COOKIES and Tests

So I had the pleasure of going back for my second drug screening today.  My drug screening lapsed because my background check didn't arrive in time; thus, I was unable to start my job at the scheduled time.  So I drove 30 minutes to the clinic and submitted my second sample.  The lady that was taking my sample today was explaining the process and training someone new.  It is definitely interesting having two people stand over your pee and discuss it.  Also, incredibly awkward.

Anyways.  I had found a recipe on...you guessed it, PINTEREST! I made up a batch of Chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.  We took some over to a family friend.  The few we had left disappeared!  My mom immediately requested that I make some more.  It took me a few days before I finally got around to it.  This time I made a double batch.  My mom giggled, and said, "so we have enough to last us tonight." I took a plate over to a friend that is eagerly awaiting her baby's arrival; nothing like cookies to soothe that anxious soul when your baby is a week over due!  We still had plenty for our house.  The recipe is really easy to follow.  The first time I made them, I forgot to scoop the dough into balls before refrigeration.  It didn't make it impossible to scoop, but doing it before hand made it a lot easier. 

 

Barefeet in the Sand to Heal the Soul

I am currently making my way through my Cultural Intellectual book.  I am not much for one single page of reading at a time, the way this book is set up.  I love random knowledge and facts, so I like reading this stuff.  I like reading in chunks.  So I'm about halfway through this mountain of knowledge. It's got 7 different categories from politics to music, from sports to literature and film. 

Anyways, I recently read a novel called Barefoot, by Elin Hilderbrand.  I really enjoyed this reading.  I was another gym book exchange pick-up and another one I stayed up all night to finish.  It's really been a while since I've just wanted to dive into books and escape.  It is so much more refreshing than scrolling endlessly through Facebook.  Which, side note, I was trying to stay off Facebook from Monday through Friday and last week was the first time breaking it since the start of the year.  It is bad.  I broke again today.  Excuses, excuses, my phone has been acting up and messenger kicks me out all the time and acts like I just downloaded it.  So to get my messages, I go in and then I get sucked into the vortex.  I just need to not. It really is amazing how much time you have for other things. Back to the book.  It was one of those "gets to your heart" novels. It's a multi-person perspective novel, so you see the story from everyone's point of view.  I like novels that give you the story from many different angles.  It just makes the story feel broader and well-rounded. 


The story is of three ladies that move out to Nantucket for the summer (which I just learned where that is the other day while watching the weather channel...nerd, I know; but it was on at the gym. I also learned where Montauk is located).  Two of the three women, sisters, and owners of the house their family has held on the island for generations.  The third is a friend of the eldest sister who has come to escape the city and some troubling relationship problems.  All of  them are dealing with issues and trying to solve them with "a little Nantucket sand in their shoes." The first day arriving on the island, they meet Josh.  He is going to school to be a writer.  The moment he sees them, he knows there is a story.  His path keeps brushing up against theirs and he eventually becomes the babysitter for the eldest sister's two small boys.  The story continues from there.

Nantucket and Montauk on the map, because I know you wanted to know

Friyay Updates

Favorite Song(s) of the week:
Favorite Quote(s) of the week:
"You have an aggressive need to lick." - vet about my dog as he was licking his head, and ear, and hands, and face 😏😄

Favorite thing done this week:
Puppy cuddles
Making yummy cookies and dinner tonight

Favorite show/movie of week:
Split was really interesting. 

Favorite thing read:
I've been hopping between a couple books.  I really enjoy my intellectual devotional.  I like random trivia knowledge.

Favorite event:
I got a job. I start training tomorrow at 7am!

Most inspired moment:
Yoga and lifting at the gym; feeling strong.

Thought(s)/Epiphany (ies) of the week:
Just keep swimming.  Just keep swimming.

Weirdest dream:
I had one where I was three different people; well not different, we were all me, there were just three of us.  I was told I couldn't leave the house or I'd never be let back.  So I went back into the house instead of leaving.  I (all three of me, one of whom was mentally handicapped) went to the bedroom, the man that had told me I couldn't leave was apparently my partner/husband.  We all crawled into bed, but I was in a single bed adjacent to him and my other two selves. Then the light over me blew up!  He was going to try and fix it/stop it, but couldn't in time.  So then I was picking these long slivers of glass out of my feet.  End of dream.  SO WEIRD!

Juggling Act

Lately, I have felt like my life has been a juggling act.  One performed by a very poor juggler.  I seem to find a rhythm and think things are going well and then BAM! All the balls come crashing down on my face.  I was supposed to start a new job last Monday, but the background check company didn't submit my French background check until to late; it arrived this Monday.  BAM.  My finances are a mess. BAM.  It always seems to be one thing after another with the dogs needing to see the vet. BAM.  Workout multiple times a week, yet gain 10 more pounds. BAM. I'm trying my best, but it never seems to be good enough.  I keep waking up every morning, just putting one foot in front of the other.  I know someday it will all make sense and get better.  Heck, I want to go back to school to be a life coach and counselor , so I guess I better know what it's like to be kicked down by life.  Even if the rest of my life is like this, I am secure in the promise that what is coming next is way better than this life.  God's got a plan, I just need to trust.  I will praise him for my trials and my successes.  All of them are making me a better person.
These pities are keeping me going and give me a good reason to keep waking up.  They give me a reason to smile and laugh every day.  I love them so much!

 

Playing Twister with the Truth

It's so hard in these crazy times to not have something to say. I am slightly concerned that all this drama at the forefront of the news is a cover-up for something going on behind the scenes.  A nice slight of hand trick to keep us looking the other way.

