Disappointing snack, hope for a bikini future

So it's been a week since my last post. Wow. I didn't think I would wait that long.

Random snack evaluation - I just ate some parmesan herb sun chips, and I did not like them. I like sun chips, but not that flavor. You would think they'd be really good, because who doesn't like parmesan cheese and herbs? But however they flavored these chips, they surely didn't please my tastebuds. And they didn't really taste that cheesy, just generally kind of savory but not in a good way. Ick. Now I have that taste in my mouth, and even though I'm chugging Pepsi, it's not going away.

Well, if anyone has been wondering if I've stuck to my exercise regimen - I'm happy to report that for the most part, I have. I started exercising again two weeks ago, and in that time, I've worked out six times, or three times per week. I wanted to work out more, but I'm pleased that I've managed to exercise as much as I have. As I'm sure anyone who is/has been on a quest to become fit knows, it's hard to be patient. I wish I could already see my body transforming, but I know that I won't see any changes for a while yet. But I get what seems like 2 Vicky's Secret catalogs per day, and now they've got their teeny bikinis out. I would really love to be able to wear one of those and not cringe in the mirror. I wouldn't wear the truly teeny ones though, because that's just too much of me on display. But knowing I COULD wear one and it would look good on me - that sure would be nice. I have one of those body-slimming, one-piece numbers, and it's very nice once it's on. But getting it on is like trying to go through the birth canal, only as an adult. I get that it's supposed to hold you in, but golly geez. Does it have to be such a struggle to get it on? Maybe if it had a zipper or hooks or something, anything, so that it could start out loose and once you have it on, then be tightened. (How did this become about how annoying one of my bathing suits is?) Anyway, the bottom line is, I am eyeing those bikinis with not just yearning, but now also with hope.

We live on the second floor of a double built in the 1910's, and just walking around makes the wood floors creak. When I exercise, I cringe at the thought of how much noise I'm making for our downstairs neighbors. But with how much they bother us with their screaming matches, loud bass (I don't call it music - it's unrecognizable as such - I can only hear scratchy guitar riffs that don't sound like any notes on the musical scale, on top of thumping bass), and cigarette/pot smoking, I tell myself that it's a small annoyance to them, and it only lasts 30 minutes at a time. And it's for something beneficial, albeit not beneficial for them. 

I hope everyone has a stupendous weekend. Talk at ya later.

Senseless tragedy

If anyone hasn't heard, there was a shooting at the Cracker Barrel in Brooklyn last night. A man shot and killed his wife and 11-year-old daughter, and their 10-year-old daughter is in the hospital. The police shot the man, but unfortunately they arrived too late to help his wife or daughters. The thing I'm thankful for is that no other customers or employees were shot. But it's so hard to make sense of tragedies like this. The man had a history of domestic violence, and so maybe the woman thought she would be safe if she told her husband she was leaving him while they were in a restaurant, hoping he wouldn't threaten or harm her publicly. It's incredibly sad and horrific that she was so wrong. And now there's that poor 10-year-old girl, who has lost her entire family, and in the most terrible way. I'm not sure how badly she's hurt, but assuming that she survives, I hope she has other relatives that are willing and able to take her in and give her the love and comfort (and counseling) she needs. I can think of several things that could have been done differently that might have prevented this outcome. But unfortunately what's done is done, and there is nothing to do now but pray for the girl and any family she has left.

It really makes you appreciate what you have and how good you have it when you hear stories like this. My husband and I have a loving, kind, and respectful relationship, and I can't imagine what that woman went through. And to die at her husband's hand, just when she thought she would be free of his abuse. It makes me want to cry. And it makes me want to rail against every person who abuses their spouse, significant other, or their children. I just pray that the surviving daughter gets the help she needs to break the cycle of abuse, because unfortunately abuse is the pattern she knows, and she will need healing and counseling to get out of that pattern. 

The surviving daughter is weighing on my heart, and I am moved to pray for her. If any of you reading this think of it, please pray for her. For her survival, physical healing, and emotional and mental healing, and for a secure and loving home.

