Pima Air Museum Trip

I've promised I'd write about my time in Tucson, and I've been very lazy getting the details of the trip out and to my public!  But as I sit here I am filled with warmth just remember the sunshine that we were fortunate to soak up.  Cuz, in Seattle, there's not much sunshine to be soaking. At least not until July 5th - for those non Seattle type folks, the standing joke in Seattle is the sun comes out the day after the 4th of July. That's when summer starts. Supposedly.

Right, back to the air museum. 

On my "bucket list" for lack of a better cliche to use, has been to visit the airplane graveyard in Tucson.  We've driven past it a number of times, and I always want to shout "STOP the car." and jump out to shoot these amazing old airplane set out to pasture.  If you're a child of the 80's and you watched the movie Can't Buy me Love, this graveyard is in the move.  Anyhow, in all the years I've been going to Tucson, I've never had a chance to go see it.

This was the year. The graveyard is connected to the Pima Air & Space Museum, so we decided that would be close enough since we didn't have clearance to get into the graveyard.

Upon entering the museum we were greeted by the local squirrels - I think they were called Round Tail ground squirrels or prairie dogs or something like that.

They didn't seem at all afraid of humans.  I could have stood there and shot a bunch of photos of this creature, but I had planes to see.

The museum has several hangers that house some WWII planes and then some other really cool planes. SSIL went off to do the walking tour of the WWII planes, while BigBro and I started our photography adventure.

We didn't start at the Tomcat fighter, but it was definitely one of my favorites. Besides BigBro being BigBro - it was awesome to get up close and see the insides of this fighter.  You really have to be a small person to fit into these planes.

My favorite plane of all times was on display there. The Lockheed SR71 Blackbird! Woof.  I have some fond memories of my younger years in LandScatter, CA of the SR71 being test flown over our little town. So sleek, so powerful.  Unfortunately, it was hard to get a good photo of it being that we couldn't get above it.

Outside the hangers was where the real fun began. 300 airplanes and helicopters on display.  We saw them all. AND we got on the tram and had a nice veteran tell us all about the airplanes on the lot.  Here are a few of my favorites.

The NASA SuperGuppy Cargo

The plane the Iran hostages came home on.



The rest of my photos are here if you feel so inclined to see a bunch of cool planes.

One Year Ago Today

How life changes? A year ago today I was let go...okay let's say it... gulp...fired...from my job.  I wasn't miserable. I wasn't sad. I wasn't afraid of what was ahead of me. Instead I was relieved.  It was because I lacked all those other emotions that I knew it was the cosmic shove I needed to move on.

While I'll never agree with their reasoning or their logic, I actually am glad they did move me out of there.  I'm in such a better place now. I work in a team that I adore, right down to the fierce chinchilla.  This team values me and what I bring to the table.  I feel welcomed and smart and with it almost every day.

Still I look back and wonder how different life would have been for me if I had stayed.  Would I have ever gotten the courage to move on? Would I have ever made more $$? (Unlikely) I certainly wouldn't have learned as much about myself as I have in the last year.  So I guess indirectly I should thank the Vampires for releasing me from their grip.

And now I'm facing 100 days off to fulfill the contract obligations for Hotel Californiasoft.  And as I get closer to those days off I find I'm excited about them.  I'm not worried financially...I've planned for it after all...though I will have to pull out and dust off my frugal hat...if I even have one.  I've started making a list of all the things I want to do in those 100 days.  The FC (Fierce Chinchilla) gave me some GREAT advice today and recommended I take full advantage of this StayCation. "How often in our adult lives do we get summer off?" she asked.  And she's right.

Here are a few things I plan on doing. If you have any suggestions, please share them with me.

1. Organize and categorize photos
2. Re-organize scrapbook paper
3. Scrapbook...get caught up
4. Photography. Photography. Photography.
5. Take a couple of day trips and see the Seattle area (assuming gas prices will allow for this).
6. Paint the downstairs bathroom.
7. Clean out the garage (its mostly clean)
8. Go through clothes and give to goodwill
9. Take photos of household items for renters insurance purposes
10. Organize and work on all my new recipes
11. Read and study some marketing books.
12. Read

and the list goes on...

