Party Prep

We're having a fondue party for my birthday in three kinds... cheese...Tomato marinara (for the vegan and lactose intolerant)...
and chocolate for dessert...All of my friends are graciously bringing the bread, veggies, and fruit for dipping (THANK YOU!)

And we're using pretty plates borrowed from our church...
YUM YUM!!

All in celebration of me! I'm a lucky girl!

Tall People

(I'm 5'0" so just about everyone seems tall to me, but I am specifically writing this letter to people greater than 5'10" and who have predominately tall friends)

Dear Tall People,

I understand your desire to stand in the front row, because everyone should be able to stand in the front at some point and everyone wants to have that privilege. However, God and your genes made you tall and with that comes some responsibility. Please follow some sincere advice that will help you on your way.

The first thing you must always do is look around you. Tall people, you usually take up more room (I'm know there are many short fat people around the world, but still, even thin tall people have more mass than thin short people) and since you take up more room, please be careful when you move around. Look to your left and right. Look behind you. And most importantly, look down, because when you are a tall person, most of the world is below you, vertically that is.

The second thing you must do is yield the front row to the shorter people around. Even with a short person in front of you, your face will still have a front row view. Does your whole body have to see what is in front of you? I don't think so. That is why your eyes are close to the top of your body. Kindly let a shorter person, whose eyes are lower than yours, move to the front.

Lastly, tall people, you must not clump up together around a short person. It is very claustrophobic. Give us some space. It makes you seem like you have no awareness of anyone else's physical presence but your own. You are big. Your shoulders are like a wall. Your butt is too high. (probably because your legs are too long). You must be careful about what you do with these body parts!

Tall people, thank you for the things that you reach and the sites that you can see before anyone else. Thank you for telling us about the weather. I know that I will see better behavior in the future, if you follow my advice above. You will have many more short people as friends... just wait and see!

Thanks,
A short person

On Vacation

Sorry for the lack of posts around here. We have been very lucky to have Grant's parents visiting us from Michigan for the holidays. We spent the last couple days in beautiful and wintry Yosemite National Park -- pictures to come soon. Today was spent so far enjoying a Kwanzaa worship service this morning and cleaning the apartment for my birthday party. Soon we'll be heading out to a play, dinner, and stopping by my church for Singing for Your Life - an amazing 12 hours continuous circle singing event.

For New Years and for my birthday, which is on Tuesday, I'm having a party and I am challenging myself and others to complete an old tradition of 108 Sun Salutations to welcome in the new year. For my distant friends who can not join me in person, you can still join in for the sun salutations. Do as many as you can or desire. Give up some thank-yous for another year ending and a new one beginning. Do it as a meditation and prayer, reflecting on who you were in 2007 and discovering the path you want to take into the new year. Do it as a celebration of your beautiful God-given body.

I'll be turning 27 on Tuesday, January 1, 2008. 27 is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. Twenty-seven is the smallest positive number that requires four syllables to say in English though it can be defined in just two: "three cubed." (3x3x3) It is odd and has many odd friends like 1, 3, and 9. It is a perfect cube. It is the number of books in the New Testament. It is the 28th (and 29th) digit of pi. It is the number of moons of Uranus. 27x4=108, a significant number in many traditions, and therefore the number of salutations I will try to complete.

Believe it or not, there are actually several people who want to do this with me!

And then there are the others who will be just coming for dinner after... yummy fondue!!

Yum, That's Some Good Baby Food!

Not really. I would not recommend adding baby food to your normal diet, unless you're a baby.

So on Tuesday night we emptied all of those jars of baby food that I showed you on Monday night into some plastic containers. We purposely picked out baby food that we thought we might enjoy, like applesauce, pears, and bananas. The apples and pears were ok. The bananas were questionable. And surprise! who stuck in that jar of peas? (still untouched in the fridge)

The jars were quickly washed and baby food labels were removed
As of Thursday labels appliedand homemade presents emerged... a little sampler pack of teas for the Grandparents (I think it's safe to post here... do they read my blog?) We had three types of tea but I forgot to get pictures of the other two once they were done.

How Old is the Baby?

