Yesterday after work our van was driving back to Evansville and I was gazing out the window at the blue sky with cumulus clouds, the kind of clouds you make shapes with in your imagination.
From Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, when Pee-Wee and Dotti are looking at the clouds:
Dotti: And what about that one, there?
Pee-Wee: That one's a man and a woman, making love.
I remember not really "seeing" what they were talking about. I'll have to rent that movie and watch it again. I used to love Pee-Wee Herman.
Anyhow, I wanted to lay in the grass and look at the clouds. I decided to go explore the "wildlife preservation area" that I saw in my county map. It looked like it was only a mile south of Evansville and seemed to cover a lot of area. I thought that maybe there would be some wooded areas that I could explore, and maybe find a tree to lay under and read and look at the clouds.
I rode my bike there, and realized it's actually just a big, grassy field. No trees to speak of. But I wasn't going to let that ruin my sense of adventure. I saw some trees in the back of the field, and they looked like they were pretty far away but I was in the mood for some exercise. So I began walking through the field with the trees in mind as my destination.
The grass in the field was so tall. It was about waist-high. If anyone needs a good workout, take a walk in a grassy field. You have to practically lift your knees to your chest just to step carefully and not kill yourself. By the time my excursion was over, my butt and hip flexors were feeling the burn. Yeah, baby!
I made it to the edge of the field, but not to the trees. It seems there was a cornfield in the way. So I began exploring what I did see, which was a dead tree and a huge log which I'm sure was home to a myriad of critters. There were some vines growing on the fence that lined the property, and I saw what looked like large blueberries growing on the vine. But blueberries aren't really a vine plant, so I thought they might be grapes. I picked one and squished it between my fingers. Nope, it had a large pit in the middle. Choke cherries? I tentatively licked the juice but tasted nothing. So I picked another berry-thing and took a little bite of it. It tasted like a blueberry, not bad. Thinking of all the lectures from grade-school about how you're not supposed to eat anything that you don't recognize, I spat it out. Then I was slightly paranoid for about 5 minutes, wondering if I'd start vomiting profusely or just drop dead. Fortunately, neither happened and I was fine.
I walked around the cornfield and found an old path that I figured was used by the farmers when driving equipment around. I walked down the old path (which was also covered in tall weeds that I had to lurch my way through) until I finally got to a soybean plot, more corn, and - yes! - my stand of trees.
The stand of trees was like like an oasis in the field of corn and tall weeds. The trees were all hardwoods, but I don't really know what they were. Probably willow, cottonwood, elm.. The ground of the oasis was pretty bare because the trees provided so much shade that nothing else could grow. There were a lot of dead trees on the ground and branches skewn about. I saw some interesting mushrooms growing on fallen logs. The place was cool but it kind of gave me the creeps (my over-active imagination again). I thought of the book The Life of Pi, and how Pi found an oasis on an island in the middle of the ocean. I won't go into details, but if you've read the book you understand what I mean.
I finally walked out of the stand of trees and back into the sun. By this time the sun was getting pretty low, and I figured I'd better make my way home. After walking through the tall grass and weeds again, and riding my bike home, my legs were aching and I was really sweaty. I had had a nice time exploring, though I may not come back. The place was cool, but it was a lot of work getting there and there wasn't much to see.
Today's Lunch:
Ham sandwich with dijon mustard (I thought I'd spice it up a bit) on whole wheat
Nectarine
Rice cake (white cheddar)
Banana
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Day of Caring
Today we celebrated the United Way Day of Caring. It's a yearly event where employees from workplaces around the community volunteer to help community groups. For example, some people are constructing a playground at Head Start, and others are going to paint at a family resource center.
My group was assigned to take some residents at a retirement building for an outing. They were all in wheelchairs, so we each had someone to push and we walked to the Capitol square and went to the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum. Many of the folks were veterans or had family members who were in our country's battles.
The woman I was pushing is named Jane. She was born on her family's 200-acre dairy farm just outside of Madison in 1921. She went to the University of Wisconsin for nursing, and worked at various Veteran's Hospitals in the midwest (Madison and Tomah, WI and Indianapolis). Her brother had died in World War II. He was a pilot, and was sent out on a lot of missions over France. He made it through the missions okay, but on a commuter flight to England died in a plane accident. His twin sister had died at the age of 16 from scarlet fever. In the 30 years Jane spent working for the VA administration, she said she did a lot of training of new nurse employees. Now she's 84, and can't hear too well but seems to be in good shape otherwise, though she kept saying how her butt hurt from her wheelchair. I had a nice time talking with her, and I'm glad to have spent my morning talking to someone rather than moving rocks or something.
My group was assigned to take some residents at a retirement building for an outing. They were all in wheelchairs, so we each had someone to push and we walked to the Capitol square and went to the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum. Many of the folks were veterans or had family members who were in our country's battles.
The woman I was pushing is named Jane. She was born on her family's 200-acre dairy farm just outside of Madison in 1921. She went to the University of Wisconsin for nursing, and worked at various Veteran's Hospitals in the midwest (Madison and Tomah, WI and Indianapolis). Her brother had died in World War II. He was a pilot, and was sent out on a lot of missions over France. He made it through the missions okay, but on a commuter flight to England died in a plane accident. His twin sister had died at the age of 16 from scarlet fever. In the 30 years Jane spent working for the VA administration, she said she did a lot of training of new nurse employees. Now she's 84, and can't hear too well but seems to be in good shape otherwise, though she kept saying how her butt hurt from her wheelchair. I had a nice time talking with her, and I'm glad to have spent my morning talking to someone rather than moving rocks or something.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
The lemon meringue pie
On sunday we were going to my coworker's house so that Zach could use his buffness to help them move some furniture around. They offered to make us dinner in return, and I volunteered to provide a dessert.
Saturday night rolled around, and I was beat from canning. We had very few ingredients on hand in the house, and I didn't feel like going to the store. So I looked through my cookbook and decided to make a lemon meringue pie. Sure, it was just going to be made with bottled lemon juice concentrate and not the fresh stuff, but who would know the difference? I also had one lemon in the refrigerator that I could use for zest. The rest of the ingredients were pretty typical - cornstarch, flour, eggs, sugar, butter, etc.
Sunday morning rolled around, and as I looked at the recipe more closely, I realized I needed cream of tartar for the meringue. I don't have cream of tartar, never have, actually, and looked for a substitute to no avail. That was when Zach told me we were out of milk, and our bread was running short. So I decided to just go grocery shopping. I invested in fresh lemons and cream of tartar for the pie, along with other staples for the week.
Now to the pie-making...
I made the crust first and was happy to see it forming well. As I cut the fat into the flour-salt mixture, the mixture started to form little pebbles - perfect. No blobs, no stickiness, it was perfect. Then I added some water, made the dough into a ball, and stuck it in the fridge. No problemo.
Next I prepared the lemons for the filling. That was pretty easy, too, but time-consuming. I was really happy with how my zest came out. The juice had some teeny seeds that I had to pick out, but that was to be expected. That all seemed to take awhile, so I figured the crust was chilled enough and rolled it out and into the pie plate.
To cook the filling, I combined some cornstarch, sugar, and maybe some salt and stuck it in a saucepan. Next I added 4 egg yolks, the lemon juice and the lemon zest and stirred. The directions said to stir constantly, and this is where it got crazy. As I was stirring, I read the instructions for making the meringue. I have no idea what kind of meringue it was (Alanna), but it was called Meringue I. The other meringue was called Meringue II, and I chose Meringue I because the directions said it was more stable. Considering I had never made a meringue, I thought making the more stable one was a good idea.
The meringue recipe had three parts: 1) make a paste with cornstarch, sugar, and water; 2) beat the egg whites until fluffy; 3) add the cream of tartar and vanilla to the egg whites; 4) beat in the cornstarch paste. I didn't plan ahead very well, and realized that when the filling was done, it had to go in the pie plate, and then the meringue had to be spread on the filling before the filling cooled. So I was trying to "constantly" stir my lemon filling while making the cornstarch paste, then had to constantly stir the cornstarch paste and let it boil for a certain amount of time. I also needed to get my egg whites beaten, all while stirring that lemon filling. I only have two hands, so I recruited Zach to stir the lemon filling. With much complaining, he stirred it and did a great job, and I poured it into the pie crust. Then I whipped the meringue (splashing egg whites all over the place) and spread it on top. The meringue had the right consistency but it looked lumpy - apparently the corn starch paste didn't get fully incorporated. I didn't want to overbeat it, so I just left it that way and hoped for the best.
I cooked the pie, and when it came out of the oven, the meringue looked beautiful. When we sliced into it a few hours later, the meringue wasn't runny where it touched the lemon filling (that only happens when the meringue is spread over a cool filling) so I was happy. The lumps that I had seen in the meringue disappeared once it was cooked - major bonus. My only complaint is that the crust didn't seem cooked enough. Perhaps next time I will precook the crust.
Today's Lunch:
Pizza of some kind
Saturday night rolled around, and I was beat from canning. We had very few ingredients on hand in the house, and I didn't feel like going to the store. So I looked through my cookbook and decided to make a lemon meringue pie. Sure, it was just going to be made with bottled lemon juice concentrate and not the fresh stuff, but who would know the difference? I also had one lemon in the refrigerator that I could use for zest. The rest of the ingredients were pretty typical - cornstarch, flour, eggs, sugar, butter, etc.
Sunday morning rolled around, and as I looked at the recipe more closely, I realized I needed cream of tartar for the meringue. I don't have cream of tartar, never have, actually, and looked for a substitute to no avail. That was when Zach told me we were out of milk, and our bread was running short. So I decided to just go grocery shopping. I invested in fresh lemons and cream of tartar for the pie, along with other staples for the week.
Now to the pie-making...
I made the crust first and was happy to see it forming well. As I cut the fat into the flour-salt mixture, the mixture started to form little pebbles - perfect. No blobs, no stickiness, it was perfect. Then I added some water, made the dough into a ball, and stuck it in the fridge. No problemo.
Next I prepared the lemons for the filling. That was pretty easy, too, but time-consuming. I was really happy with how my zest came out. The juice had some teeny seeds that I had to pick out, but that was to be expected. That all seemed to take awhile, so I figured the crust was chilled enough and rolled it out and into the pie plate.
To cook the filling, I combined some cornstarch, sugar, and maybe some salt and stuck it in a saucepan. Next I added 4 egg yolks, the lemon juice and the lemon zest and stirred. The directions said to stir constantly, and this is where it got crazy. As I was stirring, I read the instructions for making the meringue. I have no idea what kind of meringue it was (Alanna), but it was called Meringue I. The other meringue was called Meringue II, and I chose Meringue I because the directions said it was more stable. Considering I had never made a meringue, I thought making the more stable one was a good idea.
The meringue recipe had three parts: 1) make a paste with cornstarch, sugar, and water; 2) beat the egg whites until fluffy; 3) add the cream of tartar and vanilla to the egg whites; 4) beat in the cornstarch paste. I didn't plan ahead very well, and realized that when the filling was done, it had to go in the pie plate, and then the meringue had to be spread on the filling before the filling cooled. So I was trying to "constantly" stir my lemon filling while making the cornstarch paste, then had to constantly stir the cornstarch paste and let it boil for a certain amount of time. I also needed to get my egg whites beaten, all while stirring that lemon filling. I only have two hands, so I recruited Zach to stir the lemon filling. With much complaining, he stirred it and did a great job, and I poured it into the pie crust. Then I whipped the meringue (splashing egg whites all over the place) and spread it on top. The meringue had the right consistency but it looked lumpy - apparently the corn starch paste didn't get fully incorporated. I didn't want to overbeat it, so I just left it that way and hoped for the best.
