Food, Fun and Pumpkins!

It's another Sunday evening with the start of the work week looming closer. It has also been another great weekend.

I spent the weekend at my parents. It was a beautiful autumnal weekend with only a minor chill in the air. The pups had a great time hunting grasshoppers and crickets. I haven't quite figured out if they actually eat the insects or they just like the stalking and hunting part. I've seen them..sort of chew on them but I don't think they actually eat them. I'd prefer to think they don't anyway.

One of the other things I got to do with my parents is go to a local-ish butcher shop. I say local-ish because it's not in their town but is only abour 25 minutes away. It's sort of in the middle of nowhere but it's immensely popular and the meat is great. It's all fresh and butchered in-house. It's also very reasonably priced. It gave me a chance to stock up my little chest freezer with meat that will last several months. I like doing that- it makes cooking fun because there are so many options and I always have meat on hand with which to make something interesting. I'm a big fan of stocking up, especially when I ended up buying probably 20 meals worth of meat for less than $30.

It's fun to go to the butchers and select my purchases. When I was a child in England, we had a local butcher that was at the end of a parade of shops which also featured a greengrocer, post office, newsagent and small grocery store. Back then, while there were big grocery shops, people still went to specialty shops for most of their daily purchases. There was still a milk man who delivered the milk.

It wasn't that long ago, honestly but times have changed. Nowadays both in England and the states, the specialty stores don't exist the same way anymore. If they do, they're novelties. In my opinion, it's a shame. While it's way easier to go to the local supermarket for one-stop grocery shopping, it's just not the same. Bread from the bakery in England was so fresh, it was often still a little warm when you got it and it was so crusty, it was flaky. The fresh cream cakes such as chocolate eclairs and filled buns were fresh and unique. The produce from the greengrocer was better than supermarket fruits and vegetables because that's what the greengrocer did. He didn't try to sell produce AND dairy or meat or cheese...he specialized in fresh veggies and fruits.

The world moves faster now. We want to go to one place and get everything we need. We don't want to spend hours running around to butchers, to bakers, to candlestick makers to complete a list.

Yet...something has been lost in our need for convenience and speed. I miss the smell of the old butcher shops, their floors covered in sawdust. I miss the bakers where the fresh smell of crusty bread called you inside before you even got to the store. Sure, there are still speciality shops around. I mean, the farmers market is, essentially and outdoor greengrocers. Yet...it's not quite the same. I think that's why I'm so drawn to markets in general- Findlay Market here in Cincinnati is one of my favourite places because it's essentially a series of specialty stores all under one roof. In New York, I instantly loved Chelsea Market for the same reason. It's the same reason I loved the butchers shop I went to with my parents. Speciality stores do still exist- it's just not quite as easy to get to them.

I'm partial to butchers shops. I know that's probably not very politically correct to vegetarians and I know that Peta would probably have something to say to me about it but, well, I'm a foodie. I adore vegetables and making vegetable dishes but it's hard to be a real foodie without eating meat. There are so many possibilities when you have different meat on hand- it allows creativity to shine through and to just have fun in both the planning and preparation of a meal.

So, even though it sounds a little odd, going to the butchers with my parents was just a great way to spend time with them and it was just plain fun.

Of course, I didn't just spend the weekend in a butchers shop and watching my dogs chase crickets. I also got to spend some quality time with my sister and my niece. We carved pumpkins. Well, that is to say, I carved, they painted. My niece is an abstract artist and I've never seen such a colourful pumpkin in all my life. I think Jackson Pollock would have been impressed. My sister is a far more disciplined artist and she adorned her pumpkin with a rather impressive Halloween collage of witches and ghosts. My pumpkin turned out rather well- it turns out that there is a reason that they sell pumpkin carving kits. They're great! All this time, I've made do with a selection of knives and trying to draw on a design. However, with the right tools, carving is much easier! Since I gave my pumpkin to my niece for her Halloween display, I'll be carving more of my own next weekend. It's one of my favourite Halloween traditions- I always watch "Harry Potter" while I carve and then roast the seeds. It's a lovely autumn tradition.

All in all, this has been the best kind of autumn weekend- family, fun and food...it's a shame as always that the weekend is ending but when it's been as good as this one, I don't mind as much.

I hope you had a great weekend too. Happy Monday!

The Awesomeness of Autumn

Well, I had in mind a long winded post that waxed poetical about my new job, Autumn and the like.