I did just spend last weekend in Tucson and I plan on sharing with you my adventures and photos.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to it. In the meantime you can enjoy this photo of Count Beau of Hershey and his obsession.

The Sound of Sunshine....

Officially, in 45 days I will begin my 100 day break. I won't make you do the math, that's June 3rd. That'll be my last day on the job for 100 days then I get to come back to the same job. Woohoo! I am putting together a list of things to do and read for 100 days. And I gotta tell ya, I may need more than 100 days. There's a lot to get done.

Other exciting news is Blueberry turned a year older. Yesterday was her real birthday, but we all celebrated on Saturday at Chez Jenn's. A great group of people showed up in their best cowboy outfits (well some of them). 

You can take the girl out of the country....but you can't take the country out of the girl.  Blueberry doesn't look a day older than 39...though she is by a couple of years!

I'm addicted to making cupcakes for birthdays etc. They're easier and way cuter than a cake. The them was Hoedown so I found me some cowboy boot candles.  I thought they were so darn cute.  

I don't know what happens to people at my house. They get crazy. Must be something in the water.

Left to Right: Me, Claudia, BigBro, Packing Laurie, Seattle SIL, Blueberry, The Family, SuzyMooney and the Fiance. Nuts, the whole lot of them.

After the adventure of Blueberry's birthday, which, BTW, everyone was gone by 9:15pm - it's like we're getting old or something - I took a photography class on Sunday morning.

I've been shooting photos for years. Seriously shooting for about 10 years. In 2000 I took a photography refresh course. The guy who taught it looked JUST like Santa Claus..no lie. I decided recently I was tired of the "lucky" shot and wanted to get involved with my actual shooting. Seriously thinking about what I was trying to take a photo of and set up the shot like a real photographer. LivingSocial had a coupon for 1/2 off a photo class that was designed about getting to know your camera. So I jumped on it.

Last Sunday I headed out to find this rather sketchy building with a photography studio tucked inside. The instructor has been shooting photos for 25 years and had I not seen some of his photos I might not have bought the class.  It was a GREAT class. A nice refresher course about aperture and shutter speed. And believe it or not, I actually had a few "a-ha" moments. I found this button on my camera called the "depth of field preview" which allows you to see how much of your shot will be in focus.  Hallelujah!

After the class, I met Packing Laurie for a photo shoot at the Conservatory in Volunteer Park in Seattle (after we had a good brunch at Easy Joe's first).  We spent about 2 hours wondering through and shooting photos of flowers, cactus, and other misc plants we didn't know what they were.

I was trying to really think about what I was shooting and composing each shot instead of randomly shooting. I would, frequently, fall into the "just keep shooting" thought and would drag myself back. I did pretty good. I had a few focus issues and a few depth of field missteps, but I think I did okay. You can see them all here, but I've put my favorites below.

In other exciting news, I head to Tucson on Thursday night with BigBro and SSIL. We're off to help celebrated dad's birthday on Saturday. It'll be nice to get some vitamin D ...they have this thing down there called the "sun". I can't wait to see what that's all about. We don't have that here in the great Northwest.

100 Days of Vacation

Many of you know, but some of you don’t, that I’ll be taking 100 days off work here very soon. Why 100 days you ask? Well sit back and let me tell you a tale.

In the 90’s Hotel Californiasoft got sued by a few contract employees who, apparently, forgot they were “contract”. They claimed they were working for YEARS on a contract and were not getting any of the Hotel Californiasoft benefits. Class action lawsuit followed and Hotel Californiasoft lost (well we all lost really). So to avoid this all contract employees of a certain identity (we call them a dash) must take 100 days off after completing a 365 day contract.

And so, my 365 is coming up very soon. The bosses asked me if I’d consider taking the 100day break a month earlier than planned so I could return earlier.

Wait. Go back.

Did you read that?

So. I. Could. RETURN!!!

