Only at UD do things like this happen.
I have been asking for the last six months for a little job to be done in my office that would take about a half an hour to complete by Maintenance but would allow me to do a million other projects, and it still sits undone. However, today, upon discovering that there was a sizable smudge on the freshly waxed floors immediately outside my office door, they decided to sand, scrub, and re-wax the floor without even notifying me. I left for lunch having to walk over damp, recently mopped floors, and when I returned an hour later, the entire floor my office is on was locked (with my keys inside) with a sign that said "WET WAX. DO NOT ENTER."
Really? Really, maintenance staff? You waxed the only entrance to my office in the hour that I was gone, requiring me to either sit outside my office for the rest of the day, go home, or break in to the floor and tip toe across the shiny surface in order to get some work done. I chose the latter because there are things to be done. But I'm sure I'll hear about it tomorrow morning.
Only at UD...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Best Granola Ever
There seems to be some buzz about my granola lately, so I suppose I'll share my recipe, although if I was smart, I'd sell the rights to it or sell the product itself. I could make a killing. In fact, I may just do that...but not for you guys. You, the faithful few readers, you get it for free. :)
Best Granola Ever
Dry Ingredients:
5 cups old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind)
2 cups almonds (I use natural, no salt, whole almonds)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (again, natural, no salt, shelled seeds)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (same deal)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg
a sprinkle of ground cloves (a little goes a long way)
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp. Karo syrup
Later Additions:
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix all wet ingredients. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture, stirring well until all is evenly mixed.
Grease two or three 9x13 or larger cake pans. Spread mixture evenly in a thin layer in each pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and rotating the pans in the oven. Note: I stop the timer when I take the pans out and stir and switch around the pans, so total time for baking may end up longer than 45 minutes. Watch granola closely during the last 5-10 minutes as it can go from beautifully golden to burnt very quickly.
When granola is perfectly golden, remove from oven and allow to cool in pans. Continue stirring every 10 minutes or so to keep it from clumping into one huge bar. Once cool, add the dried fruit. Store in air tight baggies or containers.
Feel free to add different combinations of seeds, grains, nuts, and fruits (dried apples are good, dried tropical fruits could be interesting...) to make your granola your own.
Enjoy!
Best Granola Ever
Dry Ingredients:
5 cups old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind)
2 cups almonds (I use natural, no salt, whole almonds)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (again, natural, no salt, shelled seeds)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (same deal)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. nutmeg
a sprinkle of ground cloves (a little goes a long way)
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp. Karo syrup
Later Additions:
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix all wet ingredients. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture, stirring well until all is evenly mixed.
Grease two or three 9x13 or larger cake pans. Spread mixture evenly in a thin layer in each pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes and rotating the pans in the oven. Note: I stop the timer when I take the pans out and stir and switch around the pans, so total time for baking may end up longer than 45 minutes. Watch granola closely during the last 5-10 minutes as it can go from beautifully golden to burnt very quickly.
When granola is perfectly golden, remove from oven and allow to cool in pans. Continue stirring every 10 minutes or so to keep it from clumping into one huge bar. Once cool, add the dried fruit. Store in air tight baggies or containers.
Feel free to add different combinations of seeds, grains, nuts, and fruits (dried apples are good, dried tropical fruits could be interesting...) to make your granola your own.
Enjoy!
Monday, July 27, 2009
14,000 Feet
Althought it's been a few weeks since my trip, I wanted to take a moment and chronical the journey, mainly so I could look back someday and smile.
Dad and I took our first he-and-I vacation this summer to the wild west of Colorado. The goal: climb as many 14,000-foot mountains as we could in four days. We took off early on Saturday, July 11th and drove the whole way in a day to our destination of Dillon, Colorado.
Once there, we debated climbing a smaller peak on day one or head straight for the big guns. Of course, we decided to do a 14er on the first day. Mt. Sherman would be our first climb. It's known to the 14er circles as one of the easiest 14ers in Colorado, so we figured we could tackle it. As it turns out, "easy" is a relative term. I thought it was a tough climb, but it was my own fault after all. I was too darn lazy to train for the trip, and some last minute planning left me with little time to train anyway. My scrawny legs struggled to propel my body up the mountain, but luckily, my will and ambition were just slightly stronger than my muscles, and we made the summit in a matter of hours.
