Heading out

I'm off to Chicago all of next week!  I finally get to teach that class I've been so excited about.  I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.  The weather is supposed to be nasty the first part of the week and then warm up a bit by the end, which works out well because B and his brother are driving over Friday afternoon and we're all staying for the weekend.  I love walking around in Chicago, so I'm glad the sun will be out a little bit.

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The other blog is up and running, and I'm pretty excited about it.  I posted links to it on Facespace and Mybook, and my fam and friends are already pretty enthused.  B even wants to contribute!  He's a good writer so I think it'll be something fun we can do together.

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The party this weekend was a blast!  A few people couldn't make it, but we still had a great time.  We'll definitely have to do that more often once the weather gets nice!

Weekend Recipe

Every weekend I plan on sharing a new recipe that uses organic or fresh-from-the-garden ingredients.  This first one is a snack I love to make, then gorge myself on while watching a marathon of Tivo'ed shows on a Sunday afternoon!

Black Bean Hummus

Recipe adapted from The Daily Green

• 2 cups (one 15 oz can) organic black beans, rinsed and drained well 
  
• 1 cup chickpeas (half a can, organic if you can find them), rinsed and drained well 
  
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
  
• 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste) -OR- substitute 2 tbs creamy natural peanut butter plus 1 or so tbs toasted sesame seeds, pureed in the blender
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  
• Season to taste with Cholula powder or taco seasoning for a kick
  
• Add sour cream a tablespoon at a time to get the desired consistency

Puree all ingredients in your food processor.  Add sour cream and seasoning until you reach the texture and flavor you like.  Serve with fresh veggies, pita bread or chips, or crackers.

The haps

Life has slowed down considerably, and I'm having a hard time with it. We're at that weird season where the sun is shining but it's not nearly warm enough to work in the garden, but sitting inside makes me feel guilty about wasting a beautiful day! Work is still slow as hell too, so I get home at night and really want to do something, anything, but I just wind up on the couch again. It's kind of depressing.

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This weekend we're having a party, and honest to god party, with people and food and games and everything! B turned 30 last month and I turn 30 this month, so we're having one party. Some friends from Cleveland and Columbus are coming, and a bunch of B's friends from school, and a couple of my friends from work too. I just hope the weather holds out! It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, but be sunny and mid-50's on Saturday. A little chilly, but we'll have a fire, and when the sun reflects off the back of the house the patio stays pretty warm. I hope it turns out well, because I'm doing a ton of food and I don't want it to go to waste. :-) So if you're around Toledo and not doing anything after 4:00 this Saturday, come by!! Brats & beer! Whoo!

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I'm starting another blog today. I know what you're thinking... geez Jen, you barely ever write on this one, what are you gonna do with two? Well the other one is going to be strictly focused on the whole 'green' thing that I'm doing, with product reviews, links to good articles, and stuff that I learn along my way that might be interesting to friends and family. I'm going to share with my co-workers too. Right now I write a little newsletter once a month, but I know there are some folks who are more interested in this stuff than others, so I want to be able to share more with them too. So once I get the new place all set up, I'll post a link to it.

Prolific? Not so much.

I make no claim to being entertaining in this post... I just need to vent a little bit.

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Stress at work has been growing steadily. Not from deadlines or anything like that, but my job security seems to be diminishing before my eyes, and I'm a bit freaked out. More like FUH-REAKED but I try not to think about it. I think maybe I'm being paranoid, but I also think I'm justified. Considering they took me off the schedule for the big company sales meeting this year, and they are already training someone else to give the class that I learned how to teach (and haven't even GOTTEN to teach yet, goddammit), I think I have every reason to stress out. I totally understand cost-cutting measures and all that, but up until this point the things I was doing were important to garnering more sales. Apparently someone has had a change of heart.... I just wish they would be up-front with me about it.

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Caught B's cold this weekend, which I wouldn't have minded but I wasted a vacation day on Monday. We did get out of the house for a little while, but I slept the rest of the day afterwards, and I'm kind of wishing I had called in sick today too. I don't have a lot of nasty symptoms, but I just feel like I've been hit by a bus and could sleep for days on end.

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Other health news... I had a doctor's appointment last week with a new family practitioner. Very cool doc, young but competent and easy to talk to. He noticed the tension in my shoulders and neck, and asked about it... I told him how my arms fall asleep all the time and how my shoulders cramp up in the morning after sleeping on my stomach or my side. After a bit of poking & prodding, he said that I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Basically my top rib tends to ride up against my collarbone, pinching the nerves and blood vessels that run to my arms. He gave me some stretching exercises to do to help with the muscle tension in my shoulders, which should keep my ribcage from being pulled upwards. Nothing major, but it explains a lot.

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I have 2 more vacation days this week (Thursday & Friday) which will be spent in Cleveland with the in-law's. Otherwise, there really isn't much worth writing about! I will be extremely happy when spring arrives, to say the least.

It's a tax deduction! Come on!

Just a reminder to show your support for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the valuable research they do, and the help they provide to people with MS.  Click here to sponsor my team at the Toledo WalkMS event on March 29!  

Want to find a Walk or Bike event in your area?  Click on the link above to find your local chapter.