disclose 43 random THINGS about myself

About everything. anything. I am a compulsive worrier, and it is a tic that drives me crazy, as well as causing me to lose hours of the day obsessing over needless things I can’t control.
I worry about my stepdaughter’s health.
I worry about our terrible relationship with her mother.
I worry about what the hell I’m doing with my life.
I worry because I thought I’d make a bigger impact on humanity by this point in my life (lofty…yes, but I’m almost 30! Think of all the amazing accomplishments history’s visionaries had made by this time in their lives. Not that I think I’m a visionary, but you get the point.)
I worry about whether I have been a good partner for my husband.
I worry whether he is a good partner to me.
I worry about the limp my cat developed this week.
I worry about my weight, and correspondingly, my self image.
I worry about my grandmother.
I worry about turning into my mother.
I worry that I’m losing brainpower since leaving such a rigorous undergraduate program, and entering a less than inspiring graduate program.
I worry about my lack of religious standing. I don’t worry that I am a nonbeliever, but that I haven’t found anything else to believe in.
I worry.

I hated that my dad listened to boring talk radio during my youth, and yet I can’t live without my dose of NPR these days. The stories are interesting, catchy and so much better than the cheesy pop loop the top 40 stations are on.

When my husband leaves for a deployment, or even just a night away, I am vulnerable to the terrible movies of Oxygen and the occasional ABC Family channel, or the “Romance” genre of Netflix. No, I have not sunk so low as to fall victim to Lifetime or anything, but for some reason, when I’m alone I watch the formulaic, predictable romance flicks that I otherwise disdain! It’s a dirty little secret, but the gushing, beat-you-over-the-head sweetness and sentimentality is (very) occasionally what I need for an exit from reality.

This comes from Cooking Light, so it’s healthy as well as deliciously spicy!

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

8 ounces uncooked linguine
1 cup matchstick-cut carrots
2/3 cup organic vegetable broth (such as Swanson’s Certified Organic)
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
2 teaspoons Sriracha (hot chile sauce, such as Huy Fong)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add carrots to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain well.

Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine pasta mixture, chicken, and onions in a large bowl. Drizzle broth mixture over pasta mixture; toss well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

I start this Friday, and I’m really anticipating being challenged and fulfilled by my new position. It’s precisely what I had hoped for when I started the job search after graduating from college. The hours are great, the people are wonderful, and the work is worthy and meaningful. I have such good expectations!

I start this Friday, and I’m really anticipating being challenged and fulfilled by my new position. It’s precisely what I had hoped for when I started the job search after graduating from college. The hours are great, the people are wonderful, and the work is worthy and meaningful. I have such good expectations!

Ok, this is less pathetic than it sounds. I miss having my friends in town. I have a wonderful long distance friendship with ALL of my friends, both those back home and some that I’ve picked up along the way in the Air Force, but I miss having people to have lunch with, share a glass of wine with, go to a movie with…things like that. Minot hasn’t been fruitful in the friendship department, and it seems harder to make lasting, meaningful and significant friendships as I get older. Or maybe it’s just that we never stay anywhere long enough.

Well, I’ve done the Midwest from top to bottom. Tried out the Southwest, and the Plains. At the moment, I’m living almost as far north as you can go in the U.S. After this, I’d like to try living in the two areas that intrigue me the most. I’ve had my fill of living in the states that ban tattoo parlors, make themselves the laughingstock of the civilized world by trying to ban abortion, or even applaud themselves for lifting the statute banning cohabitation (seriously, North Dakota just did it two weeks ago). I want to live somewhere a little more progressive, a little more liberal. Not because I think they are free from their own problems and inconsistencies, but because I would like to know what it’s like to live in a community more consistent with my own values. Just think it’d be interesting…

A ripoff of Aladdin’s chicken salad:
I take a can of tuna and mix it with one tablespoon mayo, then salt and pepper it.

I fill a large salad bowl with greens (my favorite: organic baby romaine and iceberg mixed)
Top with:
chopped tomatoes
chopped cucumbers
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
a sprinkling of almond slivers
a few tablespoons of sliced scallions
Top with the tuna salad, and drizzle the whole salad with olive oil.

YUM!

They come in flocks and droves to my feeders, and they’re so adorable I just can’t resist them! They’re smaller than Chickadees even, and have the cutest little mohawk stripe of red on their heads. Males, like the one in this photo, have bright pink breasts. Too cute! I never saw one until I came to North Dakota, and now I have a reason to be glad! Well, one reason anyway…