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Apparently "soon-ish" means a month later. Whoops. ^_^;
☁ First, updates on the Big Three-
Work: Last day was a week ago- got a couple of cards, $30 worth of Panera gift cards (I have to go out of my way to GET to Panera, but mmm. That's going to be nice later in the fall. <3), $10 in a work gift card (almost laughed at her- clearly she's bribing me to come back in. :P), and a bag of gummy worms (*laughs forever*). Didn't get to say goodbye properly to a few people, but eh. Their fault, they knew I was leaving. I'll definitely have to go in to visit in a couple of weeks to check in with Amy though- Ashley has apparently taken over my exact shift, and I'm really curious how that's going, since Ashley is someone that always wants to leave early and is constantly on the phone for personal calls- she's not going to be able to pull that shit on my shift. Seriously, she called out my last day, leaving just Mary and I all night long, because there was supposedly something wrong with her car. She lives right down the street, you guys. She could've easily walked. That's the kind of bullshit we're talking about here. Sooooo I'm curious whether it's been a disaster or if she's stepped up.
Apartment: Decided that for now, I'm going to stay where I am. I do not deal well with change AT ALL, and with quitting my job and starting school, I uh... might've had a slight meltdown about it a few weeks ago. ^_^;;; Apartment later when I get more settled into the routine of school and everything- maybe for spring semester. As much as I need to get out of the current living situation, it will be the ONE THING that I can cling to that's not changing, if that makes any sense? So it makes me crazy, but at the same time I'm hoping it will sort of keep me sane in a way. Or something. I don't even know. XD
School: Everything's taken care of there. ID picture is stupid, but it's not the worst picture of me ever taken, so I'll take it. As of last Saturday, books and monthly bus pass have been obtained and classrooms have been located. Ver levels up! \o/ You know, I think this school thing is actually happening. Sort of surreal for me. O_o Classes start tomorrow (eeeeeep), so I've had the last week to relax a bit (I needed a vacation anyway) and try and get my sleep schedule in shape. That's slow going, but it's better. I can get up without an alarm around 8:30 fairly consistently, which is... not good enough. I'm exhausted, but that's to be expected. Kinda why I wanted a week off between the end of work and the start of school- I have an 8am math class four days a week, which means I have to be up at 6am at the absolute latest. (Shoot me now, please.) Schedule here if anyone is interested. Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to SUCK, but. Eh. At least the TTh 4pm class doesn't start till the 4th. I'll have a week to get my bearings. Not to mention, on tuesdays? There's absolutely NO excuse for me to not have my math homework done. NONE. XD (Note that there's no point in me going home between the am and pm class- by the time I even got home, I could stay for about an hour and then I'd have to leave again to make sure I got back in time. So not worth it. Somehow I get the feeling they're going to get to know me very well in the library. XD
☁ Random thought: Has anyone ever read a story featuring a contemporary Merlin? I'm not talking about an AU of an existing series/movie/book (though I'm aware all Arthurian tales are just glorified fanfiction at this point anyway), I'm looking for something that doesn't have a specific fanon involved. A twist on the idea, at any rate. I was watching Merlin again and suddenly wondered what a modern day Merlin (and everyone/everything else, for that matter) would be like. Might be interesting. ^_^ It's an idea I'm half poking at off and on in my head, at any rate, which I'll probably never do anything with, but we'll see.
☁ Anybody on the flist use a VPN- and if so, thoughts or suggestions? I've been wary of the whole people tracking what I do on the internet thing for a while now, and now with things getting worse and not better on that front... *sigh* I'm thinking about Cryptocloud, but I'm reluctant to spend that much money on something I probably don't even need, you know? Meh. I half think I should be taking this more seriously and half think that I'm being a paranoid nitwit.
☁ Finished Series 3 of Doctor Who. Still not sold on 10. Love Martha, disappointed she's not staying longer. Also, nice twist at the end there with the insinuation about the Face of Boe. I was seriously like, *jaw drop* (Though I -am- really curious about how that even HAPPENED).
☁ Wasn't I supposed to write this week? And clean? -_- Where did the last week even GO? I don't understand. :( I did at least watch the Who and some Merlin, and I'm waking up earlier than I was. Oh yeah, and I spent a considerable amount of time on drama which I'm not getting into here, but. *boggles* Goals for today: finish off season 1 of Merlin (I might as well, I only have two episodes left), WRITE GODDAMMIT, double check backpack for tomorrow, lay out clothes for tomorrow, figure out what the hell I'm supposed to eat- should probably go to the store for lunch meat and bread, and maybe play some Dragon Age, I haven't decided yet. Depends on how the writing goes, to be honest.
