The New Me

Strawberry Picking + Jam

2013-05-22T12:20:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend Nathan and I went strawberry picking at Lewis Farm, located about fifteen minutes from our house, with some friends. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for picking, and it seemed like half of Wilmington had the same idea.

Nathan and I ended up with 12 pounds of berries, which came to the grand total of $18.00. Obviously, I needed to make jam. And not freezer jam, which I've made a few times in the past. No, I wanted to make real jam, and put it in a cute jar, and place it lovingly on a shelf, where it would later be surrounded by all the other things I would can and preserve and sauce, building a homemade pantry that would get us through the cold months of winter. (As you can see, my dreams tend to get big fast.) I dragged my canning equipment down from the attic (my dear friend Chay gave me her extra set right before we left Texas, and I had yet to use it), bought a new cookbook (any excuse for a new cookbook), gathered my ingredients (which required three separate trips the grocery store), until finally I was ready to jam.

Full review coming once I make a few more things.

I ended up getting a brand of pectin at Whole Foods that uses less sugar, because it's made from a citrus peel and thus jells more easily. Since the amount of sugar in jam has always seemed excessive to me, I was curious about this claim. I followed the instructions in the pectin box, mashing fruit, blending pectin with apple juice concentrate, bringing the strawberries to a boil, heating the jars in our big pot. It was hot in the kitchen, and I was wearing a sweet apron my friend Lucy made me and blasting some Riot Grrl music because it felt appropriate, when, just as I was about to funnel the jam into the jars, I realized I had not added any sugar to the mix whatsoever. Hm. That seemed strange. I decided to look at the instructions one last time.

Apparently, there were four different recipes, and I had accidentally chosen the "all fruit" option, instead of the "low sugar" one, which would have yielded a more traditional jam. Since it was too late to fix my error, I went ahead and canned the jam, hoping it wouldn't be bitter. I boiled the jars for ten minutes and started washing the million dishes I had dirtied (canning jam is messy business) and then fished them out, only burning myself once, and left them on the counter to cool while I washed another thousand dishes. While I was scrubbing, I heard a pop, then another, then another. The jars were sealing, which meant that I got the canning process down, even if the contents of the jars is still a work in process.

Of course, the best thing about chopping six pounds of strawberries (I had to save some of our bounty for straight up eating) is giving the greens + hulls to the chickens. The big girls love strawberries, probably because it's the treat they get most often. They are creatures of habit.

And I didn't want to leave the little ladies out, even though I was pretty sure they would be terrified of the strawberries. It turns out they've been getting braver every day - instead of hiding in the corners, they came running and attacked the berries with an adorable ferocity.

I'll let y'all know how the jam turned out once I'm brave enough to try it. In the meantime, I'm already dreaming of pickles, which is next on my canning bucket list.

Also, before I forget: the winner of the Honest Fizz giveaway is adr, who would try root beer first. Adr, send me your information and I'll make sure your prize is mailed to you!

Back with the Bees

2013-05-20T13:51:00.001-04:00

On Friday, we finally got around to opening our hive. The last time I blogged about the bees, I wrote about my fears - that they would be dead, or suffering, or that we'd be stung repeatedly for our various transgressions. I'm happy to report that none of those things happened. While our hive is certainly smaller and weaker than it was at the height of last summer, it's alive and kicking and for now, that's enough.

We've had a hard time in the past with the smoker - using too much smoke, or smoke that was too hot, aggravating the bees when we were trying to keep them calm. This time, we seemed to strike that magical balance, and the bees were docile and unperturbed by our presence. Once upon a time, we thought we didn't need to wear any kind of protection, that we would somehow charm the bees with our good looks and winning personalities. Twenty or so painful stings later, we realized the error of our optimism. Since we can't afford real bee outfits right now, so we made due with Tyvek paint suits, gardening gloves, and straw hats draped with mosquito netting that we tucked under our shirts. We may have looked silly, but at least we felt safe.

When we opened the hive, we didn't know what to expect. The super (a shallow box, placed on top of the deep hive bodies) looked untouched - no bees crawling around, no comb, no honey, no brood. Uh-oh. We checked each frame just to be sure, then set it aside and delved into the next hive body.

Here, we had better luck. The outer frames hadn't been drawn out yet, but all over the inner ones the bees were hard at work. We didn't find the queen, but we saw evidence of her - capped brood where bee larvae were waiting to hatch and lots of nurse bees attending them, and stores of honey and pollen. We cheered, but quietly and without any sudden movements.

After checking all those frames, we set that box aside and looked into the bottom hive body. This one was thick with comb, but empty of honey and brood, and there weren't too many bees hanging out there. I think the bees must have eaten all their honey stores over the winter, and since there was nowhere else to build, they moved up.

Right now, our main concern is growing the hive population. I suspect that our cold and wet spring caused the bees to get a late start, and that's part of the reason why their numbers are low this late in the season. While we've never had to feed them sugar water, I've done some research and I think it would be best for the hive at this point. It'll give them the burst of energy then need to build, and it'll encourage the queen to lay the eggs the hive so desperately needs. Once the hive is more robuts, we'll let nature take over, and any honey we harvest (probably not until next year - sigh) will be pure at that point.

Even though our hive needs help, there's a lot to be hopeful about. Considering how little hope I had before, I'm feeling pretty good about our future with the bees.

Awkward Teenagers

2013-05-17T08:50:00.000-04:00

Ruby Redbird.

The chicks have been living full time in the little coop for about a week now, and they seem to be acclimating well. They're finally getting a little braver, and don't immediately run away, peeping for dear life, when I approach. Now, when I sit in the coop and keep still (or, better yet, fill my hand with food) they come right up to me. Their curiosity is finally outweighing their fear.

.Hattie

Even though I see them walking on the ramp that leads to the "upstairs" area, they insist on sleeping in a warm little pile in the grass. I don't know when instinct will kick in and lead them upstairs - for now, I just wait until they're asleep and then gently pick them up, one by one, and put them upstairs. They peep like crazy for a few minutes, but then they fall back to sleep and don't come down until morning.

Gossiping at the water cooler.

Just like last time, I'm amazed at how fast the chicks are growing. At five weeks old, they already have most of their feathers, and the little puff balls we first brought home are a dim memory. Personally, I love the awkward teenage phase - they start to develop personalities, they get braver every day, and it's so fascinating to see what colors and patterns they'll end up with, feather-wise. The silver-laced Wyandottes are still mostly white, and it's hard to imagine them with a full body of dark coloring. The Americaunas are already gorgeous, and getting prettier every day.

Hand feeding.

Hilda.

Meanwhile, the old girls celebrated a milestone last week - they turned one year old! I gave them some chicken scratch as a gift and then tried to take some photos, but they were too busy digging up the scratch to pose for a photo. This one of Alice was the best I could get.

Happy birthday, Alice!

Two seconds later, her beak was back in the dirt. These chickens are all business.

Gimme that scratch!

And because he likes to be a part of everything, here's a cute photo of Calvin.

Happy Friday!

Three Bits of Lit

2013-05-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

I have three things to share with you today.

1. Last semester, a film class at UNCW offered to make book trailers for some of our works-in-progress. Anyone in the class could submit a writing sample and a synoposis, and the students broke up into groups and chose which projects they wanted to take on. My book was one of three chosen, and yesterday I finally saw the trailer. It's just a minute long, and you can view it here. Go ahead. I'll wait.

I love it! I think they did a great job capturing the mood and feeling of the book, and the ominous sound of bees in the background is perfect. My only criticism is that the main character, Kate, is in her early thirties, and the actress they chose to play her is clearly much older. Then again, as my friend Lucy stated so eloquently, "That's just what college students think 34 year olds look like." Well played, college students.

