My recommendations for lots of stuff

Have some gruyere & listen to my wisdom. :-)

Toothpaste
I've always been a Colgate Total fan...but now I'm into the flavored Crest. The orange is good. Now I must try the lemon.

Knives
I love my Wusthof, although there are some new brands hitting the market that appear equally impressive. If you are concerned about price, just buy three good knives: Chef's/Cook's Knife, utility knife, santoku knife. A good carving knife is also nice, but how often will you really use it. And I think a nice set of steak knives is also essential if you eat a lot of grilled meat. Don't buy wooden handled knives. Wusthof's Grand Prix collection has single-pieced, quality poly handles which are more resistant to wear & tear. KEEP THEM SHARPENED. Don't use those rotary automatic things either, they leave marks on your knife blade. Hand sharpen them, or better yet, find a professional to do it for you. Make sure they just aren't using one of those auto sharpeners. And finally, don't put them in the dishwasher. Your handles will wear quickly.

Cookware
For stainless steel, I recommend Emerilware. More comfortable to handle than All-Clad, IMHO, and half the price. I also have Emerilware non-stick & like it. I recommend more non-stick than stainless pieces for everyday cooking, but both are essential. When shopping for new cookware, go to high & low end stores...feel the differences. Find pieces heavy enough, yet that feel comfortable.

Sweet Tooth Cures
I'm watching my calories & fat, but will always have a sweet tooth. Here are my cures. A.M. sweet tooth: Funky yogurt flavors. Right now it's Banana's Foster. Another fave is Blackberry Creme. P.M.: Betty Crocker Low Fat Fudge Brownie Mix...make them in a smaller pan than 13x9 & you'll get yummier brownies. Another fave: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough pudding cups. No actual cookie dough, but cookie dough flavor. Other items in a pinch: Werther's and Salt Water Taffy in flavors like peanut butter chocolate & cookie dough.

Re-inventing Yourself

Have some Irish Dubliner Cheese & grapes.

Along the same lines as my do-over entry (which ended up being a nice reflection for many of us)....have you ever "re-invented" your persona over time? Nolay & I were drunk chatting last night & he talked about his many moves as a child & each time he "re-invented" himself. I never really went through that, as I grew up in the same place my whole life & have always lived in the same state & kept in touch with many old friends.

So *squinty eyes* who is the real you? Was that always you? What precipitated changes?

And as a side note, I've decided I need to open a retail cookware shop to appease my cooking related career needs. Less financially risky & less stress. Someday.

A do-over on life.

How bout an ooooooey goooooooey cheese pizza today? Vols' blog made me hungry for it.

Suppose you have life to do over. At 18, you've graduated from high school & the world awaits you. Would you have done things differently? Within reason, what do you wish you'd done?

Ok, I've decided what I'd do differently.

I'd take a year before going to school and work. I'd research various career fields. I never really did that because I was set on Advertising/PR at a really young age. I'd consider nursing, pharmacology, food science, urban planning and general business.

After a lot of thinking, I think I'd still do a four year college, although I would probably opt for a smaller private college. I thought maybe tech school would've been an ok route, but I do really value I learned in my general studies.

I would have moved farther from home and lived more frugally.

In dreamland, I'd have gone to a tech college for culinary arts and opened up a cooking school, catering business &/or bakery with all that money I had sitting around. I still know that is my place in this world. We've just set ourselves up so financially it cannot happen.

Horoscopes

Since it's a cheesy topic, you get a cheesy cheese. Now serving Kraft American Cheese Slices! There's bread & some butter over there if you'd like to make yourself a grilled cheese sandwich.

Do you read your horoscope? I usually don't, but today a new Onion came out & that means fun horoscope time! http://mobile.theonion.com/content/node/44697

Aries March 21 - April 19
You will start to suspect your husband of once again taking you to the circus instead of the ballet next week, when "The Sabre Dance," a movement usually found in the final act of Aram Khachaturian's Gayane, is played not only at the start of the show, but repeatedly throughout.

Also, a bonus Canadian focus!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Conservatives Rule Canada
Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party ousted Liberal Party incumbent Paul Martin in general elections. What do you think?

Jesse Robins, Forge Operator
"If the Republicans win in '08, I guess I'll be moving to Mexico."

Roger Gastineau, Helicopter Technician
"As a Montrealer, I hope that our new prime minister relaxes the harsh mandatory English-French bilingualism requirements. En tant que Canadien, j'espère que notre nouveau premier ministre détend les conditions anglo-français obligatoires de bilinguisme."

