JamieOliver.com

Hey, Y'all---
I'm  halfway through the new semester and I have two cooking projects under my belt. When my sister was here back in January, I made the brownies again...twice. I omitted the fruit from the brownies since dried fruit was hard to get and the oranges always go bad before I can use them, I subbed Almonds for pecans, kept the ginger, used Baker's Chocolate. They came out great and delicious with Dulce de Leche ice cream! The second time, I made them with Nestle's morsels(call myself saving time since my sister's second visit was only 2hrs) and the brownies were very "flat"...no depth of chocolately-ness at all. The other recipe was the chicken fajitas and this was later in the month. Not much went wrong here aide from cutting the vegetables too small...I blame the julienne blade on my V-slicer. I should have cut the onion and pepper lengthwise then used the straight blade on a thicker setting. My next mistake was letting the chicken marinate in that lime juice a little too long..acid does "cook" stuff. Third mistake was using light plain yogurt in place of sour cream...yuck! Fourth mistake was filling the tortilla too full. It was much better the next day when you dial back on the filling. I did use store-bought guacamole and salsa but the whole wheat tortilla and brown rice I had with it balanced it out.

In school news, I'm doing pretty good..only one C so far (I'm tempted to ask to revise, though). I don't know what this professor's deal is. Now, I have the opposite problem for the one I had the last two quarters: Instead of ignoring my accommodation...she's too lenient with it! My extended time is supposed only for homework assignments...NOT discussion posts. I'm torn because I was so close to a 4.0 GPA before class started yet my darker side says: If she can't bother to adhere to policy, who am I to correct her? She is like the "anything" teachers I had in grade school where they were more concerned with shuffling me out the door than having me learn anything. Thus far, I always get 100's on my discussion posts even when they are late...not supposed to happen. On assignments, the lowest grades were 85 and 70(a B and C) while the rest were 100's. This lapse in discipline has made me very lazy. She claims we can ask her questions but her attitude says we shouldn't. She isn't bad enough to drop and besides I'm tired of being academically stagnant.

Speaking of stagnant, I'm starting the plants over again...if my units even still work. They been running dry for awhile A BIG  NO-NO. The 7's still need cleaning for I try and restart them. Also, I did some reading on some of my crops. No Safflower indoors...too tall. I'm gonna try one pepper and one tomato in the Aero 7 Silver(put spacers in the other holes). My usual greens in the white unit, herbs together, strawberries together, and only one kind of cabbage. Oh, before I forget Aerogarden has gift cards and a discount club now...I may not even try it.

Health-wise, I'm hooked worse than ever on soda. I was trying to get back to water but I'm so bored. I am not even making any real effort to eat healthy or exercise... double "what the flip is wrong with you?!!" head smacks, I know, I know. I got punished for it already...my reflux flared up and I vomited for first time in years (That'll teach me to eat 2 bags of Snickers Minis in 4 days). As far as health projects go, the scale is on hold for now but I'm looking into getting a juicer. I really have to kick the soda crap but water is SO boring. If I juiced fruit and vegetables, there will be no salt to blow me up, no artificial coloring to do who knows what, and in the right combos, I'll take in fruits and vegetables that I would be too picky to eat. I will also invest in a heart rate monitor watch and  I will move the Wii back into my room later.

I'll update when there is more to tell.

Hey, Y'all---
Well, the old year is waning fast and new age is upon me. That's right, as of 3 days ago...I turned 31! The jury is out on whether I should be excited about that. While I contemplate what being 31 will mean for me in 2012, I can't help but look back. The double collage you see here is all of the food projects that I have attempted from Jamie's books. I bought "Food Revolution" last fall and I gave "Meals in Minutes" to myself as a birthday present. I made a dessert from each book. The cheesecake from Food Revolution had a few minor flaws but I would make it again. The brownies from Meal in Minutes...well, let's just say as a chocolate lover...I ought to have been taken out and shot! Yes, y'all...it actually trumped the blue velvet cake from '09, they were that bad! My "see what happens when you don't read" syndrome was flaring up badly that day! The culinary crimes I could be charged with: Illegal dumping (substituted Frozen fruit for dried in the brownies), dental endangerment(added whole almonds to brownie batter without chopping them). Excessive juicing(too much lemon in the cheesecake), two counts of butter neglect(didn't let it soften enough or melt or mix it in well where needed).

