Get a Job?

Not much to say, but thought I'd check in and say hello. We're going to Utah to spend some time with both of our families over Memorial Day - yay for automatic vacation days and families!

I've been thinking about getting a part-time job this summer, for a lot of reasons. I'm only taking one class, so I have lots of free time I didn't have before, and Josh is gone a lot now, working up in Utah. And we recently discovered that when I'm bored, I spend money. Money we don't want me to spend. I did the first half of May's budget, and I had already spent the entire monthly allowance for entertainment, and we're still in the hole from April's gifts (but Josh lets that one slide because of my New Year's Resolution not to miss a single family member's birthday - so far so good!).

Anyway, any money I overspend comes directly out of our 'House Fund' which always makes us cringe because we both desperately want to own a house and we haven't saved enough for a down payment yet. Housing is a bit cheaper in Utah, but not drastically, so we've still got a ways to go. Throw in that we now pay state tax in Utah where we weren't paying it in Nevada and suddenly we can't save as much as we used to. With gasoline going up, milk at $2.50 a gallon, and Nevada Power increasing rates by 11% effective June 1, it's gonna be another financially miserable summer in Vegas, baby. Blech.

Which brings me back to the part-time job thing. It would only be for June-September, so what kind of job should I look for? I'll feel really bad about finding a job, getting trained for it, then taking off after only a few months, so I don't want it to be a critical job that will screw the company when I quit, but I do feel like I need to get employed and do it quickly. Any suggestions?

Saddy-head

I am just so mad at Josh right now. Actually, I'm not mad, I'm really sad. Sad and disappointed and frustrated.

I could go on and on about how I've now taken five classes at CCSN that aren't needed at UVSC, and about how I now need two classes from UVSC that weren't required at CCSN, and how I now have to pay non-resident tuition, and how I still can't register for fall semester because Jan at ext. 7196 won't call me back, and how sucky it will be to finish my summer class here on August 2 and start up there August 22, and how my chances of getting accepted into the program will now drop from 1:2 to 1:5, and how now I don't foresee any available time to visit Isaac & Shama in Texas or go see Jeddy in NY...

But mostly what I feel is sad and lonely because he's been gone for so long. I wish we could live like normal 30-something's. I wish he came home for dinner every night and didn't give so much of his personal time to his job. I wish we had a house payment and planned big annual family vacations. I wish we were friends with our neighbors and went on walks together in the evenings. I wish we did fun stuff on Saturdays instead of doing errands around the house. I wish he would worry about me and our future instead of his parents'. Mostly I wish I was a mom that had children to raise instead of giving them away. I know that's not fair because it's not his fault, but it still makes me sad, and I feel cheated for us not being able to start our family yet.

The fruits of (the rest of) my labor

Not 'real" labor, mind you, as I'm not even pregnant, but rather the fruits of my study labor. I started my summer Anatomy & Physiology II class today and it just so happens that this is the same professor I had for A&P I, so he had my final test score and semester grade available.

drum roll...

I am one of only two students that earned an A in his course! Even better than that, the course is so difficult, a percentage of 87% or higher is awarded an A, and my final score was 93%!! My professor said it's been a long time since he's seen a score that would have earned an 'A' grade without the curve.

*beaming*

It sure would be nice if my husband were here to share it with me, though. :-(

A job well-done

Sweet! The score for the semester's test I was most worried about (Chem 121) was posted online today. I got 81%! That may not seem like an excellent score for me until you realize that Chemistry was my most difficult class this semester and that score was for the standardized test given to all Gen Chem students across the United States. I'm smarter than 80% of the students who took that test!

After my professor weighted it against the topics we didn't cover in class, I ended up with an even 90% on the final. I only needed a 78% on the final to earn an A, so the 90% brought me to a solid A for the class. I am so happy and Josh is so proud.

PS - Lest you think I got lucky in the class or don't know a difficult class when I see one, here is a letter of commendation given me by my Chemistry lab instructor. It's so nice when hard work pays off, and I worked my ass off in this class.
On the flip side, I got an A in my English class and I didn't do much in there. That class was ridiculously easy, which just goes to show that if someone tests out of a class, you shouldn't make them take it anyway, just for a stinking letter grade. I mean, if you test out of a class, shouldn't it be obvious you'd do well if you actually took it? I skated through that class and my professor still called me an exemplary student. What does that tell you about the work-ethic-less students that accompanied me to class everyday? I'm still bitter about CCSN wasting my time and money, grrrrr.

