Living in the Clouds

Banksy - girl with balloon

You know what my problem is? I'm a planner. I'm great at planning things on large scale, such as trips, events, ect. However, I am completely unable to plan out small things, such as what to do each day. I'm horrible at time-management. Each day I wake up thinking "hmm, I should accomplish something today. I should finish that mound of homework. I should clean the house." And go to bed thinking "why did I even bother getting up today?" I used to be great at these things. Perhaps not the homework part, but hey, I could at least make progress. Accomplish something. Lately it's a disgruntled glance at my books and the pile of dirty dishes, then back to.... ?

My issue is, how do I plan mundane events? How can I make, no, force myself to do things that I feel are painfully dull. Why am I so lethargic? When life is boring, how can I force fun out of it?

No More Cookies

(photo stolen from Stephen's Europe pictures)


I've finally embraced myself. Well, maybe not quite that intense, but I have finally discovered my love. And it does not include the oven. It's a decision that, though small, is life changing for me: I don't have to bake in order to love cooking. Phew, that's a relief.

Anthony Bourdain helped me discover this. (And yes, I have been spending all my time watching No Reservations. Hey, I'd rather go to New Zealand than do my homework. Or clean. Or really do anything else.) In Paris, his very first episode, he summed it up perfectly: "There's only two things wrong with bakers: One, I can't do what they do and Two, they get up too damn early in the morning". I'd much rather spend my time improving my cooking than carefully measure flour. I think there's a subconscious reason why I destroyed nearly all my measuring spoons and half the measuring cups. I hate them, and refuse to use them. It's not stubbornness, it's resilience.

But with this new-found enlightenment, comes the downfalls -- cooking every night means the kitchen is always dirty. No matter how thoroughly I clean it each day, it looks like a bomb went off each night. So I've decided Steve gets to deal with it this time. he he. I cook, isn't it ok for him to clean once and a while :o)

Food Porn

Ah, the consequences of watching Anthony Bourdain. Normally the show makes me moderately hungry, but I should have known what his time in Istanbul would do to me.

After cooking chicken pitas for Steve and I, and him laying on the floor from being so full, we decided to watch the episode. Thinking we were already so full, who'd imagine our stomachs would be growling about 10 minutes in. It's amazing how convincing appetites can be. Or perhaps it's that the Turks may be the best cooks in the world.

The reasons to go to Turkey are piling up. Why doesn't the money do the same?

Baby It's Cold Outside

Mmmm, I love snow days. It's an excuse to stay home, drink tea, and cuddle up under a heap of blankets watching TV. It's the only time I can do nothing without feeling guilty. I guess in my mind, I can't go to work or really go much of anywhere without running the risk of crashing, so it only makes sense to stay home. In fact, it's smart to not leave if I don't have to. My car is the size of an egg, and does not fair well in snowy, icy weather. I'd rather not deal with an SUV honking at me for going 10 mph. I don't want to crash! I will go as slow as possible.

Perhaps I am a bit boring, but my favorite thing is staying home. And if I must enter the real world, I only want to go to the coffee shop or the grocery store. However, I do have a constant pull to travel. Which is very unbalanced. I love being out and about in other cities and places, just not at home. That's not unheard of, right? I think so. And even if it's not, I'm ok with that.

Being content to stay home is important. Constantly needing to be doing something, looking for entertainment has to be exhausting. I'd rather read a book. And what's more exciting than traveling around the world for free? Other than actually traveling around the world that is.