2011 100+ Reading Challenge: April

Well, wouldn't you know it, another month is done!

I didn't get as much reading done as I had hoped, but oh well.  The year is still young!

22-26.  Apothecarius Argentum vols 3-8 by Tomomi Yamashita.  The good news: this series is awesome!  I loved it!  I couldn't put it down.  The bad news:  The English translated series stopped at part of volume 9.  Apparently, DC Comics decided to drop the branch that was responsible for translating the series into English for American readers  before volume 9 was released.  And of course, that would be precisely when the sh*t hits the fan in the series and you're left waiting to find out what happens.  So this means that if I ever want to finish the series, I need to brush up on my Japanese or wait a long time for fans to try and translate it themselves.  [sigh]  But it was good nonetheless!

27.  She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem.  This was a very interesting book and a fast read.  In a nutshell, it's Alice in Wonderland in a university physics department and that summary probably doesn't do the story justice.  It was sent to me by a coworker in CT and when I started reading the first few pages, I was like, WTF?!  But I couldn't put it down.  So I kept reading and before you know it, it was 4 am and I had finished the book in about 7 hours.  I say give it a chance, you might be pleasantly surprised!

28.  Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning.  FINALLY finished the series.  And it was totally worth the wait!  It answered all of my questions, had a great ending, and left me on the edge of my seat the entire time. 

So that's my list for this month!  I wish I'd read more, but May is another month!

Happy reading,
Kelly

Easter 2010 Recap!

Happy Easter!

This year's Easter was busy, busy, busy!  This year we split our time between Michael's mom and my parents.  We'd visited with Michael's dad and grandparents the weekend before, so that made things a little easier.  We had initially thought we would only visit with Michael's mom since we saw my parents last year, but my grandmother and my Canadian relatives decided to visit with my folks, so that made it a tough call.  It certainly didn't help that I was also performing at the Easter service for church and had lots of rehearsals.  If only we could get another couple of days to recover from all the action!

Anyhoo, we spent a lovely, laid back, low-key Saturday morning with Gigi and a lovely, laid back, low-key Sunday afternoon at my parents after spending an action packed morning at church!  I won't bore you with all the details but we certainly enjoyed ourselves on both counts.

Michael, Gigi, and Billa hanging out on the hammock

Dying eggs at Gigi's!

Our eggs from Gigi's...my favorites are the purple one in the front and the blue one with the red orange scribbles that Billa made.

Billa hunts for eggs at Boppa and Papa's house with Daddy.

"Look at my eggs!"

 

I wonder what's inside?

 

The eggs we dyed at Boppa's house.  My favorite is the tricolored purple, orange and red one in the back.  Apparently my family thinks I should be a professional egg dyer now...ha!

Family members:  If you want to see more pictures from this Easter. you can click here for the Slideshow!

Happy Easter,
Kelly

Strawberry Pickin'

It's berry pickin' time!

With my Canadian relatives in town this past week, I took them out to Marble Falls for some strawberry picking.  We had such a fun time and came home with lots of berries.  The berries weren't as plentiful or as sweet as last year's, but we still got a good haul and had a wonderful time.  Last year Billa couldn't get enough of eating berries; this year she was content to hold the basket and tell me "thanks" every time I dropped some in.  Silly girl.

When we were done, we got some fresh strawberry lemonade (yum!) and visited the goats that live at the berry farm.  With tummies rumbling, we said goodbye to Sweet Berry Farm and headed into Marble Falls proper for some good ol' Texas home cooking at the Bluebonnet Cafe.  I gotta tell ya, my dinner and dessert stomachs were both overflowing afterwards!  We all ordered pie and I have to say, I was most jealous of my cousin's peanut butter pie.  I know what I'll be making soon!

After eating some of the berries fresh, I made some strawberry jam and pureed the rest for baking.  I'm going to use some of the jam for the angel food cake I'm making for Easter dinner with my folks.  Michael was sad he couldn't come since he had to work, but we're thinking we might hit up the farm for his birthday in June, when the blackberries are ripe.  Either way, I have quite a few strawberries I need to use!

Cheers,
Kelly

The Employment Saga Continues...

As this blog post title suggests, things are still wackadoodle with the whole job thing.  I've signed the paperwork and everything for my promotion at work, but it's still going to be a couple of weeks before they get me going on the training.  I thought they were leaning towards NOT sending me out of town for training, but it looks like maybe I was wrong.  So I still have to be prepared for traveling, but it looks like that will be at the end of the month or beginning of May, right around my birthday.  Either way, whatevs.  I'm just glad I don't have to travel next week when my family is in town to visit with my grandmother!

Michael's last day with Borders will be this Thursday.  [sigh]  I'm happy and sad at the same time.  I'm obviously sad because of the loss of his job, but things at Borders became stressful really quickly and it's like walking into a sea of doom and despair in there.  Unfortunately, customers see a liquidation and turn into total jerks.  It also sucks seeing your store trashed every day and pieces of it being carried out by people acting like vultures.  Such is the way of things, I guess. 

