...annnnd another food post

Guess what I made?

One of the best things ever that consists of a "staple" on the weekly grocery list: hummus! I got motivated when I saw a recipe for it and decided to tackle making my own. It was SO easy and SO good.

Here's the recipe that I modified from Dreena, found at this blog:
2 cups chickpeas (cooked or canned)
2-2.5 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup water (or less/more for consistency you want)
seasonings to taste (you could use chili peppers if you want it hot but I just wanted simple so I just put in some pepper and garlic).

Blend, and enjoy!

My final product:

Cereal overload

Some of the stupider things that I do involve bring food into my office because when food is in my office, I don't really have control. AKA: jars of peanut butter. And a new staple:

I'm pretty sure I ate this whole box of cereal in about 2.5 days. Maybe less. Maybe. Hey, but flax and fiber are good for you, right? It's just the whole moderation thing that wasn't really existing....

Oh yes, I did.

I sort of forgot that Thursday night was a school night. Sometimes in the summer, I frequently have these lapses of judgement. Happy hour? Why not? Happy hours that turn into deep conversations and more flowing wine and 2 am bedtimes? Sweet! Especially when the alarm goes off at 5am. YEE HAW! Let's get this party started. It feels like this is a trend during the summers I've had here in Washington. Hell, every summer during my life in public accounting. Why is that?

So on thursday night, last night, this:

...An amazing bottle of merlot made in northern Washington (and seriously? CRAZY taste. It started on the palate very soft, maybe slightly oak-y but not much and then BAAMMM! It was like an explosion in your mouth of all different flavors...chocolate richness, more oak, cigar-like ish, I don't know. It was the most insane but cool merlot I have ever had. I'm doing it no justice to describe it). Anyway, it led to this:

Oh yes, Friday morning in the office. Hi, how are you? Please excuse the eyes that will barely stay open and the still somewhat bedhead. Oh and 5 hours later mid afternoon while I'm trying to work? Excuse the fact that my head is almost hitting the desk. Thanks MR. MERLOT. (Oh, but you were well worth it, it WAS friday, a day in which I typically have no grand productivity plans anyway).

Practical joke is on you.

This morning I walked into my office to find this sitting in front of my computer:

Um. Blink. My first thought: WHO THE HELL THINKS IT'S FUNNY TO LEAVE A PEE CUP ON MY DESK? The world already got me with the imploding face, no more!! I'm thinking, geez, what staff did I piss off? So I kinda wedge myself around it on my desk to try to figure out if it's warm or what is going on with it to dispose of it when an email comes through from my friend Renee:

"Left you a jello shot on your desk: lemon jello, pineapple juice, vanilla vodka. Kinda strong so you might want to wait till after work but then again it is Monday morning so maybe just go for it?"

A jello shot. No practical pee cup joke, phew! Perfect way to start a Monday morning. Though, no, I did not do the shot. Yet.

Imploding face.

All of a sudden the world has gotten me confused with Bella, the dog who gets weird conditions/illnesses. HI I'm not her, go AWAY.

So.

I went backpacking a week ago and got bit right under my nose by a mosquito. Not too shocking because there were a gazillion bugs. I itched it because it was a mosquito bite. IT ITCHED. Well, throughout the week, that bite spot just continued to look worse and worse. I was putting on anti-itch bug cream, then at one point I even put on cold sore cream thinking maybe it hadn't actually been a bite, lotion, neosporin. EVERYTHING. Because it was disgusting and the only other options were to put a bag over my head or saw off my face.

Well.

Throughout the weekend, it continually got worse. Which was GREAT since I hung around friends all weekend who kept looking at my face kinda cock eyed like, "What happened to you?" Sunday morning, all hell broke loose. Blisters (!!!!) everywhere, open sores everywhere and the "bite" under my nose? Basically turned into a small version of China on my face. I looked like a 15 year old boy who has possibly the worst case of acne EVER. I even had blisters on my EYELIDS. At this point I am fighting tears and sufficiently FREAKING. And google told me I had herpes. GREAT. And by the way, WHAT THE FUCK? Oh, and also, google told me once again I would die from this. Middle finger, google, middle finger... WHY must I always go back to you?

So, I promptly drove myself to Urgent Care.

The diagnosis? Well, TURNS out that spot actually WAS a bug bite. And from that lovely bug bite developed an infection called impetigo. Basically a staph infection that is caused by bug bites and spreads. Especially if you itch. NICE TO KNOW. The doctor took a look at my face and lost all of her doctor modesty when she said, "WOW, you've got it bad." And by the way, this infection? Most common in kids. HELLO?! Shouldn't I be exempt then? Good news is a) I'm not going to die (take that google) b) it's not herpes and c) it's not a bad case of acne that I never had as a teenager.

