Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Good Morning!

Things here are pretty dandy. I worked last night... I still have the work phones, but only for another half hour. It was a quiet night. Much more quiet then last week Monday! Last week we were still 'on rotation' with the RCMP and we were the tow company for that big wreck on the #1 where the semi went over the rail into the Vedder Canal. It was a busy day for us following an equally busy night. I got about an hour and a half's sleep that night but I was pleased with how I managed that call. There were moments of doubt but we came through just fine. And I was doubly pleased that I didn't have to call my boss for help at 5am!

An article about the crash with some pics of the damaged bridge: http://www.vancouverite.com/2010/08/19/driver-killed-as-truck-plunges-from-vedder-canal-bridge/

Having survived that night shift, I'm feeling more confident. There are still huge holes in my understanding of towing, though, and I feel like I'm always pestering the guys with questions. They're generally pretty good about it, thankfully (just not at 6:30am when I've rudely interrupted their sleep!).

I had the weekend off and went to church with some old friends who have left my church. They go to a PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) church plant in Agassiz that was a gust of fresh air. It was the best parts of being Presbyterian mixed with all the right parts of a contemporary service. The music was entirely contemporary, people even raised their hands in worship. They sang a few hymns but had made them peppy - there were no hymn books! The sermon was unmistakably Presbyterian - based entirely from scripture. And they don't meet in a church either - they rent a community centre for Sunday morning. I loved it. My friends have invited me back with them next Sunday. I'm going to have a hard time balancing this with my commitments to my home congregation, 'cause the temptation is to just leave Cooke's for what seems like the greener grass on the other side of the fence.

Moving Forward with Joy!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Hello!

Its been a good day here.

Church this morning was pretty decent. The hymns were great and we sang one that always makes me smile "Guide me, O thou Great Redeemer/Jehovah". Michelle and I made up inappropriate lyrics for it a few weeks ago and I can't help but giggle when I hear it played or we sing it in church. All I can think of are the awful words we came up with! The sermon was good - it was about how Jesus challenged the fishermen to cast their nets out into deeper water and how they were blessed with enough fish to sink the boats! He said the same can be true for us - even though our congregation is struggling right now he feels that we can be blessed if we throw our nets out into deeper water. I agree, though I'm not sure what that will look like.

Jill and our our mutual friend Jess are coming over at 5:30. We're going to pick up some subway and then head back here to watch a movie. Not sure what we'll watch but it'll be nice to hang out with them - they both make me laugh!

I work tomorrow thru Thursday night... it'll be a long haul but will be more money in my pocket, so I'm ok with that. Plus our main dispatcher is exhausted. The weekends take a lot out of her - which I totally get. I worked one weekend and ended up sleeping for 18 hours after I handed back the phones. No small wonder she's tired!

I wrote this next bit earlier today:

I've just taken my first galette out of the oven. I've never eaten one before but I saw a picture and recipe for one online and thought "YUM!" so I picked up all the various ingredients that I don't normally have on hand (Ricotta, sour cream, Parmesan) and then life got really busy so didn't have time to make it. In the meantime the sour cream went bad and the Ricotta was questionable so last night when Jill and I went to superstore to pick up a few things I bought more sour cream and ricotta. I put my first Galette together today! A galette is basically a free-form pastry filled with whatever kind of delightful filling you can imagine. You can make them sweet - like with fruit or pie filling but today's is a chedder, ricotta, parmesan and garlic base topped with Zucchini, mushrooms and some cheddar.

And I have to be very honest here - that was the most satisfying thing I've ever eaten! Yum. The pastry was flaky and the filling was rich but not too rich - just perfect. I highly recommend it even though the whole thing takes about three hours to make. (You have to chill the flour then make the dough, then chill the dough, and the vegetables have to 'drain' on paper towel for half an hour - which I did at the same time the dough was in the fridge - and then it bakes for 35 minutes).

The recipe is here: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/06/zucchini-and-ricotta-galette/

Mine isn't as pretty as her's but here's a pic just so you can see what yours is bound to look like!



I made a few changes - I used white vinegar instead of lemon juice. I used cheddar instead of mozzarella and I added five large mushrooms to make up for one of my zucchinis that went mouldy while waiting to be used. I topped it with cheddar cheese instead of basil and added a little salt to the ricotta mixture.

It was certainly worth the work. Delicious!

Enjoy!

Moving Forward with Joy

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Good Evening!

Hope this finds all of you well.

Things here are pretty good. I've got the phones again tonight - its been quiet so far but my boss just called to say that there's a big wreck on the #1 (highway) that we might be responding to shortly. Should be busy. Am saying a prayer for everyone's safety.

'Rotation' has been a real learning curve. I've learned how to fill out the dispatch sheet better, what important questions to ask the RCMP when they call for a tow, where the different kinds of calls go (stolen and recovered vehicles go to the Ident bay, burnt out vehicles go to the yard, etc). I feel like my brain isn't big enough to learn everything I need to know! Its a challenge but I love every minute of it.

The diapers I made for my friend were a real hit. I gave them to her yesterday and we sewed one together so she knew how to make them herself from here on out. Including the one we made together yesterday, there were 10 diapers (and they're all so stinkin' cute!).

A pic of my friend's baby in one of his new diapers. So cute!


Froggie Bum!

