Spring Semester has Sprung

Dustin is sitting at the kitchen table in a jacket, jeans and button down shirt He also has on his black Sketchers and is flipping through some papers with a pen in his hand and a Mountain Dew at his fingertips. 

I am seated in a cozy, but dreadfully orange, rocking chair in the corner of the living room where the Christmas tree used to live by the fireplace (which is lit) with laptop in my lap, coffee on the table beside me, still donning my pajama pants and t-shirt.

If you look closely at the photo, you can see the vacuum standing to D's right and a racquetball racquet resting on the tabletop. These are signs, as well, and all of them are pointing to the start of Spring Semester 2009! That's right-the vacuum has been abandoned more than halfway through its use; the racquet has been removed from the bookbag it resided in just days before this photo and Dustin is back to chugging caffeine in any form it comes in.

As for me, it's Wednesday and I don't teach on Wednesdays so, instead, I'm doing comps. work and trying to get some preps done for my two classes tomorrow (mentally on the preps, literally on the comps work).

This semester has brought some rather disconcerting situations along with it. First, when I arrived back from NY Dustin informed me he thinks that the house was being cased by burglars due to the spotted oil marks in front of the mailbox and the fact that a car with a broken fan belt (he knew this because he heard it) parked in the driveway one of his first evenings back while he sat in a, mostly unlit, room with the curtains pulled watching House online. After a few minutes of hearing the car, he pulled back the curtain, spotted the car in the driveway and it, promptly, pulled out and headed to the main road where it stopped, spoke briefly to a waiting car, which then had to turn around and face the main road, and departed. Weird, right?

Luckily, D came home when he did. It's not that there's really anything worth stealing in my house. Seriously. No tv (except the one with bunny ears which will be worth nothing at all after February without that digital box), no game systems-aside from the first ever Nintendo with cartridges, no money, no jewelry, no nothing. There's furniture, but I don't think that'd be stealable without drawing attention. Clearly, they didn't start casing the house early enough to realize the people that are in and out of it are poor students with nothing to offer a thief.

Then this other strange thing started happening. I started to catch my teeth locked strongly together in the back of my mouth. I noticed it because they were so tightly locked that they actually caused pain in my jaw. It would wake me up in the mornings. I'd notice it while I was walking around the house trying to get it cleaned up or while reading. Out of nowhere, my mouth would start to throb and I'd realize I needed to slacken my jaw, especially in the molar section, to release the pressure my teeth were causing. There's no real medical issue here to explain it. The explanation is really quite simple: stress. 

My mother used to grind her teeth when she slept at night. Since I never slept much as a kid, I could hear them grinding together even when I was in the hallway outside of my parents bedroom. Eventually, our dentist had to give her something to wear so she wouldn't ruin them and do permanent dental damage. It turns out, this is really quite bad for you. I don't grind so much as I lock, very firmly, and I do it while I'm awake. However, recently, I've found myself waking up at around 5-5:30am because I feel so stressed out and my teeth have begun to lock together and cause pain...again.

When I explained this to my parents, they sounded baffled: "What do you have to be stressed about?"

I know this means they're worried. I know, more than that, it means they might not completely understand how stressful, scary and exhausting comprehensive exams are. My mom said..."But you've been preparing for a year!" And I realize this is true, but try explaining to her that I have four questions to answer, 150 books I've read to inform my answers and only five pages apiece to answer them in! Changes things, doesn't it? Think it over and you will see what I mean.

So my poor teeth are suffering as is my sleep. Occasionally, I can distract my thoughts. Like last night, for example, I think I exhausted myself into a good night's sleep because the two nights before that I had, a grand total of, about 8 hours of sleep. (I told you. I keep waking up at 5ish and don't fall asleep to at least midnight, but usually 1). No jaw lockage this morning when I rose. No stressful thoughts that woke me before the sun. It was nice.

But now, there's coffee and reading, writing and revising...more coffee, relaxation after my hour at the rec...then a healthy dinner. Maybe vegetarian. Still thinking it through.

