Old Friends and Dryers

Last night I had dinner with some old friends from high school. I showed off my new "neck straw" (aka my CP shunt). Tried to explain how it works, but I don't really even get it. It was fun to see them; I wish we all had more time so we could hang out more.

This morning I've been dealing with some bad customer service issues; when we bought our new washer and dryer, the customer service in the store was excellent. Unfortunately, the delivery department's customer service has been very poor.

We are also trying to deal with our home warranty company. I would consider their behavior to be criminal, so I guess it's a good thing I'm not a prosecutor. Jerks. I don't want to have to sue them; I just want them to fix our house!

Messy and gross

I got home from the bank today, and saw that Ratdog had an accident in our basement. I went to clean it up, and dropped part of it...and accidentally stepped in it! EW!!! I threw that sock away. I'm really glad that I was wearing socks.

We got one of the bills from my surgery today. This one was from the anesthesiologist. I just want to get all of the bills so we can know how much we need to pay and stop worrying about it already. I'm just really glad that I have health insurance.

Sick as a Dog

Our favorite ratdog is not feeling well today. When I took him outside he looked for grass to eat so he could soothe his tummy. Unfortunately for him, the grass is covered with snow. He found a branch on one of the bushes in front of our house, and tried to eat that. I yanked it out of his mouth pretty quickly.

He woke us up at 3 a.m. last night with some very loud hiccups. Very obnoxious. I hope he feels better soon.

Our Favorite Recipes

These are some of our "fall back" recipes. We've made them quite a few times without disappointment :)

3-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
It is delicious. We use a LOT less salt than the recipe calls for (either no salt or 1/4 tsp of salt), and we also don't use the bread crumbs or the fresh parsley. If we make up a batch of this, we divide it into thirds and freeze 2 containers of it for another night. Best mac and cheese ever, but definitely not very healthy.

Mexican Lasagna
Also a favorite. A batch of this will work for a dinner, and then each of us will have leftovers for two days. We use flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas but other than that, we follow the recipe.

Rachel Ray's Tomato and Bean 15 Minute Soup
Yummy! My favorite soup ever. Be sure to use cannellini beans. This soup freezes well, so we usually try to make a double batch.

Rachel Ray's Black Bean Stoup
This soup also freezes well, so it's nice to make a double batch of it (less cooking is always good). We have never made the "Southwestern Monte Cristo Sandwiches" that go along with it, so I can't tell you if it's good. Be sure to adjust the amount of hot sauce you use, depending on how much heat you can handle. Same with the jalapeno peppers.

Emeril's Fried Rice
This is a good fried rice. We have never used 3 types of meat in it (like the recipe calls for). We usually just use 1 1/2 cups of pork. We sometimes use parsley, but sometimes don't bother. And we don't bother using the wonton wrappers.

Buffalo Chicken Salad
This is a good quick and easy recipe. Warning: it is very salty. Probably because of the blue cheese crumbles. We usually just buy a bag of romaine lettuce, and instead of making our own buffalo chicken we just buy a bag of Tyson buffalo chicken nuggets and prepare them according to the box (so you can cut the last 5 ingredients out of the recipe). I think that these are usually about 1/3 of the cost of these. Probably not healthy...but....

Pizza with Red Peppers and Black Olives
We usually just buy a store bought crust from the dairy section at the grocery store. And we usually substitute regular canned black olives for the Kalamata olives. We use a lot less of them than the recipe calls for because E is not in love with olives :)

Steak Frites with Shallot Pan Reduction
This is delicious. The French fries are a little too high-maintenance, though. I'd rather have mashed potatoes. A good alternative to going out for dinner.

Three-Bean Chili
This is pretty easy to make. And since it's from Cooking Light, I pretend that it is healthy.

Thai Chicken and Coconut Soup with Noodles

On Sunday night, E made this soup for dinner. It was delicious and provided us with plenty of leftovers for the week. We used soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Our only recommendation is that if you substitute soy sauce for the fish sauce, do not add as much salt as the recipe calls for. Almost 2 teaspoons of salt is crazy, and would send E's blood pressure skyrocketing.

Hiring Freezes

Last week I met with the CEO of my dream job. She told me (which I already knew) that due to the economy they are not even filling open positions right now. It was extremely depressing to hear. She had no solid career advice for me. She was only able to tell me about all of the other employers who are also not hiring. I can only hope that things improve by October when I get my (hopefully positive) bar exam results.

It was very heartbreaking for me, because I have done everything I can to prepare for that career. I took lower paying summer clerkships in that field the past two summers. I volunteered during the school year. Now I am finding out that it might not matter. I'm worried that my resume now looks too "specialized" and as a result it will be hard to land a job in a different practice area. I am disappointed in myself and find myself regretting the decision to sign up for law school; hating myself for it. I can only hope that things will improve and that I will be able to get my dream job, or that someone will hire me and pay me enough to keep up with my student loan payments.

Because we own a house that has now decreased greatly in value (we only have negative equity right now), relocation is not a realistic option.

After seeing the news about yesterday's layoffs, it's hard to imagine that anyone will ever want to hire me when I graduate.