Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thansgiving Weekend Recap

So when we parted ways I was hoping my rolls would turn out and they did! They were not the perfect little round rolls depicted in the picture but more like crescent rolls. There were a few steps that I cut out about halfway through dealing with a specific way in which to roll out the dough so that a center divet could be created to place some melted butter. The recipe called for using a tiny wooden rolling pin..of course I didn't have this. After much trial and error, I was using the end of a wooden spoon to roll out the dough before decided that that step was just creating more work because of the need to refashion some edging so the butter didn't slide right out. In the end, I smooshed it flat with my palm which kept the natural edges there. Worked fine, the resealing process left me with crescent shapes instead of a more rounded roll look, but that seemes to be the only thing that went awry. I should have taken a picture but I didn't. Next time.


Thanksgiving dinner was great, M's mom is great at making the traditional dinner. M was happy because he got his own pumpkin pie while the rest of us had a pumpkin trifle. On Friday, we went to Magog, QC which is a town just past the border of Canada. I was suprised by how little English was spoken and hence, how little signage was in English. We ate at a little cafe for lunch where the menu was entirely in French. In every store, we only heard French and were greeted this way. Once it was evident that we were speaking English, we were asked in English if we needed help finding anything. For some reason, I didn't think French would be so widely used. It was really neat though and I'd like to go back when it's warmer and I don't have to hustle from store to store. Here are some not very exciting, blurry, assorted pics from the trip.


































Oh, and here are some random not very good pics of some birds at the feeder outside M's parents dining room window:



























Our journey home was uneventful except for a situation that has played itself out twice now in the exact same way. It makes me think we are cats with at least two lives at this point! We were traveling on the interstate in the right lane, basically neck and neck with a car in the left lane. Each time, the car in the left lane has hit something, at the time it's happening it's impossible to tell what, and they veer off as the thing flies in front of our car and across to the side of the road. Isn't that weird that's happened twice? The first time it looked like some kind of coyote, this time it looked like the guy blew out a tire. We pulled over to the right, they pulled over to the left. We wanted to see if they were ok but there was no way to cross the highway saefly, although M was all set to go till I sternly reminded him he'd end up on the side of the road just like the coyote or whatever that was if he tried. Another truck pulled in behind us and we all kind of sat there for a moment, since we couldn't cross we eventually left. Bizarro.







Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Wish Me Luck

I'm attempting something outside my baking comfort zone for an important holiday meal. I'm going to try my hand at these Dinner Rolls to bring up to the in laws as my contribution to the Thanksgiving meal.

I've had several failed attempts at using yeast, including but not limited to one ghastly pan of failed cinnamon rolls. Why did I choose this? I really don't know. Can I do it? We shall see.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Don't Know

There is a class I was hoping would be offered in summer online to save me from going to campus on both Monday and Tuesday in Fall. I emailed the grad student liason today to ask if they have made a decision and she told me it would indeed be offered in summer and that I should drop the one for Fall. I go to verify that the course is listed in the system so that I can drop one and sign up for the other. Nope. Not there. Only the undergradaute equivalent. I refuse to drop this class without seeing the other one listed for Summer because I could totally see a situation where I drop the Fall one, the decide not to run the Summer one, I try to resign up for Fall and it's full. No thank you. These thoughts are followed by the following emails:

Me: I don't see this class posted yet in the listings of summer courses, unles I'm overlooking it. Do you know the dates for summer registration, perhaps it will be listed closer to that date?
Her: Don't know.

Umm...ok??? Who might know if not you? It's really unprofessional to just tell me you don't know. You can say you don't know but you'll get back to me, you don't know but here's who would...but not just you don't know. That's incredibly ridiculous.

Boigie and the Bean

Young Boiglestein enjoys many accoutrements of the human diet. Things that he should not have, nor it would seem, have a desire for them. A partial list includes: ice cream, chocolate, cheese, sausage, butter, biscuits, cookies. Many of these are things he's found his way into, others we are alerted to by the extreme closeness of his body to ours when these things are eaten.

Because of his penchant for fatty greasy foods, I have decided to show him the healthier side of life. I have tried several things, one has been successful, the others have not. I now know that Boigie enjoys spinach but does not like strawberries. This weekend brougth a new discovery...his complete adoration for edemame! He used his paw to pull me toward him to get more of the bean! He lept from his perch to meet me halfway so he could get the bean faster!

