Remember how Jack gave me a picture frame that said "is your refrigerator running?"
Well, this year part of his gift is this print, on a tshirt:
It's going to crack him up so much. I can't wait to give it to him!
And yes, all siblings give gifts to all other siblings... so including my parents that's 0.5 gifts down, 10.5 to go. Hey, it's a start!
Remember back when this site was Insatiable: The Girl? Good times, or what? Well it's time for I Don't Think it's Going to Rain to take a bow because there's a new kid in school: LFar Blog.
I bought www.lfarblog.com* and it's all set up and ready to go! You can change your blogroll links if you like, but insatiablelf.blogspot.com should redirect.
If you haven't clicked over from your reader in a while either, now's the time to check me out. The header is great, no? Thanks, Dave! Also, a new profile picture. Basically, total blog makeover. Do you like it?
*Special thanks to Matt and Momma Jones
I recently looked up who my professors will be next term and was pleasantly surprised to see that Fluids Dynamics II would be taught by a female. Upon seeing this, I thought to myself "good work, UWaterloo. That's four female engineering professors I've had so far!"
I am currently reading Jessica Valenti's "Full Frontal Feminism" (side note: not nearly as awesome as "He's a Stud, She's a Slut" but still pretty good) and as I read, my mind began to wander a bit, as if often does when I am being challenged to think about something differently. And I realized, holy cats, four engineering professors is not good work! I am enrolled in or have taken a total of 31 engineering courses... so only 13% of my profs have been women. Well, but then again, only 15% of first years were female, so maybe UW is doing pretty well.
At my co-op placement right now, there is only one other female in my entire department. While I'd estimate about 30-40% of people in my office are female, almost all of them are secretaries, or are in HR or accounting. Because I don't know anybody here in Texas, it has been almost three months since I conversed in person with a girl my own age. When people from the office go out for lunch together, the waiter OFTEN makes a quiet"well, aren't you outnumbered!" joke to me.
I know I should get involved and try to encourage more girls to pursue engineering. I attend WIE (women in engineering) events at my school every so often, but the events are usually either really "let's all of us girls paint each other's nails and watch teen movies!" or they're talks in which the speaker tells you that sexual harassment is only a big deal if you make it a big deal, and you should really learn how to have a harder shell and laugh things off. Which speaker? Oh yeah, that was one of the aforementioned four female profs. I am quoting verbatim here, "Don't give them material by being really girly. Just be one of the guys and you'll fit in."
I just read this article, published by UW in 2004, regarding the 18% decrease in female undergraduate enrollment from 2002 to 2004. It has recommendations for the federal government level, the provincial government level, the private sector, universities, and secondary schools. Most of these recommendations are generic things like "offer interest free loans" and only ONE at all even addresses specifically females. Secondary schools should "encourage female participation in technology programs". Nice and vague, right?
Amy Poehler has her new web show, Smart Girls at the Party (theme song: "smart girls have mooooore fun!") and I am just so jealous that she gets to be doing that. Man, imagine having that opportunity? Between the time I starting writing those post (this morning) to now (after dinner) (don't worry, I did lots of things in between that time... it doesn't take me 12 hours to write a post) I've decided that I really need to start walking the walk a bit more. I can be jealous of how great it would be to star in my own show about smart girls or I can email these girls and inquire after volunteer opportunities. Maybe I should keep going to WIE events at UW... or maybe I should start organizing my own WIE events that aren't awful.
Sometimes I just really feel like I'm doing a lot of complaining and not a lot of fixing.
Well, I've started tweeting. Twittering. Wudeva
Follow me because finding you myself is hard. Also because I think this is more fun if you have more contacts.
Tweet-out! (<-- I promise to never say that again)
Todays guest post is brought to you by
AshleyD from Turquoise Ribbons.
This is all part of the 20 Something Bloggers "Blog Swap 3".
Don't forget to go check out my post over on her site.
Look, my sisters and I know how to handle Boxing Day, okay? We're experts, really. We've got eyes for deals and elbows for nudging slow people out of the way.
But we're spending American Thanksgiving together this year in Seattle... and let's be real here: we don't know how to handle Black Friday. We've already starting emailing game plan ideas.
Email from me:
Laur- you are in charge of scouting the mall and learning the layout so that if I say "WHERE IS AMERICAN EAGLE" you will say (or use hand signals, if it's too loud) "follow me!" and take us there via the most direct route.Email from Lin:
Lin- you're in charge of hand signals
I will be in charge of looking fashionable, so people take us SERIOUSLY.
