Christmas bacon on a solar oven

Solar oven, bacon, Christmas. Which one of the three does not go together? Let me give you a hint. Yuletide Carols aren't sung anywhere near a box cooking bacon. Yep that's right, I have a lab assignment to make a solar oven and cook three different things (Merry Christmas!!). For those of you who don't know, a solar oven is... well just what it sounds like. There are many ways to make a solar oven; pizza box, cardboard box, shoe box, or if you're me a big boot box so that the frying pan can fit nicely in there... Exhale... Needless to say that the solar oven did not cook my bacon. I started by testing the temperature in the box. First ten minutes 29 degrees Celcius, 20 minutes 32 degrees, and 35 47 degrees. You'd think the box is definitely working but an hour and 15 minutes later, the bacon was just slightly crisp on the outermost layer. As the student I am I proceeded to Google cooking food at 47 degrees Celsius to find that this food was part of the raw food diet. Exhausted and chasing the sun around my little apartment, I finally gave up on the bacon (let alone cook an egg or boil some water). I started to feel bad leaving my box with bacon on the front yard while people walked around with small dogs or cats wandered nearby. I had to consult with a top engineer who proceeds to tell me that if I don't like my solar oven I need to consult with its manufacturer... Something about the saran wrap not being tight enough, my box being too big, the cardboard not thick enough, blah, blah, blah....Bygones... Unfortunately this too is how my lab assignment sounded. A whole lot of incoherent mumbling that I madly scribbled on my desire to just be done and to finally be able to do something Christmas worthy!!! So moral of the day... make sure you don't have a solar oven due on Christmas cuz I'll be damned if I say to not procrastinate like me.. It's freakin Christmas week man!! (Oh and it might also be nice to sweet talk any engineer you have around ;))

Highs and Lows

I remember watching a movie one night in which the family made a routine of eating dinner together. The family was less than perfect, actually the movie depicted the struggle of two married people who were trying to understand why they were still together. In this daily ritual, each family member; son, daughter, mom and dad would say their highs and lows; the best part of their day, followed by the worst. I remember watching that and thinking that's something that's rather simple but so overlooked and important! I'm not an intrusive person by nature, the last relationship I was in was one where I was learning new things weekly. I never sat down with a list of 20 questions. I knew I enjoyed the man's company, that I respected who he was and how he became who he was but I never felt the need to repeat the Spanish Inquisition. Somehow however, the simple ritual in this movie struck me as wonderful. How do you get to know just enough about your children in their adolescence (in those years that they want to be as far away from family time as possible) without feeling as if you're prying? How do you inquire into your husbands day without seeming as if you need to know everything or you don't trust him?

There's a lot that can said in knowing someone's highs and lows. I have come to realize that often times when getting to know men, it's what they don't say and what they do that really expresses their truth. As such, knowing that the best part of my day today was helping a student figure out a problem, shows that I find achievement in establishing order in something that's chaotic. Knowing that the worst part of my day was sitting at my desk for three hours non-stop reviewing graduation applications means that I get bored with repetitive tasks and I thrive on a moderate amount of change. Knowing all my highs and lows help someone really know me. And my desire to know yours, means I value you and have a desire to really know you as well.