FidgetyBudgie

Maybe he wears Axe?

Wow.  There are some things in life that truly nauseate me, and the two women in my office who are in love with my boss are right up there with uni sushi.  One is well over 60, and just last year stopped sleeping in a single bed.  She's also "an artist" who decided last holiday season she was mad that other people had started doing art like hers and so decided to give up being an artist - so much that she felt it necessary to tell people she "wasn't an artist anymore".  That faded with the next moon, I think. This is the same one who pitched a fit that I "took all the cold water" one day.  The other is the Shriek, who recently planted her rather ample behind in my office and announced she was on new medication, and she was bipolar!  She actually said to me "who knew!?"  To which I looked her dead in the eye and replied "Do you really want me to answer that question?".  Not that her pharmaceutical status was of the least interest to me, but apparently she felt the need to share.  Oh yay. 

So, back to the boss situation.  This is a man whose grasp of the english language is only moderately better than that of *resident Shrub.  He can't read.  He clips his toenails in his office.  He just realized a few months ago that the Iraqis were worse off now than before the war.  He refuses to communicate in writing because he would be held accountable.  He calls his wife "SuzieWuzie"*, and we all get to listen to their conversations because he is unable to let it go to voicemail when he's in a meeting with us.  In fact, if the phone rings when we are discussing business, he will ALWAYS answer it - the message being that anyone is more important than the person in his office.  (The only one he doesn't do this to is his own boss...)  This is a man with a short man complex who wouldn't hire a male applicant if his life depended on it.  The one male we do have in the office, while competent, is about 5'6 - safely shorter and therefore less threatening to his apparently already endangered manhood.  He once said battered women made poor choices and it was their own fault.  He is a bigot, and tries to laugh it off.  His sexism is obvious and sad.  And these two women fawn over him like it's the high school prom.  Oh, and did I mention his office is right next to mine?  The fakey overzealous laughter these two will spew forth at even the slightest attempt at humor from him is really gross.  And given that I'm right here, I get to watch them tag team it all afternoon on these days when they are in heat - if one goes in to talk to him, within moments of her exit the other will find a reason to be in there.  Now let me  be clear that nothing is going on between any of them - the doors are open and believe me, we'd know.  But it's just the vying for favourite girl that's really pathetic, and sickens me to watch.  It's this sort of I'm better pals with the boss than you are kind of thing I haven't seen since 10th grade.

God I hope that letter on the 23rd is good news.

*names changed to protect my own rather ample ass, thank you.

Back from Texas

Well, we are back in the PNW from our Texas trip, after 10 days of Texas-sized meals and gorgeous weather, back to the interminable grey that seems to enshrouded the entire region for 6 months now.  Really - 52 degrees in MAY?  WTF?  Would it kill the skies to be blue for more than 4 hours at a time for once?  Of course, being back to work right now is torture for me, as all I can think about is that May 23rd letter - time is travelling at a glacial pace and it's making me crazy.  This morning I buried myself in work, tackling the layout for the annual report, and wanted to scream when I looked down after what seemed to be hours only to discover that it was only 9:45.  NINE FORTY FIVE!?!?!?!  I may have actually done that child frustrated wiggle thing that four year olds do when they're really annoyed with the situation.   

Ten days away was fun, I didn't think too much about the waiting, we told the Budgie's folks about our plan and they were excited and supportive about it, and mostly we ate.  HUGE MEALS.  I mean, I know it's Texas, but who eats EVERY. FOUR. HOURS????  How is this possible without turning into a one-person weight-problem television special on TLC?  I'm going to be doing a two week detox starting this weekend - I can't start until after Sunday because we will doubtless have to eat something with my parents on Sunday, and I will need it even more after that.  Then I plan on doing tons of fruit, veggies, brown rice, juice, water, and probably a bit of steamed salmon during the week until I feel human again.  I did eat meat in texas.  The BudgieDad made barbecue (with GF sauce!) so I shoveled a few pounds of chicken into my gullet, and yes, it was incredibly tasty.  I just didn't think about it.  I also made my fabulous meatballs for them, and y'all, it's really a nice compliment when a texan tells you the beef you just served him reminds him of an italian restaurant he used to go to.  Owned by real italians.  (as opposed to faux italians, of course).  But now, now I'm ready to clear all that out of my body again.