Anyhow...we're back!

Now is the time for school work. I look like a doctoral student for the first time in all four of my years here at Mizzou: bookbag, giant baggy clothes that portray just how fatigued and stressed I am, armloads of books, computer, pen in hand constantly! I've been reading these other blogs written by students who are starting back this semester, too (not my students, people I've never and, probably, will never meet) and they're stressed to. Aaah, to be an undergrad again.

xoxo

N

PS-A little GG update. Word on the street, UTHers is that A. Parker will be gracing us with his presence in just over a month's span of time. No wonder the rec center is full of spritely blonde ladies working their abs and toning their scantily clad bodies! I should've known it wasn't for the meathead gents pumping iron and grunting in pain as they complete their bench presses. Keep checking back for more A. Parker sightings at your one and only source for gossip on the UTside.

Gossip Girl Update

Gossip Girl here. Your one and only source with news on Tate Hall/Columbia, Missouri's elite.

Spotted: UTH's (Upper Tate Hall) very own A. Parker floating on stage, dolled up in a satin black gown and matching mortar board to retrieve his Masters degree with his family (need I mention they're as devastatingly attractive as he is?) proudly looking on. There's no question where he gets his fab fashion sense from when he you see him in the presence of his family. Makes you want to change your last name to "Parker!" Word on the street is that A is heading back to Kentucky and breaking all the UTH-ers hearts in the process. Don't go, A! What will UTH be without you? (Sniff. Sob!)

Not to be outdone, running man Lance B. waltzed across the stage just a few rows behind A. to snag his diploma, as well, while his family and main squeeze, Emily, looked on. Rumor has it things are pretty serious on the E and L front as they've passed the seven month mark and are about to have their first Christmas as a couple! No word yet on gift-exchange, but you can bet on it being thoughtful and sweet-just like the two of them. Aww. So sweet I feel as though I've overdosed on sugar.

Also in attendance: Lil B with her new beau Eli. Not much 411 on the Eli front yet, though he was spotted at Lil B's Cookie Making Party, Dustineesha's Christmas Party a few days later (see pic below) and now Graduation. Did Lil B find someone to keep her warm during this frigid holiday season? Only time will tell.

And, of course, Dustineesha. Are they making anyone else sick yet? N was spotted having a minor freak out in the middle of Graduation after A. and L. walked. In the know-ers claim it was over her camera not taking clear pictures and her stomach growling from hunger. Didn't anyone tell her missing a meal wouldn't kill her? Gawd, N, how unbecoming of a UTH-er. And D, as usual, remained cool, calm and collected. Ying and yang, anyone? I hear they're spending this holiday season apart: stay tuned for sadness and boredom without news on our love-hate relationship with this sappy couple.

Congratulations, Graduates!

Like every holiday season, I'm looking forward to all the gossip that occurs over break. With traveling, family gathering, friends reconnecting and others out of touch for a while, there's sure to be some tantalizing morsels upon our return.

So in the holiday spirit, Happy Holidays.

You know you love me.

xoxo

Gossip Girl

Hipsters and Stuff White People Like

A Parker has turned us onto the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com so Fi and I have been sitting home by the fire with the tree lights on and the snow falling outside of our windows looking at this website and laughing. Not long ago, and sporadically throughout the year, really, we have been accosted with criticism from people we don't know either very well or at all. Beyond that, we have also recently heard that we are not in the "hipster" group and it's been suggested that that group does not like us because we are not "hipsters."

