Mariannes Motifs

Dream Gadget Wishlist 2009

I am just daydreaming here.  I am not threatening to actually get any of these.  In fact, the only thing I want to spend money on right now is getting my house fixed up.  We desperately need new interior paint job and carpet.  My house has the original interior paint and carpet from when it was built.  In 1991.  And it wasn't done well then.  LOL.  Gadgets depreciate but an investment in your home can appreciate with time so its a much better deal.

But still, I girl can dream, right.  Here are some expensive gadgets on my dream wishlist.

1.  Kindle eBook Reader.  I think this would be very handy for travel, and knitting patterns.  I love the idea of being able to buy books wirelessly from anywhere.  If the e-paper really is nice to read and the book comfortable this could be a real win.

2.  Flip video recorder.  Right now I use the video recorder on my Sony DSC-T9 when I want to record videos.  Every once in a while I upload a video to YouTube and post it on the blog.  The Sony camera is decent but I think it would be great to have the Flip for recording better quality and longer video of the kids.  This Flip Mino HD is tiny but is supposed to take great quality HD video.  And its a snap to upload to your PC or the web as it is already a digital video file.

3.  A very small netbook.  I am not sure exactly what model, but it would be great to have a lightweight tiny netbook with a WiMax connection to be able to surf the web anywhere.

This ASUS Eee PC comes with Windows 7 pre-installed.  It's a brand new model but there are already some great reviews on Amazon.com.  I would get this with Clear WiMax or some Wireless Internet service so I could surf anywhere.  It weighs 2.8 pounds. 

Packing for Business Trip

I will be flying out Sunday morning to Dallas to start training for my new job so I am busy packing and getting all my information together.  They have rented me a car, so I am doing all my my directions from the airport to the hotel, hotel to the office, etc.

Right now I am enjoying a bowl of delicious home made yogurt with wild blueberry jam.  I am not entirely convinced that it is cheaper to make your own yogurt (neither organic milk, or yogurt starter is cheap) but it is definitely better.  I was naughty and made this batch with whole milk and it is just so creamy and good.  Add some fancy French wild blueberry preserves and its a real treat.  I can just about live on this stuff.  

I will be bringing a laptop with me to the land of truck accessories so I will be blogging (and knitting) from my hotel room.  I wouldn't be surprised if you see a Twitter Tweet for two as well from the road so if you want to know something pithy like what I am eating for dinner, check out the Twitter stream.  You can see it on the right hand side of the blog sidebar or twitter.com/mar1annec

Wednesday Chit Chat

Monday will be my first day of work at the new job.  I am so excited. I have to fly to Dallas for training and be there all week.  Hubster will be home with the kids.

One fun thing is that I get to try a new under eye cream as part of Bzz Agent.  I got to take a before pic, and will take a picture at 4 weeks and another after 8 weeks.  I actually don't have so much eye wrinkles as dark circles, so we will see if this stuff is any good for those.

Tonight I made Chicken Tetrazinni for dinner.  It came out really well.  I used the Perdue pre-packaged roasted chicken, and a can of campbells cream of mushroom soup to make it easy.  But I added white wine, a bit of half and half (yum) Parmesan cheese, and peas, and spaghetti.  After I mixed in the sauce I topped it with bread crumbs and more cheese and baked it in my thrift store pyrex casserole.  It was super yum.  I discovered a great tip for cooking with wine.  Since I don't drink wine (migraine trigger) I never got through the whole bottle before it goes bad.  I found small one glass bottles of good wine (Barefoot) at the store.  Now I always have a great wine on hand to cook with and never have to worry about it getting oxygenated from sitting in the fridge or turn into vinegar in the pantry.  Another tip is that you can add a splash of brandy instead of wine to most dishes.  Wonderful in stews, for example.  A splash of wine or brandy adds a great underlying bouquet to braised dishes and sauces.  After being cooked they don't give me a headache, and of course all the alcohol cooks out.

