Fingerprints

I have had my fingerprints taken 5 times in my life. You'd think the branches of the government could share that information with each other, but no, I have to get a new set every time I do something new.

The first time, I was in college applying to be a substitute teacher. The second time was my first Peace Corps application (which I didn't finish because I got my current job). The third time was for my current job.

The fourth time was a week ago. I need to get them done again for the Peace Corps, so I went to the Fitchburg Police Department during my lunch hour. The good part was that the guy was cute, so at least I had something nice to look at while I was getting it done. The bad part was 1) it took an hour because 2) they only do them electronically. Basically this computer takes a scan of your fingerprints, and it has to do each finger three times and it takes forever. The reason 2) is bad is because the Peace Corps didn't accept the electronic fingerprints. Another bad thing was 3) that it cost $24 to have them done, all for nothing.

So this morning I went to the Shorewood Hills Police Department, where I know they use ink because I've been there before (and not for a crime-related reason, mom). Once again, a cute young sergeant took my prints, and this time they were done using ink. Score! As of now, I should have all my Peace Corps paperwork in and should be finding out where and when I'll be stationed.

Another good thing happened today. I stopped by this new bakery that opened up, Madeleine's Patisserie. I ate a fig-walnut scone and was so inspired by the classy decor and lovely desserts that I asked if I could someday interview the chef. Well, I was given the opportunity to go right back into the kitchen, where I asked the chefs some questions about becoming pastry chefs. It was a great time, and they were really informative. They even offered to let me work with them for a day, just to experience the workings of a pastry kitchen. How cool! Next I'm going to attempt to interview the chef at the Governor's Mansion.

Baking Biz

I made this beautiful apple pie last night for a customer, and it just looked so nice that I had to take its picture.

I precooked the filling so there wouldn't be a gap between the apples and the top crust. It took about 5 pounds of apples to fill this puppy!

I've had some feedback about some of my products.

I made my signature caramel-filled chocolate cookies for someone, and he said he really liked them but asked if I could make them with vanilla dough instead of chocolate dough. I said I'd give it a try, and substituted flour for the cocoa powder. Since cocoa powder is so much lighter than flour, I only used 3/4 the amount of flour as I had the cocoa powder so the cookies wouldn't be too cakey. Well, next time I will use the entire amount of flour, because they came out a little flat. The guy said he liked them more puffy, so I thanked him for being my guinea pig and said I'd try that next time. A few days later, he was like, "the squirrels really liked those cookies." When I asked what he meant, he said, "well, they got hard because they're so thin so I had to throw them out to the squirrels." I was like, "whatever, dude," but I actually told him to eat them faster next time.

A coworker asked me to bring a rum cake to our group coffee party friday morning. He said he really wanted a nice, strong rum flavor, so I threw in the 1/4 cup of rum that the recipe called for, and added extra rum to the frosting. We tried it and were disappointed to not taste any rum. So I told him I'd work on the recipe and bring another cake this friday (free of charge) and he could be my guinea pig. So I think I'm going to try out this recipe where you make a rum glaze to inject into the cake once it's cooked.

I was at the grocery store wednesday and saw some neighbors that I haven't seen in a while. They asked what Zach and I have been up to lately, and I told them I started a kind of baking service to keep myself entertained. I wasn't even trying to promote my business, but they ended up ordering a cake for saturday morning! I was really excited to get a new order. I made a lemon sheet cake with cream cheese icing and decorated it with pink roses. I would have taken a photo, but I was running out of time. It took forever to decorate it, but it was worth it.

Today's Lunch:
Leftover Chinese takeout (chicken curry - it was really good)
2 pieces of fudge
Dannon Natural yogurt, vanilla flavored

My living situation

Things are pretty crazy at my house. Zach and I are talking about breaking up.

Here’s how we’re dealing with it:

1. I get accepted into the Peace Corps
1. Zach wants to break up ASAP (“what’s the point in staying together if you’re just going to leave?”) Understandable.
   
2. I don’t get accepted into the Peace Corps
1. Zach wants to stay together
2. I want to go to culinary school
3. I’m not sure if I want to stay with Zach
   
3. Right now (future unknown):
1. I’m not sure if I want to stay with Zach
2. Zach wants to be with me
3. We need some time apart to figure things out
   

So.. how can we spend time apart? We live together, for Pete’s sake. The plan is for Zach to purchase my house and I’ll move out.

