Fangs

When the whole Harry Potter craze started, I thought it was stupid and resisted reading the books for quite some time. Then my college roomie (hi Meg!) was given the first one for Christmas, and she read it, and she made me read it, and thus began a love affair.

I kind of thought the same thing would happen with the Stefanie Meyer Twilight series. I decided I was not going to read it, but then a coworker left an audio copy of the book in the faculty room with the sign "Anyone care to listen?" and I figured, eh, it's free, I can listen during my commute, TONS OF PEOPLE LOVE THIS BOOK IT CAN'T BE ALL THAT BAD!

People, I freakin hated this book. It is possible that the narrator's annoying voice and the awful way she said the protagonist's name, "Beh-lah," set me up not to like it from the very beginning. Maybe had I actually read it instead of listening to it, I would have liked it better. But honestly, I couldn't stand Bella as a character, and I spent the entire book thinking, "Jesus Christ just BITE HER ALREADY!!!!!"

I thought the book was corny and poorly written. I am actually a little upset that my mom just read it and then rushed out to get the next book in the series! Having no one to make fun of this book with bums me out big time.

I didn't want to get the union involved, but I had to. I have made it clear that I do not want to fight for my job. My main objective (Teacher Will Be Able To...) is to get out of there with as little damage to my reputation as possible.

Really, I'm tired of thinking and talking about this, but at the same time, I can't get it off my mind, and so it seems always to be the most natural thing to bring up in conversation. I am being constantly approached at work by people who, meaning to be supportive, want to know how I'm doing, how my week went, their thoughts on what kind of "raw deal," I got, or how the way in which I was, "screwed over is unbelievable." It's nice of them to show concern, and sometimes they do say things that make me feel slightly better ("J is wonderful, but she is having a very tough time over there."), but really? I just want it to be over.

So for now, let's move on to more cheerful topics.

*****

Family

My little brother made it home safely from Iraq yesterday morning! I saw him last night, and I have decided that from now on, I am going to make more of an effort to hang out with him. He has served his 4 years, and is going to start looking for another job, so it's not really the whole safety issue anymore-- it's just that we're older now, and so the years between us don't seem so significant.

*****

Food
Ahhh, perhaps my favorite topic of all...

I have never really been much into Indian food. I think this is mostly because I never ate it while growing up, and then in college I was turned off by the smell of it being cooked a couple doors down in my dorm. This past December, we randomly decided to spend our Jewish Christmas* in an Indian restaurant instead of a Chinese one.

I was pleasantly surpised, and ever since then I go through periods of craving. The problem is, there really aren't any good Indian delivery or take-out, or even dine-in restaurants in the immediate area.

I have found the answer in the Tandoor Chef. Tonight I had the Tandoori Naan with the Paneer Tikka Masala over some microwave-in-pouch basmati rice. I know I'm no expert, but the whole thing took 5 minutes to heat and plate, and it beat the shit out of a Hungry Man dinner. The Naan took about 3 minutes in a 400 degree oven, and came out steamy and tender, and it was the perfect scoop for the masala, which was flavorful and rich. I am stuffed after eating just half of everything, but I keep eyeing the leftovers, unsure of whether I can wait until another meal time to finish them up.

* I say this, however my Christmas was actually spent with Alex's family, which is not Jewish. They do the Christmas Day ethnic food thing anyway. The family dinner is Christmas Eve with his mom.

*****

TV

I don't know what I've been doing lately that's been keeping me so busy, but I have about 2 weeks worth of shows DVR'd. Since I arrived home at 2:45 today, I have watched Top Model, Grey's Anatomy, 2 episodes of Lost, American Idol, and now I'm watching SVU. All this was viewed around the 2 hour nap I took.

*****

Books

I just finished Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella, which was a nice, mindless and cheery way to distract myself. I have ordered Julie & Julia from the library, and will pick it up when I drop this one off. Which, by the way, I am having issues doing. My new (but not so new anymore since it's been a year since we moved in!) town is sort of city-like where it's not full of suburban neighborhoods, and so the library is on a street with parallel parking. There is a lot behind the library, but then you are forced to walk half way around the block to get to the door once you have parked. All of this, combined with my incredible laziness, has been preventing me from a speeding turn-around rate.

*****

TheBoy

I know I said I wasn't going to talk anymore about all the work drama, but this is really about Alex's reaction to said drama. He has never much seemed like the night-in-shining-armor type. He is usally laid back about everything, and will try to solve any concerns by telling me, "just don't worry about it." But since all of this shitty stuff happened on Monday, he has really stepped up to the plate. He has suddenly taken on this protective air, ranting about contacting the union and getting legal advice and conspiring with friends about how to best "make that asshole regret what he's done." I have never much been into the macho type, but I have to say I'm kinda liking this.