Just makes you want to bounce

Or perhaps you prefer the Spanish version, hm?

Jury Duty (sort of)

I was summoned last Monday to jury duty. For the first time in my life, I didn't have the excuse of being a student. I looked forward to fulfilling my civic duty, as I have always wondered just what jury duty is like. Unlike many people on the street, I didn't feel a need to wriggle out of it- in fact, I kinda hoped I would get selected to hear a case!

I wish I could say it was an exciting experience, but it was just the opposite. I was there by noon, as the summons had directed. I was home before 12:30. All potential jurors were dismissed because there were no cases to be heard. All of them had been resolved without a jury that morning. How anticlimactic!

At the very least, I still got paid, and I still had the rest of the afternoon off... even if I didn't really get to participate in a hearing.

Happy Earth Day!

Today I brought 3 trees home from work.

You heard me right: I brought three trees home from work.

I know we live in a condo and have no personal yard space, but they were giving them away, what can I say?

We now have 1 Overcup Oak Tree:

And 2 Loblolly Pines:

(The above photo is actually the Eisenhower Tree in Augusta, GA.)


But these trees are just wee ones, growing on our back porch:

Food, part II

Ok, so where did I leave off?

We've covered the Central Market Adventure.

On Saturday we drove out to Chinatown (about a 25 minute drive from us). We go out there a few times a year to refill on our 20-pound bags of rice and some other random Asian necessities. If you're wondering what two people do with a 20-pound bag of rice, well, we eat it. And we go through at least 3 bags a year, which means that between the two of us, we consume at least a half pound of uncooked rice every month. Whoop! (We would never do well on the Atkins Diet).

Pretty much once you hit Chinatown, there is an endless selection of Asian supermarkets, restaurants, stores, and offices, etc. We have generally always gone to the same one, as we've become the most familiar with it, but we decided to scope out a new one this time. As we pulled into the parking lot, I marveled at how lucky I am to have a tall white husband who will accompany her short asian wife to Chinatown, where the chances of seeing a white person (or even aperson above 5' 5'') are about 1 in 100. I still remember the time we were out shopping there when a white man spotted Nate and scurried up to him exclaiming, "Not too often you see another white boy around here!" He proceeded to engage Nate in lively conversation as though he were the first of his kind ever to cross his path.

We enjoyed the "new" supermarket. One of my favorite aspects of the Chinese supermarket is the large variety of fruits and vegetables. You can pretty much buy every possible fruit and vegetable that exists, and it's all incredibly fresh. It's Whole Foods/Central Market times 10, except for the fact that it's not organic.

There is unfortunately one fruit I have not been able to find anywhere. Over my last trip to Taiwan, I probably ate my weight in Lychees. I can's find them here in the states unless they are frozen or canned. And that's just not the same. I did, however, find a similar, smaller fruit this time: Longans. Not quite the same, but still tasty.

The Chinese Supermarket is a definite treat. Need a rare piece of flesh or some pig tongues? They've got 'em. Anyone could walk in and become googly eyed with all the oddities of the store. For one thing, the classic "smell" could blow you away. And the vast variety of foods could either make your mouth water or make you hurl. For me, I'm like a kid in a candy store.

However, it is always a challenge getting around the crowded aisles. Don't be surprised if you get shoved out of someone's way, or if someone swipes the last box of tofu from under your nose. Fend for yourself, because the concept of "ladies first" and making room for others is not a standard. Oh, and if you're not Asian, prepare to be stared at!

I'd say with our new supply of rice, tofu, red bean buns, fish balls, soy milk, dried black fungus, preserved lettuce, etc etc etc, we're all stocked up for the next few months. Houston gets my thumbs up for its proximity to such exquisite groceries. Even Nate has been hoarding his plentiful supply of fresh peanuts which we bought by the pound.

Great Food/Blog

I don't know this local blogger, but I think her blog is de-lish.

Food, part I

This is a post about food. I like food. It makes me happy. My sidekick and I enjoy it greatly. We like to eat. We find it tasty. And satisfying.

Last night we decided to spend our Friday evening looking at food. That's right. We piled our plates high and just sat across from each other thoroughly inspecting our respective plates.

Just joking. You would never find us doing that.

Back to the point, we stepped out of our comfort zones last night to peruse the aisles of Central Market. We regularly shop at more affordable grocery chains such as Kroger and Randalls, but every once in a while we like to treat ourselves to the fresh produce and mouth-watering displays of meats and cheeses. So, we gave each other a $3.00 budget, and set out on our food adventure. We spent a good hour in there, just perusing each aisle and taking note of the gargantuan onion bulbs, peanut-sized potatoes, and exotic hybrid fruits and aged cheeses, and hm-ing and ha-ing about the varieties of this and the varieties of that. We're not quite sold on the organic food craze but the sheer fact that organic produce turns out to be bigger is a definite perk. Bigger is better, especialy when it come to edible things ;).

I expected myself to walk out of there with a pint of plump, organic blueberries, but due to my limited budget, I walked out of there with a power bar, and tiny bagged samples of "blueberry almond granola," "seaweed peanuts," and "cajun party mix." Nate made out with a jar of "mediterranean salad," a zesty blend of pickled baby corn, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and roasted red peppers. We're dying to rip into that one.


More Food Talk, to be continued...

Babies, realized

The day has come.

Noah Jacob was born to my dear and one of my best friends from high school, Lindsay, and her husband Taylor on April 1. The news was tearfully joyful. I am just swelling with joy! Unfortunately , we are in different cities. I shall have to plan a visit to meet the little guy soon!

Reminiscing

• 6 months ago, the city was still recovering from Hurricane Ike.
  

• 1 year ago, I think I was in the middle of job negotiations.

• 5 years ago, I was close to wrapping up my first year of graduate school. That was a tough year.

• 10 years ago, I was about to graduate from high school. Can't believe ten years have come and almost gone. Our 10 year reunion will be in June!

• 20 years ago, I was a 2nd grader who still had 20/20 vision (or close enough).

My, how the years have flown by!