I cooked the pie, and when it came out of the oven, the meringue looked beautiful. When we sliced into it a few hours later, the meringue wasn't runny where it touched the lemon filling (that only happens when the meringue is spread over a cool filling) so I was happy. The lumps that I had seen in the meringue disappeared once it was cooked - major bonus. My only complaint is that the crust didn't seem cooked enough. Perhaps next time I will precook the crust.
Today's Lunch:
Pizza of some kind
Monday, August 28, 2006
My first canning experience
I spent most of the day saturday canning my pears. As I began cutting my pears, I realized a lot of them had brown, crusty spots in the flesh, so I just cut around them. Then, when I cut a particularly rotten-looking pear, I saw a little white worm crawl out, with its little head waving around like it was trying to figure out what the heck just happened. It was like, "Hey! Who tore up my nest?" I have serious issues with worms. Those blind, wriggling, slimy little things give me the willies, especially the larvae with legs. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise, and I felt itchy all over.
As I kept cutting up more pears, more worms appeared. At first I would kind of yell and jump back and do a little "freaked-out" dance, but then I thought about Julie, the girl from Gap Creek. She probably wouldn't have been such a baby about a little ol' worm. Zach came over and gave me a hug and said, "Honey, it's just a little baby. It's going to grow into a beautiful butterfly. You like little babies, don't you?" So I tried to toughen up, and by the end I was slicing those pears open without even a grimace.
I think it took about 3 hours to get the pears all cut up. There were so many rotten, wormy spots that I had to do a lot of carving. The next step was to cook the pears. Some of them were really green, so I separated them from the others and boiled them until they became soft. I put all the pears in a pot with some syrup (sugar-water, basically) and crystallized ginger. I didn't make the pears into pie filling as I had initially planned because I wanted them to be more versatile. But I love ginger pears!
I started boiling my water in the canner. I remember thinking to myself, "the pears must have been the hardest part. Now I just have to throw these puppies into a jar and I'll be all set!" Yeah, right. This is where it got even scarier.
I needed to sanitize the jars. I put them on a rack that can be lifted in and out of the canner. I set the rack in the boiling water, and the rack sunk but the empty jars just floated on the surface of the water. I needed to get the water inside the jars. So I used a spoon and my jar tongs to try to turn the jars so they could fill with water. But they were just kind of floating around in the sea of boiling water. And of course, I was getting splashed by the boiling water, which kind of hurt. By this time sweat was rolling down my face and onto my glasses (still haven't received those toiletries) and I was yelling in frustration. Zach came into the kitchen to make a sandwich, and I frantically told him not to talk to me because I was concentrating.
I finally filled the jars with the hot water and poked them, with much difficulty, into their respective places on the rack. By this time my pears were finished cooking (it was only supposed to be 5 minutes), and I was afraid they would turn to mush. So I waited one minute, then took the jars out of the water. Afterward I asked my mom how long they're supposed to be in the water, and she said, "oh, I don't know. 15 minutes or so?" Oops. I took the jars out of the water, one at a time, and tried my hardest to dump the water back into the pot with the jar tongs. Yeah, right. I was almost pouring the boiling water onto my arm. So finally I pulled the jars out, set them on the counter, and used my oven mits to grab a jar, avoiding contaminating its mouth, and dumped the water back into the vat of boiling water.
I frantically filled the jars with my pear mixture, dripping syrup all over the floor in the small space between our stove and countertop. Then I managed to dig the lids out of their hot water pots and tried not to burn myself as I screwed them on the jars. Finally, I grabbed the jars and set them on the rack to go back inside the canner. I shoved the rack down into the boiling water, and of course the rack went all the way to the bottom but the jars didn't. After more trouble, I finally got the jars down, added more hot water to the bath, and put the lid on. I was finally done!
The pears sat in the boiling water for 30 minutes, so I used that time to clean up the kitchen, which was a total disaster area. I also called my mom and whined about all the problems I had. She informed me that it's easier to put the jars into the water when they're not empty, and to fill them with tap water before trying to sterilize them. I'll make a note of that for next time.
When my timer beeped, I used the tongs again to lift the jars out of the boiling water. I set them on the counter, on top of a dish towel, and listened to the lids pop as each jar sealed. Ahhh.. just as my mom predicted, it was a beautiful sound.
I ended up with 4-1/2 quarts of gingered pears. I ate the extra half quart, and they were very yummy. I tried not to think about the worms I may have missed when I was cutting up the pears.
So now I know what to do differently next year. First, we need to trim off some pears when they are little, so that there will be fewer pears and they will get bigger. I read somewhere that to prevent apples from getting worms, you should take a paper lunch sack, put it over each baby apple, and tie it on to the branch with a rubber band. This will keep the insects from attacking the apple, and the bag will give it space to grow. So I might try that on our pears next year. I just wonder what happens to the bag when it rains.
Stay tuned for more cooking adventures. Next I'm going to write about making my first lemon meringue pie.
Today's Lunch:
Ham sandwich on wheat with yellow mustard
Apple (golden delicious)
Piece of lemon meringue pie
As I kept cutting up more pears, more worms appeared. At first I would kind of yell and jump back and do a little "freaked-out" dance, but then I thought about Julie, the girl from Gap Creek. She probably wouldn't have been such a baby about a little ol' worm. Zach came over and gave me a hug and said, "Honey, it's just a little baby. It's going to grow into a beautiful butterfly. You like little babies, don't you?" So I tried to toughen up, and by the end I was slicing those pears open without even a grimace.
I think it took about 3 hours to get the pears all cut up. There were so many rotten, wormy spots that I had to do a lot of carving. The next step was to cook the pears. Some of them were really green, so I separated them from the others and boiled them until they became soft. I put all the pears in a pot with some syrup (sugar-water, basically) and crystallized ginger. I didn't make the pears into pie filling as I had initially planned because I wanted them to be more versatile. But I love ginger pears!
I started boiling my water in the canner. I remember thinking to myself, "the pears must have been the hardest part. Now I just have to throw these puppies into a jar and I'll be all set!" Yeah, right. This is where it got even scarier.
I needed to sanitize the jars. I put them on a rack that can be lifted in and out of the canner. I set the rack in the boiling water, and the rack sunk but the empty jars just floated on the surface of the water. I needed to get the water inside the jars. So I used a spoon and my jar tongs to try to turn the jars so they could fill with water. But they were just kind of floating around in the sea of boiling water. And of course, I was getting splashed by the boiling water, which kind of hurt. By this time sweat was rolling down my face and onto my glasses (still haven't received those toiletries) and I was yelling in frustration. Zach came into the kitchen to make a sandwich, and I frantically told him not to talk to me because I was concentrating.
I finally filled the jars with the hot water and poked them, with much difficulty, into their respective places on the rack. By this time my pears were finished cooking (it was only supposed to be 5 minutes), and I was afraid they would turn to mush. So I waited one minute, then took the jars out of the water. Afterward I asked my mom how long they're supposed to be in the water, and she said, "oh, I don't know. 15 minutes or so?" Oops. I took the jars out of the water, one at a time, and tried my hardest to dump the water back into the pot with the jar tongs. Yeah, right. I was almost pouring the boiling water onto my arm. So finally I pulled the jars out, set them on the counter, and used my oven mits to grab a jar, avoiding contaminating its mouth, and dumped the water back into the vat of boiling water.
I frantically filled the jars with my pear mixture, dripping syrup all over the floor in the small space between our stove and countertop. Then I managed to dig the lids out of their hot water pots and tried not to burn myself as I screwed them on the jars. Finally, I grabbed the jars and set them on the rack to go back inside the canner. I shoved the rack down into the boiling water, and of course the rack went all the way to the bottom but the jars didn't. After more trouble, I finally got the jars down, added more hot water to the bath, and put the lid on. I was finally done!
The pears sat in the boiling water for 30 minutes, so I used that time to clean up the kitchen, which was a total disaster area. I also called my mom and whined about all the problems I had. She informed me that it's easier to put the jars into the water when they're not empty, and to fill them with tap water before trying to sterilize them. I'll make a note of that for next time.
When my timer beeped, I used the tongs again to lift the jars out of the boiling water. I set them on the counter, on top of a dish towel, and listened to the lids pop as each jar sealed. Ahhh.. just as my mom predicted, it was a beautiful sound.
I ended up with 4-1/2 quarts of gingered pears. I ate the extra half quart, and they were very yummy. I tried not to think about the worms I may have missed when I was cutting up the pears.
So now I know what to do differently next year. First, we need to trim off some pears when they are little, so that there will be fewer pears and they will get bigger. I read somewhere that to prevent apples from getting worms, you should take a paper lunch sack, put it over each baby apple, and tie it on to the branch with a rubber band. This will keep the insects from attacking the apple, and the bag will give it space to grow. So I might try that on our pears next year. I just wonder what happens to the bag when it rains.
Stay tuned for more cooking adventures. Next I'm going to write about making my first lemon meringue pie.
Today's Lunch:
Ham sandwich on wheat with yellow mustard
Apple (golden delicious)
Piece of lemon meringue pie
Friday, August 25, 2006
New electronics
Yesterday Zach and I went on a electronics shopping spree!
We needed a new cell phone. Somehow, ours broke so that the other person on the line couldn't hear us speak. It was really annoying.
So we went to the kiosk in the mall where we got our old phone, and bought a new one. We also signed a new contract. The whole package (new phone with protective case, headset, charger, and vehicle charger) was supposed to cost about $180, but the girl screwed up and we got it for about $100. We were really excited.
Then we went to Radio Shack. I bought some blank CDs and earbud extensions for my mp3 player (my ears are too little for the buds that came with it). Zach bought a new remote control.
So yeah, for you tech-savvy people out there with razor phones and plasma TVs, that may not sound like much, but we felt very cool.
I like it because it has spill-proof shelves and can hold 2 gallons of milk in the door. Also, the freezer is nice and spacious and our ice trays will fit in the door.
We had to lay it down in the truck to bring it home, and for each 15 minutes it lays down, you have to let it stand for 1 hour before plugging it in. Zach plugged it in this morning, and tomorrow morning we're going to make the "big switch." I'm really pumped. Now my frozen food won't be covered in ice particles!
We needed a new cell phone. Somehow, ours broke so that the other person on the line couldn't hear us speak. It was really annoying.
So we went to the kiosk in the mall where we got our old phone, and bought a new one. We also signed a new contract. The whole package (new phone with protective case, headset, charger, and vehicle charger) was supposed to cost about $180, but the girl screwed up and we got it for about $100. We were really excited.
Then we went to Radio Shack. I bought some blank CDs and earbud extensions for my mp3 player (my ears are too little for the buds that came with it). Zach bought a new remote control.
So yeah, for you tech-savvy people out there with razor phones and plasma TVs, that may not sound like much, but we felt very cool.