Seeing these on the conveyor belt tonight at Whole Foods, the cashier asked us how old our baby was. We looked blankly at her, what baby? We don't have a baby. Why would you ask such a thing? No, we didn't actually say that. We thought that the question made perfect sense since we were buying baby food after all. If we did have a baby though, the baby would be "4 months & up."

No, we don't have a baby.

No, we're not expecting one either... don't get those ideas in your head!

Surprise! It's a Celebration Dinner!

Robin picking up Grant from work on Friday night and heading out for dinner in the city.

G: Which restaurant are we going to?
R: I picked the furthest away of the three that you picked since you're not on call tonight.
G: Good thinking.

Robin and Grant arrive at the restaurant to find it empty... well, it just opened a few minutes earlier...

R: I guess we didn't need reservations
G: It was good to have them just in case.
R: Why isn't this place busier? It looks really nice. There should be a line. I guess it's just early.

Robin and Grant look at the menu, the server is very, very attentive. Robin and Grant discuss how to best use the gift certificate that his parents gave him. Moments later he decides...

G: To hell with it! I being way too serious. Let's just have a good meal.
R: I should have planned something for us to celebrate. What are we celebrating?
G: I've had a long week. Let's celebrate surviving the week!
R: I know, happy 3.5 year anniversary!

R: I feel like I'm dating you again.
G: Because we haven't had a real face-to-face conversation since Tuesday?
R: That could be. So how was your week?

Robin and Grant continue talking about Grant's week at CPE and figure out what they want to order and their server was more than ready.

First Course
2005 5 Rivers (Central California Coast) Pinot Noir
Mixed Green Salad with Beet Tartar, Pear, Goat Cheese Mousse and Pecans
Butternut Squash Soup (served in the cutest little espresso cup)
Bread and Butter

Robin and Grant's server walks up to the table, then steps back and allows two other gentlemen to actually set the plates on the table.

Robin and Grant's server tries to give them extra plates. They look at him confused. Robin puts her plate under her bread dish and continues to eat the salad from the plate it was served on. Grant does the same, only he doesn't move his plate.

Second Course
Gambas al Ajillo (white shrimp, garlic, chili and olive oil)
More Pinot Noir (we got a whole bottle and it was yummy!)

Grant tries a few shrimps, decides they are not for him and Robin slowly enjoys the remainder throughout the rest of the meal.

This is Robin's super hot date:Robin and Grant's server takes all of the silverware and plates away and then places new silverware on the table, steps back and the other guy sets the plate of ravioli and cauliflower on the table.

Main Entree
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter, Sage and Amaretti (this could have been dessert)
Roasted Cauliflower with Capers and Lemon

Robin pulls out her camera from her purse... the camera that she always carries around with her.

G: You're going to take pictures of this.
R: Of course! This is a great meal!

Robin suddenly feels self-conscious of taking pictures of her food in a fancy restaurant, so she decides not to use the flash and will put up with a slight blur in her pictures.

This is our YUMMY Ravioli:
Robin notices that fancy spoons seem to have appeared on the table out of no where. She then wonders about current state of mind as Grant gentle slips her wine glass away from her.

R: When did we get these spoons?
G: I'm not sure

Robin breaks out into giggles.

Dessert
Chocolate Pudding with Cream and Port Soaked Figs

Robin and Grant almost die with joy after their first few bites of dessert. They then ponder the implications of licking the bowl when the pudding is gone...

By the end of the evening we were just giddy with delight of our excellent meal together. What an unexpected treat! Besides reading the menu online, we really had no idea about what we were walking into. Palmetto was a great choice. See more here.

Robin and Grant start getting ideas in their head that more fancy restaurants might be in their future...

Thanks Mom and Dad for the certificate!

Dealing with Stuff

In an earlier post I shared my frustrations about dealing with all of the stuff in our apartment.

Last night, Grant and I were sitting on our couch and I was sharing with him about my frustrations with our current stuff management plan.

G: What bothers you the most?
R: Cardboard. I hate cardboard.
G: Ok.
R: If you lived alone, do you think your apartment would be full of cardboard boxes?
G: Not that I would like it, but yes, it probably would be full of boxes.

