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May 27, 2005
Stuff Portrait Friday
TGIF. Thank God It's Friday. As I start my long post for stuff portrait Friday, I realize how perfect our assignment was this week. It allowed me to post the picture of a religious symbol or a symbol of our faith. This week has been crazy and I dont see the craziness ending anytime soon. So, it is all the more appropriate to post this picture and remember that:
Love Never Faileth
I also realized by taking these pictures of the inside and outside of my refrigerator that I need to go to the grocery store this weekend, oh great, one more thing to the list.
Refrigerator
My freezer is full of frozen meats and fish, a few cold glasses for milk and a lot of frozen veggies. Now If I could just find the time to cook.
The door of my refrigerator and my collection of Fruit20 just goes to prove that I am going to be the first recorded death of Splenda someday.
Inside the refrigerator we find apple juice, orange juice, crystal light peach tea and milk. The next shelf is all kinds of dressings and sauces to pour on the meats that are frozen above it. And the bottom shelf is the stuff that needs to be cleaned out when I find the time.
Now, I know that it doesn't really look like I need to go grocery shooping, but what you couldn't see in these pictures are .. that I am out of bread, frozen dinners for work, and stuff to make salads and casseroles for work, and most importantly...CHOCOLATE.
HEAR YE, HEAR YE. NOW IS THE TIME FOR ME TO DISPLAY MY OBSESSION WITH SHOES!
Shoe Collection Part 1 - Top Left Hand Side of Closet
Scanning Left to Right - Shoe Collection Part 2
Middle of the Road - Shoe Collection Part 3
Leaning to the Right - Shoe Collection Part 4
All the way to the right and climbing up to the top - Shoe Collection Part 5
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:33 AM | Comments (6)
Guilty Guilty Pleasures Friday
Because I am bored at work and nothing else to do, I stole this from SillyNessa. And yes I am still doing Stuff Portrait Friday. I took the pictures last night but I was too tired to post them so I will post later this morning.
Accent: Texan, East Houston... not East Texas, Nessa!
Bra Size: 36DD
Chore I Hate: Unloading the Dishwasher and Sorting Socks
Dad's Name: James
Essential Makeup: Base, Lipstick & Mascara
Favorite Perfume: Shalimar
Gold or Silver: Gold, when its clean
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Interesting Fact: I was born in the same hospital on the same day as David Koresh, just 15 years later.
Job Title: Culinary School Student &; Pricing Administrator, Chain Department, Wine Group, Glazer's Distributors.
Kids: 2 - Zack and Zane, both have 4-legs, will be 21-months old on June 1st, living with grandparents in Waco
Living Arrangements: Sardine Can sized apartment in North Dallas
Mom's Birthplace: Waco, Texas
Number of Apples Eaten Last Week: 1
Overnight Hospital Stays: February 1981 - pneumonia, bronchitis, scarlet fever, chicken pox, pink eye, kidney infection, bladder infection & dehydrated
Phobias: heights - especially on stairs that you can see through
Question You Ask Yourself a Lot: How did I get myself into this?
Religious Affiliation: Christian - denomination Baptist
Siblings: 1 4-legged brother, Char Cole, passed away in March 2003
Time I Wake Up: 6:00am
Unnatural Hair Color: auburn with blonde highlights
Natural Hair Color: auburn-ish with gray (hence the color), ditto!
Vegetable I Refuse To Eat: iceburg lettuce, I'm allergic to it
Worst Habit: honking at every dumbass on the road
X-Rays: head, ankles, knees, back
Yummy Food I Make: Green Olive Dip
Zodiac Sign: Leo, I am Woman Hear me ROAR!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:13 AM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2005
Coriander-Cured Pork Loin with Sweet Onion Confit, Jalapeno Sweet Potato Timbales and Tomatillo Fritters
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)
Caldo de Res
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
Since
TxRedGirl so eloquently says... "we sleep when we die,"
Will someone please
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
SPD - Upside Down, um... CAKE!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
I know this doesn't actually fit the criteria for "self-portrait" day, but it explains a lot about how I feel right now. I am exhausted. My class schedule was set long before I ever started interviewing for the job I have since started. I am pushing myself through an unheard of weekly schedule and I have absolutely no clue how I'm going to make it the next 23 days. I have to catch up on a little more school work, I have one more big project to finish and two research papers PLUS the week I got sick, my online class started with 5 assignments a week.
I feel kinda like a pineapple upside down cake. In November, when I lost my job and decided to come to school, I was the cake batter that was stirred up and baked in a hot hot oven. Then things started to cool down and I was settling into my new apartment and my new life in the cakepan of life. Then it came time for presentation, and somebody turned my life upside down, took me out of my nice comfortable schedule and study time and plopped me out on a plate for all to see. And to top it all off, I find that after I'm turned upside down that someone decided to go and put three cherries on top of me and in case you didn't know... I'M ALLERGIC TO CHERRIES!
Thank you to my blog buddies who listen to me rant and detail the crazy parts of your life so I feel a little more normal. Thank you to those who take time out of your busy schedules to spend time with me so I can feel a little human with a life outside of work and class. Thank you to those who are willing to come take the pineapple rings and cherries off of my back (helping with big projects like designing menus (akaBoredom) so that I can actually sleep 4 hours a night, and last but not least, thank you to my job that allows me to do homework during my lunch hours and after I've finished all my assigned tasks.
23 days!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:42 AM | Comments (2)
I didn't forget my camera...
But when I got to class yesterday, I couldn't find it in my car. I even made a second trip outside during a slow time waiting on my rice to simmer and I finally decided that I had left it at work.
Last night about midnight, my next door neighbor's brother started banging on their door (he was locked out) and for some reason that made me remember that I hadn't brought in all my stuff after class.
I walked outside, opened up the back of my car, and slightly moved my suitcase full of chefs uniforms that I leave in my car all week long, and there it was. Oh well...I wasn't that impressed with the food last night anyway.
We made chicken with raspberry sauce, sauteed swiss chard with raisins, rice with red peppers, celery and toasted almonds, ceasar salad and ... gag ... dilled carrot soup... gag!
I've got the camera all ready for tonight and I will have pictures from Southwestern Regional and my StuffPortraitFriday up tomorrow.
