Sunday Morning.

I don't remember how I found this, but yesterday I came across the most scrumptious cupcakes I ever did want to have magically appear in front of me. They're called Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes.

From Bakingdom. 

Please excuse the drool, I honestly can't help it. This is a chocolate cake recipe infused with exquisite coffee flavor. Once baked, you scoop out a portion of the cupcake, pour in some homemade salted caramel, and replace the removed portion. Add coffee whip cream, drizzle more caramel on top, and finish with sprinkles. I can't stop looking at these and wondering why in the world H. thinks they would be too rich to eat. Also, those little cupcake cups are adorable!

Yesterday I made the mistake of asking H. to help me clear out the dishwasher while I was busily making dinner. He ended up putting the forks in the knives spot, the knives in the spoons spot, and the spoons in the forks spot. When I went to get a spoon for my yogurt, I almost cut myself because I wasn't looking. He also put all of the cups away without stacking them inside one another. This translates to lots of cups taking over our cupboard space, which really threw me off. The best part was he did all that on purpose, just to mess with me. Maybe I'll put green food coloring in his eggs and bacon on Monday.

I found something on the interwebs today that really made me giggle (H. says that is difficult to accomplish). It's 'Business Cat': a picture of a cat in a suit and tie with intermittently funny captions, and so far this is my favorite version. There's a whole slew of pictures on the main site, but some are better than others, so don't expect tip top stuff every time.

Yup, that concludes this Sunday's interlude.

Intangible Plans.

No official move date as of yet. Did I mention how much there is to do once we have a set date? Did I mention how much I really, really need to know when we're moving in order to ensure we have a place to live after the move? Right now, there's an ominous cloud of stress floating above my head. It's still a good distance above me, but with each day that passes it gets closer, and one day I'll be shrouded in moving stress.

I am applying to graduate school, but not in the way you would think. It'll be as a non-degree seeking student, and I am looking to take between one and four classes over the spring and summer terms (dependent on what's available). I will definitely look into taking that one extra course and see if I could change my degree to Molecular Biology. The only class I absolutely need to take is statistics, and I need it in my repertoire to apply for the Clinical Laboratory Sciences (CLS) program at Texas Tech.

Some of you may recognize Texas Tech - that's because H.'s dad (my favorite father-in-law) is currently in their med school program. The CLS program I'm interested in is nothing like medical school. Instead, after completing the one year program I would take a certification test and then become a certified medical technologist (also known as a clinical lab scientist, very interchangeable terms that were confusing at first, but now I've got the hang of it). That means I get to work in the basement of a hospital. Yay! The CLS program is the only one in Texas that you can complete online. Well, most of it is online. There is a condition that I be present for six days each of the first two semesters to complete a lab exam. After those two semesters, I would start a preceptorship at an affiliated hospital where I would work under the guidance of the hospital staff. There are three hospitals in the Dallas area that I could work with, which is exciting news. I'm kind of tired of all this moving already.

So there you have it. The only snag in my plan is that non-degree students do not qualify for financial aid. I'm worried about how much it will cost to accomplish all of this, but H. is very supportive and assures me that we can make it work. I won't lie and say I'm not nervous, but I will say the excitement of it all eases my nerves quite a bit.

We Are Always Running For The Thrill Of It.

I have some good news and I have some bad news. The bad news is I found a fairly large spider in my bathroom and now I'm paranoid that they're all over the apartment. The good news is I won't be paranoid for very long because we're gettin' our bee-hinds back to Texas! I have started looking at apartments, and while I found four places that look good, H. is concerned about moving into an apartment that we've never set foot in. As such, we might request the aide of our family members in apartment scouting in the near future. We haven't actually set a date as to when the move will happen, but I have a feeling it will be in mid to late November.

We'll be renting a moving truck that will tow my car, and H.'s car will follow behind it. Am I nervous about making a 16 hour trip as a caravan? If you count planning where to buy gas based on the rental truck's mileage, then yes. The worst part about it will be that H. and I can't talk along the way (although, he is thinking about getting walkie talkies). I'll most likely listen to music most of the way, which means I'll be making twelve cd's full of all the songs I love. That might be a stretch - I technically have 2.1 days worth of music according to iTunes, but that includes all those songs that you think you like but end up getting sick of a month after purchasing. I might also look into an audio book. Assuming the rental truck comes with a cd player, H. will most likely stock up on Ticket audio for the ride there.

