VISITOR FROM A FAR

My friend and her beau came to visit from The Netherlands. I haven't seen her since November. We had a nice visit before she heads off to other parts of the West Coast. We sat and told stories (mostly mine) and ate the surprise I made.

Last night I made Clementine Pots de Crème.  It turned out fabulous. Nice and creamy. It was not as sweet as I thought it would be but quite good. I could not find clementines so I used regular oranges.  Next time I might try lemons!  I bought some cute red ramekins to put the chocolate in. 

My friend brought me the most fabulous thing from Europe. She brought me Ritter Sport bars in my favorite flavor Peppermint. It is made with dark chocolate, yum!  Someone told me the Ritter bars directly from Europe are made from a better chocolate than the American ones.  I will eat these slowly and savor each square.

It was so great to see her and meet her beau. She s so happy.  I wish we had more time but I know it is hard to fit everything in when you only have a few days.  I will just have to be content until the next visit. 

Until tomorrow...

ANOTHER PHYSICAL THERAPY APPOINTMENT

I had my third physical therapy appointment. I have some gripes about my physical therapist. 1) she has horrible time management. Today I showed up for my appointment and found out she had double booked the appointment. Well, not her but her office. Last week I had to wait for my scheduled appointment while she finished up with someone else. During the first appointment she seemed to have forgotten I was coming and didn't have the paperwork ready and went into a long talk about a family member who was diagnosed with cancer unexpectedly.

Which brings up another point. 2) she seems to have no boundaries. I know way too much about her. I know how much she owes the IRS, about her relatives cancer, how much she saves for retirement, all about her son (who works for her) and his issues. Too much information for only having three appointments.

Point 3) she is hawking this vitamin supplement and is pretty aggressive about it. Each time we meet she brings up the vitamin supplement. She must be getting a commission on each sale or something. I find it annoying. I don't need to know about her stupid vitamin supplement. She just doesn't mention it but is pretty pushy. Next time she brings it up I am going to have to say something because each time she talks about it, I get stressed out.

My neck is kinda sore but we will see in the morning how I feel.

I made my dessert. It smells delicious! I will take a photo.

I contacted a gardener and he is coming in two weeks. Yay!

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN FAUX TUNA FISH SANDWICH

I am not always thrilled with all vegan recipes. Some of them scare me a little. Some of them just don't sound appetizing. I saw this recipe and thought I would try it because the comments were very good.

I was on the Humane Society website looking at goodies for Happi's birthday. Then I stumbled on a recipe for vegan Tuna-free salad sandwich. I know what you are thinking. What am I doing with a recipe from the Humane Society? I get recipes from all over the place.

So, I decided to try it. I got all the ingredients and made a small batch.

Tuna-Free Salad Sandwich
Ingredients:

Serves 6

30 ounces (2 cans) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1/4 cup red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup dill pickle, finely chopped
2 tablespoons nori seaweed flakes
1/2 - 3/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
12 slices bread, lightly toasted
6 large, crisp lettuce leaves
12 fresh tomato slices

In a large bowl, mash the garbanzo beans with a potato masher or the back of a fork. Fold the onion, celery, garlic, pickle, nori, mayonnaise, salt, and black pepper into the garbanzo beans. Combine thoroughly.

Lightly toast the bread. Spread the salad on one slice and stack with a lettuce leaf, two tomato slices, and another slice of bread. Cut sandwiches in half and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Allison Rivers Samson, owner of Allison's Gourmet and award-winning author of the VegNews column "Veganize It!" (Issue 61).

It turns out the beans when all smashed up have a texture a lot like tuna when you smash it up. Of course it doesn't have that fishy taste. I didn't put the nori seaweed flakes in the mixture because I didn't have any on hand. I also skipped the onions because I can't eat them. I put in extra celery and dill pickle.

In case you were interested, my test subject Brenda liked it. She thought it was good. I made her make her own tuna fish salad so she wouldn't eat my faux tuna. I wanted to have something to eat for lunch for a few days.

I am going to make a surprise for my friend who is coming to visit. I can't wait to see her. I got this recipe and I hope it works out. Can't tell you what it is cause she reads this blog!

Before I sign off, what a crazy week! Jodi Arias found guilty. The three girls found alive in Cleveland. The news has been so wild lately.

Until tomorrow...

ADMITTING DEFEAT

We have had a battle with our backyard for about a month now. The foliage has gotten out of control with this crazy weather. First no rain and then rain and now record hot weather. The plants are growing like, well, like weeds. So are the weeds. The whole backyard looks like a jungle. We could have done something about it about 1.5 months ago but now it is so out of control, it would take Brenda and I two weekends and the ability to clone ourselves to get it done.

So we admit defeat. We called someone to come in and clear it out. Clean it up. Cut back the never ending ivy, pull out the weeds, and hopefully cut back our neighbors tree. Our neighbor has one of those pine trees that is narrow and tall. It leans over our property line and already once we cut some branches off. Brenda jokes that the pine tree and our white birch will soon meet from the two sides of our property and block our view. We want the pine tree to be cut back again.

We are excited to have a cleared out backyard that doesn't look like an overgrown jungle.

Until tomorrow...

PASSED MY THIRD TEST

Yay! I passed my third and final test! I now only have to pass my drill on Saturday. I have my assignment. I am part of the Storage team. We are in charge of all the supplies for the team. I am excited for the drill.

They just had a Breaking News report about the three girls found alive in Cleveland. They had been abducted 10 years ago. How wonderful that they were able to escape but how sad that they were kidnapped. Imagine they were being held just a short distance from their homes, in the same neighborhood. Abducted by a school bus driver! You just never know. It is such a miracle one of the girls escaped.

