the unknown.

I realize that all of you are under a huge amount of stress related to the Reduction In Force (RIF). The Executive Team and Human Resources are working as quickly as we can to give all of you some information regarding your position. The week of June 6 we will begin to notify departments and employees of their positions. This notification process will continue until the beginning of September for some of you, depending on the need of your services. We do not take this process lightly and are reviewing positions to ensure we have made the right decision for the District. I will continue to update you as we move forward.

What you just read is an email from the school district sent to all employees. What does this mean to me? Well, I was only recently hired in September 2009, so I have less than 2 years in the district. A ridiculous amount of debt has made it necessary for the district to cut back. Right now the tentative plan is to cut kindergarten from full day to half day, cut bus service, cut "unnecessary" positions, and lay off some employees. And when it comes to layoffs, they're going to start at the bottom. Which means my job is in danger.
  
According to this email, I might find out as early as the beginning of June. Or I might be frantically checking my mail every freaking day from June 6th until September, praying to the patron saint of employment that I don't receive any bad news from the district.
 
This means I won't be going on vacation this summer. It means I'll have to put a hold on my plans to start looking for my first house. It means I've been working on revising my resume and portfolio, and I'm back to checking other school districts for openings, just in case.
 
I hate it... the uncertainty and the fact that no one is able to give me a straight answer about anything. I'm new to the politics of the school district, and I'm not even sure I understand how all this works. But what I do know is that it all just plain sucks.
     
Of course, I could be jumping the gun. Maybe there will be some sort of miracle at the last minute and money will come through. I could be worrying for nothing. But either way, I need to have a back up plan. Just in case.

Monday.

Most people dread Mondays. It's that whole "back to work" thing that gives Monday a bad name. But this week, I was looking forward to getting back to a normal routine. 
  
I foolishly (?) started my weekend on Thursday night - karaoke at the bar with a very fun group of people. I drank too much and stayed out too late, resulting in a groggy, hungover Friday morning. Then I went out and did it again on Saturday night. My poor body can't handle this kind of schedule anymore. I was cranky, sore, and tired from not sleeping well. I had no appetite Sunday morning... and when I finally ate, it was bowling alley pizza and a glass of soda (which I almost never drink). Then last night I decided that I was going to be healthy. I had a green salad with grilled chicken for dinner, followed by a homemade fruit salad for dessert (strawberries, blueberries, kiwi). I packed today's breakfast (oatmeal with dried fruit, a banana) and lunch (green salad with grilled chicken, 60 calorie pudding, raspberries). And by the afternoon, my stomach was upset. Perhaps the sudden change in diet had an effect on me. 
  
Or maybe it's stress. I've got a lot of my mind right now. I don't know if I'll have a job next year. There are budget cuts and layoffs happening in the district... and unfortunately, my job might be at risk. The school where I used to teach (for 8 years) is closing its doors in a few weeks, and this weekend is the closing Mass. A few days ago, someone asked me when my summer break was. I said, "June 17th, but then I'm attending a week-long workshop and then I'm teaching summer school for 5 weeks." He responded, "Wow. You don't get a break." And it made me think I really do want a break. But I need the money, especially if something happens with the job. Plus, I'd be bored if I had off all summer. 
    
Oh, and for the past few days, I've been ridiculously paranoid that some people are avoiding me. 
  
Blah. 
  
Okay. Now that I've gotten all that out of my system, I feel a little lighter. And there are plenty of positives here. Despite the excessive drinking, I had a fantastic weekend. I laughed a lot, I hung out with some great people, I saw my family and my dog. I did some cleaning and shopping. I gave myself a pedicure, grilled a delicious dinner, watched some of my favorite movies. It definitely wasn't a wasted weekend. No regrets. 
  
This afternoon I gave all of this a lot of thought during my 3 mile walk, and I came to a conclusion: all I need is a little balance. How very Libra of me :)

When I was 33, I drank some very good beer...

I had an idea awhile ago (maybe a year or so?) that I wanted to learn more about beer. People always talk about wine classes and wine tastings. I like wine, but I'm not that interested in learning about it. Beer, on the other hand... now that's another story. 
   

