Blogging in the Shower

Some people sing......I Blog.....well, in my head I do. I think of all these things I want to blog about, but then I guess busy with life outside the shower and I forget about all my great shower ideas. I know I came up with 3 different ideas, but the only one I can remember was that I come up with these great blogging topics in the shower. Now, if someone could make a waterproof laptop, then I think I would be in business. Hmmmmm.......surfing in the shower. It's not enough that I (I say I, but really we both do it with our won laptops) sit on the couch surfing as we watch anything on tv, you know I once even took my laptop and did some surfing while I was on the stationary bicycle. Maybe I am addicted to surfing.....do you think there are support groups out there for chronic surfers? You know, as a therapist, if I could overcome my addiction to surfing, maybe I could start this support group....nah! I like surfing too much. In a way, it replaced my addiction to shopping, but sometimes I get in these ruts where I shop online A LOT or buy on eBay A LOT, then I just have to tell myself that I have enough of everything and to knock it off. Blogging may have replaced my online shopping, although I still do frequent eBay A LOT, but I just don't buy as often.

The Countdown Begins

I am getting so excited! I have refrained for quite a while from looking at the places we are staying in Costa Rica, but that's all done. I am looking now. I just love the first place (Hotelito Si Si Si ). I know we are going to love it there. I know this not because it looks fantastic, but one of the Innkeepers, Joan Inman, has been absolutly wonderful. We have been corresponding over the past few months and she has just been a delight. She repsonds to my emails within 24 hours and answers all of my questions and has been very accomodating. Plus they have internet access there, so I can keep my blog updated as to what is happening. People say that you should leave cell phones and computers behind when you vacation so that you can relax, but I have found that if I an't check my email I get stressed. The first time we went to Costa Rica we checked email twice and I remember feelings such a sense of calmness after checking my email. It is just a necessary part of my life. I've actually paid for all 4 nights here already. They take paypal, which is ever-so-convenient.

Our next 3 nights is at the Hotel Aurora Inn. I have to go get some cash out to pay for this place. It's $39/night (taxes included). What a deal! This place will be more of adventure, as we have not seen pics of the inside of the room. I had emailed to guy about getting pics,but he said they had someone make their website. They are definitly not as technology inclined as the first place. The pool looks nice enough. I have a feeling that some of the pictures of the view are not going to be as close as they appear, so with that in mind I don't think I will be disappointed. The thing I am afraid of is that the beds at this place are a Double. Most privately owned small hotels & B&B's in Costa Rica have double beds. We can fit in a double, but we are so used to our king that even a queen can be cramped (I usually get kicked, as Andy likes to spread his legs out, and he's a big guy {6'4} and has a lot of length.)

These 3 nights/days should be an adventure as we have not been to the volcano & rain forest areas before. And as we look at properties that we might be interested in purchasing in the future, we are more drawn to the area around Lake Arenal. I don't see us purchasing anything soon, but hopefully someday.

Our last night is at a Best Western Casino (El Sitio Hotel & Casino) in Liberia. They have live entertainment & a cocktail lounge, so I am sure we will enjoy our last evening in Costa Rica.

All 3 places we are staying at have outdoor pools, which was a must. The weather is just so great there that we want to be sitting outside. I don't care as much about being on a beach because I don't need to swim in the ocean as much, I just need a convenient place to get in the water when I am starting to get warm. The other cool thing about all 3 places is that we have breakfasts included in the rates, which is always nice because then that saves on the food costs, and they always have lots of fresh local fruit, local coffee, and other yummy food.

Right now, as I type this the weather is:
Liberia: 88 degrees (Where we will fly into and spend our 8th night)
San Jose: 82 degrees (which is further south than we will be)
Tamarindo: 82 degrees (where out first 4 nights are)

I can't find a temp for near Lake Arenal. I think the temp there is dependant on the wind level, because the more wind the cooler it is because the lake will cool the air.

We rented a car from Dollar Rent A Car. We reserved an Intermediate Car, which they say is a Nissan Sentra or similar.

Right now the Exchange Rate 1 Dollar = 467 Colon. This is over 100 colones more than when we were there in 2002. Excellent! Such a great rate. Although, a lot of places what dollars rather than colones because of the value.