Until tomorrow...

LAST TEST FINISHED!

I finished my final test for the animal rescue certification. Whew! That last test was hard. I sure hope I passed. I don't want to have to take it again. I have to get a 75% to pass. there were about 75 questions. I really didn't count. There is a timer that comes up if there isn't activity on the page and it asks if you want to be timed out. I have 300 seconds to respond and it times me out. So it gets a little stressful when I am going along and then this box appears asking me if I need more time to complete the exam. What?! Am I going to slow? I know I am taking my time. It is open book so I want to get it right. Seems silly to get wrong answers when it is open book. The answers are right in front of you.

This whole test is stressful. It is an online thing that you have take the whole online course that is three hours with practice tests throughout that you have to do. Then once you finish the online course there is a test that is timed. Well, not timed in that you have to have it done in 30 minutes but every 25 minutes a box pops up asking you if you need more time and you have so many seconds to respond to the question or it times you out and you have to start the test over again. So no going to the bathroom! No getting up for a glass of water unless you are quick. I basically just sit here and do the whole test in one sitting. No phone calls, no bathroom, no getting up for any reason. No talking. Just focus on the test.

See, I don't really feel I am a good test taker. Never have. I get sort of stressed out and tend to forget everything. The only things I remember are the things that I knew anyway. Things that have been pounded into my head. That is why I never go back and check my tests. If I do I second guess myself and then I change my answers. My first guess is usually correct. Over the years I have learned to just take a test and hand it in. Never go back.

When I was in graduate school I had a choice after my main courses where over. I could take three more courses and take an all day test that covered all the courses from the whole 2.5 years OR I could write a thesis. Of course I chose to write a thesis. It took me 2.5 years to finish it but I did. The other folks that took the test. Well, the test was in two or three parts and you got the test at 7 am and had to turn it in at 7 pm. Some of them got hotel rooms so they could set up their computer and printer and just take the test. A fair amount passed the whole test. Others passed a part of it and had to take the other part(s) over. To me that would be my worst nightmare. Having to take the big horrible test over again. Not sure I could bring myself to do it. Oh, yeah, they only give the test certain times of the year. So I would have to wait months to take it again. Ugh!

Well, keep your fingers crossed. I hope to find out tomorrow. I am just happy this is finished!

Oh, it is Happi's birthday today. She is 8.5 years old. We adopted her 6 years ago today when she was 1.5 years old. She still acts like a pup! I made her these frozen treats I read about on the Humane website. I took peanut butter and mashed it up with a 1/4 banana (I added a little water so it would mix a little easier). I then took spoonfuls and drop the spoonfuls on waxed paper and put it in the freezer. When they are frozen they make cute little treats for the dogs. They were gone in seconds. Smiles all around! Mommy we want more!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Until tomorrow...

SORE NECK

I had physical therapy on my neck yesterday. The PT did some exercises and some massage and some other stuff. It didn't hurt yesterday but, oh, this morning! It is killing me on the left side. Like a knife is sticking in the left side of my neck. I actually took one of my back muscle relaxers because it hurt so much. Then I took a nap because I was so tired. Those muscle relaxers relax me so well.

The PT was so easy with me this time since last week I was really sore too. I am just not sure if there is anything she can do to make me feel better. I did change pillows to see if that does anything. I also have some new exercises to do once the pain subsides.

This maybe a long haul.

Until tomorrow...

CRAZY WEEK IS FINALLY OVER, ALMOST

Well, this crazy week is finally almost over. I still have this weekend to get more work done. I have to invoice my clients, finish a handbook, and take my third animal rescue test. Not much!

It is also Derby Day! The Kentucky Derby is tomorrow. One of my favorite sporting events. One year Brenda and I dressed up, made mint juleps and sat on the couch and watched the Derby. We know all the rituals and choose our horses for the race.

Two weeks from now we will sit down and watch the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. We are addicted.

Until tomorrow...

DEADLINES

Okay, some deadlines are good. Some deadlines I like. Some deadlines suck. Good deadline: your last day of work before you leave for vacation! Deadline I like: the last minute of riding the stationary bike. Deadline that sucks: The few minutes before surgery!

One thing that is tough is when you are expecting a deadline to be one day and suddenly someone moves the deadline up. The deadline is supposed to be May 15 and suddenly someone wants to move it up to May 1. Yikes!

I have so many deadlines right now and I have to keep them all straight.

Until tomorrow...

ANTICIPATION

I got a letter in the mail today that my Enbrel will be supplied by a new pharmacy starting June 1. In some ways this could be a good thing. It is a pharmacy that I like and as a drop by and pick up pharmacy, they are very good. I reserve judgement on how they will be as a delivery pharmacy.

I am anxious about the transition from one pharmacy to another. So many things can go wrong and since I take a drug that I have to take, it worries me that the whole situation could go haywire. I have already broken in this pharmacy and they know where I like my drugs delivered, when I like them delivered. They call me to have them delivered.

Now I will have to get used to another pharmacy. What if they screw up the prescription? the delivery? Some of you may be saying "why worry unnecessarily?" If you have ever transitioned from one pharmacy to another when taking a biologic drug, you would understand. If one little thing goes wrong, no drugs. No drugs, stiffness and pain. It is not like when you go to Rite-Aid and they can't fill your prescription. You can go to another Rite-Aid or a CVS and get it filled. With biologics, you can only get it from the one place the insurance company tells you you can get it mailed to you. If that company screws up, well, no drugs.

I just got my shipment today so I have one more shipment before the change.

Until tomorrow...