☁ Purchased a netbook, which I've been thinking about for a while now, so it's not a random purchase or anything. Acer, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, Vista Premium (which I kind of hate so far, but it's better than the Starter version. XD), so definitely not bad specs for a netbook. It is called Mieu. (Hopefully it won't set anything on fire. <_< ) This way, I can haul Mieu back and forth to school much easier than I can with Lappy, and Lappy can stay home and rest. Especially with Lappy being three years old now, which is of course getting on in years for a laptop. Also, that gives me a certain level of peace of mind that when Lappy DOES eventually kick the bucket, I'll have something to use until I can get a new full sized machine. You know?
☁ There is a new spice shop in the mall that is just. Unf. Basically, anything you can think of is in there, and even stuff you wouldn't think of. Over two trips, I've purchased basil, a seasoned sea salt which is super yummy, a toasted onion powder which has a bit of a french onion dip smell/flavor to it, a "sandwich sprinkle" which is also surprisingly delicious, and a good quality cocoa powder that smells INCREDIBLE. Speaking of the last- made some chocolate buttercream frosting. Not my first time making frosting, but the first making chocolate. I generally only make stuff that I can't buy pre-made, like the mint. Just... Oh. My. GOD. I don't think I'll ever be able to buy canned chocolate frosting again. This stuff is just... I could've eaten the entire bowl of just frosting, seriously. Made a mix of butter pecan cake and frosted it with the chocolate, though there's still a ton left. I have no idea what I'm going to -do- with the rest of it yet, but... I'll think of something. ^_~ I rearranged my kitchen cabinet yesterday and apparently have a bunch of cake mixes hanging around, so. I see lots of cake in my future.
☁ Speaking of food, my rice cooker died. ;~; It lasted about three years I think though, and it was only a $10 machine I got from work, so I can't really complain, even if I was fairly upset about it at the time. Still kind of a wtf to me. It's just a machine, Ver. XD I have since replaced it- this one has a non-stick bowl, so that's pretty shiny. My biggest issue with the new one? Even though it's supposed to be the same size as the old cooker, I think it's a little bit smaller, because when I made macaroni and cheese in it the other day, it bubbled out from the top and made a mess. Same ingredient measurements I always use. -_- I'm thinking if I cut down both the milk/cream and the chicken broth by a quarter cup, that should be sufficient. Oh, the other thing on that- I've tried the mac and cheese recipe with milk (skim) instead of the heavy cream. It's still heavy, but it doesn't feel like you just ate a brick afterward, so that's an improvement. The only thing is flavor. It's still good, but it's missing something. Okay, I know what it's missing, but nevermind. XD I'm trying to REPLACE the fat with better things, dammit. I swapped out salt for the seasoned salt and that was an improvement. I might just not mess with it anymore, since like I said, it's still good, but. It's just not quite the same and I'm not sure what to do about it. :/
☁ Though really, I shouldn't be making any of this stuff at all. I've gained about 20 pounds, give or take a few, over the past several months. It's been really stressful and I've reverted back to the old comfort foods... which obviously I need to stop doing, and I know better. >_< Problem is... saying it and doing it are two totally different things. I'm a master of the first. Not so much on the second.
In the interest of not ending the entry on that note... here, have a Mieu:
You're welcome.
☁ First, updates on the Big Three-
Work: Last day was a week ago- got a couple of cards, $30 worth of Panera gift cards (I have to go out of my way to GET to Panera, but mmm. That's going to be nice later in the fall. <3), $10 in a work gift card (almost laughed at her- clearly she's bribing me to come back in. :P), and a bag of gummy worms (*laughs forever*). Didn't get to say goodbye properly to a few people, but eh. Their fault, they knew I was leaving. I'll definitely have to go in to visit in a couple of weeks to check in with Amy though- Ashley has apparently taken over my exact shift, and I'm really curious how that's going, since Ashley is someone that always wants to leave early and is constantly on the phone for personal calls- she's not going to be able to pull that shit on my shift. Seriously, she called out my last day, leaving just Mary and I all night long, because there was supposedly something wrong with her car. She lives right down the street, you guys. She could've easily walked. That's the kind of bullshit we're talking about here. Sooooo I'm curious whether it's been a disaster or if she's stepped up.