Yeah! This should be fun.

Time to Move My Ass

Actually - the title has more than one meaning.

1st - I changed my blogger name from Local Jewish Ass to Lame Shrill Owl (an anagram of a different combination of my names)

2nd - I am feeling chubby. I need to start working out more. Bah! I wonder if I can find someone to join one of the clubs in the area with me.

3rd - It's time to go to bed. Since it was snowing all day, I rarely moved off the couch to do anything (just to eat, shower, do a little bit of dishes, and shovel the sidewalk and in front of the garage.)

12-14 & Still Counting

We're between 12-14 inches of snow at our place........within 30-40 minutes away they are at 16.5 inches (in Rochester & Albert Lea), and it's still coming down. Andy is glad that we didn't sell the truck & plow like we were planning. It would be a bitch to shovel our yard. Actually, if we had to shovel our driveway, I think we might just stay locked up in our place until it melted. I have enough food in the pantry, shelves, fridge, & freezers that I don't think we would have to leave for quite some time.

So, we'll see what the final total is tomorrow. Looks like my in-laws (northern suburbs of the Cities) got about 2 inches.

You should see our stupid dog. She just loves the snow, but it's up past her belly. But she just runs around in it and rolls in it. She gets even more retarded around snow. It's funny.....she hates water and generally refuses to go out in the rain and hides on the other side of the house if we are washing our cars or watering the lawn or gardens.

Maybe I'll get out there and take a picture of the snow, just so you can see how much there is. It's just amazing.

Free Day of Camping at KOA

I know some people who read by blog like to go camping, so I thought I would post what I found. It's a free night (Friday, May 13th) of camping at select KOA campgrounds.

Here is the full list by state. It also lists what type of camp sites are available.

Here is what is in MN & WI .

Minnesota
Albert Lea/Austin - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In, One Room Kabin
Bemidji - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Cloquet/Duluth - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In, One Room Kabin
Jackson - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Minneapolis Northwest - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Moorhead/Fargo - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Rochester/Marion - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
St. Cloud/Clearwater/I-94 - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
St. Paul East - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In

Wisconsin
Fond Du Lac - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In, One Room Kabin, Two Room Kabin
Hayward - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Hixton/Alma Center - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In, One Room Kabin, Two Room Kabin
Madison - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Rice Lake/Spooner - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In
Wisconsin Dells - Tent, RV Pull Through, RV Back In

I imagine these will go fast. You can make your reservations for this right online.

More Tests

So, after taking that age test (& while waiting for dinner to finish cooking) I decided to take some other quizzes.

Try them out:

You Are What You Eat! It says I will probably maintain my weight and preserve the health of my arteries. I win the Gold Medal!

What Do You Taste Like? Very interesting quiz. Not what I expected. Apparently I taste like chilis. Maybe 'cuz I answered the one question that I wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant & drink coronas.

How Evil Are You? Very interesting Questions. I am Neutral.

Which High School Stereotype Are You? Guess what - I am a Blonde. Hmmmmmm.....

How Old Do You Act?

I first saw this on Alison's website. Try it out. I act 33 I guess.

You Are 33 Years Old

33 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

The Conference

Well, I went to 2 full days of conferences. Yesterday, I went to the sessions on:
1) Borderline Personality Disorder
2) "Drafting" or in laymans terms - Not Burning Out
3) Sensory Integration Disorder

Todays conferences were:
4) Early Onset Schizophrenia in Childhood & Adolescents
5) ADHD Co-morbid with Bipolar Disorder
6) Psychopharmatherapy & Bipolar disorder
7) The Black Box: Suicides & Antidepressants

Tomorrow there are 2 more sessions, but we are expected to get 12 inches (yes, I said 12) of snow in our area starting tonight and going through tomorrow. I think I might just be staying home.

Session #1 was really good. It was 3 hours long, but didn't seem like it. I was actually able to take away some different techniques that I can use with the kids I work with. And the stories were sad, wonderful, and inspring all at the same time. I totally could think off all the kids that I work with that are borderline. They certainly are ones that are challenging.

