Classes and Crock Pot Crash

Hi All!

Yesterday I started a new semester of classes at the community college. I am taking three classes, all related to American Sign Language, in an effort to further my progress in the program so that IF I go back to work next school year I can continue taking relevant classes. There are two "background" kind of classes which need to be taken and so I am taking those, Finger spelling and Deaf Culture, along with ASL 3.

All three classes are basically back-to-back-to-back on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is convenient for me. I can get all three out of the way at one time without having to worry about going on different days. A few focused hours and . .. done!

While attending ASL 1 and ASL 2, I have met many of the other ASL students in the program but last night, I met a LOT more. Two of my classes are packed to the gills with 23 and 24 students. Most of these students are people I have never met. Since I am not really comfortable with meeting new people (even though people think I am really outgoing, I sort of quake inside at the thought of meeting new people), last night was an interesting time for me. Luckily, in two of my classes, there is at least one other student from my ASL 2 class - the teenager. It is nice to have a familiar face!

Now that I have the first day out of the way I can settle in to the homework I have for Thursday. Fun, fun! I will be reading A LOT this semester and spending a LOT of time in the ASL lab! I am required to have 20 hours for each of two classes for a grand total of 40 hours! Of course, I have 30+ hours last semester for ASL 3 so it shouldn't be too much more effort. I hope.

Do you cook in a crock pot? I never do but I tried to yesterday. Why, you may ask, don't I cook in a crock pot when it is SOOOO convenient? Well, Hubby is afraid that the house will burn down if I leave the thing on while we are both at work and since that was for the large part of our life together, I have gotten out of the habit of thinking of the crock pot. Yesterday, Hubby was out of town and I had a beef roast just begging to be made and I had classes all afternoon/evening. So, I got out the crock pot.

First, I browned the roast on all sides, seasoned it, and added water and orange juice (I don't know why the OJ - I just like the flavor it gives the roast).. I put the whole shebang on the base and set the temp to medium low while I was home in the morning. After an hour or so, I added cut up potatoes and carrots. I checked the whole thing before leaving for class and it seemed to be doing fine. I turned the temp to low and left - for nine hours.

When I got home, the house smelled wonderfully like roast beef. My mouth watered in anticipation. Then . . . I was disappointed. The beef was done but the potatoes and carrots were half cooked and half hard. Where did I go wrong?

I decided to cut up the roast and potatoes and cook it some more today to make a beef stew. I will thicken the liquid and, hopefully, it will turn out yummy.

Oh - I just want to say that this week - since it is my first back to school and with Hubby away - is a bit wacky so if I don't get a comment posted at your blog, forgive me and be patient! I am reading but don't have the time to type!

Trisha

Voice Update: I have speech today. I say that with a bit of a nervous feeling. Despite the fact that I HAVE been doing my massage and exercises pretty regularly lately (right?) my throat is a bit "crunchy." Normally, that is a sign that I haven't been massaging. I am worried that Susan is going to think that I have been slacking when I haven't! I don't know if the allergy bout I have been dealing with has caused some of the crunchiness or not. I have been sneezing a LOT lately and some of the sneezes seem to reach my throat. Also, I have drainage that causes me to cough -I try not to since coughing isn't good for your vocal cords (it isn't good for even healthy cords, by the way) but sometime I wake up coughing. I guess I will have to wait and see what Susan says.