For anyone that really knows me, they will tell you that I absolutely love the holidays! Family will tell you that there are some things I dread - ahhh, the honesty that those who have known you for years can reveal!
What I love about the holidays can be summed up in just a few words - family, friends and giving gifts! I love shopping to find that perfect gift for someone, the ah ha moment when you find something you aren't actually looking for someone, but it's absolutely stinking perfect. Spending time with family and friends is the best part though - it's mandatory time since it's the holidays, but the time is already set aside and even more precious given the season. Annual holiday parties are great because sometimes that is the only guaranteed time that I get to see some people. Looking back on December, I laugh at the variety of them and how different parts of my personality come out in different crowds and environments... It's this time of year that I give thanks for the wonderful people in my life and variety of their personalities and views on life.
This year was a bit surprising in that I actually spent more than 24 hours with both my siblings in my apartment and in my little car as we traveled for the holidays, and get this - we didn't injure anyone! I know some may say that is no big deal - but you are talking about 3 people that have not done that in several years and we can have a tendency to want to clobber each other. All of us have tempers - yes, even I do have a temper it just does not come out all that much :) and it can be quite nasty. LOL
We had a great time though and the cousins over the age of 21 in the family (funny thing is that are 21 cousins too) had our first no adults get-together. Yes, I know at over 21 we are all adults too in the eyes of the world - but we are the kids of the family! It was a great time with REAL enchiladas and fabulous tequila - the only downer was the weather on Tuesday night when it took me 2 and a half hours to get to Naperville, but it was worth the hassle. :)
One thing I have learned this year is that I love to cook, but baking is falling onto the list of "something I only want to do while in the mood to do so." That may sound strange to some given how much I love to cook but for some reason I was dreading it this year. It may be because I had no inspiration on the gluten-free front (I am in charge of dessert for Christmas with my mom's side of the family) so the result was fruit salad - with a twist. Of course if you serve it over ice cream, my mom and aunt go nuts so it was all good. Those that could eat wheat got brownies with truffle topping and took them all home so none came home with me! I got the leftover fruit salad... Yay!
More later because the words keep coming but now it's time to get ready for lunch with friends :)
Coming up...
More holiday adventures (aka spending Christmas day boiling in an assisted living facility for seniors) and other quirky posts :)
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
All this online networking...
Eeeps! This has been sitting saved for awhile, so I'll post it now before I post the newest entry!
The next random thought is all about these things called networking websites - ie facebook, myspace, chemistry, all those other dating websites...
Who knew that it would only take about 15 years for the internet and e-mail to take over our lives? It is hard to believe that e-mail was only really getting started in the mainstream when I started college in the fall of '95. Websites were nothing compared to what they are today and no one had thought to even put up a firewall. IM'ing was just beginning to get started and downloading music was still at least a year or two off. Those were the days when the future tech teacher did not even own a computer and an entire school at the University of Illinois only had about 40 computers for all its labs.
Now, I own two computers and other assorted electronics, can't live without the computer (and my internet connection obviously), am a bit addicted to facebook, have to deal with the firewall from you know where, and trying to get a date using the internet. The internet is now playing a vital role in business, politics and education. We are now exposed to more information than we ever were before and do a fair amount of shopping without even leaving the house. Who would have thought it?
Certainly not I! Esspecially the trying to find a date on an internet site, and when I say trying I mean trying rather unsuccessfully to the point that my memberships are closed for the next couple of months due to speech season.
It comes down to the point that I think I am simply too picky! I like personality and quirkiness (but not too much quirkiness - thank you very much! There is only so much info one needs to know in the second e-mail) and that can only be communicated so far with a website. Part of my problem may be the fact that I am a recovering workaholic that has decided to heck with it! Getting back into the dating scene is scary and frustrating - and it would be even more scary if it weren't for a positive experience here and there. Well that and my ability to laugh at the crazy and say "no way" to the exceptionally wierd. Don't tell me what you did with another girl you dated, for four years and almost married, in bed or the fact that most of your friends are my parents' age! Well, I guess, tell me early on so that I can say no thanks!
But then on the other hand, I am attracted to the lovable geeks! Although they are not always wierd as well...