Session #2 was right after lunch and I just didn't want to sit through, but I did and I did take away some words of wisdom. This guy (Nick Mezacapa, who is now a priest, after years of being a teacher and surviing prostate cancer and holding one of his children in his arms as she died) said that he had a short list about life:
1) Life is short, do it now. (He said he never gave last rites to anyone who said they wished they had bought one more Porche, but lots who said they had wished they followed their dreams.)
2) Keep it simple. (When life gets to complicated, you lose sight of what you are really after because you are too distracted by everything else.)
3) Play. (Have fun and play. Life is worth enjoying if you are having fun. And then he proceeded to make us all get up and dance for an hour.)
4) There was a 4th thing, but for the life of me. I can't remember it right now.

Session #3 sucked so bad. This person obviously had never presented to a group of people before. Her affect was very flat (I was beginning to make my own diagnosis of her) and she was BORING! I wanted to poke out my eyes to keep things interesting.

Session #4 was pretty good. I have a kid I work with whoh is schizophrenic, but is in the recovery phase. But there is another kid that is in the premodoral stage and they are considering schizophrenia as his diagnosis. So it was interesting to here it talked about and think about those kids.

Session #5 was kinda boring. It was just ok. I didn't really learn anything I didn't know.

Sessions #6 & #7 were both by the same guy , Joel Oberstar, who turned out to be someone I went to undergraduate school with (he graduated 1 year ahead of me.) It was really informative for me, as I need to learn more about psychopharmatherapy. I learned quite a bit from this one. He presented it in a down-to-earth manner, which was nice. As by the end of the day I was sick of listening to big words.

I also liked all the booths. I was able to learn about all these placements my kids may have gone to, might go to, or maybe will never go to.

Links to my Special Someone

You know - Andy has some presence out there on the worldwide web. I thought I would highlight some of them.

First is his Ulgly Omni Project. He is keeping a blog about it. I booked marked it on the side. You can see the pictures of the car sitting in my garage. He says it will be pretty when it is done. See, when I met Andy he drive a red Dodge Omni and I joked that my price drove up in a red Dodge Omni rather than riding up on a white horse. I wonder if he will paint it red. I was saying blue with those long white stripes (2 of them) extending the length of the car. Maybe he should go red with those white stripes.

Next is Andy's Geekfest (GF2K5). He & his friends have done a few of these at our house already. I think this is the 4th one here. It was supposed to be at someone else's house. They all would promise after each one that they will have it at their place next, but when it comes time to actually planning it, they are a bunch of pussies and can't ask their wives if a bunch of geeks with computer can come over and play video games all day & all night. So, here we are again - having it at our house. I am such a good wife. Usually what happens is there is a group of about 10 guys that come over with their computers, network them althogether, and start playing games around noon and end somewhere around 3am. I usually try to find something to do, but don't go to far away. You don't ever leave a group of guys alone for too long - you never know what kind of crazy ideas they will come up with.

The first year I went out to dinner with my neighbor Cindy for prime rib and a carafe of wine, then down to the City owned bar to get completly shit-faced and come back and embarass our husbands. That first year the guys had to bring their own food & we had a couple of crocks of stuff 9I think chili cheesse dip and sloppy joes). Don't let guys decide what they want to bring on their own, as they will have an abundance of chips & cheese & beer. What you have then is guys fighting between constipation and beer shits, not pretty! The 2nd year we assigned people stuff to bring. In theory this would have worked, but then some people cancelled at the last minute and they had some important stuff. That year I went out with my sister Steph, my friend Kate & her friend Cheryl to the muninical bar "muni" and then back here to play some pool and drink margaritas (mmmmmm!). The 3rd time I decided that the guys would give me money and I would make all of the food, which consisted of snacks, desserts and a complete taco bar. Now, that was a pain in the ass. Luckily, my mom & sister (well, I don't think Steph helped out much, I think she watched cartoons) helped chop veggies. We went shopping & out for dinner and then watched TV in the basement.

Now, this year, I am not sure what I will do. I think we are back to Plan 1 (we make a crock of something & you bring whatever you want). I have mentioned to my friends that I am looking to go out that evening (& day). So, I will have to check with them as the day gets closer.

