I like the processor better than the pastry blender, although it's easy to overwork the dough. If I'm making dough by hand, I use my Foley fork rather than my pastry blender.
You know what I need? I need a class in how to use kitchen knives properly. My life got a lot better when I got good knives, but my technique is still poor.
My old job appears to be raining down in chunks from orbit. Not only did they fire about 30 people (including a couple of the government people who were running the project), but they lied about it to the remaining folks, saying that those who left wanted to go, and those who stayed were "committed."
In response, the alpha geeks both resigned, as did about 5 more people.
Just more proof that things work out the way they are supposed to - I'd be out of a job with no warning if I'd been working for them from here.
My full-sized Cuisinart gets pulled out mostly for hummus and shredding potatoes or large amounts of cheese. The mini-prep attachment for my stick blender is the one I use daily -- even with a good chef's knife, mincing garlic is such an annoying fiddly little task. It's good for hot peppers too, because there's less hand contact and less risk of accidentally rubbing capsaicin into my eyes.
There's a culinary school in my neighborhood that has a knife skills class I really want to take.
I just had a good talk with my therapist. I think I'm back on track with things, and glad that I have the long weekend to get caught up and ready to re-attack the world. She was proud of me for all the work I've done the last few days. That felt nice.
I'm jealous of all of you with Cuisinarts and Kitchen Aids. One day I will have enough space to own them.
Yay vw! And yay for long weekends. Robert took next week off, since his paternity leave got savaged, so hopefully we'll get out of town for a bit.
I've been debating whether I would use a stick blender or not. I didn't even know they came with chopper attachments - that might sell me right there.
my cat decicded I needed to get out of bed. but then he deserted me.
Ok...I just wrote this e-mail to my professor. How does this look?
I wanted to get back to you as soon as I could about missing class on Wednesday. I am really sorry that I did not let you know that I would be missing class. And I am sorry that I did not e-mail you after either. I am going to give you the long story, which may be too much information, but I want you to understand that I didn't just skip class, and that this is not something I typically do.
I suffer from severe depression and anxiety. My disability is on file with Ross Center, and several people in the Honors Program know about it (including Joyce Morrissey and Dick Cluster). I can also bring you a letter from my healthcare provider (therapist). This semester I took on quite a lot - more than I have since returning to school in 2003. I felt I was ready considering how well I did last semester. On top of taking a full class load, though, I also added working 10 hours a week. This, combined with other vulnerability factors, caused me to have a severe anxiety attack on Wednesday afternoon. It almost put me back in the hospital.
As of Wednesday morning, I was still managing ok. But, something happened in one of my morning classes, and I crashed hard and fast. I was in no position to deal with anything at the time. My focus was on keeping myself safe and trying to stay out of the hospital. This is why I was unable to e-mail at the time. My missing class had nothing (or at least very little) to do with my paper (which was/is finished) and the presentation.
After getting myself safe again, I knew I was going to need to do some repair work when contacting you, so I wanted to speak with my therapist first. This is why I did not respond immediately to your e-mail or even e-mail you prior to that time. I understand that missing class when I had a presentation was a serious problem, and that not dealing with it in a timely manner was not appropriate. I was just doing the best that I could at the time.
I would like to return to class, and would be ready to do my presentation on October 12. Thank you for making that option available to me. I do want to let you know a couple of things, though. First, I am going to take the next few weeks slowly and carefully, really watching how they go. If it is still very difficult for me to make it to class/through class/complete the work, I may need to withdraw from the class. I do not want to, but I feel I need to leave that option open for myself. Second, I am very behind on the reading. I was wondering if we could meet to work out something in regards to that - maybe a schedule of the vital chapters or something.
I really do want to make this work, and I apologize that I left you in such a bad position on Wednesday. I hope we can work this out so I can finish the class successfully.
Thank you,
Oh, well. Off to help myself get better.
This is one of the many reasons I adore VW so very much.
ETA: x-post--and that letter is another
Beth, you just made me laugh. My cats do that sometimes, too, though Byron is more likely to act as the "Furry Snooze Button" as he purrs and burrows into me and tries to encourage me to sleep just a few more minutes...
vw, the letter is great. Good work.
That letter is perfect, vw. It explains everything clearly, and doesn't come across as defensive or as a bid for sympathy.
