National Strawberry Shortcake Day!

Strawberry shortcake reminds me of summer, so it's perfect for this time of year. Also, reminds me of fair food. I don't think the big local fairs are until July and/or August. A couple of weeks ago I had a strawberry shortcake cake. It had the same elements: strawberries (in jam form), whipped cream, and cake, but put together in cake form. Normally, they're layered, and not put together like that. It was good. The best ones I had were at the fair and they used a scone for the cake layer. I think they used really thick whipped cream, too. It was amazing! 

Created a thread promoting my cookbook on AVEN's forums. (AVEN is Asexual Visibility and Education Network.) I thought it'd be best in their celebration forum. Since, I am happy about it. I think it's something to celebrate. Haven't had a reaction yet. Also, posted a status about it on there. Nothing on that yet, either. I later posted a status about it on Arocalypse. (An aro-based community. Similar to AVEN.) The forums on there aren't very active, and they have a tiny fraction of members compared to AVEN. Sometimes the statuses get a bit more attention than the actual forums. I wasn't sure which of their forums would be appropriate to create a thread for it in. They have less sections than AVEN, too.

I also sent emails to both of the local congregations. Since I copied and pasted what I wrote in Notes on my phone, the font came out bigger than usual. Not bad, but surprised me and might look weird to them. I'm not a member of either of them, but most of the members of both knew me and especially my mom. She made a huge impact with both of them. We were 'official' members of one of them for a while. She would run a Judaica shop for them, was on the board for a while, would tutor Hebrew, etc. She and I were both apart of a Rosh Chodesh group that didn't last long (but came back a few times), Hadassah (this was actually a joint group with both congregations), and I think a Kabbalah group that met a long time ago. All this in addition to going to services. Everyone knew her, and most people loved her. She was very knowledgeable about Judaism, so people sometimes went to her instead of the rabbis. I thought they'd both definitely be interested in this. A couple of the recipes are actually emails from members of those groups. So, they may see themselves in it. Plus, there's a huge Passover and Hanukkah section. In general, they might be interested in it just for that. Someone made it a point to tell me that I should email one of the congregations when I published it. (This was face to face during Thanksgiving.) Haven't gotten a response yet. We'll see what they'll do with it. 

Leveled out both Basics 1 and The for German. There are 3 types of 'the's: feminine die (dee), masculine der (dehr), and neutral das (dahs). It was good to review them. I just remembered that mädchen (mayd-chin) or girl actually uses das and not die. So, a girl is neutral and when she becomes a woman she's feminine? Woman is frau (frow), by the way. Kind (kint) or child uses das, as well. That makes more sense. Junge (yung-eh) or boy uses der along with mann (mahn) or man. Those make sense. The only one that doesn't is mädchen...Next is leveling out Basics 2. On Duolingo, I didn't realize that if you pay a certain amount of gems, you can open bonus 'units'. Idioms and proverbs, and flirting are available for those at the moment. I think they show more when you earn a certain amount of gems. I currently have the most I've had at once. I wouldn't care about the flirting one, but the other one sounds good. 

In the manga, Helck, they made it to another demon castle. They finally got a chance to relax. The demon king there imprisoned a winged human. It seems that they want Helck to talk to him soon. They finally went back to Asuta. Several chapters ago, she was caught by the humans, and that was it until now. It looks like they beat her up and handcuffed her to a wall in a prison cell. Nothing more was revealed, but it looks like the next chapter will continue with her side of it. I like Asuta. She loves to wear men's clothes, and hates wearing anything feminine. She's ok with or doesn't really care when people call her a guy or a girl. She seems pretty enby to me, and cool at that. In an 'extra' or side chapter, her sister tried to get her to wear a dress. It was like pulling teeth. With the dress she ended up with, she asked if it looked weird. When she went to the event she was invited to later, people thought she looked like both a prince and princess. In the eyes of her sister, it seems like she couldn't win. 