Air horns and exercise

I wasn't intending on writing a new post every day, but somehow, here I am, posting again. Sorry.

Again I am enduring incredibly loud concrete sawing/drilling, and other sounds that I can't identify that sound like air horns or the tools used to remove lugnuts from tires. I wear earplugs, and they help, but only so much. The concrete sawing/drilling is constant now. It's so loud that my desk vibrates. Also, there is something being used that smells like really awful, strong paint or turpentine and I'm having a hard time believing that inhaling the fumes is good for my health.

I hope everyone else is having a good day today, free of noise and air pollution. 

Last night I was so frustrated from the noise and being cold at work (from people constantly going in and out and letting the cold air in) that when I got home, I was motivated to take out my frustrations via exercise. I had a nice workout, and I hope to continue the trend. Not that I want to be frustrated every day, but I do want to be motivated to exercise more often. Last week I was looking at a scrapbook my mom made of pictures of me growing up, and I used to be so slim. I know I'll never look 16 again, but seeing those pictures made me yearn to be healthy and trim. Since I've gotten married, I've gained weight, and I'm heavier than I've ever been. I used to exercise regularly, and it kept my weight where I wanted it. I have long since let go of my exercise routine, and the high metabolism that used to be my friend in my teens and 20's has betrayed me by slowing down once I hit 30. It's hard to be disciplined and commit to exercising regularly. I've tried a few times in the past few years, and I ended up making excuses for myself or just letting the opportunity pass me by. I am making a more determined effort this time, and even though I know myself enough to realize that there is a high probability that I will fail again, I am going to try.

Good evening to all.

I guess I'm in a bad mood today.

What can I say about today? It's chilly and gray out there, just like yesterday, with a rain/snow mix predicted over the course of the day. I didn't want it to be 80 degrees already, like the weather we had in March, but 40 and sleet? Yuck. Weather like this makes me want to go home, crawl under the covers, and drink hot cocoa.

I have a random gripe: enough Adele already! I know she's massively talented, and her songs speak to women everywhere, but the radio stations need to ease up on playing her songs, before I end up despising her music. But the radio does that with every song; they play it to death and then I end up hating it due to the unending repetition. I like Rumor Has It, Adele's newest song, and I just hope that they play it sparingly, because I don't want to come to hate it. 

I put my company's office number on the national Do Not Call List, but we still get telemarketers out the wazoo. (Can anyone explain this???) And most of them use a computer dialer, so when you pick up, there's no one there. After I recite the standard phone greeting, if no one responds, I give it one "hello?" and if still no one comes on the line, I hang up. I don't want to give them a chance to get on the line and give me their sales pitch. And I have no problem telling a cold caller that we are not interested, thank you, and hanging up without waiting for a response. Otherwise, I'm stuck on the phone with them for far too long, trying to explain that we don't need their services, while they go on and on and try everything they can to get information out of me. Once in awhile I get a particularly persistent salesman, and even after I say no thanks and hang up on him, he calls back. And salespeople like that usually have sneering, entitled attitudes in the first place, and when they call back the second time, they are outright rude to me. It takes a lot to get me to lose my cool on the phone, but calls like that can definitely do it. (Why do they think that calling back and being rude will get them our business? Rudeness will GUARANTEE that we will never use their services.) Fortunately most salespeople will give up and go on to the next name on their list, and for that, I am grateful. When will these types of companies realize that if we need their services, we'll call them? If we are looking to make a change in service or buy something, WE will make the effort to contact them. We don't want you bugging us all the time, trying to convince us that we want whatever it is you're selling.

I understand that they are trying to make a living, but I get so many of those sales calls every day that my sympathy for them has dulled. And really I don't want to waste their time either, because their pursuit of our business is most likely fruitless.

Sorry that I am complaining so much today. I'm not sure why that is. I'll blame it on the icky weather.

Ok, let's lighten things up here. Anybody got fun plans this weekend? For once, Mark has Saturday off, and even though I'm sure he'll spend a good portion of it on schoolwork, I'm looking forward to us sleeping in and having a nice, leisurely breakfast. And Saturday is supposed to be in the 60's, with only a 30% chance of rain. Spring will return!

