Adjusted Reality

This is a picture in the tupperware because I think I was about to explode after eating it and salady goodness and could barely waddle myself around the house until bed on Sunday.  We made this for 4 people, so I doubled the recipe I usually use – below is the normal one.  You’ll feed 2 people as the main part of a meal, or probably 4-6 as a pre-meal cup-o-soup.  I use the “throw stuff in and see how it tastes” cooking method, so I rarely use measuring cups/spoons, so everything is an estimate.  If you don’t like something, leave it out, if you’re a veggie, leave out the chicken and use veggie broth, the soup will not be offended if you change it around!

Chicken “Tortilla” Soup (or I guess Spicy Southwest Chicken Veggie Soup might be more accurate, but I called it what I called it):

-One box of chicken broth

-Two small cans of tomato sauce

-A crap ton of garlic (lets say, 5 cloves)

-Half an onion, chopped

-One chicken breast, diced

-One can of ranch style black beans (regular works but doesn’t quite taste the same)

-One small can of corn

-One small diced potato

-A handful of frozen veggies (carrots, green beans, corn)

-3 stalks of celery

-Some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and pepper to taste (1 tsp-1 tbsp if I had to guess)

-Jalapenos and/or other peppers to taste (in our big batch, we used 2 japaneos and 3 finger peppers, I usually use 1/2-1 jalapeno in a normal batch, and we like things ridiculously spicy)

-1 tsp corn starch (Zliten measured this)

-cilantro to garnish (we forgot this, which made me sad, but it was totally yummy without it)

Directions:

Put everything but the corn starch and seasonings in pot.  Let it boil (slowly) for a while (at least til the celery is soft).  Smell and taste it without seasonings – add a pinch of everything, and taste again.  Repeat until you just can’t wait to eat it.  Disolve the corn starch in water, turn the heat down, then throw it in and let the soup thicken up.  Once it’s the right consistency – serve it up.  You can just throw in cilantro or if you’re feeling truly tortilla-y you can thow in tortilla strips and sour cream and cheese.  IMO, you don’t need it though.

Bonus: Lo cal chicken ceasar salad (this isn’t exactly how I made it last night, but it’s the most yum for the least hip-spreading):

-1 chicken breast, grilled and seasoned with garlic and “italian seasoning” (oregano, basil, and whatever else is in there if you don’t have that)

-A bowl full of romaine lettuce

-Either Newman’s Own or Ken’s Lite Caesar Dressing (not creamy)

-Half a small can of black olives

-2 pieces of crumbled pre-cooked bacon

-Shakey parmeasan cheese

Mix lettuce and dressing first (go easy on the dressing and add more until you have a light glisten on it all).  Throw bacon, chicken and olives on top.  Shake cheese on.  Enjoy!

Calorie-wise, if you’re curious, the entire vat of soup I estimate had just over 1000 calories, which was split between 4 pretty ravenous eaters with leftovers.  The salad was probably about 165 per person for a side dish, double that for a meal.  Feeding my two friends who can put away 1000+++ calories in a meal without batting an eyelash (you know who you are, 3 double quarter pounders with cheese and a large HiC), and clocking in at about 415 calories and they were stuffed – priceless.

EDIT: I wrote this a week ago but didn’t have the snow pictures as proof.  Now, I do!  And today it’s just as cold (but without the precipitation) so it’s a good day to post it!

Last night as we were about to head to bed, Zliten turned on the news and heard that it was snowing in areas of Austin.  We are NEVER hit by the weather (it will be raining everywhere else and it will open up a hole over our neighborhood), so he didn’t check, but I had to grab some water so I looked out the door on the way back, and lo and behold, it was SNOWING.  I haven’t seen snow (and I’m actually happy about this) in 5 years when I was back in Reno visiting the family and we had a freak cold front in April, apparently to punish me for leaving.  Since it’s been a while, it was pretty to watch and catch on my tongue (they don’t taste like they used to when I was little, I swear).  Thank the commuter gods I woke up this morning and it was all gone (besides a coat of ice on the rooftops) and traffic was kind.  I can only imagine what sort of hell it would be if it was ACTUALLY SNOWING while driving, if traffic in the rain is an indicator.

