation and I have to pay attention to every little detail to make sure I'm not missing something). I anticipate that more schools will be emailing about dossiers this week, but I'm determined to keep my head above water. I'm going to start expanding my latest conference paper into an article, since it's due to the journal by early January. I need something to distract me from the job market, so Tudor jousting tournaments should do the trick!

I am TIRED. I pulled a diaphragm muscle with all the coughing a few weeks ago and it STILL hurts. Like, a lot. It means I can't sleep in my usual position, which means my back is messed up. It's a slippery slope with my stupid back, so now my whole back hurts today. And I have to clean the house because we have a guest spending the night.

All I want to do is lie on the heating pad. But first, I'll pop a few advil and see if the muscles will calm down. I am not in the mood to play hostess right now...

I decided to bust out of my malaise today and work at a coffee shop I'd heard good things about. Freshy's Coffee had some yummy panini, comfy couches, and good coffee. It's a pretty chill atmosphere, and I snagged a table next to the window so I can look out at the perpetually-dark sky and cars hydro-planing as they pass. Ha. I just realized their sign advertises Soups, Sandwiches, Free Wi-Fi, Arcade, Fireplace, Kitchen Sink. *smiles*

Yeah, it's totally winter in Seattle again. I should start taking my vitamin D pills, y/y? At least Freshy's is playing good music. First it was the Fugees and now it's the Flaming Lips. :-)

I'm finishing up my one remaining job application today, and somehow I've gotten a little more zen about the process. I stick my tongue out and make farting noises at the whole situation.

To round out my BSG viewing this weekend, K. and I just watched Caprica, a BSG-prequel about Adama's family. I wasn't all that pleased with the pacing in the first hour, but by the end, I was completely hooked. A very different feel, but since it's a pre-cylon world, that's understandable, I guess.

We have a tasty Chick-pea, Spinach and Kale Curry simmering on the stove. I based the curry on this recipe, but I added some slow-cooked onions and assorted random spices. We're having the curry on top of Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend. I swear, it's almost too healthy. I feel like I need to have some kind of chocolate sundae for dessert! ;-)

K. and I just watched the new Battlestar Galactica feature, The Plan. For fans of the show, it's told from the Cylon perspective and it's *really* well done. You really get to know some of the cylon models that weren't fleshed out (as it were) in the series. jazzyp, I think you'll really like it! (And the version of the theme song at the end, is amazing.)

We went to a really fun party tonight to celebrate the engagement of one of K's colleagues. It's the second time this week that I was served a French 75 (with gin). OMG, love this drink. Especially when served with a brandied cherry, like at Oliver's Twist. Yum!

Second, the hosts served this amazing roasted root vegetable dish with walnut gremolada. It was so good. I'm going to have to recreate it this week: the standard root vegetables and Brussels sprouts with this yummy citrusy, walnuty goodness. I will, of course, report back if it's any good!

Thank you, Mr Advisor Man, for uploading your letter.

I'm sitting at LAX, soooo ready to go home. It was very nice visiting my family, but I am completely worn out from the stupid flu/cold/whatever. I'm still coughing and hoarse and it's been a week. Of course, the first batch of job applications are due in the next few days, and I'm still not finished with everything. I'm working as fast and as hard as I can, but the deadlines really snuck up on me. I am so very tired right now.

Sometimes I am so full of win. I procured some cold medication at the grocery store since whatever nasty virus I have is still hanging on for dear life. I picked up my usual day/night pack of Tylenol Cold and popped a few when I got back only to discover that I took the blasted night-time pills because Tylenol switched the colors around.

LAME. So now I'm trying to edit, but my mind keeps wandering and I just end up staring at the ceiling. Boo.

Big thanks go out to elizabeg and jazzyp for their hospitality while I was in L.A., especially since I was a sicky.

I am now in Bakersfield, woohoo. I haven't been back in almost a year. I tried to talk with my grandmother on the phone today and it was really tough. It takes her around 20 seconds to process each question and answer it, even short ones, so I kept thinking that she had dropped the phone. I'm going to see her tomorrow. The other grandma is recovering from surgery and is doing well.

I feel a lot better, except for my throat, a nagging cough, and my husky (not sexy) voice. I'm sure drinking a copious amount will fix all this.

Why does it not surprise me that the file with all of my teaching evaluations has gone AWOL?

Well, I actually made it through the day. I didn't get to sleep until around 3am last night, but thankfully, elizabeg let me sleep in and I just caught a bus into school for my 1pm appointment. My voice, however, is alternatively squeaky and husky, which is weird.

Spoke with Scary Paleographer today. Gave him home-made jam to appease him. I *think* I'm getting a letter. Now I'm just chilling in the grad. lounge. It is lovely to sit still.

And I've locked myself out...

Go me.

Well, Scary Paleographer has now agreed to meet with me on Thursday, this is of course, after I grovelled at his feet in my last email. Ay me. So yeah, I was in a bad mood until I went to grab part of a load of laundry I had left in the dryer and saw this.

( Oh Hai )

1. I have a fever and a sore throat.

2. Grandma A. was going in for surgery today...and it's gone an hour long. My mother is freaking out. (edited to add: She's in recovery, so that's good.)

3. Grandma O. is slipping into a coma.

4. I leave for Los Angeles tonight.

I am very excited for this weekend! Lots of time with friends, food, and films. If only all my weekends could be this alliterative. But before I talk about this coming weekend, I should mention the amazing wineries we visited last Sunday.

1. The first winery we visited was Argyle, which specializes in Sparkling Wines, but also has some good chards and pinots. Their sparkling wines, especially their sparkling pinot were amazing. We're taking a bottle home for Christmas, since my family always drinks a little too much bubbly around the holidays.

2. The second winery of the day was Domaine Drouhin, who is known in the Willamette Valley as one of the best producer of pinots. We also really liked their chards and ended up joining their wine club (which I'm really excited about). I really rediscovered my love of pinots this weekend...so subtle!

3. The last winery we visited was actually a group of wineries that had a single tasting room, called Carlton Wine Studio. We really liked the pinots from Brittan Vineyards, in fact, they were our favorites of the day. The vintner's wife was pouring that day and did a great job letting us know about all of the wine, including that her husband is from my home town! We got my mother a bottle for her birthday that the vintner (okay, his wife, but don't tell) signed for her.

It was one of the best days I've had with wine-tasting. Everything was such a high quality! There wasn't a single wine that I really turned my nose up at. :-)

It's decidedly autumnal in Seattle. It's been overcast and rainy. To celebrate the new weather we lit our first fire in the fireplace, which was lovely. We've also been cooking out of the Cover and Bake Cookbook from the Best Recipe. It's such a great book for cold-weather cooking and it has a wide variety of comfort food.

Tonight I made their Skillet Thai Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Tofu. We made it with brown rice and substituted green beans for the snow peas. It was a *solid* recipe, and with all the vegetables, tofu, and brown rice, it's good for you as well!



I can't find the recipe anywhere online, sadly, but if someone wants it, I can type it up for you! The next recipe I want to try from this book, is the Slow Cooker Asian Spiced Pork Ribs with Noodles. Mmmmmm.