All that being said, I guess I'll probably have a better chance going online than picking up the random guy at a bar so I'll be back into the online dating thing about March or April unless someone pops up between now and then. Others I know have had some really good luck with said websites, so I just have to keep working at it I guess!
The next random thought is all about these things called networking websites - ie facebook, myspace, chemistry, all those other dating websites...
Who knew that it would only take about 15 years for the internet and e-mail to take over our lives? It is hard to believe that e-mail was only really getting started in the mainstream when I started college in the fall of '95. Websites were nothing compared to what they are today and no one had thought to even put up a firewall. IM'ing was just beginning to get started and downloading music was still at least a year or two off. Those were the days when the future tech teacher did not even own a computer and an entire school at the University of Illinois only had about 40 computers for all its labs.
Now, I own two computers and other assorted electronics, can't live without the computer (and my internet connection obviously), am a bit addicted to facebook, have to deal with the firewall from you know where, and trying to get a date using the internet. The internet is now playing a vital role in business, politics and education. We are now exposed to more information than we ever were before and do a fair amount of shopping without even leaving the house. Who would have thought it?
Certainly not I! Esspecially the trying to find a date on an internet site, and when I say trying I mean trying rather unsuccessfully to the point that my memberships are closed for the next couple of months due to speech season.
It comes down to the point that I think I am simply too picky! I like personality and quirkiness (but not too much quirkiness - thank you very much! There is only so much info one needs to know in the second e-mail) and that can only be communicated so far with a website. Part of my problem may be the fact that I am a recovering workaholic that has decided to heck with it! Getting back into the dating scene is scary and frustrating - and it would be even more scary if it weren't for a positive experience here and there. Well that and my ability to laugh at the crazy and say "no way" to the exceptionally wierd. Don't tell me what you did with another girl you dated, for four years and almost married, in bed or the fact that most of your friends are my parents' age! Well, I guess, tell me early on so that I can say no thanks!
But then on the other hand, I am attracted to the lovable geeks! Although they are not always wierd as well...
All that being said, I guess I'll probably have a better chance going online than picking up the random guy at a bar so I'll be back into the online dating thing about March or April unless someone pops up between now and then. Others I know have had some really good luck with said websites, so I just have to keep working at it I guess!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Wal-Mart question
I really should post to this blog more often and tell people about it (consider yourself told!)! Maybe then I might be able to keep in touch with people better, just maybe...
Well, I had a fair amount of driving to do the past couple of days and that meant a fair amount of time to think since I was traveling at odd times of the day. And for some reason topics that I typically don't agree with kept coming to mind. One of those is the fact that I shop at Wal-Mart and a bunch of people I know don't. They have always said it because of the prices - potential exploitation of labor etc., not treating employees right and the stores not being that great.
For some reason I could never explain what bugged me about those reasons and it finally came to me! I have worked in places that treated employees worse, exploited labor and quality, and prices were atrocious as well as the place being not all that great.
The more recent of the two places was a fish cannery. Jobs were essentially assigned based on who you knew and what nationality you were. Keep in mind this was 12 years ago, things have probably changed! Working conditions were pretty rough and the food provided was utter crap - I lived on rice and peanut butter sandwiches for several weeks. I also will never again ever entertain the idea of eating fish-head soup - gross!
My first place of employment probably exploited its workers the most and everything was based on politics as well. I am talking about the lovely world of theme parks. Crap food for exhoribitant prices (at the time something that cost 50 cents to make was selling for $8), merchandise that was marked up beyond belief as well, and schedules that were completely ignored unless you were 15 (have to avoid the potential lawsuit). The security checks that they are supposed to do on employees - they didn't do them until it was too late. And they would ask you to do things that were not your job, but a supervisors role and then pass one over for promotion - that would happen to a lot of people - and then someone with less experience would get the promotion. Paperwork would be ignored as well as school schedules and such once you got to the fall (and in the spring too) - you might come to work the next weekend and find out you had been let go because someone forgot that you had to be in school when they had scheduled you to work.