I'm trying to think what I should try next. And don't worry....healthy foods got the thumbs up from the vet and I only give him small bits.

Thanksgiving Etc.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here? I'm not even shopping this holiday season and I feel like we're hurtling toward Christmas faster than I care to. For some reason, I thought time would seem to slow a bit if I wasn't scampering to and fro searching for just the right this or that as the clock ticks down. We're heading to the in laws in rural VT for Thanksgiving as we do every year. This year, I'm baking fresh dinner rolls. Hopefully they turn out, although what doesn't when you're kneading with dough hooks on your trusty Kitchen Aid mixer?? On Friday we have plans to go up to Canada which will be my first trip since 1986 (or thereabouts) when the family sojourned up to Winnepeg for the day. According to my mother in law, there is a Canadian equivalent of Black Friday (my guess is that this is powered by all of the American's driving up) so we plan to do some shopping. Google tells me the exchange rate is that $1 Canadian=$0.79 US so it's in our favor. I'm really excited to practice my French although I'm sure it won't truly be needed but when you're in Quebec, do as the Quebecois! I'm also trying to get M, J, S, and A to go to a dive townie bar on Friday night since we will all be up there at the same time and have yet to meet up.

In school news, I'm reaching the finish line for the semester. One final and one final exam and that's it. I practice on M several times this weekend and am only forgetting some of the musculoskeletal exam which is not my comfort zone to begin with. Luckily, we have class tomorrow followed by an open lab session so my partner and I plan to each run through the PE once on each other. Then at some time point in the two upcoming weeks, we have to perform the exam on each other in front of our clinical professor to pass the course. I also emailed the not so helpful grad school liason to find out if the Policy/Ethics class will be offered online in Summer because I would certainly rather do that than have to go to campus both Monday and Tuesdays in Spring. I'm fully expecting a non response from her, which is par for the course.

Knitting--Wow, I'm making some progress on this blanket! It's entirely feasible that I have this done in time. I am entirely grateful that this class was not heavy otherwise I would not have been able to spend near the amount of time on it. We're not out of the woods yet when Panel C is done. After that, a lot of sewing needs to happen, then there are 2 edged pieces to knit and apply. I plan on taking it in the car with us and knit a ton to and from Vermont since I can't drive M's car (stick shift). It dawned on me this weekend that I need a decoy project, something to work on in the presence of the inlaws since it would be uncouth for them to see me slaving away on their Christmast gift. I decided to restart the Cobblestone Pullover for M...horror of horrors, I have to work with Brown again! This sweater was once in the works long before the blanket so the yarn has been lurking around the house for some time, but seriously, what a cruel twist of fate. At least I get to use my favorite yarn, Classic Elite 150. His sweater will be in Chestnut and I think it will knit up fast. Thank the lord it has 0.000 cables!

knittin--progress, cobblestone pullover

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Holiday Cookies

I think we have a contender from a blog that I regularly read. Being somewhat of a Franophile, I enjoy reading the blog as the author is an expat from France and often incorporates aspects of French culture into her blog. On top of that, she's an amazing photographer and cook and makes all of her food look so delectable.

Behold: Turtle Bars

Holiday Planning

So last night I did about 10 rounds of work on Panel C of the Burridge Lake Aran Blanket only to realize that I had made a mistake on one of the rows and somehow increased the stitches in one of the stitch patterns from 18 to 24 so I had to backtrack most of the new rows I had knit. I think after all of the back track, I was back to knitting only 2 rows more and I had wasted 60 minutes backtracking. Ugh.

In Holiday Planning news, I must say, this is the most relaxed I've ever been about the approaching holidays! This will be the first year since my relocation to the Northeast that I have not flown home for Christmas or New Years. It's quite exciting and has instilled me with a sense of calm. Instead, my family is coming out here for the holidays where yours truly is expected to cook a Christmas meal. Have I started planning said meal? Nope. I have not one single idea at this point but I'll start paying attention to the many cooking magazines that infiltrate our mailbox and home monthly.

