Five Question Friday

1. Do you make your kids finish all the food on their plates?

I don’t have any children yet. Babe always finishes though. That count? And if we had children, they would most definitely eat all of their food. We’re great cooks, and we demand excellence from those we feed.

2. Do you give an allowance?

I’m starting to think 5QF is for mothers only. *sighs* No, I don’t give an allowance. Unless you count all of the crazy cash I rain down on Babe. *prepares for the trouble that will come when Babe read this misleading answer* If we had children, yes, we would give an allowance. I believe in teaching money management at a young age. They will know all about banks and how they work. They will understand interest rates, and the importance of saving and investing wisely. We will NOT be dishing out a whole lot of extra cash for lunch and movies, and we won’t be buying them everything they want. Needs will be met along with some wants. The rest? Up to them. Yeah, I know. I’m not a parent yet and blah, blah, blah. Whatever. You don’t know me. I WILL do it. Ask Babe.

3. Do you actually park your car in the garage?

If I had a garage, yeah, I’d park the car in it. Car theft is REAL in these here parts.

4. What is one food you will NEVER cook?

Ummm… Pork. Never.

5. Do you have anything exciting planned for the summer?

No solid plans, no. I have some wishful thinking though. I wanna visit one or two other Bahama islands. I also wanna get quite a bit of writing done. This includes short stories, and a two series of books for children. Wish me bunches and bunches of luck and hours of productivity, y’all!

Join the fun! Answer in your own blog post and link up here, or answer in the comments. 

Thankful Thursday

It’s been a while, I know! After things stopped being super hectic, I started feeling very tired. My energy level was super low, and my vision got a bit crazy. I’ve self-diagnosed. I’m pretty sure it’s related to my anemia, and my failure to take proper meds. *sighs* Anyway, getting back on track now, so YAY!

Today, I’m thankful for:

• Sweet weather. It’s cool, but the sun is still shining.
• Getting out of my ruts. I started writing again this week, and starting running (and it was HARD) again TODAY. The weather demanded it.
• Supportive family. I’m unemployed at the moment, but my family is backing me up in my decision to lay low and work on a few projects of my own. My mom still lends me the car (which I though she MAY have stopped doing since I wasn’t going to work), my aunt doesn’t discourage me from writing, my mom tells me to go get my business license, my great-grandmother is not stressing me out about joblessness, etc.
• I have an application in for an exec. asst. job. It’s nothing thrilling, but the department (of government) is new and interesting, and it’s the kind of job that will still leave me with the time and brainpower to do my own thing. It shouldn’t be draining. Getting it would be cool since it would kind of be a good balance. I’d be getting a steady income and would be able to run my own business and write at the same time.
• I put a call in to a contact I made while working at my previous place of employment. He’d told me about the possibility of his workplace (a local bank) opening up a completely new position to bridge the gap between them and all of the initiatives and organizations that they support/sponsor/make donations to, and work with their (outsourced) PR team. That’s right up my alley, so if they make it a real job, I’m on it!
• I’ve got all the laziness out of my system. I’ve been at home for almost two weeks, and I still have some time with pay left, so it’s not too late at all. I’m happy to be back in productive-mode.
• Yoga. I see it being very important and beneficial in life. *breathes deeply*
• Elections will be held in less than two weeks. I may throw a party when it’s all over, regardless of which party wins. I’ll explain this in a post about election season in The Bahamas on the weekend. Be sure to come back to read it! You have never heard of anything like it. Believe me.
• Cereal and milk. I’ve been up for far too long to have nothing in my system, and I don’t feel like cooking. Hellooo, Honey Bunches of Oats. *looks in kitchen* Do I see bananas?! Oh, yes indeed!

How about you? What are you thankful for today? What’s the weather like in your part of the world? How productive have you been this week? Fill me in!

My First Cheesecake

Saturday was the bday party for Babe, and I didn’t want to be stressed out all day, so I made the chesecake on Friday night. I’m no fan of that no-bake nonsense, so I got the family recipe for my aunt. Unfortunately, that means that I can’t completely share it with you. Hers is a basic cheesecake, and I decided to raise it a few notches. Now how, you may wonder, do you raise a cheesecake up a few notches? Well, it’s easy. You CHOCOLIFY.

