Tag Archives: lists

I am an arrogant bastard

After rereading my last post, I realized that I may have come across as sounding completely incompetent to some of you.  Sleep deprived I may be, but incapable I am not.  I’m also a bit of an arrogant bastard as you are about to witness.  Here is a detailed list of my redeeming qualities for any potential employers out there:

  • I am the best damn employee you’ll ever have.  I may be a lazy, hungry half-breed at home when I have no obligations to fulfill, but when I’m working I am an “animal” as my classroom neighbor, Sandoval, used to call me.  I taught history, was the AVID coordinator, and the Quiz Bowl advisor among many other untitled jobs at the middle school I last worked at.  This entailed long hours, not only at work, but also at home and in our community.  Many afternoons, evenings, and weekends were devoted to my work and my students.  I probably burnt myself out as a teacher by going forth with my job this way, but I think it was the lack of appreciation by the upper echelon that took it’s toll.  I do kick ass work, and I expect to be acknowledged for it.
  • Everyone loves me.  My easy going manner allows me to fit in with practically any social or professional group of people.  My style fluctuates with both my mood and who I am associating with.  I probably should have been an actor, but to be honest, when you’re a teacher you need to learn to act to keep students engaged.  Anyway, I am keenly observant, a gracious listener, and know how to fluff people’s egos with just the right questions.  People love to talk about themselves, and I’m good at encouraging them to do so.
  • I solve problems with ease.  Quiet people are thinkers, and thinkers are good at analyzing all aspects of a problem to find the best solution.  In situations where most people freak out, I am the calm and collected person who helps get people out of sticky situation.  If we’re ever in an emergency situation together, I’d advise you to stick close to me and do exactly what I say, unless of course you want to die.
  • I always meet my deadlines.  At times it may be a scramble to the finish, but I always come through in the end with flying colors.  Unlike most people, I don’t give lame excuses or blame my inefficiency on others.  I believe that the job you do is a direct reflection of who you are, and I always do my damn best.

As you can see, I am nowhere near a hot mess as some of you may have thought after reading my last post.  I am simply a practical and realistic person with both arrogant and self-deprecating tendencies. I don’t live in some sort of Disney fantasy world thinking that everything will end up perfect and we’ll all live happily ever after.  I don’t blame my problems on other people or believe my fate is up to God.  I know what I am capable of, I know what I need to improve upon, and I know exactly how to do it.

Geez, my parents should be extremely proud of how they raised me, because I am now my own Tiger Mom.  Watch out Nico!

FRE

A swift kick in the ass

Angry Little Asian Girl and her angry mom wallet  $10

photo by porcupiny

I have been completely and utterly unmotivated as of late. Nothing can push me to do what needs to be done. I have absolutely no desire to finish projects I started a while back, I totally lack the commitment to update and manage this blog, and I don’t feel like learning how to use my new camera that’s now 2 years old and collecting dust next to the TV I no longer watch. All I want to do is hang out with my kid, go on long walks, and cook good food. Which is exactly what I have been doing this past month, but now it’s almost February and I’m starting to feel like a loser. Perhaps it’s because I’m not working or in school and I just feel like I’m missing something in my life, but I’m not missing anything. I’m enjoying spending time with the little dude and being in the moment. Enjoying doing nothing. Enjoying cooking and eating good food. Enjoying going on long walks and taking in the sights of my neighborhood.

But then that fucking little Asian half of me is saying that I need to get off my goddamn lazy ass and accomplish something great. Go back to grad school, get a job, publish a children’s book, write a cookbook, promote the hell out of my blog, make a shit load of money, and buy a nice car that can comfortably fit a car seat.

Anyway, that little Asian half of me told me to make a list of goals I want to accomplish this year. I’m not calling them resolutions because I equate that term with failure, plus I despise the word “resolution.” It’s totally overused, especially around this time of the year, and reminds me of people who wear GAP clothes, love Jennifer Aniston, and eat at generic chain restaurants. BLAH.

In no particular order, these are my 2012 goals.

1.  Clean the slate — deal with any remaining issues I may have with friends or family.

2.  Finish writing a children’s book.

3.  Begin writing a cookbook.

4.  Attach new lens to camera and actually use it rather than always taking crappy pictures on my iPhone.

5.  Use Photoshop to edit my pictures.

6.  Upload quality photos to my blog.

7.  Blog consistently (at least twice a week).

8.  Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight by March 10th.

