Foodie Kimberly is dead

Never underestimate my ability to completely freak out. At some point on Wednesday, I realized I had a couple of relatively mammoth assignments to turn in on Monday. I think I realized it in the middle of teaching a piano lesson. I hate telling a student, "Uh, sorry. I had a minor panic attack while you were playing. Could you start at the beginning and play that song again?"

I have been overeating since the dawn of the realization of my impending doom. Somehow I find food comforting. It doesn't even have to be good food. This week I've eaten fast food and cafeteria food more times than I care to admit. Just now, I had to get away from my homework for a bit. Where did I go? Rosa's, of course, for queso and enchiladas. I need some motivation.



My mantra is "Don't freak out! Don't freak out!" I also try to tell myself helpful things like: This assignment is only worth x points. You still have plenty of time to finish. You're a smart person. What's the worst that could happen? You'll fail the course and waste hundreds of dollars retaking it. That last one doesn't help so much.

My coworker is pregnant. That is probably what started all the overeating lately. We snack all day, and when we're not eating, we're talking about food and recipes. Well, it's got to stop. I am not eating for two! So, I am going on a diet. I refuse to buy a new wardrobe of larger-sized clothes. If the health concerns of overeating didn't motivate me to stop, the thought of plunking down the cash for new clothes will. If the shame of being a pear-shaped loser didn't make me kick the habit, looking at myself in a dressing-room mirror surely will.

What's the best diet plan out there? South Beach? Atkins? Liquids-only? My diet starts Monday after I turn in these assignments. Ha! Back to work.

Related: Eat Your Money's Worth at Any All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

Happy New Year

Current Netflix rental:




Tonight we're celebrating Chinese New Year. I googled "Chinese New Year recipes" trying to find a dessert recipe I could take to dinner. I'm not sure how brave I'm going to be with my cooking. So far, only these Chinese Almond Cookies sound promising--marginal Chinese at best. I think I'm about to go tour the local Asian markets and see if I can come up with anything better.

Katie wrote me this week that she ate some Stinky Tofu for the first time. She wrote: "It was honestly the best tofu I've ever had. I don't know how they make it, but the lady that gave it to us fried it up, put pepper and soy sauce on it, and served it with cabbage. I've come to the conclusion that I do not like tofu, but if I came across stinky tofu I would eat it again." I got my passport in the mail this week, and that is the first food I'm trying when I get to Taiwan.

The night before Valentine's Day I made some Bibingka. I stumbled upon the recipe for this Filipino dessert. It's different than any dessert I've ever made. It's made with sweet rice flour, and it makes a spongy cake that doesn't really melt in your mouth like the cakes I'm used to. It's one of those things you probably just have to try, and I would make it again. I made it for Valentine's Day so that I could say, "Will you beebingka my Valentine?" I didn't get anywhere with that line. I also terminated my online dating experiment. No good could come of it.

Xīn nián kuài lè (新年快乐)
Happy New Year! 2007 is the year of the Pig!

My Chinese Zodiac sign is the Dog. I thought my horoscope was pretty accurate. What do you think of yours?

Rat	Ox	Tiger	Rabbit
Dragon	Snake	Horse	Sheep
Monkey	Rooster	Dog	Pig

Burnout

I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?

Finding Mr. Right

Okay, well I had a typical single Kimberly experience last night. My dad, mom, and grandmother were sitting around the table eating dinner. My grandmother randomly said to me, "Do you wear your wedding ring?" I am not sure who she thought I was or why she asked me that. I said something like, "No, I don't have a wedding ring..." Then I started making jokes about buying myself a ring, being a nun, being happily single, blah blah blah. I can't remember how Mom managed to interject that I'm too picky and don't try to meet new people.

"That's it! I'm going online!" I said to myself. I hopped on a site and created a profile for myself, and we'll see what comes of it. Let the psycho e-mails come rolling in....

I always say I am becoming a librarian because I'm an old maid, but actually the library is a great place for Finding Mr. Right. And Mom had given up on me!

Shades of Doubt

I suddenly have the urge to decorate the house. This usually causes some drama. First, I'm a miser, and that generally inspires some sort of ill-advised do-it-yourself behavior. When will I learn that nothing good can ever come of DIY? There's a reason I work all of the time. It's so I can pay someone else to do that stuff.

It's confession time. I should probably find a cutesy way to send it to PostSecret intsead, but alas--

The trim and molding in my bedroom have been taped off with painter's tape for a year and a half. I haven't finished painting. That door stays shut.

I bought fabric and a pattern (picture C - yellow) for kitchen shades about a year ago. Of the five windows in my kitchen, one window now has a valance, and the rest are still mini-blinded. I gave up on myself to sew the shades long ago, so in May 2006, I hired a friend to sew them for me. In August, one shade was sewn, but still minus cord or a way to mount it. In December, in the midst of finals and all manner of holiday craziness, I got the other three shades. They were really pretty. I have good taste. One problem: they were about a foot too short for my windows. I said a choice word and threw the shades in my storage room (3rd bedroom) and am still too mad to think about how I'm going to fix that. The lady that sewed the shades for me had a baby a day after I picked up the shades from her. I haven't talked to her about my problem.

My third bedroom being a storage room is a whole other confession. I have been in my house for a year and a half, and I still have a room devoted to boxes. I have a great plan for that room. It just hasn't happened yet.

Last week I went to buy two more kitchen chairs like the four I already have. I was immediately accosted by a salesman. I wanted to look for my chairs in the store, but he didn't think they had any on display like what I described. So, we hopped on a computer (still in store) and did some online shopping. Although that is my most comfortable medium for shopping, I prefer not to do it next to a hawkish salesman. Excuses aside, I ordered two chairs that are NOT part of the line I have. Look at the pictures below. I saw the first picture and mistook the chairs in that picture for those I have, seen on the left in the second picture.



Okay, maybe they don't look alike at all. I didn't realize my mistake until I got a little "Thanks for shopping at our store" coupon in the mail with a picture of a cherry wood kitchen chair on it. My thought process went something like this: "Whoa. That looks a lot like what I ordered, but that's not it. How strange that they would send this picture that looks close to what I ordered but isn't..." First chance I got, which was this morning, I hopped online to see what I bought according to the store receipt. Oh dear.

I called the store. They said I needed to talk to a salesman. I went to the store. I found the same salesman. He was less flirty today because I had crazy frizzy hair, no makeup, and grubby clothes. He said we could fix the problem by refusing the shipment of the other chairs. Problem solved, I hope. I did see a bed I like before I left the store. I've been waiting for the Martha Stewart Penobscot bed to go on sale long enough. Also, guess what was on display right next to the bed. There were my chairs, of course!

Today, Daddy and Mom helped me hang my ceiling fan that I got for Christmas. That was funny. My Dad will be the first to admit that he is as much of a grouch about do-it-yourself as I am. The manual was less than helpful in its installation instructions, and Dad got a literal shock. Mom and I almost fell off the ladder. I was worried about the light in my living room being too dim, so I bought some of those GE compact fluorescent lights. I bought the 90 watt bulbs. Wow! My retinas are still burning. We're back to soft light now.

There's a picture of the new fan. I put my Smith+Noble shade in the picture, too. I'm happy with it. No more mini-blinds!

So what should I do about the kitchen shades? Chalk the experience up as an expensive lesson learned and forget about the short shades? Demand a refund or repair work? Shop for something totally new? I'm still too mad to think about it. Be my lifeline, and tell me what to do.