"I think I'll take a nap before my massage."

Well, I certainly don't get to say these words very much! Yesterday Jake and I went to Well Within to redeem my gift from Jake - a 50 minute session in the hot tub/sauna room and a 50 minute massage for each of us. We had a wonderful time and went out for sushi afterwards. It was so relaxing and I wish I could go every month. I have a feeling more of my future gifts from Jake will involve this spa!

In other news, congratulations to Marissa, my oldest friend, and her new husband Matt! I can't wait to hear about the festivities at Andiamo's. I really wish I could have been there!

Turnip wasn't feeling well the past week with some pretty strange symptoms - lethargy and unwillingness to move her tail. She wouldn't wag it or move it out of the way to sit down. It was very strange. We called the vet on Saturday and he suspected a bite (possibly spider) that would make it painful for her to move the base of the tail. We threw some aspirin down her gullet and gave it a few days and she seems to be fine now. She started wagging again yesterday and now has a little more spunk. Her GI system is doing much better on the Flagyl, Prilosec and special (really expensive) diet. We'll see what happens after her meds are done.

Today Jake and I went shopping and spent a little holiday money. I needed new measuring spoons and found these amazing ones at Chefworks downtown. I really like how I can use both ends - one for wet and one for dry for seamless cooking. Plus, they have magnets and look really cool on my stove. And they match my shelf. Yea! I also got a new Sigg water bottle so I can stop supporting Nalgene and drinking the nasty chemical BPA. Jake really wants one too, but couldn't find a masculine enough design at the store we were at. Another thing I've been wanting for awhile is a hands-free head set for my phone so I can be just like my mommy and get things done while I talk. We picked one up today at Office Max and it seems to work pretty well so far. Let me know if you have trouble hearing me when we talk.

We're headed to a small gathering tonight to celebrate New Year's and I'm bringing Jelly Donut Cupcakes. They are vanilla cupcakes with a teaspoon of jam baked into the middle and covered in powdered sugar. They are really adorable, but I haven't tasted them yet. Will report back.

Happy New Year's everyone! Be safe.

I'm exhausted.

I'm done! According to my instructor this was the hardest semester of the program and she said that from here it is down hill. Whew! I don't have my final grades yet, but I think I have an A in Pharmacology and an 89% in Med-Surg which I'm really really hoping they'll round up to an A. Getting a B in the class isn't bad, but when I'm so close to an A I just want it!

I've been loving all the packages I've been getting in the mail. I haven't sent out any and I apologize but I'm sure you understand. I think you all would rather have me pass my courses than receive packages from me with home made goodies in them.

I just received Pat and Gary's package and it really shows off their sick sense of humor:What she is going to learn from this toy: skunks are fun to play with!!

(By the way, she loves these!)

It's cold here too

In the mornings (those rare ones when Jake and I both get to sleep in), Turnip will wedge herself between us to stay warm and then sleep in our warm spot about 30 minutes after we've left. Here she is yesterday morning, giving me that "leave me alone" look:

Semester Countdown

5 tests
6 clinicals
4 days of lecture (6 lectures total)
1 presentation
1 (long) paper
2 community events
1 academic advisor appointment
and still working at my 2 jobs (23 hours/week total)

All in the next 3 1/2 weeks! Yikes. Better get crackin'.

Thanks for the Pity

It was a rough week, but I'm doing a little better now. I didn't have strep throat, but I was hoping it was so I could just take antibiotics and be done with this whole mess. My NP said it might be viral or it could be an allergic reaction to the county wide aerial spraying they did last week to get rid of our moth infestation. I don't know, my symptoms just feel bacterial to me. I can just feel those little guys making pus and are now lovingly depositing it in other places in my head. To be continued.

Good news:
1. My paper is about 4 sentences from being done and was much easier to do than I had anticipated.

