Early spring

The new pots and pans...I wanted to post the picture at the END of this post, but Blogger won't let me do that. Click image for larger view. Sorry for the messy table!

Last weekend's full moon was a spiritual observance for us...in some traditions, it's celebrated on Feb. 1 or 2, but in our tradition, since we follow the moon cycles like our ancestors probably did, so it was just last weekend.

This observation is all about the beginning of spring. And, interestingly, we had our first raging thunderstorm this past week, and the temperatures have been in the 50-75 degree range.

Flowers are coming up, tree pollen is driving people's allergies crazy...and it's only February. The spring flower bed I planted for my mother in law has 2 inch tall hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils poking up.

It WILL get cold again, and there is likely going to be another storm with ice or snow before it's all over, but it's been very nice lately.

I just hope the sprouting flowers don't get nipped.

I blew out the shoulder in my winter coat, so we went and found me a new one on clearance yesterday. Maybe buying a new coat this winter will work the same way buying a shovel did LAST winter....and it WON'T actually get cold again!

We made the two trips to three different places that it takes for me to renew my massage therapist licenses. I have NO INCOME to claim for last year, but am being optimistic and hoping that this year will be better.

Renewing was MUCH simpler than was getting the licenses to begin with....that was 3 trips, and 5 different places.

Dave was out of town almost all of last week. He had to go back to Pennsylvania for more training on the software he uses at work. They send him there a couple of times a year, usually for a week.

I don't like being here by myself, but this time, it seemed easier than the other times since I got here.

Not sure why. Maybe I'm just getting used to it. I don't feel afraid to be in this apartment alone anymore, like I did the first couple of times, so that's good.

My new dance class is going pretty well. I have no idea what I will learn, if anything, but I DO have my first chance to perform.

I studied with Soraya for approximately 20 weeks, and never had the chance to perform. When I showed up at my 4th session with Delphina, I was invited to perform.

MUCH less of a clique atmosphere with this group.

So, I have three numbers I am going to practice later today, and on class night, I will show her all three of them, and let her pick which one I will perform as my solo at her fund raiser show.

The show will raise funds for an organization called World Neighbors. This organization goes into improverished areas around the world, and teaches people how to be self sufficient....rather than just giving them hand outs, it teaches them how to do for themselves.

So, that will be good for me.

We are planning to get our taxes done some time over the next week or so, and Dave's annual bonus is due on 3/1. We will then pay off his new car, take out a consolidation loan to put all of our credit cards into one monthly payment, and then start house hunting for real.

Our lease is up in May or June, so it's time to get serious. There are so many houses available, and the payments will be so much less than we are paying in rent...it's really quite amazing.

There are lots of options out there, so that's very encouraging.

We are off to shop for some new pots and pans this afternoon. Everyone have a good week!

ADDENDUM: OH MY GOSH! I LOVE MY NEW POTS AND PANS!!!! Got a sweet deal on a set of Cuisinart stainless with aluminum core bottoms and oven safe handles! They are SOOO NICE! Surely the nicest pots and pans I have ever owned. I probably won't ever need anything else! WHEEEE!!! Now....to continue with my dream of being a chef without going to culinary school~~! (kidding)

February thaw

Photographic evidence that I am, indeed, not in Chicagoland anymore!

Thankfully, all of that snow is gone now (pic was taken in the parking lot here at the apartments, 4 days after blizzard #1). It's going to be 70 degrees today. Yep.

Yeah...the FIRST blizzard, on 2/1, which dumped over a foot of snow, and left 5 foot high drifts here and there, closed down the entire state for 2 days.

Then the snow gradually melted over the next week. And then there was another blizzard a week later, which brought with it record breaking cold temps. That one shut the entire state down for another day.

My place of employment was closed for all three of these "snow days," which, I have been told, is unprecedented. But that's because the weather doesn't usually DO THIS here! And the city of Oklahoma City owns a grand total of 23 plows.

Oklahoma City is 700 square miles in area. They ONLY plow the highways and some of the main roads through town. That's it. The rest of the roads become deeply rutted luge tracks made out of ice if it stays cold.

It's a joy to drive in.

Anyway, my employer did offer us the opportunity to work yesterday to make up some of the hours, because the policy at my company is kinda strange. You have to earn every minute you want to take off with pay...be it if you want to get paid when the office is closed for a holiday, or when they close for a snow day, or if you're sick, or you have an appointment, or you want to take, dare I say it, vacation.

For the first 5 years of employment, you earn about 7 hours every 2 weeks. Then it goes up a bit for the next 5 years, etc. It's never very generous, though. It works out to 24 days a year, and considering that MOST companies give you your holidays and sick days separately from your vacation time, it works out to not quite as much paid time off as most other companies.

So anyway, I had a bank of 6 days built up after the depletion of the December holidays (and the Thanksgiving weekend the month before that). Then I got a sinus infection. Then there was an ice storm. Then there were the two blizzards.

I went from 6 days to 1 in very short order, and NONE of those days off were for my own enjoyment!

I got back 6.3 of the 8 hours I had to use this past week, though, by working most of Saturday. I just couldn't bring myself to be there at 6 am, which was what they offered, take it or leave it. I took as much as I could.

