gluten-free yum

So I took my car to the Jiffy Lube the other day. While waiting for the oil change and tire rotation, I walked to Nature's Finest. Nature's Finest is a heaven sent treat for finding gluten free foods. Yes, their prices are higher than Sprouts or Wild Oats, but it's nearby and much closer. Plus, Nature's Finest has gluten free things I've never heard of.

There's so much gluten free out there, it's hard to keep track of it unless you're in the industry. My two latest discoveries are Boomi bars and the Kinnicinnick NY style mini bagels.

Boomi bars. Yum. It turns out that Nature's Finest had only one flavor, the company makes several different kinds. So there's nuts, seeds, fruit, and puffed aramath crisps to give it a bit of crunch. There's always a case in my pantry of one kind or another.

There have been variousKinnikinnick products there with mixed results. Don't waste your money on their hot dog or hamburger buns (they fall apart). But their bread is pretty great after it's toasted, and their doughnuts are good for a cake style doughnut. So I gambled with their New York style bagels. They're smaller than typical bagels. I thawed one last night, and toasted it this morning with some honey peanut butter. It made a great breakfast that I ate in the car (without a lot of crumby mess left behind).

Always happy to have a new favorite gluten free yummy laying around the house.

4 years in 2 weeks

I finally figured out what's going on with my training person. She's basically shoving her four years of knowledge down my throat.

Today was good though. I learned how to handle the biopsy stuff (just watched), and SHE had a major spill which ruined some of the stuff she had just processed. I started my second cell line and she had nothing but good things to say about how I was doing it.

If only it wasn't so freaking cold in here! I'm halfway tempted to wear the cold room jacket the entire time I'm in here.

bird brains and snake wacking

We live out in the NE part of Phoenix where there's still open desert. You go to sleep hearing the owls hooting and the coyotes howling.

Heaven.

The downside of the desert living are the rattle snakes. We've tried relocation, but they'd come back. So we've just gotten used to having to destroy the snakes. I perfer shooting, but that's not allowed.

Since my dad's been sick, my mom has had to perform this undesireable task since the snakes started showing up in March from the early warm spell.

Last night, mom and I were in the hot tub, and I was facing out to the bird feeder. After about ten minutes, about a dozen male and female quail came walking down the hill from the feeder right up to the wall (we built into a hill). I made some sort of snarky comment of the quail go marching on. Instead of looking for food, they were just watching something.

Now it was getting creepy. Just then a movement in front of the quail caught my eye. The familar pattern of black and white bands by the rattlesnake tail. As he moved, I could tell it was a young one.

As I informed my mom of why the birds were behaving they way they were, she said "hope it doesn't come down the wall." I almost felt sorry for the snake as the birds kept following it (kinda picking on it).

But sure enough, the snake slid down the wall as I was bringing my bikini out to dry. I didn't say anything to my mom, but went and got the tool we use to kill the snakes, came back to face my fear.

Was I scared. Oh yeah. I got lucky in that he was still against the wall so I used the wall as a choke point to help quickly decapitate the poor snake (much easier than the uneven gravel). Then I made the offering to the desert, and put the head in the bushes (so nobody steps on it by mistake).

Came in shaking. My dad said "get that girl some vodka." I admitted that I wouldn't have done that if it was an adult. And I conceeded that shooting would be a lot easier (if you didn't have to deal with a visit from Sheriff Joe).

Summer's here

It's been a strange spring. Back in mid-March, it got to almost 100 degrees for a few days in Phoenix. Then it cooled back down 20 degrees, and pretty much stayed there for the next month.

Then a couple weeks ago, it was 100 degrees for a day and cooled back down 15 degrees.

But it wasn't feeling like summer. Today is supposed to break 100 this afternoon. And the extended forecast keeps us there.

The big difference between a day fluke of 100 and four months of 100 degrees are the evenings. It's not going to cool off at night, but continue to be hot and oppressive as the asphalt and concrete give off the heat built up from the day's sun exposure.

Maybe by July, I'll be tired of the heat. Right now, I'm loving it. I have to wear layers or at least long sleeve shirts in my lab because the thermostat is set to 50 degrees. I was bringing a t-shirt to wear in my car since the car would be nice and hot. Right now, I've forgotten said shirt the last couple of days, and I still get home okay without feeling overheated.