¿Qué pasa?

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit an indulgence, but what the heck, I enjoy it. Due to the media hype promoting the upcoming movie and the fact that I love to read a good vampire novel at any given moment, I've been reading the Twilight series, written by Stephenie Meyer. In a matter of two weeks, I've read Twilight and New Moon, while reminding myself to pace the devouring until I could read the other two books - Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I have a personal preference for paperbacks, mainly because of the cost and comfort. Another admittance is that I despise Walmart; however, I am unable to hold a grudge when it comes to being frugal, always looking for a good deal of any sort. Naturally, my initial trek for the books led to the Walmart book aisle, being extremely appreciative of the fact that my husband understands my plight with the love of reading - he always has his nose in a book, too. I have a ton of books in a variety of genres which have followed me everywhere. They're my babies and I can't seem to part with any of them. As with music, they mark different life events. They define me, revealing my personality, hurdles, and triumphs.

Despite the fact that it's a three day weekend and there'd be wall-to-wall people in the stores, we decided to make a run to the Walmart store across the state line this morning. I know, it's suicidal to get out in that mix (I avoid the stores like the plague right before Thanksgiving and Christmas). It felt as if we were in the old game show Supermarket Sweep. I shot off across the store with one mission in mind, books then food. In retrospect, I'm sitting here grinning at the thought of my husband with a set of reins in hand as I pushed the cart onward, smacking me across the derriere. I didn't get the moniker "Speedy" for nothing. LoL! Anyway, I surely thought Eclipse was in paperback - wrong! After tearing myself away from the book section and noting that my dh didn't find his book either, we dashed through the store to finish shopping and ran into dh's aunt in the process. We made good time, for we visited with her for about five minutes while attempting to stand out of the major flow of traffic and still managed to get out of the store before noon. David Ruprecht would have been proud.

After we got to the car, we decided to check Barnes & Noble for the books. Naturally, Eclipse wasn't available in paperback, so we went to check at the information desk. With a deft sweep of his fingers over the keyboard, the clerk told me the book wouldn't be available in paperback until May of 2009. You ever see the cartoon strip characters in which one may have a squiggly line above the head to note frustration? LoL! I felt I had one above my head at that point. I pressed further and asked about the availability of the seventh Harry Potter book in paperback. He said he didn't have that date yet. I wasn't too worried for that since I've got the hardbound copy. I thanked him for his assistance then dh and I pressed onward - mindful there were groceries in the trunk of the car to be put away. I think dh felt bad for me. I couldn't see paying full price for the two available hardbound books but he was ready to shove the money in my hand, urging me to go back in B&N. I assured him that it was truly fine and could check online when we went home.

When things were put away, I checked Amazon to be sure of what I had seen before. Sure enough, there it was - paperback available in Spanish. LoL! I felt like such a doofus for that, for it had never occurred to me it would be in another language. A bite of lunch and an episode of American Chopper provided enough fuel to go to the local Walmart store. After a quick jaunt to the food section in search of noodle bowls - which we discovered they no longer carried - we were able to find our books with ease. It was a good thing we didn't settle on Barnes and Noble. The books were jacket price, over $20 per book. Walmart, on the other hand, had them for $13.68 and $13.88. I think Amazon had the best deal, for they were listed as $23.08 (with free super saver shipping) for both books. My weakness has been apparent. I couldn't wait that long. *sheepish grin*

I was SO ready to get home after that. After a slightly eventful and breezy day, it felt good to be home. While curling up with my books, an unusual discovery was made about my copy of Eclipse. Since I always remove the dust cover before reading a hardbound book, I noticed the title, author and publishing information on the spine of the book were printed upside down. Being unsure if it's a fluke, methinks it would be good to check whenever going to the store again. It would be rather cool if it's the only book as such.

At dh's suggestion, we ordered Sahara Pizza (THE best pizza) and settled in for the night. So much for watching Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians afterwards. Both of us nodded off in no time. LoL!

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The Official Stephenie Meyer site

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html

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Sahara Pizza site

http://www.saharapizza.com/index.html

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Flavor day ...

It's Friday night and the temperature is finally dropping. It was a bit muggy today but not too overbearing as it is in the Mid-South. What I find amazing about the Northwest is the fact there are panoramic views of the mountains, the humidity is bearable, and the climate is fairly comfortable - not too hot nor too cold. The Mid-South definitely doesn't share two of the three traits, for it definitely has its own panoramic views; however, it's simply flat terrain - the Mississippi delta. Montana is definitely "Big Sky" country but I can see how the delta is indicative of that description, too. With the exception of a handful of trees in the distance, for the most part, the horizon isn't broken. The land meets the sky. You can actually see the stars also. It's definitely beautiful in its own right. I miss it ... sometimes.