• Until that happens, we’re going to be “housemates.” He gets the guest bedroom and I can no longer call him “honey.”
• But.. if I do get accepted into the Peace Corps, Zach wants me to live with him to help pay the bills until I leave. I don’t think so!

Right now everything is kind of jumbled together in my mind and I’m still trying to sort it out. It seems like Zach is trying to have his cake and eat it, too. “If you join the Peace Corps, I want to break up with you, but I still want you to live in my house. But if you don’t get accepted into the Peace Corps, I want to stay together.” How can someone flip their mind around like that? I need some more time to think about this before placing any judgment on it.

The good news, however, is that Zach is willing to buy the house. I won’t have to deal with fixing it up, finishing projects, showing it, etc. He’s really cutting me a break. In return, I’ll sell it to him for a cheap price. It’s a win-win!

Also, if he buys the house, I can leave for the Peace Corps earlier than I intended. I’m looking at November now. Wow, it’s so exciting!

Bedroom

I purchased a new down comforter and duvet for our bed a couple of days ago. I've always wanted a fluffy white bedspread. Here's how it looks:


I realize the green walls are a little scary. I will most likely paint them a lighter shade this summer.

Plans for the weekend:
Scrape mastic off basement floor
Bake and decorate a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting for a customer
Bake apple pie for a customer
Attend euchre tournament at local church

Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with yellow mustard
Banana

Dinner party tonight

I met this great young woman named Erin, who works at the homeless shelter I volunteer at. She's really fun and nice and we just hit it off right away. So she and her hubby are coming over for dinner tonight. Here's what we're having:

Appetizers
Proscuitto, provolone, and cheddar with crackers
Veggies and dip, only if I have time

Dinner
Salad (iceberg and endive) with balsamic vinaigrette
Garlic bread made with real Italian bread (aka Bruschetta)
Slow-cooked red pepper, rosemary and chicken tomato sauce
Linguine pasta

Dessert
Pear crisp with crystallized ginger in the "crisp" part - it's sooo good
Vanilla ice cream

Now I have to go home and wash the salad, prepare the garlic bread, and make the pear crisp.

Today's Lunch:
Went to the UW Hospital cafeteria and had:
Black beans with rice and pico de gallo
Italian salad (kidney beans, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, other stuff...)
Cottage cheese with tomato

Finally done

I'm finally finished with this project I've been working on for a year. My main work duty has been this literature review, and last year I became convinced it was slowly sucking the life out of me. It became better these last few months because we were done reading papers and moving on to data analysis and writing. The final paper (written by my boss, proofread by me) is really great. We're presenting it at a conference this december. We'll still have to answer the comments of peer reviewers, but that's okay.

While the project was grueling and long, I have good memories of reading papers about shoving thermometers up kangaroo rat anuses and the "duties" of 1940s housewives. And the discussions I had with my boss were pretty fun. He's a really great guy and gets my sense of humor - always a good thing.

I've learned a few things, too. I've realized I need to proofread my data more (I always make the dumbest little mistakes and my boss is always like, "where did you get these crazy numbers??") and that it's easier to read scientific papers when my computer's off so I don't get distracted by things like Britney's shaved head.

Next up? Sort through the gigantic stack of mail in my inbox.


Then, learn about some new graphing software.

Today's Lunch:
Peanut butter (Jif) and honey sandwich on whole wheat
Banana
1 piece of Dove dark chocolate

Shopping

What was supposed to be an innocent trip to the post office turned into a shopping free-for-all.

Here's how it happened: I had some cookies that I was going to mail to Joe and Stephie. As Zach left for work thursday morning, I told him to take some cookies with him, meaning the cookies my mom sent us for Valentine's Day. But he misunderstood me and took Joe and Stephie's cookies.

I didn't realize this until saturday. I was getting ready to pay a trip to my friends at the Evansville post office and was looking everywhere for those cookies. I looked in the basement. I looked in the hall closets. I looked in my car. I couldn't find them. I finally asked Zach about them, and that's when the truth came out. No cookies for Joe's belated birthday gift. No cookies to Stephie for winning my lunch contest. What was a girl to do?

Zach had to go to Madison to pick up some snowmobile parts, so I coerced him into taking me to Kohl's to get Joe a back-up gift. As I wandered around, I found some excellent deals I just couldn't pass up.

