Wow, I feel like I have just returned from some crazy amusement ride. I have been job searching for ages so when I got a call for an interview, I went. When they said they wanted to train me, I went for training. When they said my efforts on the weekend didn't count, I said "screw this noise". So I'm looking at other options yet again. I am looking for IT experience options to be specific.
I have contacted someone who is willing to give me some IT training with their part time IT business. We are meeting up tomorrow so we'll see how that goes does. They asked me about doing sales... we'll see.
I'm volunteering at the Animal Services still and I'm going to be contacting every IT company begging to let me volunteer with them to get some actual experience. So, if you have been wondering where I disappeared to, that's where I've been and where I'm going to be.
I challenged myself to do stuff WAY outside my comfort zone this past week. I learned some things about myself. I learned that the limits I thought I had don't actually exist. I have new found confidence and I'm not scared to ask for things any more. I need to get out there while it lasts. What is the worst that could happen? Someone will say no? So what, I've been getting told no already. I can't wait to see where I end up.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
What is growing in my kitchen?
Chris is away in Germany, Phoenix is away at a friend's house so I was on my own for the entire day today. So, naturally, I went shopping. I have been dying to check out Whole Foods and do some price comparison between a couple other grocery stores here. We have mostly been shopping at Highland Farms (good price, good selection, very busy) and Walmart (good prices, moderate selection, always busy).
Whole Foods was not what I expected. I knew enough to know it would be expensive but still I left gasping and clutching my purse closer to me. I was actually pretty disappointed. I some how came under the belief that this store was going to be aisles of lush fruits and vegetables and all things vegetarian and vegan. Not so. The produce section was small. They had a big cooler section of juices and such that I didn't bother with. I know how to use a blender, I'll make my own smoothies, etc. Plus they have as big a meat counter as any other grocery store their size. Further, they have a lot of shelving but multiple facings of the same product. I found an entire shelf dedicated to two types of canned corn. The same brand and style you would find for around $1-2 in a regular store was closer to $3 here.
There was also this over powering cloud of fishy odour coming from the seafood counter located right next to the nuts, fruit and veggies. This smell pretty much chased me away from the overly expensive, small, organic fruit and vegetables. I'm no store layout genius but that doesn't seem like a good place to keep the fish counter.
There was also a suspicious lack of clear pricing on a lot of the products I found interesting. That is not to say there wasn't prices marked clearly overall, just that I couldn't see them on the particular things I was looking at. The prices I eventually found gave me an emotional roller coaster. First I was shocked, then I double checked, yep it was still THAT much, then I frowned, how can they justify this? Who makes this product? Fairies? Then I was mad and annoyed. "Whole" foods feels to me like a rip off. I could buy the nuts and make my own butter for that cost. Why would I buy theirs?
I have been wanting to try Almond Butter. I found a jar but no price. The nut butter I found at a station where you can make your own from a bin of nut dust but no price. I was tempted to try the nut butter hanging off the spout of the machines but I figured that would be frowned upon. Besides, who knew how long it had been hanging there exposed to that fishy smell and going stale? I eventually found the price of the nut butter in a few aisles over. A small jar of almond butter was going for $12.99 I put the jar back on the shelf, no thanks. I also found some coconut sugar that I had to look up the price for on a sheet hanging nearby. 454 gram bag of coconut sugar for $16.99, I'll pass. I can buy A LOT of brown sugar for that price.
The prices were worse than I feared. I'm way too cheap to join this organic foods movement. There was no way I was going to pay $5 for two small hard organic lemons. I keep thinking I want to get on this non-GMO movement. Eat healthy foods, buy organic, make what I can, buy locally, etc etc etc. The price will forever put me off. For what I spent at Basic Foods (interesting opposing names right?) I would have only been able to get some coconut sugar and almond butter and maybe three mangos at $2/each.
What I did buy was the makings for a great pad Thai for supper. I walked into Basic Foods and looked at the prices, bracing myself slightly. Lemons $0.50, mangos were still $2/each but bananas were $0.57/lb instead of $1.99/lb. I picked up bean sprouts, two bags for $3, green onions for $0.47 and celery was just about $1. I got 5 lbs of carrots for about $3 and everything looked as genetically modified and normal as expected. I also picked up mushrooms, a couple zucchini, a huge purple sweet potato. The most expensive thing I bought was 18 eggs for about $4. I spent about $30 and could barely carry it out of the store with me.
As I was cleaning up my dishes from making supper, I checked up on the bread starter I put together this morning. Chris has mentioned to me at least twice that I should make sour dough bread. That is pretty significant so I'm making sour dough bread. I looked up a started online and mixed it up. I need to remember to put it into the fridge before bed but it has been bubbling away all day on the counter. At some point it touched the towel I had originally covered it with so I replaced it with plastic wrap. At some later point it also touched the plastic but then apparently fell back into the bowl. I didn't see this happen but the plastic is covered in sticky ick and the bubbly mass is inches below the top of the bowl. It is a strange creature growing in there. I half expect to find it trying to climb out of the bowl at some point.