The gardens are still doing well, except for the replanted stuff and the oegano bit the the dust 'cause I got slack on the watering. I'll do the replants tommorow... a nice fresh start for 2012! I'll also harvest where I can and do some drying, I think I will do grow solution and clean water for alternate feedings in the new year. Also, now that I have a new printer...yay, about dang time! I can print out grow schedules and plant stats that don't fit on label...help me to track who is how old, when they need pruning, and all.

Healthwise, I made some good strides but I have fallen off. I am wearing my leg compression sleeves more(8-9 hours should be my max). Tomorrow, I am doing pill plus sleeves and massager just before bed...see if that help work that fluid out and back to my Wii Workouts again. I'm gonna try a new approach: Movement plus comprssion with gradual healthy food changes. I will try measuring portions, too....give myself a week or two. If it takes, stick with it and if not restrategize.

Financially, now that I have two credit cards, I will have to be careful to not go overboard with them. I all but maxed out my OneStopPlus.com card today. For that, I'm not touching that card again until I have diligently made 4 payments. My Capital One Journey, needs recovery time, too. I will get my regular Medicaid meds when my OTC version runs out because it is cheaper. I use OTCs to hold me over between refills. Another thing, about the new printer...it has software from coupons.com already built in! Ma still balks at the idea of using coupons and turns around and whines about how high everything is. Ah, forget her...I still say every little bit helps. I believe in that so much that there is a new bill on the books trying to get through congress called the Able act that would allow disabled people to save money tax-free for major purchases without their benefits being in danger. I could save up for a car! I could save up a security deposit and maybe 1st and last month's rent on an apartment! If it passed, it could free me...finally. To help ensure that it passes, I wrote both of my representatives in congress. I hope it passes because so many need it. In regards to AVON, I don't know where I stand on AVON except to say...I am pushing my relaunch way back. I need to rebuild my emergency fund and the cards need to be paid. Delaying the relaunch is about protecting my education too.

Educationally, I was a phoenix rising from the ashes! Which is odd since I go to Capella...;l. Seriously, I went from failing spring quarter with a 1.75 GPA(a D) to passing summer and fall quarters with a current GPA of 3.667(a B+). The school does offer a program where you can earn your Bachelors and Masters at the same time but I am debating whether to do it. A discount on courses in exchange for more work? I think I need to give it more time, iron on the wrinkles on at least one shirt before I tackle a whole basket, so to speak. My major hangup has been the course project whether I take one course or two. My remedy: Start it earlier, build it in to the school routine from the very first day. If I do this, I'll will have nothing but feedback to give and revisions to do. I'm gonna try this for two quarters, do some research on my career options, and look at the degree piggyback option later.

I'm gonna get goin' but I'll leave with my Facebook status: As we go into the New Year remember folks, for all we know the Apocalypse could be just as big a crock as Y2K so...stop worryin' ! Live whatever rebooted "normal" you have mapped out for yourself in your resolutions, dare to let your hopes GROW and your regrets & sorrows GO! Happy New Year, Everyone!

Hey, Y'all---
I have just finished my Christmas shopping and I torpedoed what was left of my emergency fund. I have less than $100 bucks in it now. ops: If not for little bit I squirreled away separate, I wouldn't have anything. I guess I will have build it back up. I will give myself about...six months? Between the benefit increase, my food stamps, and my school refund in the upcoming quarter, I should be able to build it back up. Why do I always do this to myself? I didn't just buy things I wanted but things I felt I needed, too: another set of compression sleeves(arm and leg this time), bottle brush for my water bottles, and a new printer. I got myself Jamie's Meals in Minutes(b-day gift to self). The rest was me o.d.-ing Christmas presents for other folks(all over 30).

Another thing I probably shouldn't have did was take that pre-approved credit offer from OneStopPlus.com. I do need some decent-fitting clothes, though. Besides, I have been meaning to donate all my old clothes anyway.  To avoid getting myself in too much trouble, I gonna make my OSP card the last card and just keep the minimum paid on them. :thumbs up:

I will just make the fund rebuilding part of my resolution for 2012.

