Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Day 30


Christmas Eve :)

Day 29


Fun day at work, fun night with friends, but forgot to take pictures of my evening out so, instead here is a pic of some of the gifts I received today.

Day 28


Just relized, I never posted this last month...Did a little last minute holiday prep tonight. Baked some peanut butter fingers for some of my co-workers. Don't have any good pics so here is a pic of some decorations from the kitchen where I spent a good chunk of time baking today.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Day 27


Had a lazy night after work and Zumba and spent some time catching up on my blog.

Day 26


So I forgot to take pictures today. I even did some fun stuff after work today, but didn't bring my camera (plus I probably would have looked silly taking pictures at dinner and at trivia). However, I did bake a cake for a co-worker and bake some cookies.

Day 25


Went out to dinner with my best friend and we exchanged gifts. I usually don't wear rings like this, but I'm lovin' this ring she gave me, especially the color...

Day 24


Went to a birthday party, did some baking, watched some Christmas movies, and finished (I hope) those last few Christmas cards...

Day 23


Went to a Christmas party. Had a great time.

Day 22


It was red day at work so I worse these shoes and a red sweater.

Day 21


Went to a Yankee Swap and ended up with this, not a bad gift.

Day 20



Have been spending time wathcing Christmas movies, including this one...

Day 19


Time to put on these shoes and dance (I went to a jazz dance class on day 19).

Day 18


We have cowboy/girl day at work once a year. I don't own a cowgirl hat so one of my co-workers gave me a Christmas present, which included a cowgirl hat. :) I hadn't even wrapped her gift or filled out her card, but she had her gifts all set to go early.

Day 17


Many (but not yet all) presents are wrapped now...

Day 16


Christmas Party Time

Day 15


Another delicious treat I baked for the holiday party. Made these on day 15 (though the pic was taken on day 16, oops).

Day 14


I spent some time baking after work on day 14 as I was hosting a Christmas party that weekend. Here is a picture of one thing I baked, snowballs.

Day 13


Yikes, I've been slacking on updating this blog. Okay so I didn't take a picture of anything significant on day 13 so here is a picture of my planner alerting me that I had a meeting at 7:30 on Weds. It was a good meeting, albeit a little early. :)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Day 12


I confess, I really like watching "Ellen," but it is a rare occassion that I am home from work in time to watch it. However, day 12 I was home in time to watch. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of that or of anything else I did that day so instead I took a pic of a tv to represent that I watched "Ellen" on tv.

Day 11


This is a picture of my empty lunch bag. Why is it empty you ask? Because on day 11 I got to go to a workshop and the workshop provided a delcious lunch. So instead of my usual salad, chips, and fruit, I got chicken parm, a salad, fabulous mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate cake.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Day 10


The outdoor lights I got on day 9, weren't as big as I thought so I splurged and got one more decoration since I had a coupon. :)

Day 9


On day 9, I decided the outside of my home needed to be a little more festive so I bought these guys:

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Day 8


On day 8, I woke up at 5:07am and could not fall back to sleep. So when I finally got home from work (and a few errands) I spent the rest of the evening here:

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Day 6



I spaced taking any good pictures today. I should have taken one at the Pampered Chef party, but since I forgot here is one of the receipt instead. Boring, I know, sorry!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Day 5


And here is why those cards from day 3 had to get moved.
I needed room for...my Christmas village

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Day 4


I was feeling loved from all these cards, but it was time to take them down so I could put up the Christmas village.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011

Day 2


I'm going to apologize in advance for the poor picture quality today. I forgot to bring my camera with me the other night so I used my phone and the picture quality wasn't that great. The picture is supposed to be of some ice sculptures I saw at a recent holiday festival.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Day 1


So a friend of mine is doing this blog, 30 pictures in 30 days (not sure if that's the exact title, but that's the theme of it). She told me I should do one too. I like the idea so I'm going to give it a try. I guess you post 1 picture a day for 30 days (hence the 30 pics in 30 days) and you can write a caption if you want or just do the pic. Well, I decided this on Nov. 25th and it's all ready Nov. 27th so I'll be a little off on mine, but here, is the first one. Day 1--I enjoyed a glass of sangria with some friends as we celebrated my birthday.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Today's New Word Is...

Nothing like car expenses to get me blogging again. Seriously though, hello, I'm still around. I have randomly thought of blog topics over the past few months, but can't seem to find the time to sit down and write a blog. Thought about giving up all together, but have decided that instead I am going to try to blog weekly. We'll see if I succeed. In the mean time, since I mentioned the car, I learned a new car part today while getting my car inspected: ball joint. I've actually heard those words before, but had no idea what they did on a car 'til I got home and googled it (after eating a brownie b/c I was depressed about how much it cost to fix said loose ball joint, then got depressed about eating the brownie b/c I'm supposed to be eating healthier). So I think my credit card is going to be a little mad at me right now, but why spend money on Christmas presents or fixing a bad heater when you can spend it on ball joints? In case I don't blog again before Thursday, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope your cars are behaving! :)

Don't Sweat

Why don't aerobics instructors sweat? I'm serious! So a few months ago I started doing a Jilllian Michales DVD--definitely a good workout, but as I'm exercising away and yes, sweating, I realize neither Jillian nor the two ladies working out with her are sweating. Additionally, they never drink water during the whole work out. Now, I bet you're thinking, but that is TV, they can wipe the sweat away and edit it out, heck in this day in age, they can probably edit the sweat right off their foreheads. And as for the water, they can edit out water breaks. Okay, I'll grant you that, but I also take aerobics classes at the gym and my instructors never seem to sweat or stop for water and they are working out the whole time. I just don't get it. Do they have special genes? When you train to be an aerobics instructor, do they teach you not to sweat or drink water? Weird.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

More Letters

So September is one of my busiest months at work. June is another one. April and January are also a bit busy too, but I think Sept and June win for busiest. Why am I telling you all this? Because I'm trying to explain why I have not been blogging lately. So to make up for lost time, I'm bringing back my "letters." It should give you a glimpse into recent events.

Dear Painters,
What is the deal with you? Why do some of you charge literally over twice as much as others if you all are telling me you're using the same paint? Do painter A paint better than Painter B so he can charge twice as much?

Dear Contractors,
I am about ready to group you with mechanics. If you give me an estimate, the total should be close to that estimate. I learned an estimate is "an educated guess" when I was a student. It should be close to your answer, not off by over $1000.

Dear Spiders/Flies/Moths/Other Bugs that Crowd Around my Exterior Light,
How do you always manage to sneak in during the 3 seconds I have the door open.

Dear Vaccuum,
Why did you have to break the same week I had to pay the contractor?

Dear Christopher Meloni?
Why are you leaving SVU? The show will not be the same without you.

Dear Young Friends,
Thank you for providing me with funny stories to tell.

Dear Neighborhood Landscapers,
Hurricane Irene has long since passed, when will you be picking up all the branches she left behind?

Dear Mother Nature,
Why do you have to go from high 80's to mid 60's? How about some 70's?

Dear The Band Perry,
Even though your song is really depressing, I really like it, perhaps too much as I actually sang along to it with the windows open. Those poor drivers who may have heard me when they drove by. Forgive me drivers for subjecting you to such horrid singing since I cannot carry a tune.

Dear Anyone,
What is the deal with Spongebob? Why do childre like him so much? It must be an age thing because I just don't get it. I've heard so much about him lately from kids and on the news.

Dear Seafood Fest,
You have such delicious food. Keep coming back and maybe next year, I'll finally remember to try the lobster quesadillas.

And on a more serious note, in honor of 9-11
Dear Firefighters, Police Officers, and Soliders,
Thank you for all you do to keep us safe.

Monday, August 29, 2011

The 100th Post

I just realized this is my 100th blog post. Yay! I feel like I should write about something significant since it is the big 1-0-0, but I have rarely written anything terribly significant on here so why start now? hee hee. So instead let's do a year in review in the form of a top 10 list. Approximately one year and one month ago, I bought my first home. Approximately a year ago I moved into said home (as you may remember it needed some work before I could move in). Being a homeowner has taught me many things and I'm sure I have many more to learn. So in no significant order, here we go...

