Wow, we’ve reached the end! With a little creative planning, a little pre-writing, and some scheduled posts while I’m away, this has worked out pretty well.

“Why do you blog?”

Many reasons. I blog to share myself, to get my voice out there, maybe to have someone hear me.  I blog to share my work, to gauge interest in projects, to get a bit of feedback, perhaps even to build an audience (…or maybe not). I blog to add to the chorus of those of you who are doing the same, sharing your hopes and dreams and frustrations and setbacks, your fears and the doubts that plague all of us. I blog to help, to offer insight based on my own experiences, and to encourage anyone who needs it. I blog because it lets me connect with all of you, and allows me to share things that I think are important (or that just make me happy). I blog to learn about myself and my process. I blog to keep writing when the words won’t come anywhere else, and yes, sometimes I blog to procrastinate when I should really be writing something more substantial.

I blog because it lets me be a part of a community.

So that’s that. No big, shocking revelation, no twist ending for this little project. No cliff-hangers to deal with, either, and no body count to speak of– guarantees I can’t make with fiction. 😉

You’ve witnessed the horror that was her purse.* But are you prepared to survive… THE MAKE-UP BAG?

I hope so, because that’s today’s topic.

It’s actually not that terrifying, or even exciting. This is just what I keep in my little travel bag for touch-ups. It DID say bag… if it had asked for all of my make-up, we’d have a longer post on our hands, with foundations and creams and mascara and eyeliner and eyeshadow and LOTS OF FUN THINGS! I don’t do fancy make-up, but I do like having the option. 🙂

• powder
• oil-absorbing sheets
• lip thingers
• dental floss
• meds (including advil)
• emery boards
• lots of hair clips
• tiny tweezers

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*Gah, I hate that word!

Day 28: “What are you looking forward to?”

(caution: language)

Confession: I’m writing this on July 22nd. I’m looking forward to that magical time in one hour when my dear AJ gets off from work, and then he’s on VACATION!!! You have no idea how exciting this is. AJ has been putting up with unbelievable shit at work lately and doing his best to cover for other people’s assholery. He’s been overworked, and has gone weeks where he’s been either at work or on-call 24/7.

You might say he’s looking forward to getting away.

I’m excited to see my family soon, I’m looking forward to OMG THE AMAZING FOOD WE’RE GOING TO EAT IN ONTARIO, and to meeting our newest niece for the first time. But right now, at this moment, what I’m most looking forward to is seeing AJ relax and not jump every time the phone rings. It’ll be relaxing for all of us. 🙂

Day 27: “post your favorite recipe”

OK, I’m going to not do that, exactly. To me, a “recipe” means you have to give things like measurements and temperatures. I don’t have that for you. What I AM going to do, just because y’all are so special to me, is tell you how I make my buffalo chicken fingers, because they’re fan-effing-tastic. The non-recipe is based on my mom’s chicken wings (if you want to use wings, go ahead; I just find the strips are easier to judge as far as cooking times, etc)

The secret, my friends, is TZATZIKI.

For the uninitiated, tzatziki is Greek yogurt stuff with cucumber and a whole lot of yum. I get mine in the deli section of the grocery store, where they keep the hummus and all of that (President’s Choice tzatziki is yummy). Yours might keep it in the dairy section. Either way, you’re going to mix that with milk to make it thick enough to coat your chicken strips*. Then dip that in bread crumbs to coat, and cook in the oven. I’m not giving times or temperatures, because my oven is strange, and it depends on how thick you’re cutting your chicken. I usually go 380 degrees for ten minutes, flip, then check to see how much longer they need (usually 7-10 more minutes).

After that, dip in your hot sauce of choice (I always use Frank’s hot sauce mixed with melted butter. More butter=milder sauce.)

Then chow down. The tzatziki adds a cool flavour that offsets the hot sauce very nicely, and it makes the meat wicked tender. Unless you overcook it… watch out for that.

Serve with rice, or whatever you feel like. Mashed potatoes work well, too. Pour extra sauce all over your side dish. Num.

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*Yes, raw chicken, not frozen chicken strips. I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts and slice them up. Feel free to make nugget shapes if you’re feeling rebellious.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

What’s that? The 25th isn’t always Christmas?! I’ve been living a lie all these years…

Oh, right. Not looking forward to this one. How in the name of blogging am I supposed to choose five favourite blogs? It’s not possible. I can’t even choose a favourite sweater (and believe me, I don’t have many of them), let alone pick five favourite blogs out of the ones I follow.

Ugh, fine. Here are five that I’ve found entertaining and helpful, and I’m purposely choosing blogs of people who are not close personal friends, top commenters, blogs I’ve mentioned before, etc.

Terrible Minds (Chuck Wendig) – Yes, the language is colourful, but he paints such interesting pictures with those colours that I laugh (or at least snort quietly to myself, if anyone’s watching me) when I read his stuff. It’s not just profanity and humour, though; this guy’s got interesting things to say about culture, books, publishing… just about everything.

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing (Joe Konrath) –  One of those bloggers whose words I take with a grain of salt because he’s so extreme in some of his views, but I enjoy his posts, especially when Barry Eisler jumps in to contribute. The comments are always worth reading through. Barry has a blog, too, that I haven’t looked at yet (http://barryeisler.blogspot.ca/)

Kels Not Chels Not Live (Vlog, Kelsey Mackey) – Enthusiastic and adorable. I like this one.

Hide and Create – Yep, throwing a podcast in there, too. No, it’s not a blog. But it has regular posts, it’s informative and entertaining. Really, it’s just a different format… right? Close enough.

Picture Me Reading– I get completely overwhelmed when I see the number of books out there that I could be reading. It helps to have a few book review blogs on my list, especially when I know I’ll see honest reviews of the kind of books I might be interested in. This blog does that, with a few bonuses: a unique illustrated style on reviews, PLUS audio that I enjoy listening to while I do dishes (multitasking that actually works! Blog time and entertainment while slaving away! Hurrah!)

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Don’t look at me like that. You know I love your blog. I just don’t have room for all of them…