This is my yard on Tuesday morning after we had about 1" of beautiful, wet, sticky snow. I love how everything looks magical and the hush that the snow brings! Lovely. Just lovely! (And you'll be happy to know that I ventured outside in my pajamas again without incident LOL!)I've been spending the past few days going through my kitchen cabinets, reorganizing them and cleaning them out. The ones over the refrigerator were like an archaeological dig - I am sure there were things that I put up there 14 years ago when they were installed and that I haven't seen since. It was good timing. On Tuesday morning I put 2 boxes of kitchen things (and 2 boxes of books) out for pickup by Big Brothers/Big Sisters. I have freed up some space and given some things a new shot a life.
As a reward, I finally got myself a Magic Bullet blender so I could make the smoothies I really want without having to clean the big blender. I tried it out this morning and it's love! So simple and easy. And even easier to clean. This morning's smoothie was created with some Oasis strawberry/banana smoothie mix, some frozen mixed berries and pineapple and a splash of orange juice. It was yummy! This is going to be wonderful...and good for me!
As for the review on the Chai Tea Latte concentrate recipe, here it is: It was a bit time consuming (not to mention a bit expensive to get stocked up on the spices) and some of the measurements were a little vague, but it was fairly easy and good. I think next time I might put a little less orange zest and a little more of the spices. I was comparing it to my favorite from Starbuck's, so maybe my judgment was a little off. But it was good and I can see myself keeping it handy for an afternoon treat.
The job hunting is going as expected. Slow and painfully quiet. Some of these online applications are so very long and time consuming. And some are completely redundant. Upload your resume and then fill in all the information anyway on their online form. Ugh. I am not cut out for this modern way of getting a job. I miss the days of just visiting a placement firm and having them do the work. It just doesn't seem to work that way any more. I am not a good salesman. And I am even worse at selling myself. But I will persevere and try to get better at it. I am also feeling a bit guilty about limiting my search to jobs outside of the big city. I cannot go back to that commute (leave at 6:10 am and get home more than 12 hours later) and I so very much want a job closer to home. But that's not where most of the jobs are and I feel guilty that I am not applying for everything I am qualified for despite it's location. I need to get over that. I need to remember that I deserve some quality of life and that I'm not abusing the system by trying to find a job that fits me and my goals for my life.
I should hear about my unemployment claim next week and hopefully there will be some income coming in soon. I filed my first weekly "claim" this week and have to remember to make that part of my Monday morning routine now.
This morning I finally got around to writing the "To Do/Wish List" for what I'd like to accomplish during this "sabbatical". It's remarkably long. And optimistic! But it was good to spend some time this morning doing this. I don't want to waste this time. So it's good to have a list and it's good to get some projects done.
Tomorrow I'm going to force myself to stay off the computer most of the day and tackle one or two things on that list. And I know that it'll make me feel good.