10. Paint is expensive--even if you have a coupon and know people.

9. Megan was right, contractors, electricians, plumbers, etc do not always show up when they are supposed to despite you rearranging your schedule for them (but don't you dare be late for them).

8. Roof rakes are a great invention.

7. When you live this close to the woods, like it or not, you're going to be visited by a few spiders, oh, and a few branches are going to fall on your roof and all around your home.

6. Knowing people who can fix things like electric baseboards, garbage disposals, and hot water heaters is amazing. Thank you!

5. I now know what kind of floors I do and do not want in my next home.

4. If you're going to have a leak, it's going to happen on a Sunday night when most plumbers are closed and charge extra to come out., oh, and I think plumbers make more in an hour than I make in a day.

3. Finally having a purple room is great. :)

2. Coming home on a cold day after working for 12 hours and finding you do not have heat is annoying (not to mention FREEZING). Waking up the next day and having no heat or electricity is worse.

1. Owning a home is certainly an expensive adventure, and though I could do without large bills, power outages, and broken things, having one's own space for peace and quiet, dinner parties, game nights, silly decorartions, etc is wonderful. Here's to the next year and the next 100 posts. :)

Words

Are there any words you don't like? The other day as I was getting ready to go in to work (yes, to work on a my day off, lovely huh?), I had "Regis and Kelly" on for a few minutes and Jimmy Fallon was on. He happened to mention that he does not like the word moist. Lightbulb goes on and...a blog idea! I don't necessarily have any strong feelings about the word moist, but there are some words I dislike.

Thorough--I think this stems from the fact that when I was a kid and it was my turn to clean the kitchen, my dad always said to do a thorough job cleaning it about 8000 times.

Potty-- I don't know why it irritates me, but it does, especially when adults say it in an annoying little voice.

caca--I knew an adult who regularly used this word around her child, really, can't you just say go the bathroom?

inflammable--I don't so much have a problem with the word as the definition, flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. Doesn't it sound like they should be opposites?

idear--it's IDEA, not idear, there is no r

ant--as in my Ant Lucy (and no I don't have an Ant Lucy). Ant is an insect, it's aunt (but yes, I get that if I lived elsehwere, I would probably say ant, however, since I live here it's aunt).

So what words annoy you?

Saturday, August 13, 2011

It Isn't Broken so I'm Not Fixing It

Have you ever heard the (poorly worded) expression, "If it aint broken, don't fix it?" Well, that applies to me right now. I have a phone, an old phone mind you and many of my friends like to constantly make fun of me because the phone is old. Truth be told, I had phone even older than that, that worked just fine, but I finally gave in to peer pressure and upgraded. Here is my thinking, there is NOTHING wrong with my phone. Sure it's a few years old (which I guess makes it antique by phone standards) and perhaps having a real keyboard would be nice (okay, I confess I have considered upgrading to a phone with a keyboard), but otherwise, it works fine. It can make and receive calls and send and receive texts. It even has a calculator, calendar, alarm clock, and camera. It has other things too, but I don't use them. You see people, I am cheap. Okay, not so much cheap as lacking in money (and who isn't these days, well, aside from really rich people I guess). I can't justify getting an iphone and paying an extra $30 a month for internet access when I can get the internet at home and at work. (I would much rather spend my money on traveling). Sure, it would be nice to have it when I'm at a bar or something and everyone around me pulls out their phone and starts looking stuff up on-line or playing Words with Friends, but on the other hand, if I'm out with my friends, I'd like to think I'm there to see them, not play with my phone. I was once on a date and the guy was on his phone every 10 minutes. Seriously?! Am I that boring (okay, I am but that's beside the point)? The date wasn't bad, we even had another one, but really, put the phone down for an hour or two and talk to me while. So for now, I am sticking with my "antique" (and by "antique I mean 4-5 years old) phone.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Do Tacos Cause Weird Dreams?

Do you ever have weird dreams? I imagine most people do, right? Well, the other night, I had quite a strange one. It was the first day of school and I was teaching, or at least, trying to. First, I couldn't teach because one of my students kept biting me. Then I was trying to meet my students, but none of them knew their names and the few that did had names that I couldn't spell or say so I couldn't write them down. Later on, I somehow settled them down and the head of the school district came to visit as I was getting my kids ready for a field trip to the casino. What kind of teacher takes her students to a casino for a field trip?! Especially since they were only in elementary school. What would the dream experts say about that? I didn't even eat anything that weird near bedtime. About 4 hours earlier I ate a chicken taco, maybe something weird was in the taco lol.

The Reality Is, It's Not Really Reality, Is it?

You guys, I have a confession. I don't like reality tv shows. I'm sure some of you may now think less of me, but I just can't get into them--though goodness knows I watch some weird things, but not reality shows. MC was over the other night and he wanted to watch "Jersey Shore. " I had to leave the room. I also regularly leave the room when he puts on "Parking Wars," which is ironic, since it's MY house. HE should be leaving the room, or perhaps coming to visit when these shows are NOT on. :-p (I confess I stayed in the room yesterday when he had "Judge Judy" on, oops.) But you guys, I can't watch them. If I want to hear a lot of yelling, there are various people I can go see. Mostly, I enjoy my peace and quiet. I mean not total quiet, I like to have music on or watch tv, but I cannot get into these shows where people just yell and scream at each other. I have enough problems in my life without watching all that. And the "problems" some of these people have. I'm sorry, but I am NOT sympathetic to the fact that you needed an extra suitcase to bring your 32 shoes to Italy and then had to buy 20+ more pairs. Seriously, there are people with incurable diseases, now that is a major problem. Or we dont' even have to go that far, people are jobless, short on cash, depressed, etc. Maybe you should pack fewer shoes?!?! And I really don't want to watch two men argue over building bikes or finding antiques. Now to each his/her own, watch what you want, but really, it makes me wonder. How realistic are these reality shows? Is life really like that? I guess I lead a sheltered life out here in my neck of the woods. Maybe I should start my own reality show and call it "The Boring Girl Who Blogs." And how much money do some of these people make to do yell at each other? In some professions, it's disrepectful to yell. Okay and then there's this weird show about people who give out parking tickets. OMG who knew giving out parking tickets could be so dramatic, I mean no one likes to get a ticket, but chill out people, you don't have to verbally abuse the person who gave you a ticket. And don't even get me started on those crazy shows where your cousin's aunt's uncle slept with his daughter's niece's frog. Honestly, I think I'd rather watch football. In the mean time I'm off to watch one of my silly non-reality shows or read a book (in another room) while the MC watches some guys yell at each other about cars. Good thing I have two tv's and a big stack of books.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Game Night

I'm into games lately. I've hosted/attended several games nights and I'm hosting another one this weekend. It's funny how life goes in phases. I liked games when I was a kid, then stopped playing for years, then in my pre-teens/teenage years would play a few games with my best friend and a couple of other friends. Then aside from the ocassional card game in college (we'll leave it at that lol) and a few competitve games of Trivia Pursuit at family parties, I didn't really play games for years. Now it's the in thing to do. I've recently discovered Apples to Apples and I love it. Scattegories, which I previously hadn't played in years in enjoyable as is Taboo (one of my favorites). Even Scrabble is cool again (as is the itouch version, Words With Friends). My friend also introduced me to Catchphrase, which is fun. Game Night is now a nice cheap FUN way to spend an evening. We always have a few laughs. Perhaps I'm getting old, but these days I'm all for staying in with some food and drinks and some good games with good friends. Anyone want to play Bananagrams? :)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Problem Solved--I HOPE

After my minor neuroses (sp?) yesterday, I've been told my car is really fixed this time. The people were nice about it, found the problem right away, and said the leak was so small they were surprised it even showed up enough for the check engine to come on. Here's hoping they are right. You know how some people are petrified of snakes? Elevators (I'm serious, I once knew a girl who would not get on an elevator)? Various other things? Well, that's kind of how I get with cars due to my expensive previous car problems. That and I'm a bit of a spazz, but especially with anything car related. So perhaps now I can get back to blogging about other ridiculous things like whether or not to try to be a vegan again, my continued home-owning updates (we'll need to review the first year since we are approaching the one year anniversary, perhaps that'll be a good one for the 100th blog), etc. Until then, have a good one!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Here's Hoping the Third Time's a Charm

I've heard the third time's a charm and I've heard bad things come in three's so either I'm hoping by this time tomorrow or a little thereafter I've been charmed and/or my bad luck is over. As you may remember from a previous blog, my car and I are not bff's. I have taken my car to a local shop twice to be fixed. The first time they "fixed" the problem (about two weeks ago) it cost "only" $111 or $113. Sadly, that is cheaper than many of my car problems. Well, alas the problem was not really fixed as last week I had to bring it in again to get fixed because the check engine light came back on. Approximately, $700 later everything was all set (Tuesday). Well, here we are one week later and guess what? My check engine light is on AGAIN. Seriously?! Seriously?! Yes, seriously. So guess what I get to do after work tomorrow? Take it in again. I'd like to take it to a different place, but since this place has all ready "fixed" my car twice, they told me to bring it back and I guess I have to in case they messed something up. They warrantied their work so if I go there, they will "fix" (or hopefully fix) it for free, where at this point if I bring it some place else, it could cost another $700. UGH! Why can't I live within walking distance of work?