After getting a prescription for some heavy duty antibiotics and some topical ointment (and asking for a prescription bag to wear over my head), I was on my way. I then promptly indulged in about 10 pounds of peanut butter (hi comfort food) and wallowed in self pity for a while. Then I went on a hike with Bella and some friends and felt better...

Here's hoping that each day this week, I start to look just a bit more normal... Pictures of this madness:

The worst part of it was on this side... but there are the red open sores all on the other side of my face, eyelids, forehead, nose, etc.

And one more. GROSS. And yes, those sores hurt like hell.

Definition of perfection

A summery, warm August night + friends + a black and tan beer at a local irish pub + sitting on the patio enjoying all of the above = perfect.

Hacking up a lung. Or two.

Oh Bell bells what are we ever going to do with you?

Sunday I hung out with Bella all day. It was a day fairly typical of a weekend day with her... we hung around, then went on a good walk. Nothing too exciting. Towards mid-afternoon after our walk, I had showered and was drying my hair in the bathroom when she started to hack. My first instinct, OH SHIT, the dog is barfing. So I grabbed her and put her on the back porch to prevent any sort of projectile vomit. Nothing was really coming out but I SWORE she was gagging/trying to throw up. I figured she had eaten something that was lodged in her throat.

She did that off and on all night but by the time it was time for bed, it hadn't happened for some time. I figured sleep would help.

The next morning: OH MAN. She woke me up at 3am gagging and hacking. By 6am, I just got us both up, let her out only to have her actually regurgitate about every 2 feet. GROSS. Eventually I had to just put her back in her crate because every time she moved, she barfed. And incessantly hacked in between hurling. UGGGGH. And when I took her out to go to the bathroom in this time frame? I'm pretty sure that she woke the whole neighborhood up with her hacking... and they were probably all thinking I was abusing her.

So, back to the vet we go... with the stipulation that if something is REALLY wrong, there might not be a whole lot we can do to save her.

Turns out, she has basically a severe doggie cold/kennel cough. It's running rampant here this summer, even though she's been vaccinated against it (although only against a particular strain... apparently not the strain she got!)

She was injected with a few hardcore antibiotics and about a half an hour later was stumbling around like your every day homeless drunken druggie. At least the hacking had stopped mostly, thanks to some much needed cough suppressant. So. Wow. Miss Bella gets sick again. Story of her life. Luckily I'm happy to report, this time it was nothing too major. And she is on the road to recovery.

Backpacking and friends

This weekend, I went on a quickie backpacking adventure in the cascade mountains. It was sort of a last minute decision for me to go but once I decided to, I couldn't wait to get out of the city. We left on Friday afternoon and drove about an hour out of Seattle into the mountains- about to Snoqualmie pass. I've never really "backpacked" before... as in carrying a rather hefty pack into and up the mountains. A pack in which contains everything to survive a night out in the wilderness. And it should be known that I have never peed in the woods before. When I've been camping there have always been outhouses. So while I hike and love the woods, this was fairly crazy for a relative virgin (in the stay in the forest respect)... We left after work and hiked about 4 miles up and in. AND LET ME JUST SAY. I have never been so disgustingly sweaty in my whole life. WOW. What a workout. Apparently it's a lot harder to bolt up a mountain with a 40-50 pound backpack. No kidding.

Once we got up, we hiked more down and in towards an alpine lake where we set up camp for the night. Once we were all set up, we just enjoyed the views, drank some wine, chatted and ate. It was so perfect and peaceful. A few of the views:
Coming in on Friday night... and yes, that would be snow. S.N.O.W!

Sunset shot over the mountains. Crazy thing that night- there were thunderstorms! I kept wondering what was flashing and thought there were other people who were just taking pictures. NOPE, that giant clap of thunder tells me the "flash" was lightning. COOL. So not only was I braving it in the woods in a tent, I was doing that while there were thunderstorms!

The next morning, we woke up to this. Absolutely gorgeous. We hung around camp for a couple of hours then set out to hike back down the mountain. Going down was SO much easier. But we still got sufficiently sweaty. Needless to say, I smelled. And, can I just say also? I SUCK at peeing in the woods. Enough said about that.

And one more shot of the view. Breathtaking.

Later that evening, I am de-sweatified, looking more normal and out and about hanging with friends. Above is a picture of my friend Shauna... the first and last picture I took all night. I was happy to be hanging with friends, refreshed after spending the night and day in the woods... and oh so happy to be around working plumbing again. (That being said, I would do another backpacking trip in a heartbeat... just might want to work on the whole squatting concept. Eww, too much information!)