Lauren Hale, Blogger
"Once again, those losers in Canada are years behind us. Hey, assholes, Ugg boots are out, just so you know."

Candy

There's some leftover swiss from yesterday (Bob forgot to eat any). I'll throw in some co-jack for ya, too.

Valentine's Day is approaching. Time to start thinking about a gift for Chris. I checked out those personalized M&Ms yesterday. He loves M&M's & I had cute sayings all figured out. Then I saw the price. $44 for 2 lbs...and that's the minimum order. Sigh. I see WHY they do that, but I can't justify $50 (by the time you add shipping) for M&Ms.

I hate conversation hearts. Despise them. My boss brought a giant bag of them in & dumped them on top of the Werther's in my candy dish. I like Werther's, but now I must wait for people to eat the conversation hearts in order to dig them out. Poor trapped Werther's.

I'd really like a candy filled blizzard from Dairy Queen today. I had a coupon for it on the back of my grocery receipt last night. Damn their power of suggestion. Must.resist.temptation.

Have any candy thoughts to share?

Doing Taxes

Have some thin shaved lacy baby swiss.

Tis that lovely time of the year when Chris sits down to do our taxes & flips out at the computer program.

Last year we paid for someone else to do them. That was nice, but pricey. It was our first year of taxes with the house and my Tastefully Simple biz, so we thought a pro was necessary. It was. Now, I can cheat & use their knowledge from last year to help complete my return this year.

Anyway, I sneakily started Turbo Tax yesterday. Chris pouted when he found out. I left the room to go find a document & he slid into the "operators" chair. *rolls eyes* Within 10 minutes he flipped out & swore his hatred of how Turbo Tax was set up. He gets frustrated so easily.

We haven't done state yet, but we estimate about $1200 back total between state & fed. Usually we get a refund for state and owe in feds, so it equals out to zero. This year we get a refund on both, so we'll have some nice bill paying money. Yay!

So, do you aim for a refund, or to break even? I never want to use the government as a savings program, but ideally I'd like between $500-1000 back. Otherwise, we cut it too close & might end up owing.

Ever get pissed about something silly?

FACTS:

Chris goes out to lunch about twice per week.
He goes out with his coworkers.
I go out to eat (lunch or dinner) about twice per month.
I eat out because we are on a long drive and can't eat at home (90% of the time at a fast food place)

He works about 10 minutes away from me.
I have no car at work.
He has a car.

He never calls to take me to lunch.
He brags about the new places he & his coworkers try.

When we had more money (i.e. before house), we both LOVED to try new restaurants together & went out often.

He just bragged about planning to lunch at the new seafood place this week with his coworkers.

Me=sad. I want to experience these new places with him if he's spending the money.

Mechanical Bulls and such

Camembert & crackers are being served on the sun deck from 8am-4pm CST.

Our friends just opened a bar a few miles from us. They have a huge mechanical bull. Should I try riding it (obviously when the bar is close to empty...say, on a Wed. afternoon)? Will I hurt myself?

Anyone remember a rant about my sister back on OT awhile ago? She has this psycho husband she's been with for 16 years (yes, he's always been psycho). She filed for divorce last year & never went through with it. Psycho was going to LA to sell his "screenplay" he'd been working on (when he was fired from selling cars) and gambled away all his money on the way out there. Thus, he came back, cried a lot & told my sister he loved her, blah blah blah. Well, he lost his car salesman job again & was unemployed for a month. He was having fits of rage around the house, breaking everything in the apartment (they sold the house last time he left). He's been out of the house two weeks & she's dating a guy. While some might say that's soon, I will say "Whatever keeps her away from Psycho." I babysat her three tyrant boys while she went out Saturday night. I cried in frustration once. Worst.behaved.ever. So we'll see if she actually goes through with the divorce this time. He basically is stalking her now (58 calls to her cell phone on Friday), calling her a whore one minute & begging her to take him back the next. He's threatening to kill himself. I can see murder-suicide, so I'm a bit worried about my sister. I gave her my pepper spray this weekend. It's not much, but it's something.

Wow, I'm happy to have a normal life.

Island Survival Game

I have a lovely cheese dip for you today. I was up baking all night. It's warmed feta, cream cheese and pesto. I brought crackers, too.