Friday, July 22, 2011

Yeah, I Know It's Hot, but It's Better Than Being Cold

Given where I live, I suppose I must do the obligatory blog complaining about the heat. I don't really want to complain though (yes, you read that correctly, the queen of complaining is refraining). Yes, I know it's hot. If I couldn't tell by stepping outside or looking at the thermometer, it's on every news station, newspaper, etc and it seems to be the "hot" topic of conversation this week among nearly everyone I've talked to. I get that it can be dangerous as people can get heat stroke, dehydrated, etc, but I wonder, what do the people in hotter parts of the country or in other parts of the world do (i.e. near the equator)? Do they complain about the heat all the time or is it just so normal that there's nothing to say. My friend was in Iraq years ago (he's in the Air Force) and it was well over 100 nearly everyday he was there. And that was apparently fairly normal for them. Now I will admit, I confess I too have made some adjustments due to the heat. I did not go to the gym or walk today because of the heat (though I did go yesterday). Instead I did an exercise DVD at home in front of the fan, which kicked my butt. A couple of days ago, after work, I eventually got annoyed with the heat and went upstairs to the one air-conditioned room in my house and was incredibly lazy. I parked myself on the bed and watched TV for probably longer than I should have. Some friends are coming over for dinner tomorrow night and they asked if we could go out instead of eating here because they said it would be too hot too cook as I have no a.c. in the kitchen. My car thermometer said it was 103 when I was running errands today, I can't tell you the last time it said 103. It's likely it's happened before, but I don't remember. Additionally, I spent most of last summer working on the new home and was only usually out earlyish in the morning and late at night, when it wouln't typically be 103 so if it was that hot then, I didn't really notice (I'm sure there's a good chance that it was about that hot when I was in AZ last summer, but I wasn't in my car then). So yeah, it's not, but you know what? I can park myself in front of my fan or go upstairs to my bedroom and put the A.C. on (which is nice as my last home did not have A.C. in the bedroom and it made for some hot nights). I have access to pools here or I could go bug my parents and use their pool. So I will take this ANYday over the cold. Even with a.c, my electric bill is MUCH lower than in the winter (I have electric heat and let's just say that's pricey!). I don't have a.c. downstairs, but with my two fans going, it's comfortable enough down here. This place is decent in the summer, but for part of the winter, it was rough.. I think it's not well-insulated or something. Also, earlier in the year, my kitchen heat was not working well at all. Thankfully, Mr. C fixed it for me so I was able to stop wearing a winter coat in the kitchen. I like cold drinks so if I'm hot, I just grab a big ol' glass of water. I don't like most hot drinks so even if I'm cold, I'm not likely to go get a cup of coffee, esp as I don't have a coffee maker. There is no snow in the summer, no ice to worry about slipping on, and no piling on layers of clothes to prevent frostbite, and no cringing if you wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the cold bathroom because you turn the heat down at night to save $. So do I want it to be 103 every day? No, of course not, but given a choice, I will gladly take this over winter. So if summer wants to last 'til say November, I'm cool with that. :) I will add one more confession, usually there is no a.c. where I work in the summer, but this year, there is. I confess I may not be so okay with the heat if I didn't have a.c. at work. So I'll take the heat, but if you work outside or in front of an oven or something, you go ahead and complain, you are entitled to. So there's the obligatory heat blog.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Why Do Car Repairs Cost so Much?

Sometimes I miss living in Boston and taking the T and not having to deal with a car. Of course I'm sure when I lived there, there were times when I hated waiting for the T and wanted a car. So as you may remember from previous blogs, my car and I are not exactly bff's and going to the mechanic stresses me out (for good reason as usually it costs me big bucks). Last week my check engine light came on so I took it to the mechanic (I tried a different one this time that was supposed to be more reasonably priced than the one I've gone to in the past). They ran the test and said all they could figure was the gas cap. So they put a new gas cap on ($13 plus the cost of the test) and said if the light didn't come on again in 100-150 miles the problem was the gas cap and life was peachy (they didn't actually say peachy, I just added that part). Guess what? A week later when I put my car on to leave work, the light was on again. Grr. So I called the mechanic again and they said to bring it back in and they'd do the test for free. So I brought two books (finished one and started another), good thing, as it was only supposed to take an hour... after three hours, I was getitng a little impatient and went to the desk to get a status update. Well, apparently, something was leaking and something else might have been leaking, but they couldn't tell until they drained gas. Of course they were going to charge me $100 to drain the gas out, and then another $100 to put it back in. Um, can't they just fill the tank with one of those little buckets, it should not take an hour, I can fill my gas tank in a few minutes. Plus it was only half full so shouldn't it take less time? If it only takes 10 min, I don't see the point in charging me for a whole hour. If I work for 4 and a half hours, I get paid for four and a half hours, not for five hours. Well, I reluctantly gave the approval, walked home, and they called me a little later to tell me the problem was what they thought it was and the parts would be in on Tuesday. I would tell you what the problem was, but I don't remember. The guy was really nice, showed me a diagram and everything, but I'm a spazz and all I really saw was the price. There was a gas leak so a wire/cable/something had to be replaced and something else with the tank (I think) needed to be fixed too. So I have been carless since Friday. I was able to find a ride to book club, a wedding , and one of the only people at my work who lives in the same city as me said she'd drive me to work tomorrow so it's been doable, but I've been a little annoyed that I couldn't grocery shop, run a couple of errands, or go to the gym. However, since the bill is going to be more than a week's pay perhaps it's for the best as I won't be able to afford to buy any of that stuff. Maybe I'll finally lose that weight I put on ha ha. So once again I ask, why do mechanics make so much money? I mean no disrespect. Cars are important and I'm sure the mechanics work hard, but some people consider my job necessary (others clearly do not) and I make less than half what they do so I have to work over twice as long. Maybe one of the kiddos will grow up to be a mechanic and give me a big discount. I would like my next car to be one that has one of those crazy/long warranties on it and one with a reputation for not breaking every year. Of course with all the money I spend on repairs (for a car that supposedly has a good rep and doesn't have that many miles on it) I won't be affording one any time soon. So here's hoping I can get at least three more years out of this car that do not cost me a fortune.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Sleep, Hair, Eggs, Etc.