Hand signals are a MUST. Everyone please memorize this list:
Email from Laura:When I call for the line abreast formation we can not have anyone screwing it up.thank you,~ Cell Leader
Lin...that link was too funny. it made me make a "ha" at work...Email from Lin:
And guys, she's really not kidding. We are going to find the BEST DEALS.Oh, it is not funny. It is SERIOUS. Here are some examples:Situation: I see a 50% sale up aheadSign: the 'I see' followed by a '5' and a '0' Then probably a 'hurry up' and a 'file formation'.Situation: stupid teeny bop is getting in the way of me and the 50% saleSign: 'Enemy' and then a fist punching palm signal. (Which i just made up. It means 'the beating will commence')Situation: Huge LineupSign: I'll direct everyone to their positions (1 person will 'cover this area' in line, and we'll switch it up). I'll call 'rally point' when it's time to checkout.Situation: Bad smells. Maybe farts or BO.Sign: 'Gas' followed by 'Go here' and 'door'.Be ready.~ Commander
I wrote a seriously huge post that basically can be boiled down to the following two points:
1. My right quad muscle has really atrophied since my surgery two weeks ago. It is visibly smaller and way weaker than the left quad. My quads are my favourite muscle because I built them myself through lots and lots of hard work. It is very humbling to not even be able to do a single air squat now without holding onto a bar for support. Very humbling.
2. My insurance isn’t covering my physiotherapy, which means I have to choose between spending about $2000 of my own money on fixing my leg, or hoping that it’ll be okay to wait for a month and a half until I get back to Canada (where it will be free). Except for that it really won’t be okay to wait until I get back. So I’m going to see if my PT will be okay with me coming in twice a week instead of thrice, and maybe try to focus on learning exercises that I can do myself at home without any equipment. But losing that much money just really bites, adding to the misery of having ACL surgery.
But then I couldn’t post it. I used the phrase “the worst” like twenty times. I know that in general, I use that phrase pretty liberally but while proof reading my post I just was annoyed with myself and how much like sucky baby I was sounding.
I guess my negativity was probably brought on by the fact that today there was a local marathon that I had looked up and decided I wanted to do back in May, before I even got the job here in San Antonio. Those plans were thwarted long before the ACL injury, due a back injury brought on by over twisting my hips because I my legs are different lengths. And then I got all “why can't I just have a body that works?” and I think of all the people with legs of equal length who aren’t running and I start feeling bitter towards them. It feels so unfair.
Sometimes it’s hard to remember that I’m young, and I’m healthy, and I’m recovering, and though physio is expensive I have the luxury of being able to afford it. And I have two legs and I have insurance and I have a comfortable life that allows me time to go to the gym and money to afford swimming lessons and bike shorts. And I don’t even have asthma, and I don’t even need glasses, and my only allergies are ones I’ve made up (I say I’m allergic to fish but really I just don’t like it, and I say I’m allergic to penicillin but really it just gives me really bad diarrhea). Sometimes I just want to punch myself for being such a whiner.
Oh geez, and now I’m rolling my eyes at myself, kind of like “stop trying to sound selfless, assface.” But also... weak leg and no money: the worst.
Usually when I think of taco salad I think of lots of cheese, lettuce, and ground beef. I love tacos but they really aren't that healthy. However, my wonderful sister Lindsay recently suggested some healthy substitutions! Will the healthy substitutions taste as good as the regular fare? LETS FIND OUT.
We have to start with a sad moment. I opened the freezer to take out my ground beef and oh no, my mom used it to make lasagna for me during her visit when I had my surgery! Rats! I almost gave up on this meal, but my roommate is the best and encouraged me to just go buy some meat. (Will he be right? Let's find out!)
The closest grocery store is Whole Foods and they have a very small selection of ground beef. LAME. Also it was $4.99 a pound. This better be friggin delicious meat. This amount cost $3:
Let's take a moment to acknowledge how disgusting beef looks and smells when it is cooking. People eat this stuff? Cows are made of this stuff? Gross.
Okay now here's the swindling part. This wasn't ground beef at all! It looooks like ground beef but its like they made cuts on the surface. The tricksters! So it didn't crumble apart when I cooked it. I had to get a knife out and cut it up myself (yes, I burned my fingers) (Will it be worth it? Let's find out!)
