Comte and apples today. Comte is a form of guyrere.

I went to Whole Foods last night and got three new cheeses (no, comte was not one of them). I can't remember any of their names though & the labels only say "newitem." Bastards. I really enjoy my trips to Whole Foods, though. So many different items. And I love to smell the handcut soap logs. I also bought some tea tree oil last night. We'll see if pure oil zaps my zits any faster than the Mario Badescu drying cream (which, I now found a store locally that sells MB stuff).

I'm feeling a little blue today. Work stressed me yesterday. A single mom in my office never ASKS if she can take time off when her kid is planned off school. It just is. This year, it coincides with a major grant deadline, which means our office is busy (25% of my job is in the research office, one duty is to provide backup to staff during grant deadlines. As in "crap, someone is sick, we need backup" or "there's no way we can get all of these submitted on time unless we have an extra set of hands and eyes."). Thus, I can't take any time over my spring break off, which happens to coincide with my birthday. Why? Because I have a sense of responsibility to my job and I'm polite. She? Doesn't give a rats arse about the needs of her position.

There's some other stuff going on, too. Thus, I'm just a little blue.

In other news, I found the Neutrogena Body Microdermabrasion kit on clearance at Walgreens for $15.99. Now I need to get the face sponge, as it fits the body thing. Yay! One problem with my new body buffing routine is that I'm really noticing some ugly blue veins on my right calf.

My Friend Test

Shamelessly stolen from HD & Arkie:


Create your own Friend Test here

The Breast Cancer 3 Day

*digs out from snow storm* I present a lavish display of Wisconsin cheeses today: brie, sharp cheddar, provolone, baby swiss, meunster, kase, and brick for your pleasure. I'll even put out a little salami cheese for those of you that like that kind of thing. :-)

It's time that I start trying to raise funds for the Breast Cancer 3 Day. I've been training for about four weeks now as a little "pre-training." I start the real training next week and will stick as close as possible to the schedule until the walk is over. Six mile walks are as much as I can handle on the treadmill. It's too boring otherwise! Once the weather warms, those long walks will be easier. I wish Boo was closer so we could train together. :-(

So, I'd like to ask you to consider a donation, no matter what the size. Don't feel obligated. If you can't afford to make a donation, verbal support is always appreciated. And calf massages. :-)
http://www.the3day.org/chicago07/nolet

Thank you for your support, in whatever form it may be. *smooch*

What a weird day it was

Brick cheese and crackers today.

We had an all day "meeting" yesterday on a project. We were meeting with some long term care consumers in the afternoon. One loud woman basically was sexually harassing the guy next to her in a wheelchair. From now on, we are making a point to put her next to one of us in these meetings, not next to other consumers.

In case you are wondering, banana chocolate chip muffins are the preferred type of muffins among our morning group. Followed by cranberry orange and blueberry. Lemon poppyseed wasn't as popular as I asumed. The lowfat blueberry? I was the only one that ate one.

Out of Office Thursday

Please hold my calls. Bob is in charge of the cheese.

Meatloaf and other randoms

Little cheese pizzas today. I've had a pizza craving.

1. I'm making meatloaf tonight. Paula Dean made me laugh, but had a good idea. Line your pan with bread to soak up the grease (thus, the loaf won't sit in the grease). Then she proceeded to put bacon and cheese in her meatloaf.

2. I love grocery shopping. I love to browse the products. I love to price compare and read labels. I picked up some healthy snacks to have at work (that's been my downfall lately...unhealthy work snacks), but forgot the bag at home. :-(

3. I think I've figured out my next career move, but it's going to be a matter of finding open jobs. I'd like to work as a training coordinator (I do some of that in my job already). I would like to stay in the healthcare industry, but since I'm not a nurse, etc., those positions are almost non-existant for me. Thus, I'll continue to look at State positions and other industries. I'm considering getting a distance ed. certificate. Work would pay for the program and it's all online here at the UW. Not sure if it will benefit me that much, but it wouldn't hurt.

4. I watched last week's LOST last night. Very weird. I love Desmond, though.

5. I need a vacation, but it doesn't look like that will happen til May. I'm going to take a big chunk of time off to garden and landscape.

February is sponsored by the letter T

Sharp white cheddar and crackers today.

T? Why T you ask?

