Learning to Love Something I Hate

One this little love day... I get to learn to love something I hate.

So today and for the last few days I have been given the opportunity to figure out potential budgets for the cost of our summer orientations for this coming summer. Just a little bit of background, my office hosts 50+ orientations a summer for new and transfer students to come to Metro State. We will see about 6500 students in person and another 5000 online. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it!

This is my handy dandy little calculator and worksheets. The green is to make it brighter than my mood.

And in order for us to meet the needs of potentially 11,500 students we need STUDENTS! Orientation leaders to be exact. And that's what I do, I recruit, hire, train, and supervise students in 5 different leadership positions in our office- which is great. EXCEPT  I have to pay them and there's this little thing called a budget that is making it a little hard to do so.

I don't speak numbers is what I told my students today. Numbers and I are not friends and we probably never will be. Ok, wait, I take that back- numbers and I are great friends when they come in dollars and numbers on a credit card. Let's just say that I'm really good at spending money and not so great at budgeting. Just not my strength. I've tried- and ask my husband- I'm SO much better than I used to be at spending. Until this summer for work.

It looks sophisticated but I'm really bluffing

But to do 50+ orientations for students and their support (i.e. families, friends, significant others, etc.) we need students. So somehow I get to figure out the magic numbers for this summer. UGH. Sigh.

So I'm trying to embrace this opportunity and become one with the numbers. We'll see what happens.

Why am I Hungry....

I've only been back to work for two full days and each day I have planned for good meals and the same amount of food I ate when I was at home and yet I find myself more hungry! And when you work in a building with a McDonalds, Subway, and Taco Bell (bleh!) in the basement it's really hard to make good eating decisions!!!

  
And the honorable mention goes to my students (who adult metabolism has not caught up with yet) who eat french fries from the cafe in the building daily. And they are legit, good cafe french fries- I swore I would not be eating after I was done being pregnant. (I remember my days in college where I would eat Carl's Jr. multiple times a week and sometimes multiple times a day and never gained a pound!)

I now know putting that stuff into my body does not make me feel good and would much rather enjoy my whole wheat turkey sandwich with garlic aioli spread, spinach, and provolone cheese. But it leaves me wanting more! (and I've been drinking water- LOTS AND LOTS of water!)

Just had to add it for my baby boy!!!

Which leads me to the question... how much am I actually hungry or just bored? Like many other college campuses across this nation, Fridays are much slower. But on a 100% commuter campus in a downtown environment, with the weather being warmer than it has been in weeks... this campus is DEAD. D.E.A.D.- dead.Most days I don't mind it- it gives me time to do projects and decompress from a week- but today it's making me hungry! (I have plenty of things to work on- I've been gone from my job for 3 months!)

And it leads to another question- is it more work to take care of a baby or do my job? Maybe I don't want the answer to that one....

So I'll be here for the rest of the day I'll be here making good decisions about eating hoping to calm the hungry monster that has grown in my stomach! Maybe I should name it :-P

Back to work...

So today I went back to work... and I've decided that going back to work is going to be a process of relearning not only my job but many things that go with it.... starting with shoes.

A Tale of Two Boots

Part of my shoe closet!

Now if you know me at all, you know I LOVE, love shoes. And in the last year with swelling feet, having a body balancing a baby, my beloved shoes and I had to part ways for a little while. They were replaced with not stop flip flop wearing and ugly, ugly, UGLY, (no laces, buckles, or straps- couldn't reach them) but comfy flats that accommodated my ever swelling feet. So one of my joys with returning to work is the return of my relationships with my beautiful, sassy, collection of shoes.

Look at the bows!

Well I also walk about a mile in downtown Denver from our bus to campus and the shoes needed for that walk are different than my latest sassy pair of pewter heels but necessary. However, I forgot how purposeful those shoes are in my life- until my walk this morning. Now I've learned enough not to brave heels on that walk...but this morning more comfort was needed for my freezing toes.

