Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I should have stayed in bed today.

Ok...so I should have known something was up this am when I went into my bathroom to start my work am routine...and promptly dropped all of my q tips into my toilet. O.O

Yeah...so I'm at work for about 4 minutes, sit down to eat my wonderful strawberry soy yogurt. I open it and the foil seal spits out yogurt ALL OVER MY UNIFORM...

The papertowels...so not brauny. Shredded papertowel all up and down my top. *facepalm*

Then I proceed to start my day...I should have had a fireman's suit on...cause all I did for the first 2 hours was put out fires. aarrgh!

My poor patients are in pain, nauseous, wanting to go home...yes, it's a hospital...but daaayyuuuum...NOT all 5 patients at friggin' once have probs that immediately in the freakin' am. ugh.

So then I spend the rest of the day dropping phones, call lights, tripping on my patient's iv lines...yeah...one of the ones with a pain prob! Thank goodness none of my IV blew today. *looks to heaven*

So, I made it through my day, get home...and realize I have no uniforms for tomorrow. So I toss in a load of laundry. I've now hung my dry unis up...and for some reason they seems to have darker spots. But I'm tire now, and, yeah.

So, I'm sitting here ready to shut off the pc I turned on and never got too. Doing my nightly routine. Drink some water. Look for my green blistex lip balm...uuuuhhhhuuummm.

Yeah...it's missing...and I think I know why my unis now have dark greasy looking spots on them...

*le sigh* ...to bed.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

My adventure in cooking last Thursday

Ok...so, a while back I post about my boss' pot roast that she made for a potluck. Well, I tried to make last Thursday.

Yeah...looked nothin' like it! argh

I have to say...it was due to the milk allergy and my lack of creativity in the kitchen. All brands of brown gravy packets at my local market had some form of milk in the darn things!! *sigh*

So, I went with the McCormick's Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast packet. It did not make the thick gravy I so loved on the one my boss made. I will have to look for a gravy packet at Trader Joe's or Clark's some time.

Here are some pics of the process and results:

I used of beef brisket instead what the recipe called for because that's what I had on hand and didn't want to buy more meat. I'd never cooked one before and had forgotten what my tias had said about it needing to cook long, etc. Anyway, it was about 3.5 hrs in to the cooking and it seemed tough still, so I poured 1/2 a can of coke on it!!! lol
hey, it worked! Was tender in the end!

The ingredients I used. I decided I wanted veggies to make it a proper pot roast. Potatoes, celery, and carrots...which I preboiled for about 10 minutes before adding to the crockpot.




The result!












I liked it! For me, I'd reused the ingredients I used if I could not find the proper gravy packet. My tia however did not like it as much. She is very picky about her meat...must be VERY well done, or she grosses out. She did say she would prefer the brisket cooked in the oven. And she did after all eat it...even was going to eat leftovers, but me and my Tigger beat her to them the next day!!! lmao

In the next few days, I will be posting about the Portabello Pasta salad I made today! For now, must get to bed as I must be up before 5 am to get ready for work!

Have good a day everyone!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Acheron Trailer!!!



So excited!!!! *sqqquuueee*

Can't wait to meet SK again...and even better!! DARLING DIVA!!!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

We're invited to a picnic!

Wooohooo! I love potlucks, picnics & bbq's...I've just never been to a virtual one before!!! lol

Here's the deal...Shaye at Smarter than Pancakes is holding a blog event for her birthday because...well, because she can!! ^.~

Here's the invite...

You'll find the deets at her invite post.

Ok...for this we need to bring a dish, drink, etc. Here's mine:

MY TIA'S PASTA SALAD!!!

No worries, people...I actually made it myself...this time!
Although normally...I would just beg my tia to make it for me! lol
However, in keeping with the event, I actually made it myself...with my very own short cuts!!! ^__^

Normally, the ingredients are as follows:
1 large bag, or 2 small bags, of rotini (cork screw) pasta, cooked al dente
1 head of broccoli florets, cut or break apart the florets into bite-size pieces
2-3 tomatoes, we usually use roma tomatoes, diced
1 med can of sliced black olives
1 small bag of shredded carrots
1 6-oz. tub, or 4-5 large, white mushrooms, diced
1 24-oz. Italian dressing, we use Wishbone

This is pretty simple to put together, as I found out today. My thing is that I usually overcook the pasta...but today I got it!
...and my auntie didn't even need to remind me! lol

1. Cook the pasta to al dente: My aunt told me to bring the water to boil first, then add salt to flavor the pasta. Bring to a boil again, then add the pasta and cook for about 8-10 minutes.

