A blessing in disguise?

This week I've been kind of tired and having a hard time feeling "caught up" since I had such a busy weekend last week.  I think I've technically gotten everything back to its usual order (except ohmygosh do I need to clean my floors!), but I still just can't get out of that funk.  Do you ever have that problem?  When I don't have any time to just chill at home on the weekends, I feel like it takes me two weeks to get back to normal.

Anyway, I've been forcing myself to do the stuff I know I should be doing, even though I haven't felt like it.  On Tuesday night, Matt and I went grocery shopping for the week.  We were both starving and we didn't really feel like cooking.  We went through our usual go-to's that are in the house--veggie burgers, ravioli, pasta with homemade frozen meatballs-- but none of it really seemed appealing.  I was thisclose to pulling the "can we just grab pizza?" card, when I decided what we should really have was salmon!  

If you know me, this is a weird thing for me to decide.  I have played a pretty tough nothing-that-swims diet since childhood, but I think I may be a convert after all, because I actually craved seafood.  We bought some mustard and brown sugar marinated wild-caught salmon from the fish counter to grill on the Foreman, roasted some asparagus, and made some 5 minute whole-wheat couscous.

Faster and much healthier than any takeout!

The whole meal came together in about 15 minutes, which is less time than we would have waited to get pizza and I really felt better about eating this.  Also, that mustard and brown sugar marinade was awesome!  Must remember for future dinners.   

I made another Green Monster yesterday and it was even better than the day before!  I decided that for me, I need to have the banana fresh, not frozen.  It adds a creaminess I just love.  This monster was so delish, but I had to quit half way through because I was SO FULL.  I poured the rest into an air tight drink container and put it in the fridge overnight.  I finished it this morning--and I have to tell you--it was even better after sitting over night!  Maybe the oats soaked up extra milk or the ingredients got to know each other better--whatever, I don't care what the reason was, it was so good!

Then, I set my trusty pal, The Crock Pot, to make my dinner for me while I went to work.  Today that little beauty made me Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry.  Oh.  My.  God.  I can't even express how good this was!  I used chicken leg-thigh pieces because that's what I had from our Meat CSA.  The meat was tender and juicy and the sauce was an amazing consistency.  The original poster of the recipe noted that she is not much of a sauce person, but she had drenched her rice in this sauce.  Well I totally AM a sauce person and I went back for seconds... and thirds... of sauce to cover my rice. No grain of rice left behind!  Yum.  I will totally be making this frequently.

The dishes are done, I made lunches for tomorrow (I made myself a salad of 50/ 50 blend, dried figs, a little ham, and some toasted pecans with a mustard vinaigrette.  I'm really excited to eat it tomorrow!), my face is washed, and my teeth are brushed and flossed, so I'm hangin' on the couch watching The Wonder Years.  

Now for the part that goes with the title of this entry.  Today, I was having a totally normal, casual conversation with my boss when he suddenly told me that he's having trouble finding money to continue funding my position.  I did know that my position was technically a one year appointment (I started in March), but he has previously seemed pretty optimistic that he would find funding to continue to pay me.  It seems that may have changed.  So, while I have a position until at least late February/ March, I probably need to find something new.

Why is this possibly a blessing in disguise?  Well, I don't really want to be a scientist.  I've known this for awhile and definitely knew that before I started this position.  I have actually been looking for a new job since I started this one, but I haven't had any bites yet.  Now that I have my boss's blessing to look for jobs and use him as a reference, I feel more confident about applying to more jobs.  I still have this feeling of "wait-you-don't-break-up-with-me,I-break-up-with-you!" but at the very least, I appreciate that he didn't walk in one way and tell me my time had run out and instead gave me some warning.

I don't want to end on a negative note, so I'll say that I have found some jobs I am pretty interested in and I am hopeful that this will be the break I've been waiting for.  Until next time!

Trips to the water cooler...

Being a lab technician is weird in the sense that I think sometimes my boss forgets I exist.  It's kind of nice most of the time, since I can do things like update my blog, read other blogs, play Words with Friends, etc. but since he usually stops in the lab later on in the day I have to at least look busy.