Gotta get back to my work so I can finish it and start on homework.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2005
Sauteed Duck Breast with a PortWine Sauce
I had never had Duck before, but it was surprisingly good (of course it was, I made it), the polenta was about as good as fried cornmeal can be(no offense JJ3), the creamed spinach was great (Becky would be proud) and the eggplant was super-salty from the soy sauce (I think EZ went a litte overboard.)
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)
Deep-Fried Calamari with Lemon Butter Sauce
I Love Squid.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)
Cream of Garlic Soup
Don't know why they called it this, because it was closer to Garlic Potato Soup.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:28 PM | Comments (2)
The Mamas and the Papas. My Theme Song
I woke up and it was 9:30am. I was supposed to have gone into work early this morning as I was going to leave early for a doctor's appointment. Apparently, the people above me had some sort of emergency where the apartment complex turned off the electricity to my end of the building. Why on earth, they couldn't give me a warning or at least knock on my door to wake me up, I will never understand. I called and moved my doctor's appointment to June 16th and hurried to work. My normal schedule on Mondays is 8:30-5:30. I was 2 hours late to work. Needless to say, I will be working thru lunch today and taking short lunches the rest of this week to make up for those two hours.
Since the EL is gone this week. She left me a list of the contracts I needed to get done. I set them up on a schedule doing one a day and I'm still going to be left with two days with nothing to do. Even getting to work at 10:38 am, I finished my scheduled contract by 1:30pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon working on The Stolen Olive over instant messenger with one of my favorite geeks . Once I get this menu turned in for a grade I will post it so you can see it, "Little Stalin" did a great job on it and I owe him dinner as soon as I can find a chance to head to Houston.
I went to my Menu Management class at 7 and we got out by 8:15. Gotta love those lecture classes! Then I headed out for a much needed night out. We ended up at Chuy's and had a good dinner. I needed that! ;-)
After dinner, I got back to my place and I sat down at my broken computer chair (its been broken since the move from Sealy to Waco) and contemplated working on homework. By 11pm, there was a revolt! My eyes, my computer, my backside and my brain all ganged up on me and said NO! We are going to sleep.
Here it is, Tuesday. I've already finished the contract that I had planned for today and have been introudced to a new contract by someone different than the EL. This contract is actually going to take some time to complete but it will be nice to actually WORK at work. I will be rushing home this afternoon after work because none of my blogger buddies emailed me and reminded me to bring my camera this morning for pictures of our culinary creations in class tonight. Hey, at least I remembered before we started plating up and eating.
Gonna go work! Now it's y'alls turn.... Update, people, update!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)
May 23, 2005
Homework, Homework, Homework
and oh yeah... i forgot, HOMEWORK!
That is what my life has consisted of since Friday. I am still playing catch-up from being sick and it is driving me bananas.
Friday was an ok day at work. The EL left Thursday on Alaskan Cruise Vacation and wont be back until June 1st. For the first time since April 18th, I felt free to go to the bathroom without her counting every time I walk past her office door. G & H and I went out to eat for lunch. It is good to get out of the office at least once a week. We went to Subway, it was ok.
Friday, I went home and made it to my apartment complex office before the Natzis locked the doors. They had had two packages held hostage in there for a while. One of them was a new vacuum cleaner I had ordered off of woot! Then I sat down to watch Wheel of Fortune and the next thing I knew it was 9:##pm and my mother was calling and waking me up. I woke up and put the vacuum cleaner together and cleaned the carpet in my apartment for the first time since I moved in (and probably longer than that since the place was filthy when I moved in.)
Saturday, I took my VUE to Saturn for a much needed oil change and to get my dumb keyless remote fixed. First they tried to tell me I was out of warranty, which I knew was wrong. For some reason it wasn't showing up on their computer. So I got to call Janie B at Saturn in Waco and get her to fax over my SATURN extended warranty. Then they inform me that they had to order me a new remote and that I could come back next Saturday to pick it up. Well, heck... it only took me 4 weeks to get here, and now I have to go back two Saturdays in a row? Ugh!
After the trip to Saturn, I dropped by a bakery in Plano that I had been hearing about. It's called Delicious N Fit. They offer sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free cakes (as well as many other allergen-free products. I was interested in going there for a few reasons. I am supposed to be working on a research paper due in two weeks on sugar-free cooking. Also, I wanted to see what kind of gluten-free products they had for my buddy SillyNessa. I bought a package of sugar-free gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and they weren't half bad. We all would probably be healthier if we started following Nessa's diet. And, my aunt Jackie and my dad are both diabetics. I am planning a trip to Waco the weekend I get out of school and we are going to celebrate my mother and aunt Jackie's birthdays. I wanted to see how much the sugar-free cakes were and how much notice they needed before I was to pick it up.
After the bakery, I drove to the only DFW location of McAlister's Deli. This is the place that I managed in Waco for 10 months. Ever since I moved here I had been craving a California Classic and some sweet tea. I used to eat at McAlister's at least once a day every day between August 2003 and November 2004. You would think I would have gotten tired of it, but as a manager I could go in the kitchen and play and make up something different to eat every day. I didn't mind going to the one here in Dallas since it is not part of the same franchise that I was employed by. I'm also glad I ate there so I can quit craving it.. because it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it.
Saturday after running errands I went home, sat down in front of the computer and started working on homework. 2am Sunday morning I finally went to bed because I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.
I actually slept till nearly noon on Sunday and then I got up and started homework again. I also worked on a couple of piles of laundry and cooked dinner for the first time in who knows how long. Again, it's 2am.. I'm finally going to bed.
And, no.. I didn't finish all my homework.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 02:10 AM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2005
CULINARY EXTRAVAGANZA
This evening, intead of having class as usual, our class was assigned to help with this quarter's culinary extravaganza. This is a big production put on the Thursday of Week Seven during every quarter. There are cooking competitions (different categories each quarter), gobs of food and desserts and then a whole heck of a lot of dishes to wash.
The categories for tonight included 1) melon carving; 2) ice carving; 3) cold soups; 4) red white & blue desserts; 5) ice cream; and 6) picnic-style chicken. I didn't get any pictures of the desserts or the ice cream as they were taste-tested and had disappeared before I got outside to the extravaganza.
I arrived at class this evening having absolutely no clue as to what tonight would hold. I knew our Chef-Instructor would be busy with the activities but I didn't know that we would end up completely blowing off our menu for tonight to run the show.