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"Coped" out ...

I should be sitting in front of a computer - other than my own- right now, allowing whatever program to assess my customer service/sales abilities. Yep, I called the HR lady, informed her that I landed another job, and thanked her for the opportunity and consideration. I received a call last week from the now-outsourced company, asking me if I would like to temporarily work in the packaging department for the season. Far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I enthusiastically said I would, hoping my tone didn't belie my somber mood. It appears that I'll be twiddling my thumbs and scaling the walls until the week after Labor Day. I admit that I'm a coward, for I'd rather be safe than sorry. There isn't much to think about as far as weighing options. I'd take the temporary former job over a full-time customer service/sales position any day. I'm not stressing, so it's got to be good.

Enough of that topic for now.

My dh (dear husband) decided to fix baked chicken wings, french green beans, and broccoli au gratin rice for dinner last night. Naturally, it was quite good. Whenever we have chicken or pork chops (haven't experimented with beef yet), I'll soak the meat in a brine for at least an hour - preferably longer. The first time I attempted the brining - about three weeks ago - I was quite surprised. The baked chicken breast came out very tender and moist.

Here's what I did:

I rinsed 7 chicken breasts. I poured 4 cups of water into a huge bowl. To the water, I added 3 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar. After mixing thoroughly, I added the chicken breasts and allowed it to set for a couple of hours.

Afterwards, I rinsed the brine off of the chicken. After spraying a baking sheet with non-stick spray and preheating the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, I prepared a mixture of 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper in a medium-sized bowl. After the coated chicken was placed on the baking sheet, I added a dollop of butter to the top of each piece. Of course, the butter is optional. The chicken breasts were baked for 30 minutes, flipped, then baked for another 30 minutes. My husband raved about my method. Initially, he stated that I could fix the chicken from that moment on; however, he seems to enjoy experimenting as much as I do.

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Discomfort zone ...

I may question my sanity at some point, but at the moment, I can't afford to do so, literally. With a Master's degree in Education, I've resorted to applying for a customer service/sales position. I've applied to local school districts, only to be interviewed once. No response from the other districts whatsoever. As a result of the one interview, the only option suggested to me was applying as a substitute teacher. In the back of my mind, the thought, "I didn't go to graduate school for this," ran -and still runs- rampant. When my husband and I lived in a neighboring town, I was continually reminded by other people that I'd have a better chance getting a teaching job across the stateline. Now, we're across the stateline and it isn't any easier.

As a result of all the madness, the general consensus is the fact that it doesn't matter what credentials you may have but who you know and where you attended school/college. I'm a fish out of water. I have excellent letters of recommendation, high GPA's, the Master's degree, and nine years of experience in the special education classroom - not worth spit if you didn't grow up in the area or attend one of the local colleges/universities.

In the 2 1/2 years I've been in the Northwest, I've been greatly humbled by the workforce. So far, I've worked in customer service/sales and data entry. Customer service/sales wears on my conscience -talking with people who obviously couldn't afford something, and yet my job was convincing them they really needed a "butt scratcher" to make their lives easier. On the other hand, data entry has proven to be undemanding in terms of emotion. Quite refreshing to simply type what's in front of you. No mystery about that. 2 + 2 = 4 ... the sun sets in the west ... No complexity involved. All is good until you're laid off; however, that isn't even the half of it. The job is now outsourced. Oh yes, can we say India? Rather than giving back to the community, the company exercises the ability to pinch pennies so hard that Lincoln screams.

So it appears I've come full circle. I am unable to elude the customer service/sales profession due to the demand. I'm beginning to think that the educational chapter of my professional life has ended, due in part to my wavering motivation and for the simple fact that 2 1/2 years worth of attempts seem to get me nowhere. I don't think my heart is in it anymore. The transition to another profession is a daunting task.

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Another "voice" added to the mix ...

Well, here I sit, wondering where to begin. I'm a bit awkward with any sort of introductions. I've always found it much easier to simply enter any situation without any presumption and allow things to flow as they may. As life and choice have seen fit to lead and allow me to reach this point, I'm sure I'll be sharing many idiosyncrasies as my path continues to unfold. Maybe that should be meant to say "unravel". I'm unable to recall the exact author but someone did say that the only thing in life which is consistent is inconsistency. Somehow, that seems fitting. Everything turns on a dime. Not a real eye-opener there, that's for certain. Anyway, here I am, with a mind full of favorite quotations, recipes, music artists, songs, computer sites, personal and professional angst, and anything else which strikes me in an odd manner.



"Don't adjust your mind, it's a fault in reality." -- Unknown









;o)

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