Life Update

Saturday, February 28, 2009

I know I've been a bad blogger (do my 3 posts today make up for it?). I'm so very terribly sorry about that. I didn't mean to be, it just kinda happened. Unfortunately, working long hours tends to cut back on the time I can devote to giving you all scintillating or ridiculous stories. Per several people's requests, I am giving you an update about life as I now know it.

I have a policy of not talking much about work on here, but I'll give you a brief rundown. Basically I quit my last job to go work with my boss who had moved to another company to be the General Manager. I am now working for another heating & cooling company, but this time as an Office Manager/Assistant to the General Manager/Trainer. I love my job and never would have guessed that I would continue a career in this field, but I have to say that I am absolutely enamored with HVAC. I know, weird coming from the girl with a Special Education degree and a background in caregiving. My boss and I work extremely well together because he's the big picture person and I'm the detail person. And he gives me a lot of freedom to do my job without watching over my shoulder. I hate being micromanaged.

I am working really long hours and there is just a lot to get done. The bulk of the hard work is now over and I think I have the major stuff done. Next comes the monitoring and tweaking, which is going to be probably the hardest part. I am hopefully going to not have to work as much though, which will be nice for me. And for you, because I will be out and about having more time to be stupid and give you some good stories.

I do apologize for the silence, but hopefully will be able to start posting a little bit more in the next month or so. Thanks for sticking with me friends!

Photo Tag

Ok, so Jami tagged me like, oh, 3 WEEKS ago and I never got around to doing this. It's just been sitting in my Google Reader as a reminder for me to actually pull out a photo and throw it up here. Sorry James, I didn't mean to make you wait this long!

Anyway, I had to go to the 4th folder where I keep my pictures and post the 4th photo. That didn't work so much for me because I have all my photos organized a little bit more detailed than that... so it was the 4th picture of the 4th folder of the 4th folder of the 4th folder and I eventually got to this picture:



Regardless of the randomly erroneous info about this photo on my Flickr page, it was actually taken August 10, 2006 at Hovander Park in Ferndale, WA. Which means that this was my very last week up north before moving to Puyallup. I had already made the move on Aug 1, but was back for one final week before officially committing. I went to this park after taking Donkey Lady, one of my old caregiving clients, out for ice cream. She had been moved to an assisted living facility in Ferndale and I broke her out for a treat. And well, now that I'm talking about Donkey Lady, I might as well post a picture of her.



And yes, that's a donkey. That's why I called her Donkey Lady. Not to her face, of course. Just to make sure that people could keep my stories straight. And boy, did she give me some good stories to tell.

Meyer Lemon Skillet Cake

Oh my word, it has been forever since I posted a recipe on here! I decided that today was the day to make amends. I had a bunch of Meyer Lemons from The Farm that I needed to use before they went bad, so I did a little search for a new recipe to try. I came across this insanely easy cake and had to make it. I have to say that I was definitely not let down!

Before I get to the recipe though, take a moment to swoon with me over these gorgeous Meyer Lemons. If only I lived in California and could have a tree of these in my backyard. I never thought I would envy people living there, but these are ridiculously good lemons. Sigh.



The following recipe is taken straight from this site. The only thing I did differently was to use a 10" skillet instead of an 8". If you actually used the correctly sized skillet, you would get a thicker cake. As it was though, this is an incredibly moist and delicious dessert. The original post talks about a sweetened sour cream topping, but doesn't include it in the recipe. I experimented to make my own and have added it at the end for those of you who like precise measurements.

Meyer Lemon Skillet Cake

3/4 cups sugar

Zest of 2 Meyer lemons

juice of 1 Meyer lemon

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

1. Place an 8 inch cast iron skillet over low heat, and add the butter. Slowly let the butter melt while you mix the batter.

2. Place the sugar in a large bowl and add the lemon zest. Rub the zest and sugar between your fingers until the zest is evenly distributed through out the sugar.

3. Add the eggs to the lemon sugar and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the lemon juice and vanilla and mix again, until the liquid is distributed evenly.

4. Add the flour and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until it is evenly distributed.

5. By this time, the butter should be melted. Remove the skillet from the heat and pour the butter into the batter. Set the skillet aside and mix the butter into the batter evenly.

6. Pour the batter back into the skillet, spreading it evenly across the pan. Transfer the skillet into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The top should just be turning golden, and feel firm to the touch.

Sour Cream Topping

Stir the following together until fully mixed:

1 cup sour cream (I used light but you can use whichever kind you prefer)

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Lost In A Moment

Friday, February 27, 2009

I promise you I will give you a post this weekend with an update about what I'm doing in life and why I've been so silent lately. I am currently at home sick with the flu that is going around our office so I'm not up for lengthy writing at the moment. Until I'm better, enjoy this video. It is strangely soothing and mesmerizing all at the same time. I oddly helped my stomach feel better.


lost in a moment from dennis wheatley on Vimeo.

Don't Do It

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Because I feel bad about not posting lately, I'm leaving you with this awesome present:

Sam & Nicolle's Engagement

Sunday, February 8, 2009

So my little broski is getting married this summer to the great girl. We are excited to have her join the fam! They asked me to take engagement pics for them for a save the date card, so we went around downtown Puyallup last weekend and had some fun. These are just a few of them, you can click on any of the pictures to see the full set.