In my assessment of how much stuff we have in an attempt to determine the number of boxes to buy, I decided that it would be too much work to take my plants with us. Even if I could pry them out of the blinds and away from the window ledge, I don't know where we would put them in either vehicle where they would be safe from sharp box edges. I do intend to make a bouquet out of 'em before we head out, though. I thought for sure the first sunflower would be fully in bloom by now, but it turns out I'm wrong.

That purple dome center thing seems to be growing upward while the
frou-frou bits grow outward. I have absolutely no idea why it's doing this. 

As you can see, it's almost completely fuzzified. Theoretically, after the
fuzz covers it, the flower will slowly wither and leave seeds behind.
Hypothetically, I could harvest these seeds and plant them in Tejas.
H. is not very fond of eating the seeds, but I don't see why.

This is the shortest flower. The rest of the blooms begin
a foot or more above this one. 

As of today, there are four buds in full bloom, three buds with the beginner yellow petals unfurling, and five more buds in the "crown" stage. The oldest bloom is not the tallest at 2' 6"; the tallest is 3' 5", and is the second oldest. I would like to wait until the fuzzy centers all fill out before fitting them into a vase, but I might just clip them all a week before the move and enjoy the sunshine.

For the past two weeks I've had to remind myself that it's October. It doesn't feel like October here, it feels like August. The trees look the same, the bushes look the same, and the heat is the same. The hundred-degree weather has left, but it's still in the nineties every single day. I am looking forward to drinking tea and hot chocolate and eating spiced muffins. I'm looking forward to wearing pants and sweaters and long sleeved shirts and layers and fancy boots.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends for the first time in five months. It feels much longer than that, and I'm incredibly excited to have that back in my life. See you guys soon!

I Throw My Hands Up In The Air Sometimes.

Well, today was a teeny bit of a rollercoaster.

The good news is I had an interview at Michael's for a part-time position. I arrived early, the guy interviewing me was ten minutes late, but he was friendly and I felt it went really well. He said that this particular store is consistently in the top five in the nation, but I don't know if I believe that. Maybe people out here are more crafty because there's less to do, but maybe he meant to say state. He asked me three different times if I knew how to run a cash register, and I said yes all three times. I guess they have people working there who don't know how to run one. The guy said he's let me know in a day or two about the job. The entire interview took about twenty minutes (fairly quick) and then I was out the door.

H. and I hit the C-to-the-ostco to pick up some necessities and almost got run over a hundred times. As a side note, these are the worst drivers I've seen. I think it has something to do with the average age being 92 years old. We survived, if only by the skin of our teeth, and made our way back to the apartment.

This is when I checked my phone and saw I had a voicemail. It was the interview guy saying that they had filled all of the positions, but he'll keep my file for future openings. I'm fairly upset that I can't even land a part-time job, but then the unemployment rate here is quite high. Not Detroit high, but pretty high. I'm angry, but I'm just glad he called me today instead of waiting until the weekend is over.

I guess it's back to the daily grind for me. Yesterday I made progress on my painting project, and I'll probably pick it up again tomorrow, but today I'm hanging out with H. and loving the sixty-something degree weather.

Sonnenblume.

Yesterday, I stood at the office window and looked forlornly into the mass of fuzzy green leaves accumulating at the western end of the window box. What could that featherduster of a plant be? After no success with a leaf description search, I tried yellow flower, hoping that maybe I could scan through the images and determine whether the leaves were fuzzy. Then it hit me. What type of flower grows very, very tall, has bright yellow petals, and a dark center?

Holla at yo plant.

I think I have a sunflower. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but there are dwarf varieties that reach between two and three feet in height, and this one is about 28" tall. Also, the yellow petals are the only petals that are present. The other yellow highlights are from the tiny fuzzy things sprouting from the middle violet thing (so scientific, I know).

Say hello to my little friends.  

Over time, the rest of the purple bud will spring forth with tiny yellow and brown things. Then it will look much more like a sunflower and much less like an alien is growing inside of it. It really did freak me out when there was just these yellow extensions and a great big purple monster brain. H. thinks that the flower will tip over and droop without some staking, but the way it's sitting now, the blinds are doing a pretty good job of keeping it upright. Just as long as the bloom doesn't get much bigger.

Here's the video that convinced me I might be growing a sunflower: Sunflower Time Lapse. The intro is kind of boring, but right around 1:55 it gets mesmerizing. Time lapse videos are so cool.

