Neighborhood Watch

Our neigborhood recently (or at least, I think it was recently, I hadn't noticed it before on Wrigley's walks) updated the neigborhood playground. It's not very big; it takes up about the space of a corner lot, but it's nice. It has a picnic table and swings and other new play things. They also put up a nice little sign to explain the rules of the playground.

Apparently, though, only the neighborhood vampire children are allowed to play on it:
Edit people! EDIT! You never know what kind of bloodsucking undesirables you'll have playing in your neighborhoods because you didn't take the time to read over your text!

A Little Piece of Paradise

I just took my first vacation in 4 years. It was well deserved and much overdue. My momma and I flew down to Florida to stay with the g'rents (this was the only way I could have afforded a vacation, and FAR superior to staying in a hotel somewhere!). The g'rents have a beautiful house in Debary, Florida, with a glorious backyard. Honestly, it felt more like we were at some fancypants, exclusive resort where only the rich and famous can go.

Amazing, isn't it? We had an awesome trip. We'd spend our mornings at the pool, our afternoons running around or hanging out, and our evenings going to the BEST restaurants in the area. I ate SO good that week. We also got to see a lot of family, generally in settings that included more yummy food. Our first full day included a major gathering at a great German restaurant in Sanford, Hollerbach Willow Tree. We actually went back again later in the week to get more of their dessert. We also went to a great Thai place in Deland twice because it was so great. There I had the Best. Dessert. EVER! It was sticky rice made with coconut milk and magical deliciousness in the center of thin slices of mango. The combination of flavors was amazing! I need to figure out how to a) make sticky rice and b) figure out how to pick and then slice a good mango!

But enough about the food (which I could go on and on and on about), we also made it to the beach for a day. We went to New Smyrna Beach, which I hear is the place where lots and lots of sharks like to live and play. I didn't see any. And as I don't get in water where things live, I wasn't at too much risk. I got in up to my shins, which is a major step for me (I got stung by a jelly fish as a child, and I haven't been too enthused by the idea of swimming in the ocean since then...I prefer the layout on the sand portion of beach activities.). It was a gorgeous day and the water was crystal clear and warm. Loves it!

Proof that I made it to the beach (this is all of me that you're gonna see from this particular trip).

To conclude, Florida was wonderful and I can't wait another 4 years before taking another vacation!

Vacation?

Why is prepping for a vacation so hard? Clean the house, do laundry, find a dog sitter (which is why the house needs to be cleaned - they'll be staying here), figure out how to get all your toiletries into tiny bottles, figure out if I need to buy a new suitcase, spend quality time with the dog before leaving, slather myself in tanner so I don't blind the Florida natives with my brilliantly white skin, make sure there's food in the house for the dog sitter, try to figure out how to give the dog sitter access to the internet (big, fat FAIL), make a sleeping area for the dog sitter, make sure all the dishes are clean and put away, write detailed instructions for dog sitter, make map of the area for dog sitter, find vet info for dog sitter (my dog is SO much trouble right now)...

I know I'm going to forget something. It's probably very important. I am seriously going to need this vacation once all this prep work is done. Sigh.

CIA Librarian

With a Library Science degree, you can pursue a career with a wide variety of businesses and organizations, beyond that of actual libraries. One organization that hires from the Library Science arena is the CIA.

Now, I'm not sure if I'd actually be cut out for a position with the CIA - it appears to be very heavy on the information science/techy area, and at this point, that is not me. However, how awesome would it be to say you work for the CIA?

"Hi, Rae, nice to meet you. I'm Bob; I'm an accountant. What do you do?"
"Well, Bob, I work for the CIA. Thank you and goodnight."

Garden Update

Here are some more pictures of the garden. In my last post, the pictures were from right after the veggies were planted. The pictures below are how they look today. We will be having a fresh salad soon!














In this picture, the hanging pots contain herbs: rosemary and thyme. The box in the back contains two types of lettuce. The box in the front has teeny little broccoli starts.














The Topsy Turvy on the left has a cucumber plant, while the right one has a tomato plant.














The giant leafy plant is squash taking off...next to it is another tomato plant (Mom loves tomatoes; me, not so much.)



















We have lavendar and sage in the back. Celantro and oregano in the teeny purple pots below them. To the left, middle, we have green peppers. The bottom left has strawberries (yay!). The bottom right is a variety of herbs - two types of basil, celantro, and parsley.

And yes, I had to ask mom (again) to tell me what was in all the pots in order to have an accurate post here ;) I love our little patio garden! It's so pretty, and soon it will feed us :)

Out little garden

Mom recently planted a patio garden - rather than dig up a patch of dirt and planting on a plot that the critters (and Wrigley) could get into, we have all these pretty pots and earth boxes where we are now the proud caretakers of fruits, veggies, and herbs. Well, Mom's the proud caretaker, I just watch. We have tomatoes and cucumbers hanging from a Topsy Turvy; squash, more tomatoes, strawberries, green peppers, broccoli, and lettuce in earth boxes and pots; and various herbs included in the bunch.

