A list for Boo

Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting today. Oh how I love pumpkin. Yay for pumpkin cooking season!

Thoughts currently running through my head:

1. I need a luggage tag for the new giant duffle on wheels. I have a mini pink caribiner and lots of old plastic name badge holders. Perhaps I'll fashion one this morning.

2. I leave at 12:30 today for Dallas. I have sonya's number tucked in my wallet and we are brewing plans for a sonya-momma-me meet this weekend. Hooooooray!

3. I have a pumpkin donut in my office from the cafeteria. I caved. I think since I bought it, I must eat it. I really need to watch what I eat the rest of this weekend.

4. My boss upgraded us to first class. This is good. However, sitting next to hear means we'll work the whole time. I had a new Marie Claire and my MP3 player all set. *pout*

5. Marie Claire is a better magazine than I thought. Budget Living mag went defunct mid-year, so Marie Claire finished out my subscription instead. I thought it was more like Elle. Instead, it has some really poignant articles along with some beauty and fashion stuff.

6. I chose to watch Top Chef over the Laguna Beach finale last night, so I'm still cool, right? I love Sam. And "I'm So Talented" Josie got kicked off...yay! I'm hoping for a Cliff vs. Sam finale. Similar caliber chefs, yet different styles.

7. I will miss The Office tonight. This makes me sad.

Let the holiday frenzy begin!

Chicken Noodle Soup cheese today. I saw that some Wisconsin cheese factory makes it on tv last night. It's monterey jack with chicken noodle soup flavorings. Weird.

I'm starting to work on holiday plans.

1) Thanksgiving with the in laws. BIL isn't going to see his mother, so we are going by ourselves. Oh well. She'll be sad, but nothing I can do about it. BIL is a big boy that can make his own decisions.

2) Simplifying Thanksgiving dinner. Every year we seem to cut something out. Last year we nixed the rolls (and again this year). This year I'm nixing homemade cranberries. I'd nix the cranberries all together, but I like em on my leftover turkey. So I'm just buying canned. Forgive me Thanksgiving Food Gods, for I have sinned. Turkey frying is still the best thing in the world. The boys deal with the turkey outside and the girls have the whole kitchen and oven for other things.

3) Christmas plans. Holy crap, I think we have Christmas plans in order BEFORE Thanksgiving. That's a first.

4) Christmas cards. I started them last night.

5) Wine party is scheduled for Dec. 8th. About 12 wines with the following food:
ceviche (shrimp & scallop)
cheeses, breads, crackers
dipping oils
olives (for OTHER people, not me)
proscuitto & melon, grapes
chocolate caramel fondue with fruit, macaroons and almond pound cake

6) Christmas cookies. December 9th.

The big question. Holiday Decor. Should it also go up on the 9th? We have nobody coming over for the holidays. Should I bother? Is it just another pack & unpack thing that takes up time?

Canadian Slang & Weird Cat

Burrini cheese and french bread for our Canadian themed post today.

A local radio station had a contest for BNL tickets today. Since BNLs are Canadian, the game was "Guess the Canadian Slang." Do YOU know what a gorby is? Now I do. The caller made a good guess and got it right, so that was the end of the game. Boo. They said they'd play again tomorrow, so I'll try to bring you more Canadian fun words. :-)

My big kitty is weird. She just started this odd habit of moving the heavy ceramic water dish...full of water. Splish splash. Water all over. She puts her paw inside the dish and pulls on it.
Problem solving attempts:

1. I took it off the rubber mat, thinking the mat was bothering her. Nope. The water dish ended up about 3 feet away.

2. I've made sure the water dish is full when she goes to drink. Still not satisfactory. It only lead to more water being spilled.

3. Less water in the dish? Nope.

So now, I think I need to try a new bowl. The current one has high sides. Maybe one with lower sides will please Her Highness.

Feeling overwhelmed

*quickly throws out some gouda and sourdough bread*

My list of things to do this week at work is growing. And I leave for Dallas on Thursday. I wish I had more time to spend there.

We had a fairly productive weekend at home. I checked out the new Trader Joe's in Madison. First time going there. THEY HAD THE WASABI ALMONDS that I had at Catt's house. This pleased me greatly.

We hung pictures and a new candle sconce yesterday. We had a growing stack of stuff to be hung. Do you ever have that problem or do you hang things right away when you get them?

Baked Potatoes

Let's have cheesy topped baked potatoes today. I love baked potatoes. I like them with either butter or sour cream, plus lots of salt & pepper. However, they are fun to make as a meal with lots of other toppings & I think I'd like to do that tonight.

So, get my salivary glands going. What would YOU like on your baked potato?

I'm baaaack!

Sharp cheddar, mild swiss and a lovely brie with a selection of Napa, Sonoma and Livermore area wines.

So much to reflect on.

1. San Francisco was different than I'd pictured. I thought it would be full of beautiful rich people. Instead, people were down to earth and friendly, for the most part. And the city itself was more spread out than I thought. Not as much focus on the coastal areas as I thought there would be. The city was pretty clean and easy to navigate by foot. Public transportation was innovative & fairly clean. I would never again attempt to drive in the city at night. Stupid one ways, angled streets, cable & street car traffice, etc.

2. Wine country was awesome. Sonoma and Livermore (by Catt) were my favorites. Napa's Silverado Trail wineries had a beautiful backdrop, but they were WAY too crowded. And it's the offseason (and it was Friday)? In total, we had a case & a half of wine to ship back. Since we only bought a few bottles at each winery, it would've been uber expensive to have each winery just ship our one-three bottles individually. So we just too it all back to our hotel room & thought we'd hit a Fed Ex. Well, only places with a "wine shipping permit" (as most wineries have) can ship wine out of California. Carp. We figured it was going to cost between $50-100 to ship the wine (which was moot, because we COULDN'T ship it), so we instead bought a giant duffle bag suitcase on rollers and stuffed the styrofoam packaging and wine bottles into it. $39.99 and we were set. I was relieved to see the bag didn't leave a purple trail as I was wheeling it to the car last night. No brokens!

3. Dinner with Carey and Chelli was amazing. I know, I've already talked about it, but words can't describe how warm and funny these two are. I want them as roomies. Chris was completely enamored with them, too. I think he wishes we'd spent far more time with both chickies.

Carey's generosity was amazing, as was her humor. Seriously, she's even funnier in person. A thousand *smooches* for being such a caring, hot dog loving woman. I've met few people that care about their friends more than she does. I think she might have even gushed a bit about missing all her visitors. *bonus smooch*

Catt is warm, welcoming and in so many ways, like me. It was such a comfortable feeling to spend the day with her. We laughed, we cried, we sang, we drank. I hope we didn't do anything illegal. :-) We found awesomely fun wineries out by her. Closing time was a little wacky. We had some great wine and some effing great pizza. And I want some of those darn wasabi almonds. *drool*

4. I had lunch with Sharnina. Yet another warm, friendly person. While we come from different political and religious sides of the coin, there was never any tension. We talked about how OT really opened up our viewpoints and understandings that we'll all never agree, but we can still try to understand and respect eachothers views. But mostly, it was just a lunch between friends getting to know eachother. Her two daughters were soooo well behaved and friendly. We got to draw lots of pictures on the tabletop at a rather fancy restaurant.

I also had the FABULOUS coffee & tea meet with MTW. He brought us brie, bread and candy. Sooooooo good! We blabbered incessantly. No awkward lulls in conversation. I, however, don't think we convinced him to move to Wisconsin. And Peet's? Is awesome.

5. My muscles have recovered from the bike ride. ugh. Meh, I guess the pain was good for me.

6. My conference was average. I wasn't supposed to present at this one, but at one session (of about 60 audience members), got asked THREE minutes before starting if I'd sit in on a panel for my boss (who couldn't attend at the last minute). I had NO briefing on the topic. ACK! I managed to fudge my way through, but was sick afterwards thinking about what I could've said, or what I could have clarified.

7. I had a $3 cupcake. It was good.

8. If you are ever in downtown SF at night & want to get a fun drink, head to the Gold Dust. It's an old fashioned cocktail bar. GREAT bartenders, average prices, very tasty drinks and classic musical entertainment.

9. Other big thumbs up: Lefty O' Douls for a good cheap breakfast, Sinbads for seafood with a view (if you take Carey and Catt, they'll even manage to get a free round of drinks from the waiter), Sonoma and/or Livermore, Golden Gate Bridge, views from the coast (but think twice about renting those bikes!), The Beach Chalet brewery & restaurant, the spicy prawns at Thirstybear brewpub

10. Chris got hit on by a bartender while I was at conference. :-)

SF Day 5

*snore*

I'm so exhausted. We've been on the go since we got here. Tonight we decided to come back to the room after dinner and relax instead of going out. I'm going to catch up on some email....and update you on fun stuff.

We took a 20 mile bike ride. Ouch. We started near Fisherman's Wharf, biked along the Presidio, up-up-up the coastal hills through some pretty high falutin' neighborhoods and then along the western coast over to Golden Gate Park....and back to the Wharf. Why didn't the bike rental guy tell us that we are too fat & clumsy to do this? Well, we did it, but it wasn't always pretty. The highlight of the day was lunch at the Beach Chalet. Yummy food & beers. And some views of cute surfers.

We also had a FANTASTIC night with Catt & Carey. Carey must have been really warm because she was taking her clothes off before we even got to the bed at our hotel room. Did I mention Michelle was at a concert and left Carey alone with us? *blinks innocently*

Dinner with them was awesome. The food was great, the view was beautiful and the company was great. I've never seen two girls milk a round of drinks out of a waiter at a nice restaurant with such ease. I think the waiter was HIGHLY entertained by these crazy local girls. We had fresh crab and so much other good seafood. Yum!

Catt was our awesome host for a Sunday of Livermore wine country and Sunday football (her team unexpectedly won, so there was much celebration). Words can't describe what a fantastic day it was. The weather was perfect, the wineries are crazy fun there and I got to spend lots of time with one seriously awesome chicky. Chris has even adopted her as his big sister. *laughs at the old folks* Oh, and Catt's hometown is beautiful. We want to move there.

