MIA

Sorry I've been missing. This last week was a busy one, and this coming week looks to be another busy one. I was going to post tomorrow (when I've got the day off), but figured I'd better go ahead & do it today to assure everyone that I'm ok. *grin*

Let's see..... First off, I've been busy because I'm applying for the position out here at NPBranch Library that's reopened. You may recall that I applied for it this last fall and didn't get an interview based on the fact that I didn't have a "title" on my application indicating that I'd been more than a library page for at least a year. Well, the woman who got that job up & quit, deciding it wasn't quite what she wanted. (And, I hear tell that she really didn't seem to like kids very much & got rather grumpy during story times.) Anyway, that means that the position has opened up again. And I'm applying again. This time I'm claiming my volunteer time at the elem. library. It's only 4 months worth, but it's more than I had before.

I got my application filled out & took it in to a woman at work who'd offered to proof-read it for me, and she made ALL SORTS of corrections & suggestions for me, so I had to redo it. She's now given it her stamp of approval, so Tuesday morning I'm going to take it in. (I'm VERY glad I had this woman proof-read it for me. It's no wonder my last application got tossed. I can't believe some of the mistakes I was making!!! AND she recommended that I claim my volunteer experience from the nursery at church as part of my experience with children. She said that even though it was a small group, it counts as children's programming.)

In the mean time, I'm also doing some online MS Word & Publisher tutorials to brush up on my skills (or, LEARN skills) with both of these programs as they're both highly necessary for this job.

THIS is what's been taking up so much of my time this week. And what will be taking up a lot of time in the next couple of weeks. So, when I'm not around much, please don't worry. Just pray that I can learn the necessary programs and get an interview. *grin*

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Tay had a game yesterday at Polar (the ice-rink just a block away from my dad's house) that I had to take her to. *wry laugh* MAN it was a work-out for ME trying to wrestle her big goalie hockey back IN and OUT of the trunk of my car. DH wasn't sure he'd be able to make it, and knew he wouldn't be there in time to bring DD's gear with HIM (he had to work), so I had to haul the gear. DANG!!!! I asked one of the coaches to help me lift it into the back of my car, after the game, and he said that he REALLY needs to talk to DH about getting me a bigger (NEWER!) car!!!! *grin* PLEASE!!! Wanna help pay for it too????

(Not that I DON'T need a newer vehical. Lately I'm losing bits & pieces from the thing every time I turn around. First the hood ornament fell off, then this morning a piece of the metal flashing that surrounds one of my headlights..... I'm just nervous about a new vehical because EVERY TIME we look into a new car for me, something happens with the vehical DH drives. *sigh* Maybe one of these days the timing will be right.)

Anyway, as for the hockey game. It was against the Healy Coal Kings (the team we played against in the Championship game of the Christmas tournament, and lost to). 18 seconds till the end of the game, one of our girls made a goal, tying the game 4-4. WOW!!!!!! That was astonishing!!!! Of course, the clock stopped, we had 17 seconds left in the game. The puck was dropped, and immediately, the Coal Kings brought it to our side of the ice and broke that tie and with 7 seconds left on the clock, the score was now 5-4. *sigh* With only 7 seconds left, we knew there wasn't a chance of us getting another goal on them, but oooooooohhhh we came SOOOOOO close!!!!! DD was thrilled and slightly bummed with the results..... She came SOOO close to keeping them from getting a 5th goal on her. And they've always made 5 or more goals on her, she was hoping to knock it down by another number. *grin* But, they all had fun, and we all came down out of the balcony just amazed at how close that game came, and how tense & fun it was. *grin* You had us Icebreakers parents standing right next to Coal Kings parents, both yelling encouragement for our teams, then looking at each other & grinning. They're such a fabulous team to play.

And afterwards, when I went to talk to some of the parents from that team about how much we enjoy playing against them, one dad told me that OUR team is the only one that the Coal Kings look forward to playing against, because OUR team is the only one in the area (in their age group, of course) that gives the Coal Kings such a run for their money. Even though we always lose (we haven't won a game against them yet, in 2 years), we don't let them have the victory easily. And our girls pressure the puck nearly as well as their kids do. So, not only are they FIGHTING for every goal on us, but they're FIGHTING against every shot we take on them! And afterwards, all the kids seem to come off the ice feeling like they've had fun & played hard and can banter & chat with the other team without any animosity. It's VERY fun hockey. It's what hockey SHOULD be!

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I FINALLY got a good loaf of Sourdough bread, yesterday. It took 2 days of work, but it turned out well. (Fortunately, not such work that it makes it not worth the effort.) First, I had to feed the sourdough with enough flour & water to produce sourdough for the bread (you always keep a bit back for producing MORE sourdough). Then, take the 2 cups of sourdough out of the jar for the bread, combine with another 2 cups of flour. (I used 1 cup each whole wheat & white.) Add 3/4 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp melted butter, and a slight drizzle of honey (this wasn't called for, but I figured it'd probably help!). Set in oiled bowl, oil top of dough, cover with clean dish-towel, and set into cool oven to rise for several hours, or till doubled in size. I was going to leave this overnight, but in the 4 hours since I put it in the oven to rise protected from drafts, it had risen to double it's size, so I did the punching down THEN, before bed, and placed it in a glass bread-pan for the second rising, to be done overnight.

Yesterday morning, when I went to check & see if it had risen sufficiently, I was kinda bummed that it looked like it hadn't risen so much, but I knew it'd had several hours to rise as much as it was going to. So I took it out of the oven, turned the oven on to 375 to pre-heat, and then placed the bread in when the oven was mostly heated. One hour later, I had a nice, crusty loaf of sourdough bread. The crust was actually thicker than I think I prefer, but I cut into it almost immediately (let it sit for only about 5 minutes) for breakfast. Slathered it with some butter, and Oooooooh, just slightly sour taste, VERY nice in the middle!!!! I mean, THAT is what bread is supposed to be like, when you bite into it!!!! Just a bit chewy, not too many crumbs (in the middle, but the crust was so hard to cut that there were PLENTY of crumbs from that!)..... And, for texture, it wasn't too dense at all. It was a nice density, but NOT brick-like, as have been the other loaves of sourdough bread I've tried to make.

I think next time I'm going to place the bread in the oven WHILE it pre-heats, it may prevent such a thick crust from forming. I'm also going to brush the top with butter as soon as I take it out of the oven. That may help keep the crust from getting quite so crisp. And I think I'll add a bit more honey. I like the hint of sourness of it, but I think it'd do well with a bit of honey taste as well.

I'm going to set another batch of sourdough to proof before I head off to work, and hopefully get another batch of dough in for the first rising before we head over to see Great Grandma & Aunt Millie this evening. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some pictures of some fresh loaves of Sourdough bread that I can share with y'all.

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I think that about covers it.

Have a Blessed Day!!!