Who has seen the wind?

 

 

Yesterday the storm knocked down the tree in front of our house. It has been very windy, but I haven’t thought that it is worse than other storms. Poor tree. Elinore and I were reading in the front room, so we jumped up and saw it on the ground. The tree crew just happened to drive by about 2 minutes later and went to work. Within 20-30 min it was all cleaned up and chopped up. Promptly at 8am this morning another crew came and hauled away the trunk and large pieces. Only thing left is for the stump grinder people to come. I hope they plant a new tree!

When we were up in our bedroom last night we realized how much privacy that tree had given us. Now it is a plain view into the house across the street. We’ll really miss that tree! Thank goodness for curtains!

Another Case of Spontaneous Combustion

Who would have thought that making macaroni and cheese could be dangerous? Before today I would have said it most definitely isn't. But that was before I heard the explosive gunshot of glass shattering. The dish was an Anchor Hocking product and had only been in the oven 2 mins, when I heard a bang and opened the door to find my mac and cheese falling onto the (thank goodness) cookie sheet I had put under it in case it bubbled over and chunks of glass all over the bottom of the oven.













I have since read dozens of accounts of this spontaneous explosion of bakeware by Anchor Hocking as well as Pyrex. I'm thankful the dish was behind a closed door when it combusted and that I wasn't hurt. This dish was one of a set of 3 that I had to return 3 times to bed bath and beyond after finding chips and one completely broken. If you have glass bakeware by these 2 companies I would use with caution of find something else. Mine are in the recycling and I'm getting Le Creuset, I'd rather pay more for better quality and something that will not explode on me.

Boeuf Bourguignon

I felt inspired on Saturday and decided to make boeuf bourguignon. We had some friends over for dinner so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give this recipe a try. Knowing this recipe takes a while because it has so many steps, we started at noon. The beef gets browned in hot oil and fat, but my lack of splatter screen was problematic, as the popping of hot oil causes injury. So Mike and I were forced to take the necessary precautions and look a little silly. We donned some goggles, elbow length cleaning gloves, towels for neck protection and long tongs and proceeded to brown the meat. Unfortunately, I did not escape unscathed. I have a small burn on my neck and several on my hand and arm.
When we took the stew out of the oven however, it was all worth it. It smelled divine and tasted phenomenal! Almost enough for us to burst into song. Mike made his favorite rosemary and parmesan crusted potatoes to go along with it. Our friends seemed to enjoy it so we're 2 for 2 on dinner parties.

Yesterday, after Mike's flag football game, we decided to find a state park to go for a hike in. Turns out there's a state forest reserve about 15 mins away from us so we headed out and set off on our hike. What was supposed to be a pleasant hike turned into a rigorous climb up loose rock. We did not make it to the top, but rested in the shade of the trees and listened to the wind rustling the trees. There were some decent views of the valley, unfortunately they didn't seem to come out on camera. Today, we're back to grayness and a 6% chance of snow. Fingers crossed fall sticks around a little bit longer. I don't think we are ready for winter yet!

Fall in State College

Mike and I have been enduring endless weeks of rain, thanks to the tropical storm that hit the Caribbean. But over the weekend we had some beautiful, sunny weather, so we bought ourselves a couple pumpkins, some doughnuts and cider. I had today off of work so we got our carving knives and got crafty with our pumpkins.






It started raining again today, so we had to carve them inside. Here's the final result:







Mike did the skeleton with the cat and I did the bat. Pretty neato huh? The fall colors are in full swing and it's absolutely beautiful. Work is going well, I've been getting really good feedback from my preceptor and she's bumped me up to 3 patients, time management is key. Mike and I are still getting used to our schedules and being in the same place. But things are going well!

Toby's in Chicago!

Halloween Costumes

Dialogue with a 10-yr old student.

Sarah: What are you going to be for Halloween, Miss C?
Caitlyn: Actually, that is a good question! I'm trying to figure something out. Any ideas?
Sarah: Yes. You should be...........................Mozart!
Caitlyn: (laughing) Well, that's certainly creative! I was thinking of being a black cat.
Sarah: (rolling her eyes) Oh, that's original.

