WishStarHouse

I wonder how much you can tell about a person by what they have on their Amazon wishlist. Some highlights from my wishlist are Handbook of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Madeline, many cookie cutters, Nintendo Wii, Stargate SG-1 Season 2, I Love Lucy, German Christmas music, Lord of the Rings trivia game, a shower curtain, Kindle reading light, the movies Nordwand and Music of the Heart, and a set of dishes.

This evening, I watched Star Trek (the movie) and it was quite enjoyable. Netflix told me I would like it and I had been told by someone that it was actually good... and it was. Back when I was in jr. high, I taught my left hand to do the Vulcan hand sign (I didn't know it was the Vulcan sign at the time). I remember there had been a snow/ice storm and the power was out. I was on the couch under the blankets and apparently I was bored. It took extreme effort and concentration to get my muscles to separate my ring and middle fingers while keeping my ring finger next to my pinkie finger. To this day, I could never get my right hand to do it.

We're slowly moving into the new place. We took our two outdoor chairs today and now we have somewhere to sit. There are windows facing north and south with one window on the east side, and so much of the house is nice and bright. One downside: the floors are squeaky. But it's nice and we're still excited.

Random Events

If you know my mom, tell her 'happy birthday' tomorrow (the 27th).

Nidhal and I went for a drive last week. We checked out a store called By The Pound on Main St. I was expecting it to be a lot cooler than it was. But they did have chickpeas, lentils, sour peaches, and a large selection of spices. We only bought the sour peaches. I prefer sour watermelons, but after the candy store on South U. went away, I don't know where to find them.

After that we were hungry and so we decided on some Mexican food. Unfortunately, the place we wanted to go wasn't open for whatever reason (I later found out that they are closed on Sundays), so we crossed the street to Subway. However, as we were pulling up to Subway, we noticed another Mexican restaurant called La Casita and decided to give it a try. It was a small place, and more authentic than Taco Bell. I would have to say the food was average. The steak in my steak chimichanga was very chewy and not all that pleasant to eat. But the service was great and the chips and salsa were tasty. I would go again, and this time, I would order a burrito with shredded chicken. The chimichanga was just too much fried stuff.

Lately, I've been making food that reminds me of my time in Germany. A couple weeks ago, I made Flammkuchen. A couple days ago, I made pierogies. Next on the list is spaetzle. It's been so long since I've made spaetzle. Did I have a dream about spaetzle last night? It's possible...

We will probably be moving out of this apartment soon and into a bigger place. It's a two-bedroom townhouse with a basement. The square-footage is over 1000, but I'm not sure if that includes the livable but not finished basement. In any case, we're looking forward to it. This apartment really isn't that bad (it seems newer than the townhouse), but the area is not very good and the neighbors can be a pain (and completely idiotic). Nidhal knows some people in this new place and they all think it's great. So we'll probably start the moving process tomorrow and finish by the end of February. We'll move all the little stuff slowly and then take one day to rent a truck and move all the big stuff. The new place doesn't have a washing machine facility, so that's on the list of things we need to get. There's also a drier, a futon, a big desk, a space heater, another humidifier, and rugs on the list. But we'll be saving money at this place, so a lot of this should be doable. However, if you know of a good but cheap washer that needs a home, let us know. I also want my dad to make a something that can function as a kitchen counter because I hate not having enough counter space. Anyway, we're excited. Tomorrow!

Success

I have not tried to parallel park since it almost caused me to fail my driving test eight years ago. ...Well, I did try it once last semester, but the spot was big enough for two cars, so it hardly counts. Anyway, I needed to do stuff on campus today, but I had not bought a parking pass for the semester for various reasons. So I needed to find a place to park. I tried to park "illegally" in the commuter lot, but it was full and I was annoyed to begin with. I didn't want to pay for parking unless it was absolutely necessary, so I decided to see if there was a spot on a little one-way street near the various buildings that I needed. The street was packed. I had never seen it so full. But as I was driving along I saw an empty spot. It was just big enough for my car. At first, I brushed it off because I can't parallel park. But my bad mood was sufficient enough to cause me to think "what have I got to lose", and I impulsively threw the car into reverse and tried it. Perfect on the first try. I didn't even have to put the car back into drive. Reverse into the spot and fertig, finished. I was excited, despite my foul mood. And I now consider myself a parallel parking master, although there is no guarantee that I would be able to do it again.

New Year...

Happy new year!

Classes started on Wednesday. Nidhal's classes start on Monday. I think this semester should be no problem for me but a challenge for him. We spent about $500 on his textbooks. I have no books to buy.

The one thing I really miss about not having cable is the Food Network. Yesterday evening, I spent about an hour watching video clips of recipes on the website.

Not much is going on. The tree is still up. We might be moving to a bigger place soon. My food processor bowl is cracked, so I either have to try and tape it up (which I will) or buy a replacement. Certain things annoy me. My phone has stayed alive for a week without being charged. My Kindle is fun! That's about all.