Then, on our way home, we stopped at an appliance store to look at the refrigerators. We ended up in the "returned merchandise" area, way in the back of the store. After browsing for awhile, we found a Frigidaire with a top-mounted freezer for $450. It had been returned because it didn't fit in the people's kitchen, but it had never been used. It still had all the plastic on the shelves and stuff. It cost $550 new.
I like it because it has spill-proof shelves and can hold 2 gallons of milk in the door. Also, the freezer is nice and spacious and our ice trays will fit in the door.
We had to lay it down in the truck to bring it home, and for each 15 minutes it lays down, you have to let it stand for 1 hour before plugging it in. Zach plugged it in this morning, and tomorrow morning we're going to make the "big switch." I'm really pumped. Now my frozen food won't be covered in ice particles!
Business update
I busted my tail all last weekend finishing my menu for my baking business. When I got to work monday, I was going to have our public affairs group put a little blurb about my business in the bulletin, with a link to the menu (our bulletin is electronic). However, I was told that since my business isn't really licensed that I shouldn't advertise in the bulletin because someone might tell the "officials" (whoever that would be), and I could get in trouble. I thought about what she said and realized the Lab could get in trouble for allowing me to advertise my illicit business in their workplace.
So now I'm at the next step of constructing my company. I wrote a letter to a few restaurants, churches, and fraternal organizations in Evansville. Here's an example:
Here's my menu, minus the contact information (click to enlarge):
Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
Plum
Prunes
(I know, Alanna.. it's a crappy lunch)
So now I'm at the next step of constructing my company. I wrote a letter to a few restaurants, churches, and fraternal organizations in Evansville. Here's an example:
To the Members of the Oak Grove Church,I'm going to mail them out today. Hopefully I'll get some good responses. Out of 13 places, one of them would be willing to help, right?
My name is Crystal and I'm a resident of Evansville. I have a full-time job in Madison, but am interested in starting a small side business selling baked goods to friends, co-workers, and family.
According to the Rock County Health Department, I must do all my cooking in a commercial kitchen. Because this project is a small venture, and because of monetary constrictions that have led me to starting a side business in the first place, I find it uneconomical to build a brand new kitchen just so I can sell cookies to my friends. I realize some churches have commercial kitchens, and if you do, I am asking you to allow me to rent your kitchen three nights a week, from any time after 5:00 to 9:00. In return for use of your facility, I am offering to give you monetary compensation, and/or do odd jobs and cleaning around the building. [I offered to bake treats for staff meetings at restaurants, and for parties and meetings for the fraternal organizations.] I am a hard worker with a positive attitude and friendly demeanor, and you would not regret doing business with me.
I hope you will consider my offer and help my small business get started. Feel free to contact me if you have questions. I am looking forward to doing business with you.
Yours truly,
Crystal
Here's my menu, minus the contact information (click to enlarge):
Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
Plum
Prunes
(I know, Alanna.. it's a crappy lunch)
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Scary teeth
I haven't flossed my teeth in 1-1/2 weeks. It's because my floss is 400 miles away, and hopefully it will come in the mail any day now. I've been saying "any day now" for the last 10 days, so maybe it will come today. Otherwise I may have to break down and buy new floss. But, according to Murphy's Law, our toiletry bag will come in the day after I buy that new floss. So I just haven't bought any yet.
It took about 3 days for me to break down and get a new toothbrush. At first I was content just using my finger and toothpaste, and using the pick for my permanent retainer as a flossing mechanism, but now.. it's like I can feel the gingivitis forming.
My toiletries are either in Houghton or somewhere in transit between Houghton and Evansville. I blame it all on Zach. He was supposed to pack our bags while I went to get my truck, and he forgot the toiletries. He blames it on me, since I was supposed to remind him to get the toiletries. Of course, all this blaming is in good nature, so no one is really upset with anyone.
So I hope the girls have sent our toiletries to us. I can't wait to feel the caress of floss between my teeth.
Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich with mustard on whole wheat
Corn on the cob
Plum
2 Hershey kisses
It took about 3 days for me to break down and get a new toothbrush. At first I was content just using my finger and toothpaste, and using the pick for my permanent retainer as a flossing mechanism, but now.. it's like I can feel the gingivitis forming.
My toiletries are either in Houghton or somewhere in transit between Houghton and Evansville. I blame it all on Zach. He was supposed to pack our bags while I went to get my truck, and he forgot the toiletries. He blames it on me, since I was supposed to remind him to get the toiletries. Of course, all this blaming is in good nature, so no one is really upset with anyone.
So I hope the girls have sent our toiletries to us. I can't wait to feel the caress of floss between my teeth.
Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich with mustard on whole wheat
Corn on the cob
Plum
2 Hershey kisses
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
PBS Reality TV
I have watched the entire season of "Frontier House," "1940s House," and am now working on "Colonial House." I really enjoy these shows. To me, what matters in history is how people lived their day-to-day lives, not really how General so-and-so conquered this territory and how President blah-blah-blah signed this treaty. I realize those pieces of history are important and help us see how our country was shaped, but what's more important to me is how my ancestors lived.
When I watch Frontier House, I imagine my great-great-grandparents, traveling across the country to live on the plains of North Dakota. I have no idea how they got there in real life, but I know it wasn't by car. I also know that life wasn't easy. Having no electricity or running water (Pam - ha ha!) makes things difficult. People who had wells or creeks right by their houses were considered lucky - others had to walk long distances, more than a mile, to get their water. And when your child is sick and there's no doctor nearby and no modern medicine.. well, you just had to do what you could to keep him or her alive.
Now I'm watching Colonial House. What shocked me first was how unsanitary people were. The people in that show are living the lives of people in the year 1628. They didn't even have outhouses back then, they just went in the woods or river or wherever they pleased. And, when they used chamber pots inside the house, they would just walk out on the doorstep and fling the pot's contents into the yard, creating a cesspool. Yuck! No wonder they suffered from dysentery. If you're as interested in poo as I am, check out this website on the history of toilet use.
In Colonial House, there is a governor who is basically in charge of everything (and it's not a democratic society). Then there's the Lay Preacher, who is the assistant governor. There are two families, the freemen (bachelors), and servants. What I've noticed the most is that people from the 21st century don't like being told what to do. The servants hate being bossed around, but they're servants and they have to do what their master tells them. A servant from the 1600s would have never argued or been lazy because he knew he didn't have any rights. When you take people from today, people who are used to being free, and turn them into servants, they naturally become very resentful. So there's some definite conflict there.
There is a law that everyone has to go to church on sunday. The governor tries to enforce it, but people keep skipping church. No one likes being told that they have to go to church when they don't believe in god (as is the case of one family) or would rather do something else. The man who is the governor is in a tough position, because he feels he must enforce these laws that he may not necessarily believe in. To accurately portray the life of the colonists, those rules should be followed.
I can see the how it would be hard for a person from today to live in the 1600s and follow all the rules. Back then, the church controlled the government, and people as a whole took religion more seriously. Plus, it was the only way they knew. And anyone who protested the church was considered a heretic and could be burned at the stake.
Today's Lunch:
Tuna fish sandwich with Miracle Whip and sweet relish on whole wheat
Plum
2 rice cakes - caramel toffee
When I watch Frontier House, I imagine my great-great-grandparents, traveling across the country to live on the plains of North Dakota. I have no idea how they got there in real life, but I know it wasn't by car. I also know that life wasn't easy. Having no electricity or running water (Pam - ha ha!) makes things difficult. People who had wells or creeks right by their houses were considered lucky - others had to walk long distances, more than a mile, to get their water. And when your child is sick and there's no doctor nearby and no modern medicine.. well, you just had to do what you could to keep him or her alive.
Now I'm watching Colonial House. What shocked me first was how unsanitary people were. The people in that show are living the lives of people in the year 1628. They didn't even have outhouses back then, they just went in the woods or river or wherever they pleased. And, when they used chamber pots inside the house, they would just walk out on the doorstep and fling the pot's contents into the yard, creating a cesspool. Yuck! No wonder they suffered from dysentery. If you're as interested in poo as I am, check out this website on the history of toilet use.
In Colonial House, there is a governor who is basically in charge of everything (and it's not a democratic society). Then there's the Lay Preacher, who is the assistant governor. There are two families, the freemen (bachelors), and servants. What I've noticed the most is that people from the 21st century don't like being told what to do. The servants hate being bossed around, but they're servants and they have to do what their master tells them. A servant from the 1600s would have never argued or been lazy because he knew he didn't have any rights. When you take people from today, people who are used to being free, and turn them into servants, they naturally become very resentful. So there's some definite conflict there.
There is a law that everyone has to go to church on sunday. The governor tries to enforce it, but people keep skipping church. No one likes being told that they have to go to church when they don't believe in god (as is the case of one family) or would rather do something else. The man who is the governor is in a tough position, because he feels he must enforce these laws that he may not necessarily believe in. To accurately portray the life of the colonists, those rules should be followed.
I can see the how it would be hard for a person from today to live in the 1600s and follow all the rules. Back then, the church controlled the government, and people as a whole took religion more seriously. Plus, it was the only way they knew. And anyone who protested the church was considered a heretic and could be burned at the stake.
Today's Lunch:
Tuna fish sandwich with Miracle Whip and sweet relish on whole wheat
Plum
2 rice cakes - caramel toffee
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
More randomness
I'm frustrated because I can't find the article I'm looking for. Does that happen to anyone else?
I realize I could do an inter-library loan, but I like instant gratification and can't wait for it to come in. If I could only find it online, I could print it up and read it right here, right now. But oh well. I guess waiting for the paper is better than not having it at all.
I'm listening a new book. It's called "Good in Bed," by Jennifer Weiner. It's about this young woman in Philadelphia. Her ex-boyfriend writes a magazine article about dating a "larger woman," and the article is about her. Even though he doesn't say who he's talking about, she is utterly humiliated by the article and feels like every little person on the street knows it's about her. She gets really depressed because she's "alone and fat and useless," so she decides to try to lose weight and makes a new friend. Even though this description of the book doesn't make it sound very good, it is, and it's really funny. I'd recommend it.
I'm kind of stuck at work right now. I temporarily abandoned my building moisture project to work on a poster, and now I'm trying to figure out how to get re-absorbed into the world of building science. I have to read some papers and eventually do some calculations. The hardest part is getting started.
Tonight, if Zach gets out of work before I do and can pick me up, we're going to buy a newer-used refrigerator. It's about time. Our fridge is at least 20 years old. The door doesn't seal all the way, it's an energy hog, and the freezer puts a layer of ice on everything, no matter how many times I wrap it in Ziploc bags and foil.
Old fridge:
New fridge?
Today's Lunch:
Tuna fish sandwich (with Miracle Whip and sweet relish) on whole wheat bread
Nectarine
Plum
This is where it gets bad. We had a baby shower, and I ate:
1 piece chocolate cherry cake
1 small frosted brownie
Puppy chow
I realize I could do an inter-library loan, but I like instant gratification and can't wait for it to come in. If I could only find it online, I could print it up and read it right here, right now. But oh well. I guess waiting for the paper is better than not having it at all.