In addition to the cat stuff, I managed to sweep up my bathroom floor. It doesn't seem like I did it that long ago, yet there was a lot of litter. They seem to go in there a lot. Tried to sweep the big bathroom rug with a brush this time. I think I was somewhat successful with it. At some point, I probably should launder it. It smells gross. I can't smell it when it's on the floor, though. 

Something's going on with the cats. Tasha has made the spot near the door jam to my room as her new spot. She huddles up to that door jam and watches me happily when I'm in my room. She's also been hanging out in a corner of my room (near a bookcase) lately, too. This isn't normal for her. She's normally too scared and thinks my room or anywhere near it is Rosie's territory. She's terrified of Rosie. However, I think that's changing, too. She's not running away when Rosie walks in. Lately, Rosie has only lightly fought back when Tasha socked her in the face. Otherwise, she seems curious about her. They've been lying down much closer to each other than normal, too. Maybe, just maybe, they're finally accepting each other? That would be great. I think Tasha is trying to get closer to me, too. That's one thing Rosie doesn't like. She's incredibly possessive and protective of me. I'm not used to having 2 cats hanging around me this often. I like it, though. 

National Pet Day!

Mood:

This holiday was on Monday, but I think we should celebrate them every day. Yay for pets!They're amazing! We have 2 cats, Rosie and Tasha. Rosie is a tortoiseshell tabby with an attitude, and Tasha (short for Natasha) is a Turkish Van who seems to have some dog-like tendencies. Tasha also has very soft rabbit-like fur, and large paws.It'd be awesome if someday they ended up buddies. Yesterday was Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. One of my fave sandwiches! I haven't had a good one in a long time.

My gastroenterologist responded to the email about me being frustrated, on Monday. I think I kind of scared her, but I voiced what's been on my mind before and how I felt about certain things after I saw her last Monday.(I always try to be as polite as possible about stuff like this, though.) I feel, especially with something like this, that I should ask questions, stick up for myself, etc. I'm basically my own advocate. Except, I still don't feel I know much about what I have.I've been really frustrated about the diagnosis lately. Do I have Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis? Seems like it'd be good to know. They are sometimes treated differently. She has been very hesitant to say either of them. She responded by saying sometimes it's difficult to know for sure which one. She also brought up how looking at my colonoscopy back from the end of July, suggested Crohn's. Since the inflammation was seen throughout the entire colon, and was less severe in the rectum. Apparently, the inflammation is most severe in the rectum with UC. (She also didn't bring up how my stomach and duodenum were slightly affected in the endoscopy part.Another sign that suggests Crohn's.) She brought up that IBD test from back in August that indicated UC. So, as of right now, she can't be 100% sure. So, why was I diagnosed with UC in my after visit summary that Monday? Why did the results from my sigmoidoscopy come back saying there was no sign of UC? That specific wording.I could see it'd be more understandable if they said there was no colitis that showed up in the biopsy, but to specifically be talking about UC...If unsure, why not use colitis or other terms that were used to describe it in the past? After reading that she can't tell for sure still, Monday's appointment seems even weirder to me.

She mentioned that hair loss could be a lack of adequate amounts of protein. She said this before when my hair first came out in large chunks.I had asked her back then if she could recommend a nutritionist who deals with people who have IBD. Preferably someone local. She never got back to me on that. This time she said she'll ask my primary if there are any locally for me. If my primary doesn't know of any, she'll tell me about ones across the water. (At least she didn't ignore it this time.) She also asked if I was taking a multivitamin. I am, but I don't think that would help with my protein...She said if I have additional questions, we can schedule a phone appointment to discuss. Sometimes, not often, it's hard to hear what she says because of her accent. Talking on the phone kind of makes it more difficult than just emailing her.

