You say Polymath like it's a bad thing...

Koch’s snowflake

My canning is done. All that is left is making cookies, chips to go with the salsa, and decorating. I performed an exhaustive search for ideas and felt no inspiration. I am not entirely sure if this is because of the hour, my generally foul mood, or that there is not much out there.

I finished the peach butter jars a while ago, along with their adorable fabric covers and fancy ribbon stuff. They’re not bad, really, and I should probably just do the same for the other gifts, but it seems so…blah. And, apparently, the most common decoration for canning jars is fabric, cutesy ribbon, and tags.

Well…challenge accepted.

These are Christmas gifts, and I suppose the theme is something along the lines of staying warm in the winter (salsa, soup, etc). I might do the fabric trick on some of the items, but in my slightly buzzed, under-the-weather, and half-asleep state, I thought it would be way cooler to do something more wintery. And something involving paint.

But that’s simply not enough! It needs to be quintessentially Sam.

Thus I decided I should probably do something math related, something with fractals. Enter Koch’s snowflake:

Von koch's snowflake — Von koch’s snowflake

This is a fractal that is made up of increasingly tiny triangles, though strictly speaking the snowflake is made up of three of Koch’s curves, but that’s really not an issue. The point is…how cool!

This then led me on a tangent (ah ha! Math joke!) looking for math crafts, and I couldn’t find a one that interested me. That was mostly because they were aimed for children more than adults. And as charming as an abacus made of pony beads of adding lily pads are, they are not quite what I am looking for.

So fractals it is, and, again, challenge accepted.

I need to sleep.

I forgot to take pictures

Part of my DIY Christmas gifting includes a photo frame for Eric to take to work with him because he’s always saying that he needs a picture for his office. I stopped at Michaels after work last night (awww. It was kind of nostalgic, and I even saw my old boss, who was very nice) and purchased a wooden frame to paint.

The irony, of course, is that while I got one picture of the base coat, I forgot to get any others. And the frame is now in a box, wrapped, and under the tree, so unless you want a picture of the wrapped box, I’m afraid I’ve failed in sharing any visuals.

But here’s what I did, anyway:

1. I painted the frame with a metallic silver. Since I was putting a photo of our elopement in the frame, the silver complements the white and black of our outfits.

2. Using a black permanent marker, I wrote the last lines of a poem that was read at our small ceremony for family.

3. I put the photo in the frame, put it in a gift box with a letter, and wrapped it.

Done. He gets something that he’s been asking for, it has a personal touch, and with dry time for paint, it took all of an hour. In case you are curious, the poem in question was “Litany” by Billy Collins. An amusing read, for sure.

I have caved, though, and I purchased some things for him, too. Alas. Time has not been kind to me this holiday season, since I’m working retail, and that makes it hard to do a whole lot of crafting. It is a little bittersweet, but I might as well get used to it. Once I start school again, I think it will be some time before I am able to get back into my craft room for any real length of time. Sad day.

With the rest of my afternoon before going to work, I’m going to make the labels for our canned gifts. Last bits of food gifts are going to be made this week, and then I’ll ship them all next week. And somewhere in there I have to write Christmas cards.

When did this holiday become more work than celebration? Bah humbug.

On another note, apparently the sweet white cat that I named when I was in middle school and loved until and after I moved away from home, is gone now. So I guess the equal and opposite reaction begins now.

Notes from the Grillo Pad

Gandalf was our cat, our four-legged man’s man, a hunter whose primary prey was the leaf. You’d hear him trumpeting as he moved unhurried through the woods or down the street, or you’d hear him right outside one of the doors, and there he’d be, with a huge leaf in his mouth, that he would triumphantly lay at your feet.

He was a fine, fine cat.

When I was out of town, he was the man of the house. Sometimes he stayed with Jane in our bedroom for the night. Cinder, the dog who sleeps near our bed and is very protective about her space, would allow it. It was Gandalf, just doing his job.

His nickname was Pointy – Gandalf was so formal. But he really could be pointy at times, especially when he wanted something. He’d follow you around the house, herding you, and he’d get up on…

View original post 374 more words

Homemade apple butter – the extended edition

I am writing with the intention of sharing how Eric and I made apple butter last week for our DIY Christmas this year, but before I start, I just have to talk about yesterday.

