Update: Tuesday 3 Dec

Hello! I'm still alive! I hope you weren't worried. I know it's been a while but I haven't had a whole lot to say and I guess I just haven't been in the mood to write. I haven't been up to much of anything lately. It's been quiet. My roommates are as annoying as always, my school work is going as well as it ever is, there's just nothing eventful to report.

That said, last Saturday my friends and I made Thanksgiving dinner. It was originally Jennifer's idea, at the beginning of the summer she suggested that we celebrate American holidays, specifically 4th of July and Thanksgiving. For the first time I organized thanksgiving myself, and my first vegetarian Thanksgiving, it went really well. We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, a salad, homemade dinner rolls that Jenn put together, green bean casserole that turned out really good considering I don't normally like green bean casserole, sweet potatoes that didn't cook very well but were still tasty, and baked macaroni and cheese because it sounded good and apparently that's a common thanksgiving food in some part of the US, so why not. Simona cooked a whole chicken (she didn't start early enough for a turkey) for the meat-eaters of the group (everyone but Jenn and I) and she ended up making a milk-based chicken gravy to go with it, and Tessa made us a delicious apple pie. We were only going to have regular (non-alcoholic) drinks but Jenn's father was joining us and wanted to make it nice so he ran to the store and bought some wine, and some Bailey's for dessert. We had pooled money, 7 euros apiece, to pay for the meal, and there was a little left over, so a couple people ran to the store for ice cream to go with our pie. Vanilla ice cream and cinnamon ice cream. I don't remember ever having seen cinnamon ice cream in the US and that's a shame because it was really good. So several hours after dinner we had apple pie, ice cream and Nespresso cappuccinos with Bailey's and whipped cream, and we sat around and played Tick for a while. We planned to have dinner ready at around 6 and ended up sitting down at the table around 7, which seems pretty good to me. It was a nice Thanksgiving. 

Now I have Christmas to look forward to. I have about a week and a half of classes remaining, and then less than a week before I leave for the US for Christmas. To see my mommy and daddy and sister and brother and… my cat and puppy. I didn't realize it was so close, I guess I had better start packing. I have so many things to do before I leave, agh.

Well, I have to go figure out what's for dinner. I will try not to take so long to write next time...

Update: Friday 25 Oct

Hi! I'm writing an essay. Tomorrow I will be writing an essay, and yesterday I was writing an essay. It has to be 4000 words, so I am going to try to squeeze out 1000 words per day and have it done Sunday. Honestly, I was going to try to write it all yesterday but after about a thousand words I couldn't take it anymore.

I'm listening to Christmas music. I wish I wasn't. It's only October. I kind of love Christmas music. I'm pretty sure this is around the time I started listening to it last year too. I do what I want.

I forgot to mention to my gerber daisy here that it is autumn. It gave me a pretty flower, and there are 4 more buds coming up. Keep going, daisy plant, you can do it! It's the happiest of my plants right now. Even though, in that picture, you can clearly see the leaf that Azazel chomped on. It's full of holes.

Speaking of the monsters, Ian and Amber went to London for the weekend, so I get to feed monsters for a few days—Ian and Amber took the bus like I did, except they took the day bus. I can't imagine why anyone would want to sit on a bus during the day for 10 hours when they have the option to do that at night and not waste daylight hours. Oh well, not my vacation, not my problem.

The monsters in the flesh. I had cheese, they wanted it. These cats are notorious beggars of food. If you even take one step in the direction of the kitchen, they come running. Then they stand under foot and meow at you if you don't give them food. I blame Ian. He gives them the juice from his tuna/salmon cans, he gives them his bowls and plates to lick out when he finishes eating, he gives them unlimited dry cat food plus a giant spoonful of wet cat food daily. I don't think the dry food and wet food are a problem. If he only gave them wet food once a day and nothing else, they would only expect it once a day and they'd probably leave us alone. Instead they are constantly begging and constantly thinking they are starving. Another case where they are not my cats, not my problem. Ian can feed his cats however he pleases. But he really shouldn't be surprised when they are begging for food all day long…

