Obligatory Halloween Post -pic heavy-

Halloween comes early in Pullman this year! This whole weekend has been "Halloween"! I've dressed up twice this weekend and had a lot of fun both nights. One night at the bar with friends, one night at a friends party. Overall, a wonderful Halloween weekend.

Well I guess now you're wondering what I dressed up as?

Zombie Pin Up Girl (myzombiepinup.com was my inspiration! -caution lots of gore-)

Still curious? Here's some photos!

bloody finger nails!

Tattoo for character (painted by david!)

Homemade broken leg prosthetic

Night one! Limited gore because I was going to the bar.

Me and Saber before the bar!

Night two! More gore!

The Zombie and the Electron who lived happily ever after!

Upcoming Seattle Trip!

I'm getting excited for my trip out to Seattle in November!
Papa even took a day off while I'm there.
David and I will both be traveling out there for the 3 days (2 nights)
It going to be nice and laid back time to see my family.
Can't wait!
I'm super excited to bring back my side tables and maybe a reading chair. It will be nice to have a real side table instead of my plastic drawers (which will be moved to the office so we can organize in there!!!)
So if anyone has a reading chair... or something similar they're trying to get rid of let me know!!!!

Poverty?

I got a lovely call today from the Whitman County Public Health department, the kind lady called to let me know I was eligible for food stamps and could start in the program immediately.

Not gonna lie, I almost dropped the phone.

Me?
Food stamps?

She must have had the wrong number! But low and behold, no. She was talking to me.
Because I'm working for minimum wage this puts my below the poverty line- especially since I'm also a student so I cannot work full time (some can, I cannot) If I had a child- sure.
I thanked the nice lady on the phone and turned them down, telling her that I lived quite comfortably and I'm sure there was someone else out there who needed them more than I ever did. She in turn told me that if I ever needed them to give her a call- she knows sometimes its hard to accept.

Yes, I would agree with that. Being told the local government thinks I'm poor is a little unsettling.
I'm not completely sure how they got this information- I haven't filed taxes in like two years because I make such little amounts of money.

But now that I'm sitting here thinking about it... David and I live in a nice little apartment, have enough food, are warm (important since it's getting so cold suddenly!), and are for the most part happy. Sure, we limit the amount we go to the bar and eat out, we don't see movies, and we piggy back my parent's netflix account so we don't have to buy our own... but we aren't complaining. For the most part I feel pretty thankful for everything I have.
I mean, even my gliders, who aren't the cheapest, are cheaper than a dog and give me the companionship I need. And I can afford them. Yeah, it takes a few paychecks to put away the money for a new cage set, but its worth it and easy to do.

With the economic issues, the Occupy Wall Street, and everything else I've had to re-evaluate where I stand and how I feel.

Here's the math... If I work full time at minimum wage I'll make about $16,000 this year, on the other hand a CEO at Goldman-sachs will make that in about an hour. I'm all for paying according to skill- but I'm also all for a relatively balanced economy.

The 99% movement makes sense to me the more I look at it.

We, as the US, have one of the highest ratio differences of Executives to their factory workers (its something like 1:100, versus Japan which is like 1:17- don't quote me on that.) Today, while watching the browsing Reddit.com I found this:
Someone making "$200,000 is not a rich person," stated president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. "$500,000 is not a lot of money, particularly if there is no bonus," said director of a compensation consulting firm (source)
I'm going to be a teacher, I'm looking at a starting salary of $40,000 and an average salary of $60,000 after 5 years. $200,000 is not rich?! This is mind boggling to me.

I know I grew up ignorant to money purely for the reason that it was never an issue that I saw. Sure mom would say "we need to stop spending" and we would for a little while, but I never went without a meal, or a birthday gift.
As of recent I've been trying my best to figure out this crazy world of finances... including if I should move to a credit union because of Bank of America's new debt charge ($5 a month?! are you joking?!)

The call from the Dept. of Health has made me think... and I'm gonna keep thinking...

Get stuff done early

Pays off and makes me less stressed!
This week that I was sure was going to be the death of me, may actually end up just fine.
Other than studying for an exam tomorrow I am good to go!
Everything is done, all I've got left is work and an exam!
I should get my homework done early more often.
Its a great feeling!

Long Week Ahead

I'm taking a moment out of studying to post... and to take a mental break.
This week will be hard, but I think I'll be okay in the long run.
I got a lot of hours at work, lots of school work, and its homecoming week.
Wish me luck!

Pumpkin seeds and memories

I have a very vivid memory of one fall day carving pumpkins and laughing with my Grandma Dode and Lars. As we pulled out the stringy guts of the pumpkin Grandma started putting them in a bowl. I was so confused and asked why.

She said "to make pepitos of course!"

I hadn't a clue in the world what pepitos were. Apparently that's what my grandmother called roasted pumpkin seeds.

Being only 10 or so at the time I automatically assumed they would be totally gross, but tried them none the less. I feel head over heals in love with those silly tear drop shaped seeds.

Flash forward to today...

Its a rare occasion when I get the house to myself. Tonight was one of those nights.

Sitting on my were two little pumpkins I picked up at Safeway a few days ago. And one was just begging to be carved. Bored, home alone, looking for something to do other than clean, carving one of the little pumpkins seemed like an AWESOME idea!

Carving the pumpkin was fun, turned out to be a three eyed monster (but that's another post). As I scooped out those little seeds the memories of the autumn day, 11 years ago, came rushing back to me. That's when I decided I wanted, no needed those seeds to be roasted, so that one by one I could pop them into my mouth and savor their earthy goodness.

So now I'm sitting here, eating my "pepitos" and fighting back tears.

I can't believe its already been over a year since Grandma Dode died. It kills me to know the last time we parted ways was with me being angry with her. That's not fair to her, or me.

At the end our relationship was great, better than it'd ever been. Our only qualms being over David. I hope she eventually realized how happy David makes me.

I miss her so much. I'd give anything for one more day with her.

Here Comes the Cold

And I'm adoring it!!!!
It hasn't gotten above 60 today and we had to give in and turn on the heat in multiple rooms!
I wore a sweatshirt all day with out over heating, and am cuddled under a blanket as I type.
This is AWESOME!

Eucalyptus!!!

Today, a wonderful package arrived in the mail! A box full of eucalyptus for the gliders! YAY!
The gliders were more excited about it then I could have ever imagined it! As I sit here I can hear them tearing it apart.
I posted a couple of pictures -> here
I hope you enjoy them and get a kick out of them the way I did!

Day in the Life of a Cook -pic heavy-

Every once in a while at work we can't help but take out our phone camera and immortalize a moment that comes along.
Sometimes, these moments are the pictures we are asked to draw on boxes (I posted those here) or the orders that come in (below) or the designs on pizzas (below).
Here's my collection of these immortalized moments.
I hope you enjoy them!

Who are we assuming is the Spanish speaker here? me or the customer?

Really? 60 pizzas for carry out? Good luck gettin' that out the door!
(Btw this was a football team, they tipped well, and they were awesome!)

So you just want beef on that pizza?

I'm not exactly sure what "kindens" is but I'll sure do my best to add it to the love!

It always freaks me out when my name pops up on the order screen...

So you want a cheese pizza? Sure! I feel like just asking for a cheese pizza would have been easier though!

Pepperoni in the shape of a biohazard symbol (by request)-
I dunno about you but if my pep. pizza showed up with that sign, I'm not sure I'd eat it!

"Cut pizza in a tri-force"- Awesomely nerdy pizza request!

Hope you enjoyed some of the joys of being a cook!