This was yesterday. Kind of a vague sounding holiday...There are so many different types of sandwiches out there. My current fave is a pretzel roll with honey smoked turkey, Colby Jack cheese, sliced pickles, and honey mustard. Sometimes I have a peanut butter and nutella sandwich on French or sourdough bread. It's good, but it has a heavy/rich flavor. Peanut butter and pickles in a sandwich is good too. That one can be surprisingly refreshing.
Today's National Candy Day. Another vague one. Seems like it would have been more relevant on Halloween...
She sometimes turns into Mukuro while fighting. (Or, more accurately, he takes over her body while he's locked up in prison for a good chunk of the series. Ends up looking like him, too.) So, in a way she's like 2 Guardians in one. I don't see too many wallpapers with Ryohei in them, so that's cool. Makes sense to have Hibari slightly away from the group. He hates crowds, and tends to do things on his own. Tsuna's in Hyper Dying Will Mode. Otherwise, he'd probably be smiling. I like that their eyes correspond to the color of their flames. Overall, it gives off an interesting feel. Kind of a cool one for my birth month.My Paris calendar features Marais. Marais gives off a medieval Paris feeling, having more pre-revolutionary buildings and streets intact than any other area in Paris. After the revolution, most of the area was abandoned by the rich, and the neighborhood filled up with poorer residents. The small, crooked medieval lanes have bars, restaurants, hotels, fashion boutiques, trendy shops, bread and pastry shops, wine shops, art galleries, and museums all crammed into one small area.
My Jewish calendar's main pic's of a tapestry, unknown maker, made out of silk and cotton, Kashan (?), Persia; 1900-1950. They're not exactly sure if it was from Kashan or not. Cool to see a Jewish Persian tapestry. There are a 10 blurbs around the edges written in Hebrew. They might be the 10 commandments. (We really have 613. But, these would be like the first 10.) There's also some interesting scenes in the middle with more Hebrew scattered throughout. The 2nd pic's of a collection plate, anonymous maker, made out of silver, Dordrecht, Netherlands; 1590-1611. We don't usually have collection plates...
Especially not on Shabbat. We're not supposed to handle money during that time, so it'd be really odd if they used this during Shabbat services. Maybe for other times during the week. For when people wanted to donate? (Maybe they couldn't send it in any other way?) Can't really make out the scene that's etched out in the middle, but it looks cool. Interesting to see such an old one, too. The last pic's of a Torah crown, made by Jacob Hendrik Helweg, out of silver and gilt, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1883. This one's pretty impressive looking. It's large, has lots of holes where bells dangle from, and has an interesting pattern/design. Nice that they have another pretty old thing, that they know exactly who made it, and exactly what year it was made in. There's usually not that many specifics. Nice to see.
The month-long holidays are: National Peanut Butter Lovers Month, National Pepper Month, National Pomegranate Month, National Novel Writing Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun.
Rosie's been on the mend still since my last post. She's gotten a lot better, but is still having difficulties. I'm starting to see her eating and drinking. Finally!
Her personality is coming back. That spunky sort of attitude she has. She's also exploring things again. (I like to call her a little scientist, since she has to test and see how everything works.) She's throwing up a little less each day. Since she was so sick for a while, it was hard to clean herself up once she felt better enough to do so. She had a nasty/smelly butt that I noticed during the late afternoon on Monday. I tried to help her out by using a damp paper towel and wiping her with it. Didn't do much.
Later, Dad suggested that I should give Rosie a bath. I was reluctant because we didn't have their shampoo (a while back I threw out a 10 or 15-year old bottle of pet shampoo, thinking it was too old to use. I still think it was), and thought Rosie would cut me up. Unlike Tasha, she has her claws. We've never given her a bath. A little while later, I agreed to it. I filled the tub up a bit (enough for her legs to go under, but her face could be out of it), and with a little coaxing from Dad Rosie went into my bathroom. She's normally very curious about the shower/tub when I leave the door open while taking a shower. Usually as soon as I run the water, she walks away from the tub, but watches from a distance. When we put her in, surprisingly, she seemed to really like it. (Liked it so much, she became very loose and relaxed pretty quickly.) I only used the water to clean her. At least, it would help her get the main nasty stuff off, and then she can do the rest of the cleaning herself. I cleaned her butt and other areas as best I could. She acted like I was her mom licking her butt clean or something.
