catching up

so besides our seattle trip, i haven't really talked about the daily goings on around here in a long time. the main reason is because i've been in a particularly foul, reticent, humorless, and lazy mood for the past month or so despite our fabulous vacay. i think i'm finally snapping out of it, though. i have so much to be thankful for, yet this pessimistic optimist always lets the everyday grind get to her.

anyway, enough brain barf. a few lists of what i've been up to:

work:

• blah despite newer, somewhat more interesting projects perhaps starting soon.
  
• this guy sums up the reason our office is still on the dinosaur of AutoCAD 2002. i need to learn a more recent version to make myself marketable, so the bear loaded 2006 onto my PC at home awhile ago. i still type all my commands in a la R.12-14, the versions i learned the dang, counterintuitive program on. plus all the other architects/engineers/designers we work with are pretty fed up with binding and saving down for us, so sometimes instead of emailing back and forth 10398273849 times saying it still won't open, i just open it at home and save down myself.
• school work: first exam tuesday. i have to get an A. why? not because i am an overachiever but rather because i am lazy. if i have an A average before the final, i don't have to take the final and get an automatic A in the class. i don't care so much about the A as all i need is to pass. i just want to not have to study for a comprehensive final covering all semester.
  

play:

• random weekend trips up to the mountains. i can really carve now! too bad i still look a bit awkward, but that's to be expected from me. oh, and this is what happens when you wear a t-shirt and no sunblock to shred in sunny, 70-degree weather.
  
  on the other hand, i was burning up dressed like this:
  
  
• the foo fighters concert.
• we got rock band. 'nuff said.
  

eating in:

• lasagna, made around midnight on a weeknight. this recipe, because anything with three types of cheese has got to be good. even though i used trader joe's no-boil noodles, it still took forever to prep and get in the oven. the end result was hugely good and hugely...huge. we froze most of that yummy sucker.
• lots and lots of mapo tofu. enough to eat it for almost two meals a day for a full week. it's like crack for us. nope, not sick of it, either.
  
• trader joe's frozen french onion soup. zapped in the microwave, topped with a slice of TJ's sourdough wheat bread which i then sprinkled with shredded mozarella, stuck under the convection broiler for a handful of minutes or so, gobbled up immediately despite being piping hot.
  
• stuffed bell peppers and zucchini a la giada, the t-rex (a special thanks to my friend k.s. for bringing a certain trait of hers to my attention). the zucchini are great. the bell peppers are a bit too huge. i was hoping all the meaty saucy goodness would turn the bell-pepper-hating bear into a lover, but it just made him not like the bell pepper even more. next time, i think i'll half the filling recipe and just stuff some zucchini as an hors d'oeuvres. too bad hollowing them tends to be labor intensive. :P
  
• meh porkchops with mustard sauce and breadcrumbs. pork chops need juicier sauce, IMO. the broccoli amandine was delicious, but i burned the almonds and put too much lemon juice in.
  
• itching to bake, but lack of mixer and lack of eaters is deterring me. the bear doesn't like sweets. i don't see other people often enough to chuck my baked goods at them. when i do see people, i rarely have enough time to bake before i see them. hmph.

eating out:

• brunch at the kitchen with some awesome ladies this morning. i'm sure weemo and wan will post better recaps soon. everything was delicious, and we apparently looked much more yellow than the yolks in our egg dishes as we got a "joy luck club" comment from one of the waiters. anyway, awesome company, delicious conversation, and a beautiful, sunny drive there and back made me quite the happy clam.
  
• real pho and chinese donuts at our new favorite neighborhood place. a small is more than enough for me. the tai (rare beef) is automatically served on the side and without attitude some other restaurants will give you when you request it so, so you can let it cook to medium-rare or medium goodness in the soup rather than having it all well-done and tough already by the time it comes to your table, the way my vietnamese friends in high school taught me to eat it, back when we could get a hot bowl of the stuff for $2 in the good ole SGV. crazy run-on. boo!
  
• thai sushi fusion (as in we have a full thai menu, full traditional sushi menu, and full rolls & fusion sushi menu, all in one spot) down the street. the bear gives the thai food his stamp of approval and authenticity. i had a roll that was aiite, but the real sushi looked pretty fresh. they have a pretty good happy hour that is 7 days a week, so we may check them out again soon.
• vietnamese fusion at benley with winnie + a few others before she left. really fresh, yummy eats. not as affordable as your local hole-in-the-wall pho joint, but quite reasonable for a dinner out. plus cute space and menus to boot.
  

the beautiful weather is having a rather ameliorative effect on me, so hopefully i'll stay more chipper and motivated.