T is for tires, which I told you about a few weeks ago.

T is also for transmission. Yesterday, in the thick of traffic, a car let loose some ice chunks from its wheel wells right in front of us. It was unavoidable that we "clunked" right over them. Well, last night, on the way home, the car was not going into gear when we were driving along. I just said "Maybe we should turn around and go to the mechanics" when it permenantly wouldn't stay in drive. We limped off the road and transmission fluid was everywhere. We assumed it was cracked in the ice debacle that morning. However, towing guy didn't see a crack. Might have jostled the transmission enough to blow a seal, though. Either insurance or the warranty should cover it (minus our deductible, though, for insurance), but still, it sucked.

Bruschetta with some strips of shaved parmesan for you today.

I can't wait til spring. I'm sick of having limited social things to do because it's cold and snowy out. I just read MM's blog and was so jealous of her picnicing.

I want to move.

Let's move!

Little toothpick skewers of provolone, pecornio and salami.

Ok, let's pretend we all get to retire in a few years and get to move. Where are you retiring to and why? Or, are you staying right where you are?

Let's pretend again. North America has kicked you out. You must move somewhere else. Where are you going?

Jobs I would consider

Nibble on some baby swiss and let's ponder our careers.

If education wasn't an obstacle, what jobs would you seriously consdier? Try to make it something you could actually do at this point in life with your previous experience.

1. Staff Development Coordinator for nursing homes.
I'd likely need a nursing degree for this.

2. Events Coordinator
I have the education and some low level experience. However, the entry level pay sucks. And I'd have to work a lot of odd hours

3. Kitchen store owner
I'd love to own a little boutique store that sold cookware and gadgets, plus a few gourmet food items. We have one in Madison that I'd love to mirror in the small town I live in. It's a touristy town that would benefit from this business. However, this? Would be incredibly risky.

4. Bakery worker or owner
Fun! Long hours, and again, incredibly risky to be an owner. Low pay to be a worker.

5. Something student oriented at the university
I need to consider jobs in housing, orientation, advising, etc.

*peeks out*

Will some nice warm grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches make up for my absence?

It's been an overwhelming week.

#1: MIL came to visit for multiple days
This meant her 2 year old lab was also in tow. Our three cats hate the dog. The dog is a real chewer and constantly on your heels. MIL shut our bedroom door the morning she left because he was chewing on Chris's slippers. Well, she locked a cat in (from 8 am until we got home at 7:30 last night). Poor kitty bladder. Mind you, she'd be reminded to check for cats the day before when she did this. I'd bore you with the million other odd stories, but basically she's in la la land and this stresses us all.

#2 Math exam
It was today. I studied a ton. I think it paid off. We'll see next week when the grades come out.

#3 Conducting nurse education programs this week
We've had to develop and deliver and education program in the short span of two weeks. We have another next week, but at least all the prep work is now done. We had to drive south in the snow storm yesterday. It was horrendous. Lots of accidents right in front of us.

#4 Every other project amping up
We have two other projects that have major activities going on. Looks like my California trips are going to be April 18-22 and May 3-6. And then probably two more yet this year. Whew!

#5 My boss will be retiring in 3 years
This terrifies me. My job is on soft money tied to her research. I could probably pick up a permenant position within the School of Nursing, but I really don't like my workplace. I just like MY job. I also don't think I want to work for the university UNLESS I GET MY MASTER'S. Only having my bachelor's is like this little black cloud that follows me. Everyone here is so educated and that shuts me out from a lot of the good positions. I just got this by sheer luck of having worked for her previously. She's talked about us developing a consulting business. That would be a great career move for me, but a huge financial risk in the short run.

So that's what is going on in my world. It's a little more calm since this afternoon. Chris and I are heading out for our Valentine's Day outing this evening. Oooh, that reminds me, I need to go wish the Swami's a Happy Anniversary!

A cook's confession

Proscuitto and port du salut this morning.

I love to cook. Love it. I experiment with some weird stuff, but there are a few basic things I've never made at home. Last night, I made lamb.

We have a little organic, local foods store in my home of Spring Green. They had some lil' lamb chops for a reasonable price. Chris was going to a meeting last night (it was a potluck), so I knew I could make whatever I wanted for dinner. Since Chris wasn't ever thrilled about lamb, this was opportunity to experiment.