When I arrived to class, Chef was trying to talk a couple of people in my class into entering the melon carving contest. The Alien and the Pirates ship melon entries were the result of his begging. Jeff, a classmate, at about 6pm decided that he wanted to enter in the Picnic Chicken category and seeing that he only had one hour to get the plate done he asked me to help. We breaded chicken with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese and sauted them in a pan. Then tossed the breaded chicken with some diced tomatoes and placed on top of a bed of fettucine with a basil pesto sauce.
And we WON! Not bad for a last minute decision to enter the contest. I wish I would have known about tonight before hand because I would have made the watermelon ice cream that I used to make with my Aunt Ruth and entered into the contest. Oh well, there will be another Culinary Extravaganza on August 25th and I will be watching to see what the categories are and I might try to enter in the competition. I've already warned my parents about this date, and if anybody else wants to come, the extravaganza is open to anybody and a lot of good food.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)
Two Chicken Salads
Two Chicken Salads - Picnic Chicken Category
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
Basil Pesto Parmesan Chicken
Basil Pesto Parmesan Chicken - Picnic Chicken Category Winner
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)
Skyline
Skyline - Melon Carving Category Winner
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:39 AM | Comments (0)
Fireworks
Fireworks - Melon Carving Category
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
I'm Not Sure What This Is
I'm Not Sure What This Is - Melon Carving Category
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
It's an Alien
It's an Alien - Melon Carving Category
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
Pirates Ship
Pirates Ship - Melon Carving Category
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)
Raspberry Soup
Raspberry Soup - Cold Soup Category Winner
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:37 AM | Comments (0)
Calypso Cruise Soup
Calypso Cruise Soup in Coconut Boats - Cold Soup Category
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
The Serving Line
The Serving Line
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
The Dessert Line at
The Dessert Line at Spring 2005 Culinary Extravaganza
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
An Ice Sculpture of
An Ice Sculpture of a Wolf
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
An Ice Sculpture of
An Ice Sculpture of ??? Maybe Mick Jagger?
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
STUFF-PORTRAIT FRIDAY
It is again time for SPF, Stuff-Portrait Friday. This week's entries fall under the categories of 1) Your "Relaxing" Place; 2) Your Medicine Cabinet; 3) Souvenir from a Great Trip.
My "Relaxing" Place
This is the patio in front of my apartment. That couch was my grandparents and is probably about 40 years old. Its amazing what a couch cover will do. I love my patio because I can lay out on the couch and read and no one can see me over those bushes. And the clay pots are the beginnings of my herb garden. Who couldn't relax with the nice aromatic scents of Chives, Oregano, Thyme and Basil drifting thru the air?
My Medicine Cabinet
After factoring in the matchbook size of my apartment you will understand why I call this is my medicine "cabinet." It started out as an aromatherapy "Headache Remedies" gift set from Bath & Body Works. Then I figured out that the three medicines I take everyday for my migraines would fit in there. Unfortunately, the number of bottles in my bag doubled last week when I was sick
My Souvenir from a Great Vacation
In July 2002 I went on my first vacation that wasn't a trip with the high school choir. My parents are not the traveling type and we never went on vacations when I was growing up that didn't involve going to visit family in Waco or maybe a trip to Schlitterbahn. Myself and these other 4 amazing women headed to Lake Tahoe in July 2002. We were there during some of the grass fires and a heat wave, but it was still one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. This picture was taken of the five of us, on our second night in Lake Tahoe, as we were boarding the M.S. Dixie II for a dinner cruise. I apologize if anyone in the picture sees this and didn't want your picture on the web... just email me and I will take it down.
Until then.. this will also have to cover my late Thursday, self-portrait day with a guest as we were much too busy at school this evening for me to stop and take a picture with someone and then have to explain why I needed a picture with them.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2005
Simple Pleasures
Thursday Afternoon... Dallas, Texas... 90 degrees... Driving to the bank with your paycheck... windows down... sun roof open... stopping to get a Coconut and Cream Snow Cone... and then driving back to work while Tina Turner asks (loud enough for the car next to you to hear) "What's love got to do with it?"
Now I just have to sit here for another hour and stare at a spreadsheet before I can leave and go to class. Bah Humbug!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2005
Fried Okra
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:59 PM | Comments (1)
Jambalaya
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)
Shrimp and Chicken Etouffee
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:53 PM | Comments (1)
Creole Onion Soup
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
Registration for Quarter Three
WOW! Can it be? Is it already time to register for classes for my third quarter? Man this is just going too fast. I only have to take 9 quarters... and I just registered for quarter 3.... I'm 1/3rd of the way there.
After posting a week or two ago my thoughts on taking a semester off, and talking to friends, especially those who feel it is their job to keep me on track... Yall will be glad to know that I am registered for 7 hours and I am waiting on approval from the Dean of the Culinary School for permission to take a course (Financial Management) as Independent Study and I am waiting for the publication of which classes (for my 2nd major in Restaurant and Catering Management) are going to be offered online. With those two classes I should have my 13 hours to be considered full-time, but not have the crazy 7:30 am - 10:30 pm schedule I have been pulling.
From June 20th - July 9th I will be working a normal 8 - 5 and then an occasional evening at Panera Bread (but not every night, because I have definite plans to pretend like I remember how to have a life.)
From July 11th - September 23rd my schedule will be as follows:
Monday Work 7:30 - 4:30 Class 5:30 - 8:30 Beverage ID & Management (Wine Class)
Tuesday Work 8:00 - 4:30 Class 6:30 - 8:30 Computers in the Food Industry
Wednesday Work 8:30 - 5:30
Thursday Work 7:30 - 5:30 Class 5:30 - 10:30 BAKING!
Friday Work 8:30 – 5:30
Now, one of the biggest things to notice about this new schedule is.. I will only have one night class that lasts all the way till 10:30... and I have two nights off a week. I am excited and ready for next quarter to start.