I am putting together a recital for my kid students on Halloween week at a community retirement center. All performers are wearing their Halloween costumes to add to the fun. Which means.. that I also have to come up with a Halloween costume. This is not my forte. If anyone has suggestions of an easy, cheap, and not-in-my-way costume for the recital I would be very appreciative. Clearly, my cat idea is not very cool. But it is still on standby.

Camping 101

1. It is a bad idea to stop for groceries at the Dominicks that is celebrating it's grand re-opening after a total demolish/rebuild process.

2. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is a VERY charming town, but if you are there to camp and don't arrive until 2:30 pm, it's best not to get lured into the boutiques because...

3. Cooking in the dark is very difficult.

4. Bring an ax to chop firewood to desired size.

5. Locate kindling BEFORE it gets dark.

6. Foil dinners should be at the bottom of the fire, not the top.

7. Crunchy foil dinners don't taste very good.

8. Giant roaster marshmallows are too big for normal people

9. 35 degrees F is VERY COLD. VERY VERY COLD. Bring winter garb, not fall. And wear at least 3 layers of it on every part of your body.

10. If you are an urban dweller in a relatively secluded site and a car pulls into the campsite next to yours around 10:30 pm, and then doesn't really do much in the way of setting up a tent or scuttling around the site, and especially if you are three women, it's wise to sleep with a baseball bat in the tent with you.

11. Pee immediately before entering the tent. Especially if it is 35 degrees F.

12. Cooking Pilsbury buiscuits in a cast iron skillet over an open fire is completely doable and quite delicious. So is scrambling eggs over an open fire with a fork.

13. Farkle is a really fun game, even if you teach your friends how to play and then they smoke you. (repeatedly) Have dice at all times. Remove gloves for best rolling technique.

14. Smoke stings your eyes. Bring protective eyeware, like goggles.

15. It is ok to eat s'mores following any meal. Including breakfast. (A s'more with 1/2 a giant roaster marshmallow is pictured.)

Mt Nittany

Well I have made it through the first week at Mt Nittany, which was a was a week of orientation. Orientation was a bit boring, listening to speaker after speaker after speaker but I am impressed that they make such an effort to educate their new employees as much as possible about policies and procedures. I had a chance to meet some people up on my floor and get my schedule for the next 6 weeks. I am going to be working the evening shift (3pm-11pm) five days a week. I have met some very nice people who are working on the same floor as me, although on a different shift. Starting Monday I will be meeting with my preceptor and being assigned patients. I'm very excited! I took this picture on my way to work this week.

The trees have started changing already, it still seems early but the maples are all shades of yellow, red and orange and the ashes have started turning deep purple. It is quite picturesque looking out over the farms in the foggy mornings and seeing the beginning signs of fall. I cannot wait until it is pumpkin, cider and turkey time! There are not any u-pick apple orchards near us, but there is a fruit farm where we can fill bags with fresh picked apples. Mike and I went last week and ended up with 6lbs of apples. I tried my hand at some applesauce--it turned out really well and was a lot easier than I was anticipating--and today I am going to give apple turnovers a try, making my own puff pastry and all (eek).

White Mts Sept 2010

We've headed East to visit family and spend a week in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Our first stop was in State College PA to see Mike and Laura, all settled in to their town house. Everything was neat and tidy until we showed up and unloaded a slew of odds and ends, including lamps, pickles, and curtains, and other. We didn't make it to the Creamery before heading off to Huntington on Long Island, so we'll have to make another visit.

We had a great visit in New York with some sprawling and funny conversations, a blustery boat outing, some special almond cake, and a walk out on Lloyd Neck to Target Rock.

We left Saturday morning on 9/11 with beautiful weather and no traffic. Unfortunately, Sunday dawned with an overcast sky and fog inthe mountains. We hiked anyway on a trail up to Zealand Falls, a trip made 30+ years ago with Barb's and Blue's families. It was a nice easy hike to get broken in on, and on the way back we came across a moose calmly gazing in a ponnd along the path. No problem. The moose was to busy to bother with us. We hiked again on Monday at Hedgehog Mt and "The Flume", discovering some interesting geology and tenacious trees growing on boulders. More to come.

New Pursuit

Ever since college I have been itching to learn the West African djembe drum. No campfire, lounge on the academic mall, or college-style hymn sing was complete without a guitar and a djembe. And since guitar turned out to be harder than I planned, I yearned for the djembe all the more. I could have just bought one and been done with it, but I knew that without knowing how to play it, it would sit unused.

