Slacker Sally

I'll start with my apologies.  I was so excited to start the Matchstick Challenge, but then I forgot to update with progress posts.  I updated over at tumblr, but failed to do so here.  Sooo...

Sorry! Sorry! 100x's, Sorry!

Now, on to those updates (posts coppied from my tumblr blog):

Week One: Try a new fruit or vegetable you've never tried before:   Because I don’t have enough on my plate as it is, I decided to join what seems like hundreds of other bloggers/tumblrs in Molly’s Matchstick Challenge.  This week’s challenge was to try a fruit or vegetable that you’ve never tried before.  I had a hard time finding one that I hadn’t tried and was a bit worried that I’d be a failure in the first week; when last night at dinner, a new veggie presented itself to me: cardoni (or as it more commonly called in Italy, “cardi”).  Cardoni comes from the cardoon plant, and while it resembles a celery stalk in its appearance, it is actually a distant cousin of the artichoke family (and it definitely tastes like an artichoke).  

I had cardoni as an appetizer, served deep-fried.  Not at at all healthy, but all sorts of delicious! Apparently the preparation process is rather extensive, so it doesn’t look like cardi is going to make it on my “things to make at home” list; however, if given the chance, I’d definitely order/eat it again!

(Sadly, my iPhoto still isn’t working, so I wasn’t able to add the matchstick challenge logo or an image of my new veggie.  If you google image search “cardoon plant”, though, you’ll see several celery-like pictures of the delicious Italian vegetable.) 

Bring on challenge number 2, Molly!

Week Two: Walk: As I said in a previous post regarding Molly’s goal for week two of The Matchstick Challenge; I don’t feel safe walking alone where I live.  I would love to be able to live in a town that I feel comfortable walking to the gym, to work, or to the closest Starbucks; but sadly, I do not.  To be quite honest, I live close enough to all three that the task is physically doable, but mentally, not so much.  I get inside my head and convince myself that there is someone following me or a creeper in the bushes.  That just takes the pleasure right out of the walk for me and I’d just rather not do it.  

That being said, I did go on a short walk around the neighborhood with my sister and her two kids after our Thanksgiving meal.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  Such a beautiful day!

(*I realize that the afore mentioned creepers do not disapear simply because I am with another person and two small children, but hey, safety in numbers, right? Right!)

Also, I almost always take the stairs instead of the elevator when I go to my Rick’s place (the almost part being reserved for situations when my hands are full and I can’t manage the stairs in all my clumsy glory).  And, as much as I love finding a front row parking spot at the grocery store, I never troll the lot searching for one.  I don’t mind taking a spot further away and walking a small distance, so if a close spot isn’t available I swoop up a far-ish (because really, how big is a parking lot in the scheme of things?) spot and make the trek!

So, even though I didn’t walk all over town all week long like some other Matchstickers, I’d say that week two of the Matchstick Challenge was a success! I’m ready for week 3! 

And there you have it.  My updates for the challenge.  I promise that I'll do better in the weeks to come in updating all my runners over here in Blogger Land!  Also, if you're following and participating in the challenge, leave your comments.  We'd love to hear from you!