new job

Last night was my first shift as a deli clerk.  That's right, a vegan slinging meat and cheese.  I'm actually a little depressed about it, but I know that it is temporary while I am in school.  It's also something new, and therefore normal that I have a little anxiety about it. 

Overall, the job is easy.  Customers come to the counter, order a 1/2 pound or whatever, and I slice it, label it, and bag it.

The time went by quickly, which is good.  The other clerks were all friendly.  I'm sure the anxiety I have about it will pass once I get in to the routine of things.

It's been four years since I had a full time job during the week and an extra food service job on the weekends.  I've gotten to enjoy the weekends off, but its going to be crunch time for the next 18 months: school all day and all night Monday through Thursday, then working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the deli.

Jason is going to be helping pay for things at home, but I wish he made more money.  It will still be tight around here, even with me working, too.

I will at least have the opportunity to join the meat cutter union, get health insurance, a pension, and a discount on groceries.

office girl gets sentimental

This afternoon at work, I did two very involved consultations.

The first patient needed all her teeth extracted and wanted them replaced with dental implants.

The second one already had lost all his teeth and had ill-fitting dentures that he hated.  He wanted to have dental implants to replace the missing teeth.

I spent nearly two hours with each patient by the time everything was completed...patient education, the CT-Scan, diagnosis, presentation of the fees, consent forms, etc.

Both left feeling impressed with me and in our office as a whole. 

The whole afternoon was a great confidence booster.  Not that I needed it, but I am just aware at how good I felt about myself at the end of the day after talking to these people about a life-changing investment in their mouth.

It's afternoons like this one that I am going to miss.

school supplies

Yesterday I went up to school to buy my textbooks.  I was just going to rent them online, but I will need them both semesters.  Also, the school has a special deal with a publisher that when a student buys the book in the school bookstore, she can register it online with a special code and also have access to a digital copy as well as other study materials including sample quiz questions and flash cards.

So I went to school on Monday morning and came home with a very heavy bag full of 11 books.  I didn't really pay any attention to the clerk at the cashier desk or to the amount I signed on the receipt.

Late last night, I was going to start reading some of the books, and I went through the bag, and I had two duplicates....like the girl had given me two of the same book....twice!  So I looked at the receipt, and she had only even rung me up for three books!  The total was $245.

This was a significant error in my favor, but I decided that I should go back to the bookstore and pay what was due.  It's not like there was a tiny little error in my favor that no one would probably ever catch; I had been undercharged almost $400!   Plus, there was the dilemma of the two books of which I had duplicates.  I wasn't charged for either of them.  I know there are exactly 32 students in my class, and if I had two books (that I didn't even pay for), then some one was going to be out a book.

So I went back to the bookstore tonight after work, and a nice young man named La Rue helped me.  He took back the duplicate books, credited me a charge that was incorrect, and rung me up for the books for which I still had to pay.

All said and done, I purchased just under $600 worth of books.  My conscious is clear.

I still have to pay for my instruments packs and name tag; those are not in stock yet.  But I have all the other supplies needed.  School starts in less than two weeks!  I am so excited!

High Rockies 2014

I've been in the high Rockies for the past 48 hours for a wedding.  It was gorgeous.  I loved the trees, the smell of the air, the wildflowers, the kind people, the coziness of the fire in the ski lodge even though it was summer, the mountain streams, the wild west look to the tiny towns.

Flew into Denver on Friday and rented a car.  Drove to Vail and checked in the hotel.  Went for a little hike around town with my dad.

Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at a saloon in Minturn.  It was quite scenic with the creek just behind the patio of the bar.

Saturday morning, Uncle Fred and I got up super early and went hiking.  We chose the Big Horn Creek Trail and it was initially quite chilly!  We were the only ones on the trail for the first two hours (turn around point).  On the way back, we encountered 11 people total, only two of whom were local.  They seemed to have known to not go out of the trail at dawn because it would be too cold!

The hike was awesome, though.  I loved being the forest.  The aspen trees are beautiful with their white bark, the silver blue tint to the blue spruce is lovely, too.

The scenic overlook was about 2miles in.  The sun was out by this time and air temps were on the rise!

There was one small area that looked like the type of forest I'm used to around here.  There was about five big evergreen trees with soft dirt/needles on the ground all around.  A nice little creek with waterfall, too.

As we climbed higher and higher (total elevation gain: ~2100ft), we encountered a lot of wildflowers and a narrower and narrower trail.  It was obviously marked, but it was easy to see that not a lot of people came through that far.  There was one part where there had been an avalanche and rocks had fallen over the path.  We had to climb over large boulders for probably 50 meters until we connected with the trail on the other side.

After the hike, we came back I headed to the pool.  I was nearly lunchtime and straight up hot outside (air temps approaching 90F but no humidity).  I did apply sunscreen, but as I was closer to the sun, I got burned, even on my lips!

Early afternoon, Mom, dad, Nancy, Fred, and I drove to Avon, where there was a man-made lake.  The afternoon was gorgeous.   I should have worm my swim suit!

The wedding was on Saturday night and was lovely.  Chris and Kate were married by a creek and the ceremony was short and sweet.  I don't have any pics of it.

On Sunday morning, I went for a walk/hike around town again before we had to drive back to Denver to go to the airport.  We stopped in Idaho Springs for some gas, and this fire station was across the street.  Pretty cool, old building.