Yes that’s right, they’ve asked me to come back and work for them again. You can’t see it but I’m doing the happy dance.

Right, so what this means for my future is I need to come up with something to do with myself for 100 days. In typical project management fashion, I started a list. That list will be put to a schedule of some sort.



While I’m not financially looking for to having 100 days without pay (other than unemployment), I’m THRILLED that I get to come back to this job. It feels good to be in a place that values you and because of that you want to work harder and do better. A big sigh of relief considering where I was just a year ago.

The down side to taking the 100 day break before the original plan throws a wrench in the financially planning. Still it’s doable and it’ll teach me how to be a bit more frugal. And *gasp* I might have to eat leftovers.

In other exciting Jenn news, the cookbooks made it in! They are beautiful. One typo found already, but who cares. I ordered 200 cookbooks and have only 73 left, so if you want your cookbook (and you’ve not already contacted me) you’d better contact me. I’m selling them for a minimum donation of $10. And let me tell you they are worth that and more. Much more!

Let's see what else?

Last Sunday was Sunday Dinner. I decided it would be fun to die Easter eggs so I asked folks to bring eggs and their creativity. Which really meant just us girls in the kitchen dying Easter eggs and generally giggling a lot. Quite the fun was had by all.

The little chickens, I mean eggs before. You'll notice the one has a crack already in it. By the end of the night, he'd have company.

The prep work. Getting all our cups in a row for the filling of dye.

So colorful. I'm happy to report that not very much of the dye ended up on the floor, on my hands or on my clothing.

Some of the finished products. We're clever aren't we?

My rabbit ear wouldn't stay up. It was so sad.

Ahhh...such beautiful eggs.

I think they must have drank the Kool-aid.

Back row: Larissa (Niece's GF), Niece, HikerGirl, SSIL, Blueberry

Front row: Me (barely), BigBro, Mrs. Braspir, Mr. Braspir, ChickenLady

I know him by heart

So dating update. It’ll be brief. Sadly.

I was going to cancel my eHarmony account. I missed the cancellation date by one day and they will not refund my money. I should have read the Terms & Conditions a bit closer.  Lesson learned.

I decided since I paid for it, I might as well just stick with it. Prior to the account renewing I was getting one or two – maybe – new matches a week. Sad. And unfortunate considering how much $$ eHarmony cost. And of those matches, very few were "matches" if you know what I mean.

The day AFTER my renewal I got 67 new matches. Sixty-seven? Really. That many “new” guys signed up? I think not. I think eHarmony controls the # of matches you get and they hook you in with the hope that comes along with getting a new match – or 67 new matches.

And so, I approached this new set of matches with a different eye. A cynical eye maybe, but different. I approached it statistically instead of emotionally. I figured, statistically speaking, if I sent my “questions” to get the communication started to all 67, odds were in my favor that one, just one would respond. At least one. And if I didn't I'd just stick my head in the ground and never ever come out again.

I couldn’t, in good conscious, just randomly send my questions though. That would be unfair and misleading. I had to put some limit on it. So if the match was taller than 5’6” then he got my questions.

I sent 58.

That was two days ago.

I got two responses.

One guy in SeaTac sent me an “icebreaker” then apparently cancelled it and closed the match because I couldn’t see/do anything with it. Which was fine because SeaTac is a bit far from me.

The second guy answered my questions reasonably well AND provided me his questions. So we shall see.

ll this to really got to the point of this blog post. I know I’m no different than any girl out there in that as I grew up I had dreams and expectations of what the significant other would be like. For example, when I was 7, he had to look and sing like Shawn Cassidy. When I was in college, he had a bit more preppy spin to him. In the end, though, the “person” I’ve created in my heart and mind, I know. And if I were to meet him someday, I would know him.

Yes, I have a list. But its more than that. The emotional imagination isn't something you can write down.

This song I heard years ago while watching Ally McBeal. It’s always stayed with me. I turn to it when I’m feeling a little less than successful in the dating arena. Which is often.