Unfortunately, the site on which my blog is hosted is down and so my attempts to blog this evening have been thwarted. I’mblogging, instead, using the old fashioned method of typing it up in Microsoft Word in hopes that the site revives itself soon.

The nice thing is that I can type the words “Microsoft Word” and not feel this strong desire to duck. Having been surrounded by computer geeks/snobs for a while, I’ve been shamed into the zombie mentality of Microsoft=Great Evil. However, as I’ve always felt, whether or not Microsoft is truly evil, I’m a fan. Without Microsoft, most of us wouldn’t know our Start Menus from our Control Panels and so, for the mere fact that Microsoft treats everyone in an equally simplistic fashion, I’m a fan.

I use Microsoft every day in my job and…so does everyone else. Gone are the days when I have to sit through meeting after meeting in which I constantly hear about the inferior ‘double click’ of Microsoft Windows vs. the “superior” single click of the Apple.

In my new office, NO ONE has a Mac. It’s lovely. As the newbie, I’m the guinea pig for Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010. The other staff are a little nervous. While I think this go-around meant Microsoft was trying a wee bit hard to emulate the Mac computer, it’s still the same basic software and so I’m happy to double-click my heart out.

I digress. What I’m really saying is that it’s now been almost a weeks since I walked out the old office. I left with apprehension and a slight case of fear of the unknown. I left unhappy because my ex-boss had been nothing but rude and insensitive to me. I left sad because after two years, leaving a building without any real sense of loss was just…sad.

Now, a week later, I’m already feeling embedded in my new office. I go in a little early now. The day flies by. I always have something to work on. Each day, I’m learning more. Each day, I achieve a little more success. Each day, I feel…appreciated. My boss told me tonight that, “I know it’s only been four days and I’ve thrown you in the deep end but I want you to know you’re doing great.”

I don’t think he knows how much that means. It’s not just me. I know I escaped from a somewhat unhappy situation and, thus, praise is foreign. However, there are many people out there who are not completely miserable in their jobs and yet they never, ever hear a word of praise from their supervisor.

Let me say…it feels good. It’s nice to know that even though I feel like I’m flailing around, a little disorganized and completely overwhelmed by all the potential work I should be doing, that I’m still doing pretty decently.

If all goes well tomorrow, I should have placed my first candidate. I should be feeling like I’ve done something right.

It’s a nice way to end a week. It’s been a good week. It’s going to be a good weekend too. This weekend, I plan to celebrate the Awesomeness of Autumn. I had originally planned on heading up to my parents. As much as I’d love to see them and let the puppies go fishing in my parents’ ponds, after this week, my brain and body is a little too tired to think about the 2.5 hour trip each way. Thus, I think I’m going to use the weekend to both recharge and celebrate Autumn.

As I said last year, each Autumn, I celebrate Halloween in my own way by carving a pumpkin while watching a “Harry Potter” movie and drinking pumpkin beer. Well, this year, I already have the pumpkin, the movie and the beer. All I need is the carving.

I plan on eating baked sweet potatoes, roasting pumpkin seeds and enjoying the fact that we’re due for our very first frost this weekend. Autumn is finally, truly upon us and I , for one, welcome the season.

Most of all, I love the fact that, as a transitional season, Autumn has brought change into my life. I’m no longer trapped in the job that sucked away pieces of my soul. Instead, I’m in a job that, slowly but surely, is making me feel like a human again.

It’s a lovely feeling….and it’s only been a week. But what a week it’s been!

Happy Friday…and thanks for reading.

Have a great weekend!

I'm Not Sure This is What they Meant When they said "Creative Thinker" Required....

It's the middle of the week. Some people like to call this "hump" day. I've personally never really liked that phrase. It's not even because it sounds a little rude and a bit animalistic, it's actually more because I've never viewed the week that way. I suppose Wednesday is the turning point of the week, the day in which we go from being stuck in the drudges of the workweek to being able to see the glimmery hope of the weekend shining ahead. But I never really see the week as having a hump in it.

Still, it's definitely a move towards the better. It's another wet sort of morning here. I went to bed last night with the sound of rain pounding against the window. It was a delicious sound.

Now I'm here in the office. There aren't many people here yet. This means I had to make the coffee. I don't mind that too much. I actually think it's a bit easier. The cover that sits over the power button on the decaf coffee pot recently fell off. Having made coffee a couple of times this week, I've had no problem getting the coffee pot to work. Just because the cover fell off, doesn't mean the power button is dead. However, on the days on which I haven't made coffee, I've walked into the kitchen to watch coworkers doing complicated things to get it to work. They used a knife and a lot of tape to rig it up so it would work. Yesterday, I discovered someone attempting to push in the power button with an ice-cream scoop. I find this amusing but not quite sure why they're making McGyver attempts to make coffee when I've found it fine to just hit the button. Still, it's quite fun to watch.