I never knew that there were so many types of sunflowers! The purple center is really throwing me off in pinpointing which kind I have, but this website has a couple varieties listed under three feet. I must say I'm kind of sad I didn't end up with the Teddy Bear variety. Now, however, I have to research how and when sunflowers create their famous seeds, and whether these ones will be edible. We shall see!

I Spy.

As I was taking out the trash yesterday, I spun around to close the door behind me and was startled by what was chilling on the door frame.

Did she see me?

He looks quite large in the pictures, but in reality he couldn't have been more than two inches long. He didn't even flinch when I opened or closed the door. I guess he was just tired or too hot or wanted some attention. I can't believe he didn't move while I was taking pictures. They're so fast that you couldn't step on one if you tried, usually. Cross another thing off my desert bucket list.

I finally got a callback from a retail store. The lady I spoke with said she felt I would be good for the job considering my work experience with Senor Kohls. That'll be easy money, hopefully, and I think I might even like the atmosphere (from what I've seen as a customer).

It's been cooler as of late - low to mid nineties since the middle of last week. I dare say our hundred degree weather is over (cross your fingers). I'm so incredibly ready for long sleeved shirts and jeans and sweaters and jackets and hot chocolate! Fall is probably a three month season here, taking over Winter's job in December and January. Even with the coldest of cold weather last year, where every state save this one experienced mounds of snow, all we got was a two-night freeze with no precipitation. You could say I'm kinda jealous of the northern states right now.

Well, time to go spruce up the apartment. Tallyho!

Hey Mama.

Yesterday the Texas Rangers let our sports hopes down with their loss to the Rays. H. had loaned me one of his Rangers shirts for the occasion, but even that couldn't help the team win. Tonight's game had better turn out differently, otherwise I'll be breaking out ye olde tissue box.

Also yesterday, I dyed hair.

Turns out it's difficult to take a decent picture of the back of your head. 

I remember Susan telling me about the temporary dyes at the pharmacy store, so I picked up the darkest brown they had and gave it a shot. H. didn't even notice, and looking at these pictures, I don't blame him. It only made my hair a smidge darker than usual, although I like that it kind of kept all of the natural highlights I've got going on. Now when I feel like being a brunette-blonde mix, I can do it and wash it out the next day.

On Thursday I had a craving for Mexican food, specifically Chipotle, but I wanted to make something myself. Introducing the easiest chicken quesadillas ever.

Crackling Chicken Quesadillas
1 rotisserie chicken (a la Costco)
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
fresh cilantro
cheese of choice
uncooked flour tortillas

Pull apart chicken meat, chop into small pieces, place in large mixing bowl. Drain black beans and corn, place into a pot. Cook until veggies are warmed through. Chop cilantro, add to veggies, cook for another five minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add to chicken. Grate cheese, add to mixture. Cook flour tortillas half-done on both sides, add filling, return to pan and cook until cheese melts. 


The best part is that you can refrigerate the mix, then cook up fresh tortillas every time. Add guacamole and sour cream, and these are unstoppable. Plus, they've lasted us five meals (ten quesadillas), so top notch in my book.

The Rangers just started playing, so the rest of this might be a little choppy, but let's talk gardening! I've got many things happening in my window box, so let's start off with the new flowers.

Teeny tiny flowers!

These delicate white flowers make up about forty percent of the bloomage in my window at the moment. I think there are four plants (maybe five, it's hard to tell where one plant starts and another one ends these days) that have all started sprouting these beauties. The only thing I don't like is the maze of leaves this plant creates - it's the reason my blinds are so wonky now.

About 26" tall right now. 

Fuzzy has grown into a fine young specimen. Along with the one visible bud on top, there's a second one leaning into the window and a third developing along another separate stem.

I think this one's gonna be yellow. 

Despite much internet research, I still have no clue what this plant is. I thought 'fuzzy leaves' would be enough to give me a small selection of plants to go through, but it turns out that many plants are fuzzy. One species I did identify was my very first bloomer (the purple cluster plant), Phlox subulata. One down, three to go.

Windowsill squatter.

I didn't put much effort into identifying this guy. I figured it would be hard to find a plant name that matched the description 'pink flowers vine plant'. But then there's always Google Image searches.

And that concludes our post for today. I hope to be more forthcoming with my posts in the future, so stay tuned for Twitter updates about what I'm eating for lunch. Have a great weekend!