2. Turnip and the house do not smell as bad now. The incident was not nearly as bad as what happened in June.

3. I have fun things to do this weekend including and dinner and movie double date with my neighbors and a vegan thanksgiving with a nursing friend on Sunday. I doubt Jake and I will even have much of Thanksgiving on Thursday because I am really busy and out of the house until Wednesday night at 11pm. Jake invited people over, so he's going to have to prepare everything with no car.

4. One month of school left for the semester!! (With 5 more tests crammed in there somehow......)

The "I need pity" post

#1 I think I have strep throat.

#2 Turnip got sprayed by a skunk again at 2am. She and our house smell like the devil.

#3 I have a paper to write and Jake has some major deadlines this week.

#4 I have to play the 'victim' part in our hospital's disaster drill for 8 hours tomorrow.


:: cry ::

Turnip is a Dog

That's all I gots to say 'bout that.


(And no, I can't just let sleeping dogs lie....)

Don't worry!

Everyone is okay from the earthquake last night! Turnip freaked out a little and I was in the ER, so that was pretty exciting. The hospital is on rollers so we were slightly swaying for about a minute. It kinda felt like being dizzy - we weren't jolted or anything. No road damage or major injuries so that's pretty good considering the 5.6 magnitude.

My (pitiful) contribution to the food world

My Veganomicon finally arrived! This cookbook just came out and for those of us who love their other books, we are very excited. Back in the summer of 2006 I started recipe testing for this book when it was in its infancy. Once nursing school started in the fall, I no longer had time to help out these nice Jewish girls and so I get no tester credit in the book. I tested maybe 10, but those who got credit tested 35 or more! Anyway, this book is amazing and the recipes in it are ones that I see myself using over many many years. (Pat and Gary - that baked potato soup you liked is in here.) The writing is down to earth, informative and hilarious. I just can't say enough good things about it. I just wish I had more time to cook right now (we've been living off Trader Joe's packaged foods during the week). I can't seem to find my pictures from testing, but here are a few photos from the book. I will document some of the wonderful things I make in the coming months. Thanksgiving may be the best time to try out a good half dozen recipes or so. Can't wait!

**By the way, Amazon has it for $10 off right now.

Cute Family!

The brother, the aunt and me (with a very strange looking torso....)

Thanks for the picture, Grandma!

Life is Never Boring

I have a 'day off' today so I should probably update everyone on what's been going on.

Jake had a successful trip to Montreal for the social sciences conference. Connections were made and beer was drunk. He didn't have a lot of time to sight see, so Montreal is on our list of places to visit in the future.

We had our first visit with Turnip's behaviorist on Monday. She came to our home and took walks around the neighborhood with so she could assess the appropriate behavior modification training we need. Our homework is to work on the distraction techniques she taught us so Turnip doesn't freak out when she sees certain things (skateboards, cats and squirrels for a start). Her name is Daphne and we liked what she had to say. For $85/hour, we better.

School is actually kinda fun now. I love love love my new instructor and she doesn't make me feel incompetent when I'm taking care of a patient. I'm still at the community hospital but now I'm on a med/surg floor. I'm so happy to be here and out of the psych unit. All that sitting and talking with people was wreaking havoc on my lower half. Now I get to run around the floor giving insulin shots left and right. Yesterday I helped with a thoracentesis which looked, uh, pretty painful. I was only squeamish when the doctors had a difficult time getting the needle through the ribs. If you want more details, call me.

Last Sunday I did my community health project where I got to tell dozens of people that they either had a high risk for cardiovascular disease or have diabetes. Our group would take their BMI (body mass index), blood for the glucose and cholesterol tests, then interpret the data for them. It was usually bad news and most didn't have health insurance. The next educators they talked to after us would help set up low-cost health care appointments with transportation for them. Our service was free to them so hopefully the little bit of education we gave them will start them thinking about their health.

Tonight I have a chance to cook and use the new oven. I'm making maple roasted acorn squash, roasted onion and mushroom tomato sauce to go over brown rice pasta, and for dessert, baked balsamic pears with goat cheese and walnuts. Yum!