As some of you might know – hopefully all – on the 14th, The Hobbit will be released in theaters. That is great news. But what was even better news to me was that this past weekend (8th and 9th), theaters around the country/world were showing all three extended versions of Lord of the Rings. And I mean in a row. 800 minute run time (with breaks). And because last week the Universe seemed to be smiling upon me, I had yesterday off for the first time since I’ve started this new job.

So Eric and I went to see all three Lord of the Rings in theaters, and it was amazing. There was a small group of people there (I hope Saturday was busier. I can’t imagine how more people would not want the opportunity to see these films on the big screen again). Between films, one of the theater managers would come out toward the end of our break and have trivia questions for us, with prizes. Via Eric’s insistence, since I kept muttering answers under my breath while other people were participating, I actually stood up for one question and won him some candy. I mostly stood up because I was shocked no one had shot up immediately. The question was “What is the translation of the inscription on the one ring?” I wasn’t going to bother standing because everyone knows that. But no one stood!

If you’re not familiar and are curious, the inscription is “One ring to rule them all; one ring the find them. One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness, bind them.” It’s actually part of a longer poem about the rings of power that I will save some face by not posting in its entirety, even though I recited it on the way home last night. I told Eric that in the nerd world, he’s my trophy husband.

The showing started at 11am, and we left the theater just after midnight. Worth it. Totally worth it.

Now onto the crafting/cooking. Last week, in our hurried pace to get through making the last of the Christmas gifts, we made a rather large batch of apple butter. Here is how we did it:

1. We washed, peeled, and diced(ish) the apples. The instructions said to core, and since we don’t have any fancy device to de-core, I just chopped around it. It worked out fine.

2. We added the apples, along with a cup or so of water, to a pot and let it simmer for about a half hour. We wanted the apples soft enough to go in the blender.

It took longer than I expected, but we could tell they were done when they gave under a spoon.

3. When they were soft, we threw them in the blender and pureed them. I now have an old-school grinder that would have done the trick, but we were going for fast, not necessarily authentic, though I would love to use that device sometime.

4. When the apples were blended, we essentially had applesauce. In fact, when we make applesauce this week, we will get to this step and part of step 5, then be finished. But moving on!

5. We added the cinnamon and ground clove that give apple butter that slightly spicy taste, and we threw it back into the pot to cook. We cooked it until it was sticky and did not slide easily off the spoon.

6. It took almost another half hour before the butter was the right consistency. Luckily we had practice with the peach butter, although that did seem to go a little bit quicker.

7. When it was ready, we poured it into our sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4 inch head space, screwed on the lids, and processed them in our boiling processor for 10 minutes. We made 12 small jelly jars.

Here they are standing in row. Bomp, bomp, bomp.

All that’s left for these is some decorative flair. I will put the labels on and cover them prettily.

All that’s left for Christmas goodies are some blank-in-jar things (cookies, pancakes, soup, etc), the applesauce, and I think I will bake some cookies for those without the penchant for cooking/baking even pre-made mixes.

And Eric’s gift. I am caving and buying him some things, and while I’m not terribly pleased with giving in, I am more interested in making sure he has useful and enjoyable things that he wouldn’t buy himself. Which, if I’m being honest, is not a lot of things because he generally just buys what he wants. He’s gotten better around Christmas, though, after three years of me bugging him about it. 🙂

Well, then, I am off to continue my adventures. Keep it crafty!

One giant leap

I have officially applied to go back to school. This seems like such a trivial sentence to be so excited about saying, but for as many times as I have talked about it, thought about it, maybe planned it a little, I have actually done it. And who ever would have thought that this liberal arts-minded, crafting writer would go back for something so logical and technical as engineering? Not me. Probably no one in my family or circle of friends. Well…surprise!

I should hear back from the school in about 2 weeks.

In the meantime, I have a meeting scheduled with the director of the advising branch of PCEC to talk about how I can get the most out of my education. I spent a large chunk of today making a list of questions, looking into the various ways I’ll be able to fund the approximately $45k just for the undergraduate portion of the degree, and making this:

This is just a handy poster guide I made to make a loose guide for class schedules through the undergraduate portion of an articulated program. This does not include the year(ish) of graduate coursework that would come on the heels of this schedule.