She asked at the very end how I was doing with Miralax. I hate this stuff.The first day or two was alright. I wasn't crazy about it, and it made the iced green tea that it was in sweeter. I thought ok, having it slightly sweeter I'm somewhat ok with. It's been tasting more and more similar to that nasty laxative I had to take for the colonoscopy/endoscopy. (I couldn't keep that stuff down too well.) It's certainly not nearly as bad, but I'm getting a slightly familiar taste.Maybe I haven't been stirring it up all the way lately? Although, I've been stirring it until it runs clear. Anyways, its been turning my stomach a bit lately. Each dose has a lot of powder. Everyone seemed to be raving about this stuff. I don't think it's that great so far. I almost threw up after having it the last couple of mornings. It's not really helping with my constipation, either. I've just been feeling more and more stuffed over time. Eventually something's going to burst...At least, that's how it feels. I still think it's a partial obstruction, or maybe it's specifically a stricture. They can happen often with Crohn's. I've read that laxatives might actually make it worse. So, I don't know. 

I have an appointment with my primary care doc this afternoon. Maybe I can bring this up with her. I feel like something is wrong, but my gastro is shrugging it off. (It seems this way, anyways.) Especially after the test results came back better a few weeks ago. I'll ask her about the nutritionist, too. I might do my next blood draw while I'm there. Maybe it'll indicate something towards why I feel this way. 

Also, my stomach's been hurting in general a lot lately. It started hurting more just before starting Miralax. It's gotten to the point where I look at food and wonder if it'll cause me more pain.I don't think I've had such bad stomach pain for so long. I've been eating a lot less lately. It wasn't like I was eating a lot on a regular basis beforehand. Maybe talking to my primary about it will jump start something for it.

Pesach or Passover is coming up quickly. It starts the night of the 22nd. Our friends are doing theirs on the 2nd night. So, we'll have a family one for the 1st night. Sometimes, the order is flipped. I think the last few years it's been the same, though. I still think just having Dad and I will be good for our seder.Laid back, less cooking, etc. Although, I do like when there are guests. It's a different sort of atmosphere. 

Yesterday, I finally got around to some planning and figuring out what to make for it. I think for a 'special' dessert for our seder I'm going to make a kosher for Pesach angel food cake with some chocolate glaze drizzled over it. Sounds good.The cake mix has been sitting for a while. It's never been opened, but I should finally get to it. The chocolate glaze will be from a recipe I found online. It's originally made for donuts, but they said it's good for cakes, too. It's not labelled specifically as a kosher for Pesach recipe, but it could be. It's only about 4 ingredients. All of them are ok for Pesach normally. It might also take any off taste from the cake away. Sometimes kosher for Pesach cakes can have a slightly strange aftertaste, and occasionally be a bit grainy. The chocolate might help with that, if that's the case. 

I think our friends will ask me to make popovers for theirs. Last time I didn't make enough. Hopefully, they'll tell me how many people are going beforehand. I'm thinking of making 3 batches. 2 for their seder, and 1 for ours. Each batch has about 12 popovers. If they tell me that there will be more people, I'll try to make more. But, that's an awful lot.They cook and cool quickly, at least. I don't really know why people like them so much. I like them, but some people go crazy over them every time I bring them. Last time they also asked for a salad or vegetable. 

Found 2 interesting recipes from my The New Kosher for Passover Cookbook. It's not really new anymore. I think it was put out by an Orthodox Jewish women's group. They're recipes compiled from their members. Some are a bit strange, but others look really good and straightforward. One of the recipes I might make is Gulyas soup. Gulyas is another way of saying goulash. It sounds really tasty.Has some garlicky sweet and sour stuff going on. The other recipe is a fisherman's stew. It sounds very filling. Its got fish, potatoes, onions, green bell peppers, tomatoes, and a few other things. Not traditionally the way most people think is a fisherman's stew. Most think of a non-kosher way. They don't specify what kind of fish, so I'm assuming it doesn't really matter. We have salmon, so I might use that. Although, if we want a white fish, maybe cod or tilapia would be better. 

