This is a modified version of a famous Rachel Ray recipe, (yes, I'm admitting that up front), and I like it because it is easy, quick and very reliable.
Penne with Vodka Sauce
Nouns-
1 pound penne pasta, prepared
5 shallots or one onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp butter
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup vodka
4-6 ounces heavy cream
10 fresh basil leaves, torn or cut into thin ribbons
Verbs-
Saute the shallots and garlic in the butter over medium high heat until the shallots are translucent. Add the chicken stock and simmer until reduced by half. Add the vodka and simmer until reduced by by half. Add the tomatoes and simmer about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the heavy cream, stirring to combine. Toss with the prepared pasta until coated. Sprinkle with the basil and serve. Yum!
Where to begin...
I haven't posted in a while because life has been incredibly incredibly crazy. There are many things I want to write about, and I'm not sure I'll have time for all of them. Rather than saving the best for last, I'll open with it. Last week, I traveled to Colorado for my sister's wedding, which was the loveliest and most satisfying wedding I've ever been to. I know that everyone who has a little sister would say the same thing, but my sister is the most beautiful person in the world. And she was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. There is no one in this world that I am more proud of, no one more precious to me, and no one I'm happier for. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but it is absolutely true. She astounds me with her intelligence, her humor and her quiet strength, and she delighted me with her loving enthusiasm and irrepressible excitement.
It is a great honor and a great joy to participate in an event that was so important to my sister, and in an event that was so full of love. It was a reminder of the greatest joys and loves in my own life. Sometimes as we walk through our days it is hard to know whether a particular moment will be remembered, whether an event is important or special, but sometimes it is very clear that this moment is a precious memory in the making, that it should be savored and filed away to enjoy for the rest of your life. And my whole weekend was like that, punctuated with beautiful, essential memories.
I loved watching my sister's husband over the days leading up to the wedding as he was so so so excited to marry my sister, so overcome with love. I loved watching my grandmother's face when she surprised my sister by coming to the wedding when we all thought she couldn't make it. I loved watching my mother's face as my sister put on her wedding dress. I loved watching my dad nervously preparing to give the champagne toast after the ceremony, and smiling broadly as he closed his speech with a geeky quote from a sci-fi movie.
Because I am so so so fortunate in my family and friends, I was able to unwind and cut loose a little at the reception. My best friend and my wonderful husband took care of the whole checklist of stuff I needed to do after the wedding, and my husband and cousin Sam ensured that I was pleasantly drunk by the end of the evening. It is a treasure to be so well-loved and supported, and to be part of a network that loves and supports my sister in turn.
There are, as I said, many other things to write about, but for now, I just want to think about my beautiful, beautiful sister filled with happiness and light, heading off to the Caribbean on her honeymoon.
It is a great honor and a great joy to participate in an event that was so important to my sister, and in an event that was so full of love. It was a reminder of the greatest joys and loves in my own life. Sometimes as we walk through our days it is hard to know whether a particular moment will be remembered, whether an event is important or special, but sometimes it is very clear that this moment is a precious memory in the making, that it should be savored and filed away to enjoy for the rest of your life. And my whole weekend was like that, punctuated with beautiful, essential memories.
I loved watching my sister's husband over the days leading up to the wedding as he was so so so excited to marry my sister, so overcome with love. I loved watching my grandmother's face when she surprised my sister by coming to the wedding when we all thought she couldn't make it. I loved watching my mother's face as my sister put on her wedding dress. I loved watching my dad nervously preparing to give the champagne toast after the ceremony, and smiling broadly as he closed his speech with a geeky quote from a sci-fi movie.
Because I am so so so fortunate in my family and friends, I was able to unwind and cut loose a little at the reception. My best friend and my wonderful husband took care of the whole checklist of stuff I needed to do after the wedding, and my husband and cousin Sam ensured that I was pleasantly drunk by the end of the evening. It is a treasure to be so well-loved and supported, and to be part of a network that loves and supports my sister in turn.
There are, as I said, many other things to write about, but for now, I just want to think about my beautiful, beautiful sister filled with happiness and light, heading off to the Caribbean on her honeymoon.
Google Voice Part 2
My mother reads my blog.
As a result, I got the following voicemail transcript today:
"I will try to leave this message in a deep voice so that your auto transcrib or will understand it, which is your mother. And give me a call when you get this message. If you can. Thanks. Love you. Bye now."
Apparently, talking in a loud, purposefully (and hilariously) deep voice really does make a difference.
As a result, I got the following voicemail transcript today:
"I will try to leave this message in a deep voice so that your auto transcrib or will understand it, which is your mother. And give me a call when you get this message. If you can. Thanks. Love you. Bye now."
Apparently, talking in a loud, purposefully (and hilariously) deep voice really does make a difference.
Voicemail
I subscribe to Google Voice, a service that transcribes my voicemails and then texts the transcripts to me. I also get an email of the transcript and the voicemail itself. I LOVE this service, because I was one of those annoying people who never listened to voicemails and would just call you back and ask about whatever it was you just spent three minutes leaving me a message about. For whatever reason, I find I actually read the voicemail transcripts, or even *shockingly* listen to my voicemail, now that I get it in email form. Don't ask me why; I don't know.
