News

Yes, I know I haven't posted in a while. Want to know why?

I got a job. I'm working through a temp agency as the receptionist at a local car dealership. I do a lot of trying to transfer calls to people who don't answer the phone. I get to page over the intercom and make temporary tags and file license plates that have come in. It's not the worst job in the world. There are moments of boredom between phone calls, but it's also fun to see how it works. And it's a paycheck that comes in steadily every Friday afternoon. :-)

We also sold our house. We ended up not having to bring quite as much as we thought we'd have to to closing, but we still ended up bringing over $1000. Grandpa helped us out and we'll pay him back when we get our escrow check. Then, we're going to use the rest of the escrow to pay off most of the carpet credit card . . . although it's not going to cover all of it.

It's my plan that we start trying Dave Ramsey's debt snowball plan VERY SOON. I'm tired of being in debt.

We're going to my grandparents' for Thanksgiving. Jeremy has all week off and I have taken off Wednesday and Friday. My Grandfather, if you don't already know, has been fighting cancer this year. They found a tumor in his lung earlier this summer and he's already gone through a lot of chemo. Now, they're running tests to figure out what kind and how much radiation to do. I'm bracing myself to see him a little thinner, a little more tired (although he's always taken naps all through the day). He's my hero and it breaks my heart to think about losing him anytime soon even if he is almost 86.

Several other members of my family will be there, too, including my parents and sister and her husband. An aunt and uncle and their spouses. And some cousins . . . including the unmarried one with the new baby. I'm also bracing myself to face that situation. I'm still on birth control so I'm more emotional than "usual" which means I cry several times a month if I don't hold it in. It's not as bad as some pills I've been on, though. This one seems to not affect me quite as much as some I've had in the past, and it is so nice to know when I'm starting and ending each cycle. But I think I'm a bit raw from hearing over and over again lately, "So, got any kids?" I'm praying for strength and discretion as I spend a few days in this situation. I don't want to say anything that will be awkward or hurtful, but I also don't know what she's going to say and how I might react. Please, feel free to pray for me, too. I love my family, but this is going to be hard for me.

And that's pretty much the news in my life right now. I'm also doing nanowrimo again and have pretty much kept up with myself and my word count -- not as easy now that I'm working 7:30 - 4 every day. Still, I'm pretty proud of myself for making myself do it in the first place. Now, to convince myself to send my ms from a couple years ago to a publisher to see if they'll actually do something with it besides letting it live on my computer . . .

Comfort Food

My husband and I have different thoughts on what comfort food actually is.  I love casseroles, could eat soup EVERY DAY of the year, love gravy, love vegetables.  He is meat and potatoes . . . and that's pretty much it.
However, when we found out yesterday that the offer we got on our house was probably as good as it was going to get despite not being enough to pay everything -- and that we had to come up with $1900 to bring to closing instead of the $200 we were hoping for -- I needed comfort food last night.  For one thing, we're selling our first house.  For another, I'm sick and tired of being in debt and still haven't gotten hired by anyone so I see no way out of this easily.
Anyway, when I thought comfort food, I thought chicken gravy over mashed potatoes.  Sounds good, right?  Gravy is something I've perfect over the last few years.  When we first got married, my gravy was lumpy AND runny, if that's at all possible.  Now, I'm pretty good at making it creamy and thick.  Mmm.  Makes me want some right now.
So, I took some of the leftover chicken, some onions, some carrots and some margarine and sauteed them in my skillet a bit.  Then, I added some chicken broth and a slurry I'd mixed up (milk and flour).  Perfect.  Stir in some English peas and it's my kind of thing.  I mashed the potatoes and called Jeremy into the kitchen.  He ate it, but I could see him making a face with every bite of pea/carrot/onion.  To me, it was perfect.
Especially when I finished off the rest of the ice cream a couple hours later.