New job and new medication

I have been on Belladonna for my IBS. I learned in nursing school that it is probably why I had focus issues in class. I also learned in nursing that one shouldn’t just stop taking belladonna. So… I stopped taking belladonna and my fluoxetine around the same time. And I survived! Yay~ I think…

I have been wary of going back on any medications for my IBS or my other issues for fear of it interfering with me and my job.

Now I am on Bentyl for my IBS. Safe for the job. Kinda. Anyone else on this one? I just need to know- does the vertigo stop or start at random times? Sometimes I feel like the floor dropped out form beneath me then popped back up. But that could also be related to my anxiety.

Anxiety that has exponentially increased since I was recently removed from my position at my job. 6 months of taking all their shit and unfair work practices… And they let me go. Oh well, such is life and my self esteem is shattered.

I did manage the pick up a part time job. Need the money! And this place is not much better. Well, better than the previous but… we are all clocking out to refrain from collecting overtime so that management does not yell at us, aka. fire us.

I see these girls staying 2 – 3 hours OT to finish their paperwork. Most of them come in an hour to half an hour earlier to get a head start on what they need to do – off the clock! That is kind of ridiculous, no?

More and more I am coming to the conclusion that 8-hours in nursing is not a good idea. At my first job as an LVN, I worked 12-hour shifts. It was great, it was wonderful… You work 3 days, off 4… You never fight the doctors for the chart. You come in early enough to get work done and leave late enough to get work done. 12-hours was enough time (for me) to complete all my expected tasks. I may miss a couple pharmacy runs but I got it done.

I am slow at understanding the business of my job. I know what my role is and what I am supposed to do. But I have the hardest time grasping the whole picture.

Well, its only been 3 years. If my vertigo doesn’t do in me first, maybe this is the year I will figure it out.

Rambling done!

 

Dahlias are here!

My order from Dan’s Dahlias came in the other day. 5 gorgeous plump tubers for me to plant. Somewhere… I have 2.5, 3, and 5 gallon buckets. I am thinking of planting them in the 3 gallon buckets and hoping that it won’t be too small for it.

Most of the sites I have researched growing dahlias in containers have suggested 8.5 inch Azalea pots. So… I am thinking my 3 gallon buckets will be A-OK!

Excited!!!

Happy belated Valentine’s day

Worst day of my life lived so far. I was suspended from work on 2/14/2013 pending investigation to prove that I am a sorry, no-good, dirty, rotten nurse out to line her pockets with patients’ tears and pain and… whatever else.

In truth, I think they are fighting for a reason to fire me due to the fact that I reported to my union that 1) they reduced my wages, 2) did not pay me holiday pay, and 3) I did not accrue sick days as promised in our contract. They also served me with 3 written notices and then suspended me on the spot. What?! Now warning, no hint of a storm… O_O

I know I am new to the work scene, but doesn’t that seem a little fishy to you? It does to me.

Well, 3 days was up today and I didn’t get a call in the morning, noon, or at 3p. So I called them and got no one. Everyone was in a meeting. Nice, eh? Is this what we call avoiding? >> Anyways, I left a message and got a call back an hour later from my DSD: “Sorry, we were in meetings all day and I missed your call. You are still suspended for now and someone will call you… I or <insert admin name here> will call you tomorrow. Ok?”

Uhm… you said 3 working days? I was suspended on Thu… It’s the 3rd day now… Thats a lot of money people!!! But what can I do, right? Whatever.

Oh! And the union never picked up their phone either. I suppose it could be due to President’s day (holidays elude newbie nurses such as myself) but couldn’t they have put that in their automated voice message? Geez… What a nightmare this week and weekend has been.

Wish me luck!

I am my mother’s daughter

My mother has a small problem. A problem I inherited. And that problem is this: when we cook, we cook a lot of food.

You see, momma and I, we like to eyeball things. Don’t ask me to write you a recipe or nothing cause I won’t be able to too. I take a recipe and add a little more of this, a tiny bit of that extra, and there you have it. So far, in my 20+ years no one has hated anything I made. Well, except for my father. But he wouldn’t say he hated it, exactly. Just that, I could have made it better. >>;;

Anyways, so today’s problem is this: I needed to make a week’s worth of mabo tofu. For my work lunch, lazy dinners. We went to our local Costco and bought ~4 lbs of ground turkey. Cause turkey is better for you than beef right? Plus, we had an awesome prime rib dinner the other night. So, less beef, more turkey.

I thought, 4 lbs, thats not too much. It’ll be just perfect for 1 week of eats. I mean, I am feeding me, DB, and BF. Well, maybe not as much the BF but she does love mabo tofu, so it would be cruel to make a truck load of it and then deny her a plate or two, right? Right.

So, 4 lbs of ground turkey, 5 packages of firm tofu, and a mixed frozen veggies. You starting to see my problem here?

All 4 lbs in my little pan

I did – when I started cooking!

4 lbs of ground turkey only would feed me about a week. Add in everything else and I am set for a month!!! So here I am with a month’s worth of mabo tofu to cool, package, and freeze.