The funny thing is it was unseasonably warm in the afternoon.  It was 81 degrees at lunch, and I was actually wishing I had a t-shirt on.  When I got back from lunch it was 10 degrees colder, and then by the time I left work at 6pm it was 50 degrees!  They say if you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a few hours, and yesterday is proof that’s not just bullshit.

It was kinda fun, I guess, and I won’t complain too much about the frigid temps today (low 30s to low 50s), but only because we’re supposed to be back in the 70s by this weekend.  EDIT:  Indeed it was in the 70s on Sunday – I spent the day outside in a t-shirt, jeans, sandals, and a light sweater when it got cold.  Monday morning at 3am it was 70 degrees still.  Monday morning at 7am it was below freezing and has stayed below 40 since.  Should be up in the upper 70s by this weekend again.  Texas weather is crazy, but I prefer the cold-and-warm-mix to just cold.  If I knew the weather wasn’t gonna change much until February or March, I’d be pretty depressed.

So I had typed up this big long post of wah wah wah wah… I ate sorta crappy this weekend and I’m afraid of the scale.  Money crap that is probably trivial to 99.9% of the country and world right now.  Jealousy and anger towards the evil overlords who make more in one day than I do all year probably, and still have denied us a Christmas break, bonus, and party.  Lack of any sort of creativity in my job right now.  Being a little mad at myself for being hypocritical – I’m mad that I can’t make progress anywhere in my life, but when I start losing a little weight again, I overstuff my belly all weekend.  I want to be ok with just maintaining what I’m doing and accepting life will be how it is for a while, but I still want more.

However, I’m doing well in the overall scheme of things, and instead of posting the 1000+ words of whining I had typed up,  I’m going to take a cue from 100 days in bed and list 7 things about my life that make me happy.

1. I have the most wonderful partner in crime and love of my life for 9 years who has stuck by me in rich times and poor times, fat time and thin times, workaholic times and slacker times, and has definitely experienced the best and worst of me without barely a complaint.  I feel loved.

2.  Even through these tough economic times (drink now if you’re playing the drinking game), we can still make the mortage, the car payment, and all the bills without draining savings.  We’ve made voluntary cutbacks to our lifestyle and consider the cost of something a bit more before buying it, but haven’t felt strapped for cash or poor even with less income.  I feel financially independent.

3.  I’ve lost over 100 freaking pounds since last January. I am no longer obese, out of shape, frail, weak, out of breath.  I no longer snore or have sleep apnea.  My back problems magically disappeared.  I sleep better, longer, and earlier.  I feel healthy.

4.  Going further with that, I’m in the best shape of my adult life.  I would not be embarassed with how my body looks if someone caught me in my undergarments (the boy short kind at least).  I constantly check myself out in the mirror thinking “hello, gorgeous” with disbelief sometimes that it’s me, and that’s all of me that’s left.  I feel sexy.

5.  Having this new body, I can do so many things I never imagined possible.  I can run 5 miles.  I can lift 20 lb weights.  I can almostalmostalmost do a pullup unassisted.  I can rock climb.  I can ice skate.  I can do just about anything, and keep up with just about anyone.  I feel strong.

6.  I have a great group of friends here who I can be myself and silly and weird and let my guard down and they still think I’m fun to hang around.  Or at least they tolerate me, which is just as good!  I feel social.

7.  I’m 29, and there are many years ahead of me.  I’m already in a job title where the average age is well over 30, so it’s not as if I’m running out of time to climb the corporate ladder if that’s what I want to do.  And maybe it’s not.  I’ve got plenty of time to figure it out even if right now, holding on to what I have and staying stable is what I need to do.  I feel competent.

So much better that what I was going to post.  Off to drive in the fuh fuh fuh-rezing cold to go get my sweat on and hopefully not get caught in an ice storm on the way home.

But it actually involved me getting pictures off the camera which I am too much of a lazy butt to do, so here is a picture of our iguana eating.  Nom nom nom!  So cute!