I'm excited (for the first time ever - my mom is shocked) for these plants to grow and incorporate it into some recipes. I just made strawberry shortcake the other day, and it will be wonderful to use berries fresh from the garden!

Here's a little glimpse of our pretty, pretty garden!

Odds and Ends, Bits and Bobs

This post is about nothing in particular, just a few little tidbits about moi.

My grad school application is officially complete and IN!

This weather makes me happy. I don't really like the outdoors, but I'm really enjoying being outside in weather this gorgeous.

I have longed, since I was little, to be able to raise a single eyebrow. Unfortunately, this was not a genetic gift. I can roll my tongue, but not that. So many emotions can be displayed with an eyebrow lift. Disdain, disbelief, and even come hither. Alas, I have to show these feelings with my words. "Hey you, come hither please. Thanks."

I don't know which scares me more: spiders or speaking in public. It's a toss up.

There are several famous people who I know, if only we met, we'd totally be BFFs: Lauren Graham, Cat Deeley, and Kristin Johnson are just a few of them.

If I could do anything (had the physical ability and talent, which I don't), I would be a singer or dancer...or both (that is, if that pesky fear of speaking/performing in public didn't get in the way).

I like the outcome of baking, the eating and feeling of accomplishment at something I created, but I don't know if I could make it more than a hobby, though I've thought about it. As with most crafty-type projects, I lose steam after a while.

Hmm, that's all I have for now. Now tell me something about yourself!

How to host an awesome tea party

If you want to host a tea party, there are a few things you will need. First off, you will need some excellent recipes, like this one, or this one, or this one. Next, you will need to set the scene, or rather, the table.

If you have some old china, you can set a very pretty table. I found some pretty and inexpensive sets from Ebay and Home Goods. You can mix and match your place settings to make a shabby chic style table. It makes the table a little less formal, but just as pretty.

Next, get your mom involved. She can magically find some of her grandmother's old linens that will work as a lovely table cloth and pretty cloth napkins. She may even be able to find a stack of aprons, too. (I got mine from Target before I found out about our secret stash.)
Our menu included three types of tea sandwiches: cucumber mint, strawberry, and nut; cream scones with Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam, and lemon curd; and two desserts: lemon curd tarts and white chocolate and chai tea mousse. These need to be timed right for everything to be served at the same time. The mousse has to be started the night before, and the lemon curd is best prepared in advance since it will need time to set (we learned this the hard way). To help get everything done at the right time, it's best to recruit your guests to join in the work.

Finally, once everything is prepared, add the food to the table and settle in for a delicious meal!

Impatience

Last weekend I finally finished my application to grad school. I painfully wrote my personal goals essay (I loathe writing about myself for these types of things), sent in for my transcripts, and begged for recommendations. Within 48 hours of sending out the official recommendation requests, two of my three people had completed my recommendations and let me know that they were done. A few days later, I got a notice that my transcripts had arrived. So now I'm waiting on one person to complete the final piece of my application puzzle. Remember, this was all just one short week ago. There is absolutely no reason for me to be anxious or impatient yet - one, they may have been busy last weekend. Makes sense - their lives don't exactly revolve around me. Two, I told them that I had two months before it had to be in. Three, this was ONLY A WEEK AGO!

And yet I find myself thinking about asking another college professor if he'd be willing to do a recommendation for me, in the hopes that he would say yes and my app would be done, officially done, and I'd be that much closer to finding out if I was accepted and the next step in my life would officially begin. Aye, there's the rub. My life, in a way, hinges on one person now (yes, I know, not really - my life is in God's hands, not people's). If this person doesn't complete the recommendation, my application isn't complete, and I don't get in.

But I have two months before this has to get done; it's been one week since I made the request. So my issue here is not one person and their calendar - it's my own need to control my surroundings and my inability to deal with uncertainty with my present and immediate future. And since there has been an abundance of uncertainty and upheaval lately, I'm not dealing well with things like this.

So again I pray for patience (always a risky move, cuz God may grant it) and to just take this long weekend and relax. I discovered tonight, as tears streamed down my face as I watched the heart wrenching Hotel for Dogs, that I'm a little stressed right now. And maybe a little time to rejuvenate myself might help me get things back into perspective. That being said, I wish you all a fun (and refreshing) Memorial Day weekend.

And now I'm going to bed. G'nite.

Hunger

I had my wisdom teeth removed about two weeks ago and I've had limited solid foods since then. I think the lack of food has made me slightly obsessed with it. Every now and then I get urgings to bake, and this is one of those times. But why bake when you can't enjoy the fruits of your labors? So I torture myself by watching the Saturday PBS cooking shows and yearn.

Ahh, but when I can eat again, truly eat, I would like to make the following:

Buttermilk biscuits from Everyday Baking

Anything from joyofbaking.com (best baking site I've ever found) such as:
S'Mores bars
Brutti ma Buoni
Almond Shortbread Cookies

Asian Slaw from Kraftfoods.com

And so much more. Everything sounds good. Even the doggie biscotti that my mom just made smells delicious, and the smell usually nauseates me while they're baking. That's how hungry I am.