This is perplexing to me. I didn't know what a "hipster" was until Fi had me google it online just ten minutes ago. It was then that I learned, from multiple sources, that hipsters are not cool, though they seem to think they are. But, moreso, they deny being hipsters, take up causes or interests without actually caring for or about (or maybe not even knowing) what the actual reason for those causes or interests are (in other words, the heart and soul of them); they desire to be seen as environmentally friendly, vegan/vegetarian, indie-loving, culturally aware, fashion-saavy intellectual do-it-yourself-ers. (Dustin would like to add, by way of illustration, that he is now wearing flannel-lined cargo pants and a Mizzou hoodie-neither of which are worn in an ironic way. AKA-not hipster attire.) However, according to the websites we read (since, need I remind you, we aren't hipsters so we NEED these websites to educate us), hipsters also have a tendency to be on the middle-upper class side yet give the outward appearance of being more on the 'independent', middle-just-getting-by class. In other words, they dress the part, but don't actually live it the way organic farmers and their indie-band singing children do, for example. Those are the real indies whilst "hipsters" are the wannabes, it turns out.

Dustin: Basically, these are people who will put down a shitload of wine and hummus while using terms from their critical theory anthologies to explain why your favorite band sucks. 

The question we're dealing with here is one A. Parker brought up at our Christmas party, which is whether or not the "white people" described on the Stuff White People Like" blog are hipsters. It's like an ACT question: True or false -- All hipsters are white people, and all white people are hipsters.

I'm going with false. I've never seen one of those tight jeans-wearing, indie-music-loving, movie-I've-never-even-heard-of-quoting assholes (A. Parker excluded, of course) wear outdoor performance gear, for instance, and that's an entry on Stuff White People Like. 

(I totally love Gortech)

And while the Wikipedia entry on hipsters cites them as interested in brewing their own beer, and I've certainly heard local hipster types talk about this, I've also heard it from aging boomers in the congregation of St. Andrew Lutheran back in Cape Girardeau -- about as far from hipsterish as one can go.

Have we done a Chistmas song in a while, Neesh? No? Okay. Let's do a Christmas song.

Dustin's Pick: "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

His Reason: "Makes me cry sometimes on the line, "The hopes and fears of all the years/Are met in thee tonight." That's a lot to put on a baby. And don't get me wrong, it's not like "O Holy Night," which makes me cry every time, but still, not too shabby. 

Neesha's Pick!: Well. Mine is actually in the same vein as Fi's. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"

Reason: It's just super pretty and, perhaps, a nod to my future number one pick!

Gossip Girl Update

Hello there Upper East Tate Hallers. Have I got a scoop for you.

Spotted: A Parker munching on salad with a side of chocolate cookies and banana pudding with Lil B, Fi and N at Golden Corral (ew!) on the Bronx side of town. Why so far from the Upper East Tate (UET), A? Looks like he's steering clear of the lit-aholics and academic elite UET. You can't hide forever, A. Didn't anyone ever tell you Golden Corral isn't meant for golden boys like you? The only corraling you should be doing is among the single femmes in the English department. We hope you find your way back to UET soon and stop hanging around with that sad, artsy, saccharine Dustineesha couple. Yawn. They're just so boring with all their talk of honeymoons and community theatre and Christmas songs. Don't you know fashion accessories like you belong on the arm of a yummy Taterhead? Come back to the UET, A! It's just not the same without you!

While the group had lunch, one of my sources tells me she overheard A mention a permanent departure from the UET! Say it ain't so, A! It just can't be true! First our resident hottie disappears and now that he's finally come back, it's only to announce his permanent impending departure? A girl can't find many single handsome boys these days (Hazel's practically throwing herself at the few that do exist) and it's unbecoming for a vixen such as yours truly to beg, but this girl can only say she hopes it's a nasty rumor. UET can't do with one less Parker. However will we survive?

Stay tuned for more A spottings and updates...

You know you love me.

xoxo

Gossip Girl

PS-Dustin and Neesha Save the World will resume their ownership of this blog now.

more songs!

Dustin's Pick: "What Child is This?"

His Reason: "First off, I'd like to take this opportunity to throw out mad props to my home boy Henry VIII, a stone cold 16th century playa who never let the haters get him down. Wikipedia says he didn't write "Greensleeves" after all, thus stripping my fav Tudor mack daddy of the credit for writing the thugginest romanesca track ever, but that's aight. I'll pour one out for da bettah beheadah wit da mad cheddah any ol wayz. Represent, H-dogg 8!

