Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Some Random Notes

I forgot another thing that made me happy- the sun got in my eyes. I haven't seen the sun in so long that I was delighted to be temporarily blinded while in my car (it was not in motion at the time.)

This is the Random note: If you have a lot of pictures to print and don't need them that day, consider using Sam's Club mail service. I wanted to send pictures to Nick's Grandma, but somehow I was just not getting around to it. After realizing I could do it all from my desk with Sam's club, I picked out the pictures, uploaded them and was done. For $5, I sent 30+ pictures directly to her. The prints are o.o8 each and shipping was just over $2. It would definitely be worth the wait if you had a lot of pictures to print, but you'd need high speed Internet. Also great for a lot of prints of one picture.

Does your transmission fluid or timing belt need to be changed? Check your maintenance records. And as usual, I want everyone I love to have a Carbon Monoxide detector.

Things That Made Me Happy Today

1. Waking up after the sun was up.
2. Not going to work.
3. Taking a nap.
4. Spending time with Nick.
5. A cold can of Diet Coke and a science magazine.
6. Baking with Sarah Page.
7. Playing with Jimmy Page (the awesome 2-year-old, not the musician.)
8. Reading blogs, especially yours.
9. Running into Stanlee at Sam's Club.
10. Getting an A on an Organic Chemistry test.
11. Coming home to Nick.
12. Reading comments on my blog, especially yours.

It's been a great day.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Nothing New to Report

Not that my regular blog entries are that exciting, but this one is particularly dull. There is nothing new to report in our lives here in St. Louis. I'm supposed to be studying chemistry, but am ditching it for just a few minutes to play on the computer. Right now I have my sourdough bread completing its second rise. Its first rise started yesterday. The sourdough loaf has been something like a two week project. I'm sure it won't be worth it. Sourdough bread is readily available at local bakeries.

An update of Nick's baking triumph- they were still talking about the cookies the next day. Even funnier, Saturday night after the cookies had all been sent to the hospital, we remembered Nick had signed up to take cookies to the "Linger Longer" at church on Sunday. Despite all the work he had put into cookie-making, he ended up taking Girl Scout Cookies to church.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Grand Champion Bakes Again

Nick surprised the nursing unit today with cookies, fresh out of the oven. I would make a reference to "bricks of deliciousness," but I think it would have to be something like "discs of deliciousness." He made butterscotch and white chocolate chip cookies, and delivered them to the hospital while they were still warm. Everyone raved about the cookies and my incredible husband. A couple of women threatened to take him home. One nurse commented, "Oh, he CAN'T be a surgeon." I was a little offended until she finished her thought: "He's way to nice." [I work in the medical ICU, and we tend to have a slightly antagonistic relationship with surgeons.]
Thank you Nick. You are terrific!

Friday, February 22, 2008

All for Katie

What does a nerd do on a free day? Go to the science museum of course! I went to Body Worlds 3, and quickly stopped in a few places in the rest of the museum and planetarium. Almost everywhere in the museum, you can still hear this animatronic T-Rex growling. It gets pretty old pretty fast. In essence, I would like to validate Kate's distaste for all things Paleontological. I too am greatly disappointed when the cover story of National Geographic or Discover is Dino-based. If one feels a need to study large, carnivorous lizards, I recommend focusing on the Komodo Dragon; a very worthy adversary.
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Response to Sara's "tag"

How long have you been together? We've been married for just over 4 years.
How long did you date? We went on our first date in July 2003, and married January 3, 2004.

How old is he? 28

Who cooks more? Nick makes more meals, but when Kara cooks she goes all out.

Who said "I love you" first? Nick did, and he found the perfect moment to do it.

Who is smarter? We both have areas where we're just a little smarter than the other, but we're two very smart people. When we both took the same class, we both got A's, but I think I got about a tenth of a point higher than he did. Nick is a much better problem solver and is far better at "mechanical smarts."

Who does the laundry? I tend to start it, and then fizzle out before it's done, and Nick is the one who generally wraps it up. Before we moved and I had to go to the laundry mat, I usually did it by myself. That's a laundry mat in St. Louis folks. Ya, I'm pretty tough.

Who does the dishes? Nick does the dishes far more often than I do. He pre-washes the dishes so thoroughly I have a hard time telling the difference before and after the dishwasher has been run.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you consider the right side of the bed the right side as you were to lay in the bed, I sleep on the right or "passenger side" which somehow takes up 2/3 of the bed.

Who pays the bills? Anything that can be payed online, Nick takes care of. If you need to put a stamp on it, I mail it in.

Who's taller? I am, by a couple of inches, but my shoulders are more than a couple inches above his shoulders. Apparently I have no neck.