I'm listening a new book. It's called "Good in Bed," by Jennifer Weiner. It's about this young woman in Philadelphia. Her ex-boyfriend writes a magazine article about dating a "larger woman," and the article is about her. Even though he doesn't say who he's talking about, she is utterly humiliated by the article and feels like every little person on the street knows it's about her. She gets really depressed because she's "alone and fat and useless," so she decides to try to lose weight and makes a new friend. Even though this description of the book doesn't make it sound very good, it is, and it's really funny. I'd recommend it.
I'm kind of stuck at work right now. I temporarily abandoned my building moisture project to work on a poster, and now I'm trying to figure out how to get re-absorbed into the world of building science. I have to read some papers and eventually do some calculations. The hardest part is getting started.
Tonight, if Zach gets out of work before I do and can pick me up, we're going to buy a newer-used refrigerator. It's about time. Our fridge is at least 20 years old. The door doesn't seal all the way, it's an energy hog, and the freezer puts a layer of ice on everything, no matter how many times I wrap it in Ziploc bags and foil.
Old fridge:
New fridge?
Today's Lunch:
Tuna fish sandwich (with Miracle Whip and sweet relish) on whole wheat bread
Nectarine
Plum
This is where it gets bad. We had a baby shower, and I ate:
1 piece chocolate cherry cake
1 small frosted brownie
Puppy chow
Monday, August 21, 2006
Random thoughts
- This weekend was good. Zach and I spent some quality time together working on the house, shopping at the hardware store, and eating. Our current house projects:
- We went to the Sky Vu Drive-In Theater in Monroe, WI. They had a double feature, so we saw Talladaga Nights, with Will Ferrel, and Click, with Adam Sandler. Talladaga Nights wasn't as funny as we thought it would be, and Click was actually better than I thought it would be. The one thing about drive-ins is that the movie doesn't start until dark, so I think it was 9:15 when they finally got started. We were there until 1:00. But that's nothing, because last year we saw a triple feature at a drive-in and were out until like 4:00am.
- Google Weight Tracker rocks my world! I enter my weight on monday and thursday, and if it starts to creep back up, I get scolded - "Careful! You are heading away from your goal!" Last monday it scolded me, so I was more careful about what I ate last week. I have no problem eating well during the week (except when we have birthday parties), but I eat my share of crappy stuff on the weekends. When I get home from work I crave something salty. Usually the only salty things in the house are Zach's potato chips, so I'd end up eating some. I finally bought some rice cakes, and the white cheddar kind help me get that salt fix without eating a lot of calories.
- We have two pear trees in our backyard, which I was very excited about when I bought the house. One of them produced tons and tons of pears. However, I guess you're supposed to pick them before they all fall off the tree. So I gathered up what I could last night, which still turned out to be a lot of pears, and I'm going to make them into pie filling and can them. I'm pretty excited. And I've never canned anything before, so that'll be fun.
- Today is picture day at work. We are getting some new identification badges or something and our picture's going to be on them. Well, the picture-taking took place in a dark office using a webcam sitting on a desk. I think it's impossible to look good in a picture with that kind of lighting and angle!
Zach: Install ceiling fan (involves doing some wiring, too). Estimated time needed: 16 hours
Crystal: Finish menu for baking business. Cook food for meals. Clean bathroom. Trim hedges and bushes outside.
I conquered everything on my list except for cleaning the bathroom. And Zach finished the wiring for the fan, now he just needs to install the fan.
Today's Lunch:
Tuna fish sandwich (with Light Miracle Whip and sweet relish) on whole wheat bread
Nectarine
Green grapes
Friday, August 18, 2006
Go Evansville!
My town is awesome. It's a small farming community of approximately 4,000 inhabitants. It has one stoplight, a smattering of restaurants, a McDonald's, and a Piggly Wiggly.
And now it's going to have southern Wisconsin's very own biodiesel plant. The company, North Prairie Productions, chose Evansville for its:
To me, having these new businesses in Evansville will help the town grow. We will get some more residents, the tax base will increase, and the town's reputation will grow.
And this also could benefit me directly... my house may increase in value! :)
And now it's going to have southern Wisconsin's very own biodiesel plant. The company, North Prairie Productions, chose Evansville for its:
existing rail loading facility, good road infrastructure, market accessibility, availability of utilities and outstanding local leadershipVery exciting! And now there's talk of a soybean-crushing plant next door.
To me, having these new businesses in Evansville will help the town grow. We will get some more residents, the tax base will increase, and the town's reputation will grow.
And this also could benefit me directly... my house may increase in value! :)
Gap Creek
I am utterly amazed by the book Gap Creek, by Robert Morgan. I know I've already written about it, but as I get more and more engrossed in the story, different mechanisms come to my attention.
First, it's the lack of equality between husband and wife. The man wants to be in control, wants to be macho, wants to be invincible. I can understand he feels pressured to be strong and stable. However, when the woman wants to speak her mind, she must keep her mouth shut to avoid a quarrel. She must avoid telling her husband what to do, because, as the macho "man of the house," he'd feel ashamed if he weren't in complete control. I think she feels pressured to keep the marriage alive by submitting to him, agreeing with him even when he's wrong, and stroking his delicate ego. I am frustrated when she doesn't speak her mind. She doesn't get to make any decisions and has to go along with everything her husband says without argument. I am hoping that as the book goes on, Julia will find a way to make her voice heard without her husband getting all bent out of shape. I think she will present her ideas in a way that will make him think they're his ideas, and then they would both feel happy.
I wonder if the lack of equality between Hank and Julia was typical of marriages 100 years ago. The couple seems to work more like individuals than a team, with the wife trying to hold things together and the husband trying to stay in control. I think that would be miserable. I am so happy with the advancement of discrimination laws in our country. Without them, I don't think I'd be happy in a marriage. But then again, if submissiveness were normal in a society, maybe I wouldn't even notice the discrimination because I wouldn't know how life was otherwise.
I've also noticed a lack of romance between them. Maybe that's because they're so busy and worried about staying alive that they forget to be romantic. But part of me wonders if that's a societal phenomenon, too. When my dad was growing up in the 50's and 60's, his parents weren't as affectionate with him and his siblings as they were to their grandchildren. Apparently, it just wasn't what people did. Maybe it was the same way with couples. Hank and Julia don't practice any intimacy or romance outside the bedroom, nor do they call each other pet names or say they love each other. Maybe that just wasn't the way people did things back then.
Now that a baby is on the way, I wonder what sort of father Hank will be. Will he be disappointed if it's a girl instead of a boy? Will he become a better husband to Julia?
Today's Lunch:
Leftover chinese food (steamed chicken and vegetables with white rice)
Banana
First, it's the lack of equality between husband and wife. The man wants to be in control, wants to be macho, wants to be invincible. I can understand he feels pressured to be strong and stable. However, when the woman wants to speak her mind, she must keep her mouth shut to avoid a quarrel. She must avoid telling her husband what to do, because, as the macho "man of the house," he'd feel ashamed if he weren't in complete control. I think she feels pressured to keep the marriage alive by submitting to him, agreeing with him even when he's wrong, and stroking his delicate ego. I am frustrated when she doesn't speak her mind. She doesn't get to make any decisions and has to go along with everything her husband says without argument. I am hoping that as the book goes on, Julia will find a way to make her voice heard without her husband getting all bent out of shape. I think she will present her ideas in a way that will make him think they're his ideas, and then they would both feel happy.
I wonder if the lack of equality between Hank and Julia was typical of marriages 100 years ago. The couple seems to work more like individuals than a team, with the wife trying to hold things together and the husband trying to stay in control. I think that would be miserable. I am so happy with the advancement of discrimination laws in our country. Without them, I don't think I'd be happy in a marriage. But then again, if submissiveness were normal in a society, maybe I wouldn't even notice the discrimination because I wouldn't know how life was otherwise.
I've also noticed a lack of romance between them. Maybe that's because they're so busy and worried about staying alive that they forget to be romantic. But part of me wonders if that's a societal phenomenon, too. When my dad was growing up in the 50's and 60's, his parents weren't as affectionate with him and his siblings as they were to their grandchildren. Apparently, it just wasn't what people did. Maybe it was the same way with couples. Hank and Julia don't practice any intimacy or romance outside the bedroom, nor do they call each other pet names or say they love each other. Maybe that just wasn't the way people did things back then.
Now that a baby is on the way, I wonder what sort of father Hank will be. Will he be disappointed if it's a girl instead of a boy? Will he become a better husband to Julia?
Today's Lunch:
Leftover chinese food (steamed chicken and vegetables with white rice)
Banana
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Heroes
I lifted weights last night for the first time in over a year.
After using the requisite weight "machines," I wasn't feeling very inspired. It all seemed so boring to me. I thought some bench pressing might do the trick. I laid down on the bench and wrapped my hands around the bar, remembering to line up my ring fingers with the smooth narrow strips. I took the bar off the rack, and brought it down to my chest. I had to adjust a couple of times to make sure I was in the right spot. I have memories of my weight lifting class in college, and the instructor was Chuck something-or-other, an MTU football coach who had played for the Miami Dolphins. I remember being impressed by the fact that I was being spotted by a former NFL player.
I pushed the bar up, feeling the weight mostly in my arms. I pushed it backward just as Chuck had told me to do, so that the bar was above my face. I carefully brought it back down to my chest. After 5 reps my arms started feeling a little tired, and I didn't want to continue unless I had a spotter. So I recruited the nice weight-room guy to spot me.
Just as I laid back down on the bench, the song Heroes came on. The original version is by David Bowie (whom I love), but this was different. It had a more rockin' sound, with less new-agey synthesizers and more classic electric guitar. I don't know who did this version, but I'd like to find out. It was great.
So anyway, I was pushing up the bar, lifting, feeling my muscles working hard, and that song was playing. The whole experience was kind of surreal. I felt so alive, like a real hero. The song motivated me to keep going.
I made it all the way to 10 reps and could have probably done another set, but my helper dude ran off and there was no one else that looked idle. So maybe I'll recruit Zach to be my spotter next time.
(sidenote: the song was playing on Nights With Alice Cooper, and I just called the hotline to find out who it was by. I left a message for Alice. Maybe he'll call me tonight! How cool would that be?)
FYI, The Wallflowers did a version of this song about 8 years ago. It was good, but of course, Bowie's is better. Although Jakob Dylan is hott.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover chili
Wheat saltine crackers
2 pieces of cheddar cheese
After using the requisite weight "machines," I wasn't feeling very inspired. It all seemed so boring to me. I thought some bench pressing might do the trick. I laid down on the bench and wrapped my hands around the bar, remembering to line up my ring fingers with the smooth narrow strips. I took the bar off the rack, and brought it down to my chest. I had to adjust a couple of times to make sure I was in the right spot. I have memories of my weight lifting class in college, and the instructor was Chuck something-or-other, an MTU football coach who had played for the Miami Dolphins. I remember being impressed by the fact that I was being spotted by a former NFL player.
I pushed the bar up, feeling the weight mostly in my arms. I pushed it backward just as Chuck had told me to do, so that the bar was above my face. I carefully brought it back down to my chest. After 5 reps my arms started feeling a little tired, and I didn't want to continue unless I had a spotter. So I recruited the nice weight-room guy to spot me.
Just as I laid back down on the bench, the song Heroes came on. The original version is by David Bowie (whom I love), but this was different. It had a more rockin' sound, with less new-agey synthesizers and more classic electric guitar. I don't know who did this version, but I'd like to find out. It was great.
