I have always been an eater. And now I have an excuse.
I wasn't always fond of cooking, but sometime during my senior year in college I picked up the habit and now it is one of my favorite ways to relax. Or it was before it hurt my back to stand for more than an hour. Thanks baby.
B and I always try and eat at home during the week. We tell people it is because we are cheap, but really we are lazy and like to be at home. Eating dinner in our pajamas watching TV.
Because of this, any given Sunday I can be found at the grocery store trying hard to make the trip the only one I make during the week. Most weeks, I am lucky if I only hit the grocery store an additional time.
A few weekends ago, while at home alone as a hunting widow, I happened to flip to Rachael Ray's new show, Week in a Day. I know she is a polarizing personality, and I really haven't made many of her recipes, but I thought the idea was pretty neat. So last week I gave it a shot. But kind of cheated too.
Last week, we had B's family goulash (I have not idea how that is spelled) which is completely different than my family's version, but really quite good. We also had crock pot gumbo, another favorite of our house. How did I cheat? I made enough goulash for 3 dinners and gumbo took over another 2 nights, which gave us a bonus night. I was pretty proud of myself because it is virtually impossible to have leftovers in this house as I married the original bottomless pit. B will sit back in defeat claiming fullness, and I will find him an hour later with his head in the fridge.
Anyway, I was very happy that I was able to make the goulash on Sunday afternoon and prep the gumbo recipe so all I had to do on Wednesday morning was dump and heat. This week I am trying again, but this week involves more cooking. As I type, I am 1.5 meals down of 3. This week will be Swedish meatballs, crab cakes, and turkey burger casserole. Also this week, I am basically cooking everything all the way, except the crab cakes which are mixed and refrigerated, and the stored for use this week.
If this week works out as last week did, then I will have no excuse for not working out, even on nights when I don't leave the office until 7 or later. This makes me very happy.
So, I wanted to ask the 3 of you out there that read this, do you have any good casserole or crock pot recipes I should rotate in? I am desperate to come up with some sort of menu rotation that expands out choices of food past 2 weeks.
Also, later this week, there will be a shoe post, and as of now, none are being shilled by a shoe cult. I am very excited about it.
Happy new week!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Passive Aggressive
*Unrelated Note of Importance* Gina is alive and well, I promise. She recently went back to our former profession, which sounds worse than it is, but this is considered "busy season" and she is lucky to see her house, dog, or fiance for more than 4 hours a day. That and the fact that she is diligently planning her wedding, makees her an unreliable blogger for the time being. She will be back. Promise.
So I am going to tell you a little story. It starts like this.
Once upon the early summer of 2010, there was a girl, relatively unknown to most, who was in a seemingly abusive relationship. After all, when she cried "it is never okay to hit a woman, ever" everyone listened. As they should. She received lots of support, but decided not to go into details with most as to what transpired that fateful night.
A few months later, this girl was given the gift of happiness yet again and she announced to her friends that she was happy yet again and sporting some shiny new hardware on that all important finger. Again, not wanting to pry too much, her friends offered their genuine congratulations and kept their surprise at the timing well hidden. She was happy, and timing does not matter.
The wedding planning began immediately, and a date was set. The date was a little over a year and a half, but planning is half the fun, right? Each moment of planning was shared with those around her, pictures of her dress were "ooh-ed and ahhh-ed" by the masses. The engagement seemed to be carrying on perfectly. There were countless date nights and they were publicly affectionate.
The holiday season came and went with updates on new traditions being born for their future family as well as the initiation into each other's family happenings.
Then suddenly, with no warning to her friends, an announcement was made that she was in a dark place, stricken with grief and mourning over what could have been. Questions were asked, but none were answered for days. Eventually she explained to those that cared for her that she would contact them when she was ready, but please do not contact her. This was met with understanding and many began to assume the loss involved the engagement.
Days passed and suddenly the second (third?) stage of grief was entered full steam. Anger, honest anger was spewed towards the former loved one. This went on for about a week, then acceptance moved in. After acceptance came the rationalization. To herself, likely, but to her friends definitely. Friends were asked to not bash the former flame, to let her move forward and grow from the experience. So far, everything seemed to play out as it should.
Then the bashing returned. And along with the bashing, the accusations of potential stalking and horrible acts. None described in detail, but the allusions were clear as day.
Finally, she reprimanded her friends for discussing her story with others. And shame on them for asking questions and did someone really just speak to one of his friends? How dare they!
Is this familiar to anyone else? Reminiscient of a high school breakup perhaps? Or gossip overheard by a teenager speaking loudly on their cell phone?
