Quick Update

I'm just waiting for some reports to download to me and then I'm off working again.

I'm your classic type-A personality. I used to resent that, but I see how beneficial it is to me in my life these days. I am a workaholic and a perfectionist - medical transcription is the perfect job for me. Seriously. How many jobs do you know that require a 99.5% rate of perfection. I suppose all medical ones, but whatever. I just like that perfection is expected. That's me ;)

Anyways. As for the workaholic in me? It seems my weekend only hours of turned into a lot of on-call and in the near future I shall be working seven days a week. Let me remind you, though, I truly don't mind this, and we need all the money we can take. It seems my schedule will look like this for the time being:

Monday through Wednesday: 5-10pm
Thursdays: 3-10pm
Fridays: 6-10pm
Saturday and Sunday: 6am-2pm

And I am LOVING every moment of it...no word of a lie!!! Right now I've been working nearly every day, just not scheduled shifts. The best part is that they're fairly flexible. If I need to step away for a bit and pop dinner in the oven or put Alexys to bed, that's okay. It's a win win situation for us. We desperately want and need two incomes for our life right now - we have lots of goals and things to save up for in the near future, including paying off debt, and therefore I need to work as much as possible.

Working nights is great because Jord is able to be home with Alexys and I am still able to be home with her all day during the day. I can still be with friends during the day and be out and about doing as I please. It's also easy to get the day off in advance, to work split shifts, or whatever might need to happen.

Have I mentioned lately that I'm SO glad I took this course, finished, and got a job with InScribe? I love it. I love that every time I sit down to work, I only make as much money as I work for. I like the encouragement and discouragement of trying to be faster and beat my own goals. My pedal should be here this week, or perhaps early next week, and that will make things even faster.

Can I get a wahoo for MTs? WAHOO!

kortney elise xoxo

Worlds Update

I know, I'm a bad blogger these days. More "real" updates to come, I promise. I've just been lazy.

How did my worlds predictions go? Better than my Olympic ones, that's for sure – I only missed one medalist in one discipline, and even got the dance podium in the correct order. Here we go:

Ladies:

ACTUAL:
1. Mao Asada
2. YuNa Kim
3. Laura Lepisto

In the Top 10: Miki Ando, Cynthia Phaneuf, Carolina Kostner, Mirai Nagasu, Ksenia Makarova, Racael Flatt, Viktoria Helgesson.

My predictions – I thought YuNa would win, Mao second, and Mirai third.

What happened?

YuNa self-imploded in the short program having her triple flip downgraded, missing her layback entirely, and having her spiral sequence marked as level 1…it left her in 7th after the short, and even though she won the long, she didn't have enough points to bounce back. Mao came second in the short and long, but had enough to win overall. Mirai actually did win the short program, but had a pressure breakdown in the long and finished 11th in the free and 7th overall. As for Laura Lepisto – beautiful skater, but I bet no one predicted her. She has been awarded "Best Novice Impression" at Worlds, having completed only 3 triples in her long. Luck worked in her favour, that's for sure.

I also got the top 10 right, save for Viktoria Helgesson being in, replacing Alena Leonova of Russia. Viktoria is one for the future.

Surprises – Obviously YuNa's implosion – but it only makes skating more exciting and proves that she actually isn't a robot. Also seeing Akiko Suzuki finish 20th in the short. Best surprises? Cynthia Phaneuf skating TWO clean programs under more pressure than she's ever been under (she NEEDED top 10 to qualify Canada 2 spots for Worlds next year). I am also impressed that Viktoria finished top 10, qualifying Sweden two spots for the first time next year. I was also impressed by Sarah Hecken's 12th place and Jenna McCorkell's 14th. Cheltzie Lee also finished 17th this year after being 33rd last year. And congrats to Manouk Gijsman for finishing 24th…from the Netherlands! Oh and the Indian girl didn't come last. (Remember there were 53 entries this year!). There were a lot of ladies surprises, I guess – I'm also surprised to see that Tugba Karadamir didn't qualify for the long nor Tamar Katz. Both disappointments. I also had my hopes out for Ana Cecelia Cantu from Mexico – she has the best sitspin I ever saw, but also didn't make it outta the short. Oh well – next year?