2. I don't know if you're familiar with the raging debate over MFA programs - some say they're a good thing for writers, while others believe they will single-handedly cause the downfall of literature. Obviously I'm a fan, and I think this short essay in Brevity perfectly captures why. A few of my favorite parts:

Yes, my MFA mentors were skilled writers generous with their wisdom, but even more, they showed me, in their various creative ways, how to build a writing life—especially in a culture that rewards very few writers financially and that offers constant, bombarding distraction. They modeled how to make a living, prioritize writing, navigate the demands of family and friends, and manage emotions around success and failure.

Also this:

The typical MFA program may not birth genius, but the students improve. And aren’t we all better off when people pursue their passions, when chefs, mechanics, surgeons, parents or musicians are happier and more skilled? Also, I believe what when we struggle with our writing, regardless of the final results, we think more clearly and understand more deeply—and our communities improve when any of us does work that loosens our hearts and defogs our brains.

Yes, yes, yes.

3. I loved looking at the outlines some famous writers used when composing their books. I realized I needed an outline about 100 pages in, which subsequently caused me to reorganize, rewrite, and trash about 75 of those pages. Oops. My outline is just a simple word document, with bullet points listing what happens in each chapter. I edit it as I go, because I discover something new about the story every time I sit down to write, and things are always shifting and changing. Even though I'm a minimalist when it comes to outlining, I'm still fascinated by the intricate ways other writers organize themselves. The outline for Catch-22 is probably my favorite.

Any writing news to share? Updates on your creative projects? Good essays or links that I should read? Feel free to share them in the comments!

Run Now, Race Later

2013-05-15T07:24:00.001-04:00

It's nearly summer in North Carolina, which means things are about to get h.o.t. I'm no stranger to this kind of weather - seven years in East Texas taught me to appreciate 100+ temperatures and swampy humidity. I hate being cold more than anything (I don't even put ice in my drinks!), and I actually enjoy feeling like the air is giving me a big, sweaty hug every time I step outside.

That said, the one thing I don't like doing when it's really hot? Running. I'm sure I don't have to explain why, but suffice to say that as the temperatures rise, my pace goes down... and down... and down. I still run in the summer, but I do it as early as possible, and it takes me nearly twice as long. Speed work? Tempo runs? Ha! I'm lucky if I make it home in time for lunch.

Thus, I usually back off from running during the summer and focus instead on cross training - yoga and kettlebell, maybe dust off my bicycle, and as many afternoons swimming in the ocean as possible (it's still a workout, even if you're drinking beers in between dips). It's a pretty good system, especially since a break from intense running makes me all the more eager to start logging lots of miles come fall.

So that's what I'm doing this summer. My loose goal is to run three times a week, 3-7 miles at a time. Yoga three times a week. Kettlebell twice a week. Sometimes I'll do less yoga and more strength training. Sometimes all my runs will be three miles long and it will take me six hours to stop sweating from them. Mostly my goal is to keep moving, stay in shape, and have fun, which is the best and most balanced fitness plan, especially for a summer at the beach.

One of the reasons I want to stay in shape this summer (besides the fact that I will be in a bathing suit 50% of the time) is because I have my eyes on a few races for late 2013 and 2014. I'd like to take another stab at the Battleship Half Marathon this November. I won't be gunning for a PR - I had a hard time on the course last year and the pressure of a PR + bad memories seems like a terrible combination. Instead, I'll try to set a new PR at the Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon in March 2014 - I also ran that race this past year, and had a great time and a great race. I'm sure that with the right training, I can set a new record.

And then I'm thinking, maybe that fall, I'll finally be ready to tackle a full 26.2 again. I decided against marathon training while I was in grad school, because I didn't have the mental fortitude or the focus or the energy to do both those things at once. But I graduate next May, most of my friends will leave Wilmington, I probably won't find a job right away, and marathon training is really good at filling a variety of voids. (I initially started running because my roller derby league broke up, and I needed a new distraction, so this is a proven theory.) There are a few fall cool marathons near North Carolina - I'm thinking about Savannah (neat city that I've been wanting to visit), Richmond (billed as America's friendliest marathon), and New York City (we'd have to enter the lottery, of course, but that race is on my bucket list so I should probably start trying to get in now).

Potential marathon training is still 18 months away at this point, so this is all speculation, and it will remain speculation for another year. For now, I'm looking forward to sweating my way through the summer, and rewarding myself with many trips to the beach.

How do you train in the summer? Do you have any races on your bucket list? Most importantly, what is your favorite beer to drink at the beach? Shiner's Ruby Redbird is the best summer beer - Texas represent!

Honest Fizz Review and Giveaway!

2013-05-14T10:35:00.002-04:00

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for playing!

A few weeks ago the folks from Honest Tea offered to let me try out their new line of Honest Fizz, a "naturally sweetened soda with zero calories and zero sugars." Usually when I'm offered things in exchange for a review on the blog (which happens once or twice a month) I say thanks, but no thanks - I don't want my blog to become a billboard for different companies, and I'm pretty picky about the things I'll consume. However, I decided to make an except for Honest Tea. I'm on board with the company's mission and ethics (organic, eco-conscious packaging, and over half their bottled teas are Fair Trade), plus I liked the idea of a healthier soda option - especially since I'm trying to cut back on booze. (Though I have to admit - my first thought when I sampled these was that they would make excellent mixers. Sigh.)

There are four flavors of Honest Fizz, and I tried them all. Here's my honest opinion about each.

Lemon Limey – a tangy taste of all-natural, lime flavor. This is the one that made me crave a cocktail most of all - it's begging for gin! But even if it's not five o'clock, this is still a refreshing soda. The lemon-lime flavor was subtle, yet sweet - kind of like a grown up lemonade.

Orange Pop – a classic taste that may seem retro, but the recipe is naturally modern! Do you remember going to McDonald's as a kid, and ordering a happy meal with an orange soda, and how awesome that orange soda was? This Fizz reminded me of that delicious sugar drink, except without the sugar or the moral depravity of McDonald's.

Root Beer - A zero-calorie Root Beer that's also organic. Definitely my favorite of the bunch. I've never been a huge soda person and once, when I was in first grade, I cried at a birthday party when I was served a cup of Coca-Cola. That said, I do like an occasional root beer, and this one satisfied that craving. Plus: root beer floats!

Professor Fizz has a unique, all-natural spiced cherry flavor. I'm not usually a big fan of cherry, but this soda was surprisingly tasty. I didn't get too much spice from it - it reminded me of a more mellow cherry coke.

Nathan also tried the sodas and didn't like them as much as I did, which is surprising, because he's usually the one who drinks soda in our house. He's not a fan of stevia, which is the sweetener used in Fizz, and said it threw the taste off. I have no problem with stevia myself, and didn't notice anything off about the sodas, so you'll just have to decide for yourself.

Now for the giveaway! I didn't want to subject my readers to a review without giving them something in return, so Honest Tea has offered one lucky reader a case of each Honest Fizz flavor (that's four cases in all!). To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, and tell me which flavor of Fizz you'd try first. I'll randomly choose a winner one week from today, and Honest Tea will send you your prize. Good luck!

Disclaimer: Honest Tea send me four free cases of Honest Fizz in exchange for this review, but all opinions are my own.

Insta-Weekend

2013-05-13T16:19:00.001-04:00

Apologies if you follow me on Instagram and have seen all of these photos already, but as much as I keep resolving to use my real camera more often, the draw of the iPhone is hard to resist. That said, my weekend was pretty nice.

First up: we've officially moved the chicks into the little coop. The dogs are very curious about this development, as you can see.

The chicks are just about a month old, and we're getting to the point where they can jump out of the brooder. They have most of their feathers, and it's been really warm out (80s in the daytime 50s at night) so we've been putting them in the coop during the day. Last night we let them sleep outside, and while it was a little nerve racking, they survived. I ran out there first thing this morning, and they were already up and scratching around, so I'm going to assume they're okay with the new arrangement I'm very relieved - as cute as they are, it's a bit wearing to have five baby chickens living in your guest room. Next on our list: clean the hell out of the guest room.