For me, it is the musings of a Facebook *friend* who I have absilutely no memory of from wherever it was I once met or knew her. As an aside, I have an accept policy on FB for anyone I recognize or that more than a handful of my good real life friend's have confirmed. I also freely use the Ignore button, but I have kept these posts unhidden for the entertainment value alone.
I don't consider anyone in any sort of abusive relationship a form of entertainment. In fact, I sent a private message to the girl last summer to offer help if she needed it. I also don't doubt her story in any way, lest I be accused of that. The moral to my story is really only that I am offended you chose to berate me and your other 367 friends for "not respecting her privacy by sharing her page with others (obviously this was directed to someone other than me as I am just now writing this post!)" and "keep your opinions to yourself as they are clearly irrelevant and if they differ than mine feel free to use the ignore button." Really? You tell me and the equivalent of the population of West, TX 3 times over every freaking detail of your life, but we aren't respecting your privacy?
Good grief.
And here I am waiting for her next post. There is a 50-50 chance she is "turning over a new leaf and leaving the past behind with love and respect." My money is on "You can all go to hell for staying friends with the ex." She is due for a pissy comment any minute now.
Do you have *friends* like these, or am I the only lucky one?
*also, spell check isn't working, so I apologize for all horribly splled words. Way too lazy to proof read*
So I am going to tell you a little story. It starts like this.
Once upon the early summer of 2010, there was a girl, relatively unknown to most, who was in a seemingly abusive relationship. After all, when she cried "it is never okay to hit a woman, ever" everyone listened. As they should. She received lots of support, but decided not to go into details with most as to what transpired that fateful night.
A few months later, this girl was given the gift of happiness yet again and she announced to her friends that she was happy yet again and sporting some shiny new hardware on that all important finger. Again, not wanting to pry too much, her friends offered their genuine congratulations and kept their surprise at the timing well hidden. She was happy, and timing does not matter.
The wedding planning began immediately, and a date was set. The date was a little over a year and a half, but planning is half the fun, right? Each moment of planning was shared with those around her, pictures of her dress were "ooh-ed and ahhh-ed" by the masses. The engagement seemed to be carrying on perfectly. There were countless date nights and they were publicly affectionate.
The holiday season came and went with updates on new traditions being born for their future family as well as the initiation into each other's family happenings.
Then suddenly, with no warning to her friends, an announcement was made that she was in a dark place, stricken with grief and mourning over what could have been. Questions were asked, but none were answered for days. Eventually she explained to those that cared for her that she would contact them when she was ready, but please do not contact her. This was met with understanding and many began to assume the loss involved the engagement.
Days passed and suddenly the second (third?) stage of grief was entered full steam. Anger, honest anger was spewed towards the former loved one. This went on for about a week, then acceptance moved in. After acceptance came the rationalization. To herself, likely, but to her friends definitely. Friends were asked to not bash the former flame, to let her move forward and grow from the experience. So far, everything seemed to play out as it should.
Then the bashing returned. And along with the bashing, the accusations of potential stalking and horrible acts. None described in detail, but the allusions were clear as day.
Finally, she reprimanded her friends for discussing her story with others. And shame on them for asking questions and did someone really just speak to one of his friends? How dare they!
Is this familiar to anyone else? Reminiscient of a high school breakup perhaps? Or gossip overheard by a teenager speaking loudly on their cell phone?
For me, it is the musings of a Facebook *friend* who I have absilutely no memory of from wherever it was I once met or knew her. As an aside, I have an accept policy on FB for anyone I recognize or that more than a handful of my good real life friend's have confirmed. I also freely use the Ignore button, but I have kept these posts unhidden for the entertainment value alone.
I don't consider anyone in any sort of abusive relationship a form of entertainment. In fact, I sent a private message to the girl last summer to offer help if she needed it. I also don't doubt her story in any way, lest I be accused of that. The moral to my story is really only that I am offended you chose to berate me and your other 367 friends for "not respecting her privacy by sharing her page with others (obviously this was directed to someone other than me as I am just now writing this post!)" and "keep your opinions to yourself as they are clearly irrelevant and if they differ than mine feel free to use the ignore button." Really? You tell me and the equivalent of the population of West, TX 3 times over every freaking detail of your life, but we aren't respecting your privacy?
Good grief.
And here I am waiting for her next post. There is a 50-50 chance she is "turning over a new leaf and leaving the past behind with love and respect." My money is on "You can all go to hell for staying friends with the ex." She is due for a pissy comment any minute now.
Do you have *friends* like these, or am I the only lucky one?