Unfortunately, in order to get to next quarter... I have to finish the one I'm in now. Yesterday on my lunch break, besides finishing some homework, I sat down and set up a schedule for myself. I schedule of what I have to get done everyday at work & a schedule of what I need to do everyday on my lunch break. If I follow it exactly, I should be caught up and mostly done with the homework for this quarter by the end of next week. That will give me two weeks to do nothing but work on my two research papers and my big menu project that are all due the week of June 6th. Organization is the key... I have known that my whole life and am usually pretty organized, but starting this new job this quarter threw a big kink in my system and I hadn't really sat down to get myself re-organized like I had needed to. But, now, I'm set & ready to go.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:50 AM | Comments (2)
May 17, 2005
Panned Chicken with Creole Mustard Cream Gravy, served with Sauteed
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)
Shrimp Bisque
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:33 PM | Comments (1)
Hariot Vert and Tomato Salad
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:30 PM | Comments (1)
May 16, 2005
A Good Hard Cry and A Good Grade
I woke up this morning and I looked at the calendar. I knew what today was and I was already sad. After a few email conversations later this morning, the pain intensified. This just isn't right. I took a "bumming" lunch and spent 45 minutes reading the news on the internet, I was not in the mood to do any work.
After work, I drove over to my side of town, picked up my dry cleaning, and then headed to class. First day back after a week off and I was already tired before I even got there. Every day, instead of calling attendance, they have us put our signatures on a sign-in sheet. Next to my name was a * with a note above for all of the *'s to see her. I asked what it was about. She said that last week she gave us a progress report, showing our grades and where we stood in the class. I wasn't worried about this class. This was the midterm that ended up being open-book open-note. I figured I did pretty good on the exam but when I looked on the sheet I saw... 107!
When I got home, it hit me, although I knew why I had been sad all day, I had mostly been able to hold it back. Today was the day that my Great Aunt Ruth left us three years ago. My Aunt Ruth was an amazing woman.
All my life I wanted to be just like her. She was independent and didn't take any crap from anybody. She ran her life like she saw fit and didn't answer to anybody. She never got married and never had kids, and as far as I could see.. She was one of the happiest people I had ever met.
She never had kids of her own, but she prided herself in spoiling her nieces and nephews rotten. From the summer after 4th grade thru the summer before my sophomore year of high school I would go spend a month or so with her. She lived in a small country town (population less than 800) and I loved staying there. Her best friend ran the Senior Citizen's Project and I would go to work with her everyday and cook. Hmmm... Wonder why I am where I am today?
Aunt Ruth knew many years ago that I needed to be in culinary school. One summer she bought a new refrigerator and it had an ice cream maker in it. I thought that was the coolest thing in the world and of course I found the recipe with the most steps and ingredients to try first. I made a Watermelon Ice Cream. I wish I had a picture of it because it turned out great. It was actually a large layered ball of ice cream. Watermelon ice cream on the inside, complete with white & dark chocolate chips to simulate the seeds. Next was a thin layer of vanilla ice cream, and on top was a slightly thicker layer of Lime Sherbert. I got a paintbrush and painted darker green waves over the lime sherbert. When presented, it looked like a half of a watermelon sitting on a plate and when you sliced it .. it looked like the inside of a watermelon.
When I decided to go to Baylor in 1992, she asked why.. But she always supported me. My house in Sealy had been on the market for 13 months and I was just 14 days away from finally closing on the sale of my first home and 21 days from the day I would move out and move back to Central Texas. Being closer to Aunt Ruth & my grandparents was a major motivating factor when I decided to quit teaching and move back to Waco. Aunt Ruth had been sick and passed away in her home from a pulmonary embolism that afternoon. My life changed that day and I will never be the same.
Aunt Ruth would have been extremely proud of the fact that I am finally following my dream and have made it to Culinary School, and that I am excelling in my new found path. As my mother has done in the past, I called Aunt Ruth's best friend, Jackie, and told her that I wanted to talk to Aunt Ruth. Jackie replied that she did too. I was a sad day for all of us. I miss her so much.
She was my biggest fan and my biggest supporter... But more importantly, she was my HERO!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)
Back to Normal
Well, here it is, at work and the start of another week. Things are looking up, but I have a LOT of stuff on my plate right now since I am recovering from my sinus infection/bronchitis episode & missing an entire week of school.
Today also starts another pay period at work and my goal is to actually get a full paycheck off of this one (and maybe even some OT). My first check was short one day after the mold & mildew leak in the apartment and the one that I get tomorrow will be short 2 days and 2 hours from missing Tuesday & Wednesday and going in late Monday after my neurologist appointment.
Tonight I will return to classes, find out about how my midterms went, and attempt to get back into the swing of things, get caught up on some work.. and start working on my two research papers & my major menu project that are all due the week of June 6th.
Well, gonna start working.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 08:35 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2005
My Saturday Project
This was my living room floor on Saturday. The Friday before I got sick I had gone to Wal Mart and finally bought a new file cabinet. The three I had were overflowing and it was near impossible to file anything. I sat down in that empty spaces (under the date & at the top by the barstool leg) and separated basically everything I had received in the mail since I moved here.
My project received a nice intermission about 10pm when we went out to the Old Monk Pub for a couple of drinks. I worked Sunday at Panera and you will be glad to know that I finished this project that afternoon after work and that you can once again walk around my living room floor without sliding on index card piles.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
Happy Birthday Aunt Janet!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2005
What Rejected Crayon Are You?
| You are |
|
|
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)
What Kind of American English Do You Speak?
Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 50% General American English |
| 30% Dixie |
| 15% Yankee |
| 5% Upper Midwestern |
| 0% Midwestern |
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2005
Stuff Portrait Friday
Well.. if you care to mosey on over to Random and Odd, Kristine declared today as Stuff Portrait Friday. There are three categories for the portraits today. Here are my entries:
1) The ugliest thing hanging in your house
All I Need To Know About Life I Learned From Eating Chocolate... Poster. This poster has survived nearly 12 years of hell. It was the poster that we hung on the door of our dorm room. 413 Alexander Hall at Baylor University. Which meant it was pulled off the walls every 9 months since I moved about every 9 months in college. Then it hung in my classrooms at Smalltown, Tx High School and Hightower High School. It even hung on my rolling red Craftsman Toolchest that I was forced to use as a rolling classroom for a year.
2) Your haircare products.
This is the third shelf in my matchbook size linen closet in my bathroom. Just two shelves above the mold & mildew stains from the air conditioner leak from three weeks ago.
3)Favorite material object(s).
These two nightlites are very special to me. The nightlite on the left, a ceramic church, was given to me by my paternal grandmother, Gracie, who left us in June 2001. The nightlite on the right, the man in the moon, was given to me by my maternal grandmother, Mildred. Both of these nightlites have been keeping the dark away for as long as I can remember. I think I got the Moon when I was 4 or 5 and I think I got the church when I was about 8.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:04 AM | Comments (1)
May 12, 2005
SPD - Bedroom Eyes
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
Burning the Candle at Both Ends
Well... it only took till May but I finally drove myself sick.
