Hits and Misses (July 28-Aug 3)

I'm very happy to report that my sinus infection is coming to an end. Since I wasn't always feeling well, I didn't take as many photos this week to include in my post. Hopefully I'll get back to taking some fun pics next week. Either way, here are the hits and misses of this week.

HITS

• Since I've been searching for a full-time music job since 2009, any interview is a great thing. The week began with a brief phone interview with the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Union University. The entire interview took about 15 minutes and was very relaxed. I was asked a couple of questions I didn't totally expect, but I was pleased with the answers that I gave. Even though it was a low-stress interview, it was a good opportunity to practice for the interview I hope comes down the road.
• Talk about a quick turn around! The day after the interview, I received a packet of forms to complete and received a contract for adjunct teaching at Union this year. I'll be teaching two sections of Class Piano to music majors preparing for their piano proficiency exam. It's gonna be an exciting adventure for me. I'm thrilled to have a class on my plate that I'm really looking forward to teaching.
• Much of the week has been spent in text message conversations with a young fraternity brother at Pepperdine. He was asking lots of questions about various experiences I had during my time as a Lambda. It was nice to remember the fun and foolishness while realizing that the group's legacy and commitment to service continues. I'm thrilled to still be a part of this group as an alumnus and honored to count many of the current actives as friends.
• On the food front, there's only one new recipe that qualifies as a hit. This week we tried Cheeseburger Pasta. 

Truthfully, I should have thought of this recipe on my own. It's super easy! You literally cook the pasta and ground beef separately, make a cheese sauce, and mix everything together. We found that it needed a little more salt than the recipe calls for. Even though it's simple, it was a welcome quick dinner in the middle of a long week.

MISSES

• Even though I'm thrilled about the new teaching opportunities, I hate paperwork. The packet from Union hit my desk at the same time as some work from MSCC that I didn't know about. So I sat at my desk with a pounding sinus headache while trying to think clearly in order to complete everything accurately and in a timely manner. It's certainly not my favorite combination.
• I'm part of a team of teachers at MSCC who are taking on new roles in the school's College Survival course. The jury is still out on how that's going to go. Since it's under new leadership (thankfully) and has been completely overhauled, the faculty need some training sessions. We've heard they were coming all summer, but just got the schedule of events this week. That meant that I had to adjust my schedule to fit them in. Normally that's not a problem; this week, Mom and I both had doctor's appointments that I had to adjust. Everything worked out, but I still don't like the stress of last minute shuffling. Can't the world just get as organized as I am? Really!  (Now it's time to take the tongue out of my cheek and move on....)
• I suppose I should be extremely thankful that this week's sinus infection never exploded in my head. It really wasn't that bad. HOWEVER, with the two cold fronts that came through this week and the rain that accompanied them, I have suffered with achy teeth and jaws much of the time. I don't have a high pain tolerance anyway, but when my mouth hurts, I am miserable! 
• There's not a picture of the food disaster of the week: Chicken Cordon Bleu Pillows. The recipe sounds like it should be a hit.....cream cheese, chicken, bacon, ham, and cheese wrapped in a crescent roll. Mom scheduled them for the middle of week, so she was tired from work and I was dealing with my teeth at the moment. The crescents didn't want to stretch as the recipe calls for. The bread crumbs were grainy. The pillows never got hot on the inside. I'm not going to say the recipe is a dud.....but our first experience was bad enough that we won't be repeating it again. We'll continue to enjoy Paula Deen's yummy Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole and call it good!
• Formatting issues also drive me nuts! Once I inserted the picture above in the "hits" the formatting went wild. Not sure what's going on with Blogger at the moment, but it's certainly tempting to move everything over to Wordpress......Ugh!