IKEA

There’s something that I’ve been wanting for awhile now. A BED! That’s right. A real grownup bed, but having made do most of my life I figured it could wait. P and I have been doing just fine without a grownup bed, but we went to IKEA the other day… IKEA is a death knell for our budget. Always. We can’t seem to leave without holding one or two items that would be “So PERFECT!” I really have to learn to control my need/want urges. The big problem is that IKEA is something that P loves too. So… instead of just browsing, we bought a mattress. A king size one that we have a “need” for. It was SUCH a good deal. (We saved $150!) It cost $200. We brought it home in our tiny old Toyota. (A miracle I’m pretty sure.) We saved another $60.

And now that we have it at home we need a bed frame. 

From IKEA.

The Bounty of the Earth

It has come time to let you know just what vegetables I like, and the few that I love. Some of you may argue with a couple of my choices, but I have included them here, because in my head that’s what they are.

One: Onions. I adore onions. Except for the extremely sharp ones you know… the ones that NO ONE can eat. But other than those, I love onions chopped, sliced, and raw or sautéed. Delicious!

Two: Potatoes. I can eat a potato in almost any form. Mashed are the best, hands down. Of course really good steak fries run them a close second. Not to mention yummy, creamy potato salads, breakfast potatoes, funeral potatoes, pretty much anyway you slice‘em and dice’em I’ll eat’em.

Three: Garlic. I can eat garlic on anything. The prepackaged ground kind, the fresh chopped garlic, or the absolutely divine whole sautéed clove. Mmmmmm. Perhaps one of the best things that I’ve eaten in the last three months… Goat Cheese Risotto with Garlic Cloves. (A whole head of garlic!)

Four: Corn. I like creamed corn, sweet corn, corn on the cob, corn mixed in casseroles...yup. SO good and yellow!

Five: Broccoli and Carrots. I know there are two vegetables listed here, but I like them the same way for the main part. Fresh with a side of Ranch for dipping. Broccoli can also be made into soup (creamy and delicious!) or sautéed and steamed (thanks Rach!) and be SO good. Carrots I also love cooked with a delicious crock pot roast.

Six: Yellow Squash and Zucchini. Another Duo! I hardly ever eat one without the other unless I’m making Zucchini Brownies, which I hardly ever go to the effort to do. My favorite way to prepare this beautiful yellow and green duo is to slice them into little circles, sauté them with some onions until they caramelize and serve it over some slightly sticky rice. Summer goodness! Just ask Em. She’ll tell you just how good it is!

Seven: Cabbage. I’ve eaten this in many foods due to my parent’s excellent imaginative cooking, but my favorite is my dad’s Corned Beef and Cabbage. Not exactly healthy, but an excellent use of cabbage!

Eight: Cucumber. There is only ONE way I will eat this item. And that is on an open face Cucumber sandwich. That’s right, a thin slice of cucumber on a slice of French baguette with a dollop of ranch. Light and refreshing! (Again just ask Em!!)

Nine: Artichokes. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Do I really need to say more?  

Ten: Spinach. A fresh spinach salad. Also see above. And spinach dips. It’s so versatile! It’s also SUCH a pretty color!

And the only thing better than shopping at the local farmer's market with friends might be the satisfaction of growing a vegetable yourself. If only I liked weeding.

There are other veggies that I eat out there…and also fruits! Perhaps I’ll dedicate a post to those later.

Seeing things in a new light

Okay, so…. Due to the fact that I now have medical insurance (including vision and dental) I was able to replace my glasses. Glasses that I snapped in half on the day of my interview for my present employment and that I’ve had for four years. After numerous queries to my oh-so helpful Em about insurance, and where to buy glasses… I bought some fairly expensive ones that look 75% just like my old glasses. How do you know they’re expensive??? Well they’re Armani Exchange. What exactly does that mean? That means that these glasses have a little A/X logo on the stem/earpiece. And yes. They look almost exactly like my walmart glasses. I like them well enough. I’m just glad I don’t have to wear contacts everyday anymore. In other news, the job is going very well. I’ve assimilated fairly seamlessly into the work environment, and I enjoy the small tasks that I’m assigned to do every day. It is a mostly autonomous position in a central location in the office. I can see out through our office door and watch people as the enter and exit the building. I work with 9 other people, with a very generous mix of types. As Annie would say, “I think I’m gonna like it here!”

THE last day

Today is a momentous day. It is my last day working for PTC. I've been with them for a couple of years now, thinking that it would be temporary until I moved back to VA. Alas, I'm now an official resident of UT so I finally conceded that I should be an adult, i.e. responsible, paying off debt, getting insurance.
And so long story short, after a six month job search I am going to be working in the Graduate Medical Education office. A mouthful, I know.
I'm excited and slightly sad. I love the feeling of progress and moving forward. Also eliminating debt in half the time = VERY exciting. I don't think it will set in until Monday or Tuesday that I'm really never working here in this capacity again. We'll see.
In celebration when I found out about the job offer (!!!) on Monday Em, P, and I all went out to dinner in celebration of my career transition into adulthood, and MAN was it delicious! Now I just have to work on conserving, saving, and spending wisely. All things I have issues with. We're just not friends.
On the up side, I now have a very good reason to go shoe shopping! And business wear...
I can see already that this may go poorly but at least it will be fun!

The First of Many

I'm still not really sure what exactly I'm going to be writing about here. Mostly there will be bits of information about my life, random thoughts on the world, and Em (occasionally). Hopefully I'll be more consistent than in the past, but maybe not.
On today's ride to work, there was a moment where I just didn't want to get off the bus. I could just keep going in circles. And that sounded so appealing. Then I got off of the bus and continued on to work. I'm a creature of habit due to years of being told that's what you're supposed to do. I suppose life has to have repetition... I mean... breathing, heartbeats, etc: repetition! But a change in pace is nice too. Hopefully I can document a bit of both here, without becoming endlessly self-centered and boring.
On the other hand, isn't blogging all about being self-centered?
You be the judge on how it turns out.
PS I'm glad you're coming along on BriannEm's Grand Adventures (occasionally).