Men:

ACTUAL:
1. Daisuke Takahashi
2. Patrick Chan
3. Brian Joubert

In the Top 10: Michal Brezina, Jeremy Abbott, Adam Rippon, Samuel Contesti, Kevin Van der Perren, Adrain Schultheiss, Takahiko Kozuka.

My predictions? Right podium, wrong order. I thought Brian would win and Daisuke third. I though Patrick would repeat as runner-up and he did.

What happened?

Great even, especially post-Olympics. There isn't much to say except the right people performed as I thought they would.

My top 10 was a little off as I didn't think that Kevin or Adrian would be Top 10 – I had Artem (who ended up pulling after breaking his blade during the short program), Kevin Reynolds (11th!), and Florent in the Top 10.

Surprises – Not as many as the ladies. Michal Brezina was a highlight, finishing 4th and 3rd in the freeskate. What a great skater. I'm a little shocked at Jeremy's short program score – I want to look at his report card and skate again – he finished 5th, but I thought that his short should have been a little higher perhaps. Also surprised by how much I liked Adrian's free program, Kevin actually skating clean, and the implosion of Nobunari Oda – Japanese silver medalist, 6th at Olympics…singling every jump in his short program and finishing 28th – not qualifying for the long. SO happy for Kevin Reynolds who finished 8th in the free and 11th overall – helping secure Canada three spots for next year.

Dance:

ACTUAL:
1. Tessa/Scott
2. Meryl/Charlie
3. Italians

Bang on. Go me. Again I don't follow dance as closely, except to watch and enjoy. So I didn't predict the top 10, but there wasn't any real surprises except for the 2nd Italian team falling in the free dance and losing their top 10 spot. Tessa and Scott set the world record in the OD and did come second in the free dance after Scott bobbled a twizzle and the Goose took a while to setup. Tessa/Scott and Meryl/Charlie were within 1.5 points of each other and the third place team was 26 points behind them!!!

Pairs:

ACTUAL:
1. Pang/Tong
2. Savchenko/Szolkowy
3. Kavaguti/Smirnov

Right podium, wrong order. I really loved the Germans long program and wanted them to win, but Pang/Tong deserved it. I don't like the Russians, but oh well. I don't think they deserved 3rd, especially not in the short, but it is what it is. Surprises? Jess and Bryce bombed. Oh wait. Not a surprise – I just thought they would come back and impress us after their Olympics. Oh well. Both Canadian teams and American teams were in the top 10, but the points didn't work to qualify 3 (must be 13 points or less) – Canada's was 16 and America was 16 too. Canada had 6 and 10, while America had 7 and 9. Anyways. There should be some major retirements I would think and pairs is going to be boring again until some new consistancies are reached.

Those are my quick thoughts.

(I know, still long but hey…I'm obsessed!)
kortney elise xoxo

Worlds

Worlds start tonight...during the night pretty much. They are in Torino, Italy. Where the Olympics was 4 years ago. I see a trend. Olympics 06 - Worlds 10 in Torino. Olympics 98 - Worlds 02 - Nagano. Olympics 10 - Worlds 14 - Vancouver? I hope so. The Worlds 2014 is just a guess/hope!!! They haven't been here since 2003, so that would work - 11 years.

Here's the schedule (I made it PST times) - you can watch it all live on Skate Buzz and play You Be the Judge.

Tuesday, March 23rd
4am - Compulsory Dance Program
10am - Pairs Short Program

Wednesday, March 24th
1:30am - Men's Short Program Part One
5:30am - Mens Short Program Part Two
10:30am - Pairs Free Program Part One
12pm - Pairs Free Program Part Two

Thursday, March 25th
4:30am - Original Dance Program
10am – Men's Free Program

Friday, March 26th
1am – Women's Short Program
10:30am - Dance Free Program

Saturday, March 27th
4:30am – Women's Free Program Part One
6am – Women's Free Program Part Two

Sunday, March 28th
5:30am – Gala

Read more at CBC Sports. There are also lots of encore presentations on regular TV, so be sure to check out their schedule.

