The Good, the Bad & the Unreal

I haven’t divulged too much on the blog about my current situation at work (aka: Hospital A). Things have been difficult for the last few months with many changes in management. Because of that, and a number of other reasons, I started looking for a new job in April.

To my amazement, I was extended a great medical librarian job offer last week; it’s at an eastside hospital (Hospital B), it’s part-time with full benefits, and I can commute via my bike and a commuter bus. With any big decision, prayer is always involved – and I felt good about moving forward. However, with a 50% decrease in hours, Dave & I knew it would be best if I could find another part-time job to supplement that loss, at least for a while.

Since then, I’ve been looking on craigslist, NWjobs and other job sites. During the search, I realized there are a bazillion part-time jobs out there: everything from computer programming to training children on computer literacy, from working as a massage clinic receptionist to walking dogs. If nothing else, I knew I would be in for a new and “interesting” work environment. The one scary variable was how that would affect my schedule; some jobs require working nights and weekends (including Sundays). Not good.

Earlier this week, I attended one of my exit interviews with Hospital A boss, her boss, the vice president and an HR rep. During that intense meeting, in which I delicately delivered the various reasons why I would be departing, the VP suddenly asked if I would be willing to do contract work for them. He said it would be on my terms.

Wow. Maybe dog walking is not in my future.

But there’s more! Yesterday, I received a surprising phone call. My soon-to-be manager had just finished chatting with the information director at Hospital C (another eastside hospital), with which they partner. First of all, my manager said the director was jealous (huh?!) that they hired me before C could get to me (don’t they realize that I’m still new, new, new to this profession? and I’m as green as they come?). Manager B then asked if I would be interested in working for C, contractually, until they could find a replacement. After the initial shock of the jealousy comment, I said I’d talk to C and find out what they needed. Manager B said they would be happy to flex my schedule, as I needed.

Wow (!!!). I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

The best part of all is that, with both A & C contract jobs, I told them I could help them as long as I could telecommute from home – and they agreed! While I could potentially be serving three libraries at once, and that seems entirely scary and overwhelming, I can do it on my terms.

Note to self – pinch arm to be assured this is not a dream because right now it seems unreal. I guess that adage about good things and 3’s is true.

How I came to be a Cake Snob

For anyone that knows me, you know that I love all things pertaining to cake. And while you may be thinking, "who doesn't love cake??", there's much, much more to it for me than just downing the sugary morsels.

While I do enjoy eating cake, it's actually the creation of the sweet treats that I truly love. If you ask my friends, old roommates or family members, they will attest to the fact that I frequently, if not always, make my own birthday cakes. And it's not because I wouldn't appreciate people making them or getting one from the store. I just enjoy doing it... that, & I prefer the taste of a homemade cake over an Albertson's bakery special any day of the week.

Because of this, Dave now refers to me as a cake snob. (Hello?! Who likes dry, coarse, store-bought cakes that are covered in greasy, plastic-tasting frosting. Really.) Just ask him about trying to find our wedding cake.

You may wonder why and how I came to this level of cake (snobbery) love. Well, I will tell you.

After graduating from BYU, I got a job at a Baskin-Robbins in Lake Robbins. This may not sound like the dream job for a recent college graduate, but I needed something to pay the bills so I swallowed my pride and went back to a job I had in high school and during summer breaks. However, my old boss decided to hire me on exclusively as their cake decorator. I had done decorating in the past, but I had also performed all of the other mundane duties like scooping ice cream, scraping down bins, taking inventory in the walk-in freezer, mixing toppings and mopping up the shop. My sister, Kali, can attest to the fact that while it may sound fun, it was hard work!

So, when he extended the offer, I jumped at the chance to decorate. During the next few months, I would come home smelling like waffle cones and buttercream, my arms covered in a rainbow of bright colors and ice cream in my hair(???). And, you know what? To this day, it has been my favorite job of all time.

I worked in a small corner of the shop, next to the front door. Uniformed in a pink shirt, khaki shorts and blue apron, I would wield pastry bags, sprinkles and fudge with pure joy. The act of creating something was key. As I created whatever design came to my mind, customers would peer through the glass case and say the cake I had just finished was exactly what they wanted. My favorite part was when little kids asked if they could watch me. To them, it was a magical thing as roses, sweeping borders, wild polka dots and confetti appeared to flow directly from the decorating tips onto the frozen cakes.

From that time on, all family functions, parties or other social gatherings were the perfect excuse/ opportunity for me to continue creating. Even though I no longer get paid for it, I still love the process of doing it.

A few weeks ago, we had a YW fundraiser/dessert auction where I made some of my sweet treats. Below are pictures of my ward-famous filled cupcakes. Both cupcakes are made with chocolate fudge cake, bursting with chocolate mousse filling and topped off with milk chocolate frosting. I hope you enjoy the tantalizing images - just be careful not to drool onto your keyboard!

Dove Dark-Chocolate Cupcake

Chocolate-covered Strawberry Cupcake

Long time, no posting

So, I wish I had a good reason for not posting for such a long time. I relish the cathartic act of writing, blogging and spilling my guts out for all to read; it's really a lovely process. I suppose I could blame my absence on the car accident, but that wasn't really it. I guess more than anything I've been quite busy.

