Playing Mom

At five this morning, my mom left on the adventure of a lifetime: a week (ish) long cruise to Alaska with her dad, on his fishing boat. He and my grandma have just recently packed up and moved to the town of Seward, per the hunting and fishing fantasies of my grandpa. This trek will be the final journey. I'm excited for the opportunity my mom has to get to spend time with her dad, but in the wake of her absence are all of the cleaning, cooking, and pet responsibilities. To name only a few. You know that saying, "you never know what you have til it's gone"...? For me, it's more like, "you never realized how many chores and to-do lists and general housekeeping things mom does until she's gone." We will only be able to communicate with her during sporadic times of cell service, so this leaves me as the lady of the Schrader household! Yesterday, I put to the test two recipes that I learned how to make last week in an "Italian Vegetarian" cooking class. No, I'm not suave enough to be Italian. Nor animal friendly enough to be vegetarian. But let me just tell you, these dishes are incredible!! And not with any thanks to my skills.
I give you, Tuscan White Bean Spread and Sundried Tomatoes on Garlic Bruschette followed by a Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with Spinach and Bechamel.  

Think hummus for the bean spread, with ample garlic and olive oil layered over a toasted baguette. I had no problem eating about ten of these. :) It was difficult to get a picture of the lasagna, so here are the veggies: spinach, asparagus, eggplant, and zucchini. Yum! The bechamel is basically a sauce of milk, flour, and butter that has been poured over layers and layers of these fresh greens and noodles. It's a high-cholesterol pool of creamy delight.

Dinner. is. served.

Can't Keep Waiting To Live

I'll be honest with you bloggers, when I returned home from school, I was stuck in a depression (see previous post). My mind had become a rut of negative thoughts towards certain situations and, most prominently, myself. I was already dreading the end of summer, and it hadn't even begun. I pouted about being jobless. Car-less. Somewhat friend-less. Wahhh.

Then, something happened. I wish I could point my finger as to the source, so that I could have that state of mind bottled up and passed out on the streets. I wanted to enjoy my life, and be known for that joy. I was tired of just existing--staying up until early morning hours, lying around in bed until one, expecting the following hours to be as dark as the previous. Grumps, frumps, and lumps...about what you could call me.

I'm the happiest to report: not any longer. I don't really care what goes on in a day; cars are bound to break down, people are sure to change, nails are gonna break, plans are made to fail. And I'm gonna love the heck out of life. The funny thing about this is, when we do, it seems to fancy us right back.

So, in view of the life that God has called "good" and in memory of my grandmother, a woman who absolutely made the most joy of every second, who's passing will be four years tomorrow: don't keep waiting to live.

Three's a Crowd

My utter uselessness in the past three weeks has climaxed in this Monday spent in bed with a sinus infection and sorely bruised foot, car-less and incapable of doing anything productive other than blogging. That attempt at productivity was a clear F+ as well, as I accidentally just highlighted and deleted the past three paragraphs I had written. MLIU. (My Life is Useless).

Because I don't really feel like writing out another THREE paragraphs, here is my life in three's:

I am in the third round of applying for a lifeguarding job at the Tanglewilde pool in Lacey. By the grace of God, I made it through the first and second rounds of an interview, written test, and water skills test. This third and final round? I think we're swimming across the Atlantic or something, nbd.

Tonight is the third episode of the Bachelorette...which will be going head to head for my audience at 8pm against my brother's baccalaureate. 

Yep, you guessed it, in three days, he will be graduating from high school. My mom and I are throwing him a "Dessert Extravaganza" for his graduation party on Saturday that should prove to be threeeeelicious--peanut butter brownies, double chocolate-y cake pops, and carrot cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting.   

In the next three months of summer, I hope to be employed, and figure out what to do with my life for the next three years of school.

As far as I can tell, I have three options at this point:

1. Return to Point Loma.

2. Apply for a different school to transfer to in the spring.

3. Stay at home, attend community college, and work to save up money.

Stay tuned for more updates on my exciting existence, and perhaps things may start to get a little crazy...who knows, I may even change my blog title. Or get out of the house by three.

Ps. If you look at the word three over and over again, it starts to look a little strange, yeah?