The one major drawback of the service is that it has a hard time with some voices, specifically, high squeaky ones. And, unfortunately, my sister, my mother and myself all have the exact same voice. (I still answer the phone "Hello, this is Alice" because of years and years of having people immediately assume I was my mother or my sister on the phone.) Google Voice cannot figure out what we are saying, and so I get some pretty hilariously inaccurate transcripts.
Here's one from my sister today:
The one major drawback of the service is that it has a hard time with some voices, specifically, high squeaky ones. And, unfortunately, my sister, my mother and myself all have the exact same voice. (I still answer the phone "Hello, this is Alice" because of years and years of having people immediately assume I was my mother or my sister on the phone.) Google Voice cannot figure out what we are saying, and so I get some pretty hilariously inaccurate transcripts.
Here's one from my sister today:
Hi, A trying to get your feet. Just wanted to say hi to talk to you and said they'd like it to you a very very soon. Can I talk to you know about that, definitely be a paper open. Hey, and then time off all day so You know it's contract your flight and everything. I compact Anthony late. And hey I think I just can't keep doing 3 days Berkeley. I'm going to have you here. But I am really good shape. Actually, it's distributing they left me feel really good if you like crap than the new about the printer. Actually, it's overwhelming with. I'm clicking if I don't know it anything. Bye. Things here and I, hey, love you and hope you are making everything and error that could be, new I love you and I'll be on tonight. Our home after 8. I need Tuesday if you were okay. I love you bye!
Marathon Training
Well, folks, it's been a while since I posted about running, and the reason is because it has not been going well. After my first aborted long run, I had a second, equally painful, aborted long run. So I am two critical weeks behind on my training and worried I won't be able to get in a last long run before I need to be tapering, meaning that ... this is it. This is all the real training I get before my first marathon.
This week has been painful. My leg has been in bad bad shape, hurting whether I run or not, and keeping me up at night. It's been a week of much ice, much advil, and much whining. I have been really discouraged, wondering if all my hard work will get a chance to pay off, and if I'll actually get a chance to achieve my goal. It's also been hard because I haven't really been able to run, and I get twitchy as hell when I can't run. I am not super pleasant to be around.
Today I went to the doctor to have my hip and knee checked out, and I was terrified that she'd put the kibosh on the marathon. I am happy to say that I got a *provisional* go-ahead for training and for the race itself. Apparently, what I thought was wicked wicked tendonitis was actually a slipped or misaligned sacrum/pelvis joint, which has caused my stride to be crooked and all my muscles and tendons on the right side to be pulled tightly in one direction. That tightness starts pulling on the lower leg muscles and pulling my knee out of alignment after a few miles, and then it hurts hurts hurts. So I must get me to a chiropractor to get the joint put back so all the muscles can stop freaking out, and at that point, the ice/tylenol/stretching routine should actually work. I am cleared to run unless and until it hurts, so I can put in a few miles each day and keep from losing condition.
It's not perfect. I'm sad that I didn't have the training schedule I wanted; I had it all planned out, and now I will have had only one 20 mile run before the race, which is less than preferable. But, I have faith that I can still do this, and I"m trying not to let the injury and training setbacks freak me out too much. All I can do is the best I can do, and I plan to do just that.
This week has been painful. My leg has been in bad bad shape, hurting whether I run or not, and keeping me up at night. It's been a week of much ice, much advil, and much whining. I have been really discouraged, wondering if all my hard work will get a chance to pay off, and if I'll actually get a chance to achieve my goal. It's also been hard because I haven't really been able to run, and I get twitchy as hell when I can't run. I am not super pleasant to be around.
Today I went to the doctor to have my hip and knee checked out, and I was terrified that she'd put the kibosh on the marathon. I am happy to say that I got a *provisional* go-ahead for training and for the race itself. Apparently, what I thought was wicked wicked tendonitis was actually a slipped or misaligned sacrum/pelvis joint, which has caused my stride to be crooked and all my muscles and tendons on the right side to be pulled tightly in one direction. That tightness starts pulling on the lower leg muscles and pulling my knee out of alignment after a few miles, and then it hurts hurts hurts. So I must get me to a chiropractor to get the joint put back so all the muscles can stop freaking out, and at that point, the ice/tylenol/stretching routine should actually work. I am cleared to run unless and until it hurts, so I can put in a few miles each day and keep from losing condition.
It's not perfect. I'm sad that I didn't have the training schedule I wanted; I had it all planned out, and now I will have had only one 20 mile run before the race, which is less than preferable. But, I have faith that I can still do this, and I"m trying not to let the injury and training setbacks freak me out too much. All I can do is the best I can do, and I plan to do just that.
All the things!
Today a coworker was asking me about the funny stuff I read on the internet, because he'd seen a facebook post I wrote about one of the blogs I love. Here's the short list of my favorite funny internet sites:
The Oatmeal- funny comics, and I especially love their grammar posters.
