Power's back! It came back on shortly before 12, so we had about 18.5 hours without power. That should be fine for the freezer stuff and the refrigerator stayed cool with the ice we put in. It's all good.

In other news, Chad and I have been doing South Beach Phase 1 since Saturday. I think this is a good experience for me, because I've never known what it's like to not eat grains. Seriously, I don't think I'd gone a whole day without some sort of grains since infancy, and I tend to eat a lot of them. Now, without them, I'm amazed to discover the beneficial changes in my hunger patterns. I've never in my life understood people who claim they "just forget to eat," because I'm normally thinking about food an hour after I finish a meal and my blood sugar drops not too long after that (even though we're pretty good about sticking to whole grains most of the time). Now? None of that. It's proving to me that I shouldn't eat as many carbs as I normally do, and that there are plenty of lower carb options that give me a similar satisfaction (like anything made from chickpeas).

I really look forward to phase two, though. I may want to eat less carby food, but I definitely don't want to live without it.

() no power since yesterday @ 5. Just glad 2 have a gas stove & mild temps outside. Put ice in fridge but may have 2 cook all the meat soon.

After many helpful comments on yesterday's post about needing a nice sunscreen, I went to the store and purchased Neutrogena's Ultra Sheer. I got it in a spray can, for super quick application, and I like it a lot. It's like, gone the second I run my hand over my skin and it doesn't smell funky. And they had it in SPF 45, which I dig. (There's someone's cue to comment and tell me all about why it's pointless to buy an SPF over 15 or 25, to which I will respond that I don't care because I can tell a difference! *raspberry*) I'll keep my eye out for a more earth and animal friendly product, but this one will do nicely for now.

Thanks, everyone!

I've noticed a lot of little black flies hanging out in the garden lately. I did some research and decided that they're not anything destructive (provided their population doesn't get out of control), just annoying and ugly. However, it seems like the common cause of black flies hanging out in your garden is over-watering and not cleaning up the dead plant material. I don't really think either of those is a major problem in my garden, but it is getting to the point where my lazy habit of just spraying the whole garden down will start encouraging disease on delicate leaves. So, no more of that. Water is going straight onto the ground at the base of each plant. And I took down the window screen "fence" as a sort of trial, today. If no stray kitties poop in there, awesome, the lack of a fence will give the flies less shade.

I did, however, see lady bug while watering! This makes me happy. I'm all for the lady bugs. Move on in, ladies, and make a snack of all the other bugs!

I'm spending more time in the sun lately, but not because I want a tan. I'm going to pick up a moisturizer with SPF, but I also need a more standard SPF product for my face, shoulders, and chest. I have a couple sunscreens that I swear by when I need heavy duty protection that won't rub off, but they're all greasy and smell like sunscreen.

What I need is a sunscreen that just seems like regular lotion. Something I can rub into my skin and it just vanishes, instead of leaving an oily glow or lingering beachy smell. And it needs to be reasonably priced.

Any suggestions?

Yes indeed folks, we have our first mature radishes!



They're the White Icicle variety. And, uh, yeah, that's my round face and bad hair day in the background.

Read More.

A meme stolen from corwin, since I'm tired of job apps and don't want to run to the store for dinner supplies just yet.

One. Word. Answers.
One word, and one word only. No hyphenated cheats. ONE. WORD. ONLY.

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

Not as easy as you might think. Remember: one word answers.
1. Where is your mobile phone? couch
2. Your significant other? Hottt
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? funny
5. Your father? sweet
6. Your favorite thing? gardening
7. Your dream last night? frustrating
8. Your favorite drink? tea
9. Your dream/goal? unknown
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your ex? laughable
12. Your fear? accidents
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
14. Where were you last night? Juno
15. What you're not? Decisive
16. Muffins? blueberry!
17. One of your wish list items? roomba
18. Where you grew up? USA
19. The last thing you did? makeup
20. What are you wearing? purple
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? dorky
23. Your computer? sleek
24. Your life? flux
25. Your mood? sunny
26. Missing someone? husband
27. Your car? old
28. Something you're not wearing? polish
29. Favorite Store? Target
30. Your summer? anticipated
31. Like someone? lots
32. Your favorite color? purple?
33. When is the last time you laughed? morning
34. Last time you cried? Juno

Behold! My first ripe tomatoes of 2008!


Read more...

