uh.oh.

This is what it says about gemini's today:
"Jumping to conclusions or saying you can do something impossible will not bode well. Let things unfold naturally. A look at your attributes may lead to a better position but remember, you may have to pick up some new additional credentials."
I'm not sure how to interpret this, but it doesn't seem good. Thankfully, i don't put much stock in astrological forecasts.

me.on.piano.

I recorded this on my camera for my grandmother. She always used to like listening to me play, but isn't able to make the trek up to cold boston, and doesn't have a piano of her own. I figured it was easier to post it here than try and e-mail it, and as a bonus, you can all listen too. This is the george winston version of pachelbel's canon- the one i'm forced to play every time i'm at the b's when the girls are going to bed. I do love it...

thank.goodness.

I got an interview. Don't know when it is yet, but i got one. It's an hour long with a 15 min "live writing sample" at the end. Who knows what that's about, but i'm not worried. This blog has given me lots of practice with writing. Though i do tend to skip capitalization and proper punctuation when i try to write in real life. Hmm. Maybe i should step up my game online so i don't embarrass myself in real life. You should have seen how long it took me to edit my application essay. Hopefully i'll hear from them tomorrow about when i can come in. Then i'll ask what the ratio of interviewees to available slots is. Hopefully it's 1:1.

*Update: the interview is on tuesday may 13th at 10am. Every last one of you will have to be crossing your fingers extra tight that day. I have no more info on the number of interviews given. The woman i spoke to was the assistant to the dean, and didn't have that info for me. Blast.

banana.bread.

I make banana bread every so often. It's definitely my favorite breakfast treat, but i'm very particular about the consistency and flavor. The perfect loaf would be dense and moist on the inside, but crunchy on the outside. I don't like recipes that use oil (they're usually too moist in a greasy way) so only use ones with butter. I've tried more recipes than i can count, and haven't found the perfect one. When i came across fifteen frozen bananas in my freezer, i decided to bake some bread before i ran out of room. Rather than picking one recipe, i looked at them all, and wrote my own. I never take into consideration the amount of banana, but just put in as much as i have. Other than that, i mixed up the types of sugar (used both white and brown in a 2:1 ratio), and took the best parts of all the other recipes. I ran out of room in my mixer since i tripled an average batch (and i have the extra large 6 qt mixer bowl), so had to beat the liquidy stuff and then stir it into the flour in a separate bowl. Other than killing my arm, it seemed to work well, especially since you're not supposed to over mix it. No chance that would happen! It baked up pretty well, and despite looking overcooked on the outside, it was just right all around. I may have finally found my perfect recipe- though next time i'll cut it back a little so i can fit it all in the bowl!

game.night.2.

I don't tend to be a "last minute" type of person. This is partly because i like things to be planned, but mostly because i'm usually busy, and don't have the availability for last minute plans. Today was an exception. During my marathon cleaning session, i thought about how nice it would be to have a game night again. I love games, and don't play them nearly enough. After calling around a little, i managed to convince andrea and et#1 to come over. (I think they really came because i mentioned i was making banana bread.) Et#1 brought salad with homemade dressing, and i whipped up my favorite zucchini pie for dinner. We also enjoyed some mikes. For games, the focus tonight was on yahtzee. Andrea was fairly new to this, but caught on quickly. Et#1 and i both had our own strategies. Hers consisted of always trying to get yahtzee regardless of how unlikely it was. Mine focused on getting the highest numbers for the top section in order to secure the extra 35 points. In terms of risk, i played it safe while she bet it all. We had two rounds. The first et#1 rolled three yahtzees. If i hadn't seen it with my own eyes, i wouldn't have believed it. Those extra 250 points made her total 470. I finished with 254, and andrea with 279. She wasn't so lucky with the second go around, and only made it to 217, while i stayed consistent at 251 and andrea dropped to 204. By this point it was getting late, and since it's a school night, we put our score sheets away for next time. I'm hoping to make this a somewhat regular event- maybe monthly? Or biweekly? Or nightly? I really like games.

look.what's.cooking...

..in our backyard. I saw the steam when i was cleaning the kitchen, and assumed it was from a dryer. Imagine my shock when this is what i found instead. I like how the guy on the right still has a distinguishable head complete with eyes. They kind of look like greyhounds.

new.again.

During the summer of '98, i splurged on this watch. I loved it, and wore it every day and every night. When the battery died the first time, i quickly packed it back in its box (which i saved) and shipped it back to the swiss army factory to have it replaced by an authorized dealer (in order to keep the warranty valid). It cost $5, and they removed a link from the bracelet for free. When the battery died the second time, i meant to do the same thing. That was over two years ago. Actually, well over two- probably more like four now that i think about it. I missed it, but the loneliness dissipated over the years, as i've had many temporary watches in the meantime. Today i woke up, and decided to get the battery replaced. I'm not sure what reminded me of it, or why it had to happen today, but that was the plan. I put it on my wrist, and vowed to wear it until it was fixed- even if that took a week. After bookclub and an eventful stop at the container store, et#1, andrea and i popped over to et#1's recommended jewelry store. Five minutes and $8.50 later, i left with a newly functional watch on my wrist. It had been so long since i'd worn it that it now feels like a brand new watch, one i didn't even have to pay for. Fabulous.

stephanie.loses.it.(again).

It's a good thing monday was a holiday for us bostonians because i needed most of the morning to rest up. Sunday was a rough night. While i can't go into details here, most of you know why this summer's probably going to suck for me. Talking about that, coupled with the school thing (still haven't heard about an interview), started me off on the wrong foot. Add a wine tasting with dinner, and it's bad news. To spare you all the details, let's just say i walked home, took a 30 min shower, and didn't get out of bed until 11:30 the next morning. And accidentally e-mailed andrea's old boyfriend. Whoops. I was at the point where i thought i was out of luck with school since i'd yet to hear from them (they said they'd contact us within the first few weeks of april- so by a week or so ago), and was putting off sending an e-mail to see if they'd already selected the interview-ees. Somehow it was easier not to know rather than know i wasn't selected. I'd also pretty much stopped watching tv since the writers strike really added to my stress. I'm a planner, and not even being able to plan on watching a tv show made my life feel way too up in the air. However, today bought me another week of relaxation on the school front when the cls at mgh met with one of the admissions faculty members who confirmed that they've yet to make any decisions on the interview-ees. She put in a few more good words for me, so my confidence level is back up a bit. I expect this to last no more than another week, so hopefully i'll hear from them before that. Then if i can just figure out the new tv schedule, i'll feel like i have a bit of a handle on my life. Sorry g.

cooking.night...

...at dali's house. On the menu: olive tapenade with crusty french bread, mixed salad, stuffed peppers, and mini-financiers au miel (honey almond bites). Everything was delicious, per usual. The stuffed peppers (on the right) had this unbelievably good rice/currant/cinnamon filling that i will definitely try again. I made the dessert this time, and got the recipe from clotilde dusoulier's cookbook, chocolate & zucchini, which andrea gave me. They were quite easy to make, and quite delicious as well. Definitely a keeper. When i was looking for a good dessert recipe, i spent about 2 hours perusing food sites including epicurious and allrecipes. When nothing struck me as just right, i grabbed this book, and immediately found several options i wanted to try. Narrowing it down to one was the tricky part, but i'm happy with the outcome. There they are on the left. The recipe made 22 mini muffins, and when we left, there were only two left. Mmm.mmm. Since dali's husband was home, we got him to take a picture of the four of us (and the two babies i'm petting). Here we are!

7-6.

Pedroia, ellsbury, i love you.