I am going to bring this with me next Friday to see what the experts think. For the most part, I have kept a fairly light load. If I wanted to do what I did the first time around, I could cut out a semester of this, but I don’t know if 19 hours is a great idea for a math-heavy load. At least not at first, when I am dipping my feet back into pool that I stepped out of some time ago.

My reward for my hard work today?

I am going to do some math.

A little bit about perspective

If desire alone were not enough to lead me to a new degree, then all of the signs would do the trick. In addition to the divine intervention on Saturday, I had even more pieces fall into place today. Namely the director of admissions of the engineering department and I spoke today, and we decided it would be best for me to go and speak with him in person. “I am booked this week and out most of next week. The earliest I could meet with you would be next Friday. That’s the 14th.” As it happens, that will be the first Friday I’ve had off since I started my new job.

But as crazily perfect as that was, it is not what I am posting about. The application process required some very brief essay writing on my part, and I thought I would share the one I wrote about perspective because, well, why not?

As far as other crafts go, I have tomorrow off, and I will try to get started on Eric’s gift. I also got a text today from my aunt that she is sending me a craft that needs to be finished. Her exact words were “maybe you can figure it out.” So that’s great.

Without further ado:

Albert Einstein, of e=mc²fame, discovered his theory of relativity partly due to perspective. According to his theory, the flow of time changes with an object’s speed. This helps explain why an object moving at a constant speed might look faster or slower depending on how fast the observer is going. In other words, perspective changes everything, and any two people moving at different speeds will have a different perspective.

By the time I return to school, I will be 26. It could be said that time will be moving faster for me than, say, an 18-year-old, because one year is a smaller fraction of my life (1/26 compared to 1/18). This fact has made me wary of returning to a brand new field that will require, at best, 4 more years of study. It means that I would be finishing and entering said new field at 30. If nothing else, this gives me a greater sense of urgency and a strong desire to do well.

I also bring, with these 26 years, a host of life and work experiences that range from the mundane to the uplifting or heartbreaking. I have worked for a company that employed people from 50 different countries; I went through Georgia’s fire academy and finished 3^rd in my class; I entered a classroom in Arkansas as a teacher – and the minority – and won over 135 students. I have seen the absolute best in people, and I have seen the worst. I have moved across the country, 3000 miles from my home and everyone that I knew, and I lived out of my car for a month before making a life for myself in Seattle.

I am embarrassed to say that, even as someone with a writing degree and plenty of writing experience, that I found myself somewhat stumped with this question of perspective. I loathe a flat-out explanation of anything – what fun is there in simply stating a perspective? After all, writers must “show, not tell.” But how do I show a perspective that has grown and changed over two decades and through all of the joys, heartaches, highs, and lows of a typical human life? How to adequately explain what teaching in Pine Bluff has taught me about the world? Or perhaps I should focus on the struggles of the special needs community, how I have lost friends because of my request for them not to use the word “retard” as an insult because it hurts. Maybe I should point out my perspective on safety and how important it is to not take life for granted.

My perspective is one of a constantly shifting life. Life is not a static thing; it changes everyday, sometimes minutely and sometimes drastically. All of the plans in the world cannot stop change, and I have learned to simply be open to its inevitability. I have worn many hats, and I have been to a handful of places. I use this to my advantage; I like relating to people. I like talking to strangers and hearing their life stories, and I always find that we have something in common, despite our differences. I think it’s good to shift gears every now and then. I think it is necessary. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

In short, I bring the unique perspective of Samantha Grillo Safin (formerly Samantha Leigh Grillo) to GVSU – all of my ideas, dreams, fears, idiosyncrasies, experiences, and velocity. Albert Einstein would agree, and who am I to argue?

Divine intervention

Eric has said many times that it seems things just happen in my life. This can be good or bad, but regardless, I always seem to fall into things. And if I think about it, I can see that trend myself.