The easiest thing I can think about doing is moving apartments and then being really selective about what we choose to take with us. But neither one of us wants to move yet, so we're stuck going through everything and trying to thin it out. Either that or I will never feel comfortable in my own home.

How many towels should two people own?

Is it really necessary to have a back-up for all toiletries? Or can we just buy stuff as we run out of it?

Why are we still holding onto the nativity set? It has been 3.5 years since the wedding. The nativity is ugly and we've never set it up (not that we have a clear surface anyways!) Why are we keeping something I really really hate?

Would any of you be willing to come over to my house and scan all of my notes from college so I can recycle the paper?

Do I really really need that Abstract Algebra textbook?

Does he have to fill each desk drawer with wires? Wires wires wires... and only one would fit into the camera... and that was the only wire that wasn't in any of the desk drawers... it was in the closet... in the cardboard box that the camera came in... I'm NOT SELLING the camera... CAN WE RECYCLE THE BOX PLEASE?

There are two desk drawers not overflowing with wires. Those drawers hold files in carefully labeled file folders. Labels made with the label maker. Because everyone needs a label maker.

G: There are times when I think it would be wonderful to have a nice, clean, orderly apartment. But that is just not who we are. We would have to change a lot of our habits.
R: You mean that habit about collecting cardboard boxes? I have an idea. Stop buying stuff off of ebay.
G: Make a list of where you want to focus on in the apartment.
R: Item #1 of 1 - Get a box. Put all of the other boxes in the box. Recycle the box.
G: OK, but you have to find a new organized way to store all of the stuff that was in the boxes.
R: UUGGGGHHHH!

Yeah for Poland!

I got my first blog visitor from Poland today... around 11:30am. I don't know what s/he was looking for but I'm glad they stopped by! Hope they'll come back again!

7 school days until Christmas break... I'm so ready for a break! 10 days until the bonus parents come to visit! A trip to Yosemite! Being a tourist in SF! Lots of fun to look forward to! 19 days until my birthday... at first I was sad, but now I'm warming up to the idea. 27 is such a cool number and I have some exciting ideas about how to spend my special day.

Are You Reading This?

If you haven't started reading the No Impact Man blog, you're really missing out. The reflections on how life is after the project is done, in my opinion, are even more powerful than during the project. READ IT!!

Why NOT the Other Things

Why not Running?
Are you crazy? Running? Yes, I love the lake BUT I love my knees more and I really love that breathing thing. NO RUNNING FOR ME.

Why not Cycling? You have a really nice bike!
The streets are too busy. There are too many lights. It's all stop and go. It takes too long to get to the good places to ride. Long curvy roads with gentle hills. I have to wear my special bike shoes, so we better not stop anywhere where I would have to walk while we're on a ride. No bikes on single track trail? What are those guys doing in all of those pads? They call that mountain biking? That's just hurling yourself down a large hill. Cycling is not my sport. Cycling is just transportation to places close by where I don't have to carry much stuff.

Why not Kayaking? Isn't it worth giving up your closet space?
Come on. You already know how hard it is for me to regulate my body temperature in a heated room with adequate clothes on. Now you want me to wear a rigid and tight wet suit (plus paddle jacket and PFD and helmet and cap and gloves and rubber shoes) and you want me to sit out in the sun (which is in the 70's) on the water (which is in the 50's) with the waves that make me seasick? All that after I've already been driven crazy by all of the gear we had to pack and carry out to the car and unload and walk to the shore and then we had to assemble the yaks and talk to the people who stop and look at us putting together the yaks and then pack the yaks. NO WAY. Maybe in like 20 years I'll have the energy to do all that... plus we'll have an old enough age to actually fit in with our kayaking club. But I just can't bring myself to sell the boats.

Why not join a gym? There's one down the street and you friend teaches pilates there!
Ah yeah. You don't remember trying that 3-month special teacher summer membership thing that you did this summer? How often did you go. Yeah, I thought so. Big waste of money. Too many people caring about how they look when they're sweaty.

Ok, Ok, so why do you have those skis in the closet?
For long weekends away to Lake Tahoe or Yosemite! But you won't find enough snow in the bay to make skiing you're primary exercise.