Tuesday 2 November 2010

Halloween and soup

So. Halloween was upon us. Seeing as I wasn't doing anything, my mam bought me a pumpkin. These are the results.






My very first pumpkin, so I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It was messy and fidgety but worth it, and I enjoyed making him. Spent proper ages fishing out the hundreds of seeds that were inside and separating them from the weird pulpy stuff, and then washing them and then drying them. I had planned on making pumpkin soup with the innards see, but it was only afterwards when I googled how to make the soup, I realised its the hard shell bits you need, not the stringy wet stuff. Anyway, I asked my soup making auntie if it was alright to use it anyway, and she said yeah, she did. So that's OK then, I thought I'd use it after all, might as well use the whole thing.
This evening I got to work on it, chopped up my pumpkin, got rid of all the skin and bits I couldn't use, did everything, made the soup, and then when it got to the blending I realised that when I had borrowed my aunties blender, she failed to put the blades in with it. I was gutted, I was really looking forward to my soup and now I'll have to wait another bladdy day. I'll let you know how I get on. Also I had so much pumpkin that it wouldn't all fit into the biggest pan we have, so I'm gonna make another batch, with chili and peppers and curry powder. Works out nicely all round. ALSO I'm going to toast the seeds with some nice flavours and eat them too. Not too sure how I feel about eating seeds, theres something about it that makes me feel a bit wrong and uncomfortable. But that's probably down to a childhood link to someone telling me if I ate apple seeds an apple tree would grow inside me.

Anyway. Carried on thinking about the orphanages thing, went on a bit of a mad researching spree. Sent off for and received information packs from about 3 companies, actually got a phone call from an American woman from one of the companies which was unexpected but good I guess. It all looks great, its something I'm most definitely doing, I'm certain I want it to be Romania seeing as I went there before and it just really appeals to me. But there is a deep cynical streak running through me about these companies, which is odd cause I'm never really cynical about anything much, but I just worry that the money you pay to these companies isn't going to go to the projects you're going to. They're pricey these things, and I have absolutely no problem paying that much, If the majority is going to, say, the orphanage I'll be going to or whatever. I would hate it if the company just took most of it for themselves.
Anyway, all that just got me thinking I can't really allow myself to get into all that until I have a goddamn job.

I've been thinking recently about being an elf again. The last couple of months I've been toying with the idea generally, but I'm so fickle about it, at first I was really into the idea of getting a job as an elf at the Metro Centre, because I fucking love the Metro Centre for some weird and completely inexplicable reason, and their grotto's are amaaazing. And I though, ohh yeahh ace, I can get the train there and back, it'll be proper bo. But then I changed my mind and though ohh I can't really be arsed, trekking that far twice a day in the cold and dark. Tossed that up and down a few times, concluded that I didn't really want to do it after all.
More recently I figured I'd get a Christmas job around about now, but just a few days ago I realised that shop jobs are just so shit at crimbo, just being rushed and stressed off your feet the entire time, most of the time they make you work boxing day and new years eve/day. And then you're finished. You've done all the dog work, thanks, cya next year.
That made me think, maybe I should go for my elf job of last year again. Theres something making me think it'd be kind of lame, going back, they'll all be "oh so what did you do since last year?" and I'll just be all "umm ohh, well fuck all".
That said, that's a stupid reason not to do something I enjoyed loads last time I did it. It was great in that we got paid weekly and only had one late night shift each week and obviously Christmas eve was the last day you worked. And just how much I enjoyed it generally. Milling about the mall on occasional quiet spells, playing with the toys on the toy stall behind the grotto, and facing a sweet stall at the other side. It was actually perfect. Remembering all that stuff, (combined with being totally broke and wanting to do loads of stuff in the next couple of months) really really encourages me to do it all again. In the end, I probably will.

I'll shut up now, exept to say that last week I discovered Joan Armatrading and she's ace.

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