There's a secret path I follow
To a place no one can find
Where I meet my perfect someone
I've kept hidden in my mind
Where my heart makes my decisions
'Till my dream becomes a vision
And the love I feel
Makes him real someday

Cause I know he's out there somewhere
Just beyond my reach
Though I've never really touched him
Or ever heard him speak
Though we've never been together
We've never been apart
No we've never met
Haven't found him yet
But I know him by heart

Am I living an illusion?
Wanting something I can't see
If I compromise, I'd be living lies
Pretending love's not meant to be
Cause I know my heart's worth saving
And I know that he'll be waiting
So I'll hold on and I'll stay strong 'till then

Cause I know he's out there somewhere
Just beyond my reach
Though I've never really touched him
Or ever heard him speak
Though we've never been together
We've never been apart
No we've never met
Haven't found him yet
But I know him by heart
No we've never met
Haven't found him yet
But I know him by heart

Get THEE to a Nunnery

Back in high school a group of us decided to give ourselves holy names. My good friend Mike became Jesus Christ (aka JC), Dean was God, I was Mary Magdalene. Anyhow, I used to joke with JC that I was going to join a convent. He’d quickly point out I’d have to give a vow of silence…and well, we all know how well that’d turn out.

JC used to say to me on a regular basis, “Get Thee to a nunnery.” We’d be leaving study hall and he’d hug me and say, “Get thee to a nunnery.” We’d be sitting in class and he’d pass me a note after I got an answer wrong that would say, ”Get thee to a nunnery.” We’d be at dinner in the dining hall and he’d yell across the crowed hall, “WRASPIR – GET THEE TO A NUNNERY!” It was very endearing.

Years have passed since I used to hear that on a regular basis. I gave up my plans, albeit joking plans, to join a convent. I knew I couldn’t give the vow of silence, chastity and poverty. Whom am I kidding? And let’s not forget, I’m not Catholic.

There’s a point to that story, I promise.

You all know that I’ve been playing the gambling game on eHarmony. And I’ve not had a good experience yet. In fact, I was getting so few that I thought maybe I should just cancel the subscription - which I planned to do. Then got side tracked and didn’t. ONE day late in cancelling and they charged my credit card and won’t refund me.
I figured, “Fine! I’ll just stick it out for another 3 long months.”
The DAY after I renewed I got 67 matches.

67 matches! Wow. The odds are pretty good that in those 67 I could find a date. You’d think?

So I responded to about half of those 67 matches. Removing anyone who couldn’t be bothered to even write what they were looking for in a relationship or a woman. I mean really, if you’re going to join at least put something in those boxes indicating that you may not know yet, but are thinking about it. Putting, something like, “breathing” isn’t exactly attractive. Amusing, maybe, but not something that makes me want to send a note. Although at this rate, my requirements for a date may just be “breathing”.

So I sent questions to 30+ matches. Not one response.

Let me say that again, “not ONE response.”

None.


Nada.


Nothing.


Zip.

And so discouraged I’ve got the yellow pages open looking up convents. Maybe there’s a convent for Mustang driving nuns? Actually, if – er I mean when – I get my convertible, the habit would keep my hair from getting messy. And I look good in black and white. Slimming color black.

If I just lay here...would lie with me and just forget the world...

I think I might have to go to a "Not Blogging Regularly Anonymous" meeting. Good grief a week has gone by and I've not enlightened you, my faithful readers, on what I've been doing.

I'd love to say I've been busy, but I just can't out and out lie to you. I have been doing things, just nothing that should warrant not writing a blog.

Last weekend I spent a good portion of it in the world of photography.  First Saturday was the monthly PhotoGods outing. We went to a local ferry terminal and beach area.  It always amazes me how we all really are shooting the same subject and yet we all have such a different perspective on it. I love that. I get to see what other people see and hopefully that makes me see differently.

Here are some of the things I saw:

We saw Angelica. She was on the beach with her father making a sand castle...then she waded into the water for something. She was awfully cute.

We saw ancient writing prophesying that we'd be there in 2011.

We saw rocks. I think this would make a cool puzzle.

