Cranky Pants

I don't know what happened to me. I used to be a friendly, patient, tolerant person. At least so I thought. Yeah, not so much anymore. I've turned into a cranky, don't-touch-me!, old lady. I am frighteningly close to becoming a crazy cat lady hermit. How did this happen?

I think it started when I worked as a bartender, and I routinely saw the worst in people. Alcohol does really ugly things to our personalities, even when we think we're the most charming thing since Cary Grant. Trust me, from a bartenders perspective (a sober one that is), you are not charming. You are a slobbering, babbling child. And after a while, the only way to cope with these children is to join them in their drunken bubble. Which is what I did. Then I snapped out of it and got the hell out of that damn bubble. Now, I admit, it was the most fun job I ever had, and I met some fantastic people, made some lifelong friends, but it did help to tarnish my previously naive shiny perception of people. Part of it might just be growing older and less tolerant of irritating people, but wherever it came from isn't so much the point now. I gotta figure out how to get up with people again.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately because of my travel. I think I have disproportionate reactions to the annoying habits of complete strangers. Take last night for example; I was sitting at the gate in the Austin airport waiting for my plane to board, and a few seats down from me there was a gentleman who was breathing too loud. He did not appear to be sick, disabled, or obese, or anything like that, he just made too much noise when he breathed. But it was so annoying to me that I actually got up and moved to another seat. It wasn't like he was snoring loud or doing that really-annoying-snot-clearing-in-the-back-of-the-throat thing. He was just breathing for fucks sake!

I also get squirrelly on the plane when my seat mate's elbow touches me. And when someone stands too close behind me in line. Or when on the moving sidewalk, people who are clearly capable of walking, stand and don't walk. Is walking really that exhausting!? It's a moving sideWALK people! Shit! Move the fuck out of my goddamn way!

See what I mean? I'm a total Miss Cranky Pants.

Maybe it's a sign that I need a break from all this traveling and being around people. Maybe I should go stay at one of those monk retreats for awhile. Maybe I just need a vacation from airports and hotels.

Or maybe I should just get the fuck over myself and remember that I am not perfect either, and try to be more like Jesus or Buddha. It's so hard though! People are such a pain in the ass.

I just noticed that I used "fuck" and "Jesus" and "Buddha" in the same sentence, so in one fell swoop, I probably managed to offend most everyone, plus I am SO going to hell.

*********

Anyway, thought I'd just get that off my chest. In the meantime, to help me deal with my crankypants mood, I'm going on a seven mile run today as a kick in the pants, since I've hit a bit of a running plateau. I've gotten into a kind of comfortable groove of running four milers a few times a week, with a six miler as my long run. I haven't gone beyond six miles in part cause I'm skeered, but also because I took the half marathon off the schedule for Thanksgiving, and I haven't actually decided on a replacement, so I'm not actively training for one right now. I was considering Austin, but my schedule isn't looking good for that race. I may do one in May/June instead, and maybe I can convince my siblings and stepmom to run one with me. I know my sister will be itchin to work off the whole two pounds of her bebeh weight. And maybe Erin and Katy will be ready by next year to run that distance...(whatchoo think missies? :)

No major bike plans for the weekend. I opted out of a bike camping trip this weekend with ECT because they're goin all primitive and shit to the hot springs (damn!), since I'm more of a girly kinda camper. But I will probably go for a ride by myself tomorrow.

And as far as eatin news, I had some good eats in Austin this week, including two cupcakes (i totally get the craze now), but no BBQ or Tex-Mex. I know, it's a crime, but it just didn't work out this time.

And now that I'm back in my hood, I am anxious after my run to hit a newly opened bagel shop nearby that apparently makes real New York bagels (like boiled, ya know). Like BBQ, it is very dificult to find good bagels here in Portland, so I can't wait to find out if these are the bagels I've been missing. Hopefully it won't be necessary after all to open up my bagel joint, which I was planning to call Shiksas Bagels, but I'll let you know after I try one of theirs...