Joannie Rochette...Thin Ice

I had to share this video...for so many reasons.
You've all heard the stories now, but she really is a beautiful woman, inside and out, and this program, once again, brought me to tears.

And...frick! Her dress is GORGEOUS. If I looked like that in that skating dress, I'm not sure I would ever take it off. It would become day to day wear for me.

Beautiful Joannie. Canada is STILL proud of you. You've always had that something special, and although it's so unfortunate that the world had to discover you this way, I always knew we had a gem in you. Thanks for being a true champion.

kortney elise xoxo

Worlds Predictions

Well, Worlds starts Tuesday and I thought that I'd share my predictions (Worlds as in Figure Skating Worlds…duh! What else would I talk about?). I'm waiting for pasta water to boil and for a friend to stop by so that I can help her complete a University assignment on healthy living or something to that effect (although I'm quite sure I'll pull down her averages or something…healthy living isn't really me, haha). My mother-in-law took Alexys to the park, and I have my legs all rested up here while typing. It's great. Anyways.

What everyone thought would be a great world championships, due to the lack of withdrawals at first, is actually turning out to be typical of what Worlds looks like post-Olympics. It's not so bad in the ladies, but generally, after the Olympics, all the top ones retire and we get a glimpse of what the next 4-year cycle might look like. Here's my predictions mixed with the withdrawals we know of so far – remember, they don't start until Tuesday, though, so we may get more surprises by then:

Ladies:
1. YuNa Kim (KOR)
2. Mao Asada (JPN)
3. Mirai Nagasu (USA)

Rounding out the Top 10 (in no particular order): Rachael Flatt, Akiko Suzuki, Miki Ando, Laura Lepisto, Alena Leonova, and I'm going to hope and cross my fingers that 10th is Cynthia Phaneuf. For Canada's sake.

Withdrawals: Joannie Rochette (replaced by Myriane Samson), Yakuri Nakano (replaced by Akiko Suzuki, who was already at the Olympics).

Men:
1. Brian Joubert (FRA) I really don't like him, but it's his to lose, I think…he'll probably make a comeback.
2. Daisuke Takahashi (JPN)
3. Patrick Chan (CAN)

Rounding out the Top 10 (no order): Jeremy Abbott, Adam Rippon, Artem Borodulin, Florent Amodio, Kevin Reynolds, Michael Brezina, and Samuel Contesti.

Withdrawals: Johnny Weir (replaced by Adam Rippon), Evan Lysacek (replaced by Ryan Bradley), Evgeni Plushenko (replaced by Sergei Voronov), Vaughn Chipeur (replaced by Kevin Reynolds), Stefan Lindemann (replaced by Peter Liebers), Tomas Verner (replaced by Pavel Kaska)…among others.

Dance:
1. Virtue/Moir (CAN)
2. Davis/White (USA)
3. Faiella/Scali (ITA)

I'm not even going to round out the top 10, except that I think that the Kerrs will be in there, a couple Russian teams, and perhaps the other Canadian and other American team.

Withdrawals: The Russians (replaced by other Russians), Tanith/Ben (replaced by Navrro/Bommentre).

Pairs:
1. Savchenko/Szolkowy (GER)
2. Kavaguti/Smirnov (RUS)
3. Pang/Tong (CHN)

Top 10? Jess/Bryce, some Russians, some Americans…don't really care!!!

Withdrawals: The Chinese (Shen/Zhao).

