Third time is the charm...

Well folks, as of October 3, 2013, I have joined the gainfully employed workforce once again, this time at the same firm that laid me off in November of last year.  All I can say is that at least they hired me back and that should do wonders for my re'sume'.   Hopefully, this is the last job I will need, but if I need another job, they will see that S&L hired me 3 times and so it wasn't due to poor performance, just economic times!  

I will say that since the first (and only other time) I was laid off, employers choose prospective employees much differently than what I had been used to, in that they don't seem to want to meet prospective employees on a face-to-face basis unless there is something awfully special about their re'sume'.  I have never had as much trouble getting in front of someone as this past year.  I even tried getting an online gig, but all I got for my trouble there was someone trying to scam me.  Plus, I wonder what the employers were thinking...were they looking at my re'sume' and thinking they didn't want an old gal?  As it turns out, I am replacing a "younger model" who was very unreliable.  They could not depend on her showing up.  As I am cleaning up the aftermath of her unreliable work ethic, I'm not altogether sure she was as good at the job as they thought she was.  They were fed up.  So, I am working again.    

The bad side of getting employed now is that my vacation time is now on hold until I garner enough time to take one at work.  So, for now I will just put my head down, nose to the grindstone and get the job done.  Can't say I won't be enjoying the new found financial freer (not freedom) time.  Getting a real paycheck should help a LOT.  Once I get caught up and we are on a level playing field, I think I might see if I can get a couple of freelancing gigs I can do in my off-time to help better with the finances.  Maybe offer a records retrieval service that I can run from home and when it comes time to sell the house, I can take the job with me.  We will see...

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now.  Later!

Fall is here!

Thought I would post something as I've been looking through various recipes in which to use my Armenian cucumbers and snake gourds.  Speaking of the Armenians, I finally used up the 8.2-lb giant in some Phuket curry and Asian style marinated cucumbers.  I now have 4 pretty big Armenians that I need to use and am thinking half of them will be curried (but this time a yellow coconut curry) with the snake gourds (3 waiting and 4 in the garden getting bigger every day)!  Although the Armenians did get some damage from the aphids, they stood up to the aphids and the heat really well.  The aphids really didn't bother the snake gourds all that much and they seemed to love the heat.  I have lots of seeds that I harvested from the giant Armenian and will save more from the 4 that I have waiting.  The snake gourd I will have to let a couple of them get way past eating condition to save the seeds apparently as they need to be almost rotten for the seeds to be viable.

We've been eating on the beans pretty well and really haven't had enough to freeze or can, unless we just don't eat them.  The yard long beans give a nice portion with just 4-5 beans!  I have to make a note that the yard long beans really don't seem to like the heat as they have been doing much better with the cooler temps.  

It rained pretty good here today, my rain gauge said 1.2 inches!  My tomato, pepper and eggplant starts have been out on my potting/puttering bench for most of the week and are doing pretty good.  When things dry up I guess it'll be time to clear the garden of spent plants and put the starts out along with potatoes, carrots, rutabagas, parsnips, radishes (I like the daikon), onions and parsley.  I also need to plant some lettuce and all the brassicas I can get out there.  Oh, and peas!!  I'm thinking to plant cover crops of some type of beans which should do okay until about November or middle of December unless we get some cold weather.

I have really been pleased with the kales, mustard and lima beans.  I picked a nice amount of lima beans in two days and hope they will set another crop before it's time to pull them up.  The kale and mustard should make it through the winter.  I want to plant some arugula too.

I also need to screen compost bin #2 to add to the finished compost bucket and get that spread over the beds.  Then we can leave #1 to settle and finish while we are filling up #2 again.  All in all, I think the two compost bins have been a good investment especially with the help of the black soldier flies!!  The resulting compost is rich, black and spongy and has a nice fungal smell.  The garden will love it!

Well, that's enough for now!  Toodles!

