I went on a trip but I'm too distracted to properly blog about it

I was going to write about how I went to Moab and had a great vacation, but I'm too engrossed in watching "Going Postal" on Netflix.
So here are some pictures of a horrible souvenir I found in a store called "Colorado Souvenirs" for $5.99. I don't know why it exists. I know only that it is ridiculous.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] It is named Poopy.[/caption]

We camped in Moab. Lovely weather. One coldish day (in the 50s) and no very hot weather.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] Great view. Mostly.[/caption]

Did a lot of hiking around Arches and Canyonlands.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] People are trying to enjoy the scenery and *this* keeps happening. Terrible.[/caption]

There were even some flowers. They were lovely.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] Lovely.[/caption]

There were some really useful signs in Arches.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] I don't think he's dehydrated.[/caption]

I also did a lot of mountain biking, including Klondike Bluffs, which has dinosaur tracks. Actual dinosaur tracks!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] There were better tracks but the were literally along the path and I didn't want to get run over by bicyclists.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] That's not a dinosaur, Poopy.[/caption]

Trails we rode:

Dino Flow
Baby Steps
Klondike Bluffs

Sovereign Trail and Salt Wash Trail

Moab Brand Trails:
Lazy EZ
Bar M
Circle O
North 40

Circle O was particularly interesting. It was like a much easier baby version of the Slickrock trail, but without as many possibilities of death. It was really fun, though it was still pretty tricky. Slickrock is really fun to bike on. You can make it up amazingly steep bits if you get your balance right and you have enough power. For the first half of the trail, we were totally alone. Later, we ran into a number of small children biking the trail (they were with adults, don't worry). Moab has some badass little kids. I fell, but luckily not in view of children. Wrenched my back a little, but I'm fine now. It helps to visit people who also happen to be physical therapists. They are great.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] He's not breakin' the law.[/caption]

Anyway, I spent a few days in Moab, did some epic stuff. Spent a few days in Fort Collins. Recovered from my fall. Did some mellow biking on their awesome trails. It was great. Came home to yelling cats. They are whiny. But luckily, they are also sleepy, and they snore a lot. When I'm surrounded by snoring cats, I'm home.

When I get home from a trip, I put everything away and do laundry right away. I have to do this stuff. If I put it off, I put more things off, and it snowballs. I am a procrastinator. I might not be procrastinating right now, but it's always around that one thing that I don't do right away. That pot and pan I don't wash immediately after using. I would compare it to the old "There's no such thing as a cured alcoholic," but that seems incredibly disrespectful to alcoholics. I just have tendencies. I try to be aware of them.

Today, I mowed the surprisingly robust (and typically dandelion-filled) lawn and walked to the grocery store.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430"] This is not my lawn.[/caption]

I didn't check the cupboards before I went, so instead of making lentil stuff, as I had intended, I made curry. It wasn't even going to be curry, it was going to be stir fry. But then I remembered that I had some coconut milk and curry powder. (the recipe would go: make stir fry. add coconut milk and curry powder. Simmer.)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="323"] Delicious.[/caption]

Glad to be back.

Things You Can Do Over a Weekend

1. You can go see a play!
I saw "Slashdance" at the Coterie After Dark. For anyone living in Kansas City, the Coterie is an institution. Their not-for-children productions are often very original and very good. The set design is inventive and the performances are excellent. I have never seen "Flashdance," so I don't think that I fully appreciated all of the jokes, but it was still an excellent horror/spoof/comedy. As good as "Sorority House of the Damned," and better than "Children of the Damned Corn."

2. You can subscribe to a hippie magazine!
After spending some quality time in the Barnes and Noble in Zona Rosa, I was sufficiently intrigued by "Mother Earth News" to subscribe for a year. Things I said to Mike this weekend, after reading the latest issue: "You could raise chickens!" "We could build a greenhouse!" "We should go to this hippie fair in Lawrence in October!"

3. You can prepare for a storm by going to the store!
I got chocolate milk, marshmallows, Reese's peanut butter cups and Kit Kats. Prepared!

4. You can make a terrible mocha and drink it very quickly.
Maybe don't do this one.

5. You can watch "Safety Not Guaranteed."
I didn't know what to expect going in, but it was so much more, and so much better, than I could have imagined. Given that the three leads are fairly prominent presences on sitcoms, their performances were familiar but not expected. Everyone was excellent. The story was interesting and emotional without being maudlin or overly contrived. There were two very slow chase scenes, which were unexpectedly hilarious. I felt more feeling than I expected to feel. The description of longing for something that has gone away was achingly poignant and beautiful. I really liked this movie. You should watch it.

6. You can shovel a driveway.
Ugh.

7. You can almost buy a mo-ped on Craigslist.
Don't do this one. You don't need a mo-ped. You have a bicycle! (right? no? get a bicycle! they are so great!)

8. You can do laundry.
Maybe it would be a good idea if you have some time!

9. You can get very paranoid about a wall in your basement that has ALWAYS bulged a little bit, to the point where you call your neighbor who knows about this stuff to make him come over and look at it and tell you that it's okay.
This is another one that I can't really recommend, but it's certainly how I spent part of my evening! (and yes, it is okay!)

10. You can sit on a couch so your cats can hang out and fall asleep on you.
This is probably the best thing you can do over a weekend.

Sunday night routine: cook, clean, wash. Read a book.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="574" caption="Thebes, Diet Mountain Dew and Baked Doritos. I did this earlier in the day."][/caption]

I like routines. I think they're helpful for people who are not naturally organized or motivated to do things that aren't fun. This is why Wednesday night is vacuuming/light housecleaning night.

