Food

I'm not going to be The Pioneer Woman or anything (she's the bee's knees by the way) but I take pictures of the food I cook when I'm super thrilled about it. So Mark has all these pics floating around on one of his many laptops- they're like leather bound books to him -and I've decided to just start posting them. So be prepared. You should probably know now that I do a lot of egg dishes 'round here.

This was my first quiche ever. Strangely enough I got the recipe from The American Girls Julie cookbook. Yes, like the dolls. One of my students left the book in her cubbie and I fell in love with the pictures and the little historical tidbits about food in the 70s. Apparently Americans thought foods from France were groovy so quiche and fondue really took off.
So I made this bacon and cheese quiche. I also made the crust from scratch. No store-bought pie crusts for me. So the edges are all a little wacky but they were made with love.


This one was called Sour Cream Oven Omelet. It was pretty weird. I liked the way the finish product looked but I don't think the taste and texture was anything to write home about. As a matter of fact it was insanely fluffy. Cutting into it was like, hmmm, I don't know, angel food cake? Or a meringue? I'm not sure but here it is! I think I just liked the pic and baking it in the skillet.

I Just Want To Feel Accepted

So like, crazy things have gone into motion. Mark and I got a new place! Woohoo! It was (not surprisingly) horribly stressful. First, I thought I'd be all proactive and call a realtor right away. So I do, he's friendly if a little young sounding. We make an appointment to meet on a local street corner. He says he'll call me the day before to confirm.
He never calls me.
So I call him because I'm the one who needs something here, right? Though I won't say I wasn't slightly annoyed by the lack of professionalism (Take 1). He answers, has no idea who I am, finally 'remembers' and we confirm the appointment. The next day I'm standing on street corner with my dad for 45 MINUTES and eventually we leave. L-O-P Take 2. So I decide this time I'm not going to call. He should call me.

Eventually he does and has the gall to complain that his guy was standing there waiting for me. Listen dude, if a young woman is standing on a street corner to meet a realtor she's never met do you really think that she should just walk up to every guy who passes her way. No. That Fucker should walk up to the young woman who is standing around for no apparent reason, and ask "Are you Jamie?".

So then we decide to give it one more go and this time I'll just go to the office and meet him there. Simple right? So that President's Day morning it's a messy snowy morning and Mark and I are off so we trudge over there at the precise time.
And the Fucker isn't there.
My palms are sweaty. Anger is wide spread.
The receptionist tells us to hang someone will be in shortly. So we get hooked up with another dude, we see 5 apartments, we apply for one, we scramble for paperwork, all that annoying shit.

We get rejected. Remember this whole catastrophe.
So the public record thing comes back and I pretty much do this.

But this company was a little different and we showed them the old paperwork from my dad's landlord that the issue isn't with me and it's all a paperwork mistake deep in the underworld of bureaucracy. So they approved us!

Hip-Hip Hooray!

And Then...Gone

I was reading this:


Then as I approached page 23 I realized it wasn't there. Nor was page 27, 35, 51. A few here and there in the beginning of the binding. I was shocked and annoyed. I've had this book on my shelf for going on 2 years now. So there is no hope of just returning it. I was pissed off by a lack of assistance from Barnes and Noble though not surprised. I remember them being fairly uncaring back when I worked for them. Basically I need Diana to help me because she's the Queen of Schemes.

I've had this whole week off and it's been glorious. I've kept myself busy for most of it. And by busy I mean I've had at least one task for each day which is apparently all I need to feel accomplished.
I took a tour of a culinary school. I don't know if it really put a fire under me, since taking a massive loan to pay for it will take some sort of miracle for me to just bite the bullet and do it. But at least I got the tour out of the way and can get some of the mystery out of my mind.

We applied for a new apartment on Tuesday afternoon and still haven't heard anything. Which of course leaves me in a panic. But I haven't persisted in looking at other places because what point is there? If I find another suitable place, it's not as if I'll put in an application while I have another application floating out there somewhere. Well I'm getting all agitated just thinking of it so I'll stop there.

A Week Off

I should feel relaxed. HA!
I have the next week off but I've been methodically filling it up to keep myself busy. Whenever I have a few days off I have these hallucinations that I'm going to be busy and exciting but then I sit around in dirty sweats and go back to work all depressed. Not this time!

Saturday I'm going to look at an apartment in the morn. It's in Washington Heights, not Inwood, and that gives me heartburn even though it really doesn't matter (does it?). Then in the evening Mark is having a gathering of Teaching Fellows at our place. I'm all nervous that no one will show up and we'll just feel more lonely and isolated. So if you're reading this and you're nearby you're invited regardless of profession. Saturday, the 13th. Our place. I'm making Mexican black bean dip, baking focaccia, and possibly a spiced chai cake. Feel free to bring your favorite drink.