I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day
I made it all the way to 10 reps and could have probably done another set, but my helper dude ran off and there was no one else that looked idle. So maybe I'll recruit Zach to be my spotter next time.
(sidenote: the song was playing on Nights With Alice Cooper, and I just called the hotline to find out who it was by. I left a message for Alice. Maybe he'll call me tonight! How cool would that be?)
FYI, The Wallflowers did a version of this song about 8 years ago. It was good, but of course, Bowie's is better. Although Jakob Dylan is hott.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover chili
Wheat saltine crackers
2 pieces of cheddar cheese
Blonde car
I love this photo. I used to have it hanging in my office until it got blown away in the gigantic overnight storm.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
I may have found the answer..
...to finding my dream career.
Today a career counselor by the name of Erica came to my workplace to give a talk on the Myers Briggs Test. I had taken it a year ago at a career planning seminar, but had never followed through with any career counseling.
(by the way, my results were ENTP - Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving, as opposed to Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging)
During Erica's talk, we didn't actually take the test, since it would be $100/person, but answered a few questions to get an idea of which category we fell into. Before the meeting today, she placed three posters up around the room - they each had a number on them - 1, 15, and 30. She told us to imagine that we were assigned a project today and it is due in 30 days. She said to think about when we would actually start the project, and go stand in the area that represented that number.
I am someone who works well under pressure. That's when I really dive into my project, and I focus on it entirely until it's done. So I'd probably start on day 23. I was the second-to-last person to start my project. The majority of people would start on day 1, and the rest were kind of scattered up to where I stood.
Erica said that the people who start on day 1 and people like me, who start later, could have a very good working relationship as long as there's enough communication between us. Without communication, we could really have a disaster.
According to the Myers Briggs test, the people who would start on Day 1 would be Thinking, and people like me are Perceiving, and the people in the middle had traits of both. So which one are you?
And oh yeah, so how does this relate to my dream career? Erica is offering a special where we pay only $10/hour to get career counseling from her. Many career counselors charge well over $100/session. So I'm going to take advantage of that, and maybe she can help me find some answers.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover chili
Cornbread
Red grapes
Today a career counselor by the name of Erica came to my workplace to give a talk on the Myers Briggs Test. I had taken it a year ago at a career planning seminar, but had never followed through with any career counseling.
(by the way, my results were ENTP - Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving, as opposed to Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging)
During Erica's talk, we didn't actually take the test, since it would be $100/person, but answered a few questions to get an idea of which category we fell into. Before the meeting today, she placed three posters up around the room - they each had a number on them - 1, 15, and 30. She told us to imagine that we were assigned a project today and it is due in 30 days. She said to think about when we would actually start the project, and go stand in the area that represented that number.
I am someone who works well under pressure. That's when I really dive into my project, and I focus on it entirely until it's done. So I'd probably start on day 23. I was the second-to-last person to start my project. The majority of people would start on day 1, and the rest were kind of scattered up to where I stood.
Erica said that the people who start on day 1 and people like me, who start later, could have a very good working relationship as long as there's enough communication between us. Without communication, we could really have a disaster.
According to the Myers Briggs test, the people who would start on Day 1 would be Thinking, and people like me are Perceiving, and the people in the middle had traits of both. So which one are you?
And oh yeah, so how does this relate to my dream career? Erica is offering a special where we pay only $10/hour to get career counseling from her. Many career counselors charge well over $100/session. So I'm going to take advantage of that, and maybe she can help me find some answers.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover chili
Cornbread
Red grapes
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
More business fun
How much would you pay for homemade cookies, bars, pies, and breads?
Last night I spent some time at the grocery store writing down the cost of ingredients I would need in starting my baking business. Then I went home and calculated how much money each teaspoon or cup of each ingredient would cost, depending on which quantity is mostly used. Then I took my favorite cookie and bar recipes and entered them into my spreadsheet to calculate how much money it costs to make each item.
So here's what I found: most recipes cost an average of $5 to make. Cookie recipes yield about 2 to 2-1/2 dozen cookies, and bar recipes generally yield about 1-1/2 dozen bars. The bar recipes I have contain expensive ingredients like nuts and white chocolate, so in general, the bars were more expensive than the cookies.
I'm trying to figure out what quantities I should use to sell these items.. by dozen or by batch? Also, I'm trying to determine a good price. I'm going to estimate that cookies cost about $2.50 per dozen, and bars are generally $4 per dozen to make. So now I need to figure out how much people are willing to spend on home-baked goods, and how much of a profit I can make for those prices. I don't want to stiff anybody, but I do need to make enough money so that this whole venture is worth my time and effort.
How much would you pay for two dozen home-baked chocolate chip cookies? Pecan pie squares? Chocolate pie? Apple pie? Chocolate cake? Cinnamon rolls?
Tonight I'm going to determine the cost of pies and cakes. I can't wait!
Today's Lunch:
Peanut butter (natural) and jelly (plum) sandwich on whole wheat bread
Red grapes
Toffee-caramel rice cake
Last night I spent some time at the grocery store writing down the cost of ingredients I would need in starting my baking business. Then I went home and calculated how much money each teaspoon or cup of each ingredient would cost, depending on which quantity is mostly used. Then I took my favorite cookie and bar recipes and entered them into my spreadsheet to calculate how much money it costs to make each item.
So here's what I found: most recipes cost an average of $5 to make. Cookie recipes yield about 2 to 2-1/2 dozen cookies, and bar recipes generally yield about 1-1/2 dozen bars. The bar recipes I have contain expensive ingredients like nuts and white chocolate, so in general, the bars were more expensive than the cookies.
I'm trying to figure out what quantities I should use to sell these items.. by dozen or by batch? Also, I'm trying to determine a good price. I'm going to estimate that cookies cost about $2.50 per dozen, and bars are generally $4 per dozen to make. So now I need to figure out how much people are willing to spend on home-baked goods, and how much of a profit I can make for those prices. I don't want to stiff anybody, but I do need to make enough money so that this whole venture is worth my time and effort.
How much would you pay for two dozen home-baked chocolate chip cookies? Pecan pie squares? Chocolate pie? Apple pie? Chocolate cake? Cinnamon rolls?
Tonight I'm going to determine the cost of pies and cakes. I can't wait!
Today's Lunch:
Peanut butter (natural) and jelly (plum) sandwich on whole wheat bread
Red grapes
Toffee-caramel rice cake
Monday, August 14, 2006
Laundry issues
All right, first of all.. I need a new washing machine. The one we have doesn't seem to do its job at all. The clothes don't come out clean and the laundry soap doesn't get rinsed away. Those are the two main things a washing machine should do. It's strange.. my shirt smells like B.O. but also when I touch it it feels kind of filmy and then my finger reeks of laundry soap. There's definitely something wrong there.
So I'm going to hang out on Craig's List and find another one, preferably something that isn't 20 years old. I also realized my shirt has a bleach stain in the front. Yup, it's pretty embarassing. Note to self: look in the mirror before you leave the house.
Over the weekend we went to Houghton for Dana's wedding. I love visiting the Keweenaw more than anything. Saturday morning Zach and I went Copper Country Cruising, and walked on the old railroad path behind the Quincy Mine. I showed him the old railcars there that have bet sig and DZ letters on them (I think we need an alph gam railcar). Then we went to Calumet and toured the Calumet Theater. We paid our respects to the site of the Italian Hall (no longer standing), where almost 100 years ago tragedy occured when someone called "fire" and 73 people died in a stampede to the doors. We drove along Cliff Drive, visited the Jam Pot in Eagle River (I bought some dandelion jelly), and turned around. We had lunch at the Michigan House in Calumet, then at last returned to Houghton to get ready for the wedding.
I really miss the Keweenaw. It's not just because I went to school there and had so many good times with my friends. It's also because of its history and how so much of it remains. It's because there are lakes and rivers without a single house nearby. It's because you can get lost in the woods and not hear the sound of a distant vehicle, just the sounds of nature. It's because adventure is waiting around every corner; cliffs to climb, shores to walk along, animals to see. I have loved the Keweenaw since I was a kid and visited Houghton with my family. I did the Summer Youth Program when I was eleven, I took my first (and only) backpacking trip along the tip of the Keweenaw when I was twelve, and I came back for college when I was 17. Someday I would like to return for good.
On the way home Sunday we began listening to a book called Gap Creek, by Robert Morgan. It is an amazing story. It takes place in the Appalachians in the late 1800s. The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl named Julie, whose family goes through hardship after hardship just trying to survive in the mountains. I've only made it through 4 chapters, and I can't wait to listen to more of it tonight. Now I want to learn more about life in Appalachia.
Today's Lunch:
Buffalo chicken sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
3-bean salad
Apple
Raspberry coconut bar
So I'm going to hang out on Craig's List and find another one, preferably something that isn't 20 years old. I also realized my shirt has a bleach stain in the front. Yup, it's pretty embarassing. Note to self: look in the mirror before you leave the house.
Over the weekend we went to Houghton for Dana's wedding. I love visiting the Keweenaw more than anything. Saturday morning Zach and I went Copper Country Cruising, and walked on the old railroad path behind the Quincy Mine. I showed him the old railcars there that have bet sig and DZ letters on them (I think we need an alph gam railcar). Then we went to Calumet and toured the Calumet Theater. We paid our respects to the site of the Italian Hall (no longer standing), where almost 100 years ago tragedy occured when someone called "fire" and 73 people died in a stampede to the doors. We drove along Cliff Drive, visited the Jam Pot in Eagle River (I bought some dandelion jelly), and turned around. We had lunch at the Michigan House in Calumet, then at last returned to Houghton to get ready for the wedding.
I really miss the Keweenaw. It's not just because I went to school there and had so many good times with my friends. It's also because of its history and how so much of it remains. It's because there are lakes and rivers without a single house nearby. It's because you can get lost in the woods and not hear the sound of a distant vehicle, just the sounds of nature. It's because adventure is waiting around every corner; cliffs to climb, shores to walk along, animals to see. I have loved the Keweenaw since I was a kid and visited Houghton with my family. I did the Summer Youth Program when I was eleven, I took my first (and only) backpacking trip along the tip of the Keweenaw when I was twelve, and I came back for college when I was 17. Someday I would like to return for good.
On the way home Sunday we began listening to a book called Gap Creek, by Robert Morgan. It is an amazing story. It takes place in the Appalachians in the late 1800s. The protagonist is a 17-year-old girl named Julie, whose family goes through hardship after hardship just trying to survive in the mountains. I've only made it through 4 chapters, and I can't wait to listen to more of it tonight. Now I want to learn more about life in Appalachia.
Today's Lunch:
Buffalo chicken sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
3-bean salad
Apple
Raspberry coconut bar
Friday, August 11, 2006
Excursion
I just got back from an outdoor adventure.
I spent half the day doing an online training module here at work. Once I was about 3/5 done, my brain felt full and the words were starting to mesh together. I decided I needed a break.
I was going to walk to Picnic Point. Normally, I'd walk along the main road until I reached the trailhead to Picnic Point. Today, I tried a new route. Instead of walking along the road, I went on side roads that wound through parking lots and between buildings (this was at the UW Hospital complex). I just aimed for the general area that I wanted to reach, not really knowing where I was going. I soon reached some exercise rings, like you see in the Olympics and may remember from your childhood swingset. There are little exercise stations all along the trails on this part of the UW campus; I figure the university officials want their students to look good for those college recruitment fliers. So I played on the rings, then noticed a footbridge crossing a mucky creek. I took the footbridge to see where the trail led, and ended up walking along a beautiful marsh.