Ripping the Band-Aid

Well, B and Possum have finally moved out. After breaking up more than 6 months ago, we are now officially broken up. The reason it took so long is that we've got one of those weird relationships that was always more like a friendship than anything, and a very close friendship at that. We were one of those couples that could always finish the other's sentence, we never fought, and it was just really easy. So why did we break up? It was mainly about kids. I had decided that I would eventually like to start a family, whereas B decided that he has no interest in kids, so we knew then that we weren't the perfect match like we had previously thought. So, we decided to stay tight friends, and we thought we could continue to be roomies for awhile (since we don't know many people here), but we both would like to start dating again (okay, I'm not really looking forward to it, but it's gonna have to happen soon), and after long consideration and lots of advice from family and friends (and repeated phone calls from Mom), we decided to rip the band-aid.

We're still going to be close friends and riding buddies, so I'm not too sad about breaking up. But I am very sad about Possum. That's the worst part about it, you know? Oh well, cats always seem to come and go in my life, just like....well, you know. In the meantime, I've got the two old biddies to keep me company. They're not as much fun as Possum, but well, I can't exactly trade them in. (I tease!)

Fun in the Sun

I wish that were me.

But I'm still sick.

(Dontcha just dig my 'new' chaise lounge? Sammy sure does)

Best Salad In The World...and Beans!

So how come no one told me about this before?

• Mixed baby greens
• Blue cheese crumbles
• Candied walnuts (or pee-cans)
• Basalmic vinegarette

Jiminy cricket! It's so rad! And healthful!

Part of the problem might be that I have always hated nuts in things. Don't mind them by their lonesome, but as soon as you sprinkle them on brownies, or pies, or salads...ACK! So to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, you probably just knew this about me, and didn't feel like arguing.

I found out about this salad when one night, much to my surprise, I tried a bite of B's salad that he ordered in one of his braver moments (he's like I am about unlikely food combos), and to my even bigger surprise (because I've also got an aversion to cheese that is blue/bleu- whatever), I loved it! So, that is how Ptown Peach now gets her leafy greens via this oh so frenchy frou-frou manner. Who knew?

Since I've been trying to phase meat out of my diet, I've been looking for protein replacements, and have settled on black beans and rice (brown, since white is a no-no) as something I can eat frequently. It has been so rockin my world. Here's how I prepare it:

• A few healthy scoops of dried black bean bought from the bulk section of grocery
• Soak beans overnight after picking out rocks (!) and weird shrively things
• Place in big ol' pot submerged by water (you'll want water at least 2 inches above beans)
• A few bay leaves, a teaspoon (at least) of cumin, a few tablespoons of kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and tons of red pepper flakes (if you like it spicy, yo)
• Bring to a boil, then let simmer all day, adding water as necessary to keep them submerged
  
• At end of day, when beans are still hard, call Mom in a panic and ask her what to do
• Follow her instructions regarding bringing back to a boil and cook on medium high for next 3 hours until beans are soft and edible* (yay!)
• Saute a coupla cloves of minced garlic and diced yellow onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil and dump this in right before serving
  
• Serve with Trader Joe's amazing frozen brown rice (nuked first of course)
• (don't forget the Beano)

* Mom also says next time to soak for two days...or buy beans in a can.

*****

So I ran for thirty minutes today per the almighty VFit schedule, would have been able to go longer except that I included a pretty sizable hill, which totally kicked my ass, so I stopped right at thirty minutes. Because I'm following the schedule. With no deviations.

I'm such a wimp.

*****

And lastly for your viewing pleasure, since it's been awhile...

One Hour Runner!

I made it! Broke the four mile barrier!! Got back from Denver last night, had the first good night's sleep in a while (with no help from pharmaceuticals), B. and I took the cats to the vet, came back, took a nap (wore out from the vet experience), then got up, saw blue skies (!), and went for a jog. B. rode his bike with me and kept me entertained by pointing out every cat he saw. So I ran for an hour with a few minute break halfway at the community center to take care of a sudden clenching in the gut (boy, am I happy I can run in a neighborhood with plenty of toilets- one of these days I will tell the story of getting the runner's trots in the corn fields of Indiana...*shudder*), so my time is still really pokey, but I don't care. I ran for one hour. Yay!