Mood:  a-ok

So it is Saturday and I am up early. That is not unusual, but not anticipated. I had hoped to sleep in today. Oh, well, I guess not this time. Some odd dream about me mopping the kitchen floor and trying to kill ants with diatomaceous earth instead of chemicals like Raid woke me up. Funny thing was the kitchen I was mopping wasn't our kitchen, it reminded me of the kitchen I had at the house I lived in on Preston Way during my high school years. Anyway, it was a strange dream to have before waking this morning and I just can't shake that feeling that ants are crawling around me.

This week was a wild one, filled with LOTS of mental tasks for my brain. Several grant applications for the district were in process this week, with either the deadline being this past Wednesday or this upcoming Wednesday.

1. Curtis Middle School - major overhauling of staff, class size, training, etc. $2M a year for three years is the request. Extremely detailed budget with last minute changes down to the wire. I REALLY hope we get this grant, it would do such good at that school, and help both the staff and the teachers.
2. State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) Investing in Innovation (i3) Development Grant (84.396C) - AVID, AP and PSAT program expansion for 21 schools is what our application is all about $1M a year for fiver years is the request. Again, a super detailed budget that I worked on with Stacie. This would go a long way in helping the children who would like to advance to higher education but are struggling or are at high-risk (AVID), children that want to go to college and starting in high school are gifted enough to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses but can't afford to pay for the testing fees, and children that want to take the PSAT. Additionally, the grant would aid in training teachers on teaching these specific children. It's too huge to explain here, but it is exciting.
3. State Fiscal Stabilization Funds (SFSF) Investing in Innovation (i3) Development Grant (84.396C) - Same grant application program different grant application from the district - major training program overhaul - another $5M over five years.

The grant applications took a great deal of my time. Thankfully, Mary was there to help me with my journal entries and whatnot. I successfully balanced the several funds which have projects and grants reconciling to them, and we were able to proceed with closing April's books. After Sandy created the general ledger reports I created the salary spreads for Linda, including a new view of the figures which includes a single calculation for overtime instead of spreading the overtime throughout the various salary accounts which changes the average salary. Like you guys care what I am talking about here? LOL - I know exciting work, ay?

Well, work was also crazy because we got a bunch of new grants - 17 of them before Tuesday. Then the mini-grants were announced from the Wichita EDGE foundation, and so another 10 projects have to be set up by this upcoming Tuesday besides those 17 grants. I've set up a few already, but mainly I needed to do invoices to receipt the funds for which we have already received checks and ACH deposits. In addition to setting up new grants, and creating invoices I did several massive budget adjustments and additions to already existing grants. Then, there were all the regular things I do like set up account codes for payroll, and go to meetings, etc. etc. Needless to say, it was a busy week necessitating three hours of overtime (that I actually recorded and am asking reimbursement for) and three hours of overtime that I am not reporting.

At home, Matt and I have been relaxing and preparing for his first day at Spirit, which was yesterday. He is going to work about 90 days on first shift and then, most likey, will move to second shift for a while. We are hoping that he'll eventually get transferred back to first shift. Still, both of us are happy that he's got a permanent job again. He's been working on a temporary contract with TECT, the company that let him go in December 2008, who then rehired him in March 2009, and then let him go in April 2009, who then rehired him in May 2009 and then let him go again in August 2009 who then rehired him in March 2010. Yes, it has been a wild ride these last 16 months. Spirit supposedly has tremendously awesome medical and dental benefits. Joshua and CJ have Spirit's benefits and say they rock. As soon as we get the official cards from Matt's new work, I am cancelling the district's health insurance and claiming cash option. The district charges me $20 a month for insurance. When I take cash option, I'll not have to pay the $20 a month AND I will receive $100 a month. That means basically an extra $120 a month more than I now get. Better benefits, no cop-pay and extra money a month. Awesome.

Friday night I went to a Pampered Chef Party and spent way too much money. I am thrilled with what I am getting with this order. I can't wait to use all of the stuff at the Luau that Robin and I are putting together for May 22. I am getting two large rectangle platters with handles, two large round platters, two large square bowls, two three tiered stands, the spoon holder for the stove, an ice bucket set, a gravy separator, and an easy accent cake decorator. I just love Pampered Chef products.

This week I have also been watching South Park on Netflix Instant Streaming. Season 4 was the last one I had seen, and only a select few episodes form Season 5. I finished all of Season 6 today and laughed my butt off through most of the episodes. The last one where Santa tries to bring Christmas to Iraq was hysterical. Now Matt is wondering around the house singing the Mr. Hanky Christmas Poo song and playing with the flying screaming slingshot monkey I got him for his birthday.

Man - I just love the lazy weekends.

