Cupcakes

In an attempt to get into the holiday spirit, I made some cupcakes for my company’s holiday party. Luckily, they are a drinking bunch (I know I’m going to fit right in here), so I made spiked eggnog cupcakes. I found the recipe on Baking Bites, and you can access it here.

I substituted cognac for rum, but you could use bourbon or brandy, or whatever you like to put in your eggnog. These turned out incredibly moist and delicious and were a rousing success at the office. I highly recommend them to anyone attempting to make holiday inroads with a boozy neighbor or in-law.

Happy baking! And happy holidays!

Hopefull

You know, this is all so crazy, it just might work.

The computer is gone. Kaput. An incredibly expensive paperweight. And I lost a lot of personal data that was very dear to me. But... I'm not as broken up about it as I thought I'd be. Perhaps (just perhaps) it's time I learn to let go. Attatchments are the cause of suffering, isn't that what they say? (How very zen of me...)

Anyway, I have the new phone which allows me to do everything I need. And I have my awesome job, so I'll be able to afford a new computer eventually (and I no longer need to look for work--hurrah!).

And, you know, I'm happy here. I'm getting my place fixed up, learning to budget my time and money, and figuring out what's really important in my life.

Life is good.

Good Day

I love my new job. It's so nice to work somewhere normal again. I have normal hours, normal pay, heck, even normal coworkers. I had forgotten how awesome normal is. I'm still amazed at what a simple joy it is to come in, make myself a cup of tea, then sit at my desk (my desk) and go through my emails amid the gentle chatter of my arriving coworkers and the occasional quiet snuffling of the owner's dachshund.

Such a great day today. Even with my predecessor off to the maternity ward sooner than expected, and some fun, technical difficulties that took half the day to fix, working there is still heaven. And on my way home, I explored one of the Middle Eastern bakeries along Mt. Auburn called Sevan.

I bought falafel and hummus, dates, pistachios and jordan almonds. I even tried one of their dolmas, which the man behind the counter was kind enough to heat up for me; heaven! I can't wait to go back and try their baclava and buy some tubs of olives. Mmm, and so many varieties of Turkish delight! Yum.

And now, I'm home. The wind and rain beats against my windows while I enjoy my hummus and watch an old movie. I'll head to bed in a bit, get a good night's sleep, and do it all over again.

I can't remember the last time I was so happy with the everyday.

Fed Up

I am FED UP with my job. Fed up! (Can I say that a few more times?) I disliked it from day one, but I needed to eat, and move out, and pretend to be a contributing member of society, so it served a purpose. But now, now I just can't stand it anymore.

It was one thing when I thought I might get the assistant manager position that my best friend left behind when he left, but that carrot (indeed, the very position) has evaporated like so much morning mist (not to mix metaphors or anything...). And now it's been put to me that I might someday get the supervisory position which could replace it at some magical point in the future.

Which would not be so bad if, A) I believed this position would materialize some time this century, and B) that didn't mean I have to keep doing the work of the supervisors and managers at my current peon's pay in order to get it if it does.

I'm sorry, no. I'm done. I have to get the hell out of there.

Now.

Yesterday.

Anybody need an incredibly talented, efficient, charismatic, professional admin assistant? 'Cause I'm available.

Looking a Bit Forward

Seeing as how I can't sleep no matter how exhausted I am, I figured I might as well do something to keep my mind off the fact that the green goop in my lungs is keeping me from breathing. (Have I mentioned how I hate being sick?)

In my more energetic moments this weekend (which have sadly left me), I began construction on my Halloween costume. (Well, actually I began it last week, but I had only completed one little piece.) I think the description I'm going with is Victorian Masquerade.

The basic line up will consist of: chemise, corset, skirt, overskirt, stockings, boots, possibly spats, and, of course, a mask. There will also be accessories, like the collar shown below. In order to keep down costs, most of this stuff will be made out of crap that I already own but never wear.

Case in point, this chemise and collar were once a whole button-up shirt that has been sitting in my closet since January. But, with a little creative scissoring and some shirring (don't feel bad if you have no idea what I'm talking about here because I had to look up that term), I have a frilly top and a cute choker.

[Of course, I can't actually take any of the credit for this idea because I found it on ThreadBanger. They had a video tutorial on Steampunk attire (again, I had to look that up) that was very inspiring.]

And the corset (which you might be able to see a little better here) is something I wore for my wedding before it became a permanent fixture in my bureau. Thankfully, I had to take it in quite a bit to make it fit (woo-hoo!), and it still needs some sort of fabric covering. I have some pretty champagne jacquard that might look nice.

What I'm going to do about the skirts, I haven't quite decided. I think I have to spend some time scavenging the GoodWill outlet here in Boston. I tend to find good, cheap costume fodder there. Hopefully I'll be able to scrounge up some boots there, too.

I am also toying with the idea of a bustle (also to be found on the ThreadBanger video). I began playing around with the wire I got, but it will be awhile before I feel confident enough to post any pics.

The hardest part, tho, will be the mask, namely because it's the front piece and it will never look the way I intend it to look. The problem with working without a budget is that things can end up looking cheap. Hopefully, I've accumulated enough decorative junk in my lifetime that I can come up with something pretty cool.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

Adulthood

This morning, I got up early, showered and dressed, made myself coffee, eggs and toast, fixed my lunch, did the breakfast dishes (including wiping down the stove), and got ready for work. And now I am spending a leisurely hour catching up on blogging and correspondence while listening to Josephine Baker and Edith Piaf.

My mornings usually run a bit more like this: I hit the snooze button four dozen times, scramble for clothes, decide I'll skip breakfast and buy lunch while standing in front of an open fridge and staring at the clock, and remember something crucial I left on my vanity while streaking for the bus.

