Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-29

• More unnerved about whether I’ll get the Agilent job offer than my three exams next week #
• Is studying #
• Just got back from interview, will find out next week if I get the position or not #
• #votewoz #
• Just scored an in-person interview this Wednesday! And I’ve been tapped for a possible second one at the same company in another divisio … #
• Dusted off the old textbooks and class notes to brush on genetics knowledge. Should sleep soon or risking napping halfway through interview. #
• Can’t wait until my phone interview tomorrow. Really wanting to stay with a local company Do not want to end up in Houston. #

Beavers Bend State Park, Oklahoma

My family randomly gave me a call informing me that they were going to book a cabin in the woods in Oklahoma for Spring Break. I was very skeptical at first, but in the end it was a pretty decent trip. It’s nice to get out into nature sometimes.

Chocolate chip cookies

1 am on a Friday night, I get hit with a craving for cookies.  This is probably the third or fourth chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve tried, and possibly the last. Next time I need to add more chocolate though.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups bleached all purpose flour (see note below)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Note: The recipe initially calls for 2 1/2 cups flour, but with the added note if you want them more softer and rounder cookie to add 1/4 cup flour. I add the 1/4 cup making it 2 3/4 cups tota
2. Cream shortening, butter, sugars, then eggs and vanilla and almond extract
3. Blend dry ingredients and add to mixtur
4. Stir in Chocolate chip
5. Drop by large tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet, leaving 2-inches room in between to allow cookies to spread
6. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes until lightly brow
7. Makes 2-3 dozen cookies depending on size

Recipe from http://www.recipezaar.com/Blue-Ridge-Mountains-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-117317

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-21

• Can’t beat fresh out of the oven homemade chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk. At 1:30am. #
• Just went hopping around town. Picked up garden chairs from a craigslister who happens to be aussie, went to half price, groceries #
• Finally updating my blog. I am determined to keep it alive even if nobody reads it. #
• Just got home from work and back in Austin now #
• Just got back from Oklahoma. It’s good to be back in Texas. #

101 list update

6. Find a new favorite author and buy at least two books authored by her/him, because I only buy books I really enjoy

Matt got me hooked on David Eddings.  I’ve finished the Belgariad series and am now working on the Mallorean one.  Thank goodness for half price books

21. Sell something completely random on eBay

To be fair, it wasn’t completely random.  I had bought a pair of boots of eBay that didn’t quite feel as comfortable as I wanted.  So I relisted them and sold them.  My first eBay sell!

57. Redeem all those random coins lying around my room and assorted purses for actual cash

Didn’t actually redeem them for cash, but they all got used towards buying donuts or vending machines.   Now I’m left with a few pennies.

58. Find an efficient way to keep track of my finances that I won’t be fed up with after a week

Check out mint.com .  I am able to budget and link all my accounts there so I don’t have to login to multiple sites to track my finances

This isn’t a screenie of my account but shows you how pretty the interface is

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-15

• Just got home from work. Make the rain and cold go away. #
• One of these years I will shell out the cash and get a SXSW wristband #

Planting flowers

The front walkway looked terrible, owing to the fact that nothing wants to grow under the heavily shaded porch.  Of the plants I put in last year, only the iris, two chrysanthemum plants, and a fern lived through the winter.  The hostas, fern #2, and elephant ears either froze to death or got run over by bikes.  I spotted flower stalks on the iris so hopefully I’ll have pretty blue/yellow flowers in a few weeks.

Planted some azaleas, petunias, and trying out some english ivy to cover the barren ground next to our walkway.  I’m hoping the bright indirect sunlight will be enough to keep them all alive.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-08

• Typing cover letters for my job search. Constant bad news in the media but I need to stay optimistic #
• Just spent 2 hrs scrubbing and disinfecting every inch of the aviary. Put the birds in for 5 minutes and they’ve already flung food and poo. #
• Just got a blackberry. Now I need a job so I have reason to use it. #