(But first I have to do my lousy homework....)

New Oven

Now I don't have to worry about accidentally killing myself with gas fumes when I bake cookies. The new oven is all fancy with a digital display and a 10 minutes pre-heating time. It doesn't take much to make me happy..... And we're going to get a new heater soon! So now when you visit in January, you won't get hypothermia.

Ugh...So much too do

I need a vacation already.
My psych rotation is ending this week which I'm very happy about. This is definitely not the type of nursing I'm interested in even though I've always loved psychology. But working with actual patients is much more emotionally draining than doing research psych.

I'm making two pumpkin pies for Jake's birthday tomorrow. They will be accompanied by whipped cream and hot brandy sauce. This is my only gift to him since I've had no time to go out and buy him a bathrobe. For an early birthday celebration on Friday, we went out to a fabulous dinner at Caruso's in Capitola village. Jake said it was the best meal he's had at a restaurant since we moved to California.

Jake is leaving for Montreal this Wednesday for a social sciences conference. I have some wonderful friends who are going to help take care of Big T when I'm at school. I really wished I could have gone to Montreal with him, but alas, I'll have to wait until I'm done with school and then we can jet set together!

I've got to get ready for Jake's party. I'll try to post some photos later this week. I can't believe he's turning 28! We're old!!!!

Morning Family Conversation

Scene: Turnip watches in horror as I wash my plate that still has streaks of maple syrup on it.

Alana: No sweetie, that's too much sugar.

Jake: When she got her pancake, I put some syrup on it. Do you think I'd give her a dry pancake? What am I, a monster?!

Turnip: Yeah, if you did that, I would have to call the SPCA - Society for Pan-Cake Advocacy.

**I don't know if this translates, but it was hilarious at the time! And yes, Turnip talks to us.

For Loula

Baby Loula needed a fancy brown hat! Her mother loves brown and has way too much hand-me-down pink stuff. The little bow on top makes it feminine, but not girly. I really love this hat which is a mini version of a white hat I made for myself this summer. It is being modeled here by an enormous navel orange.

So much to say, so little time

There are so many things I have been wanting to blog about in the past few week but my free time is very very sparse. I've been wanting to post pictures about things I've knitted over the summer, pictures of the front of our house and how it's looking much nicer these days, pictures of Turnip's new walking collar, entries about school and my feelings about psychiatric nursing...... there's just so much but you will all have to wait patiently.

This week started off really insane and now that I have my two exams over with, I can take the afternoon and evening off. Thank goodness. I thought my eyes were gong to start bleeding last night as I was studying for my test! But, you'll be happy to know I did very well on both and now I have two quizzes to look forward to this Friday. And I have to go to two 8 hour clinicals. And create and run an ocupational therapy group. And write a paper. And start working on my presentation. And have a one-to-one evaluation with my instructor. Oh jeez. I better just finish up these dishes first. One day at a time.......well, that might not work. Let's try one hour at a time.

Planning way in advance....

For those of you who have been asking, my graduation date is Friday, May 23rd 2008 at 10am.

But I'm not thinking about this until next year when my evaluations and grades will say it's okay for me to graduate.

Ok, I now must go read about antibiotics on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Grrr....

Too many tomatoes!

They won't stop! I haven't even watered them in a week!But, they are still tasty and beautiful.
Adorable Japanese eggplants. I have a plan for them...
Small dog or giant cucumber?? (She is not licking her chops for this, trust me.)
Bonus picture: birthday cupcakes! Happy 33rd Andy!

Quick Update

First week at school went extremely well. I'm not even stressed out yet! I'm impressed with the second year instructors because of their cohesiveness as a team and extraordinary organizational skills. They are such a breath of fresh air compared to my instructors last year.