It seems like every time I turn around, people are talking about getting older. I finally accepted the fact that I turned 30 and was okayish with it--as one of my friends said, it beats the alternative (not making it to 30), but truth be told it doesn't feel that different from turning 22 or 26 or 29 or, you get the point . Yesterday I was walking with some friends who are ten plus years older than I am (and absolutely wonderful). They talked about how when you get to be their age, you don't sleep so well, you keep waking up during the night. Guess what? I slept fine Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, but last night I woke up several times. Go figure! A couple of weeks ago some people started talking about hair. Someone said you should start dying your hair at 30. What?! I wasn't aware of that. My hair is still blonde, why do I need to spend money on hair dye? (Someone did correct this person and tell her most people can wait 'til 40, phew, I've got 10 years to save). Someone else told me you shouldn't have hair as long as mine at my age. What?! Why not? I'll have you know, I have a friend 9 years older than me and her hair is just as long as mine. My hair looks awful really short and I want to still be able to put it in a pony tail for dance class, the gym, Zumba, walks, bad hair days, etc. I'll trim it, but I'm not cutting it all off just because I'm "old." Moving on, on this happy topic, I heard once you get to be a little older than me, it's a BIG pain in the arse to lose weight--great, I struggle with that now, I can only imagine how it'll be if I turn 40. Finally, a friend of mine, recently told me she wanted to have a kid soon while her eggs were still good. She is not much older than I am. Does this mean I need to get married now and start popping out babies? I'm so not ready for that yet! I still have a couple of things on my to do list before babies. Well, I hope I haven't depressed any 30 or 30 plus-year-olds with my today's blog. Maybe I'll do what my friend is doing on her birthday next week and instead of turning 30, she is turning 29 and 12 months. :-) Happy Summer! Stay cool.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

I'm back. I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. Life just keeps getting in the way. And I have a ton of blogs that I haven't read in the past month that I need to catch up on. To all my blog friends, I haven't forgotten you and I'm not ignoring your blogs, at some point I will catch up. In the mean time, spring is in the air. Yay! There are numerous reaons why I like spring:

1. My heating bills are affordable now. My most recent bill dropped 60% thanks to warmer temps outside thus requiring less heat. Yay, I can now afford my bill w/o fear of bankruptcy :-p

2. No snow. You know from previous blogs how I feel about snow.

3. People are happier. I'm serious, those winter blues go away and it's amazing how much happier people are when it's warm and nice out.

4. It's still light out when I leave work.

5. Vacation is coming!

6. No need for coats, hats, gloves, scarves, etc

7. Walks, pools, beach trips, etc

8. Summer is coming!

Happy Spring!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Briefly Blogging

I haven't given up on Blogland. Life and work, especially work, keeps getting in the way. I even thought of a few funny blog topics, but they will have to wait 'til I have more than five minutes to write. But I'll soon be back with blogs on my Canadian knowledge--or lack thereof, green food, and other random stuff that may be lacking in a point. :) In the mean time, work is calling.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Final Reflections on Being a Fake Vegan

The last day of vegan week went fine. As soon as vegan week was over (at 7:30pm on a Saturday night), I ate a piece of broccoli with dip. An unusual choice I suppose, but later I had cheesy veggie dishes and some desserts that contained eggs and milk. Aside from a few unintended goofs (the English Muffin and the snack at tutoring) and one intentional one (I didn't want to waste a glass of skim milk), I think overall I did well. However, that being said, I would not make it as a vegan. As you are well aware I lik my sweets, but what I found myself missing the most was...milk and cheese. Yes, cheese. Grilled cheese, mac and cheese, veggie burgers with cheese, bagels with cream cheese (okay not quite the same, but you know), quesadillas, etc. I think I mentioned in a previous blog, that I was amazed at how many things that I thought were vegan-safe were not (i.e. the English Muffins, salad dressing, bread crumbs, croutons, etc). I would be willing to eat vegan again for a week. I'm contemplating doing a week of almost vegan, meaning I could still drink my skim milk. Besides I've still got my fake egg stuff and you know how I hate wasting food so maybe I'll make me some fake bread for fake vegan week part two. But long story short, I applaud the vegans out there, I swear it must take a lot of willpower, but maybe if it's what you've grown up with you just get used to it (like I always had milk with dinner as a kid so I still do it now much to the dismay of some of my friends). But I like to have seafood once a week, chicken/turkey a couple of times a month, and lots of foods with milk, eggs, and cheese them (hello, summer is less than three months away, bring on the ice-cream). So there you have it, I mostly made it through a week as a fake vegan. But now that it's over, can I please have some ice-cream? :)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Reflections from a Fake Vegan Day 6: Maintain Your Willpower

Do you like how it's taking me nearly a month to write about a one week experience? Life just seems to keep getting in the way of blogging. I think I'm doing too much, but anyway...day 6 of vegan week went okay. I had to pass on an offer to go out to dinner because the menu didn't have anything vegan on it. Per usual breakfast and lunch went well. I safely snacked and for dinner I made rice for the first time in years. I mixed some pineapple and veggie burger in with it to give it a little something. It wasn't bad. I was hosting a party the following night so I baked a bunch of stuff for that on Friday night (day 6). I was tempted to sample many of the things I made, but I knew in 24 hours I'd be able to enjoy them so I restrained myself. I was kind of surprised about what I did and didn't miss. Yes, I missed my milk, but I also missed things like cheese and butter. I wanted to put butter on my zucchini bread and I would have loved to have put a piece of cheesy on my veggie burger. Considering my huge sweet tooth, I was surprised I wasn't craving sweets more often. I think the fact that I purposely didn't keep too many in the house that week helped. Had they been around, I may not have had sufficient willpower, but since they weren't there, I didn't have to worry about sneaking them. I'm somewhat curious about whether I could handle going vegan in the summer because in the summer I really like ice-cream. How do vegans go without ice-cream for life? Don't they know what they're missing? I know, I know, they probably think I'm crazy for eating animal product, but ice-cream is so good. :) I'll try not to take a month to write about the last day of vegan week. And until then, have a good one!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Reflections from a Fake Vegan Day 5: Keep Me Busy So I Don't Cheat

Day five was a long day. Per usual breakfast and lunch went well. I had to work late so work provided me with dinner. I did my best to eat vegan. I didn't put dressing on my salad and when I ate it, I tried not to eat any cheese. I was careful about which pasta I picked--not the really good looking cheesy kind. :( I also showed tremendous restraint and stared at the dessert table, but did not eat anything on it. After all, I had a piece of vegan-zucchini bread and a vegan brownie waiting for me. Yeah, somehow, those didn't sound as good as the desserts in front of me, but I managed to bypass the dessert table and head back to my desk. Since it was such a long busy day, I didn't have a ton of time to eat so I didn't mind the vegan thing as much as I otherwise might have. After work, I had a dance class so no time to eat then--or be tempted by non-vegan foods. When I got home from dance, I baked some things for a party I was hosting two days later. I really wanted to sample some of my baked goodies, but I knew I had to wait two days so I baked the goodies and then put them out of sight. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Yeah, not so much, but I managed. After all only two days left to go. The end was near, I couldn't wait to drink a glass of milk, make a grilled cheese, and enjoy some sushi. Oh, yeah, and perhaps a brownie. :) I don't know how real vegans do it. They must have insane willpower.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Reflections From a Fake Vegan Day 4: The Joys and Challenges of Baking

Day four went fairly well in fake vegan-land. I think I successfully avoided English Muffins and all other foods that might contain eggs, butter, or milk. Might I also add that on day two, I passed up a brownie and had fruit instead. Just had to pat myself on the back for one success. So anyway, on day four I decided to try some vegan baking. A friend of mine gave me some egg replacer (replacement? I'm not sure it's proper name) and told me I should make zucchini bread with it. I like zucchini bread and I've made it before so I thought I'd give it a try. I made it with the fake eggs and well...it looked really weird. Not terribly moist and when it was done cooking, it looked a little crumbly, but you know what? It tasted fine! It would have tasted better with butter on it, but yeah, it was good. I also made vegan-safe brownies. Those were also not as moist when in batter form though when they were done baking they seemed more moist than regular brownies. They taste all right, but I haven't been as addicted to them as I have been to regular brownies. I think I'll stick with the zucchini bread. :)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Reflections from a Fake Vegan Day 3: Will Power...Or Not

