Life as We Know It

Here I am on Thanksgiving Eve, at the parents' house in Valencia.  I realize an unknown sitcom has been playing on the TV next to me for the past half-hour. . . pleasant-enough background noise, to be honest. 

So, it's the end of my first (short) week as a fully-functioning human being, that is, a working one.  Training at NHM is going peachily.  It is a good feeling, a missed feeling of learning and accomplishing.  That transition from bumbling and observing to moving with purpose.  Of course, this week's training has been in the Insect Zoo, which I'm already familiar with from volunteering.  I get paid good money to feed crickets to scorpions with really long tongs (preferably in front of a crowd- everyone knows I'm a showboater).  It's my first real job with benefits and whatnot, and more importantly, it's The Job that I hoped and dreamed and waited and waited for.  It is a pleasure and a privilege and an undeniably  cool feeling to walk the hushed museum halls in the morning, under the shadows of dinosaur and giant sloth skeletons, with the anticipation of a day's work ahead of me.   Next week I start training in Reptile Care, which will be a little different- I'm pretty much unfamiliar with that portion of the Discovery Center (the Center Zoo is essentially split up into insects and reptiles).  Keep your fingers crossed.   

Needless to say, I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Eve.  I'm doing the majority of the food tomorrow; pictures to follow.  The menu will be as follows:

1.  Roasted turkey w/corn bread stuffing
2.  Spinach-rice casserole
3.  Spicy Thai green beans
4.  Mashed potatoes with poblano peppers and queso fresco
5.  Dark chocolate tart w/hazelnut crust
6.  Pumpkin pie squares

That should be enough, right?  I say for holidays one should eschew 'traditional' food and just make all their favorites in one day.  I don't think we're having any Filipino food, but it'll be pretty multi-multicultural.

Nimbus just jumped up on the computer desk to let me know she's back from being outside.  My parents worry because there's coyotes but I think she can take care of herself.  She quickly determined a shortcut outside off my parent's 2nd floor balcony, clever girl, no more waiting for them to let her out or in.  Her nose is cold and she smells like grass and stone, and when I pet her I can feel sparks crackling between her fur and my fingers.  It's like petting purring glass (in a good way).  I miss her the most when I'm away from home (which I just said out loud, to which Bob replied 'Gee thanks a lot').  It's hard being away from home base so much, though the perks of spending evenings with the honey (Hi, buddy!) and avoiding an hour-and-a-half commute (each way!)  far outweigh any of that.  With any luck my own apartment will be in the works in early 2006. 

Ice Cube says it best (I've been quoting this a lot lately for some reason): 'Today I didn't even have to use my A.K. . . I got to say, it was a good day.'

Gobble gobble!

Comments

[Maria]

Nice to see you around! For Canadian Thanksgiving I didn't have any turkey, I still crave it, dammit. I went to Vancouver and my friends gave me chicken mole, which was good, but I wanted turkey!

[panasianbiz]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I completely agree with you that it's best to just go with one's favorite foods. Why force yourself to eat something you don't even like just because it's traditional?