Did I Step Into an Alternate Reality?

The economy sucks.  It finally hit me – at the bottom of the economic barrel – recently.  I get it now.  The economy sucks.  Even Alexandra is aware of this – offering to bust open her piggy bank to pay for food.  The economy sucks.

 

I ventured for the first time today to DCI Biologicals.  Those people who are in Carbondale know what I’m talking about.  It’s that big stone building that I’ve always thought looked abandoned.  I’ve never seen a person walk in or out of the front doors – and it’s always looked kind of seedy.  When I told friends that I was going to go there, they made comments about meth addicts and the like.  Oh boy, I thought.

 

Well, okay – this isn’t the cream of the crop of society, to say the least.  I’ll grant them that.  I don’t see anyone around here who look like they’ve been ripping the skin off their faces, though.  There are remarkably quite a few normal looking people here – of course, a number of college students. 

 

I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

I walked through the doors and blinked repeatedly.  At 11 am, there were no free seats in the lobby area.  I’d say the room holds (seat-wise) about 30-40 people.  I couldn’t believe that it was full.  Wow.

 

After waiting a while, I at least got to fill out my first form and talk with someone who works here.  I smiled and said it didn’t look like the crashing economy was hurting them in anyway – that, if anything, it looked to be helping them.  She laughed and said they’re now getting all kinds of phone calls asking what other things they’ll buy.  I shudder to wonder what, beyond plasma, these people want to sell.  

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

We're having an issue lately in our house: an issue with telling the truth.  Alex has never been the kind of child who tells wild and imaginative tales - she's always been the tattler in most situations, really.  Or, if she isn't telling on someone to the authority figure relative to the incident, she's likely to tell me about it later that evening.  

Last year, at just about this time, they had a speaker at her school, the local DARE officer, who talked to the younger grades about alcohol awareness.  Alex was honest at that assembly to the point of over-sharing.  I was the parent in charge of the event, the only parent at the assembly, and wishing I could drown my embarrassment in a really big strawberry margarita.  

So who is this kid who has taken residence in my home, who looks just like my little girl, who cannot tell the truth if her life depended upon it?  

Alexandra, did you feed the guinea pigs?  Yes.  Then why don't they have any food?  Oh.

Alexandra, did you take a shower?  Yes.  Then why is your hair still dry?  Oh.

Alexandra, did you do your homework?  Yes.  Can I see it? *tears* I forgot what I was saying!

When I got to her choir rehearsal tonight, I noticed a little stuffed animal on her desk.  I beckoned her over (they were still in their break) to let her know I'd gotten there and to give her a hug.  

Did you get a new stuffed animal?  No.  What's the animal on your desk?  I don't have one!

She walked back to her desk and took the animal from the desk and, reaching under the desk to her friend sitting in front of her, passed it away from her in what was an obvious attempt to hide the thing from me.

I've had a few people now tell me it's a phase and that she'll grow out of it.  It's so unlike the Alexandra I've known ... well, since her birth ... though, that it's driving me absolutely batty.

To Wax Political for a Moment...

There is an anti-abortion organization that has taken up protesting outside of where my classes are held.  For the past two days, images of aborted fetuses have been erected in comparison with images of the holocaust.  They're in the free speech area of the university - and they're being sponsored by an RSO.  They can be there and they can display these images.  

Yesterday, at the same time as local elementary schools were letting out 5, 6, 7 year olds (okay, all elementary school aged children), this organization thought it appropriate to drive a truck bearing these images throughout the town.  They went beyond the university - the presumed target of the protest - and happened to pick the same time that elementary schools let their children out nationwide.  "We weren't specifically targeting 5 year olds" was the response I received upon challenging the ethics of doing so.

Protests like these - specifically those that attempt to engage the entire community, regardless of whether that engagement is appropriate - get my dander up.  It's not so much the issue - in fact it's an issue that I remain constantly torn about - as their methods.  My daughter goes to a conservative Catholic elementary school.  Oftentimes I even shudder at how conservative it is.  She takes the bus to and from school every day from our church parking lot.  The bus is owned by the school and is driven by one of the parents with a CDL.  At school she is not allowed to watch anything rated higher than PG.  In order for her to watch even PG, I had to sign a blanket permission slip at the start of the year.  She exists ( at least when it comes to school ) in a bubble.  Yesterday, as she got off her bus, she was met with these images driving past the parking lot.  

Again, the issue itself is something with which I continue to struggle.  My own beliefs dictate that life is sacred and that I would NEVER have an abortion.  So, in my own life, I am pro-life.  I would never advocate that another individual have an abortion.  However, I would also NEVER want my beliefs forced upon another individual in the same way that I would never want someone else's beliefs forced upon me.  I would (and do) support any woman's informed choice in the matter.  

I've been attacked a couple of times recently for calling my daughter a choice.  Perhaps I misspoke.  She is my daughter, the most important person in my life.  HAVING HER was the best choice I ever made.  

My lunch is now over and I have to go back to work.  

xxx ooo

My Adventures into the Land of Cooking...

Alexandra discovered one of the greatest delights in Australian cuisine this summer - sausage rolls.  They're a pastry covered sausage - no casing on the meat.  I'd had them before and never really liked them, but this time even I appreciated them heartily.  

When we discovered that we would have to bring something to an international potluck this weekend, Alex and I immediately figured we'd make little sausage rolls.  After all, the Australian part is our heritage and they're yummy!

Last night, while we bought our supplies, I hit snag one.  The only uncased sausage we could buy was bratwurst.  While we both love bratwurst, that wasn't quite the flavor we were looking for.

I was reminded by a friend, though, that in order to make these accessible to all the attendants of the potluck,  I should avoid making anything with pork.  Okay - we'll be making the final batch with ground beef, I guess.

I discovered today, while making my first attempt at these tasty treats, that filo dough is NOT as hard to work with as I'd heard.  Even with one hand immobilized in a cast, I was able to maneuver the sheets of pastry, brush melted butter, cut them, and roll the sausage up in it.  I will admit that turning the rolls in the oven, later on, did prove to be a bit challenging...

I've tested the first batch on a few of my coworkers - all of whom appreciated the bratwurst snack.  However, the overall consensus is - after all my work with that filo dough - I should use crescent roll dough.  While that may make them quicker to make, it also means that I'll have to cook the meat ahead of the rolls.  Filo may stay in the oven for long periods of time to cook the insides, but crescent roll dough doesn't do well past about 7 minutes.

Perhaps I'll look around online for a recipe for sausage rolls...