Its been a glorious couple of days here, weather-wise. I think Fall is just around the corner, thankfully! We've had overcast skies and rain... totally welcome for all the people fighting forest fires and also welcome for me - I don't do well with all the sun, light and heat. I'm definitely a Fall/Winter girl! I was cheered yesterday while riding my bike in the rain when I saw the first of the leaves falling from the trees. Not a lot, but certain species of trees are loosing their leaves. Hip Hip Horray!

I've decided what I'm getting mom for her birthday. It was a hard choice but I've made up my mind and will pick it up after I get paid on the 15th. Can't tell you, though, because she sometimes reads my blog!

Next week I've got a long haul, I'll be working Monday through Thursday nights. I'll be exhausted but it'll do good things to my bank account!

Hope you all have a good evening. I'm going to go find some supper.

Moving Forward with Joy.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Hello!

Things here continue to move along at great speeds. I've been busy baking oatmeal molasses cookies (my ultimate favourite cookie - will post the recipe at a later date) for my pals at work and have finished four more diapers for a grand total of nine. I can't wait to show my friend, who is coming over tomorrow. I've still got more flannel for her and will give her a quick how-to so she can make the remaining diapers.

A pic of all nine pretty diapers:


In an effort to be as cost-effective as possible, the green and light blue diapers are made of old (but barely used) bedsheets from the thrift store. All the inserts are made from scraps - either scraps from the diapers themselves or scraps from old quilts. There's four layers of flannel in each insert and there are two inserts that go with each diaper. I have a feeling she may need to triple up on the inserts, though. Heaven knows there's enough fabric left over to do that!

I'm so pleased with my latest sewing project! We're getting together in the afternoon and I can hardly wait!

I work tomorrow night which should be interesting. It'll be my first ever Monday shift. I don't know if it'll vary greatly from any other weekday night. We'll find out shortly!

Time for bed. This is one tired pumpkin.

Moving Forward with Joy.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Hello!

If there's one downside to working nights its that it completely up-ends my sleeping schedule. Its 3am and I'm wide awake. I thought I would do some sewing earlier (midnight to 1am) figuring that would tire me out... no such luck. I crashed shortly before 2am thinking I would drop off no problem but here it is 3:10 and I'm not anywhere close to sleep.

So... while I'm awake I'll bring you up on whats going on in my life!

Work is going fantastic. There's still so much to learn. I have one serious short coming and that is that even though I've lived in this town my whole life (26 years) I don't have a clue how to group jobs together so that we're not wasting gas and time. The map of my town is muddled in my head, unfortunately. I took some constructive criticism from one of our drivers after I sent him back to the same area of town twice to do a service call when I could have lumped it together with a tow he was doing there an hour earlier. A big whoops on my part! Its just something to work on and I hope to do better next time.

My two shifts on 'rotation' went reasonably well. It was busy, particularly the second night, but still wasn't unmanageable. I managed to even get a few hours sleep in (a total bonus!). I asked one of our office gals (the one who delivers and retrieves the phones from me each night that I'm working) if what I experienced was typical of a weeknight on rotation and she told me yes, that it was average. I was relieved. I had all sorts of situations imagined that I would be up to my ears and unable to cope but those terrors never materialized. I hear that the weekends on rotations can be every bit as horrible as I imagine but since I work week nights, I don't think I'll be experiencing that any time soon (I hope!).

I went to a friend's bridal shower earlier this evening. I'm so happy for her and her fiance. Its awesome to see them this happy! The shower was good. I only stayed for the first bit so that they could take plenty of pictures of all her gifts. While I was there I was chatting with our other good friend who was telling me that she was switching from disposables to cloth diapers for her 10 month old. Nothing thrills me more!!! She's picked up some at the thrift store just to give it a whirl but she wants to make more so that she's not washing diapers every day just to keep up (I think she only has 8 or 10). I came home inspired. I've made lots of diapers for other girlfriends but haven't made any in a while 'cause everyone already has their stashes made! I'm SO excited to help my friend make her stash. I used the Rita Rump Pocket (RRP) pattern from this site: http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com/2007/10/classic-rrp-ritas-rump-pocket-pattern.html Total time from printing out the pattern to two finished diapers with two inserts each was 1 hour and 10 minutes! I was impressed with myself. I can't wait to make more. I've got tonnes of left over flannel from rag quilts that I've offered up... I can't wait to sew more for her! Here's a pic of the finished products:


I'll make more tomorrow (I can't contain myself when it comes to cloth diapers!).

I'm off to A's tomorrow to hang out with her. I got her camp pics printed so we're going to put them in an album and I got a few enlarged so we can frame them. She got a lot of great pics!

I need to get some sleep or I won't be able to function tomorrow. Morning comes soon!

Moving Forward with Joy!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Hello folks!

Things here continue to roll along. I'm working tonight, my second RCMP rotation shift... and its going well. We've been up to our ears in other tows but I haven't received one from the police yet. That'll be later tonight. Last night wasn't too busy but it was steady pretty much all night. I caught about two or three hours sleep total... I survived and was thankful for a shower and sleep after I handed back the phones.

I worked late last week, too, and had the weekend off. Not much got accomplished but I went to Michelle's church (United Church in Canada) and heard her preach. It was a wonderful sermon about being authentic - being who God created us to be. It was really great to hear her preach and lead a full service! Totally fantastic!

Dad and I are going to work together in the shop this weekend I hope. We're going to make a wooden attachment thingy so I can hook up my A/C to my patio window. It currently takes up waaaay too much space in my dinette. It'll be nice to have it out of the way.

Sorry my recent posts have been so short. There hasn't been much new going on.

Moving Forward with Joy!