Now with more tentacle!

It never would have occurred to me to cook an octopus.

Never.

But, you see, I read this last week.

Still, I wasn't really intending to do it ... at first.

But it turned out that the grocery store had frozen octopus, so what could I do? (They didn't have couscous, but octopus was no problem.)

It thawed quite nicely in the fridge overnight.

And curled up nicely in the boiling water.

I left out the olives because I forgot to buy them and the fennel because I don't actually know what that is. Instead, I added mushrooms. Wanda doesn't actually like mushrooms, but I didn't really think that was going to be her biggest problem with this dish.

When it was ready, I popped it in the oven and watched half of a season of The Good Wife did very productive things.

Wanda had to gear herself up to eat it, but even she had to admit that it was good (once she picked out the tomatoes and mushrooms).

And today, for a change of pace, I made bread.

I need a bigger bowl.

Sleeping problems

I mentioned earlier that pretty much all I want to do in January is sleep. The interesting thing is that ... I'm not doing it very well.

I wear a night guard at night - it's a piece of plastic that fits over my upper teeth so that I don't grind my teeth in my sleep. I'm a little weird about it - for example, I can only have it in my mouth if I'm lying down. If I sit up, it has to come out of my mouth immediately. (My dentist laughs at me for it.)

Usually, it's not a problem. This month, I've woken up twice in the middle of the night with no night guard to be found. There's nothing more fun then tearing the bed apart in the middle of the night to find a piece of plastic.

And the dreams? I've had some odd dreams. I mean, dreams are always kind of strange, but I don't know where my head has been at. I can't really remember much about them, but I've woken up more than once wondering what on earth that was about.

How many days left until February?

Watch out for the giant sinkhole!

The big news in Ottawa today is the water main break that shut down one of the major roads. Specifically, one that I take to work. And live beside.

Wanda came home this morning and said, "I had to turn early because Woodroffe is closed. I don't know what's going on.".

I turned to twitter - as one does in these situations - to find out there was a water main break. It turns out that caused a giant sinkhole. (I assume that wasn't known until the City of Ottawa truck drove into it.) I resolved to leave for work early.

I got distracted.

When I realized I was late, I rushed around and got ready. That was successful - I left for work a whole minute earlier than usual.

After all of that, traffic was lighter than usual. I got to work in plenty of time.

I don't understand people who make New Year's resolutions of the "go to the gym every day" or "quit doing X" variety.

You see, I spend the first week or two of the year just trying to stay awake. All I want to do is sit on the couch and watch DVDs.

That's why I was so annoyed with myself when I remembered that I booked the Sparks sleepover for the Friday after New Year's.

Luckily, we had planned the schedule and menu back in December, but I still had to buy the groceries and pack.

After procrastinating all week, I managed to pull it together on Thursday night.

We all had a good time, and since the sleepover was over at ten on Saturday, I still had most of the weekend left. (Of course, I took a nap for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, but that was more because of the aforementioned beginning of the year exhaustion than the sleepover.)

This week I'm a little more awake. I'm starting to adjust to my normal schedule - making it to work on time, going to the gym, boxing. I even watered the plants today for the first time all year. (There's no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Plants, is there? If there is, I'm in trouble.)

I'm giving myself one more week and then I'm going to start some of the projects that are waiting for attention.

Resolutions New and Old

Let's start by looking at my 2010 resolutions, shall we?

1. There are currently 4 different types of body lotion in my bathroom. By the end of the year, I want there to be no more than two.

>> Back in July, I said this was done, but the resolution says end of the year. You see, my remaining container of body butter was getting low, and it goes on sale after Christmas, so I bought another container (of a different scent). I opened the bag yesterday, and ... they gave me a sample size of a third scent. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to use it all up yesterday, so this is a technical fail (but a pass on the spirit of the resolution, which was to stop using half a container of lotion, then changing to a new one).

2. Get a job. (This is actually more important that the lotion resolution.)

>> Done. I started my current job Feb. 23. OK, it's a contract, but it counts ... right? My contract was up Dec. 23, but I believe it has been renewed.

3. Make it to level 4 of boxing.

>> Done by the end of April.

4. Go on a road trip.

>> Kingston in September and Montreal in December.

5. Clean out my closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore. Drop them off to a charity that will use them.

>> Six months after the last update, I still haven't taken the 20 minutes to drop off the clothes.

6. Take a first aid course.

>> Did not even make an attempt at this one. I really don't want to do it - but I want to have done it.

7. Go camping (not counting Spark camp).

>> Done. Rideau River Provincial Park in July.

8. Go cross-country skiing twice.

>> Done. Once in January, once in December.


Now for my 2011 resolutions:

1. Go to at least 3 social events at which I know fewer than 10% of the people.
2. Go on two bike rides. (Seriously, I haven't even taken my bike outside in three years.)
3. Patch the hole in the bathroom wall (from the plumbing debacle this fall).
4. Go through my closet (again) and actually donate the clothes I cull.
5. Make it to level 5 in boxing.
6. Do a first aid course. I need to just bite the bullet and give up a weekend to do this.