This Is My Life

Good morning LJ land! I hope you're all waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Actually, that tail thing is kind of freaky. Maybe you should have it checked.

Yesterday I made what I called "deconstructed sushi" for lunch. I made (long-grained) sushi rice, had to quickly sear some Ahi Tuna that had gone a little more fishy that I like for sushi, sliced up some avocado and threw it all together. Maria had seconds!

Then last night, because I was feeling adventurous, I threw together a seafood Alfredo sauce with shrimp and scallops. The owner of our favorite local restaurant helped me with the scallops; I called him and asked if they had a "secret" he could share because their scallops are always perfect. He said there was no secret, but made a few suggestions that helped. It turned out awesome.

Today? I'm going in to work today and I think I start actually taking over some of the pet classes. I'm really nervous but I'm also very excited because I get to see puppies! Other than that, not much going on that I can think of. I'll be making an Ahi Tuna salad with wasabi dressing tonight that should be delicious. Any suggestions?

What's going on today with you?

I was up at 5 AM again today. My head is pounding and my stomach's not sure of what it wants to do; does it play nice and relax, or does it rebel against the long-standing authoritarian government, me? Let's hope it plays nice.

I made some sauce, but couldn't run the chicken through the food processor (I grind my own meat) for fear of waking too many people. Even chopping onions and garlic woke Maria, so I can imagine that the whirring blades of chopping goodness would be a big no-no at 5:30.

But the sauce is done, which is nice. I'll make the chicken meatballs later, and let them sit in the sauce overnight, which will make it even more delicious. Pasta and sauce for dinner tomorrow, leftover roasted chicken tonight. Hooray for cheap and easy dinners that also taste fantastic! I'm trying to make "cheap, easy, and delicious" foods my specialty, and now I have a second pair of taste-buds to tell me how I can improve my dinners.

The house guest, my mom, is doing well. She fell asleep on the couch during a late-night episode of Chuck, and made her way to bed shortly after we did the same around 10 or so. Hopefully she'll start to feel comfortable enough to get on whatever her normal schedule is within a fairly short period of time. I want her to feel at home, except without the stress. The fact that she cleaned my kitchen top to bottom while I was out yesterday makes me worry about the second part, but she claims she "loves to clean," so what are you going to do, right?

Looks like my stomach made its choice, and its choice is "rebel against the dictatorship." Excuse me while I go take some Tums. In the mean time, answer me this:

What's the best cheap-and-easy-yet-still-delicious dinner you make?

I know you've had mornings like this, where you feel like you want to say something important, draw people in with your words and leave them all feeling as though they've just finished reading something important, or at least interesting. I'm doing that now. I want nothing more than to entertain, whether to make somebody laugh, or to make everybody cry, I just don't know.

But the words won't come out. They're stuck, and I don't know how to unstick them. The best writers, no matter what genre, style, or medium, say that the only way to become a better writer is to write, but I'm not sure that's true. I think there's a gift that lets you turn the faucet knob, allows the ideas to flow out onto the page. I'm not sure I have that, but I'm looking.

What's your biggest secret to drawing people in to your writing? What do you use to elicit feelings from your audience? How do you sell your words to the minds of the semi-interested?