After college, I left my job at a candy store to pursue a “real” job. I had joined the volunteer fire department by then, and I was using a newspaper to look for jobs because both of my parents worked in journalism, so it was a natural choice. That’s how I found an opening for part-time/temporary full-time 9-1-1 dispatchers. I had no experience, but I still applied, won them over, and got the job. Dispatching was a lot of fun.

When I lived in Seattle, my first job was at Target, and I took that job because it meant I didn’ t have to live in my car; I could actually get an apartment and stay there. But after I met Eric, I wanted more, and he let me borrow his computer a few times. I browsed Craig’s List a lot for furniture, and I decided to take a look at jobs one day. A quasi-local nonprofit (Seattle Goodwill) had a job posting for a Risk and Safety Support Specialist. I applied, hoping that my background in the fire service would help. I was the third applicant, the third interview, and I got the job. My boss from that job and I are still close.

I had some strange health problems in Seattle, and I went to an alternative specialist when nothing else seemed to work. While there, I read an article about Teach for America, and it inspired me to apply, which I did, and I was accepted. If we hadn’t moved to Arkansas via TFA, Eric would not have gotten the job at US Steel, so he would no manufacturing experience, and wouldn’t have gotten the job that brought us here. I also would not have learned that I am actually good at math.

Which brings me to today. While I was at work, a nice gentleman who works at a local university had some exchanges, and as I helped him with his transaction, we started talking. I mentioned that I have been considering going back for an engineering degree, and it just so happens that he knows most everyone in the engineering department. He gave me some great information, left me with his card, and told me to call him any time. He had some great advice, and I left today feeling rather confident.

There have been many times that I mull over decisions I’ve made and conclude that I screwed up somewhere. I didn’t go to Stanford (so I didn’t have student loans); I never moved to England (so I met my husband); I joined TFA, so have struggled to find a job because most people wonder why I’m not teaching (I love my job now). But today I watched all of those pieces that had to fall in line just so I could have a conversation with a complete strange who showed the utmost faith in my ability to go back to school and excel.

Maybe he didn’t give me a free pass into the college, but he’s given me the exact boost that I needed to start making things happen. It’s great that a lot of things in my life fall into place on their own, but I think it’s time for me to push a few of those bits into place.

In other news: Eric is coming home early this weekend, so I will have to put off working on his Christmas present until Tuesday and Wednesday when I have some time off. This is not a bad thing; it just means a further delay in my actual crafting blog. 🙂

Back to basics

I am quite vocal about my degree at work, as well as my teaching experience, because I am desperate for someone to ask me about what I know. I’ll be the first to admit (and am admitting right now) that that is sad. But it’s also true, and I’m nothing if not honest in my little home on the web. All of this leads me to my current buzz: my dear coworker (and namesake) asked me for some help on her final undergrad research paper.

I was so stupidly happy about it, I bid Eric goodnight and settled onto the couch to read, take notes, and send some feedback. I don’t know if she’ll go with the changes I suggested, and while I say I don’t care, I kind of do.

When I first went to school, it was with dreams of becoming a book editor. I had romantic notions, most of them spawning from the remarkable and prolific career of Maxwell Perkins, of giving authors a voice. I wanted to find the next Thomas Wolfe or F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I wanted them to have the kind of trust in me that said authors had in Perkins. I wrote papers about this vision, and I planned my entire life around it.

But college is more about ~~changing~~ crushing dreams, and I became distracted. First I thought about moving on to Environmental Law, then I was enamored with Folklore, and finally I was in the midst of a break-up and changing the rest of my life. Somewhere among those different ideas, I lost my dream of book editing and took on a series of mostly unrelated jobs that might one day spawn an interesting memoir.

Back to my point – assuming I had one – my coworker asked me to help with her paper, and I was excited.

Another coworker recently put in her two weeks’ notice, and in her explanation to me about leaving she said “no offense, but I know I’m capable of so much more.”

That has been bugging me lately. A whole hell of a lot. She is graduating in a few weeks with a BA in Film Editing. When she said it, I just smiled and agreed and went on with my day, but like a microscopic parasite, it’s been eating any sort of nourishment I’ve tried to swallow the past week or so. Seriously, what did she mean by that?