Alright now we drain the meat because otherwise: gross! And then we follow the directions on the back of the taco seasoning pack (Let's not go into detail. That part was boring. Just follow the directions if you can. Basically just add an arbitary amount of water). So let that start simmering and then open the fridge. What vegetables have you got? We can use them all, pretty much!
Today I found a tomato, a red pepper, and an avocado! I also found broccoli but that would be weird in taco salad. What have you got? Almost anything is acceptable.
Alright, what else is healthy. Spinach! Okay, sure. On a plate I assembled lots of spinach, all my vegetables, and a bunch of cheese because cheese is delicious and very necessary for a proper taco salad.
And then on top of that I put the meat (once it's done. The vegetables are really patient and can wait for the meat to take as long as it needs. That's the nice part about this meal). Also then put salsa strategically (I'm not sure what strategy is best to employ, but choose one that works for you). (Will my strategy work? Let's find out!)
The other good part about this meal is called no forks! Just use tortilla chips instead!
The only other time in my whole life that I've made taco meat like this is when my whole family went away for March Break one year, leaving just me and my sister behind. We cooked like 3 lbs of ground beef and ate various forms of tacos/nachos/burritos for two meals a day for the entire week. By the end I cried during meals. It left me with a very sad memory of cooking tacos. (Also, for some reason we thought we weren't allowed to turn the heat on. And Ontario is still freezing in March. So we spent the week huddled together for warmth but I guess it was good sister bonding. That was the week I read Ender's Game which is an amazing book. So maybe it was a good week afterall. I don't know, it's hard to say).
Neeeeeedless to say, I was nervous for my second foray into cooking tacos. With all the tumult of the ostensibly ground beef my nerves were only put closer to the edge. Also the avocado was very soft- can they go rotten?
With bated breath (not really) I took my first bite and... DELICIOUS! Oh, good one. Phew. Actually, really super delicious.
Suspicious of my review? Want to make this to see for yourself? Go for it, and be your own boss but I highly suggest the avocado and tomato because they make everything really mushy and homogenous in a heterogeneous way. Is there a word for that? Grade nine science was the worst. (It was the year that you do the reproduction unit and you're just learning about mitosis and meiosis and watching a nice video and suddenly a woman is giving birth right into your face. You know the one? Holy moly.)
Other suggestions
- Diet coke is obviously not a suggestion but a necessity
- Ground turkey instead of ground beef says my sister. But turkey is sort of gross to me.
- Go heavy on the spinach for once. It's so covered in tasty stuff that you can trick yourself into eating lots of it.
Dear Skype,
Despite the fact that this is what my knee currently looks like:
I really had the best afternoon ever.
Earlier today I was looking through old photos and found some of my little brother, Jack, from a few years ago when he was hardly four years old. He still had all his baby teeth! He wasn't a giant freckle face yet! He's growing up without me while I live in Texas!
Phoning Jack is rarely much fun because he has a short attention span and the call usually ends after a few minutes with him saying "I'm bored kbye" and then he drops the phone without hanging up and walks away to do something more interesting. Jack! It crushes my feelings every time.
But with skype, that has all changed. Video interaction!
I love talking to Jack about his friends at school. He is usually pretty insightful when talking about conflicts at recess. He thinks a lot about other people's feelings and motivations. He's six! Jack told me about this stupid bully who won't let him play basketball because he thinks Jack is a ball hog (Jack says this guy makes you pass to him even if you're not on his team).
me: Why don't you just punch him in the face?
jack: Then I'd have to stay in at recess and do spelling words.
me: Want me to punch him in the face?
jack: No, then it would just be a lockdown.
I thought it was pretty funny how casually he used the term lockdown. Also, I am a good older sister and a wonderful role model, hey?
Then we watched The Simpsons together for about 10 minutes.
You know when people are like "I'll do whatever you want to do" but what they mean is "I'll do whatever you want to do as long as it's not boring, within reason." Well,, I actually mean it. I will do whatever Jack wants to do.
I watched him draw pictures of people with freckles. We took a close up look at my staple scars on my leg a few times (the first time he saw them he went out of the room screaming). He made me walk around on crutches for a few minutes. He gave me a 5 minute detailed tour of his mouth.
And skype, none of this would have been possible without you. You're free. You're so easy to use that Jack knows how to call me whenever, and can even trouble shoot by himself. Thanks.