I feel so grown up since I've been on my own. It's scary.

But good.

Serve & Protect

I had my first ride in a police cruiser today. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Finally! They've gotten that whack-job of the streets!" But it wasn't like that at all.

We're doing remote buy-back on campus this week, and we tend to walk back and forth from the store since it's not that far. Well, our whole slogan is "Cash for Books" so, as you can image, that entails carrying a fair load of cash back and forth.

Usually, this is done at the end of the day when all three of us get in the van to lug the purchased books back. But today, our police detail offered to have a cruiser take one of us back to the store with the bulk of the cash. Since I was leaving early today, that was me.

Now, I expected that I'd ride up front, I suppose because I don't see myself as the criminal type. And that's where the officer who escorted me was heading, until the officer behind the wheel jerked his thumb at the back seat, so that's where I ended up. 

Don't get me wrong, he was perfectly polite, but it was a little disconcerting sitting behind those bars (attempting to hide the store logo on the plastic bag in my lap) while being chauffeured around the Square by Cambridge's finest. Especially when the radio began to crackle.

Possible shooting. Suspects afoot. You could feel the tension jump. When my escort picked up the radio, my first thought was, He does know I'm still in the back seat, right? As he responded in some sort of affirmative, I wondered if he was going to turn on the siren and speed right past my drop point, as he had already gone the weird way around.

"I'm going to let you off here, okay?" he said, as he screeched to a halt at the entrance to the alley and leapt from the car to open my door. 

"Oh, sure, yeah, great!" I don't think he heard me. 

The lights and sirens were on before I could get the door closed. And off he sped, to serve and protect.

Case In Point

I am so easily distracted by my electronics.

I Love Technology

It is at once the boon and bane of my existence. It allows me to do so many things. And in so doing, keeps me from doing so many things.

I was exploring Twitter today. Very interesting. 

So many little things to integrate.

I love it when things dovetail.

I'm such a nerd.

Why?

I have the job that I have because I was desperate to get into Boston. I love my parents, but I just had to get out on my own again. So I caved and took a retail position that I am totally overqualified for. Now that I've gotten my yearly raise, I make a whole dollar over Massachusetts minimum wage. Next year, if I'm good, I might be in line for another whole quarter per hour raise.

Now, once I was in Boston (or thereabouts) I figured I'd find another job that was a little more along the lines of my general talents and abilities. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment at which the economy took a nose dive. The fifty or so Craigslist ads per day which I had been perusing in New Hampshire went down to three. Businesses closed, companies conducted layoffs, and everyone (even in my ridiculously profitable industry) went around whispering "Recession!" as if it were some sort of charm.

Not only that, but I had the brilliant idea that I would go back to school to escape this nightmare of an employment future. When I told my bosses that I would need to go down to part-time, they recommended I just cut back to 30 hours so I could keep my benefits and it would be less likely that I would be seen as some fat to trim when the budget got tight. Okay, makes sense, so I stupidly agreed.

Fast forward four months. I have just a week and half to finish and revise a 10-page research paper for one class and create from scratch a final project for another. I also have to make up for some time I needed last week for the aforementioned paper which I took out of my regular work schedule. So, I'm working 36 hours this week (and dodging guilt trips at work for not offering more of my time during their busiest season) and I will not be able to get everything finished. 

I would lament that I should have simply gone down to part-time anyway, but the only other part-timer in my department has already been let go, so that probably would have ended badly. I would have simply gotten another job, but I don't have the time to even look, let alone interview. 

What am I supposed to do? Why is it that this country does not believe in investing in the future of its workforce? Why wasn't I born in Sweden so I could go to school for free and with government help for room and board? Why is it that the suffering I experienced this semester has to be drawn out into the decades it's going to take me to pay off my loans?

What the hell, man?

So Many Videos, So Little Time

I should be working. I have been working. For the last 10 hours straight before I slept. But one's brain can only focus on the gothic, and thereby horrific, implications of Joyce Carol Oates for so long before one must break for something lighthearted and utterly frivolous. 

Luckily, the internet is FULL of that sort of stuff. You can't go very far without stumbling across it. Or, in my case, you're cruising Facebook and you click on a link which takes you to YouTube where you see a video advertised that reminds you of one you saw two years ago and you spend a moment searching for that video only to find that--ta da!--it's still there, and it still makes you laugh.

I love the internet.

Cats Are Queer Articles

My kitty and me have an agreement: I keep her in tuna, and she keeps her cute little yap shut. More often than not, it is me that forgets the deal. Her favorite time to remind me of this is first thing in the morning. 

She has this uncanny ability to sense the exact moment when my consciousness hovers closest to the surface. She usually sits approximately 2 millimeters from my nose (or eyeball) and mews quietly at an ever increasing pitch until it is impossible for me to do anything but get up and rectify the situation. It feels something like this:

Although she has not used a baseball bat on me yet, I suspect she knows where she can lay her paws on one.

I was a particularly good human the other day, though, and was rewarded accordingly. I came home from work to find that the critter's food dish was empty. She was doing the usual belly-up wiggle dance to inform me of this fact. I filled the dish and waited for her to signal her approval.

She went over to the dish, gave it a cursory sniff, and when she looked up at me I could hear her thinking, "You boob!" She did an about face, marched over to the fridge, and plopped down at the edge of the door. She stared plaintively at the door and then glanced at me with a look that said, "You know the good stuff is in here, bozo."

Playing the good pet, I dutifully retrieved the open can of tuna and filled her tuna saucer. Andromeda oversaw the whole operation, and I know she must have been pleased at my speed and efficiency. Usually she scolds me for the unbearable amount of time it takes to get the fish from the can to her dish, but this time she never let out a single sound!

Am I well trained, or what?