Apartment: Decided that for now, I'm going to stay where I am. I do not deal well with change AT ALL, and with quitting my job and starting school, I uh... might've had a slight meltdown about it a few weeks ago. ^_^;;; Apartment later when I get more settled into the routine of school and everything- maybe for spring semester. As much as I need to get out of the current living situation, it will be the ONE THING that I can cling to that's not changing, if that makes any sense? So it makes me crazy, but at the same time I'm hoping it will sort of keep me sane in a way. Or something. I don't even know. XD
School: Everything's taken care of there. ID picture is stupid, but it's not the worst picture of me ever taken, so I'll take it. As of last Saturday, books and monthly bus pass have been obtained and classrooms have been located. Ver levels up! \o/ You know, I think this school thing is actually happening. Sort of surreal for me. O_o Classes start tomorrow (eeeeeep), so I've had the last week to relax a bit (I needed a vacation anyway) and try and get my sleep schedule in shape. That's slow going, but it's better. I can get up without an alarm around 8:30 fairly consistently, which is... not good enough. I'm exhausted, but that's to be expected. Kinda why I wanted a week off between the end of work and the start of school- I have an 8am math class four days a week, which means I have to be up at 6am at the absolute latest. (Shoot me now, please.) Schedule here if anyone is interested. Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to SUCK, but. Eh. At least the TTh 4pm class doesn't start till the 4th. I'll have a week to get my bearings. Not to mention, on tuesdays? There's absolutely NO excuse for me to not have my math homework done. NONE. XD (Note that there's no point in me going home between the am and pm class- by the time I even got home, I could stay for about an hour and then I'd have to leave again to make sure I got back in time. So not worth it. Somehow I get the feeling they're going to get to know me very well in the library. XD
☁ Random thought: Has anyone ever read a story featuring a contemporary Merlin? I'm not talking about an AU of an existing series/movie/book (though I'm aware all Arthurian tales are just glorified fanfiction at this point anyway), I'm looking for something that doesn't have a specific fanon involved. A twist on the idea, at any rate. I was watching Merlin again and suddenly wondered what a modern day Merlin (and everyone/everything else, for that matter) would be like. Might be interesting. ^_^ It's an idea I'm half poking at off and on in my head, at any rate, which I'll probably never do anything with, but we'll see.
☁ Anybody on the flist use a VPN- and if so, thoughts or suggestions? I've been wary of the whole people tracking what I do on the internet thing for a while now, and now with things getting worse and not better on that front... *sigh* I'm thinking about Cryptocloud, but I'm reluctant to spend that much money on something I probably don't even need, you know? Meh. I half think I should be taking this more seriously and half think that I'm being a paranoid nitwit.
☁ Finished Series 3 of Doctor Who. Still not sold on 10. Love Martha, disappointed she's not staying longer. Also, nice twist at the end there with the insinuation about the Face of Boe. I was seriously like, *jaw drop* (Though I -am- really curious about how that even HAPPENED).
☁ Wasn't I supposed to write this week? And clean? -_- Where did the last week even GO? I don't understand. :( I did at least watch the Who and some Merlin, and I'm waking up earlier than I was. Oh yeah, and I spent a considerable amount of time on drama which I'm not getting into here, but. *boggles* Goals for today: finish off season 1 of Merlin (I might as well, I only have two episodes left), WRITE GODDAMMIT, double check backpack for tomorrow, lay out clothes for tomorrow, figure out what the hell I'm supposed to eat- should probably go to the store for lunch meat and bread, and maybe play some Dragon Age, I haven't decided yet. Depends on how the writing goes, to be honest.
☁ Purchased a netbook, which I've been thinking about for a while now, so it's not a random purchase or anything. Acer, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, Vista Premium (which I kind of hate so far, but it's better than the Starter version. XD), so definitely not bad specs for a netbook. It is called Mieu. (Hopefully it won't set anything on fire. <_< ) This way, I can haul Mieu back and forth to school much easier than I can with Lappy, and Lappy can stay home and rest. Especially with Lappy being three years old now, which is of course getting on in years for a laptop. Also, that gives me a certain level of peace of mind that when Lappy DOES eventually kick the bucket, I'll have something to use until I can get a new full sized machine. You know?
☁ There is a new spice shop in the mall that is just. Unf. Basically, anything you can think of is in there, and even stuff you wouldn't think of. Over two trips, I've purchased basil, a seasoned sea salt which is super yummy, a toasted onion powder which has a bit of a french onion dip smell/flavor to it, a "sandwich sprinkle" which is also surprisingly delicious, and a good quality cocoa powder that smells INCREDIBLE. Speaking of the last- made some chocolate buttercream frosting. Not my first time making frosting, but the first making chocolate. I generally only make stuff that I can't buy pre-made, like the mint. Just... Oh. My. GOD. I don't think I'll ever be able to buy canned chocolate frosting again. This stuff is just... I could've eaten the entire bowl of just frosting, seriously. Made a mix of butter pecan cake and frosted it with the chocolate, though there's still a ton left. I have no idea what I'm going to -do- with the rest of it yet, but... I'll think of something. ^_~ I rearranged my kitchen cabinet yesterday and apparently have a bunch of cake mixes hanging around, so. I see lots of cake in my future.