Hey y'all––
Fall quarter ended Friday, so I am finally back. Despite being slightly annoyed… I have good news.
After tangling with the course that is been a thorn in my side for a full year, I finally passed! Although I did pass with an A, I feel a bit cheated. Apparently before submitting the final version of the final project, you had to to tell the professor what you edited before submitting it. I having a case of "see what happens when you don't read" syndrome, did not read this proviso and foolishly lost myself 10 whole pointsops: . When I called my professor to complain, he acted as if it were no big deal but all it did was piss me off! Sure, numbers are no big deal to the average student but when you constantly have the dark cloud of academic probation hanging over you, every point counts. After averaging my grade, I figured out that I earned a 91.28 (as I may have mentioned before, 90 to 100 is an A). According to the GPA calculator, I have a 2.75 (this is around a C+) but since the course I took is a retake, F I earned from my earlier attempt gets removed. The new grade that I earned for this course will replace it, increasing my GPA to a 3.7 (okay, so it's actually 3.667… I rounded up so sue me LOL:lol. Nothing to do for school now except wait for my book voucher to be e-mailed.

In gardening news, I tried planting all my problem plants into one of the bigger gardens. So far, it doesn't appear to be helping. I have had to replant two of the crops I restarted and I may have to redo the rest. Because of the way I have moved things around, I have my salad greens growing in different units. The only one I left in place was the mustard green because I did not need to replant it. One of the plants I was surprised by was my peppermint(it's the first picture in the red section) because it is doing so well. In the collage, my peppermint is three careful that all of the other plants are of varying ages. The pepper plants for example, are over two months old just like the mustard green. The tomato in the orange unit is around two weeks old. Hopefully, if they give the replanted crops a few more weeks, I will see things turn around.

In health news, I have had the at-home assessment for my new powerchair. Apparently, under normal circumstances six months ahead of schedule is too early to start the ordering process but I found a local company willing to do it. Unfortunately, because of Medicaid's rules, I may be able to get the features I want but not the brand I want. When I mentioned this choice to the equipment rep, she told me that the brand I wanted was the "Cadillac of powerchairs". Permobil' chairs allegedly start at $10,000, which is about $4000 over Medicaid's limit. So I'm getting at another Jazzy From Pride Mobility. One upside of having my current chair being discontinued is that I will never have to deal with another chair like it again. A downside of not having another chair like the one I have is now I am back to picking one body color and sticking with it. What's worse is that with the model that the equipment representative has recommended, I only get a choice of either red or blue.

The flyer she gave me does not show the chair she recommended but a different one from the same series and it has a 11 color choices (man, that emerald green would have been really nice!). How often do you ever see a green powerchair? Though truthfully, if I could have any color of chair it would be purple… And that's not because of my new digital camera, either. Or even a nice teal would work, anything that's a break away from the norm. If I'm going to be stuck with the same color for the next five years, I might as well choose a chair that has some personality to it!

I have been taking most of my meds except for my edema medication. Working on the final project for class kept me too busy to take them, though the fluid is finally coming off.  To help make sure it stays off, I bought some compression sleeves for my legs and a handheld massager. I do not want this edema getting any worse because the stories about weeping are horrible enough. Unfortunately, my eating habits have not reflected this. I have returned to processed food with a vengeance. Some things have not come back, such as fast food, white rice, or white bread. Also,  About the  wheelchair scale, I will be buying that myself. I had thought to purchase the scale in the summer but I am thinking it may be better to do it this next quarter. I think that if I wait, I will forget about it.

Another thing I definitely need to do is to put my schedule together. I have all the components here but I keep putting it off. I have been reading up on what causes weight gain and the main three things, sleeping late, not exercising, and skipping meals are things I'm guilty of. Staying in bed so much is a double-edged sword. Laying down helps my circulation which lessens my edema but it also keeps the weight on. The excuse of having no reason to get out of bed is one I need to let go of because if I look around me, there is plenty to do.