This is what happens when your 4 year old gets a hold of the camera on your laptop:

Another Online Education Option - Western Governor's University

I just learned about an interesting choice for an online higher education.  The school is called Western Governor's University, and it was really founded by the Governor's of 19 western states in the US.  (It's a great example of bi-partisan work by these politicians as they were a mixture of both Democrat and Republican Governors.)  As well it is funded by a number of companies and organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Because they are a not for profit private University they can offer more affordable options than a lot of schools.  And being fully accredited with a good reputation is important too. They also have some innovative methodology, such as having each student assigned a mentor who helps them work through their "academic action plan."  They offer competency based credit, which can help people with lots of work and life experience leverage those skills towards their degree.  Another innovative feature is the use of local schools to provide proctored exams.

The University has four main schools, the WGU Teachers College, the  College of Business, the College of Information Technology, and the College of Health Professions.  Bachelors and Masters degree programs are offered.  Various online degrees are offered from teacher's certifications, to nursing,  and IT.  You can also get your masters degree online, for example they have three MBA programs. MS in nursing, and an MS in Information Technology.

Thursday Chit Chat

I passed my background check and am waiting to hear when they will have me start my new job.  Yay. 

Shout out to my brother is scheduling hernia surgery.  Owch.   He gave me a Google Wave invite and I set it up.  Only problem is I don't have anyone to use it with.  I wish they would send me some invites to give out myself so I can get a community going.  A collaboration tool is kind of lonely without some fellow collaborators to team up with.  Maybe some peeps at my new job will have it.  !  I am so excited to start.  All this waiting is driving me nuts.

I do not need any weight loss supplements - but close.  I am doing some cooking and freezing meals so I have things ready when I start work.  Today I made chicken stew with mushrooms, bacon, onions, carrots, celery, white wine, chicken broth, and poultry seasoning.  Its based off a recipe from an oldy but goody crock pot cookbook I picked up at Goodwill yesterday - Easy Home Cooking Sow Cooker Recipes.  Oh - it didn't bring up the pic of the cover - it's really 80's looking.  Good looking recipes though.

Hubster is all Business

Jin_business
Originally uploaded by mar1annec

This one's not too shabby either. ::::MWAH::::

pumpkins_2009

pumpkins_2009
Originally uploaded by mar1annec

These guys are just too darn cute.

Online Education Getting Bigger and Better

My hubby is almost finished with his BA degree.  Right now all his remaining classes are online as they are the upper level Comp Sci classes for his degree. So he's had some classes physically at school and some online.  The online classes are more challenging, I think, because you have to be more personally responsible for taking part in the discussions and doing the work.

On the other hand, online courses save you time commuting back and forth from school, save gas, and allow you to take part in programs that otherwise would not be geographically practical.  My friend Melissa got her Master's Degree from the University of Memphis and the only time she was in the city of Memphis was to take part in graduation!

Many prestigious schools are now offering online masters degree programs.  Gonzaga University has five different programs, including a Master's in Communication and Leadership Studies and an program in Organizational Leadership.  That sounds interesting to me.  They also have two Nursing programs such as the MS in Nursing.  That has to be a great career builder for those in the nursing field who want to move into nursing administration.

I think it's great that top-ranked schools are offering Masters programs online.  With the economy still limping back to normal, so many people are taking advantage of the situation as best they can by getting higher education.  With more and more people getting Bachelor's degrees, if you really want to stand out above the crowd, a Masters Degree makes sense.

Funny For your Thursday

In honor of my job offer from a great company I present my new inbox:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Pollo Campero - Drive Through Flan!

On the way back from the pumpkin patch today hubby called and said could I pick him up a drink.  I had the boys in the car, so I wanted to go through a drive through to limit the hassle of getting them out, putting them in, etc.

I happened to go by a fast food joint called Pollo Campero, and went through the drive through because it looked interesting.  I decided to pick up dinner while I was at it. Turns out, this place is fantastic.  I got a grilled chicken and 2 sides - the chicken is in a lime adobo type marinade and so tasty.  Nice juicy grilled chicken, too with lots of meat on it.  I got it with black beans and rice, and mashed potatoes.  (They had plantains and other sides, but I decided to get the mashed for hubby.)

The meal came with a bunch of tortillas.  And they had flan. Flan is like my favorite thing ever.  Who ever heard of drive through flan?  What a fantastic world we live in.

I looked up the place and I see that it is a Guatemalan chain.  A good find, I imagine I will get this again some day.  It seems like a relatively healthy choice for fast food.