Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Want, but don't need.

Leave it to the holidays and online Christmas shopping to help me add to the list of things that would be awesome (in theory) to own. The trouble---well, I suppose it could also be considered a blessing---is that I've always got this nagging voice in the back of my head asking me, "yes, but do you need that?"

...Mom, is that you?

Honestly, it's always been very difficult for me to justify truly needing anything, aside from food and shelter (and the occasional camera accoutrement... my Achilles' heel).

And so, I'm allowing myself this season to keep a "want, but don't need" (WBDN) list---a list of awesome stuff that I come across while gift shopping, not as a wish-list by any means, but as a way of acknowledging the inner 10 year old in me who says "oh! I want!" before the 25 year old me rolls her eyes and says...

"Really? A toaster scanner? ...Really?!"

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Multi Gratias

Confession: I wouldn't know anywhere near the amount of Latin that I do if it weren't for my high school choir teacher. And thus, I wouldn't be able to even begin to guess at some of the bizarre medical maladies that my husband occasionally spouts off....

Latin aside, I've been neglecting you, my dear blog.

Remember how my last post was all about how productive I was? Well, that carried through the past couple of weeks, leaving very little time for emoting to the cyberverse.

Highlights of the past fortnight (fyi, first time to ever use that word... I feel incredibly bougie, Victorian, and as if I should be wearing a corset, but I'm leaving it) include:
  • Dr. D starting his two week rotation with an otolaryngologist (ear-nose-throat/ENT surgeon, for all of us too impatient to try to pronounce that), and discovering that he loves it. This is awesomely scary because these docs have a fantastic schedule, but it is incredibly difficult to match into the specialty, let alone match into it back in CA.
  • Me getting comfortable with my new camera and flash set up, and shooting my first ever engagement picture session (!!!). Can I just say that it is a million times harder to focus on my Masters classes after realizing that all I really want to do is take pictures for a living? Curse you, Practicality.
I know that isn't that much of an update, but the past couple of weeks have really just flown by. And now all of the sudden it's Thanksgiving! Woah.

It was with great difficulty that we decided not to fly back out west for T-day---we would have only been able to stay for a couple of days, and then we would turn right around a few weeks later and fly back again for Christmas (there's that Practicality again... boo!). So, the hubs and I will be celebrating this week's holiday with some friends here, and will simply have to tide ourselves over with happy thoughts of my mom's Christmas cooking.

Lastly, to be completely cliche, I thought I'd end this post with a few things that I'm currently thankful for...
  1. The pot of boiling chipotle chicken soup on the stove---Dr. D and I haven't had many opportunities to cook dinner together recently, so this is a special treat on a blustery evening.
  2. My droptop continues to function with a vengeance, despite the said dropping and the hundreds of pictures that I made it edit in RAM-zapping Photoshop.
  3. Snapfish, who did a pretty decent job of printing some rad Christmas gifts that I'm excited to give.
  4. A husband whose first priority remains our relationship and the family that we will one day have. That kind of selflessness is super sexy.
  5. Of course, our wonderful family and friends back in CA whom we will very dearly miss seeing this week. Special shout out to my (not so little) bro, who's turning 21 this week. Love you, brohican!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Fall back into productivity

So I realize that all of you got an additional hour today as we waved goodbye to Daylight Savings Time, but something tells me that I may have been sneakily gifted another few hours under the table. Very hush-hush.

I was too productive today to have only been given one extra hour. It had to have been at least three... maybe four.

One measly additional hour wouldn't have allowed me to do all of this:
  • Hit snooze. Twice.
  • Crawl back into bed after breakfast for a post-cereal nap with the hubster.
  • Brush J-dog's hair---believe me, this is a long and arduous process consisting of equal parts push, play, and perspiration. I really can't tell if homedog loves it or hates it, all I know is he always comes out on the other end of it looking like he belongs on top of Diana Ross' head.
  • Go grocery shopping. On a Sunday. When EVERYONE AND ALL OF THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDPARENTS are also shopping.
  • Bake cookies.
Want a recipe? This is to go-to favorite in our house, and the one that Dr. D asks me to make whenever he needs to bring cookies into work (which apparently, on a side note, is fairly frequently when you work with nurses). Here you go:

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies

1 cup butter (or margarine), softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs (or 2/3 cup applesauce)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup chocolate chunks


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time (or substitute with unsweetened applesauce like I do), then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in separate bowl, then stir into creamed mixture until blended. Mix in oats, then chocolate chips and cherries. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 13 minutes in preheated oven. Yields approximately 42 cookies.