2. Prep the veggies while pasta cooking is going on, as described above.

3. Drain and cool the pasta.

4. Toss all the ingredients into a large bowl.

5. Pour the entire bottle of Italian dressing onto the ingredients, and toss.

6. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. This finishes cooling off the pasta, and allows the dressing to be absored into all the little corkscrew crannies!!

Very tasty...and I'm not even particularly fond of dressing, but I eat this!!!

Tips, and family peculiarities...
Not everyone likes mushrooms, so we keep them separate in an airtight container and set them beside the pasta bowl. That way everyone can decide if they wish to toss some into their salad.

Also, my short cut today was that I didn't have all the ingredients, such as the mushrooms and individual carrots & broccoli! I had on hand a bag of California Slaw...which is a broccoli slaw with the florets in it. Love it!!
Oh...the slaw had red cabbage in it...I like the color, so I think I'll be adding that to the list of ingredients!

Also, since this is made sans mayo, it's relatively safe to keep out on the picnic table for a while...barring ants & other critters!!

Bon appetit!!

Friday, July 04, 2008

The Library Thing's "Popular Books" meme

Hey everyone...found this at Christine's blog....which is where I find most things lately! lol Of course, she found this at ....so on, and so forth...

I filled this out just to compare, but do not agree with the list completely. One of my lj friends has a different list. At some point, I will work on that one as well, and compare that list to this one...if I'm ever up to it! lol

Books in RED are those that I've read at some time in my life.
Books in BLUE-GREEN are those that actually sit on my bookshelf, yet are unread by me.
Books in PURPLE are those that appeal to me and I hope to read in the not too distant future.
Books in YELLOW are those I can not remember if I've read them or watched the movie of them. Wha? O.O ...seriously, I have no recollection of that incident, ma'am! lmao

1. Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone by J.K. Rowling (32,484)
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) by J.K. Rowling (29,939)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) by J.K. Rowling (28,728)
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) by J.K. Rowling (27,926)
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) by J.K. Rowling (27,643)
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) by J.K. Rowling (27,641)
7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (23,266)
8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (21,325)
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J.K. Rowling (20,485)
10. 1984 by George Orwell (19,735)
11. Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen (19,583)
12. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (19,082)
13. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (17,586)
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (16,210)
15. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (15,483)
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (14,566)
17. Jane Eyre (Penguin Classics) by Charlotte Bronte (14,449)
18. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (13,946)
19. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (13,272)
20. Animal Farm by George Orwell (13,091)
21. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (13,089)
22. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (13,005)
23. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (12,777)
24. One Hundred Years of Solitude (Oprah's Book Club) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (12,634)
25. The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1) by J.R.R. Tolkien (12,276)
26. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (12,147)
27. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (11,976)
28. The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2) by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,512)
29. The Odyssey by Homer (11,483)
30. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (11,392)
31. Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut (11,360)
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (11,257)
33. The Return of the King : Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (11,082)
34. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (10,979)
35. American Gods: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (10,823)
36. The chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (10,603)
37. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (10,537)
38. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (10,435)
39. The Lovely Bones: A Novel by Alice Sebold (10,125)
40. Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1) by Orson Scott Card (10,092)
41. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) by Philip Pullman (9,827)
42. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman (9,745)
43. Dune by Frank Herbert (9,671)
44. Emma by Jane Austen (9,610)
45. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (9,598)
46. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classics) by Mark Twain (9,593)
47. Anna Karenina (Oprah's Book Club) by Leo Tolstoy (9,433)
48. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (9,413)
49. Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (9,343)
50. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (9,336)
51. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (9,274)
52. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (9,246)
53. The Iliad by Homer (9,153)
54. The Stranger by Albert Camus (9,084)
55. Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (9,080)
56. Great Expectations (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (9,027)
57. The Handmaid's Tale: A Novel by Margaret Atwood (8,960)
58. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (8,904)
59. Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt (8,813)
60. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery (8,764)
61. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (8,421)
62. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (8,417)
63. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (8,368)
64. The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) by John Steinbeck (8,255)
65. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (8,214)
66. The Name of the Rose: including Postscript to the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (8,191)
67. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (8,169)
68. Moby Dick by Herman Melville (8,129)
69. The Complete Works by William Shakespeare (8,096) [The complete works? No. But I have read A Mid-Summer's Night Dream...which I loved, Romeo & Juliette, Julius Ceasar, MacBeth, & Hamlet.]
70. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (7,843)
71. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (7,834)
72. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (7,829)
73. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare (7,808)
74. Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by John Steinbeck (7,807)
75. A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens (7,793)
76. The Alchemist (Plus) by Paulo Coelho (7,710)
77. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (7,648)
78. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)(Barnes & Noble Classics) by Oscar Wilde (7,598)
79. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by William Strunk (7,569)
80. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (7,557)
81. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) by Philip Pullman (7,534)
82. Atonement: A Novel by Ian McEwan (7,530)
83. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (7,512)
84. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (7,436)
85. Dracula by Bram Stoker (7,238)
86. Heart of Darkness (Dover Thrift Editions) by Joseph Conrad (7,153)
87. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (7,055)
88. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (7,052)
89. The amber spyglass by Philip Pullman (7,043)
90. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin Classics) by James Joyce (6,933)
91. The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel (Perennial Classics) by Milan Kundera (6,901)
92. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (6,899)
93. Neuromancer by William Gibson (6,890)
94. The Canterbury Tales (Penguin Classics) by Geoffrey Chaucer (6,868)
95. Persuasion (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen (6,862)
96. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (6,841)
97. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (6,794)
98. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (6,715)
99. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (6,708)
100. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (6,697)