I still don't have a new haircut, but it's gotta happen - it's driving me crazy and it's past my shoulders.  I used to have very long hair, all the way down my back.  But I don't really have the patience for that anymore, I guess.  Problem is, long hair is actually a lot less work than short hair.  Right now I can just put it up and forget about it, but when it's short, I have to mess with it to get it to look okay every morning.  So I dunno - thinking about having to do my hair to go to school?  Not a good thought.  So who knows.  I'll do something, but I'm not sure what now.  But mostly, right now, I'm waiting for the 23rd.  I need to get into my sewing room or something and try to keep myself distracted - but that sure doesn't help when I'm at work, bored to death, hoping that it's good news so I can leave this job, and it's like, behind me for good. 

I'll try to post some pics of the trip tonight.  I have a really cute of one me and my friend Meredith with her cute baby boy that you gotta see.

Ready for a new style

One of the things I'm looking forward to, about being a full-time student again, is the freedom to wear what I want.  The last few years, I've lost all sense of my own style.  My weight has fluctuated by 25 pounds in either direction for probably three years, which hasn't helped matters one bit.  I don't really do much outside of the house anymore (because it is boring here, for starters, and also because usually I hang with my friends at their homes or mine), so mostly my wardrobe consists of work attire (boring, functional stuff I've worn a bazillion times), clothes that no longer fit (but some I'm hoping to get back into this summer), and pajamas.  I tend to change into pajamas as soon as I get home, mostly to get these goddamned pantyhose OFF MY BODY.  But lately I've been way more interested in sewing, and specifically in creating clothes that say something, rather than things that just meet a need in my wardrobe.  I've got a few vintage shirtdress patterns in my stash, and of course the are all the rage now.  Much like two years ago when I made the wrap dresses that then became ubiquitous as well.  (You'd think if I was gonna be so damn cutting edge I wouldn't look like a lands end reject half the time... but I digress.)  As for the pajamas, the fact that working in a hospital means I get to, essentially, wear pajamas to work is not lost on me one bit.  I am feeling reeeeeeeeeally happy about that prospect.  But for the rest of the time, at school, on the weekends, I'm gonna be trying to find my own path again.   Preferably something that doesn't involve pantyhose that choke off my innards all damn day. 

Oh, and I really need a new haircut.  I'm just sayin.

Things I learned this weekend

Just back from 4 days in Portland - went to the orientation for the Rad Tech program, and did both of my four-hour job shadow interviews on Monday.  The big post about all that happened at PCC and on my job shadows may or may not happen, but it was a great experience, and I learned a LOT, such as:

1. My friend Curt has my back.  In ways I never imagined, he was totally there for me this weekend, even when I was so stressed out I couldn't think straight.  I can trust him with my life.  I am incredibly blessed to know him. 

2. Portland streets are more f*cked than Madison streets.  It's like they took a page from their namesake - you can't get there from hear.  Maps are pointless.  Just learn your way around and then always take the same route there.

3. Twelve-year old boys who are obsessed with making movies should be given all the support they need - because after 7 years they just might turn out a remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark that will delight movie goers into a well-earned standing ovation.  It was fantastic.

4. I want to do be a Rad Tech more than ever.  I really want to do this job.  I like hospitals.  I like xrays.  I like imaging.  Digital Xray images are amazing. 

5. I can drive in pouring sheets of rain in traffic at 60 miles an hour when I have no other choice.  And I will be fine.  I can drive three hours in an unfamiliar rental car in the rain, and snow, and hail, and traffic, all by myself, and I will be fine. 

6. Do not trust the people at the rental car counter.  They will try to sell you insurance and charge you for upgrades, and your 52 dollar car rental will be 235 before you know it.  Ask me how I know. 

7. Always have 3 other possible restaurant options, where I can eat safely, at the ready in case the movie and subsequent Q&A session runs so close to 10 pm that we have to haul ass through the darkened one-way labyrinth of the city.

8. The Budgie is the funniest person ever.  I already knew this, but within 5 minutes of picking him up at the train all three of us were laughing. 

That's all I have for now.  More later, hopefully.  We're off to see friends and family in Texas on Saturday, so things might go quiet here again for a bit.  maybe.  I am going to bake some things to take with us, and hopefully get to cook a bit while I'm there.  For those of you playing along at home, PCC will send out letters about the program on May 23rd letting us know who's been accepted. 

it all comes down to Monday....