Deb

Time flies

Boy, times sure flies!  I've been busy working at home and busy with life in general, looking for work, working the garden, working on cleaning and packing up the house.  I am looking forward to a week of vacation on our property in the San Luis Valley to visit our little "home away from home" aka a 32-year-old 28-foot RV that has been bravely weathering the elements all alone in the wilderness on our back 40.  Last visit was about 2 years ago and for the second year in a row, we have arrived to very few signs of rodent entry but plenty of dead bugs (flies and moths).  Not sure what they find so irresistable to risk becoming dried up little mummies in the RV... maybe the leftover smells of my cooking?  It couldn't be much else as we leave no food or moisture behind. 

Anyway, it had been really nice to escape the heat of Texas (try 110 heat index) and get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life in the city.  Not that Denton is a big city, but compared to life on 40 acres in the south part of the desert valley - two different worlds!  Not to mention that I have to learn how to cook at high altitude when we go up there - it's 8900 feet above sea level and things just don't cook the same.  For example...

I decided to try to make some rice (brown) pudding and cheat by cooking the rice in the milk (in this case, vanilla almond milk) we brought with us and it took the rice almost 3 hours, yes that's right, 3 HOURS, to become al dente.  I brought it home to try to rescue as its certainly not creamy.  Also, when things come to a boil it takes very little heat to keep it going and when you take it off the heat, it cools off very quickly.


Last summer the heat sure did a number on my garden.  Got a few cucumbers, okra, basil and mustard and by this time last year I was getting arugula, but it was SPICY! Two tomato plants and most of my pepper plants made it through but by fall they were not doing much.  I remember thinking about plowing it all under and starting over except the arugula.  Well, this summer despite the heat, which was actually a bit late and we're still having higher temperatures, we have had quite a few nice cruciferous salads as well as some amaranth, cucumbers (mostly Armenian), beans, tomatoes, peppers, basil, dill, coriander/cilantro, fennel, onions, garlic, peas, lettuce, potatoes, Lamb's Quarters, purslane and spinach.  The cucurbits (cucumbers, melons, pumpkins) have had a rough summer though.  The aphids really hit them hard, some so badly I had to pull them up.  I released lady bugs and have seen a few adults and nymphs that look like little red and black alligators gobbling up the aphids.  In spite of this, I had a monster Armenian hide out until I found it weighing in at 8.2 pounds!  That was about a week ago and I'm contemplating how I'm going to use it.  Probably going to end up any number of things be the end of it.  I have been waiting for the temps to cool enough that I can stand to be out there pulling up things that need to go and planting new stuff like more brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, mustard, collards and the like).  Also, it's time to put in the root crops like potatoes, turnips, parsnips and carrots.   Several weeks ago, I started some new tomato plants and need to get them put out.  I have a couple of Roma tomato plants that I direct seeded that came up and look pretty good.  The Chocolate Cherry and Lemon Boy varieties have picked back up and the peppers as well.  The amaranth is in bloom as it is a burgundy type and is very pretty.  I'm just waiting for the seed to mature.  

I planted a few Jerusalem artichokes for the first time this year.  Was too late to order them from the seed catalog, but I found some at the grocery store and planted them out.  They have just begun to bloom and are so tall that I had to stake them and tie the group up.  I think one of them is almost 15 feet tall!!  I can't wait for harvest time.  I'm getting the new flush of beans, limas are coming on, the yard long beans are doing well and the tomatillos are ballooning up pretty well.  The asparagus is all ferned out and I can't wait until this coming spring when I can harvest some!!!

As I write this blog, I am waiting for my first loaf of gluten free bread to proof.  My sister Angel makes this bread in honor of our sister Renee as she is gluten intolerant.  I decided to give her version a try to celebrate the almost year long hiatus that my oven took.  I apparently burnt out the control panel cooking something that boiled over.  So, for the past year or so, I have been trying to do without an oven.  You sure don't realize how much you use the oven until you don't have one!  I tried "baking" a loaf of bread in my crock pot and while it wasn't a total loss, it was less than desireable.  For the most part, we have relegated ourselves to eating tortillas and bargain rack bread.  So, if I am successful in baking a nice loaf of bread, I will be ecstatic!

