I just learned how to make stuffed shells.

There are several of these ricotta-mozzarella-basil-oregano-tomato-y pockets of goodness in my stomach right now, and several more in the refrigerator, just waiting for lunchtime tomorrow. Even better: there is a Tupperware container full of filling sitting underneath them, and a box full of shells in my cupboard.

Boy, am I eating well this week...

More proof I'm in the right field.

I'm just about to wrap up another Friday shift in the campus writing lab, and I'm practically humming in my seat from contentment.

Appointment one: discussed the point of an abstract, how to write an annotated bibliography, and hashed out questions to ask on a research paper. Learned a little more about drumlines, too!

Appointment two: talked about the wreck the food industry is in, possible reasons why, linked different authors together, found some great ideas for reorganization of a good paper into a really fabulous paper.

Appointment three: analyzing the lessons learned working through a nightmare shift at the hospital. (Lesson learned: I could not handle nursing.)

I love talking about writing. Most of all, though, I love watching others experience talking about writing--real talking about writing, not the watered-down or depressing lectures of high school. By the time we make it to college, most of us have had the joy beaten out of writing, but when I get to sit one-on-one with a tutee, my favorite thing to do is show them how to explore.

Sometimes, it's a hard sell: some appointments will not let go of their editing session. Even in those moments, though, I won't point out an answer; I'll point out a question, and let them answer on their own. Often, they just need the time to think their way through--I just function as a cheerleader. These writers don't realize how much they know!

It's extremely rewarding to watch the realization dawn.

(I'm definitely in the right career.)

Love Your Body Day

Stolen from my sixth-floor-RA-sister E.:

"To all of the fabulous people in my life,

Last year on Love Your Body Day, I sent out an email to all the most important women in my life asking them to slow down and think about all the amazing things their body does for them each day. This year, I want to reach even more people.

Love Your Body Day is a national day dedicated to celebrating the body that you have and loving it for whatever it looks like and all of the things it allows you to do. It’s so easy in our culture to get caught up in criticizing our bodies (“Ugh! Look at my thighs” or “I hate my body” or “If I was only a little skinnier…”) when what we should really be doing is thanking our bodies for all the things it does. When I was younger, like most young women in high school, I definitely had issues with my body. It wasn’t until I stood in front of my mirror, at first painfully and forcibly, in my underwear and repeated over and over again “Damn girl! You’re beautiful!” that I really started to see my body for the beautiful, wonderful, mysterious thing that it is. I did this almost every day for a year until my natural reaction to my body turned from a negative and critical one, to one that is loving, gentle, and forgiving.
While affirmations might not do it for everyone, it really did help me.

It also helped me to look at my body as not only a physical entity to be judged by society, but as something that allows me to do lots of things that I love. Here’s just a sample of some of the reasons that I love my body:

I love my body because it knows how to hold people close.
I love my body because it lets me kiss the people that I love.
I love my body because it gets out of bed each morning and lets me go live my life.
I love my body because it forgives me when I feed it too much ice cream on bad days.
I love my body because my eyes are awesome and change color all day long.
I love my body because my long arms let me reach tall things and embrace all people.
I love my body because it looks fabulous in a good pair of jeans.
I love my body because it dances.
I love my body because it gives me a voice, helps me make noise, and most importantly, lets me speak up and out.

Love Your Body Day is truly a day for everyone. Comment with the reasons you love your body, or feel free to repost this note for all the people in your life to see."


Reasons I love my body:
It can dance like a goof or a goddess.
It can run six miles.
It tells me when it's hungry, when it's tired, when it just needs me to slow down. (And when I listen, it feels pretty good again soon.)
It's strong, resilient, and in top conditioning--and that upper limit just keeps rising.
Its curves are gorgeous: my neckline, my waist, the muscles in my arms, legs, and back are all my favorite parts.
My eyes change color when I'm irritated, or really happy.
It lets me give really good hugs.
It likes yoga.
When I'm exhausted from a good run or gym day, the slight buzz in my muscles feels like a pat on the back: "Good job. That's it for today."