Love Lisa
Look, I really don't spend that much time on flickr. But I'm rendered pretty much couch-ridden due to my present inability to walk (seriously crutches take a lot of arm strength! How do people do it?) so I've been spending even more time than usual perusing the internet. Eventually I stumbled upon this goodie on facebook. It was taken on the last day of class last term:
Yes, that's right. It's a photo from the book/game titled "Spot The Girls! (if you can)" Pretty ridiculous hey? (Ps yeah, so four of us dressed alike. This time it was on purpose but it happened by accident a few times, too. The old ribbed tank, capris, and tank top look. It's like a uniform for summer if you ask me.)
That said, I'm kind of excited to get back to school. I kind of like school. I think I'm going to take some time now and go look up what books I'll be needing next term. Hooray!
I just got off Skype with Jack. That kid is hilarious.
My two older sisters (Lin and Laura) and I all currently reside in America, so we get the four-day weekend for American Thanksgiving at the end of the month. But because we're Canadian, we don't really have family commitments. So we decided heck, how about the three of us meet in Seattle (where Laura lives) for some L-named sister fun times!
We've been planning this for a few months now but recently my mom suggested that she sends a Canadian family member representative. Of course, this means Jack, our 6 year old brother.
That would be THE MOST fun. We'd spoil him rotten. Laura and I both think we wouldn't be able to stop kissing him for at least an hour, no exaggeration. I love and miss that little guy SO MUCH.
However, Jack is a little less excited at the prospect. When I was just talking to him, he said he really just wanted Rob (our 9 year old brother) to come with him and that he is so sad that Rob can't come. I thought Jack must be scared of travelling alone, so I starting telling him all about how nice the flight attendants are, and how everyone will take care of him and keep him safe.
He said, "yeah but like what, they just take you to your seat and put a movie on and give you food. That's boring. It won't be FUN without Rob." Because it appears that Jack's greatest fear isn't getting lost... it's BEING BORED.
Hey so the actual surgery was great!
We arrived at 6:00am, filled out some forms. I had to pee in a little jar thing (which I assume was for a pregnancy test or something because it was mandatory for females aged 12-50. Weird, right?) and I actually was able to go! That's unusual for me... usually I get nervous under all the pressure.
All the nurses were ultra nice. I started to get really anxious about all the needles (my teeth were chattering even though they kept giving me pre-warmed blankets. PRE-WARMED BLANKETS= worth any amount of surgery.) but she started with one to numb my hand and then I didn't feel any of the rest. Also I had to initial my correct leg- interesting hey? I guess they've had one too many times operating on the patient's wrong leg. How hilarious! (<-- not)
Dr. Chill came in (I think he looks like a blue-eyed Richard Gere... my mom was not so smitten) and said lots of nice things then told me he was going to give me a set of pictures of the inside of my knee. I said, "COOL!" and he said, "...have they already pumped you up with drugs?" because I guess it's rare that he gets such an enthusiastic response to inner knee pictures from patients in pre-op.
But no, the drugs were yet to come. And those things were marvellous. I fell asleep just due to the sedative so I never even saw the inside of the operating room. Anyway, the surgery went well, blah blah.
But Friday was pretty awful. I couldn't eat anything or else my stomach would feel upset. If I didn't take my pain medication with food my stomach would feel upset. If I didn't take my pain medication my knee would feel like somebody was stabbing it. So I took it on a cycle of feeling barfy to feeling stabbed the whole day. In the end I only vomited twice and on Saturday I was able to start eating like a normal person again.
On Saturday we realized haha, whoops, there were some stretches I was supposed to be doing yesterday. I tried the two easiest of the six I was given and they were really painful. The worst, guys. My goal for today, Monday, is to complete the easiest four. Tomorrow I'll do all six. Maybe. They look pretty involved. 
My foot is super swollen (this picture is from Saturday, and its even worse today). What's that all about? Who knows. Also I'm super itchy which we realized yesterday might be an allergic reaction to the medicine. Ha! Oh well.
I stayed home from work today and I'm probably going to need at least a few more days off. It sucks to be so helpless. I just want to get up and do things like re-fill my iceman cooler thing that keeps my knee cold but it's too heavy to carry with crutches. Being so dependent makes me feel vulnerable.
Anyway I really ought to be doing some of these stretches. Happier updates to follow. Also if you're lucky, scar pictures soon enough!