Mood:  chillin'

In my youth, before I was a teenager, summer fun at my Uncle Albert's house always included two outdoor games: Freeze Tag, and Flashlight Hide & Seek. My cousins lived in Culver City and at their house they had neighbors on either side and across the street who were always willing to join us. Between, my cousins, Tara, Sheri, Adam and Kelly, and the three or four neighbor children, and myself, we had a nice large group to play games.

The games were simple. Someone was always IT, and that person ran around trying to catch the others. In Freeze Tag, when IT caught you, you had to freeze exactly where you were and hope someone else who was still free could tag you and defrost you. This was the most difficult version, since IT had to then freeze everyone. There of course were variations of this, such as, if IT caught you and you were frozen, IT got to count to ten and if you weren't defrosted by ten, then both of you became IT, and set off together to get the others. That was one variation, another was if IT counted to ten and you weren't defrosted by someone else you were defrosted automatically and then became the new IT. Regardless of the version, Freeze Tag had a well defined area of play, the front yard of my cousins' house, including their drive and the connected driveway of the neighbors to the West, from the brick flower boxes that defined the front porch to the street. You couldn't go further than that or you lost and were automatically IT.

Now, Flashlight High & Seek did not have a boundary, and the person who was IT had to keep their flashlight on all the time during the game. When IT found a hidden person, that person joined with IT to become a team. The Team IT then sought out everyone else to find the rest of the hiders. Team IT would grow until there was only one person left, and the last person found won. The second to last person to be caught was the new IT. This meant there was strategy in hiding. You were not allowed to move hiding places once the game started, and Team IT didn't have to tell you how many people were apart of it. You had to assume if someone was walking around with their flashlight on, they were IT. Occasionally, Team IT would split up, and send out one person with the flashlight on to ‘flush out' the hiders, tricking them to reveal themselves. This usually happened when there were only two hiders left.

Let's say you were hiding and you saw the flashlight. You cannot necessarily see who was holding the flashlight. If they were alone, you might come out of hiding and join Team IT so you won't be the second to the last one found and become the new solo IT. But, if they were tricking you, with all of Team IT hiding out of sight, and the "fake solo IT" coming around the corner by themselves and you pop out so as to be found to join the team, you could potentially walk into their trap and become the new solo IT. Yes, it happened often to me. My cousins new the best hiding places: behind the camper, in the garage next to the old beat up piano, under the deck setting near the Jacuzzi; it was very hard to find them. Occasionally, they'd head across the street and hide at Laurie and Timmy's house. Flashlight High & Seek never lasted very long though. We'd get two perhaps three IT swaps into playing and my parents would come out and say it was time to go home. Still, I'll never forget grabbing my flashlight before leaving home as standard equipment for going to visit my cousins on occasional Saturday nights in summer.

Mood:  sad

Growing up is not all that it is cracked up to be by any means. Looking back to the years of my youth, I couldn’t wait to grow up and be an adult. I can remember being in elementary school and figuring out that I would be 28 when the year 2000 came and it seemed so far away. Plans were made for what kind of wedding I was going to have, how many children I would have, what their names would be, all that jazz! Little girls do that, daydream about all the things they think are adult and special – grown up.

It wasn’t a happy event when I realized I was growing up. It was death. The first friend of mine to die was Mia Vandenheuvel. She wasn’t a super close friend like Emily, but I did consider her a friend. We had classes together in high school. We’d partied together. She and Chrissy celebrated my 15^th birthday with me. She was a good person, a sweet girl, and her death was sudden, and made a tremendous impact on me.

We’d been out of school all of six months. I had come home from England to the total mess that was my mother’s life at the time and was between semesters waiting for the time to move into the dorms at CSUN, and waiting for Jack who was still in the army and stationed in Germany. I remember exactly the moment I learned of Mia’s death. The phone rang. I ran to get it in my mother’s bedroom on her Princess phone. It was Emily. She told me that Mia had died in a car accident; Erika and Brian had survived thank goodness, but from all accounts, Mia died while she was asleep in the back of Brian’s VW van and never knew what hit her.

I cried for two whole days. I was in shock. Mia couldn’t be dead! How could such an alive and youthful young woman be gone? I went to the funeral and sat near Nigel, and held Robin’s hand. She was nearly hysterical – she had known Mia all her life. I sat there in the mortuary chapel just stunned and unable to think what to say to her parents. I could hardly speak myself I was crying and sniffling, filling tissue after tissue.

What does someone say to parents who have lost their only child? How do parents deal with such as loss? These were questions I was not equipped to handle at this moment in time. I couldn’t focus on anything but the overwhelming sense that a tremendous inequity had occurred. No matter what I did or said, nothing would change. No amount of condolences or soothing words would ever fix this situation. This wasn’t a boo boo this was a life that had been snuffed out, and an emptiness Mia’s parents would deal with the rest of their lives.

