Eating bon bons and getting fat on the couch

So you would think I'd be blogging and twittering and such every day now, right?

Since I have all this free time.

*snort*

In the past week, I have cooked a couple of elaborate meals, baked cupcakes, painted the breakfast nook in the kitchen, painted the wooden dog-baby-gate-thingy that guards the doorway to the kitchen, painted the kitchen island/recycling station thingy, done several loads of laundry, vacuumed and dusted, rearranged the furniture in the bedroom, reorganized my closet and dresser, gotten groceries, gone to the library, reorganized my entire iTunes library, finished our taxes, filed unemployment, gotten hooked on Lost, and slept in once or twice.

I know I'm missing some stuff too. This being unemployed is wearing me out already.

Financially, I think we'll be okay for a month or so (knock on wood or wood byproduct or wood-based material or whatever you have readily available to you, please), due to a big ol' tax refund (thank you, educational credits!) and B's last GI Bill check that should be here any day now, and of course the unemployment benefits I've applied for. And hopefully by then I'll have a better idea of whether this lay-off is really as temporary as everyone said, or if "temporary" means "Don't sell the bike shop, Orville." In which case, I'll find something equally temporary to get us through until B's graduation, then adios muchachos. I hope it doesn't come to that, but closing doors/opening windows and all that. You never know. It might be time for a change.

Upsides/Downsides

Having time to work on the list of house projects that I was afraid would never happen, including some that were strictly optional yet potentially fun

Working on half-finished craft projects, like the quilt I'm making out of fabric from when I was a kid and the cross-stitch for my sister I've been working on for over ten years

Not being too tired to cook in the evenings, and cooking more things from scratch

Mid-morning naps

Mid-afternoon naps

Catching up on Dexter, Burn Notice, and Angel

Putting a bunch of stuff on Craigslist sooner rather than later

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Filing for unemployment in one state while residing in another is apparently too complicated to do online

Having to get rid of our unlimited text feature on our cell accounts

Having to get rid of cable TV (but substituting Netflix/Hulu)

Turning down the heat even more to save on the gas bill

Stressing out over our lack of groceries and also lack of grocery money

Potentially going back to retail just to have some income

Anticipating having to pay out the nose for COBRA insurance coverage

Having to borrow money from our parents (at least it would be interest-free.... right, Mom?)

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(At least the cons are all in future tense. We're hoping we won't have to do all of them.)

I spoke to damn soon.

So. Now you know why I named this blog what I did.

Last Friday I wrote a short post about how I'd been busy, but I had big plans for later this year and here's hoping and all that.

I fucking jinxed it, ya'll.

I am totally jobless.

My ass got laid off.

I'm not sure how many other people were in the same boat as me today (at least 6 that I'm sure about). The exec's that I wound up speaking to all reassured me that this was totally temporary. Whether we all define temporary the same, well, I guess that remains to be seen.

In the meantime, I'll be filing for my slice of the gov'mint cheese, and working on some projects around the house that have been put off for a while. And I'll keep hoping that temporary means sooner rather than later. And I'll update my resume, just in case it doesn't.

Book Review: Food Rules

*I wrote this (unpaid, unsolicited) review for my workplace 'green' blog and thought I'd share it here as well.

Michael Pollan, bestselling author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and The Omnivore's Dilemma, has published what is called a "definitive compendium of food wisdom." Food Rules is a short, easy-to-understand guide to eating real food and avoiding over-processed "food-like substances."
Pollan's mantra of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." was established after the extensive research he did for his previous books. He found that all the science and techno-babble about the nutritional value of food could be simplified down to its core: real food is what's important. Not the additives, the preservatives, the artificial, the pre-packaged - real food. This philosophy is reiterated again and again, with rules such as "Avoid food products that have ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce," and "It's not [real] food if it's called by the same name in every language (Big Mac, Pringles, Cheetos, etc.)"
The book not only discusses what to eat, but also how to eat. Pollan discusses the problem with "Western" food culture in the introduction, and breaks down the way we eat as one of the key issues alongside what we eat. Common sense wisdoms such as "Stop eating before you're full" and "Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it" encourage readers to pay attention to how they're eating to avoid overindulgence.
Pollan's previous works cover some of the same material, but go into much more detail regarding the science and statistics behind the reasons for avoiding processed foods. Food Rules is, in essence, the simplified version. Some of the 'rules' were written by Pollan, but in the introduction he discusses his process for this book, talking to not only nutritionists, doctors, and food scientists but also folklorists, anthropologists, mothers and grandmothers, looking for insight into what rules, ideas, wisdoms, and sayings about food are not only truthful, but have survived the tests of time and culture. The result is a common sense, simple to follow guide for eating healthfully.
(If you'd like to borrow my copy of the book, feel free to ask! It's also on sale on Amazon.com for $5 - less than half the cover price.)

Whole lotta nothin'...

Get this!

I've been busy.

I know, right? It's very unusual for me.

I'm undertaking a couple of big projects at work, which look like they might turn into another one or two or ten bullet points on my job description. This is good! This is exciting! And once it's certain I'll tell you all about it!

There's also some other big plans in the works that I don't want to jinx by shouting them from the rooftops just yet, but let's just say it'll involve a change in scenery. (!!!) And maybe some other changes too... but like I said, it's all still in the works. Which, being the control-freakish-gotta-have-a-plan type of person I am, is like making me sit in a big tub of broken glass.

So basically, I have stuff to write about, just not quite yet. In the meantime, here's this. It almost makes me want a puppy... but then my brain turns back on.