Colorado was awesome.  I hadn't been there since 1994, and it was awesome to get back out West as an adult.  I remember being in awe of the mountains twenty years, and I fell in love with them again this past weekend.

One last photo:  A pan from the hike

new swim suit

Jason and I went swimming at the pool in my parents' neighborhood.  The water was a little chilly but refreshing.  I was glad to wear my new swimsuit.  I have received a lot of compliments on it.  Not to toot my own horn, but it's deserved; the suit is badass.

My flower garden

Here are some photos of the flower in my yard.  I'm really pleased that things are finally starting to bloom.  I love just walking around in the backyard looking at the plants.  I've also grown some Alyssum and sunflower from seed.  They are still in containers, but I think two of the sunflowers will be ready to go to their final locations tomorrow. They are about 8" tall and hardy, will grown to about 6'.  The leaves are a dark, healthy green.  But its too hot out today (97F).

The Alyssum is doing well, too.  Some of the shoots around about 2" tall already, and I was going to transplant them this weekend.  I have them in containers, and they have been wilting in the afternoon sun.  So I need to put them in a shady location.  They would look gorgeous on the side of the house, but they would cook there; it faced south and gets constant sun.  I have a place for them in the back yard under a giant maple tree that will provide intermittent shade.

There are more flowers than just the ones pictured below.  I also have about thirty Marigolds in yellow, orange, and red with yellow centers.  A bee balm, a lantana, some forget-me-not, a hosta, and some ivy, and a heavenly blue morning glory (that has yet to bloom, but the vine looks healthy).

These white cones in the back yard are a true survivor story.  The rabbits ate the soft, new leaves down to the crown, and I had to cover the plant with a jar and then a gallon water jug to protect it.  It started to grow again and toughen up.  The first day I took the jug off, I saw TWO rabbits eating on it at the same time!  They ate all the leaves and left only the stems.  I protected it with a barrier, kept it fed and watered, and it came back!   At first I wasn't too wild about the white bloom because I love the pink so much, but the white is a nice splash among the pink, orange, yellow, and purple of everything else in the yard.

This is the Astra or balloon flower.  It only blooms for one day, but there are constantly new shoots.  It is amazing to me how quickly the plant grows new blooms.  This perfect pentagon is what is looks like just before it opens.

 This is what it looks like when it opens.  I love purple flowers!

There are two coreopsis plants in the side yard that have been just thriving. They get full sun and look as pleased as ever about it!

more coreopsis in the side yard





















This is one of the Chicago Peace rose bush blooms.  I've been pruning the spent blooms more timely, and there is a lot of new growth.  A vigorous bush, indeed!

I love petunias! I love the brilliant color varieties!  These have not done well in the side yard, though, and are dead now.  They just got cooked.  I will plant them in another location next year, maybe the front yard, which only gets sun in the morning.

 These are some of the pink cones that are in the side yard.  This is one of my favorite flowers!  A Missouri native, this plant does really well in the hot hot sun and oppressive humidity.  There are five pink cone plants in the side yard, and I haven't pruned anything; hoping they seed and spread next year.

This is a close-up of the pink cone.  I just love the orange/green center!  So beautiful!

This Aztec Cabaret is thriving.  I had originally planted it in the ground and on the first night, rabbits came and ate the whole thing down to the crown.  I transplanted it into a hanging basket, and it came back.  There are currently about ten clusters of these little vibrant red flowers.

 
 There are about two hundred tomatoes in the garden, in cages and protected by a chicken wire fence.  All green right now, but various sizes.  Some are the size of little baseballs, some are cherry-sized.  I have Celebrity and Big Boy varieties because I want to make sauce and soups with them, and those are good varieties for cooking.




In addition to the tomatoes, I have romaine, which is doing well, and some herbs.  The onions are completely buried under the tomatoes, which are going in a different location next year.  The herbs are okay, I have cut some fresh mint multiple times to put in some freshly brewed tea, and I have also cut some fresh chives for a stir-fry.  I pick romaine leaves regularly, wash them thoroughly, and have a salad for lunch.

The zucchini and bell peppers were a bust; will probably not plant those again next year.  I'd like to look for some asparagus roots because I love asparagus, but it is so expensive.  Maybe some peas or green beans next year, too.

I've entertained the idea of a fruit tree, but I think that will just be a dang mess with rotting fruit falling in the yard and birds and squirrels getting into the fruit on the tree.

4th recap

Forth of July was quiet here.

Jason and I went to Illinois.  My dad and I rode bikes for about an hour, and Jason chilled in the house with wienie dog.  The ride was wonderful!  The floodplain is gorgeous right now.  We've had a lot of rain here and the vegetation was lush.  Air temps were perfect and humidity was low.

After the ride, the three of us went to pool.  The water was cold but refreshing.  I wore my R2D2 swimsuit, and Jason wore hit Batman trunks.  Hi.  Nerd alert.   Buuuuut, I look super hot in the R2 suit.  After a dip, we basked in the sun.  Dad listened to his iPod, I did the NYT crossword, and Jason read from the Dark Tower Series.  Hi.  Nerd alert (again!) HA!

We came back to the house and Nancy called about meeting for dinner at Pi with her and Unlce Fred.  Dinner was great, Nancy and Fred are really great at telling stories.

Jason and I were at home and asleep by 11pm.  No fireworks viewing or BBQing, but that is fine by me.  It was a relaxing day, and tonight is a party at the cove.  Nato is in town, and both Jason and I are looking forward to watching the band perform.