My Life is Upside Down
There is so much going on with me right now I don't know where to start. I don't want to post publicly, but I don't think I can make one entry private?
FINALLY!
Argh! I’ve wanted to update my blog for the past few days, but work and school have kept me from doing so. I will elaborate shortly. Currently, I am at work. If all goes well, we’ll be TDing (TD basically means Total Depth has been reached) this Well around 11pm tonight. We are not drilling extraordinarily fast (and for some reason I’m more awake today than usual) so I thought that I’d just type up my journal entry in Word and then post it when I get home. Brilliant!
I’ve got a lot of pictures and some recipes to post. I figured that I’d just make a new blog for that stuff rather than clog this one up. It was also suggested to me that I write a cookbook. I think this is a great idea. :) Now, most of my recipes are just variations of other recipes; some belong 100% to others and some are 100% mine (as far as I know anyway). I’m afraid of copyright infringement so I’m only going to use recipes that are mine and recipes that I’ve altered significantly.
Also, in case anyone cares to know, I’ve lost 21.6 lbs to date. I began WW May 31st and my last weigh in was August 1st. I can’t believe I lost over 20 lbs in just 2 months! Not that I’m complaining.
Ok, so this past week has been really bad for me. To start, it was that time of month. Anyway, for awhile now my laptop has been showing signs of failure. I bought an external hard drive to backup everything on my computer so that I could reformat. Well, I tested it out and backed up some documents. It worked. Well, when I tried to back up my C and D drives it would lock up with the infamous “Not responding”. A couple days later when starting my computer up it did a system check and then started dumping files. When I checked the hard drive nothing that I had backed up before was there except for my e-mails. I had homework to do in 3ds Max and when I went to open the program I kept getting an error. Nothing I tried worked; not even a system restore. Then my screen went out. The screen flickered and I heard a fizzling noise, then the screen just went black. I think the backlight went out. The kicker? I just finished paying off that stupid laptop last month. I don’t think I have to explain that I snapped and had a total meltdown. I screamed, “I’m done with this!”, burst into tears and proceeded to beat the floor senseless; or rather, I beat my hand senseless. I’m very lucky that my teacher is such a nice guy. He’s given me an extension even though today is the last day of Week 3. I was going to get everything done last night on my old desktop computer, but my download of 3ds Max is taking 30 hrs!!! It should be done by now, but I’m at work so there’s nothing I can do.
What else? My mortgage went up almost $100. That sucks. We didn’t win the lottery. That sucks. Hubby has only worked ONE day in the span of a month. That sucks. Unemployment is making him wait for payments for some reason. That really sucks.
Speaking of hubby… he was finally able to drive up to Artesia to apply at the Navajo Gas Refinery plant. The only person he could talk to was a security guard who gave him a number to call to apply. So, tomorrow he will call and see what he needs to do to apply. That job will be much better for him than Mudlogging. Instead of working 24 hrs he’d only be working 12. His blood sugar is so unpredictable sometimes… Also, he’ll actually be WORKING so if we finally get preggo we’ll still have his income. And even if we don’t we’ll have his income. LoL I really, really hope he gets hired on. Everyone pray for us please. :)
Also, hubby has decided he wants to go back to college! I’m so proud of him. Years ago he was in college (for a year) but a nasty teacher kept failing him and told him he would never amount to anything (in front of the class!). He should have sued that jerk… anyway, he ended up dropping out. He wants to get a degree in Psychology. I think he would do well in that field. He can talk to anyone, is very people friendly, intuitive and can relate to others well. I would rather he become an electrician *koff* but being a counselor or something will do just as well. LoL
I’ve been thinking a lot about starting a small greenhouse business. I really like to garden and fresh produce is so expensive that I would like to grow as much as possible at home. I’ve researched building a greenhouse and I could build a decent sized one out of PVC for around $150 - $200. Hopefully, I will be able to do this soon. If things go well with the greenhouse and my plants grow well, I’ll set up a website and sign up for the Farmer’s Market next year. I’ll make some business cards to hand out with whatever I sell there and if people want to buy plants they can call me or whatever. I’m not sure. The idea is still in the works. As of right now I’ll probably mostly sell herbs (like basil, mint, thyme, etc.) and popular vegetable plants. If business starts to grow I’ll expand of course! I’ll probably have a suggestion box to see what kind of greenery people wish to buy. I really think this is something I can do without having to get a loan to actually START my business.
A couple weeks ago I cut a branch off one my mint plants and suspended it in a small, partially water-filled, plastic cup with toothpicks to see how it would grow. As of today it is three times its original size and has roots. Last night I did the same with my Marjoram and Thyme plants to see how they would do. I ordered some starter plugs and a starter tray to plant the cuttings in. If they thrive I will plant many more cuttings and get my business idea started! I also found a website that sells “Moo Doo”. It’s basically dry cow poop. I think I’m going to get some and mix it in with the native soil and then water it for a few weeks to make a nice fertilizer. I’m really excited about this. :)
Well, I think that’s about it for now. Oh wait! If anyone has any ideas on what to name my greenhouse business feel free to share! :D
Ciao!