Now I'm wrapped up in the conference. Boo for stupid work. :-(

Pictures and more stories to come....ok, how bout a picture for the road....

SF Day 3

*shares brie from MTW with bloggers*

Ok, so let's back up to Thursday night again. I don't remember falling asleep. Although, I had no hangover yesterday morning. Yay!

Friday we were, like Breezy said, screwed up with the time difference and were ready to get up by 5:30 a.m. So we got our rental car (a big ol red Impala...that at least had a moonroof) & headed out of town. We had a 9:30ish date with MTW. I was supposed to call him when we left town, but forgot. Ooops. Had an uber greasy breakfast in Vallejo & then headed to Peet's in Fairfield. Peet's was so good! Chris had coffee & I had tea. We need more tea friendly places like this. Sometimes, I have my fill of coffee.

MTW is a fantastically nice guy. He was so relaxed and we had tons to talk about.We did get some pics, but I'm not equiped to post pics right now. You'll just have to watch his blog.

Then it was off to wine country. Bouchaine was our first stop & it was marvellous. Friendly ladies, a beautiful deck where we were given table service for samples...and generous samples they were. Met another young couple from the midwest.

Then it was off to lunch at Boon Fly. Yummy. Chris ate a kobe beef burger & I had a yummy flatbread. Then we hit Artesa winery. Gorgeous location and grounds, average wines...didn't buy any there.

Then we headed further towards Sonoma to Schug winery. Friendly people, decent wine. Not much sampling, though. After that it was Cline...my favorite. Pretty grounds, friendly staff (mostly old men) and great wines. Bought a lot there.

Headed back to Napa. All the wineries were really crowded and we ended up skipping two. Hit dinner at Julia's Kitchen and headed back to San Francisco.

Do not attempt to drive in downtown San Francisco at night for your first time in the city. Yikes! Soooo many one way streets and such.

Today we were up early again. Now I need to get off the blogs and plan our day. *smooch*

Prop 151

Well, we've been in SF since about 1:30 this afternoon (after a bunch of flight delays). We've quickly realized that "props xxx" are hot items here. So this afternoon we embarked on Prop 151, which was really about drinking.

We checked into the hotel around 2 pm, tried to take a nap, but it wasn't happening. Our hotel is nice, so we snuggled on the bed, watching the lil' tourist channel. Then it was off for food an drink. We've hit the hotel sports bar, Thirstybear brewing, Chevy's, Jillians and 4th Street bar. We got lots of snacks at the bar, so I settled for some pumpkin ice cream for dinner.

I've drunk dialed carey & catt. Tomorrow morning we need to be in decent shape for our Mtw meet at Peet's cofffe. *yawn* This time adjustment is tough.

Vacation time!

*stocks blog with enough cheese to last the week* Bob, that means you can't eat it all today.

Tomorrow I live for my lil' vacation & conference in California, so it might be my last blog for a few days. I'm sure I'll check in at some point.

Any other Bay area peeps up for some Saturday night hoopla? I like hoopla.

Oh, I got a new haircut last night & don't particularly like it. I give up.

POOT 1

That was the name on a license plate we saw this morning. I bet Carey could get it in a California plate.

Chili Cheese fries today! Ok, so it's a little early for them right now, but in a few hours you'll all thank me.

One more dead mouse this morning. This one was in the garage. I think we may have gotten all the current residents.

My sleep schedule is going to be messed up. We've bucked daylight savings time & have been going to bed around 9:15 & waking at 5:15ish. We have to leave the house at 4:30 on Thursday, so that means I'll be up at 3:45 at the latest. ACK!

Misc.

White queso sauce with tortilla chips for your dining pleasure today.

-We have mice. The cats cornered one all day in our bathroom. Chris nabbed it with the bbq tongs on Sunday. Traps were set where we thought they were coming in (in our basement on a ledge). At 4:30 a.m. Loki (cat) was playing with something upstairs. Chris went to see what it was. Dead mouse in trap. The cat brought it upstairs. Ew! One other mouse in the basement and one in the garage were also casualties. We are dealing with the mouse issue more this evening.

-I'm 90% packed for our trip on Thursday. I'm a planner like that.

-We raked leaves for my dad yesterday. It was a massive amount of leaves. I like raking leaves, luckily.

-My boss and I are putting on a conference. It's the second time for this one. Isn't going as well this time. Out of four presenters, each had a personal or family health issue over the weekend.

-GIRL TALK ALERT! I'm trying the new Playtex Sport tampons. I'm in the market for a new kind.

Um, anybody still hungry?

Bacon & cheddar cheese spread today with crackers.

Ali is much better. She even jumped in bed last night & uber snuggled with me. I guess 4 enemas, some IV fluids and a little medicine will help a constipated kitty out. They were initially a little worried about kidney problems given her symptoms, but it turns out she's fine in that regard. Whew! So now we have to deal with what seems like chronic constipation. yay! So, tkit, I definitely sympathize with you & sick Thea.

In unrelated news, apparently someone swiped all the leftover muffins, quiche and fruit from yesterday's meeting. Bastards!

Oh, and I got a new perfume that I like, but Chris said it smells "old." It's Sarah Jessica Parker's new perfume Lovely. I think it smells lovely. :-)

Sick Kitty

No time for cheese today.

I have sick big kitty. She can't keep anything down & has diarrhea (sp?). It's been that way for two days, so time for the vet.

Had to come to work (almost an hour drive here) for an 8:00 important meeting/presentation. Damn it! Now I'm getting ready to head back home.

Hope Nookie has a good flight today (arkie is maybe flying today, too?). Hope Breezy is busy knitting beer bands. Hope the rest of you aren't drowning in self-pity for not being in California today.

Pastrami

An assortment of swiss cheeses for you enjoyment: Regular swiss, Jarlsberg and baby swiss.

So I bought some pastrami from the deli over the weekend. It was on clearance & needs to be used this week. Chris loves rye bread, so I thought he'd enjoy some pastrami sandwiches. Well, the loaf of rye bread is gone & I still have some pastrami. I don't particularly love pastrami, mostly because of the fat in it. Hence, I don't really know what to do with it other than sandwiches.

So if I trim away the fat and cut it up, do you think it would taste good with ravioli or tortellini in a light sun dried tomato and alfredo sauce?

ETA:
These are what Breezy forgot. They are the ones that say "blitzed, bombed, etc" as shown in the upper right. I figured since everyone didn't drink bottled beverages, Breezy could decide who gets to wear which as a bracelet for the evening.

A week late: San Francisco

Roasted veggie and Guyere quiche for your eating pleasure.

Just putting it on San Fran area peeps' radar that I'll be in town with Chris Nov. 2-8th. I hope to see as many of you as we can, so hope you aren't partied out after this weekend!

My dreams have been very vivid lately. Last night I had a few stressful ones. Some guys showed up at our house in a pick up, laughing like that crazy bearded man on LOST, stole our lawnmower and left a bunch of garage sale crap on our lawn. And we were leaving for San Fran that afternoon & didn't know what to do. And I was really pissed at Chris because I got their license plate number at the last second and he wouldn't write it down.

The Shopping Bags

Apparently I'm cranky today. It just hit me when my boss blew into my office with 14 questions all at once. Anyway, let's have cheesecake this morning. It's Monday, we need comfort food.

How did I last so long with only one tv in the house? I LOVE having two tvs! I snuggled under the covers in the spare bedroom Sunday morning & watched two shows Chris would have no interest in.

One of those shows was The Shopping Bags. It's a Canadian show where two hip ladies run around testing products. They, for example, enlist the help of a synchronized swimming team to test shaving products, dancers to test foot baths, men with different beard types to test razors, etc...I love the show. It's on the Fine Living channel if you are interested.

In other tv viewing news, we got our new Dish Network HD box this weekend. The highlight of our new HD channels? Cows Licking Fencepost. There was an hour long show that was just of cows walking around & closeups of them licking fenceposts. Another favorite was Tai Chi at the Golden Gate Bridge. When the show started, it was a little before dawn & you could barely make out the Tai Chi-ers. As the sun rose, you could then plainly watch them. No sound other than what they are hearing (traffic, nature). We had fun checking in on these shows.

ETA: I had a dream that Syren married JD Fortune in Milwaukee. The best man looked like a short Toby Keith and sang "Live like you were dying." I blame watching Tim McGraw on the Today show Friday morning and listening to INXS on my MP3 player last night. It was very odd. I'm not sure what I blame Syren for. :-) Sorry CSTL.

Update & Tortellini

Bacon horseradish cheese spread with crackers this morning.

*gives Breezy aspirin for hangover*

Chris moved the giant tv a little bit & now I like it. Especially after watching LOST on it last night. Muwahhahahaha!

I had cancelled my plans of going to Texas from Nov. 16-20, but now they are back on. Wooohoo!I won't have a ton of spare time, but am definitely up for peep meeting

What should I do tonight with the tortellini in my freezer? Serve with marinara is the obvious choice. I was thinking soup. I'd prefer not to visit the grocery store. Thoughts?

Wapatoolie Party

Hot chili cheese dip and tortilla chips today.

Chris was checking his text messages this morning. His ex-girlfriend (that he still talks to...and it's ok with me) who is in her early-mid thirties messaged him that we are invited to a wap (sp?)party this weekend. People still do this in their 30s? I haven't been to a wap party since I was probably, oh, 20.

I'll just drink the bottle of vodka I bring, TYVM (not that I think we are going).

P.S. I think the new tv is too big and unsightly. And the old tv that's now in a bedroom? Wayyy to big for that space, and hence, ugly. *sigh*

TV shopping and my throat

Squeaky garlic dill cheese curds this morning for my friends. Just don't breathe on me.

Shopping
TV/stereo equipment shopping was funny. We got our store credit card (planning on the 0% financing) and went over to the tv section. First salesman we see was my old boss from high school (at Dairy Queen!). Small world. He is a cool guy.

