This morning was a continuation of dental work. It wasn’t bad like having a root canal. I watched The Deadliest Catch and I think they lasered my gums or something. Anyway, the numbness is gone but there’s no intense pain or death or anything. True, I’m on some painkillers (3 ibuprofen), but this is still a pretty good deal.

As I prep for apartment living I’m plotting and scheming eating locally and seasonally. With the help of a friend this may not just be probable, it may be AWESOME. We’re talking about going in together on a share in a CSA. That’s a Community Supported Agriculture group, kids. And this one provides some very nice food options in addition to the lovely variety of produce. It would mean having to find some creative recipes to use a variety of veggies, but I’m up for the challenge. Vegetables and I are slowly becoming friends. And the more I meet, the more veggie friends I make.

Speaking of veggies, I made a delicious lunch and at least 2 days worth of bento today. I used a convenience food of awesome: Trader Joe’s Fire Roasted Vegetables in Balsamic Butter Sauce. Cause vegetables are good for you, but maybe you have a bad relationship with them. Maybe you loved green beans at the tender age of 3 and declared them “yucky” by the age of 6. The truth is, even the veggies you don’t love (like carrots!) can be fantastic with a flavorful sauce that brings out the yummy taste of the vegetable.

Which brings me to the Roasted Veggies in Balsamic Butter Sauce. They’re awesome. Microwave them a few minutes and you’ll have a bowl full of delicious smells. This mix has carrots, peppers, pearl onions, green beans, and the occasional tomato or button mushroom. They are covered in a delicious balsamic butter sauce that tastes every bit as good as it smells.

Today I was in the mood for a slight bit of comfort food so I put some naan in the oven (also from TJs). While it was warming up I boiled water and found my veggies. I put the veggies in the microwave and some spaghetti noodles in the water. After everything was cooked I tossed the spaghetti with some EVOO and a little basil and oregano. Some noodles went in the bento for tomorrow, some went in a bowl for later in the week, and the rest stayed in the original bowl. Then I put veggies in the bento, a tupperware container, and my bowl. I sprinkled the bento contents with a bit of parmesan cheese and put a bit of cheese on my noodles, too.

So I had spaghetti with balsamic butter vegetables for lunch. And naan. It was delicious and amazing. If you need a reason to eat more veggies, you should totally get a bag of this stuff from Trader Joe’s. It’s a good idea.

My music collection got a good thorough cleaning with MusicDB, but in the process many files were renamed. Sadly, iTunes is bad at finding things. So I reinstalled. That’s right. All my ratings and play counts got reset.

It’s all good. This gives me a chance to go through and rate stuff. I’ve been playing with smart playlists recently so I’m having fun with it.

Monday is day of errands! I got my eyebrows done and went to Dierbergs. Then I spent an hour prepping for dinner, prepping for 2 weeks worth of bentos, and cleaning up the kitchen. I made the soycutash I got from Trader Joes. I gotta say, I was totally not sure about the stuff when I made it. But it does taste like yummy corn succotash, and that’s just from tasting a room temperature bite after packing it all up. Victory is mine!

My bentos mostly revolve around some particular standbys: rice (still have 3 frozen servings!), frozen veggies, frozen chicken, sushi (I need more from TJs), raisins, cheese, and miscellaneous leftovers. I need things to be quick and easy, and these are!

I want to play the Sims again so I can make pretty buildings, but I’m not ready to take the plunge. That game consumes my time all too well.

Sorry, I’m being lazy and not taking pictures. I haven’t felt well today.

Today’s bento: Top: leftover Cheesecake Factory orange chicken and rice. Bottom: Teddy Grahams with Nutella, raisins.

Tomorrow’s bento: Top: Brown and wild rice, 4 chicken gyoza pot stickers, soy sauce in fish bottle. Bottom: Mixed dried berries, Babybel cheese, peanuts.

I’ll post more things when I feel less tired.

Today I watched the first episode of Survivor: Micronesia. It was hilarious. Utterly hilarious.

I also went to the store and bought two birthday presents for family members, some sushi, some chocolate, and of course… a flower for myself. If someone gets me something for Valentine’s day, that’s awesome. Otherwise, I have this little vision of loveliness sitting by my side:

Isn’t it beautiful? Look at the color! It’s a pretty little mini iris. I wanted to look into forcing mini bulbs and growing tiny container gardens, but Trader Joes did the forcing work for me and now all I have to do is try to nurture this lovely little plant. Not that this will be easy. I have kind of a black thumb. But I figured, why get a bouquet of flowers that will fade within days instead of a lovely flower that I can have around for months? How could I pass up something so lovely?

Tomorrow’s bento is not nearly as exciting or colorful. I mean, some of it is red. But that’s it.

Top: McDonalds BBQ sauce for the chicken, grape tomatoes, and Babybel cheese. Bottom: chicken drummettes from TJs, mashed potatoes.

I know, not an exciting bundle of variety. But good enough, I say. Good enough for one day.

Tonight I will learn mom’s secret recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. Victory!

I’m also calling the number on the for rent sign for the duplex I drive by every day. I may not move till May, but I’d like to check this place out.

Last night I had yet another nightmare about my first year of teaching. I wonder if those ever go away forever. Maybe they don’t. But you know what? I’m pining for the formal classroom again. Yes, that’s right. I love love love my job, but I am pining for the formal classroom.

There’s a charter school coming to STL in the next few years I’m keeping an eye on. It is on the horizon but probably not a good fit for me, at least for a few more years. But I’m going to check it out. If God wants it, it will happen anyway. All I know is that my eye is drawn to it like a shiny object in the distance.

Today Atlantis took off. I was glad. Nothing brings together the SLSC staff like a shuttle launch. Word got around and before long staff from many departments were watching the action as it was projected on the wall. It was a good feeling. Like maybe we can step away from the problems and difficulties and just be a family or something.

I also had a rockin awesome splat show this morning. Really fun high school kids. They were really enthusiastic and funny. I was also majorly hyped up on my caffeine. Between those factors was a fabulous show.

Alright, here’s tomorrow’s bento:

Top: Roasted veggies with balsamic butter sauce, spaghetti noodles. Bottom: Mozzarella and tomato salad, peaches. My biggest fear is that the peach juice is going to try to intermingle with the salad, and that simply won’t do. There’s a layer of Press and Seal Wrap trying to keep this from taking place.