Ah, momma. There is no denying whose daughter I am. ;p

Mabo tofu, batch #1

Prime Rib dinner

Every once in a while I get a mad craving for a steak. Rather than go to a restaurant and have them give me a cheap slice of beef, cooked to not my specifications, and pay a whole lotta money I don’t got – I make my own. I like my own steaks better anyways. Probably because I listen to Alton Brown when I make them.

I really wanted some filet mignon but that was out of our budget this month. So, instead, I bought some wonderfully marbled prime rib. One for me, one for DB, and one for BF because I love her so and she lives with us.

I had bought the prime rib a few days ahead of time so I put it in the freezer for safe keeping. Pulling them out to defrost (in the fridge, of course) the night before. The next morning (and by morning I do mean around 1pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon) I pulled the partially defrosted steaks out of the fridge and set them on the counter to complete defrosting. It being a sunny but under 70 degrees F day, the steaks for still a little frozen a few hours later. It’s ok. I pulled them out of the package and laid them to ‘rest’ on a cooling rack. Sprinkled some coarse salt on top (a trick I learned from some cook, somewhere – probably on TV) and let it rest for about 30 mins. Then flip and repeat.

What I am essentially doing at this point is flavoring the meat and bringing it to room temperature. A steak at room temp will cook more evenly and form a better ‘crust.’ The coarse salt will prevent you from overly seasoning the meat and since the coarse salt takes longer to be absorbed by the meat, it absorbed more slowly and evenly.

I wish I had taken a picture of it but… when it came to turn the steak around to the other side I saw that where the salt had been were round areas where the meat had taken in the salt. Now my coarse salt is is not too large but those little circles were 3x their size. Not bad.

After the steaks had rested, I gently placed them in a hot cast iron pan with Irish butter and some oil (to keep the butter from burning off too fast). And then I let it sit. Wouldn’t be able to tell you until when because I eye balled it. Then I flipped and let it sit some more. When I felt it was good and ready, I moved those steaks over to another cooling rack (not the one from before unless you cleaned it) to rest again. About 5-10 minutes before serving. I should have probably tented it with some foil but I had some potatoes to mash!

Whilst the steaks were cooking, I had 3 large potatoes peeled and boiling in a pot full of salt and garlic. Why? Because I was going to make my lovely mashed potatoes!!! Only, I don’t mash them. I blend them with my immersion blender, a little half and half (I eyeballed it) and a heaping pat of butter (mmm, butter). Immersion blend it all together until well blended. There you have it! Doughy, sticky, buttery, and garlicky smooth potatoes.

Add a caesar salad and you got yourself a complete meal! And it was such a gooooood meal~

I can still taste it!

Oh! And don’t forget dessert.

Best cake ever!

Yum!

Oh momma, it’s been a long time.

New job has taken everything away from me. And by everything, I mean to say – time. I am so tired after an 8-hour day of work that all I want to do is eat and sleep or eat, play WoW, and sleep.

The latter being exactly what I have been doing. Not much planting, plant care taking, or much else plant related. My poor dears have been so horribly neglected. Sure DB waters them near daily and tries to care for them but he isn’t a plant lover and water isn’t the only thing my plants need.

As such, we came to a decision. I was going to say, plants away! Entirely until I found a better place to live with a yard, a better job that didn’t strip my spirit, and more time. But DB says that won’t do. So we came upon the compromise of: I keep what plants I have, I will only buy replacements, and if I must have it then it has to be tiny, tiny. So only miniature orchids and miniature AV.

Yep, no tomatoes this year. No veggies of any kind. Well, maybe some peppers. I do have all those seeds! But nothing planned or even really wanted right now. What plants I have and what plants have survived the winter will remain, such as my strawberries and my Korean watercress. But no container gardening. Of course, my dahlias are coming in the mail sooo… >>;; I don’t know what I am going to do about all that. I wanted to plant them in memoriam of my grandma but… Eh. We will see. I have another month before they are even shipped.

Sigh. What a year. Already been a month and what a long ass freaking month.

Well, I am still young and obviously have some more growing to do. DB swears life will get better but its hard to get over 20+ years of ingrained negativity, yanno? Even my therapist tries to get me to think happy thoughts.

Sigh.

And sigh some more.

Oh! Btw, because I forgot. Happy new year! XD

 

 

AV society holiday party and my winnings

I went to my AV society holiday party this past month. It wasn’t an official meeting, just a get together with old friends (and new!) to eat and talk and enjoy the company.

It was a great dinner. They made me and Der Boif feel welcomed and I ate so much. ><;; It was after work so I was super hungry. But I ate a lot cause it was soooooo good!!!

By the way, it was at the house of the guy who gave me the two violets at the last meeting. He walked me through his entire collection and it was awesome! Not a big fan  of the whole Gesneriad family (which all other AV lovers seem to get into) but I did enjoy seeing his collection of violets. I even learned a new (and better for me!) way of creating a humidity dome for my AV. Its space saving, compact, and cheap! Well… ish. But it is a type of trash to treasure event involving water bottles! Awesome~ I will post pictures in the spring when I start to set up my new leaves and such.