When I first started drinking, I was partial to the sweet stuff (screwdrivers, daiquiris, things like that) and I had zero taste for beer. But when I turned 21 and saw how expensive it was to buy a mixed drink in a bar, beer looked like a fantastic option. The only problem was that I hated beer. My first sip of beer was Coors Light from a can. I barely managed to swallow it and I wanted to puke. (Come to think of it, that's pretty much the same reaction I have to Coors Light now.) A friend finally introduced me to Yuengling Lager, which I liked. Sort of. Well, it was good enough to get me buzzed, and at the time, that was good enough for me.
   
Over the years, I developed a taste for different kinds of beers. Yuengling Lager is still one of my favorites, but I love going into a bar and scanning the list for a beer I haven't tried. Or a seasonal beer. Or the beer with the most unusual name. But I'd really like to fine tune my knowledge of beer. I want to know the difference between a lager and an ale. I want to know what makes a really good beer.
   

   
My plan is... well, I don't have it down to an exact science yet. What I'd like to do is start with one type of beer - for example, lager - and then sample different types of lager to see what the difference is. Additionally, I'd like to read up on that particular style of beer so I know what to notice when I drink it (color, taste, aroma, etc). A website called Beer Advocate might be helpful here. There's a page on their site called Beer 101, which gives tips and info about beer. This site also lists beers that have been reviewed and rated by people all over the world. I'm also lucky enough to live near a beer outlet that allows you to create your own mixed six-pack. So if I decide to focus on one type, I can sample six different brews. And, of course, I can always ask the Facebook community for suggestions. There are plenty of beer drinkers out there who would probably be more than willing to recommend beer.
   
As you can see, I haven't really figured it all out yet. It's just an idea I'm toying with... sort of an independent beer study for my own edification. I'll keep you posted :)

Who's gonna drive you home tonight?

I was driving home from my parents' house tonight, and as I was flipping stations on the radio (I have severe music ADD), I found a song that deserved to be cranked waaaaaaay up. 
   
If I may:
   

   
It just seemed like the perfect song to listen to at top volume while driving around at night with no particular destination in mind. Unfortunately, I had to get home to fold laundry, pack tomorrow's lunch, make coffee... the usual grown up chores.
     
Certain songs hold associations for me. "Nights in White Satin" was never one of them, but perhaps now it will remind me that I should be spontaneous and drive aimlessly around the city once in awhile :)
   
Years ago, before we were old enough to legally drink, a friend and I would drive around in my mom's old minivan listening to mix tapes that my brother made me. I don't talk to that friend anymore, but I can't hear these two songs without thinking of him and the late night excursions for coffee and conversation.
      

    
Ah, memories. Makes me wanna make the 2011 version of a mix tape - aka, playlist of mp3s :) I can call it, "songs for nighttime driving."
     
What songs would be on your list?

Holy Thursday

This is my second year out of the classroom and although I love my new job, I often miss teaching 1st grade. One of my favorite things about teaching in Catholic school was that I got to celebrate the holidays the way I did as a child. Christmas wasn't buried under the PC umbrella of "winter holidays." We set up a nativity scene, sang carols, and lit the Advent wreath. Likewise, Easter wasn't just bunnies and baskets of candy. Together we spent 40 days of Lent preparing for the Easter season.
     
My favorite tradition with my 1st graders during Lent was our Last Supper meal. It was held on the last day of school before Easter break (which was always a 1/2 day). I bought pita bread, grapes, and grape juice (in lieu of wine) for our meal. Some years I added cheese and apples, just for fun. It's not exactly true to a Passover Seder, but I was more concerned with the symbolism of the foods and the sense of community and celebration that we shared during our "meal." 
   
Together, we arranged the desks to form a long table, which I covered with a tablecloth. I lit candles and placed the food in the center. As a class, we said grace, sang songs, and then began our meal. Just like the Last Supper, I broke the pita bread and passed it around the table, letting each child break off his or her own piece. After that, they were free to help themselves to the food and enjoy each other's company. Years later, former students would come back and tell me that the Last Supper meal was one of their favorite memories of first grade. 
   

