It may be that I tend to work much harder for something when it gets down to the very last moment where I could still make it work out fine, or that I have this strange knack for being saved right before I fall into a serious problem (it's happened three times in the last year).
Whatever it might be, I have a new job!!
Mind you it's a temporary job, but six months is a decent length for a temporary job, especially when you're working for the state, get paid 25% more than where you're currently working, are guaranteed full time hours at the SAME time every day every week (no more working weekends for me!), and aren't hassled/disciplined for feeling too sick to come to work every once in a great while. Bonus: I get to feel like I'm helping out with the election! Whee! I'll be entering and updating information in their voter registration database. I had a feeling I did all right with the interview, especially when they made sure they had my work references before I left and the guy told me I did a good job (I swear he said that to me as I was leaving, but I can't remember for certain). They said they'd call me whether they chose me or not. The lady who interviewed me called and left a message on my phone today, but just told me to call her back about the job. My mom does exactly that when she has good news for me - she waits for me to hear it in person. ^^
Now I don't have to worry about making it to Courtney's wedding. phew.
All I have to do is negotiate new hours with my current job, or if they don't like that idea, I'll quit. bam. I get very little notice with just about everything I do there, so I don't think they can really expect a lot of notice out of me. On the plus side, next week was the week I took five days off for my brother's wedding anyway, so it's rather like two weeks' notice with just a few days they need to find someone else to work, because I can work through Sunday.
I think I'll just quit, actually. 40 hours is enough to work in one week. Originally I planned to renegotiate hours because the new job was only going to be 8-10 weeks long, but now that it's 6 months I really don't see the point, especially when I'm so adamant about having weekends off (which is really the only time I could work, or evenings, but they have a ton of people for that already).
In other news, I went home to visit my parents this past weekend, and saw my brother and sister, picked up a lot of my things (and found out my sister stole a bunch more things I bought in Japan and lied to me about it), and brought my dress for my brother's wedding home for my mom to alter. Dave's birthday is on Saturday, and we will be going apple picking this weekend, which I am VERY excited for. I love eating apples, have loved picking apples since I was a little kid, and introducing people to it last year was really fun too. :D My brother is getting married in a week and a half, and now I have a new job to tell people all about while I'm there and I won't sound like I'm still the bum I was a year ago. I have to figure out how I want my hair done (and now I don't have to worry about how much I'll spend on it because I have a decent job). I'm thinking curls, but since my hair is in so many layers now I don't know how well that will work. And, down or up? Up is more formal, but I think down just looks better on me. I also had the JLPT study group today, and got a bit of insight into Ross' character that doesn't really come through when we're talking in Japanese. I can see how Fred would think it's annoying, but I'll learn to deal with it instead of just getting frustrated.
Knowing I don't have to search for jobs for a while any more will make me so much happier than I've been...
9.24.2008
9.15.2008
Kanon Wakeshima
I only found out about her just a few days ago, and from the looks of her I was expecting something barely passable for music. Then I found out she plays cello and sings at the same time (the first I've ever heard of someone doing such a thing professionally), and not only that, she's a rather impressive artist.It makes me feel rather talentless when people have such aptitude in the fine arts, because with art you either have natural talent or you do not. It isn't (or at least far less) a skill that can be learned, like cooking or a foreign language. In order to create a really nice piece of art or music, you need the ability to tap into your imagination and be creative. To a certain extent I guess it can be learned, such as techniques for drawing and such, just like anyone can pick up a guitar, strum the strings a certain way, and call it music, but going from there to writing your own songs takes practice and that special creative sense.
Mine used to be decently in tune, but ever since I stopped drawing and writing it's been taking me longer and longer to access when I sit down and try to revive it. It only really works when I'm lonely. go figure.
9.09.2008
lentil soup
I work at a restaurant that serves lentil soup, and never seriously considered trying it until I worked the closing shift one night and was given a large amount of it to take home. I had been working all day and was kind of hungry, and planned to eat about half of it when I got home and save the rest for later, but it was SO good that I ate it all.
Some months have gone by and I tried to recreate the soup as best I could, without much success. I didn't panic, though, until they changed the supplier for the soups and the delicious, thick lentil soup full of veggies was replaced with a thin, yellow, yucky, brothy soup with just a few lentils and vegetables. It is reminiscent of vomit. I can no longer, in good faith, recommend the lentil soup to anyone because it's terrible.