Stats:
Read: 29
Shelf: 6
Want: 19
Movie: 2...lol

So...how about you? How many have you read???

Happy Independence Day!!!

Well, not actually doing much today as I just got off 2 days of 12-hr shifts & return tomorrow for another 2 days of 12's. Need to rest.

Got up a little early and just poked around, made some papas and eggs. Lazed around some more. Went to the grocery and picked up some baby back ribs...mmmmm.

That's what I'm making right now, with corn on the cob & some nice french mixed waxed beans, green beans, & baby carrots. May pop some potatoes into the microwave, not sure. Will add the bbq after awhile....when my auntie says it's ok! lol

I'm so not a cook! I must have a recipe...and even then it's not a sure thing. I just can't seem to multitask in the kitchen!!!

Give me various patient's with multiple conditions, injuries, meds, dressing changes, tests, and all manner of things to coordinate ...and I'm good to go.

...but get me in the friggin' kitchen to cook food and I'm a MESS!!!
LMAO

Anyway...watching Celebrando el 4th de Julio con Christina. They just had a section with Wisin y Yandel, along with Gloria Estefan & David Bisbal doing their songs with them. Very good section!! Not watching right now as they are showing Enrique Iglesias...not a fave.

Anyway, here are the links to my box.net for a 2 of the 3 songs they sang.
No Llores by Gloria, W & Y
Torre de Babel by David, W & Y

The other song was Sexy Movimiento which for some reason can't find in my music list. Sorry.

Lastly, we had a baby shower potluck yesterday at work...lots of yummy food! Rotisserie chicken, steamed rolls (like egg roll), crispy asian cabbage salad, potato salad, mexican/spanish rice, candies, soda, fruit, veggie tray, and best of all a pot roast!!
OMG! it was so good...I asked my boss for the recipe! I apparently was the only brave one to do so...then, everyone wanted copies!! lmao

My Boss' Spicy Pot Roast (which isn't spicy hot...lol)
2-3 lbs beef pot roast (I used a chuck roast)
Salt and Pepper
3/4-oz packet Brown Gravy mix (I used McCormick brand)
1/4 cup Ketchup
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp garlic
1 cup water

1. Salt & pepper meat and place in slow cooker.
2. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over meat.
3. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours, or on high 4-5 hrs.

She arrived and set to cook between 7-8 am and it was ready by 1230!
Was very tender, and had a great mix of flavor...but then I like the gravy-salty-worcestershire/soy-saucey flavors!!!

I'm not a chef, and my palate is pretty simple...so not so good with the description!

I'm gonna give this a try...seems simple enough...not too much multitasking involved.
Right?
mmmhhhhm.

originally posted at my lj...except i added a pic! lol

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

I claim illness...

Ok...was talking to my auntie and all of a sudden noticed a pile o books I purchased TWO WEEKENDS AGO!!!

*facepalm* I'd Gibbs slap myself but i already have a headache in the works!

So, I've been fighting these non-existant allergies/non-cold symptoms for almost 2 weeks now. Well, I was tired of being cooped up in the house, so I went to Wally world with my auntie because she needed to buy something or other. I proceded to the book aisle and did not pass go.

Here are my purchases:

This is sooo funny in a ditzy way because my friend DarlingDiva asked me just last night whether I had read Gena Showalters' books yet!

I was all, "No, but I saw a big poster @ Central Plaza for the series and want to read them..." ...or something to that affect.
*eyeroll*

Hello!!! I alread bought a couple of them! I think someone else asked me about the books! And Christine has been raving about Sugar Daddy for weeks...and I was like "I still need to buy it!"

Yeesh! And how the hell do I FORGET THAT I BOUGHT ODDIE???!!!

In HARDBACK! o.o

LMAO...I was discussing books with a patient just last Friday because he's a Dean Koontz fan. Again..."I need to buy Odd Hours." blahblahblah

What a yutz.

originally posted at my lj