words

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

I'm just going to pretend it hasn't been a month

I heart election day. There's just something about being allowed to go and hit the button on the machine (or whatever the machine happens to do). Isn't democracy great? I like to get up early and go, not because I'm worried about lines or anything, but it's a special day and I get excited. I feel like that's kind of dorky. I don't care.

I applied to grad school. I think I'll probably get in, but then I think that I'm being cocky and worry that I won't get in. Because I only applied to the one program... Usually I'm against limiting yourself like that, but there weren't any other programs, except in North Carolina. If this doesn't work out, maybe I'll look at that one again. But probably not for a few years.

I have all of these crafty-type things, and cookbooks, and recipes that I want to try out. I get bogged down by lack of space and I spend my time wishing for a bigger kitchen or more storage where I could better organize papers and yarns and such. Also, cooking for one isn't very much fun. It's much easier to just make spaghetti or whatever when there's no one else to please. I'd like to do something like the butternut squash lasagna again, but I'm uninspired. I have an acorn squash that I need to use, but it's just too much trouble for one person. Maybe tomorrow. 

I think I'm ready for some sort of change, I just can't find the proper location to look for that change. We'll see about the grad school, but I'd also like to change my room around, or maybe be in a different apartment. I like my apartment, but I feel like a new place wouldn't be so bad. This also might say more than I mean it to, but I'd also be really motivated at work if I got a new desk. I can't figure out a better place to put my computer or anything, so it's sort of stuck in a rut. 

I have one more day of work and then my two days off! I'm very excited about these days, though I haven't made any plans yet. If the weather's nice maybe I'll take a walk down by the river and read. I also only have a stretch of 6 days next before 5 days off, and only 1 more stretch of 8 left in the year! Yay for vacation and comp days and saving them for the holidays!

It's probably time to go to bed now. I will do so.

Butternut Squash!

Jon took me to Bazin's on Church for my birthday in March and we had Butternut Squash ravioli for an appetizer. It was amazing and since then we've been kind of obsessed with butternut squash. So I found this set of recipes on marthastewart.com and I've been wanting to try them.

So tonight I made butternut squash lasagna, and it was a rousing success! I definitely want to make it again sometime. Maybe for my family or something. Hopefully they'll enjoy it too...

Why can't I just sit at home and make things all day?

I've recently decided that I'm interested in too many things. I end up frustrated or disappointed in myself because I don't do enough with crafts and baking, etc because I just don't have the time. I would love to be able to make lots of lovely things, but I never seem to get around to it.

In college I taught myself how to knit, and I made a few things, but then I got interested in sewing and embroidery, so the knitting took a back seat. Now my sewing machine just lives in my closet and I have an unfinished embroidery project sitting on my desk while I'm playing with making books and pretty papers. Meanwhile, I also want to learn to quilt and do some more sewing, not to mention baking and cooking fun things....

So as you can see, there's too much to do and no time to do it. I have to work (especially to finance some of these hobbies - yarn and fabric can be expensive!) and I'm usually away from home for at least 11 hours on the days that I work. Factor in the need for sleep and food and general rest and I generally don't get around to much.

I'm trying to handle this by just putting projects on the back burner. I'm keeping a list of things that I find inspiring or projects that I could make from blogs in my google reader that hopefully I'll get around to eventually. I'm also trying to just focus on one project at a time, so I can feel that sense of accomplishment. For instance, we're having a baby shower for a co-worker today, so I made the new baby girl a fleece baby blanket. It's extremely easy  - you just cut fringes into the fleece rectangles and tie them together - instant blanket! Pictures to come soon...

I was right

It was delightful. My only regret is that I don't have the rest of the series to read right now. But which of the other books to choose next?

So many books, so little time

I haven't been doing as much reading lately as I like. Errands and crafty-ness seem to eat up all of my time outside of work, so I'm left with reading on the metro and before bed. I finished the latest Jane Green book recently (after waiting for it on hold since July...) and so I went back to the library yesterday on my day off and ended up with this pile of books. I've already finished Twenties Girl, the newest book by Sophie Kinsella. I actually ended up with it in Large Print, because I put both copies in the library system on hold and that's the one that came in first. I guess it's the same story, just a little disconcerting. I did enjoy it, though possibly not as much as the Shopaholic series.

The rest of the books I picked up were all on the new books shelf. At least 2 of them appear to be part of a series. One of them clearly was, so I put it back and went up to the mystery section where luckily they had the first one of the series. I started it today and I think it's delightful. Of course, I've only really gotten into the intro material, where the characters are all being set up, but I'm very hopeful - especially because there are 14 books in the series, so it should last me a while.

Now I just need another beach vacation so I can catch up on all this reading!

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe

This video is ridiculously addictive...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc