carb craving

Not much to do this afternoon since my one successful cell line is fed and happy. I was given a "pass" on my TB test.

I think that when I have idle time like this I start craving the carbs. I'm dreaming up a hashbrown bake with cheese and ham for dinner tonight.

But my mom is a low carb person. Lost 60 pounds that way.

So finding a happy middle ground between us isn't always easy. We did find one thing that works for her and myself - tofu. I picked up a package of tofu pasta noodles last week when they were on sale because they were advertised as "gluten-free". When my mom looked at the package she said "Ooh, only 3 grams of carbs per serving."

While I was skeptical that the small package would work as two servings, we cooked it up the other night. All you have to do is boil it for a couple minutes and you're done. After straining it, I added some soy sauce (store brand was okay to eat). We served with a pork roast from the grill, and we both liked it.

Our next adventure in using the tofu noodles will be doing a stir-fry with them.

Memory Lane

Last week, I had casually mentioned to my mom that in a detour to a Walgreens, I drove down "Custer" street. I remembered that my paternal grandparents lived on Custer street, but I thought it was along "C" street.

"And you drove down Custer street where?" my mother inquired.

"Between "L" and "S" street. It looked like a nice area with new apartments and condos there."

"Honey you were right there. You turned on S street, and their place was just past S street."

"No way. Nothing looked familar. I didn't see a lot of palm trees."

So this morning, I turned on "V" street, and drove down Custer to S street.

Going that way brought back a flood of memories. That must have been the direction my parents always drove to get there because it suddenly made sense. Seeing the church on the corner of S and Custer street really brought back memories.

Turned back on S street and I saw more familar things from the numerous times my sister and I walked around the block.

But most of the palm trees are gone.

Names of streets were changed to protect people and places. Techinally my paternal grandparents still own that property. Since their passing, the property was placed in trust. And while the neighborhood has gone upscale, the value has gone through the roof. Nice little "nest egg" for someone.

Still settling in

Week 2 of new lab job begins. I finally have a phone line, but still no benefits, and no idea when I'll get paid.

In a lot of ways this is a familar environment. Staff Ph.D. scientists hiding in their office, the clinical ward just down the hall, and a separation of about 50 feet from my culture lab to my office lab.

The biggest differences are that this is a much smaller place. The second one is the amount of brass here. It was explained to me that since this is a federal hospital, military medical personnel work here. I wasn't sure if I should shake their hand or salute during introduction. For the most part, they just say "hi", but I had one approach me because he knew who I was, and his hand was outstretched for a handshake.

I know it'll all work out in the end. I finally am getting more "yes" than "no" (even if it's an unexpected result). My first cell line didn't grow, but my second one was much more successful.