Flan

My mother-in-law makes the best flan I have ever had. Two years ago while at my parents house I attempted to make flan. I had the recipe and it was very easy as I had made custard pies before. The only challenging aspect was caramelizing sugar. I had never caramelized sugar before and had been told that it was very difficult to do by many sources. My mother-in-law said that it was easy and her advice (translated from my husband) was to use a pie or cake tin (the mold for the flan) to caramelize the sugar. After 30 minutes and no melted sugar, I hit the internet which advised using a double boiler. As I was trying the second attempt at caramelizing sugar, my husband opened up the refrigerator and the flan filling tumbled to the ground splattering everywhere. The next hour was spent cleaning the kitchen floor and under the refrigerator. In exasperation, I told my husband that I would not make flan until his mother showed me how.
The other night my mother-in-law showed me how to make flan. As soon as the sugar hit the hot cake tin it instantly melted. I was aghast. She hadn't done anything special or differnt than I did; why did her sugar melt and not mine? Apparently it is all in the pan. "Always use Wilton pans for flans," she told me. One of my first purchases in Kentucky will be a Wilton pan.

The Day After

Yesterday was my last official day of work and today I am unemployed. Last night I dreamt not about stability time points, acceptance criteria or HPLC leakage but about boxes, packing and the moving sale. There is only two weeks till the big move and there is so much to do. Besides all the sorting, packing and cleaning, there is the rental truck, shipping the car, DMV forms, change of address notifications, price tagging for the moving sale and most importantly, going to the beach. I am going to take advantage of my unemployment and de-stress by going the beach and museums, taking a hike and working on my 2000 piece jig saw puzzle (that has been on the dining room table for months). A person can't spend their whole life stressed; you should be able to find fun in everything. So on my first day of unemployment i am going to the beach with friends, work on the puzzle, watch college football and pack some boxes.

The Lease

Today I signed a lease on a three bedroom house that I have yet to see in a state I have never been. This is my leap of faith.
I quit my job during a recession and am moving across the country to Kentucky. I do not have a job lined up and am not sure what I will be doing, but that is the point. This is a new adventure; a chance to try new things; to find a career that I love doing. I am confident that I will find a special nook in the worlds of science and art that I fit into perfectly. Moving east is my chance for new discoveries, new knowledge and new possibilities; an adventure filled with mystery and excitement. This is my journey.