So the idea that I could focus on finding work didn't work out as well as I would have hoped. But more pressing things have come up. I've finally set a date for my thesis defense. It will be May 4th at 2PM in ES 80. But that means I have a lot of work to do. And some very serious deadlines. I have to complete my advisers edits basically by tomorrow. Which there are pages of... One might wonder why I'm blogging if I have so much work to do. Procrastination! The BEAST! Anyway, will do it one way or another. Then Monday I send it out to my committee. Oh my! Home stretch.
My worry is, not that I won't get it done, but what if I get a job opportunity? I really can't do anything until mid-May. Blah. Just have to hope that things turn out for the best. This is not my normal style, but I don't really have a choice at the moment. I need a job more that ever, my cat needs a place to live, I need money, all of which require me to have a job. Oh well, must not concern myself yet. Something will come up at the appropriate time, right? Yes!
On that half-positive note, back to work on some thesis edits.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Semi-Completion!
A couple of hours a go I finished writing my thesis! It still needs a bit of editing, but it's complete! I have gone through it a few times and will need to go through it many more times, but everything is there that I need to work with! I have some editing I'll need to do on the discussion and conclusion tomorrow morning and then I send it off to my adviser. He'll edit it to bits and send it back to me, I'll fix and then, we'll have a working draft I think I can send to my committee. That's the great thing about my adviser, he is so thorough that I think I'll just need to fix his remarks and edits and I'll have a very good product.
I feel really good having everything together. I know there are quite a few things I need to do, like build my presentation and edit and think and plan. But, this is such a huge step!
Anyway, now that the hardest part is done (I say that with some trepidation) I can finally find a job. So, for the next week (until I get the edits back) I'm going to concentrate on writing really awesome cover letters and finding a job.
To celebrate, I am going to a movie after I'm done with the edits tomorrow and I'm going to read a book this weekend.
So great!
I feel really good having everything together. I know there are quite a few things I need to do, like build my presentation and edit and think and plan. But, this is such a huge step!
Anyway, now that the hardest part is done (I say that with some trepidation) I can finally find a job. So, for the next week (until I get the edits back) I'm going to concentrate on writing really awesome cover letters and finding a job.
To celebrate, I am going to a movie after I'm done with the edits tomorrow and I'm going to read a book this weekend.
So great!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Frustration
My thesis is coming along, the background is coming together and I hoping to start working on my discussion and conclusion soon. I've got the background well enough together that I just need some basic editing. I haven't been able to find any sources that explicitly talk about soluble organic phosphorus. I want to be able to say more about what kinds of phosphorus are dissolved in the water column or pore water, but I haven't found much besides suggestions that they exist. I'm not talking about the obvious soluble reactive phosphorus though. Oh well, I think something will come up eventually.
On the job front, I'm making less progress. I got an interview with an AmeriCorps position but it wasn't a paid position. I got another couple of rejection letters. I thought it was getting better but now I'm just not seeing anything... I really want to be able to work. I worked at the elections office for about two weeks. It was really boring, but it felt good to do something. I'm also looking forward to being paid. Luckily, that will tie me over for a little while.
Oh, on a side note, I made my best loaf of challah yet! I'll post the recipe with pictures later. I halved the recipe which, I think, made it easier to work with and led to the better loaves. I say loaves because I made a tiny round loaf too. Very cute! And tasty. Then the next morning Z and I made french toast with the remains, and that was so good!
On the job front, I'm making less progress. I got an interview with an AmeriCorps position but it wasn't a paid position. I got another couple of rejection letters. I thought it was getting better but now I'm just not seeing anything... I really want to be able to work. I worked at the elections office for about two weeks. It was really boring, but it felt good to do something. I'm also looking forward to being paid. Luckily, that will tie me over for a little while.
Oh, on a side note, I made my best loaf of challah yet! I'll post the recipe with pictures later. I halved the recipe which, I think, made it easier to work with and led to the better loaves. I say loaves because I made a tiny round loaf too. Very cute! And tasty. Then the next morning Z and I made french toast with the remains, and that was so good!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sugar Cookies
Today, I spent almost 4 hours making sugar cookies including frosting. I followed this recipe: http://gottalittlespacetofill.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-sugar-cookies-ever.html
I don't particularly like sugar cookies, but some neighbors dropped some off and they were fantastic, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I followed the directions to a T and still, I don't think the recipe is that great. The dough was really sticky and hard to roll out at first. The first batch came out really crispy so I decreased the baking time to eight minutes instead of ten.
