Awesome and not-so-awesome things

Things that are currently awesome:
My new boots! I got these beauties in black and then also these awesome fuzzy things in brown. Then, of course, because I had new boots I needed new clothes to show them off- so I went and bought skinny jeans and some skirts. I look adorable, but also a little slutty, so its great. Sadly I can't wear my new boots to console because I have a superstition about shoes and always wear the same ones to console- the few times I tested this theory little things broke, I no longer tempt fate (as an aside, if I ever were to get a big failure on console I probably would burn everything I was wearing that day. EVERYTHING). Excitingly, I can wear my new boots to Memphis to keep my feet warm at the Liberty Bowl.
My new Thermos. My old plastic mug for drinking tea on console fell in the parking lot and broke, so I needed a new one. I went to Target where I found an awesome package on pre-Christmas clearance- a big lunchbox and hot/cold Thermosy thing for $15!!! Since I recently found out this Thermos itself is regularly $27.99, I feel pretty awesome about that. And I needed a bigger lunchbox for my 13 hour weekend shifts where I bring 2 meals and a bunch of snacks and eat my way through the whole thing (keeps me awake at least). At the two of them match each other AND my old lunch box too and are cute and purple so I feel stylin.
Season 1 of Mad Men. I rented all 4 discs to help me stay awake sleep shifting the past two nights. Unfortunately, though very good, it is a little too slow and quiet to keep me awake while exhausted and attempting to stay up all night. But it is quite good. I have disc 4 left to finish, but I'm hooked and looking forward to catching up on the rest of the seasons and maybe being a live watcher in the Fall if it comes back for a 5th. You should watch it too. It will, among other things, make you glad you don't live in 1960.
Not living in 1960. Thank god I live in 2010. For one thing- if this show is to be believed- women had it rough in 1960. They couldn't have real jobs, just secretary/typing pool/switchboard operator type crap. They only worked if they couldn't land a husband. They had to be skinny and pretty all the time- no grocery shopping in sweatpants. They drank and smoked while pregnant! And the bras were really pointy looking. In a recent episode I saw a woman discuss how terrible it would be if she served her husband frozen food! Yes, that would be quite a tragedy. Lets keep in mind that around the same time little nerds in skinny ties were sitting in the same building I am, blasting men into space. Which many people, my boyfriend included, would probably prefer to live in that time in order to see. And though it would be cool to see it, I would not have been able to take part. So, thank you, I'll stick to the time I live in. And then there's other stuff: cruise control, modern medicine, the internet, cell phones, laptops, more than 3 television channels, sexual harassment being disallowed... we have it way better. Watch mad men and see.

Things that are currently less than awesome:
It's 4am. Well, its 4am and I am awake working a boring overnight shift. I still have 3 hours til handover, and 4 til I can go to bed. I like my job, much better than housewifery or secretarying, but I also like sleep, and it is in short supply while on console.
Boyfriend is in VA. Actually not the problem, the problem is that I am not in VA. Everyone else is off on their Christmas vacation. I suppose its fair that Jews don't get a christmas vacation... but I do hate missing the fun. And I also miss, you know, my boyfriend.
White FCR. This is what they call the space shuttle mission control room. We sit in one down the hall called FCR 1. FCR stands for Flight Control Room. And yes, there are also a Blue FCR (not used anymore) and a Red FCR (where we sit for sims); no there is not a FCR 2 that I'm aware of. FCR 1 (keep up- thats our usual room) is under construction (because we sit 24/7 they do mainenance over holidays where they inconvenience the least number of people, the skeleton team needed to keep things running... how cool is it that that includes ME?!). So they moved us to White FCR. Its dark, and I have half as many computer screens, and just generally I like my usual set and change is bad and whatever.
Liberty Bowl in 7 days! This is only not awesome because its a week away. In 6 days, this will be on the awesome list.

New Project

So last year, remember that movie that came out- Julie and Julia? Well, I never saw it. But I did read the book, that the movie was an adaptation of. And the idea sounds fun.

I want to have a cooking project too. This week Dan and I cooked a few times, and each time its a struggle to find a recipe from the millions of websites and cookbooks/magazines that I have at my disposal. Its such an overwhelming quantity of options available, that settling on any one is maddening.

So... I am going to buy a cookbook. And then I'm going to cook my way through it until I've tried everything. Sound great. Only one problem. What cookbook?

Thats why I need your help, dear readers. Here are the criteria I will use in weeding through the again maddening number of choices out there:

1. Not overly complicated. Julie cooked through Julia Child's The Fine Art of French Cooking... if you don't know about french cooking, its horribly complex. I don't really have time, energy, money, or motivation to learn how to sautee goat hooves or disembowel my own whole chicken or whatever other craziness is out there to learn how to do. I also will not be running all over Houston looking for ox bones or veal livers. I need run-of-the-mill methods, with things you can buy at the regular grocery down the street. Also, I don't have alot of kitchen gadgets and I don't want to have to go stock up, so I need simple prep as well as simple ingredients.
2. Healthier food. Aside from complexity, French food has one additional downside: FAT. Butter, cream, oil... I don't disagree that soaking vegetables in one or more of these ingredients makes them taste awesome, but it isnt otherwise so great unless you want to die of a heart attack at 35. So... healthier options please!
3. Not too big, not too small. Ideal recipe size would be 4 servings; enough to feed me and the boyfriend dinner, and then lunch the next day. Though I know you can always double something that is made for two, it is often alot harder to split down something that is made for 16.
4. Boy-friendly. While I love to eat all manner of fancy things, funny things, chocolatey things, fruity things... boys are different. Boys need beef and carbohydrates and... beer? Idk, exactly, but I think I'd know if it was too girly when I saw it.

Let me know if you have any suggestions, so I can get to cooking!