Tuesdays Unwrapped: My coworkers

One of the blogs that I stumbled across while blog-hopping was Chatting at the Sky. I discovered it when someone was participating in Tuesdays Unwrapped where you're encouraged to celebrate the small things in your life. I love the idea of Tuesdays Unwrapped, and want to make a conscious effort to appreciate the everyday, so I'm hoping to participate in it with some regularity.

Since it's Wednesday, I know I'm a bit late, but the MckLinky on this week's post is still open, so I'm going to go ahead anyways.

I'm lucky enough to work at a place where everyone really seems to enjoy their job and the work they do. Among my colleagues we have various backgrounds and came to the decision to work with college students in different ways, but what really matters is that we're all here now, doing what we do. And in addition to really enjoying our work, I feel like we really enjoy each other.

Over the holidays most of us went home, and we've slowly been drifting back as the expectation was that everyone return by Friday, and most of us wanted at least a day before that anyways. Today was the first day that we were all back, and after picking up Marci from the airport we headed to Iggy's to grab lunch with everyone else. And we were all crammed in that corner of Iggy's that we love, talking about all sorts of random stuff to AJ's ridiculous plane flight to Marci getting up around the time that I was going to sleep, to Nate's New Years resolutions and everything in between. And it was just fun.

There are 11 RDs and then another 6 professional staff members in the department, and by no means are we all best friends, nor do we all get along all the time. But I still feel like there's a real sense of camaraderie, and that most of the time it doesn't really take an effort to enjoy each others company. I've worked in places where that wasn't the feeling at all, so I feel lucky that at this school, for this year, it's the case. We're a good group, and we're all bound by the fact that we're here to help college students, whether this is just the stopping point before a different career or something that we see ourselves doing in the long run, it's what we're here for now.

So this year, I really want to make an effort to appreciate my coworkers and the fun that we have, and what everyone brings to the table. We all have things to learn from and about each other, and there's no way of knowing what next year will look like - we may all be back in the positions, or we may not - so I want to make sure that I'm making the most of this time and these great people that I'm working with, because it won't last. But it's here now, and it's the gift I was given today to unwrap.

Queer the Census

Regardless of what you think about the LGBT population and the gay rights movement, it's very difficult to deny that there is a significant LGBT population in the United States. However, we don't have an official count, because that is something that's not included on the census. On the short form, they ask about age, sex, race, marital status, and home ownership, but they don't ask sexual orientation. On the long form they go more in depth, but still don't ask about sexual orientation.

The mission of the Census Bureau (I looked it up) is to "[serve] as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy." But when they're leaving out information about the sexual orientation of the population, how are they really providing quality data about the nation's people?

In the words of a friend of mine

it's not on the census? yeah, I'm a conservative/against gay marriage/think it's morally wrong . . .

but seriously? It's a legitimate statistic.

Queer the Census is a project of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which is working with the Federal Census Bureau to include LGBT counts in the 2020 census. I encourage everyone who is concerned with

I know that I have friends and family on all sides of the political spectrum - if you feel that excluding GLBT counts keeps the census from being a good picture of our country but don't feel comfortable aligning yourself with the NGLTF, I encourage you to find a way that you do feel comfortable to make yourself heard.

New Year's Eve Dinner

Since we spent New Year's Eve in, we wanted to do something a little special, so we decided to try a few new recipes for dinner. But first we needed to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to get new kitchen supplies (including a dutch oven, which I am SO EXCITED about) to make these new recipes.

We went with three recipes - from Pioneer Woman we made Goat Cheese Polenta and Short Ribs and a Brussels sprouts recipe that we got from our good friend Kate. You can find the short rib and polenta recipes on the linked pages, and the Brussels sprouts recipe is below.


Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta (adapted from Mario Batali of Babbo)
4 servings

Kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, blanched and cut in half
6 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
large pinch chopped thyme, more if needed
large pinch chopped parsley, more if needed
freshly ground black pepper.

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the halved brussels sprouts, and cook until they are tender but still slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a bowl of salted ice water to cool; then, drain. Cut the sprouts in half lengthwise and dry thoroughly on a tea towel.

2. In a large saute pan over medium-low heat, cook the cubed pancetta until most of the fat has been rendered and the cubes are crispy, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon, and reserve.

3. Increase heat to medium-high, add the brussels sprouts and cook until they are browned on the edges and tender, turning often, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add reserved pancetta, thyme and parsley, and stir to mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Happy New Year

This New Year's was relatively quiet for us - I was on duty, so we cooked a nice dinner, and then went outside to watch the fireworks the marina and the rest of LA from the bluff.