That's about it for this session of Kortney's predictions. Enjoy.
kortney elise xoxo

Surgery

Well, it ended up being rebooked for yesterday (if you follow me on Twitter, you'd know that!) and all went well. I don't have a bruise from my IV this time and I am feeling oddly well. I was able (and supposed to) put pressure on my knee right away yesterday, and only really need to use crutches for up to a week if I go somewhere. Our house is small enough that I don't need them in the house, so that's good. I woke up from anesthetic without any incident (I've had trouble breathing and scratching in the past), and I didn't even feel nauseas. I'm truly boggled by this fact. I slept all night just fine and haven't even taken a T3 for pain today. The weirdest thing is still that I have no repercussions from the anesthetic – I just don't know what to think.

Surgery itself went well. I go back to see my doctor in 2 weeks and find out all the dirty details. He talked to me in recovery and I still wasn't out of anesthetic really yet, so all I remember him saying is meniscectomy and I remember asking if all sponge and needle counts were correct (LOL – what an MT thing to say? I'm such a dork). The sponge and needle counts were correct (phew!). When I got home I looked up meniscectomy in my handy-dandy medical dictionaries and I'm assuming it was only a partial meniscectomy, because otherwise I would be in a lot more pain and truly unable to walk at all. I don't know for sure, but that's what it seems like from the sounds of it. From reading, it sounds like my meniscus was in too rough of shape to repair for a third time and would most likely just snap again, so he just removed the bad parts and off we go. I think anyways. I'll get pictures of it all in a few weeks. Yummy.

Anyways, my mother-in-law is here for the next week helping out and hanging out with her grandbaby. She's taken her for a walk to the park right now so I'm going to go enjoy some peace and quiet and shower without any interruption. It will be glorious!

kortney elise xoxo

Oh ISU, why oh why?!

The ISU is the International Skating Union, if you didn't know. They oversee all figure skating and speed skating events. Their president, Ottavio Cinquanta, is a total moron. He was involved with speed skating and knows nothing about figure skating...nor has he made great attempts at learning anything to do with figure skating. It's all politics and money for him. Unfortunately, he's Italian. How embarrassing. But then, I guess he fits in with their political figures, no? Why am I mentioning this?

Because, dear friends, Joannie Rochette is now involved in an ISU, what I'm calling, scandal.

I mentioned a few days ago that I noticed JoRo's name was not on the World Championship roster anymore and was replaced by Myriam Samson. I fully understood her withdrawal, based on just needing time and probably not really being prepared. And let's face it - this is the first Olympics since the early 1990s that an Olympic champion will even be at Worlds. Most of the time top Olympic competitors retire after Olympics and Worlds that year is a lame finish to a great year. World champions like Kimmie Meissner are crowned (she disappeared after her random win that year, following the 2006 games)...and no one really cares. Anyways. I assumed Joannie withdrew from Worlds.

Wrong.

Her name has been removed by Skate Canada. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Have they been drinking? They surely must realize that the chances of Cynthia Phaneuf and Myriane Samson obtaining us 2 spots for next year's Worlds are slim to none. In order for that to happen our total points have to be 26 or less (ie: Cynthia could come 10th and Myriane 16th and we'd qualify 2 for next year). Chances are not good. Cynthia might be able to squeak in there, and Myriane might give hope in the short, but she doesn't have the experience/jumps for the long. Not going to happen. Anyways. Needless to say, interesting development on Skate Canada.

Here's the rub (I like that phrase, shut it). Skate Canada is being forced by the ISU pretty much. Joannie Rochette is skating in a made for TV competition this weekend. She is doing an EXHIBITION program in a professional competition. Why does this matter? It is stated in ISU rules that amateur athletes may not compete in professional competitions without an ISU sanction. Problems with this conclusion/why this matters:

• All competitions must receive ISU sanction. Basically this means shows, etc fork over a hefty fee each year to be sanctioned. Shows like Stars on Ice are sanctioned, because they pay off the ISU. Literally.
  
• A made for TV competition is probably not going to fork over that fee. This show hasn't.
  
• In the past, it has been allowed for amateur skaters to retain eligibility (amateur status) if they have done an exhibition (like Joannie was doing).

