The heat... must get out of the kitchen!

I've discovered that I have a penchant for burning things. In less than 5 days, I've burned two towels and a bunch of onions. Today's pyrotechnics were most dramatic. I was seasoning the cast iron pot that I use to make bread and I tipped the pot to spread the oil but forgot about the paper towel in my hand, which caught fire unbeknownst to me. I smelled burning paper and soon realized I was holding flaming paper in my hand! I didn't know where to throw the paper since the sink was full of crap (plus, what if I missed and it landed on the very flammable drying rack?), so I tossed it onto the floor (thank goodness for those super floor tiles, which did not display any burn marks). I then sprayed it down with water but the kitchen continued to smell like ash for hours afterward (until I cooked dinner, a little underdone to try to turn the tide on my recent endeavors).

Even though I didn't go to work this week, it has been uneventful in the culinary-sense since I haven't cooked much. I think I'm bored of it now. Last week did me in with three fully-cooked, balanced meals (not all tasty, but each had vegetable, starch, and meat), with enough to bring for lunch. I've mostly been re-purposing leftovers and relied much on bacon and cheese sandwiches, as well as noodle soup. The good part is that I'm cleaning up the fridge. If Dear wasn't coming back tonight(!), I'd attempt to finish off old chicken by making pot pie.

With more time on my hands (not once did I check work email!), I find myself just as lazy. I haven't cooked much, watched entirely too much TV, and yet still haven't "had time" to write much or even to really clean (I think I need professional help in that department). I did finally finish (or just gave up on) painting four doors! It took about four coats of paint and in some areas there are major blemishes but hopefully it will remain in the dark mostly and no one will notice. Just one extremely ugly door left and two OK ones. I have some more vacation time to use up in December so maybe I'll finish them then because not having any work to do and just veg-ing out on the couch feels so wasteful (I've cleaned a little but also watched a LOT of TV!). Though if I can get all the painting done maybe I can finish all the knitting projects I've started on, or maybe organize some closets, or clean up the zillion little pockets of mess that I have piled up in random places in the apartment.

As for my knee, I'm happy to say that I only have to go to p/t 2x a week (with a bunch of exercises to do at home) and I'm loving the extra hour of sleep that I get each week. However, it is getting quite boring and I can't wait until I can stop altogether. I'm already thinking of practicing for next softball season, but I don't know if that is safe yet.

My scarlet letters

A-C-L. I went to the company's health center for a massive headache today and I had to fill out a bunch of forms before I would be treated. Most of the time, I breeze through those forms because everything is "No" or "N/A" but I now had to fill in the question asking about past surgeries. And when the nurse was looking over the forms and asking for specifics about certain things, I don't know how my ACL reconstruction is related to having a headache, but she had a bunch of questions about that. The same thing happened when I went to see a new gyn last week. No relevance to the check-up at all, but there were questions about the ACL. The injury has just become my identity.

A co-worker broke her foot and had crutches. When I was talking to her in the elevator, people asked if the crutches were mine or hers. When I had to wear my big bad brace, people on the street instantly knew it was for the ACL (though it's used for other knee injuries) and they stopped to ask about it and/or tell me their, or their friend's, experience with it. And now, when I fill out those new patient forms, I have to be asked about it. Maybe this will teach me to not doctor-hop and just stick with one.

But at least all my outward signs of being a cripple are gone (no more struggling to carry things with a crutch under each arm, no more spending at least an extra 20+ minutes each day to fiddle with the brace to get it off and on). Or is that such a good thing? I don't know why, but as I slowly make my way down subway stairs, people that speed past me always stop just long enough to turn around and give me a look. I don't know if it's a look of pity or just frustration to find out what exactly is making me walk so slow since you can't tell really why I need to grip the grimy banister and slowly edge my way down the stairs. So I was stunned that someone once actually stopped to ask me if I needed help walking down to the subway (I gratefully declined -- what can he do, build me an escalator?). And a few days ago someone rushed down first and held the doors for me. There is some humanity left in NY!

From the desk of Dear, via me

I've been trying to convince Dear to start a blog since his experiences sound so interesting but he barely has enough time to talk to me each night. :( I thought I'd ghostwrite for him but it's difficult to know what to say in his place and what he wants to share, so here are some snippets:
- the training is for 10 weeks in GA; yes it is hot there (probably warm to most ppl, but he finds anything above 50 to be hot)
- he only has one day off per week (but he is coming back for Thanksgiving!); I'm not sure how we're going to work out Christmas and New Year's.
- he actually has exams and tests, as if it were school again
- like college, his living situation is a room with a bed and desk and a little private bathroom (I have yet to see pictures); there is no hi-speed Internet connection in his room though
- food is cafeteria-style and from the sound of it, I think I would starve
- to get around "campus" people buy cheap bikes from Wal-Mart and sell it to the incoming group when they leave
- there is a "graduation" at the end
- there are (free!) laundry facilities on the premises
- there are issued uniforms (polo shirt and blue pants)
- I'm not quite sure how the mail system works, but I think each week a person is assigned to pick up mail for the class and is responsible for distributing it

With the suffering that Dear is going through, I feel a bit guilty that I'm eating gourmet food (had a delicious sandwich of prosciutto and fresh mozarella on fresh homemade bread today), surfing the Internet whenever and wherever I want from the comfort of my abode, watching TV without having to worry about studying, etc. But at the same time it has been tough trying to figure out how and what to cook, since Dear always took care of that. I am learning a lot and I hope this experience will equip me better for helping out with some of the cooking when Dear returns. I still need recipes though -- I have no idea what to do for next week!