We saw shells from a bugs perspective. And a bright light in the distance.  We begged the shell to not go towards the light.

We saw sea gulls...

And more sea gulls....

And even more sea gulls.  I actually think these are the same two sea gulls. They were messing with us for sure.

Oh and we say ducks.  This particular hen was quite huge and all sorts of comments were made about her being big breasted.

Oh and we saw this guy.  Which one is funnier looking? BigBro? Or Man of Stone? The caption of this "piece of art" - and I use that term loosely - was "Whale sighting" or something like that.

So as you can see, we did take photos and we did practice photography. I'm not sure what I learned on this outing other than my brother needs seriously mental help, but that I already knew.

Saturday afternoon I spent the day learning about Photoshop Elements. I signed up for an online course and was glad I had. It taught me a lot. So much, in fact, I'm in the process of retaking the course because there was so much information.

Friday night I met BigBro and SSIL at the Wilde Rover to watch The Yank's band, Them Blokes.  We met early and had a bite then watched the first set of the band.  I took photos of the band, after The Yank taught me how to use my own stinkin flash. (Note to self: RTFM). (Note to you all...RTFM = Read the F***** Manual).

So the other big thing is BeagleBabe posted the photos I took of that birthday party.  They're all here in case you want to see.

When I ruled the world...

I'm going to start titling my blog posts with song lyrics that are stuck in my noggin. They won't make any sense and will therefore match most of my blogs...not making any sense that is...

This weekend flew by in a blur.  Not sure I'm at all happy about that, cuz here I sit on Monday wondering what on earth happened to the last two days. And let's not discuss the last 3 months. 

Saturday night we were supposed to have a "super" moon here in the Northwest (not sure if it was everywhere, but I suspect it was). After dining with Bluberry at the Keg I high-tailed it to a local park with my camera and tripod in hand.

As I sat there in the very dark and very empty park I kinda freaked myself out.  I started thinking about things like, "Didn't Ted Bundy visit this park?" followed by, "How long would it be before anyone noticed I was gone?"  I can't say that sitting in a dark, empty park was the brightest thing I did all year, but there I sat.

Eventually a couple of other cars started to pull in and it was obvious other folks were there to witness this "super" moon.

It finally rose and I had the camera poised and ready. Suddenly I realized I didn't have a clue how to shoot this moon. So I fussed with the camera and tried a number of combinations and got not one single good shot. Not one. 

I didn't leave empty handed though. I did learn one thing:  when shooting in the dark...bring a flashlight!

Earlier Saturday I spent some time at a local Ford dealership. See it was sunny in Seattle, which doesn't happen all that often this early in the spring. But since it was nice, the sun was shining, I got that itch. That convertible itch.  I will own a convertible some day. Some day soon too.  A few cards have to fall into place, and if they do, I will be driving around town with my top down.

Sunday I spent most the day cleaning the house. I had kept it surprisingly clean last week so I didn't have to do much.  Still on my spring cleaning kick though, I decided to scrub down the grill. What a mess!  But now it's clean, my hands hurt from the scrubbing, but I can now grill again.

Blueberry came by to scrapbook.  She has had some computer problems so what she fussed with her computer...talking to it and herself...I scrapbooked.  She finally got down to scrapbooking several hours AFTER she showed up (though I should mention we took a break for dinner and a break to help her brother get some more things he's storing in my garage out).  In the time she did 2 pages, I completed about 6. She needs to get in a rhythm and then she'll be off to the races.

I had a weak moment too that will most likely come back to haunt me.  I offered to do her 3Day scrapbook for LAST year's walk. This year's walk will be her 4th year and she'll never EVER get her scrapbooks done for the walks. So with her birthday coming up and me not having any good ideas what to do for her birthday, I caved and offered to do one of her scrapbooks.  I did put a few stipulations on it though, which she agreed to...so we'll see.

