rainy days

this never-ending gloomy rainy weather is getting a little tiring, but i'm looking forward in anticipation of what's to come afterwards because after rain (and soggy worms) comes life in the form of bright green grass, flowers, and a new appreciation for sunshine and blue skies (can't wait!).

until then, i'll just keep listening to the sound of falling rain drops, put on my rainboots and maybe play in a puddle or two. not a bad idea at all. :)

term 6, last term.

heading back to the classroom for our final academic term tomorrow.
term 5 was by far the worst and most stressful term ever,
but thankfully it's over, i made it through,
and i'm finally starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

let's end on a strong note, shall we?

cooking corner: giant chewy chocolate chip cookies

i decided to try out a new cookie recipe for "giant chewy chocolate chip cookies" in order to take a break from school work. that was two weeks ago now, but i haven't had time to post anything until now. why? because school picked up again, but nevermind that for now...here's how my cookies turned out:

the original recipe yielded 12 cookies, but i thought no one in their right mind would make cookies that giant so i stretched it out to 24 cookies instead. even so, i had a little extra dough so i made one ridiculously huge cookie just because i could.

i wasn't sure how they would turn out since i made a few adjustments to the recipe (mainly because that's all i had), but the cookies ended up being great if not better than i expected! they were just the right size, had just the right amount of sweetness and "chew", and were gone in a few days - yum!

book nook: the bell jar

the bell jar
sylvia plath

after living a mere 5 minute walk away from our local library in "the sogs" (for more than half a year), i finally went and signed up for a library card. after searching the catalogue, i found that all my 'books on tap' were unavailable. boo. luckily not all was lost as, after poking through bookshelves, i found a few that seemed interesting enough. "the bell jar" was the first i tackled of the three.

this book is a semi-autobiography written by sylvia plath which follows esther greenwood. it basically chronicles her depression, breakdown, suicide attempts, and subsequent institutionalization. the book is well-written and really liked how it highlighted the experience of living with a mental illness rather than the mental illness itself (if that makes any sense). i also really liked how things were described - everything was so poetic. i found it a little confusing to follow at times as esther's thought process seemed to jump here, there, and everywhere, but this was probably intentional to give the reader a sense of esther's experience, so i guess this was actually a good thing.

generally, i thought this book was good and finished it pretty quickly. it's explores some pretty dark (but real) topics so in this sense it may not be for everyone, but overall it's a good read.

books on tap

there are a few books i really want to read, but just can't - not right now anyway. so instead of reading them, i've decided to think about reading them so i won't forget which ones they are when the craziness stops and i have a finally have a chance to sit down and read something i actually want to.

a few of the books on my list:
- left neglected (genova)
- the glass castle (walls)
- eat pray love (gilbert)

some of these have been on my radar for a while now, but i just haven't gotten the chance to get to them yet. i'm almost certain there were more, but i can't think of them right now. yah, it's been that long.

dream rangers

not quite sure how a bank fits into this video/message, but oh well - i still like it.

cute squirmy peanut

today i held the cutest little one month old boy.
he was sleeping, but then he became super squirmy.
turns out he was making a poo, right in my arms,
and when he was finished, he smiled.
and then he went back to sleep.

...and i gave him back to his dad, haha.

what a cute little boy. :)

snow day

today my school was closed, my off-campus meeting was cancelled, and i got to stay inside and not go to hamilton.

all in all, a good day. :)

01.01.11

new year, new beginnings.
happy new year everyone! :)

cooking corner: acorn squash soup

there is no better way to warm up your taste buds on a cold, wet, autumn evening.
p.s. butternut squash soup also does the trick (and is just as easy to make). :)