Soon after moving to Chicago I discovered one of my all-time favorite things in the city: The Old Town School of Folk Music. (Some of you might remember the belly dancing and vocal jazz..) Sure enough, they offer djembe classes for adults! I finally signed up in 2008 after quitting Language Stars, but ended up cancelling my reservation for lack of finances. This summer came around, however, and the djembe called.

My first class was last week. I am renting a drum from the school for the duration of the class, and when I went to pick it up, I couldn't keep the smile off my face I was so excited! I could just see myself swaggering around town toting this mystical drum, bringing it along to parties and picnics to add to everyone's entertainment.. The guy put the beautiful drum in its case and handed it over to me... And I staggered under its weight!! I had no idea these drums were so heavy!

On my way down the narrow staircase to my classroom with the giant drum slung over my shoulder, I should have had a sign on my chest that said WIDE LOAD. Every time I turned a corner I knocked the thing into the wall. Thank goodness I didn't have far to go. And so much for my vision of my bada** self carrying a drum. For a visual, click here. Then, of course, once I actually get the thing up onto my shoulders, it hits me in the back of the thighs and lolls awkwardly from side to side. Maybe it just takes practice.

Once inside the classroom, however, things improved. There are 7 people in my class with varying levels of experience, and we get to drum together for an hour and 20 minutes. Music therapy research has shown that steadily drumming a variety of rhythms can lower blood pressure, increase the level of oxygen in the blood, and regulate breathing and heart beat. Sign me up!

More stories to come. For now, I'm enjoying my lovely djembe and wondering if my playing is annoying to my downstairs neighbors (who are also my landlords). I hope they tell me before they evict me.

At sea.

After all that hurricane anticipation, Long Island (our end, anyway), didn't even get a drop of rain! By some miracle, we woke up Saturday morning to a divine summer/fall day. Today we planned to spend a leisurely afternoon on Uncle Blue's sailboat. There was a benefit concert at the lighthouse, so we motored over and anchored in a prime spot to hear the music. Then we farkeled and watched all the drama unfold as boat after boat cruised in to find a "parking" spot. One guy was particularly obnoxious when he let out about of mile of line on his anchor and then shooed everyone else away from his area because they were prone to swinging. Uncle Blue's friend decided to park in his berth anyway, despite the verbal abuse that was being slung out over the water. Uncle Blue hopped into the dingy and rowed over to help his friend.

Gram, Aunt Barby, Alison and I farkeled. Until suddenly I looked up to see a giant, 3-story power boat cut right across our bow, and as he chugged along, suddenly we were chugging along with him. "He's got our line!" I cried out. Aunt Barby jumped up and ran to the bow just as the tip of Uncle Blue's boat smashed into the side of the giant "Sir Speedy," shattering the window. The driver realized by that time what had happened and cut the engine while his freshly manicured wife, Aunt Barby, and I fended our boats off of each other. Uncle Blue rowed back, and some other good sams sped over to see if they could help. One of them dove under several times to try to loosen our anchor line from Sir Speedy's propeller, but it was too late. We were hopelessly entangled. We waited for the towboat to come bail us out. Finally they did and a diver went under to loosen the line. The line was cut through, but luckily he was able to tie the ends together so Uncle Blue could recover his brand new $600 anchor... phew.

Just another day, folks. Just another day.

Caitlyn vs. Earl

I'm spending Labor Day weekend on Long Island. Aunt Barby just reminded me today that Hurricane Earl is scheduled to arrive at the same time I will. Stellar timing, Earl.

Move along.

New first tonight. I was asked to leave a restaurant. Raise your hand if you've ever been asked to leave a restaurant. Not because I was rowdy, or vulgar, or rude. Nope. Because I sat too long. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, apparently it is no longer acceptable to sit and chat leisurely at a restaurant.

After we had finished our meal, she brought us the check. In 5 minutes she came back and asked us if we were all set. I said no. She went away. In 15 more minutes she came back and asked us if we were all set. I said no. She went away. In 15 more minutes she came back and informed us that there was quite a long line of people waiting for a table and we would have to settle up and move on. We were there exactly 2 hours from the time we sat down.

Is that unreasonable? I'm offended.

