Well Done

I'm going to start out my giving myself a BOOYAH BABY! That's right. Go me, go me. I'm currently giving myself a pat on the back and I'm about to tell you why. Drum roll please.....
I sang in Sacrament Meeting at church today. Yeah, shy-anxiety filled-stand in the corner-don't look at me please Cassie. That's me. I'm a new woman and she's coming out to play folks! I sang with little sista T and we did phenomenal. I would say the crowd was roaring and giving us a standing ovation but we were in church and reverence is looked upon very highly. We sang a lovely Sally DeFord song entiteld "When Mary Sang Her Lullaby", it was so pretty . After the meeting one of the members came up to us and told us that she was very touched and that we should record our song because we were so great. My head swelled a little at this moment. Anyway, one more fear conquered several million to go! It's the little accomplishments that must be appreciated. No sense wasting time wondring when I will do the next big thing. For now I am quite content where I'm at.
In other breaking news there is a GI-NOR-MUS (spelling?) I mean BIG raccoon taking up residence the the tree directly east from where we reside. I can see him if I look out the window. I thought perhaps I would name him Elmer as in Fudd. Elmer Fudd, get it? He's awfully cute but mom says not to get too close because he could attack me and kill me.

Tip of the day: do not mess with giant raccoons, they will eat you.

The Sugar Cookies...Tragic Story

My attempt at making a simple batch of sugar cookies turned into a complicated mess of nonsense. Appartenly my brain cells had ceased to function and I was no longer sane.
I had this great idea to hand out free Christmas sugar cookies to our customers at the store on Christmas Eve....spreading the holiday cheer, you know. So I proceeded to go to the grocery store with my little post-it recipe in my hand. I walked down the isles picking out the things I would need. I came to the baking soda and threw some in the cart. I got to work and ready to make the sugar cookie dough and realized that the recipe called for baking powder, I should have been wearing my glasses I guess. I decided that it would be okay for me to make the dough, put it in the freezer and knead the baking soda in later, no bueno.
After work I decided to make yet another batch of cookies the right way. The recipe calls for 1 Cup Shortening (1/2 butter). I assumed this meant 1 Cup of shortening or 1/2 cup of each. Well my father figure told me it was one of the other. So I put in 1/2 cup of butter, that is not what the recipe meant and they were not good. I was getting angry so I had my darling mother stand next to me while I made the third and final batch of cookies. I had her read the recipe while I put in the ingredients. The sugar cookies ended up being a hit although the angels turned out a little bit obese, perhaps they should lay off the sugar cookies.
Merry Chirstmas!

Long Time, No See

Well peeps, it finally happened...I got sprung from the lovely land that is known as Center for Change. I've had a rough go but I made it out alive and I'm oh so happy and healthy!

Let me recap the experience for you here: I arrived at the Center on September 14, 2009 in not so great condition. I sign my life away, get my bags and then it's off to Unit 1 while my dear mother goes with my therapist Dr. Julie to converse for a moment. I get my stuff dropped off and then Dr. Julie and my mom come back, we all talk together for a few minutes then it's time to say goodbye to my mom. She walked out the door and there I was by myself. The nurse took me, poked me, did an EKG and then checked to see how tall I was (not good news, I came it a whopping 5'2"). I did an assessment with the nurse that took like my entire life to complete and she determined that I was at a "re-feeding" risk so my heart could stop if I ate too much?!?! After the nurse was finished two of the care techs (who I affectionately call "babysitters") took me in a back room, made me strip down, of all the things! How indecent. I put on a hospital nightie and stepped on the scale, I do not know the results of my weigh-in. I met with a psychiatrist then I met with Dr. Julie then I met with the nurse practitioner Kelly who was such a dear. After that I was put in a WHEELCHAIR....did you hear me?!? A WHEELCHAIR! My heart was pretty bad and I wasn't allowed to walk. In the mornings I had to wait for a tech to roll me out to the scale and then stand with me while I showered and did my various other morning activities, most humiliating experience of my life. I was wheeled around for two weeks and then I was allowed to use my own to feet to transport myself around. However, I still had to take the elevator because stairs were strictly prohibited. That lasted for 6 fun filled weeks. The days pretty much were all the same. Food, group, food, group, food, group, food, group, food, group, food, bedtime! I was put on weight gain for 6 miserable food-filled weeks but happily I gained my weight.