In the marsh were cattails that were 8-10 feet tall. I saw a lot of wildflowers, including thistles and white flowers that looked like morning glories. I also heard birds chirping and noticed a bright yellow bird perched on a cattail. I wished I had a bird book to identify it. Its color was so vivid that it was hard not to notice. As I rounded a corner of the path, I came to a sign. It was very weathered, and I could hardly make out the words, but it read that the marsh was restored in 1918 by a student association devoted to improving environment. It's amazing that Madison was so environmentally conscious, even before Aldo Leopold lived in the area.
When I saw a game trail leading into the marsh, I decided to follow it. The cattails were so thick that I couldn't leave the trail. If I turned 90 degrees I could fit on the path without touching anything, but the cattail leaves would be right in my face. It felt like I was in a cattail jungle. The ground was mushy, but my shoes didn't get wet. There were large sticks littered on the ground. A little hopping creature caught my eye. It moved so fast that I couldn't even see it, but I think it was a frog. It must have been a light brown color because it blended right in with its surroundings. I stood there for a minute, turned sideways, cattail leaves in my face, and listened and smelled and absorbed all the colors around me. I could hear a bird chirping, and the longer I stood there the closer it seemed to get. I could smell the scent of the marsh, the sulfuric-earthy scent of the mud, and the cattails had that green smell that you experience when you husk corn. The cattail leaves had speckles on them but no bugs, and the tails themselves were chocolate brown and lumpy and ripe.
I looked for the frog again but couldn't see it. Then I finally left my little place of solitude in the marsh and returned to the trial.
Soon the trail ended, and I was on the lakeshore path that I would usually take to Picnic Point. By this time I didn't have time to go all the way to Picnic Point, so I started walking back to work. On the way, I stepped into another marsh across the road (probably the same marsh but had been filled in to make the road) and did a little exploring. I found a huge dogwood or cottonwood, some kind of crappy tree with thick, ropy bark. The nearest branch wasn't too high. I climbed the tree and sat on the branch, listening and looking and smelling. I could see the rest of the marsh over the cattails, and a large, neon green-yellow algae colony. I could see Lake Mendota, and a sailboat was on it. I could see the Capitol and the Madison skyline. I could hear a large bird somewhere else in the marsh, flapping its wings with a loud whooshing sound. I heard people on the bike path nearby, a teenage girl urging a little girl to pedal faster so she wouldn't fall off her bike.
I finally jumped out of the tree and headed back to work. I liked the tree I had sat in, but it was too close to traffic. I think I will explore further and find a special tree that's more secluded, somewhere where I can think and explore and meditate.
Today's Lunch:
Sara Lee buffalo chicken sandwich with yellow mustard on a wheat bun (yes, they make buffalo chicken lunchmeat)
Red grapes
Banana
Piece of chocolate birthday cake
I spent half the day doing an online training module here at work. Once I was about 3/5 done, my brain felt full and the words were starting to mesh together. I decided I needed a break.
I was going to walk to Picnic Point. Normally, I'd walk along the main road until I reached the trailhead to Picnic Point. Today, I tried a new route. Instead of walking along the road, I went on side roads that wound through parking lots and between buildings (this was at the UW Hospital complex). I just aimed for the general area that I wanted to reach, not really knowing where I was going. I soon reached some exercise rings, like you see in the Olympics and may remember from your childhood swingset. There are little exercise stations all along the trails on this part of the UW campus; I figure the university officials want their students to look good for those college recruitment fliers. So I played on the rings, then noticed a footbridge crossing a mucky creek. I took the footbridge to see where the trail led, and ended up walking along a beautiful marsh.
In the marsh were cattails that were 8-10 feet tall. I saw a lot of wildflowers, including thistles and white flowers that looked like morning glories. I also heard birds chirping and noticed a bright yellow bird perched on a cattail. I wished I had a bird book to identify it. Its color was so vivid that it was hard not to notice. As I rounded a corner of the path, I came to a sign. It was very weathered, and I could hardly make out the words, but it read that the marsh was restored in 1918 by a student association devoted to improving environment. It's amazing that Madison was so environmentally conscious, even before Aldo Leopold lived in the area.
When I saw a game trail leading into the marsh, I decided to follow it. The cattails were so thick that I couldn't leave the trail. If I turned 90 degrees I could fit on the path without touching anything, but the cattail leaves would be right in my face. It felt like I was in a cattail jungle. The ground was mushy, but my shoes didn't get wet. There were large sticks littered on the ground. A little hopping creature caught my eye. It moved so fast that I couldn't even see it, but I think it was a frog. It must have been a light brown color because it blended right in with its surroundings. I stood there for a minute, turned sideways, cattail leaves in my face, and listened and smelled and absorbed all the colors around me. I could hear a bird chirping, and the longer I stood there the closer it seemed to get. I could smell the scent of the marsh, the sulfuric-earthy scent of the mud, and the cattails had that green smell that you experience when you husk corn. The cattail leaves had speckles on them but no bugs, and the tails themselves were chocolate brown and lumpy and ripe.
I looked for the frog again but couldn't see it. Then I finally left my little place of solitude in the marsh and returned to the trial.
Soon the trail ended, and I was on the lakeshore path that I would usually take to Picnic Point. By this time I didn't have time to go all the way to Picnic Point, so I started walking back to work. On the way, I stepped into another marsh across the road (probably the same marsh but had been filled in to make the road) and did a little exploring. I found a huge dogwood or cottonwood, some kind of crappy tree with thick, ropy bark. The nearest branch wasn't too high. I climbed the tree and sat on the branch, listening and looking and smelling. I could see the rest of the marsh over the cattails, and a large, neon green-yellow algae colony. I could see Lake Mendota, and a sailboat was on it. I could see the Capitol and the Madison skyline. I could hear a large bird somewhere else in the marsh, flapping its wings with a loud whooshing sound. I heard people on the bike path nearby, a teenage girl urging a little girl to pedal faster so she wouldn't fall off her bike.
I finally jumped out of the tree and headed back to work. I liked the tree I had sat in, but it was too close to traffic. I think I will explore further and find a special tree that's more secluded, somewhere where I can think and explore and meditate.
Today's Lunch:
Sara Lee buffalo chicken sandwich with yellow mustard on a wheat bun (yes, they make buffalo chicken lunchmeat)
Red grapes
Banana
Piece of chocolate birthday cake
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Movie review, book review
Last night my friend Petra and I saw The Devil Wears Prada. I was really looking forward to seeing the movie, since I had enjoyed the book so much. But it was a lot different from the book. I won't go into details, since I don't want to ruin anyone's book-reading or movie-going experience, but let's just say the book was better. On the plus side, I was inspired to head to the store, pick up a copy of Vogue, and start wearing fashionable clothing and makeup. But alas, here I am, wearing my khakis from Kohl's and a t-shirt that I got for Christmas. So that didn't last long.
Today I finished reading Everyone Worth Knowing, by Lauren Weisberger (the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada). I really enjoyed that book. It kind of gave me a new perspective on the world of media. It's about a 27-year-old woman who quits her crappy investment banking job and starts working for a public relations company. Soon she's rubbing shoulders with oodles of famous people, and ends up with the country's top playboy as her boyfriend. Her personal life soon becomes very public as a gossip columnist starts making up stories about her, and the attention begins to affect her personal and office life. The final straw is when she meets the man of her dreams but is still "dating" the playboy, and must make a decision about what matters most - her personal life, or her job. And we all know what that decision will be.
Tonight is day 2 of my running training. I found a training schedule online that I may switch to. It starts with short spurts of running with periods of walking in-between, and the amount of running increases in small increments as the program continues.
Today's Lunch:
Took summer intern out to eat at Francie's
A fried chicken breast sandwich on wheat bun with tomato and lettuce
Fruit cup
Today I finished reading Everyone Worth Knowing, by Lauren Weisberger (the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada). I really enjoyed that book. It kind of gave me a new perspective on the world of media. It's about a 27-year-old woman who quits her crappy investment banking job and starts working for a public relations company. Soon she's rubbing shoulders with oodles of famous people, and ends up with the country's top playboy as her boyfriend. Her personal life soon becomes very public as a gossip columnist starts making up stories about her, and the attention begins to affect her personal and office life. The final straw is when she meets the man of her dreams but is still "dating" the playboy, and must make a decision about what matters most - her personal life, or her job. And we all know what that decision will be.
Tonight is day 2 of my running training. I found a training schedule online that I may switch to. It starts with short spurts of running with periods of walking in-between, and the amount of running increases in small increments as the program continues.
Today's Lunch:
Took summer intern out to eat at Francie's
A fried chicken breast sandwich on wheat bun with tomato and lettuce
Fruit cup
Zach thoughts
So I think I've realized something. Now that I am practically convinced that Zach isn't just with me for sex (since we're practicing abstinence), I'm beginning to see some new issues arising. I wonder why exactly we're together. Is ist for companionship or because we truly love each other? Am I ready to settle down? This question has been at the forefront of my mind for some time, and maybe I've been avoiding it by thinking about other things, such as my lack of sex drive.
Because we don't have sex, is there a lack of passion in our relationship? Would we make just better friends than lovers? I always figured that when you marry someone, it's to be lifetime companions, but also you should want to have sex with them, right? Maybe I've realized I'm not truly passionate about Zach...
Because we don't have sex, is there a lack of passion in our relationship? Would we make just better friends than lovers? I always figured that when you marry someone, it's to be lifetime companions, but also you should want to have sex with them, right? Maybe I've realized I'm not truly passionate about Zach...
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Thoughts in a hurry...
Well, I'm going to have to switch to Plan B for my little business idea. It seems that I must have a commercial kitchen, as well as two licenses/permits, to sell baked goods to friends and co-workers. There has to be a way around this! Otherwise, how do people sell goods at bake sells, auctions, etc.? This is something I'm going to work on figuring out.
In other news, I'm really busy with work (yay!). I have my moisture project that I've been working on since March (figuring out how much water humans, pets, showers, dish-washing, etc. put into the air), and now I have a couple of other things to do. I'm going to present a poster at the Lake States Logging Congress early next month, so now I get to design and print out a poster. And my former boss and I are working on publishing my thesis in a journal (finally!), so I'm going to start cranking that puppy out, too.
I brought a bunch of yummies to work yesterday. I had made a vegan chocolate cake to celebrate my vegan co-worker Becky passing the Patent Bar Exam. I also made raspberry-coconut bars and pecan pie squares for our last softball game monday. Needless to say, I had a lot of leftovers, and there's no way Zach and I are going to eat all that ourselves. He says he's gained 10 lbs due to my baking, but I think it's because of his excessive ice cream consumption.
Speaking of which, we went for a run yesterday. I haven't ran in years, and I am incredibly out of shape. I thought I would do pretty well, since I can jog up the stairs to my 4th floor office without getting winded. But after running for, oh, 7 minutes or so, I had to start walking. I'm going to try again tomorrow and keep working my way up to 20 minutes.