Day three of vegan week started off well enough. I had a vegan-friendly breakfast and lunch. At lunch time, it was someone's birthday so one person on my team brought in a birthday cake. I gathered up some will power and said no thank you. Even when they peer pressured me to have just a little piece, I said no thanks, "I'm trying to be good" and I stood my ground. Go me! Later that day I had a meeting with my boss who offered me my favorite kind of Girl Scout cookie. I really wanted one, but I said no thanks. He offered again and I managed to resist again. I was so proud, I was actually passing up sweets. Usually when I battle with my sweet tooth, my sweet tooth wins, especially on a stressful day. Well, things went along nicely until it was time to tutor. When I got to tutoring, they had a nice little snack left out for me on a plate at the spot where I usually sit. I wasn't exactly sure how to explain that I was eating vegan for a week and could you tell me if there are eggs, butter, or milk in this little treat. If it were a friend or family member or something, I'd probably just explain, but let's face it this whole thing I'm doing is weird. Who eats vegan for one week just because? And I was pretty hungry since it had been five hours since I had my fruit salad so I ate the treat and I'm pretty sure it wasn't vegan-friendly. So three days into vegan week, I've eaten three things that were not vegan-approved. Am I a failure? I may have to do this vegan business again sans milk, English Muffins, and tutoring treats. I give those real vegan some major kudos. It's a lot of work to keep up with all the ingredients and pass up on good foods when everyone else is eating them. We'll see what day four brings.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Reflections From a Fake Vegan Day 2: Those Darn Labels

I suppose if there were a week to be a fake vegan, this was the week to do it. This week is/was insanely busy. I have/had meetings, etc after work every day (okay Friday isn't so much a meeting as a standing walking date with a colleague) and something to do every night (some fun stuff and some meetings). So since I was going to be so busy, I wouldn't be snacking so much since I wouldn't have time. Breakfast on Day two of Vegan Week went well as did lunch (I'm loving the fruit this week). After my meeting, I went to the gym, then was home for about 15 minutes before I had to meet some friends to go to see a movie. I vaguely remember inhaling an English Muffin with peanut butter in the midst of changing, returning a phone call, and playing beat the clock in an attempt to make it to the movies on time (success). Later on that night I was reading some vegan websites in an attempt to get more ideas for recipes and vegan-safe foods and I noticed one of the more comprehensive lists didn't list English Muffins, so I checked the label and wouldn't you know it, the darn things have milk as the second to last ingredient. SERIOUSLSY?! Seriously? Apparently, bagels are safe. I like bagels, in fact I like them even more then English Muffins. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy English Muffins, but had I been smart and read the label FIRST I would have noticed this and bought bagels instead. I guess I'm kind of a failure since I unintentionally ate non-vegan food on vegan week. Grr. I'm still sticking with the project, but I may try it again another week later this year when I'm more sure of the food labels. Ironically, since doing vegan week, I've been eating fewer vegetables. I'm definitely eating healthier since I can't eat sweets, but instead of my usual salad for lunch I had fruit salad. I figured since I'd be eating lots of veggies for/with dinner I'd do fruit for lunch, but I've yet to have veggies for dinner so we'll see how that goes. In the mean time, have a good night and read your food labels, or maybe you shouldn't read them, then you won't know you are unintentionally cheating.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Reflections from a Fake Vegan Day 1

So a couple of days ago I began my vegan week. On day one I went to the grocery store--and was reminded why I don't go to the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon. I was set to begin vegan week that night around 7 or 8. That way I could finish by 7 or 8 the following Saturday--in time to eat non-vegan food at a St. Patrick's Day party. Priorities, right? Hey if I am baking goodies for a party, I want to be able to enjoy them. This is why I could never make it as a real vegan in real life. Anyway, day one wasn't too bad. I bought lots of fruits and veggies, rice, veggie burgers, tortilla wrap things, and I even found a salad dressing that appears to be vegan-friendly. Perhaps next time I go vegan for a week, I should do it when more fruits are in season, but I digress. So Saturday night was no problem as I had eaten plenty of typical food during the day. Sunday morning, I confess I did cheat a little. I had about a big glassful of skim milk left in the fridge. I didn't want to waste it, but I wasn't sure it'd still be good in a week so I decided to just drink it. I know, I know, a real vegan wouldn't do that, but as we know I am a fake vegan. I'm just doing this to see if I can do it and because supposedly it's good for you, but the way I see it, a girl needs her calcium. Breakfast was fine. Most of the breakfast foods I regularly eat do not contain animal products. I was so busy Sunday afternoon that I didn't have time for a snack. I had some noodle concoction for lunch and pasta for dinner. So if you can forgive the milk (hey isn't it wrong to waste food too?) day one went fairly well. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

A Verb is a Noun...Or is it a Verb?

As someone who enjoys reading, writing, words, etc, you'd think I could speak/write properly, right? Wrong! I have this bad habit of verbing things--see I just did it. Yep, I take words that are nouns and turn them into verbs. Ironically, the word verb is a noun, but I make it into a verb when I verb things. For example, two of my friends and I were playing Scrabble on-line and one of them put out a word none of us knew. So one friend asked what the word meant. I had no idea so I said "Dictionary.com it." Dictionary.com is a noun, but I felt the need to turn it into a verb instead of simply saying something along the lines of, "Look on dictioary.com."

Speaking of Scrabble, I learn so many new words from that game. I swear people are making words up and then I'll look it up and it turns out it's a real word. So I'm not wasting time when I play, I'm improving my vocabulary. :)

Not only do I verb things, but I also enjoy saying fake words that are composed of two real words. Years ago, a kid taught me the word ginormous (I assume he was trying to combine gigantic and enormous). I know it's not a real word, but I still say it every once in a while. I find it fantabulous. Yep, fantastic and fabulous equals fantabulous.

Another word I like "countrify." That is when a country singer sings a non-country song, and you know puts a country twist on it. This is a bad example, but it's the only one I can think of right now, so just go with me for a minute here. Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was originally sung by Dolly Parton. I think she wrote it too. Well, let's pretend for a minute that Whitney originally did the song and then Dolly sang it later. I would say that Dolly Parton countrified the song--or made it a country song. Yep, I'm a huge dork!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Am I On Candid Camera?

My gas tank was getting close to empty and since the gas station closest to me tends to be more expenisve than other local gas stations, I decided I'd go to the one near the gym Wednesday morning. So I got ready to go to the gym and tried to go to the gas station on the way. Unfortunately, there was a truck there filling the pumps so I couldn't get my gas. Not a big deal, there's another station at the end of the street. I figured I could just go there. That's the same company as the first one so I figured it'd be the same price. So I drove past the gym to the next gas station and guess what? I couldn't get gas there either! They had the pumps blocked off because they were waiting for a truck. I was slightly annoyed, but someone had told me the gas station near where I get my oil changed has more affordable gas so I figured I'd go there. Too bad I didn't think of that two days ago when I got my oil changed, but fair enough, I'd go there and then I could run one errand. Actually, there were a few errands I could have run, but I was in my gym clothes and there are few places I like to go when I'm in my gym clothes besides the gym. So I drove ten minutes down the road to the gas station that was supposed to be even cheaper than the ones near the gym and I kid you not, ALL the pumps had out of order signs on them. I guess they were waiting for a truck to come with gas too. At this point I started looking for the "Punked" camera. Had I reached some new celeberity status (um, yeah, that's it) that Ashton had decided to punk me? Then I thought perhaps "Candid Camera" was coming back on tv and maybe I was on that because seriously, who goes to three gas stations and can't get gas at ANY of them? I ran my one errand and then went back to the gym--btw I still couldn't get gas at the station as the truck was still there. So I did my workout and then figured I'd just pay the extra money at the station near me. The few cents I was going to save were now probably wasted driving all over the city looking for a gas station that actually had gas. However, as I was passing by the gas station to get on the highway, the truck was gone and I was finally able to get my gas for less than the station closest to me. The moral of the story: Well, I'm not sure there is one, perhaps sometimes it's better to just pay more money and get the gas right away and other times it's better to just be patient or perhaps you should go to the gym then try to get gas. Let's hope next week I can get my gas on the first attempt, not the fourth. :)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

(Not) Prepping for Vegan Week

So vegan week (MAYBE vegan fortnight) is under two weeks away. You think I'd be prepping for it by slowly adding vegan-friendly food to my diet, right? Oh, no! The way I've been eating lately you'd think I was becoming a vegan forever not for one week, MAYBE (big MAYBE) two weeks. I'm also contemplating going full out vegan for a week as planned, but then week two going vegan except for my skim milk, but we'll see about that when the time gets closer. So getting back to my point, instead of introducing more vegan-friendly foods to my diet the past few days, I've been trying to finish all the non-vegan foods that might tempt me. I've add shrimp three nights this week. Usually I have it one night a week. I bought sushi again. I've also been drinking tons of milk, okay, I do that anyway, but if I drink lots of milk this week will it be okay to lack calcium next week? What do vegans do? Take calcium pills? And let's not reflect on the cucpakes. I had two cupcakes in a six hour period, not healthy and instead of just having a bagel with creem cheese once a week, I've had it like every day this week so I can finish up the cream cheese. And I felt the need to unfreeze my apple bread and eat that this week too.