I went to the doctor at CareNow Monday evening after work. The doctor concluded that I had a sinus infection and gave me 3 prescriptions. I went home, went to Walgreens and had those 3 prescriptions plus 2 of the 3 that the neurologist had given me. I also bought a gallon of gatorade and a gallon of apple juice. $136.45 later I came home, took all the medicines, slathered myself in Vicks and went to sleep. Here it is Wednesday afternoon and I haven't done much besides walk between the bed, the couch and the bathroom. Luckily, I can reach my computer from the couch.
I woke up feeling ok this morning, not feeling too bad at all. But then I quickly came to the realization that the physical location of my desk at work versus the physical location of the bathrooms, made for an unpleasant thought. The medicine I am taking is supposed to "make my coughs more productive," which means close proximity is a must. I know this is probably TMI, but, that is what is going on.
I am hoping to go to work tomorrow. I hadn't missed but one day of work since I moved here, and then I start working at "TheLiquorDistributor" and the 2nd week I was there I had a reaction to the mold and mildew from the leak in my apartment, and then the 4th week I am there I get a sinus infection. I am so disappointed. I am considering taking a semester off from school to just work and catch up on bills.
Being without fulltime employment for 4 1/2 months really drained me, my parents, and my mental stability. Not being able to answer the phone in my own apartment, wondering how I'm going to pay bills, etc., has become an unwelcome way of life. I had considered declaring bankruptcy, but if I do that then I would have just wasted the past 4 months in culinary school when they turn me down for student loans come the next school "loan-year" in October.
I keep telling myself maybe next month will be better, or next month. I think I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel, but life until then is going to be tough. I don't want to quit working at Panera Bread, but I need my weekends to catch up on school work, to do meanial chores around the apartment (like laundry), and I just need some time to pretend like I'm human and have a life.
I have 5 1/2 weeks left of this school quarter and I have another class that starts tomorrow. Its an online class and expects us to log on and contribute at least 5 days a week. After June 18th I will have 3 1/2 weeks off from school, and it will hopefully be a time for me to re-evaluate my priorities. Whether I need to take one quarter off from school, whether I want to try to move out of my apartment before my lease is up, and whether or not I can continue to go to school fulltime and work a full time & a part time job.
Advise? Anyone?
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 03:23 PM | Comments (2)
May 09, 2005
Weekends, Colds and Doctors Appointments
Friday night after work I went to the Idle Rich Pub with friends and had a munch needed beer. I had been mentioning to quite a few people that I needed a drink for sometime and it finally came Friday night. All in all, the end of last week was pretty good. I found snow cones and a paycheck on Thursday, got a Beer Friday, and Saturday I went apartment hunting, found a cheap place to get my car washed and detailed, and went to Tannah's to work on her office. Then I went home and colored my hair. I accidently fell asleep that night before my hair was completely dry and I woke up Sunday morning with a full-fledged sore throat. I made it to work Sunday evening and brought home 3 bowls of soup to doctor myself with. Later that evening I slathered my neck, chest and nose with vicks, wrapped myself up in towels and attempted to sleep.
Today I got to sleep late and went to the Neurologist at 9:30am. It was a typical new patient appointment.. but was followed up by my "begging for drugs" before I left. The prescription for two of the three medicines I take for migraines have run out of refills and I timed this appointment just in the nick of time. After the appointment, my throat still bothering me I decided to stop and get lunch before I headed to work. I ate lunch at El Fenix. The soft sour cream chicken enchilada, cheese enchilada, rice and refried beans felt really good on my sore throat.
I got to work and "TheExcelLady" was apparently sick today because she wasn't here when I got here at 11:53 and hasn't shown up yet. So what did I do for the past 6 hours? Send emails, read the news on the internet, read blogs and back-blogs, wrote a formula on my excel time - spreadsheet since I found out that the comptuer system rounds our time to the nearest quarter hour. Sound like fun? Actually I'm really bored and really getting tired of being bored. If they want to pay me to sit here they really need to pay me more.
I am supposed to have class at 7pm but I am probably not going to make it. I went online and checked in at CareNow which is a doctor's clinic that has hours until 10pm. You check in online and then they call you when they are ready for you to drive to the clinic. They called not long after I checked in to confirm the phone number, etc. and said they would call back when they were ready for me. So, until then I will just sit here some more, and help make up for the time I missed this morning at my other doctor's appointment.
When I get out of my doctor's appointment, I will am planning on going to the drug store to refill all my drugs and then going home to make my favorite sick food. I know its weird stuff, but I love it. When I was a kid, my mother couldn't get me to eat chicken noodle soup for anything.. and I wasn't that fond of bread either. So she started making Tuna Noodle .. and I started eating both.
Tuna Noodle starts off with an envelope/package of Liptons Chicken Noodle Soup, made according to the directions on the box. Then in another pot, make a roux with butter and flour. Once that has had a chance to cook together, pour the prepared chicken noodle soup over the roux and bring to a boil (the roux makes it thick, for those of you who dont cook much.) As it is heating up to a boil, dump in a can of tuna and mix it all together. After it boils, bring it down to a simmer for about 10 minutes. When ready to serve, place a couple of slices of bread on a plate and cover with the tuna/soup mixture. YUM! It is some good sick/comfort food and I cant wait to get some to eat tonight.
Well, I'm tired of sitting here. I guess I'm gonna move on to the car and start heading towards the doctor's office. Maybe if I'm close by when they call then I can get out of there faster and get home and in bed earlier. I may even get home in time to lay on the couch and watch one of the last episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and one of my favorite shows - Two and a Half Men.
Night.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2005
Which Office Moron Are You?
Which Office Moron Are You?
Rum and Monkey: jamming your photocopier one tray at a time.
Well, I used to.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
Which Colassal Death Robot Are You?
Which Colossal Death Robot Are You?
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
Happy Mother's Day Mama, Nana & Aunt Janet
I LOVE YOU !
