February 06, 2005

February: Valentine's Day, Birthday, and Super Bowl

This has been a great weekend. I had a good meeting with my supervisor from the community college to start getting ready for what needs to be finished for the end of the quarter which is in the middle of March. Yes, just over a month away. It is really comforting, though, to start getting ready now because I know that things will get hectic and overwhelming if I don’t think ahead and keep up. So far I’ve been doing well with that.

My birthday is this month. I took some of my first paychecks and bought myself a piece of jewelry. There was a one-day sale at the store and I got a really good deal. The pendant was already 50% off and then the one-day sale added another 20% discount. It’s a fairly large, square, peridot with lots of facets so the light really dances and makes it brilliant. Peridot is my current favorite gemstone other than amethyst. Of course, amethyst is my birthstone. I am wearing the pendant right now and I really love how it looks. The chain is at just the right length , so it is sitting level with my collar-bone which is very flattering. It makes a lovely set with the peridot earrings that I have and a silver and green turquoise ring that I have.

Hey, if you don’t have a special someone to buy you jewelry, then you have to buy it for yourself. Seriously, ladies. If you can, you deserve it. Don’t go overboard, of course; be responsible. But if you like pretty jewelry, don’t wait until some man decides to buy one for you. I also consider the pendant a consolation gift for not having any valentine to look forward to. I don’t get as bothered by this holiday as I used to. It used to be a difficult and painful reminder of something I felt was missing. I was alone, left out in the cold. I no longer feel incomplete, but it is still a reminder of a dream that I have left behind. I have not re-opened a membership at eHharmony and I think it unlikely that I will do so. I did get slightly snippy when someone at church suggested that I go to the sweetheart dinner. He just wanted to sell a ticket and raise more money. There is still a little bit of a nerve there, but it does not hurt nearly the way that it used to years ago.

Our Super Bowl menu is barbecued beef sandwiches, potato salad, and jalepeno poppers. We have a great recipe for simple and relatively light jalepeno poppers. The filling is low-fat cream cheese with a little bit of low-fat cheddar and some fat-free mayonnaise. You cut the peppers in half lengthwise and spoon out all the seeds. Now you can put the filling into each half. Then you dip the side with the filling into egg-white and then into a small bowl of crushed corn flakes. So, just the top half is “breaded”, and the corn flakes are really crunchy. Then you bake them at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. They are not deep-fried, which cuts a lot of fat. They are pretty healthy and taste great! We love them!