I have been admiring these Mary Janes for about a year, but they cost $60 at The Shoebox. I tried looking online, but the cost of shipping prevented me from making an actual purchase. Kohl's had them for $44. Yessss! I like to wear skirts in the summer, and now I finally have some shoes that I can wear with them that won't hurt my feet.

I like to check out the down comforters whenever I'm at Kohl's (and TJ Max) just to see if there are any deals. Well.. down comforters were 50% off! I had a little extra money in my bank account, so I made an investment.

Now I just need a duvet. I'm going to hit up Target today and get the Shabby Chic white duvet set. It is my dream to have white, embroidered bedding for my canopy bed. It will look so beautiful with the hardwood floor and green walls of our bedroom. Pictures to follow soon.

And... one last thing. I'm in the market for a new laptop. Ours is a piece of crap because the keyboard doesn't work. Consumer Reports has a few recommended laptops, so when I get my tax returns I may have to invest in one. I was going to invest all my tax returns in the house, but since I'm possibly selling it soon, I may never see a return on all that money I put into it. So no, house, no new stove for you. I'm getting something I can enjoy for a long time.

Today's Lunch:
Peanut butter (Jif) and honey sandwich on whole wheat
Banana

Headaches

I've been getting headaches lately. I've never been a headache person, so I wonder what the problem is. Right now I think it's because I'm tired. So.. tired..

Zach is out of town tonight, so Kitty and I have the house to ourselves again. Yay! We're fired up to watch Grey's Anatomy and whatever else we can find on the tube.

This weekend we're ripping down the old ceiling tiles in our basement. I'm really excited to make some new progress on the house.

Today's Lunch:
Ham sandwich on whole wheat with yellow mustard
2 caramel Hershey's kisses

Cats and cupcakes.. oh my!

I've never had red velvet cake, but I can't say I was really impressed. Zach thought it tasted like nothing. I thought it tasted like baking soda. But I will definitely try the recipe again. I didn't use real buttermilk (I just added vinegar to regular milk), so that could've made a difference. And who knows, maybe I accidentally added too much baking soda. We'll just have to see.

Here's how they look:

I was really happy with the moist texture and nice crumb. It was just the flavor that threw me off.

We're potentially having some friends over for dinner this weekend, so maybe I'll try it again.

Here's a picture of Kitty in her closet. It's really dark in there (no lights), so I tried out the "dark" setting on my camera. I'm very impressed! Isn't she cute?

Today's Lunch:
Leftover chicken kabob with rice pilaf and veggies

Chick lit

I've been on a major chick lit kick lately. I can't seem to get past the notion of living in a fantasy world. I need to read something light and fluffy, something that doesn't take a lot of brain cells to understand. But it also needs to be entertaining.

Here are some chick lit books I've read lately:

• Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, by Sophie Kinsella
• Sex and the City, by Candace Bushnell (not at all like the TV series - I wouldn't recommend it)
  

Last night I stayed up past midnight finishing Can You Keep a Secret?, another book by Sophie Kinsella. It's about a girl who's sitting on a plane next to a handsome stranger. When the plane hits turbulence, she gets scared and ends up telling him a bunch of personal details about herself (like how she hates wearing g-strings and she once had a lesbian dream about her best friend). Upon landing, she thinks she'll never see the stranger again, so she doesn't worry about confessing everything to him. She soon finds out he's the boss of her company, and, well, you can imagine what happens from there.

The thing I like most about Sophie Kinsella is that her characters are all a bit clumsy, a little flawed, and sometimes do stupid things that have the reader thinking "NO! Don't do it!" It adds a little humor to the story. And then they always end up with the cute, sensitive guy. It's just so romantic.

In an attempt to improve my oral health, I tried using mouthwash for the first time last night. It burned. That must mean it's working.

Have I mentioned that my brother Joe and his fiancée Mary have asked me to make their wedding cake?? I'm so excited! They're interested in red velvet cake, so tonight I'm going to try out a red velvet cake recipe by making cupcakes for Valentine's Day. I will be posting photos, so stay tuned!

Today's Lunch:
Chicken kabob with rice pilaf and a greek salad from Amy's Cafe. It was sooo good.

More on the Peace Corps..

Turning 25 has finally paid off. My car insurance rate decreased. I used to pay $108/month, and now it's only $75/month. I'm so excited!

Back to my original subject... Zach and I have been doing some serious talking about what's going to happen when I join the Peace Corps. We still have a year to make decisions and act on them, but in my opinion, it's never too early to start planning. A lot of questions arise when you decide to leave the U.S. for 2 years.

