three pounds

What does a person do with 3lbs of leftovers?  I mean, seriously.  The only reason all that was left of Seitanic Red and White Bean Jambalaya fit into only one Gladware container was because I forced it to by putting my full weight on the lid to seal it.  It won't surprise me if it busts loose in the fridge.  I hope it doesn't though, because that will be a mess to clean up.

We'll get back to that in a moment, though.  Today was an interesting day.  I had gotten myself into this panicked mindset that my little R&R Staycation was drawing to an end way too quickly.  I mean, yes, when it's over I get to go to my new job, but it's still work and no one really wants to go back to work.  Except possibly new mothers after a year of being home.  Maybe they do.

Anyway, once I realized that my last day of work was a half a week earlier than I had given notice for, I was relieved that I was 4 days into 10, rather than 5 - 40% is way better than 80% in this situation.  I got up a little before noon - I got into "bad habits" these last few days because I was so overjoyed that I didn't have to go to bed by any particular time.  Unfortunately, since I will need to return to a "workingman's" schedule next week, I don't want to let myself get into the habit of staying up later than I have in years and sleeping later than I have in, well, years.  So, once I'd had a couple of cups of coffee and a nice little breakfast, I got ready to go do stuff.  Mister was sleepy, so I decided to just wander around Center City East looking for somewhere new and fun to eat lunch with my parents on Thursday.

Local folks - have you ever been inside the Curtis Center?  To be completely honest, aside from housing offices of various companies, I have no idea what goes on in that building.  I wouldn't mind working there one day, though, for two reasons:

Reason #1 - that's the lobby!  There is a huge waterfall/fountain thing with this huge arcade with a solitary baby grand piano hanging out in the middle (roped off presumably so loonies like me don't think it's okay to play it), flanked by an Mid-Atlantic attempt at palm trees!  And I must say, I wouldn't have thought to put huge potted ferns up on 3-story high pedestals to imitate palm trees.  I wonder who has to water them...

Reason #2...well, that is actually a tie.  My dad works right around the corner (in fact we've wandered in on lunchtime breaks near Christmas to see the gargantuan tree they put up in that same lobby), so it would be great to work less than a block from him - we could have lunch every day!  The other great thing is Cooperage, which is why I saw this magnificent sight today to begin with.  I wanted to see their menu to ensure there was something Mister and I could eat because they have these awesome outdoor "booths" that I've been wanting to eat at for at least a year.  Outdoor dining season in Philadelphia is relatively short, though, because not as many places have heat lamps as they should for such adventures, but even still, autumn can be a very rainy time here.

By the way, the only reason an awesome restaurant is comparable to working close enough to my dad to have lunch with him every day is because eventually, the old man will retire, and then what will I have?  An awesome restaurant :)  love you, Dad!

Anyway, after wandering around town for a bit, I stopped into Bodhi Coffee with my book and enjoyed a tall, steamy cup of Stumptown Roast before heading home to make dinner.  Good thing I had some coffee!  Actually, it didn't take all that long to make the Jambalaya since I was using the Le Creuset of Doom, apparently.  I don't know what magical powers that pot has, but it boils water more violently and enthusiastically than any pot I've ever seen.  As such, I can't imagine why I didn't think it would cook the heck out of the Jasmine rice I used in the Jambalaya in about 10 minutes flat.  Really.  It's a good thing I thought to check on it, even though it still had at least 15 minutes to go (according to the recipe, which uses a heavy dutch oven, which I have, but didn't want to clean), it was actually starting to adhere to the bottom of the pot.

I didn't take pictures of it hot because it really wasn't all that interesting looking, but have you ever wondered what 3lbs of leftover Jambalaya looks like?  Yes, I really did weigh it on our bathroom scale.

You can't really tell, but the top is definitely a little domed upward.

I figure it will be a good thing to just reheat if there is some point this week that I was too busy doing nothing of great import to have the energy to cook.  I mean, it's happened before...

the end

Wow - sorry about that huge, week-long absence.  I've been a little preoccupied, a little emotional.  It's been a hell of a week - Mom, you'll have to excuse my "curse word" this time.

Monday, I got out of work early because of another bomb threat.  Other people hating the company I worked for enough to threaten my life certainly reinforced the decision I made evident only moments before we were evacuated, and it was awesome to get out of work early, but seriously?  Another bomb threat?

Just when we were getting over all that excitement, something happened that has never happened in my lifetime, even in my dad's lifetime.  Right here, in Philadelphia (not LA or San Diego, or even my beloved Tahoe), we had an earthquake.  Yes.  An earthquake.  I keep saying it because I don't believe it.  I mean, really?  An earthquake?  In Philadelphia?  I have never felt anything like it - I was at work, about to go into a pretty intense presentation when all of a sudden, the floor started shaking.  It kind of felt like vertigo.  I actually made a joke about it being an earthquake because it did not strike me as even remotely possible that that was what happened.  But it was - Philadelphia had an earthquake - Mister said it was so severe in the actual city that he was waiting in the kitchen to catch our dishes, which were trying to shake off the shelf.

Surprisingly, Wednesday was pretty quiet, so I just let it be so... I think I even retired early that night with [unfortunately] no desire to write.  Last night, I came home to a very sick Mister, who had accidentally eaten moldy hummus.  No, I don't know how that happened, but I'm super-glad that my allergic-to-everything-but-especially-mold husband woke up this morning.

So, today... Today was my last day at work.

I'm off for ten days now, before I start my new position.  I'm really excited for some down time so I can start my new job rested and refreshed and ready to conquer the world.  I'm only slightly melancholy about leaving my old job.  I'm terrible about keeping in touch with people.  However, I'm looking at it like this: my new job should afford me a bit more time for hobbies and social interests, so theoretically, if I make an effort, I should be able to stay in touch with the few people I actually cared about there.  It was really nice having so many people wishing me well and inquiring about my next job and it amused me greatly to make a list of the people who asked me to keep them in mind if I have an opening for them at my new job, but it was also completely exhausting.

Now?  Well, now we're hunkering down to wait for the first Category 1 storm to ever make landfall within miles of my home.  We're expecting hurricane-force winds, rain, and flooding in Philadelphia, starting tomorrow evening.  Our public transit is pulling the plug on service starting tomorrow night, our governor has declared a state of emergency, and the business that never sleeps (for which I no longer work) is actually CLOSING.  Most of the hits my humble little blog has gotten these past few days are for "post apocalyptic cities."

Fortunately, Mister and I went shopping when I got home from my last day of work, so we have plenty of pasta and tomatoes and beans to get us through the storm.  I'm finishing up my Coppola malbec tonight and I have four small bottles of Rose champagne chilling in my fridge.  Of my original three-pack, I still have two bars of dark belgian chocolate in my cupboard.  I'd say we're all set.

I'm not saying I won't sneak down the street for a different kind of Hurricane, though....