I took this job with the intention of going back to school, and I think it’s time I make a decision on that. I can either go for an MA in English, or I can look at another Bachelor’s. But I need to make a decision and move forward because otherwise, I am going to be deserving of that look down her nose at me. And, really, I get stupidly excited about school papers that I didn’t even write. This is ridiculous.

Oh, hello rambling tangent of a post!

Summary: Once upon a time, I wanted to be a book editor, but then life happened, and now I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up except that I’d like to get moving on something.

I’ll keep you posted.

And I need to craft!

I made some really good Indian food last night that made my mouth bleed fire. But it was delicious.

Winning, canning, and donuts. Oh my?

Work work work work work.

With Black Friday safely under my belt and put away in the closet for 363 more shopping days, I am both relieved and exhausted. I went in at 4am, worked to 3pm, and then have worked every day since. I also work tomorrow. The insanity and greed of the day made me realize that I am absolutely on the right track making gifts this year. I have always been a lover of gift-giving, and I have always gone all out, so the decision to make gifts this year was difficult. But the decision has been made, and I think I need to follow through.

Following that line of thought, Eric and I got started on the bulk of our gift-making today.

Today we made salsa. I didn’t bother trying it, but I will take Eric’s word that it is super spicy. Considering the 3 cups of Jalapeno (with seeds!), I have no doubt that my body would both spontaneously combust and also rebel against me.
I found a recipe for (mostly) healthy tortilla chips, as well, so now I’m thinking we can send some folks chips and salsa for Christmas. Arizona folks, I’m looking in your direction.

We still have apple butter and cranberry-citrus jam to make. I want to make a complimentary item to go with these, too, and I was thinking of baking a big batch of biscotti. I think they would make a nice addition, and we can send complete snacks/meals to people.

Despite my knowing that making gifts is the right way to go, I have been feeling a little nervous. I am so afraid that people will not appreciate the thought and care and put into the gifts. This is in no way a reflection on my loved ones, but rather my own insecurities and insights on what I’ve seen at work. Consumerism is widespread, and I am finding it hard to shake its ridged hold.

But I will not falter!

Edit: I cannot believe I forgot to mention the first time I wrote this that I made donuts. Anyone who knows me knows that I love donuts, so much so that traveling for hours just to try a new donut shop was not unusual for me in Seattle. I ~~drove~~ made Eric drive 3 hours to Portland, just so we could go to Voodoo Doughnuts. Worth it. So, with that in mind, Eric and I bought a mini donut pan with some b-day money recently, and last night I used it. Delicious donuts. I didn’t galze or coat them in sugar; we just ate them fresh out of the oven, and they were pretty damn good. My next experiment is pumpkin donuts. BAM!

In other news, I validated my win for NaNoWriMo today! I am still writing, but I wanted to get it validated, so I can move on. I think this year I will actually buy a Winner’s Circle shirt, too. Hmmm…what was that I said about consumerism again?

And, just for good measure, here is another excerpt:

8 hours later, Kami couldn’t bring herself to stare at anything other than the dark wooden table under her head. The lights were too bright, and everyone just kept talking.

“We have a few leads. Our main leads seem to come from the Americas.”

Kami looked up, one eye shut, “Central America, by any chance? I could use some tacos,” she muttered – half-slurred.

Mana looked over at her and chuckled, and Ròta shook her head slowly, not picking up on the sly comments, “North America. We have narrowed it down to the the States.”

Mary Elizabeth looked surprised herself, “The States? I’ve never been.”

Kami waved her index finger in the air, “I also have not been to the States. But I bet they still have tacos.”

Mana slid a mug over to her, “I don’t think they cure hangovers.”

“Shows how little you know,” she mumbled into her arm.

Ròta looked at each of the Hybrids in turn, her features between curiosity and a frown. She felt somber, but her feelings were not mirrored in those around her, save perhaps Mary Elizabeth, who was looking increasingly tired and impatient. Kami was apathetic at best, and Mana was just along for the ride. She could only imagine what the group as a whole would be like once they found the fourth.

Her reverie was broken when Kami noisily slid her chair back from the table and pushed herself up to a generally standing position, “Let us away, then.”

