Thinking of school a little more

I’ve been giving going back to school a lot of thought lately.  I know I want to do something in the healthcare field, but trying to narrow it down is really tough.  At first I thought about something like getting a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics and becoming a registered dietician.  The more I think about it, the more I think that I’d rather be a nurse.  I kind of like the icky stuff and really, blood and guts don’t bother me.  I think once you’ve been a parent and been pooped on, peed on, puked on, etc., there’s really not much that phases you.  

I’ve been researching different programs and I think I’m leaning toward getting my associates degree from Washtenaw Community College and becoming a RN from there.  After that, I’d absolutely love to transfer to the University of Michigan and complete my RN-BSN.  We’ll see how finances go, but it looks like it might all work out.  Before I would be able to transfer, I’d need to work for 6 months and then start the RN-BSN program and since we’re so used to living on one salary, the money I make in those 6 months can go toward paying for school.  It will probably cost about $25-30K to finish up at the U, but I think it will be worth it.

There is an online class that I will need to take and I’m thinking of taking it this winter. I’m pretty excited to have something like this to look forward to!

I know, I know…

It’s been a while since I’ve updated.  There really isn’t much to write about as our life has been going pretty much the same.  I’m glad the election is over and I’m happy with the outcome.  It was exciting for the last couple of months and now that it’s over, it’s just kind of boring to watch or read the news.

The kids are done with football and it’s nice to have more time with them.  They’re both doing well in school and they both really like their teachers this year.  Austin made the honor roll and is trying hard for straight A’s for next marking period.  I’m pretty confident that he can do it.  Jason has really been working with him in math, which at a B was his lowest grade.  He had some trouble at the beginning of the year, but since Jason started “tutoring” him, he’s gotten an A on every test.  The rest of his grades were all either A’s or B+’s so I don’t think it will be too hard for him.

Ryan has been having some trouble with spelling and reading, but nothing a little extra work can’t fix.  He’s coming along very nicely and we had great parent teacher conferences for him.  For grades K-3 they don’t do letter grades so they don’t have an honor roll.  I don’t think he would have made it if they did, but he would have been close.

Jacob and Grace are doing well also.  We’ve had some trouble with them being sick and it seems that they’re finally getting over the ick of colds, sinus infections, ear infections, more colds, and pink eye.  Yuck!

I’ve been working on my homemade Christmas gifts for family and for the boy’s teachers.  Luckily, all of the projects that I’ve chosen have been quick and I’m able to finish a couple a day.  I’m giving the boy’s teachers a handmade cotton bath puff with a bar of “Food for your Skin” soap that I purchased off of a crafter on Etsy.  It’s really awesome soap (and expensive at $6.50 a bar!) and I can’t say enough about how much I like it.  I’m also doing the same thing for my mom and sister and for our next door neighbor.  I’m also making my sister a hat and a pair of fingerless mittens.  I don’t know what else I’m doing for my mom yet.  She just got the bug to make herself a new hat, so that idea is out.  I might make her a few kitchen wash cloths and pot scrubbers and a couple face cloths and a face scrubbie.  I want to make some Amigurumi play food for Grace to use with her play kitchen.  I want to make some Ami animals for Ryan and Jacob.  So many projects, so little time.

I’m also on Facebook, so if you want to hear from me more often than waiting for a blog update, you can add me as a friend there.

Don’t forget to Barack the vote tomorrow!

Obama and McCain

Originally uploaded by My Obscured Camera

Remember, the only way to not feel like a dumbass when someone asks you if you voted, is to vote!

Grace’s new hat

Grace’s new hat

Originally uploaded by My Obscured Camera

I saw a really cute pageboy cap on the Children’s Place website that I thought I could try to make. It was knitted and cabled and it would have looked so cute on Grace. I asked around to see if anyone had a pattern similar and my friend Robin found one pretty close. I just need to get the right sized needles and the right kind of yarn.

In the meantime I found a pattern for a crocheted cap on Etsy (thnkdfrent) and purchased that. I can crochet way faster than I can knit. I whipped this up in a couple of hours using Peaches & Cream 100% cotton yarn. The yarn was only $1.47 a ball and it didn’t even use a whole ball. I think I’m going to go back and get more colors and make more for fall/winter. I’m going to embellish it somehow with either a flower or a button or something.

