i hate mornings. i hate them because ever since the temperature started to drop, it's always freezing when i wake up. the cold makes me reluctant to leave the warmth of my comforter and keeps me in bed longer than planned. sure, it'd be cool to have an automatic thermostat that i could set and have it turn on the heat right when i'm about to wake up, but alas, i just have one of those old school manual dials.

i finally assembled the second metal shelving unit in the basement today. it took a long time and all that hammering hurt my wrists. my storage area is definitely less messy now but it still looks cluttered. back upstairs i started planning out what i wanted to make for thanksgiving. traditionally i do desserts, including my annual flan. this year i also want to make a pumpkin pie. originally i was going to make a pecan pie as well as a cheesecake, but i figured that was a bit too much, save some of those recipes for next month.

my parents went to chinatown to do some supply shopping and i tagged along. they bought $250 worth of groceries and we ended up using two carts. tomorrow i have to go to market basket to pick up some more dessert ingredients. i wonder how crazy that place is going to be, so close to thanksgiving.

watched last night's episode of dexter (episode 8). is he finally breaking up with lila? she's hot but clingy, glad to see her go; dexter belongs with rita and the kids. and a suspicious detective discovers dexter's secret! i absolutely can't wait for the next episode!

for dinner i had some southeast asian leftovers from yesterday. zhu lei didn't come home until very late. he told me he saw some creature that looked like a squirrel but was black and white. i told him it was a skunk, and introduced him my new england audubon field guide. normally we don't talk too much, but his newfound interest in nature got me taking out maps and pointing out some naturing hotspots that are either bicycle or public transportation accessible. he wanted to know where he could go to see beaches (revere beach, the easiest one to get to) and american style wilderness (blue hills). he also brought up the situation with the ruined pan, and said he'd go out and buy a new one after thanksgiving. i think i'm going to let him off the hook and tell him don't bother; besides, i'm really picky about my cookware and i don't want him buying the wrong one. in the meantime, we can use the old frying pan i got from my parents (which actually belonged to alex wong).