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!!!!