I spent about two hours on Saturday afternoon, drinking a beer and reading a book on the porch, while Nathan studied diligently for a big test he had today (he passed!). Our DIY wall of wine bottles filtered the light in a lovely way, so I took a break from my book to snap a photo.

I also spent some time reading in the backyard (there was a lot of reading this weekend). I like this photo because you can see the prayer flags we hung in the chicken coop, as well as our clean underthings hanging on the line. (Nevermind the dog poop all over the yard, our overgrown grass, or the fact that we still can't afford to fix our dryer. Nevermind that at all.)

This weekend was also our six month wedding anniversary. While we don't normally celebrate such minor events, I bought a fancy (IE, $30) bottle of wine at Christmas and I've been looking for a good excuse to drink it ever since. Six month anniversary it is! I researched food and wine pairings, and came up with a baked mushroom risotto that would compliment our Belle Glos Pinot Noir nicely. The risotto was great, the wine was delicious, and the chocolate pie I baked for dessert was the perfect end to a quiet date night. It's official - I'm a catch. ;)

The weekend ended by seeing The Great Gatsby with some of my finest lady friends. The movie was okay. I liked the modern music paired with the 1920s period, and the costumes and dancing were lovely. But the narrative was a bit clunky, and it took about a half an hour before I really got into the plot. Also, we saw the movie in 2D because 3D gives me a headache AND costs more, and there were some shots that were clearly filmed with the 3D experience in mind. In 2D, they just looked a bit strange. Did anyone else see the movie this weekend? If so, what did you think? If you actually remember the book, how did it compare? I'm considering picking it up this summer, as I read it in high school and don't remember it very well, but I also have a million other things I want to read, so we'll see.

As for the week ahead: continue writing 1,000 words a day (still going strong!), research the history of moonshine for my other job, and make it to yoga more than once. I'm also hosting a little giveaway tomorrow on the blog, so check back for that. Until then!

5 Minute Chickpea Salad Sandwich

2013-05-09T13:17:00.001-04:00

This is one of those recipes I hesitated to post, because it's not really a recipe at all. Mash, mix, eat - that about covers it. And yet this sandwich is a very tasty and satisfying combination that I have been eating since I was an undergraduate at SUNY Purchase. I remember making this in my dorm room, sometimes topped with sliced apples and cheese and broiled for a few minutes, sometimes mixed with celery and a good shake of paprika and black pepper. Today I had it with butter leaf lettuce from the garden and chopped dill pickles. (Side note: you know you've been living a thrifty life when a jar of pickles from the grocery store is an extravagant splurge.)

To make this sandwich, do the following:

Open a 14 oz can of chickpeas; drain and rinse.
Mash the chickpeas with a fork until they are mostly mashed. (I like a few whole ones in there for contrast.)
Mix mostly mashed chickpeas with a few heaping tablespoons of Nayonaise (or regular mayo, if that's your style. Hm. Homemade mayo with backyard eggs? Better add that to my to-make list.)
Serve on a roll, or a bagel, on in a wrap, or between two slices of bread. (I went with a bagel thin, which were two-for-one at Kroger last week.)
Add toppings (in my case, lettuce and pickles).
Eat while sitting in a chair in the backyard, while the dogs beg for leftovers and the chickens cluck in their coop. Enjoy the sunshine and the pickles, which you have totally earned.

I told you it was easy. Now go forth and mash chickpeas!

Chicks Are Afraid of Everything

2013-05-08T08:01:00.000-04:00

First of all, I apologize for denying you adorable baby chick photos. The new girls are growing at a fast rate and have already reached that awkward half-fuzz, half-feathered stage. They're still living in their brooder, but seeing as it is supposed to finally stop raining tomorrow AND it will be in the low 80s (YES!) I am planning to move them to the small coop, at least in the day time.

Zelda

One of the reasons I've not taken a million photos of the babies is because they are terrified of the camera. They are terrified, actually, of everything. I don't remember the older ladies being quite so skittish when they were tiny, so I'm not sure if it's a breed thing, or if it's all in my head, or if the babies are just bored and cranky. Hopefully moving to the coop will help with the issue, whatever it may be.

In the meantime, I have finally named the chicks. They are as follows: Louise II, a silver laced Wyandotte. Our first Louise ended up a Lou and had to be re-homed. I'm hoping this time, the name sticks. Hilda, our second Wyandotte. Then there are the Americaunas: Zelda, after Fitzgerald, and because of the gorgeous coloring around her eyes. She reminds me of a 1920s flapper. Hattie, named by my friend Lucy as a going away present. Ruby Redbird. Ruby was another name Lucy was considering, and it seemed like a natural choice for our mini hawk. Ruby Redbird is also the name of my favorite summer ale (Texas represent!).

I will try to take individual glamor shots soon, when the process is less traumatizing for the girls. Their comfort comes before the blog - I hope you understand!

In the meantime, here are some photos I took last week, when they were much smaller. (Seriously - chickens grow so fast!) I had given them some strawberries as a treat and a distraction, and as you can see they were, at first, terrified.

OMG WHAT IS THAT?!

After a few minutes spent huddling in the corner and peeping shrilly, it began to dawn on them that the strawberries were not, in fact, there to kill them. The chicks began to inch closer to this strange new thing.

HM. IT DOESN'T SMELL LIKE DEATH.

The chicks kept darting closer to the strawberries, and then turning away at the last second. Such a tease, those chicks.

OMG THIS IS GOOD!

Once the first chick was brave enough to take a peck, the others quickly followed. Sometimes I wonder, if one chicken jumped off a cliff, would all the others follow? The answer is: yes, absolutely. Silly chickens.

One thing the chicks are not afraid of is eating from my hand. Soon their beaks will be too big and sharp for hand feeding, but for now it's a sweet frenzy, and the one time they do not seem scared of me. Step by step, babies. We'll get there.

Tacos and Tryouts

2013-05-06T10:51:00.001-04:00

Despite being far too short, my weekend was pretty great. Most of the good stuff happened on Saturday, since Sunday was spent working at the wine shop (now that the semester is over, I'm picking up more shifts each week) and trying to make progress on my grading (due this Wednesday! Ahhh!).

Saturday started ~~bright~~ overcast and early, because my first priority was to write my 1,000 words for the day. Then, Nathan and I poured giant cups of hot coffee and headed down to the beach. One of his friends from the paramedic program was trying out for a beach lifeguard position, and half the class went to watch and cheer him on.

It was a cold and windy morning, and I did not envy the men and women who had to swim a half a mile against a strong current and choppy waves, and then run a mile and a half down the shore. Only six people were able to complete the challenge, and everyone else will have to try again next week (I think. It was hard to hear what was going on over the wind). The only thing I know for sure is that I would be the worst lifeguard in the world, as I need to ease myself into the ocean inch by inch, even in the middle of August, when it's 105 degrees.

After tryouts were over, Nathan and I headed to our next stop - Breakfast Taco Fest, hosted by our dear friends Katie and Dory.

Fixins.

Breakfast Taco Bowl.

Breakfast Tacos are an essential part of Texas culture, and since Dory spent years living in Austin, she knew how to fix 'em right. I enjoyed a large portion of migas, topped with avocado, cilantro, salsa, and soyriozo, and washed it all down with many a mimosa. There was a nice turnout of friends, and you have to love a party that starts at 11:30AM.

Perhaps the best part of the party, however, was a family recipe for a beverage that is brewed and served in a (clean, unused) paint can. It involved fresh squeezed citrus, whiskey, sugar, ice, and mint. Once it was ready, we passed that paint can around and went. to. town.

Dory serves the drink.

This is a family affair.

Passing it on.

Delicious!

Of course, our early morning at the beach and our day-drinking meant that Nathan and I fell asleep on our couch at approximately 9:30PM. I reget nothing.