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2005
Lone Star Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy
Lone Star Chicken Fried Steak with Cream Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Zucchini & Onions
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:56 PM | Comments (4)
LBJ Pedernales River Chili
LBJ Pedernales River Chili with a slice of Jalapeno & Cheese Cornbread.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:56 PM | Comments (1)
Starburst Grapefruit Salad
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)
SPD - Dishes
Today's SPD topic was how to annoy me. This picture shows a good example of a really good way to annoy the hell out of me. This is what the sink in our kitchen-lab looked like when we walked in tonight. Apparently some other class didn't feel like doing their dishes so they came and dumped them all in our sink knowing we would end up washing them.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
SNOW CONES and Paychecks
For anybody who has been reading my blog since February, or has talked to me on the computer or on the phone or in person since I moved to Dallas, you know that I have been craving a snow cone for about 2 months now. It wasn't helping the fact that I was being told by my mother that my dad and her have gone to get snow cones on more than one occasion since I have moved.
You would think in a big metropolis like DFW that I could find a freaking snow cone stand... but alas, until today I had been a complete and utter failure in my quest.
Many of you know that I have been unemployed since November. Yes, I know I have been working at Panera Bread since January but my salary there wasn't even covering my gas and groceries. I finally found a new job at the end of March and I started here at "TheLiqourDistributor" on the 18th of April.
Well, let me just tell you that today has been a good day... not ONLY did I finally find a snow cone stand, and yes I stopped and got a small Pina Colada with Cream... it is also PAYDAY! Woo Hoo!
Well, it's 4:20 now and its time for me to leave to get to class. Tonight is my Southwestern Regional Cuisine class and we are covering my favorite place of all tonight... TEXAS. We are making Chili, Jalapeno Cornbread, Chicken Fried Steak & Cream Gravy and Mashed Potatoes. YUM! I will post pictures later this evening when I get home.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 04:14 PM | Comments (2)
"TheExcelLady" and the Frozen Dinner
Well, this morning I decided I was tired of turkey sandwiches I had been eating all week, so as I was walking out the door this morning I grabbed a SmartOnes Chicken Enchiladas Suizas. When I arrived at work I put it in the freezer of the small department refrigerator that is by my desk . About 45 minutes after I had already eaten it, "TheExcelLady" comes to the refrigerator and says that someone took her frozen dinner. I said, I took mine. She said I had an enchilada dinner in there that I had in there for a while because I was waiting for the day I remembered to bring hot sauce. I said, well there was only one in there an hour ago and it was the one I brought from home this morning.
So, now, not only do I not understand Microsoft Excel enough to figure out how to delete a row... now I'm a frozen enchilada thief. Aye Carrumba.
Ole'
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)
Cinco De Mayo and a Revelation
OMG. I have had a revelation.
All my life, because of her job, my mother has NEVER known what day it was. As an auditor, she is always looking at something that occured in the past. She would work on projects that would last for months, that ended say, last October. Here it is May and we would go shopping and in the course of an hour, she'd write 15 checks and ask me "What is today?" 15 times. It drove me NUTS.
Well, ever since I started working at "TheLiquorDistributor" I have been working on pricing contracts for grocery store chains. We have to submit the contracts between 30 and 60 days in advance.
A few minutes ago, I called my mother, and I told her that now I know why she never knew what day it was. I drove to work all morning thinking it was June.
God this is SCARY.
Onto lighter notes... today is Cinco de Mayo and I have a craving for some guacamole. Anyone wanna go to lunch with me?
P.S. My addiction to guacamole is my parent's fault. It was the first food they ever gave me that wasn't baby food. Does that count as a counter-revelation?
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
Porn Star Name
Thanks to Full Of It, I now have a Porn Star Name. Click on the link below and you can be as cool as I.
| Your Porn Star Name is: Rhonda Rimmer |
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:45 AM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2005
Food Pop Culture IQ
I made a 15 outta 15.
Someone explain to me why I'm taking tests on the internet in the middle of midterm week?
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)
Midterms - Round TWO
Ok. In case I haven't mentioned it a couple hundred times... it is midterm week again.
Monday night's midterm was a walk in the park, and the instructor even passed out fun-size snickers to go along with it.
Last night we just cooked our normal menu for this week and I posted those pictures last night.
Tonight we drew numbers for numbered menus that we had to cook as a table. We did pretty good, there were a few low points but there were also a few real high points so hopefully they will cancel each other out. There were 4 students at my table and we each did a part of the menu.
M made the butternut squash soup and it started out really good, but every time she tasted it ... she felt as though it was missing something. After passing around spoons we decided it needed a little more apple flavor, and when she added apple cider.. a little too much fell in the pot. The combination of the cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice also gave the soup a little more of a brown tint than a typical orange color.
E made the salad and the potato croquettes. Both turned out really good. Our chef-instructor is a smart-a$$ and would ask who made each dish.. and when we pointed to E his remark was "Really?" like he was surprised or something.
J made the chicken and dumplings. Chef took one bite of the dumpling and asked who made it. We all pointed to J and Chef looked him straight in the eye and said.. "Those are some damn Slap Yo Mama good dumplings." After the Chef's critique we went back to the table to eat and start cleaning up and we all agreed, they were some "daayum" good chicken and dumplings.
I made the Snap Peas and the Corn Custard. My corn custard turned out great, even though it didn't want to neatly invert out of the pan it was baked in. Chef even complemented me on my knifecuts, which I struggle with. I have a hard time drawing a straight line with a ruler.. much less cutting a perfect 1/8" by 1/8" by 1/8" cube out of a carrot. The snap peas had a very good flavor but were a little limp. I was kinda disappointed that I had overcooked them so much, but then ... every other table who had snap peas had the same result, so Chef determined that they were in the culinary ICU before we even started cooking so that made me feel better.
We quickly cleaned up the kitchen and then took a written test. The test was a royal PITA and I hope he curves it.
Tomorrow night, I'm told that we aren't having a true "test" but that the Chef that teaches that class will be walking around observing us and our techniques a little more closely than normal and will derive some sort of grade from that.
Gonna go finish laundry.. the Chef wont be to generous with the grades if I show up without a uniform.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
Mesclun Salad with Cranberries, Apples and Almonds
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
Butternut Squash Soup
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
Chicken and Dumplings, Corn Custard, Snap Peas and Croquette
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
Dallas Drivers and Rain. Not a Fun Mix
What is it about rain that completely impairs some people when they drive. Are they really staring up at the sky asking themselves "WTF is this wet stuff?" that they cant see that they are blocking up traffic for 4 miles going 2 miles an hour?