Sunday night is my arbitrarily designated "check the laundry levels, do some laundry if necessary," "do whatever dishes need to be done" and "get groceries and cook something that will last the whole week." For the laundry, this means doing the actual wash and then folding and putting things away. No dryer storage! For dishes, this is running the dishwasher if it's full then putting dishes away when they're done. Any dishes that need to be done by hand are done immediately after using them, so there's no sink of dishes to deal with EVER. This is all part of the "make everything a routine because otherwise it's all going to get messy and terrible." This is how it works for me. I realize that there are lots and lots of people who can totally handle their stuff without having to do everything completely. People who can do half a thing now, and the other half later! I'm not that person. This is all about how I've figured out how to manage my tendencies toward clutter. As for the cooking, in the winter, this is usually something in the crock pot. Tonight, it's chili, in anticipation of the very cold front that is moving in!

All of this is a nice end to the weekend, it gives me some semi-forced reading time (I have a tendency to check out library books and then put off reading them because I've got so many things I could be doing! Like napping! Or playing with Donald and James!). If I'm really organized, I can start the food in the morning and by the evening, it's ready, and my house smells amazing. This gives me plenty of time to play board games or go shopping or take naps or look at purses online or whatever I have chosen to do with my Sunday.

Crock pots are amazing and magical and every person living alone should at least seriously consider getting one. I will say that if you do this and you have cats, you might get yelled at for doing inexplicable things like "slicing vegetables" instead of "paying attention to cats."

Chili recipe from tonight (big crockpot):

1# ground turkey
1/2 # ground beef
1/8# ground sausage
2 onions, diced
(brown all of these together in a pan)

2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste
1/4 # dried pinto beans
1/4 # dried great northern white beans
2 12-oz. cans cheap beer
chili powder and cumin to taste
4 medium-sized carrots
the biggest turnip I've ever seen
3 cups assorted hot peppers, seeded (I used habaneros and jalapenos)

Combine all in enormous crock pot. Cook on high until done.

Add some sort of vinegar and cayenne hot sauce to finish.

(Gee, that's a lot of meat for someone who just talked a whole bunch about not wanting to eat so much meat because of ethical considerations! This is the meat that was in the freezer. I have more, and I'll have to use it up as well, but from here on out, all the meat I buy will probably end up being INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE, and I will have to come up with a good veggie chili recipe)

Tonight's book: "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. LeGuin. I'm excited.

When it snows, I shovel. Always.

It's all pretty!

[caption id="attachment_48" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pretty!"][/caption]

Whenever we get snow, I have to shovel the driveway, no matter how much snow has fallen. It can be a tiny, tiny amount, and I still have to shovel. Why? Because my driveway doesn't get any sun, and any snow on there eventually turns into a horrible sheet of ice. It took me two years in this house to accept the fact that snow = shoveling. "It's not that much! Such a small amount of snow! I'll just sit in pajamas and drink coffee and stay here where it's nice and dry and warm." TREACHEROUS SHEET OF ICE. Every time.

The nice thing about this, aside from cementing my self-image as a non-procrastinating, productive person, is that I get to wear lots of things that I've bought off of Sierra Trading Post over the years (thereby justifying my longstanding love affair with STP, initially started because of my fixation on quality and value, but cemented by their fantastic selection of cheap Smartwool socks). My classic snow-shoveling outfit comes almost completely from that site.

[caption id="attachment_49" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Stylish!"][/caption]

For those who are curious:

Auclair Six X Beanie Hat: wool blend, fleece-lined. $4.85
Carhartt Thermal Lined Hoodie Sweatshirt: the best hoodie ever. $18.75
(the shirt is actually a nightgown I made, and the jeans are very old)
Double Diamond by Black Diamond Sportswear Microfleece Tights: the ugliest things I've ever worn, and also the most comfortable. $12.97
Smartwool Medium-weight hiking socks: Probably about $7. I have gotten so many pairs of socks from STP, I cannot keep them straight (but I love them all).
Not pictured: Vasque hiking boots from ages ago: $45. I've had them for about 10 years and they have held up amazingly well.

The purpose of this post was not to drive me back to STP to look at more socks, but that's probably what's going to happen.

 

Party thoughts

[caption id="attachment_42" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is perfectly reasonable."][/caption]

Party clean-up would be much easier if I didn't get so obsessive about it. Washing dishes: fine. Cleaning all the floors in the house: probably unnecessary, especially at 2 am.

Additional party notes:

Pouring ginger ale over drinks almost always improves them.
There are too many punch recipes and too little time.
I love fancy vintage glassware.
Donald and James do very well with crowds.
I need to figure out a vegetarian curry puff recipe.
I should probably only bake half-batches of chocolate chip cookies.
Surprisingly few people are familiar with Tim Curry's "I Do the Rock."
The nautical room isn't nearly as confusing to people as the enormous Wayne Gretzky poster in the living room.
No one likes mulled cider as much as I think they do.

 

Wednesday night is vacuuming night

[caption id="attachment_25" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mmmm"][/caption]

Earlier this evening I thought to myself, "maybe I'll just chill out and put off vacuuming until tomorrow. Watch some TV. Read a book. NOT vacuum." Then, I baked some cookies and vacuumed the house. Wednesday night is vacuuming night*. Maybe it's muscle memory. In any case, I can't fight it. I have become a tidy person through sheer force of habit.

It's pretty nice. I like it.

*From Donald's perspective, Wednesday night is "hide behind the stack of boxes in the unfinished corner of the basement until Shena comes to get me and I can come out again."