Tonight my friend Petra and I are going to see The Devil Wears Prada. Yes! Finally! I've been dying to know what this "better ending" is that Maria had mentioned in her blog.
Today's Lunch:
Well, considering I ate 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, 1/4 donut and 2 Hershey's kisses at 10:30, I wasn't too hungry. So I ate some red grapes at lunchtime. Then we had a birthday celebration at 1:00, so I had cake and ice cream. I ate a banana and some 3-bean salad at 3:30.
In other news, I'm really busy with work (yay!). I have my moisture project that I've been working on since March (figuring out how much water humans, pets, showers, dish-washing, etc. put into the air), and now I have a couple of other things to do. I'm going to present a poster at the Lake States Logging Congress early next month, so now I get to design and print out a poster. And my former boss and I are working on publishing my thesis in a journal (finally!), so I'm going to start cranking that puppy out, too.
I brought a bunch of yummies to work yesterday. I had made a vegan chocolate cake to celebrate my vegan co-worker Becky passing the Patent Bar Exam. I also made raspberry-coconut bars and pecan pie squares for our last softball game monday. Needless to say, I had a lot of leftovers, and there's no way Zach and I are going to eat all that ourselves. He says he's gained 10 lbs due to my baking, but I think it's because of his excessive ice cream consumption.
Speaking of which, we went for a run yesterday. I haven't ran in years, and I am incredibly out of shape. I thought I would do pretty well, since I can jog up the stairs to my 4th floor office without getting winded. But after running for, oh, 7 minutes or so, I had to start walking. I'm going to try again tomorrow and keep working my way up to 20 minutes.
Tonight my friend Petra and I are going to see The Devil Wears Prada. Yes! Finally! I've been dying to know what this "better ending" is that Maria had mentioned in her blog.
Today's Lunch:
Well, considering I ate 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, 1/4 donut and 2 Hershey's kisses at 10:30, I wasn't too hungry. So I ate some red grapes at lunchtime. Then we had a birthday celebration at 1:00, so I had cake and ice cream. I ate a banana and some 3-bean salad at 3:30.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Business
I'm seriously thinking about selling baked goods to people I know as a way to earn extra money.
I sent an email to the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and asked them what kinds of roadblocks I may encounter on my quest to start this little business. I won't be selling the items commercially or over long distances or by wholesale, so hopefully I won't need a permit or a commercial kitchen or a license. If any of those things were required, especially the commercial kitchen part, I would probably give up the idea. But if I could make money baking brownies, cakes, pies, cookies, breads, etc., I'd be a happy camper. And I realize the idea may not be all that it's cracked up to be once I get started, but for now I'm going to be optimistic about it.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover hamburger with cheddar and mustard on a wheat bun
Leftover 3-bean salad
Banana
Raspberry-coconut bar
I sent an email to the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and asked them what kinds of roadblocks I may encounter on my quest to start this little business. I won't be selling the items commercially or over long distances or by wholesale, so hopefully I won't need a permit or a commercial kitchen or a license. If any of those things were required, especially the commercial kitchen part, I would probably give up the idea. But if I could make money baking brownies, cakes, pies, cookies, breads, etc., I'd be a happy camper. And I realize the idea may not be all that it's cracked up to be once I get started, but for now I'm going to be optimistic about it.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover hamburger with cheddar and mustard on a wheat bun
Leftover 3-bean salad
Banana
Raspberry-coconut bar
Monday, August 07, 2006
Evansville city-wide garage sale
My town had a huge garage sale event on saturday. Everywhere I looked I saw a garage sale or a sign advertising a garage sale further down the road.
After the required morning shower, Zach hopped on his rollerblades and I jumped on my bike and we rode to town. I told Zach I'd take him out for breakfast, and we went to the Village Square, a little cafe downtown. After a delicious meal (2 eggs over-easy, ham, wheat toast and hash browns), we began our shopping.
Many of the garage sales we looked at had kids clothing by the ton. I can understand why, since it seems like kids grow out of things very quickly. However, there were a few "adult" garage sales. My favorite was a house with three middle-aged ladies manning the register. They were selling typical garage sale fare, such as kitchen utensils, old bread machines, old clothing, etc., but also had some really neat items. There were some retro-looking gardening tools, so I bought some shears to trim the hedges. Zach begged me to buy him Braveheart, and since it was only $2 and was still in its original wrapping, I couldn't resist. I love that movie. The ladies were also selling baked goods and farm produce. I longingly looked at the fresh wax beans and tomatoes, but decided against buying any.
I also had my first bargaining experience. We stopped at a house because I was immediately attracted to the bike they were selling. Even though I already have a bike, I thought it would be nice to get another so that Zach and I can go for rides together. The bike I saw was an old-fashioned ladies' bike. It's blue and has a little basket in the front (when/if I get a digital camera I will take a picture). The lady was asking $35 for it, and on the other side of the price tag it read $50. I guess she really wanted to sell it. I summoned up my courage and asked if she'd take $20. We ended up agreeing on $25. So now I have a new bike! Just a little WD-40 and she'll be good as new.
The last house we went to didn't have much, but Zach really liked the seed spreader they had (he's the unofficial lawn maintainer of our household). It looks kind of retro, and since it was made of metal it seemed to be better than those cheap plastic ones you see at the hardware store. Since I had cash, I bought it for him ($10).
Overall, it was a nice experience and a good weekend.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover hamburger on wheat bun with mustard
Leftover 3-bean salad
Apple
After the required morning shower, Zach hopped on his rollerblades and I jumped on my bike and we rode to town. I told Zach I'd take him out for breakfast, and we went to the Village Square, a little cafe downtown. After a delicious meal (2 eggs over-easy, ham, wheat toast and hash browns), we began our shopping.
Many of the garage sales we looked at had kids clothing by the ton. I can understand why, since it seems like kids grow out of things very quickly. However, there were a few "adult" garage sales. My favorite was a house with three middle-aged ladies manning the register. They were selling typical garage sale fare, such as kitchen utensils, old bread machines, old clothing, etc., but also had some really neat items. There were some retro-looking gardening tools, so I bought some shears to trim the hedges. Zach begged me to buy him Braveheart, and since it was only $2 and was still in its original wrapping, I couldn't resist. I love that movie. The ladies were also selling baked goods and farm produce. I longingly looked at the fresh wax beans and tomatoes, but decided against buying any.
I also had my first bargaining experience. We stopped at a house because I was immediately attracted to the bike they were selling. Even though I already have a bike, I thought it would be nice to get another so that Zach and I can go for rides together. The bike I saw was an old-fashioned ladies' bike. It's blue and has a little basket in the front (when/if I get a digital camera I will take a picture). The lady was asking $35 for it, and on the other side of the price tag it read $50. I guess she really wanted to sell it. I summoned up my courage and asked if she'd take $20. We ended up agreeing on $25. So now I have a new bike! Just a little WD-40 and she'll be good as new.
The last house we went to didn't have much, but Zach really liked the seed spreader they had (he's the unofficial lawn maintainer of our household). It looks kind of retro, and since it was made of metal it seemed to be better than those cheap plastic ones you see at the hardware store. Since I had cash, I bought it for him ($10).
Overall, it was a nice experience and a good weekend.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover hamburger on wheat bun with mustard
Leftover 3-bean salad
Apple
Friday, August 04, 2006
Last night's stroll
So I've discovered a new way to get "alone" time and to watch whatever TV show I want. I get home from work at 4:30 (given I catch the van in the morning and therefore get out of work at 3:30), and that is "my" time. I lay on the couch and Kitty joins me. I get to watch my own TV shows or videos, so right now I'm enjoying the VHS version of the PBS reality series "Frontier House."Sometimes, if I'm reading a good book, Kitty and I hang out on the 3-season porch. She flops around on the floor watching birds and I lay on the couch and read my book. During this veg-out time, I sometimes enjoy a can of diet soda or a snack (salty is preferred).
That way, when Zach gets home between 6-7, he can have the TV to himself and change channels relentlessly (which drives me nuts) while I do other things, like cook or read or take a walk or ride my bike. So far it's working out really well. I like having the house to myself.
So last night he got home at about 6:30, and we went out to dinner because it was his turn to do the dishes and he didn't do them so I wasn't going to cook. We ate at Romano's, an Italian-American restaurant in Evansville (I had tortellini). When we got home I was going to take a bike ride, but it was already 8:00 and I didn't want to stray too far. So I took a walk around town.
There are some beautiful houses in E-ville. If I had a digital camera (hint, hint mom) I would have taken a lot of pictures so I could share them with the rest of the world. This is the only good house photo I could find online. The ladies at the local coffee shop own it, but it used to be a girl's school. It's huge!
As I was staring open-mouthed at all the pretty houses, I eventually found myself in a new neighborhood. There was something about it that made me think it had been the "poorer" side of town before. The houses weren't as fancy or ornate as in the rest of town, and there seemed to be a lot more shade. But I couldn't really figure out the exact reason why it seemed so different. I pondered that for awhile and continued my stroll. When I walked onto my street, I figured it out. That other street was about half as wide as the others, so the trees branched out further over the road and the houses were closer together. I wonder why the road was so much narrower. Maybe it was a farm road before, and the houses were already built before it became an official street.
I saw other things on my walk. An old lady had a bunch of gnomes in her front yard, complete with a Snow White (I guess that makes them dwarfs) and a prince. Alanna, you would have loved the gnomes. And I saw a really gorgeous house, but when I rounded the corner I saw the awful statue the people put in their yard. It looked like a dog shrine - it was a statue of a dog with a bone in its mouth, surrounded by flowers and plants. It was scary.
This weekend is the "official" Evansville city-wide garage sale. People were already setting up tables and putting sale items on them. I think I will check it out today after work.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover tortellini in a marinara sauce with cheese on top
Piece of garlic bread
Apple
That way, when Zach gets home between 6-7, he can have the TV to himself and change channels relentlessly (which drives me nuts) while I do other things, like cook or read or take a walk or ride my bike. So far it's working out really well. I like having the house to myself.
So last night he got home at about 6:30, and we went out to dinner because it was his turn to do the dishes and he didn't do them so I wasn't going to cook. We ate at Romano's, an Italian-American restaurant in Evansville (I had tortellini). When we got home I was going to take a bike ride, but it was already 8:00 and I didn't want to stray too far. So I took a walk around town.
There are some beautiful houses in E-ville. If I had a digital camera (hint, hint mom) I would have taken a lot of pictures so I could share them with the rest of the world. This is the only good house photo I could find online. The ladies at the local coffee shop own it, but it used to be a girl's school. It's huge!
As I was staring open-mouthed at all the pretty houses, I eventually found myself in a new neighborhood. There was something about it that made me think it had been the "poorer" side of town before. The houses weren't as fancy or ornate as in the rest of town, and there seemed to be a lot more shade. But I couldn't really figure out the exact reason why it seemed so different. I pondered that for awhile and continued my stroll. When I walked onto my street, I figured it out. That other street was about half as wide as the others, so the trees branched out further over the road and the houses were closer together. I wonder why the road was so much narrower. Maybe it was a farm road before, and the houses were already built before it became an official street.
I saw other things on my walk. An old lady had a bunch of gnomes in her front yard, complete with a Snow White (I guess that makes them dwarfs) and a prince. Alanna, you would have loved the gnomes. And I saw a really gorgeous house, but when I rounded the corner I saw the awful statue the people put in their yard. It looked like a dog shrine - it was a statue of a dog with a bone in its mouth, surrounded by flowers and plants. It was scary.