Also lending to the stress reduction this year, neither side of the family has decided to do gifts this year. One side is doing a handmade Christmas, hence the grueling task of finishing that blanket, and the other side has decided to just visit (we're not the crafty sort). M and I have even decided to not do anything. It was getting to the point where all parties involved were just buying things to buy things or to reach the allotted quota of giftage. There was nothing that anyone really really wanted so we decided to scrap it until there's a little one that we focus our Christmas Giving energy on. Until that point, we have removed ourselves from the ratrace known as Christmas Consumerism and it really couldn't be more timely with the economy circling the drain.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Double Standards

Unfortunately as a nurse, double standards are the name of the game but it just seems that lately it's become a bit more glaring. Two quick examples: An MD passed away a few weeks ago and there was an all user email sent out containing a very extensive obituary/eulogy about the deceased physician listing his/her entire educational background and work history. Last week, an RN passed away and it was listed as item #13 on an all user that contained many other posts. There was no obituary/eulogy. There was one line that stated the details of her memorial service and who to contact for more information.

Without getting into specifics, it was made evident to me that my time was not seen to be as valuable as one of the MDs here. In a nutshell, my visit with a patient was thrown off schedule because an MD was running EARLY, even though I was seeing her at the appointed time and the time it said in the computer. As a result, we got interrupted mid visit so she could see him, by the time she was done I was no longer able to see her for my visit and had to reschedule. The way I look at this situation is that this would never happen in reverse. It would not be ok for an RN to interrupt an MD visit to take a patient because he/she is running early. Therefore, I think it's pretty crappy that it's 'ok' to be done in reverse.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Weekend Recap

I got my hair cut this Friday and I knew, judging from the great hair cut I got last time, this one could simply not live up. It's fine, don't get me wrong, but it's not great. I'm going to do some tweaking on my own, she didn't do the layers as drastically as I like and I have enough experience with my curls to know that this cut is going to grow out in a month. At $90 a pop, this is not an option. And as dear M (the hairdresser, not the hubby) is wont to do, she was running behind so my 5pm appt was more like 530p. I assessed the problem and my independent review is as follows: she must learn to cut and talk at the same time. She pauses while she cuts, this is a problem for those on the go. A quick cut is not an option with the timely combination of M styling my hair and me having curly hair which must be meticulously cut.


Saturday was kind of busy. M and I poured through cookbooks to determine what to make for our Round Robin Dinners (I've just officially named it that) with A and S. After pleading with M to be more flexible on his dessert criteria, we decided on the Crunch Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake . It was quite tasty and with the troubleshooting the following two problems: 1. The cake got stuck to the cutting board and M scraped it off and I patched it back together with other peices of cake. 2. While frosting the sides, the knife kept dragging cake crumbs into the other frosting (next time, I would do an initial layer, let it chill in the fridge, then put the rest on to cover up the crumb drag situation). Dinner was nice, A made Chinese pork with a Chinese noodle stir fry. Oh, and it pays to have friends that are electrical engineers. I left dinner that night with an HP iPaq that just happened to be laying around the house.

On our drive over, we noticed that the house listed next to S and A is once again on the market. We had this fantasy that we would buy it and live next to them and have really good friends as neighbors, we could make the yards into one giant yard.....but they were asking quite a bit for it previously and it was outdated and we think that commute is not going to be pretty. Then it was suddenly off the market for a few months and now back on for about 40k less, but they haven't done any updating and the kitchen is horrendous. Unfortunately, the price isn't low enough for us to get excited or go back on our plans to wait a bit till things in our lives (read: school and work) sort themselves out so we have a better idea of our income, where we want to be located etc.

And lastly, in knitting news I have finished Panel B of the Burridge Lake Aran Blanket and started the last panel, Panel C, last night. Very exciting! Still a lot to be done in time for Christmas, but I might be able to make this work!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Weekend Plans

Well this weekend is going to be a mildly busy one.

Friday: Haircut for me...this is quite a long process because they insist on not letting me leave until my hair is completely dry. For those who know me, this is quite a feat. It's lunchtime here and my hair is still damp to the touch and I showered at 7am. Granted I will be under the dryer but still...I would prefer to just go home because they always put too much product in it anyway and I spend the rest of the night with it back.

Saturday: Visit SEM for the first time and bring her the February Baby Sweater I made for her. We also put together a little gift bag with some toys but some practical stuff too like diapers, Desitin, onesies...