I'm not sure if I already mentioned it here, I bought a new bike at the beginning of the month. My mom wanted to know about my new bike, and I don't really know what to say about it. It's a pretty simple, common bike… And while I realize that it's not nearly as common in the US as it is here, it's still not really anything special. I'm pretty sure it's what they call here an "omafiets" which means grandma bike. I don't know how to explain that, it's shaped kind of like this. It has a bell on the handlebar, but nearly every bike around here has a bell on the handlebar. I never use my bell, some people use their bells way too much in my opinion. It doesn't have hand brakes, the brakes are on the pedals—something I haven't experienced since I was very little, but again it's pretty common here. I've gotten used to it already. It also came fitted with a ring lock, which is a ring that is attached to the frame above the back tire and loops through the tire. You can open the loop to unlock it. Kind of like this. That's also common here. I have that lock and also a separate chain lock so that I can chain my bike to something instead of only locking it to itself. What else is there to know about it? It has lights, of course. The back light is battery-operated, the front light is Angie-powered. It has a little thing that rests on the tire so that when the tire rolls, it generates enough electricity for the light. My bike is nothing special. But I do love my bike. Mainly because it takes me 45 minutes to walk to school and only 15 to cycle. I'm a bike-riding pro. And no, I don't wear a helmet. Sorry Mom. And I'm not going to. Again, sorry Mom. I wouldn't even know where to buy an adult-size helmet that wasn't an overpriced racing helmet. Nobody wears helmets, so stores don't carry them.

If it's any consolation, I rarely ride where there are cars thanks to an excess of bike paths/sidewalks, and when I ride through a city center I am more of a danger to pedestrians than they are to me. I ran into someone the other day, I felt really bad, but I'll probably never see him again so I guess it doesn't matter. Something was up with my chain, I was looking at my feet while cycling instead of looking where I was going… I only hit his arm, and only with the side of the handlebar, but… Poor guy.

I think that's all I have to say. I haven't written in a while, so there you go. Nice big update.

Update: Wednesday 2 Oct

Yesterday when I got home this lovely note was on the door to the living room.

So I suppose I have a new cat. I guess it was only a matter of time. Gaddafi went to Belgium to live out the rest of his cancer-ridden life with Ian's parents, but unfortunately two days after he arrived one of the construction workers building their new kitchen left a door open. Gaddafi took off and hasn't been seen since.

Ian doesn't like Theory. He doesn't like Theory because Theory is not as "perfect" as Gaddafi was. It really ticks me off. Sometimes Theory does something that is very cat-like behavior and Ian will punish him. For being a cat. What, you left your food unattended and the cat started eating it? Yes, throw him across the room then. He will definitely understand that. Ian and Amber typically give the cats their bowls to lick out when they have finished eating. If you condition the cat to like/want people food, of course he is going to eat from your bowl when you leave it unattended. The other day, Theory tried to jump on top of the dragon cage, which is where he sits all the time, and he accidentally knocked something off because it was in his way. Ian grabbed him by the neck and threw him, yelling at him that he was a stupid cat. Yes, because the cat did it on purpose and that is going to teach him to not accidentally knock things over. So naturally, since Ian doesn't like Theory and his baby is gone, he brings home a new cat.

Azazel is the cutest cat ever. He looks like he probably has some British shorthair in him. He has that shape, and the right color eyes. Even though his hair is short, it's super fluffy, which means he is very soft. He is black but when the light hits him right you can see gray stripes on his legs, neck and belly. Ian got him from a couple in Leiden who lived in a small flat and had a dog. The cat didn't get along with the dog, and they claimed he was miserable because he couldn't go outside. He has only been here for less than 24 hours and it is evident to me that this cat doesn't need to go outside to be happy, he just needs space to run around and things to play with. He was pretty frightened of us to begin with, he would arch his back and run away when we came near, but now he doesn't care. He still runs from us, but that's because he's being playful. Once we start petting him, he flicks his tail and circles around for more pets.


