Bread and Tennessee!

I've been a blogger lately. With the holiday and some changes made at work, I've been busy and frankly, a little lazy with this place. I finally got some pictures back from the Tennessee/Wedding trip at the end of October, I'll throw some of those up here later today.

My charger for my laptop decided to just quit working and I had to spend 45 days on the phone with HP to get a new one. Or maybe it just seemed that long.

I recently became a mentor for Soldiers Angels and I'm super excited about that. I get to welcome lots of new angels to the (most addicting) program and help guide them along their way until they get settled in. I love sharing in that new angel joy and excitement, and it helps keep me motiviated to keep writing and sending and to stay all jazzed up about it. Sometimes we hit dry spells where we may not hear back from our official soldiers or anyone else for that matter, and the motivation to do it all starts to slip away. Then you get that one note or letter or email, or hear of another angel getting one and you get all geeked about it again.

My no-knead bread is ready to come out of the oven! Best bread ever!

UPDATE: This no-knead bread recipe (courtesy of Lotsofco) that has been sweeping the internet (the one that originated in the NYTimes is fan-freaking-tastic. So easy and the bread is AWESOME! The link is to his adapted version of it, and I'm in love with this bread. I've baked three loafs in four days and have another one rising as we speak. Addicted? Maybe just a little. Check it out:






And a few pictures from Tennessee:

They Have Names

I've added a new link to the right that I stumbled across on SA New York's blog. It's They Have Names, and it stands as a reminder that for every single number and statistic we see on TV, there's a person, a life, and family behind that.

It's not easy to read. It's not easy to read some of their own words before their lives were lost, to hear from their families and friends stories about the type of men they were, to see their faces smiling and happy with their families - their families at home or their families in the desert. But read it. Each and everyone and revisit as it grows.

Remember them. Honor them.

Don't let them be just numbers.

Don't allow us to become numb to the idea that each and every day, American blood is shed and lives are lost. Whether you agree with the reasons they are there or not isn't the point.

They are there.

They are proud to be there.

They have names.

Updates

Posting has become irregular again. Sorry about that. I'll try to be good from now on. Let's see...updates:

Soldier's Angels:

Getting in the full swing of the holiday time here. Actually I'm a little behind where I'd like to be, as far as getting things packed and mailed out. I have a box of stockings ready to go and bought a couple dozen small bags to stuff with goodies this weekend. I want to get them out soon so they're not late. I should be ok if I mail them next week, but I think I got spoiled with (what other angels said) was a really great year for military postal systems in 2005. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this year is the same way.

Work:

Moving to yet another new department starting Monday. I should say 'back' to a different department, as I'll be back where I started. I was told in that the department is a mess and they need me there to clean it all up. This is the third time they've done this to me in two years. And while they may try to disguise it as a compliment, it's not. It's a "here...we don't want to deal with this and everyone else will give us shit about it if we try moving them there so...you go!" Nice.

TV:

THE OFFICE! How awesome was Lazy Scranton? Classic Office. It was great to have the band back together. Finally! Jim and Pam finally reunited and not all is well. Some folks seem to be upset about the way this is playing out, but it's kept SO real that it's perfect. It's the first time it's felt like an actually documentary to me....in that the characters are doing things that real people do. Unlike the beet farm and Cousin Mose - while funny, not realistic. I heart this show. "This isn't even a stop watch. It's a digital thermometer." I've FINALLY convinced a couple of the folks at work to start watching it and they LOVE IT. And that makes me happy! I'll finally be able to make obscure references and have someone understand them. (See the previous post for a perfect example)

GREY'S ANATOMY! I missed the first twenty minutes or so (with the supersized Office being
on and all) so I'll have to re-watch it when it airs again tonight. I don't know if it's me or what but the show hasn't been so "MUST SEE" this season. Poor George and his daddy though...heartbreaking. I'm almost afraid to see how that's going to play out for our poor Georgie. Props to T.R. Knight for showing a million emotions without a single word when he had to tell his dad, or more accurately have Christina tell his dad, that he had cancer. Will Burke operate on his dad? Will the tremor cause a serious problem and major fallout? Will Burke finally be found out? Will McSteamy try to sleep with every female he sees? (I think we can safely answer that one with a yes)

Ok...so maybe I am drawn into it this season. Speaking of McSteamy, I know he's supposed to be the anti-mcdreamy, but if they want to make the character a long term thing, they need to give him a human side - more than just the hints that we've seen.

ok. I'm done obsessing about fictional people now.

At least here on this blog.

Afganastanannis

Somewhere Michael Scott is planning another Casino Night. Just because he can.

Blankets of Hope

Find out more about Blankets of Hope and how you can help here.

Many many thanks to fellow Soldier's Angel Shelley who is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL and offered to pay shipping on these blankets so I could get them out to our wounded. Half were store-bought double-sided fleece, personalized with some iron-ons and things. The other half are no-sew tie blankets.

*crossing fingers*

So I haven't mentioned it here too much, but my job is horrible.

Let me take that back - my job is not so bad, I actually enjoy the work. However, all the bullshit that surrounds the job makes it damn near unbearable at times. I'm not one of those "i don't like that my desk doesn't have a window" type gals, or "she looked at me funny AND took the last cup of coffee!" gals either. There's been a TON of things that I cant even begin to explain here without turning this post into a novel. Most of which, when I tell anyone about, garner a "what th the f@#k is going on in your office?!?" reaction from people that don't work there, and a "Why am I not surprised they're F@#*k*%g something else up?" from those that I do work with it.

Basically....I need to get out. Soon. It's to the point where things are so bad that it's affecting my life outside of work, and I won't have that.

Unfortunately, the Michigan job market is not at it's best right now. I've been sending out 20-40 resumes a month and haven't heard much back. Just about everyone I know looking for a job has experienced the same thing.

Anyway.... back to the crossing fingers part.

About a month ago, a friend of mine at work told me that her husband, a firefighter for another city (I work for a small municipality) had a job posting for a clerk and asked her to pass the information along to me.

First step was to go down, apply, and take a typing test. Only those that passed the typing test would move on. Typing is not a problem, and I passed their minimum requirement by 15 words per minute.

Next step was a written test. Everyone that applied and passed the typing test was to take the written test. 104 people took the written test.

I just got a letter in the mail saying that I was in the top 20 scores of the written test, so that means I get an interview!!!

*happy dance*

They'll give everyone a score at their interview, combine that with their test score, and the top five combined scores will then interview with the department head that the job opening is in.

So any good wishes/prayers would be much appreciated! I'm so bad at interviews but I want this SO bad I can taste it.

Christmas Card Drive for Wounded Soldiers Update

We're up to 150 cards folks, with a few more weeks to go. Any takers? Leave a comment or drop me an email for more info.