International Finance
MWF, 9:10-10:10
My prof looks like Will Ferrel. I swear. He has the hair and the facial features. This seems like a very interesting class, but is supposed to get more challenging. That means I should be ordering the textbook soon.

Social and Legal Environment of Business
MWF, 10:20-11:20
A core business course dealing with learning about law, business cases and such. The new book at the bookstore cost a whopping $215, but I managed to get it online for all of $86 after shipping and it came in a few days. How’s that for savings?

Investments
MWF, 11:30-12:30
Thought this class was going to be really interesting. It turned out to be a little less than what I was hoping, but not as bad as others have suggested… so far.

Stat II
MW, 1:10-2:40
In reality, he has been letting us out around 2:00 each day, so it’s more like a half hour class than an hour and a half class… and with luck because he is a nice man, but his accent is very thick and hard to understand.

Latin American Film and Fiction
MW, 2:40
Even though I wanted to improve my Spanish reading abilities, I’m seriously less than thrilled and hating this class right now. We’ve progressed on to full-sized novels in this class and she picked some hefty ones: Cien anos de soledad, Como agua para chocolate, and La casa de los espiritus. The first and the last novels I mentioned are about 400+ pages, all in Spanish, and the second one I mentioned is shorter. The paragraphs are often long and continue for pages and pages, though, so needless to say it is hard to get through. I wish I was back in the class I had last semester with the same teacher when we were only reading short stories!

J&J Case Competition
I am adding this on, even though it is technically an extracurricular thing that I am doing and not a class. The team from our school that placed 3rd in the grand competition last year suggested that it would take a considerable amount of time per week to work on and develop our case. Personally, I don’t get my classwork and other work done during the week (especially considering the amount of Spanish homework I have for this weekend… don’t get me started on that!! *rage*) so I doubt I’m going to have a million hours to devote to this. I am still going to give it a try and meet with my team when possible, though, and our case has to be ready to present on March 1st. Unfortunately, this is falling right after a big weekend (the Greek fraternity/sorority rush weekend), on a day that I have five classes, and the day before the Flogging Molly show in NYC that I might be going to, so there are some very busy days coming up for me.

Tomorrow I am going to dinner at Emeril’s Chop House in the Sands Casino with Steve and a few other people. It’s restaurant week in the nearby town of Bethlehem and Emeril’s restaurant is participating by offering a 3 course dinner menu for $30. There are other restaurants offering similar menus, but I thought it would be cool to go to Emeril’s. When I was a kid, I was a big fan of his. A friend of my dad’s brought me be back a menu and a toque hat from the Emeril’s New Orleans restaurant, and I still have them on my bookshelf along with cookbooks and such.

Saturday there is something fun planned, too, but I am not able to say what because it is a secret for someone- lol.

Ideally, I would like to keep a website up – if only for my own personal amusement and that of a few others – and have maybe two hostees and call it a day. I guess my days of having 32625 hosted websites are apparently gone because I can’t find reliable or interested people anymore to share my space with. What happened to the days of the “hey- I’m deleting all of my site because I don’t have the time anymore, but thank you anyway!” courtesy emails? *shrugs* Just saying, and this is not directed towards anyone in particular! Various people have done this at various points in time over the last 9 years. /rant

What I need to do is switch to a smaller, more affordable hosting plan. $60/year for 200gb of space is pretty kick-ass, but it is absolutely useless if I don’t use it, and I haven’t used more than 1gb of it for the past however-the-hell-many years. I checked out some hosting plans offered by fellow web designers with reseller accounts, but I’m skeptical. With so many people purchasing and discarding domains, who’s to say that my files won’t “disappear” overnight when the person decides not to pay their reseller hosting fees? *cringes* The idea of splitting the cost with someone also came to mind, but I would have to find someone first. I tried that one year with one of my friends when we started a business venture and then… well, I’m not sure what happened to the business venture or her for that matter. Things seemed to fall apart for no clear-cut reason and I haven’t spoken with her in about a year.

One thing is for sure: It wouldn’t feel the same to post daily blogs via Facebook notes, or in the pathetic excuse for a blog that Myspace has enabled on all of their profiles. It just wouldn’t. It’s too easy for people to do and doesn’t allow for a lot of creativity. (Which is why I guess people are drawn to it and that’s a shame.) Sure, you can customize the Myspace profiles now with templates and drag-and-drop content with a few mouse clicks, but has anyone tried working with the new Myspace profile designer thing when it comes to putting your own HTML and CSS in there? I tried last summer and gave up because it was ridiculous. It was actually much easier to use CSS and HTML then wrestle with that thing, which is why I stuck with the first Myspace layout style on my profiles and still make my own layouts. If anything, I would go back to blogging daily on Livejournal, where I still have my 7+ year old account with a lot of history, before I regularly blogged on my Myspace profile blog.