Instead of the cracker crust, I made an oreo crust. I just crushed oreos to bits in the blender until I had a cup full of them. Of course, my afterthought was that I should have counted the oreos so that I could tell you how many you need for a cup. *sighs* Maybe next time. Anyway, I mixed the oreo crumbs with about two tablespoons of butter to make it stick. Then, I pressed the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Once that was done, and the sides of the pan greased, I was free to mix the actual cake. When all done, I poured it into the pan and put it in the oven. The recipe gave me no clue how long to bake it for, so I googled and googled until I found a random basic cheesecake recipe. One hour. Good. At least I knew it wasn’t 15 minutes, or 30 minutes. When the hour was up, the middle still didn’t seem done, so I let it sit in the hot oven (which I’d already turned off) for another 10 minutes. Then, I let it cool. After that, it was ready to chill in the fridge to really set.

Just 90 minutes or so before the party was to start, I took out [the voices of angels since "Uuuuuuuhhhhhhh" beautifully] the Nutella. I covered the top AND sides of that basic cheesecake with Nutella. When I was done with that, I covered the top with more oreo crumbs so it looked like black fairy dust (or something). I decided that all it needed was a little colour. That’s where the strawberries came in. I cut about 12 (totally guessing the number there) strawberries into quarters, and threw them in a waiting pot of simple syrup (water + sugar). I let it “cook” on low heat until the strawberries started to colour the water. I let it all cool, then chill before putting the little strawberry fourths around the top edge of the cheesecake, the tips all facing the same direction.

Results: Not your grandmother’s cheesecake. No basic around here!

“Ooh! I could taste the love in this.”

“Is there NUTELLA in this?!”

“Mmm! So good!”

Happy? Yes, I am. My first cheesecake was a success. YAY, me!

Yeah, I know. No photos. No reason for you to believe me. *sighs* No longer having a smartphone means no photos.

What did you get up to on the weekend? Try anything new? What’s your favourite “basic” thing to make fun/interesting/different?

ROW80

Just a quick update. I’m feeling a little out of it today. Tired and hungry, maybe? My iron level seems to be on the decline. No good, no good.

I have done pretty much nothing on my ROW80 goals. I was going crazy with work over the past week, and really had no time. The event was on Saturday, and it was looooong. I’m glad it’s over. I’ve said my goodbyes to the job, and I’m now reveling in my current unemployment. I’m sure that it won’t last too long. I’ve an application out, and I fully expect to be called for an interview. If not, whatever. Funnily enough, I don’t feel under the gun to get a new job right this second. I can relax for about 3 weeks. During this time off, I plan to really whip through my goals. (Specifically, I intend to develop complete profiles for 5 characters by end of day tomorrow.) I also plan to work on getting my own things up and running. I’ve been kicking a business idea around for years, and I think it just may be time to act on it. I’ll be heading to the business license place (whatever it’s called) within the next week to apply for my license. YIPPEEEEEEEE! I’m also going to work heavily on getting sorted out with an illustrator, printer, and plan for the children’s books I’m going to be working on during the summer months.

If this seems like a lot, that’s because it is. And I’m happy with it. Busy, busy, busy is the way I like to be. And guess what! I can take my work to the beach. The BEACH can seriously be my office space. You can’t beat that with a stick!

On Saturday, there will be a little party at our place for Babe’s birthday. It’s a dessert party. I know, I know. You REALLY wanna visit The Bahamas now. I don’t blame you. So far, we’ve got people bringing ice cream (not homemade), cookies, and a gooey chocolate cake with nuts. I asked Babe what kind of birthday cake to make, and the instant response was CHEESECAKE. Well, I’ve never made a cheesecake, but it seems easy enough. I’m tossing ideas around in my head about toppings. It seems right to make fruit toppings, but I kinda wanna change things p

Five Question Friday

1. Who mows your grass?

I’m not a homeowner yet. When I am, I will happily mow the lawn. I did it when I worked as a live-in for a youth program. Our house was awesome, and we had a sweet yard.

2. Do you have a picture wall or picture gallery in your house (show us! <— my addition to the question)?

No. I wish! I want one of those really cool frames with different sizes and origins of photos. I took a picture of a cool one some time ago, but it was on the phone that was stolen.

3. What book has influenced your thinking the most? Or, what blog? (I want to read what gets people thinking!)

Not sure. Maybe Eat Pray Love. Honestly, I think that answer is a cop-out. I don’t have much time to really think about this. Hmmm… Yeah, I don’t know.

4. Do you have allergies? If so, how do you handle it this time of year?

None. YAY, me! It must suck to have allergies.