I love coffee. I'll drink coffee for a while and be deliriously happy (i.e. buzzed!). Things go well until the abuse happens (i.e. stomach trouble of various sorts). I'll keep going, because surely "it's me" or "I can fix it." Then comes the day I wake up and realize that coffee just doesn't love me like I love coffee (i.e. I wake up with ulcer symptoms).

So I leave coffee, kick coffee right out of my whole life! It's a difficult but clean break. I feel better, lighter, happier. I go back to good old reliable tea, who has never done anything but love me in return. But then, one day, I run into coffee while I'm out someplace like, oh, IHOP or Starbucks. And I am suddenly reminded of how good coffee looks, smells, and.... tastes.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up to a cup of coffee the very next morning and the cycle has started again. But it'll be different this time. Different. Coffee won't hurt me. Coffee loves me now.

Right?

You know what I think I might do if I were to start over entirely? If I actually got a shot at starting absolutely any career I could think of? If someone handed me a bunch of money, stopped time, and said, "Go back to college?" I think I'd become a registered dietitian and also study herbs or Eastern Medicine. Then I'd develop my own business. I'd probably have a small "store," but also consult with clients about alternative medicines and diet. I don't believe in totally blowing off western medicine, but I think it's really empowering to take control of your health through natural means.

Yeah. I think that's what I'd do. And maybe I will someday, but it'd take a lot of time and money to get to that point.... so it'll just have to be off in the distance of the future.

Meanwhile, I've had a tiny moral boost (job hunting is so demoralizing...) in the form of a call about an editing job. The hiring manager is sending me a short manuscript as a sort of "test" before he brings me in for an interview. The impression I had was that my project management experience and related education appealed to him a lot, but I have minimal experience editing or even writing professionally. So he wants to see just how much training I would need. Lucky for me (and for him, if he hires me), I'm a quick study and have a little experience with both Chicago Style and editing marks. I can refresh until the manuscript gets here and will probably even be able to take plenty of time time with it.

My first impression is that, despite the low pay, I'd be reasonably happy in this job. Hell, I'd be doing something related to my degrees, and that's a treasure for me right there. You don't get ahead on that field until you've payed your dues, so I wouldn't be utterly heartbroken at a little bit of a drop in pay.

I have been ravenous in the evenings, lately. I'll get a good dinner and be hungry half an hour later. I'm starting to suspect I need to get bigger meals earlier in the day to avoid that, but that's so totally opposite to the way I instinctively eat. Of course, the way I "instinctively" eat has me 20 pounds heavier than I think I should be, soooo... I'm gonna go make breakfast, now.

I always end up ranting about boobs when I get drunk.

Yay, it's officially Spring!

A happy, warm, green, uplifting Spring Equinox to all!

...because it's been forever.

Job Stuff

Job openings seem to come in waves. Luckily, there's a wave right now. I have my resume out for a few good full-time jobs with decent pay that I would have a shot at and I have an interview for a part-time librarian position on Monday. Even part-time "Associate Librarian" (which is what they call "librarians" who don't actually have a library science degree) positions pay well around here. It would mean working mostly evenings and weekends, but the pay is worth it considering It's been a good two months since I quit. It's also a foot in the door again.

Social Stuff

I get cabin fever being home all day, which includes a little depression. It's fine if I get out though, even just a leisurely trip to the store.

I feel rejuvenated after last night's D&D game. I like playing with a small group and I think we have a pretty good dynamic most of the time. If I ever really GM a game, it's definitely going to be a small group of three or four players. No more than five.

I'm also excited to help plan a baby shower! I must start making notes and communicating about it again...

Garden Stuff

This is where most of my creative energy is spent these days, and I update about it pretty regularly over at the Urban Garden Hoe.

We have our Square Foot Garden going and I'm starting to see lots of white radish seedlings!

The tiny Red Robin Tomato plants that we've been growing for quite some time have started to produce the super early tomatoes we were hoping for! These should tide us over until the garden starts producing.

The strawberries from seed are flourishing, and it will soon be time to take them out of their little windowsill "greenhouse." Most of the strawberries bought as a clump of seedlings from the store are toast. They either didn't have the roots to make it once separated, or Ali munched off their leaves. grrrrr

The tomato seedlings are in the process of being hardened off. Most seem fine with this, but one always looks a wee bit wilty after a trip outside.... I hope that's not a bad sign regarding its general health.

....And that's what's going on with me!

I just saved myself $30+ by mending my good white bra. It's the first time I've ever successfully patched up a bra.

I feel oddly proud of myself.