And because we spent too much money on all things ‘guana related, here is our Christmas tree.  Just as good, me thinks!  I’ve never been a huge Christmas nut, but I love the lights and sparkles.  So this is the best parts of the tree without the mess or cost!  This is Zliten’s creation he surprised me with when I came home last night…

It’s been a weird week, but not such a weird experience as Wednesday.  I got into the shower after my workout and a spider fell from the ceiling, bit me on the belly button, and then fell into the water and died a quick liquidy death.  Zliten was a little worried about how big it swelled at first, but then it stopped so we were happy and danced.  I am just waiting for my super spidey powers to develop.  Though I did feel like I handled the conference call with our president on sound stuff very well this week.  Maybe…too well.  Though “confidence in dealing with superiors” would be a useful superpower, I still think I’d prefer flying.

Anywho, campers, have a wonderful weekend, mine is looking to be full of relaxing and finishing up Christmas shopping, and hopefully winning at poker on Saturday!

First of all, definitely one of the best South Parks ever.  Second of all, I’d like to report we got our Xbox 360 on Friday!  I’d also like to hang my head in shame because of what I have been doing.  The first week I’ve had it I’ve made use of 2 things – playing Uno, and the large majority of the time?  Being addicted to streaming netflix.  We’ve watched the 2nd season of 30 Rock, a few movies, the first season of The Office, some Tripping the Rift, and now we’re glued to Weeds – we’re about 1/4 way through season 2 after finishing season 1.  So, it’s not that I haven’t had time to play games, it’s that I have CHOSEN not to play anything.

I find it sad, but I guess I can use the excuse that games are expensive.  Yeah, the economy is doing it, right.  This is from the people who spent 300$ on an iguana and an enclosure last week, and over 200$ the week before buying clothes.  I guess I have to accept, that at this point in time, my priorities are elsewhere.  I guess I’m just trying to figure out why.  I have, in theory, the time to dedicate casually to a game.  I have at least 2 hours on the weekdays where I’m not doing other things, even on workout days.  We have at least some time on the weekend where we’re just vegged on the couch, watching TV.  But I never feel motivated to convert this into gaming time.

There is a huge connundrum being a game developer.  You’re into your work because it’s fun, but after a while, it can feel like playing ANYTHING is work.  For a long time, we worked at SOE and played mostly SOE games (which were, I still believe, the best out there at the time and best of all, free).  When we started being involved with making the games, we’d get our friends and guildmates sending us bug reports.  We’d play through areas and make mental notes in our heads what to fix when we got to work (or would just log on right away and fix it).  Imagine your favorite get-away-from-it-all spot, could be a vacation destination, setting of a book, movie, wherever – it just has to feel like paradise.  Something I might name is a cruise, because we all know how much I love ’em.  Now imagine being there, all the time, with work to do and schedules to maintain, and being responsible for parts of it.  You have to capture and exhude the joy YOU feel for this place, and make other people feel it.  Suddenly paradise isn’t quite as footloose and fancy free as you remember.  I bet cruise ship employees probably don’t take their vacations there, and if they do, they hope to god a repeat cruiser doesn’t recognize them.

However, it’s very very important for those making games to play games.  Your ideas get stale if all you’re drawing from is real life and TV.  It’s hard to be passionate about a medium that you don’t spend much time enjoying.  I’ve seen the results of those who make and do not play, and I don’t want to continue down that road.  I also don’t want to live life like I used to, with my friends pixelated, my computer chair the most important piece of furniture, and my body a pile of blubber.  I have to come to a balance, and we all know how good I am at that, right?

I think the answer, in this case, is gaming night.  One weekday, I’m thinking Wednesday because usually it’s a day off working out (at least on the 4 day schedule), we are going to sit down and play at least an HOUR of a game after dinner.  It has to engage both of us, either we take turns, play together, or we play separate games.  I’d like to work back to regularly playing an MMO casually if we’re not really into something else, but there might still be a little too much scarring there for it to feel good and not workalicious.

It starts today, because yesterday was full of fail.  I’ll keep you updated on how we fare.