I left home at 7:05 this morning. Plenty of time to get to work on any of the previous 11 days I had made the drive, a few occasions I even got here 10 or so minutes early. Not today boy. Nope, today I clocked in at the hh:mm equivalent of my birthday. A full 47 minutes late. No matter what I did, it was the wrong way to go.
I started out on Forest but it was blocked because of a wreck that forced traffic onto the already backed up intersection/spaghetti bowl where I75N meets 635W. I sat in traffic long enough to get to the first exit off of 635W and then cut back over to Forest, which is my normal route to work.. and I mean, how backed up could it be if they had it blocked 1 mile east? OMG.. Crazy idiots. It was full of (10, binary) types of idiots.... idiots who were either staring at the sky trying to figure out where the water was coming from... or they were the dumb idiots too dumb to realize that the other group was staring at the sky and would run up on their buts and then cut in front of you almost taking off your front bumper.
I got to work and I actually was given something to do fairly quickly. About 10:00 I had to go make a pot of coffee because it was absolutely freezing in my office. Now it's lunch time. I've got a loaf of bread from Panera and I have a package of cheese and a package of turkey. Hopefully that will tide me over until we start cooking this evening.
Will post pictures later this evening. Have a good rainy day and watch out for the sky-watchers.. especially the ones who dont have sunroofs so they stick their head out the window to look up.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2005
Organizing My Desk and Other Time Wasters
Today I spent a majority of the 8 hours I spent at work going thru the paperwork and files the girl who left my position in January left there. The rest of the time was spent going thru computer files.. all the while asking myself... WTF? why would anyone save files there?... why did she put this stuff here? WTF? So, not only do I get to re-organize her "attempt" and file and desk organization, I also get to rearrange all the data files that she has on the computer.
Talk about time wasters... I left work at 4:35, stopped to get gas and then I got caught in traffic. It was 6:30 before I got to class tonight. Oh well, even the chef said that all I missed were his comedic renditions of what we were cooking today and smart-a$$ remarks over why the recipes in the book are WRONG. It was a majorly short class tonight, because not only was I an hour late... we got out 50 minutes early!
Now I'm sitting here waiting for my chef's uniform jackets to get out of the washer and into the dryer so I can go straight to class from work tomorrow... and hopefully not get stuck in an hour's worth of traffic beforehand.
Night all.. I'm gonna find another way to go waste some more time.
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
Cowboy Beans, Beer Battered Onion Rings, Grilled Flank Steak with
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)
Spinach Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts, Smoked Bacon and Goat
YUM!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
Red Potato, Corn and Chorizo Chowder
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2005
BackBlogging - Incident Two
Daily-Journal-Type Post
Monday, April 18th. Sat around at work and did absolutely nothing. First day of Crazy Schedule : 8:30 - 5:30 work and 7:00 - 9:00 class
Tuesday, April 19th. More sitting around. Day Two of Crazy Schedule: 7:20 - 4:20 work and 5:30 - 10:30 class.
Wednesday, April 20th. Hmm.. What can I do today? I know, lets sit there and do nothing. Day Three: 7:20 - 4:20 work and 5:30 - 10:30 class.
Thursday, April 21st. Still doing a lot of sitting around at work. I finished the projects I had been given and had to wait until the lady (from here on out known as "TheExcelLady") who has been doing my job plus her's since January. She has a habit of giving me the excuse that she has to finish what she is doing before she can come to my desk to show me what to do. Apparently she doesn't seem to quite comprehend the concept of "degree in computers" or "Microsoft certified." When she finally came over to my desk to show me what I needed to do different to the next project... What was it that she had to show me? How to delete a row in Excel. Oh Please! Thursday night class was class as usual and those pictures have been posted for a while now. Day Four: 7:20 - 4:20 work and 5:30 - 10:30 class.
Friday, April 22nd. Today I went and ate lunch with a lady from work. It was good to get out of there for an hour. That was an hour that I wasn't staring at the computer screen. I left work at 5:30 and sat in traffic forever. I got home about 6:15 and after seeing a slight taste of what I75N looked like I decided to go home for a few minutes to wait out some of the traffic before heading to Tannah's to start working on her home office. Afterwards, I ate dinner at TwoRows, where I had an UglyMug Root Beer and a chicken sandwich with some damn good HoneyPepper Bacon on it. Day Five: 8:30 - 5:30 work and 7:00 - 9:30 Tannah's Office.
Saturday, April 23rd. Today I went to Panera Bread and worked from a little before 11am until nearly 5:30. By the time my relief showed up at 5:00 I was just falling asleep on my feet. I went home and slept most of the night. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning up my apartment and doing laundry.. packing up my chef's uniforms for the upcoming week (since I go straight from work to class).
Sunday, April 24th. Panera Bread again... Arrived bright and early .. before the sun even woke up. I worked from about 6:45 am until they sent me home early at 1:20 because we were slow.
Monday, April 25th. This was the beginning of my 2nd week at work. The guy who hired me was on vacation and I was left to fend for myself in pulling work out of "TheExcelLady". Sometimes I was more successful than others. I just learned to start working on homework in my down times.
I left work on my own to attempt to find some posterboard on my lunch hour and I stayed at work long after I clocked out finishing a project that was due that evening. We got to class and the instructor didn't show up. One of the chef's filled in for her and covered one chapter and took up our homework and then let us go home an hour early! I was bored, and although I was thoroughly exhausted, I didn't feel like being at home. I headed out to the closest thing to a chef's utopia that is still open at 9pm... Central Market. I spent way too much money but I had a whole lot of fun pushing my cart up and down every single aisle.
Tuesday, April 26th. Well, I was supposed to have been at work at 7:30. I was already running a few minutes late, compared to last week when I got there at 7:20 every morning, I walked out side and pressed the button on my car remote... nada. Pressed it again ... nada. After slapping it and shaking it and darn near jumping on it, I decided to open my car up with the key.
What did I hear? "eee! eeh! eeh! eeh! reeeoooonn! reeeoooon! woooOOOp! wooooOOOp! wOO! woo! OO! woo! eeeaaaww! eeeaaaww! AAAAeeeeeAAAAeeeeAAAeeee"
Thank you to Officer B for that glorious car alarm interpretation.
It wont turn off, and my engine wont turn on. I also realize that in all the commotion that my cell phone decided to take a mechanical siesta and wouldn't connect any call I dialed. So I went back inside my apartment, got to listen to my upstairs neighbors complain about the car alarm going off at 6:50am and sat there for 10 minutes waiting for Saturn to open. When I finally got in touch with someone at the dealership, they basically informed me that I had to crawl under my hood to find the fuse box to unplug my alarm system so I could get to work.
