In order to avoid a second Thanksgiving leftover meal today, I quickly came up with this recipe. It used up some odds and ends in the fridge and pantry, and it was a healthy side to go with our Morningstar Farms Riblets. I normally stir pasta salad in a large bowl, but this saved us the washing of a dish! The egg noodles were a much different noodle than the cellentani I love, but it was a nice change of pace because of the texture and because they collected the olive oil well.

Improv Pasta Salad

The end of a bag of extra wide egg noodles
End of a bag of frozen lima beans
About a cup or so of frozen field peas with snaps
1 can organic garbanzo beans / chickpeas, drained and washed
End of a cube of mozzarella cheese (probably ¼), sliced into tiny cubes
Olive oil

Boil noodles. Boil lima beans and field peas (in separate pots, since they have different cooking times). Drain all three when they are al dente. Put noodles, lima beans, field peas, beans, and cheese in large tupperware. Drizzle with olive oil. Put lid on tupperware. Shake it!!! Shake it!!! Take lid off. Pasta salad is done! Sprinkle with a little kosher salt for extra flavor.

Our First Married Thanksgiving Menu

• Tuna Steaks

• Cathy’s Noodles (noodles made from scratch and cooked in vegetable broth)

• Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

• Corn on the Cob

• Lima Beans (lightly sprinkled with kosher salt)

• Courson’s Blackberry Wine Spritzers

• Blondie Brownies (mix made by Katie)

The Camel Saloon nominated me for the 2011 Pushcart Prize for my poem “Waiting Room” !!! I am very excited about this honor, and I am so happy for this poem. “Waiting Room” is the opening poem of my NAU thesis, Diagnostics. It is a very different poem for me, but it’s a poem that I’ve always enjoyed. If you haven’t read it yet, head over to my Poetry page and check it out (as well as the other great poems at The Camel Saloon).

I’m behind. I’m a lot behind. November has taken over, as it always does, and knocked me off my feet. I got blood drawn. I got sick. I got the results of my best blood work in four years, and all of my cholesterol levels are FINALLY in the normal range. I/We did a lot of celebrating. In a completely random and awesome act of perfect timing, I got to see The Foo Fighters with Phillip and Tammy. This is the first concert I’ve been to since before I even met Derrick. Dave Grohl (or as I typo-texted mid-show to Derrick, Dave Growl) rocked it. I’ve gotten student research paper topics approved and rough drafts graded and returned. Those comparison/contrast essays were put on the backburner, but I hope to catch up on those later this week. We had a fantastic visit from MOH Katie and her boyfriend (an artist! Woo!) this past weekend. I need to start packing for our move. I need to work on all this grading. I need to focus on finding jobs, on resubmitting rejected poems, on making Christmas presents, and most importantly writing this novel!

It’s not impossible. I think that with the right motivation (i.e. no more papers to grade!) I might be able to knock out a lot of this thing in binges and spurts. I don’t want to reveal my word count at this point. But I have a LOT outlined. I have a whole structure in place. I have chunks written at the beginning, middle, and end. I need to build characters and establish relationships. I need to figure out how to set up memories and dream sequences. But the plot is there. With this in mind, I feel already like NaNoWriMo has been a success for me. This will get written sometime. But the more I get done this month the better. I still want to reach my original 50,000 word goal. Send me positive thoughts. I don’t seem to have any NaNoWriMo buddies out there…

I began this day hungry. Today was the day of my fasting blood work, and I hadn’t had anything to eat for 12 +hours. As I waited for Derrick to wake up and shower (he was my chauffeur to the doctor’s office), I decided, “what the heck! Why not start writing?” It was magic. I already had my first 400 words down by the time he got out of the shower.

I didn’t feel so great after the blood was taken out of me. Even after our celebratory Chili’s dinner, I want to get into bed. I probably will once I post this. I’m nauseous, cold, and thirsty. My arm still hurts. Typing stinks. This afternoon I wrote my remaining 1200 words in spurts, when I felt a moment of nausea reprieve, when I got on the computer to check my email, when Derrick was working on some projects of his own. Today didn’t really work to get me set in a routine of any kind, but I am very proud of myself for making it through the first day. I hope, like a teeny tiny snowball tossed down a mountain, that I continue to gain momentum from here.