"Foster Care" written by Janelle on estrip.org

Category: life

02/19/08 09:31 - 21ºF - ID#43388

Foster Care

Could anyone with foster care knowledge (i.e. work in the foster care system, know someone who does foster care, have done foster care yourself) e-mail me--I have questions for you.

Thanks.

Permalink: Foster_Care.html
Words: 32
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: drew-less

01/13/08 08:03 - 31ºF - ID#42864

Day 7 & 8: The husband returns

Day 7, Drew returned home at 11pm. I made it home from a party just as he was letting himself and Kookcity into the house. I'm not sure if Drew was happier to see me or Buckley, the dog, but in the end, I got to cuddle in bed with Drew, so take that Buckley!

Day 8. Drew has clearly returned to the house. Shoes in the kitchen. Bags from the trip in the foyer. Bathroom lights left on in the bathroom. Toilet seat left up. The husband is surely home.

Permalink: Day_7_amp_8_The_husband_returns.html
Words: 89
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: drew-less

01/11/08 09:55 - 36ºF - ID#42846

Day six without Drew

I'm done. I officially miss Drew and want him to come and I'm pretty sure he misses me and wants to be home. 24 more hours until I see him.

Permalink: Day_six_without_Drew.html
Words: 29
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: drew-less

01/11/08 08:42 - 46ºF - ID#42835

Day five without Drew

Thursday was another Drew-less day. His absence was a little more noticeable. He always does the dishes when I cook, but he wasn't there to do them on Wednesday night. I was certainly too tired to do them that same night, so I had to face them last night and it was an unpleasant reminder that Drew is out of town. Hooray for husbands who do dishes! Boo for him being out of town!

I did manage to start on my project to tile the back stairwell with vinyl tiles, but only cleaned and primed three of the stairs. More to do tonight and Saturday I'll start laying down the viny tiles. As I worked I contemplated on the fact that I'm doing it bass-ackward as I think I should probably be working from ceiling down, but I don't want to work on the ceiling or walls until the spring.

To see pictures of Drew's trip, there's a slide show at:

I didn't find them too interesting except for the shots of the pods that they sleep in.

Permalink: Day_five_without_Drew.html
Words: 182
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: food

01/10/08 08:14 - 38ºF - ID#42825

Vietnamese dinner

Pictures courtesy of James who brought his camera:

Started with tomato egg drop soup garnished with cilantro

Chicken with Ginger in Caramel Sauce

Here's an assembled plate of food with the chicken, blanched vegetables and a dipping sauce in the upper left hand corner.

I tried to take a picture of us, but I'm not always so smart with the digital cameras so it doesn't always turn out well. So, James is on the right hand side and my other friends are at center and to the left. I'm trying to get them to be estrippers.

Permalink: Vietnamese_dinner.html
Words: 104
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: food

01/10/08 12:56 - 37ºF - ID#42818

Anyone good at making custards?

I want to learn how to make custards. There are a lot of Vietnamese deserts that are basically custards. And I want to learn to make them all!

What equipment do you need to make custards?
What's the basic principle of making them?

Permalink: Anyone_good_at_making_custards_.html
Words: 43
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: drew-less

01/10/08 08:46 - 31ºF - ID#42816

Day four without Drew

Fourth day away from Drew was a breeze because I had friends over for dinner. I always try to plan something with friends the week that Drew is gone. I think its really pathetic when people's worlds come to an end because their significant other is out of town. Or those people who turn down a party invitation because their significant can't go. Drew and I have even celebrated New Years Eve separately one year when he wanted to party with his redneck friends in DC and I wanted to pary with my friends in Philly. That's the extent to which we are separate human beings. At this point I probably offended someone so, anyway....

I had friends over for dinner. Jen, Bill and (e:Jbeatty). I fixed a Vietnamese dinner for them.

Vietnamese tomato egg drop soup garnished with cilantro
Chicken cooked in caramel sauce (sugar caramelized in water) with ginger.
Blanched broccoli and cauliflower with sliced cucumbers.
Dipping sauce for vegetables.
Mandarin oranges and bananas for desert.
Vietnamese coffee with cardamom

Pictures to come later.

Permalink: Day_four_without_Drew.html
Words: 177
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: city

01/09/08 03:36 - 40ºF - ID#42808

Crime is a city problem, right?

I think this article is kind of funny...I deal with a lot of people at work who live in the suburbs and look down their noses at the city because of all the "crime". And here we have the classic example of how crime exists in the city because the person in the suburb wants the service....except this person had it kind of turned on their head.

Permalink: Crime_is_a_city_problem_right_.html
Words: 75
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: drew-less

01/09/08 08:33 - 40ºF - ID#42804

Day three without Drew

Day three without Drew was hunky dory! I got home and discovered in the mail an invitation to the group I want to join.