Phoenix is home now and telling me how much he missed me. He is so sweet. He is always excited to go away from home with friends but even more excited to return. I know I say this at every stage of his life but 10 years old is my favourite age so far. We can share stories about our day, plans for the future, we read books together, we are talking about starting him a blog, we eat good foods together, and remember good memories. We laugh about stupid, funny, scary things that happened and talk seriously about other not so funny things.
I know there will come a day when he will go into dark, secretive, teenager mode but until then I'm going to enjoy how open and innocent he is. I'll try to remember to appreciate all this stories that seem to go on forever and never get to the point. I'll try to stop and give him my full attention because a) he deserves it and b) we are making memories. Time for Harry Potter.
Cindy ~
Whole Foods was not what I expected. I knew enough to know it would be expensive but still I left gasping and clutching my purse closer to me. I was actually pretty disappointed. I some how came under the belief that this store was going to be aisles of lush fruits and vegetables and all things vegetarian and vegan. Not so. The produce section was small. They had a big cooler section of juices and such that I didn't bother with. I know how to use a blender, I'll make my own smoothies, etc. Plus they have as big a meat counter as any other grocery store their size. Further, they have a lot of shelving but multiple facings of the same product. I found an entire shelf dedicated to two types of canned corn. The same brand and style you would find for around $1-2 in a regular store was closer to $3 here.
There was also this over powering cloud of fishy odour coming from the seafood counter located right next to the nuts, fruit and veggies. This smell pretty much chased me away from the overly expensive, small, organic fruit and vegetables. I'm no store layout genius but that doesn't seem like a good place to keep the fish counter.
There was also a suspicious lack of clear pricing on a lot of the products I found interesting. That is not to say there wasn't prices marked clearly overall, just that I couldn't see them on the particular things I was looking at. The prices I eventually found gave me an emotional roller coaster. First I was shocked, then I double checked, yep it was still THAT much, then I frowned, how can they justify this? Who makes this product? Fairies? Then I was mad and annoyed. "Whole" foods feels to me like a rip off. I could buy the nuts and make my own butter for that cost. Why would I buy theirs?
I have been wanting to try Almond Butter. I found a jar but no price. The nut butter I found at a station where you can make your own from a bin of nut dust but no price. I was tempted to try the nut butter hanging off the spout of the machines but I figured that would be frowned upon. Besides, who knew how long it had been hanging there exposed to that fishy smell and going stale? I eventually found the price of the nut butter in a few aisles over. A small jar of almond butter was going for $12.99 I put the jar back on the shelf, no thanks. I also found some coconut sugar that I had to look up the price for on a sheet hanging nearby. 454 gram bag of coconut sugar for $16.99, I'll pass. I can buy A LOT of brown sugar for that price.
The prices were worse than I feared. I'm way too cheap to join this organic foods movement. There was no way I was going to pay $5 for two small hard organic lemons. I keep thinking I want to get on this non-GMO movement. Eat healthy foods, buy organic, make what I can, buy locally, etc etc etc. The price will forever put me off. For what I spent at Basic Foods (interesting opposing names right?) I would have only been able to get some coconut sugar and almond butter and maybe three mangos at $2/each.
What I did buy was the makings for a great pad Thai for supper. I walked into Basic Foods and looked at the prices, bracing myself slightly. Lemons $0.50, mangos were still $2/each but bananas were $0.57/lb instead of $1.99/lb. I picked up bean sprouts, two bags for $3, green onions for $0.47 and celery was just about $1. I got 5 lbs of carrots for about $3 and everything looked as genetically modified and normal as expected. I also picked up mushrooms, a couple zucchini, a huge purple sweet potato. The most expensive thing I bought was 18 eggs for about $4. I spent about $30 and could barely carry it out of the store with me.
As I was cleaning up my dishes from making supper, I checked up on the bread starter I put together this morning. Chris has mentioned to me at least twice that I should make sour dough bread. That is pretty significant so I'm making sour dough bread. I looked up a started online and mixed it up. I need to remember to put it into the fridge before bed but it has been bubbling away all day on the counter. At some point it touched the towel I had originally covered it with so I replaced it with plastic wrap. At some later point it also touched the plastic but then apparently fell back into the bowl. I didn't see this happen but the plastic is covered in sticky ick and the bubbly mass is inches below the top of the bowl. It is a strange creature growing in there. I half expect to find it trying to climb out of the bowl at some point.
Phoenix is home now and telling me how much he missed me. He is so sweet. He is always excited to go away from home with friends but even more excited to return. I know I say this at every stage of his life but 10 years old is my favourite age so far. We can share stories about our day, plans for the future, we read books together, we are talking about starting him a blog, we eat good foods together, and remember good memories. We laugh about stupid, funny, scary things that happened and talk seriously about other not so funny things.
I know there will come a day when he will go into dark, secretive, teenager mode but until then I'm going to enjoy how open and innocent he is. I'll try to remember to appreciate all this stories that seem to go on forever and never get to the point. I'll try to stop and give him my full attention because a) he deserves it and b) we are making memories. Time for Harry Potter.
Cindy ~
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