Well, I better get going.  Later!!

I'm still here!

Well, December 21, 2012 didn't get me and I'm still here.  A lot has happened since I last put in a post.  Sorry for the delay but 2012 was NOT a good year.  It really started in September of 2011 when Dad got sick and then was finally diagnosed in January 2012 with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma and in Stage 1.  (I think I said that right, anyway...)  After going full bore with chemo, he was pronounced to be in remission around late May to early June.  He had lost a LOT of weight and was a bit frail and started doing a little better but not really. 

By the time August/September of 2012 rolled around, he was not much improved and went in for another CT scan which showed him at Stage 4 already.  He got another round of chemo for his birthday (78th) and the news that there really was nothing further that could be done.  He opted for home hospice and he passed on October 1st, 2012 with immediate family around.  Plans for the funeral was a team effort.  I am so thankful that my sister, Renee was close and could help Mom with Dad's care.  He certainly gave it his all, but the lymphoma won out.  The funeral was well attended by immediate and extended family and friends.  It was raining cats and dogs during the service at the funeral home, and I think Dad had his say when the preacher got wound up and was starting to get going when a huge clap of thunder broke out - it did the job and preacher wrapped it up.  But the rain had cleared when we got to the cemetery.  Dad got full military honors and rightfully so.  I now know what the military honor guard put in the flag when it's rolled up. 

About 2 weeks prior to my going to Arkansas to be with Dad, Mom and sisters, Renee and Angel and try to be of whatever help I could be, I was informed that my job was being phased out.  I managed to train my coworker for about a week before I had to leave.  After the funeral I came back home and worked with my coworker to the best of my ability to stuff 15 years' worth of bookkeeping knowledge into about 8 weeks of training.  I'll just say it was not an easy task given the time I was afforded even though I was there all day during those 8 weeks.  That's all I will say about that. 

Now, I've been unemployed for about 6 weeks and although I've sent out numerous résumés, I've only received a couple of acknowledgements but no calls.  I've cold-called at least 50-60 firms but the majority are not hiring.  I really didn't think there would be many hiring at year's end.  So, I keep trudging forward. 

About 3 weeks ago I got some form of food poisoning which I suspect was from sampling a cheese spread that was sitting in the cheese section at a local grocer.  NOT ever going to sample stuff anymore!  Then, I got an URI just after Christmas.  Let's just say I'm still trying to recuperate from all that.  I've been taking my probiotics and restarted taking multivitamin packets from Melaleuca. 

So that brings us to the present, I'm unemployed (again), missing my Dad, trying to recuperate from being sick, trying to clean my home office by packing it up and looking for employment.  In the meantime, when weather is nice, I'll be trying to help my husband work on the house to finish repairs (replacement of windows, siding, painting, drywall repair and finish the kitchen remodel (3 years in the process)).  We have most of the supplies already.  There is a possibility that we may be moving out-of-state and we want to finish up repairs so we can put the house on the market.  I hope by the time we get to that point, the housing market will have improved.

I haven't forgotten to count my blessings though.  I still have my Mom, my sisters, my daughter, my son-in-law, my son, my daughter-in-law, my grandchildren, my husband, my nephew, his wife, my great nephew and my dogs, all of whom I love so much and get love back in return.  Our property in Colorado is paid for and waiting for our return.  So, we continue to plan for our retirement as well.

Since I knew I was getting laid off, I've been trying to "shop" from my freezer and pantry as much as possible while supplementing with fresh fruit and veggies from the store.  Both the freezer and pantry are showing signs of use.  It's really helped with food costs by doing that and I must say that I really was well stocked!  There is just a minimal amount of meat in the freezer and we've pretty much gone vegetarian. 

My sisters are both starting out their new year by getting back to exercising while watching the new season of "The Biggest Loser".  I need to dust my elliptical off and get on that.  Tomorrow is a Monday and I'm determined to begin exercising on it.  Baby steps... 

Time to get that menu plan finished.  I will try to be better in posting this year as well.  Enough for now!  Take care and "see" you soon!

Happy New Year!