So, hello everyone! Not a whole lot to say tonight, but I thought I would share tomorrow’s lunch! I am currently looking on amazon at things I don’t need (this, this, and this). Just thought I’d share lunch with you all.
Category: Picture Post
Success Lunch! And Other Stuff
So, I made another lunch. Octo-sausages, olives, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, and oranges. Then, omelette rice with ketchup smiles and a rice with sesame seeds. AND a little piggy full of soy sauce!
A new note. I’ve been trying to cut soda out of my diet, and I have found that it is very hard. I live for the caffeine. I’ve cut sugary coffees out of my diet (very much to my dismay, because I love Copper Mountain Coffee), and then I’ve moved on to the soda. Which, with drinking lots of water, I have cut back significantly on soda consumption. But, I’ve struggled with caffeine. I’ve found a wonderful substitute:
These things are great!
Seriously, I don’t care if you tell me they are bad for me. There is no high fructose syrup, no aspartame, there is enough caffeine to get me through the day, and it tastes good. Whereas I would drink 2-3 sodas a day, I drink one of these a day. There are 5 calories per serving, 1 gram of sugar per serving, and for every serving there is as much caffeine as a cup of green tea. So, this is great for me.
It also helps me sleep. When I go to sleep at night I find it easier to relax if I haven’t had any soda that day. With one of these, I just melt into sleep and I wake up in the morning feeling the way I usually do (not great, not good, just able to get out of bed)(which is normal). Thankfully I dream a lot more too, so when I sleep I feel more rested and I hit REM. That is so nice!
That’s my stroke order, penmanship, and my timing my speed for my hiragana practice. I haven’t done that many yet, only three, but I think I’m doing better. I’m also working on remembering their meaning. Which, is going okay. Thankfully I have flashcards and I’ve got my laminated study guides at my desk. So, definitely working hard on that. I should have started keeping track of my hours of study, so I would have some idea about where I am at. I’m sure I’ve got quite a few hours under my belt, but they don’t count if I’m not making progress. Oh well, I’ll get there.
Have a good day lovies!
I made a thing…
The true struggle of a polygot.
Success Lunch! 01/25/2016
So, I made another cute lunch. Not as cute as some of my others, but I remembered to take a picture of this one.
Ta-Da! I didn’t have a lot of supplies when I made this, but thanks to my lucky veggie cutters I was able to cut out all sorts of cute things. That little figure is my mad radish farmer. I figured that he is mad, because his radishes are actually cucumbers. Which… was probably to much thought put into making a tiny man. There is a ghost in there, with the apples, I gave him a face too. He is hiding among the flowers.
Not as cute as Pusheen, who I love and adore and want to fill my life with. Of course you can always find more cute images of fat cats here.
I have made the mistake/mission of working overtime tomorrow. Which is great because I need the money, but it sucks after the day I had today. I am currently working on an article for EVERYONE on the internet about how to get along with customer service. I’ve worked in that industry for YEARS and I think I can help a lot of people out. 🙂
I’m still waiting to hear back for Montana State, the requests I sent are being forgotten under lap tops and will be found later in an out bin under the box of hard candy they got for christmas and forgot to eat and finally decided to throw out, and that’s if my requests don’t stick to the bottom of the box of candy, because the heat got left on to high and some of the sugar melted to the envelope. And then it will try to make a recovery by flopping out onto the floor when the trash gets taken out but then it will get kicked under a filing cabinet only to be discovered three years later by Denise from Accounting who dropped the ring she bought online to convince her coworkers that she was married and that she didn’t go home to an empty apartment with a bottle of wine every night. Not even her cat will hang out with her anymore. But she doesn’t want her co-workers to feel sorry for her and she doesn’t want her loneliness part of the office gossip so she printed out pictures of a random man on facebook, bought a fake ring, and pretends to be happy. She is going to find the envelope under the filing cabinet, open it up, and realize that oh “Derrik in processing needs this.” Derrik is going to tell her the form is expired and doesn’t have the right robot stamp because it’s been three years since and technology has evolved and now the form I originally sent in doesn’t compute. THAT’S how it’s going to go down.
