Creative Shots

By the title of this blog, one might think these shots will be pictures, but no! These are shots of liquor that I recently heard about in passing. Although I may not necessarily be inclined to sample all of them, they sounded rather interesting, if only because of their name and/or ingredients, and I felt inclined to share them.

Migrant Worker

• tequila
  
• apple cider
  
• squeeze of lime

Nighty Night

• Vodka
  
• Nyquill

Oatmeal Cookie

• Goldschlager
  
• Butterscotch schnapps
  
• Bailey's irish cream

Warm Fuzzies #9: The Clean Roommate

So I am considering the prospect of moving out of my apartment. Well, for all intents and purposes, I am moving out of my apartment. Basically, if I can find a suitable replacement for myself in my current apartment before the person who has an opening in the apartment I want fills it, I will be moving to NJ within a month.

Of course, if it doesn’t work out, my heart won’t be broken, because I like my existence well enough the way it is. But I am determining not to be afraid of change, because change can be good. And this new apartment looks really good. And I was considering going to China to teach English for heaven’s sake, so how can I be afraid of moving to NJ? If I’m miserable, well, I’ll just move back.

Anyway, in order to put this all in motion, I had to tell my roommates what was going on. One of the is currently visiting her family in China, but the other one is here, so I explained the situation to her, also primarily to elicit her help in finding a new roommate. She listened patiently and was very understanding of my wanting to move closer to my workplace. At the end, though, she looked very sad. She glanced down at the table and said, “We will miss you, you know.”

Hearing that really almost broke my heart. I don’t get to talk to them very much, mostly because whenever I am in the apartment, they are busy speaking in Chinese, and so I do not know what they are talking about. Sure, we get along, but mostly because I leave them to their own devices. I actually get along with each of them much better individually, because we speak in English exclusively when the other one of them isn’t around!

What she said next really blew me away, however:

“I don’t think we will find a new roommate as good as you. You are the cleanest American I ever know!”

She proceeded to admit that she and my other roommate are not “the cleanest people ever” but that I am always cleaning up in the apartment. I was completely shocked to hear this. I never knew they even noticed! They never said anything . . . ever! And they are not slobs, by any stretch of the imagination; I have just always qualified myself as a neat freak and cannot help but clean up messes that bother me too much to leave lying around.

Absolutely incredible, the things people notice and think about you when you don’t even realize it. And how far a little bit of appreciation can go to erase a well of resentment. I might be willing to clean five sinks so long as someone thanked me for it! Now if only I can remember this piece of wisdom….

Chicken-Chili Taco Soup

An excellent recipe for using up leftover cooked chicken or turkey after the holidays. You can add any number of taco-esque condiments such as rice, kidney beans, fresh cilantro, etc. Below, however, is the basic starter recipe. I usually add extra chili powder and salt to taste.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil
  
• 1/2c onion, chopped (scallions are ideal)
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes
  
• 1-2c chopped cooked chicken breast
  
• 1/4c salsa sauce (I like to use spicy)
  
• 1 tsp oregano (ground in mortar and pestle)
  
• 1/2+ tsp black pepper
  
• 2 16oz cans chicken broth
  
• 15.5oz can chick peas
  
• 14.5 (or larger) can corn

Heat oil at med/high temperature. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes on low heat. Mix in spices. Stir in all remaining ingredients except for corn and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in corn and cook until warm.

Spoon into bowls, top with shredded cheese/sour cream/guacamole/whatever you please and ENJOY!

Running straight through Christmas & into the New Year

Unfortunately, the last two long runs haven't been quite what they should have been to keep me on track in terms of my training schedule for the D.C. Marathon. However, I am hoping that, ultimately, missing a half-mile here and there will not affect the overall outcome. (Running consistently at almost a minute-per-mile slower pace, however, is--alas--almost certainly going to affect the final outcome of the race.)

Here are the routes from my Christmas Eve and post-New-Year's Day runs, respectively:

On Christmas Eve, I ran from my parent's house in Forest Hills to the home of family friends, where my family planned to eat dinner (as we do every year). The worst part of this run, by far, was the section over the Highland Park Bridge. Bridge running in NYC is fine, because in that city, loads of people are expected to walk over the bridges. In Pittsburgh, however, everyone only ever drives over bridges. It was a challenge to even find the footpath on this bridge, never mind run on it after a two-day-long snowfall. I ended up having to give up on running or even walking quickly and nimbly tiptoe my way across simply to avoid breaking my ankles. After that, though, it was smooth sailing . . . if you can consider "smooth sailing" running up an incline the entire rest of the way to the Engs' house.