And last, but not least, I finished polishing up the photos from the birthday bash photography gig.  I posted them and BeagleBabe informed me that she was pleased with them. So that's good.  I wasn't 100% happy with them, but can say with all certainty that I learned a lot from doing the shoot.  Now just have to get some more experience under my belt and I'll be off and running.  I did do some research into setting up a business in Washington...they must not want people to set up small businesses because the site was REDONKULOUSly confusing.  I'll spend some more time soon...maybe.

And with that... I'm off to rule the world...

If I just lay here...

Last night as I was falling asleep I thought of a really clever opening paragraph for my blog.  I also thought I should get up and write it down.  And I sure wish I had followed that second thought. Instead you'll have to suffer with a just okay opening paragraph. 

Last weekend was a whirlwind of adventure and excitement. Pookie even felt obligated to be awake for more than an hour a day.

Saturday was the birthday party gig at Canlis.  I had been concerned about whether I'd do okay at shooting this party or not...then I got hooked on the fact it was going to be a "Canlis" - which for those out of towners is an EXTREMELY high end restaurant here in Seattle. Easily $150 a person for dinner...easily.

Anyhow, I went with BeagleBabe early to help set up some and to get a feel of the place.  We had a nice room that had a nice long table in it for all the guests.  The room, while light during the day, I knew would be darker that night - ambiance and all.  The new flash worked well. It took several shots for me to figure out the right setting, but eventually I had it down to a fine art.

Before the guests arrived I dinked around and got the lighting, shots, flash, all set up. I was impressed with the staff at Canlis at how exact they had the settings.  Prior to the guests getting there, no less than three different people came in to check the settings. 

I haven't officially looked at all the photos from that night. A part of me is afraid I didn't capture what BeagleBabe was hoping and also afraid that the photos, in general, aren't good.  I know myself well enough to know that I'm sure there are plenty of fine photos.   Candids were hard for me and even though I tried to push myself out of my comfort zone this party, I'm not sure I did it successfully. We shall see.

Sunday was the 3Day Sunday dinner.  All my 3Day buddies in one room ... what a blast! I've never laughed so hard and tried to hold back tears so hard. At one point I sat looking around the room and marveled at the fact I was sitting in a room with people full of strength, commitment, and courage - I felt a bit overwhelmed by them all. And I thought I'm a lucky girl to be in the presence of such greatness.

Yah...did I say greatness?
Left To Right: BigBro, Little Erin, Erin, Packing Laurie, Princess Lori, Blueberry, Suzanne, Seattle Sister in Law, and yours truly.

We ate well. I made my famous Pasta Da Vinci...and if you've ordered a cookbook it's in there. I had a buttload of food left over though. I forget that people aren't eating JUST pasta...instead they had roasted vegetables (thanks Packing Laurie), delicious garlic bread (thanks Blueberry) and appetizers before (thanks Princess Lori and BigBro/Seattle SIL).  Still, even though we were all full, we managed to find room for cake. Let. Them. Eat. Cake!



And last, but certainly not least, I officially signed off on the cover art for the cookbook. It looks beautiful and I can hardly wait to have them in my hot little hands. I am on schedule and should get the books shipped by April 25th.  If you want one and haven't told me yet, let me know and I'll get you on the preorder list! 

Major Slacker Alert

Its hard to believe it's been a week since I last wrote. I assure you its not because I don't love you all and want you to not feel left out of the exciting things that are going on in my life. No. It's not that at all.

Instead its just been laziness on my part.  Let's look at the last week.

This past weekend I spent a good chunk of time cleaning. It is almost spring and I, like many, feel the need to clean. Why is that exactly?  It all started because my shower drain was clogged.  I put on my plumber hat and proceeded to clean the beast out. It was, for lack of a better word, disgusting.  But I cleaned it out and figured while I was down there, I might as well scrub the shower.  Which led to scrubbing the entire bathroom, which led to scrubbing the other two bathrooms, which led to scrubbing the cabinets in the kitchen.  I now have some very sparkly parts of my house, and dry hands. 

I had several lunch dates last week. Not the "dates" you are thinking. No instead I had lunches with friends. It just happened to work out that last week was Lunch Week.  Lunch with Mrs. Not So Newlywed. Followed by lunch with BeagleBabe and another former co-worker.  Followed by lunch with Texas and Heater. Good times.  The result was getting caught up with many of my favorite people, and spending $$ that didn't need to get spent.