The second day, we tackled Quandary Peak. This was a tricky one because all of the trail guides we had read listed it as a Class 1, which signifies that the path should be clear, safe, and "easy". There's that word again. Quandary was a constant slope, almost never leveling out anywhere. And it was long - over six miles round trip. Imagine, if you will, walking up a ramp, at about a 45 degree angle, for over three miles - that's Quandary Peak. My calves were so sore, I didn't know what to do with myself on the way up, and on the way down, our knees where crying equally as loud. Even though it was long and tough, it was pretty darn fun. We encountered several mountain goats on our way up that seemed to want to play or eat or something that was much too close for comfort. We did get caught it a bit of a rain storm on the way down, but it wasn't too bad - just rain, no hail.
On day three, we were ready to tackle a behemouth of a mountain hike - the DeCaLiBron - four peaks, all at 14,000 feet or higher. We arrived at the trailhead at some terrible hour (left the hotel at 4:00 am), and hit the trail with some nice folks from Texas unintentionally. The first peak was tough, steep and rocky, with the occasional complete lack of any trail at all. The peak was celebrated with all at the top, then we headed down the saddle to peak two. On top of peak two, the wind picked up like nothing I had ever seen. It was constant, steady, freezing, and somewhere in the realm of 40 miles per hour or so. But we powered on to peak three. By now, we were pretty sure we were nuts, but we had no other option but to finish up the run with the forth peak...which we promptly followed with a wrong turn and an abandoned extremely steep path down to the bottom. But hey, it makes for a cool story, right? :)
After that, we talked about doing Grays and Torreys, two notoriously tough peaks that my parents tackled half of last year. But, being the wimp that I am, I just couldn't make my legs climb any more.
Climbing 14ers isn't like just climbing any old mountain path. It's like joining an elite club. On the way up, you encourage people you pass, or more than likely, they encourage you as they pass you. When you show up at the summit, people cheer (seriously), and sometimes you get random high-fives and such. You swap stories of summit experiences (heard about a blizzard in July, a helicopter ride after a broken foot, and so many others). And the first question you hear is typically, "How many have you done?".
I rather enjoy the 14er club, and I am very excited for future trips into rougher territory, climbing steeper and longer trails. But next time, I'll be in better shape...at least my calves hope so. :)
Dad and I took our first he-and-I vacation this summer to the wild west of Colorado. The goal: climb as many 14,000-foot mountains as we could in four days. We took off early on Saturday, July 11th and drove the whole way in a day to our destination of Dillon, Colorado.
Once there, we debated climbing a smaller peak on day one or head straight for the big guns. Of course, we decided to do a 14er on the first day. Mt. Sherman would be our first climb. It's known to the 14er circles as one of the easiest 14ers in Colorado, so we figured we could tackle it. As it turns out, "easy" is a relative term. I thought it was a tough climb, but it was my own fault after all. I was too darn lazy to train for the trip, and some last minute planning left me with little time to train anyway. My scrawny legs struggled to propel my body up the mountain, but luckily, my will and ambition were just slightly stronger than my muscles, and we made the summit in a matter of hours.
The second day, we tackled Quandary Peak. This was a tricky one because all of the trail guides we had read listed it as a Class 1, which signifies that the path should be clear, safe, and "easy". There's that word again. Quandary was a constant slope, almost never leveling out anywhere. And it was long - over six miles round trip. Imagine, if you will, walking up a ramp, at about a 45 degree angle, for over three miles - that's Quandary Peak. My calves were so sore, I didn't know what to do with myself on the way up, and on the way down, our knees where crying equally as loud. Even though it was long and tough, it was pretty darn fun. We encountered several mountain goats on our way up that seemed to want to play or eat or something that was much too close for comfort. We did get caught it a bit of a rain storm on the way down, but it wasn't too bad - just rain, no hail.
On day three, we were ready to tackle a behemouth of a mountain hike - the DeCaLiBron - four peaks, all at 14,000 feet or higher. We arrived at the trailhead at some terrible hour (left the hotel at 4:00 am), and hit the trail with some nice folks from Texas unintentionally. The first peak was tough, steep and rocky, with the occasional complete lack of any trail at all. The peak was celebrated with all at the top, then we headed down the saddle to peak two. On top of peak two, the wind picked up like nothing I had ever seen. It was constant, steady, freezing, and somewhere in the realm of 40 miles per hour or so. But we powered on to peak three. By now, we were pretty sure we were nuts, but we had no other option but to finish up the run with the forth peak...which we promptly followed with a wrong turn and an abandoned extremely steep path down to the bottom. But hey, it makes for a cool story, right? :)
After that, we talked about doing Grays and Torreys, two notoriously tough peaks that my parents tackled half of last year. But, being the wimp that I am, I just couldn't make my legs climb any more.