I'm starting to notice that she really does think of me as her mom. I knew she was close to me, but wasn't sure about being a mother figure to her until now. When she felt like she had enough time exploring, and I was basically done washing her, she tried to jump out of the tub herself. Didn't work out too well. So, I grabbed her, picked her up, and set her down on the towel I had put down around there. She didn't protest. (I don't pick her up that often.) The only time during the whole ordeal she did protest was when I was in the middle of drying her off. (And, it was vocal. She didn't use her claws. Which, I think, is another sign.) She apparently wanted me to let her go and dry herself off. I let her go with some patches still being slightly wet, thinking she'll just clean/dry the rest of it herself. And, she did. Her fur looked a lot nicer, too. Kind of fluffier.
Should make it easier for her to clean herself back there, anyways. She seemed happier afterwards. Went to our friends' anniversary/Halloween party on Halloween. It was their 40th anniversary. A big one, and definitely worthy of a celebration.
They really were married on Halloween, but the ceremony (I think) was on November 1st. Halloween is one of their favorite holidays. I've known them since I was about 7 or 8. Around that time, they also started inviting us to Thanksgiving, Passover seders, and New Year's Eve parties at their place. Occasionally, they'd have a Hanukkah party. I have a lot of good memories of those dinners.
I met a lot of people through them, too. There's usually quite a lot of people who go to their Passover seders. New Year's Eve usually has very few people, and Thanksgiving varies each year. They know a lot of people...And, almost everyone that they invited to this event came. Only 2 of them didn't. One was going through surgery, and I think the other's mom had something happen to her. That's understandable. I knew a good majority of the people that showed up, too. Some I haven't seen in years.They had it at a place called the Farm Kitchen. The main building is huge. Which was perfect, considering how many people showed up. It was catered by them, too. The couple said in place of gifts, people could bring something for the Humane Society. I thought that was cool. I saw the area where they put the stuff, and there was a ton of food, blankets, and treats.
They said costumes would be welcomed, but were optional. It felt like not many people were in costume. Many were in Halloween-themed clothes, though. Like, Jack-o-Lantern shirts, or with black and orange colors. I got a lot of compliments for my punk cat costume.
And, even the wife of the couple said that it kind of went with the theme of helping the Humane Society. Yay! Someone said I should wear the cat ears year round, because they looked so nice on me. I don't know about that...Maybe for Purim? It's another holiday where people dress up in costume. They thought the fingerless gloves with silver paw pads were cute, and really made the costume, as well as my 'collar'. One of the caterers working the drinks area said I looked like a really nice cat. There was only one bad part of the night for me.
Someone who I've known for a while, and has helped me a bit in the past, saw me towards the beginning and decided to sit with Dad and I. I thought that'd be nice since she's usually pretty friendly. Anyways, we talked for a while. We just so happened to be standing near Dad, and I was backing up towards my chair. I was getting tired of standing, and was thinking about sitting. She turned toward me and said something to the effect of: "I know your father is here, but you don't have to stand near him. I know my daughter's like you, and you feel you need to stay around a man. You need to find a man. You know, have you tried looking at okcupid?" She said a few more things, but I responded with a 'huh?' and 'I have tried okcupid'...Kind of like an automated response. It just surprised me so much.
I finally sat down after that. There were so many things wrong with what she said. She emphasized 'father' and said it rather loudly. I was referring to her as parent while I was there. I'm actually starting to like that more, especially while out. Even with people we know. Even at home I don't say 'father', I say Dad. Father seems worse for some reason. Secondly, referring to her with the wrong pronoun is disturbing to me. Especially for someone we know...
And, basically saying she was a man also got to me. Thirdly, I'm not your daughter. And, if you treat her like that, then I feel sorry for her.
She later grabbed me and said things to me like: "She's like my daughter! I'm like her only mother figure!" That was one of the many last straws. I ripped away from her, and said in a calm manner: "No. Get off of me. Don't touch me. I don't know your daughter, and you are definitely not a mother figure to me." And, I walked away from her for a bit. Also, I do not 'need' to find a man.