Ròta hesitated, then, looking at Kami and Mana with a small level of reproach, “The portal here has been destroyed. There was an…ah…an unforeseen circumstance on the other side, and we are trying to determine the next best step. So you can use another portal until we figure out if it is safe to travel back-”

“Perfect!” Kami suddenly pointed, “Doesn’t the story you told us have the four of us able to travel between the portals?”

Mary Elizabeth and Mana both leveled their gazes on the hungover wreck. Mary Elizabeth had been certain that Kami was ignoring almost everything that they had been told since their journey together began. Mana saw a spark of the adventuring spirit that bordered on the crazy that had drawn him to watch Kami’s career early on, and he realized, with a healthy dose of discomfort, that he would be willing to follow her on the deranged attempt.

Ròta hesitated again, this time unsure of what to do, “That is true, but none of those here know how to navigate, or-”

“We’ll figure it out,” Kami had already started for the door, “and it’s dark in there, so that’s going to be great.”

The mercenary was on her way down the hallway, leaving the others to scramble after her. Mary Elizabeth was moving as fast as she could, calling after Kami, “Kami, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, no one knows how to move in between the portals.”

“That’s because we haven’t figured it out. How hard can it be?”

Mana was walking, his strides long enough for him to keep up without moving hurriedly, “This coming from the woman who destroyed the rock that opened the portal on Earth because she couldn’t figure out how to open it.”

“It worked!”

Ròta followed them all, not entirely sure that she wanted to dissuade the experiment. This would be a good test of her own hypothesis. However, she also wasn’t sure how to get them to where they needed to be. If nothing else, it was a good time to watch how they all worked together.

“You don’t have to go, either of you,” Kami called over her shoulder, rounding the corner to the double doors that led into the portal room, “but I am going.”

“Perhaps you can go and test it, then see if you can get back,” Ròta offered, hesitantly.

Mana gave the Myth a scathing look, “Are you kidding? You’d send your portal guard into the vortex alone?”

Ròta turned to him, “She did destroy the other side of the portal.”

Mary Elizabeth watched the argument, “That does seem to effectively end the threat of the Order finding it, then.”

“And besides, don’t you want the same thing as the Order?” Mana offered.

Ròta looked to them, “I suppose she did, yes, and we don’t want the exact same thing as the Order.”

Kami stood at the base of the dais, ignoring the argument. The lights were bright; the sounds reverberated, and these people were driving her nuts. She stepped up the dais and lit a cigarette, frowning, “Not this one, too.”

Mana gestured at the woman, “If you want to try stopping her, by all means…”

Ròta studied them each, then sighed, relenting. She stepped up to Kami, “Here, let me show you.” She stretched out her palm, “You have to think about the planet you want to go to,” she muttered, and the black maw of the portal opened before her.

Kami pointed, “See? I didn’t break it.”

Mary Elizabeth stepped up behind them, “Perhaps I should stay…and…”

“No,” Kami pointed, “You’re going. Live a little. You know more about this stuff than the rest of us, anyway. Come on. This will be fun.”

Mana gave Mary Elizabeth what he hoped was a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “I’ll watch out for you.”

She offered the man a smile, and the three of them gathered on the dais.

50K

I reached 50,000 words today! And my story is not over – not even close. I will keep working on it throughout November, but I have officially “won” NaNoWriMo. Okay, not officially because I have to get it verified on the 25th, but what a freeing sensation!
I had today off, which is what allowed me to write the 8,477 words today that got me to where I needed to be for the NaNo win. I work tomorrow (of course), and then we’re driving up north to spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws. We’re going to eat more a lunch than a dinner, so we can leave early enough for me to get sleep. I’ll have to be at work 4am on Friday, so our holiday will have to be a little bit short.

I get exhausted just thinking about it, but NaNo is done, and it will likely go quickly. We also have to get started on Christmas gifts – canning like fools!

To those of you for whom I was originally planning individual gifts, well, sorry, but NaNo, full-time/over-time work that includes weekend, applying for a mortgage, and a general malaise have prevented me from starting anything specific. Canning I can do in short order, but some of my other ideas not so much.

I’ll have another excerpt eventually, but for now, I think I’m going to get ready for bed. It’s been an exciting day, and I have a tiring five days ahead of me. Then I’ll have two days off in a row. I cannot properly express how excited I am about that.

Hooray for 50k!