I did start thinking about vegan foods I could eat. I haven't made baked/stuffed zucchini in a while so I thought I could make that for vegan week and just not put cheese on it. Well, then I went and looked at the ingredients in breadcrumbs (which I need to make the meal) and guess what? On one of the last lines it says: contains less than 2% of the following and what's on there? Eggs! I didn't know there were eggs in breadcrumbs. Did you? Maybe it's common knowledge and I'm just dumb. So even though it's such a small amount if I'm going to do this for real I'm guessing that means I can't have breadcrumbs either? So I guess may baked stuffed zucchini should really just be called zucchini as there won't be much left to stuff it with if I can't use the cheese or the breadcrumbs. I think I'll be eating a lot of salad and fruit salad soon. If anyone has any good suggestions for vegan foods for me to try, send them my way. And if any of them do not contain tofu that would be great. :)

Random Thoughts from the Gym

So today's comments are rather random and not necessarily related to each other in any way except that I thought of them while at the gym this week. Here we go...

Does it bother anyone else when people come out of a bathroom stall and don't wash their hands? I'm not a germ phobe or anything, but I was raised that after you go the bathroom you wash your hands. The other day someone went the bathroom, came out, and walked right past the sink. I'm not talking people under the age of six who really might need a reminder, but does anyone else find this weird or am I just crazy? Okay, I know I'm crazy, but you know what I mean, I hope.

Why don't aerobics instructors get thirsty and why don't they sweat? So I've been taking aerobics classes at the gym for at least four years, maybe five, I forget when exactly I started. We'll call it 4ish. A few I've tried here and there, but there is one class I've regularly attended for the past 4ish years. The instructors of this class have changed a few times. They're all different from each other, though they are nice and good instructors, but you know what else they have in common? They never seem to need water. I sneak over to my water bottle at least three or four times in an hour class and snag a few sips. I don't full out stop working out, I just dash over in between songs and march in place while I sip. These instructors never seem to drink water and sometimes they don't even sweat. They seem like they're working hard, but shouldn't they be thirsty? I realize they are in MUCH better shape than I am, but still, how do they do it? I don't think I could work out for a full hour without water.

Monday, February 21, 2011

No, I Don't Want to Go There

So I am due for an oil change soon, which means another dreaded trip to the mechanic. I think in a previous post I told you that I do not enjoy going to the mechanic. I swear they can tell I know nothing about cars and enjoy tormenting me. Here's an example:

Me: Can I get an oil change/inspection/tire rotation/other simple inexpensive task please?

Person at car place politley takes my information and directs me waiting room, telling me it should be ready in about an hour

I go to waiting room and continue reading a book I started ages ago, but haven't finished yet because I've been busy.

Car person comes over to me: They found a crack in your adkjdokajdokj.

What I think: What the heck is an adkjdokajdokj? I will have to google it or ask Rich or Tony, two friends of mine who know infinitely more about cars than me. How much is this going to cost? There goes that summer vacation.

What I Say: Oh, dear, can you fix it?

Car person: Yes, we can do it today, but it will take about 3 hours and cost you $800,888.99.

What I Think: HOW MUCH?! For What?! I want to move back to the city and take the subway everywhere. Is my car even worth that much money?

What I Say: So what caused this problem?

Car Person: A little unicorn tap-dancing in your adkakdjkjdr and it ruined your adkjodokajdokj.

What I think: Was that even in English?

What I Say: Oh, okay, thanks.



See, they could be talking in Greek and telling me a mythical animal and I wouldn't know the difference. I also love how whenever they fix something the part is about $30, but the labor is $300. Do you know how many hours I'd have to work to pay for one hour of mechanical work? UGH!



Although the mechanic is one of my least favorite places to go, there are a few other places that I find "challenging."



Lab work--I HATE having blood drawn and I have to have that done soon too.



A friend of mine recently wrote that she dislikes grocery shopping so I started thinking about that. I actually don't mind grocery shopping, but you know what I dislike? The carriage. I have been known to overfill a baket and carry it in one hand and then carry the gallon of milk in my other hand since it won't fit in a basket instead of getting a carriage. When the bagger politely offers me a carriage, I decline and struggle to carry the bags out because I've convinced myself it's easier than dealing with a carriage. I just don't like pushing them around the store. Instead I'll cram stuff into the basket and pray the eggs don't break.



One of the two banks I go to: One bank that I go to is lovely, truly, the people are nice, friendly, etc, but the other one, omg, they're always trying to sell me something or get me to apply for something. I don't want it! I just want you to take care of the one little thing I came in for, hence why I rarely go.



The gas station, but only because lately whenever I go the price keeps getting higher and it depresses me.



One particular store, which will remain nameless, but let's just say sometimes when people reach a certain point in their life they ask for things from this particular store and I can never find anything. I'm so tempted to just get them a gift card, but instead I wander around like a lost little girl hoping to find something on their list.



And then there are four stores I really like (Kohls, Target, JC Penney, and Barnes and Noble), but I really should be kept away from them because I tend to spend money whenever I go there. I have at least 30 books that I haven't read, there is no need for me to buy another one because it looks good. And don't get me started on clothes, accessories, cute thing s for the condo, or all things Target. I go there for one thing and come home with ten, how does that happen? It's not just me. I went there with the MC the other night because he wanted one thing and he did the same thing and he doesn't even like shopping.



Craft stores--same as the previous stores. I am not crafty, but sometimes going to these stores inspires me and I think I will become crafty, that or they have cute holiday decorations that I want to buy for my new home. And then I get home and get mad at myself for spending money when I still need to pay the ridiculously expensive heating bill.

I think I will be spending my day off at home, avoiding all aforementioned good and bad places.

Happy Presidents' Day!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sunday Snippets a.k.a. Letters Part 2

Dear Mother Nature,
I quite enjoyed Thursday and especially Friday, but the problem is now I want more nice weather (what's that expression? You give an 'em an inch and they want a mile?). I kept expecting yesterday to be nice too, but instead I had to bundle up and try not to get blown away.



Dear Wind,
What is the deal? It was nice of you to blow ice chunks off my roof and not hit the car, but seriously, can you please calm down? Have we done something to upset you? Now instead of complaining about the snow, I'm going to complain about the branches that are everywhere.



Dear Heat,
Considering how much my last bill was, it should feel like a sauna in here 24/7 not just warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing while I'm at work and quite chilly at sleepy time in all but the bedroom. What's the deal?



Dear Plow Man,
I truly appreciate you plowing my complex, but if you wake me up screaming the f word at 4:00 tomorrow morning like you did for a previous storm, I am NOT going to be happy. If you must curse at that hour, which is not very professional of you, do it in a whisper or wait and do it when you're off the clock.



Dear Banana Grams,
You are awesome! You brought much fun to four of my friends and me on Friday evening. Must play you again soon.



Dear Apples to Apples,
Even though a few people did not like that I won you (I lost big time the time before), I found you to be a hilarious enjoyment. I want to do another game night.



Dear Airlines that Charge for Luggage,
Seriously?! Okay, I get that you have rising costs too, but how can something that has been free as long as you've been around suddenly cost a tank of gas? And what is this about some airlines now charging for carry-ons?!?!?! Are people going to start sneaking on books, necessary, medication, ipods, passports and wallets? We'll all be walking around with those crazy big pants that people often associate with teenagers just so we can fit books, ipods, and wallets into our pockets so we dont' have to pay for them. Or we'll be wearing coats to fly to Hawaii in July so we have extra pocket space to put a book to read on the flight.

Plane Person: Ma'm we need to see your ID

Customer: Okay, here it is

Plane Person: Thank you and now you owe us $40 for carrying on your ID

Customer: Yes, but I need to carry that on so I can board the plane, you require an ID.