That was incredibly sexist to start off with. She didn't even know if I was straight, for one thing. For all she knew, I might have been lesbian or asexual. I am straight, but saying I 'need' a man is still not acceptable to me. Plus, this would also seem to hurt a guy I would be dating if he heard this too. It makes a lot of assumptions on them, as well. Basically talking about them like they're piece of meat, too. What if I hated okcupid? She didn't believe me when I told her I've tried it before. She said I should go back to it. She also tried to pressure me into going to services with her on the 14th at the synagogue she used to hate, and she knows I don't really want to go back to. It was all just too much. So, I unfriended her on facebook, and blocked her on my phone. She also told me she may be a bit tipsy. I'm sorry, but that's not an excuse.
I'm starting to get an 'I don't give a fuck' kind of attitude if people mess with me too much. I rarely swear, so my apologies...If you're nice and kind to me, I'll treat you that way. I'm always polite and nice when I meet people for the first time. I make it a point, because I tend to think positively about people until they mess with me. (You never know what that person has gone through, and being treated with respect and kindness can lift them up.) If you mess with me like the person above, I'm just going to give up on you. Just lose most contact with you, become distant, etc. Because I don't need that. No one does.
It's too much energy to keep up 'appearances' when it's like that. If you pressure me too much to do something, I'm not going to care what you think and turn you down. (Just like trying to pressure me to go to someplace I'm not interested in for services...) I'm also not going to try to explain myself to someone like that anymore. I've already taken a lot of toxic people out of my life, and it feels good. I've found some amazing people in place of them since. Just realized that that actually kind of goes with the attitude of my costume. And, I kind of like punk stuff. Just haven't delved much into it.Besides that little interaction, I had an amazing time there. And, interestingly, I didn't feel much about how she treated me (once the shock ebbed away) and just stayed away from her most of the time. I didn't feel up to talking in front of everyone in the room during the toast, so I caught up with the wife of the couple. I said what I wanted to tell her and her husband, and she was appreciative. Looked like she was about to cry, too. She gave me a big long hug, and some homemade soap. It had a scene of bats flying around a sunset. It was very sweet of her, but neither Dad or I liked it...
It's the thought that counts, too. Got into some political debates about the election. We all had similar sides to it, so I guess it was more just talking about it. Met someone who had recently been diagnosed with a rare blood disease. Surprisingly, we had a lot in common with what we were going through. That was a nice talk, too. The couple's nephew also talked to me a bit. He was, I think, the closest in age to me. He's in his early 20's, though. Very nice guy. A couple of the women from the synagogue I like a lot more chatted with me, too. When one of them found out about my first novel being published, and the second one about to be, she was raving about it with everyone else on that side of the room. The other person was surprised and proud of me. She also asked: "So, what's your secret?" I was confused. She said that I looked amazing, and how did I lose so much weight in such a short amount of time. I told her the basics of what helped me. But, I didn't tell her that recently it's been partially because of my IBD. That wouldn't have been such a positive thing...
And, I wouldn't want anyone to have this. She was one of those people that I thought never had issues with her weight, but she might have been struggling recently with it. Or, maybe she was struggling a lot with it before, but it didn't seem like it. Everyone that night kept telling me I looked amazing, and that I must have lost a lot of weight. It felt nice and weird at the same time. The only hors d'oeuvres I could really eat were these little coin-shaped cheese and garlic puff pastries. They were a bit odd, but good. They also had 'eye balls', which were grapes encased in some sort of cheese and covered with nuts. Something that didn't sound appealing. They also had 'mummies'. They were hot dogs in a blanket. They looked good, and I asked one of the caterers if they had pork in them. She told me she'd check, and towards the end she found out they did. Good thing I didn't have them then. The dinner part was a bit weird. They had salmon with what seemed to be tzatziki sauce with cucumbers on top. It didn't taste much like tzatziki sauce, though. There was a kale salad with bleu cheese crumbles and pecans. Sounded really good, but was kind of tough to eat. They had brisket that was slightly underdone. They had a pumpkin pudding thing that didn't look that great. Their bread sticks, and potatoes were really good.
Each table had some Halloween candy, too. So, that was good. Dessert was pretty tasty. It was like a dark and white chocolate tart with raspberry sauce spooned over part of it. I think they're known for their pastries more, and it was definitely one of the best things they served.