I'm not going to cook a lot from cookbooks this year, because I feel a lot weaker lately.I'm hoping I can get to these 2. I might make a matzah pizza, too. That won't be from a recipe. It's also easy to throw a few ingredients on top and heat it up. It might have spaghetti sauce (this one seems ok for Pesach), mozzarella (still have quite a bit), some dried basil, maybe some garlic, maybe a few vegetables, etc. Could have fun with it.

I'll make kosher for Pesach granola for the breakfasts. This stuff is awesome!I think it would actually be great year-round. But, it wouldn't feel like it's a special holiday food that way. It's very simple to make. One batch makes a lot. Usually more than 8 servings. So, it tends to last for a while after the holiday. I like that it's from scratch, simple, and doesn't have many ingredients. Also, that it's like candy and doesn't disintegrate in milk (unlike most store-bought Pesach cereals).

Also, the seder plate will be slightly different this year. I had to throw out the lamb shank we had in the freezer when it stopped working. We had used that same bone for years. I think it ended up being around 14 years. It was petrified by then and looked cool. So, I'll have to find something to replace it. I think I saw chicken neck bones at a local market. I could roast one of those in the oven. Another option is some people put a roasted beet in place of it. That would be interesting, too. Some feel that it's best not to use a bone, thinking that we should be different and not recreate the ritual sacrifices that we might have done in the past. Also, some are vegetarian or vegan, and its been a good alternative for them. So, I'm still debating which one to use.The beet might be easier, though.  

Should be interesting to see how the holiday food will affect my gut. First Pesach after being diagnosed. It'd be funny if the food actually helps me, and I feel a lot better.Kind of an experiment that way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mood:

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!(Well, those who celebrate it, of course. To the others: hope it was a great day!) Ours was great. Went to someone else's place. The hosts have known our family for a very long time. They're almost like family. Some years they have a lot of people, and some years maybe one other person besides us. (Felt weird without Mom, though.)

Seemed more cozy and welcoming with just one other person, so it was nice too.They have 2 big dogs who are always so hyper when we see them. They seemed more so this time. Jumping, licking, and sometimes giving us tiny bites. One of their cats, Cassidy, was rubbing and licking me while we played games after dinner. Her brother Butch died recently. 

That one other person was very nice. She was a writer and a Jew. So, already we had a lot in common.She loves to cook, make knickknacks, etc. Very interesting person. Talks a lot, though. She thought I was 15 years old for a while. When we told her how old I actually am, she was very surprised. (I don't know why, but everyone thinks I'm younger than I am. No one has guessed my actual age, and it's always younger. Usually around high school age.) We got along with her so well, she invited us to her place for a Hanukkah party next month.

She also said that if I need anybody to give me feedback on my novel, I should contact her. She's very willing to help. She said she doesn't know much about the sci-fi/fantasy genre, so she can't give me much advice about that part. Just on how its written, editing, and getting it out there. To me, that's a lot.She suggested that I should go to the Writers Guild of America-West site, and pay $20 to have it copyrighted. You get a certificate in the mail. I'm thinking about it. I'm not even finished with it. Should I try to get one before I'm even finished writing the thing? Wouldn't make sense to me. Maybe when I'm done with writing it. 

She also suggested that since I've gone through so much in my life, maybe I should write something like a memoir. I thought people much older than me did that. I mean, yes I have gone through a lot, but I thought I hadn't experienced enough years of my life to do it.Other people say I've gone through plenty to make up for that. And, they think it'd be a great idea. So, maybe in the future I'll start it. 

Meanwhile, I'm thinking of starting 2 projects after the JLPT. (Since I'm trying to study as much as I can for it right now. It's on Dec. 2nd.) One would be about featuring a mentsch every week or so. (Maybe it'll be more like every other week.) A mentsch is an upstanding citizen, a good person, or like a good samaritan. All around great people. It'll be something positive, and these people usually need more recognition.