Her casket was purple, Mia’s favorite color, and her portrait was there, and she looked as beautiful as always. It hit me; I’d never see Mia again. Class reunions would come and go and she’d never be there. I’d have all my plans for my wedding, and my children. What about Mia’s plans? She’d never get married and have children, or go to college, or – anything. Her time was over, at a time when he adult life had just begun.

This was the moment I truly realized I was growing up. I realized that plans like I had made were really pointless because your life could change in a moment totally beyond your control. Being grown up was having to deal with these sudden changes, no matter how painful or life changing. I’ve been an adult since January 1991, when I truly lost my innocence attending the funeral of my friend who didn’t deserve to die.

Mood:  cheeky

One of the great memories I have from childhood was playing with my Barbie dolls. I know it sounds strange, especially if you know me now, that I played with Barbie dolls, but I did. Most of my Barbie dolls were hand-me-downs from my cousin Stacee. She's four years older than I am and so grew out of her Barbie doll age just when I was really coming into mine. I had a few dolls which weren't from Stacee - Donny & Marie, and Cher were mine, as well as a new Barbie that came in her satin dark pink spaghetti strap dress with pink and silver boa. I also had three of my mother's dolls - an original Barbie from 1959, an original Ken (with the plastic brown crew cut and zipper pants), and an original Midge with the flip hairdo.

Playing with them was made all the more fun by not having a Barbie house. Yes, that's right, by NOT having a Barbie Dream Mansion. I had to use my imagination and create a house for Barbie. I had furniture, but I didn't have a house, so I created one, actually I created many. Some people build forts outside up in a tree or something - not me. I built a fort in the house using the couch cushions, my blanket (yes, like Linus), and our encyclopedias in our front living room of our house on Hargis Ave. It was pretty much the same fort I built every time. Five large bottom couch cushions of the scratchiest 70's plaid material ever! I can't remember a time we didn't have those couches, and I remember that we got rid of them when my parents divorced, and we had to sell the house on Campbell Drive and move in 1986, so those couches moved from Newbury Park and all over LA before they were gone, and I had plenty of time to make forts out of their cushions - and boy did I.

My forts also incorporated the couches themselves and our round coffee table and the two seven foot tall bookcases. The Encyclopedia Britannica and some other set of encyclopedias  were my primary building blocks as they were all the same size, heavy, and relatively sturdy standing up on end. It was like a couch cushion fort and house of cards all in one - cards replaced by encyclopedias. I had to have a big place for my Barbie dolls because I had so many hand-me-downs. All in all, I had over 15 dolls, upwards of 20 - not all of them the blond Barbie. Many of them were different versions of Barbie, like Malibu Barbie, and of course her friends Skipper and others. This one doll had the top of her head, her scalp, on a swivel. When you spun her scalp around, one side of it was long blond hair, and the other side was dark brown hair. It was pretty cool, and pretty creepy.

Of course, if you've owned a Barbie, you've probably broken a Barbie. I had two with missing arms. These were the first Barbie dolls that had swiveling arms and waists. Well, being enthusiastic about making Barbie wave, I snapped her arm off. Oh, well, now with a broken arm, she became Punk Barbie. I cut and dyed her hair (dye being permanent marker). I used hairspray and scissors and my broken arm Barbie had a Mohawk tout suite.  Nothing like broken arm cripple Barbie becoming a punk, safety pins included. This Barbie didn't want to live in the couch pillow fort though, she insisted that mansions, even if they were made of books and couch pillows were too Bourgeoisie, thus, punk Barbie had her own ‘pad' in my Dad's super large boot size shoe box. Which of course she vandalized all over the walls with punk-like sayings, and spurned the couch pillow fort and the spoiled Barbie dolls within who lounged in green & pink furniture luxury. Of course, Donny, Marie and Cher all got their own place together so they could sing and ice skate in peace without all the Barbie and Punk Barbie drama. They had their own pillow fort on my bed, and it was super groovy since I had a psychedelic patchwork quilt as a bedspread - well, Cher liked it anyway.

Mood:  chatty

If you know me well, you know that I love purple. The color purple has always been powerful for me and I've loved every shade of purple since I was very young. The moment I moved out of my mother's house, away from the pink nightmare that was my room, I made everything purple and black that I owned.

In the 5^th grade, I was attending Walgrove Ave elementary school and had Ms. Scott as my teacher. I didn't have any super close friendships in elementary school which I chalk up to a few things.

