Silver Linings

Yesterday was a pretty traumatic day -- I was told that there was no longer a position for me in my department and I was being "let go". So, under the watchful eye of HR, I packed up my things and departed. I mourned yesterday and was quite sad, but today I feel much better. Life goes on! Somewhere there is a job with my name on it, another great group of people to work with, and something new to learn.

I did find some silver linings yesterday:
My dentist was able to fit me in yesterday (I already had an appt. for next week) which meant I could use flex spending money for it. (I had to use all my flex spending money yesterday or lose it). So, I went in for a routine cleaning and he found a nasty crack on a molar. I asked what that meant, and he said "A crown". "Can I pay for that today?" was my question. So, we took the impressions and put on the temporary, and I was able to use my flex spending money to cover my portion of the cost. THANK YOU to my brother who suggested I call my dentist and my eye doctor!

The even nicer silver lining was the outpouring of love, support, and encouragement from family and friends. I really couldn't talk about it much yesterday because my emotions were out of control, but that didn't seem to bother anyone else. I got phone calls, emails, messages on facebook, text messages, lots of hugs, and 4 offers of dinner! These many kindnesses were a balm to sooth my hurts. Thank you one and all! I know this post will reach some people who didn't catch wind of this yesterday as well as some who did. Please know that I am doing MUCH better today. The Lord endowed me with an extra dose of positive attitude, and it is coming in handy. One friend told me yesterday "There is life after a lay-off". He's right. Life goes on. Something will turn up.

I'm heading to California to see Silly Girl and family this weekend -- I figure a few days of R&R are in order. And on Monday I will start searching for a job. Please forward any leads you have!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love and support. My family and friends are everything and more that this girl could wish for!

(Almost) A dream come true!

Guess who forgot about Daylight Savings today? Yup. Yours truly. Did not give it even a single thought yesterday, which is all it would have taken.

So, I get up at 7:30 (8:30 for the rest of you), and decided to check my email before showering. A little later, I looked at the clock on the task bar and noticed it said 8:48. It took about one second for me to realize "TIME CHANGE!".

Guess what time church starts? Oh yeah. 9:00 AM. So I grabbed a towel, wet my hair under the kitchen faucet, dried it about half-way, brushed my teeth, threw on my clothes and then, because of a New Year's resolution, applied some foundation to my face. Slipped into my shoes, grabbed my keys and books, and headed out the door. Applied lip gloss in the parking lot. Walked into the chapel at 8:57. (In case you don't know this about me, I lead the congregational singing, so it is kinda important that I don't arrive late)

It was almost a dream come true -- that dream where I forget to go to church and don't have a substitute to lead the singing. I have that dream about 3 times/year. I wonder if the next version will have a daylight savings theme?

I guess I'd better go reset my clocks now.

Lemon Tart

I tried a new recipe today -- Whole lemon tart (meaning, use the whole lemon except for the seeds)

The recipe came from one of the food blogs I love to read, Smitten Kitchen.

To me it seemed to be the grown-up sibling of lemon bars. One of my fellow consumers agreed. This is the first time I've made a tart, and I would definitely make this one again. B.S. - I saved a piece out for you and will bring it with me tomorrow night. :-)

Éclair Cake

I was reminded last night that I promised a friend that I would post the recipe for Eclair cake. Well, it's 4:30 in the morning and I can't get back to sleep, so I decided to work on my blog. This recipe came to me from Silly Girl's grandma.

Éclair Cake

1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Water
1 cup Flour
4 Eggs
8 oz pkg. Cream Cheese (room temp)
3 cups Milk
2 sm. pkg. Vanilla pudding
1 pint Whipping Cream
Chocolate Syrup (I use Hershey's)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Melt butter in water until boiling. Add flour. Add eggs one at a time. Spread in greased 11x15 pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Blend cream cheese; slowly add milk. Add pudding mix. Spread over cooled crust.

Whip cream and spread over pudding layer. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

After years of making this in my 11x15" pan (like the Pampered Chef Bar pan), I discovered that Silly Girl's family uses a 9x13" pan. Feel free to try that. I've found that I prefer the thinner crust.

This one works quite well with sugar free pudding, and if you do that, the dessert is sugar free provided you leave off the chocolate syrup. There are some sugar-free chocolate syrups out there, but I've not tried any of them.

Facebook Privacy / Security

I know what you are thinking -- "Facebook" and "Privacy" don't really seem to go together. However, I did just read an interesting article about ways to preserve some privacy and still use Facebook. If you are are interested, click to read "10 Privacy Setting Every Facebook User Should Know"

On the radio!

It's fundraising time at Classical 89! I've been invited to co-host a couple of shifts and will be on-the-air on Wednesday 9-11 AM and Friday 9AM-12PM. If you'd like to listen in (and live within the KBYU FM range), tune your radio to 89.1 or go online to www.classical89.org/streaming

I haven't had time to make treats for them, so tomorrow might be disappointing for some. I plan to redeem myself on Friday though. :-)