Feed My Sheep

I'm 0 and 2 with the missionaries.

Several months ago in Relief Society I signed up to feed the missionaries. We ran into them about a week before said dinner and persuaded them to tell us what they *really* wanted to eat. Turns out they were both huge fish fans, but no one ever made it for them. So I found a dreamy recipe for lemony halibut served over steamed vegetables and rice. I even practiced it one night for me and Josh to make sure it was edible, and it was fantastic! I called the missionaries the afternoon of our dinner date to ask when they were going to come over that evening, and the Elder says to me, "Oh, didn't Elder so-and-so call you? We made other plans to eat dinner with some investigators tonight." Now, even though I was planning a special meal for them, it didn't bother me, because I figured if the missionaries can have dinner with investigators, that's better than dining at our investigator-less table, and I just stuck the two extra halibut fillets in the freezer for another day.

Fast-forward to last Saturday when the missionaries were tracting in our area and we invited them in for a break from the sun, some water, and some snacks. New missionaries, new dinner opportunity, so I offered to prepare dinner for an evening they had available. That available evening ended up being the following Saturday (today). These missionaries had no special requests, so I decided to make my fool-proof cranberry chicken with a green salad and rice pilaf. Everyone loves it.

Everything was set for dinner at 6pm at our house. We confirmed with the missionaries the day before and they had our address and phone number. At 6pm, the rice and salad were done, I had baked brownies, and the chicken had 10 minutes left in the oven - perfect, because the missionaries weren't there yet. At 6:10pm, I put the rice back on a semi-warm burner and covered with a lid to keep in the moisture, and left the chicken in for "five more minutes." At 6:20pm, I had Josh call their house to see if they remembered how to get to Melocactus Court (no answer - good sign, right?), turned off the oven, but left the chicken in it to keep warm, and put the salad dressings back in the fridge. At 6:30pm, I sat down and debated whether or not to keep the chicken in the oven, fearing it would dry out. I decided against it, because I had just baked it in a mixture of whole cranberry sauce, honey, and lemon and orange juices. I figured leaving it simmering in all those juices would keep it moist. At 6:45pm, I pulled the chicken out of the oven and told Josh if they didn't show up by 7pm, we were going to eat without them.

The missionaries arrived for our 6pm dinner appointment at 6:53pm. They offered no excuse nor apology for being late, and I didn't ask where they had been, figuring it was none of my business and hoping they had been connecting spiritually with someone while teaching a discussion. So we sat down to dinner. I dished everyone a chicken breast and cranberry mixture and we all served our own rice and salad. The conversation was good and all was well until I took a bite of chicken and nearly choked on it. The chicken was nearly bone-dry! I was so embarrassed. I looked at Josh and shook my head. We both know how juicy the chicken normally is, so it was a real disappointment to eat it in such terrible condition.

Stupid missionaries. They not only ruined my dinner, but only apologized for arriving late to dinner after I apologized for the chicken. I think the senior companion caught on that the extended oven time is what dried out the chicken.

How my garden isn't growing

My garden has been doing so awesome since I planted last month, but Vegas has sustained 98+ weather for the last week or so and it's really taken a toll on my little plants. :( The heat plus the wind have been drying out my blossoms before they have a chance to become much more. My pea plants have basically dried up now, and my zucchinis haven't produced any fruit yet, even though they're blossoming like mad. It's really quite frustrating because my peas were sooo delicious back when they grew. Here is a picture of one of my peas compared to a frozen pea. mmmm...so plump and delightful!
The good news is strawberries grow splendidly in the heat, and my plants are cranking them out! Here is a picture of one of my strawberries compared to one of my peas. They're huge and taste like they're straight out of California!
I got my first blossoms on my jalapeño and cucumber plants yesterday, and I still have about 10 tomatoes that are growing nicely - just need to ripen up. If there's a silver lining to moving back to Utah, it's that my gardens there flourish.