"What Child is This?" is just the remix, but it's still pretty dope. I got all hella callouses tryin' to play it from my Christmas guitar book last year until I was finally like, yo, I'm just gonna strum the merde outta this. Screw this finger picking bizness. And you know something? That merde STILL sounded smooth! That's how come you know it's good.

If I wuz Henry da 8ff, I'd be like, "Bitches, I wrote this song, and it's for the ladies." 

Neesha's Pick: Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" Parts 1-3

Her Reason: Let's face it, greater Christian population, we are not the only ones gearing up for a fabulous seasonal celebration. This is the holiday season, not just the Christmas season so let's be open-minded and pause for a minute to recognize Adam Sandler's clever tribute to the hugely important Jewish holiday, Chanukah. While many holiday songs focus on the holy family, Santa Claus, some sort of jingle bells (whether they're rocking, jingling on a roof or on reindeer), usually snow/winter themed and definitely inclusive of gifts and decorating, the Chanukah Song, instead, praises all who may be Jewish, are Jewish and, if nothing else, are converted Jewish or married into Jewish-uh...-ness? Adam Sandler points out various possible and definite members of the Jewish population and sings their praises. For the most part, these songs are pretty hilarious. They're the type of holiday song I don't get tired of hearing. They haven't been around long enough to have been butchered by remakes (think techno version of "Jingle Bells" without vocals or elevator versions of "Winter Wonderland." Painful!). Best of all, Adam Sandler's trio of Chanukah songs is just good fun. It's not offensive or obsessed with gifts and snow, it talks about people and it does so in good spirits. He makes people smile and laugh, even at themselves, with this song. And, damnit, someone needed to write a song in praise of Chanukah or any other religious holiday, for that matter! Us Christians aren't the only religion in town! So bring it on, Adam Sandler, I'm anxiously awaiting part 4!

xoxo

N

PS-Andrew Parker, if you find your way here via our facebook-welcome back! And, take note, you've been mentioned in earlier blogs. We're glad you're here.

2 Birthdays and Thanksgiving Begins

Can you think of a cuter image to wake up to in the morning than my adorable seven-month old nephew/godson (I need to come up with a meshing of those two words so I can just call him one thing: god-phew...neph-son...hmmm. Needs work), Jacob? My mom has recently gotten a phone that includes text message and pix message capabilities (Go, Mom!) so the is becoming quite saavy. As I walked to class in the cold 35-degree-low temperature for the day, contemplating how I'd forgotten to change out of my bright red slippers when we went to Claire's last night and had forgotten to take all my school supplies to the very class I was headed to teach at that moment, I received the above photo from my mom via phone. I was thrilled to see his cherubic little face staring back at me from the phone. I will see this adorable little caterpillar on Tuesday when I arrive in Savannah after having spent Sun-Tues trying on gowns in Charlotte, NC. I'm driving to Savannah instead of straight to Hilton Head that day so I can accompany Genevieve (my three and a half-year old niece) on a field trip to a farm where we will see her favorite animal: a cow, and take a hayride. She has always had a thing about black and white animals: cows, penguins, pandas, zebras. It's weird, but she is just naturally drawn to those animals. I can't wait to see her with a real live cow in one week!


After the dilemma of having absolutely no papers, books or preps in my bag for either of my two classes this morning (I literally turned the bag upside and watched nothing but two hair elastics and a pen fall out of it), yet somehow managing to get through both of the classes rather successfully, I had a nap (I have to stop napping so freaken much!). Then D and I came back to school in time to wish one of our favorite faculty members a "Happy Birthday!" (Scott Cairns: poet and nonfiction extraordinaire, plus a big time Obama supporter and part of our volunteer group when Obama came to MO-see previous blog for info). Following by this, we headed to Starbucks for tall mochas where we ran into our wonderful colleague and dear friend Anthony Connolly. We don't get to see enough of A. lately since he is mostly in STL on weekends being a dutiful husband, but it's always pleasant when we do get some time with him. A-if you're reading-more time would be lovely! You and D should come by for dinner next time she's in town!