That's basically my vacation in a nutshell. I missed my family and dear miss Lily so much!

Now you gotta see it to believe it. Observe the difference, which one do you like best?

I'm a changed woman people, a changed woman. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderfully amazing and totally awesome therapist Dr. Julie, my awesome dietician Hayley and all my new best friends at the Center for Change. I would also like to thank my family for their support and I would like to thank Lily for her companionship and love.

Tales from the deli and beyond

Since I started working at the deli there have been many strange and somewhat bizarre occurrences. There are some weird people hanging out down there. To name a few of these things: A guy comes in the other day, he's probably around 40 and slightly Hispanic and he wants a coffee. He informs me and Miss J that he has just completed his community service and was on his way to court...okay great. While Miss J is making his breakfast sandwich to go with his coffee he starts talking to me and being the kind person that I am, I listen politely as he rambles on about something I don't care about. Then he asks me if I would like to go to dinner and see a movie with him! Whoa buddy, this relationship is moving a little too fast for me. I politely declined and returned to the back area to finish taking care of some business I had with 12 loaves of bread. Oh, he also asked if my dad was around because he wanted to get his permission to take me out...ewww.
The other day I delivered a catering order to the Catholic elementary school. It consisted of 50 sandwiches, 50 bags of chips and 50 cookies. I started bringing everything in and the old lady at the front desk strikes up a convo that went something like this:
Old lady: "Did you drive here?"
Me: "Yes I drove here"
Old lady: "Are you sure you drove here?"
Me: "Yes, I am sure"
Old lady: "Wow, are you even 12 years old?!"
Me: "Yes, I'm a lot older than 12"
The end.
We have a breakfast sandwich called the Chaz Bagel which consists of turkey, American cheese and avocado. Yesterday some lady calls Miss J and informs her that she ordered a Chaz Bagel the day before and it came without turkey and cheese. Okay crazy, we would have noticed if we just put avocado on a bagel because that's weird. Miss J told her that she needs to come back immediately if there is a problem so we can fix it and then told her to come back in and we would make her another sandwich free of charge. She comes in and neither Miss J or I recognize her and she tells us that she had gotten a CALLIE bagel and it was made wrong. Liar. First she says we forgot everything on the sandwich and then she tells us she ordered a different sandwich than what she had originally told us. Some people's children.
Work has been fun. I love making the breads and cakes and cookies. I tried a new recipe...Strawberry Shortcake and it's been a hit! We recently got cinnamon rolls that are as big as my head, it's too early to tell if they will be popular or not. I saw the big T for a sesh today and when I got there he had a Gandolfo's cup on his desk and he said he went there for lunch because he had to try my chocolate mousse cake which he loved by the way. I was happy to hear that. Speaking of the T, he is a weird one. He has informed me that if you step on a cheeto and twist your foot, it doesn't leave a mark on the ground. Also, blue M&Ms are good for your spine. It's true. I googled it. So, if you happen to have some spinal problems simply eat blue M&Ms and if you don't care of M&Ms, simply suck the blue of the blue ones and whatever ailment you may have had will most assuredly disappear. I have a candy machine full of M&Ms so if you need some blue ones you can put a quarter in my machine. That's the price you pay for good spinal health.

