Happy Christmas Eve Eve

I have the next five days off of work. Then I go back for two days and get New Years Eve off as well. I don't know how I'm going to drag my ass out of bed to get back into the five-day work week. This is excellent. Of course, I don't get holiday pay, but that concept has been foreign to me since 2008. Somehow, I'll always make my bills work out. If not, I'll just beg Chris for money. There will be a day when he'll have to come crawling to me (as I have to keep reminding him when he gets testy about buying groceries one more time or letting me borrow his car again until I can afford $3.20 a gallon). Anywho, money will be tight but every thing's going to be alright.

I'm having a great holiday season, regardless. I miss the hell out of the peeps in Placerville, but I'm really enjoying Davis and Sacramento. I gave Christmas cards to all my co-workers this year-the first time I've ever been able to do that. I feel like a real grown-up now! (Lol). Now, if only I had bought stamps... The people I'm mailing cards out to will just have to wait for theirs (along with the save-the-dates that Chris and I finally printed). Holidays! Yay!

I wonder if Chris will buy me stuff to make chocolate chip cookies for the party...

Davis Bike Loop

Today I ventured out to tackle the twelve-mile Davis Bike Loop that was established to follow bike and pedestrian-friendly trails and bike lanes around the circumference of Davis. I left at 3:50 and got back at 5:30 as for much of the ride I was facing a headwind and I'm not exactly in tip-top shape to be going very fast. I still feel I got one helluva workout, though.

The trail is beautiful, going through much of the Davis Greenbelt and almost completely avoiding the city streets. I took the trail clockwise to try to avoid left turns which turned out not to matter much because I wasn't on any roads for longer than ten minutes at a time. I felt very accomplished after the ride and went home to pull out my crock pot roast I had been cooking since the morning. Chris and I had dinner and he loved it!

Afterward, I did a bit of yoga to stretch my used muscles and called it a day. I burned a ton of calories and kept my intake under 1500 which is great, because I have to somehow lose a ton of weight by June. :p

Another weekend gone. Back to work tomorrow morning, bright and early.

Spaghetti Squash!

I've made spaghetti squash plenty of times in ovens that looked much smaller than the one in the new apartment. Looks, however, can be deceiving. I can't fit my 17x11 baking pan in this oven. It looks like it's big enough lengthwise, but the back of the rack curves up about three inches from the wall, making the handle of the baking pan prevent the door from closing.

Putting it in the other way seemed almost impossible, but after some shimmying, I got in it. The handles are resting against the side walls of the oven and it's not actually touching the rack. I put a picture of it on facebook for fun. (Ever notice how when you move somewhere and you do something for the first time in that place, you want to put it on facebook as if someone is going to care? I digress...)

Despite little setbacks such as my inability to cook squash, I am very happy here. Some couples move in together and it's a culture shock. They realize they just can't live together. I don't really have that with Chris. I can't speak for him, of course, but if he's really bothered he hasn't said anything. Dating for four years before making the plunge was a good idea, as much as I wanted it to happen sooner. Last night we watched four episodes of "Flight of the Conchords," just for fun! Who else would have done that with me? I have some super awesome friends, believe me, but I don't know if any of them have the level of geek in them that Chris and I have to match. Spaghetti squash or not, I think him and I have done the right think. That's what it's all about.

Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering how to make spaghetti squash, I cut in in half lengthwise, take out the seeds and gunk, lightly season, and then bake it at 375f for 45 minutes with the rind facing up. Add spaghetti sauce when finished or just butter and garlic salt.