The next link is Andy's website. Some of you may have noticed that his Blogger name is Mean Dr. Lily. His name is basically the same as my Local Jewish Ass. So, his birthday is next month and I bought the domain name and webspace as part of his birthday present and obviously he has already recieved it. He just started this website and is a bit of perfectionist, so the progress may be slow.

Ok - that's it.

Mmmmm.....Food....

Well, I had this old blog about my soap opera life that I have not blogged on in a log time that I finally deleted and now started a new one call Mmmmm.....Food........ I will put a link on the side bar for it.

Places to go

So - I am trying to decide where I want to go out to eat for my birthday. As I am looking I am starting to develop a list of places I want to go sometime (just not for my birthday). Some of these places I will have to go with friends, as Andy would not be interested in them.

* Mel's Beauty Bar (Mpls)
* Wild Mint Sushi Bar (Crystal)
* 13 Moons (Robbinsdale)
* St. Croix Music Cafe (Stillwater)
* Winzer Stube German Restaurant (Hudson, WI)
* Da Afghan (Bloomington)
* Little Tel Aviv Cafe & Restaurant (Minneapolis)
* La Bodega Tapas Bar (Minneapolis)
* El Azteca (Apple Valley)
* Rockin' Lobster (St. Paul)
* Spice Thai Cuisine (Savage)
* La Fougasse (Bloomington)
* Martini's (Mpls)

I am deciding between these places for my birthday: Da Afghan & La Fougasse. I think I am leaning towards Da Afghan.
These are all places in the Happenings Book, so there are BOGO free.
So, who wants to go where with me sometime?

Manicures & a Martini

I had never heard of Mell's Beauty Bar before. You pay $15 for a manicure or a chair massage and you get a drink with it. Sounds like fun little outing to do sometime. Plus you can stick around and eat a gourmet wood-fired pizza. I am so doing this sometime.

Philadelphia Trip in July

We are going to Philadelphia in mid-July for our friends', Kendra & Tim, ewdding vow renewal ceremony. They were married 5 eyars ago by their fathers (both are ministers) at Kendra's parents home and they had a reception afterward in which everyone in her family spent a lot of time making all the food.

So, this time they are going to have a ceremony & big party. It will be at the Sedgeley Club. We booked our planed tickets. We opted to fly Midwest Airlines mainly because when I went to visit them 2 years ago I flew that airline and really liked the seats and the warm chocolate cookies. Mmmmmm......

We have not booked our hotel yet. We were waiting to see where they decided to have the ceremony and reception before we made reservations. I have found this Philly Travel Site to be helpful.

Three Winners

So, Three Winners is like the Happenings Book. I have already been using quite a bit in the Happenins Book. I read about Three Winners in the paper yesterday. They have the same similar concept, but a different twist on it. The twist is that you either print the coupons from the internet (which you can do with Happenings if you buy the online membership) and/or you can pull up the coupon on your cell phone (as long as you have internet access on it) and then they will use your phone to verfiy the coupon and click the buttons so that you can't use it again. The other thing that is nice that the coupons are good for a year from the date you purchase -- where as the Happenings Book is good for a year based on when they printed the book (November-November). Although right now you can get the Happenings book for half price.

Bad Blogger

I have been very neglectful of my blogging of recent. I have not been posting here much and have not been reading my other favorite blogs either. It's not just the blogging that has been neglected, I notice that my workout have diminished quite a bit (& then I complain about getting fat - sometimes I think I should have a kid just to have something to blame the fat on.)

I don't think I have many excuses to be so neglectful. I could blame it on TV. There is just so much I want to watch. I can't wait to see American Idol and who gets voted off tonight. Although because of the class I teach and then rushing off to play volleyball afterward on Wednesday nights, I never get to watch the breakdowns and all the tears. I have to scour the net and find a post someone put on a board to find out the results, because I can't wait until until American Idol updates their page. So, after watching the last 2 shows, this is who I think will get booted and not make it to the Top 12: Janay Castine, Mikalah Gordon, Anthony Fedorov, & Bo Bice. My prediction for the overall winner is Nadia Turner. Last year I said it would be Fantasia and I was right. Not that I have a particular talent in figuring out who will win American Idol.