Anyway, thinking about the future of things is depressing me, so I found this idea from Kristine @ Obscured-Reflections.net to cheer me up. Some of mine are actually similar or the same as hers.

Post 10 things that make me happy

My beau- I had some really bad luck with guys this time last year, but the bullshit is over. I met Steve around March of last year and was fortunate to get to know him better as the months went on. He always puts me in a good mood and cheers me up when I’m feeling sad. I’ve grown to love him lots. ♥ ♥ ♥

Cooking and baking- There have been times where I have come home from work/school/events/etc. and felt dead-tired, but still managed to make something delicious. Cooking and baking both relax me, allowing me to focus my attention on something else besides what went on during the day, and provide a somewhat creative outlet.

Going out- I don’t care where: the mall, Wal-Mart, the casino, a restaurant, etc. I love getting out of the house and doing stuff, even if I don’t have more than a dollar in my pocket. Some people get depressed when they can only “window shop”, but not me. In my mind, it is certainly better than sitting on my ass at home and moping.

Kittens and other baby animals- Come on, how can you not smile when you see a little fuzzy kitten, puppy, or penguin…? They make me feel all giggly and light-hearted.

Xbox Live with friends- It’s more fun to play in the same room with friends, but linked in a party online also works. Find me and add me if you have a Live account!

Finding clothes that fit and look perfect- There is nothing more of an ego booster than going to a store and finding that “perfect outfit” or clothing item; those kind of garments that fit like they were made for me even though they weren’t. Well-fitting jeans always make me feel great, or a dress that looks amazing and super-flattering when put on.

Beautiful fall days- The kind crisp day when wearing a cable knit sweater and jeans with no coat would be appropriate, and it’s possible to take a walk outside without wearing a scarf and mitten combo set and freezing to death. Those days before the temperature drops, the sidewalks get icy, and the white snowy shit makes the ground icky.

Music- I have different music “moods” that come over me. One day I’ll be really psyched to listen to some black and death metal, another day I’ll be craving some jazz or oldies music. There’s music to match every mood and every situation.

Good friends- Sometimes having a few great friends is better than having a bunch of phony friends. I learned that lesson very well this past year, that’s for sure.

Being busy and/or accomplishing things- I hate not having something to do or being cooped up in one place for a long time. Most of the time, I need to be active doing something or busy in some way to be happy. Down-time is only nice for so long until I start to get antsy.

I woke up around 5:00am and we got to the hospital around 7:20am, so I am awfully tired right now and might go take a nap. I hate sleeping during the day, though; it totally throws off my sleep cycle.

To remove my left kidney, I had a laproscopic surgery and they made three incisions: two on my left side that are each about an inch long, and one right below my navel that is about two inches long. They look pretty bad, but were secured with surgical glue so there will not be as big of a scar as there would be if stitches or staples had been used. The first night at the hospital was horrible, and the second one wasn’t much better. I’m just absolutely relieved that there wasn’t a third night. A few of my friends and a few family members came to see me while I was in the hospital and brought me some gifts, which was nice…

I watched the ball drop and spent New Years Eve at home with Steve, my dad, and my uncle. My uncle actually just left after spending a week with us at our house to help my dad out with taking care of me, my mom, and the dog.

I’m still weak and really achey, but I’m trying to space out the pain meds to once a day before bed time. One tablet makes me fall asleep within a half hour, and I want to be up and active for the day so I don’t get even more stiffness in my back, neck, and shoulders from lying around.

With that said, I’m going to go watch some TV and relax. Just wanted to let everyone know that I’m doing alright- even if I only get mostly spam comments and readers nowadays.

My mom was diagnosed with renal failure in 2004 or 2005ish and has been on dialysis since then. There were a quite a few times over the past few years where she was really sick with related illnesses – infections and complications from numerous surgeries, pneumonia, etc. – and came close to dying. As much as she annoys me, like, 90% of the time, she’s still my mom so I felt obligated to try to help if I could- especially after almost seeing her die a few times. A majority of you would probably do the same in my situation.

I made the decision to donate my kidney to her and took the appropriate steps and tests in order to find out if I could. Over the past two to three years, I have gone through the testing process three separate times at two different hospitals, and finally it is to the point where a date for the transplant is scheduled: Tuesday, December 29th- TOMORROW. The transplant nefrologist (kidney doctor) and surgeon told me that I will probably be in the hospital for 2-3 days, and the recovery period where I can’t drive and do other stuff is approximately 4-5 weeks but maybe a little shorter.

Have I gotten “cold feet” about the whole process? Absolutely. I’m tired of going for these damn tests over and over and over again, and I’m tired of this one nurse/transplant coordinator constantly calling me with news about something else I have to do. Most of the time, it’s bad news or an inconvenience. I went to New Brunswick for blood labs on Christmas Eve and was called by the doctor right after I came back from the tests, and he freaked me out with the possibility that I might be at risk for diabetes, because my glucose levels have been high… or that the test could have been an anomaly.