This weekend is the "official" Evansville city-wide garage sale. People were already setting up tables and putting sale items on them. I think I will check it out today after work.
Today's Lunch:
Leftover tortellini in a marinara sauce with cheese on top
Piece of garlic bread
Apple
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Life goals
Today's blog entry is about all the things I'd like to accomplish before I die. Some of these goals have been carried over from my childhood, while others are relatively new. Some could be achieved with relatively little time and effort, while others may take years.
Today's Lunch:
Half of ham sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
Banana
Green beans cooked with mushrooms and onions
Popcorn (it was popcorn day at work today! Yay!)
- Build a treehouse and sleep in it periodically
- Make a beaded purse
- Learn how to french braid my own hair
- Live off the land for one month
- Learn to build a fire using the spindle method
- Build a $10,000 nest egg
- Find a job that is perfect for me. This means I love my work so much that I don't want to leave at night.
- Learn to write impeccably, where my thoughts may easily flow onto paper without worrying about grammar or changing the sentence structure
- Backpack through Europe
- Join the Peace Corps
- Become fluent in a new language (French, Spanish, and/or sign language)
- Learn to ride a horse
- Own a bison
- Go on an African safari
- Live on a farm
- Toilet-train my next cat
Today's Lunch:
Half of ham sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
Banana
Green beans cooked with mushrooms and onions
Popcorn (it was popcorn day at work today! Yay!)
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
My mom cracks me up
Check out this email my mom wrote. It's in regards to my "Vote for Blackie" campaign for stuffonmycat.com. Unfortunately, Blackie didn't win, but that's okay. I'm just happy he made it to the top 20. My mom's email:
I voted, do I get a sticker to put on my shirt?
Blackie's so cute. He got a shower today because it's so hot out. Yesterday he was laying around looking quite limp in his black fur coat, so I put an ice cold beer can against him and he liked it! I rubbed it against his side and he stretched and stretched, and then he bit me (of course!)
How's Snow White taking the heat? Try the beer can, I bet she'd like it.
Love MOM
She calls Kitty "Snow White" or "Snow Drift" or "Snow Ball," whatever, because Kitty's name used to be Snow. Then Zach and I kept calling her Kitty and the name stuck.
Here's a picture of my mom and me... it's from Mother's Day weekend, when she drove 10 hours to see our house and help me make curtains (notice the cool curtains in the background).
Today's Lunch:
Ham sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
Green beans cooked with mushrooms and onion
Apple
I voted, do I get a sticker to put on my shirt?
Blackie's so cute. He got a shower today because it's so hot out. Yesterday he was laying around looking quite limp in his black fur coat, so I put an ice cold beer can against him and he liked it! I rubbed it against his side and he stretched and stretched, and then he bit me (of course!)
How's Snow White taking the heat? Try the beer can, I bet she'd like it.
Love MOM
She calls Kitty "Snow White" or "Snow Drift" or "Snow Ball," whatever, because Kitty's name used to be Snow. Then Zach and I kept calling her Kitty and the name stuck.
Here's a picture of my mom and me... it's from Mother's Day weekend, when she drove 10 hours to see our house and help me make curtains (notice the cool curtains in the background).
Today's Lunch:
Ham sandwich with yellow mustard on whole wheat
Green beans cooked with mushrooms and onion
Apple
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Book review (part 2)
Some books I've read lately:
Adultery for Beginners, by Sarah Duncan.
The title makes it sound juicier than it really is. A 40-something woman is stuck in a boring marriage, going through the same motions time after time. She decides to find a day job to entertain herself, and works for a man out of his home (hel-lo, warning bells!). True to the book's title, they start having an affair and it eventually affects her family life.
The book was okay. It made for an entertaining read and kept me occupied for a few days. However, none of the ideas were incredibly novel or creative, and the overabundance of steamy sex scenes had me wondering if I was in fact reading a romance novel. I would have thought the book was a waste of my time if it weren't for the nice little twist at the end.
The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
Dare I say that I liked the movie more than the book? Maybe because I saw the movie first and therefore knew what would happen. Or maybe because I zoomed through the book in two days, listening to it on my mp3 player, and didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Anyhow, I thought it could have dwelled upon their first summer together longer. And it could have used some more imagery. However, the book was extremly romantic. Imagine, an older man who goes through the same painstaking process every single day hoping his wife will return to him from the daze of Alzheimer's. It was very sweet. And the writing was good. It just wasn't a really great book.
The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
This book reminded me so much of The Devil Wears Prada that I looked at the author twice before I was convinced it wasn't written by the same person. This story had many similar themes to The Devil. First, it's about a young, college-aged woman in New York City. Second, she finds a job with wealthy people who turn out to be the employers from hell. Overworked and underpaid for her efforts, she finds herself losing touch with what used to be important to her. At the end of the book, she finally understands the situation she's in, quits her job, and returns to her values.
The book differed from The Devil Wears Prada in that the protagonist mainly discussed her employers, where in The Devil, there is a lot of activity in her personal life. The coolest thing about this book is that I was listening to the audio version and Julia Roberts narrated it. I thought I recognized that voice!
Right now I'm reading Frontier Woman, by Walker Wyman. Ever wondered what life was like for homesteaders in South Dakota in the early 1900s? This book is a nice source of information. Walker Wyman took the journals and perhaps interviewed Grace Fairchild, a woman who survived the cold, hard frontier life. Fairchild, a Wisconsin native (woo hoo!) moved with her husband to a farm near Philip, SD in 1902. The Fairchilds beat the odds and battled drought, blizzards, and a very lonely, hard life to survive on the plains.
Adultery for Beginners, by Sarah Duncan.
The title makes it sound juicier than it really is. A 40-something woman is stuck in a boring marriage, going through the same motions time after time. She decides to find a day job to entertain herself, and works for a man out of his home (hel-lo, warning bells!). True to the book's title, they start having an affair and it eventually affects her family life.
The book was okay. It made for an entertaining read and kept me occupied for a few days. However, none of the ideas were incredibly novel or creative, and the overabundance of steamy sex scenes had me wondering if I was in fact reading a romance novel. I would have thought the book was a waste of my time if it weren't for the nice little twist at the end.
The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks
Dare I say that I liked the movie more than the book? Maybe because I saw the movie first and therefore knew what would happen. Or maybe because I zoomed through the book in two days, listening to it on my mp3 player, and didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Anyhow, I thought it could have dwelled upon their first summer together longer. And it could have used some more imagery. However, the book was extremly romantic. Imagine, an older man who goes through the same painstaking process every single day hoping his wife will return to him from the daze of Alzheimer's. It was very sweet. And the writing was good. It just wasn't a really great book.
The Nanny Diaries, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
This book reminded me so much of The Devil Wears Prada that I looked at the author twice before I was convinced it wasn't written by the same person. This story had many similar themes to The Devil. First, it's about a young, college-aged woman in New York City. Second, she finds a job with wealthy people who turn out to be the employers from hell. Overworked and underpaid for her efforts, she finds herself losing touch with what used to be important to her. At the end of the book, she finally understands the situation she's in, quits her job, and returns to her values.
The book differed from The Devil Wears Prada in that the protagonist mainly discussed her employers, where in The Devil, there is a lot of activity in her personal life. The coolest thing about this book is that I was listening to the audio version and Julia Roberts narrated it. I thought I recognized that voice!
Right now I'm reading Frontier Woman, by Walker Wyman. Ever wondered what life was like for homesteaders in South Dakota in the early 1900s? This book is a nice source of information. Walker Wyman took the journals and perhaps interviewed Grace Fairchild, a woman who survived the cold, hard frontier life. Fairchild, a Wisconsin native (woo hoo!) moved with her husband to a farm near Philip, SD in 1902. The Fairchilds beat the odds and battled drought, blizzards, and a very lonely, hard life to survive on the plains.
My day off
I was still feeling kind of "under the weather" from Dana's bachelorette party, so I took the day off from work yesterday. Who woulda thought that drinking 2 strip-and-go-nakeds and 4 beers in the span of 6 hours could kill me so badly?
What would have normally been a 5-hour drive home turned into a 9-hour marathon ride. I ended up taking two naps because I was falling asleep at the wheel, only to wake up sweating (because it was like 90 degrees out) two hours later. Then I kept getting hungry, so I stopped at Culver's and had a burger with everything on it. It was like heaven. Later I stopped at Culver's again and had some frozen custard. That was pretty heavenly, too. I wouldn't be surprised if my butt grew 4 inches sunday.
I did show up to softball last night, as I felt better as the day went on. Our game was at 6:00 and it was sooo hot outside that I was feeling sluggish. I have a nickname on my softball team.. they call me "Old School" because I use my Johnny Walker mitt, which is from the 1920s. I love that mitt.. it seems like I can catch and even throw better when I'm using it. And I'm proud to have a nickname, as I haven't really had one except for what my family calls me ("Crystal the Pistol," "Chica," and "Ditto").
I think I'm going to start tracking my weight. I don't want to randomly gain 5 lbs again and be surprised when I go to the doctor's. So I'm going to use the Google weight-tracking tool.
And.. since I'm kind of recording random thoughts, here.. I think I'm going to look for a part-time job. Do you know anyone in Evansville who wants to hire me to work from 5-8 on weeknights and only 2 weekends a month?? :) Yes, that could be a challenge. But I need more cash! I'm kind of thinking of selling baked goods to people I know to earn moolah.
Today's Lunch:
Ham and sharp cheddar sandwich on whole wheat with mustard (I'm really excited about this - everything's better with cheddar)
Braeburn apple
Peach-and-raspberry cobbler
What would have normally been a 5-hour drive home turned into a 9-hour marathon ride. I ended up taking two naps because I was falling asleep at the wheel, only to wake up sweating (because it was like 90 degrees out) two hours later. Then I kept getting hungry, so I stopped at Culver's and had a burger with everything on it. It was like heaven. Later I stopped at Culver's again and had some frozen custard. That was pretty heavenly, too. I wouldn't be surprised if my butt grew 4 inches sunday.
I did show up to softball last night, as I felt better as the day went on. Our game was at 6:00 and it was sooo hot outside that I was feeling sluggish. I have a nickname on my softball team.. they call me "Old School" because I use my Johnny Walker mitt, which is from the 1920s. I love that mitt.. it seems like I can catch and even throw better when I'm using it. And I'm proud to have a nickname, as I haven't really had one except for what my family calls me ("Crystal the Pistol," "Chica," and "Ditto").
I think I'm going to start tracking my weight. I don't want to randomly gain 5 lbs again and be surprised when I go to the doctor's. So I'm going to use the Google weight-tracking tool.
And.. since I'm kind of recording random thoughts, here.. I think I'm going to look for a part-time job. Do you know anyone in Evansville who wants to hire me to work from 5-8 on weeknights and only 2 weekends a month?? :) Yes, that could be a challenge. But I need more cash! I'm kind of thinking of selling baked goods to people I know to earn moolah.
Today's Lunch:
Ham and sharp cheddar sandwich on whole wheat with mustard (I'm really excited about this - everything's better with cheddar)
Braeburn apple
Peach-and-raspberry cobbler
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