1. I started at the school in 2^nd grade rather than starting in Kindergarten because I attended Montessori School
2. I didn't live in the immediate area of the school. My grandmother did, and my mother used my grandmother's address so I could go there rather than attending Shenandoah Elementary. At the time we lived on Hargis St. off of Robertson right near Hamilton High School, but my mother wanted me to go to Walgrove. So, I didn't get to play with anybody after school in the neighborhood around my elementary, and thus knew none of the children in the neighborhood where I lived.
3. When I finally did make close friendships, my mother moved me to another school. Alison Banks and I were close in 2 and 3^rd grade, but then I moved in the middle of 3^rd grade to Braddock Elementary (which I hated). I was only there for like two or three months and then my mother put me back at Walgrove.
4. I was different because I had special reading classes to address my dyslexia.

Anyway, there were a few people I liked and got along with and shared common interests with in elementary school. One of those who I bonded with was Tyeshaia Donaldson. She loved purple as much as I did. So, we made "The Purple Club". She said something to me about purple when I wore it in fourth grade for our class picture. I wore a purple turtle neck which I just loved to pieces. It was one of the only purple pieces of clothing my mother let me have. I remember it clearly. We were playing foursquare and it was rather warm, and I was wearing the purple turtleneck. I was getting hot and sweaty, and she asked me why I wore the turtleneck on such a hot day. I told her it was the only purple thing I owned and my mother let me pick my own clothing for the first time for a class picture. I immediately had chosen the purple turtleneck without a second thought it was going to be 80 degrees or more. Tyeshia had laughed and said she understood and that she loved purple that much too.

Well, Tyeshia and I started "The Purple Club" and we wore purple every Thursday in 5^th grade. It was really cool to bond with someone, and I am sure we would have become closer if my mother didn't remove me from Walgrove and send me to Westminster Academy in the 6^th grade. My mother wanted me to back to private school and had found Westminster for my 6^th and 7^th grade years. She also didn't want me to go to Mark Twain Jr. High, but to Marina del Rey Jr. High. It made for very broken relationships in my early years jumping around to all those schools.

Montessori - Kindergarten & 1^st grade

Walgrove Elementary - 2^nd & part of 3^rd

Braddock Elementary - part of 3^rd

Walgrove Elementary - 4^th & 5^th grade

Westminster Academy - 6^th & 7^th

Marina del Rey Jr. High - 8^th & 9^th

Venice High - 10^th- 12^th

Due to all these jumps in schools, I met a wide array of people, and really didn't bond with friends until 8^th grade. Kim, Emily, Stacy, Chrissy, Lisa - these were my first close friends I bonded with at Marina. Still, I'll never forget Tyeshia Donaldson and "The Purple Club" we started together back in 5^th grade. She'll always have a special place in my heart.

Mood:  bright

Here I am, getting older, and finally the scares on my knees from my horrific accident in the summer of 1986 have faded to the point they are hardly visible. It's only been twenty-four years!

It was summer of 1986 and we lived on Campbell Drive one block east of Centinella, two blocks south of Washington Blvd. I had decided to take a computer class at Venice High School (VHS) between my 8^th and 9^th grade years to learn something about these new gadgets. Hearing that VHS had an Apple iic computer lab, I thought it would be cool to get to play on computers. Computers were still new, and we, of course, couldn't afford one. One family we knew had a Commodore 64 (the Barco family) and they brought it to our house once and it seemed neat. So, when the summer school schedule came out for July 1986, I jumped on the opportunity to take the computer class.

To get to VHS, I had to ride my bike to the high school, which wasn't that far, but I had to cross several major intersections of traffic, right during morning rush hour traffic. I remember it was a particularly warm morning and I was wearing my blue Bermuda shorts to school. I hopped on my beach crusher and took off for school. At the intersection where Washington Blvd breaks into Washington Blvd and Washington Ave, I always had the most difficulty getting across the intersection before the light changed. Here at this corner was a hamburger stand called Gooey Louie's (yes, I named the hamburger at my fantasy restaurant after this place) and a large car wash. The curbs there are very high, and the sidewalks relatively narrow. At this point in time there was no way you could ride your bike on the sidewalk and make it off the curb to cross the street, so I had to ride in the street with the flow of traffic.

As the light turned green and I crossed Washington Ave to go down Zanja Ave towards VHS, I hear this voice yelling at me in Spanish. I didn't know what the voice was saying completely, I understood some of the words - mostly offensive ones, but it was calling to me in a taunting tone and was accompanied by whistles and an English word I understood, "Baby". Looking over my shoulder, I saw three Hispanic looking guys in a relatively beat up white pick-up truck. The truck was carrying gardening equipment, for I could clearly see a lawnmower, and a trimmer in the back of the pick-up. One of the guys was hanging out of the passenger window. He was the one yelling at me, whistling and making kissy noises at me. I tried to ignore the catcalls and continue riding on to school, but then I was grabbed.