Cereal for dinner

We got through Monday! Yahoo!

Today in the construction zone, we have a guy drilling into a concrete wall. If you think the noise from that is loud, well, you're wrong. It's deafening. Even earplugs don't hold up against that level of sound. Fortunately, the concrete drilling is fairly sporadic, otherwise I might go insane.

*****

Do you ever get tired of having to come up with dinner/meal ideas all the time? I certainly do. I enjoy cooking to a certain extent, but after working all day, sometimes the idea of cooking dinner is just tiring. And then all I want is to pour myself a bowl of cereal and plop down into the recliner. I don't have cereal for dinner very often, but when I do, Mark always just shakes his head at me. But I say if cereal is fine for breakfast, what's wrong with having it for dinner? Cinnamon Streusel Frosted Mini Wheats are a particular favorite of mine:

I probably won't have it tonight though. We have some chicken in the freezer that is begging to be thawed out and made into something delicious. I have yet to come up with that delicious something though, so until then, I'll be thinking of you, Cinnamon Streusel Mini Wheats.

I do have one favorite go-to chicken recipe - if you've seen that commercial that Hellman's/Best Foods mayonnaise has been showing lately about their recipe for Parmesan Crusted Chicken, I have to tell you that I've tried the recipe, and it is quite delicious. It's super easy too. You can get it from http://www.hellmanns.com/recipe/detail/8366/1 The proportions are for 4 chicken breasts, but I have halved it for 2 chicken breasts, and it still turns out perfectly. I would assume that if you need to double the recipe, it would work fine also.

Have a great Tuesday!

Big dinner, apple cake, and the usual Monday blues.

So here we are at Monday again. I swear, time goes by at 4x normal speed on Saturday and Sunday. It seems like just a couple hours ago it was Friday afternoon, and I was anticipating the weekend.


I hope everyone had a lovely Easter. Mine was very nice. I got all dressed up for church, which was fun (though Mark grumbled about having to wear dress pants and a tie), and church was great as usual, plus several people gave their lives to the Lord for the first time. So awesome.


Afterwards Mark and I had lunch with my mom at her place, which was nice, and then after that my work began. I made dinner at our house, which included a half of a ham, parsley potatoes, oven-roasted green beans, and apple cake for dessert. I didn't HAVE to make the dessert, but when we have guests over, I like to have something sweet to serve everyone after dinner (we had our friend Garett and Mark's school friend Bryant over for dinner). Plus Mark and I love the apple cake; it's brown-sugary, cinnamon-y goodness. (If anyone wants the recipe, let me know. It's easy to make, especially if you have a stand mixer, and it's the moistest, yummiest apple/cinnamon-type cake I've ever had.)


After dinner we watched the movie 300, which is totally a "man" movie. Lots of battles, blood, and men growling and shouting. But even though it's not my cup of tea, I have to say that the movie held my attention. But by the time the movie was over and Garett and Bryant went home, I was spent. I wanted to enjoy Easter a little bit longer, but I was just too tired, and I went to bed.


Actually, I'm just going to go ahead and post the apple cake recipe on here, because it's too good not to share:

Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2002

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples

Crumble Topping:

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.

In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.


To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before cutting.




The original recipe called for a brown sugar glaze over top of the cake, in addition to the crumble topping. It seemed like way too much and way too sweet, so I omitted that portion of the recipe. But if anyone REALLY wants to add the glaze, you can get the original intact recipe from the Food Network website.


Enjoy your Monday everyone, and for all of us, I hope it goes fast.

Easter candy, Good Friday, Ham bones, and plastic

How's everyone's Good Friday going? Mine is good so far, despite the constant noise at work. My co-worker treated us admins to lunch from Jimmy John's, so not only did I get a yummy sandwich, it was free. Thanks Mike.