He gets us pointed to the right tv and then Chris starts looking at home stereo equipment replacements. Decided on 2 slim tower speakers (so we could get the giant, ugly 1980s speakers out of the living room) and a new receiver. Sometime during this, we realized not everything was 0% til 2008 financing...just "targeted" items (none of which we picked out). *frowny face* That was a deal breaker.

Salesman guy hooked us up though and gave us 0% on everything. Yay!

Pill
Is it possible that my tiny bc pill got stuck in my throat on Sunday night and is still there? *gulp cough* Feels like it.

Potpourri

Sticking with the theme, lets have a tray of cheese today filled with provolone, aged cheddar, brick and pepperjack.

Just some random stuff:

1) I love campfires. Friday night was fun with my sister's family. We roasted some chicken & apple sausages (Emeril's) and pizza pudgie pies (hobo pies, camper pies, whatever).

2) My boss keeps flitting in my office...she's been gone for a week. This makes it difficult to finish my blog entry.

3) Our chili only got third place in the chili cookoff this year (the same recipe won last year). Everybody brought their chili cooking up a notch this year & there were some tasty ones.

4) Seriously, that's like 10 times she's walked in during a 20 minute period. Seriously.

5) I'm making mass amounts of egg rolls tonight. Wrappers were on clearance for 50 cents.

6) Chris might be tv & stereo system shopping this week. American TV has 0% interest financing thru 2008.

7) Now she's sitting in my office going through journals.

Guess that's my cue to sign off.

Flannel Sheets

Boursault on french bread slices for our Friday feast.

I bought flannel sheets today for the spare bedroom. Now, if I must leave for Chris's snoring, I will have a toasty bed to climb into. Sigh. We came home & the house was 57 degrees yesterday. We caved and turned on the heat for the first time this season. At least I'm not in New York where they got a ton of snow.

I was grumbling about the yuppies at Target today (while I was buying the bargain $30 Woolrich flannel sheets) and then went & grabbed a cup of coffee at the Starbucks inside (actually, a pumpkin spice latte, skim no whip). If you can't beat em, join em.

Weekend Plans

Fontina cheese & mimosa this morning (non-alcoholic champagne is available for the non-drinkers).

Thursday is the day of solidifying weekend plans. So what are your plans?

Friday
I'll have a campfire & sleepover at our house with my oldest sister's family. We are eating campfire food.

Saturday
Sister is bringing her Kirby carpet cleaner & we are cleaning my carpets. Yay!
Chili cookoff in the afternoon

Sunday
Sleep
Watch football
Read newspaper
Organize junk

Sugar Cookies

We take a break from cheese today so that I may share my sugar cookies with you.

I was home yesterday because of a horrid stomach ache & cramps in the morning. It was a "girl" thing, IYKWIM. The afternoon was much better, so I made sugar cookies. I even made them in fall & halloween shapes: A maple leaf, pumpkin & ghost shape. The leaves are frosted brown, the pumpkins orange & ghosts white. I also sprinkled many of them with chocolate sprinkles.

I used a new recipe which has gotten good reviews thus far:
(Tweaked from Allrecipes.com)

Bakery Sugar Cookies

INGREDIENTS
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups butter flavored shortening
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour milk (add a few drops of lemon juice to milk to make 1 c.)
3 eggs, beaten (I used one egg & the rest in Egg Beaters)
2-3 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together 4 cups flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in baking soda, sour milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla. Stir as little as possible, and add the remaining flour as necessary to make dough thick enough to roll out.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Cool on baking sheets.

I hate today...and a shower question.

Someone else has to bring cheese today.

SUCKY MORNING
My day is sucking. It's true what they say: No good deed goes unpunished. Nothing major, I was just trying to be a good sister & get food to my divorced sister. The whole thing has gone haywire from the start. And it didn't get any better this morning. Sometimes the simplest tasks can go so wrong.

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

SHOWER QUESTION
So anyway, I'm having soap issues. My shower gels are about gone. I can't decide if I want to buy more shower gel or some nice soap.

I like the smells & ease of shower gel storage (not soap buildup or slippery bars), but I also really enjoy the clean smell of bars of soap & sqeaky clean feeling I get.

Which do you use? Do you have any soap vs. shower gel feelings to share?

Friday Fitness Feature

I bought some Laughing Cow light wedges at Sam's this week. They were cheap. So chow down, blog friends.

Tell me your fitness routine. Cardio? Weight training? Fitness videos? Yoga? A daily walk to the mailbox? Getting the chips from the cupboard before Survivor? Honesty is the best policy.

Now that I've committed at least to my treadmill (I bought it in June & have been using it faithfully since), I need to get a better routine down. I'm inconsistent in the amount of time I spend on it and the supplementary exercises.

Differences

Boursin garlic & herb on toast points today.

Take a look around, blogfriends. We obviously share something in common. Enough that we visit eachother's blogs, send emails and sometimes things via snail mail. And, heck, we even visit eachother in person. Some of us have lots in common. Some of us have seemingly little in common other than a sense of humor and being electronically chatty.

The reality is we are all very different people. We come from different social, economic and physical places. We have different lifestyles, education and interests. Different experiences. All that shapes who we are and how we relate to others.

And you know what? That is what I love most. Not our similarities, but rather our differences. We learn from eachother. The fact that I feel comfortable with people that I only share some similarities with is a great feeling.

That Darn Cat

Today we feature my cat Bartleby. He's naughty, but totally lovable and goofy. Have some lacy baby swiss while you look at El Dorko the Wonder Cat. Note that Chris took the countertop pictures...I'm usually too busy scolding said cat to take a photo.

My new toy

Pepper jack, cheddar, Chihuahua and Asadero quesedillas today with all the toppings & fillings you want.

I received my MP3 players last night. It's a Sandisk Sansa M240 & so far, I like it. I did have to convert old music I downloaded from cds from wma files to MP3 files (since MP3 files are smaller). Other than that, it was easy to use. I loved it for working out. I have yet to figure out the playlist feature.

I meant to tell you about the fun, easy dinner I made Monday night. I marinated chunks of chicken, mushroom and shrimp (would've done green pepper and onion if I had any) for about 30 minutes in a teriyaki sauce & apricot jam mixture. Threaded them on skewers and grilled. I then made a soy & wasabi dipping sauce and put them in individual bowls for each of us. I threw the cooked items into one big bowl that we shared. It was just a fun way to have dinner. Would've been better with more sauces and more grilled veggies. I thought it would be a fun way to eat for kids. Not that I have any.

Lost is on tomorrow. Yaaaaay!

Almost finished

Grilled mozzarella and tomato sandwiches today. MMMMmmmm.

We almost finished the patio this weekend. We worked our butts off yesterday. We were short a piece of edging and some stakes, so we'll finish that up tonight. Then we'll have to put more locking sand down. THEN it will be officially finished. Whew!

We dined out a lot this weekend. Saturday night we went to a nice restaurant with friends. I had the worst salmon of my life. Sunday we took a lunch break to our local bar for a sandwich. Good stuff. Brew City fries are some of my favorite things ever. I was good, though, and we just shared one order.

We stopped at some hick bars on Saturday night after dinner (the restaurant was in a small country town). My friend proceeded to get almost angry at the patrons for being "so pathetic." She didn't say anything in public, but ranted in the car about it. I didn't think her attitude was called for. It was extremely judgemental. Of course, I laughed at a mullet and a guy wearing rubber knee boots...and I recently shared the story of my BIL & SIL with the semi trailers in their yard. Am I a hypocrite? I somehow think it's different, but maybe it's not. Whatever your opinion, I refuse to take back my laughing at the mullet.

Sorry I'm Late

Big meeting this morning. I'm happy to share bagels and two types of cream cheese with you. We have baked apple, blueberry, pumpernickel, honey oat, sun dried tomato, olive oil & rosemary and poppy seed bagels. Cream cheese is either plain lite or garden veggie lite. I wanted the pumpkin, but it was full fat.

Random stuff:
1. My new Sandisk MP3 player will arrive on Monday. Yay! I can workout to tunes in the basement (the cd boombox I was using doesn't work very well). I also got a headphone splitter so Chris and I can both listen to it on plane trips, as well as both listen to dvds on the laptop.

2. Work is crazy busy, but it's ok. It's not so bad I can't handle it. And most of the work is really interesting.

3. Chris is home sick today with a cold. I haven't caught it...yet.

4. I don't have to work tonight! A coworker wanted a shift & offered to pick mine up. Yay!

5. Brokeback Mountain was odd. I have mixed feelings on the movie. First complaint: It should've had subtitles. I couldn't understand the cowboy mumbles half the time.

Question: Do you ever get up in the middle of the night and either get something to eat, drink something other than water or sit & watch tv? I don't...just wondering if others do and what drives them to do it.

A funny In-Laws Story

American cheese slices today, because it fits with the silliness of the story. I can whip them into grilled cheese sandwiches if you'd rather. Bear with me....this story is worth it.

My BIL (Chris's brother) married a woman from a rather poor town in the middle of Wisconsin. She had her own graphics business downtown and lived in a 1980s vintage single-wide trailer home on a few acres of land her father had given her. Since BIL had no place of his own, he moved in with her.

Her business was failing and he didn't have a permenant job (floating around military temp positions), thus it was what they could afford. They decided to start breeding labs...in the cramped trailer. Yep, the puppies had to live in there for weeks after they were born. They also had several cats. They love entertaining friends, but we all hated going over to their cramped place.

Well, SIL moved her business into the trailer to get back on its feet. So then, it was REALLY cramped. It's a graphics business, so lots of printers and computer stuff. They also started doing vinyl signs and still had other large equipment to deal with, so they rented a semi trailer and parked it in the lawn. Next to the old, completely dead, ripped up convertible and three other vehicles. You get the picture. Well then they decided they needed TWO semi trailers to store all their personal stuff because it was cheaper than renting a storage space. Sigh.

