Cited

Funnies seen on Le Pin-terest.

• I don't get drunk. I get awesome.
• You are not stupid. You just have bad luck when thinking.
• If you're happy and you know it, share your meds.
• Wine! How classy people get sh*&faced.
• Real women watch football.
• I usually try to keep my sadness pent up inside where it can fester quietly as a mental illness.
• I didn't see anyone important today, so I'll just wear these clothes again tomorrow.

The Day to Day

Nothing too exciting around here really. CF's moved 17 days ago to start his new job. A seven-ish hour drive or a $400 flight (and 40 minute drive on either side of the flight) away. What have I been doing to try to keep busy? Some random stuff of which I thought to take pictures...

CF gave me a crock pot for Christmas. He bought it when he was with his family, and apparently his mother was not so sure about this as a gift. I have used it quite a bit though! I made apple sauce Saturday morning, then a beef stew (secret ingredient = a beer) for the evening when some friends came over, then chicken and dumplings Sunday to get me through most of the week. Here are the chicken and dumpling ingredients for the most part.

The soup part of the chicken and dumplings was good; the soup part was not hot enough for the dumplings, so they ended up a bit mushy. Still delicious though.

The cat tried to swat at me and ended up sitting like this. Hah.

Amaryllis that CF bought is in full bloom now.

I have been quite straightforward when talking with CF about how I am not all that happy with life right now and it is not very exciting. I received a dozen of these yesterday from CF with a note that hopefully this would make my day exciting.

Stuff I did not take pictures of?

I did not shave my legs for two weeks. TMI? I figured there was not really a point. Then I did shave because I had a massage coupon to use the other night. I had a massage.

I have been to the church's "young" adult bible study a couple of times. I keep thinking about what to write about this, and I surely will at some point, but really what this has made me realize is that I am not versed in the Bible at all. I did not really expect to be, but the other people who come totally are. Last week, I resolved to call friends. I called one who had called me two weeks ago. That is apparently my current turn around time. What am I so busy doing? Nothing really; just don't feel like talking about me at all.

I got a new work-study student to train who will help do some of the non-data-generating work I have to do.

I now check Pinterest obsessively when the blogs to which I subscribe do not have new posts. I tried a banana bread scone recipe I had pinned, that turned out okay. The freezer step did not freeze it enough or the texture was not right; regardless it was more like flat non-quite-cooked banana bread. I still ate it, of course. I also made this delicious smoothie. I highly recommend it!

I keep working during the day and vegging out in front of the TV at night. This is not conducive to getting my paper done. I am having a difficult time feeling like I need to work harder though.

I got out some t-shirts and picked up some supplies to work on a t-shirt quilt. I will have to take pictures as I go for some final post about it. These are t-shirts from an MS Walk I do every year. My Mom offered her t-shirts, but I said if mine looks good, I will make her her own quilt. SO, photos along the way is a GOOD idea.

Went to see the new Sherlock Holmes with a college classmate who just moved here.

That is all the randomness I can think of at the moment. I have been eating healthier, thanks to large batches of healthier crock-pot meals. I still have toooooo much candy and chocolate around the house. I am bringing the non-chocolate candy into work tomorrow.

Executive decision

Our lab manager is going to be splitting her time and transitioning to a new position at the University. This is a great opportunity for her, and one she could not pass up even though the head of our lab will not be retiring for at least three more years. As a result, the lab manager will be out of the lab for about 1 1/2 days every week for the next six months before they reevaluate how busy she is at the new job. I have been appointed the go-to person for lab emergencies during this time. I cannot really imaging much people would need me to do while she is out unless someone needs a reagent for their experiments ASAP, and then I can place an order, as I have done in the past.

I knew this was coming for months, because the lab manager and I are friends. Most of the other people in the lab did not know. The official lab email announcement was sent at the end of the day on Thursday and mentioned that the lab manager would be out Friday, Monday and half day on Tuesday. This happens to coincide with the head of the lab being out of town for those days as well. I was officially put in charge.

Putting in a few hours of lab work on the weekend definitely makes me feel more productive during the week. I have been going to church Sunday mornings then working in lab in the afternoon in recent weeks. (I consider Saturday my "day of rest" mostly.) I planned to work this afternoon to start a couple of things for the week.

I am going to take this opportunity of "being in charge" to make the executive decision* to stay home and catch up on work reading and data analysis. Plus this is what I get to look at from home! Time to make another pot of coffee.

* I could have made this decision regardless, but whatev. I MUST get work done. I MUST get in the habit of being work-productive at home. Today seems like a good day to practice.

Waffles

This is the Cuisinart recipe:

1/4 c packed light brown sugar
1 3/4 c flour
2 1/4 c regular rolled oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 c buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 c vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c raisins
Directions: In large bowl, crumble the brown sugar to remove lumps. Add remaining dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Add buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir until blended and smooth. Fold in raisins. Cook in waffle iron. Makes 16 waffles, as in that waffle on top is 4 waffles, and it makes 4 of those. (In mine, this means setting it at 400 degrees and cooking approximately 3 minutes each.)

