L O G O R R H E I C - Leen On This

So I have finally got on top of my grad school applications.  Well, I think “on top” is an overstatement, but I have taken the initiative to contact everyone regarding recommendation letters and I sent out a request for my transcripts from VT.  I now need to work on essays (2 personal statement and an essay regarding a hypothetical situation involving immigration), make my resumé look pretty, and get any other odds and ends done before I leave on Wednesday.  Whew!  I’ve been throwing possible starts to my personal statements in my head.  Perhaps I should take the time to see what I wrote to get into undergrad.

I’m slightly perturb at Dan and my former boss about this entire process.  I guess I’ll start with Dan cause that isn’t really a big deal, but still it upsets me that he’s not really supporting me.  So last night I sent him my resumé so that he can make it look pretty.  Today he tells me that he just doesn’t have time to do that.  So that’s really annoying to me since I know he can easily make it look nice cause he’s a computer guy.  I don’t need him to change the wording, I just need him to format.  But he doesn’t have time for it, which is something that I don’t want to hear.

The most annoying thing is that my boss hasn’t e-mailed me back about writing recommendations.  Before I left the job I asked her if she would write me recommendations for grad school, and she agreed.  She hasn’t e-mailed me back and I’m going to be leaving soon!  So I’m really really annoyed at her.  I’m also not surprised that she hasn’t e-mailed me back.  She was really really bad at e-mailing me back, so I basically would just try to find her if it was a pressing matter.  If not, I would try to figure it out myself because trying to find her entailed getting to the office first thing in the morning.  I might have to call her on Monday if she doesn’t e-mail me back.  It also worries me that she might not send them back to me in time.  Hmf.

So now I am procrastinating, as usual, blogging and watching I-AA football instead of starting my essays.  Things don’t change huh? 

I am feeling strange an anxious, much like when I was a young 17 year old stressing out about college applications.  Deep down, I honestly didn’t think I was ever going to go to college.  I honestly envisioned myself living at home and going to Nova while I worked part-time.  That left me panicked stricken and so stressed out, that I couldn’t sleep or eat.  I know find myself feeling the same exact way, except this time the liklihood of not getting in to graduate school is very real and probable.  My internal dialogue is a conversation about why I should not apply, that applying is not the best step in life.  I’m extremely stressed out that it has lowered my immune system, thus causing me to have a terrible cold.

I’ve decided that I want to persue an MSW, and plan on applying to Mason and VCU.  VCU has a campus in Alexandria, on Edsall Road, so I wouldn’t have to relocate to Richmond.  I’m kind of annoyed with Mason because I would have to take an undergraduate history or government class before I can attend their program (if I get in).  They also have a shitty essay question regarding immigration that they want answered in two pages max, double space.  I have to get 3 recommendations for both programs.  I find the entire process very terrible and stressful.

In addition to all of this, the applications are due February 1st!!!  So I have to enlist someone in my family to send in all the necessary bits on my behalf since I’ll be in London.  So I really have a lot to do before I leave next week.  I still need to figure out what I need to bring with me to England!!!  I suddenly feel pressed for time and stressed out!  I also get random panic attacks of not being accepted, which would devestate me!

So I will be on a plane 16 days from now, where I am going to embark on a very exciting and equally terrifying time in my life.  I’ll be traveling to England to be with Dan for a couple of months.  I am currently unemployed and only thinking about what I need to bring to England, which is probably not the most productive thing in the grand scheme of Life.

While in England, I really need to figure out what I need to do.  I need to figure out my career goals for one thing.  Do I want to continue to counsel kids?  What graduate program should I apply to?  Should I suck it up and take the GREs so I can apply to more programs?  There’s just so much freaking crap to think about!  I am torn between returning back to the juveniles or doing straight up social work.  So hopefully that gets sorted out soon.

The biggest thing is what is going to happen after England.  Dan still feels uncomfortable about raising children in the US.  I just feel uncomfortable being permanently in a country constantly cold and overcast.  So those things need to be asked and answered.  Ugh, so much to think about!

Anyways, I need to figure out productive things to do while in England.  There’s already home decorating on my plate and short stints teaching life skills to an autistic person.  One of Dan’s friends e-mailed me about doing a voice over for some BBC produced show because they need a female American accent.  I told him I would do it if they still needed me to while I was there in England.  Fun.

I am still making a pathetic request for everyone to come visit me!!!  There are two extra rooms for people to sleep in!!!

So I have been really into pie making lately.  I experimented the last, oh, three weeks, making a chocolate peanut butter pie, chicken pot pie, and a chocolate sundae pie.  I haven’t quite perfected the chocolate peanut butter pie yet, but boy are the other pies yummy.  Of course, I did little short cuts, mostly cause I don’t own a food processor yet, but they are yum yum yummy!

Chicken Pot Pie

4 chicken breasts (I use the Perdue individually wrapped chickens cause they are perfection portions)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
5 cups chicken stock
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 1/2 sticks of butter
3/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 or 2 chopped onions
1 cup of cooked diced carrots
1 package of frozen peas
2 packages of puff pastry dough (you can find these in the frozen food isle, and it’s not pie dough)

I baked my chicken, but you can easily grill it too.  When I baked the chicken, I rubbed it with olive oil and put some salt and pepper on it.  I baked it for 20-30 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, melt the butter in a big old pot.  Cook the onions in the butter till they get clear.  In another pot, melt the bouillon cube in the chicken stock over heat.  When the onions are nice and clear, dump the flour in and keep stiring.  The mixture gets super thick, and stirring avoids lumps.  When that is incorporated, slowly add the stock while stirring mixture to avoid lumps.  Then add the cream, chicken, and veggies.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  That is your filling.

Roll out your puff pastry into 4 smallish pie dish.  Fill the pie.  Cover the pie, and cut some tiny holes in it so that the pie won’t explode.  Brush the pie with egg wash (whipped up egg and a dash of water).  Put in the oven at 375 and cook for about an hour or until the pie looks golden brown.

Chocolate Sundae Pie

1 box instant pudding mix
1 1/2 cup of cold milk
1 package of cream cheese (8 oz.)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tub of Cool Whip
1 tsp. vanilla
1 chocolate pie crust (you can get that in the cake mix aisle)

Whip together the cream cheese and sugar until softened.  Then add the tub of Cool Whip and vanilla.  Place half of the mixture in the pie crust and set the other aside.

Take the pudding mix and whip it together with only 1 1/2 cups of milk.  Put the pudding mix in the pie.  Then take the rest of the cream cheese mixture and put on top.  If you want, you can decorate it with chocolate chips or cocoa powder.  Set in the fridge for an hour.

Yum yum!