Well now BIL has a military job making around $45K/year and their business probably brings in around $20K. Yet, they don't want anymore debt, so they continue to live like this. It bothers me because they always want everyone to come and hang out at their place. It's cramped, littered with crap and boring. I don't enjoy my stays there.

Recently SIL's brother built a standard door and decks on each of the semi trailers and she put patio sets out for their two employees to take breaks from their jobs in the semi trailers. SIL's business is now moved into this shed thing they put in the yard. It is probably the best looking thing there.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THEIR WORLD!
1. They are buying a big chunk of hunting land. Have no intention of putting a house there, just a $40K giant garage that will have a rustic living quarters for the hunters. *head tilt*

2. They made that $900 on the rummage sale and are buying exercise equipment. To put where you ask? Well, they've sold so much personal crap that they have room in that second semi trailer! They are going to insulate the trailer, run duct work between the two to heat them both, put an exercise room in the back and a woodworking shop in the front.

3. Why a woodworking shop? Well because of the rash of constant storms that runs through their area (you'd think this would prompt them to build a house with a basement), they had lots of downed oaks last year. They had a guy come with a portable saw mill and plane out oak planks for them. For wood flooring. Well, since they aren't building a house, they have all this wood. They went shopping for a dining room table this week (they don't have a dining room nor space for a table in any other room). They said it's all crap, so they are buying $2K worth of equipment for BIL to MAKE a dining room table.

Ahh, the fun never ends. I'm thinking about getting them dueling banjos for Christmas.

Rummage sales vs. Donations

I'd better serve something light today since I was a snackmaster yesterday & ate more than I should've. Feta is one of the lighter cheese, so we'll have bruschetta with feta cheese sprinkled in.

My SIL made $900 in a two-day rummage sale last weekend. Yes, they actually DO have that much junk to get rid of. So much, in fact, they are having another one this weekend.

I don't have rummage sales because we live in the country. Not many people would come. And I really don't have that much stuff. I have clothes and old media (books, cds, movies). That's about it, other than a few random kitchen items here & there. Thus, I take a box to Goodwill every three months or so. I get a tax deduction and it's immediately out of the house.

So which do you prefer to get rid of stuff: rummage sales or donations? Or do you prefer to let the junk stack up in piles until you die? Do you like to SHOP at rummage sales?

Tuesday post

Could there possibly be a more boring post title?

To make up for it, I am serving Emmenthaler, Medium Cheddar and German Rauchkase with an assortment of Toasted's crackers.

I had yesterday off, but got little accomplished. I had lunch with my friend, which took hours. I had to go to my old hometown, 30 minutes away. I also had some errands to run. None of which went well:

1) Walmart for sand & cat litter. They had no sand left.
2) Car wash: I had very little cash on me & thus didn't have enough time on the hand sprayer to get the car really clean. Chris pointed out this morning that there were about $3 in quarters in the car *smacks forehead*
3) Goodwill: I had a box to drop off after moving in my winter clothes over the weekend. I stopped in the shop & found a small humidifier for our bedroom. Got it home, it doesn't work. Good thing I can return it.
4) Thought about stopping at Dairy Queen. Didn't.

I feel extremely boring. It's not like I got to meet John Edwards or anything.

Rare weekend post

I'll share my double glouchester and honeycrisp apples with you.

After work I went to Whole Foods. I love peeking around that store. I bought:
Heirloom tomatoes
Foreign brie & double glouchester
super soft wheat pita bread
2 kinds of hummus
2 kinds of pesto
A whole grain boule bread with pumpkin seeds
Oat bran pancake mix

The pancakes were certainly wholesome, although not great tasting. The cheese is good. The rest I'll be munching on this weekend.

Then it was off to the library. I checked out some good magazines, two San Fran tourism books, another yoga book and two movies: Brokeback Mountain and Prime.

Next it was a coffee shop. Well all the effing coffee shops on the westside of Madison close friggin early. So I went to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte, skim no whip. Read a wine country tourism book.

Went to the movie. Invincible was quite bland. Nice, but bland.

Went to Old Chicago afterwards. Had two drinks and a salad that was delicious. Stopped at the bar by our house for a beer. About died from the amount of smoke. Came home, checked chat, had a glass of wine & played for a bit on OT.

Slept in the morning til 8:30. Had all three cats on my lap while watching tv. Now, I'm avoiding working outside because the weather looks very ominous.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Toga Party!

*whips cheese wiz & sprays it at Swami* That's for all the yelling in my blog yesterday. :-)

Put on your best toga, BYOB and party with me! Chris is the proverbial "Gone Fishing," so what a better way to pass the time!

Describe your toga and then vote on which OTHER thing I should do IRL tonight.

1) Go to Whole Foods & wander around, return books to library, find a coffeehouse with some live music & relax.

2) Grab girly pizza toppings, go home & make a pizza, have some wine & find a movie on PPV (I think Brokeback Mountain is still on & I'd like to see that).

3) Go see a movie in the theatre right after work. Either: The Last Kiss, An Inconvenient Truth, or All the King's Men. There are a few others I'd like to see (such as Little Miss Sunshine, but I think Chris would really like to see it, also).

Bothersome things

Cheesy swiss quiche this morning. I'll even leave the mushrooms out of half.

1. McDonald's will now be serving breakfast all day. Will this lead to breakfast burrito cravings after nights of drinking?

2. This Home & Garden Party thing I'm hosting for my friend. She sent me an email saying I must pick a 'theme' so that we can play games & have an auction. She suggested a chocolate these, apple theme or fall theme. They can bring items related to the themes or wear clothing related. Great. Effing great.

3. I watched The Biggest Looser while making dinner & a pie for Chris's potluck. It made me feel like my workouts are real pansy-ass and I need to step it up.

4. Chris will be away all weekend & I can't come up with something fun to do on Friday night (I work Saturday night). I might take myself to a movie.

I'm creating a new reality show

Deep fried mozzarella stix and marinara sauce for your stomach's pleasure.

I have a new reality show idea where I will compete and WIN! It will be called Finding Things. Only women will be contestants for their ultimate finding things ability. Men would be at such an obvious disadvantage, as they were not born with the finding things gene.

Why will I win? Because I'm the best.finder.ever.

We have to get our septic inspected every three years. It's the first time we'll have to do this since we built the house. The inspector is coming this morning. Yesterday Chris announces we must find the keys to the septic padlocks. Hm. I didn't even know there WERE keys. So, I launched into my preliminary questions to him:

1)Are the keys on a ring or together somewhere else?
answer: They are in a tiny 1x2 inch padlock box
2) When was the last time you saw them?
answer: In my hand when the septic installer handed them to me.
3) And you have no idea what you did with them?
answer: nope.
4) What does the little box look like?
answer: plain, grocery bag brown
5) No pictures on it?
answer: no

Ok, so you realize that the last time he had this small box was before any of the interior stuff was done in the house and there were boxes and piles of materials all over the place. There was no spot for safe keeping. The only spot would've been in the camper we had on the land at the time (we've sold it since that time).

After mulling about 5 possible spots for the keys, I went on my search. They weren't in any of those places. In the basement there were two boxes of misc. caulk, nails and leftover cabinet parts, etc. Lo and behold, guess what I found in one of those boxes. I win.

Five minutes later Chris lost his little rachet he was using the prior evening while working on the garage door. It wasn't anywhere in sight. However, thinking of all the possible places to set things, I realized he had the truck tailgate down to work on the overhead section of the door. Ding ding! Under the tailgate, on the bumper sat the rachet.

See, I would win. Don't even try to challenge me.

Pile Inventory

Broccoli cheese soup in bread bowls today. I think Carey will love me for that.

Next person to see Glowie, smell her purse. Does it smell like cheese?

On to your piles. Inspired by MM's closet inventory, I'm asking you to tell me about your piles.
1. How many piles are on your:
Desk?
Kitchen Counter?
Kitchen Table?
Next to your bed?
2. Is your clean or dirty laundry in piles?
3. Do you have piles of magazines? What are those magazines & what are you planning to do with them?
4. What other dominant piles are in your house?

Dinner Exchange

Fresh from my weekend trip to the apple orchard, we are having Honeycrisp apples and sharp cheddar.

I had a decent weekend. We finished lots on the patio. Should be done by the end of this coming weekend. Saturday night we went to Prime Quarter (a grill your own steak & fish joint) for my sister's birthday. It's the freshly divorced sister and she brought her new boyfriend. We had a nice time. Drank too much, but oh well.

Sunday we smoked fish at my other sister's house (my BIL has a nice Bradley smoker). We also pre-made & froze a bunch of dinners. We made full recipes of everything & split it in half. Especially with casseroles, lasagne, etc, Chris and I can't eat a whole one & leftovers get old after a few days. So this way, I made 2 & she made 2, yet we came home with 4 different meals. Nice to get the variety. And it only took about 30-45 minutes.

We bought a ton of foil pans at the dollar store & are going to try & make one meal (and split it in half) each week. Then when we see eachother next, we'll swap entrees. I think it's about $10/dish we prepare for chicken, ham, turkey type-meals. For hamburger based meals I'm sure it would be cheaper. And that was buying EVERYTHING needed (except for dry seasonings). Normally, I'd have a lot of the ingredients already in the house, but I went to hers & just hit the store for everything that morning.

I made:
Bruschetta chicken casserole
Ham & cheese puff

She made:
Hot chicken salad casserole
Turkey, veggie & wild rice slow cooker stew

Home parties

Grapes and Gouda today.

What home party products do you like? Which do you hate?

I don't hate going to parties when it's a company I like. I just wish we could skip all the stupid games & presentation crap & just look & purchase. That's why I'll usually buy something, but won't attend the parties.

When I was selling TS (technically, I still am til the end of the month), I tried to keep parties short & sweet, moving the products right along for people to taste. And sometimes we just did a 10 minute intro & let people do buffet style. It was all I felt comfortable with. I'm not a salesperson.