I am so ready for our vacation. I don't want to wait another 2 weeks. I want to go tomorrow. It's been a tough week already. There was a kid that committed suicide this weekend and he was friends with several of the kids I work with. It's difficult working with people and grief and with the death is a suicide is 10 times more difficult. Ok - I am done talking about that just cause it just makes me feel sad and stressed that the same time.

So, this year it's been 10 years since I graduated from high school. Shit! I am getting old. Emails have been circulating about planning something. And we are trying to plan several events so that people can come & go to what works for them, and also being mindful that people have kids. Shit! People have kids. It's not like that just dawned on me. The kids have been there since right after graduation (in some cases - Shit! some classmates have 10 year olds). Wow! It just doesn't feel like I am getting that old. When I work with my kids at school I get feedback that they like talkinmg to me because I understand them and am not as old as their parents. Although manyt of the parents of these high schoolers are anywhere from 4 years older than me to 10+ years older. Sometimes the kids think I am younger than I am. Usually they think I am about 23 (how come the fat ass doesn't give it away that I am almost 30 - well, I should not get ahead of myself, I am only turning 28.) It should be interesting to see what gets planned, as when the 5 year was planned, we had to plan it so there were options regarding what people what to do and how much they wanted to spend. I graduated with a class that could not decide on a class color (it was Rainbow - yes, I am serious) because no one could get along enough (so many opinionated people in our class of about 40) to actually decide on anything. Our fucking graduation looked liked a damn gay pride festival. I guess the actual events are not what I will be surprised at, it's who will attend. The people that attended were the ones that were expected to attend and there were a few people who surprised us. The people who didn't come, well, I tend to think that maybe they just weren't ready after 5 years to see their classmates again. Hopefully that is different this time around. Hopefully, everyone is grown up enough to accept people for who they are.

I've seen classmates periodically throughout the years. At weddings, at a local bar when I go home for a weekend, or married into my family. But there are some people I have not seen since graduation. Ok - enough of that rant.

"Oooohhhhh, do do do do doooooo....Hey, Get You Car Washed Today, Get You Car Washed Today!" Sing it Christina! I started using Andy's old MP3 player and I just love it. Although I think I may have to get an iPod, as this just doesn't hold enough songs.

So, my birthday is next week. For some reason I am excited about my birthday this year. I am not sure why. Usually I am not. I had some bad birthday experiences and got a distaste in my mouth for them, but the past few years they have been pretty cool, so I think I have just changed my mind. The plan for my birthday this year is to head to the Cities and go out to dinner (I think I will pick something Andy would never want to go to otherwise - I am thinking Thai or Indian) and then to ACME Comedy Club (some friends that live in the Cities are joining us) and then we got a hotel room. Andy has to work the next day and I am going to a 3 day conference in Bloomington, so this just seems to make sense. The cats will have to make do without us for a night. So, I am excited because it should be fun.

So, next week Wednesday through Friday I am going to a conference. There are so many good topics I am interested in. The problem is choosing just which ones I want to go to more. The evening events look fun too, although I play volleyball on Wednesday night so that is out. And then Thursday Jessi is going to join me at the events and I'll go crash at her place that evening (rather than driving back so late and having to drive back again early in the morning.)

Ok - this is a freaking long post. Guess that is what happens when I become neglectful.

Birthday Freebies

Hey - my birthday is coming up and I want some free stuff. Actually I was just looking for a bunch of stuff to do and don't want to pay a lot of money. So, I thought I would post my findings since i worked hard at them. But I guess you really need to be living in the Twin Cities area to take advantage of these first ones, but I have a bunch of others listed as well.

Wild Onion in St. Paul -- TONS of freebies for the day of your birthday or on the Tuesday or Wednesday of your birthday week. Free meals, pictures, t-shirts, drinks, wings, etc.