Yep, the guy hanging out the window kind of grabbed/slapped at my butt and laughed. That threw me off balance and pushed me off my bike seat, my feet coming off the pedals. As I had a female's beach cruiser, there was no bar, and so I slipped off the seat and slammed my crotch down on the bar right above the pedals, my knees hit the asphalt and dragged a little. The pick-up then hit me on the front tire, and I flipped over.

The front tire of my bike was warped, and I was laying on the street, my bike still around me and bleeding. Did anyone stop? No. The guys in the truck took off and left me there bleeding. After a little bit, I picked myself up and dragged my bike and myself to school. By the time I made it to school, class had started and the campus was ‘empty' looking. I went to the office with my bike in tow and blood oozing down my knees. When I opened the office door and dragged myself and my bike into the office, the staff kind of freaked out. My mother was doing a daycare business out of our house at the time and couldn't leave to come get me. My dad was at work and couldn't be reached (way before cell phones). So, my mother called my uncle Albert who came and got me and my bike in his truck.

That was a scary situation but I got over it. It certainly made me very angry at catcalling, whistling guys, something I keep in me to this very day.

I've only ever been in one car accident in which I was driving. It was December 17, 1993 and I had stayed home from work because I was sick, yet it was a Friday, and thus a payday. Really needing the paycheck, I decided to go pick it up from the main office of Talent Tree Temp Services in Sherman Oaks. The sun was setting and I was on the way home cruising down Ventura Blvd. I turned onto White Oak, and then got into the left turn lane so I could turn left on to Burbank, all two blocks from my house. I was in the left turn lane and the light went from green to yellow, and then to red. As it turned to red, I turned left. I was stuck by a chick in a jeep that ran the red light. She was going over 50 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. Thank goodness I was driving a 1979 Volvo sedan and wearing my seatbelt. Volvo's back then were actually made of metal, and were super sturdy.  My car was totaled, but I was basically uninjured. I was sore from the accident where the seatbelt bruised me on my neck, shoulder and chest.

Her family tried to sue me, but when her father the lawyer called I told him that I was a poor college student with no car insurance, living paycheck to paycheck, making less than $700 a month. I told him to try and get blood from a stone! It was totally her fault, but because I was the one turning left, the police said it was my fault, even with witnesses right there telling them that the light was red. I sat there on the curb and listened to the witnesses telling the cops that I was turning and the light was red, and that the jeep totally ran the red. Oh, well. That was my first and last car accident.

Mood:  chillin'

My fantasy restaurant menu - breakfast and lunch served all day, dinner served after 5pm:

Breakfast / Brunch - all breakfasts served with seasonal fruit, and your choice of coffee, tea, or milk/soy milk.

Spinach, mushroom, and feta egg-white omelet with toasted Ezekiel bread

Canadian bacon and goat cheese egg-white omelet with toasted Ezekiel bread

Eggs Benedict

Huevos rancheros

Quiche Lorraine

Alison's Super Cinnamon Texas Toast with real maple syrup - powered sugar on request

Buckwheat Pancakes and fresh whole milk whipped butter with real maple syrup

Smoked salmon, capers, red onion, tomato and cream cheese on a freshly toasted onion, garlic or sesame bagel

Super Crunch Cereal - Mixture of Grape Nuts, Original Kashi GoLean, and California almonds, Crasins, fresh ground cinnamon & ginger, and fresh blueberries - choice of 2% milk or vanilla soy milk.

Lunch - all lunches served with seasonal fruit, and your choice of: Alison's Chunky Potato Salad, Baked Beans, or Tabouleh Salad

Alison's Sub Sandwich - 12" sourdough roll packed with hard salami, roast turkey, pastrami, yellow banana peppers, dill pickles, black olives, green leaf lettuce, sliced tomatoes, red onion, Colby/Jack Cheese, red bell peppers, alfalfa sprouts, mayo, mustard, extra virgin olive oil and crushed roast garlic.

Ortega Burger - ½ lb. Black Angus hamburger, Panela cheese, whole Ortega chili peppers, grilled onions with guacamole on toasted wheat bun

Gooey Louie Burger - 2 ½ lb. Black Angus patties smothered in grilled mushrooms, onions, and green peppers, topped with cheddar cheese, 2 pieces of bacon, lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, mustard, and horseradish mayo on a toasted Kaiser roll

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich - grilled marinated Portobello mushroom with Spanish goat cheese, and red wine sauce served on a toasted Cibatta roll, with savory mixed herbal greens

Foot long Polish Sausage with grilled onions and peppers on toasted sesame seed roll with spicy brown mustard

Chicken pita - freshly made pita stuffed with grilled seasoned chicken, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, kalamata olives, and feta cheese with red wine vinegar sauce

Alison's Spicy Tuna - albacore tuna mixed with Nam Prik Pao mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, green onions, and dill pickles, melted on dark rye bread

Comfort Food Combo - Grilled cheese on Texas Toast with Tomato Soup. Sliced Spam on grilled cheese upon request.