Brownies and Kittens and my dear Aunt Teen

I heard a rumor today that I haven't blogged since July 15th and that some people may be perturbed about this (I won't mention any names...Teen). As a result of not blogging for about 18 days there is much to tell.
A couple days ago I took the papillon outside to take care of some early morning business and in the midst of the quiet morning I heard a tiny little "meow" actually it was more like an angry meow. Lily and I went to scope out the situation and under a weedy bush we found a teeny kitten, maybe three weeks old and it was a very unhappy camper. I suspect that it was angry because it had been abandoned and also that it was hungry. Of course I picked it up and brought it inside and fed it some Ensure...I shared my nutritional, oh so yummy, please gain weight, homemade vanilla shake ensure with this poor unfortunate little kitty. It was pretty darn happy after that. Lily was rough with her so they had to take turns getting to play. Lily would go in her kennel while the kitten played then the kitten would go in her kennel while Lily antagonized it or whined at the door of the room we put it in. A family in our ward was in a need of a kitten so they took her. She should be happy and doing well. She will be loved where she is at.
I made brownies today. They were delicious brownies. My mother requested them a few days ago and my busy self could not get to them until this afternoon. We put some in the freezer and that made them way better. Also, I discovered that putting a brownie in a Fed Ex envelope and mailing it to Preston, ID would be a very bad idea. Virtual Fed Ex by email is much easier and less messy, however the brownie still seemed to arrive crumbly?? Figure that out. Now you must bask in the joy of the brownies and wish that you were eating one, it would be like a party in your mouth...now bask...
One other item of important business. I am employed. That's right! Come on down to Gandolfo's where you will NOT receive a discount for mentioning this ad and I will gladly make you any sandwich your little hearts desire. I only know how to make one but that it beside the point. I can proof and bake bread like nobody's business. I make a mean kaiser and hero roll. I work everyday from 7:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. and I have my very own key to the store and an awesome black shirt that says "Gandolfo's" all over it and shows Lily hair very well. That is all.
Farewell for now my lovelies.

Camp...young women's style

I've never been to an actual "young women's camp" before. I think when I was like 15 I went to camp for part of a day but never had the full experience. Well, this year you might call young women's camp our family vacation. Manda and Tim went since they are obviously young women, mom went because she's a laurel advisor and dad went because without him the girls would have starved. So, it seemed like a good idea for me to go as well. The afternoon before mom and I went up (mom had to work so we didn't go the whole time) I had a "procedure" which caused me a great deal of pain. The next morning we went to Idaho for girls camp. I was sure I would be fine but it turns out that I was in a lot more pain than I originally thought I would be. The morning we left was basically torture but....I conquered and came out mostly alive!! I really tried hard to enjoy girls camp and I did enjoy it, just hurting a little bit. We did all sorts of crafty things and I even got to be in charge of making magnet boards! It was great. I helped cook chicken and apple, cherry and peach cobbler. It was fun to watch the girls play in the water and do their various activities. I took Lily and she and I shared a sheep camp (totally cute). So I have now experienced a real young women's camp. Lily also enjoyed camp. She was tied up outside for almost the whole time we were there. The girls liked playing with her. When we got home she was exhausted! She slept for two days. I think a few days of camp is more than a tiny little puppy can handle.

Searching

I was assigned the task of taking comp pictures today in the most ridiculously addressed town in Utah, that's right, Plain City (or perhaps Farr West?). I'm driving along 2700 N thinking I can pretty much get to anywhere from that particular street, NO! It turns out that the streets wind aimlessly forever. You think you know exactly where you are only to find out that you are not even close. For example I started out looking for an address on 3900 W so it seems natural that I would take 3900 west and I did. The road curved around so much I got car sick and ended up coming out on something like 2300 W and I hadn't found the house I was originally looking for. I left the house at 11:00 and returned at 3:00, all but a half hour of those hours was spent looking for houses to take pictures of. Also, taking comp pictures makes me nervous. Like what if I'm taking a picture of some old lady's house and she sees me through her window and runs out in her house coat waving a rolling pin while I frantically search for the window button?! What if some big scary guy comes out and yells at me or some scared little mommy calls the cops claiming I'm a kidnapper?! These scenarios are entirely possible although I have not encountered them yet. Another thing, I was on some silly side road and I was stopped in CONSTRUCTION (hello people, who does construction on silly side roads) for 15 minutes (no lie). It was lame.
When I came home Tim and mom and I went swimming in sista P's pool and it was fab. I'm looking hot in my bathing suit and sweet pink goggles. I love the word "goggle" and couldn't stop saying it for like an hour. There were bugs in the pool but they didn't scare me, I was like a fish out there! After swimming I had an awesome piano lesson full of much praise and accomplishment then Tim and I took Lily to the park and went walking. Great fun.
On a sadder note: Little Man, my lovable, entirely too fluffy, psycho cat is in heaven now with his sissy Isabelle. Apparently he got hit sometime Monday and we didn't even know until that night. It was tragic. I couldn't look at him. Fortunately Kade was home for the weekend and buried him. It really is a sad thing. I really loved my kitty. RIP Little Man.