Alright, we all know the Island Survival game played in team building workshops. Today, instead of doctors, lawyers, Army guys and such, we have celebrities!

You must keep 5 people and send the other 5 to be tourtured by The Others (cue Lost theme).

1. Sam Alito
2. Sadam Hussein
3. Nicole Richie
4. Joy Behar
5. Angelina Jolie
6. Dr. Phil
7. Condoleza Rice
8. Kevin Federline
9. Jared of Subway fame
10. Bill Gates

Rant time!

First, some colby to soothe thy palette.

Second, and update on the pt job: The interview was funny. I had to take a typing test that was listening to a fake phone conversation and typing it as you go. Luckily there was a "Pause" footpedal. I aced it the second time around. The first/practice time, it was hard to get used to the footpedal & not let the conversation get away from you. There was a spelling test (words given over headphones)...easy easy. The weird one was learning how to work with voice recognition software, which a big part of the job. As the person is speaking, you have to speak with them, repeating what they say. It's hard to keep only one word behind what they are saying. Try it sometime. :-) Anyway, I was hired & start training on the 30th. The training is 3 weeks of 4-10pm/5 days a week. Ack, that on top of my full time job will suck! But then it goes to pt hours. At least the extra cash will be nice. Chris interviews today for the same job.

I've been sooooo irritable lately, especially at work. Things that are ticking me off.

1. My boss is driving me mad. She flits around and trys to do stuff on her own, making more messy confusion than need be.

2. Message board peeps that think their sh!t doesn't stink. There's one person in particular, that pops in at OT occassionally, that just makes me angry 90% of the time with pessemistic, arrogant comments.

3. Gloating. This is not the same as being very happy about something good you just did (e.g., passed the bar, got a new job, had a baby) and wanting to share your happiness with others. This is about showing off something or constantly having to let people know how good you are at something. At work, online and at home I seem to be dealing with a lot of this.

4. People eating while they are talking. Lump my boss into this category. She constantly meets with people and woofs down food while she's talking. And the lunch group has someone that slurps their soup. Gross.

5. Every pretty girl thinking they have a stalker. I'm around college students a lot...many of them are convinced that every guy that sees their address is going to stalk them. Or if a guy calls a few times and the girl isn't interested, or he text messages a lot....he's gotta be a stalker.

6. Princesses. "Oh my god, I can't function until I go to Starbucks." "Like, who does she think she is saying that to me?" "He only got me a card for Valentine's Day, that's not among the acceptable gifts." Most of these girls also think they are being stalked.

7. Celebrities. I'm so over them right now. Sometimes I get on a kick where I want to buy Us or People. Now, I'm so sick of seeing celeb gossip that I want to puke.

Ok, I'll stop ranting now.

The Part Time Job Thing

Sit, have some havarti.

I have an interview today for a part-time job. Chris will also have one this week for the same job. I feel 18 again.

The job is a "captioning assistant." It's for a company that runs a TTY relay service. So if the deaf person uses their TTY phone to call oh, the Kwikie Mart (which doesn't have a TTY phone), the assistant would "mediate" the call with voice & type. $10-11/hr and you can sit & read between calls or chat with coworkers. Sounds decent to us.

Our goals will be paying of a few small loans of about $3000 total, short term. Also helping pay our property taxes. Then we'll re-evaluate the need for the jobs. I figure we can work hard for awhile to meet the goals, but if it's causing too much stress & not enough sleep, then we'll can the jobs.

I'm still selling Tastefully Simple, but I do it very part-time. I just don't have the self-discipline to sit & make phone calls to customers all the time. And I'm not pushy enough to call & ask people to have parties that haven't already expressed an interest. Therefore, I only do about 2 parties/mo. and a few hundred in reorders. Not a big money maker.

I'm hoping that by the time I'm 35, we'll have little debt other than one car loan, the mortgage and student loans. If that means I have to work a little harder now, so be it.

Or, you could just each donate $1000 to my cause & I can spend more time blogging. :-)

Weekend Reflections

I scarfed down lots of cheese this weekend in the form of Port Wine Cheese Spread. So here, enjoy.

Quick thoughts on my weekend:

I forgot to get pictures of Chris plowing with the mower.

I finished the Kite Runner (althought not as quickly as Breezy). It was AWESOME. Go buy it.

I made Alton Brown's corn dog recipe for our friends. We loved them. And ever had deep fried mashed potatoes, or is this a Wisconsin thing?