Let me tell you about my "snow" boots. I bought these boots almost 10 years ago with my mom before going on graduate school interviews at IU. Being two california girls, the weather showed snow on the ground while I would be in Bloomington and to us that meant I needed to have snow boots. (boy have I learned since then!) Well I was also interviewing for positions and academically as well, so we found the "nicest" pair of snow boots a southern california sporting goods store can offer in February.

Now they have never been the most stylist pair of boots and I quickly learned moving to a four season area that snow boots are "rarely" worn so I quickly retired them. Until I had to start walking through the snow last winter to work.

Well they worked...kind of. When it's below freezing at 7am in the morning I just expected that I probably would not be warm. However, as I have learned, you can be warm with layers and the RIGHT winter coats, hats, gloves, and boots! And as I walked into work with freezing toes this morning I quickly relearned that my SoCal "winter" boots are not going to make it through another real winter. So with relief and sadness I retired the boots for good and purchased a new pair that will keep my feet warm in -40 degree temperatures!

Look at that fur!!!

No seriously... -40 degrees!

 

Hello new boots! Welcome to my shoe family!

This may not sounds like anything significant to you- but those boots were one of the first steps to leaving california, starting graduate school, and really changing this SoCal girl forever. Without those boots, I would not have gotten into grad school at IU. Without those boots I would have never met my wonderful husband. Without those boots I would have never learned to love seasons. Without those boots- life may have ended up in a very different place. And no, the shoes did not do "everything"- but I felt prepared to interview at IU in them and the rest is history.

Oldies but goodies! I think they've seen better days.

So I only feel its appropriate now to honor these shoes...

To my old winter boots: Thank you for helping this SoCal girl adjust to winter. You were there on my feet helping me stay warm in my very first snowfall. You never let me fall on icy sidewalks. You did a good job keeping my toes warm while disusing yourself as fairly "normal" looking boots so I could be the SoCal girl who used to freeze in 40 degree weather. While I am moving on, I will look back on our time together fondly.

And with the prediction of lots of snow and a high of 0 degrees tomorrow I would say that the new boots came just in time!!

Cold Comfort

When the day outside all day looked like this...

And the temperature never got higher than this....

I decided we were having this for dinner!

 

And what is this... this is bacon, cheesy potato soup! It was the most simple new recipe I found and with using reduced fat or fate free dairy it's not too bad for you! There are 4 ingredients: 1can cream of potato soup, 3 cups of milk, shredded cheddar cheese, and frozen country hash brown potatoes.

You throw them all in a sauce pan bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for 10 minutes. I added salt and pepper, garlic salt, chives, and onion flakes for flavor. I garnished with a little more cheese and bacon. It was amazing and warmed our house up on a cold, cold Colorado day.

 It was such a hit... this is my husband at the end of our meal.

I'm thinking about renaming it Midwest Man Chowder because any meat and potatoes man will be happy.

Weather forecasters are predicting a high of 4 degrees tomorrow and lows overnight tonight in the negatives with a wind chill of -20. I'm happy to be home, warm, and cuddled up with a cute baby, and wonderful hubby (even if he licks the bowl.)

And because the weather is going to continue to chill our bones this week, I'm making Chicken Tortilla soup tomorrow night and Ranch Mac and Cheese Wednesday hoping that they will warm us like the Midwest Man Chowder did :-)

I hope that you are enjoying warmer weather than we are and if not, stay warm, cozy and comfy! These are the nights I wish we had fireplace!

My Favorite Moment of the Day

When I get Connor up in the morning, in the last week he's started to react when we lean over the crib to get him up. It's my favorite moment of the day. Because for about 30 seconds the world stops and nothing else matters but the smile the comes across his face.

Here, see what I mean...

And I needed that moment today when Connor decided last night that midnight to 3am was going to be playtime rather than sleeping time. Now, I know that we are very, very luck parents because he sleeps through the night and has for a while now. He gets up to eat once around 4am and other than that just sleeps. So I had to remember last night at 2:30am when I was ready to give up that this is a once in a while thing.

But here's the other thing that came to my mind last night as we were watching the food network late night, I'm not working. And what is this going to be like when I'm back working 40 hours a week, taking classes, and trying to take care of myself and Joe. Needless to say it feels like a steep incline of a learning curve right now.