Being that it was cold and rainy yesterday (perfect soup weather), I decided to try a new recipe for lentil soup and fix a few things along the way, and the result was, to my surprise, exactly what I had loved in the soup from work. I happily ate a large bowl of it for lunch, tasted it again a couple of hours later to make sure it really was as good as I thought (and ended up eating a bit more of it!), and even the next day it still looked and tasted wonderful. I am very pleased with myself. So pleased, in fact, that I'm going to post the recipe.
------------------------------------------------
LENTIL SOUP così style
(adapted from this recipe)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves (optional)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 ½ cups carrots, diced
½ each red and green bell pepper, finely diced (optional)
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste (about 1 6 oz can)
1 ½ cups lentils, rinsed in cold water
1 tbsp cumin
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional, for more heat)
Dash of black pepper (optional)
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil, garlic, and thyme until garlic is fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add carrots, onion and bell peppers, and sauté for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add petite diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, then lentils and cumin, and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat down to low and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with a squeeze of lemon, if desired. Serves 8.
-----------------------------------------------------
I was also looking for a recipe to use up the zucchini that was about to go bad in my fridge, when I found some intriguing recipes for zucchini crisp. Apparently it tastes very similar to apples when you cook it the same way as in apple crisp and apple pie. I used this recipe, cut it in half, and only had 3 cups of zucchini so I added a cup of blueberries to make 4 cups of fruit. I also used equal parts cloves and ginger instead of nutmeg because I had no nutmeg in the house. It's still baking right now and is making the house smell delicious. I'm interested to find out just how much like apple it tastes...
Some months have gone by and I tried to recreate the soup as best I could, without much success. I didn't panic, though, until they changed the supplier for the soups and the delicious, thick lentil soup full of veggies was replaced with a thin, yellow, yucky, brothy soup with just a few lentils and vegetables. It is reminiscent of vomit. I can no longer, in good faith, recommend the lentil soup to anyone because it's terrible.
Being that it was cold and rainy yesterday (perfect soup weather), I decided to try a new recipe for lentil soup and fix a few things along the way, and the result was, to my surprise, exactly what I had loved in the soup from work. I happily ate a large bowl of it for lunch, tasted it again a couple of hours later to make sure it really was as good as I thought (and ended up eating a bit more of it!), and even the next day it still looked and tasted wonderful. I am very pleased with myself. So pleased, in fact, that I'm going to post the recipe.
------------------------------------------------
LENTIL SOUP così style
(adapted from this recipe)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp dried thyme leaves (optional)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 ½ cups carrots, diced
½ each red and green bell pepper, finely diced (optional)
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste (about 1 6 oz can)
1 ½ cups lentils, rinsed in cold water
1 tbsp cumin
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional, for more heat)
Dash of black pepper (optional)
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil, garlic, and thyme until garlic is fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add carrots, onion and bell peppers, and sauté for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add petite diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, then lentils and cumin, and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat down to low and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring every once in a while. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Serve with a squeeze of lemon, if desired. Serves 8.
-----------------------------------------------------
I was also looking for a recipe to use up the zucchini that was about to go bad in my fridge, when I found some intriguing recipes for zucchini crisp. Apparently it tastes very similar to apples when you cook it the same way as in apple crisp and apple pie. I used this recipe, cut it in half, and only had 3 cups of zucchini so I added a cup of blueberries to make 4 cups of fruit. I also used equal parts cloves and ginger instead of nutmeg because I had no nutmeg in the house. It's still baking right now and is making the house smell delicious. I'm interested to find out just how much like apple it tastes...
9.06.2008
dress shopping
I went shopping yesterday for a dress for my brother's wedding. In specific, I went to the store I talked about last time, to get an idea of exactly what size would fit me and how true the colors of the fabric were to the colors online because a lot of clothing sites digitally recolor one picture of the item of clothing you're shopping for instead of taking a real picture of each color (convenient in some ways, but for a thing like this, I don't want any color surprises).
Out of all the ones I tried on at the store, I only liked one (which is still amazing given that they were all from the sale rack and they didn't have much in my size to begin with) and it was the right size and color! That NEVER happens. I still wanted to see what else was on their website, though, to make sure I couldn't find a different one for cheaper that was still pretty.
I wasn't planning on being able to order the exact style of dress I ended up liking, though :)
Sure, it's navy blue instead of copper, but I think navy does better for me anyway - it looks better with my hair (the copper kind of washed it out and made it have a dull, ugly color), and I can wear silver jewelry with it (which is all I have, no gold or copper) and it will look great. Bonus: it cost less than the copper one in the store, even after shipping. (I'll be spending it on alterations, though...) Here are some pictures of it!
