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!

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.

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…

Southern Honey

I got a peck of peaches yesterday that had been subject to hail damage.  Needless to say, I got a good deal on them and since I was using them for jam and such, I didn’t really care what they looked like.

My mom gave me an old “canning” cookbook yesterday and I decided to try out a recipe in it for “Peach Southern Honey” which is basically peach jam with a crap load of sugar.

It’s a very easy recipe and I’ll share it with you because no biscuits should be without it…

First you take some ripe peaches and peel, pit, and mash them thoroughly.  Measure what you have mashed and for every cup of pulp, you add 2 cups of sugar.  I used 3 cups pulp and 6 cups sugar.

Combine pulp and sugar in a stock pot and bring to a boil on low heat.  This takes forever, but stir it constantly so it doesn’t scorch.  Continue to simmer it for about 30 minutes until it is thick and clear and turns a darker, golden color similar to honey.

Next, you ladle it into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath of 10 minutes.

Using 3 cups of pulp and 6 cups of sugar, I got 2 1/2 pints.

I was a little apprehensive to make jam without pectin because I’ve never done it before, but it was quite easy.  Luckily the humidity isn’t too bad today and it’s cool and breezy out.  I could have the window open in the kitchen so it didn’t get too hot in there while I was canning.

I still have a lot of peaches and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the rest.  Whatever it is, I have to do it today because they will be too ripe tomorrow.

I also got a great deal on tart Montmorency Cherries yesterday ($1.50 for a quart) and put up 6 1/2 pints of jam.  I’m still a ways off to get to my goal of not buying store bought jam ever again.  I opened the last pint of strawberry the other day and I only have one pint of blueberry left.  I have 2 pints of sweet cherry and 8 pints of sour cherry.  We go through about a pint a week between the 6 of us since we use it in our oatmeal.  I still have peach season, pear season, and apple season.  Plus, I may go pick more blueberries this weekend.  I froze the blueberries that I picked yesterday to use in cobblers and pancakes and stuff like that.

I didn’t do day 8

Because I’m having the worst.period.ever. and I didn’t feel like it.

I did shell out $150 so the boys could play soccer. That included shoes for both, shin guards for Ryan, and registration. Yikes.

I think I’m going to lay in bed and read. It’s been a long day.

Grace’s one year stats

Grace sticking out her tongue.

Originally uploaded by My Obscured Camera

She’s pretty much following the footsteps of her brother as far as percentile goes.

30 inches (85th percentile)
19 pounds 1 ounce (23rd percentile)

She’s meeting all of her milestones and she’s just perfect.

Jacob and Thomas The Tank Engine

Jacob posing

Originally uploaded by My Obscured Camera

Aunt Denise gave us some of Matthey’s old hand me down jammies. There were two pair of Thomas the Tank Engine jammies in the bag and Jacob was absolutely in Heaven.

We’ve been watching Sprout lately and they are always showing episodes of Thomas. When he saw this pair, he ripped his clothes off in record time and wanted the jammies on.