The 2nd project will be on, as I think I'll call it, 'aging beautifully'. Showing that youthful beauty isn't all that's out there. There are many beautiful people older than 40. This is physical and inner beauty. Men and women, people from all over the world, etc. I myself am not that old. But, I think the older generations should be admired at the same time. I don't know it might sound funny right now, as I'm still figuring it out myself. Got the idea when I saw someone on one of the forums make a list of beautiful actresses who were 25 and over. Mind you, they only went up to 34 years old.That, to me, doesn't sound impressive or really that interesting. I mean great that they look amazing, but that's like at their peak. So, it shouldn't be as surprising as some people commented. I thought what about the older people? Somehow, our society thinks that after around 35, people aren't as beautiful. There's something wrong with that. Plus, they only showed women from Korea. (This was a site that focuses on Asian drama.) Which is great, but what about actresses from other countries? I want to feature not only actresses, but athletes, politicians, 'regular' people, etc. People from all walks of life.

I'll make 2 separate blogs for these projects. I think I'll do 1 on one week, and the other on the next. Alternating between them. I'll also make 2 separate facebook pages for it. Announcing when a post is up, featuring pics of people I've talked about, and maybe for suggestions of who to do next. This way people who aren't in my friends list can check it out too. For some reason, I'm getting really excited about these projects. Maybe something good will come out of them.

Anyways, we brought an olive spread, red pepper spread, crackers, and small slices of bread for hor d'oeuvres. For dinner, they smoked their turkey, made stuffing (one with chestnuts and one without. I hate chestnuts), candied yams (another thing I hate), cranberry-orange relish (which is nasty and I think they are usually the only ones that eat it), and had canned cranberry sauce as an alternative. 

The other person who came did a green bean and almond thing, and a very strange raspberry yogurt jelly mold. After I asked what the raspberry thing was (it was bright pink and scared me anyways), she immediately threw a huge amount on my plate without telling me. Only after I tried a tiny bit did she tell me what it was. It didn't go with the meal at all, and it was very hard to eat more than a few bites.The green beans were pretty good. 

For dessert, the hostess made her brownies that everyone loves. And usually she makes a somewhat bland pumpkin pie, with some bland whipped cream. It's ok, but it's ho-hum, not much flavor. This year they won a pumpkin pie, and used that. It was a bit better, but still not the best. That other person made these huge truffles. They were very good, but one of them goes a long way.

We played a little Trivial Pursuit. The hosts were winning, but we couldn't finish the game. We all wanted to talk more instead. The game almost put me to sleep too.

No one showed up to Dad's support group. And, I wasn't able to go with her, before she found out. So, that was a bit of a downer. I didn't feel like going to the cafe this week. And, I have my therapy this afternoon. Turned out to be an odd week. 

National Dog Day!

Mood:


Wahoo! Dogs are awesome!So they deserve their day. Hopefully, there's a cat day, too?It's also Women's Equality Day. Cool!


I've been kind of busy since last time, and didn't have time to post yesterday.Went to the Hadassah event/meeting/potluck. As soon as we arrived, the hostess' dog came running up to me. Which, I like usually. As soon as people said let's head inside, it scratched my arm pretty good.I still have the marks. It didn't make me bleed, but it broke the skin and felt like a massive burn.It looked so apologetic, and I know it was just excited.So, it's not really intentional. But, it was a fine hello.


The potluck was good.We brought a tuna salad and some crackers to put it on. There was 2 different kinds of tortellini, a rather plain noodle and corn salad, coleslaw, pita and hummus, a regular salad, potato salad, and a couple more things for dinner. The hostess had made her own caramel corn. Oh, it was so good!I probably could have eaten the whole bowl.She also served some nasty ginger cookies for dessert.