And as if that wasn't enough, we ran into our beloved A.P. again today! (Andrew Parker!) It has to be sort of unheard of that we'd run into that boy more than once in a month. He's an even rarer occurrence than A.C. Needless to say, it is always pleasant to have days like today where we run into people we adore left and right and get to be a part of birthday celebrations and well-wishes...


Fi and I are going to switch now. He is going to blog about our second birthday party of the day and I am going to have some coffee...

Dustin here. First of all, Neesha's right. Running into Andrew Parker is like seeing a bald eagle.
It's breathtaking. We used to hang out with him pretty regularly, but as she said, he's withdrawn from the English building lately.

I can't say I blame him. It's gossipy like middle school up in that piece.

Another thing about A.P. is that getting a hold of him is like trying to contact was someone in 1994. No Myspace. No Facebook. Cell phone, but no voicemail. You have to either mail him a letter or hope you see him out someplace. Or use your bald eagle whistle. That'd probably work.

Tonight we celebrated our friend Niya's (under the word "Digital" above) birthday at El Jimador's Mexican Restaurant. Let me just say that, as loyal followers of Dustin and Neesha Save the World already know, we're three for three on birthday parties attended this week -- WHAT! That's big, people! That either means we're happy enough to leave the house for the company of others, or the others who provide the company are people we like ... maybe both! I for one used to grumble about going to things for friends; I'm one of those "likes being invited but hates actually going" types -- or I used to be. But as Neesh said in a previous blog, I really do like the people we hang out with now. They're great. Fun to be around, too. So fun, in fact, that I couldn't wait to see them tonight.

Niya got lovely birthday flowers from Stephanie, a Mizzou keychain from us, and an embarrassing restaurant birthday serenade complete with sombrero and dessert smashed in her face from the wait staff of El Jimador's.

She had to give the sombrero back, sadly, but visitors to the restaurant will be treated to a photograph of her whipped cream-covered countenance, we think.

Then we went to Wal-Mart, where Stephanie bought cat food, Neesha and I bought Christmas ornaments, candles, and a plastic tiger, Megan bought a copy of a key, and Niya bought nothing. All of this sounds very pedestrian, of course, but know this: It was a good night. We don't go to Wal-Mart with just anybody. A substantial portion of the people with whom we are acquainted here we would never go to Wal-Mart with, and a good number of those we would flee from if we saw in Wal-Mart. That is because they are mean to us, for reasons we don't quite understand.

These people, on the other hand, we missed each time they ventured down an aisle that took them out of sight. Where did they go? we wondered. Ah! There they are. Whew.

Neesha here-again!

It's sad when unkindness casts its shadow over a perfectly lovely life. I suppose no matter how much sugar is added to something sour and bitter, it still tastes rancid. Luckily, these moments of gossip actually reaching us are rare.

Dumb bitches.

Dustin again: Jealous bitches, you mean.

Neesha again: ... But, enough on that...on a happier note...One week and a day til Thanksgiving!!! So time to start thinking of things I'm thankful for, since my Connie asks us every year at the dinner table. This year, like many others, it's going to be a tough choice and, as usual, I'm going to want to rattle off lists and lists of things I'm grateful for...some Thanksgivings I think the turkey is ready to reincarnate as itself and take off running from the table if I take any longer to get it all out. On that note, each day I'm going to put something I'm thankful for and get one from D, too.

What we're Thankful for Today:

Neesha: I'm thankful that when I reached my arms around Fi in the library today (did we forget to mention we went to the Daniel Boone public library today and read more magazines than student papers...yeah, that's how we roll, apparently) and tried to pull him up by his snazzy corduroy jacket only to hear a slight, "Riiiiiip!" that it ended up being 1-a small, nearly insignificant hole, Fi-really, and 2-along the seam so I can stitch it up without anyone noticing. Whew!!! You should've seen his face freeze when he heard it tear. I could've peed my pants laughing if I hadn't felt so badly instead.