How does your organic milk rate?

http://cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/Ratings_Alphabetical.html

The Cornucopia Institute conducted an evaluation in March 2010 rating many brands of organic milk to see who was actually practicing what they were preaching and who was bending the rules to make an extra buck on the organic trend.

As it turns out, the only organic brand my local grocer stocks (Horizon) was one of the lowest scoring brands in the study. Now I have to shop around for a new place to buy milk.

How does yours compare?

NCLEX

I PASSED!!!

Luck

While walking down the moonlit street tonight on my way home, I was overwhelmed by a giant yawn that seemed to come up from my very toes. At the exact moment my yawning mouth was at its widest, a moth fluttered into my cheekbone.

If that's not luck, I don't know what is.

U-Pick Michigan Peaches

Linda and I made a run up to Holland MI last Sunday (8/15/10) to see the Wolthuis' and stop by Crane's orchard to pick some peaches. We were able to get raspberries and blackberries (the size of walnuts!), but Crane's was closed, having been picked out on Saturday. Well, this is peak peach pickin' time, so I guess that happens, and the weather was great on Saturday, besides. But we couldn't let the peach season roll by without a chance to pick some, so we went back up today, 8/19, with another week of ripening to replenish for U-Pick. We hit pay dirt with All Star peaches ready for harvest, some the size of grapefruit and explosively juicy when eaten in the orchard! Trouble is, you eat one and you're full. Here are some pictures. We'll be sharing them with Caitlyn.

Passport Control

After a rushed application to beat the price hike for renewing a passport, I finally received my brand new passport in the mail. Now if I need to quickly leave the country, I'm prepared. Sadly, however, they did not return my trusty old one. That little guy saw me through a lot. All those pretty stamps, gone. My student visa for Chile, and more importantly the receipt showing that I had paid the $100 tax for Americans to enter the country, gone. Now next time I go I'll have to pay it again. I suppose once every 10 years isn't so bad.

Still, I'll miss that guy.

Upstairs

Moving upstairs, the office or second bedroom is directly to the right after you ascend the stairs. We still need to put the bulletin board up (but we have to borrow a drill first) and Mike is planning to put shelves above his desk. The office is also the sewing room, thanks Mom for sending the user's manual!







The 'master bathroom' is directly in front of you at the top of the stairs. It's not very big but it works.






Finally, the bedroom. It looks a lot bigger without all the boxes. Again, more art needed.













We had to invest in a few pieces of furniture but fortunately, there is a place about 15 mins away that sells refurbished furniture for huge discounts. They're donated and refurbished by inmates from the local prison (where the executions are held in PA, as Mike told me). Mike got the dresser in our bedroom for something like $25, there are some scratches and the drawers are a little stiff to open but it works. The piece in the living room is in great condition and was only $69. Today is our first pick-up with our CSA! I may need some creative recipes for things we, I'll let you guys know.

My new home

I know you all have been sitting at the edges of your seats, waiting for me to post pictures of our new place. Finally, all our pictures are up, I've organized 90% of our things and cleaned.

This is our living room, obviously we need some more art.
This is the kitchen; due to the lack of counter and drawer space, we had to invest in a kitchen island and a storage shelves.













And our 1/2 bath between the kitchen and living room.

A Horrendous State of Affairs

Fully aware that the majority of this blog's readers do not fit into the same demographic as me (namely: marital status), I am going to take it upon myself to serve as a both a representative and reporter on the HORRENDOUS state of affairs in the dating world.

For those who don't know, I joined e-Harmony a few months ago because, despite being a socially active person, I am experiencing a man-drought. By that, I mean that my regular weekly schedule (work, classes, church, friend-gatherings, etc) are filled with women. The few, sparse men around are either a) married, b) in serious relationships, c) not in my age/education bracket, or d) gay.

There must be single men out there, there must! I thought. And so I joined e-Harmony determined to expand my horizons. In the ensuing months, I did some soul-searching and went on a variety of dates. Most led nowhere. One led to creepy text-harrassment and an exasperated facebook post. After sorting through hundreds of profiles where 90% of men claimed that the things they were most passionate about in life were a) succeeding in their careers and/or b) working out and/or c) their loyalty to this or that sports team, a few well-meaning friends wondered aloud if I had answered a question wrong in the intake process.