I think that most sugar cookies come out tasting kind of like corn bread, there is this corny/wheaty tasty to them that I think is unpleasant. They tasted ok with frosting and sprinkles on them. I think that the frosting is key, no frosting and you get some weird version of corn bread.
The frosting I made with powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. Turned out pretty good and a good consistency. I didn't color it but we had colored sprinkles. I'm not the best froster either so, some of them aren't very pretty. At least they're tasty and the frosting set up really well (not sticky anymore).
Over all, not a success, but maybe not a failure either.
Really should have spent those hours working my thesis. It is coming along slowly. Oh the guilt of writing a thesis...
I don't particularly like sugar cookies, but some neighbors dropped some off and they were fantastic, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I followed the directions to a T and still, I don't think the recipe is that great. The dough was really sticky and hard to roll out at first. The first batch came out really crispy so I decreased the baking time to eight minutes instead of ten.
I think that most sugar cookies come out tasting kind of like corn bread, there is this corny/wheaty tasty to them that I think is unpleasant. They tasted ok with frosting and sprinkles on them. I think that the frosting is key, no frosting and you get some weird version of corn bread.
The frosting I made with powdered sugar, butter, milk and vanilla. Turned out pretty good and a good consistency. I didn't color it but we had colored sprinkles. I'm not the best froster either so, some of them aren't very pretty. At least they're tasty and the frosting set up really well (not sticky anymore).
Over all, not a success, but maybe not a failure either.
Really should have spent those hours working my thesis. It is coming along slowly. Oh the guilt of writing a thesis...
Friday, December 18, 2009
Did not meet deadline...
I did not meet the deadline to have a substantial portion of my background written. However, I did get a lot of work done and I feel that although the deadline passed, I have work to show for my week. I've finished a lot of my phosphorus cycle, which I was having problems with before. I have my phosphorus fractionation section and sediment incubation sections to write left. Then whatever else that needs filling in. Hopefully, little by little I'll have this thing written!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
"Cheesecake"
So, I am a big fan of foodgawker.com and a few weeks ago someone posted Apple Cranberry "Cheesecake." It's a raw, vegan cheesecake, the filling made with cashews. Here is the link to the original: http://www.rawmazing.com/recipes/apple-cranberry-cheesecake/
Well, we had a lot of apples lying around (I know that this recipe doesn't actually call for that many apples) so I decided to make my own version. I'm not vegan or a raw foodist, I just thought the picture looked so appealing! But I didn't have a few things that the recipe called for, including cashews, agave syrup and a dehydrator.
So, for the filling I blanched about two cups of almonds, ground them up with some honey (making it not vegan), Earth Balance butter and some cinnamon and nutmeg. For the crust I food processed flax seed, pecans, some brown sugar, olive oil and pressed the blended crust into a glass bread pan. Then I pressed some slices of apple with brown sugar on top of the crust. The filling I pressed on top of the apples, with more apples on top of the filing.
My boyfriend and I tried it immediately, I was surprised how sweet it is. But it wasn't very creamy which was disappointing, but obviously no diary that's going to be the way it is. He didn't like it very much either, but I think I might bake it today to see how it turns out.
Overall this wasn't a success, but then again, maybe if you can't actually have cheesecake, it's the best you can make do with. I think that it has some potential, maybe next time I'll actually use cashews and see how it turns out.
Well, we had a lot of apples lying around (I know that this recipe doesn't actually call for that many apples) so I decided to make my own version. I'm not vegan or a raw foodist, I just thought the picture looked so appealing! But I didn't have a few things that the recipe called for, including cashews, agave syrup and a dehydrator.
So, for the filling I blanched about two cups of almonds, ground them up with some honey (making it not vegan), Earth Balance butter and some cinnamon and nutmeg. For the crust I food processed flax seed, pecans, some brown sugar, olive oil and pressed the blended crust into a glass bread pan. Then I pressed some slices of apple with brown sugar on top of the crust. The filling I pressed on top of the apples, with more apples on top of the filing.
My boyfriend and I tried it immediately, I was surprised how sweet it is. But it wasn't very creamy which was disappointing, but obviously no diary that's going to be the way it is. He didn't like it very much either, but I think I might bake it today to see how it turns out.
Overall this wasn't a success, but then again, maybe if you can't actually have cheesecake, it's the best you can make do with. I think that it has some potential, maybe next time I'll actually use cashews and see how it turns out.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)