Okay fine. Makes sense. Joannie was going to do this exhibition and move on to Worlds. However, the ISU then got wind of Joannie planning to withdraw from Worlds, perhaps. So they told her she could ONLY skate in this show IF she competed at Worlds. Right. I'm sure there's a rule for that - NOT!!! The ISU literally told Joannie if she skated in the exhibition and then withdrew she'd have to produce medical evidence for her withdrawal or else her status would be lost. They ISU knows what a big draw Joannie will be.

It gets worse.

When questioned, the ISU quietly said no such thing, and blamed Skate Canada for the situation, saying they had nothing to do with it, and it was the skater's federation to choose. Such a lie. Skate Canada is being blackmailed, I know it. Not that they're a pretty federation themselves. But it's still stupid. At this point, Skate Canada withdrew Joannie's name from Worlds.

Regardless of if Joannie with planning to withdraw, they did it without her knowledge and permission. How nice.

Anyways. The point is - Joannie will not be at Worlds, and so far, she plans on skating her exhibition at the professional skate. And you know who gets screwed in the end? Skate Canada. I'm betting on losing 2 spots for next year's worlds and another Canadian world medalist is years and years and years away. You know who wins? Joannie. Why:

• She'll be paid big bucks to be in this show now. Count on it.
  
• She's going to have a ROCKING professional career, especially since it seems that the professional circuit is coming alive again.
  
• She's a world known name now and very popular in North America.
  
• If she had gone to Worlds, chances are she may have missed out on the podium. Why go and ruin the high from Olympics?
  

Anyways. The ISU is sketchy at best. One more point to consider:

• Last week was the Junior World Championships in the Netherlands. Like regular worlds, your number of skaters competing is determined by your previous year's placements in each event.
  
• China qualified TWO pairs to compete.
  
• THREE pairs competed.
  
• Why? The ISU has released that this was a clerical error and nothing will be done.
  
• Right. Like China "forgot" that they only had 3 pairs. Any person in the world could look up the qualification numbers - it's on the front page of the entry form for Jr Worlds. I guess counting to 3 is really hard.
  
• The Chinese pairs teams did really well this year and did all place in the top 12 (I believe, without verifying). However, only the top 20 teams move on from the short program to the long program. The Chinese team essentially bumped the team in 21st from competing their long. Had the third Chinese team not been there, the Estonian team in 21st would have been 20th and been able to compete their long. So not cool.
  

There have been other instances this year with sketchy ISU scandals - including forcing (attempting to force) Yu-Na Kim into competing at a competition in Korea, etc (Note: Yu-Na has a Canadian coach...coincidence...hmmm!).

It makes me so angry that some old Italian man can ruin a sport already so broken from years of political scandal.

Way to go Speedy. I can't wait until I take you over.
kortney elise xoxo

No go

Surgery was a no go today.

And a giant waste of time.

Even if I believe that things happen for a reason (and I really do), it still sucks to get yourself emotionally worked up and prepared for something like surgery, all to be let down. After all, my mother-in-law is coming Monday for 9 days, to help me with Alexys after surgery, Jord took a 1/2 day today to watch Alexys, and Mom came out to Langley to help me home and even did some grocery shopping for us. For nothing.

I went to the hospital. Got told they were behind and didn't have a room. Not a worry. I enjoyed the quietness, quite frankly. Eventually I got changed, got in a bed, and laid there for 3 hours with an IV in my arm. I asked one nurse about what time she thought I'd be headed in - she mentioned that the girl before me was almost done so within the next few minutes. Literally 2 minutes later another nurse came and told me the anesthetist called in sick and my surgery was canceled. I can be understanding about these situations - they happen - but really? He really called in sick in the last 2 minutes? You didn't know hours ago? Who just put the girl under that's in there now? I suppose he's off, and that's fine, too...but you really didn't think to inform other patient's that the next guy was gone - especially since I had an IV.

And I was hungry. That made everything worse.

Sigh. Oh well. The good news is I worked my regular 4 hour shift tonight.

