The French-German marriage of convenience, or, more accurately, necessity.
It remains a very difficult employment situation out there. This being a separate issue within the article--and I recall getting lots of comments when I last made a point about this, but I can't help it--I do not understand these high four-figure utility bills.
Two takes on business and health care reform: Pearlstein and Wessel.
Let's do without energy subsidies.
Sounding off on extreme parenting.
Don't buy into the anti-soy misinformation campaign. Soy is pretty good for you.
I love hazelnuts.
***
On the topic of spending habits: my dad and I talked about this over the holidays--he was unemployed for a couple of years, and at one point, both my parents were unemployed at the same time. It was not an easy time, but they had savings to fall back on, largely because--and I am not judging or criticizing--they never engaged in some of the "before" habits described in the article above. Nobody in my family would ever 'think nothing of spending $250 on a pair of shoes,' etc. What dad brought up specifically was that he couldn't believe how regularly his coworkers bought prepared food or went out to eat--in my family, restaurants were a rare treat. I look around at my coworkers now and think about the same thing: how do you do it? [Note: I am not saying that all that unemployed or low income people need to do is eat in more often--the tie-in is only to the pre-unemployment spending habits. I fully acknowledge that their situation is difficult even with careful budgeting]. I'm speaking now to people who are not really hurting, for lack of a better term. I guess I'm speaking to the people who say, "travel is expensive!" Really? Because my two-week trip to Japan probably cost less than many people spend on coffee and lunch in the course of a year.
Jay is here, and we debated going out for sushi last night but opted to stay in--the cold, rather than any expenses, being the dominant variable in our decision. I made tacos, and they came out really well--Jay was impressed with how good they were, and with how quick and easy they were to make, and said he was now inspired to try it at home. All I did was thaw some pinto beans--of which I'd soaked and cooked a pound ($1) and frozen half not long ago--sauteed them in some rice bran oil, cumin, powdered chipotle, and paprika, added a can of (organic) tomatoes ($1.50), added a couple of drops of Braggs, and heated up some corn tortillas ($2.50 for 80) which we then shaped around the filling. Jay even grated some vegan (rice-based) cheeze ($2.50 on sale). Probably won't buy it again but I thought it'd be worth a try, and it did go well with the tacos. We also stuck in a couple of leaves of red-leaf lettuce. Oh, and we made miso soup to go with our tacos; I pulled out the seaweed.
Jay: Got seaweed?? (or something like that)
A.: You have no idea. I have so much seaweed--various kinds, too.
Anyway, the point-I-won't-stop-making is, I don't want to hear about how healthy food requires work and a lot of money. I'm not against going out to eat--we'll be going out for lunch today, since we'll be in town museum-hopping and meeting my former assistant director, who has heard a lot about the man he calls my 'GH' and is quite taken with the concept, but I've always seen restaurants as a special occasion thing, not a default. We'll also go to lunch on Monday--who can resist restaurant week lunch?? (Dinner, not as good a deal). The rest of the weekend, Jay will be with his paramour (tho I'll meet them and friends for drinks tomorrow, after my play).
I won't have dessert on Monday, even though it'll come with the meal. I may order it and have it wrapped up to give to Jason, but it doesn't tempt me. Last night I gave Jay the green tea KitKat that my former Director brought back from Japan--she went on business, so I loaned her my Tokyo guidebook and told her, when she asked what she had to try, that green tea KitKats were awesome. When she brought some back for people, I didn't want to not take one, but I didn't want to have it--not because I thought one small KitKat would be the end of me, but I just didn't want it--I was so happy with how I was (am) eating. When Jay took his first bite, I registered the sensation of joy and nostalgia--I know how much those things taste like Japan (when I've made green tea pudding, it's tasted like Japan--it really brings you back). He said I should just have a bite, but I really just didn't want any. I can't explain it, but it just felt better not to.
Jay had commented earlier that he didn't understand what my mother was seeing--where was all the fat? And as I was leaving work, earlier in the evening, a friend/colleague said I was looking amazingly slim. Which is very nice, and I love hearing it. I'm telling you about it to put mom's comments in context, not to gloat about being 'thin.' I mean, I'm far from swimsuit condition, and I don't weigh myself or do anything, other than generally take care of my body anyway, to bring about any weight loss. But since you may have wondered, based on the holiday blogging, whether I managed to make it into my house without having the door removed, I wanted to share some objective opinions on the matter.
Oh, and here's us with the KitKat. After many tries, we still couldn't get all of Jay's head in :).
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