Theory is pretty unhappy right now. Azazel loves Theory and tries to follow him everywhere and Theory will not stand for that at all. He had it rough with Gaddafi around because in the last year or so Gaddafi got really hissy at Theory when he came around. Ian and Amber assumed it was because of the cancer—before, the two cats would sleep together and stuff. Now he's been Gaddafi-free and stress-free for a couple weeks, and then an energetic new kitten shows up. I think he's just trying to show Azazel his place, which is fine. Ian tried to smack Theory away when he was giving the new cat a warning meow for coming to close, and I told him off for it. Theory wasn't doing anything wrong, and they're cats. They know how to sort things out themselves. I can tell from the way he is meowing at the other cat that it is just a warning, and he does swat at him too but Azazel knows exactly what that means because he gives Theory a bit more space now. Ian should give the cats a little more credit, they can handle it on their own.

Anyway, when I'm on my computer I always sit in the same spot on the couch, and Theory and Gaddafi always knew where to find me. If I wasn't in my spot, they'd sit in my spot and wait for me. It seems that Azazel has already figured this out too. Right now he is sleeping beside me—he doesn't seem like much of a lap-cat like Theory and Gaddafi. That'll probably be disappointing to Ian because Gaddafi was super cuddly.

Update: Friday 27 Sep

Hi. This is a photo dump.

Jalapeno poppers. Recipe HERE. Except with Gouda instead of Cheddar. You know the drill.

Noodle soup prep. No recipe, it came out of my brain.

Finished product. It was very spicy.

We went out for sushi. This was round one.

This was delicious, recipe HERE. Except I used spaghetti for noodles, and bell pepper in place of zucchini, because those are the things I had. I love it, I might have to make it all the time from now on. I've also made it a second time with peppers, carrots and regular onion, no green onion, and Indonesian mie noodles, also good. Picture is blurry, sorry.

That looks kind of unappetizing. It was good, though. I threw red bell pepper, onion, mushrooms and carrots in a pan with some oil, stuck a lid on and left it for a bit, stirring occasionally, no seasonings added, threw it on top of some brown rice, added cheddar and green onions and called it a day. It was good enough for me…

This looks unappetizing too; today's lunch. Oven fries with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and rosemary, and these bean burgers. They are not the best bean burgers I have ever made but they are decent. I made them a couple weeks ago, they have been hanging out in the freezer.

A couple weeks ago we had Prince's Day and all the trams had cute little flags on top.

Ian made a strange meal out of green lentils, canned salmon and canned pineapple chunks. Theory kept trying to sneak up and eat it so Ian decided that this was his punishment. He stayed like this for a while before he wiggled out upside down and went off to the other side of the apartment to sulk.

Update: Tuesday 24 Sep

As I'm sure you may have noticed, I have a kitchen obsession.

Now, I don't mean the obsession with food/cooking, although I have that too and I know you've also noticed that. No, what I mean is that I have this obsession with starting with a clean kitchen and finishing with a clean kitchen. You can imagine that this causes a few problems.

I don't live with clean people. I think that at my age, hoping to live with cleanly people is asking a little too much. College students are not clean. Amber and Ian are not too bad, they clean up after themselves for the most part. Amber loves doing laundry, which results in me never having to do any. If Amber is washing dishes, she will wash mine as well if there happen to be any.

The problem is that I cannot do anything in the kitchen unless the sink is completely empty and the counter is completely clean. I use the kitchen upwards of 2 times a day, between my morning coffee, dinner, sometimes lunch and sometimes other random things. Amber sometimes tells me, don't worry, I will clean the kitchen. So I go sit in the living room to wait and use the kitchen when she is finished, but then she gets distracted and wanders off to do something else. So I wait, and wait, and wait, and eventually I just go wash the dishes and clean the kitchen myself.

