Becca's Blog

Karma la bitch.

At my very first job out of college (which was awful—Dickensian, even—I lasted 11 weeks), I was so disdainful of the evil middle-aged proprietress. I feared and hated her for other reasons, but I disdained her because for lunch every day she would bring an enormous, multilayered salad packed in a Tupperware container. It reinforced the belief I first had in college: Diets are for prissy bitches.

Well, 23 years on, here I am, packing my reusable lunch bag with a big ol' multilayered salad in a recycled-plastic, reusable container.

Sigh.

Thanksgiving starts now

... that is, my Thanksgiving vacation starts now. So I'll start being thankful now, for time off to spend with family, and the prospect of cooking and knitting time, plus the luxury of being good and ready before going out on my training runs on Thursday and Saturday. (I'm running a half-marathon on January 16. Ask me how many full workouts of my 8-week training plan I've gotten in.)

I've been in something of an emotional slump for the past couple of days--brought on mostly by a serious midcareer crisis. I'm doubting my professional and personal attractiveness, but I will set it aside and be happy. We're spending Thanksgiving with Jane's family and Christmas with mine. Everyone asked me whether married life felt any different, and I said it didn't really, except it does in one respect. For some irrational reason, something clicked over in my brain and my in-laws truly feel like family now. Whether that means I can start arguing with them, I don't know. Haven't tried it yet.

Since we're flying to Southern California, we won't bring food with us, but I'm hoping that I can make one of my signature side dishes: cranberry-cherry relish. The recipe is from a years-old Gourmet, and it's great cranberry sauce. I may sneak some cinnamon sticks into my luggage for this recipe, since I have an absurdly large hoard of them in the cupboard. I've also got lots of great music loaded up on my MP3 player (three Chuck Prophet albums), plus a sock pattern to use for the violet-blue mer-made wool from Blackberry Ridge. Between that, the mosiac mitts, and the bobbly baby beanie, I'm set for knitting.

Dinner last night didn't go so well. I was feeling terribly smart about my multitasking skills, and it bit me in the ass. The lentils didn't cook on time. The turkey got overcooked yet was sitting in a puddle of liquid. We had a third the amount of spinach I thought we did, so my beds of sauteed spinach were piddling little blobs. I had a snit about it, to be sure. I believe I've learned multiple things from my mishaps, but still. I'd prefer a nice dinner.

Let me be the first to wish everyone a happy US Thanksgiving.