Appetizers

Wasabi Salmon Balls - steamed salmon, wasabi, and water chestnuts rolled in black sesame seeds, served with a soy & sesame seed oil green onion sauce

Sarma - rice and savory ground beef stuffed grape leaves served with tahini sauce

Baked feta stuffed grape tomatoes

Topig - vegetarian "meatballs" like falafel served with a variety of dipping sauces

Lemon & Leek Shrimp

Red wine marinated Portobello mushroom with Spanish goat cheese and apple slices on toasted pumpernickel rounds

Dinner - all dinners served with seasonal steamed vegetables, and your choice of: fresh garden salad, basmati rice pilaf, baby red garlic potatoes, or wheat berry & wild rice stuffing

Garlic & rosemary spit roasted Cornish game hen

Honey glazed stuffed pork chops

London broil - marinated for seven hours in the house specialty marinade of roasted garlic & various herbs and spices

Boereg - Armenian savory pastry filled with spinach, feta, and onions topped with tahini sauce

Baked stuffed eggplant - with pine nuts, tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, onions, and basil

Lamb kebabs - marinated lamb and assorted vegetables skewered and grilled

Phyllo wrapped artichoke stuffed chicken breast

Alison's Spaghetti Bolognese - hearty spaghetti served with thick Bolognese sauce made of ground Italian pork sausage, tomato paste, Cabernet Sauvignon and other secret family ingredients.

Lasagna LaPietro - vegetarian lasagna with sliced mushrooms, onions, red, yellow, & green peppers, olives, tomatoes, roasted garlic and zucchini in the LaPietro family's secret ingredient tomato sauce with five Italian cheeses: ricotta, parmesan, Romano, Asiago, and provolone.

Alison's Chicago Style Pizza - LaPietro family's secret ingredient tomato sauce, on Alison's own handmade pizza crust - your choice of toppings

Soups

Lentil

Potato & Leek

Minestrone

Tomato

Mood:  don't ask

It's been veritable eons since I have sat down and really blogged. Why is that? Well, Facebook and DDO have been absorbing my time really. Honestly though, I wasn't blogging because I wasn't interested in sharing the reality of my life recently. So much has happened, where do I begin other than the fact that I have been trying to escape from it all into my fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons online.

Mostly - things in my life are great. I have the most loving thoughtful husband in the world, and good people I call my friends who are standing by me through it all. Yet, what is this "all" I am talking about?

The economy has taken a tremendous toll on the Kansas State Revenue projections for 2010. I know that the economy is bad all the way around, but just today, Kansas City Schools announced that they are closing 28 of their schools to cut $50,000,000 from their budget and prevent their school district from going bankrupt. Things at Wichita Public Schools aren't so bad, but it isn't all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.

USD259 is facing a $25,000,000 budget cut because the state can't afford to reimburse us what they are supposed to right now so they have lowered what they are going to reimburse us per child next year, which just so happens to start July 1, 2010. As I am a budget analyst working in the budget office, I am not only working on various issues related to this, but am working on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) money that is helping plug the holes in the district budget caused by the State of Kansas' current revenue crisis. Stressful doesn't even begin to describe it.

Since September, the district has received nearly $25 million in State Stabilization Funds (SFSF) from the ARRA because Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) could not afford to pay their portion of the district's General Fund and Supplemental General Fund (aka the Local Option Budget "LOB"). Just today I was working on a report that compiled just how much money the district received and how many full time employees (FTE) had their jobs retained due to this funding. It was shocking, but nearly $25M pays for over 400 people. If not for the ARRA funds for SFSF, 400+ people wouldn't have jobs right now.

Besides all that craziness at work trying to figure out all that needs to get done, Matt and I have been dealing with the prospect of unemployment insurance running out. Thankfully, he was hired on at TECT to do temporary work last week! That's only a four month guarantee. He's got feelers out there, and hopefully (fingers crossed) everything will go well with Spirit interviews/trainings/testing and he'll secure a full time job. Spirit is the parts supplier for Boeing Aircraft (used to be a part of Boeing or something) anyway, Spirit and Boeing work hand in hand on the Dreamliner and various other aircraft. For pretty much the last decade, we've (the greater Wichita area) have been waiting for Boeing to finally be picked for the new Air Force refueling tanker contract from the Pentagon. There was a huge scandal a few years back with Boeing and the Pentagon mucky mucks who award contracts, and then Airbus/Northrup Grumman was  awarded the contract which then Boeing challenged, and now FINALLY after what has seemed like forever, it looks like Boeing will get the contract. With that many planes to build, Spirit and Boeing have like 20 years of plane building on contract with the government. Enough time for Matt to work there a nice long time - we hope. Aircraft has been unstable for the last two decades, but was looking up in the late 90's. Then had a set back due to 9/11, and then started to rebound again...UNTIL...the recession AND THEN, the various comments made about CEOs and company planes by Washington DC people which then caused a HUGE crash in the private jet market. 12,000 people have been laid off in this area from the aircraft industry, and it is hurting.