She never says anything about it, but Ian does. It has only happened twice now, but sometimes he finishes with his cooking, throws everything in the sink and goes in the living room to eat his dinner at his desk. Then when I go in to cook, I wash all of his dishes because I need space. Both times, he has yelled at me for it. The first time he only told me, "I was going to do that, you didn't have to." Today, he said, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you keep washing my dishes?"

I try. I try to leave the dirty dishes in the sink, and the messiness on the counter, I really do. I start pulling out my things to chop and cook and try to utilize the smallest amount of space, but somehow always end up with a sponge, wiping the counters and washing the dishes. The counters are another story and probably a harder thing to get them to take care of. Ian makes protein drinks all day long, and when he pulls down his enormous tubs of protein powder he spills some on the counter and just leaves it there. If they drip things on the counter while they are cooking, etc., they leave it there. To me it seems simple: if you spill something, clean it up. Cleaning things up when I spill has become habit for me though, and I don't have the energy to get on their cases every time they spill something and leave it.

But the dishes. Eventually they will learn. They will learn that if they don't want me cleaning up after them, they need to clean up quicker. They can be lazy all they want, I don't mind washing their dishes. They do so much for me. But if it bothers them, they'll have to learn to be lazy only in the areas that don't affect other people.

And when I say that they do so much for me, it goes beyond the cleaning. I think Ian is accustomed to buying all the things for the apartment himself. Of course, I'm not really used to that, or comfortable with it. Ian drinks boxed milk that doesn't have to be refrigerated (which I find distasteful), but Amber and I drink refrigerated milk, which Ian buys. I can't buy milk separately because there is no space in the fridge for that. We also share sugar, and any time I need something that I happen to not have, Amber readily offers it up to me from their supplies. I know for a fact that Ian does all the grocery shopping between the two of them, Amber spends no money on groceries (they eat out a lot though, and she spends money on that). He also buys all the dish soap, laundry soap, toilet paper, etc. I offer to contribute for these things, and he appears to not hear me (though I think that is selective hearing). If we happen to be out of milk or sugar, I will go out and buy some and no one seems to mind that, but Ian makes it to the store more often than I do so it doesn't make much of a dent in anything.

So, yeah. For now, I am going to continue washing their dishes because it doesn't bother me a bit to do so, and they are going to continue to not like that until the figure out that I'm not going to stop doing it just because they tell me to, and an easy way to solve the problem is to get to it before I do. Simple stuff. :)

Update: Monday 2 Sep

Pickles, pickles, pickles, pickles.

Yesterday I went to the supermarket and bought a jar of beans and a jar of beets because they were in the jars I wanted. For dinner I had burritos with beans and fajita-style veggies and cheese and lettuce. Uh, I still have no idea what I will do with those beets. I put them in a container and stashed them in the fridge. I wanted the jars, and I didn't want to wait until the middle of the week when they would be empty. Yea, and then today I went to the market and bought cucumbers and carrots and cauliflower and  onions and a bundle of fresh dill to put in a jar for pickling. I'm a little sad, I failed. I cut too much cucumber. None of the cauliflower or onion ended up making it into the jars, there wasn't enough room.

Even still, look how cool it looks. I guess the recipe I used is a quick recipe, because it said they'd be good to eat within a couple hours, even better in a few days.

And, yes. A few hours later, look! They look like pickles! I tasted them, they seem pretty good. I don't know. I think they're good enough to make again and make some changes. And they'll be better tomorrow. And the next day. I think.

I chopped up the cauliflower and roasted it with some fresh dill instead, since it didn't make it into the jars. It was delicious.

Excuse my messy kitchen. I live with slobs. I can't fix them.

While I was writing this, Amber came home and with her came Gaddafi. Since he's locked out of the bedrooms, he thinks my lap is the one place he should be, and no matter how many times I shove him off he comes back. Which means my laptop had to go elsewhere because I don't want him on my laptop… Ugh, cats.