5. What’s your go to meal to cook in an hurry?

I cook everything pretty slowly. Lol. I enjoy the process. Quick meals are Babe’s specialty. The quickest thing I make is probably spaghetti.

Join the 5QF fun!

ROW80 Goals

One week into the ROW80 challenge is probably a good time to set some goals, right? LOL. Work has been crazy, and I haven’t fit in as much LIFE as I would have liked. Anyway, I’m getting back on track. It’s time to get some writing done. It has been too long!

Here are my goals:

• Turn a short story into a longer story. (I wrote a short story in November that definitely could have been longer. I could have included more information, more events, etc. I need to get to it!)
• Complete character profiles for novel.
• Submit character profiles to critique group for feedback.
• Complete (10) chapter plans for novel. (Once I’ve planned the first 10, I’ll get to writing. Whenever inspiration hits, and I know where to go next, I’ll plan more chapters. I just need to get the right, structured start.)
• Complete chapter one of novel.
• Submit chapter one to a First Chapter competition.
• Write five short stories.
• Edit and polish three short stories.
• Enter three short story competitions.
• Write three sample pieces for writer’s portfolio.
• Spend 30 minutes per week developing a plan for creating my author platform (until challenge end OR until I have a clear vision of what the website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter page should all look like).
• Research and take notes on at least 3 self-publishing options.
• Select and sign up for a self-publishing service.
• Run at least four days per week for 15-30 minutes.
• Choose and register for a 5k event in 2012.
• Drink at least one bottle of water every day.

I have a lot to do between now and June 21, right? It’s okay. I’m gonna plan this all out in my handy-dandy student planner. I will succeed! I’ve already succeeded in meeting my goal (that stayed in my head) to set goals.

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On another note, I know I haven’t been posting much lately. Things around going to normalize in the next few days, so I’ll be back to posting regularly. YAY!

Yesterday was super long. I worked from 8:30am to 7:15pm. It was non-stop all day. I got home, and was STARVING. I was happy to eat, shower, and relax. We watched Project Runway and Modern Family – two of our faves at the moment. Later, we had a discussion that still has me kind of all over the place. This morning, I wasn’t able to shake the feelings. For now, I have them at the back, and I’m letting all the things I need to do today sit at the forefront. The past – specifically, people of the past – just keep creeping up. Things were revealed in past few weeks that I didn’t know about, and I’m pretty upset about it. I kind of let it die, but recent discussion has brought it back to the surface. And I hate it. I find it very difficult to deal with being disrespected, whether or not those involved realize that they’re disrespecting me. *sighs* I need to do a free-writing session before the end of the day to clear my mind (and not make this an emotional dump). After that, whatever decisions people make will be on them, and I will do my best not to say a thing about any of it. It doesn’t make a difference anyway.

How is your week going? Are you swamped with work? Are you participating in ROW80? Link to your goals! I’ve missed a lot of posts in the last week or so. Give me the link to one of yours that I MUST read.  

9 Random Thoughts

• I don’t want to live here anymore.
• I can’t get to where I’d like to be right now. Hellooooo, Canada! I think I’d even be happier on another island with less people, less traffic, and more niche opportunities (although I haven’t thought of any yet). This tiny island is overrun. I could use a change of scenery and pace.
• Tomorrow, when I have the time, I want to make a list of the things I’m good at.
• I need some beach time. I think I’ll get it on Monday.
• There is far too much work to be done, and far too much is on my plate instead of being divided into manageable amounts.
• The people around me (at work) are crazy, inconsiderate, rude, panicked, and unorganized. That’s their problem. I will not make it my own any more than it already is (with just having to deal with them).
• Good thing I stopped at Ma’s and made myself a breakfast sandwich this morning. I’d be famished without it.
• I’m pretty sure the time has come for me to do my own thing. I just need to figure out what I want to do, and how to make it work. I need to be happy, fulfilled, and well-fed. Must be able to pay the bills.
• I’m glad there will be a birthday celebration on the weekend, planned by my pretty. I’m blessed and loved. I will be more than happy to indulge in good times with good people.

Birthday Smirthday

Yesterday was my birthday, y’all. It wasn’t the best day ever, but whatever. I worked a REALLY long day. We stuffed the bags for the bike-a-thon participants. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to since the committee/founders have really been testing my patience lately. Luckily, there were friends of the committee there to chat them up, so I fell nicely into the background.