Today I set out for my 18 mile run. For whatever reason, I actually prefer this distance to 16 miles. Sixteen is one of my two heartbreak distances (the other one being 22 miles). Eighteen and twenty miles I can seem to accomplish without too much agony, but getting past that sixteen mile run is always a huge struggle, and then surmounting the final 22 mile pinnacle of training is always grueling, despite knowing the race will be 4.2 miles longer than even that. Today's eighteen miles was no stroll in the park, however, clocking in at 21°F and a windchill that dropped it down somewhere near 13. My nose was running faster than I was!

Goodbye Old Year

Most people’s tradition for bringing in the New Year is to make a resolution: something like “I will lose weight,” or maybe even as specific as, “I will lose ten pounds.” I, personally, have never made New Years resolutions. Basically, I see it this way: what difference does one date on a calendar make? If you are not motivated to do something (or to stop doing something), you are not going to do it—end of story. It doesn’t matter what year, decade, or century it is, a smoker is not going to quit unless he truly and sincerely wants to quit and commits himself to quitting. A busy mom is not going to keep her house cleaner unless she consciously maps out a plan to accomplish this. The mere date of January 1st does not give people more motivation or ability to accomplish their goals than they already have, and if it does, that motivation is short lived. Just compare gym attendance between January and February for proof of that.

So, instead of looking forward to the new year and things I plan to do, I prefer to look backward at the year past and examine things I have done, particularly things that, at the time, were new and perhaps unexpected.

• Running the Pittsburgh Marathon. Yes, by January 1, 2009, I did “expect” to run this marathon, but in the scheme of, “did you ever think you would run a marathon?” this is a completely unexpected event in my life. As a child, I hated running. In my own words, “I don’t like running unless I’m chasing something or someone, or they’re chasing me.” I only ever ran for sports, and even then, when it was straight “around the track” running, I griped every second of the way. This year, I undertook three-and-a-half months of training and accomplished the full 26.2 miles without stopping or walking once. And I finished in 3:20:57, qualifying me for both the Boston and New York City marathons. Definitely new, and definitely unexpected.
  
• Travelling to Colorado. While I love to explore new places and plan vacations from time to time (e.g. my trip to Singapore in August 2008), I had no plans to go to CO until one of my bosses informed me that she had spoken with her supervisor and planned to send me to a three-day-long publishing workshop out in Denver. Not wanting to miss out on a perfect opportunity to explore, I contacted a high school friend who I knew was living out there. He graciously agreed to host me, and I spent two days after my workshop staying at the Shambalaya Mountain Center, taking hikes, learning about forestry, and drinking in the beautiful mountain landscape.
  
• Buying a bed. Believe it or not, this is my very “major furniture” purchase. I have never before bought any fixture that was as large or expensive as this bed. It was fully necessary, though, after sleeping on a too short rock-hard futon for six months!
  
• Texting. Not exactly an “accomplishment,” per se, but seeing as I didn’t even own a cell phone until the month before I graduated from college (May 2008), this was a considerable leap into the 21st century.
  
• Renting a car. In spite of still being under 25 years of age, the actual rental portion of this event went quite smoothly. Pay the $25 underage rental fee, cough up another hundred dollars for twelve thousand different kinds of insurance, add another $40 or so to buy gas at the dealership and/or fill up the tank at a nearby station, and you’re ready to go. The harrowing part is the drive and, if you are returning the car in a different city (as I was), figuring out where to return the car—and then how to get home! However, I now have this affair under my belt, empowering me with confidence and experience for the future.
  
• Competing in a Triathlon. Okay, it was a sprint triathlon, but seeing as I have abhorred bike riding ever since I was a child, even working my way up to ten miles of cycling for this race was an accomplishment. The 400m swimming + 10 miles biking + 5k (~3 mile) running = a race that, even one year ago, I never would have seen myself completing. Now, the big goal for 2010 will be to complete a full triathlon (Olympic distance is 1500m swimming, 40km biking, and 10km running, or in miles, approximately 1 sw – 25 bk – 6 run). Goal, though, not resolution!

Welcome to a brand new year of Having a Think with me!