Now bare with me. I am getting to the "why" of this whole blog and the inspiration behind it. It's a bit of a process and, honestly, a bit out of character for me to create. I have a Facebook, and live online, but I never post to my Facebook, don't use Twitter (unless you count the account I started so I could look up spoilers to TV shows on my phone--and never once tweeted on), and accidentally created an Instagram (which I have never looked at). So the idea of me posting anything online is rather baffling. But I find myself a lot more comfortable with the blog format. Largely because I don't expect anyone, except me, to look at this. And I ultimately think that is why I am more comfortable about it. It also helps that I do not really know how this works.
So, how this all started...
Yesterday, I was discussing summer plans with a coworker. Other than obligatory "lesson plan," I realized that for the first time in my adult life, I have no concrete summer plans. No trips to keep me occupied, no friends in town, and no visits with family.
Now, this may change, but I doubt it because I am saving money for a new car and I want to save as much money as possible so I don't have yet another extravagant monthly bill to content with. And since my car seems to be leaking, makes odd noises, has windows that fall, and is liable to explode and kill me if rear ends me too hard, it's time to stop risking my life, suck it up, and spend money on a new vehicle.
I did, however, have one thing that I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to try cooking with chicken. Legitimate recipes. Not just a bit of Mrs. Dash and the old George Foreman. It is my second summer with a larger kitchen (chopping veggies on the coffee table because you have no counter space is good in theory, but I didn't like it in practice) and I spend a majority of last summer (when I was home) making all sorts of beef-centered recipes -- which was an accident. This year, I want to mix it up and try a healthier meat. Hopefully, I can find some items that are cheap, quick and easy to make so I won't go through that fast food phase that I always do around October that continues until April. We will see.
Now, I am no stranger to cooking. I cook somewhat frequently (I am a fan of semi-homemade for sheer speed) and I enjoy the cooking part---I hate cleaning up though. I have talked, apparently a lot, about items I cook during my acquaintance with this particular coworker. She said that I should try blogging my culinary endeavors (or fails as I called them). I sort of laughed off the idea. Who would want to read such a thing? That night, I was thinking before bed..."Well, no one has to read it. You can write it and then just keep it. When you remember it, it will be easier to find than some journal you bury somewhere (plus pictures will be easier to insert)." I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, I am my own audience. (Maybe my grandma. Hi Grandma!) So I crafted a challenge for myself. What if I chronicled my dull summer to make it a bit more interesting.
First, I thought of my Xanga from high school and how I wished I had saved it. (I had deleted it in embarrassment senior year of college and didn't back any of it up). Then, I thought of the LiveJournal I had created with a couple of friends pretending to be Harry Potter characters and how it went nowhere at the time, but six or seven years later when I found it (and miraculously remembered how to log in), my best friend and I spent hours laughing--then we continued to completely disregard it. Finally, I recalled the Helen Fielding novel Bridget Jones's Diary ---which I, admittedly, never made it through. Why that novel? Well, she recounts her life and has a lot of goals/updates that begin every chapter. Ultimately, it's why I disliked it. As someone who had a severe problem when self esteem and food as a teen, reading about someone whinging about being 120-130 pounds and how heavy they were just kind of made me angry. 120-130 is, by no one's definition, fat. Also, she sometimes at 5,000 calories in a day and didn't go above that range which struck me as unfair. So I thought, maybe I can record things. Read novels and write about them. Actually exercise (doubtful), and keep track of how much I like each recipe and how much it actually costs to make.
So, there it all is. This will chronicle my summer.
I am a bit premature, but I found myself rather excited by the idea. (Let's see how long that lasts.)
So, self, I throw down this challenge. Let's see how interesting you can make a summer where you don't leave the state and the highlight of the week is playing D&D. (It's awesome, so it's a solid highlight, but only being excited about one day a week is not what I want my summer to be).
Does anyone else notice how very often I write using parentheses?
So, how this all started...
Yesterday, I was discussing summer plans with a coworker. Other than obligatory "lesson plan," I realized that for the first time in my adult life, I have no concrete summer plans. No trips to keep me occupied, no friends in town, and no visits with family.
Now, this may change, but I doubt it because I am saving money for a new car and I want to save as much money as possible so I don't have yet another extravagant monthly bill to content with. And since my car seems to be leaking, makes odd noises, has windows that fall, and is liable to explode and kill me if rear ends me too hard, it's time to stop risking my life, suck it up, and spend money on a new vehicle.
I did, however, have one thing that I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to try cooking with chicken. Legitimate recipes. Not just a bit of Mrs. Dash and the old George Foreman. It is my second summer with a larger kitchen (chopping veggies on the coffee table because you have no counter space is good in theory, but I didn't like it in practice) and I spend a majority of last summer (when I was home) making all sorts of beef-centered recipes -- which was an accident. This year, I want to mix it up and try a healthier meat. Hopefully, I can find some items that are cheap, quick and easy to make so I won't go through that fast food phase that I always do around October that continues until April. We will see.
Now, I am no stranger to cooking. I cook somewhat frequently (I am a fan of semi-homemade for sheer speed) and I enjoy the cooking part---I hate cleaning up though. I have talked, apparently a lot, about items I cook during my acquaintance with this particular coworker. She said that I should try blogging my culinary endeavors (or fails as I called them). I sort of laughed off the idea. Who would want to read such a thing? That night, I was thinking before bed..."Well, no one has to read it. You can write it and then just keep it. When you remember it, it will be easier to find than some journal you bury somewhere (plus pictures will be easier to insert)." I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, I am my own audience. (Maybe my grandma. Hi Grandma!) So I crafted a challenge for myself. What if I chronicled my dull summer to make it a bit more interesting.
First, I thought of my Xanga from high school and how I wished I had saved it. (I had deleted it in embarrassment senior year of college and didn't back any of it up). Then, I thought of the LiveJournal I had created with a couple of friends pretending to be Harry Potter characters and how it went nowhere at the time, but six or seven years later when I found it (and miraculously remembered how to log in), my best friend and I spent hours laughing--then we continued to completely disregard it. Finally, I recalled the Helen Fielding novel Bridget Jones's Diary ---which I, admittedly, never made it through. Why that novel? Well, she recounts her life and has a lot of goals/updates that begin every chapter. Ultimately, it's why I disliked it. As someone who had a severe problem when self esteem and food as a teen, reading about someone whinging about being 120-130 pounds and how heavy they were just kind of made me angry. 120-130 is, by no one's definition, fat. Also, she sometimes at 5,000 calories in a day and didn't go above that range which struck me as unfair. So I thought, maybe I can record things. Read novels and write about them. Actually exercise (doubtful), and keep track of how much I like each recipe and how much it actually costs to make.
So, there it all is. This will chronicle my summer.
I am a bit premature, but I found myself rather excited by the idea. (Let's see how long that lasts.)
So, self, I throw down this challenge. Let's see how interesting you can make a summer where you don't leave the state and the highlight of the week is playing D&D. (It's awesome, so it's a solid highlight, but only being excited about one day a week is not what I want my summer to be).
Does anyone else notice how very often I write using parentheses?
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