Well, Curt and I are off to Portland for my orientation Friday, and then I have two back to back hospital interviews/job shadows on Monday.  Over the weekend, the Budgie is taking the train down to meet us and we're all going to see the remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Have you heard about this?  Three 12 year old boys in the 80s did a line-for-line, stunt-for-stunt remake of the movie - I heard about this years ago in Madison, but it was never being shown nearby.  It's not something that makes the rounds of movie houses - I think there may only be a few copies.  At any rate, we have tickets to this on Saturday night, so I'm pretty excited about that.  Plus we're having dinner at Nutshell, about which I am almost equally excited.  Of course, because it is me, and because I have to make things harder than they should be, I fell last night and sprained my ankle but good.  So good, that this morning I was in enough pain to consider a trip to the doc to get xrays and see if it was broken.  But after hobbling around a bit, it loosened up and now I am just plain gimpy.  Way to make a first impression, huh?  But hopefully, I can elevate it while we travel, and try to take care of it enough that I can hopefully hide the problem Monday.  If not, I'll just cop and hope it doesn't make a bad impression on them.

The job shadows sound interesting - I'll be spending 4 hours at each location, observing different modalities, including ER, and interviewing with the student coordinator at each site.  There are 80 of us, and they will admit 35 to the program.  So, if you have any good luck left to shuttle my way, I'd really appreciate it on Monday.  I'm super excited, and of course more than a little nervous.  And I'm glad my friend and the Budgie can come with for at least part of the weekend.  Come Monday, though, I'll be on my own, and putting my best (unsprained) foot forward.  I hope they like me!

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Given all the travelling we're going to be doing in the next few weeks, I've been looking for recipes to take with us, either things to cook and eat on the road/plane, or recipes I can make in Texas to share with the Budgie's family.  I made blueberry muffins last week by adapting this recipe from celiac.com.  I won't say they're the most photogenic baked good ever to come out of my kitchen, but they were moist and tasty, and a friend even said she loved them just the way they are.  So here's my version

½ cup brown rice flour
½ cup white rice flour
3/4 cup Arrowhead Mills GF all purpose baking mix
2/3 cup Sugar       
1/3 cup unsweetened, dry coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 container plain goat yogurt
2 eggs
1 very full cup of frozen organic blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease muffin pans with the wrapper from the butter. 

First I mixed all the dry ingredients together, sifting the baking powder through a metal seive.  Then I dumped the dry ingredients into Mildred, my trusty KitchenAid mixer, and added the wet ingredients one at a time.  I mixed the vanilla into the yogurt before adding that to the batter.  Then the eggs, and let Mildred mix that up into a very very thick batter.  I folded in the blueberries by hand, and then filled my muffin pans to the top.   Sprinkled demerara sugar generously over the top of each muffin, and baked on 350 for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick came out clean.  They were super big, I could probably have used the regular size muffin pan and not filled them so full, and gotten more.  As it was, it made 9 big muffins.  They really puff up, probably because of all the leaveners in it, including some in the flour mix.  The coconut doesn't really show up, and I will probably leave it out next time.  I will definitely make them again, and I want to make a batch using a banana instead of yogurt, and some chocolate chips and nuts.  Yummy!  So this is a good basic recipe to start with, definitely give it a try, and see the link for more ideas and the original combination. 

I made the cut!

I made the top 80!  I made the first cut for the Radiography program!  I have to now fit in two appointments IN PORTLAND with two different hospitals into the single week and two days that I have free between now and May 9.  Crazy!  I am tellin' ya, the Universe is asking me at every turn, "How bad do you want this?  Really, how bad?"  And it's a challenge.  But I will make it happen and get these interviews done, one way or another.  It will mean a few other personal challenges, like driving a long distance alone (we're talking 4 hours here and that's a lot for me), and some serious wiggling with my work schedule (without giving away what I'm doing, because I'm not about to tell them anything about this until it's a done deal - it's just not fair to them, honestly), but again, we can make it happen.  But I did it!  I worked my ass off, and was challenged at every opportunity, and I did it - I got good enough grades to make the top 80 applicants out of probably close to 130.  I said to the Budgie at the beginning of this - I honestly have no idea what I'm capable of if I really apply myself.  And honestly, I'm still not sure, but I am going to see this through to the end, whatever that may be, and if nothing else, I'll know better the answer to that question.  And in the mean time, I'm going to make a few more trips to Portland to stick my face out there and try my best.  So thank you for all the well wishes.  I'll keep you posted.  The job shadow interviews will probably either be on the 21st of April or on the 7th of May, the day after we come back from Texas.  Crazy exciting times in this life!!