I fixed the color on the pictures to make it look a bit more like it does in person. I'm really excited to wear the dress, actually. I also bought some shoes for it (in black) and a wedding present for my brother and my soon to be sister-in-law (they looooooove Thai-style food and she really loves to cook, so I thought it would be really nice for both of them). I spent a lot of money today. I also washed dishes for a whole hour at work (anyone will tell you it's my least favorite kind of housework - thankfully at least you can get a machine to do most of it for you!) and had the new pumpkin spice latte we're introducing on Monday, and it tastes pretty good (kind of sweet when you get to the bottom, though). I sat outside on the patio drinking that before going home, and it was very relaxing.
Someone is finally buying my old anime/manga/game CDs! So happy :D there's not much of a market here for that. More money for dress alterations, or sewing supplies.
Speaking of sewing, I'm planning to devise a way to make my own underwear because
A) they're so expensive for what you get (so much money for so little fabric and it's usually not that great in terms of quality)
B) you need a good lot of them (unless you want to be doing laundry every few days or replacing them every few months)
C) they're so small and manageable to make, I would think. You could easily whip up a pair in an hour once you figured out how you wanted to construct them. and
D) You could make them really, really cute/your own style.
Finding a good fit will be the hardest part. That'll probably take a few different patterns and a few test pairs with each to figure out. You can even get the fabric for them from other clothes. :D New use for T-shirts I never wore, and the designs from the ones I wore too much!
I also need to shorten the straps on this dress (the bunny dress I bought in the winter!) so that my chest does not look like it's 50 and losing the battle with gravity. I don't look like that just yet. XD The model looks sort of like that too now that I look at someone else wearing it...maybe I just made a bad choice of dress. oops. but the print was so cute.
I thought I was going to cook dinner but it looks like we're going out for Indian food tonight. mmmmm ^^
Out of all the ones I tried on at the store, I only liked one (which is still amazing given that they were all from the sale rack and they didn't have much in my size to begin with) and it was the right size and color! That NEVER happens. I still wanted to see what else was on their website, though, to make sure I couldn't find a different one for cheaper that was still pretty.
I wasn't planning on being able to order the exact style of dress I ended up liking, though :)
Sure, it's navy blue instead of copper, but I think navy does better for me anyway - it looks better with my hair (the copper kind of washed it out and made it have a dull, ugly color), and I can wear silver jewelry with it (which is all I have, no gold or copper) and it will look great. Bonus: it cost less than the copper one in the store, even after shipping. (I'll be spending it on alterations, though...) Here are some pictures of it!
I fixed the color on the pictures to make it look a bit more like it does in person. I'm really excited to wear the dress, actually. I also bought some shoes for it (in black) and a wedding present for my brother and my soon to be sister-in-law (they looooooove Thai-style food and she really loves to cook, so I thought it would be really nice for both of them). I spent a lot of money today. I also washed dishes for a whole hour at work (anyone will tell you it's my least favorite kind of housework - thankfully at least you can get a machine to do most of it for you!) and had the new pumpkin spice latte we're introducing on Monday, and it tastes pretty good (kind of sweet when you get to the bottom, though). I sat outside on the patio drinking that before going home, and it was very relaxing.
Someone is finally buying my old anime/manga/game CDs! So happy :D there's not much of a market here for that. More money for dress alterations, or sewing supplies.
Speaking of sewing, I'm planning to devise a way to make my own underwear because
A) they're so expensive for what you get (so much money for so little fabric and it's usually not that great in terms of quality)
B) you need a good lot of them (unless you want to be doing laundry every few days or replacing them every few months)
C) they're so small and manageable to make, I would think. You could easily whip up a pair in an hour once you figured out how you wanted to construct them. and
D) You could make them really, really cute/your own style.
Finding a good fit will be the hardest part. That'll probably take a few different patterns and a few test pairs with each to figure out. You can even get the fabric for them from other clothes. :D New use for T-shirts I never wore, and the designs from the ones I wore too much!
I also need to shorten the straps on this dress (the bunny dress I bought in the winter!) so that my chest does not look like it's 50 and losing the battle with gravity. I don't look like that just yet. XD The model looks sort of like that too now that I look at someone else wearing it...maybe I just made a bad choice of dress. oops. but the print was so cute.