Plane Person: Sorry ma'am, we charge for carry-ons now because the $400 you spent for your ticket and the $50 you paid for your luggage wasn't enough so we need to get more money out of you. Oh, and if you want to bring that book too, that's another $20.



Okay, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but seriously, it's getting expensive to fly!



Dear Spring,
I know you're coming next month, but the groundhog said you're supposed to come early, so any time now, come on, you can do it.



Dear Ridiculous Planet Fitness Commercial,
You are just that, ridiculous, but I laugh out loud every time I see you, which I guess makes me ridiculous. Do you know the one I mean, the one where the guy keeps saying "I lift things up and put them down." It's kind of dumb (which I guess is the point), but I still laugh every time I see it (I need help, I know).



Dear Hallmark Hall of Fame,
Okay, usually I shed a tear during your movies, but what was up with this last one with Betty White and Jennifer Love-Hewitt. I bawled several times during that movie. The MC thought I was nuts--as in more nuts than usual. I think he was ready to call the men in the white coats, but I tell you if you see that movie, bring a big ol' box of tissues (or maybe you're normal and not so sappy like me). BTW Betty White still rocks! You go girl. 88 years young.



Dear Ellen,
Excited that I can see your show Monday. Hope it's a good one as you crack me up.



Dear Sunday Night,
You are not usually my favorite night of the week because you know Monday follows you (though you're not as bad as Monday night as you do at least come with a day off ahead of you), but since Monday's a holiday I quite like you.



Dear This Monday Only,
Since you are a holiday this week Monday, I will not complain about you. Don't get used to it, I'll likely be complaining about you again next week.





Dear Recent Restaurant I Visited,
Why do you insist on calling mozzarella sticks, fried cheese? I was expecting something delicious like at Maggiannos, they're fried cheese is just that, deliciousness, not a mozzarella stick. Yours is simply mozzarella sticks so just call it what it is, don't get me all excited about a new twist on the mozzarella stick only to serve plain ol' not that warm mozzarella sticks.



Dear Maggianos,
Now that I've just mentioned you, I kind of want to visit you, but not 'til after vegan week.



Dear You You Restaurant,
You had delcious beginnger sushi. How have I never eaten at you before?



Dear Blinds,
Why must you be such a pain to dust?




Dear Hot Water Heater,

Why do you have to leak? Not going to be cheap to fix you, but it's gotta get done.

Dear Gym,
What is the deal with this increased attendance? Some days lately you have to all but beg, borrow, and steal to get a decent machine. I thought that only happened in January. It's nearly the end of February, aren't things supposed to slow down? And is it just me, or is the gym busier on Mondays than Fridays?

Dear Megan's Leftover Cookie Dough Balls,
You were delightful to eat this past week, but I think you've caused me to gain weight!

Dear Blog Readers,
Have a great day/night! Thanks for reading!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

To Meat or Not to Meat

How's that for a cheesy title, huh? So a couple of weeks ago during one of the many snowstorms we've had I did the unusual and left work on time and got home in the daylight hours. The ride home was a little nerve-wracking, but not as bad as it would have been if I'd been the one driving because the roads were not pretty--that's an understatement. I don't blame the plows, they were doing the best they could, but it was during working hours so with the cars and how fast the snow came, there was only so much they could do by the time I left work.

Anyway, when I got home I plopped on the couch to relax for a few and put on the tv. Oprah happened to be on. I rarely watch her as I'm not usually home at 4:00. I'm often at job #1, job #2, or the gym. Unlike several of my friends I have no real strong feelings toward Oprah one way or the other. (In other words I have friends that LOVE her and friends that absolutely cannot stand her.) But anyway, that day's episode was about going vegan. She and her staff ate vegan for one week. Apparently, quite a few of them felt physically well from doing that. I guess it's good to clean out the system shall we say. Anyway, I am easily intrigued (well, sometimes anyway) and kind of wanted to try it. However, I have my limits.

I don't eat red meat. I don't like steak and I am allergic to hamburger. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous and you think I'm making it up, but I'm not. Actually, technically, I'm not allergic to it, I'm "intolerant" to it. Regardless of what you call it, if you and I go out for a burger you're not going to want to be around me later that night/the next day. I discovered this when I was 11. I had eaten cheeseburgers many times prior and had no problems, and the first time it happened I thought it was just bad fast food, but it kept happening every time I had hamburger so my mom checked with the doctor and no more burgers for me. So really, giving up red meat wouldn't be a big deal for me.

I like seafood and chicken, but I could probably go without them for a week. I usually have chicken once a week or once every other week. Same with seafood. I do shrimp at home every so often and when I go out to eat, I like to order fish. And about once a month I eat sushi--the beginnger stuff, not the fancy true raw fish.

As you know I have a sweet tooth, so you think that would be the hardest thing, right? After all, most of the baked goodies I enjoy have eggs in them and if you're a true vegan=no eggs. And though that would cause insane amounts of fighting between Sweet Tooth and me, that's not my biggest worry. You know what is? Go ahead and laugh, but it's the milk. I like milk. I drink it every day. I used to get made fun of when I was in high school because I even drank it if I went out to dinner. I don't like drink gallons a day or anything, but I have a glass with my after-work snack and I usually have two glasses of milk at dinner. On weekends, I'll have it with lunch too. (When I'm at work, it's water all day long.) Ironically, I don't put milk on my Cheerios. What can I say, I'm weird! I pour the Cheerios into a bowl and eat them with a spoon, but mine are milkless.

Anyway, getting back to Oprah...so I decided I want to try this vegan business. I think I can do it for a week, it might even be good for me, less junk food and all and if I don't buy milk that week I can probably deal, but I couldn't do the vegan thing forever. So here's where the "troubles" come in and why I'm not doing it 'til March. I hate wasting food so I didn't want to do it right away when I had non-vegan food around that would go bad. So I thought about delaying it a week, by then I'd have drank the milk and eaten the other foods, but I was having a party that following week and I knew if I made baked goodies and offered them to everyone else, I'd want some too. (And it was for the best as at the last minute I ended up going out for sushi with a co-worker that same week.) Next week I'm supposed to go out for seafood, which I am excited about so vegan week has been delayed 'til March, but now that I've told you about it, I have to at least give it a try, right? I hope I can do it. I'm sure you'll hear about it in future blogs. Bring on those fruits and veggies!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Letters from a (Semi)Thief

So my friend/friend's cousin/blog-friend said I could steal her idea and do my random letters so here it goes...




Dear Mother Nature,
We can be friends again, at least until this weekend, when I think you might piss me off again.



Dear Rising Gas Prices,
Seriously, what is the deal? If the price is going up like it has been around here this week then the gas should be getting better, perhaps good enough for the car to drive itself and I can just nap on the way to work.



Dear Three Snowbanks that Surround my Driveway,

At least one of you needs to melt. My car seems to be magnetically attracted to you and I am now waging a competition between you and the car. Score one for the car today and one for you yesterday.

Dear People Who Hate Teachers?
Seriously, what's the deal? I get that there are some bad teachers out there and I get that teachers complain a lot--but some of those complaints are legit. But come one, do you have to hate a whole population? If you have one bad waiter are you going to say you hate all waiters and never go out to eat again? Or if one doctor is a quack, are you going to badmouth all doctors? If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Show some respect people.

Dear Liver,
Can you please fix yourself? Apparently, not drinking is taboo unless you are pregnant or a recovering alcoholic. Since I am neither, people think I am a freak.

Dear Sweet Tooth,
Go away. I am eating too much junk food.

Dear Valentine's Day Haters,
Okay, I know V-Day can be annoying if you're single (depressing) and it can be annoying if you're not single (expensive). But if you want to enjoy V-Day, come spend the day where I work. It's adorable!

Dear Roof Rake,
Thank you for working to get snow off my roof. And dear roof, thank you for handling all that snow.

Dear Ice in the Driveway and on the Roof,
Would you please melt? I'm sick of slipping on you (driveway) and roof ice you just make me nervous.

Dear Candles,
I didn't used to be a big fan, but now that I'm a home-owner, I quite enjoy you. You make my home smell nice. :)

Dear Leaky Faucet,
Stop leaking.

Dear Word Games,
I am addicted! And to make it worse, I just discovered Banana grams and have now invited people over to play. I am an even bigger dork than I originally thought.