Fi: "What I'm thankful for ... okay. Maybe let's start with this. Like, I heard this dude on campus talking about how this economic downturn or whatever they're calling it is gonna be like the Great Depression, and I don't know if there's any truth to that at all, but I do know that neither that guy nor I nor any of us really know what that would be like. I mean, we've never, ever known real scarcity. There's always been food, running water, electricity ... even if there were tough times. Like now, how we don't make much money, but we have that stuff. We can go out to restaurants and get our friends cards and hit up Wal-Mart when we want things. Our grandparents, not so much, maybe. I don't know where I'm going with this. Just that, I'm thankful for there having been enough food up 'til now. We've got really comfortable lives here, you know. I guess I just want it on the record that I know I've got it good, and that I'm thankful for how good I've got it."

Sorry for the long-windedness, if you've made it this far :)

More thanks and stories to come tomorrow! Til then, what are you thankful for?

Happy Birthday, Niya!

Pesto Spaghetti (Squash, that is) and Andrew Parker: Found!

Aaah, to be able to get a fulfilling sleep in. I don't know why this is, but it seems like no matter how much rest I get, it's simply not enough. I went to bed before Conan last night (that's around 11:30, I think?) and rose to head to the Sunrise Yoga class this morning which starts at 6:30. I was so proud of myself. I got up and out of bed, dressed and ready to go. I had breakfast: Strawberry Awake with warm milk. (I discovered the delectability of warm milk on cereal in India last year since that's the only way they really serve it. It's like oatmeal, kind of: mushy cereal. You just have to try it!)

Anyhow, I was too proud of myself too quickly. I was ready before 6 and since it only takes about ten minutes to get to the rec center, I decided to heat up the car (we had another freezing morning today) and wait inside while it warmed. I no sooner got back in the house and reclined then I passed out. Literally. Again! It was awful. I woke up and it was 6:40, so I turned off the car and came back inside. Once back inside, I thought I might as well rest a few more minutes before showering and heading to school to teach and, lo and behold, I fell asleep until exactly 8.

Thank God for Fi! He jumped in the car and raced me to school just in time to stop my students from leaving the room (class is supposed to start at 8 and I arrived at about 8:11). Needless to say, not the best way to start off my morning. My other class finished watching X-Men today and we talked metaphors and then it was all over! Just like that.

Fi came back at that point and we went to the rec for real. I think I mentioned that I wanted to run 3 miles yesterday but I think I forgot to mention that I did it! Yay for me! Today I didn't want to run, but had missed all the yoga/pilates/kickboxing...etc. classes and had no other options. I ran 2 miles to bring my three day tally to a whopping 7 miles. This is great because we just sort of decided to run a 5k next Saturday and we haven't done this in quite some time. Not since the Fourth of July, I think! Oh, and when I stopped into the women's locker room, I momentarily thought I'd lost my mind and went into the wrong place because this was staring me in the face:

Weird, right?

Anyhow, we lost a dear friend of ours for a while. His name is Andrew Parker and he's in the graduate program here at Mizzou, too. We love Andrew. He's tall and thin with good bone structure in his face. He's dark haired and quite witty. Kind and totally quirky. Just our style. He deleted all his online social-networking profiles (Facebook, Myspace) and since I lost my cell a while back I didn't even have his number! Really, he'd been MIA for a while and we worried about him, yet couldn't force him to keep in touch or reply to us. Luckily, Fi ran into him the other day and they have been chatting and catching up. I was so happy to hear that Fi made plans for us to have lunch together today and it really was wonderful to see he'd been found. We ate pizza (I know! Right after those two miles, right???) and I limited myself to one piece of pepperoni. It is tasty, though, so I understood why A.P. opted for lunch there (www.shakespearespizza.com-they deliver all over the country and they, too, are quirky and kind). I took a pic of them on Fi's phone (which he has to send me so I can put it up on here, of course) and it really did brighten up my day to see he's doing well. I was worried for a while there. Also, it made me feel like we were right in assuming we were good friends with him when he told us he'd deleted most of the numbers in his phone since he didn't think he'd really keep in touch or talk to many of the people in there, but he kept us. Whew! Unrequited love is a bitch, isn't it? Good to know we don't have to feel that on this account.