It really is scary to see people twist and turn things to say/show exactly what they want to believe.  These are not "alternative facts," my friends.  Refugees and veteran care shouldn't have to be an either/or when billion dollar planes and wars continue and we suddenly seem to have money to commence building our "huge" wall.  Today I read something, written by a woman, saying other women were disrespectful for demanding equal pay because she didn't mind making less than her husband.  Her husband did manual labor while she was a nurse.  Equal pay for women is not that every man and woman make the same despite what career field in which they were working.  It is if I, a woman, have the same job, started at the same time, and my performance is equal to my male contemporary, we should be paid the same wages.  Not making a fraction of what my male coworker is making; even if that fraction is 9/10.  Don't change the context and don't say others are being disrespectful when stating that they deserve to be treated fairly.  I was never offended or jealous of my husband making more than me when I worked as a hostess and he was the chef.  I know he was in the kitchen busting his butt to make the most delicious and beautiful sushi I have ever seen.  My job was to smile, seat people, and wipe soy sauce off the menus.  But I would expect if he started the same season as I did as a hostess, that he'd be making the same as I did a night. 

I also saw a clip of someone calling into a show to ask why America didn't/couldn't vet Puerto Rican people coming into the United States.  IT'S BECAUSE IT IS PART OF THE UNITED STATES.  Seriously people! I admit that I have been ignorant in the past, am now, and will be in the future; however, there is this thing called RESEARCH!  Do some.  Learn.  Ask questions.  The only problem will be that "alternative facts" may become the truth in history.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 7:12.  I wish as many people who claim to be "Christian" would follow this rule from the Bible.  I was devastated to see someone post that they have actually become scared to practice Islam in public because America is the land of religious freedom, only for Christians.  I am a Christian and I love America for our diversity and freedoms to practice whatever religion we choose. Christians are supposed to concern ourselves with changing hearts with forgiveness, mercy, and love; not judgment and forcing laws into place to try to remake paradise on earth.  In all you do, do it was love and kindness. 

 

Honey and Lemon

So I did a couple of tests with lemon juice and honey this last week.

I had seen on Pinterest, that vortex, a pin about freezing lemon juice.  We had a couple of lemons sitting unused, with no purpose, in the fruit bowl.  I decided to juice them, zest some ginger, and add honey.  I first juiced the lemons and poured the juice, to about half full, in to an ice cube tray.  I peeled and then zested my ginger; adding a small amount to each cube division. I then added a squeeze of honey to each and topped the cubes off with some more lemon juice.  The tray then went into the deep freeze. 

I wanted to try this so it would be easier for me to drink green tea with all these additions, without having to get the grated ginger, lemon juice, and honey.  Yes, I know, it isn't that hard, but still, I'm lazy.  These are quick and easy to pop into tea on the go.  It also helps cool the tea down so I can drink it right away.  Otherwise, I typically wait, what seems to be FOR-EV-ER, for my tea to cool.  By that time, I've forgotten about it, until I come back and find it stone cold.

There were some issues.  So silly me, I had an spidey-sense tingle before I added the honey, that honey was something that didn't freeze.  I should have googled it first.  Honey does not freeze as it is more sugar than water, and not enough water is present to actually freeze.  So the honey just separated to the bottom of the tray.  It didn't bother me too much; I simply scooped the honey from the bottom and added it to my tea. It did make it so I had to leave the cubes in the tray, instead of popping them out and storing them in a different container. 

This is something that I like enough to try again.  I will for sure pass on trying to freeze the honey next time, and just have to keep that trusty honey bear near-by for tea time.

I also tried a lemon juice, honey, and egg-white facial.  I mixed the ingredients up and used my facial brush to apply the mixture on my skin.  (This was another Pinterest find that I gave a try).  It said to place tissue strips on your face after the first coating, and then apply a coat on top of the tissue.  Then let sit for 15-20 minutes.  The whole time I was applying, I was creeping myself out with thoughts of getting salmonella in my EYE or mouth.  Ugh!  I left it on for 20 minutes.  Then peeled the paper towel strips off my face.  The paper towel wasn't completely dry and I hadn't coated it so heavily it would take hours to dry.  I still had plenty of mix leftover with one egg-white, a tsp of lemon juice, and a tsp of honey. I can't say that I saw much difference in my skin at all.  I don't think I'll do this facial again, but I have heard egg-white is great for the skin (shrinking pores and tightening skin) and something you should do WEEKLY.  I don't know if I could handle it.  Maybe if I whip it up into a meringue first. :) Maybe other facials have you whip it up first and, therefore, have less of a chance of it dripping down your face and into your eyes. 

 

Don't I look thrilled! Lol

Mercury in Retrograde

I'm BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And on my favorite night: Lit. Lundi!

I recently read Mercury in Retrograde by Paula Froelich.  I have not laughed this hard in a long time.  The book was hilarious and at a point when I needed a good laugh.  This was the second book, in about two weeks, that I actually stayed up into the wee hours of the morning to finish.  The story was entertaining and light.  I picked this book up at the gym book exchange.  This isn't a deep thinking novel, but it was witty, humorous, and entertaining.  Laughter is great medicine.  Reading is great for empathy; and thank God for this book, because I at least know I'm not the only one that seems to have lots of things going wrong in my life (Mercury just seems to be in constant retrograde for me - lol).

The book follows three girls as their lives get up-ended by Mercury going into retrograde.  When Mercury appears to be traveling backwards, from earths perspective, things tend to go rather WRONG.  Penelope, Lena, Dana are three New York ladies whose lives have gone awry during Mercury retrograde.  It covers how their paths all cross and their lives go in every which way; thanks Mercury retrograde!

I recently put out, on the city network page, an ad for a book club!  I don't know if I should just join the library book club or start my own. I'm just excited to get back at it.