*also, spell check isn't working, so I apologize for all horribly splled words. Way too lazy to proof read*
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Stylish New Fashion Trend
This post has no point, and for that I apologize. I am sitting here eating a glazed donut in lieu of doing a yoga DVD, but only because the dog hasn't figured out how to use his new dog house and it is hovering above freezing so I feel bad putting him outside after just letting him in. And everyone knows you can't do yoga with a 130 pound lab interested in what you are doing. So donut and blogging it is.
Pajama pants in public. That is what I want to talk about.
Over the holidays I did a little shopping around town and noticed this trend. At the time, I thought maybe these kids were college students home on break and all of their decent pants were being washed at their parents house and so pyjama pants had to do in a pinch. Ok, fine. At least you are somewhat covered, but I reserve the right to side-eye you for trying to tuck your polka dot flannel pants into your Uggs.
Then last night, I was picking up dinner for B and I at a local grill/burger joint. As I walk out, in walks 3 high school age girls. One wearing jeans and a big coat. One wearing a short skirt, bright colored tights and a long sleeve shirt. She looked cold, but also looked as though she put some thought into her outfit. Kind of as if she wanted to look cute in case she ran into some boy she had a crush on. I mean, why else would a 15 yr old brave 30 degree temps in little more than a flimsy layer of rayon?
The third girl? Pajama pants. And a long-sleeved t-shirt. Not even a hoodie. The other two looked like they could have just come from a library, while this one looked like she was woken from a deep sleep. Bad hair and all. Hopefully her teeth had been brushed within the last 12 hours, but I wouldn't have put money on that.
At the time I wondered if her friends were embarrassed by their hobo-esque tag along. The I had the chilling thought that maybe this was a "look" and then I silently prayed I was incubating a male and would only need to worry about the inevitable "I don't care if it is considered 'cool' but you will not have that Bieber hair cut and no son of mine will have hair reminiscent of a Beatle, ever!" Girls can be hard, I was one.
Anyway, tonight I stopped into the grocery store on the way home for my short list of things the house was in need of (re: milk and dog food) and in the process of forgetting the dog food, but picking up a 6 pack of glazed donuts (seriously $1.99 for 6 totally beat out the $0.39 each in the case), I saw another unfortunate soul dressed for slumber. And this one was post high school age. I think. She was wearing something which looked an awful lot like a letterman's jacket, but without the patches, so I couldn't really tell. Anyway, girl was in too tight t-shirt, ragged grey pajama pants, and flip flops. Oh, and the pleather jacket missing the school identification.
Seriously, WTF? Pajama pants as acceptable outerwear?
I get the yoga pants thing. For one, if you are wearing something equally as casual on top, it can never be discounted that you are on your way to or from the gym. Yay you. Second, yoga pants are generally figure friendly. Pajama pants? Even the girls in VS look a little bit frumpy in the magazine. *Sidenote - the girls in VS are like 6 feet tall, yes? Why then when I order pajamas from VS, the pants are ankle height, if not higher, and I am only 5'6?*
Maybe yoga pants were the precursor to pajama pants. Kind of like the shiny metallic windsuits from the early 90's were the precursor to tracksuits? No?
And now there are pajama jeans? Woah. "The stylish new fashion trend!" Oh goodness. I almost want to buy a pair to make fun of them, but I don't want to waste $39.95... even with the promise of the free t-shirt.
I am lazy by nature, so I get the throw on the closest thing way of life, but generally that means you still change clothes after you get out of bed. At some point, at least, before you leave the house. Right? Am I just crazy?
Pajama pants in public. That is what I want to talk about.
Over the holidays I did a little shopping around town and noticed this trend. At the time, I thought maybe these kids were college students home on break and all of their decent pants were being washed at their parents house and so pyjama pants had to do in a pinch. Ok, fine. At least you are somewhat covered, but I reserve the right to side-eye you for trying to tuck your polka dot flannel pants into your Uggs.
Then last night, I was picking up dinner for B and I at a local grill/burger joint. As I walk out, in walks 3 high school age girls. One wearing jeans and a big coat. One wearing a short skirt, bright colored tights and a long sleeve shirt. She looked cold, but also looked as though she put some thought into her outfit. Kind of as if she wanted to look cute in case she ran into some boy she had a crush on. I mean, why else would a 15 yr old brave 30 degree temps in little more than a flimsy layer of rayon?
The third girl? Pajama pants. And a long-sleeved t-shirt. Not even a hoodie. The other two looked like they could have just come from a library, while this one looked like she was woken from a deep sleep. Bad hair and all. Hopefully her teeth had been brushed within the last 12 hours, but I wouldn't have put money on that.
