Weekly Photo Challenge : COLORFUL

Moving….again

Today’s Daily Topic from the Daily Post:  What would it take to get you to move? If someone you trusted offered you $1000 to move to a different city, would that be enough? More? Or would you need other things (the promise of friends or better weather?) What would they need to offer you before you’d instantly say yes? Or if you already want to move, what would it take to get you to stay?

I have moved approximately 22 times in my life, so far.  Now, this does include from when I was a baby until now, so it incorporates moves my parents made together, then when they got divorced and I bounced back and forth between living with them, to when I went away to college and never moved back home, to living with different friends or a boyfriend, etc.

Most of the moves were all within NY state until 5 years ago, when I made the decision to move all by myself to California, where I had been offered a job.  At that time,  I had just gone through a horrible breakup/broken engagement, was very unhappy with my job, and just overall tired of living in that small, dead end city.  I felt like I was losing myself and just “stuck” and was ready to make some big changes with my life, including my address.  So I started looking all over the USA for jobs and when I was offered the job out here in California, I found myself agreeing to take it, even though it was a pay cut, I would lose a lot of my freedom (it was a live in position so I would not have my own place anymore), and I would not know even one person out here.  It was a very life changing move in so many ways.  You can read more about how it changed me here.

Once I lived out here, my next move occurred 14 months later, when I no longer had that job.  I had to find a new job and a new place to live at the same time…..not something I would recommend for anyone…way too much stress all at once.  But I was quickly able to find both, and ended up sharing a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other girls.  It was a very small space, and it did not last more than the 1 year lease.  One thing I have learned is that I need my own space.  While I would prefer to live by myself again, it is almost impossible here in Los Angeles to afford to do so.  So when I moved out of that apartment, my only condition was to have my own room; somewhere for me to just be able to have time to myself and not worry about getting up early for work and having the person sharing my room yell at me.  Which brings me to my current living situation, sharing a house with 5 other girls.  At least I have my own room.  I have been here for over 3 years now, with different roommates coming and going.  Overall it has been a good experience.  I have learned a lot and changed.  But our lease is ending next month and all of us are moving on to different things.

These last few weeks I have been very busy looking for a new place (that is part of the reason I have been so scarce with blog posts and commenting). It has been very time consuming and stressful.  The new place is not going to be with any of my current roommates.  It will just be me and one of my coworkers.  It will be a different change of pace, going from so many roommates to just one other.  I just got the call yesterday that the apartment we put in a hold/application for, we got approved.  I will be moving about 10-12 minutes away from my current location and will now be stuck with all the LA traffic getting to work and going home, which up until now, I have thankfully been able to avoid.   But the apartment is the most spacious we have found, and has all of the amenities that we needed (we each get our own garage, there is a pool, central air, etc).

As many times as I have moved, I would think I would be a pro at it by now.  But to be very honest, I HATE it.  All the packing, the actual moving, and then trying to figure out a place for everything; it’s not my thing.  And this time I’m really worried because of all my back issues and pain.  I am hoping to be able to hire some day laborers locally, and am working out a deal with one of my male coworkers to at least be with me that day as my translator, since I don’t speak Spanish, and to just watch over me.    He has used them before and said it would be a lot cheaper than hiring actual movers.

I apologize in advance for my absence in my postings and commenting on your posts.  I will be busy sorting and packing, and the moving towards the end of August.  But please know that I am still reading your posts when I can and thinking of you all.  And I hope this will be my last move for a long time.

 

Please feel free to share any helpful moving tips you might have.  I know this will be move #23 for me, but I still never really know what I’m doing.

Ask me Anything

Well, I usually participate in Five Question Friday each week.  But as I looked at the questions on the host site, I just wasn’t feeling like they related to me much at all.  So I am leaving it open to all of you, to ask me anything.  I will answer back in a blog post (of course giving you a shout out).

Today I’m going to spend most of the day getting blood work, running errands, going to the gym, and my favorite part will be getting an hour long massage.  I am WAY overdue and since my back has been hurting, I figured this could help.   I hope you all enjoy your Friday.

 

let the questioning commence………..

Virtual FOOD FIGHT!

Today’s topic from the Daily Post is:

 Would you ever throw food at anyone?  Perhaps in a college dorm food fight?  Or have you ever had food thrown at you?  Tell the first story that comes to mind.

 I can’t say that I have ever been in a real food fight.  I have been known to throw the occasional grape or piece of popcorn in an attempt to make it land safely into the mouth of knowing and willing friend from across the room, but that doesn’t constitute a “food fight”

So because I am feeling a little playful today, I thought I would have fun with this prompt and challenge all of you reading this to a “virtual food fight”.

 What you should do is pick at least one thing you have eaten or were planning on eating today, post a picture of it (if you can) and provide the recipe.  That is what you will be “throwing” at all of us, your blog post readers.

 My virtual food fight item is BEEF & BROCCOLI.  **splat**  You have been HIT.  You can find the recipe by clicking here. 

 

Let the virtual FOOD FIGHT commence! 

Fable of the Porcupine

Fable of the porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever.  Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm.  This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.  After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen.  So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.  Wisely, they decided to go back to being together.  They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the warmth that came from the others.  This way they were able to survive.  Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person’s good qualities.

ceviche

This is a Mexican dish served as an appetizer or as a salad side dish.  It’s a perfect summer dish, because it requires no heat to “cook” the fish and is served chilled.  I think it is really refreshing.  You can use any type of firm-fleshed fish.  Today I used shrimp and imitation crab meat.  **Note- if you are using shrimp, make sure to cook it first in boiling water until it turns pink.  For other fish, it is not necessary to cook it, as it will “cook” in the lime and lemon juice.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb of shrimp, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, completely deveined
• 1/2 – 3/4 lb of immitation crab meat, shredded or chopped into small pieces
• 1/2-3/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup of chopped fresh seeded tomatoes
• 1 cup of chopped cucumber
• 1 serrano or jalepeno chili, seeded and finely diced
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• Dash of Tabasco or a light pinch of cayenne pepper
• Cilantro
• Avocado
• Tostadas or tortilla chips

DIRECTIONS

In a non-reactive casserole dish, either Pyrex or ceramic, place the fish, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, chili, salt, and Tabasco. Cover with lime and lemon juice. Let sit covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour, then stir, making sure more of the fish gets exposed to the acidic lime and lemon juices. Let sit for several hours, giving time for the flavors to blend.
During the marinating process the fish will change from pinkish grey and translucent, to whiter in color and opaque.

 

Serve with chopped cilantro and slices of avocado on top of a tostada or with tortilla chips.