9.  Get into shape by June 10th.

10.  Go camping at least 3 times this year.

11.  Go hiking at least once a month.

12.  Take a road trip up north to visit family and friends.

13.  Be a little nicer to my husband by giving him more compliments and less criticisms.

14.  Spend less money on unnecessary crap, especially for people who don’t appreciate it.


Scentials

I’ve been known for singing random songs about people and making up crazy words.  More so now that I have a kid.  Anyway, most of my made up words are actually just a shortening of a long word or a combination of two words, my most famous being stantials, which means “something substantial.” Here it is in a sentence for you contextual people: I’m starving! I need stantials to get me through the damn day.  

Perhaps my predilection for inventing new words is due to me being from Southern California where we have a habit of abbreviating our speech, i.e. rad, fave, raunch, whatev, ridic.  Yeah, whatev, I DGAF.

Anyway, my whole point of this post is to make a list of “some cooking essentials,” also known as scentials, for my cousin James.  I’m pretty sure all that he has in his cupboard are his roommates’ cooking utensils and pans. Maybe he bought himself a pair of chopsticks and some shot glasses, but other than that I’m assuming he has nothing.  He probably eats ramen out of a mug and everything else off of paper plates or paper towels.

Alright, so here is my list of scentials that my cousin needs to slowly start collecting to make cooking fun and easy.  Without the scentials, you’re just scrambling to find something that will make do, and the only thing you really should be scrambling are eggs.

Things to cut with:

  • Chef’s Knife or a Santoku Knife – You can buy the pricey kind, but to be honest you can get a damn good and reasonably priced knife at a restaurant supply store or at a Japanese market.  Just make sure you watch a youtube video that shows you how to use it properly.

 

  • Mandoline
  • Kitchen shears –  also known as scissors
  • Pairing knife – please don’t shank anyone with it
  • Serrated bread knife
  • Vegetable peeler

Spoons & things:
  • Ladle
  • Tongs – ones that lock
  • Metal spatula
  • Rubber spatula
  • Whisk
  • Potato smasher
  • Wooden spoons

Things to cook on:
  • Large stock pot
  • Small and large sauce pan
  • Small and large saute pan
  • Nonstick pan
  • Dutch oven – definitely need to save up for one of these, but they are well worth it!
  • Roasting pan – good for turkeys, chickens, potatoes, etc.
  • Cookie sheet

Random things you need:
  • Colander
  • Metal mixing bowls
  • Measuring spoons
  • Measuring cups
  • Can opener
  • Corkscrew with a bottle opener
  • Peppermill
  • Salt box - I seem to use a variety of salts and like multiple boxes or a box that’s divided.  Get whatever works for you.
  • Plastic cutting board – for raw meats
  • Bamboo cutting board – for everything else
  • Wooden spoons
  • Standing mixer –  not really necessary unless you like to bake
  • Food processor – makes life so much easier, because you spend less time in the kitchen!
My favorite store to shop at is Sur La Table, but Williams-Sonoma will do, it’s just not as fun as the latter.  Remember, don’t buy everything at once unless you’re mega rich or have a sugar daddy/mama.  Slowly collect what you need, and try to buy quality so that it’ll last longer.  I still have my great-grandmother’s cheese slicer.  That thing is probably over 100 years old and still works like a charm!

A Lot of Catching Up To Do

Photograph by Amy Albertson

I feel like I’m backlogged with blog posts.  I stopped writing shortly before I gave birth to my first child and so much has happened both before and since then that I haven’t talked about.  I will try and get everyone up-to-speed this week before I return to my regularly scheduled blog posts.

FYI, here’s my proposed blogging schedule:

  • Monday – Losing Weight
  • Tuesday – Baby and Things to do with little ones in Ventura County
  • Wednesday – Food
  • Thursday – Things to do this weekend in Ventura/Santa Barbara County if you had a life
  • Friday – Random

Oh, and before I forget, please meet our newest little monkey, Nicholas!

The Procrastination List

Things I should be doing before the baby comes:

  • Finishing the DVDs for my former history students who will be promoting next week.
  • Mailing the AVID DVDs to my former AVID students before they get out of school at the end of this week.
  • Trading in textbooks to Amazon to get store credit.
  • Organizing the baby room.
  • Writing a birth plan for the hospital staff.
  • Packing my bag for the hospital.
  • Buying cloth diaper covers.
  • Calling the diaper service to set up an account.
  • Taking a breast feeding class so I know what the hell I’m supposed to do.
  • Buying the rest of the stuff we need for the baby.
  • Calling Giggle (not Giggles!) to find out why our crib mattress & rocker haven’t been shipped yet.
  • Buying frames for pictures I want to put up in the baby room.
  • Finishing up the baby journal entries that I’m behind on.
  • Uploading pictures and writing blogs for future dates since I probably won’t have time or feel like writing and posting things once the baby comes.

