Last weekend and some great news!

It's officially the last Friday before my last weekend. It is also the first Friday before my new job! I start after school tomorrow, and I'll be working at a chocolate shop as a barista, and then working up to making the chocolate. I'll be part-time on Fridays and Saturdays until it starts getting busy, then I'll be full-time! I'm glad I went straight into a job even before my last day. XD The person who hired me said that she loved me, so that sounds positive, yes?

My buffet project is going alright, although I am slightly worried about not having enough time, even though I had some extra time last Sunday (I planned it out, and I accomplished everything I expected to that day, so since I had a lot of extra time, I did some more long prep). I'm hoping that none of it dried out or rotted over the week, and I'm crossing my fingers that my sugar sculpture is in one piece. I have backups of everything on my list, but I fear that I may be driven to tears if nothing goes to plan. Oh well. If I need a good cry, then I'll go and do it (away from my classmates), and then come back and get stuff done. Nothing new. I did that once in Alaska, when one of the chefs ran off without telling anyone, and I had to cover his shift, which included making lunch and dinner for the employees. It was very stressful, but I managed. Everyone was happy (they got pizza), and I got more respect from the head chefs. I never quit. I've got a stubborn streak a mile wide when it comes to food. I guess I'm odd that way.

I'm still planning on going to the 2010 Kumoricon, and a costume party on the 31st. I might just buy a seifuku and go as Osaka from Azumanga Daioh. I'm also going to do an Ivysaur Gijinka, and Enma Ai from Hell Girl for Kcon '10.

In other news, my MP3 player has gotten worse. It freezes, randomly adjusts the volume levels, and gets the names of songs messed up. Also, my earbuds have started to break, too. There is some exposed wire that I'm kind of leery about, so I don't think I'll be using my MP3 player for a bit. I'm thinking of getting a nice pair of folding headphones, but I put them on my wish list, so I might have to wait until after Christmas. It'll be hard going without music, or I'll just have to risk electrocution. Or I could just take my ds and buy a game that isn't on my list and be entertained until I save up enough money for a Zune hd. It is on my list, but unless my family reeeealy saved up this year, I don't think I'm going to get it. Oh well.

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2 more weeks until graduation!

Yay! I've got one last project coming up, then I get to head out into the industry and try out my skills. I'm hoping to find an externship to start out with, or if I can find a place that will take me, I'll go straight to working full-time. Hopefully with my weekends being free, I'll have a better change of being hired.
As for my project, it's a buffet project. I have to do 3 types of small pastries, 3 types of petit fours, and 3 types of candies, 1 being non-chocolate. I've got most of it planned already, with the prep schedule to still figure out, and what I'm going to do for my large piece. For the showpiece, I'll most likely be doing some more sugar work.
As for non-school stuff, I've been working on my computer trying to free up some extra space. I deleted a lot of music, and a couple of old programs. Sadly, my all my electronics all seem to be failing at the same time. The delete key is dead (I accidentally spilled a bit of water onto the keyboard. Hopefully the key will work after it dries out) on my laptop, my MP3 player seems to be dying, my DS lite no longer plays music (it works with headphones, though), my earbuds are getting all gross (I need to change the foam), my other headphones broke (Thats what I get from buying from Walmart, and the AV jacks on my TV are falling off.
I've been looking into a new MP3 player, and once I get some money, I'll get an ipod touch. I like the look of it, plus the whole movie storage thing is good. I also like the apps, which look quite useful.

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Project completed

My menu project has come and gone. I got an 81 for the overall score (which is pretty good), and I know the places that need improvements. If you check my flickr account, then you can see what I made, along with what I need to improve for each one.

Other than that, school is winding down. I've got 3 weeks left, and I'll graduate on the 17th of October. I've already invited 3 people, but I need to invite 2 more. Not sure who else is going to come. My sister isn't 'cause her husband's birthday is on that day, and I think my brother has work. If he can get the day off, then I'll invite him. So far, it's just my parents for sure, and one friend who may be able to come.

I've been sick the past couple of days, but thankfully it seems like I'll be all better by Saturday. I can't afford to miss any more days of school. I just have one weekend to do my sugar sculpture, then the last two weekends will be for the buffet project, which, as per usual, I'm kind of worried about.
Anyway, I'll post some more info later.

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Menu project coming up, and I'm procrastinating

The title says it all. I've already gotten the 4 items that I will be doing, but I'm not sure what I'll name them, and I still have to decide on whether to do a shortcake for my fruit dessert, or a flambé, or even sautéed pineapple. I also still have some homework to do, but I think I'll be able to get it done in time. I baked some cookies that turned out pretty well. I would usually use a recipe from my recipe packet, but the only chocolate chip cookie recipe that I had made 5 dozen, and is hard to scale back (1 egg does not easily scale back. >.<). Anyway, I'll post the recipe here, since it turned out great:

Chocolate chip cookies

5 oz butter
4 oz granulated sugar
4 oz brown sugar
1 5/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
10 oz pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
10 oz chocolate chips
4 oz chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C)
Cream together the butter, both sugars, and salt. Add the eggs and stir in one at a time, making sure you scrape the side of the bowl thoroughly between each egg. Add the vanilla, then sift in the pastry flour. Add the chocolate chips, and the nuts if you chose to add them. Drop batter onto oiled sheet pans, and bake 10 to 14 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.

There you go! Also, Kumoricon was this weekend, and it seemed like there was some problems with security (I didn't go, I couldn't afford it), and space was an issue, too. I hope they solve those things before next year, but I'll still go even if I have to wait 2 hours or more in the cold.

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It works!

It seems windows live writer works, so I'll either be using this to update with, or just updating via the blogspot site. Anyways, I made the images hyperlinks so they wont stretch the page, or take up too much space. I'll also make it so the images open in a new window. Also, I'll update with that is going on in my life. I'm almost done with school, which October 11th is the last day. I've applied for my passport, and I'm waiting for it to come in the mail any day now. No love interests, but I don't really care about that. I'm really looking forward to traveling soon for my externship. I really want to head to either England, New Zealand, Germany, Hawaii, Australia, or Canada. Either way, I don't think I'll be in Oregon this holiday season, which I can live with. I've got to put in 120 externship hours, which is about a couple of months.

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