Pasta with Mushrooms & Tomatoes

“Why don’t you want to graduate?”

I’ve been asked this so many times by my friends and peers. It’s actually a bit ridiculous. Perhaps even more ridiculous is the fact that I haven’t given anyone a straight answer. The only response I have is “oh, I just don’t want to.” Not even witty, but just a childish response to a perfectly valid question. Truth is, I don’t really want to let anyone know how I feel. I feel weird pouring out my heart out (is this an expression that people use?) to people I know in real life. And that’s why I don’t. And that’s why I write about it online instead. Because I’m a chicken.

So I guess here’s why. I know that once I graduate, I won’t be seeing half of these people ever again. These are people that I’ve seen pretty much every day for the past 5 years. FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE. That’s over a quarter of my life! Insane, eh? Oh, plus people in other grades too.

But mostly, I’m afraid that I won’t stay close with people who I’ve fostered friendships with. I’m pretty much going to be alone in university. As selfish as this is, I don’t want them to make friends. I want to stay friends with them and I know this won’t happen if they make friends in post-secondary. I don’t even talk to most of my friends outside of school so how am I supposed to maintain a relationship without any contact.

Banana Oat Muffins

The weather that Metro Vancouver has been receiving is absolutely ridiculous. 25 or 26° C in the beginning of May? Crazy! It’s been sunny for a few days already, and it’s supposed to be sunny all week. I’m so not used to it… Such un-Vancouver-like weather, although I’m not complaining at all.

I love it when it’s sunny. I just feel like everyone’s in a better mood. I love going outside during lunch on sunny days with my friends. Today, the fields were filled with tons of people. It was a beautiful sight. I think just hanging out at “the pit” (what my friends named the parking lot area we hang out at… this sounds really shady, but it’s not) on sunny days is going to be one of the things I will miss when I graduate. Then again, I’ll probably miss every single thing.

At the end of this month, I’ll be attending my school’s commencement ceremony and the grad dinner dance (which is pretty much like prom, I think). It’s absolutely insane to think about the fact that there’s only a little more than a month of school left. I can still remember the first day of grade 8, and now here I am… Weird. I don’t like talking about graduating or the future with any of my friends because it’s weird to think about. I mean, I probably won’t end up staying friends with a lot of people and that’s pretty sad to think about. Plus I’m not ready. A lot of my friends aren’t ready either, so I guess we just pretend like it’s not happening at all.

And it’s fairly obvious that I’m writing this at night when my thoughts get all weird and gross. Late night worries are fun, eh?

Asian Noodles with Tofu & Bok Choy

I have a rubbish immune system. Look at me using the word rubbish… I should be British or something.

A few days after getting over the first nasty virus, I caught another one. Either that or the previous one was hanging out and decided to have a little more fun in my body. Fun for the virus and not for me because sneezing and feeling tired is the last thing I need. I’m busy… I don’t have time for a dumb virus!

My mom blamed it on the fact that I wasn’t wearing weather-appropriate clothing yesterday… except the cold is caused by a virus so that kind of doesn’t make any sense. I wonder if it’s just a tactic parents use to get their children to wear more layers.

I made this dish when I was sick… I knew I wanted something salty, and I was craving noodles… Hence soy sauce and noodles! I really don’t know how to cook, so I guess this is episode 1 of Henri Pretends To Know How To Cook. I really should know how to cook because I’ve watched way too many hours of cooking shows, but when instructions tell me to cook something on low heat, I don’t really know what that is on my stove… I need exact instructions, yo.

After cooking this dish, I realized I couldn’t taste anything. Sad life. Until I actually bother to try to make this again, I don’t really know how it tastes… so uh, this post is more for me than anything.

P.S. I totally had no clue what to call this post… clearly.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Hi! How are you? Good? Good.

I’m still alive, although I guess nobody would really know that because I last posted almost a month ago. Geez, time passes by way too quickly.

I’m sick right now with a cold. Colds are the best. I love viruses. (PS, I’m being sarcastic.) I caught this nasty virus after standing in the cold, pouring rain watching my school’s senior ultimate team. I was only going to watch for a few minutes before returning inside, but I ended up staying and holding an umbrella for the shivering ultimate players… And it’s not like I can just walk inside because then the poor ultimate players would be freezing. So I stayed out for nearly an hour and 30 minutes… holding an umbrella… standing close to other shivering and wet people… trying to stay warm…

And that’s how you catch a cold. Because you feel bad for other people who might end up getting a cold but don’t end up getting a cold because their immune systems don’t suck.

I’ve been super busy, although I suppose I use that excuse for everything nowadays. Tons has happened and I’ll update again once I’m feeling a little bit better. I promise.

I don’t really have the brainpower to write, but I figured I’d post these pancakes because I’m bored just laying on my couch watching nothing exciting on TV.

Quinoa Breakup Letter

Dear quinoa,

We’ve had some great times…  You had me mesmerized with your nutritional benefits. The fact that you were a plant-based complete protein turned me on. I was instantly attracted to you.

I thought I was going to love you. I wanted to love you. I spent days looking at recipes with you in it. I fantasized about you all the time. I had dreams for the both of us… together. You and me.

I thought about putting you in salads. Maybe in a spin-off on fried rice. And this breakfast quinoa…