Who mows the lawn? Some people who work for the management company. I don't know their names. I'm more likely to shovel the sidewalk.

Who is more stubborn? It's a toss up. We're two pretty stubborn people. It of course depends on the issue, but Nick is generally a little more flexible than I am.

Who kissed who first? Nick kissed me during the August meteor shower. I have a great story about that, but he said I'd have to wait until he was dead to tell anyone.

Who asked who out? I asked Nick to see a movie. He couldn't go, so the next week I asked him out to dinner. The following week he took me to a barbecue.

Who proposed? There was never a traditional proposal. It was more like the planning meeting for two merging corporations. "So what do we need to do in order to combine these two lives . . . "

Who is more sensitive? Well, I have more sensitive skin. Does that count?

Who has more friends? Nick, but that's easy to understand since to know Nick is to like Nick. Everybody would want to be his friend.

Who has more siblings? It all depends on how you count. I come from a nuclear family of six kids. Nick has no genetic siblings that he knows of (so who knows how many there actually are), three 1/2 siblings through adoption, and somewhere near a dozen step-siblings. I really can't be expected to keep track of all of this without a flow chart.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Domestic Diva in Progress

I made an actual dinner tonight, in keeping with my goal of making an actual dinner or two each week. As a bonus, we had two other couples over for the meal. I made an actual pot roast, and get this, I made it in a pressure cooker. (Thanks Debbie for bringing the pressure cooker into my life.) Along with the roast, we had fresh rolls, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and salad. Aside from needing salt and pepper at the table, everything turned out pretty well.

I hope Nick liked it because I bought the meat at Sam's Club. I had to buy a lot of it, the smallest package was 7 lbs. So, we'll be having roast a couple more nights this week. He'll have to go without more fresh rolls though.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Mmmmm, Warm Bread

I have to explain the previous one word blog entry was an attempt to post using Nick's new iTouch. I had started to type, and before I knew what I had done, my two letters were now a blog entry.



Today is Wednesday, so I'm baking. That's at least how it's gone for the last several weeks. This week is a slight variation as I'm cooking at home rather than the Page residence. So right now, our apartment is filled with the delicious scent of baking bread. I need to go get an oil-change, but I was busy baking "a brick of deliciousness".

A few of you may remember the knitting fad of '06, or the sewing craze of '07. Right now I'm in my "bread period," and it's delicious. I've done a lot of bread research- yeasts, flours, methods, pans, etc. But I don't think anything beats the classic bread recipe from Janet Amodt that my mother made when I was little. When we lived at 988 (also known as "the ghetto") I think it was Thursday that was bread day. Every week on bread day, my mom would make several loaves of delicious bread, which were mostly eaten hot and fresh, and maybe with some jam. I think Harry and Liz may doubt us that this actually happened, and that it happened regularly.

With all of the bread experimening, I've found I love my champagne-finish Farberware bread pans. I love SAF instant yeast. And I love having an electric mixer. And I'd also love to get a Bosch mixer for Christmas or any occasion that may warrant getting a $300 gift.

Our friends the Pages found a magazine article about a new bread book that could change all of our lives. The book comes with a great secret: High moisture, pre-risen bread dough keeps well in the refridgerator for up to two weeks. I continue to whisper this secret to other bread enthusiasts, and I'm going to order the book "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day." We made a batch of this secret dough, and baked a loaf of bread three days later. It was not the greatest loaf of all time, but it was good. I think it was the best crust I've ever made.

I've also cultivated a sourdough starter, but it will take a couple weeks to develop flavor. My "Amodt" bread is out of the oven and smells delicious.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Snow Boy


With Saturday's snow fall significant enough to close the university and postpone Nick's test, I thought we'd have the time and snow to build the perfect snowman. Turns out I was all wrong about the snow. It would not stick together. Nick kept rolling a ball of snow over and over, but it just stayed the same size. It reminded me of flour. We finally altered our plans to simply piling up snow in one spot, which made more of a snowboy than a snowman.
Posted by Picasa

Friday, February 1, 2008

Snowed In

It snowed about 8 inches last night. I know by Utah standards that's nothing, but here in St. Louis, life has come to a screeching halt. Nick's test was scheduled for today, but instead he'll have to take it tomorrow. SLU campus is closed today, along with every other school in the area. On the plus side, the snow covers all the litter, so for one day St. Louis looks pretty and clean.
Posted by Picasa

Surfer Nick

Nick went surfing with the gang early in January. This is the only picture where he was not in the act of falling over. I think everybody had a good time but was sore afterwards. Check out Dallas's blog and photo gallery for pictures of everyone else falling off the board, and several impressive photos of Harrison actually ON the board.