Why it's good to have a sick day. (sometimes.)

Last week I was sick with something mild but I kept going in to work.

Being a teacher, this mostly goes unnoticed as the people around you are mostly kids and they do not really know how to see much beyond their own noses.

Anyway, I ended up FATIGUED! I kept asking myself "is something wrong?" and I was even worried I was becoming depressed, I thought I might need to see a nutritionist because I was all out of energy! And then I realised I just needed a day off.

And this is why it's wonderful. I:

- organised to get my blinds and kitchen sink fixed
- went for a run, and there was hardly anybody else running
- watched the sky turn the colour of a latte
- hung out my window and watched some road rage as a (rather hot) looking workman used his own crane to load gravel into Paul Keating's backyard
- moisturised
- got a quote to get my cream lounge cleaned, then booked
- found out the details of my health insurance and changed my address with them (haven't heard from them for 18 months)
- took a piece of my birthday cake down to my building manager
- ate a piece of birthday cake myself, with a properly brewed pot of tea
- booked a table at Jimmy Liks for dinner with my friend Kat
- got my fringe trimmed
- had my car washed
- walked around my local shops and bought some groceries
- watched screaming kids climb the mast of The Young Endeavor from my window

All before yoga and dinner!

But then in the afternoon I felt sick again, and almost vomited in the hair dresser. Yeah, I am still sorta sick. The more I rush the more giddy I feel. Mild ear infection!

I must admit that I still haven't done my ironing though. Sigh.

Killer Recipe - Lasagne

I had my birthday celebration today and I cooked a very successful lasagne!
This recipe is 1970s all over, the more everyday your ingredients are, the better! So dried herbs are fine, I also use low fat cheese and milk, just so the lasagne is not so rich, I must admit this seems to work.

Here is the recipe:-

lasagne noodles
parmesan cheese
cream

MEAT SAUCE
1 tablespoon oil
500g mince (I use heartsmart)
2 x cans tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

CHEESE SAUCE
60g butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
salt, pepper
125g grated cheese
handful parmesan

- Heat oil in pan, cook mince until brown, pour off excess fat.
- Add rest of ingredients, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 60min

- To make cheese sauce melt butter in saucemapn, stir in flour, cook for 1min, gradually add milk until sauce boils and thickens, stir in cheeses.

- Layer in pan - noodles, meat, cheese sauce. Finish with a layer of noodles. Add parmesan cheese on top.

- Bake in moderate oven for 25min, spoon cream on top then cook for a further 10-15min. Yummy!

From Australian Women's Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook, 1992.

"When I was young I admired intelligent people, as I grow older I admire kind people." --Abraham Heschel "Kindness and patience with others is the ultimate sophistication."

Anatomy is Awesome!

I've been exercising more steadily for about three months now. I ain't no Olympic Athlete, but for pretty much the first time in my life I'm enjoying myself and am beginning to see small changes and results.

I run up around Mrs Macquaries Chair a few times a week, I have begun meeting Mark at the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool to do a few laps, and I am considering a return to yoga.

A pretty big turn around if I do say so myself! (Think back to 2 years ago when I smoked a pack a day and ideal snack was Sao with butter, maybe honey too ;) or 5 years ago when... oh let's not look back that far, I may have been skinny but there were definitely problems)

Anyway, so I'm learning lots, but of course along the way I have had a few pains, mainly in my legs. Some stretching has helped, but sometimes it's hard to describe where the pain is, to ask how I should stretch!

And then I found this awesome website. Go forth and experience anatomy for yourself!

http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/class/bio201/muscle/leg1.htm

And some stretches to help cure the problem: http://myname.physiotherapist.net.au/exercises.htm

Oh, and it's my Soleus that hurts :)

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come. --Chinese proverb

Killer Recipe: Sticky Date Slice with Caramel Sauce

OK, so I had to make this for Christmas Day dessert, and I lost the recipe... only finding it at the last minute, phew! But now I am typing it here, so I will never lose it again:

Sticky Date Slice with Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar
60g butter, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
200g fresh dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 1/4 cups boiling water

- Cream sugar and butter with electric mixer for 5-8min
- Add eggs, beat well
- Sift flour and baking powder, add to mixture
- Place dates in separate bowl with bicarb soda, pour over boiling water and stand for 1 min
- Then add date mixture to butter mixture, it will be very runny but this is fine
- Pour mixture into lamington tin lined with baking paper
- Bake in 180 degrees over for 30min or until springy
- Serve with caramel sauce

Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar
100g butter, chopped
1/2 cup cream

- Melt butter and sugar over low heat
- Add cream and stil for 5min or until mixture thickens

From: Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 26, March/April 2006

yummy! Happy Christmas 2008!

And to another (completely different) subject...

I have been reading an awesome book called 'Seven Days in the Art World' by Sarah Thornton.

I am trying not to devour it whole in 2 days, but already I have many pages dogeared so I can write down some quotes, and that place is here. So... just in case I ever get round to attempting an MFA... or is writing down quotes an old habit, or...?

'Mary Kelly used to think it was depressing that so few students could sustain themselves as full time artists, but then she realized 'it is not sad at all. I believe in education for its own sake, because it is deeply humanizing. It is about being a fulfilled human being.'

'Criticality is a strategy for the production of knowledge, our view is that art should interrogate the social and cultural ideas of its time. Other places might want a work to produce pleasure or feelings. Criticality is the code word for a modelof art-making that foregrounds research and analysis rather than instincts and intuition.'