Anywho, I like:
Pampered Chef
Tastefully Simple
Party Lite

I hate:
Home Interiors
Home & Garden Party
any of the jewelry parties
Longeberger

I'd like to attend (never have) one of the pearl parties, a tea party, and a Body Shop at Home party. I don't hate Mary Kay, they just have less & less that I like and have really raised their prices over the last five years. I frankly can find more I like a Walgreen's for less cost.

I have now TWO friends selling Home & Garden Party and I don't particularly like any of the stuff. I grudgingly agreed to host a party for my friend that just started. Yuck. I like the bean pot, but already have one. I bought candles & they sucked (except for the jarred ones). Everything else I've kind-of liked has been really expensive. I don't like it well enough to spend $65.

oven fixed!

Spinach and guyere puffs this morning. My oven is fixed. I was without an oven for a week. No biggie, really. I just used the grill, stovetop and crock pot a lot.

The serviceman was here at 6:35 this morning. Ugh. This weekend we realized the oven was officially broken after tearing it apart. We needed to call the service company Monday morning. I was sad, as I knew it would be expensive. Well, as I was cleaning out our "important papers box" (since it was a rainy weekend & thus good for that kind of stuff) and transferring items to our little fireproof safe, I found extended warranty certificates we'd purchased for our stove & fridge. Yay! I'd forgotten all about that! So this service call cost us nothing. Groovy!

It's drizzling outside. I thought we were done with rain...sent it to the East Coast. Harumph.

I missed the Rock Star finale last night. Chris couldn't tape it, as the last storm blew some input thing on our tv. So his coworker might have brought her tape in today for me. Otherwise, I'll watch some online tomorrow (at work with the speedy net). I stick by my earlier analysis that Supernova wanted Lukas to help them bring in a younger (more music-spending) crowd. Toby (& to some degreeDilana) would have made the 30-40 year old fans (former Crue, GnR, Metallica fans) happy. Unfortunately, our age group on its own doesn't fill concert venues and make for skyrocketing hits.

Home Today

*peeks out from pile of cats*
I have today & tomorrow off of work! Yay! Parmesan Artichoke dip with toasted baguette today. Mmmmm.

Well, I did have to bring some work home with me. I've spent a few hours on that. Bleh.

I did, however, get up by 7 & caught Meredith Viera's premiere on the Today show. I like her so much better than Katie. She made a cute comment when Matt asked her how she felt. She said, "I feel like it's the first day of school & I'm sitting next to the cutest guy in class."

Then I watched part of the View. Ugh. I enjoyed Rosie in very, very small doses once upon a time. Hiring her was a poor decision, IMHO. She dominates the others far too much and says some stupid shit. The View is not the place to talk about Cutie Patooties. I wish that word had died long ago.

Boogie, Erica & Janelle were on the View. Rosie told Mike off repeatedly. It was funny for a bit, then it was just rude & old.

Chopsticks (paging Bob)

I don't think there is cheese to eat with chopsticks, so instead I'll stab some swiss & cojack bites with toothpicks for you. Enjoy.

First, Mr. Lights & Mr. Weltek wear the same cologne...well, used to anyway, before the cologne purchase of last weekend. And Mr. Weltek used to wear Cool Water, like vols. Only he would bathe in the cologne instead of spritz it.

Ok, back to my regularly scheduled blog topic.

I had to go across town for a training all morning, so had nowhere to keep my lunch cold. Thus I had to eat out. I decided to go to the Chinese restaurant with the mongolian bbq. I decided to eat with chopsticks, which presented a dilemna at two points during my meal. How do you eat things larger than one bite? For example, I had an extremely large piece of sushi. Definitely a two-biter. I picked it up with the chopsticks and bit it in half. The rest fell apart & onto my plate. Then, I had a long slice of chicken that was a three biter. Do I pick up the large piece with the chopsticks & nibble a bit off, placing the rest on my plate? What's the protocol for this? Bob should know.

Power Outage

How bout some spicy cheese to wake us up this morning? Habenero Jack cheese with Ritz today.

We woke up to a power outage this morning. It wasn't even really stormy. It was just raining for about 48 hours straight. I usually get up at 6:15, but since it was pitch dark, I crawled back into bed. The power came on around 7:00, so we just got to work a little late. It was nice to sleep in.

The weekend was good. A nicer weekend than I'd had in a long time. Friday night we celebrated our anniversary (the stone place closed at 5pm, so we couldn't get the stone that night). We went to Red Lobster because Chris had been craving a big seafood pig out. We hadn't been there in years. The food was better than I remember. It wasn't overcooked & they had some unique flavors. He had some kind of wasabi shrimp and tequilla lime shrimp with a side of king crab legs. I had sweet chili salmon & shrimp. It was spicy & yummy. And let's not speak of the cheddar bay biscuits. After that we bought Chris some new cologne. It was nice because there was nobody else at Boston Store's cologne counter so we had plenty of time to smell everything. He ended up with CHROME.

Saturday I worked & my niece was staying with us. She did lots of cleaning for money since she's saving for a saddle & there was crap I didn't want to clean. So now I have dust free baseboards, window sills, dining room chairs, top of fridge and such. Not to mention an uber clean fridge. $25 well spent (It was only going to be $20, but Chris said the fridge was a really nasty job).

Sunday it rained all.day. Loved that! We stayed inside watching tv & doing some light cleaning. I curled up with a book, did the treadmill & some yoga (I'm learning from a book). I also gave Chris a haircut. It's the second time. Gets a little easier each time.

Questions related to todays blog:
1. Do you like Red Lobster?
2. Have you tried yoga?
3. Have you ever cut your spouse's or children's hair?
4. What would you like my niece to come & clean?
5. Men's cologne. Got any in your household? What kind?

How to Ruin an Anniversary

*whips out block of string cheese* I have no energy to be a polite hostess, so you'll have to help yourselves to the cheese today.

So tomorrow is our 6th wedding anniversary. We have been having some relationship stress lately, so neither of us had made any plans for tomorrow. I have to work a 4 hour afternoon shift, but that's not a huge deal. I figured we'd go out to dinner on Saturday night & make an effort at a nice "date."

However, in the last 48 hours, life has gotten in the way of any anniversary romance:

1) Chris has poison ivy. In his ears, on his arms, on his face, on his neck....and on um, *points down there*...yeah...there. Note to men: Never mow in unknown areas, then come in & go to the bathroom.

2)My 11 year old niece, whom we adore, called last night. She asked me if she could come over Saturday & spend the night because her little brother has a soccer tournament all weekend & she doesn't want to go. Doh! AND she wanted to come home with us Friday night because her family was leaving so early Saturday morning. Double Doh! I told her I'd have to check with Chris & call her back. I agonized & discussed with Chris. I called my sister & said "thanks a lot, dork." She of course had forgotten it was our anniversary & felt semi-bad, although was determined to still find a solution.

3) Patio work. We've gotta get this thing done & this weekend is the time to do it.

So tonight we'll be picking up the stone and celebrating our anniversary. We'll either hit a restaurant on the way home, or pick up some seafood to cook up at home. Not my perfectly envisioned time, but we'll make do.

The Perfect Stone

Fontina & crab puffs today because I'm in a good mood.

We found the perfect stone for the firepit! Now we can finish the patio! It was a little sad though, because they have all sorts of fancy stone that I WISH I could've afforded for the whole patio (the Menards 'no interest' thing was what allowed us to do this now). But anywhoooo, we'll bring the truck to work tomorrow & load up. Yay!

I have two major things I need to complete by tomorrow @ noon. One is a human subjects research Institutional Review Board application. These are what you need to fill out after you are awarded a grant in order to do any research with human subjects. It's so detailed and you need to create a bunch of accompanying docs such as consent forms. Not fun. I hate these.

Then I need to compile a bunch of stats for a big talk my boss is doing in a few weeks. This means I have to search through a ton of reports I printed yesterday, mining for pieces of interesting, applicable data. I don't mind doing this, it's just something I need to imerse myself in.

So share details of what YOU need to get done today. Then we'll get to know your jobs a little better. If your job is taking care of kiddos, I do NOT want to know about poopy diapers. Remember, I interview people in nursing homes. I can break out pressure ulcer descriptions.

How can we fix the road rage?

Now serving colby longhorn & crackers on the lido deck. I have a topic today that some

I know some of you are road ragers. Is it pretty much constant or does it just fester at times? For you non-road ragers, are you one of the dilly-daliers that takes it slow & steady, not worrying about traffic around you? Is that a happy place to be?

Chris's road rage really grates on my nerves and leaves him frazzled by 8 a.m. For both of our sanity, we need to solve this lil' dilemna.

I'm baaaack

*squirts Febreeze*
Gah! What has been going on in here?

Warm brie with caramelized apples, served with french bread for you today.

Thank you to all of you. Your kind words meant a lot last week. And for those that listened to me drone on & on...double thanks. I felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks & it took me a bit to dig out. While things aren't great, I at least feel like I have my bearings again.

I missed you guys. I promise to catch up on blogs over the next few days.

My "diet" has been going ok. Other than having breakfast at a bar yesterday. And the feta appetizer at my sister's house. And the four beers on Sunday night. But other than THAT...*thumbs up*

Ooooh, and only 6 more weeks left of the part-time job! Yay!

Courage & a break

I have a fantastic buffet of cheese items today. This includes brie in puffed pastry, squares of cojack, provolone & swiss, gouda fondue, dill havarti on toast points, port wine spread with crackers, and bacon & cheddar stuffed mushrooms.

Earlier this weekend I thought about something that I wanted to post here: Courage.

Something all of my friends have in common is that they have shown courage in some way or another. Sometimes it's not in obvious ways. Sometimes it's in big ways. When I continued to think about this, and the limited history I know about you, my online friends, I also find it's true here. You are all courageous people. Whether it's weathering the storm of depression and raising children, battling an illness, living with prejudice around you and standing up to it, facing demons from your past, supporting loved ones in times of strife, or leaving bad people behind you at home or in a job, you've all demonstrated courage in some way...sometimes daily. I just think you all should remind yourselves you are courageous and should be proud. *smooch*

Then, as the weekend progressed, life slapped me upside the head. I need a little time away from here to sort things out IRL. But I wanted to post that little bit about courage first just because I *heart* you guys and think courage is an important trait. Now, I figure it's a good note to go out on for awhile. See you around OT or blogland eventually.

