Me, Myself and I

Not much has happened in this last week, which is good. After all of the people laid off at work, schedule changes, training, inspections, etc it was nice to have a somewhat normal week at work. But it was slow. Which makes for a long day and long week.
Last weekend I went to a local apple festival. It was a beautiful day and I bought some of my favourite candles, 3 lbs of apples, gourdes and a kick-ass apple peeler/corder/cutter. It works great! I used it on the 3 lbs of apples and made 2 apple crisps... one small one for home, a large one for work. I should have bought more apples!
Here is the recipe that I use:

Apple Crisp
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 quarts peeled, cored and sliced apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon,
nutmeg and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly.
Sprinkle apple slices with crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender.

Makes a 9x13 pan.

The S.O. is away up north for two nights so I have the place to myself until Sunday afternoon. I think I will take the dog to the groomers, pick up some sushi for supper and some snacks for later and maybe a movie. Exactly the weekend I need.
I am still suffering from that rash and my allergist appointment is just over a week away. I have been spacing out my predisone to make it last. But I have to be drug free for 4 days before I go. IT WILL BE HELL I am sure. I finally found a few conditions that it could be so I will show them to the doctor and see what he has to say. The last one I found really sounds like it could be it. It is called Atopic Dermatitis, which is a type of eczema. As long as I can find out what it definitely is, that is all that matters!

The Axe Fell

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update. The weekend was a right off as I was feeling really rough with the rash/allergic reaction I am having. I actually didn't leave the house all weekend. I saw my family doctor Monday and got put back on Prednisone (thank god!) and she is supposed to set up an appointment for me to see an allergist. I haven't heard anything yet and if I don't hear my tomorrow, I will call her. My biggest fear is that I will run out of Prednisone before I see the allergist and I will be right back in the beginning.

Things at work were very bad Monday and Tuesday. The axe fell with several hundred people across the province losing their job in our division. We lost one full time and 2 occasional people from our department. The f/t was going to retire next year anyway and the package she receieved was unbelievable. If she would have left last year she would have gotten nothing. One occasional had been with us 20 years but this was a second job for her and she was ok with it. The third was pretty upset as she had a f/t job in another department and worked with us occasionally. Her entire department got let go. But losing the people also means that we can't fill their shifts. So we still have the same amount of work with less people to do it. As sad as I am for everyone, the selfish side of me is happy that I still have mine. I love my job and the prospect of finding another like the one I have was terrifing. It is not a common job.

On top of all the job losses, it was announced that we are receiving an analyzer from another department and will now be responsible for all that testing. I am actually looking forward to it. It will be something new to learn (which I always think is a good idea) and I have already put my name in for the training responsibility. Everyone else is busy with committees and job duties and I don't have anything I my plate and I think that I am ready. I have been there over 2 years now and I don't think me being added some responsibility is too much to ask for. I mentioned this to my boss and he actually said that my name has been already put out there to be a trainer between the other department's supervisor, himself, and their boss, our manager. Made me feel kind of good! And our band new set of analyzers are coming next month. Ths will be a longer process as it has to be shipped in, set up, calibrated and patient verified. And of course everyone has to be trained. We also have our lab accreditation and safety audit. All of this is happening at the same time within an 8 week period. It will be sterssful and very busy but if we can get through these next 8 weeks, we can get through anything! Rumour has it that after the 8 weeks everyone has to get reorganized, there may be job losses again. I know that it could be me but after speaking with my boss, their thoughts are that they want to keep us young scarce skilled workers. That would leave me safe. I guess I will find out for sure in 8 weeks.

After work last night, 4 of us went out and had maragritas and food. We blew off some steam, openly talked and tried to keep a positive outlook on the whole picture. It was exactly what we all needed and we had a great time. It is a fairly common occurance to go out Wednesdays but since we hadn't in awhile, this one was quite therapeutic.

You Betcha

Ever feel like just chucking everything out the window and saying:
?

Uugh

So two days after I finished my steroids for the rash, it came back. I left work early yesterday as I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday where she should give me another prescription and send me off to an allergist. WTF is going on?!? I had plans all day tomorrow so I had to cancel those and I have nothing going on Sunday so it looks like a weekend on the couch for me.