Uh oh...
I've let a month slip by without updating. I can't really update right now, but I will tomorrow. I'm having a lot of fun in my 2nd 3D Modeling class. I really think I'm making some progress. I can't wait until I move onto living things! Until tomorrow...
What's new!
What else? I have an appointment with my OBGYN to check out this possible pelvic mass. Yes. I STILL don't know what's going on. I do NOT recommend Cavern Family and Urgent Care Clinic. It may be because they are a new clinic and are still getting things situated, but when a doctor asks me what I want to do and then after a CT Scan doesn't even bother to call with the results... I'm out. I went to the hospital myself to get the report and even got a copy of the CT Scan on a CD. What if I have cancer? What if it's a fibroid that is preventing me from having children? Y'know? Eh...
Anyway, Tuesday night I got a big surprise. I was up late reading up on cake decorating, about 11pm or so, when I heard what sounded like someone doing a serious pee on the carpet in my living room. So, I go in and see a giant bubble in the ceiling with brown water pouring out. I freak and get one of my giant mixing bowls and stick it under the flow. After a minute or so the flow stops but it continues to drip. I try calling my husband but kept getting a busy signal. He was likely out in an area that did not get good reception. It was too late to call someone so I went to bed and tried his cell one more time. I got his vmail so I left a message. The next day we call our landlord and explain the problem. They call back and said someone would be out. Well, it's the next day and no one is here to fix it and no one has called. It figures.
Ok! Time for a recipe and garden update. I have a lot of pictures to post, so be prepared. I'll start with my garden. The plants that I had purchased and planted are now doing great! See my tomato and pepper plants below.
The seeds that I had planted are doing well, except for the scallions and spinach. This makes me sad. :( I planted too late in the season so I think the heat is just too much for the tender little spinach and scallion shoots. On the other hand, my basil is doing fantastic! I thinned the shoots out and used the leaves in a yummy sauce I made. My eggplant is also doing well, but it seems some bugs enjoy eating the leaves. My eggplant plants have teeny holes in the leaves so I will have to spray a little dish soap diluted in water on them to prevent this.
Ok! Food time. I came up with a great snack or light lunch. I love pitas, I love cheese and I love spinach. Presenting a simple and easy spinach pie! Only 3 points!
1 Whole Wheat Pita
1 slice Reduced Fat Provolone
As much fresh spinach that you can stuff into a pita!
1 serving/3 WW Points
Cut the pita in half and stick in the microwave for about 15 seconds. This will make it easier to stuff without tearing. Cut the slice of provolone in half and put a half in each pita half. Rinse the spinach and stuff as much as you can in each pita half (or as little as you want). Pop back into the microwave for 1 minute. Let cool before eating- spinach will be HOT!
Have points to spare? Add another slice 0f cheese! The points value increases to 4.5. I think there is also Weight Watchers pitas out there that are 1 point for a whole pita. If you use these the total points would be 2 or with extra cheese 3.5. Awesome. :)
Next on the menu, Simple Zucchini and Soba Noodles. I love asian food and I was jonesing for it one day so I threw together this tasty and light asian inspired lunch.
3 oz Soba noodles
1/4 medium zucchini
1 clove garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbs fat-free chicken broth
1 tbs Dumpling sauce
1 fl oz Mirin
1 serving/5 WW Points
Boil water to cook Soba noodles. While waiting for water to boil, cut zucchini into long, thin matchsticks. Slice scallions into thin, spaghetti-like strands. (see picture above) Slice garlic thinly.
Mix chicken broth, mirin, and dumpling sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cook Soba noodles according to package instructions minus 1 minute- cook about 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and 1/2 tsp sesame seeds. Cook until garlic just begins to brown.
Add zucchini and scallions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add Soba noodles and sauce mixture. Stir to mix sauce evenly. Simmer until liquid is absorbed.
Plate and garnish with remaining toasted sesame seeds.
Yum!
Next is rich chocolate frosting. Oh yeah. :)
These next few pictures are recipes from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes, Hungry Girl and the Weight Watchers website.
Stuffed Zucchini
Lentil Burger
Onion Blossom
Ok, that's all folks! I may be posting a picture of dinner tonight. :) Tomorrow is Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Diet Soda Cake and SparkPeople
I love these people. I can just watch the videos on my TV using my Wii Internet Channel.
Also, I'd like to make a quick post on the Diet Soda Cake I made last night. Rather than make an actual cake, I poured the batter into a cupcake pan and made 24 cupcakes. Each cupcake only 2 points each! As usual, I found this recipe on Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes blog.
It tastes fabulous! And making the cupcakes keeps the portions consistent. Ok, off to water my garden. I may post some pictures of it a little later. :)