*smooch*

Rain, rain

Ok, we'll do the Laughing Cow wedges today since there are some babybel haters out there. *rolls eyes*

So it's Friday. What time are we meeting for drinks? It's been one of those weeks. Where are we meeting? MTW's dog house? What will you be having?

Happy Thursday!

Laughing Cow Mini Babybels today.

First, I have to say I love Luna's new cheer. Grate, grate, grate job! LOL!

I worked from home yesterday & couldn't get online for very long. The cats chewed up my laptop power cord, so the laptop was dead. I had to use our desktop which connects to the net at the speed of pondwater & thus, I dedicated online time to work-related stuff. *pout*

The "diet" is going well. I'm focusing on smaller portions with the biggest section of my plate being veggies. I'm steering back away from too much fat in my cooking (I was being too generous with cheese & olive oil lately) & bought a big ol bag of Splenda (next time I'm sending my sister to Sam's Club for it...like Costco as MTW suggested but we don't have one here). I have a ton of bottled water on hand and have been doing really well drinking that.

Exercising is going ok. Since I got the deal on the treadmill, etc at the auction a few months ago I've been faithfully exercising at least 3 nights/week.

My biggest challenges:
1. Snacks. I have a bad portion control thing with snacks. I don't find small portions instantly gratifying and thus want to eat more. I need to be more patient & wait for the small snack to settle in & then check my hunger.

2. Someone to make me oatmeal in the mornings. I had a bowl of oatmeal yesterday & it was sooo satisfying. However, I don't really care for instant oatmeal & I'm too lazy to make real oatmeal every morning. Will you make it for me?

3. Finding time to cook some weeknights with the pt job. It will be over soon (7 weeks), so I just have to suck it up til then & try to pre-prep some meals for Chris to cook.

Thanks for all the great advice & support, you guys. I realized if I lost 10 lbs by the end of the year, I'd be down 20 lbs since Dec of last year and all my clothes would fit well. And then Luna might sing the grate job song for me.

Diet time

Low fat string cheese for us today. It's time I get off the junk food binge. The time is perfect because produce is fantastic right now.

So what is everyone's take on these things:

1) Do I seriously limit my caffeine intake? Is it worth it or will I feel too sluggish? I drink regular coffee in the morning (2-3 cups) and 1 Diet Coke/day currently. Is that too harmful?

2) MM says I shouldn't ingest certain body fluids. Does this mean I'll have to spit out my saliva? I might get a spitoon for my desk.

3) What are your favorite health related websites?

4) Can I made a big batch of brown rice & freeze it in smaller portions for quick side dishes? I've never frozen rice by itself, but I imagine it would be ok. Anything else you can think of making for side dishes in "bulk" & freezing that's diet friendly?

What to write about...

I've got nothing. Well, nothing but some warm parmesan crisps for you to snack on.

It was a boring weekend. Friday we went clothes shopping for Chris. He got a few new pants & jeans, lots of shirts and a pair of shorts. He ventured beyond his usual styles...I was so proud of him! Next frontier: shoes.

I got two new bras. I've been buying cheapies & it was time to get a few nicer ones. JCPennys was having a good sale.

We are dog sitting. She's my sister's golden retriever. She's a great dog, I just feel bad for the cats. And the sneaky dog slept on our bed a few times when we were gone. Never when we were home, only when we were gone.

We had a little birthday party for my dad last night. I made a yummy cake: 1 white cake mix with a raspberry dessert mix and fresh raspberries mixed in swirled with 1 dark chocolate cake mix. Filled with chocolate buttercream & raspberries, frosted with the rest of the buttercream and topped with chocolate shavings & fresh raspberries. It obviously made two cakes (since I used 2 mixes), so today my coworkers & I will be eating cake.

Childhood Meme

Thanks to Survey's blog, I now have something to post today! Enjoy some garlic provolone on turkey sandwiches today.


Pick any 3 things that you remember from your kidhood (ages 0-18) and describe them. This could be anywhere from people you were around a lot, to a certain family vacation, to a certain moment that you remember. Be creative!

Bonus Question: Where did you grow up (location-wise)? Did you like it? Do you still live there? Why/why not?

I'm concentrating on my pre-14 years, as things got dramatic after that & there's too much to choose from!

1) My fourth birthday.
We always had small family birthday parties with cake & ice cream when I was younger. I don't ever recall having "birthday wish lists" before I was 7 or 8, so my parents just bought whatever they thought I'd like. Well, on my 4th birthday they hit the nail on the head. And it wasn't even a cool "toy."

I got a little kid sized table & chair set. It was a nice wooden set, perfect for playing school, office, or doing art. I felt so grown up! I have a picture of me sitting at the table in a cute dress & party hat. Dumb memory, but it's really vivid for me.

2) Getting my own room, Age 8
We had 3 bedrooms in the house. 3 kids+parents= someone sharing a room. When I was a baby & my sisters were 7&10, they shared a room. That lasted til my oldest sis turned 14 or so. At that age, I happily moved in with my next younger sister while oldest sis got her own room. I felt so grown up. I'm sure middle sis hated it. However, we became buddies. Later, my oldest sister graduated & moved out.

So one summer day when I was 8, after I was at the local swimming pool, I came home to mom saying I could move into the red bedroom if I wanted. Oh yeah, red carpet, baby! I was soooooooo excited! I could put up my own posters & listen to whatever music I wanted on my little boombox! My own place to sit & read Teen Beat & my Sweet Valley High books. Sigh. I still remember the weather, the lighting and the smells from that day.

3) Trip to Florida, age 14
Mom had cancer & knew she might never again get to Florida to see her step-sister & step-aunt (her only two living relatives she knew of besides her mother). So she wanted to make it a girl bonding trip & invited me & my sisters. For whatever reason, middle sis didn't come. So my oldest sister, mom & myself hopped the plane to Boca Raton. It was my first plane trip as an adult (we went to Florida a few times as a child). The trip was a lot of fun. I was treated as "one of the adult ladies." While I didn't bond with my mom that much during the trip (it was more her time to spend with her step relatives), my oldest sister and I took off for Disney World. It was the first time I spent much time with my oldest sis, as we were ten years apart & until then we lived in such different worlds. So I fondly look back on many details of that road trip & smile, as it was the begining of a great friendship between my sister & I.

Bonus: I grew up in rural SW Wisconsin. I liked the country life. I missed some of the close friendship opportunities, but most kids my age were in the same boat & our parents allowed sleepovers sometimes. I enjoyed the quiet, imaginitive times I had and the sounds and freedom of the country. We lived there my whole life.

Those things definitely impacted my desire to get our first house in a rural location. I didn't know we'd end up 30 miles from the town I grew up in. I'm pretty opposed to going back to my actual hometown to live. I can't deal with constantly seeing people I know & don't care to talk to.

I'm handy.

Let's have tiramisu today made with lots of mascarpone cheese. It is my very favorite dessert.

I put up a white board in my office this morning with my cute lil' office tool kit. I only swore once. *pats self on back*

Chris got his back pay & 'cost of living' raise yesterday. Yay! He also um, got fired/quit his pt job. Before his boss (our friend) could say the words, Chris quit. I'll defend Chris a little in this one, as he worked with a bunch of lazy, stealing tards. He informed our boss (our friend) of all the bad stuff going on. The workers in concessions signed a petition to have Chris fired for "not having a personality that meshes with them." Whatever, they were just pissed he was telling on them for stealing & being incompetent. The workers said they'd all quit if Chris wasn't fired. And that means they'd have to find all new concessions workers (full time positions and it's only 2 more months of work). So our boss told Chris this & Chris saved him having to say "you're fired" by quitting. Good news is that Chris gets 40 hours of severance pay. It's all pretty iritating. The place is quite disfunctional. I'm happy because more projects will get done around the house now. :-)

I'm reading Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen in between OTBC reads. I like this MUCH better than Sick Puppy. I couldn't even get through all of Sick Puppy.

I got a body wrap yesterday at the beauty school. Meh. It might have been better with different choices at a spa. But I had a 50% off coupon, making it only $15. I wasn't aware you are supposed to bring a bathing suit. It doesn't say it anywhere online, in their brochure, nor did anyone tell me on the phone. So I only got my legs, arms, upper chest and upper back done. I didn't feel that exfoliated nor spa-rific afterwards. It was a nice little light massage though & I wanted to nap under the heat lamps.

I want to be special.

I just applied to be a "special" student here at the UW. :-)

I'm giving more and more thought to getting my master's degree. For that, I'll need to take the GREs. One of the programs I'm looking at is HIGHLY comptetitive. Thus, my boss thinks good GRE scores would really help my case. My GPA is a 3.26 thanks to carpy math grades and working full time while in classes. Bare minimum for entrance is a 3.0. Thus, great GRE scores would really help bolster the case for academic success.

So, anyway, I'm thinking of taking a math brush up course so I don't look so miserable on the quantitative section of the exam. Figure I'd apply for "special student" admission & then I'll make up my mind. I would take a course at a tech school, but I think if I do well on the course at the UW, it will look even better to my potential admitters. Plus getting to classes would be waaaaay easier if I stick with something here at work!

Weekend Recap, aka The Lighter Side

Squeaky cheese curds for snacks today. Since my last post was a little heavy (and I truly thank everyone for sharing their thoughts & experience with me), I'm just going to have a quick, light recap of the weekend.

We didn't do much this weekend but work. Chris invited one of the kids from the theater over to brew beer. That gave me an excuse to make a big meal. :-) So I made beer butt smoked chickens with some yummy rubs, watermelon and a mix of baby reds, grilled corn, onions and big hunks of garlic. For dessert I made one of those Jello No Bake desserts (the Reese's PB one). Yum!

Saturday night was the opening of Arms and the Man at the theater & there was a big party at a company actor's house. Most of these people are so incredibly self absorbed. It was almost painful.