Despite the aforementioned challenges, I've labored on. Tuesday I put in my time on the site (yes, it's started to feel like a job). Mike the Sailor got the ax after several email exchanges of rapid-fire interrogation. He finally said, "Is there anything else I haven't asked yet that I should probably know about you?" (We hadn't even met yet.) To which I replied, "Most likely, but isn't that part of the natural getting-to-know-each other process?" I was thinking, That's the kind of question you ask to a sales rep who's selling you an insurance plan or a vacuum cleaner. To which he replied, "What about you would make you difficult to live with?" Close.

Shortly thereafter, while filtering through profiles, I was horrified by this guy who's first photo was normal, but in his second photo he was making out with his dog. We're talking full mouth-to-mouth. I immediately threw up, and then closed.

Then the guy with a mike in one hand, a pint in the other, clearly wasted and a caption that read "Me singing drunken karaoke." Close.

Then the guy with the close-up artsy photo of his face at a side angle and the joint cropped out of the photo. Close.

Then I decided that since I wasn't having so much luck on e-Harm, I was going to try making connections in the real world. I challenged myself to smile at one man every day as I went about my day. Guess what happened.. no one will make eye contact with me! Everyone is in their own world, reading, with headphones on, intently typing away on their blackberries, etc. We are not doing ourselves any favors here, folks.

Next, I decided to look for a hiking/outdoorsy group to meet some new people with like interests. Guess what happened.. The majority of those folks are older, and the ones that are my age are... 75% women.

Where are the normal men? Where are they? And what ON EARTH has happened to the ones I've come into contact with? Is something going on with the men of my generation? Things are looking bleak. Very bleak.

Any theories/research are welcomed.

Shoe Update

The Merrells are great, though they are all black. (Good idea on the black/brown combo idea, Jen.)

Earth Shoes are a no-go. Sorry, Earth. Negative heel technology is not my thing.

Winter boots have not yet arrived.

My feet are happy. They are celebrating with red toenail polish.

Shoes.

I do not like shoes. I realize that according to Sex & the City and their whole following that as a 27-year old, urban woman I am supposed to spend the majority of my paycheck on, fantasize about, go into debt over, and otherwise go gaga for SHOES. But alas, this is not the case for me. Shoes stress me out. However, I have reached a cross-road. Multiple pairs of shoes are literally falling apart on my feet. I'm starting to feel like I should be embarrassed to be wearing them. Not to mention what kind of havoc they are wreaking on my feet.

It is time. Especially considering my new health care plan excludes any coverage for foot care. But where to begin?

First of all I feel overwhelmed by the conundrum of style vs. comfort. As someone who's been blessed with flat-as-a-pancake feet (thanks, Dad), I have a few limitations. The last few times I wore heels for an extended period of time (aka: a day), I ended up with the balls of my feet so swollen and painful that I had to ice them and sleep elevated. I came to the conclusion that heels are bad. Research supported this. And I threw away the shoes that resulted in ice/elevation.

So flats. My dream (I'm serious) is to have one pair of everyday shoes. However, I have determined that you have to have at least 4 pairs if you are a woman and have to dress up and down on a full-year basis-- 1 pair of winter boots, 1 pair of sandals, 1 pair of fall/spring shoes, 1 pair of tennis shoes. I forgot about having black, brown, or maybe some other color. Now I'm up to at least 6. I already have tennis shoes. Thank goodness.

Considering my post from last winter about my duct taped boots, the fact that my dressy flats have holes along the seam of both heels, and the fact that my winter boots probably wore out because I wore them practically every day in the fall and spring too since I've never had a good pair of that season's shoes, I had some serious work to do.

I placed 3 orders tonight. Three whole pairs of shoes. I'm a little bulemic in the shoe department. I've been shoe-starved for so many years, that I have to binge now. Winter boots and two pairs of sandals -- Earth Shoes and Merrells. I'm exhausted. However, I am determined to give up buying cheap shoes that hurt my feet. Hopefully these new brands will treat me well. And then the next step is clearing out the closet of all those cheap shoes I never wear because well, they hurt my feet.

And I think it's official. My thirties are just around the corner.

NCLEX

I received my authorization to test today. I had to receive it before I could schedule my exam. I am set to take it at 4pm on Sat. Aug 21 in Pittsburgh. Fingers crossed that I pass! I'm already nervous.

How Toby Stole the Show

Toby's show stopping moment at the wedding!