I start out my clinical next week at Emergency Psychiatric Services so I'm heading in deep the first day. My tasks at clinical will mostly be about communication - we're really not to do anything else except talk. Because the population I'll be working with can be unpredictable, we're not allowed to touch or even go near a patient's room for our safety. Ok by me.

I've been reading all my chapters like a good student so far (this will not last long...) and I already have one project out of like 100 done already. My syllabus is so full of reading, quizzes, tests, group projects, individual projects and papers that my head is spinning. Fortunately, we have all the information we need ahead of time so really all this work is about time management. They are really stressing the importance of time management this year because that's 99% of on-the-job nursing.

And stay tuned for an excited announcement about Turnip's improved behavior!

Cue ominous music....

I start school at 7am tomorrow.

:: cry ::

Makin' Bagels!

Jake made bagels this weekend. I think he really wanted to try out his new outdoor stove thingy (bought for beer making) on something he's familiar with first. I didn't really help, but I took pictures!
The doughy goodness:
Jake's new toy:Boil for one minute each side in a malty solution:
From the oven.....
...to my mouth! Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside - the perfect bagel.
That boy is so talented.

Feel Better Rusty and Dell!

These guys have had some rough times lately. I hope you two feel better soon. Hopefully you will get your "Get Well" package soon.
Mmmmm...gingerbread stars and bones.

All Lit Up!

Brian took this one:

Birthday Cake!

It's my good friend's birthday today and this is her favorite cake. I made it for her as a surprise last year without even knowing that chocolate and raspberries was her favorite dessert combination. Chocolate-Raspberry Blackout Cake (from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegan with a Vengeance) is now the August 29th birthday tradition.

Sorry, the natural lighting at 6pm is not great for food photos! The cake is really not blue...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANA!

Vacation Pictures

We all had a great time last week. Being in the wilderness is the perfect way to clear the mind and prepare for the months ahead. I didn't think that backpacking into the wilderness was going to be a relaxing time, but without TV, the internet, phone access and hundreds of books and magazines laying around all we had to do was play in the glacier lakes, lay in the sun and take naps. Of course climbing 4000 ft. in 1.5 miles can be challenging when the air is so thin, but it felt good.

The first day we drove through Yosemite. Here is the ubiquitous photo of Half Dome.The first night we car camped in a campground close to the trailhead. Our backpacking trip was in the Hoover Wilderness, part of a national forest bordering the northeastern part of Yosemite. The benefit is that Turnip is allowed, unlike a State Park (re: Yosemite) which is very restrictive for the activities of the canine companion. Here we are on the second day getting ready for the big hike:


Although she looks pretty mad here, she did very well carrying her food, sleeping pad and toys. I think she was upset that we put this on her at first, but once we started on the trail she was literally a happy camper.First lake on the hike. This scene is typical of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
We stopped at every lake to refill water bottles and for Turnip to cool off. Unfortunately she wouldn't cooperate for this photo. These lakes are from glacial run off and are freezing!
This is at base camp. Turnip is hiding in the grasses to protect us from bears, mountain lions and rattle snakes. She did a very good job! She would often patrol around the tent to make sure things were safe. Such a good guard dog - in an apartment or in the wilderness.
This is one lake consisting of Frog Lakes. Surrounding it is meadows and berry bushes the black bears are fond of. This is the closest lake to our base camp where we would gather and filter all of our water. You can also see remnants of glaciers in the background. So pretty.......
Day hike climbing up to 12,000 ft. on the third day. I think there is something wrong with the camera - I couldn't get a picture of us not looking fat!


View from 12,000 ft! It's much more beautiful in person of course.
I've got a few more good photos, but I'll save them for another time.

Busy busy

The never ending tasks this past week were all in preparation for our camping trip to Yosemite. We're having guests stay while we were gone and we've been doing loads of deep cleaning (including renting a carpet cleaning machine) to get ready. Today is all about surface cleaning.