There was also a live band. They started playing after the dinner stuff was cleared away. I was drawn into it by someone. She danced like crazy, and was sweating a few minutes into it. The music was super loud, and many people had a tough time talking because of it. I hadn't been to a dance like that in a long time, but even I thought it was too loud.
Many people went outside to talk, or near the entrance, while this was going on. Had an eye exam in the late afternoon yesterday. I'm near-sighted, and even with my old contacts, the chart from far away kept blurring out of focus. I occasionally couldn't read the top line. That's usually really huge. It was frustrating.
With the chart up close, I could read the smallest line rather easily. The exam lasted close to an hour and a half. She had to dilate my pupils to really check for things. First time I've had that done in a long time. It really burned at first. Got more of the solution in my left eye, so that was in the most pain. I liked her a lot more than the one I was going to have last month, and the one I had last year. She actually listened to me, and was pretty thorough. Last year, they told me that both my eyes were the same prescription. This year, they both need different and more stronger ones. She was able to give me one sample that would be the closest in prescription for my left eye. They didn't have the right one. I also have astigmatism, so it's a bit more difficult to find samples for them. So, my right eye has the old contact in it from before. I think I can see better even with just one of them close to being corrected. It doesn't feel like one is overcompensating for the other or something. No headache with it, and that's a sign that it would be. Afterwards, someone really stressed me out. I've been told by my gastroenterologist and read on the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's site, that I should limit my stress. (The CCF's site was recommended to me by my gastro, so she apparently trusts them, too.) The more stress I have, the more likely my symptoms will get worse. The 'disease' itself won't, but my body's response to it will. So, it can physically hurt me. Even if I was in remission, they said it could still wreak havoc. (It's worse if I'm not, though.) Lo and behold, I've been having issues today with it. It was just the cherry on the other stressful things lately...
Since it was so late, we decided to go out to Red Robin for dinner. I got one of my faves, the Arctic Cod Sandwich. It's usually really good. Has a couple of fried fish fillets, lettuce (I think 2 different types), pickles, and tartar sauce on a sesame seed bun. I got their special garlic and parmesan steak fries. The sandwich came out very cold. I thought it was my imagination until I actually felt the bun. (It's such a big sandwich, I usually have to use a fork and knife.) It felt like it had just come out of a refrigerator.
The fries were really good. I had about 1/3 of the sandwich. I told the waiter, who later told the manager, about it being cold. They suggested getting another one, but I thought that would have been too much food for me. So, they discounted it by taking $5 off. Roughly half of that meal. That's good. They said they were having issues with 2 different parts of their kitchen. The fish sandwich doesn't take too long, but the burger that Dad ordered takes longer. So, essentially mine was sitting there while the other one was being made.
I took the leftovers home, thinking I could just heat it up when I have lunch or brunch the next day. So, that wasn't too bad a thing. My birthday is this Saturday. Yay!
I was thinking of going to a local brunch place called the Oak Table. It's usually very good. We, as a family, have liked it in the past. And, most of my friends I know that have gone there love it, too. I remember their food being really big, though. I'll just have more to eat at another meal! They're rather impressive looking, too. After that, I hope to go see a movie. Just not sure what. I think the new bond movie's out, so that might be a contender. I looked a bit for local events and such online. There's a salmon run event. That seemed interesting. Most of the other things were either art galleries or 'holiday' bazaars/fairs. I say 'holiday', because they mainly have Christmas things. If there are other holiday stuff (like for Hanukkah, as an example), it's usually an afterthought. I wouldn't mind if they called it a Christmas Bazaar/Fair. That's at least telling you what it really is...Anyways, I might look at the list one more time to see if I missed anything.I've also gotten back to being more strict about my eating this week. It's a bit easier to check how many calories I've really had with seeing it on the My Fitness Pal's app. My preferred amount of calories is 1200-1600. The lower end being the best. I've had My Fitness Pal set to 1800, and that's the most I'll allow myself. But, that's more than I prefer. The default amount of calories on is 2000, but I like that you can move that around. Most of the time it tells me, at the end of the day, that I didn't fulfill my calorie intake for the day. I think there's only been 1 or 2 days where it was at or over 1800. I'm also getting back to my sit-ups. I'm doing 20 twice a day this week. Hopefully I'll get to my walks soon, too.
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