Sunday. Well in the evening I finally get to use my tickets to the NY Flamenco Festival. I'm muy excited. Monday, more apartments with a realtor (ick). Tuesday, a tour of the Institute of Culinary Education. Wednesday afternoon, a Swedish massage.
You get the picture.

But I'm stressed because I'm gonna end up paying rent for two apartments at one time. I can sense it. And I'm gonna be freaked out about handling tuition for ICE. I really should just go with it. And sometimes I can tell myself to chill. To remind myself of my college slogan 'go with the flow'. I was actually a pretty calm person in college.

Dolla Billz

On Monday I was looking at my puny checking account online. There were two charges that had appeared, dated for Monday, still pending. They were pretty small amounts but I was annoyed, slightly worried. As I was on hold to my bank to ask WTF? I suddenly remembered being really tired and feeling "flamboyant" and popping into my nearby Dunkin' Donuts for an extra morning coffee a few days earlier. Ah ha! That's what that is, DD taking forever to put in my charges. Taking so many days actually that I thought it was really weird and I filed it away in the back of my mind. Because that's what I need. More shit to obsess and worry about.

So today my cell phone ring-a-ding dings and it's good ol' Wells Fargo calling. Apparently there are some suspicious charges on my account. And a tingly feeling goes off in the back of my mind. So they list the usual boring charges "C-town Supermarket, C-town, Dunkin' Donuts, Dunkin' Donuts, a $1 charge from iTunes for today, and a $92.73 charge from some website that was declined."
I literally guffaw into the phone. "Nope, No, No, Nay. I've never bought anything from iTunes, ever, and I've never heard of that website, and I haven't even been on the internet all day, I've been at work"
And even though I'm all calm and professional I'm totally freaking out on the inside. This isn't exactly someone using my credit card. This is someone using my debit card. This is actual cash from my checking.

So I was pretty lucky that the 92 dollar charge was declined and they put a claim against the $1 iTunes charge (yeah, it's a dollar but it's still fraud I guess) and I'm getting a new card with a new number. Which is funny because this was a new card.

My instinct tells me that something went very fishy at that Dunkin' Donuts and someone tried to get one up on some unsuspecting customer. My boss said something interesting: it must be someone young to buy iTunes and then go for an electronic on some website. I agree. I'm also really curious what song I bought on iTunes today. I'd like to think it was something my stolen dollar could be proud of. But this is no joking matter.

I'm a victim.

Thanks Homegirl!

So this morning I woke up feeling semi-cheery. I don't know how or why I just did. It's really kind of a miracle. So I enjoyed my morning, packed my bags, layered on the outerwear and headed to work.

Upon arriving at work I realized that I had left the electric blanket on. That hangs over my birds. On High. There goes my good mood. All I can see is my birds being incinerated, only after being terrified, and all because of me. I can't get over it. Especially because it was on High. I once left it on Low on purpose because it was crazy cold in the apartment and that bothered me all day and I swore I'd never do it again. Then I go and do this.

Do I hang on until my puny, sad, pathetic 30 minute lunch break, hop in a cab, run up 5 flights of stairs, run back down, hop in waiting cab, and return to work? All to turn off a blanket? Ugh. That would only make me feel so much better because I'd still have to wait until noon.

So I'm in my FREAKOUT! mode and I'm standing in the classroom and I look at Gina. Pretty, quiet Gina. She watches the early drop-off kids. Basically I see her for about 5 hours a week, maybe. I've never had a conversation with her. But she's a nice dresser, soft spoken, good with the kids, pretty much seems all together a nice girl. I turn to her and ask her what she's doing after her stint there. She seems confused. School and babysitting.
'If I pay you twenty bucks (all I had on me) will you go to my house and turn off the electric blanket?'
She looks at me like I have three heads. I wish I did, maybe I'd remember to turn the fucking blanket off.
She asks me where I live, apparently around the corner from her. She doesn't seem like she's going to do it and I'm trying not to beg. But as she's walking out the door she goes 'Ok, where do I go, what's your cell number?' etc.

So if your question is "Jamie, did you give a total stranger your house keys and ask her to go into your house, alone, to turn of a blanket?"

You're damn right I did.
And she didn't take the money.

I want to thank her and my instinct goes to baking something. But this girl doesn't look like she gives into tempting food, she's tiny. So I'll have to work it out. Perhaps she's just a nice person who did a good deed but I can't not thank her in some silly way.

As for my good mood, it came back....a lot of my jerky students were absent!