We finally found out when our office is moving. Yesterday, we got the date. November 23rd is the day the movers come to take our stuff to our new building. That happens to be the week of Thanksgiving. I suppose it's good we're finally moving but it seems like an odd time to choose. Ah well, again, I state, I am not a manager. If I were, I probably wouldn't have scheduled a product release on the day we're supposed to move, especially as we all may have to work from home that day and that will make it slightly hard for us working on the product release to communicate.

But I'm keeping my positive attitude. Besides, yesterday, I had a really good fifteen minutes in my office. Yes, I actually took an official break and carved the mini pumpkin I've had on my desk. It was given to me by a manager who was not my own. He was giving his staff little mini pumpkins a couple of weeks ago as a gesture of 'team spirit' and to 'celebrate the season.' He had one extra. I happened to be nearby. I was given the gift of a mini-pumpkin. I think it must have been just to celebrate the season since I'm not on his team. It was nice of him though. It's been sitting, faceless and uncarved on my desk for a while and I thought about drawing a face on him and then, yesterday, after lunch, I realized I was holding a knife.

Yes, your reaction to that phrase is probably similar to that of my cubicle mates when I declared, "I have a knife!" with excitement. They looked a little wary. They've discovered, you see, that Captain Monkeypants has a wee bit of a dark streak and likes the creepy side of life. Thus, because this is an unfamiliar notion to them, they therefore think I'm a little scary. I suppose, looking at it from their point of view, when someone declares, "Hey, I have a knife!" in the middle of the office it might be a little alarming.

Anyway, I had the knife merely because I'd used it to eat my persimmon at lunch. I'd been so excited to find persimmons at Jungle Jim's on Saturday. My friend's family in L.A. had a persimmon tree in the yard so around this time of year, there were persimmons galore to enjoy. Here, however, they're a bit more of a delicacy and not as easy to find. I did find them on sale on Saturday. They're a little nutty tasting with a firmer consistency than an apple and a slightly pear-y taste. I love them. The best way to eat them is to slice pieces off with a knife and eat them.

Thus, this is the reason I had a knife. My declaration of excitement in saying "hey, I have a knife!" because I'd looked at my mini pumpkin was apparently not terribly obvious to my coworkers because they didn't share my glee. Which leads us back to where we were before I started rambling about persimmons. I simply decided that I absolutely must carve my mini pumpkin since how often do I have a sharp enough knife in the office?

So, I spent a rather fun fifteen minutes carving the little blighter. It came out quite well- a very typical Jack O'Lantern with triangle eyes, a little nose and scary looking teeth.

I was sad when I was done. It was the most fun I had all day. Actually, all week. Last week, I discovered the highlight of my week was the meeting I had at the end of the day on Friday in which I freely got to doodle. I came up with some interesting new little doodles. I drew Camembert the KangaSnail, Pumpkin O'Clock, The Improper Starfish, Nanosaurus Rex and the Christmas Tree of SILENCE!!!!! And yes, I drew the exclamation points.

I have decided that my next writing project might be to put together a series of stories based upon my doodles. I think I'll call it Adventures from Doodletown. It will feature the Strawberry of DOOOOM, his inevitable vanquishing by the formerly dull raindrop who became the RAINCLOUD OF DOOOOM and many other rather odd little tales.

On the plus side, at least I'm finding a creative outlet at work. On the negative side, I'm not so sure it's why they're paying me. Still, I figure until they tell me to cease and desist my artwork, pumpkin carving, original origami and paperclip sculpture-making, I'm going to keep on doing it. Although, I have noticed that any time I attempt to get creative with my job, people get this wary look in their eyes. Then they ask my coworker to help them brainstorm creative ideas in a meeting. Literally. This happened again yesterday. I'm not exaggerating, either. This is what happens every single time a new project comes along. I'm really, really trying not to take it personally. It's actually working at the moment. I'm choosing to believe that it must be because I look so focused on my work and so very good at it that they think they can't disturb me from the exciting world of software testing.

Of course, if they'd seen me carving my pumpkin yesterday, they might have changed their minds. Sadly, they didn't. I think I'll explore Adventures in Apple Peeling today since I have a knife again. I'll let you know how that goes.

Happy Wednesday!