Meow.

Update: Saturday 31 Aug

Hi. I have some things to tell you. Or show you. I was going to post a second time yesterday, but I don't like posting twice in one day because of the way I title my posts. It's too confusing. Plus, I don't want people who check daily to not realize that there are two, and miss one.

Anyway. Yesterday I was browsing a food page on the internet, I really like to look at pictures of food. I spend a lot of time doing it. Anyway, yesterday someone posted this picture:

And I thought, it would be fun to make pickles, I should try it… Then I started looking at recipes for pickled vegetables (not just cucumbers but many different things) and I got myself really excited to make pickles. So now there's no avoiding it. Monday when I have money I am going to go to the market and find a bunch of vegetables that can be pickled and I'm going to dump them all in some jars and pickle them. Maybe I can take stuff like that to school for lunch or something. I always have trouble figuring out what to do for lunch.

Anyway, Item Number Two on the list of things to write about today is my bedroom.

I moved in a month and a half ago, but I was gone for a month and lazy for the other two weeks so I didn't really do any arranging or unpacking. When I came home from my vacation, there was cat hair everywhere because Ian and Amber seemed to think that it would be better to let the cat shed all over the place in MY room than in their room. It seemed like it would be a huge pain to deal with, so I just left it for another week.

Today I decided to clean and organize a bit. Now, it's not perfect. I need to buy some things to further organize (Jenn suggested a trip to IKEA but I don't know) but it's as good as it gets for now.

This is my guest bed, I suppose. Along with the washing machine, that table there which is half-full of washing detergents and half-full of my things that need something to organize. That little table where my printer is used to be over by the closet, where it was absolutely no use to me. So I moved it here. Also, I'm very happy that my windowsill is big enough for my plants. I want to also note that I thought for sure that my basil was dead and it is not, in fact, dead. I'll show you that later. Now, it seems to me that it would have made more sense to put a desk underneath the loft bed, because as it is right now I have a guest bed but no desk. That's okay too, I will learn to live without a desk.

My card string and posters, seems that my string is almost full. If anyone wants to send me post cards, I'd be happy to put them up there. I love post cards. :) Even though the birthday and Christmas cards are lovely, I would like to replace them with post cards.

Umm, I don't know why I took a picture of my bed but I did. I also took a picture of my closet area but apparently my phone didn't think it needed to upload that one to my computer, so I can't show it to you because it's not here. Featured on my bed are the nice duvet cover and pillow cases that my mother bought me for Christmas 2011. The bed is very sensitive to movement and squeaks a lot but I pushed it against the wall when I was cleaning today, so I guess we'll see if that made a difference.

Last but not least, Theory the hallway guard. He was a little offended that I was in his face taking a picture…

And I almost forgot to tell you about my basil plant. A week ago, this thing was completely brown. I was going to throw it out and plant a new one now that I am back in town. Imagine my surprise, it starts leafing again. I didn't know it would do that! I am very grateful though, because I was so sad that in leaving for a month I killed the plant I was most proud of. It was so full and green, and now it's struggling to survive. I will remedy the situation though, and next time I leave I will make sure someone will water it. I didn't bother to ask last time…

Amber seems super excited that I am here, and she wants us all to eat dinner together some nights. She is very enthusiastic about making vegetarian meals, last night she dug up a recipe for these zucchini boats stuffed with tomato, onion, garlic, mushroom and cheese, and I helped her make them. They were pretty good, actually. She doesn't really know how to cook and Ian has been teaching her but I guess it's hard for him to teach her because they just end up arguing a lot. So whenever she comes up with a recipe, I supervise while she makes it and last night she asked Ian, "Why is everything so much more complicated when you teach me? I'm learning so much right now!" Anyway, Ian is much less enthusiastic about vegetarian cooking. He snapped at her about it last night, he said he's not ready to make vegetarian food. Oh well. I like cooking and I don't want to eat together every night… Then I'd never have time to make my own things.