Things I do to look busy:
Write in my lab notebook
Wash dishes
Calibrate scales
Sign off on our waste removal area
Go to the bathroom and run my hands under hot water for awhile (it's freakin' COLD in here!)
Check to see if my boss is still here
Go to the water cooler and fill up my bottle

The last one is key because I've been trying to drink two full bottles a day.  My bottles look like this:

They hold about 650mL of water, so two bottles a day is about 1.3L of water.  Drinking water doesn't seem like a big deal, but have you ever gone awhile without drinking enough water?  It makes me tired and cranky, so hydrate up!

Don't be afraid of Monsters!

I meant to mention in a brief post on Thursday that it would be unlikely that I'd post anything for the rest of the weekend, as I was too busy participating in the wedding weekend of one of my best friends, Robin, and her wonderful husband, Alex!  The festivities began on Thursday night, when we gathered at Robin's Mom's house for dinner.  We continued on Friday by decorating the venue and having the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Centerpieces, all handmade by the bride and her Mom.

Christmas tree loaded with pics of the bride and groom.

Seating assignments in cute pinecones!

The bride is a graphic designer, so all of her table assignments, invitations, programs, thank-yous, etc. were impeccably done.  Her Mom is also a Martha Stewart of sorts, so they hand made all of the decorations.  It was so incredibly beautiful on Friday morning that I could not wait to see it with the candles lit on Saturday night.

We spent some time on Friday eating lasagna and dancing/ singing at the rehearsal dinner.  I sat with some of my favorite people in the whole world!

My other two best gals with our guys.

We spent Saturday morning getting hair/ makeup ready, and wrapped up on Saturday evening with one of the most beautiful ceremonies and most fun receptions I've ever been to.

Congratulations, Robin and Alex!

Naturally, on Sunday, I was totally exhausted.  However, when great things keep happening for your friends, you don't get to rest!  I got myself up and out the door for Krystal's baby shower!  You may remember that I attended Krystal and Mike's wedding back in September.  (Yes, I attended four weddings this year.  R&A's was my last 'til 2012!)  They are also having a baby boy in February!  I am SO excited for them, as Krystal has talked about wanting to be a Mom since I've known her.  

I didn't get to do any housework over the weekend, so I went into Monday feeling less than stellar.  When I got out of work, I really didn't feel like doing anything, but I forced myself to start dinner as soon as I walked in the door, followed by throwing in a load of laundry, and walking downtown to grab a few things from the grocery store.  The loop from my house to the store and back is somewhere around a mile, not much, but it actually did get me to wake up and stay energized to finish the rest of the laundry, cook dinner, and do the dishes.

Taco rice with avocado and Cholula.  Mm.

Now, finally getting to the part about where this title comes from.  I've been reading a few blogs for while that advocate drinking Green Monster Smoothies.  They are basically smoothies that are packed with spinach, giving a bright green color, a whole lotta vitamins, and (supposedly) very little flavor.  I decided that today was the day when I would try one.  I adapted my recipe from Iowa Girl Eats and used 1 cup 1% milk, 1/4 cup uncooked oats, 1 frozen banana, 1 tablespoon Almond Butter, 1 tablespoon of chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast, and 2 medium sized handfulls of spinach (I was nervous, okay!).

Enough to fill a pint glass, plus a little more.

In the first sip, I could taste the spinach, but it became less and less noticeable as I continued drinking and it was pretty tasty.  I will definitely be making more in the future to use up my outrageously expensive almond butter.  The grocery store I went to last night is VERY small and kind of boutique-ish, so my jar of almond butter cost $15.49!  Ahh!  Too!  Much!  I don't know how I didn't realize it before taking it home, I think I was lost in thoughts about its potential deliciousness.  It is really really good, but I will not be buying it there again anytime soon. 

Well, I suppose I should get to work on the never ending pile of glassware that awaits me in the lab sink.  Have a good day!