XKCD- a webcomic that is sometimes too nerdy even for me; bonus: math jokes!
The Bloggess- complete insanity. Fo' reals. This woman makes me look like a Zen master of calm.
Dooce- though a little too trendy recently, I love her candor and she still cracks me up.
Hyperbole and Half- sadly, she hasn't updated in a while, but this blog is my favorite thing on the whole wide internets.
The Cheezburger Universe: from the funny/cute pics of cats on I Can Has Cheezburger, to the social networking fails of Failbook, to the awesomeness of WIN!, it's all right here.
Regretsy- The best arts and crafts fails of Etsy. Wow, this is some ugly ugly stuff.
Someecards.com- I send a someecards card to my friend Miriam every couple of months, because she is really the only person I can say "I love you like a cannibal loves human flesh" to.
Postcards from Yo Mama- My mom suddenly seems super sane and normal!
There are many more that I read sometimes, but those are worth checking out if ever you want to waste your whole day.
The Oatmeal- funny comics, and I especially love their grammar posters.
XKCD- a webcomic that is sometimes too nerdy even for me; bonus: math jokes!
The Bloggess- complete insanity. Fo' reals. This woman makes me look like a Zen master of calm.
Dooce- though a little too trendy recently, I love her candor and she still cracks me up.
Hyperbole and Half- sadly, she hasn't updated in a while, but this blog is my favorite thing on the whole wide internets.
The Cheezburger Universe: from the funny/cute pics of cats on I Can Has Cheezburger, to the social networking fails of Failbook, to the awesomeness of WIN!, it's all right here.
Regretsy- The best arts and crafts fails of Etsy. Wow, this is some ugly ugly stuff.
Someecards.com- I send a someecards card to my friend Miriam every couple of months, because she is really the only person I can say "I love you like a cannibal loves human flesh" to.
Postcards from Yo Mama- My mom suddenly seems super sane and normal!
There are many more that I read sometimes, but those are worth checking out if ever you want to waste your whole day.
Anniversary
Two years ago today, The Husband and I tied the knot. For almost ten years now I have shared my life with The Husband; we have had ups and downs, struggles and triumphs, and many many adventures. We've moved from Washington to Michigan, from Michigan to Oregon, and traveled to Colorado, Indiana, Mexico, Ireland, and many places in between. We've celebrated Christmases and Thanksgivings and birthdays together, we've worked hard and relaxed and laughed and cried together. I am grateful for his love and support, for the hard work he puts into our marriage, our home and our daily life, and for his humor, caring, and kindness.
Meal Plan
This week, we are having
Dan Dan Noodles
Spaghetti
Green Salad with Orange-Glazed Chicken
Homemade Pizza
Dan Dan Noodles
Spaghetti
Green Salad with Orange-Glazed Chicken
Homemade Pizza
Marathon Training
Today I was supposed to run 20 miles.
I didn't.
I have not had a failed run like this in a long time, a long long time, and I forgot how incredibly demoralizing it is. I ran 10 miles before I just completely fell apart. From the beginning my hip and knee were hurting, but they just kept getting worse, and at mile ten I was making the pathetic whimper noises that I like to reserve for mile 19 or so. I sat down just off the trail and called my husband, sobbing, because I just couldn't go any farther. It hurt. It really hurt, and I debated whether I would be making myself worse by continuing, but I finally admitted to myself that the debate was unnecessary because I just... couldn't.
I sat and I ate a Larabar and drank some water, and I cried a bit more. Then I tried to run a few steps before giving up and walking slowly home.
I am trying to figure out what to do now in terms of training, and also trying to get my body back to cooperating with my whole marathon plan. Today I am mostly putting ice on various parts of myself and watching Sports Night. Tomorrow I will be on a plane all day. Through the week I am going to play it by ear and see how running goes, but I'm going to try to get a lot of midweek miles in because I've been slacking on that. Then I'll re-attempt the 20 miler on Friday if I'm up for it.
This really sucks.
I didn't.
I have not had a failed run like this in a long time, a long long time, and I forgot how incredibly demoralizing it is. I ran 10 miles before I just completely fell apart. From the beginning my hip and knee were hurting, but they just kept getting worse, and at mile ten I was making the pathetic whimper noises that I like to reserve for mile 19 or so. I sat down just off the trail and called my husband, sobbing, because I just couldn't go any farther. It hurt. It really hurt, and I debated whether I would be making myself worse by continuing, but I finally admitted to myself that the debate was unnecessary because I just... couldn't.
I sat and I ate a Larabar and drank some water, and I cried a bit more. Then I tried to run a few steps before giving up and walking slowly home.
I am trying to figure out what to do now in terms of training, and also trying to get my body back to cooperating with my whole marathon plan. Today I am mostly putting ice on various parts of myself and watching Sports Night. Tomorrow I will be on a plane all day. Through the week I am going to play it by ear and see how running goes, but I'm going to try to get a lot of midweek miles in because I've been slacking on that. Then I'll re-attempt the 20 miler on Friday if I'm up for it.
This really sucks.
Training Widget
Race Schedule Widget