Update

Work is going well.  I especially like the idea of getting off of work at four.  The only bummer is I have to wake up early in order to be there by seven thirty.  But oh well.  I'm enjoying it.  And the people are great.

Since going back to work, my reading rate has plummeted.  I was pretty much reading a book a day.  Now it's taking me two to three days to read a book.  Oh, and I won a book off of Goodreads.  I'm excited.

I will be doing some online Christmas shopping this weekend.  I decided I don't want to do actual retail shopping because the stores are too busy.  And the feel of the computer underneath my hands is more appealing.

Gizmo really needs a haircut.  His hair's getting long.

Lots of randomness.  Sorry I don't have anything awesome or exciting to say.  Life is good!

Thanksgiving

Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone.  I hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend as much as I am.  I got the Christmas trees up, and the lights on the balcony.  Our cousin joined us for the turkey dinner yesterday.  Knowing that I will never cook as well as my grandparents, I still think I did okay for the dinner.  And he brought the pumpkin pie (which was super delicious).  I had no idea how much I love pumpkin pie until I tasted this pie.  Thankfully, he gave us the leftover pie.

And now I leave you with Gizmo's annual stuff-in-a-stocking-and-snap-a-photo picture...

Woah

So the last two days have been super busy for me...  Tuesday afternoon, I received a call about a potential job opening up.  Long story short, I met with the recruiter, had a phone interview the next day, received a job offer an hour after the interview, and will be starting the job on Monday.  Granted, it is a contract job (meaning it is planned to end in March of next year), but there's an opportunity for me to get my foot in the door and prove my worth.

Now here's the funny thing, I was looking for a laboratory/research job with a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company.  I will now be working with a biotechnology/pharmaceutical company but I will not be working in a lab.  I'll be doing technical support or something relatively similar.  It makes me laugh that both of my backgrounds (biotechnology and computer software) will be beneficial for this position.  I'm kind of excited for this.

I've also been helping with my church's nursery in the mornings these last two days.  Watching the little kids has been a lot of fun.  However two things stand out for me.  The first is being called teacher by a four-year-old (even though I wouldn't consider myself qualified for the title) is very gratifying.  The second is kids are a lot of work to watch.

I think the librarians think I'm nuts.  I've been averaging about seven books being checked out and returned in a week.  Yes, that is what I have been doing with my time - reading.  I'm predicting my reading habits are going to be greatly reduced now that I'll be busy in the daytime.  But I'm still loving this habit of mine.

Hunger Games Trailer

Can I just say I am super-looking forward to this movie coming out?  I need to make lots of friends between now and March.  That way, I have someone to go with me to see this movie.  If all else fails, I can drag my husband to it (unless he ends up dragging me which could very well happen)...

Snow

The first snowfall of the season occurred today.  I took out Gizmo this morning.  He noticed the snow right before he was about to step off of the covered porch and immediately tried to turn around.  Unfortunately, he still had to go potty.  So, in the wet snow he went to do his duty.  As soon as he was done, he could care less where I was because he wanted inside.  Kind of stinks that he was stuck on a leash that was hooked to my arm.  So what should have been a very fast run back to the door turned into a five foot run that ended with him falling over when the leash was stretched as far as it could go.  I had to pick Gizmo up and put him in my jacket since he was shivering so bad from the cold.  Yes, Gizmo hates snow.

And to make the day better, we had to go to the vet's office.  We've come to the conclusion that Jared's car (the car I happen to be driving lately) needs a new battery.  It doesn't start well at all.  Fortunately for me, there's a battery jump-start thingamajig in the car.  Kind of sucks that I didn't know how to use it before I had to figure out how to use it today.  And what's even more embarrassing than having five or six men pass me while I'm fumbling with the stupid gadget (not one of them offered to help me) is the fact that Jared's trunk doesn't stay open well.  Yes, the trunk door fell on top of my head not once, but twice (you'd think I'd have learned with the first occurrence).  But never fear, I figured it out and got the car started.  And that's just when a nice guy driving by decides to ask if I need help starting the car.  He was probably scared off with my maniacal reply of, "Nope!!!  I figured it out all on my own even if I am missing that Y chromosome!!!!!!!!!!"

Baked Potato Soup

I thought I'd let everyone know about one of my favorite soups of all time to cook.  It is baked potato soup, and it's super delicious.  The recipe I've listed below will feed two people and a little bit of left overs.  Double it if you plan on feeding a family with it.  Also, it goes well with rolls.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices bacon
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3.5 cups milk
• 2 large potatoes (The 5 lb bag of potatoes I buy usually consists of small potatoes in which case I use around 5 potatoes)
• 2 green onions (The green onions this season have been tiny, so I've been using 3 - depends on if you enjoy onions)
• 5/8 cup cheese (I'm a definite cheese person, so I tend to dump about a cup of cheese in the soup)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.2 tsp pepper

Preparation:

1. Bake the potatoes.  If you're not sure how to do that, read on.  I typically clean my potatoes and fork them (stab them with a fork a couple of times).  I place them in a 400 degree preheated oven and cook them for 45-60 minutes.  45 minutes will give you chunkier potatoes, while 60 minutes will give you mushier potatoes (your soup will resemble mashed potatoes).
2. If you have a husband who likes to cook bacon, then give him bacon duty while you prepare the soup.  Otherwise, you're going to want to cook the bacon and crumble it before you start the soup (unless you're really good at multi-tasking).
3. Once the potatoes are done, you can start the soup.  If you're not good at multi-tasking, then peel and chop the potatoes before beginning the soup.  Also, chop the green onions.  I will peel the potatoes and chop the onions as I cook the soup.  But I have an advantage:  I don't feel the potatoes burn me as I peel them (they're hot).
4. Melt margarine in a pot.  I typically set the burner to medium-low and will gradually move it up to medium while cooking.  Note:  the hotter it is, the more likely you are to burn the soup.
5. Whisk in flour until smooth.
6. Stir in milk whisking constantly until thickened.  I've noticed that the milk doesn't thicken too much. But give it a couple of minutes and verify that the milk has turned warm before moving onto the next step.
7. Stir in potatoes and onions.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently (this is where I use medium heat).  Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes.  You'll actually get to enjoy the bubbles come up and pop because they make an awesome popping noise (or maybe I'm just weird).
8. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper.  Stir frequently until cheese melts.
9. Enjoy the soup!!