ACME Comedy Club in Mpls -- Free admission for you & 5 guests

Chanhassen Dinner Theater in Chanhassen -- You get a $15 off coupon for your birthday, but sign up for their email club and they will email you other promotions as well

List of Lots of Places with Birthday Freebies (some of them I have blogged about or have links below)

Applebees (pretty much all locations) gives you a free dessert, locally it has been a sundae in a mug.

Famous Dave's (multiple locations, must see if your locations participates, which you can do online) Pig Club

Fuddrucker's - sign up for their email club here, looks likes you get a free burger for your birthday

Timberlodge Steakhouse - I believe we did this last year. Sign up on their website and they will email you a coupon. I think it was a BOGO Free meal.

Steak and Ale - They have sent us $5 off coupons for birthday and anniversary.

Red Lobster - has a Overboard Club - says they will be sending you something special for your birthday.

TGI Friday's - Join their e-Club and get a free appetizer, this comes in your email right away.

Tony Roma's - Sign Up for their Roma Rib Expert. They ask for your birthday, so we'll see what I get.

Hollywood Video - Free Rental

Papa Murphy's - says you get a Special Birthday Gift

I might not have to cook for the entire month. If I find more I will post them, but right now Andy just made breakfast and I am hungry (mmmm.....French Toast......mmmmm!)

This doesn't really have much to do with birthday freebies, but I stubbled across it and it's a
keeper: Thirfty Hipster

Tan in a Can, Death, Birthdays, Snow, Karaoke Star

Wow! It has been a long time since I blogged. What a title that is -- isn't it? Maybe I will just address them in that order.

Tan in a Can: So, I was reading in one of my magazines (I subscribe to A LOT) about a review for the new sunless tanning sprays, specifically aerosol mists. I went to Target to see what they had and they had the Neutrogena Micro-Mist. I bought a can and tried it out. I have tried lots of different brands of sunless tanning and I have to say this is now - by far - my favorite. Here's why I like it: you spray it on and in 5-6 minutes you are dry and dress and are on your way, it goes on very easy, you only need to use your hands to rub it on your face, it looks more consistent (almost too consistent), you don't have any ugly finger nails from having it get in your cuticles, it doesn't take long, and BEST OF ALL -- it does not rub off on your clothes. You know how some rub off, this hasn't. I have worn white socks, underware, & bra and they are all still white. I used the version that is 2 shades darker, there is also 3 shades darker. I think I look much better with tanned skin. I was getting pretty pasty. The only down fall is that when you use it on the weekend and come back on a Monday, people tend to notice you are tan and not ghostly white. But if I keep it up, it should be fine. One can lasted for 3 applications.

Death: It's been a tough last week. We just got 2 new kids in the program, both with dads who died drawn out complicated deaths within the last 2 years and these kids never dealt with the grief and it is really interfereing with their lives. Another kid's dad died last week & we took a group of kids with us to the funeral (talk about working on social skills -- so important!) and we have another kid, whose dad is very sick and dying. People just expect that a therapist is just going to "snap" these kids out of it -- which is extremly frustrating, because I have nothing to do with it. Grieving is an extremely personal thing and it can take some people a veeerrrryyyy long time. I am merely there to offer guidance & support as they work through the stages of grief. But there has just been so many kids struggling with grief put in our program that it can get a little overwhelming. That's all I'm saying.

Birthdays: The first 5 months of a the year has a lot of birthdays, at least for me. My parents just had birthdays -- just turning 49. One of my grandpas had a birthday -- turned 78. My birthday is around the corner -- almost the big 28. My youngest sister is nearing 22. Andy will turn 29 a month after me (next year he will be the BIG 3-0!), my other sister will be turning 24, my grandma has a birthday coming up too. It's like it's not enough that I go broke from Christmas, but then to be followed by all these birthdays. Can we say -- poor?

Snow: I am just sick of it. Can we be done with winter? I know that our part of MN did not even get half what we got last year & what we really sould have gotten (although I think Duluth made up for our lacking in snow.) I am sick of the cold, the wind, the ice, & the snow. And out Costa Rica trip is still 23 days away. Damn it!

