Ch … Ch… Ch… Ch… Changes

Today is Sunday, January 1^st, 2012. It’s the start of a new week, a new month and a new year. Wow.

The start of the New Year brings with it changes in the Steinberg household that have been the cause of some angst in the past few weeks.

Nothing serious, mind you, but occasion for thought and wonderment.

After almost 2½ years there, I decided in late November to leave my volunteer job as a writing projects specialist at JobLink, the City of Alexandria’s one-stop career center.

The decision actually caught me a bit off guard. I hadn't planned on leaving, but I knew I was becoming more and more interested in fundraising.

To my surprise, while perusing the “want ads” for volunteers, I saw a request from a local non-profit for development (fundraising) help, including working on grants. I have strongly desired for the past five years or so, to learn grant writing. So I inquired about the volunteer position.

Long story short, I start the new position/internship on Tuesday.

Having been at JobLink for more than two years though, I concede that I am a bit nervous about the new position. Since it will largely be a learning experience for me, I find myself treating it as though I were starting at new school. 

Will the “other kids” like me? Will I be able to manage the work? What do I wear on my first day? These questions have been dogging me since I was “accepted” to volunteer. (Yes, I had an interview for the job….)

I’ll be working at the new organization – Liberty’s Promise (www.libertyspromise.org) – two days a week, five hours a day, covering the lunch hour. Naturally, being the foodie I am, the big question on my mind has been, “What happens at lunchtime?”

It seems that to keep costs in check, the staff brings their lunch. OK. I’m down with that. I love cooking and I know that I have greater control over the general healthiness of what I eat if I make my meals at home.

So that’s all squared away, but back to being the kid at school…

I want to look “cool” so what to bring my lunch in?  

And, I should add that Gary’s starting the New Year with a new lunch bag too. He’s admitted to being a little uptight about parting ways with the lunch bag he’s used for the last four years or so, which he got at a yard sale…

These are our options: 

 

                  

So who uses what? 

The Schnitzel Days of Daph

The Mystics game last night was so much fun! Per usual, since the seats next to us have not been sold for the season, there were strangers as occupants. But we couldn't have asked for better strangers. We sat next to a family of five who were visiting DC from (Excellent!) the Bahamas. I chatted up quite a storm with the wife, who was sitting next to me with her delightful, lively and very curious two-year-old daughter. I made a fool of myself in conversation when I said something about "Bahamanians." The wife had a good laugh on me before telling me that the correct term is "Bahamians." Whoops! What was it that sage fellow Abe Lincoln said? "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt." No kidding, Abe!

The Mystics were playing the Detroit Shock. Think Katie Smith, Alexis Hornbuckle, Kara Braxton, Cheryl Ford, and of course, the legendary Rick Mahorn. I was tempted to yell, "Hey Coach Mahorn! Try not to get thrown out of the game this time!" Given his size -- like a small Mack truck -- and temperament -- let's just say, not the kind you necessarily want to bring home to mother -- I decided it was in my best interest not to share those comments. But I certainly was thinking them. And probably for good reason.

One of the assistant coaches -- Earl Cureton, aka "Earl the Twirl" drew a technical foul in the first half. Not quite sure why, but if I had to guess I'd say it had something to do with "misuse" (I think that's genteel) of language. They're a tough group, those "Motor City" ladies.

So after being the national champions last year, Detroit has been stinkin' it up BIG TIME this year. And as was expected, they lost. But the action was continuous and the lead did change hands a few times, so it was a fun game.

And it was only made better -- much, much better by the food. I have been waiting all season for breaded, deep-fried chicken tenders, better known as "chicken fingers." I absolutely love them and I got to have them last night. Since food is included in the price of our tickets, we got to have them for "free." It was so awesome! A basket of chicken fingers at the Verizon Center costs at least $9. It may be $9.50, I can't remember. So imagine having as much of this food as my little heart desired and not having to shell out serious bucks for it. And in addition to the chicken fingers as an "appetizer" they had a variety of cheeses. Oh man! I was in 7th heaven.

So I've been trying to figure out why I like chicken fingers so much and I may have hit upon something today.

I think it may have to do with the fact that as children when we would drive up to CT on Friday evenings and stop at Grandma Florence's house in the Bronx, she almost always gave us schnitzel. Here's a newsflash: Schnitzel is breaded, fried chicken breast. In other words, not so far off chicken fingers. Could it be that I'm having a flashback when I eat chicken fingers to those innocent days? I'm not sure, because as I recall, I would often struggle with Naomi about who was going to get to stretch out all the way in the back seat. Usually I lost. But even when I "won" the ridiculous and, I daresay, questionably safe child safety harnesses in the back seat made really lying down and getting comfortable next to impossible.

I never learned to duplicate Grandma's recipe exactly and it would have to be exact, because otherwise it's just not the same. Veggie schnitzel in Israel filled a void, but eating it wasn't ever really like eating Grandma's schnitzel in my pajamas at the insanely late hour of - it was probably 8:30 p.m. or so.

Perhaps with the extra time on my hands I'll experiment...

Score: Domestic Divahood, 4; Unfulfilled on the job, 0