We have a meeting at work with our manager on Tuesday. We are assuming that it will be the announcemnet on what is going to happen to our division. Hey, I don't care who buys us, just as long we all have a job. We think the layoffs will be management only. Someone needs to run the lab right? And if some lab personnel are let go, we figure the ones close to retirement will take a package.

The S.O. has been on contract for 3 years and as soon as he heard about my job, he got pretty worried. Wouldn't that be wonderful if we were both out of a job? But I think I am safe and he has an interview for a full time position! He is so excited as am I! He has applied every year to get hired full time and has never been given an interview. He says it is a really good sign and from what he has heard, the "interview" is just a formality. So hopefully he will know next week! Keep your fingers crossed! He wanted to get full time before he proposed to me. Maybe his will mean we can finally get married. I'm not getting any younger. ;)

Chicken With White Wine & Stuffing

He is one of my favourite yet simple dishes. The S.O. loves this and I like it because of the wine and cheese. What could be a better combination than that?

Chicken With White Wine & Stuffing

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups pre-shredded Italian blend cheese (I like Sargentto)
1 can mushroom soup
1 box chicken flavoured stuffing
1/4 cup melted butter

Place chicken in a 8.5x11 baking dish.
Cover chicken evenly with shredded cheese.
Mix soup and wine together and pour over chicken and cheese.
Mix melted butter with the stuffing and sprinkle evenly over top.
Bake at 350* for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more.

Bits and Snippets

So no major or earth shattering news so here is just some pieces of several small pieces of news:

We stopped by a friend's place on Saturday on our way to Costco. I think we "caught" them as it took him a long time to get to the door and he was looking a little disheveled. But it turned out they were going too so we waited for them to get ready and we all went together. After dropping $200 we went to Jack Astor's for a yummy lunch. We parted ways after that and the S.O. and went to pick some verticle blinds for our patio doors. We have been here since October and we still have nothing covering them. I think it is about time. I am ordering them today.

My rash is 95% gone! Thank goodness for steroids! My colour is back and the itching is gone. But the predisone did have two side effects: I lost my appetite (which isn't a bad thing really) and I was starting to get irritable. I only was given enough for 5 days so today is my last dose. Thank goodness and I hope it never returns!

My company that I work for is selling off the division I work for. At first I was pretty nervous about what would happen but everyone will think this is good news as we will finally get some attention given to us. We have been put on the back burner for a long time and kind of forgotten about but now we will be able to get our new equipment and systems, some of which is already in the works. There will be layoffs but everyone seems to think it will be lower and middle management, not the lab personnel. We are what keeps the lab going and we are getting our first set of new analyzers next month, several hundred thousand dollars worth. But if there are a few of us that has to leave, I think a few of us will be taking early retirement packages.

My babysat my niece for 8 hours on Saturday while my sister and BIL were in town for a baseball tourney. It was so fun! She is a great baby and is happy to play by herself. She is finally sitting up on her own now. Last month she just decided to do it. That was it. She is just over 10 months old now. She is definitely not in a rush to crawl and walk I think. :) We had lunch, snacks and a couple of naps and she was happy all day. My sister stopped in a few times between games and our folks came down to watch a few so they stopped by for a bit. It was a great day.
My niece looks so much like my dad. Our family definitely has the stronger family resemblance.








Posting pics through Blogger is really starting to piss me off. After I upload them and click to insert, nothing happens. No link gets inserted into my post. I don't know what is happening but it is getting frustrating. I have tried all weekend to post 12 pics on my other blog and I have only gotten to 6. I think I will just have to link them from my online photo hosting site. Stupid Blogger!

Going, Going...

But not gone yet.
My doctor has no idea either what the rash could be from either. She gave me a script for Prednisone (steroid) and although she said it probably won't help until tomorrow, I can feel relief already thank goodness.
If I still have it in 5 days she is sending me to an allergist. I last time I itched was over 7 hours ago. Hopefully this is a good sign. And rash on my back seems to be going away.
But... I think I have had a slight fever on and off and my facial colouring shocked me. I look almost grey. Even the S.O. commented on it. But I feel ok. I hope it is just me fighting whatever it is that I have. Or me taking the Prednisone.
We will see what happens tomorrow.