I’m sure there’s more that I’m missing, but that’s all I can think of at the moment.  Let’s hope that I actually accomplish most if not all of these tasks in the next two weeks, especially now that I’ve made my list public and will be held accountable by my friends and family.

FRE

Beach Day

Sami and I decided to take a long, relaxing, and much deserved stroll on the beach this morning. For the past week or so, we’ve been holed up in the house and only took short walks around the neighborhood while I’ve been working on my dreaded midterm paper.  Usually I can spit out an essay in no time, but for some reason this last paper I had difficulty getting started.  I’m not sure if it’s because I had to collect IRS data and use Excel (which I totally suck at) or if it’s because I didn’t quite understand what I was supposed to be writing about (many of my classmates felt the same way) or if it’s because I’m suffering from the Third Trimester Stupids.  However, I’m starting to think it might be the latter, especially since this afternoon I totally forgot to turn off the simple syrup I was making for the iced tea and almost set the fire alarm off.  Luckily Victor came inside just in time to turn off the stove and air out the house.  Mind you, I was sitting in the kitchen staring at the dishwasher while thinking about making orange juice when this all happened.

Anyhoo, I finally finished and turned in the dreaded midterm paper last night around 10pm (that’s midnight Texas A&M time). This morning when I woke up, I felt really good and completely rested despite going to bed way past midnight (let’s just say I took a very long three hour nap yesterday). My tension headache was totally gone, I no longer felt bloated and fat, and I actually had energy to do something.  Which I did!  I did many things, like walk the dog at the beach, cooked chicken tacos, made iced tea, squeezed some orange juice, made a milk shake, and cut up some cucumber to infuse my water with.

So, the whole reason why I’m even writing this blog post is to make another list. I feel like when I make my lists public, I’m held accountable and therefore must get it done because, you know, the two people out there that actually read my blog will be disappointed if I don’t.

My Blogging List:

1.  Monday — Baby related posts.

2.  Tuesday — Pictures and recipes of dishes I cooked recently.

3.  Wednesday — Life

4.  Thursday — Food, talk about food.

5.  Friday — Randomness

6.  Saturday — No blogging, just enjoying family

7.  Sunday — Another day off from my strenuous job of blogging about myself.

8.  Repeat, until no one cares anymore.

My List for this Summer

Let’s see if I’ll actually accomplish any of these!

 

1.  Go to the gym — the gym I’ve been a member at for a couple years but have yet to go once
2.  Learn Japanese — started to use Rosetta Stone last summer, but then I got busy doing nothing
3.  Plan my wedding — I think this is the one thing I’m actually doing
4.  Work on the Master Plan — ssshhh, it’s a secret that only my cuz and I know
5.  Blog regularly — starting today…
6.  Fix up the house — me actually doing something, not just Vic
7.  Whittle down my junk — I’m going to have a garage sale!
8.  Walk the stairs with Debbie — I hope she forces me to go
9. Have more game nights with friends — hint, hint
10.  Create a Supper Club and share food, recipes, and good conversation — Let’s go Diana!
11.  Hike — need to find a buddy to go with though
12.  Make some crazy wedding movie trailers
13.  Read a ton of books
14.  Maybe even join or start a book club
15.  Apply to grad school
16.  Look for a job — yeah, that would be nice
17.  Cook healthy, yummy foods — that Vic will actually eat
18.  Be adventurous
19.  Go to the farmer’s market regularly
20.  Limit online shopping
21.  Stay in contact with my coworkers — it’s so easy for me to hide
22.  Garden daily
23.  Spend quality time with my Vic

My Spring Break Goals

The Do Not List

1. Do not check work email

2. Do not update grades on Zangle

3. Do not mention anything about work to your friends or family

4. Do not worry about what needs to be done at work when you return

5. Do not think about the fact that you’re going to have yard duty when you return

6. Do not read the local paper and get depressed about what you read in regards to work

7. Do not spend your entire vacation sitting on the couch with your damn laptop

8. Do not fret about possible grad school acceptance or rejection

The Must Do List

1. Redeem the gym membership ASAP

2. Actually go to the gym and exercise (daily would be preferable)

3. Go to yoga, pilates, and hula (maybe not hula due to #4)

4. Visit family and friends down in San Diego

5. On the way to San Diego or one of the Indian casinos, stop by Temecula and track down Andrea so she can do your hair (ugh, hair looks horrible)

6. Might as well go wine tasting while your down in Temecula

7. Walk Sami everyday, twice a day

8. Clean the house and declutter

9. Plan the damn wedding you’re having in August

10. Buy some new clothes that aren’t from Target or purchased online

11. Eat some wonderful, memorable meals