Overpowered by Funk

I just finished my first cooking-for-fee session. It went well. This was the menu (considering it's Thanksgiving this week)

• Roasted Herb Turkey Breast (a small one)
• Oven-Roasted Autumn Vegetables
• Green Beans
• Chicken Foil Packets with Squash and Tomatoes
• Butternut Squash Soup
• Whole Wheat Dinner Muffins
• Baked Apples

I think I made too much. Or maybe not. She'll have to let me know. It's for all week, so maybe it's okay.

So now I'm sitting here listening to The Clash (hence the title), trying to figure out how to charge her. Groceries cost a certain amount, and it took me probably 1.5 hours to cook it all (not including baking/roast time, since I'm at my own house and used that time to do my own thing). I'm tempted to give her the grocery total and cooking time, and then tell her to take it all home and taste it, and let me know what she thinks it's worth (and then I'd go from there). I don't know. Hmm.

I've got to do laundry, bead, and this big illustration project for the magazine, which I really don't quite understand the mechanics of (it's going to be animated. What this means, I don't really know). I think I'll do laundry and illustration, since I'll be babysitting this Friday and will have lots of time to bead. I also think my idea of hanging jewelry off the tree branches will allow me to display slightly less than I was planning (which is good).

Such a busy month! However, I am getting lots of things done, which is very good.

Entirely different subjust: Good Book Alert!! I just finished reading The Historian, which, if you have ANY interest in Dracula (or if you liked The Da Vinci Code), you should check out. It's EXACTLY the sort of book I love. Big and hefty (lots of pages), a big, well-imagined story that is pretty fast-paced but also includes lots of details, plus it has a nice history/anthropology angle. And, it's about Dracula. Or rather, the search for Dracula. It's not scary at all (well, not in a horro-novel kind of way, more in a suspenseful way), and I couldn't WAIT to read it every night.

So, there you have it. I've got a blister to show for my efforts, and we'll see how she likes everything.