There's a Puerto Rican tradition where you go pour out water in order to get rid of the bad luck from last year, so we did that early on the 1st (I'd filled up the glass the night before, but forgotten to pour it out because we were so tired.)

Happy New Year, and I hope that any ickiness that you experienced last year has been flushed out for a better 2010!

Leaving home

As much as I love my LA life, I really hate leaving Texas at the end of a visit.

Advent Conspiracy

I'm a big fan of the message behind The Advent Conspiracy. Since we don't yet have kidlets I don't know how exactly Will and I will celebrate the holidays as a family, but I know that I want it to have a strong theme of giving to others, rather than just gifts, gifts, gifts! The we have so much more than the vast majority of the world and I think that's something that we need to remember all year around - but during Christmas it comes naturally with the message of the season.

If you've not seen the video before, it's below.

'Tis the season

So here we are 4 days to Christmas, but it didn't really start feeling like it until Sunday, when I went to Disneyland with a couple of friends. I couldn't find people to go with last year, but two years ago I'd gone and really enjoyed how Disney does Christmas, so we were excited to go again.

We did the Haunted Mansion, which turns into Nightmare Before Christmas Mansion, and It's a Small World, where we snarked our way around the world where every culture (represented by stereotypes) celebrated Christmas. But it was still fun. And we also watched the holiday fireworks, finishing with snow represented by tiny foam bubbles. Marci heads home to Ohio, and Sara to Montana, where they will get real snow, but since I head off to Austin tomorrow, that was the whitest Christmas that I'll get.

I'm also really excited because it's Will's first Christmas in Texas - two years ago he joined my family in Puerto Rico, but Christmas there is always a bit different, and even moreso last year since he and I stayed in a hotel instead of Abuela's house. But this Christmas we get the full deal - Midnight Mass at St. Theresa's and everyone getting to unwrap one present when we get home from Mass and mom's pernil (though we're doing it on Christmas instead of Christmas Eve this year.)

So I may have been wearing flip-flops the day before yesterday, but 'tis the season nonetheless. Best wishes to you and yours!

My cooking habit

So I really enjoy cooking, even if I'm less than thrilled about the grocery shopping beforehand and cleaning afterward that always go along with the act. However, I try to do it with at least some regularity, because it's relaxing and fun and at the end of it all you get to eat, so who could really ask for much more?

Will and I have decided that this January we're going to try to go tv-free (even though Marci thinks there's no way in hell we'll be able to) and today we had a bit of a practice because I was home earlyish and there was absolutely nothing on our tivo to watch which, seriously guys, it never happens. And there's only so much ant observing a person can do (even though I'm still totally fascinated by these things) and I've sorted through all the recipes that have gone up on my google reader over the past few days, and now I have the urge to cook. Something with chocolate chips. But not cookies.

So I've been searching for muffin recipes, and came up with a couple of possibilities, but we don't have most of the ingredients necessary for them. So I think I'm going to go with chocolate chip pancakes, because I am insane.

From this I have determined that on February 1st Will and I will be less addicted to television, but significantly heavier. Maybe February we'll focus on going to the gym.

Ants!

So when I was growing up I always wanted an ant farm, but my mom was pretty opposed to it, since in Texas pretty much the only kind of ant you can get is a fire ant, and for some reason she was very strongly opposed to having them in the house. Go figure.

I mentioned this to Will a few weeks ago, and when I came home the other day there was a package waiting - he'd bought me an Ant Works farm!

Now this is no ordinary farm with dirt and whatnot. The ants live in this gel that was developed by NASA to study how ants would do in a weightless environment. The gel provides both food and water to the ants, and it also is see through, so even if they burrow through the middle of the farm, you can still see it.

We tried catching ants, but the ones we cought were too small, so we mail oredered some (who know you could mail order ants?!) and they got here today. Will dumped them in as soon as he got home, and now they're eating away, and have just started to dig along the sides of the farm.

It's pretty cool, and because I'm a total nerd, I'm super excited about it. Updates are forthcoming!

Bruce Willis!

In true LA life fashion, Bruce Willis was in the dining hall today. I didn't notice him at first, but then Marci pointed him out, and I stared for about 10 seconds trying to determine if it really was him before she told me to stop. It was him though.

We went to the table and told everyone there that he was in the building, but he'd left before most of them could see him. The rumor was that he was there with one of his daughters to scope out the university for her, but I'm pretty sure we were the ones that started that rumor, so I don't know how true it actually is.

It was pretty cool, and my most random celeb sighting, since most of the other ones have been at concerts or while in Beverly Hills, both places you're expecting it a little more. In the Lair on a random Friday was definitely not expected, and therefore totally more cool.