Now, back in November 2008, I was pretty confident that we could live on my salary alone, and we have for the most part. We've put away more than 75% of what Matt made last year on unemployment and the few months of temporary work he did for TECT. I'm proud of our penny pinching. We now have a nest egg to fall back on should the need arise. Still, it has been UN-FUN to say the least, not knowing what the future might bring. I've watched houses in Wellington become vacant and go up for sale. The population of our town has shrunk by 500 in the last two years. The Apple Market grocery store closed two weeks ago. Taco Tico/Simple Simon closed months ago, as did Love's Gas Station. Now, Movie Gallery - the only video store in town - is closing its doors. Even the check cashing place has closed. Wellington has been dying a slow death since Wal-Mart moved in 20 years ago, but that only accelerated when the Super Wal-Mart opened two years ago Thanksgiving. The sad thing is that Wal-Mart is benefitting during this economy and all the small businesses in town are collapsing. It is depressing to drive by boarded up buildings in need of repair. I am wondering how long it is before Wellington looks like Flint, Michigan with vast stretches of vacant houses and store fronts.

What have I been doing lately though to try and keep out of this funk of the depressing economy? Well, I started knitting with ladies at work in 2009. I still haven't finished my first scarf yet, but that is more because I don't remember how to cast off and keep forgetting to take the scarf to work on Wednesday's for the knitting circle (aka Fiber Studies Class) we have at lunch.

I have also been cooking up a storm for friends and family. We have had three murder mystery dinners in the last year. I've posted two of them on my blog in the past, but just this February 13th we had a Roman Ruins Murder Mystery dinner. Everyone dressed in togas, except Matt who was in Roman armor. I researched ancient Roman cuisine for months and created as authentic a 36 BC meal I could create without actually marinating and fermenting sardines and mackeral in a clay jar for a month to recreate Roman garum. Yeah, we passed on that one at dinner! Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the food. Good news though, is I did take pictures of the friends in togas and such.

We hosted a "Welcome Home" party for a friend that was away on work related business for more than six weeks in late 2009, and I've started collecting copper tin lined jello molds for all the various salads, and neat baked things I make. I can't wait to try my mother-in-law Debbie's Tune Braid receipe modified to fit in the jumping fish mold I now own. Should be fun if I can perfect it in time for her and Ed's next visit - tuna braid shaped like a fish! I am also collecting more cooking and buffet / catering items for the future. I now have three full size chaffing dishes for a real wedding buffet kind of thing. Robin and Ronda (from whom I buy Pampered Chef items) have loved me dropping some dough at their parties the last few years - this past year being now exception. I opted for more Pampered Chef and no new clothing for myself.

I've really let the Christmas letter thing go the last two years. What was I going to say to people - Hi there, my mother's family is dropping like flies (Grandpa & Aunt Ardith in 2008 - Aunt Corrine & Uncle Harold in 2009) and oh yeah, my poor Grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer's? My father and step-mother's families are also dying off - my Aunt Adeline passed away, and my step-mother's brother died too in 2009. SIX relatives gone in two years!

Nobody really wants to hear about the real life of a blended family - do they? Kyle had a really rough 2008 when his mother got remarried to her high school sweetheart in August. He started acting out because he had no release for his anger. Is that Christmas letter worthy? He's better now, but we'll just have to wait and see how things go when his mother gives birth to his baby half-sister in June who will be 12 years his junior.  He's doing well with his percussion and loves video games and hard rock music - besides all that his voice is deepening, he's starting to grow a backbone and is sticking up for himself at school and has all A's except for one B in beginning band. Michelle seems to be taking all of this in stride, but she's quiet and keeps to herself. She's a straight A student with a charming whit and beloved by all - yeah, people don't want to hear that do they? She's an awesome young lady who plays the flute, knows the saxophone a little, loves to draw, is totally creative - she rocks. People read that kind of stuff in Christmas letters and they retch right?

My life isn't all doom and gloom though, seriously. My thyroid medication is doing its job and I've lost nearly 70 pounds since August 2009. Now if I can only get rid of intermittent Athelete's Foot! I do need new glasses. I've blogged a lot about my health towards the end of my last active session of blogging, but what's really been going on lately.