Now, I neglected to mention that the reason I was running late this morning was because I had changed clothes 4 times. I didn't like the way the first outfit fit on my fat butt, the second outfit.. the shoes were too uncomfortable, the third outfit, the outside part of the twin set kept clinging to the insider part and finally I put on something I decided I could survive in until 5:30pm. Then.. I got dirty climbing around under the hood of my car and ended up putting on the 2nd outfit with the uncomfortable shoes before I could go to work. Needless to say, I was 30 minutes late to work.
Tuesday night class was class as usual. It was chicken night, chicken soup, chicken pot pie... chicken chicken chicken. The pot pie was a lot better than I thought it was going to be from reading the recipe and I ate it for dinner that night before coming home.
Wednesday, April 27th. This morning I went into the bathroom and reached for a towel on the bottom of the linen closet. They had been sitting down there since I moved in, as the towels I used were just put back on top of the pile. I have also slowly been throwing away the towels that were falling apart. The first towel I picked up was soaking wet, as were the half a dozen towels under it. Complete with a good case of mold and mildew. Apparently there was a leak somewhere. I quickly threw all the towels in the washing machine and then grabbed another towel from under the sink and proceeded to get ready. When I got to work I called the apartment complex and left them a message that they needed to come fix whatever leak was causing all the mold, and I didn't think much more of it. I went to class and then came home, posted pictures on the blog, and went to bed as I was exhausted.
Thursday, April 28th. About 4 am I woke up with a throbbing migraine, complete with the floating black dots in front of my left eye blocking most of my vision. You would think after spending 21 years in Houston that I would be used to mold and mildew (anything that sits still for more than 15 minutes in Houston will have something black or green growing on it.) I got up and took some medicine and went back to bed. At 7:15 I called in sick to work, as I still couldn't see out of my left eye and it would have been extremely dangerous to drive to work in that condition. I went back to bed and slept until nearly noon. Then I got up and moved to the couch, where I turned on a movie and proceeded to go back to sleep. I played poppit on the internet for a few hours and then went back to sleep, slept right thru class. About 8pm I finally got up enough energy to take a bubble bath and get ready to go back to work the next day. I also called in sick to Panera Bread, where I was supposed to work tomorrow night from 6 - 10.
Friday, April 29th. Back at work at 8:30. 1-1/2 hour lunch at 11:20. Two of the managers in my department took "TheExcelLady" and I out to lunch at SaltGrass for Professional Lackey week. It was good but when we got back I could have easily curled up in my cubicle in the back corner of the office and gone to sleep. After work I came home and curled up on the couch and slept until nearly 11pm. I woke up and played lottso on the net with some pogo-buddies until about 2am.
Saturday, April 30th. Today I was a complete and total bum. I did nothing constructive, a little bit of destructive (finished off an entire roll of slice & bake cookies) and miserably enjoyed every minute of it. I knew I had a lot of stuff I needed to get done, but I convinced myself that it would all be ok and that I needed this day to do nothing, and staying awake while doing it.
Sunday, May 1st. Sunday morning I woke up, did the unimaginable (cooked scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast) and then started in on my pile of homework. I finally set up my binders and dividers for each class, did my homework for menu management and finished typing out my recipes for weeks 3 - 5 for both Southwestern & American Regional... *note, tomorrow starts week 5 so I had been a little behind on this chore. I got cleaned up and went to work at Panera Bread about 5pm and got home about 9:30. I cleaned my apartment the rest of the evening and went to bed about 1 am.
Monday, May 2nd. I woke up this morning in a pretty good mood and felt better than I had in a week or so. This lasted for a few hours until I had to make some phone calls to deal with the absolute Nimbusols that claimed that they hadn't gotten the renewal form from my insurance company since January 29th and that they were just now sending me a letter the last week of April. They said I needed to call my insurance company and get them to forward them the verification letter proving that I had renewed my policy in January. I'm sitting here thinking (outloud) since when is it the customer's responsibility to make phone calls between two companies who are supposed to have a working relationship?
Of course, GMAC claimed they called and that my insurance agency refused to send it to them. This I knew immediately was the biggest bunch of mularky I had ever heard since the people at our Allstate place are the sweetest people in the world. I called my agent and she of course, confirmed my suspicion that they hadn't bothered calling and that she would send them a copy of the letter, although they had already sent one out in January. I wish someone would just dream up a way to snap their fingers and collectively slap the idiots who work for these huge conglomerates who have employees who work on the right hand have no clue what those on the left hand are doing and NONE of them could tell the difference between a elephant and a big money-sucking sink hole. (oops, wait a minute, is there a difference?)
I ending up working thru lunch today, sat in on a meeting with a programmer and two sales people setting up a more automated system for creating our pricing contracts. It was pretty fun to finally get to do something, AND they bought our lunch and had Jason's Deli delivered. I left about 5:15 and drove home, dropped off some dry cleaning, and went to class. The entire time I was wondering what our midterm was going to be like since the instructor wasn't in class last week.
I arrived at class and she quickly informed us that she was postponing the extra credit project that was supposed to be due today (because she wasn't there to assign it) until next week, then she postponed the big Menu Project that is based off the extra credit project until the week after that. Then she asked what sort of exam review we were given the week before, and after all of us agreed that the sub didn't even mention the midterm ... she decided that she wasn't confortable with the way she felt over giving us a midterm exam without a review... so she let us use our textbook and notes. We were also told that we could leave as soon as we were done with the exam.
That test was easy.. especially with the book there to look up all the answers. After class I stopped by a small little hole in the wall seafood place on Forest Lane that I have been passing practically every day since January. I got catfish and shrimp and it was very good. I am going to have to go back and try the rest of the stuff on the menu. Fried catfish is not my favorite seafood dish.. but they have grilled catfish and I'm really looking forward to going to try that.
I came home and started watching tv and I started updating this blog at 9:26 pm. It is now 12:24 am and I am finally done. No wonder I haven't done this in over a week. I am all packed and ready for class tomorrow night and my camera is already packed in my purse ready to take pictures of whatever we cook as a group for our midterm.
Whew... My fingers are dead now. Night!
Posted by FutureFoodTVStar at 09:26 PM | Comments (3)