Sunday was also good, even though no paint can drinks were involved. I wrote my words, ran six miles, worked my wine shop shift, graded a few papers, and almost caught up on Parks & Rec. And now it is Monday, and I'm still grading, but that's okay. I've got a pot of coffee and a red pen and I will finish these papers today if it kills me. Better get to it!

Yahoo, Y'all

2013-05-03T07:07:00.000-04:00

In my endless quest for enough money to pay the bills, get rid of some debt, and keep my wine rack stocked, I've been pursuing a few side jobs. One of which is to become a Yahoo Contributor, writing freelance articles that are then published on various Yahoo sites.

Before you congratulate me on landing such a lucrative and prestigious gig, you should know a few things. The first is that anyone can become a contributor. All you have to do is create a profile and wait for "assignments" to come across your "desk." If one of them looks appealing, you claim it, write it, submit it, and wait to see if it's accepted. Once it's published, you then have to promote your piece because you are, naturally, paid by pageviews. If you're really ambitious, you can submit your articles based on your own ideas, and I think those might pay better, but so far I haven't had time to go that route. Soon.

Part of me thinks the whole thing is a racket, while part of me hopes this turns out to be an actual way to make some cash. I'm going to give it a shot for a few weeks and see if it's worth my while.

If you want to read any of my articles, I'll post a few of them at a time in an ocassional post. Let me know if you like them, and feel free to pass them along to friends, family, coworkers, or complete strangers. A click is a click, after all.

DIY Wedding Flower Fail - The assignment was to recount a horrible wedding mistake you made. I considered writing about how the party bus crashed into a ditch on the way to pick us up at the end of the night, but since that was really out of my hands, I went with a minor flower mishap instead.

How the Library Changed the Way I Eat - I tell this story all the time, so it was pretty easy to write. Also, this is not the only instance of me reading a book and dramatically altering my life in some profound way. Someone should probably take away my library card. I have already made over four dollars with this one! (That's a lot, in case you were wondering.)

Work in Progress: April

2013-05-02T08:40:00.004-04:00

There's not much to report for April as far as my novel goes - I knew it would be a hard month on my own writing, and I was right. The last few weeks of school are always crazy, and while I managed to make a little progress on other writing projects (a few revisions, a few submissions, a contest entered and already lost), the novel remained a mostly unopened file. Because I knew this would happen, I'm not too broken up about it. Plus, now that the semester is behind me, I'm excited and eager to jump back into my own work. So, since there's hardly anything to say about April, let's talk instead about my writing goals for May.

My plan is to write at least 1,000 words a day from May 1 until August 31, and right now I am two for two. (I netted 1165 words yesterday and 2633 words this morning!) While I know it's only day two, and I should probably hold off on the celebrating, I can't help it - especially considering I've written more in the last two days than I have in the last two months. Summer, you are off to a good start.

A few friends and I are also reviving the Summer Workshop we ran last year. It's run like a regular workshop, except with alcoholic beverages and no academic pressure. I think I'm up for workshop four or five times, and I'm looking forward to it, as always. At first, I thought I would submit chapters of my novel, but one of my favorite professors advised me to hold my book close, at least while it's still so young. I think he's right - I'm still figuring things out, but I'm at a point where I need to do that on my own, without too many outside voices. So instead, I'll workshop other pieces, a revised version of my chicken essay, a short story I wrote last winter, some prose poem-like things that I've been playing with. And then, in the quiet of the mornings, after I've let the birds out and fed the dogs, but before Nathan gets up, I will write my one thousand words and make the progress that I've been looking forward to for so long.

I feel like it's a solid plan, and I'm grateful that, despite working a million part time jobs this summer, I have the time and flexibility to write as much as I can. It's going to be a wonderful and productive Summer of Writing, and I'm so glad it's finally here.

A Feminist Kitchen

2013-05-01T08:44:00.001-04:00

I read the recent Salon article, "Is Michael Pollan a Sexist Pig?" with raised eyebrows. I enjoy a lot of Pollan's work and don't remember being particularly enraged by it, and while it didn't turn me against Pollan, it did make me think. Inflammatory headline aside, the article is mostly about the current popularity of homesteading and DIY pursuits, and how the ones making fresh baked bread from scratch and grinding soap for the family's laundry detergent tends to be the ladies. On the one hand, I agree with the premise, and it makes me a bit uncomfortable to think that I am essentially sending myself back to the kitchen. I can't help but wonder how many more words I could write, how much more money I could make, if I just said to hell with it and survived on Indian takeout and frozen pizza. On the other hand, cooking and gardening and working towards self-sufficiency gives me a satisfaction that has nothing to do with the fact that I have a uterus. I feel deeply that living close to the earth is an essential part of being an authentic human being, and that it's a worthy pursuit. So the problem, as I see it, isn't that women are embracing a "new domesticity," but that they aren't sharing these new chores (as joyful as they may be) with the men in their lives.

(And I hope it's obvious that the experience of this "new domesticity" is one that is rooted in the middle class, with the assumption that the people who are pursuing these hobbies and this way of life are doing so by choice, and not by necessity. Hobbies are only fun when they're not mandatory. Also, this whole discussion is very heteronormative, because that's my experience. I would love to hear how gay homesteading couples divvy up their chores.)

While Nathan and I share the duties of house cleaning and yard work equally, the kitchen is where we depart. I am absolutely the person who does the meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking. And while I enjoy those tasks, I occasionally feel resentful about the fact that his interest in cooking begins and ends with putting a frozen veggie burger in the toaster oven. This is the main difference in our personalities - Nathan eats to live, and I live to eat. But it's a flimsy excuse, and I think the bigger issue is that he's never felt the need to learn how to make more than two or three dishes. Is this because he's a man, and men aren't expected to do a lot of cooking? Is it because I like to cook and claimed that chore, while he takes charge of other things, like cleaning the bathroom? (And thank god for that, because I hate cleaning bathrooms.) It's hard to tell what chores we've been drawn to naturally, and what influence society and gender expectations have had. Asking those questions is both annoying (why can't I just do the things I want?) and fascinating (why do I want to do these things?).

Rachel sums up the article and a few responses nicely on her blog, and the comments on her post are worth a read. Rachel also discusses the book Radical Homemakers, which I've added to my summer reading list, mostly because of this description: [the book is] pushing families to become units of production (raising/growing/making their own food, sewing their own clothes, trading skills and homemade goods with other families, etc.) instead of units of consumption.

I read that line, and I thought: YES. While it may seem that my goals are cute baby chicks and fresh baked cookies, a charming line of clean laundry in the backyard and a bustling garden in the raised beds, these are all symptoms of a bigger, more important desire - the desire to take care of ourselves, and each other. As far as homesteading goes, we're absolutely beginners. We learn as we go. Our failures nearly outnumber our successes. And yet those mistakes are part of the process, along with figuring out to balance chores and duties, and how best to share - and enjoy - the work of living.

Bees, Books, and Bravery

2013-04-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

We are bad beekeepers. You might think that considering we're amateurs, I should cut us some slack and accept that beekeeping has a steep learning curve. But it's hard to see it as a process when there are living creatures who might suffer because of my inexperience. When we lost one of our two hives last summer to a nasty hive beetle infestation, I was disappointed and a bit ashamed, but consoled myself with the fact that our second hive was still going strong. It was always active and busy, and even though it also had hive beetles (a common occurrence in the Carolinas) the bees seemed to have things under control. At any rate, winter came, the hive slowed down and basically became inactive for months, and I was secretly relieved. Beekeeping is hard. Bee stings are painful. Opening the hive, even with the smoker, even while wearing protective gear, is nerve racking. I was grateful for the break.

But now it's spring, and we need to open the hive again. We keep putting it off, mostly because the weather has been so weird - a few days of warmth, then the temperature plummets again, and we want to wait until it's consistently above 57 degrees before we crack the lid.

