Once more with the cooking

I had a bit of a dilemma tonight.  I was missing an ingredient for a large batch of vegetarian chili so I called my mom to ask how crucial it was that I have it.  She wasn't there.  My step-dad kindly took the message and when mom called back, I was in the midst of preparing the afore-mentioned batch of chili, as well as mixing ingredients for chocolate-chip cookies (I can bake very well.  It's cooking that is lost on me.)

She left a voice mail.

Mom: "Hi Ms. V.  It's mom.  John said you had a cooking question.  First of all, we're in awe that you're cooking, then John pointed out that we'd probably have to eat it..."

Yes, they clearly have a LOT of faith in me. ;)

Seriously folks, this chili is something I can actually make well AND it has more than my typical 3-ingredient-limit.

Oh, and in the end it was my sister who helped me out, via the wonder and magic of texting.

xo,
Ms. V

Sister suffragette

I take great pride in voting.  I take it seriously.  I enjoy it.  I look forward to it.  I have never *not* done it.  When I moved from one town over and had to change my address with the DMV, I had the option of also changing my address for voting purposes.  Of course I agreed to this and thought I was all set.  Just to be safe though, I called the city clerk yesterday to make sure I was registered in my current town.  I wasn't.  Shocker.  Apparently the DMV isn't too quick about getting the info to the city clerks (please note: I changed my address about 18 months ago.)  The kind woman at the clerk's office told me it wasn't a problem and that I should go to the voting location for my current address, I'll sign a paper, prove I am who I am, and vote in my current town.  No problem.  Excellent.

Fast forward to today:
I arrive at my the designated location, explain to the nice woman guarding the list of names "L - Z" what I was told.  She sends me to the help desk.  They have no idea what I'm talking about.  None.  First, one woman can't find me as a registered voter *anywhere* in the state of Vermont.  She asks if I've voted here before.  I politely tell her that in 1998 and 2000 I voted in Burlington, in 2002, 2004, 2006, I voted in South Burlington (the very same location in which I was currently attempting to vote), in 2008 I voted absentee because I was away as a student, in 2010 I voted in Winooski, and in 2012, I have verified with the town clerk that I am, in fact, registered.  It turns out she was only searching the local database, not the state-wide one.  Great.  She tapped a few keys and finally found me still listed in Winooski.  I go through my story again, tell her that's exactly why I'm standing in front of her, that I need to fill out some special form and I can vote in my current town.  She calls over her co-hort who was supposedly the "expert" but, as it turns out, was much less helpful and less familiar with Vermont voting laws than even I was.  The "expert" tells me I can simply go vote in Winooski.  I politely explain that is illegal, according to this.  She disagrees.  I stop just short of pulling up the website on my phone to prove it to her.

Expert: "No, no.  That's not true.  There's no problem."
Me: "Ma'am, according to the laws of the state of Vermont, I am to vote in this town - where I currently reside - otherwise I'll have to shell out $10k in fines.  That's not ok by me."
Expert: "No. That's not true, there's no fine.  You just vote wherever you're listed.  I'll call the city clerk anyway and see what they say."

She called the city clerk and apparently spoke to someone who was *not* the individual I had spoken to yesterday and was told to send me to Winooski.  Again, I politely explain that is illegal.  She continues to disagree.  She asks if I've voted in Vermont before.  I run through my list again, then end with, "My parents were hippies!  They raised me to vote!  I'm going to vote today!  Bah. Fine.  I'll just go to Winooski."

I arrive in Winooski, my name is on the list, they verify my :ahem: "address", I say "Uh, sounds about right..." get handed my slip and marker, and cast my ballot.

Happy day.  Please, no one turn me in.  I do not have $10k and do not wish to spend the next 15 years of my life in the slammer.  Besides, the city clerk and an actual election official both said it was OK, so I'm going to say that I'm in the clear.  Many thanks.

xo,
Ms. V

Balance

A text conversation with my friend Tori today:


Me: "Tori.  Please motivate my lazy-butt to run.  Many thanks. :D"
Tori: "Lol MS. V!!!  Go run so we can eat crap food!!!!"