The worst was the security issue though. I had a friend in high school who worked at the same theme park. There were several times that she had mentioned another employee to management because he was harassing her, but management did nothing about it. Then he attacked her. Thankfully, with the help of another friend, she was able to get away before the worst case scenario happened. It was then exposed that the guy had a record of similar offenses, but the background check had never been performed. She was then persecuted by those in management at the park for sticking up for herself! The impact that everything had on her was big, but how the employer reacted made it a hundred times worse. There are more details, but this is the limit to what I want to post up here...
That is part of the reason that I refuse to pay full price to go to the place and purchase as little as possible while I'm there. It can be a fun place, but I have a problem with its policies and those who run it.
On the other hand, I have worked at Wal-Mart and I have to say that I was treated a whole lot better there than at other jobs I have had over the years. Yes, there are issues still as they always exist with companies that have larger numbers of part-time employees as opposed to full-time etc. But they pay attention to security and drug issues as well as schedules and respecting people for who they are a lot more.
Random, I know but it is actually the first of a couple more of these questions that have bugged me for awhile, whether you know it or not...
Well, I had a fair amount of driving to do the past couple of days and that meant a fair amount of time to think since I was traveling at odd times of the day. And for some reason topics that I typically don't agree with kept coming to mind. One of those is the fact that I shop at Wal-Mart and a bunch of people I know don't. They have always said it because of the prices - potential exploitation of labor etc., not treating employees right and the stores not being that great.
For some reason I could never explain what bugged me about those reasons and it finally came to me! I have worked in places that treated employees worse, exploited labor and quality, and prices were atrocious as well as the place being not all that great.
The more recent of the two places was a fish cannery. Jobs were essentially assigned based on who you knew and what nationality you were. Keep in mind this was 12 years ago, things have probably changed! Working conditions were pretty rough and the food provided was utter crap - I lived on rice and peanut butter sandwiches for several weeks. I also will never again ever entertain the idea of eating fish-head soup - gross!
My first place of employment probably exploited its workers the most and everything was based on politics as well. I am talking about the lovely world of theme parks. Crap food for exhoribitant prices (at the time something that cost 50 cents to make was selling for $8), merchandise that was marked up beyond belief as well, and schedules that were completely ignored unless you were 15 (have to avoid the potential lawsuit). The security checks that they are supposed to do on employees - they didn't do them until it was too late. And they would ask you to do things that were not your job, but a supervisors role and then pass one over for promotion - that would happen to a lot of people - and then someone with less experience would get the promotion. Paperwork would be ignored as well as school schedules and such once you got to the fall (and in the spring too) - you might come to work the next weekend and find out you had been let go because someone forgot that you had to be in school when they had scheduled you to work.
The worst was the security issue though. I had a friend in high school who worked at the same theme park. There were several times that she had mentioned another employee to management because he was harassing her, but management did nothing about it. Then he attacked her. Thankfully, with the help of another friend, she was able to get away before the worst case scenario happened. It was then exposed that the guy had a record of similar offenses, but the background check had never been performed. She was then persecuted by those in management at the park for sticking up for herself! The impact that everything had on her was big, but how the employer reacted made it a hundred times worse. There are more details, but this is the limit to what I want to post up here...
That is part of the reason that I refuse to pay full price to go to the place and purchase as little as possible while I'm there. It can be a fun place, but I have a problem with its policies and those who run it.
On the other hand, I have worked at Wal-Mart and I have to say that I was treated a whole lot better there than at other jobs I have had over the years. Yes, there are issues still as they always exist with companies that have larger numbers of part-time employees as opposed to full-time etc. But they pay attention to security and drug issues as well as schedules and respecting people for who they are a lot more.
Random, I know but it is actually the first of a couple more of these questions that have bugged me for awhile, whether you know it or not...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Fruit salad with a bit of the BV
OK - so I have actually had a love for olive oil and balsamic vinegar for quite awhile - what's not to love when you get the good stuff!?
By good stuff, it could mean simply paying $8 for a bottle of olive oil as opposed to $3, since this is one product that paying a bit more money truly pays off in taste. Don't believe me, go to a store that specializes in oils and such and taste before you buy! I thought they all tasted the same too until I went to such a store and tasted. The difference is amazing!
Anyway, this is really a post about a rather easy fruit salad that I just literally threw together this past weekend for a party. It was a hit! Yes, usually you can just put fruit together and you are done, but this had a bit of twist.