Karaoke Star: Ok - I am not exactly a star and I will never try out for American Idol (especially since I am almost too old for it anyways.) I recently got the first volume of Karaoke Revolution. I still like volume 3 better, but I needed some new songs to sing. Volume 2 looks good and I want it too. I am cheap, so I don't really want to pay much for it, certainly not what it is selling for on eBay. People are paying new prices for a used product. I just pre-ordered it on half.com, so we'll see. But anyways -- the last couple weekends have involved Karoke Revolution (actually I think it may have been the last 3 weekends) and this weekend will not exception. I am hosting a work happy hour (yes, therapists & psychiatrists can get down and let loose -- although, take that back I have yet to see one of the psychiatrists come to a happy hour -- but therapists -- they can get crazy.) So, Karaoke Revolution is on the docket, as well as Dance Dance Revolution. My supervisor, who is 50, recently bought DDR and loves it. I think she will completly put me to shame with it, as I am not very coordinated when it comes with organized dance steps.

Ok - time for a nap before the next person comes over to pickup stuff. I got rid of stuff (A BUNCH!) on Freecycle and 2 people came last night, another person came right when I got home and I know there is 1-2 more people stopping by to get stuff tonight. Then most of it will be gone.

Lucy in the house - where it's warm.
Another Picture to See

Molly in the snow.
Another Picture to See

Andy making Larry stand in the snow.
Another Picture to See

Harry Up Close
Another Picture to See

My snowman is Jewish.
Another Picture to See

My Snowman - Harry.
Another Picture to See

Larry trying to take a nap (one of many!)
Another Picture to See

Andy's Project Car
Another Picture to See

Quack!
Another Picture to See

New Hairstyle

2-3 times a year I get in this funk where I want to change my hair. I am not sure what I want to do, I know that I just feel like my hair needs a change (again!)

So - my hair is naturally curly, so I need to limit my considerations to that. Right now I have long layers that go just past my shoulders. I haven't had bangs since high school and I am considering having bangs cuts, but I know I will want to grow them out again and I hate that in between stage where they are both too long and not long enough to do anything with. I hate those in between stages in anything, and I especially don't want to purposefully put myself in a situation that I might not look good for a while.

So, here are some celebrity curly hairstyles. But they have people helping them do their hair and making sure they look perfectly -- well-- perfect. I also don't like it when bangs are in my eyes. Maybe getting bangs cut is not such a great idea. Are bangs in or out? I read that full hair with body is in and the stick straight stuff is out (so, at least I got that going for me.)

Usually what I end up doing is changing the color and getting a trim. My hair is pretty much a dark blond with highlights of light blond, red, & brown in it. I was thinking of going lighter again. Our trip to Costa Rica is in little over a month and I need some warm-weather beach hair.

Need help?

Try Shrink in a Box! Weird.

The Weekend Chronicle

Friday night Andy & I went out to Applebee's for a late meal and then were home and in bed by 10:30. I was exhausted.

Saturday morning and early afternoon consisted of making stuff for that evening, doing laundry, dishes, & clean the house (the normal weekend stuff). That night I had a Ladies Get Together and we had dinner together, went & saw the play "A Diary of Anne Frank" (it was freaking hot in the theater and someone farted - not one of us - but someone near us - luckily there was no air movement and the smell did not drift to us.) Then back to my place to have snack and drinks some cosmopolitons (& when I ran out of vodka, we swicthed to Boone's that Jessi brought - I used to drink a lot of that stuff when I was in college in my sorority) and singing karaoke with Karaoke Revolution for the PS2. 1:30 came and everyone had left (except Jessi - she was spending the night.)

Today I managed to sleep in until about 10am, although was bothered many times by Larry the cat and at 7 had to get up and give him some food. He's a bitch when he's hungry and has no food. I made some banana bread, worked out, made breakfast, planted some more seeds (flowers) & put them in this 4-tier greenhouse I bought from Fleet Farm, did more luandry & dishes (these seem to never end), took a sauna, went over to the outlet mall and got Andy some clothes, and finally came home and sat on my ass in front of the tv.

Wedding Dresses

Well, they decided on the bridesmaid dress. Here is the bride's dress (my sister Miranda). I still have to go and buy my dress and get fitted for it. Everyone else ordered there's already.

