Nice, slow weekend

It is Saturday afternoon and we are enjoying a slow, do-nothing day. We met friends for a nice dinner last night, THANKS MOM!, and bear woke up right as we got in at 11pm. He had a bottle and went right back to bed until 8am! Delightful!

Now, C is mowing the lawn with Abbey and Bear is settling in for a nap. We just got back from the grocery store. We got all the fixins to try out this Cooks Illustrated test recipe. It is called Tinga, Mexican shredded pork. I am going to make red chile rice with black beans on the side. Stay tuned.

On the way back from the store we were almost run off the road by an overly aggressive moped driver. Wild huh? Ever heard of that? Maybe no one told him mopeds aren't in the same class as beefy harleys. I almost put "aggressive moped man" in the same class of driver as "Man in a Mini-van" but presumedly this guy CHOSE the moped where men driving mini-vans I seriously doubt were given a choice. Hence, why they drive their windstar like it's a mustang, which mustang it aint.

btw - those who are curious... no cavities!

Recipe Tester!

Yep that's right! I am officially a recipe tester for Cooks Illustrated Magazine. I'm excited but truth be told the regular emails they send me asked for volunteers so it isn't like I had to prove I could cook or anything. What's the recipe? If I told ya - I'd have to kill ya.

Speaking of cooking, last Sunday I went to see Julie and Julia with my mom. It was very cute and definitely one of those "why didn't I think of that!" kind of ideas. So simple - cook through the entire Julia Child cookbook and blog about it. I'll say though I'm not that into French cuisine so that particular book would be tough for me to stomach. I could easily blog about our adventures making pizza! Yesterday and today we had pizza. We used our sauce with onions and turkey pepperoni but were short on time and used Boboli crust. sigh. Just not enough hours in the day - and if there were I would be sleeping instead of making a fresh dough ya know!

These days I'm happy if I cook period. The last couple years I've been more into the buy a ton of something from CostCo and make lots of dishes and freeze them. For example Saturday I bought over 6 pounds of ground beef and make nearly 30 hamburgers. As I shaped them I put little squares of parchment paper between them on a cookie sheet. Then I popped them into the freezer (on cookie sheet andstill raw) until they were firm enough to stack in gallon sized freezer ziplocs. What's great is they go straight on the grill frozen and cook up pretty quick. Yep, I'm officially a mom with little time. Where's my station wagon?

Tomorrow - the dentist! I plan to pray to the tooth fairy that I don't have any cavities.

Whoopie Pies!

Today we went to friends for a BBQ and brought dessert. We made whoopie pies. They are two mini-chocalate cakes with a marshmallow like filling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoopie_pie

The recipe we used was from Cooks Illustrated. The filling called for butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and fluff. Yes FLUFF! I never thought I'd ever make anything that called for fluff. Oh well, never say never.

They are a wonderful gooey mess. I have never had one nor eaten one before and it was goooooood. They turned out to have a diameter of about 4 inches so we cut them in half but they were still really rich and quite an investment. They reminded me of suzy q but the filling is much richer.

This got us reminiscing about other grade school lunch treats. There's the twinkie, naturally, but I was never a huge fan cuz they are spongy. I definitely loved ho-hos and ding dongs and those yummy zingers. mmmm lemon zinger. I can't remember when the fruit rollups came out but those were so yummy and fun. My sister and I loved Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies the best.

That got us thinking... the filling was very similar to the oatmeal creme pie. So all we would have to do is make oatmeal cookies and the filling and voila homemade oatmeal creme pies. mmm someday.

the BIG day

This Saturday my big sis ties the knot! I'm thrilled for her! She has been engaged a little over a year and has worked her tail off thinking of every detail and plowing through to get it all done.
I admire her drive to do things well. It really makes me realize how different we can be. There are lots of things I would have let go as too much work that she takes on with ease.

For example, since the wedding is in Seattle and family is mostly in Chicago there are a lot of out of towners. So she planned a group outing to the Mariners game last night! WOW! It went off beautifully without a single hitch. Well, ok there was one hitch - we had the bright idea to try and bring out 4 month old to the game. He was terrified and cried the entire hour we were there. We got a dog and went to the outside tables to eat and feed him. He cried the entire time except the occasional stop to eat a little. Then stopped crying a little, we took him into the stadium to see everyone and he looked so scared we left within 3 minutes of sitting down. I'm not winning any parent of the year awards after that one. Live and learn. The only reason we tried in the first place was friends of ours with a 3 month old went to the game a few weeks earlier and they claim he slept through a couple innings and then they left. Not our Bear. I know everyone else had a wonderful time.

Today we our putting together the centerpieces at her house and then off to the rehearsal followed by dinner at their house. Tomorrow is the big day.

Sis I love you and wish you and your man years of happiness!

Fast forward

Fast forward nearly two years! WOW! A lot has changed in my life and yet a lot is the same. I still have crazy curly hair and love to cook, laugh, and drink wine. I'm now 2 years into being a database developer. I'm now a mom! I have a 3 month old and he's just such a cutie. This week is my first week back to work following a 13 week maternity leave.

Well, three of my good friends are avid bloggers and I keep thinking about this blog and how much I enjoyed writing. I think it is more for my own enjoyment. I could continue to talk about the past but I'd much rather pick up in the here and now...