We are so blessed however, that an old colleague of Michael's gave him some hours at World Market.  She told him yesterday that she was able to find him some more, so starting next week, he'll be hanging around the 'Market a lot more often!  Which is dangerous, because I'm seriously jonesing for some new dishes and furniture [grin].

Michael is still looking for something more permanent though.  He's had a few interviews, but no bites yet.  I'm proud of him, nonetheless.  He's done a great job with his resume and really getting out there to sell himself.  I know how hard it is, and I don't envy him one bit.  I pray that something will come out of it all though!

It's another week and another day; we'll just continue to take one step at a time.

Cheers,
Kelly

I FINALLY got word!  It's official, I am now a project manager!  I actually received a phone call from my boss last Friday letting me know my approval went through, but I didn't get the paperwork until today.  At this point, we will be staying in Austin at least until December for sure.  The higher ups decided to put the Atlanta expansion on hold until Q4, so we wouldn't be relocating until end of 2011, early 2012, if we relocate at all.  To be honest, I'm kinda glad.  As much as I loved the idea of going somewhere new, I think I need to work up to that.  I'd really miss my family, my friends, my church, and everything Austin if we were to suddenly relocate.  At least this way, I have more time to relax, visit with family, and explore my hometown even more.  And if we never relocate, no worries!

We're still waiting for Michael's job situation to change, but he at least picked up an extra part time gig at World Market in the meantime.  Once we figure out the whole transportation thing and his job, we can then figure out the child care thing.  One thing at a time I guess! 

I'm happy that I finally have something to orient myself with.  It can be so frustrating not knowing which way to go or where you're going.  I am so grateful for this new opportunity to explore a different career path and I look forward to the challenges it will bring.  We will continue to take each day at a time, just like we have been for the last few months, and really try and listen to what the Big Man is trying to tell us.  Again, that whole lesson in faith and trust and just going with the flow.  Well, I'm listening!

Cheers,
Kelly

Bento Lunch Week 1

Heeeelllloooooooo, weekend!  So glad you're here :o)

This week I challenged myself by going bento for lunch every day.  Well, almost every day.  We had an in person training from our HR rep, who's actually based in LA, so the company ordered in lunch for us on Tuesday this week.  Yum!  I have to say, the focaccia sammich with spinach, bacon, turkey, and some sort of white cheese (provolone, perhaps?) with a chipotle mayo from Jason's Deli was pretty darn tasty.  And yes, I braved it and ate the mayo.  Shocker, I know! 

Anyhoo, here is my bento showcase for the week.  It was actually a lot of fun to plan out what I was going to eat and to arrange it in my tiffin box, which I finally used!  Michael bought it for me for Christmas from World Market and I just adore it.  It does have it limitations – you can't put it in the microwave and the circular shape prohibits some foods from fitting properly – but on the whole, it's a great little lunchbox.  It's really helped me manage my portions and be conscious about what I'm eating.

If you're interested in getting one, they retail for about $10 at World Market and are dishwasher safe.  The top bin is pretty dang tight, so you could even transport soup or other liquidy foods without issue.

MONDAY

Bottom layer: Spring mix salad with shredded rotisserie chicken, dried pears, candied almonds, orange cherry tomatoes, and a pear Gorgonzola vinaigrette (in the blue lidded container to the left).
Top layer: Chocolate chip cookies, cucumber slices, orange cherry tomatoes, string cheese, honey wheat pretzel rods. 

TUESDAY

The office bought lunch.  YES!  But my homemade dinner of bacon shrimp with cheesy grits and baby spring peas was way better ;o)  Recipe came from Kevin and Amanda.  A little salty, but oh my heavens, it was sooooo good.  Especially when paired with the Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay...now there's a good Chard to keep around!

WEDNESDAY

Bottom layer:  Quinoa and black beans with shredded rotisserie chicken, and baby carrots.
Top layer: Honey wheat pretzels, cheese stick, green grapes, strawberries, and raspberry fig bar.

THURSDAY

Bottom layer: Homemade mac and cheese using "bat pasta" (really just bowtie pasta, but Billa calls it bat pasta, lol!), shredded rotisserie chicken, spring peas.
Top layer: Dried apricots, raspberry fig bar, blue corn tortilla chips, shredded mozzarella and colby jack cheese.  I made nachos out of the cheese and chips for a mid-afternoon snack.  OMG, it was awesome.  I nuked it in the microwave at work for about a minute on half power...best. afternoon. snack. EVER! I'm totally doing nachos again next week.  Maybe I'll add some black beans this time and make it my main meal!

FRIDAY

I discovered the limitations on spacial intelligence of my tiffin box for today's lunch.  I ended up using an old tupperware container container instead which worked beautifully!  In it I stuffed: (counter clockwise from top left) Muenster cheese, pita pocket bread, cucumber slices, roasted red pepper hummus, shredded rotisserie chicken, raspberry fig bars, and dried pears.  The honey wheat pretzels sat on top of everything once it was packed.

So there you have it.  I'm going to try and pack bento again next week.  I'll keep you posted on my ideas, but so far, I think I have an Italian/Mediterranean theme going on lately.  I'm going to try and actually make some sushi or simple Japanese stir fry to throw in next week.  Whatever I do, I am so excited about bento!

Cheers,
Kelly