I've also been frantically knitting all week because of a baby shower I attended yesterday. She liked the hats and blanket I made her and it will be all worth it when I can see them on the new bundle. The baby is due around Jake's birthday. I don't think I can knit for awhile because my hands are very achy from the continuous hours of knitting I had to do to finish up on time. I will post pics later of some recent wee baby items that I have to admit are adorable.

We're leaving for the mountains Monday morning and we'll be back Saturday evening. We bought a new 4 person tent so everyone one will be comfortable and there will be no stealing of the sleeping bags by a certain dog. Also, Turnip has her own backpack this time and she is not happy about this. She will just have to deal with it. We are spending two nights in the back country, one night car camping and the last night at a motel on our way out.

I thought I had a lot more to say but I think I covered all the basics. Well I have a ton a laundry and cleaning to do before I go to work so I must get on with my "day of doom".

The Most Painful Pie

Near us, there is a 2 mile stretch of blackberry brambles. We took a large container and the dog and headed out on a berry picking adventure last Tuesday. Well, those things are really sharp and I have cuts all over my legs to prove it. I thought while picking the berries that a pie would never be good enough to be worth all this pain and bleeding, but yet, to my surprise, it was.

We picked two pounds! This would have cost $20 at the farmer's market. (What's a little blood when you can save $20?)My first attempt ever at making a top crusted pie (with homemade pie dough). Joy of Cooking helped me figure out those fancy edges.
It only bubbled over in one spot.
Oh the juices! It was still a little warm when I cut it, but firmed up considerably when it cooled. Best fruit pie ever!

It's a curious thing when....

Turnip's thighs smell like tomatoes.
Ok, not that curious. She was just probably dozing by the mater patch.

***edit***
After I posted this, I thought that it would make me seem quite odd that I would be sniffing Turnip's thighs in the first place. Well, you know I am so don't ask any questions.

Mmmmmmm....beer

This is Jake's hefeweizen that's fermenting in our linen closet. In two weeks it will be put in bottles.

What's going on

It's August already and I still haven't done most of things I wanted to accomplish this summer. The house needs a thorough organizing, my Spanish needs improving and I have a ton of little projects that just need finishing up. However, my friend had her baby a week early and I've been feverishly knitting to get these gifts to her in a reasonable amount of time. They are now 99% done and I will deliver them soon. I'll put pictures up later of all the knitted cuteness.

Jake is finishing up his grades from his class that just ended and will be working on a book chapter until his classes start in late September. He's buying a homebrew kit this weekend and plans to start brewing his own beer again. He hasn't done it for a few years and is excited about having a hobby.

We're also starting to plan a camping trip for later this month in the Sierra Nevadas/Yosemite area. We might go for a whole week if we can get our apartment rented (we have someone in mind).

And the garden is beautiful!
The cherry tomato plant is monstrous!Bowl of sunshine!
Eggplant (still growing, haven't eaten yet):
Zucchini (have been eating these all of July):

Puppy Party!

Turnip's been quite the social busy body lately. The past two days she's had visitors great and small!

With Sully, her main boyfriend:
Getting tired after a long day of wrestling.
And these two adorable female doxies are Maki and Oly. Turnip is very nice to them, but they are a little confused as to how to play with her.

I can't tell them apart, so I have no idea which one this is. But very cute nonetheless.

Summer Days at the Beach

The past two days I've taken the dog to Stinky Beach. Although a bit more stinky than Lighthouse Field Beach, it has all-day off leash hours and is practically empty late morning-ish. There are tide pools, long stretches of beach and tons of rocks to climb on. It's only 1.5 miles from our house so it's very walkable. I am so happy to have discovered this! (Jake apparently knew about this but for some reason I thought it had the same restrictive hours as other beaches - and those are too crowded for Turnip to act reasonably.)

Having way too much fun (ok, there's no such thing for a dog):

Must do some splorin':


Drying off by rolling around in the sand:
Ok, time to go home and get a bath.