So I sit and wait. And wait some more. They’ve added more things to my checklist too, probably thinking that I wouldn’t notice, like someone would do to a shopping list telling me I need cookie dough when I don’t or when someone adds an extra chore to a list when I wasn’t looking. That’s how I felt. I haven’t submitted the application for housing yet, because I’m still waiting to see if I get approved. If I don’t get approved and I have filled out the application, then I don’t get the housing application deposit back. That’s 200$ I can always put to something else.
20/01/2016: Success Lunch!
So, this post is a little belated. But, I wanted to share with you the lunch I prepared on Wednesday. Little backstory first.
My mum gave me a 100$ gift card for christmas to Amazon. As I’ve been eyeing a wonderful monbento box for a while, I committed to much (~30$) to purchase the one I wanted. I will admit, it was more then I spend on groceries in a week, and it was more then I am usually willing to spend on anything. But, I’ve been wanting it for almost two years now and I figured it was now or never (or then or never, as it is past tense). I may have posted the link in a past post, however, here it is again. It’s not the normal shape, but the dishes are deep enough that when I make “american” sized portions of things that may be to tall for my regular box, they fit nicely. It holds a lot more food than I was expecting as well, it was surprising. Usually I run out of room before I run out of food, but this time, I ran out of food and needed to find something else. So this was my end result:
This is WAY more than I would usually pack. Usually, I divide up the meat portion into a dinner and lunch portion, however this time, I still had room to add something else on the right. I had to cut myself off, I felt full just packing this and almost didn’t finish it on Thursday. The smiles and the flowers are supported by tiny silicone molds that were much smaller than I thought they were, I had already bought them and I didn’t want to return them, so flipping them over helps add volume to the lunch (which, until now, I didn’t know was an actual thing).
Sealed up, packed up, and ready to go!
Happy 3 Years!
So, I’ve been alerted that today is officially the 3rd year anniversary of my writing on this blog. Which… is really only 2 years, because I kind of ignored 2015. But, anyway:
Look! I found an image! Thanks google!
So here is to at least 3 more! Stay safe my friends!
Learning is Hard
So, my task of learning Japanese for the past… 15 (almost) years has been difficult. Partially due to the fact that I can’t concentrate long enough to remember anything. I’ve tried workbooks, language partners, Rosetta stone (It’s not that bad, I just always have to restart), and immersion (which isn’t easy when I live in a state where almost no one speaks Japanese and can only get the exposure through music and television. I watch A LOT of Japanese movies.)
I’m trying a new technique. I have this notebook that I’ve been saving for something; like all my notebooks. But instead of normal lined paper it has graph paper. This is helpful for me. It also makes me laugh because I bought CAMPUS notebooks for when I get good at writing things in Hiragana and Katakana. Which… are not as nice as the notebook I’m currently using, but as they always say in food service “Oldest first.” I’m still looking for workbooks for children that have basic phrases like “My name is…” Watashi wa…. I think they would be useful to have just because I don’t know simple phrases like that. But, I will share with you what I have done so far. (It’s probably not all correct, but I spent a lot of time on it, and damn it, I think I’m okay with spending a lot of time being wrong on this.)
My notebook with my Rilakkuma Space Cadet Pencil
I had a fab friend in Japan check it for me, and she says it looks correct. It’s not her first language, but she knows more than I do, so I’m going to trust her.
Now, because someone is going to have a question about it, I have been given a Japanese name. This was done by a Japanese person and I accept it for what it is. On the owner page, it is the one written without the parens, on the description page it is the series of characters after the semi-colon. It’s Kazuko (Kah-zoo-ko). It’s easier for my Japanese friends to pronounce, and since we are working on their english, it’s important for me to know that they don’t struggle with my name. Kazuko mean “first” and “child” as well as “Harmony”. I am the first child in my family, so, that works for me. Not sure on the harmony part, but hey, two meanings.