LIFE - the daily wear and tear of life. Paying State Income Taxes, watching my home filing pile up. Trying to figure out how to afford to have the house painted and buying a new car for Matt and for me! Wondering when the next email will arrive telling me my Great Aunt Mary Ann has passed away or when my Great Aunt Cecelia will go - both in their 90's and hanging on despite recent poor health. I'm getting older and I am watching it all happen, and I cling to Matt for reassurance, as the planner and rationalist in my hates uncertainty but knows that the future is always uncertain, and thus you plan for everything you can plan for just in case. I HATE to worry, but it seems like that is all I do anymore. Who is next to die, who will I need to take care of in the near future, who will need what from me when? Will Kyle need braces? What if Michelle decides she really doesn't want any - what will her partially straight teeth say about her in this society judges everyone by looks? Will she be excluded or looked over because her teeth aren't perfect - silly as it sounds, it has happened to people I work with, who have taken corrective measures to have their teeth fixed while in their 40's to advance their careers. I don't want that to be Michelle's fate, but what can I do - I have no voice on that matter.

See - these aren't things for an end of the year letter, and they sure as hell aren't things for a quick phone call shared between friends every few months. This is serious LIFE stuff that might see pointless even in this blog, but piled upon each other over months and months of other things even too sensative to mention here or on random Facebook status updates, it adds up to...reality...and it is pretty heavy. - Now - have I just lost my membership to the Secret Society of Happy People?

Mood:  celebratory

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Now I say that in the spirit of the holiday, not in the "Thanksgiving Myth" kind of way with all the fake crap about the Pilgrims and Indians that whitewashed history wants you to believe. Don't we all know the truth by now? Well, I am not going to rehash it today here on my blog.

Today I am going to share my lovely menu with you:

 De-bone whole roasted turkey with a thyme, rosemary & garlic butter rub

Stuffed inside that deboned bird will be a wheatberry stuffing made with whole organic wheatberries, long grain brown rice, and wild rice, along with celery, onions, carrots, and of course garlic. If you don't know what wheatberries are they are the grain that is harvested from wheat that are dried and pounded into flour. In this form they are super high in fiber and have a nutty taste and are extremely healthy for you.

Au Gratin Root Vegetable side dish - made from sweet potatoes, ruttabaga, turnips, parsnips, and butternut squash. I blend heavy cream and goat cheese for the gratin part. It also has various spices to it - I'll post the recipe with pictures later.

Lightly steamed green beans and yellow squash - no green bean mushy casserole or cream cheese corn for us this year! No kids - thus - healthy adult food. Matt actually sighed in some relief and said - "Please no green bean casserole" when I asked him if I should make it. So, lush green beans steamed and then tossed in a hot frying pan with a nip of olive oil and garlic before being served.

Of course we will be having my secret mashed potatoes and homemade giblet gravy. That's a given. Matt would eat nothing but mashed potatoes today if I let him Let him? Please! That's a laugh. Ten bucks says that IF there are left over mashed potatoes they don't last a single day in the refrigerator. They'll be eaten faster than I can blink!

Apricot and cranberry white wine sauce - this is not my typical sauce that I make, that's the red grape and cranberry sauce. No, this is dried apricots, dried cranberries, fresh ginger and sweet vermouth. After cooking on the stove top it comes out to be a nice chunky sauce that you actually put on the roasted turkey on your plate. This is not some chilled jelly that's more dessert than anything else. This is a celebration of apricots and cranberries and their lush flavor and general yumminess. So excuse me while I turn my nose up at that jelly stuff from the can cut into circles.

 For dessert is my homemade tofu pumpkin pie - now don't turn your nose up on tofu pumpkin pie. You wouldn't even know if I didn't tell you, it tastes exactly the same. I've totally fooled people and converted many to this new classic. Here is my nutritional breakdown on my pie:

The fat and cholesterol is because I am lazy and hate making pie crust and use a store bought dough from Pillsbury. But, if you compare my pie to Mrs. Smith's Pumpkin Pie, mine has 100 fewer calories, 5g less fat, 40mg less cholesterol, 190mg less sodium, half the carbs. 10g less sugar, and 2g more protien. So yes, my pumpkin pie tastes just as good if not better and is better for you nutritionally - so there to you Mrs. Smith's

 I am also going to make stuffed portobello mushrooms as a snack to eat around two hours before dinner. Just cheese and onions stuffed into half dollar sized shrooms. Don't worry, I'll post lots of pictures.

Anyway, my pumpkin pie is in the oven right now, and I need to do some dishes before I take out my new mandoline and slice my root vegetables a perfect 1/8 an inch thick. I just love kitchen gizmos that save me work. Oh, and thanks Ed and Debbie for that microplane. It has saved me once again. I just love using it on my fresh ginger.

Happy Turkey Day to you all. I'd love to know what you are eating for Thanksgiving today.