Squidbits

The many influences of my mom

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't remember my mom in some sort of way, whether it's the perfume of a co-worker, a look Erik gives me, or Kat's love of Chapstick. She's always here. One thing my mom influenced me most on was cooking. I started cooking at a really young age, and I'm sure it's because I wanted to be like her. I thought it was fun to compare how my parents cooked things differently, one of those being eggs. My dad was really good at soft boiled eggs and omlets, but I really did (do) not like the way he makes scrambled eggs. He uses the method of putting the eggs in a bowl, whisking them together, and then cooking. They were always a little too runny for me.

But my mom on the otherhand made the best scrambled eggs, and I use her method. I don't think she ever showed me how to make scrambled eggs - I just figured it out I guess. What made them so wonderful was that she allowed the egg whites to cook so that you got to taste the two distinct flavors of an egg: the white and the yolk.

So once again I thought of my mom today as I made scrambled eggs:

Crack the eggs in really hot pan

Allow the whites to bubble and cook:

Mix up the yolks and the whites together:

And voila! Delicious scrambled eggs with the perfect white and yellow color and taste combo of the whites and the yolks:

Don't say goodbye!!!

"Don't say goodbye!"

"Don't say goodnight!"

As if spending a week in the budding metropolis of Duncan, OK wasn't hard enough, Kat is putting the full-court guilt press on me the last three days with the above phrases. I heard her screaming for "Mommy" tonight when Charlie was putting her to bed and she flipped out at the school Valentine's Day lunch when I tried to leave so she ended up coming home with me.

I don't know why but for some reason I just think that the kids don't really know when you're gone and when you're not, but that was disproved with Kat's freakouts. She clearly has some lingering issues from me going out of town. However, I guess on this day of love it's nice to know I'm loved so deeply by such a sweetheart.

Stupid performance reviews

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to dust off the ol' performance review plan my (old) boss and I put together early last year with all the lofty goals I would accomplish during the year. As a sales person, I'd say that pretty much if I didn't make my quota then I didn't "meet expectations" for the year. I had a crappy second quarter. I'm behind on my number. My customers screwed around and didn't do the upgrades I needed them to do. Does that mean I will get a "did not meet expectations"? Probably not, but I have to tell you that as I sat here tonight making comments to each of the "goals" that we put together last year I realized I accomplished a lot and yet nothing at the same time. Who knows what this will mean when I sit down with my boss for the final review. It is what it is and has to be done, but I still think it's bogus. On the plus side, I did stay the battery recycling lead for my office, so I have that going for me.