Speaking of that, I am just weeks away from being out of debt (not counting the car). I'm on a strict financial plan trying to get the credit card debt gone and savings started for my 100 days off I have to take starting in July. (If you're not from this area let me explain. Hotel Californiasoft was sued in the 90's by contract workers claiming they were working for Hotel Californiasoft for years with non of the benefits as employees.  So the ruling became that contract workers could only work for 365 days and would then be required to take 100 days off.  Of course that 100 days off means your job may not be available to you. In the end, the complaining contract workers ended up shooting themselves in the foot.) In the end, I'm saving to live for 3 months without employment. I'll get unemployment, but that won't cover everything. I'm actually doing really well and am so happy to see the progress.

This past Saturday we celebrated one of my nieces turning 21. I'm still trying to figure out how she's 21. They grow up so fast.  They start having their own ideas, opinions, and lives.  It's been interesting watching her grow into a young woman. Many decisions she's made I wouldn't have made, but not everyone can be as awesome as me. Still, in the end, right or wrong decisions, she's staying in school and getting her nursing degree and I couldn't be more proud of her.

This weekend I have a "paying" photography gig. BeagleBabe has hired me to shoot her husband's 40th birthday at this fancy pants restaurant in Seattle.  She's not only feeding me (which would be payment enough) but she's also paying me for the actual photography effort.  Excited and nervous at the same time.  It'll be a challenge for me as candids aren't my strong suit.  But I've been reading up on tips for taking candids and surfing the web for examples.  I'll be good to go by Saturday.

That's it. That's all I've got. See not too overly exciting. You haven't missed too much!

Truffles

I wondered how people ever found new things to do before the advent of Living Social and GroupOn.  Brilliant ideas to be sure, in fact, wish I would have thought of it.

Sometime in January I bought, as did ChickenLady, a truffle making class.  I have 21 new things to do and this would be one of the new things.  Last night was said class.

It took me longer to find this place than it should have, but it turns out Dawn's Candies is a small shop that's inside a large party center type shop. They have the whole set up and the heavy lifting done for you.

Blueberry, ChickenLady and I took our seats in the back as Dawn began by explaining the chemistry of chocolate tempering. I had no idea that chocolate had "crystals" that wanted to be separate then together and depending on the temperature of the chocolate will stay together or not. Fascinating stuff. As Dawn went over and over the complexity of tempering chocolate I was struggling to keep up and then realized we wouldn't be tested. Phew!  And that Dawn and her little elves had done all the tempering etc for us.

They handed us these little trays of "pre" molded chocolate molds.  These little molds needed to be filled and then coated.  She left us with a VAT of chocolate ganache - it took every ounce of my being to not just stick a spoon into the VAT O'Chocolate. She showed us how to flavor the ganache and left us to our imagination.

Blueberry shot right out of the gate by mixing peanut butter with caramel.  You'd think the two wouldn't do so well together...but it turns out it was over the top fantastic. 

My first flavor was hazelnut.  I love the smell and flavor of hazelnut. And mixing it with chocolate meant these little gems of goodness would taste a lot like Nutella.  I should have made more hazelnut.

My other flavor combination weren't overly exotic or interesting, but good all the same.  Between the three of us we made orange, amaretto, Kirsch cherry, Tequila/lime/salt combo, Malibu Rum, lemon, raspberry, and coffee! I think that's all of them. We could have chosen from so many other flavors and the combinations were endless.

After we filled our truffles, it was on to sealing them and dipping them.  The sealing them was as easy as swiping over the flat bottom with a finger full of chocolate. Once that was done, it was on to dipping.

They had these nifty forks for dipping.  Blueberry and ChickenLady were doing mostly dark chocolate, where I was all about the milk chocolate.  We had to "temper" our milk chocolate though. They little elves heated it up and at a certain temp, them dumped in these HUGE chunks of chocolate. The heat helped melt part of the bricks of chocolate.  Once the milk chocolate was at the right temp, we pulled out the chocolate chunks and began dipping.