Oooh, SNAKE! I forgot to tell you about the snake! Yesterday as I was fixing the turkey deep fryer (the burner was clogged with carbon chunks) and was looking for tools in the garage, I saw a snake come slithering up like he wanted to make a home on the cool cement. This was no skinny garden variety snake. It was about 3-4' long and 2" in diameter. I bravely walked towards it so it wouldn't go into the garage. It started back out into the grass. I checked its' tail & didn't see any rattles (I can't identify snakes worth crap, so I looked for the obvious). Whew. I got Chris who asked if I'd like it killed. Um, YES! I HATE SNAKES! He first got the axe & tapped it on the ground near the snake. The snake raised it's tail & coiled up. Yipe! I told him not to get near the thing & instead get his gun. So bang bang! He shot the snake & threw the dead body into the neighbors thicket. Heh. My hero!

Feelings, nothing more than Feeeeeelings

My tummy is a little upset so I can't pick a cheese today. First person to comment on my blog today gets to choose.

I've never been a big overemotional sap. However, as time moves on, I'm getting more numb. Is that normal? I'm finding myself a little uncomfortable with it lately. Music doesn't move me like it used to...in fact I barely listen to lyrics. Births and deaths removed from my immediate family have little to no effect on me emotionally anymore. Local killings in the news don't even pique my interest much...it's just "oh, another crime."

I need a shot of emotion, passion, whatever. Of course a shot of alcohol would also be appreciated.

How is your emotional state as time goes on?

Bar Food

Broccoli cheese bites today. Those were on the menu last night. I didn't get them, but would've enjoyed them.

We went out to a hick bar with friends last night. It was called the Keg n' Kettle. *giggle* Know what I like about hick bars? It was $15 for 2 meals & a pitcher of beer. I wanted to have a pizza burger (it's one of those foods from my youth that I get excited about when I see them on menus), but they were out of them, so I had a grilled ham & cheese. It was nicely done on marble rye. For $2.50. Chris had a mushroom & swiss burger for I believe $3.50. They had a bunch of styles of fries and other deep fried wonders...plus soft pretzels. Yum! So I ate my steak fries and sammich and was very full. *burp*

I love good fancy food, but man do I also love decent, cheap bar food.

Facial Cancelled

My facial was cancelled for this afternoon, so let's stuff our face with some cheese to make me feel better. Crab fondue sounds good. Grab your sticks, lop on some bread & dip away.

Am I cheap for using beauty schools for all my pampering needs? Well, except for massages. I'm quite picky about those. I've had some bad ones, so now I only go to one lady that has a little private suite. She's from South America & has the best hands & a wonderful accent.

I'm having a body wrap next week at one beauty school. They have horrid customer service, but it's only going to cost $12 (I have a coupon), so I'll give it a shot. I had a haircut there once that took 90 minutes. I've had a pedicure there & it was ok.

However, there's another beauty school which has a much better atmosphere. The instructors are very friendly and kind to myself and the students. I've only had a few pedicures there & enjoyed them. Hopefully my rescheduled facial will also be enjoyable.

My wish list

Brie with caramelized apples...that's on my wish list, so we shall have it.

Things I'd like (this will come in handy when my family asks what I'd like for Christmas):

MP3 player (I found the one that seems reasonable for me): Creative Labs Zen Nano 1 GB. $65 at Circuit City.

Wok: I have no idea what kind to get. Any suggestions for something at $60 or under?

Sushi rolling kit: It looks fun.

Some cool torches for the patio:

Lots of books, including:
Marley & Me
The Blind Assasin
Population 485
Reading Lolita in Tehran
CIA Life
Naked

A KitchenAid stand mixer

Ok, I'm done for now. What would YOU like?

The overlooked pasta...and other stuff

4 year old cheddar with wine today. It's what I had on Saturday & there's still some left. Yum!

Ozro is the overlooked pasta. I can't always find it at the store, but happily buy it when I do. It makes an easy to eat side dish that really takes on the flavor of whatever you put with it. Even just some butter, garlic & seasoned salt will do the trick. So do yourself a favor, go buy some orzo.

Our weekend was alright. We went north. Had to see MIL, whom we were angry with. It was uncomfortable. I'm glad she went home Saturday morning & left us with the cousins, as intended. Chris's two female cousins (from his mom's side) are nice. One in particular is SUPER chatty. Well, they are both talkative, but one just blabbers on. And sometimes I forget how much people can talk. Nolay tends to give a lot of details in his work stories, but these girls made him look shy & quiet. At the end of each night I just had to detox & say "wow."

I bought some really yummy coffee and some other things at little shops this weekend. We tried a new restaurant and I bought some Napa Valley wines produced by places I'm eyeing up for November's trip. So it was pleasant.

This week I want to bust arse on the patio so we can finish in a few weeks.

Snobbery

Pesto havarti & french bread for your afternoon snack.

I was going to rant about how I generally hate snobbery. Sometimes it comes out on OT from certain peeps & it makes me angry. But then I thought about how I can be snobbish about certain things. So if you see me make a snobby, unnecessary comment that might offend someone, let me know. I usually try to keep a hat on any snobby thoughts or comments. Making a comment will only hurt feelings.

Anything you are openly snobby about? Anyone that's openly snobby to you?

Generating a topic

Grapes and brie on a skewer. Fun appetizer, huh?

My blog topic today is the most recent email between Chris and I:


Chris: You aren't very bloggy today.
Me: I don't have anything to write about. I'm waiting for inspiration.
Chris: Free donuts... We used the Cub coupon. What a great thing, free donuts, a
dozen of any variety we wanted...custard filled went quick. I? am
abstaining.
(SIL)....is bipolar, and on meds. (BIL) called, he's happy...but concerned.

He gave me two topics in that discussion:

Donuts: Why he has them & I don't. Apparently he's buying, so what kind of donut would you like? Apparently you can't have a custard filled one, as they are all gone.

Bipolar SIL: I feel like I should send her "sorry your a little crazy, but aren't we all?" card or something. I'm glad she's on meds. Her personality is overwhelming, anyway, so her bipolarishness makes it even more difficult for BIL, I'm sure. She doesn't deal with meds very well. Everything seems to make her sick, sleep too much, or not sleep enough. Hopefully she'll be ok with these & they can have a little normalcy in their days. *crosses fingers* Maybe boo's SIL has some oils and herbs, or some stickers, she can give to my SIL. :-)

Aromatherapy

Bel Paese cheese and pears today. Wine service starts in ten minutes.

I think I'm going to buy some essential oils to to play with & get me to sleep better. I re-read some sections of the little book Breezy gave me for our OT Secret Santa & have some oils picked out. I also gave myself a foot massage from that book last night.

Has anyone here worked with essential oils before?

In other news, I want to make chinese food tonight. I'm going to find a recipe for General Tso's sauce (but I'll sautee' the chicken & some veggies, so it won't be real GT chicken).

"Ah, General Tso, you were a formidable opponent, but your chicken is delectable!"...Mr. Burns

Sleep schedules

I have some leftover mild blue cheese from last night. Let's throw it on some buffalo chicken sandwiches. But let's not do that til about 11 a.m., mmmmkay?

Do you have the same sleep schedule as your mate?

Chris and I have always gone to bed at the same time & wake up around the same time. However, I'm wondering if I should alter this a little. I have a really hard time falling asleep unless I've been up late. But this may totally screw up my ability to get out of bed in the morning. And then I feel weird about us going to bed at different times...sort of that bonding thing you lose out on. And if he's already in snore mode around 11, I still probably won't be able to fall asleep. Sigh. So really, I just need someone to take an blunt object to my head around 10 p.m.

Lobstah's Meme and Serial Flasher

Oh, fine, Monsty. I forgot to put the cheese out today. No need to make an issue out of it. *rummages through fridge* How does Shrimp, feta and tomatoes sound for lunch?

So I know a serial flasher. He's been exposing himself to women allover Madison. He even grabbed a few oobies. http://www.channel3000.com/news/9595091/detail.html
I went to high school with him. His brother was friends of some of my friends and thus the brothers hung out with us on drinking nights. Their siblings carried out booze for us a lot. My friend even dated the flasher. We always knew he wasn't quite right & couldn't figure out why she dated him.

So anyway, from Monsty's blog, I give you this meme.

What curse word do you use the most?
I would say I use shit and damn the most. I use "WTF?" a lot, too.

Do you own an I Pod?
No, and I'm quite bitter about it. My new treadmill habit means I need an Ipod.

What time is your alarm clock set for?
6:25 I think, but I get up at 6:10.

What color is your room?
Some medium green tone that Chris picked out. I like it well enough.

Flip flops or sneakers?
It pains me to say flip flops. I like having my toes exposed & you can dress up flip flops a bit. Tennis shoes always look like tennis shoes.

Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture?
Take it.

What was the last movie you watched?
A Knight's Tale yesterday. It was funnier than I expected.

Do any of your friends have children?
Um, yes. I would say 60% of them.

Morning bird or night owl?
Neither. Takes me an hour to get conversational in the morning and I'm ready for bed at 10pm.

Do you ever take medication to help you sleep better?
I tried OTC stuff & it doesn't work for me.

What CD is currently in your CD player?
At home for working out it's INXS Live Baby Live with Velvet Revolver waiting in the wings. In the car it's O.A.R.

What kind of milk do you drink?
Skim.

Who was the last person to call you on the phone?
My sister Sandy.

Are you nosey?
I like good gossip, but don't go searching it out. I'm not really a snooper.

Are you shy around the opposite sex?
No.

Do you own any band tshirts?
If I looked through my old t-shirt drawers I could find a Stone Temple Pilots tee. I think that was the only concert t-shirt I ever bought.

What is your favorite salad dressing?
Applebee's Low Fat Asian. As for regular store bought, I'll go with Hidden Valley Ranch. I do like a good Vidalia Onion or citrus, also.

Do you cry a lot?
No, just for sappy movies or tv shows. If I cry otherwise, it's usually out of anger or being insulted.