So this week is my first week back to work. It is weird I'll be honest but not as weird as I expected. I must admit, though, I have it lucky. Hubby has one more week of school and then he'll be off for the summer. My mom has agreed to watch Bear this week and my boss has agreed to let me work from home. It has been a great way to transition back to work. They have already given me plenty to do but I can take a little break here and there to cuddle the bear or just see how he's doing.

Next week and the rest of the summer I will be in the office three days a week and working from home two days a week. I am forever grateful my boss is cool. Hubby and Grandma will take turns watching Bear. I think I can do three days. I hope so anyway.

Bear is taking a nap right now. I am big time in love with that little guy. I must admit it didn't happen the moment he was born. When he was first born I was more in shock and fear than love. I kept thinking here's this little guy that I can screw up so completely. Maybe in addition to saving for his college I should consider saving for his counseling. The first week definitely did not help me shake that feeling. I remember the first night we brought him home hubby and I taking turns holding him and bouncing on a exercise ball until our thighs ached. Finally, we fell asleep on our huge bean bag LoveSac with Bear on our chest. I kept thinking how we are probably going to do everything wrong. Grandpa was in town and staying with my sister the whole week and came to visit everyday for a couple hours. I remember we were such complete zombies. It didn't help that I had huge nursing issues. It was a bittersweet moment when we decided to stop the insanity and switch to formula around the 10th day. I cried some everyday for a couple days and then somewhere in there I let it go.

Week 2 through 5 of Bear's life were great. My mother-in-law came for a week and whipped us into shape. Bear started sleeping in his cradle and we began to see a glimmer of an evening feeding schedule. That being, get up right when you started to fall asleep! WEek 3 my father-in-law came into town. Bear loved falling asleep on his chest. I called it GrandpaPedic. I mean the minute he held Bear he was out (sometimes so was Grandpa!). Hubby was home week 4 for spring break and my sister-in-law was out to help week 5. By then I had a rough idea of what I was doing. We had a great time. She got me solidly addicted to HGTV. That was trouble. I am still fighting the addiction to be honest. Luckily we are looking to buy a house so it has proven helpful. By the end of her visit I was sad she had to go but ready to try and take care of Bear on my own.

Week 6 was tough. I barely brushed my teeth or got to the bathroom on time and hubby would come home and ask what I did that day. I would reply, "um survived." After a couple days I did get into some form of a schedule. Sort of... I'm still working on it. Around week 9 we all flew to Chicago. I was hosting a Bachelorette Party and Bridal Shower for my sister and we wanted everyone to get to meet Bear. It was so strange to see people I haven't seen in 6 months but now I'm a mom. I feel the same but yet completely different.

I think around week 10 I finally started to get into a groove with Bear. He had been smiling for a couple weeks and is really active and strong. Each week he grows and learns more and more. I think around week 11 I knew that this kid had me wrapped around his little finger.

up oh week 13 and 6 days he just woke up from a nap and I must call it a day.

I'm a big fat lier

Well, here it is over three months later and I'm finally sitting down to blog.

What's new? OK I finished school! Yippee!! The ending was a bit rocky. Essentially, the remaining two tests were ready but the MS study materials were not. ugh... what to do? Look for a job was the answer. So after a couple lame job fairs and meat market type contract job recruiters I found Dice.com. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a tech job! I posted my resume and cover letter on the website and heard from lots of recruiters. I also found postings for jobs there that I applied to. It took me about 2 months to find a full-time position. Not bad!

I am ecstatic to announce I'm employed after a year sabbatical. I can't tell you how awesome that first paycheck was!! My job is a SQL database developer (IT) with Quellos Group. It is a financial company that specializes in fund of hedge funds. That's about all I know thus far and the fact that regular people like me are not the typical investor for these types of funds. Bummer.

Friday marked my first month there! It went well (I think) and I finally am starting to feel like I'm getting it. There are definitely still lots of times where I feel pretty dumb but I'm ok with that in trade for not being bored in 6 months.

I close this blog as well as the end of this career change chapter with the one liner I finally came up with for the question I'm often asked, "Why did you leave teaching?" It is, "Teaching is a labor of love, and I have commitment issues."

pledge to blog more

It has been QUITE a long time since my last post! Yikes...

Well, an update is in order. I passed my first exam for Microsoft Database Developer Certificate the middle of January. I really have enjoyed a break from studying like a mad-woman for a little too long. It is to the point where I am long overdue to get back into serious studying to get ready for the next two remaining exams. Otherwise, school is going well and I have learned a ton.

In the month of February there was school and tutoring. Becky hosted an awesome birthday dinner party for me. She turned her apartment into an Italian cafe complete with white and red checked tableclothes and olive oil and chianti wicker wine bottles at each little table. It was cool.
February ended with my dad visiting. Lots of laughs and good ol' fashioned hanging out together. Busy yet quite relaxing.

March is here and started with another snow storm. It was the weather pattern that ended in the east with wild long-range tornados. Scary to hear about truthfully. The world is going to hell in a handbasket I tell you! What did I see the other day driving down the road? The new Ford F-650! Yes, 650! It was practically a semi!!! On the road with the TV inside going. yep, that's just what we need.

plans for the month - Rick Steves talk, St Patty's 5k Race!, Wine Night, Dinners with friends big fun

looking forward to: Trying to find someone to let me make them a database and web app (thinking my tutoring friend would be perfect!) and finishing school APRIL 10!!!