It’s the Good Ones that Make You Smile [pictures]

My days haven’t been that swell for a little over a week now.  It’s personal stuff, but I’ll just saying I’m missing someone.  I’m missing and longing a lot.

So, today.  Yes.

I slept till noon.  Shoot me.  I’ll do it again tomorrow, probably.  Ah, the beauty of being a grad student living off the goverment.  Of course, I’ll definitely be paying for it.  I digress.

In any case, I went swimming…the usual 40 minutes.  It kicked my butt hard today for some reason.  I was exhausted by the time I walked out of the pool.  The ten minutes in the whirlpool were a welcome relaxation.  The hot water was back in the locker room so I didn’t have to wait until I got home to wash up.

Came home, made a salad, watched a little television.  Then Sherry called me to see if I wanted to go for a walk.  Foolishly, I said yes.  We ended up walking five miles.  And I discovered that I’m a sprinter.  At one point, she asked if we could run for a bit to warm up…so I started jogging and said, "I’m not a sprinter, this is about as fast as I go."  And she said, "You’re not even a runner!!"  That’s all I needed.  I took off and she couldn’t keep up.  I haven’t run in six months, and I’ve never sprinted.  I felt pretty good.  I started laughing about halfway through and thought I wouldn’t make it, but I took it all the way.  I turned around and said, "I’m not a WHAT, now?"

Side note: my legs are killing me.  This means I may or may not kick my own butt tomorrow swimming and lifting weights.

After the walk, I came home and began the first of my "Jessica is moving to California so it’s time to clean out some stuff" routines.  I started with some old videos and took ’em down to McKay’s.  I had roughly 32 VHS tapes and 5 DVDs.  I was hoping I’d get at least $30 in credit…I ended up with $34 in blue credit (books only), and $11 in yellow credit (books, CDs, DVDs).  Hence, I was pretty happy.  I spent 20 something on a few books…one for the aforementioned missee.  Then, bought a few CDs, one for the aforementioned missee that I opened up later in the car and realized was missing the actual CD.  I might send the case anyway and say, "So you can feel my loss."  I dunno.

Went to Target just before closing time.  I’m a gimmickaholic and I’ve wanted to try Choxie over and over again.  But since I’m such a lush, I’ve wanted the Champagne flavored stuff.  A couple weeks ago I saw that they finally got the champagne flavored truffles in, but I didn’t have the money to spend on ’em.  So, I figured I’d grab a box tonight.  Jerks sold out of them.  Probably a good thing, though.  I don’t need chocolate.  My butt wouldn’t be able to run like it does (apparently) if I stuffed it full of chocolate.  So, instead I bought Miss Congeniality on DVD.  Impulse buying – I tell ya.

Came home, made turkey veggie chili.  Not too bad.  And, my indulgence for the day, a buttery, oiled, spiced up (oregano and thyme) baked pita round.  YUMM.  Listen, it could have been worse.  I was craving pizza like no one’s business, but I had chili made from ground turkey, kidney beans, corn, tomatoes, green pepper, onion, and lots of yummy spices.  I won’t do it tonight, but I’ll show you a picture of it:

Don’t know what that is?  Maybe you need a close-up:

That’s Creme Brulee, baby!!

Normally, I would impart my wisdom and the recipe that allowed me to do this, but I just can’t do it.  Not this time.  This is because Creme Brulee is so lusciously delectable and rich and seemingly amazing, that I can’t reveal this gem of a secret.  What if you come over for dessert one day?  You can’t know how I did this!  A girl does have to keep some mystery about her.  But – never fear.  I will be posting a few recipes soon…easy ones.

Anyway, I listened to one of my new CDs on the way home tonight – Alanis’s Under Rug Swept.  Go Alanis.  One song particularly caught my ear – "You Owe Me Nothing in Return."  I have a feeling this will go on a Mix CD that will be mailed to aforementioned missee.

Yeah.  Today was a good day.