At the time I wondered if her friends were embarrassed by their hobo-esque tag along. The I had the chilling thought that maybe this was a "look" and then I silently prayed I was incubating a male and would only need to worry about the inevitable "I don't care if it is considered 'cool' but you will not have that Bieber hair cut and no son of mine will have hair reminiscent of a Beatle, ever!" Girls can be hard, I was one.
Anyway, tonight I stopped into the grocery store on the way home for my short list of things the house was in need of (re: milk and dog food) and in the process of forgetting the dog food, but picking up a 6 pack of glazed donuts (seriously $1.99 for 6 totally beat out the $0.39 each in the case), I saw another unfortunate soul dressed for slumber. And this one was post high school age. I think. She was wearing something which looked an awful lot like a letterman's jacket, but without the patches, so I couldn't really tell. Anyway, girl was in too tight t-shirt, ragged grey pajama pants, and flip flops. Oh, and the pleather jacket missing the school identification.
Seriously, WTF? Pajama pants as acceptable outerwear?
I get the yoga pants thing. For one, if you are wearing something equally as casual on top, it can never be discounted that you are on your way to or from the gym. Yay you. Second, yoga pants are generally figure friendly. Pajama pants? Even the girls in VS look a little bit frumpy in the magazine. *Sidenote - the girls in VS are like 6 feet tall, yes? Why then when I order pajamas from VS, the pants are ankle height, if not higher, and I am only 5'6?*
Maybe yoga pants were the precursor to pajama pants. Kind of like the shiny metallic windsuits from the early 90's were the precursor to tracksuits? No?
And now there are pajama jeans? Woah. "The stylish new fashion trend!" Oh goodness. I almost want to buy a pair to make fun of them, but I don't want to waste $39.95... even with the promise of the free t-shirt.
I am lazy by nature, so I get the throw on the closest thing way of life, but generally that means you still change clothes after you get out of bed. At some point, at least, before you leave the house. Right? Am I just crazy?
Friday, January 7, 2011
Things I have learned about being pregnant
I swear this blog will not turn pregnancy on you. But it is kind of consuming my thoughts lately, so you might get stuck with it once in a while. I promise to warn you so you can skip right over, m'kay?
So I have read a lot of pregnancy blogs, and blogs where people got knocked up, and I have 3 nieces and have been very active in their lives. I felt like I had a *good* idea of what to expect. And mostly I have been ok, but let me tell you there are things I never knew about.
1. The no allergy medicine.
Seriously, WTF? I can't breathe. I am sneezing constantly. It happens to be mountain cedar time and on a scale of 1 to 10, I am about a 12 on allergic to MC. And grass, which basically means there is no off-season for my sinuses.
2. The acne
Oh Em Geezlouise, my skin. Not to brag too much, but I have always had pretty good skin. People remark on my skin all the time. Apparently I had no idea how good I had it because 29 years of minor acne has come back to explode ALL OVER MY BODY. I am gross. B offered to buy me a massage, but I would feel too guilty that someone would have to touch that. Gross. Oh, and the fancy Neutrogena Skin ID I was in love with? Can't use it because it has Salicylic Acid in it. Or benzoil peroxide, which is a no-no. But seriously, if you are looking for a product to clear your non-pregnant skin, I highly suggest Neutrogena Skin ID... great stuff.
3. Pregnancy Tests are not all or nothing
So I joined a pregnancy/baby site about the time we started attempting this whole process. This is where I learned more about my cycle than I have ever known before. I also learned there are commonly used acronyms such as BD (baby dance) and POAS (pee on a stick). I find BD creepy, but think POAS is hilarious. I don't know why.
I digress. Did you know that just because you don't see a second line on a pregnancy test that you still might, in fact, be pregnant? You did? I didn't. But there are people out there that have skillz in the photo editing scene that can take a pregnancy test that 3 years ago I would have seen and immediately followed up with a "Phew, who wants to go to happy hour?" and after turning the photo kind of glow in the darkish can find a second line. And these lines turn into positive tests in a few days? Blew me away.
4. Other pregnant people are really cranky
On this same site is a community board where you can shoot the constipated (yep, another fun fact) sh*t with other baby makers. These people have opinions. And their opinions are that everything you are doing is wrong. I hear this phenomenon continues into motherhood, so I guess I should buy a few more pairs of big girls panties that I keep hearing people say to put on.
4.5 In Laws
Also, these same people have an entire board dealing with crazy in-laws and families. Train Wreck. And addicting. I highly suggest the next time you find yourself bored and tired of facebook, sign up for baby-center and watch the fireworks. Unbelievable.
