I'm Back, Baby!

Two and a half weeks later, we've survived a snowstorm, 11 days without any power, heat, or running water, several days of dealing with other customers in similar situations at one of the only places in town with power and internet, and a two or three several-day-long runs between showers.

I don't want to say "It all really sucked," even though it did. I was cold from the moment I got home until halfway to work every day; we were showering at Ryan's father's house every couple of days; we only had the chance to do laundry there once, so I was wearing a lot of dirty clothes; I was brushing my teeth at work every morning; we were melting snow to flush the toilet; and finally, we missed the season premiere of Bones. The misery!

On the other hand, we were relatively lucky in that we had a couple of places to go to charge things and shower and feel warm for a little bit. Going to work was a definite lifesaver, most of the time. I say "most of the time" because by the last couple of days, I felt filthy and stupid and just...not human. I was a wreck. Mom got power back on Tuesday, so I was able to shower before work, and it made a huge difference. I didn't have to concentrate to remember which were the big lids or little lids, which coffee needed to be brewed, or if 8 was 5 plus 2 or 3.

...I'm not kidding, by the way. It was always that number, too; Sunday and Monday, every time I had to create 8 dollars in change, I had to think if I added one or two singles to the five. What the hell.


Ryan stayed surprisingly upbeat during the whole thing, especially once we borrowed the radio from Mom and he had music to fill the hours. We also did our best to be productive, which resulted in our little home being almost completely furnished and decorated to our hopes, something we thought would take a couple of months. I'd come home to find a few pictures hung up, or the kitchen organized, or the bookcase rearranged.

Of course, he also racked up over 30 hours in Final Fantasy V on his GameBoy DS, but whatever. It's not like I read through 5 books in as many nights or anything...

I am extremely proud of Ryan for his humor and optimism throughout the entire thing, especially as he was the worst off of the two of us. He had no job to go to for distraction, his favorite activities all require internet or at least electricity, and a combination of no running dehumidifier and several hours of smoky candles every night made him wheeze and cough and snore like you wouldn't believe.

The biggest difference this made to us, besides being pretty miserable for almost two weeks and spending way more on fast food than I would like to admit, is the diet. Ryan had planned on starting his cleanse, the first 10 days of his 100 day extreme diet, on Monday the 31st. Due to the fact that cleanses usually involve, you know, cleansing one's system, and we were resorting to flushing our toilet infrequently with melted snow (a toilet, I should add, that resides in a room with no windows to either let in light or let out smells), he decided to postpone the cleanse, for the sake of both our comfort and our relationship.

We finally got power back on Tuesday evening, and have been thoroughly enjoying it the past two days...even if we spent almost the entirety of Wednesday out of the house. We can watch TV! We can run the dehumidifier! We don't have to go to sleep at 10 just because we're bored! The amazement never ends!

Yesterday we bought $70 dollars of fruits and vegetables, last night he had his last soda (Coca-Cola), last beer (Stella Artois), and last pizza (Frank Pepe in Manchester, half sausage and peppers, half chicken and bacon), and today began The Cleanse. His breakfast was an Apple Pear smoothie, made with 2 apples, 2 pears, half a cup of grapes, a chunk of ginger, and some cinnamon. Pretty tasty! We also updated our Wii Fit Plus profiles to start fresh, and Ryan decided to do a run. He covered a little over three miles in half an hour, burning almost 350 calories! Color my impressed.

I am being a weenie and not doing a cleanse. It's party being a wimp over not wanting to eat only fruits and veggies for 10 days, and part is being concerned with how I'd fare at work. Besides, someone has to eat the leftover now-forbidden food left in the house, right?

On Sunday, the 20th, we'll start the next, biggest phase: 90 days following an almost vegan diet: no meat, no dairy, no processed food, no sugar, no caffeine, staying almost entirely to produce, whole grains, and legumes.

In the next 10 days, I'll be doing a combination of weaning and last hurrahs, getting in my last bits of favorite soon-to-be-off-limits foods while lessening the amount of fat, sugar, caffeine, and dairy I partake in each day. Have I mentioned where I work? Have I asked for many wishes of good luck?

Honestly, I am looking forward to it, to the challenge of it, the healthy habits we'll be learning, and the undoubtedly delicious creations Ryan will be whipping up for us with his new pantry.

I'll keep you posted!

Can Taste Buds Dream?

I texted Ryan on my break, whining talking about my vaguely crappy shift. He texted back with "I'll fix it."

[o] Came to visit me at work
[o] Got me a sourdough roll from Panera (I tried to get one on my break since I was hungry, but couldn't due to lack of cashier) AND a chocolate chip cookie for after dinner...
[o] ...which was...unbelievable. The order was: bottom bun, secret sauce (mayo, ketchup, garlic), hamburger patty (seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning and kosher salt), sauteed red peppers, garlic and jalapeno, Jarlsberg Swiss cheese, barbecue sauce, top bun. Also on the plate: steak fries and steamed corn on the cob.

I usually don't like Swiss, ever, and the barbecue sauce we have is usually a little too sweet for me, and I've never been a fan of the steak seasoning we have, and and and, blah blah blah...

IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING.

I will always stand by Ryan's cooking, he's seriously good, and he's made some of my favorite meals ever...and this may have been his best. It still vies with the chicken-pepper-white-wine-linguine dish, but c'mon, I'm a die hard pasta lover.

Oh man. I will have dreams about this meal. Nom. Nom nom. MAN.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S FOOD!

I MADE DINNER.

I flattened the chicken and cut up the chicken and seasoned the chicken and cooked the chicken AND IT'S STILL CHICKEN. And it was delicious. :D

Ryan taught and supervised and now I can make one his favorite creations, cajun terikyaki chicken, usually served mixed up in a bowl with rice and green beans. We're out of green beans, but we ALWAYS have rice (starch fanatic :D), and it soaks up the spices and soy sauce and YUM.

Ryan is currently waiting for the peanut butter & butter mixture to cool so he can finish up these delicious-looking cookies. We(Ry & Sam & I)'re also waiting for BJ to get home from work so we can watch True Blood.

Hee. :)

Um. Yeah. Work is stupid, but I don't wanna talk about it. I've been thinking about picking cross-stitching back up, or maybe even hitting up Hobby Lobby and try to make a necklace or something. Ryan thinks I'm just frustrated since my photography and writing productivity are a little stunted lately due to work and depression and stuff. We'll see.

....That's all for now! :D

Me Oh My.

Apologies for lack of update yesterday. I got kinda tired and cranky last night, and no one should have to listen to (or read) me when I'm like that.

Pity Ryan.

I'm actually kinda cranky at the moment, albeit for different reasons, and I'm less angsty to the point where I'd write about it. Suffice to say: argh.

On the Good News front: I WROTE TODAY. For the first time in...a while. Just shy of 1,400 words in just over an hour. Over 6K words now! Whee!

I also got to work at 933 today, which was...good and bad. I've basically decided that I shouldn't cover over there again for a month or so, it's just...hard being there right now. In the metaphor Ryan created where this whole transfer thing is like a break up, I'm attempting to hang out with an ex and be cool about it, and I just can't do it yet.

Tomorrow and Sunday are the same schedule as today (3:30 to 9:30, although at Ireland. I definitely want to do what I did today, going somewhere before work and getting some writing done. What I can't decide is where to go. Aurelie wants me to go to the Goshen Starbucks, since she has the day off and lives there and we could hang a bit, but it's 40 minutes away down the bypass, so...*shrug* 933 is still a possibility, as writing there wasn't as painful as working there.

Also on the yay side of things: I made meringues sometime last week, but no one in the house has been eating them, so I brought them in to 933 today. They were...kinda scarfed. :D

If you're wondering why they're still good a week later: we have a time capsule! Kittie made BJ and Ryan a birthday cheesecake in November, presented in a glass cake dish that was also a present. When the cheesecake was done, it got cleaned and stood on the dining room table. One day, someone was neatening, there was a single apple on the table, and the apple was put inside the dish. Where it stayed for quite a long time...and never rotted. Or withered. Or anything.

The dish has since been used to house just about every baked thing in the house, because damn does it keep stuff fresh! It's magic!

...yeah, I've gone a bit nutty from hunger and tireness. I think it's time to have some of the pizza that just left the oven, then nom the cake pop I brought home, get ready for bed, and read for the next few hours.

...yeah...that sounds nice...:)

Delayed Post Due To Recovering From Insanity.

Sunday. Was. Ridiculous.

Insanely busy.
Ran out of soy milk.
Ran out of whipped creams.
Computers crashed. Twice.
We spent two to three hours giving drinks away because we couldn't charge anyone.
I barred the entire time. And loved every second of it.

Three different co-workers told me I rocked it :) Meanwhile, Shift N is insane--she was on the phone with tech support while taking orders for front, smiling the whole time. She's also very pregnant. And had been there for seven hours, from six in the morning. Insane.

This week is going to be long. Eight hour pre-closing shifts today and Wednesday, six hour shift starting at 10:30 tomorrow, three identical six-hour pre-closing shifts Friday through Sunday. And, as you might have noticed, only one day off. I had Thursday and Friday off, but I picked up a Friday shift at my old store to help out. Extra hours when we're broke? At my beloved 933? Yes.

In other news, Ryan and I baked last night. He made chocolate chip muffins, and I made meringues again. Nom all around. :)

Work soonish, so breakfast and such now. Whee.

Just Another Day.

I have a feeling I won't have enough energy to post tonight, so here I am!

So far today I've taken a shower, caused butter to bust into flame by putting it into a pan that was WAY too hot while trying to make pancakes, made pancakes (half regular, half peanut butter, with one chocolate chip for Ryan), cleaned some dishes, and tweaked my money spreadsheet.

May make muffins tonight after work. Not sure.

Have to leave in 20 minutes for work. Six hour closing shift. Ugh.

Tomorrow should be better in terms of hours--11 to 7:30, mid-shift, hits the busiest times and has the least amount of cleaning.

It's gray outside. And snowing. At least it's not cold enough to stick?

I'm not very exciting today. Oh well! :)