But there's another reason I want to wait, and it's because I'm scared. I'm scared that the bees will be gone, that the honey will be slimed, that the bees we see are scouts from another hive stealing our stores (unlikely, but possible). I'm scared that we'll open it up, and the smoke will be too hot, and the bees will sting us, and we'll have to run away as fast as we can. I'm scared of failing, and when it comes to beekeeping there are so many things that can go wrong.

But there are also so many things that can go right. And I know that once we get the hang of beekeeping, it will be worth the stings and the failures and the fear. And the only way to get the hang of it is to do it.

To pump myself up, and as research for my novel, I started reading Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey. I'm only two chapters in, but so far I love it. From the back of the book: "Part history, part love letter, Robbing the Bees is a celebration of bees and their magical produce, revealing the varied roles of bees and honey in nature, world civilization, business, and gastronomy." Basically, the author spends three years shadowing an accomplished beekeeper in Florida, writing about a typical year in his life, while weaving in her own love of bees as well as the history and mythology of these amazing insects. I feel like I've already learned so much in the thirty pages that I've read, and better yet, I feel inspired to light up the smoker and open the hive, to step into the world of these amazing insects myself.

So that's our goal for this week, as soon as it stops raining and we have a morning together. Open the hive, visit the bees, and be brave. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Letting Go, Holding On

2013-04-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend was so nice - productive and relaxing, active and restful, social and doing my own thing. One of the highlights is pictured above - a Bloody Mary at Boca Bay, where I had brunch with a bunch of my MFA friends, in honor Lucy's graduation and pending departure from North Carolina. Not pictured: the two plates of food from the buffet I consumed, despite the fact that I already had breakfast. Pictured: my lovely friends, who smiled for the camera after I informed them that, starting right then, I was going to photograph things other than baked goods and chickens. My friends are very patient.

Thanks, guys!

Lucy and Matt.

Lucy, in case you don't have the pleasure of knowing her, is one of my favorites. Funny, caring, awesome at board games, friend to all cats, great writer of nonfiction, and author of the best Facebook status updates the Internet has ever seen. We've spent many nights drinking too much wine, eating her home-cooked Indian food, singing karaoke, playing games, workshopping our essays, and discussing our pets/lives. UNCW won't be the same without her, so naturally we had to say goodbye (and celebrate her accomplishments) with brunch - a bittersweet breakfast for sure. Luckily we get her for another week, so I'm sure there will be more goodbyes to come. With some people, you can never have enough.

When not drowning my feelings in fried potatoes and Bloody Marys, I spent the rest of my weekend doing various things around the house - things I had been dreaming about doing for months, but didn't have the time or the energy. Things like:

Framing one of our wedding invitations and hanging it in the living room. Mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning the chicken coop. Taking the dogs on two walks a day.

Making a huge batch of homemade granola. (I followed my friend Eralda's recipe - it's full of nuts and seeds, hearty, healthy and keeps me full all morning.)

And weeding my closets and filling three bags with things to donate and giveaway. Over the last few months, I've added some minimalism blogs to my regular rotation, and they've inspired me to pare down my belongings, starting with my clothing. For years, I had a terrible habit of buying things from the discount rack because they were cheap - I'd take home a sweater or a t-shirt, even if I didn't love it, because it was only five dollars. But because I didn't love it, I never wore it, and seeing all the things in my closet that I didn't actually like made me hate my wardrobe Now when I look in my closet I see things I enjoy wearing, things that make me feel comfortable, pretty. Things I forgot I owned because I was too busy hating all those cheap impulse buys. In this case, having less options makes things easier, and I suspect that's true for a lot of things. I will be blogging more about my forays into minimalism, but for now I'm relieved to have conquered my closet.

I hope you had a lovely weekend as well, and that you're starting the week refreshed and ready to go. As for me, today's agenda includes drinking a giant cup of coffee, making progress on my grading, hitting up a yoga class at the YMCA, and baking a double batch of vegan jalapeno cornbread for tonight's End of the Year Reading. Better get to it!

Finished (For Now)

2013-04-26T08:20:00.003-04:00

Friends, I have good news: I am officially done teaching for the semester! I still have to grade a huge pile of work, of course, but prepping lesson plans, searching for readings, thinking up exercises, standing in front of a group of sometimes-interested undergrads, and trying to make them understand the things I am talking about? OVER. DONE. SEE YOU IN THE FALL.

I know I have been a broken record this semester, ~~complaining~~ mentioning over and over how busy I've been, but can we review once more? For old times' sake? First, there was my own coursework - a novel writing workshop, which provided roughly 100 pages of reading and critiquing for each class; a creative nonfiction workshop, which demanded weekly workshops of small pieces in the first half of the semester (and which encouraged me to write a bunch of little things that have a lot of promise) and, later, two essays for workshop per week; and Ecotone, our literary magazine, for which I diligently read through the slush pile and helped make editorial decisions about what should go in the journal, and how and what to tweak for publication (AKA, yet another shit ton of reading, and yes, that is an exact measurement). I personally wrote and workshopped about 130 pages of my own writing, which, my god. I guess I was more productive this semester than I felt.

Because here's the thing: being busy and being productive are not the same. Part of the reason I was so busy was not because of everything I just wrote in the previous paragraph. It was because of what I wrote in the very first paragraph of this post - my teaching load. I taught two classes this semester, and I had about 35 students total. The most time consuming class was Introduction to Creative Writing - 19 students, who must learn the basics of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry in just four short months. In addition, they also get to workshop their own writing three times - a short story, an essay, and 3-5 poems. That is 57 workshops for one class. FIFTY. SEVEN. I hadn't done the math until just now, but it's no wonder I am experiencing serious workshop burn out. Luckily, my students were wonderful - engaged, enthusiastic, and they laughed at all my puns. Basically a graduate teaching assistant's dream.

But that's all over now, at least until September. I still have a few loose ends to tie up before I'm officially done with Spring 2013, but for the first time in months, I feel like I finally have room to breath. I am so grateful for the chance to do what I love every day, to make writing and teaching my life, but passion is exhausting. I'm ready to watch a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon while drinking wine and painting my nails. I've earned at least that much.

Another thing I've earned: simple, cheap, and delicious recipes that require minimum effort and deliver maximum flavor, such as the dinner pictured above, which I threw together last night after my last day of teaching, and before we headed to the launch part for the latest issue of Ecotone. Red beans and brown rice, topped with poor man's guacamole (IE, one avocado, mashed with the juice of two limes and a generous shake of garlic salt). Besides the guacamole, I followed the recipe exactly, and I recommend you do the same. It's over at Eat, Live, Run, and it's worth it.

I hope Friday treats you right, and that you're looking forward to an excellent weekend. See y'all on the other side!

New Little Friends, The Long Version

2013-04-24T11:36:00.003-04:00

Louise II and Hilda.

As I've mentioned before, Nathan and I planned to expand our flock with a few new chicks, especially since we just finished building a huge chicken coop in our backyard (which our landlady doesn't seem to mind/notice, bless her heart). We talked about getting the chicks as early as March - the plan was to buy some babies from the farm store around Easter, and keep them under a heat lamp in the guest bedroom for a few weeks before moving them into the smaller coop. They would live there until they were big enough to hold their own with the older ladies, and then we'd put them in the big coop and hope the pecking order wasn't too painful. (The pecking order is a real thing, and if you just toss those baby chicks in with the older hens before they are big enough, the older hens will maim and possibly kill the defenseless chicks. Hens are not swayed by impossible cuteness.)

The plan went awry immediately, when the farm store sold out of chicks before I could buy any, and informed me that they wouldn't have any more chicks this season. Bollocks. I turned to Craigslist, checking it daily, but people never wrote back, or they did write back but Nathan and I couldn't coordinate a time where we'd both be available to pick them up. (We will not meet people from Craigslist alone, as a general rule, and as I've mentioned ad nauseum this semester has been really busy.) Finally, this past Sunday, I saw an ad for two silver laced Wyandottes, one of the breeds I was interested in. Good layers, friendly birds, and lovely black and white feathers. (Yes, I am concerned about the color of my chickens. My current hens are two red and one golden, and I wanted some diversity.) I emailed the lady, we set up a time, and off we went. Less than half an hour later, I had two adorable babies in my lap and a huge smile on my face.