5. Exhaustion/Sympathy Pains
These wouldn't normally go together, but at my house they do. I have always been a napper. I love to sleep and have no problem spending a Friday night in bed at 8:30. Sleep is my favorite hobby. But man, I have never in my life been this tired. Luckily B is exhausted too. It may be due to the hormonal shifts he accuses me of having every day, I don't know what he is talking about, but I am ready for bed early. He is typically the first to suggest lying down for the evening. I had to put my foot down Tuesday when he suggested this at 7:12 pm. In his defense he had no idea what time it was, and had I not looked at my watch, I would have been all over that idea. He has also been in need of more back rubs lately due to unknown reasons as well as no longer sleeping. I don't sleep either thanks to the psycho dreams this baby gives me, so I think he has sympathy insomnia. Which is BS because he can take Ambien and I cannot.
Anyone out there have any other warnings for me? I think I am handling this pretty good so far, but what do I know. Apparently I am doing it all wrong anyway!
Happy Friday, and if you get some spare time to nap, please do so with me in mind. I am trying to stockpile all the sleep I can, even if it isn't MY sleep!
So I have read a lot of pregnancy blogs, and blogs where people got knocked up, and I have 3 nieces and have been very active in their lives. I felt like I had a *good* idea of what to expect. And mostly I have been ok, but let me tell you there are things I never knew about.
1. The no allergy medicine.
Seriously, WTF? I can't breathe. I am sneezing constantly. It happens to be mountain cedar time and on a scale of 1 to 10, I am about a 12 on allergic to MC. And grass, which basically means there is no off-season for my sinuses.
2. The acne
Oh Em Geezlouise, my skin. Not to brag too much, but I have always had pretty good skin. People remark on my skin all the time. Apparently I had no idea how good I had it because 29 years of minor acne has come back to explode ALL OVER MY BODY. I am gross. B offered to buy me a massage, but I would feel too guilty that someone would have to touch that. Gross. Oh, and the fancy Neutrogena Skin ID I was in love with? Can't use it because it has Salicylic Acid in it. Or benzoil peroxide, which is a no-no. But seriously, if you are looking for a product to clear your non-pregnant skin, I highly suggest Neutrogena Skin ID... great stuff.
3. Pregnancy Tests are not all or nothing
So I joined a pregnancy/baby site about the time we started attempting this whole process. This is where I learned more about my cycle than I have ever known before. I also learned there are commonly used acronyms such as BD (baby dance) and POAS (pee on a stick). I find BD creepy, but think POAS is hilarious. I don't know why.
I digress. Did you know that just because you don't see a second line on a pregnancy test that you still might, in fact, be pregnant? You did? I didn't. But there are people out there that have skillz in the photo editing scene that can take a pregnancy test that 3 years ago I would have seen and immediately followed up with a "Phew, who wants to go to happy hour?" and after turning the photo kind of glow in the darkish can find a second line. And these lines turn into positive tests in a few days? Blew me away.
4. Other pregnant people are really cranky
On this same site is a community board where you can shoot the constipated (yep, another fun fact) sh*t with other baby makers. These people have opinions. And their opinions are that everything you are doing is wrong. I hear this phenomenon continues into motherhood, so I guess I should buy a few more pairs of big girls panties that I keep hearing people say to put on.
4.5 In Laws
Also, these same people have an entire board dealing with crazy in-laws and families. Train Wreck. And addicting. I highly suggest the next time you find yourself bored and tired of facebook, sign up for baby-center and watch the fireworks. Unbelievable.
5. Exhaustion/Sympathy Pains
These wouldn't normally go together, but at my house they do. I have always been a napper. I love to sleep and have no problem spending a Friday night in bed at 8:30. Sleep is my favorite hobby. But man, I have never in my life been this tired. Luckily B is exhausted too. It may be due to the hormonal shifts he accuses me of having every day, I don't know what he is talking about, but I am ready for bed early. He is typically the first to suggest lying down for the evening. I had to put my foot down Tuesday when he suggested this at 7:12 pm. In his defense he had no idea what time it was, and had I not looked at my watch, I would have been all over that idea. He has also been in need of more back rubs lately due to unknown reasons as well as no longer sleeping. I don't sleep either thanks to the psycho dreams this baby gives me, so I think he has sympathy insomnia. Which is BS because he can take Ambien and I cannot.
Anyone out there have any other warnings for me? I think I am handling this pretty good so far, but what do I know. Apparently I am doing it all wrong anyway!
Happy Friday, and if you get some spare time to nap, please do so with me in mind. I am trying to stockpile all the sleep I can, even if it isn't MY sleep!
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