Then I went to Lowes to find something to put under my center stand for my scooter. Now that it’s hot, the stand is sinking into the asphalt of my apartment parking lot. I don’t care about the holes I’m putting in the parking lot, but I am worried that my scoot will end up falling over (since it doesn’t seem to sink symmetrically) and once it does sink in, I have a hard time getting it to roll off the stand when I want to go ride. So I found a 2×2 piece of plywood to slide under the scoot. Hopefully that will work and distribute the weight over the asphalt enough to prevent sinking.

Finally, I took the 4Runner in for an oil change. After all that, I decided to reward myself and go to Whole Foods for a cupcake. I have been eyeing their cupcakes and since I wasn’t far from the new store, I decided to get one. It was chocolate raspberry and it was delicious.

Another thing I have discovered I love is almond butter. It’s a nice change from peanut butter and at Whole Foods, I can get it from the bulk section for quite a bit cheaper than the branded versions.

I wish the cheaper grocery store in town had a bulk food section. Whole Foods is super nice, but it is expensive, so I have to be selective about what I get there.

I also got a watermelon. I love summer because of watermelon. So refreshing when it is super hot outside!

At some point in the night, I touch Kat, she gets mad and moves.

I think she sleeps on the floor for part of it but eventually ends up on the pillows at the top of the bed. She is very much a princess and gets quite angry if she is kicked by a foot under blankets. She doesn’t care so much if the foot is on top of the blankets. Very strange.

I’m not sure if you can really tell from the previous illustration, but Kat is very close to me. Let’s take a closer look.

This is how I wake up every morning. Kat’s face is right in my face. As soon as I open my eyes, she starts licking. I would really like to know how long she sits there and stares at me, just waiting for me to open my eyes. I guess I should appreciate how polite she is to not try to lick me until after I’m awake.

I have no idea what he was doing. He has a thing for being crazy in the bathroom before runs, such as when he jumped on the vanity in our old house when I was fixing my hair too.

Crazy Steve.

The reason we went further is that I found a new detour to stay away from this one spot where there are always a lot of squirrels. If someone tracked all of my paths around the city, I’m sure someone would wonder why I go the way I go and it all boils down to the fact that I am trying to avoid squirrels. It was so much easier during finals when Steve and Kat were at David’s because I could run any path I wanted! A further complication for tomorrow is that I saw a dead snake in the street yesterday, so I’ll have to avoid that area for a few days until I am sure it is gone because I might die if Steve or Kat picked up a snake. Like literally. I. Might. Die.

(A side note about snakes: when I took Wilbur to the vet a couple weeks ago, I asked the vet how fast I needed to get Steve or Kat to the vet if they got bit by a venomous snake. I felt much better when she said that as long as I got them to the vet as soon as I could, they would likely still be okay even if we were out hiking and had to get back to the car and then drive back to a vet. She said she had only seen one dog die from a snake bite and it was a tiny dog. But then she said that three dogs were bit one night last summer by copperheads on one trail in town! I will not be going down there now. I took Steve and Kat walking on that trail during the winter. Now that I know there are copperheads over there, I might only go there in the winter!)

In my quest over the last few months to lose the 15-20 pounds I gained during the failed Seattle Experiment, I have basically stopped eating meat, which means I am eating a lot more vegetables. I am also clumsy, so I often drop things in the kitchen. Usually Steve helps me clean up dropped items, but I discovered that he is not a fan of cucumber. The funny thing was that every time I picked up the cucumber slice, he took it back from my hand to the living room. Eventually I traded him a cookie for the cucumber so I could throw it away.

I made this recipe last night. It needed something else, more spice, but it would be great for the summer if I had a garden.

I haven’t posted on this blog in forever.  School has kept me very busy.  However, I received some new cookbooks for Christmas, so I thought this blog would be a good spot to write about what I have made and share the recipes.

This recipe comes from The Baking Sheet from King Arthur Flour.  I made it for supper tonight and I thought it was very tasty.  The original recipe includes 1.5 cups of diced onion and 1 cup of diced celery, but I don’t like either of those things so I left them out and it was still good.  It was also very easy.  I thought it turned out to be a very colorful soup as well.  I made some Honey Bread to go along with it, but I didn’t time it right and the bread is still in the bread machine.  Oops!

Georgia Peanut Soup (as I made it)

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 red pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used the reduced fat kind and it worked okay)

1 quart chicken stock

2 cups corn kernels (I used a 12 ounce package of frozen sweet corn)

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the peppers; cook for 5 minutes, until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the bay leaf and peanut butter, stirring to coat the peppers.  Add the stock, a little at a time, stirring frequently.  Add the corn kernels and bring the soup to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Last weekend it was nice, so we decided to make a day trip and go back to St. Helens. It was much better this time. Still a few clouds but we could actually see the mountain/volcano. This is my favorite picture that I took.

I also messed around with creating some panoramas. They turned out okay.

Here’s a couple pictures of David and me. I wish I had taken my camera bag off, but I never think about stuff like that until I look at the pictures on my computer.

At the Johnston Ridge visitors center, they showed a movie that had some pretty neat animations of what happened during the May 18, 1980 eruption. It is amazing how quickly the landscape can change.

On the way home, we stopped at Cabelas, I guess going to Mt. St. Helens provides a good excuse to go to the only Cabelas in the area. David wanted to look for a new holster (because apparently he needs three holsters for one gun??) but he ended up not buying anything and I got a pair of cute flip-flops and some watermelon licorice. I guess it was a successful trip after all.

Stuff You Missed in History Class
I like history in general, but I especially like how the hosts discuss obscure historical facts. Instead of just throwing out a bunch of information, each episode is like a story. A couple of my favorite episodes are “How Did Meriweather Lewis Die?” and “Mutiny on the Bounty”.  It was actually really hard to just pick two episodes as my favorites.

Stuff Mom Never Told You
This podcast covers gender issues, most related to women.  I find the hosts funny and the subjects interesting.  One of the most interesting episodes is “The Delightful History of Menstrual Products“.  I’m sure that sounds like a bizarre episode title, but I found it fascinating how ancient cultures thought of a woman’s period.  For example, Ancient Persians sent women away for several days to have their period and then if it wasn’t over after the allotted time period, the women were beaten, essentially to beat it out of them, and sent away for more days.  It’s just crazy how ancient civilizations explained things they didn’t understand.

Stuff You Should Know
This is a good general knowledge podcast.  The hosts are, at times, hilarious and I have found myself laughing out loud.  Every episode is good, but a few standouts are “What Makes a Serial Killer?“, “The Real How Jack the Ripper Worked“, and “How SWAT Teams Work“.

Give these podcasts a listen next time you’re bored.

While I’m on the subject of stuff on my iPhone that I use to pass the time, the game Harbor Master is very fun.  Check it out.

In case you all need a giggle, here’s Steve chewing carrots.