Albeit, ironically, I was stuck on operative reports all night.

kortney elise xoxo

PS: Nope. Don't know when I'm rescheduled for. Very vague information at the hospital. More like, I'll probably have to wait 6 weeks, like I did for this appointment (which isn't bad, just saying)...or they might fit me in. I love having notice. I hope that it happens next week early so that Lorilee is still here and it works out. Otherwise, I may just postpone it until the end of summer.

Easier Than Pie

Really! Tonight's recipe is actually easier than pie (you know that saying, easy as pie...? I don't think pie is really that easy, actually). Anyways. I give you:

Kortney's Tuna Casserole

That's right. I made it up myself. And it's delicious. Total comfort food for a rainy day. It's warm and cheesy and everything someone who is not feeling well wants. Why did I make this today? Well, actually...I made it tonight for tomorrow - it's something that Jord can throw into the oven real quick. I'm getting knee surgery tomorrow (prayers anyone? I go in at 12:45!!!) and so clearly I won't want to cook dinner tomorrow. Since I'm such a fabulous housewifey (haha) I threw this together tonight so that we could be nourished tomorrow.

1 can of tuna
2.5 cups of grated cheese (or something like that...I just grate the cheese and add more if necessary)
1 can cream of celery soup (or mushroom or broccoli...not cream of GARLIC mushroom)
1 cup frozen peas (although regular would work too and sometimes I used mixed frozen veggies)
Macaroni (cooked) - I wish I could tell you how much to use, except I don't measure and just boil

Cook macaroni first. Then put all the ingredients in a casserole dish. Mix around. Oh, save some cheese for on top. Put the cheese on top. Put it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes. Took me about 15 minutes to do everything from the point of the water boiling.

Note - Jordon hates casseroles, hates his food touching, and doesn't like soup. BUT he loves this casserole so much he's actually requested it for dinner before. Score 1 Kortney.

Anyways, I'm nearly done my to-do list before surgery day (I just have to fold the laundry and clean the bathroom now), but wanted to share this one with you. Enjoy!

kortney elise xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday - on Wednesday

I found this post tonight and wanted to play…so I'm a few days late. Sue me ;) Head over to Diary of a Stay at Home Mom if you want to play too!

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Well, it was all nice and springish, except all of sudden there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow. How weird is that? It's been sunny the last two days, but mighty cold. And it tricks you into thinking you can go out without a coat on. Brrr!!

One of my simple pleasures:
Knitting. Except I don't really do it very much anymore…it hurts my hands and I'm only good at dishcloths. I long for the day to sit with Anne and knit and drink tea while being really old. No really. I cannot wait for this day.

On my bedside table:
I really haven't read anything exciting …or at all… lately. I must remedy this with my $20 Chapters gift card. Asap.

On my TV:
The Office – Season 5.
Make It or Break It – Season 1 (because it has Candace Bure [aka: DJ Tanner] in it…I can't wait for Glee to come back).

On the menu for tonight:
We'll go with what we already had tonight – pork friend rice with peppers, celery, and peas. Yum.

On my To Do List:
Clean the bathroom.
Take out the recycling.
Vacuum.

All of this needs to be done before Friday…that's when I get knee surgery.

New Recipe I tried last week:
Basil Tortellini Soup.

In the craft basket:
It doesn't fit in the basket, but organizing and decorating my "office" in the corner of our bedroom.

Looking forward to:
Is it ridiculous to say napping all weekend from knee surgery? Being out for 2 hours while they fix my knee? My mother-in-law comes on Monday for 9 days…I'm actually looking forward to it. I like my mother-in-law and I know she'll be a big help while I hobble around on crutches.

Homemaking Tip for this week:Stay on top of the laundry. What a simple concept. I know, I know. Often I have laundry clean, but piled to the roof, waiting to be folded. My goal lately is to never have laundry sitting clean. So far so good, but I know I'm going to have a couple loads tomorrow. A sick baby hasn't helped with extra sheets, etc.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
The one entitled, "about to give up" on Steve and Carolyn Schulz's blog. It really made me feel better about Alexys.