One step closer

It's been a tense 48 hours here at Chez Budgie, lemme tell ya.  Yesterday was the deadline for applications to the Rad Tech program, and I got a call in the afternoon.  I only answered it because I recognized the area code.  A very nice person on the other end said there was a problem with my application.  My heart sank!  It seems that there was a question about my A/P class that I took at my undergrad school way back before the invention of the internest.  Now, the people at the school I'm trying to get into are probably the nicest school people ever, and so we talked about the class content, and how we had labs and worked with cadavers and all, and they said if I could get a copy of the syllabus they could reexamine it.  All of this is, of course, my own fault, for not confirming in writing the conversation I had with them last fall about this issue.  You see, when I talked to someone there last fall, she said that if I took the second half of Anatomy/Physiology, then my grade from when I took it as an undergrad would be transferrable.  But, I didn't get that in writing, and she didn't have my transcript.  So, segue to yesterday when they were looking at it, and at the current description of that class on my alma mater's website - and needed more information because it didn't appear to meet the requirements.

I called the old school, and they said if the instructor turned in a syllabus, it would be in the archives, and they could pull it and fax it to me, but not until today.  I didn't have a lot of hope that it would be there, especially after all this time.  But, they would look. A few phone calls back and forth to the two schools, and then all I could do was wait till today.

I was just sick about this, of course.   Last night, I turned it all over in my head, and just felt like an idiot for not confirming in writing last fall.  I mean, I totally know where they are at with this, and they're right.  They can't admit a student they can't prove has the qualifications to enter the program.  It's not fair to the other students who don't get in.  It's not fair to the ones that do.  It's really not fair to the clinical instructors who would have to deal with a remedial student.  And it's potentially creates a liability issue in the clinical setting.  Not to mention that their reputation as one of the best programs on the west coast is on the line.  I know where they're coming from and why.  For my part, I know I have this knowledge, and am qualified, but the onus is on me to be able to prove it to their satisfaction.  So, I had to hope that the syllabus was on file, and it would show that I do know my stuff.  I mean, I did get an A in the second half just last month, which I did mention to them, and they noted.  Plus, lets face it - although the human body hasn't changed in those years, our understanding of it has - I need to review either way, to make sure I'm on par with the rest of the students.  So I waited, and talked to the Budgie about it, and just knew that whatever they decided it would be the right thing.

Today I got the fax from the alma mater, and they found the syllabus.  I faxed it off to Portland, and waited a little while before following it up with a phone call. 

And after talking with them again, they have agree to accept my previous work as qualification for the program.  Now, don't get too excited, as this doesn't mean I'm in.  It just means I am qualified for consideration - so my numbers will be included in the competition for the top 80 spots.  Wish me luck!  If they give credit for tenacity, Tenacious G will get extra points!

Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

The other night I was craving something with peanut sauce.  No doubt this is from reading far too many food blogs, more than a few of which were eating peanut sauced meals in the last few weeks.  So I grabbed the Candle Cafe cookbook and used their recipe as a starting point.  I didn't have a cup of peanut butter as called for in the recipe, only about a bit more than a tablespoon left in my container, but it worked out beautifully since so many of these recipes make enough sauce for a night in a busy restaurant, and well, it's just the two of us.  So I mixed together, tasting as I went, the following:

1+ tablespoons peanut butter (I use the grind your own kind from the local market)
1/2 tb finely chopped cilantro
a few splashes rice wine vinegar (the brown rice vinegar was left at work so I used this instead)
about the same amount of wheat-free tamari
a smaller splash of sesame oil
a bit of ginger paste (I buy the kind in a big jar in the Indian foods section of the store)
a few drops of agave nectar

I thinned this with a tiny bit of water, and poured it over some stir fried veggies and baked tofu, and it was AWESOME.  It would definitely benefit from a bit of chili garlic paste if you have it, or sub the vinegar with brown rice vinegar or even umeboshi vinegar. 

I baked the tofu in a marinade of tamari, sesame oil, ginger, and agave nectar.  I think I'd use brown sugar next time to try to get that crispy caramelized skin on the outside of the tofu.  Either way it was seriously tasty food without much effort, and all from stuff we already had in the house.  Bonus. 

send it in a letter....

It's sent!  The application for the Radiography program is in the mail, due to arrive tomorrow thanks to spendy express mail postage.  I am nervous and excited all at the same time, and if you've got some extra good luck/good thoughts/prayers to whatever deity you like to send my way, I'll take it happily!  I feel like I have a very very good chance at making the first cut, so hopefully in a week or two I'll be heading to portland for preliminary interviews!