SO EXCITED.

New girls.

Side note: I didn't realize until after we arrived that the lady had gotten these chicks from a hatchery, which I don't personally support. These places hatch chicks by the hundreds, mail them to customers when they're a day old, and often kill the males as soon as they've been identified. While I don't know anything about the particular hatchery she ordered from, I think it's safe to say that a large scale hatchery probably has practices that don't jive with my humane, compassionate, vegetarian ideals. Still, I wasn't directly supporting the hatchery. The chicks would be sold to someone, no matter what. And I knew I could give them a good life. Thus, I handed over the cash and took the chicks home. Next time, I'll do my best to obtain chicks in a more responsible manner. I will say that these two chicks seem extra docile and sweet. All they want to do is cuddle, and they kept nodding off in my lap. It was so adorable I nearly couldn't stand it.

This is actually Erica's lap.

The next day, Nathan went to work and I went to my computer, because I had eleven workshop letters to write for Tuesday, no joke. I decided to take a mid-afternoon break and ride my scooter to the farm store for chicken feed. While I was there, I ran into my friends Jen and Paul, who pointed out the sign outside the store: "Ask Chuck About Chicks: $2.50 Each." I couldn't resist, and so I asked for Chuck, and he plopped a large box in front of me, full of week-old chicks. I was tempted, but I just bought two chicks the day before. "What kind are they?" I asked. "Ameraucana," he said. And that pretty much sealed the deal. Ameraucanas are also knew as "Easter Egg Chickens," because they lay eggs with lovely blue shell. I told him I would take two, and he immediately knocked a dollar off the price. Then he threw another chick in for free, because "it will grow up and look just like a hawk!" How could I refuse that kind of salesmanship? Lucky for me, Jen and Paul offered to drive the box of chicks to my house, since I didn't think my new wee ones would appreciate a scooter ride.

They're multiplying!

The one in the front with the pretty eyes is Zelda.

The Wyandottes were wary of the Ameraucanas when I added them to their brooding box, but they settled down quickly. By the end of the day, they were sleeping in a big cuddle puddle, which, oh my god, SO CUTE. Finishing that pile of workshop letters was very difficult, let me tell you.

Cuddle puddle!

I decided to surprise Nathan with the new chicks. He got home around dinner time, and I said, in my best worried voice:

"I think there's something wrong with the chicks."

"What?" Nathan said.
"I don't know. They're just acting weird. I think they might be sick. Can you look at them?"

"Fine," he sighed, clearly tired from a long day spent riding an ambulance and in no mood to deal with more sick creatures. He went into the guest bedroom, looked into the box, and furrowed his brow. "Hm," he said. "They seem to be multiplying." And I started laughing, because I am a terrible liar.

The chicks are still doing well - they're pretty quiet, which means they're comfortable, and they spend a lot of time sleeping in their little pile. They're sweet, and don't mind being picked up, and let me state for the record that if you are having a bad day, picking up a tiny little chicken and whispering sweet nothings into her fluff will definitely cure anything that ails you.

Cheep, cheep!

So now we have eight chickens - more than I meant to get, but can you blame me? Also, there's no telling who's a hen and who's a roo, so we'll see how many of these babies end up staying with us. For now, I will love each of them wholly, snuggle them judiciously, and call them all girls because I'm an optimist. <3

New Little Friends

2013-04-23T06:57:00.001-04:00

I swear I only meant to add two new chicks to our flock this year. Somehow, I ended up with five. There's a very logical explanation for this (basically: chicks are really, really cute and I cannot resist them) but you'll have to wait a few days for the full story and a proper introduction. It's the last week of the semester (finally!) and I have a million things to do before Thursday. After Thursday, though, I am free, free, free until August, and you better believe this blog is going to come back to life in a serious way.

Until then, I have papers to grade, poems to workshop, and chicks to snuggle. It's a rough life, I'll tell you that much.

Dairy-free Chocolate Coconut Loaf

2013-04-19T09:02:00.002-04:00

It's been a rough week. I had been complaining about all the usual things - end of semester stress, workshop fatigue, money issues - but between the tragedy at the Boston Marathon, and the explosion in West Texas, things have been placed firmly in perspective. It might seem odd to go from human pain and suffering to chocolate cake, but for me, baking is a coping mechanism and a comfort. It's no wonder I was driven to the kitchen.

This cake happened on Wednesday night. I finished up a shift at the wine store at 6:30, rode my scooter home, walked the dogs, and ate some leftovers for dinner. Nathan was working late and I had a huge pile of student poems to grade, but I couldn't bring myself to sit down in front of my computer. I felt unsettled, sad, and disappointed in the world. The only solution was to bake.

Our cupboards are pretty bare, but I knew I had flour, a bag of sugar, some cocoa powder, and plenty of eggs, thanks to the ladies. Cookies seemed like too much work, and cakes are for celebrations. I finally decided to make a chocolate loaf - simple, sweet, and unassuming. A perfect mid-week treat.

I ended up following a Martha Stewart recipe almost exactly, with two important alterations. First: I made the loaf dairy free by substituting 3/4 cup of buttermilk with 3/4 cup of almond milk, mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. (DIY vegan buttermilk!) I did use eggs, which is new and different for me, as I was a flax meal devotee before getting our own chickens. And finally, instead of sprinkling the loaf with chocolate chips, I gave it a generous dusting of unsweetened coconut flakes prior to baking it. This turned out to be an excellent choice.

I cleaned the kitchen while the loaf baked, and by the time it was done I felt better - more centered, more peaceful, and more accepting of the world as a balance of horror and beauty. Such is the power of the kitchen.

Recipe here.

Boston

2013-04-16T21:59:00.001-04:00

I heard the news on Twitter first, when I was taking a break from reading my students' poems, and then I forgot about the poems and spent the next hour clicking through image after image, video after video, message after message, trying to put together the story from the pieces that were rushing out of Boston. I felt sick, and horrified, and angry. I wondered what the world had come to, if there was any hope for the human race.

The Boston Marathon hits close to home. I've run marathons. I've cheered on the sidelines. I belong to the running and racing community, and I know that it's a place of camaraderie and acceptance, of challenges and victories. That someone, anyone, would want to attack that simple joy in such a violent way - it's just awful, and it makes me so deeply sad.

This morning I ran four miles in the sunshine, kept company by a cool breeze. I thought about Boston, and I felt grateful for this life, as fragile as it is. I thought about what it means to be a runner, to push myself through the hardest miles, to spend hours alone looping around my neighborhood, to pin a bib to my shirt and race against myself. Running didn't come easy to me - I fought for every mile - and I know that logging those miles, week after week, has made me a stronger, braver person. I know that I'll run another marathon one day, and when I do it'll be for more than just myself.

I'm not sure how to end this post. I wanted to write something inspiring and uplifting, but I'm just not there yet. So instead I will say this: Keep hoping. Keep loving. And, no matter what happens, keep running.

PSA: The Marriage Penalty

2013-04-15T07:58:00.003-04:00

Image Credit

We filed our taxes yesterday. This might lead you to believe that we waited until the last minute, seeing as they were due today, but that is not the case. I actually started our taxes back in February. I figured since we're so broke, we'd naturally be entitled to a tidy little refund.

And so, that fateful day in February, I logged into my old standby, TurboTax, and started answering a series of questions. When I was asked about my marital status on December 31, 2012, I clicked "married" and indicated that we'd be filing together, before continuing on my merry way. When I got to the end of the questions, and all our information had been entered, I saw that we were NOT getting a refund this year. In fact, we OWED money.