I also have the pattern for adult sizes so I may make more to donate to charity (chemo caps or something).

That’s my nephew Soren’s hand trying to rip the hat off her head. The blond hair in the front is Jacob.

Canning, Canning, and More Canning

But first, the pictures I promised…

Here’s the Blueberry Pudding Cake that I made.  It was awesome…

Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce…

Dilled Green Beans…

Today, I went to the Tecumseh’s farmer’s market and got some tomatoes, onions, green peppers (can you see where this is headed?), and some red potatoes.  On the way to get groceries, we stopped at Skow’s Berry Farm and got more tomatoes, more green peppers, peaches, plums, apples, and cukes.

I made zesty salsa, dill pickles, and plum jam.

I also cooked up more plum pulp and froze it to make another batch of jam.  I ran out of pectin and jars so I couldn’t do another batch today.  So I got 6 pints of salsa, 9 pints of pickles, and 11 half pints of jam.  It was busy, but everything turned out so well and it was so worth it to know where our food came from and exactly what was in it.

Blueberry Pudding Cake Update

The cake turned out great!!  It was a big hit for dessert tonight and it will definitely be on the list to make again.

I also have been canning tonight.  1 batch of dilled green beans and 1 batch of Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce.  It’s spicy!  I got the green beans at the Manchester Farmer’s Market tonight specifically to make these pickles.

Pics tomorrow, I promise!

Blueberry Pudding Cake

My friend Lori posted a recipe for a Blueberry Pudding Cake on her blog today.  It sounded good and I had to make it.  I got everything out and noticed I was about 3/4 cups of sugar short and I didn’t have any lemon juice.  I don’t know what difference it will make if I use honey instead of sugar and omit the lemon juice, but that’s what I did.

It’s in the oven right now, I’ll update and let you know what the verdict is.

Here’s a link to the recipe, if you’re interested.

Blueberry Pudding Cake

Worm Composting Update

We have compost and more worms!

I have only been feeding my worms about once every 10 days since I didn’t have many worms and they were slow to eat.  Last time I fed them, I didn’t have time to play around in the bin to see what was going on in there.  I had moved them to the garage last week since it has been in the upper 80’s and lower 90’s here and I don’t really have anywhere in the yard that is shaded all day.

I went to feed them today and noticed that a couple were trying to escape, which usually isn’t a good thing since it can mean that the conditions aren’t up to par.  I dug around in there a little and noticed it was a little wet.  With the high temps and being a dark container, it was most likely due to condensation from when it was outside.  It wasn’t wet enough to drip out of the bottom, but still pretty damp.  I dug around and noticed there were worms everywhere.  Usually I would have to dig a little to find them and they’d all be clumped together.  This time they were all spread out and there were twice as many as before.  I didn’t see any babies, they all seemed normal sized, but I’m not sure how fast they grow.  Like I said, it had been almost a month since I had dug through it.  Also, the food that I put in there last time was gone and the corn cobs have disappeared.

There was also quite a bit of compost.  Not nearly enough to harvest yet, but enough that when you open it up and lift the bedding, you see what looks like dirt.  I’m pretty excited about that.  So today I cleaned out one of the crispers in the fridge and noticed some grapes that had got a little icky and had a little mold so the worms got a little treat today.

Cloth Napkins

Cloth Napkins

Originally uploaded by My Obscured Camera

I finally got motivated to make the cloth napkins from the tutorial that I posted a link to months ago.

Jason’s work picnic was yesterday and the theme was “going green” so we were asked to bring non-disposable place settings and cloth napkins.

I was in a huge hurry when I made these so I didn’t press the hems or anything, I just tucked them under and sewed. They turned out nice and the fabric is really heavy, kind of like what you’d see in a restaurant that uses cloth napkins.

I think I’m going to start making them more so we can use them all the time. I think cloth napkins wipe up messes better than paper napkins anyways. For everyday use, I don’t care if they match or not so I might make them out of Jason’s old work shirts and stuff like that. Usually I donate our old clothes, but sometimes they get stained or torn and we just throw them away. At least now we can throw them away with most of it missing.

Sour cherry jam and peach southern honey

Sour cherry jam and peach southern honey

Originally uploaded by My Obscured Camera

This is what it looks like…