I'm selling some "Chinese take-out" purses on Ebay and wanted to let you guys know about it. If you're a local and you buy one, then you can get it from me in person and pay no shipping. (I also have one of these in black fabric with red designs and a couple that are Baby Blue, so locals can simply pick whichever color you prefer.)

$9, "Buy it Now"

One of my biggest pet-peeves when job hunting is when a job listing doesn't even mention salary or wage. I've got news for you, applying for a job is work. If you really do it right, you not only labor over the perfect cover letter, but you make adjustments to your resume.... maybe even rewrite your resume if it looks like the job of your dreams.

I don't want to go through all of that, get an interview, dance like a good little monkey, and then find out the salary is $20,000 a year for full-time work. Nuh-uh. And yet, it's baaaad etiquette to ask about salary until the employer mentions it first.

Really? Do you really want to waste your time and mine? For goodness sake, put a freaking pay-range on there.

I ended up not accepting the part-time job I mentioned last week. I don't think I would have liked that particular office/boss. I slept on it and still felt the same way. My last concern was Chad being annoyed, but it turned out he'd thought I wouldn't like it anyway and was fine with me not taking it as long as I "have a plan." I was mostly worried he'd think I was just going to Not Work now that he has a full-time job.

Aside from continuing to job hunt and to call into the temp agency, I think I'll put my name in to be a substitute teacher. Teaching is a career that's always been in the back of my mind, so that may give me some indication as to whether or not I can tolerate being around kids all day.

In the meantime, I wrote a challenging to-do list (and posted it privately so I can keep track) for the week. If I actually complete it (haha!), the house would be spic n span.

Meme fun behind the cut! ( Read more... )

Well, I should now have a part-time job to hold me over. I'll be an Administrative Assistant in a CPA's office. They're mostly looking for help organizing their insane filing "system," and I suspect he wants to go electronic with it.... but is still scared by the idea of the concept of going paperless.

And I don't think he meant anything negative by it at all, but it was the first time I've ever been asked illegal questions in a job interview. But it was just whether or not I was married, then whether or not I have kids. I'm guessing some people don't even know that's illegal, so I decided to go with the flow as long as he didn't dig any further. Which he didn't.

Anyway. It'll be decent work for the time being.

Oddly enough, I've been waking up earlier lately than when I worked. I basically decided I needed a consistent sleeping pattern and enough daylight to feel somehow productive, so I decided I'd wake up by the time Chad leaves for work. Two out of three times I've been at the door to kiss him goodbye, and the third time I rolled out of bed after I heard the door close.

I like it. My general routine is:
~Wake up between 6:30 and 7am.
~Shower or clean up after Chad has left.
~Call temp agency around 7:30 to let them know I'm available.
~Sit down at the computer to job hunt for at least an hour, then fool around online a bit.

After that, who knows? But hopefully "who knows?" will include some sort of job soon. I've mostly been applying to administrative assistant sort of jobs, though I've also kept my eye out for ones that "fit" my past experience. Some of them are part time and pay tolerably, but some are full time and pay way more than I'd make in an higher ed job! I'm sure those types of higher paying administrative positions normally go to people with tons of directly related experience, but I'll keep sending my resume in case my more "professional" experience makes me appealing to an employer who isn't put off by career changers.

The people who work those positions insist I wouldn't, but I think I'd like being an administrative assistant sort of worker. I enjoy office work, organization, etc. And lord knows that one of the higher paying positions would have plenty going on to keep me busy. I stay much more engaged when I have to multi-task.

Anyway. I think today might include a trip to the library to browse books on careers and job hunting. And maybe a stop by Lowe's or Home Depot to browse their pots for when my many strawberry seedlings grow up.

Hmmm, I guess I qualify as a housewife today. Chad's at his shiny new full-time job, I'm sitting at home. I even packed his lunch for him and kissed him goodbye at the door.

Nope, not yet. I might be a house wife while we have small children, but I don't think I fancy not having a job at all. Full-time mothering is a job. Doing volunteer work instead of paid work because your husband's income is great anyway is a job. Maybe even being a super hot socialite trophy wife to a millionaire is a sort of a job (yuck). But being a childless 28 year old wife sitting at home? Nope, not a job. And I want some sort of job.

At the same time, I feel greatly relieved that the financial stress of me losing my job has been relieved by Chad's new position. I'll now be notifying the temp agency of my availability every day and I'll keep my eye out for good part-time jobs, but I feel like I'm able to take my time in finding a good full-time job.

I'm also not going to let myself be all intimidated if I find something too-good-to-be-true this time.