I don’t want to think about the pain, or the fact that they will be moving my intestines aside in order to get to my kidney and cut it out (that’s what I was told – actual words – from the surgeon.) Frankly… all I wanted to know before the surgery is that I would be really, really doped up before and after they cut into me, and I would be drifting away into a magical world of sugar and gumdrops with penguins and rainbows… but no. I was given a play-by-play of what was going to happen, including the fact that my intestines would be moved aside and that there were two arteries to be cut on my left kidney. It is good to be informed… I guess. I think they make it out to be worse than it probably is.

Also, I’m not thrilled about missing New Years Eve – one of my favourite holidays – and being out of commission for my 21st birthday. Don’t tell me that I’m “doing a great thing for my mom, so it’s okay” because it’s not- it sucks, and this was the only time I could schedule the transplant and be okay to go back to school at the end of January. If I moved it back a week, it would be a few days before my birthday; if I moved it back two weeks, there might not be enough recovering time. If I move it all the way into summer, there is a chance that my mom could get really sick again like she tends to over the winter months and not be healthy enough, and also it would interfere with any plans to maybe have a summer internship somewhere. See my predicament?

Overall, I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been about this, partly because it is almost D-day and party because I’m almost TOO informed about the process- lol. I’ll probably be okay, unless I am in the small percentage of donors that die, but I don’t think that will be the case. I’m just not thrilled about missing celebrating my birthday and NYE, and the possibility of pain and whatnot. By no means am I scrounging for sympathy, because I know a few of you have gone through equally as intensive surgeries in your lifetimes, so I’m just writing this to keep people informed and express how I’m feeling. If anyone has questions about anything, feel free to ask me, but that’s about the gist of it.

2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 white or Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
2-4 carrots (depending on their size), cut into 1/2 inch thick half-moons
2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
1 32oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 16oz can diced tomatoes (recommended: Hunts)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup raisins
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon cardamom*
1 teaspoon cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon allspice*
1 tablespoon paprika*

*spices were added to taste, so these are approximate measurements

Saute garlic and onion until translucent. Add bell pepper, celery, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and saute for another 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable stock, and spices; stir. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. If too thick, add water or vegetable stock as needed; if too thin, add tomato paste as needed. Before serving, add raisins and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Serve over a bed of couscous or rice, if desired.

Between yesterday and today, I think I already put in a good 4+ hours making and freezing doughs so I have them ready to bake next week. Currently in my freezer, there are: two discs of plain sugar cookie dough to roll out, cut with cookie cutters, and hand-decorate (last year I hand cut and decorated about 3 dozen snowflake sugar cookies, a process which took at least a few hours not including the time to make and freeze the dough); two logs of mint chocolate chip cookie dough to slice and bake; and chocolate chip cookies already portioned out and ready to bake. The sugar cookie dough recipe was from Alton Brown and can be found on the Food Network website; I’ve used it before and it came out good, so I’m hoping for similar results this time around. In addition, I’m probably going to make some butterscotch chip cookies, since my mom really likes those, and some spiced oatmeal raisin and/or gingerbread, two holiday essentials if you ask me.

After the cookies are baked off, I bought some cellophane bags (a pack of clear and a pack with a cute gingerbread pattern on them, to use alternatively) to individually pack the cookies in, and some holiday ribbon (red, green, and white polka-dots) to tie the bags with. Originally, I was going to buy tins to package the cookies in, but I decided that bags would be much easier to transport, maybe using a festive holiday basket (they have them for 50% off at Michaels already.) I might also include little notes with each bag of cookies, but I’m not sure yet.

I’ll try to get pictures next week of the finished products, and I’ll also try to get a picture of myself thrown in there, too, since I am sure that I will be covered in flour and other baking ingredients by the time I am done with all of this damn baking.

2. Do you prefer cider hot or cold?
Cold.

3. Do you like egg nog?
Yes, every once in a while. I find that if I buy a pint of it, though, I never drink the entire container; one or two small glasses is usually enough, then I am good on it for the rest of the season, lol.

4. How do you make punch?
We used to make punch all of the time on New Years Eve at my house using lemon-lime soda, fruit punch, frozen fruit, and a container of sherbert.

Four Foods on Friday

2. Where do you keep your large utensils (such as slotted spoons, spatulas, etc)?
In drawers. I had my drawers neatly organized and arranged, but they are in complete chaos right now.

3. What is your countertop made of?
Not sure. Formica, I think.

4. Do you use canisters in your kitchen?
I have big Tupperware tubs for things like flour, sugar, etc. but I’d love to buy some nicer-looking ceramic or acrylic plastic canisters with hinges one of these days.

Four Foods on Friday