I ran.  It really pays to have friends who "get it."

xo,
Ms. V

Food groups

Visits to my friend Jeff's home always mean a fair amount of wine is involved.  Jeff, being a gentleman, also always offers food and is sensitive to my vegetarian lifestyle.

Jeff: "Are you hungry at all?  I've got some yogurt and it's vegetarian."

Me: "I don't ever want to encounter a yogurt that ISN'T vegetarian."

Jeff: "That would f#@k me up."

Me too, Jeff.  Me. Too.

(In all seriousness, folks, he's quite the cook and has made me some rather fine meals that have included more than just yogurt).

xo, 

Ms. V

Warm fuzzies

You know you're doing something right with your life when a friend says this to you:

"I just want to make sure you know what you mean to me.  You play a huge part in my life, and sometimes I just want to grab your beautiful freckled face and scream 'THANK YOU!' and hug you as hard as I can."

I am lucky enough to have been the recipient ("freckle face") of that statement.

Folks, if you have people you appreciate in this manner, don't waste another minute.  Tell them now.  Wouldn't life be great if we consistently showed our appreciation for those we care about?

OK, done with the warm fuzzies.

xo,
Ms. V

Fabulous Geekdom

I recently told my buddy Mike about a strange interaction I had with the ferry-booth-ticket-dude.  What came out of it was not one, but two blog-worthy situations.  First, the initial interaction and then what transpired with Mike.  Excellent.

First:
I pull up to the ferry booth as I do over, and over, and over again on my commute to work.  Today, "ferry-dude-who-likes-to-have-random-conversations-with-me" is working.  (Yeah, I know it's a long nickname but it fits perfectly.  I'll shorten it to "FD" for the remainder of this blog post.)  Out of the blue, he says: "So.  Jupiter got hit!"  That's it.  Nothing else.  No other details.  Here's the full convo:

FD (a bit excited and wild-eyed): "So. Jupiter got hit!"
Me (quizzically, and trying not to laugh a little): "Really?  Wild."
FD: "Yeah, some asteroid hit it.  It has happened before.  I just heard it on the news.  If Jupiter hadn't been in the way, the asteroid would have hit Earth!"
Me: "Wow.  That's crazy.  Have a great day!" /drives away chuckling


What transpired:
Fast forward ~15 hours.  I'm home from work and on Skype with Mike, relaying the FD interaction.

Mike: "Wait a minute.  That makes no sense."
Me: "No?"
Mike: "No.  You have Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, a HUGE asteroid belt (waves his hands out for added detail), THEN Jupiter.  The alignment would also have to be *just right* for Jupiter to 'block' an asteroid headed for Earth."
Me: "Hmmmm... That's what I thought too.  His story seemed a bit 'off.'"
Mike: "He's just making shit up.  That's not right.  You can't joke about Jupiter like that!"
Me (HUGE SMILE): "Heh heh.  You're an astronomy geek."
Mike: "Yeah.  Yeah I am!"
Me: "Man... how 'bout poor Pluto, huh?"
Mike: "Oh, don't even get me started..."


:D

I have rockin' friends.

xo,
Ms. V

You can take the girl out of Vermont but you can't take the Vermont out of the girl.

Scene: I'm sitting in the break-room at work with my friend and co-worker, Kyle.  He sees me mix my yogurt and muesli (both organic, of course).


Kyle: "No way.  You have got to be kidding me.  You have 'Vermonter' written ALLLLL over you."


Yes.  Yes I do.  Quite proudly. :)

xo,
Ms. V

My addictions...

Ben was, once again, counseling me on my spending habits...

Ben: "It's the same conversation I often have with you about spending money."
Me: "Not spending it going to Phish shows?"
Ben: "Not spending it going to ALL Phish shows."


It's my chosen religion, peeps.  I can't help it.  Also, we can't forget that Page is my soulmate.

xo,
Ms. V