Then, we had our business meeting. Which, should have been while we were eating.It ate into some of the event's time. It was about the Mah Jongg tournament we're putting up soon. The person who was planning it, went way too much into detail.Eventually, she asked us if it should be $36 or $40 per person. I personally, wouldn't like to raise the price. But, then again, I don't play, so what do I know?Apparently, everyone else felt the same way. So, we'll keep the price the same as last years. Sounds like we'll have a much better venue, too. It's much bigger, the place is going to cater, they'll clean up everything, too. So, we just need to worry about the game, donations, prizes, auctions, etc. 


The event was our cantor, and a kid I know accompanying her on guitar, leading us in Jewish songs. Had a lot of fun singing.Some of the songs I haven't heard in years. I wanted to stay and sing longer, but the person who was nice enough to drive us, doesn't like to drive when it gets dark. Oh, well. I realized while we were there that I should have brought my clarinet and joined in.Maybe next time. 


Oh, our president for the group was supposed to be there. A lot of people needed her that night. She didn't show up. Doesn't surprise me.Although, if something did happen, I'd worry.First, she doesn't really want the position any more. She was forced to stay in the position, because no one wanted it. Next, she's just weird sometimes, and very disorganized.Nice person, though. I know all of this pretty well, because I served on the board with her last year. (I was the secretary.) She would always skip over a lot of people's reports (not just mine). There's no structure to her meetings. Kind of grated on my nerves.I'm flexible, but we weren't (and still aren't) getting much done.One of the many reasons why I left it.


Yesterday, I went with my parents to Seattle. First, we went to a wig shop for my dad's appointment. They were making a mold on her head, so they can figure out the perfect fit. It was rather amusing to watch her get encased with plastic wrap and tape.The only thing I can't stand in that place is the Christian music in the background. If it's a public space, there shouldn't be any religious music.It wasn't too loud this time, so I could drown it out with my music easily. After that, we shopped a bit in the mall right next to it.


Then, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I've been to it in different places. Like Vancouver, BC and near New York City. I didn't have dinner there before. The menu was amazingly long! (Like 20 pages long.) So many choices. A lot of it looked so good.When I got a soda, it came out in a huge glass. I decided to try their Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. It was heaven!Garlicky and cheesy goodness. The noodles were really good too. Chicken was slightly spiced. I couldn't finish it, because of how big the portion was and how rich the taste was. That's ok, just means I'll have a really good lunch.We got the Brownie Sundae Cheesecake. Oh, it was to die for! Brownie at the base, cheesecake in the middle with chocolate chips, pretty thick layer of fudge on top of that, chocolate syrup drizzled on top, on top of that lots of whipped cream with a tiny amount of almonds, and a cherry on top. Even though my mom and I were sharing it, we still couldn't finish it. So, we have another dessert too! The service was great!


We went to the market afterwards for fruit. I looked at the extracts to see what I could put in my water to flavor it, and wouldn't be something like Crystal Lite. (Which I found out I shouldn't have.) I decided on a root beer one. Mom wanted an orange and a raspberry one. Sounds like it all will make pretty tasty water.


I found an awesome site called ViiKii It's like a global multi-media site. Only, they're mission is to tear down language barriers, so everyone can understand each other. And, learn about other countries and cultures. It's fascinating.Especially, for someone like me. Who loves languages and cultures. It has dramas, movies, music videos, variety shows, comedies, documentaries, and so much more. All from all over the world. There's some from Korea, Israel, the US, Russia, Japan, and many other countries. As a member, you can specify what languages you know and would like as subtitles. I chose English as my main, French as a second, Hebrew, and then Japanese. Which are probably my top languages. The first 2 I know the most, obviously.They're looking for subtitlers too. There aren't too many Hebrew ones, if I knew enough conversational, I'd jump on that.Maybe I'll learn more of it in the future. I can read it, say it, but I might not understand half of it. I guess it's my sort of community. Can't wait to actually use it.


I think I decided on a flavor meme for next time. It's how an oc would react to certain foods. Like savory or sour. Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm thinking of using Ravel for this one. It looks like it would be fun to torture him.Although, he wants to become a chef, so it might be a good choice, that way too.