What are yours?

Good music for a rainy day in the computer lab.

(Just wrapping up the next article/video feature for the internship, and in need of a little background music. Thank goodness for Internet radio...and Fridays.)

Not one, but two pies!

The rain and cold and bleh of the past few days gave me a real jones for comfort food. Coming from my wonderful Southern-Mexican culinary background, I have a lot of options in that arena, so my biggest challenge was figuring out just what I wanted. Chicken tortilla soup? A nice oven roast with mashed potatoes, green beans, real gravy? Enchiladas verdes? Tres leches cake?

Today, it was chicken pie. Crisp crust--creamy interior--hearty spoonfuls of chicken and gravy and veggies--perfection. After I bought the ingredients for dinner, I realized I would have too much pie crust; going a different route than its little brother, the pot pie, this chicken pie has no bottom crust!

Well, I can't just let a perfectly good pie shell to waste, can I? In this apartment, it would almost be a sin. Especially with Granny Smiths in season, and so appealingly priced at the grocery store.

I've rhapsodized about Justin's pie crust before, but I have not yet done justice to the wonders of his recipe for apple pie.

Justin's (even-better-than-your-momma's) Apple Pie

double piecrust
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups diced apples
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

(Note: The last two ingredients (sugar and cinnamon) are to be combined and sprinkled before putting the pie in the oven. Ignore them until then.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with one crust.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, and salt. Add the apples (cut into 1/2-inch dice) and toss to combine thoroughly. Add the vanilla and cream and stir well. Spoon the filling into the crust. Lay the second crust on top of the filling and crimp to seal. Combine the 2 tsp sugar and 1/8 tsp cinnamon. Brush the top crust with milk, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar.

Place the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet, to catch any spills. Bake the pie for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until the top is medium-brown and the juices are clear and bubbly. If the crust appears to be browning too quickly, cover it with a piecrust shield or strips of aluminum foil.

(Source: The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, p. 428)

I cannot even express how happy and full of pie I am.

I will, however, confess to a tiny secret: while taking the picture above, the pie smell called out to me again, and (despite being happy and full of pie already), I had to grab a fork and sneak a teeny little bite. Just for the road. To the sofa. Four steps away. Don't judge until you try this pie.

Catching up a bit, since I'm behind.

School really likes to get in the way of writing, and I've been letting it do what it wants the past few weeks; I shouldn't, but I have (sigh). Instead of stressing out about back entries and making up time (so not what this experiment/project is about), I'm going to pick up where we are. And if I miss a few days here and there? Hey, it's life. There's a lot of living to do.

It's raining in Collegetown today--and I mean raining, pouring, drowning my poor mums and the rest of the town besides. The rain only brushed against us at the soccer game last night (good thing, too, since I was working), but looks like it's here to stay for football. Brr. I'm heading out to buy a poncho asap, and pull out the warmest clothing I can find.

Even with the rain, it's going to be a good day: the Mortar Boarders will be at the game, up to some halftime shenanigans (very sedate halftime shenanigans), and entertaining an out-of-state group. The rain may even make things better, in the "wasn't that hilarious? let's never do it again" style of better.

Pictures to come later, assuming my camera is safe in the rain.

Unexpected, but still good.

Answered the call to go in to work today, despite being completely exhausted by the weekend. I picked up the substitute job around eleven p.m., figuring that I could at least be ready to teach middle school choir after a few hours of sleep.

When I arrived, everyone seemed very happy to see me!...not just a typical friendly welcome to a visitor (and one who's generally filling in at the last minute), but really happy and excited to see me. The reason? My being there meant that a particular teacher was not. And if she was not at school, that meant she was at the hospital, welcoming a grandbaby into her family. I felt like a symbol of good news all day long--and the kids were pleasant, too.