Home Improvement version 1.0

    The chaos
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 Yay!! For the 1st time in 4 months, I sleep on a bed!!!

About a month ago, my sister and I were on the subject of my sleeping arrangements. I had been sleeping on her couch, which was all fine and dandy when it was cold out but now that it was going to get warmer..... sleeping on synthetic fabric from the 1970s was just not going to be a comfortable option. She suggested that we buy a bunk and bed. I hemmed and hawed until she said that she would buy it :-) Score!!! So up to the IKEA in Minneapolis we traipse to purchase a bunk bed. 

I love IKEA. It was my first time there and I greatly enjoyed it. I really wanted to get peel and stick wall art but somehow, I think it would have ended up in the digestive tracks of certain cats, who shall remain nameless <<>><<>> Anyway, I fell in love with their simple, modern yet very clever furniture. I see why they have become a success story and will continue to get stuff from them in the furniture. IKEA also sends Kristi's organizational heart into palpitations. 

We got back from Minneapolis too late to get started but the next day..... oh boy, was that fun. We live on the 3rd floor of an apartment building and getting that thing up the stairs was interesting. We got it up about halfway, lots of cursing involved before we decided to screw it, rip open the box and carry it up in more manageable pieces. Then it was onto the assembly and Kristi did a marvelous job of it, I only helped when she needed an extra set of hands. It took a couple of hours but was worth every minutes and I have greatly enjoyed sleeping in a real bed this last month or so. 

Wow, two sisters sharing a 500 square foot apartment, sleeping in bunk beds. If I wasn't living it, I wouldn't believe it either. Especially since I know how much we fought when we were younger. 

Attention whore

Queen of the Dance

A 5 cent reward for the capture of the poo bandit

We at work are trying to figure out the mystery of the poo bandit. This bandit uses the public toilets and proceeds to mess it up in nasty ways at least once a day. Nobody has actually seen the poo bandit leaving the premises after a fresh dirty but there are several key suspects. All of the suspects are old and have absolutely no control over their bodily functions. As witnessed by the poo smear on the door that was a full four feet away from the actual toilet. The poo bandit has struck the same bathroom once a day for the past 1.5 weeks but tragically, today he or she struck twice within 5 hours. Any information would be greatly appreciated and for the poo bandit to have their bowels permanently removed from their body would be even more appreciated.

To make matters even worse, I happen to live with two other poo bandits who leave their little dingle-berries on the floor for us to step on in the middle of the night. Sometimes, these same poo bandits do a funny dance while trying to deposit their dingle-berries on the floor. It goes like this: wiggle to the left, lick, lick, lick. Wiggle to the right, lick lick lick. Lather, rinse and repeat.

contentment is a stomach full of tasty food

As most of you well know, my life revolves around food. Buying food, finding recipes for food, cooking food and most importantly, eating food. I do indeed find great enjoyment of a meal well-cooked or a delicious meal digesting in my not-skinny belly. It doesn't bother me at all to spend hours creating one meal.

Over the weekend, my sister picked up a new book for me about herbs and the book also includes some recipes that feature herbs. While leafing though the book I was intrigued by a recipe for rosemary bread. Intrigued enough that I had to try it basically right that minute. Now, I have not made bread too many times and the results haven't been that good but I know that it's something you have to practice and mess up a few times before you really get the hang of it. Still not sure if I have got the hang of it but luckily, this recipe is tasty enough to make up for my lack of knowledge. Nice, crusty outside. Soft in the middle and with plenty of taste besides. I ate about half a loaf in one sitting and that's along with a steaming bowl of potato and leek soup. Homemade of course :-) This success in the kitchen spurs me into attempting to make more breads in the future. It's not something that I'll do every day but perhaps once a week.

I really delight in the idea that I am eating something that I know exactly what the ingredients are. I have no idea what many of the ingredients are in the prepared foods that fill the supermarket and I'm pretty sure that even science majors would have a tough time knowing them all. So many weird chemicals and preservatives all designed to make you believe that you're eating beef when actually, you're eating leftover chicken bits. I'd much rather take the time to make something from scratch than eat that crap.

Of course, eating fresh is a bit more expensive than eating boxed foods. Meal planning will be more difficult now that I've imposed a $50 a week budget for myself. This includes everything and I know that it will be difficult. I get my allowance every Friday. It's Tuesday and I have $4.37 to last me 2.5 more days. Do you think that I can make it and continue to limit myself in this way? Opinions would be much appreciated.

Perdone moi

Sorry about the Pella post. I know that the layout is all wonky but I don't have time to try to fix it because I am not computer savvy and I know that it will take ages to get it looking normal. 

Revisiting the Past

Yum! extremely sweet treats. A cinnamon snail and a cinnamon crispy :-) I ate them both while taking pictures of tulips.

You too can proudly display your Dutch heritage!

More Dutch stuff.

If you didn't know any better, you'd swear you were across the pond in Amsterdam. Minus the prostitutes of course.

Tulips!!!!

I'm sitting in the Smokey Row Cafe in Pella, Iowa where I spent four years of my life during college (minus the three semesters that I studied abroad) and it's a bit of a weird experience at the moment. I knew very early on that I had selected the wrong college, not because the education was bad but just based on the conservative tendencies of the

town. You could escape it somewhat by staying on campus (college campuses tend to be a bit more liberal and open-minded) but not really. Every year at Central we had some sort of drama relating to some people hating on another individual or group based on race, religion or belief system. The president of both the study body and the campus ministries came out of the college. He could no longer be the president of the religious organization of the student body. The theatre did a (historical Greek) play that depicted phallic images. The house of the director had pumpkins thrown at it. A lot of verbal discrimination went on towards the minorities (especially the hispanics). Some of them left and the campus became a less diverse and interesting place. Little things like that really bothered me in college because I try really hard not to judge people based silly little things like race, religion or belief. As long as you don't bother me, I will leave you alone and let you have your opinion.

So I come back and the town is so idyllic that it's hard to believe that things like that would ever happen. For those of you who don't know, Pella is a place that takes great pride in its Dutch heritage and this is visible all throughout the town. The public buildings and businesses have to be built with a Dutch storefront, there are Dutch bakeries with tasty treats, Dutch lace is on display in windows and there are tulips EVERYWHERE. And it's weird. I don't hate it any more. I almost wish that I were still back in college. Everything seemed so easy in college. Life sure is a funny roller-coaster.