☁ Speaking of food, my rice cooker died. ;~; It lasted about three years I think though, and it was only a $10 machine I got from work, so I can't really complain, even if I was fairly upset about it at the time. Still kind of a wtf to me. It's just a machine, Ver. XD I have since replaced it- this one has a non-stick bowl, so that's pretty shiny. My biggest issue with the new one? Even though it's supposed to be the same size as the old cooker, I think it's a little bit smaller, because when I made macaroni and cheese in it the other day, it bubbled out from the top and made a mess. Same ingredient measurements I always use. -_- I'm thinking if I cut down both the milk/cream and the chicken broth by a quarter cup, that should be sufficient. Oh, the other thing on that- I've tried the mac and cheese recipe with milk (skim) instead of the heavy cream. It's still heavy, but it doesn't feel like you just ate a brick afterward, so that's an improvement. The only thing is flavor. It's still good, but it's missing something. Okay, I know what it's missing, but nevermind. XD I'm trying to REPLACE the fat with better things, dammit. I swapped out salt for the seasoned salt and that was an improvement. I might just not mess with it anymore, since like I said, it's still good, but. It's just not quite the same and I'm not sure what to do about it. :/
☁ Though really, I shouldn't be making any of this stuff at all. I've gained about 20 pounds, give or take a few, over the past several months. It's been really stressful and I've reverted back to the old comfort foods... which obviously I need to stop doing, and I know better. >_< Problem is... saying it and doing it are two totally different things. I'm a master of the first. Not so much on the second.
In the interest of not ending the entry on that note... here, have a Mieu:
You're welcome.
Tags:
no subject
Date: August 26th, 2012 05:33 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: August 26th, 2012 10:04 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: August 26th, 2012 09:05 pm (UTC)From:So. Many.
no subject
Date: August 26th, 2012 10:05 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: August 27th, 2012 12:31 am (UTC)From:Mac 'n Cheese via rice cooker? Hmm. /ponders this. Do, do you just toss everything in and let it cook, like in a slow cooker? Or is there something else you do?
♥♥♥
no subject
Date: August 27th, 2012 02:49 am (UTC)From:More or less like a slow cooker? Here's the recipe- note that this is for a 3 cup rice cooker. ^_^
1 1/2 cup macaroni of your choice (shells, stars, macaroni etc)
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup chicken broth/stock
3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice (I use a generic "macaroni and cheese" mix that has American, Swiss, and cheddar, but YMMV.)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup Parmesan (I've used both shredded and the type in the can, and honestly I think the canned turns out better. But again, that's a personal thing.)
1/4 tsp Kosher/Sea Salt
1. Combine noodles, broth & cream in rice cooker.
2. When machine switches to warm (about an hour), add rest of ingredients & stir thoroughly until cheese in melted.
3. Set it to cook again and when it switches back to warm in a few minutes, it's done. Unplug the cooker, let it cool a bit, and serve.
no subject
Date: August 27th, 2012 05:24 am (UTC)From:Re: VPN, have you thought about just using TOR (https://www.torproject.org/)? It might be better for you. It WILL slow your internet surfing, though. I personally think you might be a little paranoid about the whole people-tracking-you-on-the-internet thing. *grin* What exactly are you worried about? I can give you specific ideas/tips on what to do to cut down on tracking/etc.
YAY NETBOOK. ♥
Okay, seriously, spice shop is awesome. <3
Sorry the rice cooker died, but I'm really glad you have a new one!
no subject
Date: August 28th, 2012 03:48 pm (UTC)From:♥ I hope I can, I feel like I've started out behind here and I've only had three classes. I know there will be an adjustment period and it's going to be hard for a little bit, but still. Freaking out just a little. O_o Need to remember to breathe and take things just one step at a time.
Re: Tracking- It's just kind of a general nagging feeling in the back of my mind, really. I'm not obsessing over it or anything. Mostly, I'm worried about the rare occasions when I do download things. Probably not enough to actually do anything about it, but there you have it.
Yeah, the spice shop IS awesome. You'd probably love it. ^_^
no subject
Date: August 28th, 2012 03:50 pm (UTC)From:*pats* I TOTALLY understand, I was freaking out last week (not that much better this week, but somewhat better.)
XD Nah. You're fine. If you really care, turn on privacy mode in Firefox/IE/Chrome when you do something like that, and if you REALLY care, run TOR.
♥ I bet. Name? Is it a chain, do they have online store?
no subject
Date: August 28th, 2012 11:40 pm (UTC)From:I'm glad you feel a little better. ♥ So far I've spent about 3 hours on a math worksheet. I've completed 12 out of 16 problems. >_< Definitely spending some time in her office tomorrow, I think.
Penzey's Spices. It is indeed a chain, and they exist in CO. I don't know how close they are to you, but they're around somewhere. XD
no subject
Date: August 29th, 2012 05:35 am (UTC)From:Good luck! I am dead, the paper is due and I haven't finished it, and OMG there is class reading and I haven't done it either!
They have a catalog! *requests* ♥