Oatmeal Day

Mood:


Which ends tomorrow. I love oatmeal.In almost any form. By itself, in cookies, soups, etc. Used to have it every morning, but now I'm more hooked on cream of rice.It's also National Macadamia Day. I'm not entirely fond of the nut, but it can be good when mixed with things. Hey, I guess to celebrate, people can have an oatmeal and macadamia cookie. That sounds good.


We're finally getting our burst of summer this weekend!Yesterday, it was in the high 70's. Today, low 80's. Yay! I even got a little sunburn yesterday. Although, that's easy to do with my skin... I burn so easily.I never really tan. I'm either pale/yellowy or burnt. Go me. 

Watched the first special of Nodame Cantabile. The whole special's apparently cut into 2 parts, and I finished the first. It was hilarious and emotional.Might have even been greater than the series, if that were possible. They actually went on location to Paris and Vienna. The French people were actually dubbed at certain points, because they thought the audience would tire out from reading the subtitles. Very interesting.They still let out plenty of French. I understood a lot of it. The orchestra was actually a real orchestra from the area. This part was centered on Chiaki, and him winning a conducting competition. I like how Nodame tried to learn French. She met a guy named Frank at the dorm that both her and Chiaki are staying at. He's an otaku and was watching a French dubbed anime. It just so happened to be her favorite anime. She knew it by heart in Japanese, so she just went over and over the French dub. He had a ton of anime paraphernalia in his room. Odd thing is, I know most of the animes they were from.Her mom gave her a weird French study book. When Nodame and Chiaki were at a restaurant she read, "Help! Call the police! He beats me at night!" in French. It was one of the funniest moments.The waiter gave a terrified look at him. And people stared. Also, when she greets people she keeps saying she's Chiaki's wife. I love her character!Bizarre, funny, and somehow reminds me of some of my friends. Next part will center on her.


Went to a Bar Mitzvah yesterday. We knew the family pretty well, so it was nice to go to. They apparently didn't remember that we were coming, and had to rearrange the seating for lunch. It wasn't a big deal, but it was odd.The Bar Mitzvah kid did great. I think the only thing he stumbled on was some of the English. Which is kind of funny. Shows you how nervous he was. There were a lot of people. A lot of them we knew. Some we haven't seen in a long time. Mom wasn't doing too well, but she managed. 


Lunch was outside. There was nothing over the tables, so we had the sun beating down on us. Which is probably why I got burned. I tried to juggle 2 plates of food, so Mom didn't need to get up. It was difficult carrying it back to her.There were burgers, potato salad, Dorito's, and something else that's not coming to mind. The condiments for the burgers were a bit difficult to maneuver with. They used spatulas instead of spoons or something. Hard to get anything. Anyways, it was an alright lunch. Nice to talk to people at the table, too.Eventually Mom left to sit under a covered table. Dessert was Candyland themed. A big cake with yellow and white frosting, starbursts, lollipops, chocolate coins, etc. All shaped like a game board. And for some reason, there was 2 chocolate milk bottles in the design. It was an ok cake, not the best, but ok. Got like a sugar high after that.


Everyone was worried about Mom.Her cancer marker has skyrocketed.Her doctor is taking her off of the current chemo, and once she recuperates, he'll start her on a new one. Yay.


Worked a lot on organizing my dessert recipes. I think it's the biggest section now. It all sounds like it'd be fun though.At least to try. There's lots of cakes, pies, cookies, puddings, pastries, etc. It sounded good just looking through it. It'll be an adventure. My brownies came out awesome! It was a mix, but I could have over baked or under baked it. Easy to do with brownies. But, they came out nice and chewy. Almost like fudge. It feels good when I create something like that. And, the fact people actually like it, is even better.


Almost forgot! I blew the shofar this morning. First time this year. Took a while to get a note out. It was very high pitch, and managed to hold it for a long time. Hopefully, I'll be able to do it tomorrow, too. 


Also, finished Zettai Kareshi. It was so sad! There's a special, though. Night essentially died, so I'm not sure what they can do with a special. Although, now she's with Soshi in Paris. So maybe it's their trip there? 

Happy 4th of July!

Mood:


Or Independence Day! Wahoo!  Hope it's been a safe and fun holiday. The fireworks from downtown and in our neighborhood, freaked out our cat yesterday night.  She kept looking at us with big eyes, and ran up and down the stairs. Tonight should be even harder for her. During the day, there's been a lot of fireworks going off. Why during the day? You can't even see them! Even if their not the colorful ones, they're usually cooler at night. So, I don't get it. I do love one of those things I used to get as a kid. You throw them on the ground and they pop loudly. They're not dangerous, just loud.  We used to throw them at each other. Oh, and those sparkler things on a stick. Those were fun too! It's sad it had to be so cold today. 