Climbing 14ers isn't like just climbing any old mountain path. It's like joining an elite club. On the way up, you encourage people you pass, or more than likely, they encourage you as they pass you. When you show up at the summit, people cheer (seriously), and sometimes you get random high-fives and such. You swap stories of summit experiences (heard about a blizzard in July, a helicopter ride after a broken foot, and so many others). And the first question you hear is typically, "How many have you done?".
I rather enjoy the 14er club, and I am very excited for future trips into rougher territory, climbing steeper and longer trails. But next time, I'll be in better shape...at least my calves hope so. :)
Monday, July 06, 2009
Oh Dear
Several of you have already heard this story, but I usually feel better after writing about things, so thus...
Last week at church, I was approached by a man I had met before and talked with a few times. He always used to ask me if I had a boyfriend or if I was planning to get married someday, just, I thought as to give me a bit of a hard time. I would laugh and reply that I did not, and that I wasn't in a hurry. His wife would roll her eyes. But I digress.
He approached me and shook my hand, asked me how things were going. I replied politely, and went to walk away when he started to say, "You know, Lindsey, I wasn't going to come to church today. I had a lot of other things to do, but I decided to come because God told me I should talk with you..." Well then. So, I smiled and continued to politely carry on conversation. The next thing he said when I asked him how things were going was, "Well, I'm not married anymore," while pointing to his ring finger.
Red flag number one. I knew where this was headed.
He went on to tell me about his "other family" from his first wife and his older kids (in their 20s).
Red flag number two. This one was a surprise...not where I thought things were headed.
He went on still to say that he wanted to get to know me and that sometime we should go for a walk or meet for lunch if time allowed.
Red flag number three...ah, this is the direction I anticipated. But, I'm running out of red flags by this time. I was barely speaking at all...just attempting to become invisible right in front of him.
Then he asked for my email address. And for some reason, I gave it to him. Why did I do that?
Twenty minutes later, I was finally free, but my creep-o-meter was off the charts. And then of course there was the little display of affection in the parking lot where this man proceeded to honk his horn and yell goodbye out the window of his car. And to wrap it up, there was the expected email a few hours later asking for my phone number...which I did not share.
Now, all of that seems pretty tame really. I mean, that's all that happened. But those red flags, for some reason, are stuck on alert mode. I couldn't even look at him this week in church. I hid out until he was gone, hoping and praying that he wouldn't come talk to me. He didn't.
Do I have a sign on my back that says, "I love awkward social situations and am available to ridiculously incompatible people only."?
I wanted so badly to just stand up for myself and say, "You know what? I'm not sure what gave you the idea that I was interested in any sort of relationship at all, but I'm not. So please go away." I mean, that would have done the trick. But I just kept thinking, "Christian love. Christian love. Treat him like a brother. You wouldn't want to be shot down if this was you. Christian love." But I think that those lines get blurred and confused between women and men sometimes. My "Christian love" efforts apparently sometimes get misconstrued into romantic feelings or interest or actions in a man's mind.
Well, the moral of the story is that I'm still insanely uncomfortable for whatever reason. But luckily, I have a wonderful church family that are watching out for me. I am so thankful for that. A few weeks away from church will feel pretty good, I think, and hopefully realign my focus away from this situation and back on God...and on other important things...things like mountain top hikes to 14,000 feet. Pray for my peace of mind in the mean time.
Last week at church, I was approached by a man I had met before and talked with a few times. He always used to ask me if I had a boyfriend or if I was planning to get married someday, just, I thought as to give me a bit of a hard time. I would laugh and reply that I did not, and that I wasn't in a hurry. His wife would roll her eyes. But I digress.
He approached me and shook my hand, asked me how things were going. I replied politely, and went to walk away when he started to say, "You know, Lindsey, I wasn't going to come to church today. I had a lot of other things to do, but I decided to come because God told me I should talk with you..." Well then. So, I smiled and continued to politely carry on conversation. The next thing he said when I asked him how things were going was, "Well, I'm not married anymore," while pointing to his ring finger.
Red flag number one. I knew where this was headed.
He went on to tell me about his "other family" from his first wife and his older kids (in their 20s).
Red flag number two. This one was a surprise...not where I thought things were headed.
He went on still to say that he wanted to get to know me and that sometime we should go for a walk or meet for lunch if time allowed.
Red flag number three...ah, this is the direction I anticipated. But, I'm running out of red flags by this time. I was barely speaking at all...just attempting to become invisible right in front of him.
Then he asked for my email address. And for some reason, I gave it to him. Why did I do that?