Who was the last person to text you a message?
Nobody. I don't use my phone for that.

Desk top or lap top?
I prefer a desktop. Laptops are too sensitive on their keypads.

Do you have any tatoos or unique peircings?
Nope. I don't even have my ears pierced. Those round ear-stretching piercings literally gross me out, btw. I forget what they are called.

Would you ever date someone with tatoos?
Is his name JD Fortune? Seriously, I would. I don't particularly like tatoos, but if I liked the person I'd date them.

Is sex before marriage wrong?
No.

When was the last time you slept on the floor?
Probably about 6 months ago at my BIL's place. Chris was snoring horribly and on the floor of their office was the only place to go.

How old will you be at your next birthday?
30

Do you like cottage cheese?
Yes, very much.

What will be your next big purchase?
Either stuff for finishing our basement, a Kitchen Aid stand mixer or an ultra-light kit for Chris. As you can see, it depends on if I win the lottery or not as to which comes first.

Last wicked fun thing you did?
Laughed at my friend for dating the serial flasher.

More pics!

I'm going to gain 80 lbs on my trip to San Fransico & Napa. I've been doing a little online research & everything looks fabulous. I can already tell I'll want to go back.

More Niagara pics!

Meemo, Catt & I having a threesome:



Jimbo looking very stoic:


Baby Alex with the cutest, funniest look. CQ says she always does this when the red light on the camera shows up:


Mystic & Lights (no thats not JUST a soda she's drinking, her traveling minibar added to that):


Byoffer warming his hands by the fake fireplace in the sweet suite:

Trip Solved & Some pics

I decided to post some random peep meet pics on this post since It won't let me add (even by copying html) onto the other post. And my San Fran trip is all fixed. We are now flying in on Thursday and leaving Wed. Friday we are going to Napa Valley (suggestions are very welcome on places to go in Napa). Saturday I'll work half the day and then my conference runs from Sun afternoon to Wed. But there will be plenty o' time for peep meeting, don't you worry! We're staying at the Rennaisance Parc 55, as I was too pokey to get the one right next to the convention center. It looks like a decent hotel, though. Maybe not $212/night decent, but whatever. It's for work.


PICS (it's only letting me add three to my post. Grr. More later today):

More Blog Game!

Let's eat some cheesy nachos & play more blog game.

I would go on The Amazing Race with:
I’d let _____ be my personal gift shopper.
I’d ask ______ to bring the wine to dinner.
I’d play Dance Dance Revolution with:
I’d have ______ write my biography.
I’d let ______ load up my I-pod.
I’d want _____ to be my Scene It movie game partner.
I’d let ______ plan my wedding.
I’d go to the county fair with:
I’d ask _____ to help me fix my broken dishwasher.
I nominate _______ as a contestant on Fear Factor.

DebCapsFan
Buggy
Mon Cherie
CSTL
CQ
Lights
Luna
Rose
Silvergirl
Sonya
BONUS: insert name of your own choosing.

Oh, and my SF trip is getting all fuckered up. Now, I have to conduct a focus group on Saturday (which was Napa Valley day for Chris and I). So we might come on Thursday and do Napa on Friday. Probably less crowded then, anyway. It's only a $25 changeover fee, so maybe...Grrr. Wish this didn't come up.

Heart Attack on a Bun

Today I'm serving burgers! Bacon cheeseburgers with an additional slice of breaded, deep fried provolone on it with a dipping sauce on the side of chipotle queso. What? Makes you want to barf?

It's what Nolay ordered last night for dinner.

Discuss.

Update & Your Media Purchases

Creamy Gloucester and thin, crisp crackers today, boys & girls.

I had yesterday off & didn't get much accomplished. Laid some patio pavers, read some of my book (Under the Banner of Heaven for our OT Book Club), watched a little of Big Fish & putzed around. Chris was at the annual EAA convention & fly-in all day, so it was nice to have a little time to myself. Well, myself & the needy cats. Tonight, if it's raining, I think I'll work on cleaning the basement while Chris gets the boat (that we are boatsitting) in the garage.

So, you readers, music listeners & movie watchers, how do you prefer/tend to purchase your media?

Books: I like to purchased used copies from the used bookstore or amazon.com.

Music: If BMG has a good sale, I'll buy a new cd from there. Otherwise, most of my music is either purchased from the used cd store or bought via downloads online.

Movies: I don't buy movies. Ok, once in a blue moon I'll buy a tv series on dvd, but that is it.

And you?

Update & Question About Media

Creamy Gloucester and thin, crisp crackers today, boys & girls.

I had yesterday off & didn't get much accomplished. Laid some patio pavers, read some of my book (Under the Banner of Heaven for our OT Book Club), watched a little of Big Fish & putzed around. Chris was at the annual EAA convention & fly-in all day, so it was nice to have a little time to myself. Well, myself & the needy cats. Tonight, if it's raining, I think I'll work on cleaning the basement while Chris gets the boat (that we are boatsitting) in the garage.

So, you readers, music listeners & movie watchers, how do you prefer/tend to purchase your media?

Books: I like to purchased used copies from the used bookstore or amazon.com.

Music: If BMG has a good sale, I'll buy a new cd from there. Otherwise, most of my music is either purchased from the used cd store or bought via downloads online.

Movies: I don't buy movies. Ok, once in a blue moon I'll buy a tv series on dvd, but that is it.

And you?

Time to write the report!

Some of you might not like this, but it's really what I actually have today. It's a low fat banana cake with a relly light smear of cream cheese frosting. I had over-ripe bananas to use up.

I told my boss she could work on the report this weekend & I'd get her what I have done by the end of the day. I work well under pressure, so this is good.

Last night, Chris turned up the PSI on our water pressure tank a little too high. The tractor spinkler just wasn't moving fast enough for him. A leak developed at the tank & pipe connection. Time to call the plumber.

I get to eat sushi for lunch. Ok, it's grocery store sushi, but it's better than no sushi at all. I will be looking for a combo pack of tuna, salmon, veggie and shrimp. Our former student worker is visiting us for lunch. I normally don't eat out this much in one week, so this is fun!

Oh, and by the way, my lunch from yesterday: The restaurant was more Middle Eastern than Mediterranean. I had flatbread topped with grilled chicken and onions and a sauce of yougurt, lemon and curry powder, then grilled (it looked like a pizza). Unique presentation and good flavor, but it was hard to physically eat. It wouldn't cut well with my table knife.

Not sure what to write about.

Beer cheese soup with big homemade croutons for your dining pleasure.

I'm lacking focus, so I'll just write a blip about things going on.

1. Patio
The first row of pavers is laid. This thing is going to be large. I suspect it will be weeks before we are done. The first row was the most difficult (other than the cutout for the firepit), so the rest should be fairly smooth sailing. I'd like to seal it, but I don't think that will happen. Chris is much more concerned about sealing the garage floor.

2. Storms last night
A huge storm ripped through the Midwest last night. We were hit around 2 a.m. Winds were insane, rain & hail were pelting for a long time and there was a constant barrage of lightening. Lots of road litter and stop lights out of order today. Well, we DID need the rain.

3. MIL
She sent us a letter defending her rude and insane actions from last weekend (the incident with my sister up north). She just doesn't get it. "No more being a doormat" and "standing up" for herself doesn't mean being rude, bitchy and unreasonable. She brought my niece and nephew to tears when she started raging. Very mother & pastor-like, don't you think? *rolls eyes*

4. The report
I have a project report to write by the end of the month & am having a seriously hard time delving in. I wrote exactly one page yesterday. One. I expect it will be around 20. 19 more to go. *head hits desk*

Hope you have a good day. I have a feeling mine will be ho-hum. It's still gloomy outside & I still have no energy. However, I am having lunch with some coworkers at a tiny Mediteranean place today. It's somewhere I've never been & I love trying new restaurants, so yay for that.

Things that please me.

A good sharp cheddar with a glass of wine pleases me. Here, share.

If you haven't played my blog name game yet, read the two posts below.

2 things last night that I bought:
Harry & David Pear Bites. They are chocolate covered dried pear bits in ball form. Sooooooo yummy.

New underwear. I need to throw old yucky ones away. New underwear just feel good. I almost got ones that said Texas on them for Texas peeps, but they had a weird saying on the butt. I got some cute California ones that had no silly saying on the butt. So, um, I'll think of all the CA when I put on those underwear. That's creepy, isn't it?

Bra question: Do you always buy the same size bra or do different brands/styles fit you differently?

Blog Game Pt. Duex

Provolone & a Port Wine Cheeseball today.

It's the second round of the blog game, and for your ease, this list is shorter.

I would go to a fancy New Year’s Eve party with:
I would ask ____ for a restaurant suggestion.
I would learn how to skydive with:
I would ask _____ to make a gift to give to my mother.
I would have ____ balance my checkbook.
I go to a sports event with:
I would let _____ pick out my wardrobe.
I would form a Survivor alliance with:
I would go camping with:
I would have _____ house/pet sit while I was gone.
I want _______ to be my officemate.

MTW
Breezy
Glow
Miamicatt
Lasann
Monsty
Jen
Nutz
Volsfan
Tkit
MM

Blog Game!

I'll give you a random group of bloggers & you fill in these sentences with their names. Each name can only be used once!

I’d go out to a quiet dinner with ________.
I’d go out for a wild night of partying with _______.
I’d make _____ cook me dinner
I’d go to a party at ______’s house.
I’d go on a trip to the Grand Canyon with _______.
I’d go to the park with _________.
I’d take salsa lessons with:
I’d let ______ take my SATs.
I’d want ____to babysit my children.
I’d swap books with:
I’d have _____ write my resume.
I’d ask _____ to fix my computer.
I’d go to the waterpark with ________.
I’d go shopping with ________.
I’d go to a concert with_________.

NAMES:
Swami
Augie
Nookie
Seana
HistoryDetective
Boo
Zombie
Bob
Coco
Carey
Arkie
Surveysez
Meemo
Puffy
Txmomma

I'll post another this week