Getting Better

It's amazing how tightly my mood is linked to my work situation. Not surprising, but still kind of amazing. It's also amazing how quickly things can turn around. And since I use this journal as a place to vent and wemble when things are going badly, it's only fair that y'all get to hear the good news when it hits, too.

Things have been slow for a while - no surprise there. And I've been doing my best to keep a bright outlook, get projects done around the house, think of it as an extended vacation, and generally stay cheery. But last week, when we had to start dipping into savings to cover the mortgage, the shiny veneer started to wear a little thin, and the panic started coming out.

But I'm working four days this week, and the rest of February is booked. And today I scheduled another seven days of work, through March and April. I've got two meet-and-greets scheduled at new clinics tomorrow, both as a result of my cold mailings. And I'm just waiting to hear back from another two clinics that I've worked at in the past, both of whom mentioned that they'd be needing help in March and April also.

I had a paycheck to deposit today, and called two other clinics to remind them that I worked in December, and that I would really like to be paid - and both quickly found the accounting black holes that had led to my checks getting forgotten, and fixed them on the spot.

Things are looking up. It feels like we're going to survive this. And with that, the world is a much friendlier place....

Cookbook Project, Books #12 and 13

"Appetizers, Finger Food, Buffets, and Parties," by Bridget Jones

This is one of the rare books that I bought for myself, for no reason other than it was on sale and I like making food to bring to parties. While I have something of a reputation as the Dessert Lady, sometimes I feel like bringing savory food instead, and it seemed like a decent resource for those occasions. Plus, it has lots of very shiny pictures. I've used it at least once before, with decent enough results.

Last night was a friend's Superbowl party, and that seemed like a perfect excuse to check the Appetizer cookbook off the to-do list. And Chorizo Pastry Puffs sounded like the perfect football-party food. They wound up being easy enough to make - somehow I have this deep-seated idea that anything involving puff pastry is automatically going to be hard to do, and I need to get over that - and, aside from needing to go into the oven at said friends' house, made a pretty good party snack. The taste was excellent, for those who like moderately-spicy food. Definitely a keeper.

"Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Bread Machine Recipes"

This book, I think, was a holiday gift from my mother-in-law - I think she saw me glancing through her copy and decided to give us a copy of our own. And yes, I know that homemade bread by hand is better, but I don't always have the time for that, and bread machines are a nice compromise, especially since my better half and I do wind up taking sandwiches to work for lunch most days. Somehow I think a sandwich on homemade-from-a-machine bread still beats cheap takeout, in quality, nutrition, and cost.

And since we found the new machine we had gotten as a wedding gift, I figured I ought to try it out, and see if it worked any better than our poor old battered one. So, in between running errands and doing chores and generally trying to get stuff done, I tossed all the ingredients together for a loaf of Potato Bread. (Why potato bread? A desperate attempt to use up instant potato flakes. Why do we have instant potato flakes in the house? I have no idea, since I would sooner eat tissue paper than instant potatoes. We probably bought them for some recipe like this, and the other 3/4 of a box have been taking up valuable pantry space ever since.)

Anyway, the new machine works like a dream, other than taking up more counter space than it has any right to, and we now have semi-homemade bread for the rest of the week. And another book has earned its place on the to-keep shelf. Not bad, all in all.