Sweet, sweet taste of social success. I started prepping for a dinner I'm having on Wednesday. The menu is Vietnamese tomato egg drop soup; chicken with ginger cooked in caramel sauce; blanched vegetables with Vietnamese basic dipping sauce; and bananas and mandarin oranges for dessert and Vietnamese coffee. See the theme? I'm making a Vietnamese dinner. I prepped the soup so all I have to do tonight is heat it up, add the eggs and garnish it with cilantro and black pepper. Yummy goodness.
I aso worked on my rice making skills. I'm not bragging or anything, but I was able to make rice just like you get in the restaurants. All fluffy and stuff. I strutted around the house for a bit enjoying my success.
I also chose to have some coffee last night. Not a good choice normally, but (e:drew) wasn't there to stop me. Bwah, ha, ha. So I was totally wired by the time he called last night and I was a little giggly and slap happy on the phone.
Last night was trash night/recycling night. That's a dilemma, because trash/recycling is the husband's job; not the Janelle's job. I settled on just taking the recycling out because it's easy and the bin was full, but the garbage can wasn't full. It can wait until the husband gets home.
This morning the recycling bin was missing. I don't think it blew away. I think someone lost theirs and dumped out my recycling and stole mine. All my recycling was laying in a neat little pile. Seems like it would have been strewn if the wind blew the bin away. So I'm feeling a little salty about that and I had to go out and pick up all the recyling and throw it in the trash can. And so was the start of Day four without Drew.

Permalink: Day_three_without_Drew.html
Words: 343
Location: Buffalo , NY

Category: drew-less

01/08/08 08:27 - 55ºF - ID#42786

Day two without Drew

I finally had a mildly good day at work, but no husband waiting at home to hear about my good day. Sad. Made dinner for myself. Without Drew at home, I actually have leftovers for work. Ran out to Home Depot to think of home improvement jobs for Drew to do when he gets back from Louisiana. Just kidding, I do most of the home improvement jobs around our place. I'm looking at putting some vinyl tiles down on the steps and landing going down to the basement in the back stairwell. It's going to be a bigger project than I thought. The last owners glued pieces of felt on the steps and landing and called it a day. I peeled back the felt and realized the steps have to be scrubbed (very, very filthy), sanded and wood spackled in spots before I can even prime the floor to put the vinyl tiles down. My goal is to get the steps done before Drew gets home.

In the spring I want to start fixing the walls of the back stairwell. It has the old nasty thick white wallpaper on the walls which is clearly holding the plaster together in parts. There are a few rips or holes in the wallpaper with some crumbling plaster peaking through. My temptation is to spackle over the rips and holes; sand; and paint over. Would that do the job? The other recommendation given to us was to put up wood paneling, but spackling and painting seems easier. Any thoughts?

Anyway, on day two, I started to miss Drew. Onto day three.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to join Mr. Deadlier in the weigh in. Weighed in at 127 this morning. Before the holidays I lost 5 lbs to hit 125. So I gained a couple over the holiday. Ultimately I want the end point to be between 115 and 120.

fellyconnelly writes at 10:11:37 01/08/08 - Comment #30085: exactly what i mean. day one is fine. day two sucks.
hang in there and just try to focus on enjoying the quiet..

metalpeter writes at 06:15:28 01/08/08 - Comment #30068: I hate to be the one to say it but Dieting doesn't work. Yes it can get you to lose weight when done correctly. But often times it is unhealthy and then you go back to the way you used to eat and gain the weight back again. The other problem is often people cut down the food so much they are hungery and misribable and then there body goes into that I don't know when I'm going to get food again so it doesn't burn any calories. The best thing to do is to (I don't beielve in the writing everything down idea once you start counting and weighing stuff it effects what you eat I think) is pay attention to how and what and where you eat. From there you can either eat a little bit less each time or cut out the snacks or just try to eat more healthy. I say go with the last the reason being is that the reason you want to lose the weight (even if it isn't it should be) is for your health so just try to eat better and if you lose some weight then that is a bonus. I know I eat all kinds of fast food crap for lunch. Not to mention Frozen Dinners and Canned chef boy arde stuff and chips and pop during sports and all kinds of bad shit and the vegitables I get are in caned soups or the side portions of those frozen dinners. I wish all of you the best of luck getting a little bit healthier. Oh and if you want find some form of fun and safe exercise to do also the key is that it has to be something you enjoy that won't wind up hurting you.
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carolinian writes at 10:41:54 01/08/08 - Comment #30045: I'm feeling the same way, (e:janelle), as I too am shocked and horrified at my holiday poundage. Now if we can just get several more estrippers to diet we can have our own reality show. :)