I’m sure there are a few of you that have rolled your eyes at this and muttered “weeaboo” or something to that effect. Honestly, I don’t care. I’ve studied the nation of Japan and it’s culture for the majority of my life. Sure, I started with anime, but it’s more than that now. I don’t think I’m Japanese. Yes, I use Japanese words as much as possible with the people I know, because it helps me learn. Why I do what I do is why I do it. I don’t do it for you, I do what makes me happy.
So, yes, to cap this off. I’m working in a good direction. I’m going to try my hardest to make my goal a reality. So, Kanpai!
A New Phish, Downsizing, and Figuring Out Life
So, it’s been a while… and in the past I have said that a lot.
I love that thing. But, life hasn’t done much, and that probably had to do with the fact that I haven’t told it to do anything. Applied to college at MSU, going for Engineering and computer science (double major) with a minor in Japan Studies. I’ve been working much harder on my Japanese than I have been over the past 10 years. I have several conversational partners and I use an app when I don’t speak with them. I also broke down and bought Rosetta stone, which I have found out really helps with my pronunciation. One of my partners said that the phrases I’ve learned through that program are wonderful. I’ve got an American friend over there too. She is from Texas and she helps me figure out A LOT (see above). She understands how my American brain processes learning and knows how hard it is to learn that language. But I’ve learned a ton of stuff from her and from my partners.
So, I have a new fish. He is a betta and his name is Phish.Griff (fish-point-grif).
His name is Griff, because he is red. If I have to explain it anymore, you don’t get the joke. I also added a ‘f’ to his name because I like to misspell things. So yea, he’s hanging out with me right now. He is super shy, but he is bubble nesting so that is a good sign. He is sitting on my side table in the sun so that we can hang out while I’m on the computer.
I’ve downsized over the past month, and I don’t just mean that I’ve lost weight (and I have). I had my appendix removed two weeks ago. So that has been fun. Took us a month to get there, and it took three doctors visits to get someone to understand that I wasn’t faking the pain in my side. Thankfully there was nothing wrong with my appendix, but for now the pain has subsided and hopefully it doesn’t come back. If it does we will handle it then.
I have a few plans laid out for my life, because anyone that knows me, knows that I must be prepared for everything and if I’m not I panic. First plan: I got back to school next fall, study in Japan my junior year, graduate, and then move to Japan to work for an engineering company (not to bad, a little bit of a reach.) Second Plan: Move to Poland. That’s right readers, I’ve applied for work in POLAND. THE COUNTRY! Still waiting to hear from the company, but I am definitely looking forward to working there. It’s such a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I don’t go to school then plan three is that I move back to Portland and just do my own thing there. I miss that city so much and I feel like I fit in the best there. Maybe it’s Powell’s Books that I miss so much, or the locally brewed ciders… or just the fact that I didn’t ever feel the need to be embarrassed about myself because it’s Portland and no one cares.
So that’s how life has been. Still crafting and writing. Now that I own the domain again hopefully I’ll update more often, but hey, who knows.
Later, Peeps!
What I Have Learned After A Year of Being Single and A New Book Challenge
So, Hello! I just pulled the cat from the couch, how are you? It’s been a couple of months, but everything is very well here. I was officially hired by Plum Creek, so I got about a seven dollar raise. That and all the overtime I work helps out a lot. I have never finished out a pay period with money left over, and I was able to do that. Being financially stable is an amazing thing, it is a new thing, and it is something I have come to enjoy greatly.
It’s been a busy year. Changed jobs, moved (twice), and my car broke down. The super big things. Who knows I may move a third time before 2014 is over. I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past year (September to September, and I am aware that it is October). After the dramatic shift my life took, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Thankfully, I’ve had an amazing support team along the way. I learned that it isn’t as awkward as I thought it would be to go to the movies with myself. It’s also easier to coordinate movie dates and dinners with friends when it’s only you. But let me make a list, as I have grown to love lists. I have also grown to forget them a lot.