Now before anyone says anything, I completely realize that life is busy for everyone and my situation is not unique. With no children, one may think I would have a carefree, unchaotic life, but here is what I've been up to the past few weeks:

• dealing with a dying computer (that runs entirely too slow... and gets worse by the day)
• experiencing an enormous increase in my workload at my current job
• finding a new job that will alleviate some of the stress of my current job
• interviewing for new jobs
• calling insurance companies, doctors and body shops
• scheduling massage and physical therapy appointments
• dealing with a cranky boss that does not like those deviations from my regular work schedule
• planning weekly young women's activities
• planning a huge young women's luau/fundraiser
• attending girl's camp meetings
• planning mini teepee meetings for my youth camp leaders
• trying to find time to exercise, keep my house clean, spend time with family & Dave
• getting a lovely new haircut and trying to figure out how to "do" it afterwards
• getting sick and working on getting well
• Oh, and catching all of our favorite season finale shows :)

I just hope to get back to my regular blogging schedule now that some of those big things in the list above have been completed. I really enjoy blogging because it allows me the time to reflect on my life, share pictures and connect with our family & friends.

Until later...

DIY - CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza

Whether it's just an easy dinner option or a fun way to celebrate the end of the week, pizza is always a treat on Friday nights. Normally, we would just pick up a take & bake pizza from Papa Murphy's, but because Dave was going to be home late that particular Friday, I decided to do it all from scratch. Keep reading for the cooking adventure that ensued!

First, I gathered the ingredients together for an impromptu portrait:

Then, I got the yeast percolating...

and dug a little "well" in the dry ingredients for the yeasty concoction.

After mixing the ingredients well, I kneaded the dough until it formed a perfect, yeasty ball (this took some work!).

Grabbed the cutting board and chopped some red onions...

and a bunch of fresh cilantro.
(I added more than recipe called for because this stuff is DIVINE. )

Chopped bacon was my secret ingredient, which is not found in the original recipe. And besides, who doesn't love bacon? I found that a little of this added a lot of flavor to the finished product.

Chopped & lightly browned the chicken. I accidentally got some cilantro in the chicken, so I threw in some more because I love it!

Yeast does not like me. You may laugh, but I've had countless battles with the stuff and I usually win... by killing it. The finished product usual resembles a brick, which I don't find terribly appealing.

This time, I followed the directions meticulously; I was making a whole wheat crust, which I hear adds to the challenge. To aid in the rising process (where I usually watch it do nothing), I pumped up the heat - literally. To my delight, this quirky method actually worked quite well.

After letting the chicken cool, I added a small amount of barbecue sauce to season it.
Less is more, in this case.

At this stage, you'd usually prep your fancy pizza pan or stone for the piled pies. Unfortunately, I don't have pizza pans, so I opted for a cookie sheet. It's quite tasty to sprinkle the pan with cornmeal, which also helps the pizza from sticking to the pan. Just lightly cover the pan rather than dumping your entire bag on it (like I did).

Finally, while preheating the oven, I piled the ingredients high on the whole wheat dough. (The fresh cilantro is added post baking.)
Tossed the pan into the oven and in 15 minutes... voilà - we had the best pizza in town!

(Sadly, the picture turned out fuzzy, but I promise you these things were amazing.)

Fortunately, I decided to make two pizzas. Initially, I thought I'd make more so that we'd have some leftovers for the weekend. But Dave decided to invite Brett over for dinner after their guy's night at the big REI sale. Famished from the outdoor gear bonanza, they polished off the pizzas in no time! I'd say it was a successful cooking adventure because, in the end, there was nothing but a trace of cornmeal on the pan, the tablecloth and our laps.

A sad day...

On Tuesday afternoon, I was rear-ended on the way to a class at the gym. I won't go into gory detail, but I'm just very grateful that we have a car that received top rating in collisions. From the pictures at left, the car doesn't look too bad. However, it (& I) took a good hit from a large Ford F-250... the impact was significant enough that the truck actually left a partial image of the license plate on my bumper.

I've never been in a serious accident before, so I was in shock for most of that first night. Besides the typical aches, I'm doing ok but I've been off work since then while I try to relax and heal. Normally, I wouldn't post stuff like this but I just wanted to let everyone know; I realize that many of you have heard about the accident and were wondering what happened.

Paddling by Moonlight

Last Saturday, we went on a kayaking trip with some friends to Jetty Island in Gardner Bay. Dave works with one of the guys in the scouting program; he houses a lot of scouting equipment, including the sea kayaks, at his house so it made it easy to borrow them. Although we headed out at low-tide and several of the kayaks bottomed out, it was quite an adventure. While waiting for the other kayaks to get "unstuck", we watched several juvenile bald eagles feast on clams and other sea treats marooned on the low tidal sands. After finding a good place to "make camp", we pulled our kayaks away from the water and up a sand dune. In a few short hours, the water was lapping at the edge of their temporary docking place.

While the men built a bonfire on the beach, one of the women started us on the appetizers - homemade, whole-wheat rolls, freezer jam and butter. By the way, I must mention that Ahren is a great cook! After we devoured the rolls, she and her husband fueled up a Coleman stove and warmed homemade stew for our main course. Needless to say, the food tasted divine to such a famished bunch! Dave & I were in charge of dessert, so I made a family favorite - strawberry yogurt cake. Although it was not chilled, everyone seemed to enjoy a light, sweet cap to our dinner. While playing "Two Truths & a Lie", we roasted marshmallows and tried to stay warm as the sun went down. Donning headlamps, we boarded our crafts and paddled back through the salty water towards the boat launch. By the time we got home, we both collapsed into bed and quickly fell asleep. All in all, a great day!