Hello There Neighbor

I know too much about my unusual somewhat crazy neighbor. He has three dogs all named after former American presidents: Regan, Madison, and Nixon. Not the best choice of presidents but that's just my opinion. The reason I know all this is because my neighbor talks to himself, you would probably consider him insane but I've come to realize, after listening to him yell and complain loudly in the middle of the night, is that he's an extremely lonely man. I remember being his neighbor ever since I moved into this house, he use to have a son and a wife; his wife left him for another man and his son left after he turned eighteen.

Last night, while I was about to go to sleep, I heard him again. He was talking to his dogs as if he was speaking to an actual responsive human being. The first thing I heard was his old beat-up truck roaring onto the drive way and then the next thing you know he was yelling and cursing. I assume that his dogs made a mess again in the house since he kicked them out screaming "Get out! You pooped all over the floor! Look at the mess you made!" But after a couple of inaudible mumbles he came out again and to call the dogs back in saying "Ohh I missed you guys. Never do that again, okay?"

Although you might think this is really creepy, especially hearing it in the middle of the night, I've been hearing this for years so it's nothing new. But what is new is my understanding and compassion for him.

Moving Day

College starts in less than a week for me and although it's sad to think about, I am ready. For once in my life, I think this summer was way too long and I think it's time I start on my studies once again. I hate having nothing to do since I'm the type of person to always keep myself busy even though if it means cleaning the whole house. I'm all too ready to start the next chapter of my life and experience and learn new things. Growing up in a small town, you tend to have a really limited idea of how the world really is outside of your daily surroundings. One problem I've developed after living in one area my life is being too comfortable and accustomed to one area so when the day finally comes around for me to leave the nest, I'm scared and reluctant. But everyone has to go through this one day in order to mature and grow up so although I'm a little frightened to go somewhere unfamiliar with unfamiliar people, I know it's something I have to do regardless of my feelings.

So this week is going to be solely devoted to packing and spending time with family and friends.

tearful goodbye

Hi Denise,
Well it's here. You are leaving tomorrow August 29, 2009 and I am sitting here writing you a message. I'm not going to make this long; I'm just going to keep it simple and straight from the heart. Who knows the next time I'll be able to see you and when we do we probably will be busy with our own separate lives thousands of miles away. But I guess that's part of growing up and moving forward. I just want you to know that you made my years in high school that much better just by being apart of my life. You were the first friendly face I saw on my first day at Rowland High School and I will never forget that. We have been close friends for four years now and I'm just glad to have all those memories we've created to look back on. You are an amazing person, someone who is reliable and trustworthy and anyone should be glad to have you as a friend. Thanks for all the times we've had together and thanks for being the great friend that you are. I hope you have fun in Taiwan but most importantly I hope you'll be happy there because in the end that's all that matters. I won't make this a good bye so I'll just say see you later!

love,
Ivy

Chocolat

To add to my food addiction I just finished reading Chocolat which is also a mouth watering book. However the book is pretty much solely based on chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, chocolate cake, hot chocolate cocoa, chocolate figurines, chocolate everything. It's a beautiful book and it is also responsible for my recent weight gain. Since I started reading that book, I've managed to eat four to five chocolate truffles a day just based on mere cravings after reading a chapter. That's how much of addict I am.

Woke up today feeling like I swallowed something prickly, which I hope isn't one of those creepy crawlers that you hear about, making their way into your mouth while you're asleep. I pulled myself out of bed, walked around the house like a zombie for a couple of minutes and then start for the kitchen. Once again my mom is making some sort of contraption with the mountain of peeled potatoes which sad to say isn't going to be mashed potatoes or potato salad but once again one of my mom's mystery dishes. Oh boy.

Today I am going to the library again to pick out a whole new pile of books to read to make life a little bit more interesting. Any recommendations?

Julie and Julia

Today I watched a movie called Julie and Julia. It was great. The movie incorporated all that I love in life in two simple glorious hours. Based on two true stories, the film documents two people who both find meaning and happiness in life from cooking and tasting food. Julie who in the beginning hates her career and purposeless life, decides to cook her way through Julia Child's cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by cooking 524 recipes in 365 days; all the while blogging her successes and failures. Julia on the other hand struggles through her own issues from becoming a licensed chef to publishing her own cook book.

The movie is filled with mouth watering moments that literally drive me insane. Imagine sitting through a movie filled with desserts, oven-cooked turkeys, perfectly seasoned lobster, steaming stew with a hint of red wine, champagne and strawberries, boiled white fish fillet, pouched eggs, crisp oven baked bread with melted butter, mushroom lathered in Alfredo sauce, and my personal favorite from the movie, fried buttered bread with slices of tomato and yellow/green peppers that creates a crunchy softness that's a full on explosion of flavor and tanginess in your mouth. The golden brown bread soaks up the juices released from the tomato and peppers creating the perfect combination between the two.

One thing the movie mentions over and over is butter. "You can never have too much butter". Butter is what makes food taste ten times better. Food added together with different spices is already satisfying on its own but to add that extra boost of flavor from melted butter brings your tastes buds to a whole new level of yumminess. Basically as you can tell the movie is driving me insane. People who love food like I do, I give you a fair warning.

It's another typical day in my little yellow house and I am once again completely bored out of my mind. I wish that there was something I was passionate about or motivated to do. Which brings to the topic of writing a short story. Obviously I'm not going to write a novel but a short story should be a baby step towards the real thing. But its not as easy as you think. Trust me I've been sitting here for the past hour rummaging through by brain for something to write about. But I'm going to do it; it'll be like my little summer project. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.