1) Cooking for one: Surprisingly a super hard thing to relearn. I went for a while cooking for two people, but one of those people had a two person appetite. A pound of bacon wouldn’t be enough. A block of cheese would last a day, and a box of pasta would be dinner for one. Once the Shift (I should really just call it that all the time) occurred, I found I was still buying for more than myself, and a lot of food went to waste. At the time that wasn’t cool because I wasn’t making a whole lot of money and that was just lost funds over time. I started to buy small frozen meals. Good for portion control, terrible for sodium levels. Then I went through a snacks only phase. So many pistachios were consumed over a few months, as well as candies and goldfish crackers. Oh, dear me, do not get me started on the goldfish crackers. I could have wholesaled out of my room with how many packages I had bought and subsequently consumed. Now, I eat what I want. If I want to eat a whole meal of red curry shrimp, I will. Most days I have a salad for lunch. I’ll have two corndogs for dinner if I work midnights, and I’m okay with that.
2) Making Friends: Before the Shift, I had the friends I had always had. Those that stuck with me through everything. After it, it was like a whole new world of people was opened up before me. I rarely went to bars before September of last year, because I was with someone and they never wanted to go. Last November I started to work at Target and met people that wanted me to hang out with them at bars. So, nervous the first time I went out, I don’t talk to anyone at the table. Somehow I still won them over. They kept inviting me back, I became their friend, we shared stories and hung out together. I had never had bar friends, and now I did (/do). I was an introvert among introverts, we all hated coming out of our houses and socializing. But, we had found a common place to hang out with people just like ourselves, and I don’t know if extroverts know how amazing and magical it can be.
3) Flirting: Apparently, I’m good at it. In all of my weirdness and all of my quirks, I’m apparently good at flirting. I did not know this.
4) Roommates: I have had very few good roommates experiences. Before I moved to Portland, I lived with a (now former) boyfriend and various other roommates in that same house. I loved that house. I lived with good people, and for the most part we got along. Then I moved a few times and I was tired of moving. This time last year though, my best friend Ky and her husband, offered me their spare room. Now, Ky wasn’t a new friend. She and I had met back in 2009 when I started at Teletech. Our friendship grew over time and slowly she became my best friend. When I was living in Beaverton and her and her husband told me they were going to visit Portland, I immediately offered my space to them and they offered a space to me. I trust them 100% and I know they would never let me down. We have our ups and downs, but I have learned so much from them and they have helped me grow as a human being. I tell them all the time that I don’t need to be married because I get to be around them and the happiness they share is enough for me. I wouldn’t trade their friendship for the world.
Maybe more of a list later… I already feel like this post is stretching on and on and on. But, I wanted to talk about the book challenge I’m going to start on January 1st, 2015. It’s a reading list, pulled from the front and back covers of a book called
- 501 Must Read Books
.
That is the book. I bought it at The Bookshelf in Kalispell. I picked it up, took it to the counter, and told the clerk (Mary is her name) that I was going to read all of them in a year. That’s 1.37 books a day and 9.63 books a week. I’m still shooting for that goal, It’s not entirely unattainable, a bit unrealistic but not unattainable. Some of them are about 800 pages long though, others are around 250-300 pages. It all comes down to time management. If I don’t finish in a year, then the challenge will be to see how long it takes me to read them all.
There is a list online if you want to see the selection of what I’m going to be reading here. I challenge you to try it out too. It’ll be a fun year expanding your reading ventures. I’ll try to update every week over the coming year what I finished, thoughts on the process, and so on. Bad Rock Books and The Bookshelf are going to get a lot of business from me, as well as the library.
Well, I’ve said a lot here, more than I’ll probably write in all of NaNoWriMo next month.
Have a good October everyone!
In the Eye of the Beholder…
The Half Ginger 
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