Patellar Tendonitis Cherry Pie

That's right. Sounds delicious, eh?

I overdid the workout yesterday and am completely paying for it. I have an ice packet strapped to the knee and am looking fabulous today.

Made a cherry pie last night from Morello (sour) cherries. I took the juice and sweetened and thickened it. I didn't add much juice to the pie, but plan on using the "sauce" for something delicious and decadent later.

Sauce:
cornstarch (like 3 T. or so)
water
3/4 c. sugar
juice from jarred morello cherries
lemon juice
almond extract

In a heating double-pan boiler, dissolved the cornstarch in the water. Added everything except extract. Whisked until thickened. Cooled and added extract. (Added the sauce to the strained cherries while preparing the crust.)

Pie crust:
The usual on the crust, except split the Crisco to half butter, half Crisco

Added some cinnamon to the top of the cherries, once they were added to the pie. Expect the pie to be tart due to most of the sugar staying in the juice and not the cherries. We shall see...

I would consider adding some kind of chocholate to this to make it a chocolate cherry pie, but not being too adventurous due to soreness of the knee.

Depression vs. Stress--What I learned from my EAP

I learned a lot from using my EAP tonight. I learned that all of my crying is more to do with STRESS than it is with DEPRESSION. This is good news, as I was afraid I was in need of medication or something.

How do you know you are stressed? My symptoms include:
-hunched shoulders
-neck, back pain
-lower energy
-trying to finish other people's sentences
-the urge or ability to cry often
-inability to focus
-taking on extra work
-working early, late hours

The good news is that I can change my life--the bad news is that I have to sit down and chat with my boss about it. I have fears of being looked as like I am a failure or that I'm a pansy. I also need to recognize that peoples' lives changing around me is a good thing--but that my want for changing is more just to avoid the stressors that I face. I need to deal with my current stressors in order to become more successful at what I do, not run away or add to them.

What is also helpful is that Mr.Catman has agreed that he has seen the symptoms too.

Also--getting the new range tomorrow evening. I'm hoping to see it all set up by the time I get home...happy, happy, joy, joy.