Last night I went to dinner with my best friend Katie, and afterward we went to my favorite store - Target. I wanted to buy some Easter candy, which of course is a necessity. But I went crazy with the cheese whiz - I bought 10 bags of candy! And I have no children, so I don't even have that excuse. I just love candy, and I don't indulge that much, so when I saw all the lovely pastel-colored bags of delicious candies, I couldn't resist. Well, I could have, but I didn't.


They have an addictive type of jelly bean that I'd never had before - Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans. They are soooo good. I could have eaten the whole bag last night. I wish I would've bought 2 bags. Katie recommended them, and boy, she was right.

I would recommend picking some of these up. As soon as you can. Eat them by the handful.

*****

My church is having a Good Friday service, and I'd kind of like to go, but we won't be going. Sometimes all the church events can be a bit much. But I plan on observing the occasion in my own way at home. My favorite band of all time, Waterdeep, has a song called Instead, that talks about our sin and how God made the ultimate sacrifice and sent his Son to die for us instead of making us pay for our own sins. It's pretty powerful, and it calls to mind the depth and gravity of what God and Jesus did for us on this day in history.
Some of the lyrics:

Cause it's a touch of love that can free you of despair
And forgiveness rolls
Thank God He's so unfair
Because I should've been dead
For what's inside my head
But He killed His Son instead.

When it's put that way, that God killed His Son instead (of us), it really puts it in perspective. We deserve to reap the fruit of our sin, but God, in his fathomless love and compassion for us, called his Son to sacrifice himself so that we wouldn't have to pay. Sometimes I still can't quite wrap my head around that.

*****

It's a rough transition to talk about something less serious after that, but here I go.


I bought a semi-boneless ham for dinner on Easter, and I'm actually more excited about using the leftover bone and ham pieces for soup than I am about having the ham for dinner this Sunday. I have a recipe from my mom for ham and lentil soup that is just delicious. It doesn't look that appetizing; the lentils (and possibly the ham bone) give the soup a grayish color. But you forget about the unappealing color when you're eating it, because it's just that good. If anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I will either email it to you or post it on here. It's a great way to use your leftover ham and that ol' ham bone.


Question: if a piece of meat has any bones in it at all, how is it "semi-boneless"? To me, that's an all or nothing type of deal. It either has bones, or it doesn't. It sounds like a marketing gimmick to me. But I'm not a butcher or meat expert, so what do I know?

*****

I bought a bag of Peeplets candies, made by the company that makes Peeps. They are described on the bag as Rich Dark Chocolate surrounding marshmallow-flavored cream. They sounded yummy. But. They. Are. Not. They tasted like plastic. (Not that I've ever eaten plastic*, but you know what I mean.) Do NOT buy these. Yuck. I took them to work with me today, because I work with vultures who devour anything edible that you put out in about 1.2 seconds. But the bag was not emptied. I guess even the vultures feel the same way about them that I do.


Know what I discovered just now while eating some of my candy? If you eat a dark chocolate m&m with a cherry-flavored Starburst jelly bean, it tastes just like a chocolate-covered cherry. The good kind, with the liquid instead of the icky cream. Mmm.


Whew, long post today. I hope it wasn't too boring. Have a great Easter everyone!


 
*although, Cool Whip is close enough to plastic in it's chemical makeup that I sort of count it. I don't know if it's true, but I heard once that Cool Whip is one ingredient away from having the same ingredients as the hair gel Dippity-Do. But does that hair gel still exist? I don't remember seeing it around lately.

Awkward Easter duds and Mickey Mouse

Good morning all,

I found a picture of me dressed in Easter finery, but it wasn't exactly for Easter - my sister Amy decided one day she wanted to take a dramatic picture, so she posed me in my fancy Easter duds and placed me in front of a backdrop (hence the sheets behind and under me, and the teacups) and took this picture:

Gotta love the hat. I did actually wear it for Easter for a few years. It was 1988, and I was 12 in this picture, right at the cusp of my awkward phase. Dang, I wish I had white shoes like those now. (Not really.) And could the dress be any shinier or more polyester-looking? Wow. But at the time, I thought I was stylin'.

