Busy Night

I just love spending time with my family and old (meaning good) friends. The kids came over and had pizza and spent some time playing in the lukewarm spa. They had a blast splashing each other and me. 

Look at that buck-toothed grin! If we had let him he would have walked right out into the middle and tried to swim across. No Fear! We couldn't convince them to get out of the water until we enticed them with ice cream.

Then it was out to the garden to harvest a carrot or two.

  

And some grape tomatoes.

Then it was off to dinner with my good friend Roger. He chose a french cafe called Le Pain de Quotidien. His french skills were put to the test trying to pronounce it. :) He succeeded.

We both ordered Tartines and guess what was on mine... yup! Basil. Roasted turkey, smoked mozzarella and an amazing basil pesto. Oh and those radishes. 

There was no way I could finish this especially after today's relatively large lunch. This is when it's good to have a guy at the table, give him the extra food. :) I tried some of Roger's mint lemonade too. A little tart but refreshing for such humid, hot weather.

What a day! Good food, great friends, happy kiddos and no work!

Tomorrow I'm celebrating the end of my library era by spending a day at the spa with my sister and my mom. Fancy huh?

Have a great night!

Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Basil oh my!

Ah! My first day as a semi-unemployed person. It definitely hasn't sunk in yet but I started off in a good way. I met up with my good friend Tianne for lunch this afternoon. We were both famished by the time we got there so we were very glad to see our food delivered to our table. Like yesterday, today is overcast and humid although not quite as bad. So we braved the outdoor patio at the Corner Bakery. It was an excellent lunch and the conversation was even better.

I had a very mozarella-y and tomato-y lunch. 

Arugula side salad with red and yellow tomatoes, basil and a lemon garlic dressing. It was good but I wouldn't pair it with this sandwich again.

Tomato and Mozarella on Ciabatta Ficelle with roasted red peppers, basil, arugula (yes more!) and balsamic vinaigrette. Different bread next time. 

I need to mix it up. Way too many of the same ingredients in that lunch :)

Tianne took this great picture with her phone and was kind enough to share it with me. Thanks Tianne! 

We took a short little walk to do some shopping before heading out. I'm going to miss having this girl close-by.

I have dinner plans with another friend tonight and before that, my niece and nephews are coming over so  my brother and his wife can celebrate their 11th anniversary with a dinner date. Congratulations to them!

Oatmeal Error

Well, it's here! My last day at the library. First, I work at the school for a summer program and then it's off to a short, last shift at the library. WOO!

I tried another doughboy smoothie similar to the mango one. I really like the last one. Mainly because I could make it the night before and then I didn't have to think about breakfast the next morning. This morning though, my strawberry cheesecake doughboy smoothie was a major fail.

I tried it before adding my toppings and I'm so glad I did. It was so bland and chalky that I didn't want to waste any more strawberries or granola for toppings. I must have done something wrong. Maybe... a different yogurt next time. Oh and I didn't bother trying to take a decent picture either. That's how little I cared. :) 

Now I have no breakfast plans. Shoot!

On another note, last night before getting my smoothe ready I walked into the kitchen and something on the kick plate of the cupboards caught my eye. Oh! Hello massive shiny black widow! 

She was very healthy looking but only for a short time. She has officially left this life. Aren't they beautiful in an extremely creepy way?

Glad I saw her before I reached down there for anything.

Off to work!

Have a great day

Tennis Night

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and well wishes. It means a lot to know that other people are rooting for you.

Today was my last Tuesday at the library. WHOA! that sounds weird.

Lunch was amazing. Anyone recognize it?

This salad was so good I had to make it again for today. 

 A lunch like this makes me so anxious for my lunch break. :)

I cam home for my dinner break and I was greeted by this lovely lady. 

She's extra sweet, missing a collar and sooo gentle! If nobody calls to claim her, we might be looking for a new home for a sweet puppy.

Now, it's back to work for one of the last times. Tennis date with my brother tonight. I really really look forward to our tennis nights! Have a good one everyone. Thanks again for your kind words!

News

Hello All!

I hope you are making it through your Monday ok and you had an enjoyable weekend. I mentioned some news that I wanted to share and Monday is here so here's my news. 

You may remember reading that I had an appointment last week. My "appointment" was an interview for a position in Nutrition Services Department at Loma Linda University Medical Center. It apparently went very well because I received a very exciting phone call on Friday.

I got the job!

All of the sudden, a million things went through my mind. Within the hour I was leaving the house, on my way to the library to give them 2 weeks notice. I can't believe that this chapter of my life is finally coming to a close. I'll sheepishly admit that as of this month, I've been at the library job for 7 years. Although I've complained about my library job for many (many, many) years, it is a little scary to think that I won't be there any more. There's security in places that are familiar and comfortable. As much as I may have complained, it will be weird to venture out of the "comfort" of my library position. It was a wonderful job to get me through High School and college... and after college :) but I have felt that it was time to move on for a while now.  I'm torn about leaving my teaching job because I was just getting to know and love my students. I was building a good working relationship with the teachers and office staff but this is a very big and very important step for my career.  Change is always a little scary. 

I had to document the moment at which I realized my library job was OVER! I think incredulity was the reigning emotion that day. It's dark but I promise you I could not stop smiling.

This will be my last week as an employee of the public library and August will be my last month at my teaching job.

Today I was able to get a tentative start date of August 6th for my hospital job.

I'm still riding the excitement wave with a very small undercurrent of anxiety and uncertainty. I think I'm half expecting Loma Linda to call and say they changed their mind. YIKES! 

This new job brings new incentive to register and take my Dietetic Technician Registered Exam (DTR). As soon as I pass that test they can give me a hefty raise. 

So.... 

I registered for the exam!

Now begins study countdown. T-minus 58 days.

Woohoo! It's so exhilarating to see progression towards becoming an RD finally. 

I think this is why I started this blog in the first place. It's been an awesome medium to journal my career path just in the short time I've been writing. I hope that in a couple of years I will have a similar post announcing that I can write "R.D." after my name :)

I hope that writing about it will help keep me focused and on track. I'm sure you guys will all be a big help too!