Remember what I posted about on Thursday? Well, it seems that they have a habit of treating staff in a certain way. In addition to appearing to be very timid, but good-natured, the housekeeper (at the committee member’s house we stuff bags at) looked kind of sad. I smiled at her and greeted her like a real person, which no one else seemed to do. Odd, right? All anyone else did was bark orders at her in Spanish, or speak toddler-like English to her. It was rather sad.

I have this thing… I don’t know what it is. People just randomly tell me things. Anyway, the housekeeper asked me if I work for the lady woman of the house. I told her I didn’t, and she shook her head saying, “She no good. No. No good.” I knew what she meant since I’d witnessed the woman call her around the house, giving her detailed instructions. At one point, she asked her to take out the tray of muffins and fruit, as well as glasses, silverware, and juices. The housekeeper took some of the items and by the time she got back to the kitchen to get the rest of it, lady woman of the house was muttering, “Stupid!” and then speaking to her in Spanish, urging her to do whatever she’d just asked. I mean, really… She’s hired help, but she only has two hands and two feet! Give her a chance!

Later on, another committee member was on her cell phone, mumbling to herself, “I’m gonna kill her.” Someone asked her what she was talking about. “My housekeeper! I’m trying to call her, but either she’s got the phone off the hook, or she’s on it. I need to tell her a truck is coming there.” Oh, well let me hand you a knife to stab her because she clearly deserves it. What the heck is wrong with these people?!

We finished stuffing bags around 2pm, so I headed back to the office. I wasn’t seated for 5 minutes before the phone rang. Committee member #2  told me she needed the registration forms printed. I said, “I’ll have them done by the end of the day.” She said, “I need them in the morning.” I just let the silence stew on the line. She asked, “Will I have them in the morning?” After a pause for effect, I said, “Yes.” Did I miss something, or is she a bit slow? I know she’d love to believe that I’m an idiot, but really… Who is the idiot here?

I left work at 6pm to check on my great-grandmother who hadn’t been feeling well and was taken to the doctor. Apparently her blood pressure sky rocketed. The number on the machine just kept going up until the band popped right off of her arm. It was too high to be read. Scary! At 92 years old, she doesn’t need her blood pressure to be up so high. She’d already been on pills, and was taking them daily. I guess something triggered it, but she’s feeling much better now, with new medication.

Whoa. This is a looong post. But I had a looong day. And it wasn’t the best day ever. I was glad to get home and have dinner with Babe, watch a little Modern Family, and then have a visit from two of my favourite people – a cousin and a friend. We chatted and drank wine for a couple of hours. Twas nice. The real birthday celebration will be on Saturday night. Karaoke and JustDance! WOO!

Things to do today:

• Goals for ROW80
• Start a new short story
• Open my presents! (Was too tired and out of it to do it last night)

How’d your week start? How did you spend my birthday?

Thankful Thursday

This week, Thankful Thursday is difficult. I’m having a rough time. I’m not meeting any of my goals, really. I haven’t been running or writing. Hell. I’ve hardly even been reading. My work days have been very exhausting. When I get home, I really have to drag myself to the shower. I am fatigued by the people I work with. I am convinced that there are all different brands of crazy. Nothing is good enough. Nothing is done fast enough.

Really, everyone is stressed. The event is in 3 weeks. It seems that the committee/board does not handle pressure well. At all. They all fold, crumble, or become as stiff as a board. It’s ridiculous. I’m not the type to freak out. No matter what. The world could be falling apart around me, but I would maintain my cool, and think about the next step. I think it freaks them out that I don’t freak out. It must translate as I am nonchalant and nothing moves me. It’s not that. It’s just that I will not be shaken, and I will not fall apart.

Here are some examples (and feel free to skip them if you like) of the silly things that have been going on and piling up in my mind:

-They asked me to produce a weekly report stating what I have done all week, and what I plan to do the next week. I have done this in MS Word and emailed it to them every Friday. A few months in, one of them emailed me asking that I do not use attachments, but put it in the body of the email as the attachment creates too much work. Fine. I still did it in Word for my own records, and copied and pasted it to the body of the emails. A few months ago, they all got gung-ho about Google Docs (which I HATE). Fine. They decided that sending a bunch of separate threads of emails is crazy. Let’s just share everything in Google Docs. Whatever. So I’ve been uploading my reports to GoogleDocs and sending email notifications of it. Yesterday, S asked me, “What happened to your reports?” Uh… What?! Apparently, for months now, they have all been under the impression that I just stopped doing them. She wanted to know why I stopped sending them individual emails. WHAAAAAT?! Excuse me while I put myself in timeout.

