randomly chaotic and frequently mundane

I got my servesafe coursebook today. The first book for the first of the culinary requirements and it hit me… This is real. This is happening. Finally. I’m turning one of my greatest passions into a career. In a couple of years, when people ask me what I do… I’ll be able to answer “I’m a chef” of course, “I’m a culinary student” isn’t a bad way to answer for the next couple of years…

There are no words to describe how excited I am about this.

So I got my student ID, parking sticker and the syllabus I needed for one of my classes today. Also picked up a notebook, pencils and a pencil pouch that’ll also fit a small calculator. Yay

I’m… Excited, nervous…

I can’t wait to start!

I thought it might be a good idea to go through the pre algebra review items in the first section of my book… Just to see how much I remember… I was pleasantly surprised at how much I do remember and how the things I wasn’t sure of all came rushing back so easily when I started reading the tutorials… The more I did, the the more fun it got. I forgot how interesting math can be.

I forgot…

Ladies and gentlemen, consider me your grocery liaison, and let’s discuss somethings you’re doing wrong…

First of all, if you have no intention of bagging or helping to bag your groceries, you have no right to separate the items into piles and tell the cashier or bagger what you want in each bag. Sorry, there ARE the rules.

Second, if a bagger comes over to help bag, do NOT send them away, unless you intend to do the bagging yourself. Also, do not tell them to wait until you can supervise the bagging, because guess what… They will walk the fuck away and help someone else.

Third, your cashier does not care. We do not need a 20 minute explanation about why the bags have to be very very light. You asked for them to be packed light, we will pack them light. I don’t care if you’ve had surgery on your hand or shoulder or if your fibromyalgia is flaring up. I don’t care if arthritis means you can’t lift heavy bags. It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry your kids don’t call or that you don’t have anyone to talk to. I’m not there to fill that void. I’m here to ring you up, possibly bag your items hand send you on your way. I want your items on the conveyer belt, I want your club card, your coupons, your help bagging, your money, and your ass out the door.

And finally… Personal hygiene. Know it, use it, love it. It’s fantastic that you work with and/or own horses. Really, that’s great! And yes, I understand that it involves some encountering of manure. But if you’ve been shoveling horse shit all day, do us all a favor and shower and change your clothes before you go to the grocery store. If you suffer from incontinence, I’m very sorry to hear that. But there are products out there that prevent you from wetting yourself so badly that pants are saturated and your shoes squish when you walk. Use them. There is no way for me to know that you’re wearing an adult diaper, but it’s very obvious when you’re not, particularly if you’ve pissed all over yourself. And by the way, dousing yourself in so much perfume that a spark would ignite you from across the room is not good personal hygiene. Brushing your teeth is not optional, it’s mandatory.

Just a few thoughts to make your experience, and ours, more pleasant.

I haven’t been in school since the last college semester I did in1995… But next week, I start classes. Only 3 this semester, to get myself into the swing of things… cultural anthropology (for my diversity credit), algebra (for one of my math credits) and food safety and sanitation (one of the culinary requirements).

My books have been ordered… Two have arrived, I’m still waiting on the other two… Gotta go over to the campus and get the syllabus for one of then classes, along with a parking sticker and student ID card. Ooh, does this mean I can get the student rate at the movies? Do they even do that anymore? That would be great, I could take my son and get a student and a child…

Wish me luck.

Well, y’all know I’m a bookcrosser… And I’ve been curious about geocaching for quite some time… Then today, while I was researching geocaching, I came across something called letterboxing which ALSO sounds really interesting. This one involves going and finding hidden letterboxes with what’s usually a hand carved stamp which you can stamp onto nice paper or whatever you choose. So you can collect a vast assortment of pretty, interesting, original stamps that people created. I rather like that idea… Its also cheaper to start than geocaching, since you need a personal gps for that. Letterboxing you only need a stamp pad, something to stamp on and a “signature stamp” to stamp on the log.

So while I decide on whether I want to get into geocaching with the kids, I’ll give letterboxing a try…

Well, last year I quit smoking on new years eve. At midnight, as a matter of a fact… Since then, I picked up a cigarette once, took 2 drags and BLEH’D. That one incident aside, smoke free for a year… Go me. Shall I do the math on that? I was averaging a little less than 1 pack a day, we’ll just call it one pack a day… 365 days a year, at $7.25 a pack, give or take a few cents… We’re looking at a savings of around $2650 over the last year… Excellent.

So what should this years change be? Well, I’m thinking fitness. Not necessarily weight loss, but better general health. Exercise, better diet, more sleep. Health. Sure that’ll probably translate into some weight loss, but that’s not the overall goal.

Once I have a plan, well discuss. Weeeeeeee

Of the year….

I have a question about that song… Who the hell tells scary ghost stories at Christmastime? And a Christmas Carol doesn’t count, it’s not scary, it’s educational.

Anyhoo… My boy got the polar express train for Christmas this year… That was the hit of the year. He was SO ecstatic when he got it. We had to open and set it up immediately, and it’s been running almost non stop since.

I’ve been missing a few holiday movies I’ve been wanting to watch I’ve only seen the two versions of A Christmas Carol that I own, and it’s my all-time favorite. I wanted to see more versions. I also haven’t seen Little Women this year… I should just buy all 3 versions so I can watch them whenever I want them.

In other news, I’ve been on a quest to buy the books I need for school as cheap as possible. So far I’ve ordered my food safety and sanitation book and one of my cultural anthropology books for about 20% of the cost to buy them new at the school bookstore and they’re both new! Just have to get my algebra and the other anthropology book, which so far I can only find at 50% off… Still better than the regular price…

When we were kids, we did a lot of holiday crafts and stuff. One of our grandmothers taught us several, along with mom, of course. one of the ones I have very fond memories of is felt ornaments, rather like these. Though the ones I made as a kid never looked so nice, lol. I made some a few years ago, and Gage claimed them as his new toys. But if he sees that they go on the Christmas tree, which he loves so much, maybe he’ll let them be decorations.

A couple of years ago, I made these cinnamon ornaments, they came out great and they fantastic for 3 or 4 years. I’m thinking about making them with the kids this year… Just gotta keep Kalina from trying to eat them. Last year, Gage made one of these ornaments in school and it smelled so good, Kalina took a bite! LOL

I had Kalina making these warm fuzzies to give to her cousins for Christmas.

Soon, I’m going to go out in the woods to gather pine cones and those little pine balls for the kids to decorate with glitter and ribbon and stuff. Maybe we’ll cover a few with peanut butter and bird seed for the birdies. And while I’m feeling old fashioned, maybe we’ll string popcorn and cranberries and hang it in the trees outside for the animals to enjoy in the winter.