I have to leave work early tomorrow to go through the hoop jumping that's involved in renewing my massage therapist licenses, so that will bring my "paid time off bank" down another 2 hours.

Yes, there are more than one license. I have to be licensed to practice, AND I have to be licensed to own my own business. Lovely. Double your money, double your fun! At least for the city.

The original process of establishing your first license in this town was much more complicated than the renewal will be, thankfully. The first time involved making stops at 5 different places, one of them twice, and three separate trips on different days.

Renewing is not as complicated. It only involves 3 different places, and 2 trips. *roll eyes* And, you have to do it every year.

Illinois has state wide licensing. You go to one place, one time, and from then on out, your biannual renewal is done through the mail. VERY simple and easy.

EXCITING news in the cooking department! We were at our preferred health food store yesterday, stocking up on teas for colds, since we've both been sick and have used them all up. Dave stopped me in one of the aisles and said "Hey, look at this...."

He spotted a product that touted itself as being "giardiniera."

Giardiniera is a seemingly Chicagoland-specific condiment made up of chopped veggies, spices, and oil in a jar. It's customarily served with Italian beef sandwiches, which are also Chicago-specific. (New York's version is very different, and is served with red sauce, not giardiniera)

The one product I have found in OKC that says giardiniera on the label is not the real stuff. It's pickled cauliflower and carrots in a jar of vinegar. There are no peppers, there is no celery, there are no spices, and it's not in oil...so...in a word...it's NOT giardiniera!

ANYway...I stopped to look, and then I nearly screamed out loud in delight!

Not only was it real, Chicago-area-made giardiniera, it was MY PERSONAL FAVORITE BRAND!!

This brand also makes muffaletta olive relish, and the best pickles on the planet.

The company is "That Pickle Guy," and I was introduced to it by friends of the Guy himself back home. The Guy runs his business out in the western suburbs of Chicago, from which I hale.

Back home, his stuff is on the shelves at Whole Foods market, Binny's, and the major grocery stores, as well as little specialty and gourmet shops.

It's easy to come by up there, and this entrepreneur has really created a fortune for himself by making these products, and selling them locally!!

I thought I'd never have it again, because I just assumed he would remain "home town" based.

I jumped up and down, I hugged Dave, and I squealed, and he allowed me a high five. I couldn't contain myself!

And now, in the crock pot, I have my famous and much copied "Sloppy Giuseppes" cooking.....you take a nice beef roast, cut it into large-ish chunks, and brown it.

Throw that into the crock pot, with a jar of giardiniera (I prefer the mild), a cup of beef broth, and some crushed Italian seasoning blend, maybe some whole garlic cloves.

After you cook the crap out of it for at least 8 hours on low, use a couple of forks to shred the meat and mix it into the savory, delicious mixture in the pot. Cook a little longer after you shred it.

Then, slice open a lovely, soft kaiser roll, use tongs to put the beefy/giardiniera mixture on the bread, top with freshly grated peccorino romano cheese, again, IF you can find it.....and enjoy!

Keep lots of napkins on hand, and a nice cold beer.

I.
Can't.
Wait.

Dave's never experienced my Giuseppes before. He's in for a TREAT!

Dug out

So, we eventually got outside and used the shovel we bought last year. Back to work on Thursday, over largely unplowed roadways....what an adventure!

The only roads that get plowed here are the main highways, and a network of specific surface streets. Everything else is left alone, to get packed down into a dense, uneven, treacherous layer of thick ice. Several inches thick.

This happened last year, too. It's awful. Businesses and strip malls don't even hire crews to come remove their snow from their parking lots. It's very rough going in some places.

Last winter, on Christmas eve, we had a blizzard with 14 inches of snow, followed by several smaller snow falls over the next couple of months. People said they had not seen that much snow here in well over a generation.

And here it is happening again the very next winter, though the winter up til now has been very mild. More snow is forecasted for tonight, and next week, as well.

Officially, though, climate change is a hoax, in this state.

Whatever.

Anyway, we got to work okay on Thursday and Friday, and got out today to get our errands done. Never got stuck on the ice in any of the parking lots, or side streets...thankfully.

The temps went up pretty high today, after several days not only below freezing, but one where we didn't even get above 10 degrees. There was a lot of melting today, and at the moment, it's still 38 at 10:30 pm, so maybe some real progress with the melting will take place this weekend. It's supposed to be above freezing tomorrow, too.

Unfortunately, Dave now has something akin to the virus I've been fighting. He feels pretty rotten tonight. Time for some nyquil and bed.

Hope everyone is safe and warm.

snowmageddon

The view out of our bedroom window just now

This snow drift is about up to my . .... um... bosoms.

Due to the extreme weather, the company I work for was closed today. We just received word that it's closed again tomorrow.

The parking lot here at the apartment complex is completely impassable, because of people who tried to get out, and got stuck in the 3 to 4 foot snow drifts. No one can get out now, and no one can get in....not even an ambulance.

Scary.

But we are well provisioned, and our electricity is still on, so we're okay.

The Weather Channel guy reporting from Oklahoma City all day today has been out on the main road almost directly in front of our apartment complex! So if anyone reading this has seen any of those broadcasts, it's like you were in our neighborhood!