I have never owed taxes in all my life, and neither has Nathan. I figured I must have done something wrong - I'm no tax expert - so I closed the TurboTax window and created a new profile in TaxSlayer. Same thing. Back to TurboTax. Fill in everything exactly the same, but as if I were still legally single. And there's my refund! Except I'm not single, so that's illegal. But I thought marriage was supposed to be a tax benefit? I thought this was part of the fight for gay marriage - equality and basic human dignity, yes, but tax breaks too. So why would getting married penalize us?

As it turns out, marriage only provides a tax break in certain situations. In other situations, it's just as common to get hit with a marriage penalty. I found a decent (though extremely sexist) explanation for this phenomenon here. ("John is an engineer who makes $72,000 a year. Suzy is a teacher who makes $30,000." Nice.) Basically, it has to do with tax brackets, and disparate incomes, and how many dependents you claimed on your W-4s back when you were single, and how that changes once you're married. Here's the advice our sexist website provides:

Good Tax Idea: When you start planning for your wedding (or if you are going to elope) and you work for somebody – go to your human resources department and change your W-4 only after you have sat down and crunched the numbers as to what your combined income will be. Once you know your tax bracket, and depending on what you want as a couple – Do you both want a refund? Do you both want to owe just a little? Plan your deductions accordingly.

Nathan and I got married at the end of the year, but that doesn't matter for tax purposes. As far as the IRS is concerned, we must file as married for all of 2012, even though we were legally married for less than two months by the end of the year. So what we should have done is update our W-4 in early January, knowing that we'd be have to file as married. Not very romantic, but neither is owing a bunch of money you don't currently have.

Even after I learned this new information, I was still in denial. Our combined income for 2012 still wasn't very high - I'd made nearly that much as a single person when I worked full time in Texas, and I got a decent refund then. So I kept reading, and learned this tidbit from SmartMoney.

At higher income levels, the tax rate brackets for joint filers are not twice as wide as the rate brackets for singles... On the other hand, many married couples actually collect a tax bonus from being married. If one spouse earns most or all of the taxable income, it's highly likely that filing jointly will reduce your tax bill (the marriage bonus).
Bottom Line: If you and your new spouse both earn healthy and fairly equal incomes, you'll likely fall victim to the marriage penalty. If not, you'll likely collect the marriage bonus.

While I would not call our income for 2012 "healthy," it turns out we made just enough to push us into the next tax bracket. That, combined with filing our initial W-4s as single people, means that yes, we actually owe the government money. Only once I accepted this fact, I was able to finish filing our taxes. So you can understand why I waited until April 14th. Denial is real, y'all.

Luckily, we found some deductions (Nathan qualified for a Lifetime Learning Credit, due to his paramedic classes) so we were able to bring the amount we owed down a few hundred dollars. It's still a lot of money to owe when we have so little, but not quite as scary. We decided to set up an installment plan with the IRS (an option if you've always filed on time in the past, owe less than $10,000, and haven't paid via installments in the last five years). While we will get charged interest, it's better than our other option - paying with a credit card. On the bright side, next year will be much better, since we're both going to school full time this year, and thus cobbling together part time gigs to (barely) pay the bills. Tax refund, we WILL meet again.

And that concludes this Public Service Announcement I know money is boring and taxes are the worst, but I wanted to put this out there for any other couples who are planning to get hitched. Crunch the numbers and update your W-4s, or else you'll be celebrating your first anniversary with a fancy dinner of stale crackers and cheap beer.

If you're married, did you get hit with the penalty, or the bonus? If you got a refund this year, how will you spend it? Last year I spent most of mine on our wedding venue, which now strikes me as ironic.

Work-In-Progress: March

2013-04-13T06:53:00.000-04:00

Research is delicious.

I'm a bit late with my March update. I wish I could say it's because I was busy making tons of progress on my book, but alas: it's the last month of the semester, and I have no time for anything outside of survival. Still, March wasn't a total wash. I made some important steps in the direction of a finished draft, even if those steps do not translate directly to word count.

My goal for last month, you may recall, was to finish a rough outline for the book, to write ~25 more pages, and to meet with my thesis advisor to discuss what I've got and where to go. Two of these things were completed. I finished the outline and felt great about it - even better after my advisor looked it over and said it was "an excellent use of my time" and that it "feels like a real book." He seems to think I am capable of actually writing this thing, which is a lovely feeling. ("What would you have done if I hadn't liked the outline?" he asked. "Written it anyway, I hope?" "No," I said. "I probably would have cried and started over." Sad, but true.)

I did not write anywhere close to 25 more pages, though I did rewrite chapter one and officially submit my thesis proposal. I also found out, earlier this week, that my thesis advisor just received a Fulbright and will spend all of next year abroad. Great for him, not so great for my thesis. I'll have to be reassigned to a new advisor, which is... not ideal... but should be fine. I like all the professors in my department, and it would be an honor to work with any of them. It's just the up-in-the-air aspect of everything that makes me feel uneasy. I guess this is an exercise in trust and letting go, or something. I am doing my best to be graceful about it.

As for April and on: I'd like to write a chapter a week, now that I've banged out a very thorough outline and know pretty much what will happen over the course of the book. I stole some time from my schoolwork and students to get a little done this morning while thunderstorms raged outside my bedroom window. I made it halfway through chapter two, so that's something. The real work will begin in May, when I will try to write at least 1,000 words a day. Until then, I'll take what I can get, and keep my on the prize - that is, the end of the semester, and the beginning of my literary marathon.

Orange Marinated Tempeh with Collards and Grains

2013-04-11T09:39:00.001-04:00

I'm sure by now everyone and their mother has read the New York Times opinion piece about how we're all (and by "all," I mean middle class folk) stuck in "the busy trap" - that is, scheduling our time with tasks and meetings and Things To Do, so we never have a spare moment in which to spontaneously appreciate the presence. I'm guilty of this, to an extend. On the one hand, I do indeed feel incredibly busy and daily lament the fact that I have no time to, for example, get a haircut, or read a book for pleasure, or go on a date with my husband. On the other hand, when I look at my life, try to figure out what I can trim away to free up some space, everything seems too essential. It's not like I can just skip class, or throw away those student papers instead of grading them, or tell the dogs, sorry, but I'm not walking or feeding you today, tough luck. The nature of my life at this moment, the life I have chosen, keeps me pretty busy. But it's also temporary - I won't always be in school, working two jobs, making not enough money (okay, I'll probably always be making not enough money, but I'm okay with that). One day, I will have less to do, and more time to live. For now, I'm busy and that's okay.

Which brings us to this recipe. I used to post recipes fairly often, but the last year has seen a sharp decline in my kitchen activities. Frozen vegan pizzas, frozen veggie burgers, fried eggs on toast, bowls of cereal, peanut butter and jelly. This is what we've been surviving on, and while it's not the world's worst diet, it could be better. I miss putzing around the kitchen, tinkering with spices and sauces, pulling homemade dinners and cookies and breads out of the oven, filling the house with mouthwatering scents. Thus a new goal: to cook something simple and delicious at least once a week, and to share the recipe here. Because if there's one thing I need to do more often, it's slow down, take a deep breath, sit at the table, and share a meal with the ones I love.

Orange Marinated Tempeh with Collards and Grains

adapted from Callista's Homepage

You will need:

1 block of tempeh

1 bunch of collard greens

your favorite grain

for the marinade:

1/2 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp soy sauce

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp maple syrup

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

Directions:

Put a small pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, chop the tempeh into thin strips. Add the tempeh to the boiling water, and leave it there for about 6-8 minutes. (I like to boil my tempeh because I feel like it mellows the natural flavor of the tempeh, and helps it absorb the marinade. But I could also be completely delusional.) While the tempeh is boiling, whisk together the ingredients for the marinade.

Remove the tempeh from the boiling water and place it in a shallow baking dish. Pour the marinade over it and let it sit for an hour or so. Meanwhile, chop your greens up into thin strips. (I usually go with collards, mostly because I planted too many in my garden and I have to keep thinking of new ways to eat them. Also: very high in calcium!)