This is approximately what I did this morning:
1/4 c packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 c flour mixture (~2/3 whole white flour, ~1/3 whole wheat flour)
2 1/4 c oats
3 T ground flax meal
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
~ 1/2 tsp salt
1 c "buttermilk" (1 T vinegar brought to 1 c with milk)
1 c vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
~ 1/2 c freshly made applesauce from the crockpot
1/3 c light tasting olive oil

~1 c chopped prunes
They taste great! I stick them in the freezer so they do not get soggy, then toast them and put ~ 1 T almond butter on them before heading out the door to work.

FOOD

I do not really make 'resolutions', per se, but the start of a new year seems like a good time to resolve to try to do things. Like the commitment?

This past holiday season, I am pretty sure my clothes shrunk. So I have decided to resolve to try to eat healthier regularly. I am not an unhealthy eater, but making a point of eating particular foods again will help make my waistline smaller to be more comfortable in those shrunken clothes. ;-)

I am trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, with the emphasis on vegetables. Because I do not always feel like making a salad to bring to work for lunch, this is often washing a couple of carrots and just chomping into them whole at work. Why take the time to cut carrot sticks?

I am trying to eat yogurt on most days. Once in a while this will be in the form of a fruit smoothie for several days in a row. That does not work in the cold of winter when I just want hot coffee in the car on the way to work though. I have resorted to buying single serving yogurts because it preempts the "I don't feel like mixing plain yogurt with fruit and honey to bring to work" excuse of not eating yogurt.

I am trying to add thing to my cooking to make it healthier. I use yogurt in a lot to do this. Adding ground flax meal is an easy go-to as well. Depending on what I make, I will even add some fiber powder. Why not? I also bought some wheat flour to mix with white flour when I bake. I also picked up frozen spinach and green peppers - two things that are really easy to add to lots of recipes.

Start eating healthier breakfasts. Toast with peanut butter and/or jelly is easy, but maybe not the best for me to eat every day. I like bringing something home made in the car with me to eat on the way to work. I have gone through pancake and muffin phases over the past couple of years. One of my awesome Christmas presents was waffle irons to use in my panini press. (I highly recommend this griddler. I got it from Woot and use it a lot.) I have zeroed in on an oatmeal waffle recipe that is PERFECT for bringing in the car. Maybe I will make a batch in the morning and post that.

Anyhoo. With my resolve to eat a bit healthier and add more veggies, I have now made this "pizza crust" twice with great results. Call it what you will, but it is in reality a cauliflower-based flat bread with toppings. The two I have made while using up stuff in the fridge.

 

This recipe is quite fast, really. The only thing I have really done with the "crust" recipe is add some ground flax (one of my favorite things to do, and can be used to replace the egg if you mix it with some water before hand), and then play with the spices. The crushed garlic was too much because it made my mouth taste like garlic at work after eating it. I figure you could do a lot with this recipe:

• Use rosemary in the crust and top with thin sliced potato, chives, and cheese
• Top with buffalo chicken and cheese, and melt cheese. Add a salad and blue cheese dressing to the top before eating
• A breakfast one with scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese

Accidental holiday recap

When I have not posted in a while, I think of my header. I really do not know where to start. The holidays were probably about my busiest ever between travel, holidays, company, events, etc. I still have our tree up until this weekend though.

Haha. Just kidding. That is Rockefeller Center. This is our tree.

And this is my parents' tree with all the gifts under it before going to bed.

And here are the filled stockings. My Mom is, Uh, helping Santa by putting stuff he left in the stockings?

But I digress. Or actually maybe I should just make this a holiday recap?

You asked for it!

• 11 hour drive to and from New England Thanksgiving weekend. Everyone was home. It was great. We put up my parent's tree.
• CF's parents and sister arrive on December first.
• New York for three and a half days with CF's sister.
• Work a couple days.
• CF's graduation. (He has yet to defend, but they will let you walk whenever, I guess.)
• A weekend trip with CF's fam. Other dinners with people, farm visit, museum visit, etc. in the mix.
• His fam left the 13th.
• Worked a couple days.
• Saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra. (Highly recommend it.)
• Few days of work during which my experiment went extremely well. (FINALLY!) I got 'Figure-worthy' blots, according to my boss. This is a good thing.
• Bake cookies and have people over for cookie decorating.
• 11 hour drive to and from New England for Christmas. CF told me I looked 'beautiful' Christmas Eve. He seriously meant it. Usually he just says 'cute'.
• Some days of work. I like the slow pace of campus the week between Christmas and New Years. I sleep in. There is NO traffic. I can park in the expensive parking. No one is around. I have lab to myself. I was not SUPER productive, but I still got stuff done.
• Attend a wedding New Year's Eve.
• CF packs up and heads far, far away for a new job. Jerk had the nerve to tear up. I have tried to be resolved not to cry. Have not failed toooo badly. Until my bro' said to feel free to call if my apartment got too quiet. Jerk. ;-)
• Worked Jan 2nd. Did not occur to me that people had it as a holiday. As a matter of fact, the University was still closed. So there was NOOOOOOOOOO traffic, and I still got to park in the expensive parking.
• I went to the 'young adult'/my age range Bible study tonight. That was what I was going to post about before I got distracted. For another time.