• What about the house? We love the house and want to keep it. But... we decided it would be easiest to just sell it. That way, Zach won't go broke trying to pay the mortgage and bills, and I won't have to worry about power of attorney while I'm gone. That means we have a lot of projects to finish this summer.
  
• What about the cat? Kitty is my little princess and I wish I could take her with me. But I don't think the Peace Corps would have it, and she might not like our new living conditions (especially if I'm living in a mud hut somewhere). So I'll have to find some new parents for her. But I'll worry about that later on.
• What about my truck? By the time I leave, I'll have about $4000 left on the loan, so I'm thinking I could sell the house and see if there's enough money left for me to pay it off. If not, I'll sell it.
• What about my stuff? There are 3 pieces of furniture I must keep - my bed, my mom's desk that she bought when she was 10, and my dad's dresser from when he was a toddler. Zach/Joe/Tom can have the rest. As for the rest of my stuff... maybe in mom and dad's attic? :)
• What about my student loans? Fortunately, they can be deferred in most cases for Peace Corps volunteers.
  
• What about my boyfriend? This is the most difficult part of all. I think it would be best for us to break up while I'm gone. That way we can both have our freedom to do what we want, and god knows a 2-year long distance relationship would be difficult. I think if we're "meant to be" we'll end up back together some day. And, while I'm on the subject, Zach said something that bugged me. He said his aunt suggested I don't love him enough to stay with him. He's always putting these guilt trips on me, and it's annoying. Now I know where he gets it from! I think it runs in his mom's whole family. I know it's immature, but I thought I'd play the game back. I told him that if he loved me enough, he'd come with me. He said, "touché."

That's it for now. These things have really been weighing on my mind lately, but not enough to make me reconsider my decision to join.

Today's Lunch:
Leftover tuna casserole (egg noodles, tuna, Healthy Request cream of mushroom soup, carrots, celery, and peas)

Interview

I had my Peace Corps interview yesterday with our local recruiter, Greg. Here are some of the questions he asked:

• Why do you want to join?
• How do you deal with stressful situations?
• Describe a frustrating circumstance and how you dealt with it.
• Describe an event where you had to teach somebody something new.
• How comfortable are you with adhering to another culture's traditions?

Those were the difficult ones. I'm pretty sure I didn't get my point across clearly on some of the questions, but I tried my best and Greg seemed pretty patient. And then the easy questions dealt with things like how able and willing I am to eat different foods and have very little variety in my diet, how comfortable I am with people staring at me, whether I'd be comfortable with living in a new environment, how my family/friends/boyfriend feel about me joining, etc.

Next I have a follow-up interview with the regional recruiter, and then.. lots of paperwork and waiting for a nomination. Yahoo!

I got an air cast for my ankle yesterday (my mom highly suggested it), and it's made a world of difference. That just goes to show that Mama's always right. The bruising has finally started showing, which seems like a good sign, and the swelling's gone down. I almost feel normal again.

Weekend plans: bake cookies and volunteer at the shelter.

Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat with yellow mustard (we really need to go shopping - we have no fruit and the turkey's about a week old)

Memoirs of a Pilon

I just think that would be a cool blog title.

I'm on part 3 (of 3) of Memoirs of a Geisha, and let me just say - it's SUCH a good book. I listen to my audio books while I'm in the car, exercising, and doing other boring things like cleaning the house. They were especially helpful while I was doing the dishes, before we had our dishwasher, and it took like an hour to wash them all.

Anyhoo, I'm just so excited to listen to it that I can't wait to start driving home. Who wants my mizuage?? (just kidding - a little bit of Pilon humor for y'all)

Finally back at work

I haven't spent a full day at work since January 26th! First I was out of town for my grandpa's funeral, then the MTU Career Fair, then my sprained ankle... so I'm finally back. I really need to water my plants.

Tomorrow I have my Peace Corps interview.. I'm looking forward to it. The more I think about joining the PC, the more I'm ready to do it. I'm not scared anymore about getting the work done. My recruiter told me the attrition rate is mostly due to reasons other than volunteers giving up, such as political situations and health issues. As for the Zach-ster... I'm just not sure about him. In general. And what better chance to reflect upon our relationship than time apart?

