Colleen’s Rants and Rambles

so it’s 7 in the morning.  my tea cup is full as i need to start warming up my extremities.  just got back from keeping the world safe from ice.  it’s -8 out (sans windchill) and has been all night.  yikes!  cold.  stuff was freezing so fast. mostly my face.  the two engines i have to pull start were not very happy last night.  it took me 45 minutes to get them both finally going.  that was super neat.  today was the closest my car has ever come to not firing up when i’ve turned the key.  it was a clear night though and i now wish i would have taken a picture of some of the sparkly trees i saw at some of my accounts.  they were really pretty.

i’m not sure if yesterday even happened.  it seems like some weird dream sequence.  i will probably be thinking the same about this post when i wake up in a few hours.

this tea needs to be consumed and i need a few hours of sleep before my dr appointment.  keep it real homies!

I didn’t know what else to do tonight, so I’m making potato broccoli cheese soup.  I’ve never made it, so I’m not quite sure how it’ll come out.  Probably pretty good as it is hard to mess up something with broccoli, potato and cheese.  If anything goes wrong, just put more cheese on it.  It’s only going to help.

Now that Tera is back at work after 4 days off, the boredom of unemployment is setting in heavily.  If I could, I’d take off tomorrow and head down to check out some Sequoia trees, but it is probably in my best interest to stay in town and finish my final project for class.  I want to get a good score on it and secure my A in the class.  The weather this week in Bend is supposed to be beautiful, which means no work for me.  Maybe next week when my class is over the weather will stay nice and I can leave.  Wishful thinking really……

Well, I must get back to making this concoction.  I think my onions are beginning to burn a bit.  Have a good night everyone.

the pies are out.  i hope they are actually cooked all the way through as it is sometimes difficult to tell.  the recipe said they should be in the oven for an hour.  one was in the oven for about hour 15.  and the other had to be close to an hour and half.  they were both still mushy, but whatevs.

i’ll be trying to think of some other things to cook up for tomorrow, but i must talk to my accomplices to find out what is needed.  i’ve got about every ingredient i could possibly need for just about anything.  no more grocery shopping please!

just condensed and threw out as much in the fridge as i can.  i hope it’s enough room to fit a couple pies, sweet potato mess and some other things that i probably don’t even know about yet.  off to the store as i realize i may not have enough basic ingredients like eggs and sugar.  this thanksgiving music mix on npr is really helping me get in the thanksgiving mood!  i’m so happy to have a full day to create some food today.  life is good (i’m pretending my shoulder doesn’t make me writhe in pain everytime i move it). good luck to all the cooks out there on thanksgiving eve!

Last night was pretty cool.  Despite being sleep deprived and shoulder surgery weighing heavily on my heart, I managed to cook up a pretty mean dinner for Rickey, Tera and myself.  It was all vegetarian as well.  There’s no goal for me to become a vegetarian, friends.  Lately I have been attempting to cut back on red meat just because I know it’s not the best thing for my body.  There has been some turkey, but that’s about it (ok I went to taco stand a couple times and got a beef combo burrito, but just 2 times in the last 2 months!).  So I guess I feel better with my uptick in veggie eating.  It’s been a good adventure for me to delve into.  Last night was no exception.

ratatouille before going into the oven

On the menu was ratatouille, creole-style (I don’t know what made it creole but that’s what my cook book was calling it) green beans and a couple of yellow potatoes lightly seasoned and buttered.  It was really delicious.  Never in my life did I think I would be making ratatouille, but here I am.  There was a little problem with the eggplant being a little mushy and under garlic’d but that will be corrected next time I make it.  It seems as though everyone enjoyed the dinner as all plates were cleared by the end of the meal.  This could definitely be a new hobby for me.   Cooking has never been one of my strong areas.  Well, I do make a mean bowl of popcorn, good chicken noodle soup and great chili, but that is about it.  Hopefully I can keep you guys up to date on any great meals I create this winter.  Cooking up real meals is great because there’s nearly always leftovers so you can enjoy it for the next couple days.

Dinner is served

Any ways, not much else going on here in central oregon.  Trying my hardest to work on my final project for my class, but I am struggling with motivation.  It’s kind of been kind of hectic the last few days, but starting this afternoon my schedule is clear for a bit.  Thanksgiving this year will be celebrated with Peppy Hernandez and her crew.  Apparently there will be underwear on the outside of our pants and mustaches on our faces for the meal.  Sounds good to me!  I’m bringing the turkey (hope it’s big enough!) and stuffing.  This is probably the easiest thing to be bringing, although I may try and whip up a pumpkin pie tomorrow if I feel so inspired.

Ok everyone, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the good food!  cheers.

I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that I did get my arborist cert.  It’s pretty cool, although I was expecting to be way smarter once I got it.  I got a decent grade (81%) which I thought was respectable since I have never directly worked in arboriculture.  There’s a lot of trees in my daily work but there’s a lot that we don’t do which arborists would be doing.  Any ways, it’s neat.  Come to me with you tree questions and I’ll try to answer them.  Yey!

Got a nice weekend ahead of me filled with a “garage sale” and some English football.  Tonight I may be watching some terrible movie with some friends, but it hasn’t been cemented.

Everything else is great.  Had a nice time last night with Tera, Rickey and Troy.  Troy just got engaged a couple days ago and he came over to share that with us.  I can’t believe how people are dropping like flies!  First Tera this month and now Troy.  I can’t imagine being farther away from that than I am right now.  And I’m quite ok with it.  I am happy for everyone and I look forward to perhaps going to various weddings.  My wedding attendance has been non existant for the last few years.  These ones should be good.

Alright, I am going to go look for a check I misplaced last week, which would be really nice to have.  Ok ttyl everyone.

Sadly, I’m not going to make it to the ASU v. Oregon game tonight.  I didn’t have anyone to go with me and I heard (and saw) the pass was in really bad shape.  Going over the pass in the middle of the night when it’s bad is NOT a good option for me and my 2000 Ford Escort.  So I’ll stay here and watch it on TV.  I like to think by my not going, I’m giving ASU a better shot at winning as they never seem to win when I attend.  So from a 130 miles away, I will cheer loudly for my Sun Devils.  Let’s pull the upset!

i’m tired.  super tired.  time for me to get on the night routine as my current routine isn’t working for me.  we’ll see how the next few days go for spraying!  weeeee.

I give it 6 months and it’s done.   Reason behind new found insight:  I almost dislocated it putting my zip up hoodie on tonight.  Tight.   Errr…..or not so tight.  Literally.  HOLLA!