sam the reflective

Sam and I go running together and we have a pretty good time. Sometimes we'll go in the morning before work and it's usually still dark out. I worry about my own visibility, wearing black pants and a purple jacket (even with all the reflective features they boast). I've been wanting a reflective vest for a few months now, but just haven't found the right one at the right price. Sam, being much shorter and blacker than I am, is even more of a visibility nightmare. Cars may not be looking for him and he may just blend in with the background. I usually head downtown since the sidewalks are clearer in the winter than anywhere else; downside is that people don't usually expect or look for runners and their black Labs.

Guess who is now more visible at night?

He's my school crossing guard.

Some more Sam:

Having a pretty rough day.

A goofball in the car on the way home from Wisconsin over New Years.

Opening his Christmas present. Hint: It was an antler and what seems to be the most promising non-destructible toy yet.

turn that frown upside down

Last week was shitty. Our car died and had expensive repairs, which meant I wasn't able to go to Green Bay for Erich and KT's baby shower. Boo.

This week was extra shitty. The car didn't get done until Monday, so we actually paid for it on Monday and that drained our bank account early in the week. A frozen bagel got the best of me, aka, I sunk a dull knife deep into my left ring finger in an attempt to cut in half a frozen bagel (a pre-cut bagel at that). It may have caused more damage than I originally thought. Huzzah!

I remember the end of 2009, thinking I was glad for it to be over because that year sucked. I feel the same way about this January. Let's just skip ahead to February, which is clearly a superior month as I was born during it.

January: Go blow yourself.
February: Don't suck like January.

Bacher out.

food and boots

Andrew and I went over to a friend's house to make sushi on Friday and I realized two things:

1. The Asian grocery store by my apartment is AWESOME. Great prices on veggies, a thing of tofu for .99 cents, plus a huge tank of catfish. I am doing as much grocery store shopping there as possible. I don't think they sell peanut butter, though.
2. I want to move to a bigger apartment (preferably a house/apartment where it's the entire floor of a house) and have a big table to have dinner parties.
   

I made this dal palak recipe last night, which was so good. A decent amount of spiciness for both Andrew and I; since I usually like this spicier than him, it hit a good middle ground for both of us. As I'm trying to eat less meat overall, Indian food is a good source for recipes. They have so much delicious vegetarian food.

After trying them on in November, I finally bought these boots:

Way to go, christmas money! I've realized I'm less likely to make larger purchases for myself regularly (as opposed to little things frequently that often add up to the price of one of these larger purchases) and instead use gift money/present opportunities to make a larger purchase - boots, running shoes, iPod, etc. When I graduated from college, Erich and KT said their present was either going to be an iPod or all the Scrubs dvds. I chose the iPod because I figured I'd be less likely to buy that on my own as opposed to all the Scrubs dvds (which I have been buying randomly over the past few years or so - usually whenever I see one for sale at a used store). I figure it's good to recognize that about yourself. Plus those boots are hot. I'm excited to wear them.

Ok. Time to go. Bacher out.