But after the bragging… I mean, /tour/, there was dinner (did I mention how good it all was?) of turkey and fixings, and then the Secret Santa. It was fun.

I had my gift stolen from me (which I really didn’t like as I am a bit possessive and I really like the coaster that I got) but I grinned and bared it. In the end I got an even greater gift! Which not only expands my collection but will also increase my collection of possessions!

My secret santa winning all set up and on display. Look at all that space!!!

All in all, I had a good time. Got some free dirt and more knowledge than I can retain. I tried to get more free dirt but it would seem, in the end, I will have to buy the big bags and go from there. Pupu.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and our every expanding family

Happy holidays is such a generic and safe greeting. I don’t really like it or agree with it, but that is just me. It’s Christmas! Everyone knows its Christmas. Schools, businesses, and the general public celebrates it. Why? Because its Christmas!!!

You don’t have to believe in GOD to know that miracles happen in this world. You don’t have to trust in Jesus to celebrate Christmas. It’s Christmas.

It is the best time of the year.

So, to all my readers everywhere: Merry Christmas. May GOD bless you and yours in this cold, cheery season. I hope that love and happiness abounds in place of gifts that could not be bought due to the financial crunch. And may the new year bring brighter hopes, greater joy, and love everlasting.

I spent my Christmas eve and day working but I spent the evenings with a wonderful man, 2 spoiled furries, and doing what I love.

What more can a person ask for? Sure, life isn’t easy but it’s not just me. It’s everybody. So buck up! And fight on~

Oh, did I mention 2 furries? I did indeed!

Meet Parker Bea Madison.

Parker Bea Madison – Born in October 2012 – Chihuahua (may be mixed) – Loves jerky, plush toys, and whining

A cute little chihuahua girl who is the bane and love of my life. Potty training is a pain especially when you work 5 days a week and your significant other wants nothing to do with a whiny poopy mess.

>>;; I don’t want anything to do with it either! But work is a great and viable excuse.

 

New AV babies and how I will never admit I am wrong

So… remember I was bitching about being bitched at about using the coco coir with my violets? Well, what they said was going to happen, did not happen. And what did happen, happened a lot sooner than they said it would. But then again, what they said would happen didn’t happen. But something did happen.

Are you following me? Cause if you are, then you know that I am not wrong. I just discovered something amazing. Yep, that’s my story and I am sticking to it!

So anyways, the coco coir did not poison my plants very slowly and leech toxic what nots and whatever. What it did do was stay wet for far too long and caused a mass epidemic of crown rot in my violets.

Yep. Coco coir cannot be used for wicking. I need to air it out more. I am thinking of adding more perlite to the mix. Lighten it up a lot more? Maybe…

But I now know of Ton’y test so I will add more perlite and run a Tony’s test. Which is basically using the soil as one would but without a plant. Essentially you are watching it to see of it maintains well. Is it to wet, is it too dry? Using Tony’s test one would be able to see how the soil will respond to daily care without risking the plant. Its amazing and an ingenious idea, isn’t it? I thought so. So I will try it out later.

I lost my AV Green Dragon (my favorite of the my recent purchases) and am risking losing my Glimpse O Spring (my second have). I also lost my NoID purple stripe and a number of leaves. Mostly the minis. Sigh… We live and we learn, right?

On a happier note: I HAVE BABIES!!!

What made me squeal like a 7-year old meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time – in person.

I checked up on my survivors this past weekend and found a number of surprises waiting for me.

The leaves in my forsythe pot are doing the best in that all of my surviving leaves have rooted and 2 have sprung up babies for me! One sprouted 2 babies! I did lose a few to desiccation or rot but that may have been due to improper contact with the soil as I was trying a number of different cuts as well.

I believe that biggun is my first NoID purchase from Lowe’s, Purple Splendor? Or it could be Jax’s Purple Fantasy… Bless it!!! But the little one to the right is my Gimpse O Spring or Green Dragon. ><;;

The AV leaves under the dome in my mix did not do so well. As much as the parents died of rot, so did the leaves. I still have a few so am keeping my fingers crossed. Keep yours too!

I was surprised to see a baby I was not expecting. I didn’t have the heart to throw mama away as I really wanted to see babies and she was still half alive… Well, I am surely happy that I didn’t call her a lost cause and toss it! Cause I have a baby!!! Whoot whoot!!!

Ness’ Trinket Summer Skies: Not a happy momma but those bunny ears look pretty good, eh?

But I did learn a very important lesson in all this: date and label EVERYTHING!!! I got smart alecky and told myself, “Oh, I’ll remember. How could I not remember? I am no dummy.” And today, who knows how many or little days later: I haven’t the foggiest of what is what. I will have to hope that they grow and bloom true so that I can properly label them but I may have just created more NoIDs in my collection. Pooper scoopers.