I was a lazy bum the last two days, and will continue to be for about a week, or until I can walk normally. Even so, I can't do anything "active" for six weeks. I think I will start lifting weights with just upper body so I can at least exercise and work toward my weight goal for our workplace's version of The Biggest Loser. So far I've lost 2 pounds. Yup, my progress is not huge, but at least it's something.

In other news, I've been calling Kitty a "White Princess" lately. "How's my little White Princess today?" She loved having Zach out of town, because he's loud and scary and doesn't pet her. We did a lot of snuggling the last couple of days.

I have to hold off on my baking because I don't want to hobble around the kitchen unless I have to. So Stephie, those cookies will be coming someday, I promise!

Today's Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat
Banana

Just call me "gimpy"

It's a good thing we have subzero temperatures out, because the Madison schools are closed. And that's good because it means... I don't have to go to work today! Our lab shuts down whenever Madison schools close. Don't ask why.

I would have taken a sick day anyway, because I sprained my ankle. Last week while I was in Houghton, I went to the bar and had a couple of beers. On my way back to the AGD house, I stepped off a curb, twisted my foot, and sprained my ankle. It was a pretty minor sprain, and this nice kid walked me back to the house. It was a little swollen, but not too bad.

It had almost completely healed yesterday. I was walking around pretty well and the swelling was almost gone. Until... I went to the homeless shelter and chased this kid down the hall. The little rascal ran in front of me, fell on the floor, and I tripped over him. I heard a crunching sound and felt instant pain. I laid in the hall for a few minutes, trying not to cry, and struggled to stand up and limp my way back to my desk. The kid I was chasing got me some ice, which was very sweet. I iced it for an hour and kind of cried a little bit, too. Then someone gave me ibuprofen and I felt better.

Since Zach's out of town (at an arborist conference), I have the house (and the TV) to myself. Last night, instead of suffering through the Super Bowl (I hate football), I watched reruns of Beauty and the Geek and did some cross stitching, reading, and some serious FreeCell playing. Today I went to the doctor, and after a few x-rays we confirmed it was just a sprain. I kept trying to joke around with him, but he would have none of it and remained serious throughout our entire appointment.

The keyboard on our home computer is broken (every time I hit the space bar, the cursor goes "home") so I'm at the library writing this entry. I just checked out seasons 4 and 5 of Sex and the City, so my plan for the day is to do some serious TV watching.

Today's Lunch:
Leftover chicken stew (chicken breast, celery, onion, carrots, and potatoes)
Biscuits

My return to Houghton

I was in Houghton wednesday and thursday for the forestry department's career fair. When I was a student at Michigan Tech, the campus-wide career fairs weren't exactly geared toward forestry majors. Most of the company representatives were from engineering firms that had no use for a forestry, ecology, or wood science major. So the director of outreach for the forestry department began a career fair for the "rest of us." So far it's a success!

I always enjoy returning to Houghton. It's just so far away, so isolated and quiet and beautiful. And I love the snow. Just in the time I was there, less than 24 hours, they probably received more snow than we've had in Madison all season.

The forestry department's cool, too. I saw a lot of people I recognized from the computer lab who came back to recruit employees for their companies. I love how the students are always wearing Carhartts and flannels and sweaters in neutral tones. And big logging boots. They just look so earthy. And I don't mean the burly, sweaty guys with unkempt beards and dirty Carhartts. People who attend the career fair bust out the really nice pair that they keep in the back of their closet for such occasions. What can I say, I have a thing for men in Carhartts. I had a fabulous time talking to people I went to school with and meeting new people, too.

I stayed at the sorority house wednesday night. When you're in college, you don't realize how smart the people you hang out with really are. I just loved how the girls were working so hard on their skit costumes and engineering molds to make pieces for their snow statue (Winter Carnival is next week). And I didn't encounter the negative attitude that I sometimes see in older people. They're just so willing to try, and they're not afraid to fail. I love that. And they're so laid-back and easy going. I really just had a great time hanging out with the girls. And, for you other Zeta Epsilon AGDs... you'll be happy to hear that we're once again the biggest sorority on campus! Woo hoo!

In other news, I have a meeting with my Peace Corps recruiter next thursday. I'm so excited! Thank god it will be nothing like my Queens interview from Winter Carnival (yes, the last interview I had)... the Peace Corps people just want to assess my mental and physical suitabilities - no problemo.

Today's Lunch:
Don't know yet. Maybe I'll make a run for the border.