Favorite photo from last week:

Lesson learned the past few days:
You can click with people, even over an online messenger…and I'm thankful for that and the fabulous new boss I have.

On my Prayer List:
Mckmama's posts in Kenya have really been leading me to pray for Africa, specifically Kenya. I have a soft spot for Kenya…I almost went on a missions trip there once and I still feel emotionally invested.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." –Matthew 6:34 (from the Message)

Life Update

I haven't been a good little blogger lately...I blame the Olympics. I just wanted to blog about figure skating when they were on. I figure I better get some regular blogs in here before Worlds for skating starts. I won't go on about synchro Nationals, which happened this weekend, but let's just say that black ice almost beat NEXXICE and that would have been a real shocker. But they didn't. Anyways. Oh, and no we didn't go to synchro Nationals this year. If you'll recall, they kicked adults out, gave us our own Nationals in April, and nearly everyone is boycotting. Okay.

Life?

Well, the most important thing to note, and you may not have noted if you don't read my Tweets or are my friend on FB...I got a job! After 179 resumes/applications (I believe that was the final tally), I finally got a job. I now work for a company called InScribe based in Kentucky! They hold many accounts for different doctors and hospitals across the USA. I picked which hours I wanted and they assigned me a hospital that suited my availability. I'm working for a hospital down in the southeast of the States...and the accents are actually not what I anticipated they would be. Phew! I was dreading deep Southern accents...but nope - mostly Spanish, east Indian, and plain - like me. How does my job work? Let's revert to bullets:

• I work from home. We set up a two-screen computer in our bedroom where I roll out of bed and promptly arrive at work 3 minutes later (just enough time to pour a cup of coffee). I use a program through Word that InScribe set up for me.
  
• Right now my hours are Friday night from 6 to 10 and Saturday/Sundays from 6am-2pm. However, so far I've already worked a lot of extra overtime and pretty much can just pick up when I want. So far, so good.
  
• Sucky part? The foot pedal I use for transcribing isn't compatible with their program, so I have to order a new one. What's a foot pedal? It has play, rewind, and fast forward, so that I can use my feet to control audio, instead of taking my fingers off the keys. Once I get it, my lines will most definitely go up.
  
• I am paid by the line. I have one more weekend of working at 7 cents a line and then I get a review and raise to 8 or 9 cents a line. I don't think I'm quite making minimum wage even right now, but it takes time to adjust to everything...I know one day very shortly it will work out fabulously and I will be paid well.
  
• Interesting fact? My boss lives in Alaska. I don't know why, but that just sounds so cool.
  

That's it, that's all. Easy as pie. Well...not really. Transcribing is actually very hard work and you have to listen real hard. Doctors do not speak clearly and often you have to figure out what disease they're taking about, if their dosaging on meds are right, etc. It's scary, because you're dealing with a real person on the other end - if you accidentally type the wrong dose of a medication, you could potentially and literally kill the person on the receiving end. This job does miracles for those with OCD and perfectionists.

Anyways, because I received this job, and the hours that it entails, I have put my mini-career of Starbucks to the side for now. I'm going to wait and see how this pans out for us and we'll go from there. I also picked up some mystery shopping on the side.

This is all fun. And truth be told? I am LOVING my job. I love that I don't have to leave the house. I love that I am on the computer. I am loving that I don't have to wear a bra to work if I don't want. I'm loving everything about it.

Anyways, 6am comes real early when you're not used to it.
kortney elise xoxo

Another Recipe!

I'm on a creative recipe kick. So far it's been a 2-day kick. How long will it continue? We'll see.

Tonight we're having egg noodle and chicken Parmesan...with homemade sauce and noodles. My friend Drea (how we're friends is kind of cool - we were penpals off a Christian penpal site when we were in grade 6 or 7ish I think, and we wrote back and forth for a long time. She's from Kansas. We lost touch but she found me a few years back on Facebook - how she found me is beyond me!), sent me a recipe for egg noodles. Yum.