I cleaned up 8 piles of dog diarrhea. It had been on the carpet for a week. I don't own a dog, so it was somebody else's mess.

It's Friday! Whatchya doin'?

Deep fried cheese curds! Get yer hot cheese curds!

Tell me exactly what you are doing tonight. "Hanging out at home" is not acceptable. I want details!

Chris and I are driving the John Deere up north. :-) We are going to Minocqua (just over 3 hours from here) to his mom's weekend house. We'll hit the road about 3:00 & stop for a quick bite on the way. When we get up there, we'll unload the tractor & plow and start a fire in the fireplace. We'll then have a cocktail & watch a little northwoods tv. I'm thinking it'll be a nookie night (not Nookie).

Our friends will join us tomorrow for a two day drinking tour of the area. We are hitting some bars & brewpubs in the northwoods we haven't been to. There's also a winery on the list. I don't think they have boxed wine though. We have Monday off for MLK, so we'll drive home Monday.

Book Recommendations Needed

*sets out plate of smoked provolone and colby* I'm asking a favor, so you get two cheeses today.

I have a gift certificate to use for Half Price Books. They don't have much new stuff, so I need some suggestions that are at least a few years old. I mostly like nonfiction, modern era novels, and mystery & suspense. I occassionaly pick up some humor writing that I also enjoy (David Sedaris, etc).

I'm going to pick up a few classics to add to my shelves, but I'll still be able to get a few newer books.

So suggest away!

Guilt

Grab a little string cheese and read some Yahoo! Weird News:

Binge eating worse than being unfaithful?Reuters - Tue Jan 10, 10:22 AM ET
ROME (Reuters) - Most Italians feel more guilty about over-eating than they do about cheating on their partners, a survey has found, suggesting that people in Casanova's native land care more about staying slim than staying faithful.

So what things (generally or specifically) cause you the most guilt?

Concealed Carry

Ok, a serious post. This calls for serious cheese: Aged Sharp Cheddar. I'm going with my favorite 7 year.

Concealed Carry (CC) of a Weapon is most likely going to become law in Wisconsin. The Governor opposes it, but the Senate has the numbers to override his veto this time around.

Do I feel CC will change our crime stats in Wisconsin? No, not one bit. Do I feel some drunken idiot will haul it out in a bar fight & seriously kill or injure someone? Yes.

For those curious, CC means the following, per our WI proposed law:
-You could carry a concealed weapon except:
in a hospital, tavern, school (including within 100 feet from school property) or police station
those carrying must have a blood alcohol level of less than .02%;
Of course someone would have to catch you carrying it to ticket you (you'd then lose your right to CC)

-You would need a permit. The list of people granted these permits would likely not be published (this is a contentious point). If you have any felonies, as reviewed in a background check, you cannot obtain a permit. It includes a provision that would make it a felony for any person to make a false statement on the application for a permit.

-You would need to take a training course (likely a 4 hour course) by a qualified, state approved instructor.

-If in contact with law enforcement official (traffic stop, etc), you must immediately tell the officer you are carrying a concealed weapon.

Ok, my beef. Wisconsin has very low violent crime statistics. Bob in Podunk, WI doesn't NEED to carry a weapon. And does Milwaukee need more guns? I don't think so. Sure, you have a right to bear arms, but there will always be restrictions on that for public safety.

And for those CC advocates, do they realize it would be illegal to pull a gun if, for example, there was a bar fight without a gun they wanted to break up? There must be deadly force displayed in order to pull the gun. And no, fists are generally not considered deadly force.

I just don't see any good coming out of this. I see college idiots coming to the annual 100,000 person Halloween Party in downtown Madison with a concealed weapon just to be cool. They get drunk, wave a gun around. Sure, they'd get it taken away, but would it be taken away & their priveleges revoked before or after the trigger went off?

So what are your state's laws? How do you feel about them?

ETA: I updated my profile. Next project: links.

Organization

Now serving: Pepperjack cheese, cubed for your pleasure.

January is always a great time for getting organized. Even if you don't follow through with your strategies, it's always nice to start. It at least puts you ahead of where you were the year before.

So what would you like to organize? Closets, finances, craft supplies, kitchen cabinets, spice rack, basement, bathroom drawer, desk at work?

Have any tips/advice to share?

I'll share this with you: Go get a folder NOW to stick those tax documents in. Sometimes I let our pile on the counter & fear losing them. Steal an old one from work today & take it home. Or be honest & go buy one.

