Such a veg*an

Holy shit. I completely forgot that April 26th was my 3 year vegetarianniversary. 3 years of no meat! And I'm better, faster, harder and stronger now, too (even if I tripped and ate it during my run yesterday and my left leg is covered in roadburn, ow). Yay me!!

Celebrating with getting more tattoo done in two weeks!

Things that are new with me

1. New job - yes, fucking finally. Will be making much more money, getting done at 4pm, working with nice folks, the whole shebang. Woop woop.

2. New blog - http://suchavegan.blogspot.com/. Check it out.

3. One of the cookbooks I tested for is out now! Immediately buy or order Viva Vegan! by the lovely Terry Hope Romero.

4. Working on my own cookbook. We'll see.

5. The cats are obsessed with (a) our bathroom rug, or rather, destroying our bathroom rug, (b) the kitchen clock, and (c) the various goings on of birds and squirrels in the fig tree outside our window.

Harrumph

Applied for a job last week, got an interview. I don't think I got it, which sucks, because I really liked the place and the people who interviewed me. It sucks to be THIS CLOSE to getting out of the suckhole I currently work at, and yet so fucking far...

5 things...

1. Yerba Mate

2. My new blog

3. Tangelos

4. New cookbooks (specifically the first Millennium cookbook, fancy!)

5. Tattoo

5 things

1. Knowing that I get to knit on my lunch break

2. Chips and spicy hummus

3. Pilot G-2 10 pt pens

4. Ravelry.com

5. Oregon t-shirts

5 things...

...that make me happy.

1. Free orange slices from a coworker

2. The beginnings of Dashing

3. Decaf lemongrass green tea

4. Pandora.com

5. The smell of my Jungle conditioner

5 things...

...that made me smile today.



1. LOST Season 6 speculation, and the party at Bill's tonight to watch the premiere

2. Jon Stewart

3. Asian pears

4. Plum blossoms

5. My Sugar Beat Sweets t-shirt

5 things

...that make me happy today.

1. My kittehs

2. Mole simmered squash/carrots/potatos/leeks with 3/4 an avocado on top

3. Gorgeous spring-like weather

4. Making my own chamomile-red leaf tea blend

5. Looking through new cookbooks while pooping on my lunchbreak.

I can has old

John's taking me out to Millennium tonight, and I'm going to guzzle wine and stuff myself until I pass out and he has to carry me home like a newborn lamb on the shephard's shoulders in the nativity scene.

Things

My grandma died this morning.

I didn't know what to do, and I couldn't really do anything anyway.

So like a true Ballert, I made food. I made chive spelt biscuits, mushroom gravy, and red flannel hash. The hash had potatoes and beets from my grandma's garden in it. Between that and the smell of the gas stove and the foggy Sunday morning, I felt like I was back in her kitchen.

I'm still hanging out in the kitchen, seasoning the cast iron skillet that she gave to me. Apparently it was her mother-in-law's. I closed all the doors so the heat stays in, and now between that and my redleaf tea it's quite toasty in here.

I feel indescribable loss, but at least I'm home.

I feel like of all the parts of me, as much as I constantly struggle to define who I am and come up with no answers, the parts of my life that have Grandma in them make sense, and those parts are solid and reassuring, and make the rest of the puzzle pieces fall into place around them.