Cherry Fruit Salad (GF)
Chop and pit the following:
1 pound bing cherries
2 nectarines
2 peaches
Just wash and add the following:
1 pkg raspberries (8 oz.)
1 pkg blueberries
Add about 1/3-1/2 a cup of a fruit balsamic vinegar (I used pomegranate)
Then mix it all together and let it sit for at least an hour before eating so all the flavors can come together. A quick and easy yum!
Next time I want to try adding some cilantro and strawberries (they were not looking so hot at the store when I went grocery shopping), but that's is just the thought of the moment...
By good stuff, it could mean simply paying $8 for a bottle of olive oil as opposed to $3, since this is one product that paying a bit more money truly pays off in taste. Don't believe me, go to a store that specializes in oils and such and taste before you buy! I thought they all tasted the same too until I went to such a store and tasted. The difference is amazing!
Anyway, this is really a post about a rather easy fruit salad that I just literally threw together this past weekend for a party. It was a hit! Yes, usually you can just put fruit together and you are done, but this had a bit of twist.
Cherry Fruit Salad (GF)
Chop and pit the following:
1 pound bing cherries
2 nectarines
2 peaches
Just wash and add the following:
1 pkg raspberries (8 oz.)
1 pkg blueberries
Add about 1/3-1/2 a cup of a fruit balsamic vinegar (I used pomegranate)
Then mix it all together and let it sit for at least an hour before eating so all the flavors can come together. A quick and easy yum!
Next time I want to try adding some cilantro and strawberries (they were not looking so hot at the store when I went grocery shopping), but that's is just the thought of the moment...
Summer and Guts
Well, today I've just realized that school has been out for over a week and I'm not getting all that much done! Granted some larger things have been taken care of and I have been able to see some people already, but as always the switch to summer isn't all that easy for me.
I go from the crazy, crazy times of the school year with very little time for myself to almost no schedule and as wierd as it sounds - it's a culture shock! So for a while, I don't get much done and spend time lamenting on everything that needs to get done. Of course, one could say it's because I'm just a little resistent to change when it concerns me personally - things around me are a different story like in the classroom for example. There things can change in an instant and it doesn't faze me. That probably would not surprise anyone I know! I can seem pretty fearless in some aspects although I can worry things to death at times. Some present situations with elements at work not helping matters any!
On the other hand, I'm scared s***less of going out into the dating world or anything that might change who I am or how people percieve me. I want to make these changes or leaps and start doing just that but then I stop for some reason. It seems like I get to a ledge bordering on the unknown and I'm afraid to jump which bothers me because there are aspects to my life where I will just forge ahead without completely thinking things through and hope for the best. Heck, when I was in college I took the leap from becoming an architect to switching to education, just hoping that it was the right decision. That worked out really well in the long run, so why can't I do the same thing wih other aspects of my life? I finished that goal! What is holding me back from living all aspects of my life to the fullest? What am I scared of?
It's time to take the leap to accomplish my other goals... Let's just hope I have the guts to get started on them this summer!
I go from the crazy, crazy times of the school year with very little time for myself to almost no schedule and as wierd as it sounds - it's a culture shock! So for a while, I don't get much done and spend time lamenting on everything that needs to get done. Of course, one could say it's because I'm just a little resistent to change when it concerns me personally - things around me are a different story like in the classroom for example. There things can change in an instant and it doesn't faze me. That probably would not surprise anyone I know! I can seem pretty fearless in some aspects although I can worry things to death at times. Some present situations with elements at work not helping matters any!
On the other hand, I'm scared s***less of going out into the dating world or anything that might change who I am or how people percieve me. I want to make these changes or leaps and start doing just that but then I stop for some reason. It seems like I get to a ledge bordering on the unknown and I'm afraid to jump which bothers me because there are aspects to my life where I will just forge ahead without completely thinking things through and hope for the best. Heck, when I was in college I took the leap from becoming an architect to switching to education, just hoping that it was the right decision. That worked out really well in the long run, so why can't I do the same thing wih other aspects of my life? I finished that goal! What is holding me back from living all aspects of my life to the fullest? What am I scared of?
It's time to take the leap to accomplish my other goals... Let's just hope I have the guts to get started on them this summer!
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