After your hour is up, heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat and spray with olive oil. Remove the temeph from the baking dish with a slotted spoon, reserving the marinade. Fry that tempeh up until it's golden brown and crispy; remove from pan and place on a plate.

Now, throw your collards greens into that same pot. Add a little water and cover it, so they begin to wilt. After a minute or two, pour the remaining marinade over the greens and let them cook until the marinade is dissolved and the greens are well done. Add the tempeh back to the pan and mix it up. Serve immediately over your favorite prepared grain. (I usually go with quinoa or brown rice, though this time I used a fancy harvest blend from Trader Joe's, which was pretty delicious.)

Enjoy!

Our New Chicken Coop!

2013-04-10T07:31:00.000-04:00

After months of planning, hammering, painting, roofing, and stapling, it's finally done. And I have to say - our New and Improved Chicken Coop is a beauty! But before I give you the full tour, a little background.

When we first decided to get chickens, we obviously had to build a coop. After reviewing city ordinances and looking at some photos online, we decided to build a simple A-frame. It would be easy to move around the yard, we could take it with us when we moved to a new place, and it would provide enough square footage for up to four lovely ladies.

And we were right - on the first two accounts. As it turns out, the minimum square footage per chicken the city requires is not exactly generous. We realized this as soon as our chicks were full grown. Even though we only had three chickens (poor Lou...) I could tell they weren't happy. The coop was crowded, they didn't have enough room to run around and dig for things, and every time I walked by they pecked at the door, as if begging for freedom. Once in a while, I'd put them in our fenced-in backyard for some free range time, which they loved, but the dogs made this difficult. We decided we needed a bigger coop, and some time around Christmas we Nathan started drawing up plans.

We started building over winter break, in early January, and we had dreams of finishing before school started again. Obviously, that didn't happen. We've both been so busy this semester that we were only able to work on the coop in spurts. Meanwhile, the chickens were getting more and more impatient to settle in to their new digs. So much pressure! A few weeks ago, we had some nice weather, and we spent two straight days working on the coop. While we still want to do some cosmetic stuff (white trim to cover the sharp edges of chicken wire, a window box to plant herbs, a gutter for the rain barrel) it's close enough that the chickens could finally move it. As far as I can tell, they love it.

So, without further ado, our coop:

We knew we wanted a large run, a bigger indoor area, a window we could open during the hottest summer nights, and a roof to give the ladies shade and keep them relatively dry. The run is huge - about 140 square feet in all - with plenty of space to expand our flock (hopefully by the end of April!).

The best thing about our new design is that it's so tall I can easily walk through the door (pictured above) and walk around the coop without ducking my head or crouching down, as I had to do in the A-frame. This makes it really easy to clean, refill their food and water, and hang out with the ladies.

On the other end of the coop, there are two sets of doors. The first leads to the chickens' upstairs area, where their roost and nesting boxes are located. (Is there an official term for this area? We just say "upstairs" and "downstairs" when discussing the coop amongst ourselves.) The second door leads to a separate storage space.

These are the fancy door knobs I got at World Market. Just $1.99 a piece, and totally worth the splurge. They're useful and beautiful, and I just know the chickens appreciate them.

This is the inside of the chickens' area (AKA, upstairs). To the left we have their roost, to the right (below the window) their nesting box. If you look closely, you can also see their entrance. It has a door that swings into the coop, and we latch it closed at night, once they've gone to bed. We also installed a linoleum floor, which is covered by hay in this photo, to help with - ahem - clean up, if you know what I'm saying.

One of the best improvements to this design is the roost. In the A-frame, the roost was low to the ground and on the short side. Chickens prefer to roost pretty high up there, and so we took that desire into account. The first level is six inches off the ground, the second is eighteen inches high, and there's about a foot of space between the two roosts. Each roost is about five feet long. The first few nights they were in the new coop, they slept huddled under the nesting box, but by the fourth night, they were happily lined up on the highest roost.

We built three boxes, which is more than we need. They almost always use the box closest to the door, which is convenient for me. These are actually the nesting boxes from our old coop - we plan to build new ones eventually.

Next door to the chickens area is our storage area, where we keep a bale of hay, my egg collecting basket, extra chicken wire, and some cleaning supplies. It's great to have everything in one place and makes coop upkeep a breeze.

The roof was one of the most expensive parts of the coop. (We bought the majority of our supplies with gift cards to the hardware store that we received as wedding gifts.) We initially wanted to buy corrugated metal for the roof but the store didn't have enough in stock, so we ended up with corrugated PVC. Because we had such a large area we wanted to roof, it ended up costing about $200. So really, the roof was a much bigger splurge than those damned door knobs. Even with a few days of heavy, North Carolina rain, the chickens were protected and they run didn't flood, so the roof was worth the extra cash.

We scored this window at the Habitat Resale Store, and Nathan pretty much designed the shape and size of the coop around it. Chickens are fairly cold-hardy birds, but we live in Wilmington, where summers can be brutally hot and humid. The window helps with ventilation and should help the ladies stay comfortable in August. We lined the inside of the window with wire, to keep predators out and the chickens in.

The ramp did not stay clean and white for very long. C'est la vie.

One of the nicest things about the new design is that we were able to hang their food from the bottom of the coop, and put their water on a few bricks off to the side. This, combined with the fact that they now have so much room, keeps their everything much more tidy, which means I don't have to go in there and clean it out daily.

I put a thin layer of hay on the floor of the run, just to give them something to dig around in and to help keep things clean(ish). Again, since the area is so large, I don't have to clean it as often. I also put a few tree stumps in there so they chickens can perform some aerobics.

Shortly after this photo was taken, I realized both my shoes had been untied. Silly chickens.

If you'd like a video tour of the coop, you're in luck! Nathan made this short video, and you get to see me very briefly in the beginning. Otherwise, that concludes the tour of our fancy new chicken coop. I hope you enjoyed it!

Warm and Dry

2013-04-08T15:38:00.001-04:00

Spring finally arrived in Wilmington this weekend - on Sunday afternoon, to be exact. It was a gorgeous day - clear blue skies, balmy temperatures, a feeling of peace and joy in the air. My friend Erica texted me in the middle of the day, asking if I wanted to go to the coffee shop to do schoolwork (the usual) or if I wanted to something, anything, but schoolwork instead. I asked if she wanted to walk around Greenfield lake with my dogs, and she said yes, and so we did. The lake was full of people and children and pets, and we ended up covering two miles before Calvin and Seamus collapsed in the grass, tongues lolling.

After the lake, we met some friends at a park to watch an MFA basketball game (the boys) and drink wine and eat snacks (the girls). I was going to finish this perfect day with a Mad Men watching party, but ended up falling asleep at 9:30 instead. Sunshine + day drinking + long walks with friends = ten hours of deep and glorious sleep. I'll take it.

And just in case you think my weekend was all fun and games, I did accomplish some Actual Things. Grocery shopping, working out, and reading a million pages for school, to name but a few. I also hung a clothesline in the backyard, in order to line dry both our mentionables and our unmentionables. Our dryer stopped working last week and we're not sure what's wrong with it (we bought it off Craigslist when we first moved here, and I suspect it's electrical, but who knows). We aren't in a position to call a repair person right now ($$), so a clothesline it is! And I have to say: it's not so bad. At least not in the spring, when it's warm and lovely, and the azaleas in the backyard are in bloom, and the sun is shining every day. It also has the bonus of being eco-friendly, free, and makes me feel like a real homesteader. Seriously - hanging my clothes out to dry and then collecting eggs from the coop is a pretty pleasant way to spend a few minutes each morning. Sometimes the simplest solution is also the best.

As for the week ahead, I will spend it attending the final thesis reading of the semester, helping to put together the latest issue of Ecotone, writing poetry with my students, and spending as much time outside as I possibly can. I'm looking forward to all of it!