In tech news, I finally broke down and replaced my old electronics. I now have a new flatscreen TV and a new DVD recorder. I have not resumed exercise yet. I want to make sure that I have all of the cables I need to connect my electronics to the TV, once I do that I'll be back to exercising again. Also, I finally have my own digital camera… and it's better than Ma's! It is 14 megapixels and even has a setting for taking pictures of food ! You know what that means… More pictures of cooking projects, yay! I also completed my Harry Potter collection. Deathly Hallows Part Two was good but a bit anti-climatic. For the record, I think Neville Longbottom got cheated because he should have been the one to kill Bellatrix Lestrange… Especially since he almost did it two films back.

Another thing that I thought that was kind of messed up was the deal with the elder wand. The psycho that tried to kill Harry Potter for 15 years is gone, why not just keep the elder wand… After all, it was already Harry's fair and square. If I were him, I would've kept all three of the deathly hallows and just lock them away somewhere to be passed down later. And no I am not giving away the ending here, 'cause I hate when people do that. I noticed something else too… Harry never uses all three of the deathly hallows at the same time but then again he never had all three at the same time. It's enough to make me wonder, what will Harry do with his invisibility cloak? (Though I am four years late to the party, I am a Potter nerd ).

Now my mind is on Christmas… To gift or not to gift, that is the question. Technically, I have two other people to shop for but neither of them knows what she wants. I am tempted to put any of the remaining funds I pulled out of my emergency fund back into it. Besides, Christmas is a little-kid holiday anyway. I was going to go back into AVON this coming year but I may want to put that on hold a little while longer. I have not had time to flesh out my strategy the way I wanted to and until I do that, I am not jumping back in. Also, I have not worked on my resume or cover letter in ages. I think that after the holiday I should at least get my references straightened out. Since I have three weeks between quarters I think I will work on my Avon strategy and my resume… After all, when will there be a better time to do it?

Perhaps, by the time I get all this done I will have a new VR counselor(my old one left and my case was about to be closed) that actually cares about doing some real work. How did my case become so close to being closed? To keep my last VR counselor from interfering with things I stopped giving her updates and from there she assumed that no news was good news, my case was successful and therefore needed to be closed. I did let the interim VR counselor know what was going on. Maybe my case will stay open or maybe I'll have to start over but hopefully my next counselor will be better than my last.

I think I'm going to go back to bed now… bye

PS: I thought you all might be interested to know that I "typed" almost this entire entry at my desktop with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11… Handy, huh?

Hey, Y'all---
I know I should be asleep given what today is but I  can't. The assessment for the new powerchair is in 9 hours!!!! I am terrified that I will get bad news: either I cannot get a new chair any earlier OR I will be given something I can't use because it's too big for the house. If former happens, no harm and no foul...I will still have about five months to wait. If the latter happens, I will refuse it and roll away with nothing...only coming back and trying process again AFTER I have lost weight.

Medicaid is gradually taking away more and more everyday: I already sub my meds with OTCs between refills. if I ever need another hearing aid, I pay for it and batteries too. The only way I will ever get glasses again would be to develop diabetes so that they are " medically necessary"(no worries, not going there). I'd sooner go get my prescription from my old eye doctor and buy me a prescription pair from Zenni Optical online and I wouldn't cost me an arm,leg, and custody of a future 1st born child to be named later! You know those glasses in my avatar photo? On Zenni Optical, I could've bought about 7 pairs for the amount I paid to get that one from my eye doctor. Anyway, I'm wondering what will be next.

Should I have to "roll away with nothing" at the assessment, I'm letting that wheelchair scale be the last thing I buy. I understand why my doctor would refuse to prescribe it but I should still get it. It is ridiculous for medical people to demand an accurate weight for me and then treat me like I am the problem! I can't just pull my best guess outta butt, it'll be wrong. I haven't been able to stand up for 24 years and when I could I was on crutches, so nurses getting an attitude over me not standing on a scale won't help. It is not like I'm in this chair for my own amusement. Medical folks couldn't give a crap...they will use just about anything against you to label you.

I won't roll up on my soapbox right now but I have bad feeling that I am gonna butting a lot of heads today. I plan to fight my darnedest to get a chair I can use with the features I need. Then I'm gonna go find me a company to fill the perscription that is still brave enough to do their job AND treat clients with respect!