Here it is (this is the doubled recipe, but a single recipe wouldn't be very big I don't think):
2 beaten eggs
4 T milk
1 t salt
2 C flour (or just enough to make a stiff dough...I think I pretty much used exactly 2 cups).

Roll it out thin on a floured surface. Let stand 20 minutes. Loosely roll it up and slice into 1/4 inches and then unroll. Let air dry for 2 hours and then cook normally.

Easy as pie. Took me 10 minutes to mix and roll (if I ever have a personalized house, I'm going to ask that the counters be 2 inches lower. I have to stand on my tippy-toes to knead and roll. It sucks). It's doing the 20 minute thing now, and then I'll cut it up and leave it out to dry until after swimming lessons.

As for the chicken parmesen, I just made up some sauce real quick (tomato sauce, tomato paste, Italian spices, blended crushed tomatoes, really thin sliced onion). I'm just baking the chicken like normal in the over, will put the sauce over the chicken and noodles...put some parmesan cheese on top and voila. Quick and easy. It probably took me longer to type this than it will to finish it all off.

It's a strange thing to be "free" while Alexys naps. Until I have a second job, I literally have nothing to do except get to be a real housewife - clean and cook - while she naps. It's the best invention ever.

kortney elise xoxo

A Wall

We're struggling right now – Alexys and I. Alexys and her dad. Alexys and everyone.

Does anyone else remember this age? She's just shy of 15 months and there is a lot of frustration going around in that little girl's mind. She wants so much to communicate and express her wants but she is not doing it very successfully. She doesn't use words yet, save for mom and dad, and signing was a big fail in this house. I spent a long time even trying to teach her one sign…Alexys just isn't a "mimicking" baby. She doesn't like to do things like you're supposed to and only when she wants. It took us forever to teach her bye-bye and mostly she doesn't even use it very often.

In turn of not being able to communicate, we end up with a very whiney (VERY whiney) little girl. We know she wants something. She knows what she wants. There is just a major barrier in the middle. And so the whine continues. It's terrible and awful. I feel like she spends most of the day whining.

Help. Suggestions? Easy fixes (I'm dreaming, I know)? Encouragement?

kortney elise xoxo

Quick, Easy, and Delicious

We eat the same thing in this house, I feel like...all the freaking time.

It seems that when we find something we like we eat it and eat it over and over. And then something else gets pushed out that we used to eat all the time. I've been on the look out for quick, easy, delicious recipes to try and spice up our lives. I do like to cook, but I have to be in the mood. That means I usually end up throwing something together at the last minute. Usually it's good, but most often it's boring. For me anyways. It doesn't help that my husband is (kind of) a picky eater. He'll eat anything really, but he hates onions and he just has his preferences. I like new and exciting. He likes old and boring. Guess what? Too bad for him.

Haha. Here was a new recipe we tried yesterday - it took 15 minutes total to make. SO fast and it was delicious and filling. We don't often eat soup for dinner in this house, because Jordon just doesn't get full enough. This filled him, me, and Alexys up. Yum.

Basil Tortellini Soup:

Ingredients

• 4-1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1 can (15 ounces) white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (I used a 6-bean mix that I had in the cupboard - it had all sorts of beans in it and it worked great!)
  
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomato (I forgot to buy this so we skipped this)
  
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup shredded fresh basil (I didn't have fresh and that was okay too)
  
• 1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

• In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Add tortellini; cook for 7-9 minutes or until tender.
• Stir in the beans, tomato and basil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve with cheese. Yield: 6 servings. (actually, it just fed me, Alexys, and Jord without any leftovers).

Original Recipe

Anyways, maybe it's something you can have for dinner too. I had everything except the tortellini at home already - just $3 for the package...which my mom bought this time :) Lucky me!!

Oh and the deliciousness factor? Yep. Delicious! Jordon didn't complain too much, although he did say he doesn't really like soup for dinner, but he said it was good. I thought it was delicious. Alexys loved it. I just feed her the pasta separate and than after she had some of the broth and she loved it.

kortney elise xoxo