Sunday: We are finally starting our rotating dinners with our friends A and S. We have talked about this since summer and havne't had a chance to start it yet. The plan is that A and S are going to kick start us by hosting at their house for the main course, and M and I will bring the dessert and wine. Next month, we'll host at our place and they will bring the dessert. Should be fun, and I'm glad she offered to host because with the other things going on, I'm not sure we would have time to plan the menu, shop and cook.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Obama!!!

I told everyone I thought this election would be a landslide and it was!!! It was the only way to give a good ol' F-U to the Republicans! Show them how frustrated, disappointed, and ashamed of them we are with our votes!! It was an exciting night of election viewing and here in MA, there were also three ballot questions on the ballot.

#1: A proposal to eliminate the state income tax. Hell to the no!! Others agreed with me.
#2: A proposal to eliminate the felony label for those that are arrested with a small amount of pot. My stance: of course. Being a felon is a huge deal, carrying enough pot to smoke with a friend, not a big deal and totally not worth jail time. The people of MA also agreed with me!
#3: A proposal to ban dog racing. A resounding yes from me and my fellow Commonwealthers. Thank God people have a conscience.

I think it's really amazing to see how many people have been at these rallies all along...some of the pictures are fantastic. It serves to show the discontent felt by so many. I never feel hopeful after elections, I usually feel like it's going to be the same old same old. This time I feel hopeful. Don't let me down President Obama!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Do Not Do An NP Program If You Are Prone To Stress!

So I met with my advisor this week (right before my random systems exam) and I'm totally stressed out about the remaineder of my Master's program. The rest of it promises to be grueling in and of itself but then I have to factor in work, assuming it's possible for me to stay at my current job. At the end of the program, we have to have 600 clinical hours...Spring 09 semester is 150 and is only 3 credits, there is a class and a seminar attached to each clinical which means leaving early another day for the actual class. In addition, I'm supposed to sign up for a Health Policy course which is offered Monday nights 7p-945. I'm going to be going nuts during this semester, trying to do all of this and continue working 40 hours. It only gets worse from there....I have two remaining clinicals after I make it out of this one. Each of those requires 225 hours per semester plus class and seminar. I think by that point I'm done with any additional classes so it would be just that. It's clearly going to be an issue to take 2 full days off of work to get the clinical hours in...I have no idea what I'm going to do yet and of course I'm stressing about it already. Aside from this, we basically have to find our own clinicals, which is unlike undergrad where we could express an interest in being placed on a certain type of floor and the advisors would work their connections. Now the expectation is that we line up our own clinicals which is reasonable for the Adult Primary Care clinicals. The last clinical, however, has to be OB and Pedi which probably requires two different placements unless I can manage to find a true family practice which are relatively scarce. I have no connections in this area of the health care world. My advisors advice? Start working on it now. No offer to help me. Great. Oh, one exciting thing...we are required to have a PDA so I've started doing some research on them. I've primarily looked at the Palm model that has Wifi and the Dell one that's comparable. I'm too lazy to look up the model numbers!

So on to lighter subjects...I'm having palpitations and stomach gurgles over the last one and it's not even here yet! M and I bought boat loads of candy for the trick or treaters this year and I only had one very cute lady bug ring my bell. 1! So now, we are left with a dangerous amount of candy that is currently on the back stair well so that I don't undo all of my work at the gym this morning. M is in VT this weekend in the recording studio, so I've had a weekend to myself. I had no problems occupying myself with a little shopping, some knitting while procrastinating doing things for my class (even though I have a test this week), and catching up on my Hulu.com play list. Today, I'm getting bored though and I think they plan to record till at least 5 so chances are I'm living the single life for another day. I decided to make something fun for dinner...tacos!

Which reminds me, M and I will be picking up our first bundle of meat from our new farm share on December 1! Grass fed animals, here we come! We are going to be paying $80/month for 10lbs of meat. The meat will include chicken, beef, pork and lamb (we had the option to go without the lamb but M likes it, I'm not as big of a fan). Next weekend, we plan to go look at an additional freezer that we can stick in the basement for the extra meat.

Off to study....It's the day of reckoning. I've managed to put this off all weekend!