Once home, Fi and I ran lines for his play. Turns out no one has their lines memorized and their director is none too happy. Hopefully, Fi blows them out of the water tonight with his memorization skills! Then we made dinner. Pesto Spaghetti Squash with EXVOO, garlic, Chicken, Broc, and Maters!

A few weeks ago, I'd taken my friend Stephanie's advice and froze homemade pesto in ice cube trays, I asked my friend Liz how to deal with spaghetti squash and tonight for dinner, that's what we had! It was a pretty successful experiment. Shall I elaborate?

1 spaghetti squash (baked in the oven for two hours on 375)

1 cube of homemade frozen pesto

1 breast of chicken, cubed

1 roma tomato

broccoli (as much as you like, I'm kind of obsessed)

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup EXVOO

pinch of Parmesan (I didn't put any in the pesto when I made it, though it normally should have parm. I was just out at the time!)

1. Bake squash, but be wary. Those suckers do not cut easily when you're preparing to put them in there. I softened the skin of mine by heating it in the microwave for a bit.

2. While squash is cooling, heat EXVOO and brown the garlic.

3. Add chicken until slightly brown. A good way to tell whether chicken is still raw or not is to poke at it with the spoon you're mixing with. If it's mushy, it's raw. If it feels more solid, it's cooked through.

4. Throw in pesto and broc. The pesto melts much faster than anything else I've ever frozen and the broc was already cooked as I made some for my lunch today before remembering we were having lunch with A.P.

5. Add the chopped 'mater (we don't like ours super mushy, but if you do...add it in when you toss the broccoli in) Cook consistently on medium throughout.

6. While the sauce is cooking, scoop out the innards of the spaghetti squash (most of the seeds are on top so they're easy to just get rid of by peeling off that layer-you do NOT lose much of the squash at all.)

7. Add in as much of the squash as you want (subbing it for whatever pasta you'd use if you were having pesto pasta, instead) and mix it all up together. At this point you can add in some Parm. cheese if you want (we had some fat free so I thought a little kick might be good) and Voila! You have a tasty, healthy dinner that your Fi (if you have one) or hubby or...whoever...will love!

I need to start taking pics with the camera and not my cellie. This doesn't do it justice.

Unfortunately, Fi had to head out soon after dinner, but I was glad to just get to have dinner together! Lately we've been so so busy we haven't been able to sit down together for dinnerand I've been sending it with him. Tonight, though, he opted to go a little late (his character doesn't appear until near the end of the first act) so we ate together, he spent a little Q.T. time with Byzy (Bizzy-the shepherd, sleeping on his feet) and Bogey (the Eskimo...alpha male in the family) then whisked away to practice.

Sometimes I think they might love him just as much as I do! :)

Tonight, it's reading for me (comps are literally just around the corner!) and back to the rec in the morning for round two of trying to hit up Sunrise Yoga! Also, I'm subbing a class tomorrow at noon for a girl in our department that I've only met once in person. It kind of works, though, her entire class is centered around technology, how we communicate and interact now and society's reliance on  social networking...etc...for it's interpersonal relationships. Should be fun!

Oh, P.S.-Fi and I are going back and forth and all over the place with Honeymoon ideas! We've talked about every place imaginable (Peru, Argentina, New Mexico, a cruise, Hawaii...etc.) Our criteria is sort of simple: we want to be able to DO stuff on our trip-see, learn, experience, adventure-yet still have a day off on the beach if we want or come back to the beach later in the day and relax. However! We have a really low salary and are saving our butts off, but most likely will not be able to afford a Lifestyle's of the Rich and Famous 'moon. Any suggestions!?! We're completely open to them!

Thanks!

xoxo