My baby kitty

Meet 7 month old Edwin! We picked him up at the shelter after Hunter passed on.

This was too cute not to photograph!

He loves to play hide n go seek, and in the morning he loves a little lactose free milk.

Also, he loves having his teeth brushed, and he loves that I eat salmon out of the can and share the juice with him. He's my buddy.

Recipe adaptation: slow cooker chicken posole

This is one of those ID10T users at allrecipes.com things, where I have taken the recipe and changed EVERY! SINGLE! THING! and still expect you to believe that the original is awesome. I must apologize, but I tend to work from what I have instead of reinventing my pantry for every new recipe.

We'll see how this turns out, I'm sure we'll love it, we love spicy food.

You can find the original here: Slow Cooker Chicken Posole


Ingredients:

1 can (29 oz) white hominy, drained
1 can (16 oz) sliced stewed tomatoes
1 can (16 oz) red enchilada sauce (hot)
1 can (12 oz) carrots, sliced
2 small onions, chopped
4 TBSP minced bottled garlic
1 tsp cumin
4 chicken thighs, skin on
Pepper
Jalapeno peppers (3), sliced, seeds in
Dried cilantro
Lime wedges
Tortilla chips

Recipe Preparation
1. Combine hominy, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, carrots, onion, jalapenos, lime wedges, garlic and cumin in a 4-qt slow-cooker. Add chicken and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high 3 to 3 1⁄2 hours until chicken is cooked through and vegetables tender. Skim and discard any fat from the surface.

2. Remove chicken; pull meat off bones into large shreds. Stir back into slow-cooker. Stir in cilantro, if using. Serve with more lime wedges and tortilla chips.

Everything'll be alright

Something about getting scratched by my cat really messed my head up last night-- Joshua himself says it'll all be ok.

Books close when they are finished.

Doubly so

There is a double bass off camera.

song of the moment - Iron and Wine

God made the automobile to pass all the pretty girls that smoke by the side of the road, their blues lovin' boys in tow; to drive until the end of the day, and bow to a borrowed flag beside all the brave and the blind, and men without men in mind.

To pass all the things he made but then never bothered to name. And no one will tell the truth, and no one will hide it from you, like birds around the grave.

God made the automobile, and I made a little boy to pass all the blissfully young.
The snake with the forked toungue that prays on the waiting for time, and makes in the sleepless waves, the fear of the black and the jew, and blood for the camera crew.
It passes the things he made and then never bothered to name. And no one will tell the truth, and no one will hide it from you, like birds around the grave.

Spinning

Sometimes it feels like I'm spinning my wheels... stuck in an endless loop of self-doubt.

New Chapter

So, this job that gave me the iritis with the stress? I was relieved of it this morning.

I feel so relieved. And so sick with a cold.

Once I'm all the way better, I'd like to work on things that mean something to me, as well as finding a job that fits my heart and my head better.

Blue Monday

Well, I'm fighting off a cold today. We have some fierce storms happening, too. I wish I could just stay home and rest- oh well, only 3 more hrs and I'll be done.

Here's to Monday!!

I woke up wanting lions

... and grapes.

Iritis

I currently have iritis, have had it for over a week now. I got it last Tuesday, following a bad review at my new bank job on Friday, July 24. I've been at this job since March and I haven't had much in the way of coaching, so I was lucky they decided to keep me. But it also stressed me out, because I don't deal well with imperfection or failure, or "not being good enough".

Hence the iritis. I went to the eye doctor on July 29, and they put me on prednisolone drops, once an hour (left eye), and a dilating drop to take twice a day (I take it every 12 hours). After a week, I didn't feel any better, the doctor said it didn't look any better, and since this is the FIFTH FUCKING TIME I've had this, and each time the drops do not better my condition. The first 3 times I had a steroid injection under my cornea, and the most recent time (following the death of my grandfather and following into the death of my sister's husband), they put me on oral steroids, and I improved rapidly. Not to mention the rest of my pain- and inflammatory- disease riddled body. My pain decreased to the point where I felt normal, happy, energetic. Not bogged down by pain.

So the doctor asked me what I wanted to do next, whether I wanted to continue one more week on drops alone, or... add oral steroids. Given my history with the disease, I didn't want to spend one more week feeling the way I do when I have iritis: isolated, alone, scared, angry, helpless, in pain. I know the oral steroids work, and they work rapidly. So I'm on day 2 of oral steroids, and I feel wonderful. I'm at 40 mg right now, and they'll taper me off once I improve. I'm still taking the steroid drop once per hour, and once I improve, they'll taper the drops first, and then the pills.

I'm doing well, despite the iritis. I'm managing to be confident and sell products, I'm managing to be friendly and warm with customers despite my highly dilated left eye and the pain I feel while I'm straining to read their deposit slip.

How did a musician of my caliber (double bass player) end up as a bank teller, anyway? It doesn't seem fair. Then again, life rarely is.

My latest desktop background

I love the sleekness of apple products, but they generally lack the robustness required to play massive multiplayer online games. I love world of warcraft and fluffy fox es, and so I put this delicious piece of irony on my PC desktop. I like to enjoy the best of both worlds. And the cosmic wonder of this indigo sky spotted with stars- stargazing really is the best thing in the world.