 

After dipping each flavor, and before the chocolate dried, we could decorate the top with misc colored sugars and other things like coffee beans.

In the end, I have 35 beautifully decorated truffles. And someday soon I'll come down off this sugar high. ChickenLady may or may not.

Snow Day!

Snowpacolyps has sit the Seattle area again, shutting down the city.  Well, some parts of it.  Redmond, where I live, sat in a weird pocket that didn't get too much snow.  An inch at the most...but the ice it created is ridiculously slick! Weird.

So because of above mentioned snow day, I worked from home.  Stang + Snow = Me No Leave-y!  I did manage to get out a bit though as the sun came out and melted parts of the streets. Anything in the shade stayed frozen, which made for interesting driving conditions.  Why did I venture out? Because I had to mail the cookbook.  The darn thing is done.

Kudos to my personal graphics designer, Andy, for the cover.  He's super creative and I'm glad cuz I never would have been able to come up with that cover.  I'll have the books in hand in about 2 months - so watch this space for ordering options.  I'll most likely be selling them for a "minimum donation" of $10+shipping.  It contains 150 tried and true recipes.  You'll love it.

As I was sitting on my couch today working, I glanced over to my side table and noticed all the books waiting to be read.  I laughed because the side table apparently holds the "grown up" books.  I have Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, by Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman), Promise Me by Nancy Brinker, and The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.  I also have two teeny bopper books to read, my journal, and two photography books, and one note book for, well, notes.

I can't remember why I was even mentioning what was on my side table...um...nothing.

Right, moving on.

Pookie was "helping" me work from home today.  He's a little spoiled.  Okay, he's a lot spoiled. But I wouldn't have it any other way.  I'm sure if he spoke English he'd be thanking me for all that I do for him.  At one point today as I sat on the couch with my laptop on the side arm, he hopped up and tried to get onto the laptop.  I tried to explain to him that this laptop is essentially what keeps him fed.  He looked at me in disbelief...and walked away. 

In other news, the PhotoGods are getting together this weekend to do some shooting.  I know you can't wait to see the photos.  I've been pretty good with keeping up with the Project 365, this will only help.

Life is a Highway

Oh boy, what a weekend.  Nothing overly exciting happened last week so there's no need to really comment...oh wait, something exciting DID happen.

Many of you know I'm a budding photographer, trying to make a go at a potential business.  In my attempt to get a photography business going, I've been practicing a lot and I've been trying to put myself out there in many different ways. 

Coupled with that I LOVE Pioneer Woman.   Her website not only has her story and a blog about all the things that go on during her life on a cattle ranch (after living in LA).  She's funny and she's full of stories that make you laugh and cry. 

She has two other parts of her blog, one dedicated to cooking, which is where I find a lot of my recipes. And another dedicated to photography. Its the photography page I am about to discuss.

The Pioneer Woman (PDub) has these photo assignments every couple of months.  In the past year I've submitted a half dozen photos. None of them ever made it any further past me submitting.

Her last assignment was on the theme "love".  On a whim I submitted my 3 Day photo that I'm so very proud of.

Yah, that picture gets me all choked up too. 

Anyhow back to the story.  I submitted this photo about a day into the contest.  Then suddenly I see it as a chose one.  She picks about 20 each day that she thinks represents her theme.  And mine made it in group 6. Scroll down and you'll see my photo.

Then on Friday I got a text message from my GalPal Meg-A-Roonie saying I had made it to the finalist.

Needless to say I was a little more than excited. I came home and passed the word to everyone I know to go and vote for me. 

Now I wait to see. 

It may seem like a silly little contest to many people. It's not national, it's not anything really big, but it is to me.  To me it gives me validation.  It helps my confidence to know that my photo is chosen out of more than 4,000 photos. I am one of 16 finalist.  That's big to me.

Even if I don't win, I'm thrilled to have come this far. 

So I'll wait patiently to see if I win!  I swear I'm waiting patiently.