-I’ve been organizing the delivery/collection of promo items from sponsors to be included in participant bags. One of the sponsors I’ve been dealing with for MONTHS just dropped a bomb on me. Their promo items won’t be delivered until next week Thursday. We’re stuffing the bags on Monday and Tuesday. This is a problem. Guess what. The committee thinks this is my fault. Forget that I have called the sponsor numerous times AND emailed with the deadlines. Forget that I left messages for them from Thursday of last week until Tuesday while they were away. Forget all of that. It is MY fault because *I* didn’t translate the urgency to them. HA! I emailed the overall coordinator who is receiving all items since we are stuffing bags at her house. It said, “Good morning [Woman], I just received a response from [Sponsor] on the [promo item]. They will be delivered next week Thursday.” This email is a huge problem because I did not state explicitly that this a problem and does not work with our current schedule for bag stuffing. Why is that necessary again? Do we not all know the schedule? They can’t CHANGE the delivery date MAGICALLY, ok? We have to work with what we’ve got. We may have to drop that item in the bags later, or hand them out with the bags, or have participants collect them at the start line. No, it’s not as seamless, but it CAN WORK. What will not work is harping on the problem.

-They were under the impression that I have not been checking in on the signs we’re having done/revamped. In reality, I have emailed him at least twice per day. I have been calling him at least once per day. He now answer the phone, “Hi, Alicia, from [organization name].” I told S (who called the meeting) that I have been in constant communication with him. She had no response so A (who was just sitting there, doing whatever, listening – I have no idea why she was even there other than to be entertained) said, “Yes, but we don’t know that you’re doing these things. You never told us.” Ok. So in addition to the weekly reports, I should create a GoogleDoc detailing the time I spend emailing/calling people? Please. Do not do this to me.

You know what… At the end of the day, I am thankful for a few things.

• I know myself.
• I know that I am competent.
• I know that I am intelligent.
• I do not feel the need to overcompensate for issues that people have that really have nothing to do with me.
• I know my worth.
• I know that I deserve to be treated with respect.
• It is not my fault when someone else screws up. It doesn’t matter if it is a committee member, a founder, a sponsor, a supplier, or a participant. I will not hold myself responsible for another person’s mess.
• I continuously go above and beyond the call of duty.
• All of my work is a reflection of me, my abilities, and my work ethic. What other people see or know me to be doing is not. That is not the entire picture.
• There is no need for me to detail everything that I have done when my tasks are clear, and completed as given.
• There are more opportunities available to me than I can imagine.
• I have to sit in the driver’s seat of my life. That includes my career.
• All that glitters is not gold.
• I need to find a way out.
• I need to be prudent. My next few decisions must be made carefully.

Enough about me! How about you? What are you thankful for?

Writer Wednesday: ROW80 Round 2

How about a writing challenge that’s specific to your goals? A Round of Words in 80 Days is starting in a few days. On my birthday, April 2, to be exact.

Info shamelessly copied from here:

A Round of Words in 80 Days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life.

We are all different and we all have different demands on our time.  Why should we all have the same goal?  The simple answer is that we shouldn’t.  If you want to be a writer, then you have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt to your changing circumstances.  If that means changing your goals when your life blows up, so be it.  ROW80 is the challenge that champions the marriage of writing and real life. For more on why I started it, see this post.

So here’s the skinny:

• We have 4 rounds a year, each running 80 days.  
• Your goal can be anything you like as long as it is measurable (e.g. number of words/pages, specified amount of time to spend on writing per day/week, number of pages edited, etc.–for more on what makes a measurable goal, see this post).
• Once you have settled on a goal, you write it up on your blog (yes, you must have one) and link to it on the Goals Linky for the Round, which will be posted on the ROW80 Blog.
• If your goal changes before the end of the 80 days, simply write up a new goals post and link to it on the latest check-in day.
• We have check-ins twice a week on Wednesday and Sundays where you will update us the same way (e.g. write up a blog post of your progress and link to it on that day’s linky).
• On Twitter we use a hashtag of #ROW80 if you wanna come hang out.  Or if you’re more into Facebook, you can find that here.
• And if you happen to find us after a round has begun, just write up your goals post and hop on in whenever.  We’re a friendly bunch.
• Be sure to grab the ROW80 badge from the sidebar on the ROW80 Blog(right click, save image location, then chuck it in your blog’s image widget or grab some basic image html and use a text widget).

So, what do you think? Wanna join in the fun? Read this post to learn how to sign up.