Testing Pinterest. AKA: Pinter-testing

Okay, March already. That's insane. Where did the first two months of 2013 go?

I've been writing a very little bit. It seems to be picking up speed, but as I mentioned in my last post, I still have quite a few knitting projects to get through before the end of the season. I'm also busy cleaning and packing... we're moving back to Ontario in early June!

June may seem like a long ways away, but in reality I only have four more weekends here with The Husband around, and then we're on vacation to the West Coast for two weeks. By the time we get back he has about one day to throw his belongings in the car and drive another 1500kms straight east, all the way to Kenora. That's followed by three more weeks in Calgary for me, a quick trip back to Ontario for Husband's 30th birthday, then three more weeks and the big move. All in all, I don't feel like I really have much time for packing, cleaning, sorting, recycling and selling before it'll be time to go.

But I digress. If I wasn't busy enough, I've also added an hour of Spanish Rosetta Stone lessons to my day (heading to Mexico for a wedding next spring!) and a little extra cooking. Well, Pinterest experimentation, to be exact.

The tricky thing about Pinterest is... you can't trust it. Some of the DIY projects, recipes, and ideas on there really work well. Others, not so much. Even more are total bullshit. Sifting through what seems to be legitimate from the crap uses up half my time on there.

The other day one of my friends pinned a summer oatmeal recipe. I'd never made it before, but had wanted to try, so I repinned and bought all the ingredients I needed. It actually went really well! So for anyone interested, here follows the process and results:

1/4 Cup Traditional Oats (1/2 Cup for 500ML Mason Jar)

1/3 Cup Skim Milk (2/3 Cup for 500ML Mason Jar)

1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt (1/2 Cup for 500ML Mason Jar)

1.5 Tsp Chia Seeds (3 Tsp for 500ML Mason Jar)

1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (for the Chocolate Banana Recipe)

Honey to Sweeten (about 1 - 2 Tsp)

Layered! Caution: Honey Sticks to the Glass

Shake Jars to Mix

Stir in Diced Fruit

Garnish with Whole Slices

So it went pretty well. I made Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate Banana, Peanut Butter Banana, Vanilla Raspberry, and Blueberry Kiwi. I've taste-tested the Apple Cinn and Choco Banana, and have a preference for the apple one. It tastes just right. The chocolate one needed more honey I think, to sweeten the cocoa a bit more. In fact, using hot chocolate power might have been just the thing to do...

Things to watch out for: The honey tends to stick to the glass, not mixing well. Try to keep the honey in the middle of the mix when you add it, and then shake it immediately. Also, the peanut butter was a bit of a problem. I don't think it mixed in very well. Granted, I was using chunky pb, so that might have been the problem. I would try heating it up a bit to soften before adding.

All in all, it looks like I have a week's worth of delicious summer oatmeal lunches and snacks!

Until next week,
S.

Still Alive!

Yes, yes, I'm still alive. Haven't posted since the end of NaNo... yikes!

I did manage to finish NaNo with just over 50K words, but learned that I'm not a big fan of NaNo. It definitely made writing feel like a chore, which I don't like. I haven't done a lot of writing since then, being busy with other hobbies. My thoughts have definitely been pushing towards picking up my pen (or keyboard, more accurately) lately, but I have a few knitting projects I need to get through first! Hopefully I'll be back here again within a few weeks...

S.

First World Problems

Stupid PVR stopped working this week. Again!

I don't watch a lot of TV, but the few things I do watch (like Parks & Recreation, or 30 Rock) I like to be able to watch on my own time, not whenever the show airs. So I rely on that little PVR to be working. When it's not, it pisses me off. But I can usually make a point of watching the show during the actual air time.

During NaNo? Not so much.

Of course, then I remember the good old days, when we only had like six channels to choose from, and think, "right, first world problems." Life could always be worse than a non-functioning PVR.

I finished my 2300 words tonight. 2301, to be exact. That leaves me with 3429 words I need to cram into tomorrow afternoon and evening...

Ack! Wish me luck!
S.

So Close!

I kept wanting to quit tonight. Kept telling myself I'd make up the words tomorrow or Friday. So exhausted! But I pushed forward, kept on churning out the words until I hit that golden 2300 word mark. I'm now at 44 270 words. I'm going to aim for another 2300 tomorrow, leaving me with just under 3.5K for Friday. And damn it, I will finish the 50K!
The end is so close I can taste it!
Agh!
S.

Kitty Cam!

Just got home from Idiot#1's staff party. It was actually better than I had anticipated for a dinner theatre. Jubilations could do better on the food, but the show was great. Ghost Busters themed, all 80s tunes. Even had a little Toto in there at the end!

But yeah, I'm off to bed right away. Won't get any words down today, but I knew that. The next three days are going to be filled with writing—just over 9K words, to be exact! I'm really taking it down to the wire, but that's kinda fun in its own way.

I do have something fun for this post. We suspected our cats were getting on the counter at night, and I suspected Steve French, while Idiot#1 suspected Lemon. To see who was right, I set up my laptop to record the kitchen overnight. The built in camera takes a picture every fifteen seconds, compiling them into a short video. And...

Turns out, we were both right!

Three nights in a row I've recorded the kitchen, and three nights in a row BOTH cats have gotten up there and mucked around. I also recorded while we were away at work. Here's what I came home to today:

Apparently, Lemon just wants to see what's going on outside!

Haha.. this Kitty Cam stuff is fun :D

S.

... there is no spoon.

I’m trying to wrap my mind around this spoon. Let go, jump off the building, follow the white rabbit. I’m so close, but still so far, from that fifty thousand goal. I would be right on track (as I so hopefully believed yesterday...) until I remembered that Idiot#1’s staff party is tomorrow night. So yeah, probably won’t get a single word down tomorrow. That’s gonna put me behind.

I’ve got Friday afternoon off to run a few errands that need to get done, so if I get through those quickly I might have a few extra evening hours. And at this point, it goes without saying there won’t be any cooking or cleaning happening until I hit the finish line—or epically fail only a few hundred words short at midnight... Ha!

But fail or not, I am happy with this MS so far. Maybe when I have the time (let's face it, that'll be after the Festivus season is over) I'll put together some better blog posts, and tell you all about it. Maybe a little more Scrivener love. It'll be nice to have some free time again!

Anyway, I’m outta here. Until tomorrow (or the next day),
S.

Back on Track

Five nights left of NaNoWriMo. I'm 12K short of the 50K words, and I think I can do it. I've fallen behind (still mostly blaming that on being sick last week) but I put in just over 3K words tonight and it's put me right back where I need to be. If I get back up to my 2300 words per day then I'll still finish before midnight on Friday!

Anyway, that's my short update--too tired and ready for bed! I'll have to try to remember to post some pics from my knitting club brunch this morning. It was freaking delicious!

S.