Just One of Those Weeks....

It's seemed to be a very long week. I think it might have gone by faster if I'd have been truly engaged at work but I'm feeling rather disgruntled lately and there's nothing easier than job frustration to make the week go slowly.

It's been one of those kind of weeks in general. Nothing has gone exactly according to plan. For example, we're having a barbecue at work today to welcome the new person who started on Monday. Now, I think it's nice that we're welcoming her but we have another new person starting next Monday and I can't help but wonder if we'll have to have another next week. We'll see.

Anyway, my contribution to the barbecue is guacamole and salsa verde. I think I make a pretty decent guacamole and I think the salsa verde is pretty good too although I did just hear a couple of coworkers look in the fridge and say, "Uh, what's that?" Salsa Verde literally is....green salsa. They lowered their voices after that so I have no idea what their judgment of it is so far. It might be better if they actually try it first. Still....I recognize I'm feeling a little cantankerous this morning so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they weren't dissing my food.

Back to my slightly-off week. Last night, I had to make both of my barbecue contributions. I'd gone on Wednesday to Jungle Jim's to get the ingredients because they had avocados on sale. I'd also stopped at the farmer's market on the way home last night to get some more tomatillos since they're cheaper there than in the store and usually fresher.

When I started opening the husks of the farmer's market tomatillos, I realized half of them had worm holes in them and/or were rotten. This did not make me happy. I ended up substituting some yellow tomatoes I'd bought in place of them which meant rebalancing the salsa was necessary. Yes, I'm aware I sound like a Food Network Junkie using words like 'rebalancing' but, well, let's face it...I am. I also now watch Top Chef: Las Vegas. Which means I'm truly a food nerd. I'm ok with it. I just had to type that out loud.

Rebalancing the salsa verde meant adding some ingredients that I normally don't add like lime juice. Fortunately, I had extra left from the guacamole. I was a little worried that it would end up very verde because of the yellow tomatoes but, thankfully, by the time I'd added the cilantro and jalapenos, it was green again. Phew. I ate some for dinner which meant it is, at least, edible.

Onto the guacamole. I had pre-chopped by garlic and onions because I'd also used them in the salsa. It's nice when you have projects that share ingredients. It means extra chopping but it's still a time saver to chop double and then divide it between prep bowls, one for each 'dish'.

Yes, I said prep bowls. I own prep bowls and I use 'em. Given that a year ago I didn't really understand the concept of owning a good knife, you can see why I feel like it's such a dramatic life changer to discover that cooking is fun.

I had bought three avocados at Jungle Jim's: Two hass avocados and one giant Florida one. I bought the hass because they tend to be more flavourful even though they're smaller. Sadly, I discovered I'd wasted my money when I cut into them. When I'd picked them, I'd gone for two that felt nice and ripe. I like them when they're a little soft because it makes them easy to scoop. Once I'd sliced them in half, I realized that they were black with rot. I ended up using only the Florida one. I probably should have taken them back to the store but the time and effort that would have taken was just something I didn't have the energy for last night. Needless to say, I ended up with half the amount of guacamole I'd intended.

I know, I know...I'm complaining about minor little things. I'm grateful that it's all I have to complain about. My job is mind-numbingly dull but at least I have a job. Two conversations with my boss about how I'd like more work to do have resulted in...my coworker getting more work and me just doing the same old thing, day after day. I suppose this means I'm good at the task I do but given that my last job at USC was about three jobs rolled into one, it's a little hard to realize that this is where I've ended up. Like I told my mother yesterday, I compare to the days of being in high school. I liked school: I was a nerd. I didn't even mind some homework. Yet there were some homework subjects I didn't like because they were boring and dull like Maths. I didn't mind Maths because until I got to Calculus and Geometry, it made sense. Yet I'd much rather do my English homework because it was interesting and used the part of my brain that works best. My job is like only ever having Math homework. I can do it but I feel like the other part of my brain is wasted.

Which is probably why I should be writing in the evenings. I'm trying to but things keep getting in the way. I've had editing to do for a friend, papers to assist with for another friend and then there's the whole owning-a-home thing. It seems like every evening, there's something that needs to be done, mowing, vacuuming, laundry...I keep hoping to find my balance again so that I can start working these into a routine but I still don't feel like I've actually grasped the fact that it's my house. Every time I do something there, I feel like I should get permission from someone. For example, I ripped up some geraniums that seem to be everywhere in my garden to make way for my culinary herbs. I felt a little bad about it since they were the old lady who lived there before me's geraniums. Then I realized...technically they were my geraniums now.

So, really, today all I'm doing is having a moan because life feels a little overwhelming at the moment. In the grand scheme of things, I know I'm very, very lucky to have such silly little things to whine about like rotten fruit and a boring job. It's just that sometimes even the silly little things make us feel crotchety and ragged. I'm just glad it's the weekend.

I just talked to a coworker who is having the same kind of day. She forgot the stuff at home that she'd made for the barbecue.

It's going to be that kind of day.

Happy Friday.