****

One of the construction workers who works for a subcontractor on our office renovation has a really high voice. And when he has to speak loudly over the construction noise, I swear he sounds just like Mickey Mouse. Thanks Mickey, for providing some amusement among the construction noise and inconveniences.

That's it for now. If I come up with anything (that I think may be) interesting to say later, I may post again today. 

If not, have a great Thursday everyone. 

Ah, another day in the construction zone. At least now I have earplugs to help protect my lil ears.

Why does each workday seem so long, and the weekend seems so short? I feel like I'm just starting to relax, and then it's Monday morning again. I think we should flip-flop things, and have a 2-day workweek and a 5-day weekend (but get paid the same, of course). That would be much better for our sanity, don't you think? Then we'd actually have time to do the stuff we need to do, and have time leftover to enjoy life.

Hey, if any of you watch Dancing with the Stars, Annie Barrett over at the Entertainment Weekly website writes a hilarious recap and commentary of every episode. Head to http://www.ew.com/ and click on the Dancing with the Stars Recap link in the recap box on the right side of their home page. She also covers American Idol, so between those two shows, you have fun recaps at your fingertips Tuesday through Friday.

What are everyone's plans for Easter weekend? Do you have family get-togethers and traditions? My family used to get together for a big dinner on Easter every year, but since we've all married and had kids, holidays have become fractured. I'm still not 100% sure what we're doing this coming Sunday. I know one thing for sure though, I'm dressing up for church. When I was a kid, we went all out - fancy dresses, hats, gloves, fancy shoes. I won't go that far, but I am planning on wearing a cute dress and shoes. I know I have to have a picture somewhere of myself as a kid, all fancy in my finery for Easter. If I find it, I'll post it tomorrow. It will be good for a laugh.

First blog entry and other stuff

So this is my very first post on my very first blog. I'm not sure why it took me so long to start a blog, but it's better late than never, I guess. I've never been much of a diarist, but I do occasionally get the urge to write out my thoughts, feelings, etc., so this little blog will fulfill those urges when they come along.

I find myself having a little trouble deciding how personal to get on my blog. After all, this is the internet, and for all intents and purposes, whatever I write on here is out there for all the world to see. Do I really want to be vulnerable in that way? But this blog is going to consist of my thoughts, feelings, and opinions, so it's inevitable that I reveal things about myself. Sigh. I guess I'll figure it out as I go.

I just finished reading the first book in the Hunger Games trilogy last night.

It was a great read, and I would recommend it. I've heard the next two books in the series are inferior to the first one, but I'm going to read them anyway. I find it a bit strange that this series was written as YA, or geared toward teenagers. The violence and dark themes in the first book alone are disturbing, and I've heard the other two are even darker.

I've read the Twilight series and the Harry Potter series, and when I'm done with all the Hunger Games books, I will give my unsolicited verdict and comparison of them all. But as far as repeated readability goes, so far Harry Potter has the edge. I can read those books over and over, but the violence and misery of the Hunger Games is not something I want to revisit a lot. The Twilight series was enthralling on first reading, but I find that once or twice is enough. Plus, I'm over the vampire phenomenon. Enough already.

Right now the office where I work is undergoing a renovation. I am temporarily relocated, to an area very close to the servers. This doesn't sound like it is of any consequence, but servers are loud. They constantly whirr, and muffle every sound that I need to hear, like the phone ringing, people's voices on the phone, etc. And with the construction going on, all day I hear electric saws, drills, pneumatic hammers, random bangs and booms that make me jump, and the loud convos between the construction workers. By the end of the day, I am so relieved to get out of there and have some peace and quiet. 

Website recommendation: I like reading the Dear Prudence advice column over on Slate's website; for some reason, reading about other people's dilemmas and Prudence's advice for them is highly entertaining to me. If you're interested in reading it, go to www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence.html She posts on Mondays and Thursdays.

Just for squeals, here's a picture of a squirrel snuggling with puppies that a co-worker forwarded to me today:

If you're not squealing and overcome by the adorableness, then you are a robot.


Well, that's all for my first post. Thank you for reading.