But I'm also reminded today on Connor's 3 month birthday that 3 months ago when he came the learning curve was just as steep and somehow we've figured that all out. He's gone from a baby to a little boy.

First Days

3 months

So here's to discovering the world of being a working mom and appreciating the amazing moments I get to have with my husband and our son.

P.S. If there are any working moms out there with tips and tricks I'm all ears :-)

Breakfast for Dinner

We had breakfast for dinner last night.

Something about having different foods at the wrong meal just made the world right. In learning more about cooking,  find breakfast the easiest to make for me. My first love is baking, but with breakfast foods you can just get so creative and that makes it my second favorite thing to make. Luckily Joe loves breakfast so it's a match made in heaven.

Breakfast started with Sweet Sausages by Paula Dean. Now let me just warn you, nothing, and I mean nothing, by Paula Dean is good for you. It is good for your soul and tastes amazing! I am a huge fan of bacon and syrup so how could it be wrong to have sausages and syrup!


I also made breakfast potatoes. Nothing fancy but I have to say that I am getting really good at cooking with oil. There were no baking instructions on the bag of potatoes so needless to say, a pan, oil, and a little frying and we breakfast potatoes.

Now, I have to have a sidebar, because I cannot think about breakfast potatoes without a mention and shout out to Paxton's Potatoes at The Village Deli in Bloomington, Indiana. They were picked as the best food in Indiana by the food network and not many who have had them will argue. In short they are potato cubes that should just be called cut up french fries, with sausage gravy smothered over the top with melted cheddar cheese. Sounds simple, and it is, but it is the best thing I have ever had for breakfast.

Ok, back to our dinner. I finished up with eggs in toast. I saw somewhere someone cut out a circle in a piece of bread and crack an egg inside of it to make eggs over easy. I believe a more common name is called eggs in a nest. Joe's mom used to make something called eggs on toast so in that same nature, I am naming this eggs in toast :-)

Happily this was a fun and different thing to have for dinner and in the nature of this blog, trying new things, and discovering something good, breakfast for dinner is something I encourage you all to try just to shake things up and do something different!

Mmmmmm.... Coffee.

I have a love/hate relationship with coffee. I love drinking it but my stomach hates it.

Just Cannot Wait!

 So here's the deal... about 5 years ago my new years resolution was to give up coffee. I lived in a residence hall with a Starbuck on my meal plan. Needless to say it was bad news for me, my meal plan, and my stomach. So I decided it would be better to not drink coffee anymore. And I was successful.... until I started working for SDSU and most meetings were conducted at Starbucks.

So again, a few years later I decided that it was time to give it up again. And it worked, I found tea! If you have never been to Teavana, you have to try it. I recommend the combination or Mate Vana and Roobios Chai. It's a tea for coffee lovers :-) And until Connor came it worked. I just absolutely loved having something hot and creamy to drink on cold, cold, Denver mornings.

Well then pregnancy came- no tea, no coffee, little to no caffeine. And then Connor was born and my sleep life changed and now its almost a must to function during the day to have coffee.

When Connor and I get up in the morning, he plays for about 30 minutes, just enough time for me to heat water, brew coffee, add my creamer and splenda, and sip! I wait with anticipation and when Connor fusess instead of playing, we make coffee together.

I know that I should not love coffee this much or look forward to it with as much anticipation as I do each morning. But especially on those cold, cold morning, I just sigh with content when that creamy, hot, yummy, nutty drink hits my lips :-)

Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puff Recipe

 And to go with that coffee, Cinnamon Sugar Muffins. I love making cupcakes probably more than anything else and thanks to the Pioneer Woman's cookbook I have now become friends with the cupcakes cousin, the muffin!

These "muffins" taste like cinnamon sugar donuts and probably should not be a breakfast food but the sweet goodness was too much to refuse. And with my yummy coffee lets just say that my morning breakfast was sooooo worth it.

I have vowed that I need to make these again but make them for somebody other than Joe and I because it took all my will power to send them with Joe to work the next day for his office to enjoy.

So here is to my cup of coffee each morning and the wonderfulness that comes from being able to just sit back and enjoy.