I think I'll need to serve beer with this cheese. It's a lil spicy.

Cartoons

Because momma harassed me, you get two perfectly paired cheeses for the day: havarti and edam. And enjoy a glass of Wisconsin's own Prairie Fume' white wine from Wollersheim Winery. If you ever come across some in the store, buy it. You'll like it.

Today, a Friday fun topic. What are your favorite classic cartoons? Any modern day faves?

I grew up watching the Saturday Morning Cartoon Express on USA (Grandma had cable), so that included lots of Scooby Doo, Grape Ape, Captain Caveman, Huckleberry Hound and my fave: Laff A Lympics. I also watched a lot of Flinstones.

When I wasn't at Grandma's, there were fewer to choose from. Loved Bugs Bunny and only got into a few others (showing my young age here): Smurfs, Shirt Tales, He-Man, She-Ra, the Jetson's and Tiny Toon Adventures when I got a little older.

As for current cartoons, I watched Ren & Stimpy for awhile and I admit, I really like to watch Fairly Odd Parents and SpongeBob when my niece & nephew are over.

I also remember watching a lot of Popeye and Woody Woodpecker at free movie events for kids. My dad was a member of the Lion's Club and they often had little movie events for kids in our Community Center.

Just a little trip down memory lane today. Happy Friday!

Lettuce

I don't love lettuce, but I do like it. Especially in the summertime. Nothing like a big yummy salad.

Now, I think my post-gallbladder body cannot handle lettuce.

My doctor said there would likely be a few foods I couldn't handle...that they'd send me to the bathroom. He mentioned lettuce might be one of them, as others frequently report it. I thought that sounded absurd.

Sure enough, about two hours after my Panera ceasar salad & turkey sandwich, I hung out in the bathroom. I made a mental checklist of items I had at lunch today that I haven't otherwise had since the surgery. Turkey and lettuce were the only two items I hadn't had since last week. So one of those two is making me ill, and I'm putting money on it being lettuce.

Back at work

So much to do, so little energy to dive in.

I wish I had some squeaky cheese curds.

My to do list outside of work:
get that effing New Year's letter written
get finances together to have our annual "we don't save enough money" talk
get pin for phone banking
call a Tastefully Simple hostess to reschedule a party
mail a Christmas present out
go to the grocery store
buy cat food at pet store
buy flea stuff online

Guess I should really shouldn't be posting here, huh?
What's on your to do list?

Those Effing Christmas Letters

*pushes a nice plate of warm brie & crostini towards my bloggie friends*

I'm giving in. I'm writing a New Year's letter (in lieu of our usual Christmas cards). Because of the surgery, I put off sending Christmas cards and now I'm not feeling up to individually writing notes in each card. So I'm writing a New Year's letter.

It's not that I'm against the Christmas Letter. There are just a few every year that really reek of egotism. I'm tempted to write the anti-ego letter and talk about how shitty some things were this year. But then I sound bitter and well, nobody likes a crab (unless it's on my plate at dinnertime).

So I think I'll just keep it short & sweet. Wish me luck. Do other people agonize about these things? Do I need to just get the picture postcards next year of us & the cats so I can get away with just signing our names?

Talk about a subject that's in like two weeks late. Sheesh.

And monsty, can I have my cheesehead back? /blatantsuckingup Especially since your hair looks so pretty today? /end blatantsuckingup

Gawd I'm Boring

Today's post is brought to you by mozzarella. Nolay made fried cheesestix yesterday & I ate one against my better judgment. He's having fun using his new deep fryer.

Anywho, I'm feeling lots better. It still hurts where the big incision is & sleeping on my back really sucks. I did get some sleeping tips from pregnant peeps about using pillows under my butt & thighs. And I was wrong...I thought pregnant women were supposed to sleep on their backs. It's actually now their sides...who knew?

I went out to a bar for a few hours on NYE with Chris & some friends. We then returned to friend's house for games, etc. It's a new house & they make you take your shoes off in the garage. How rude is that? Keep in mind it's Wisconsin & the garage is cold. They have laminate floors inside the door. Could they at least put a rug INSIDE the door for us to remove our shoes?

I'm in lvoe with our new Scene It Music game. Electroninc CatchPhrase is also quite fun.

Ok, I'm done rambling. Going to snuggle with cats & watch the rain.