On Saturday morning, we went to a Bar Mitzvah. We first went to the family's house for a Friday night Shabbat service in their backyard. It was a lot of fun!They had maracas and tambourines for people to play during the service. We sang a lot and the Bar Mitzvah guy played his guitar throughout. (That's pretty cool in front of that many people, and being a little nervous about his big day.) We knew a lot of the people that showed up. The only problem with being outside for it, was the mosquitoes. I was slowly being eaten, but it didn't matter to me. Since, I was having fun. Later, I found out I was bitten right in the middle of my forehead. Yay!  I do have a large vein that pops out sometimes, maybe they saw it as a good opportunity? 


After that, there was like a dessert feast. They were set up outside, but people took them inside because of the bugs and how cold it was starting to get. There was such a variety! Things like brownies, apple pie, apple cobbler, mini eclairs, cookies, lots of fruit, cheesecakes, rumballs, and more. All good stuff!  I couldn't have everything, because it was just too much for me. They're punch was nasty though. 


The Bar Mitzvah service in the morning was very nice. Yet again, he played his guitar. The only problem was how close together the chairs were. He had a candy shower at the end. Which was us throwing balls of gummy bears.  He had a helmet and catcher's mitt. I love how he had a sense of humor about the whole thing. He sped through a few prayers and some of the Torah readings. That's ok, it's kind of to be expected. He was nervous.  After the service, we were outside for a bit. It was at a beautiful lodge. They had to set up for us. 


When we went back inside, they had chocolate lollipops with name tags on them. Which also said which table we were assigned to. Since I told her I wasn't sure if I'd sit with the high schoolers and college students or my parents' table; she put both on. The tables had balloons and halfway up the string, had record covers hanging. These were the 'labels'. My parents were at the Pearl Jam table, and my other choice was at Led Zeppelin. (By the way, I like both, so it was a hard choice still. ) I couldn't find the Led Zeppelin table, so I stayed with my parents.  They had decorated the tables with guitar picks and a record at the center. Kind of a cool idea.  I knew everyone at the table, and they were all good family friends. The food was amazing! Lots of fruit, salmon, an awesome Caesar salad, pesto ravioli with a ton of cheese in the middle, and garlic bread. (There was also a marinara choice for ravioli.) They also had a band playing. Eventually, people started dancing off to the side. 


Then, they started doing some Israeli dancing. I was watching off to the side debating whether I should join them.  After a while, they all came over to me anyways, and made me the head of the 'snake'.  We were doing like a hora thing and picking up people along the way. I didn't expect them to grab me and make me lead it.  I did it for a while, weaving through the tables and the sides of the room. Then, there was a slight obstacle. Someone's chair and stuff was in the way.  So, there was a mini jam. Then we split up and went to the front of the room. While I was leading the line, the Bar Mitzvah boy was playing a song with the band. When he was done, he sat in a chair in the middle of the circle we made at the front of the room. The guys hoisted him up, while we sang and clapped. That was a lot of fun too. After that, it was back to Israeli dancing. This time, I immediately joined in.  It was so much fun, then the band switched to an undanceable song. So, we got some of the cake. I met a couple of the college students, which was nice.  I got the chocolate cake. Which had very thick sweet icing. So good!  Then we sat outside for a while, and eventually went home. We didn't get back until around 3. 


That night, we watched District 9. It was very good, and a bit disturbing. Really sad how the humans treated the aliens. The ending kind of left it open for a sequel. It would be interesting to see the next one, if they make it. 


I also started playing the Sims 2 again. This time I decided to make it a bit more fun and interesting.  I made a Sim that looks a lot like America from Hetalia.  He was pretty easy to make. His personality's similar too. Not only that, I also put him in the Strangeland neighborhood. It's one that's right next to a UFO crash. Supposedly, there are aliens there. Perfect for that character. In the anime, he has a pet/friend named Tony who's an alien. Fits a little too well.  More things happen in this neighborhood than the normal one. So, it's been a lot more fun. 


Tonight, we're going to have the 'patriotic' cookies we bought at the market. Thick sugar cookies, white icing on top, and blue and red star shaped sprinkles. It looks good!  Then, we'll watch the fireworks from Seattle on TV. Might look out our window every once in a while to see some of the neighborhood fireworks.