Off to Montreal in a few hours to celebrate my birthday/Eric's birthday/our anniversary, but for now am detained at the Key Office, empty as it is. I am the most excited about this minitrip! But I am also afraid: filled with fear about swine flu. (Or H1N1, if that is the correct way of referencing this strain.) When I woke up this morning I felt more than a little woozy and I'm not sure if this owes to my general lack of sleep (was awoken @ 4:10 by screaming, but that's another story) or to swine flu. There could be other causes for this lethargy: I could just have a cold, or a different strain of flu. Or, I might be hypochondrizing myself into a state of near-hysteria. Whatever. Amherst College has two confirmed cases of pandemic-making swine flu, and the fear of God has been struck into me. After work, I am going to get a latte and pray that it revives me. If it does not, my paranoia will remain unwavering.

In other news, I hit the quarter century mark this week. The day itself tended toward anticlimax: I was scheduled at both my jobs and didn't get home until after 9:00 (at which point I ate some delicious, strawberry-rhubarb birthday pie). But the approach and the aftermath were both uncanny. I can no longer say I'm in my early twenties, but I'm OK with this, I think. I'm a month away from finishing my master's program, in the best shape I've been in since high school, and about to return to my true homeland. All in all, things are pretty good.

Except my hair. Yesterday, I went to my normal salon for a trim - I'm hoping for an even longer, shinier ponytail - and the stylist (not my normal stylist) butchered my hair into a blunt mutation of the Rachel 'do. Yes, that Rachel 'do. Though Eric assured me my hair looks "great," Ali would not stop singing the "Friends" theme song. All I could think was, "Chin-length layers? Srsly?" Because those look bad on everyone. The worst part is, I can do nothing but wait for my hair to grow out. Siiiiiiiiiigh.

I realize that was an extremely vain paragraph, but I am filled with woe: both by my potential contamination by the swine flu of death and by this redonkulous haircut.

Canada, I hope you cure all ills.

Go Places.

It has been a tortuously busy week, one during which I've had scads of appointments/meetings/obligations/usw., but during which I have gotten little actual work done. Tonight, I had a three hour meeting with the English Conference Committee. I'm not complaining about the three hours - we needed all of the time to rearrange panels, assign moderators, and such - but am lamenting my posture in that restaurant booth: I think I undid all of today's chiropractic therapy. I've hardly worked on my thesis at all (though I met with my adviser on Wednesday: does that count?), and now, instead of doing real work, I'm researching destinations for an upcoming trip Eric and I are planning. We're arranging a weekend getaway for my birthday/his birthday/our 2-year anniversary, which three dates fall within one week of each other. The potential destinations are:

1) Nantucket
2) Bar Harbor
3) Niagara Falls
4) Montreal

My personal favorite is Montreal(!) I mean, come on: Montreal. Right? He's pulling for Nantucket. In the interest of fairness, we've each chosen two destinations (he the former, I the latter) and are going to prepare presentations (handouts & all) on our locales of choice. !. If I knew how to use PowerPoint - or cared to learn - I would totally make a PowerPoint. In fact, I just might. After all, this thesis is practically editing itself.

News flash, y'all: this birthday is the big 2-5.

News flash 2: If I could make an unsolicited recommendation to any and all readers: Pilates will change your life. But who am I to talk? I've been to the gym once this week...

Birthday wishes! And one harvest recipe.

Glad tidings to LDS, who celebrates her birthday today! Last night was the party proper, which was excellent because of (but not solely because of) great company, Dark and Stormies*, and a soundtrack feat. MIA. Hellz yes. HELLZ YES! I did stay out later than I have pretty much all semester (rolled into bed around 2:30), and today I dragged. In fact, I considered going to bed about half an hour ago, but remembered [thankfully] that I offered to pick E. up from work at 10. Ah, exhaustion. Despite my less-than-optimal state, I managed to do my grocery shopping, read a workshop story, sort through a massive pile of paperwork, and go to the gym. Not bad, considering.

Also, I cooked a legit harvest dish tonight: sauteed Swiss chard w/sweet potatoes. My mom made this a lot when I was a kid, and though I didn't really dig the greens, I loved the bite-sized pcs. of sweet potato. Here's the recipe:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 1/3 c. apple cider
1 cup chopped sweet potato (tiny cubes work best)
1 bunch Swiss chard, cleaned and coarsely chopped
seasonings to taste

In a 10" skillet, cook the onions in the oil until said onions are soft but not browned (about 4 minutes). Once onions are soft, add cider and sweet potatoes. Cook sweet potatoes until they are tender (about 5 minutes). If cider evaporates before potatoes are cooked, add a few tablespoons of water. Once potatoes are cooked, add the Swiss chard, cover the skillet, and cook 3-5 minutes (until the chard is wilted). Season to taste; serve immediately.

That's the gist of the recipe, anyway - I am reclining in bed now and was too lazy to find the printed version, whose wording might be a little, uh, more professional. I should note that the real recipe only calls for 1/3 c. cider, but I used 1/2 (because I had more than 1 c. of taters, and because the bunch of chard I used was larger than average). ALSO: in terms of seasoning, I used garlic powder (shaken liberally), fresh ground pepper, fresh ground sea salt. YUM. One other thing: I used a 13" skillet, which verged on being too small. Next time, will use the wok.

Well, I'm off to find an activity that will keep me awake for the next hour or so. Toodles.

*Almost forgot to explain. The Dark and Stormy is possibly my new favorite boozy beverage, composed of rum and ginger beer (in roughly equal parts). Sweet - but not cloyingly so - and lip-tingling, it is perfect for a rainy fall night.

24!

So much to report! And so relatively much time to do it! (Due to mild illness, I am remaining absent from workshop today.) But first things first: wild turkeys. Yes, a family - flock? - of wild turkeys lives near UMass. Sunday, as I was driving home from campus, four female turkeys ran in front of my car; I stopped to let them pass. This was only the second time I'd seen the birds, but I hope to see them more often: they seem like a good omen.

Yesterday I turned 24, which (as of now) seems not much different than the year before it. I completed a few celebratory acts, which included:

1) Going to the gym (healthy in the new year!)
2) Getting my nose re-pierced (Last semester, I was fiddling around with my nose ring and of course lost it; the piercing closed. Fortunately, I had a coupon for a free birthday piercing! I decided to make the best of this opportunity.)
3) Having a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie with coffee in the mid-afternoon
4) Going to Judie's for dinner (w/pals), and later to the Tunnel Bar for appletinis. Boy, those appletinis: they'll get you. Because they are appley and so delicious, they can lead one to forget that one is consuming alcohol, and chaos ensues.

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate: it really was an excellent day, minus the nonstop rain. Hopefully, the rain will let up by this weekend...

A cooking experiment: made homemade croutons this morning by slicing a stale baguette, cubing the slices, brushing the cubes with a little olive oil, and sprinkling them with fresh pepper, oregano, and garlic powder. I toasted them at 300 for about half an hour, then let them cool on the stove top. I must admit, they turned out really well, and I didn't have to throw out my baguette. Nice.