   
Even though I'm out of the classroom, I still teach CCD (weekly religious education classes for students who don't attend Catholic school). I've been teaching 4th grade CCD for the past 5 years, but I've been able to continue my tradition of having a Last Supper meal on the last class before Easter. This year there was a schedule change, so unfortunately we didn't have time for the meal. But I managed to come up with a compromise. I sent each one of my students home with a piece of bread in a baggie with a scripture quote attached. I told them to save the bread until Holy Thursday, and then break it and share it with family. I also recommended looking up the scripture quote in the bible so that they could read the entire story of the Last Supper. 
   

     
I'm glad I found a way to keep the tradition going, even though we didn't have time for the whole meal. Hopefully some of my students shared the bread and the story with their families tonight. 

The Gods of Water

Apparently I have pissed off the Gods of Water. I don't know when or where it happened, but it must have been a doozy.
   
Yesterday it stormed all day, and last night my bedroom wall and ceiling were leaking - again. This has been an ongoing problem since my 2nd month in this apartment. But this is not where the story begins.
   
When I lived in an apartment in college, there was a hot water pipe that ran through the bathroom from floor to ceiling. It would get so hot that my roommates and I would burn ourselves on it if we bumped into it, and at random times throughout the day it would rattle so fiercely that it sounded like someone was downstairs banging on it with a hammer. It used to wake us up at night.
   
After I moved out of my parents' house and into apartment #1, my roommate and I were plagued with one water problem after another. Oh, and a landlord who did diddly squat about fixing these problems.
     
There was the leak over the refrigerator:
     

     
There was the dripping over the kitchen sink (clear across the room from the fridge leak):
   

This dripped on and off for 6 months before it was fixed.

   
The bathroom. (It was gross.)
   

That's the wall & ceiling above the showerhead.
This is what it looked like after 4 months, right before we moved out.

    
The sewage that backed up into the only washing machine in the duplex:
   

     
The flooding in the cellar:
     

The white paper in the bottom right of this pic is a floating
glue trap. I like to think of it as an ark for the roaches.
"All aboard! Save yourselves! Women and children first!"

     
We finally moved out of that dump and into a new duplex... this time a 2nd floor apartment, which means no water problems from upstairs neighbors. But it does mean water problems from snow, rain, and a bad roof.
   
Which has led to a leak in my bedroom ceiling:
    

   
I emailed the landlord AGAIN last night. He actually wrote me back this morning and apologized for the inconvenience. Said he's going to bring yet another roofer out to look at it.
   
Gods of Water... whatever I have done to displease you, I am truly sorry. How can I appease you? Shall I sacrifice a virgin? Leave an offering at the altar of your most holy fountain? Dance in the rain at midnight? Just tell me, and I'll do it. Because the smell of mildew and wet drywall in my bedroom is kinda gross. Amen.

Green thumb :)

Part of my Saturday routine is to take care of my indoor garden. I currently have a vinca, 2 violets, 2 small non-flowering plants, and a large floor pot with a leafy plant. (I'm sure all the non-flowering plants have names, I just don't know what they are.) And of course, I also have my windowsill herb garden.

   

When I watered my herbs, I noticed that I had a LOT of basil again. It tends to grow super fast, but I can't always use it all. I've read that it doesn't freeze well, and fresh basil tastes much better than dried. 

   

    
I know I can use basil for pesto or caprese salad, but I was looking for something new. So I searched the internet for recipes using fresh basil... and I found 3 that I want to try. I started with the most simple recipe, since I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. 
   

      
The recipe I tried is for basil butter using fresh basil, butter, lemon juice, lemon pepper, and garlic salt (which I substituted with Garlic Garlic, a Tastefully Simple seasoning). I don't actually own a real food processor, so I used my blender to chop the basil... and the kitchen smelled SO GOOD.
    
Then I used my manual food processor to mix the chopped basil with the softened butter, lemon juice, and seasonings. 
  

Next, I dropped the butter mixture in small portions (about 1/2 tablespoon) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and put it in the freezer until they hardened. Then I stored them in a ziploc bag in the freezer for later use.

So how can you use basil butter? Toss it with pasta, add it to mashed potatoes, stir it into rice, use it to sauté vegetables or chicken, soften it and spread it on hot bread, use it to top fish before cooking... just to name a few. 
  
I hope to tackle the other 2 basil recipes in the coming weeks (once I go grocery shopping). If you have any suggestions for using fresh herbs, please share them in the comments! I hate to see them go to waste.