I Get Really Domestic on the Weekends

This weekend has been QUITE the success.

Here's the run down.


Friday
CRAZY insane day at work. Especially the last half hour. We had all of the really tough kids left, my room wasn't cleaned yet - none of the rooms were clean yet. I go to clean my room I hear the other two teachers screaming to me from down the hallway... toilet is overflowing EVERYWHERE. Apparently I was the only one who knew how to shut the toilet off. Plus the plunger was in my room. So I took care of that, cleaned my room, and THEN had to clean up the massive flood in the other room. But before we could do that we had to remove a MASSIVE spider. Ugh. Half an hour after closing, we finally got out of there. Quick trip to the store for yarn supplies and finally home.
We made a trip to Trader Joe's the night before, so I was really craving the Chicken Shu Mai that we sampled and then bought. I decided that fried rice would be just the thing to go with it. Having never made fried rice before, it was going to be quite an adventure. But it was SO FREAKING GOOD. And I will share my recipe.

How to Make Fried Rice - Ashes Style

Ingredients
- White rice
- Green onions
- Bean sprouts
- Oil
- 2 eggs
- Soy sauce
- Marmite or Vegemite




* Cook or have six cups of rice. I made it up because I didn't have any on hand, but apparently leftover rice is also good.
* Chop up some green onions. Set aside.
* Lightly beat 2 eggs with some salt and pepper. Set aside.
* Heat up a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil. Once it's hot, add the eggs. Scramble 'em up. Don't overcook. Take them out and set them aside.
* Clean out your pan, and then put 2 tablespoons of oil in again. Add the rice. Stir fry it for a bit.
* Add a couple tablespoons of soy sauce. I didn't measure it. I just splashed it in until it was a color I liked.
* Add a little yeast extract, such as Vegemite or Marmite. (I used Marmite. We ran out of Vegemite and can only buy Marmite locally.) Again, I didn't measure. I was stirring with chop sticks, so I just dipped my sticks in and grabbed a little blob. Stir stir stir.
* Add the eggs back in. Add the green onions. Add some bean sprouts.
* EAT


Saturday

Oh yeah, baby. I found some Tim Tams! FINALLY. FINALLY!!!!
Danny and I had crazy plans to walk the rail trail from Easthampton to Northampton (about 7 miles) in 40 degree weather. I decided that I was going to do this, I needed a fleece vest. So we went to Old Navy, and since I'm a glutton for punishment, decided to make yet another stop to Target to hunt for the elusive Tim Tams. I wasn't getting my hopes up. Even though Target's website said they were in stock - they day I checked online, I also checked in stores and it said they were in stock and they definitely were not. So I checked the dollar racks for stickers for my preschoolers and Danny went to look for himself. Moments later he returned with two packs of TIM TAMS!!!! I literally squealed out loud. And then ran back for two more packs. Like just two would be enough. PAH. I would have bought ten if my budget had allowed for it.
Even though I had loads of Tim Tams, I still went for my walk. And it was lovely. But the Tim Tam Slams to be had when I got home were even lovelier.


Sunday
Domestic goddess day. I had the whole freaking apartment scrubbed and shining before noon. NOON. Floors, dusting, organizing. The works. Still kind of smells like Lysol in here.
After that I rewarded myself with hours upon hours of Sims 3, while knitting an amazingly long scarf made of lovely lovely lovely baby alpaca yarn. And then I baked like a billion pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for my preschoolers, while chatting on the phone with my Nana about affordable, tasty recipes. Check these babies out.

 

I'm going to have some happy kiddos on Tuesday. Let's just hope they actually last that long! They are yummmmmmy. No canned pumpkin up in here. This is still from the pumpkin we carved. So far I've made a double batch of pumpkin pie pudding, a loaf of pumpkin bread, a dozen pumpkin muffins (or was it two?) and then these cookies. And I still have another bag of it frozen. I don't know why I haven't been doing this for years. Fresh pumpkin is more fun and FAR more cost effective than canned pumpkin. And while I was skeptical at first, I do think it tastes better. 

How did you spend your weekend?

First Day as a Sub

Today was my first day as a preschool substitute. Needless to say, it was FAR better than my job as a nanny! Forget that the fact that I made the same wage in 6 hours as I would in 11. That's just icing on the cake.

I'm working 11-5 preschool all week, floating between the 3 of the 4 classrooms while others are on breaks. The girl who normally works that shift is working the preschool room while that teacher is on vacation, because I'm not certified yet to teach by myself. But I did confirm today that subbing in preschool WILL count towards getting preschool certified, as long as I do some in-services too. I just have to be in preschool consistently, which they plan to do. Now lets just hope that a position opens up after I get certified!!

The kids there love me, of course. :) I made little friends in each of the classrooms (except downstairs, because they were all napping when I was down there). I'm one of the younger teachers (actually, probably the youngest in preschool, and maybe youngest in the whole school.) and the little girls seem to really like that. Not sure why.. maybe because I'm not old and grumpy yet? Hehe. Wait til I bust out my cute socks and fun little accessories, (which I have far too few of) then they'll really love me.

Is it sad that I relate well to pre-school girls?
Probably.


So, it finally happened.
Someone around here recognized me for my Aussie fame. Bound to happen when I'm not holed up at my nanny job 793024720 hours a week. (Okay, sorry, no more former nanny bitterness) I was discussing long plane trips with a little girl whose family is from China. She was wondering if you would have to sleep on the airplane if you flew to the other side of the world, and I confirmed that yes, you would, because I did that when I flew to Australia a few months ago. My co-worker then said "Wait... you're... that Ashley?" Why, yes, yes I am. It was kind of a little bit embarrassing to be recognized like that. It was expected in Australia, but there wasn't that much exposure here. Or so I thought. Apparently the local paper ran something about it while I was gone, with a bunch of photos and things. Wish I had known! I wonder if/where I could get a copy. Hm. Anyways, we discussed Australia and how amazing the opportunity was. She told the other teacher in the room, who hadn't heard about the story, but thought it was cool anyways. I wonder if the whole building will know by the time I get there tomorrow.

Maybe I should get some kids cricket sets for the school now. :-D