Twenty minutes later, I was finally free, but my creep-o-meter was off the charts. And then of course there was the little display of affection in the parking lot where this man proceeded to honk his horn and yell goodbye out the window of his car. And to wrap it up, there was the expected email a few hours later asking for my phone number...which I did not share.
Now, all of that seems pretty tame really. I mean, that's all that happened. But those red flags, for some reason, are stuck on alert mode. I couldn't even look at him this week in church. I hid out until he was gone, hoping and praying that he wouldn't come talk to me. He didn't.
Do I have a sign on my back that says, "I love awkward social situations and am available to ridiculously incompatible people only."?
I wanted so badly to just stand up for myself and say, "You know what? I'm not sure what gave you the idea that I was interested in any sort of relationship at all, but I'm not. So please go away." I mean, that would have done the trick. But I just kept thinking, "Christian love. Christian love. Treat him like a brother. You wouldn't want to be shot down if this was you. Christian love." But I think that those lines get blurred and confused between women and men sometimes. My "Christian love" efforts apparently sometimes get misconstrued into romantic feelings or interest or actions in a man's mind.
Well, the moral of the story is that I'm still insanely uncomfortable for whatever reason. But luckily, I have a wonderful church family that are watching out for me. I am so thankful for that. A few weeks away from church will feel pretty good, I think, and hopefully realign my focus away from this situation and back on God...and on other important things...things like mountain top hikes to 14,000 feet. Pray for my peace of mind in the mean time.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
A (Gainfully Employed) Year in Review
Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of being employed at the University of Dubuque, so I thought it would be fitting to spend some time this morning looking over my blog entries from a year ago. Turns out, they're great for a laugh. Check out July and August 2008 archives to re-enjoy them as I have (be sure to read from bottom to top).
God has been so good in this last year. Not only has He brought me to the place that He wants me to be, He's molded me and changed me for the better, equipping me for even better use by Him. When I started this job, I was, in a word, overwhelmed...overwhelmed with life, coming at me from all angles, with everything it had tho throw at me. I was a full time grad student and full time rookie employee, all the while fighting to be a good girlfriend, good friend, good daughter, and all around good person...many of which I was really no good at at all for a time. I was high strung, wound too tight, eating too little, and fighting too hard to make all the spinning plates stay atop their respective posts. But that was only for a season.
I can't quite identify the moment it happened, but I was changed completely. I learned what true reliance on God felt like, and why it is so extremely crucial to my survival in this world. And my whole personality has been altered for the better as one who now strives for calm, peaceful moments.
All of this, I've poured out to you before here, so I won't draw on about that for too much longer...
Over the past year:
God has been so good in this last year. Not only has He brought me to the place that He wants me to be, He's molded me and changed me for the better, equipping me for even better use by Him. When I started this job, I was, in a word, overwhelmed...overwhelmed with life, coming at me from all angles, with everything it had tho throw at me. I was a full time grad student and full time rookie employee, all the while fighting to be a good girlfriend, good friend, good daughter, and all around good person...many of which I was really no good at at all for a time. I was high strung, wound too tight, eating too little, and fighting too hard to make all the spinning plates stay atop their respective posts. But that was only for a season.
I can't quite identify the moment it happened, but I was changed completely. I learned what true reliance on God felt like, and why it is so extremely crucial to my survival in this world. And my whole personality has been altered for the better as one who now strives for calm, peaceful moments.
All of this, I've poured out to you before here, so I won't draw on about that for too much longer...
Over the past year:
- I have attended forty plus concerts, comedians, hypnotists, or entertainers.
- I have been on seven or so trips with students, one of which was an overnight trip to a conference, and several of which were on filled charter buses.
- I managed to come out ahead in all of my department budgets while effectively spending a few hundred thousand dollars.
- I ran a New Student Orientation program, a Homecoming Week (completely with parade), and a Spring Fling Week all for the first time, and all without major incident.
- I somehow convinced campus to let me move my office to a primo location in the Student Union (at least we're making progress on that front still).
- I have made (or at least I think I have made) no enemies across campus.
- I have given Ramen noodles away as a game show prize.
- I've been bowling three times, played mini golf once, was a game show judge once on accident, gone out to eat numerous times, and build dance decorations all as part of my job.
- I started several new initiatives while leaving a few others behind.
- I have learned about politics and played the game, if I do say so myself, pretty darn well.
- I have made an impact while remaining completely true to myself and my faith.
- I've laughed more than I've cried.
And with all that in one year, who can ask for more? Alright, it's back to work for me. Of all the things I have mastered this year, staying on top of my voicemails is not one of them...I guess that's what I'll be doing the rest of today.
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