Dear Jess,
Thanks for letting me steal your idea, though I have to say your letters were much funnier. :)

Dear Self,
Stop procrastinating and go read your book for Book Club.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

I'm Not Going to Complain About the Snow

A friend/blog friend/friend's cousin (which one is pc?)--recently wrote a blog in letter form discussing various things (by letters I don't mean a b c, I mean Dear X--you know like we used to do in the days before text messages, e-mail, etc, I love e-mail, etc, but secretly, I kind of miss getting real letters). I loved it! I kind of wanted to steal her idea, but I don't want to be a thief or plagarize--I know that's not spelled correctly, but I'm too lazy to look it up. Over the past few days I haven't had anything big to blog about, just random little things. Okay, let's face it, I don't usually have anything big to blog about, but you know what I mean. That and work was busy and consumed much of my life even when I wasn't actually at work. So if I were the stealing type, I would steal her idea, but since I'm not, I'm just going to whine for a few minutes...
Now I know you're probably all sick of people complaining about the snow so I'm not going to complain about the snow. Nope, instead I'm just going to say that the news has turned me into a crazy person. Every time I put it on there seems to be another roof collapse. Fortunately, I "never" worry (and by never I mean I think I have an undiagnosed anxiety disorder b/c no normal person should worry this much, and I don't just mean the roof, I worry about the stranged things way too often), so the other night after watching the news right before bed (bad idea) I didn't spend any time wondering if my roof could handle all the snow. Nor did any time I heard a noise (which was 99% of the time the heat) did I think is that my roof? And I most certainly did not ask MC to go to Home Depot or Lowes to buy a roof rake. And when he called to tell me they were sold out, I didn't call various hardware stores to ask if they had any only to be told by one store that the closet one was a four hour drive from me. And after hearing that I definitely didn't go on-line and check a few places to find out that those sites were sold out too. And when I've been driving to work/the gym/the grocery store, I certainly haven't been staring at anyone's roof trying to compare their roof snow to mine. And this morning I wasn't outside at 9am with MC raking my roof with a roof rake we borrowed from someone. I've never used a roof rake before today. It is kind of cool. It's also hard work, I mean it just gets heavy. Couldn't reach all the snow, but MC got a lot of it off the roof and then I got to shovel it up the all ready too tall to see around snowbanks. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the ice off, but the news claims some of it'll melt tomorrow--after tonight's snowstorm that is. Here's hoping...
And don't worry I won't complain about the fact that thanks to all the snow banks it's hard to see when you're trying to turn from one street to another--I find myself praying a lot and thanking God the brakes work. And I won't whine because the snow banks took up my usual parking spot at my tutoring job--or the spots next to me. And of course they didn't take away a row and then some of parking spaces at the gym.
Aren't you glad I didn't complain about the snow?
While, I'm "not complaining" about things, would now be a good time to mention that I looked up some symptoms on WebMD the other night--bad idea. I mean the site is great in that it gives lots of information, but for a worrywart like me, it was a bad idea, but that's a story for another time...Enjoy the weekend!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Strange Conversations

If you're one of my FB friends, you may have noticed, I've heard some "unpleasant" things this week. But first I must include a disclaimer: If you are one of those people who can't stand when people complain about winter, then I advise you to stop reading this blog, or at least skip to Unpleasant Convo #2. Go ahead, I won't be offended, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Unpleasant Convsersation Starter Number one: I recently heard there's more artic sub-zero weather and snow coming this week. Many people say that if you don't like the weather you should move. Ahh, if only it were that easy. Have you seen the housing economy or the job market lately? Plus truth be told, I like living here, well, 9-10 months of the year anyway. I have not ruled out becoming a snowbird when I retire. And if I moved I'd miss my friends (and maybe my family hee hee). Plus, I (mostly) like fall and spring, and I love summer. I kid you not, give me one of those 95 degree days any time over what we're having right now, just remind me to put on sunscreen and a hat. So I'm not going to complain about how for what I paid for my heating bill, I could fly someplace warm, or that I hate driving in the snow, or standing outside in sub-zero temperatures for recess duty because you've heard all that. Instead I'm going to ask, where the heck are the plows going to put the snow? Although they do a decent job where I live, if we get as much snow as they're saying, there is no more room for the snow. It's a struggle to get out of the driveway without hitting a snowbank now and if we've really got another foot coming, I don't know where they'll put the snow. I tried to shovel my driveway Friday afternoon and could barely lift the snow as high as the snowbank. This is not because I'm a lazy fool and I consider myself to be average height, but those snowbanks are getting taller than me. I'm also wondering if I should get a roof rake or whatever they're called, but the snowbanks are so high, I'm not sure I could get through them to get to the roof. I'm hoping the fact that none of my neighbors have shoveled/raked/whatever their roofs means the roofs can handle this snow. And you all ready know I HATE being cold so I'll spare you my thoughts on the upcoming temperatures or the fact that I fear I'll be going to school year round since we've had three snow days in two weeks and it looks like one more on the way.

Unpleasant Convo #2: "You're at that age where you should..." WHAT?! As you may remember I had a mini-crisis about turning 30, but I got through it and truthfully, I don't feel any different than I did in my 20's. I'd like to think I'm wiser now, but that's a crock of poo. Okay, maybe a little, I do know more about short sales than I ever wanted. So yes, when my doctor simply told me to take a daily vitamin, she wasn't really trying to tell me I was old, but instead of hearing take your vitamins, I heard "you're getting old."

Unpleasant Convo #3: "Are you pregnant?" Now this was asked in a joking manner (I think), but just because I didn't drink at a social event the other night, I guess I'm "at that age" where people assume it's because you're pregnant. No, I am not pregnant and no, I'm not a recovering alcoholic (apparently another assumption). I just wasn't supposed to drink before I had some lab work done. A friend of mine recently said no one should ask a woman if she's pregnant unless he/she can see the baby's head crowning. Sounds like good advice to me.

I wish you all a good week. In the mean time stay warm, take your vitamins, and leave the non-drinkers to not drink in peace. :) Two more months 'til Spring!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Try Not To Think About Elephants

Is it just me or do you find the more people tell you not to think about something or the harder you try not to think about something, the more you end up THINKING about it instead of NOT thinking about it??? Like normally, I wouldn't think about elephants, but as soon as you tell me not to think about elephants, suddenly, that's all I can think of. Zoos, words that start with the letter e, jungles, or anything else elephant-related suddenly pop into my head. Okay, so that's a silly example since this blog has nothing to do with elephants, but I think I just thought of a title for today's blog, but I digress.

When I get my annual physical, my doctor has me get lab work too. As you're probably aware you're supposed to fast for 12 hours before you have lab work done. Normally, I try to get that done in the morning before work, but not this year...Last year the lab was so late taking me that I was a lot later for work than I thought I'd be (thankfully I didn't get in trouble) and I get stressed beingn late. Additonally, since I had to leave work early for the doctor's appointment the following week, I didn't feel comfortable asking if I could come in late one day and leave early a few days later. So I decided I would just go after work, around 4ish. So the night before, I had a lateish dinner then had a snack at 9:00pm and went to bed between 10 and 11. Got up and got ready, skipped breakfast and went to work. I did fine until snack time. Then I kept staring at my student's food, thinking how great it looked (normally I see what they have, but think nothing of it). Then at lunch time, I saw two of my colleagues in the hall with their lunches and I was so intrigued by their lunches I kept staring at them like they had something amazing. Thankfully, they didn't notice. They may have thought I was crazy (well, crazier than they all ready know I am anyway). Then when I had a meeting, two of my colleagues brought their lunch and I kept staring and thinking wow, that looks so good. What a nice lunch, etc. And then I couldn't get food off of my brain. "How many hours 'til I can eat? I'm so hungry. Look at that piece of candy on my desk. " So instead I drank water like it was going out of style, which made for some uncomfortable moments as in my profession you can't always go to the bathroom when you need to and may have to hold it for a while (sorry, you probably didn't want to know that). Post-lab I haven't given a second thought to anyone else's lunch or snack, but as soon as you tell me I can't eat again, I'm going to be suddenly interested in your meal. In the mean time, try not to think about elephants. :)