productivity

Yep, today is September 11th. I'm not going to touch that one today. There's nothing I could say that everyone else on the internet hasn't already.

It's not that I'm disrespectful. I'm just tired of what "September 11th" has turned into... a drop-everything, slap-a-bumper-sticker-on-your-pickup-truck and propaganda-filled day. There's nothing, short of a government conspiracy, that happened that day that we don't already know about. It was a terrible tragedy... innocent lives lost, a war begun, a nation shaken out of fear and grief. It's my generation's "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?" But I need a break. I'm tired of this yearly renewal of our war vows. Let's talk about positive changes rather than renewing our angry at "the Muslims" and "the terrorists" all over again.

I guess I did touch it after all. Oh well.

I had a decently productive day, if by "day" I was to imply "after 3pm." I had yet another massive headache this morning... I keep waking up with these awful sinus headaches. It's either some new sort of seasonal allergy or it's something related to air-conditioning. Anyways, I had one, and I had to head over to M's/my new place to drop off some money I had borrowed from him, and then I hit Starbucks for some blessed caffeine and sugar (not too much... I know my limits with caffeine now). One grande Frappucino, two Advils and four episodes of The L Word, Season 2 (brought to me by the fabulous TV Links website; I may never buy TV show seasons on DVD ever again) I was all better. Except I'd wasted a few hours being useless, and continued to waste a few more watching more episodes. That show is so addictive. It made me a bit sad and moody, though... all these people in tumultuous relationships. So I headed out to see M, who was just getting home from a bunch of meetings. That helped :D

We cooked tonight! Our first time cooking in the new house. We'd made rice and beans before with naan and some tandoori sauce, but using a rice cooker is hardly "cooking." Tonight I made a fruit cup from some peaches, nectarines, plums and raspberries; and then we (*ahem* meaning M) whipped together a great one-pot arroz con pollo dish. It was actually pretty easy, especially since M did all the work-- a few chicken drumsticks, wings or thighs seared in olive oil; then add in some rice and brown it; and then add in a mixture of tomato paste, chicken broth, chopped garlic, salt, chopped onions and chopped green pepper, cover and simmer. We had to re-cook some of the pieces of chicken, but all told it was a tasty meal. I chopped up some yellow cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and chopped fresh basil for an accent. It was a pretty healthy meal, especially for us "eat out all the time" types. Although I did finish off my meal with a slice a cheesecake. Heh.

I'm up early for work tomorrow morning. A has two new classes tomorrow-- a "preschool experience" class at the YMCA, and a recreation department music class in the afternoon. (For anyone just joining us, "A" is a child and not a stray article. My sentence is grammatically correct, I swear!) It'll be so strange for me to drop him off at music class... last year it was a "Mommy (in my case, Nanny) & Me" for 3/4-year-olds... now that he's almost 4 1/2 and in his second year of preschool, he's old enough for the drop-off class. Seriously, nannying is not for the faint of heart... especially when you've yet to have children and you don't even know how much you weep inside when they grow up like this! I'm so proud of him, but it's bittersweet... he's not a little guy anymore...

I'll entertain myself during my two new 45-minute child-free blocks by working on my Great American Novel. That's right, kids, blogging is only my day job... and you thought all this talent was going to waste. ;) The fun thing about writing a fantasy novel is you get to invent a whole world of your own, with your own rules. I'm still working on the social and political climate and world history of this place. It's so FUN.