I thought I was going to cook dinner but it looks like we're going out for Indian food tonight. mmmmm ^^
9.02.2008
happy September
Another month has gone by. I am still looking for a job, although I tried a lot harder in August than I did in July. 3/4 of the people do not even get back to you when you apply to shit, so 75% of the work you do is for nothing. I feel like I look really nice on paper but the second they actually have a chance to talk to me, the little red flags go up in their heads. I feel like the last interview I had went really well, though. I guess what you have to believe is that every no is one step closer to a yes, partially because you get a lot of practice on the way.
I had a wonderful day at work today for several reasons:
1) There's this one guy who always has a smile on his face that stops in a couple of times a week, and always gets the same salad, plus a huge cappuccino with lots of foam ("dry" for those of you who know the terminology). Thanks to him I have been able to perfect my milk foaming technique, because so few people order such foamy drinks. He also always tips me. :D Today he brought some friends and stayed to eat instead of taking it out.
2) One of the younger baristas that started about a month ago told me today how she likes working with me because I get excited about little things and it brightens her day. That made me feel awesome.
3) Two men came in today and ordered some food to go, and I found out they were from Switzerland. They must have liked me because after I made their coffee and the other server brought them their food, they came back and found me before leaving, and gave me a Giandor chocolate bar.
I got so excited because Swiss chocolate is damn good, and after researching it a little bit I found out that this brand is not sold in the US at all. Bonus points! I also thought it was really sweet of them to give me something at all. Random acts of kindness rule.
In exactly a month I'm flying out to Washington for Zach's wedding, which means I need to find a freaking dress. I'm not in the wedding, but I will be in a decent number of the formal pictures so I want to look nice! There's a bridal store here that has a lot of styles and colors for dresses, even on their online clearance, and my plan is to go to the store and try some of their dresses on just to get an idea of what size I should order (their online deals are amazing, but you can't return the dresses once you buy because they're final sale items). I also hope I get a new job by then so that I don't look like a total slacker, and I'll have something to talk about. I mean it was at that point last year that I flew out there to look for a job, and they didn't take so kindly to me not finding one in 2 1/2 months there.
In other news, I'm getting a study group together for the JLPT and hopefully it will help us all do better, boyfriend had his first live show with his new band last Friday and it was a raging success, it's REALLY hot outside (please fall come soon...), I went to a rummage sale and got some cool things for cheap for my room upstairs (the vase and chair on the left side of the picture, plus a sterling silver bracelet with heart tag and some cute blue polka dot ribbon, all for only $6.25!).
I'm also impressing lots of boys with my cooking lately. It makes me wonder all the more if I belong in cooking school.
I had a wonderful day at work today for several reasons:
1) There's this one guy who always has a smile on his face that stops in a couple of times a week, and always gets the same salad, plus a huge cappuccino with lots of foam ("dry" for those of you who know the terminology). Thanks to him I have been able to perfect my milk foaming technique, because so few people order such foamy drinks. He also always tips me. :D Today he brought some friends and stayed to eat instead of taking it out.
2) One of the younger baristas that started about a month ago told me today how she likes working with me because I get excited about little things and it brightens her day. That made me feel awesome.
3) Two men came in today and ordered some food to go, and I found out they were from Switzerland. They must have liked me because after I made their coffee and the other server brought them their food, they came back and found me before leaving, and gave me a Giandor chocolate bar.
I got so excited because Swiss chocolate is damn good, and after researching it a little bit I found out that this brand is not sold in the US at all. Bonus points! I also thought it was really sweet of them to give me something at all. Random acts of kindness rule.In exactly a month I'm flying out to Washington for Zach's wedding, which means I need to find a freaking dress. I'm not in the wedding, but I will be in a decent number of the formal pictures so I want to look nice! There's a bridal store here that has a lot of styles and colors for dresses, even on their online clearance, and my plan is to go to the store and try some of their dresses on just to get an idea of what size I should order (their online deals are amazing, but you can't return the dresses once you buy because they're final sale items). I also hope I get a new job by then so that I don't look like a total slacker, and I'll have something to talk about. I mean it was at that point last year that I flew out there to look for a job, and they didn't take so kindly to me not finding one in 2 1/2 months there.
In other news, I'm getting a study group together for the JLPT and hopefully it will help us all do better, boyfriend had his first live show with his new band last Friday and it was a raging success, it's REALLY hot outside (please fall come soon...), I went to a rummage sale and got some cool things for cheap for my room upstairs (the vase and chair on the left side of the picture, plus a sterling silver bracelet with heart tag and some cute blue polka dot ribbon, all for only $6.25!).I'm also impressing lots of boys with my cooking lately. It makes me wonder all the more if I belong in cooking school.
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