I rubbed them with some rosemary, thyme, mustard seeds, smoked salt, paprika and pepper. Browned them in a skillet and threw the skillet under low broil for about 14 minutes (flipping halfway).

It turned out near perfect. Next time I'd go for 12-13 minutes, as they were getting on the medium-well side of medium.

Such exciting news I bring, huh?

Last Night's Debacle

Cubes of emmenthaler and edam today. E cheeses.

Tuesday's are Chris's late night at work, so I take the bus over, walk to his office, grab the car and run errands. It was still very cold and a fresh coat of snow was on the ground, so he came to pick me up at the bus stop. Well, as he came over the hill and tried to stop, he slid in the car and bumped off a solid snowbank. We didn't think much of it. We drove back to his office to drop him off (just a few blocks) and I went to the grocery store a few more blocks away. Then I went across the street to TJ Maxx. Yep, I got him some new workout pants and me new socks.

I went to pick Chris up around 5:45 because he let his group out early. As soon as I pulled onto the street...thump thump thump. Hm. A few blocks before his office it hit me. The effing tire is flat. It was so slushy and sleety, that it didn't immediatly dawn on me why steering sucked.

Sure enough, a dead flat tire. The hit to the snowbank had wreck the tire completely. No time like in below zero temps to change a tire. And the roads were so terrible we didn't want to drive with a spare on, so off to get new tires we went. We needed new ones anyway. Sigh.

At least they weren't brand new tires we wrecked. Kind of glad we put off getting new ones. And at least it happened in town, not on the highway in the middle of the country.

New Workout Wear Needed!

String cheese today. Low fat available for dieters.

Not me...I don't need new workout wear. Chris does.

Close your eyes and picture last night's outfit:

1. Bright yellow t-shirt that he uses for working around the house.
2. Dark green sweatpants, usually used for loungewear
3. Slip on brown shoes from Land's End...usually used for working in the garage, etc.

The silly boy has not "worked out" in ages. His tennis shoes are Nikes circa 1995. They aren't horribly worn. For some reason, he chose to forgo the shoes. I frankly think he needs new ones. He does't own a pair of athletic pants or shorts. Whenever we hike or ride bikes, he's always worn denim shorts and tshirts with hiking boots.

Sigh. He'll surely hate that I posted this. However, it's for his own good. He needs some prompting to wear appropriate workout wear. I'm going to buy him at least some athletic pants tonight.

I hate blogger and other musings

NACHOS! We were going to have nachos yesterday, but the poor half bag of tortilla chips was all broken in pieces. Instead, we had quesedillas. But I'm still in the mood for nachos. I'll even use baked chips and low fat cheese for us dieters.

I am having a hard time logging into blogger. If I make a comment on someone's blog, then go to blogger.com, I can make a new post on my blog. If I try to create a new post directly from my blog, I don't see a link to do so. If I log in to blogger cold turkey, it gets stuck and won't actually log me in. Hey blogger, wanna play rock, paper, scissors? *throws rock* (thank you Bud for that moment).

Da Bears lost. This pleases me.

Chris and I bought a new weight set. It's a dual stack system. We did lots of shopping around. With a budget of around $500, Bowflexes were out of our range. Plus, I didn't really want a Bowflex. To much to figure out and hooking and unhooking for my liking. I guess I'm impatient. So we looked at stack systems that were smooth and multifunctioning. Wieder systems sucked for smoothness. The Marcy brand was our fave.

Assembly? Ugh. There were a lot of pieces. We had one part that we put together and took apart three times because either the directions sucked (first time) or we sucked (second and third time). Tonight? We'll be having our first strength training session in the basement with ourselves...and the ever observant cats.

Fix that Pop Up

A nice sharp cheddar and grapes this morning.

I posted this in my comments section of the last post, but it bears repeating here.

I changed an option on IE & that pop up is gone. Granted, it will be gone for all sites, but I don't care.On Tools, Internet Options, Security, Customize levels, scroll down to "Display Mixed Content" and change from "prompt" to "enable"

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Speaking of Oh Piffle.

I think many of us had to "upgrade" to the new blogger over the last few days. *grumble*

I think peeps MIGHT need to update their links (some of mine aren't working, including my own to my blog).