Costa Rican Cuisine

Interesting tidbits about Costa Rican Cuisine.

Weeks 7 & 8 of 8-Week Plan

So, here is what you need to add to what you are already doing for the next 2 weeks.

Week 7
Have cooked greens twice this week
Increase walking to 40 minutes
Breath exercise 2x daily
Connect with an estranged friend
Volunteer

Week 8
Take Tonic (recipes in the book)
Increase walking to 45 minutes
Week Long News fast
Forgive someone
Buy flowers for yourself and for someone else
Review the changes you made and make realistic plan for yourself

Yummy Recipes

I am making (or actually, just made) these recipes for tonight. I am having a Ladies Night (Andy's at a Guys Poker Night). There are 4 of us starting out with dinner at our place, then we are goingt o see the play "A Diary of Anne Frank" and then we'll come back here and be joined by some others & party into the night.

So, on the menu for tonight is salad, garlic bread, spaghetti w/ veggie & meat sauce (I put a ton of veggies in here -- zucchini, both yellow & green; onions; fresh mushrooms; black olives; spinach; garlic; tomatoes), plenty of red wine, and for dessert -- Carmel Bars (recipe below).

And I know my friends -- when we come back we will want to have snacks. I'm not friends with people that are little eaters. I don't think I could be friends with a little eater because I am a big eater, and well, you know what it feels like to hang out with a little eater and you are a big eater and you feel you are expected to eat little and then you are just dying of hunger inside. So, what I have lined up for snacks is some extra special guacamole & chips (& leftover carmel bars I am sure). So, my extra special guacamole recipe is below as well.

Now - the Carmel Bars recipe I first tasted at that baby shower I went to a couple weeks ago & asked for the recipe (Damn! My house smells so good right now from making these). I gotta warn you though - it is very rich. It's not an every day type of dessert.

Carmel Bars
50 caramels
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 2/3 cup flour
1 2/3 cup oatmeal
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
½ tsp soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup soft butter (melt it a little bit)
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Melt caramels & evaporated milk. Mix all other ingredients (except chocolate chips) together. Spread 3/4 of mixture in bottom of sprayed 9x13 pan. Bake 15 minutes @ 350 degrees. Remove from oven & pour caramel mixture over crust. Sprinkle chocolate chips over caramel mixture & sprinkle balance of crumb mixture over top. Bake 15 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Now for my extra special guacamole recipe. I start out using Bearitos Guacamole Seasoning packet (in the natural foods section, but you could use another brand). The recipe on this just calls for the mix & 2 avacados, but I have NEVER done just that. I have a thing about always having to change a recipe and make it my own, even it is is just a little (I did change the top recipe a little too - I just can't help it.) Now, back to my guacamole -- I usually just add some salsa & sour cream, but this time I took it even further and it is fan-freaking-tasttic. So, here's my recipe:

Extra Special Guacamole
1 packet Guacamole Seasoning Mix
2 avacados
1 T sour cream
1 T salsa
1 T red onion (chopped very small, I use a food processor)
1 tsp. cilantro (chopped small, in the food processor again)
1 roma tomato (chopped small - just go ahead and throw this in the food processor too)
1/4 tsp. lime juice

Directions:
Add packet to bowl with a flat bottom. Scoop out & remove pits from avacados and add to bowl. Add salsa & sour cream. Using a masher, mash the contents of the bowl to a consistnecy you like.

In a small food processor start by processing just the cilatro. When it looks like it is near your desired size, add red onion and process with that until desired size. Finally, add the roma tomato to food processor and hit the pulse buttom a couple times. Add this mixture to the bowl. Sprinkle top of guacamole with lime juice & stir everything together. Let sit for at least an hour so that the flavors can mix. Serve & enjoy.

5 More Minutes

Only 5 more minutes until work lets out. Yeah! Although I have a dentist visit afterwards.

We had a kid that totally tweaked out the other day, throwing tables, pushing chairs, punching file cabinets swearing profusely (lots of the f-enheimer) and slamming the door. Needless to say he got a little vacation. You could tell though that this kid was in control of himself, as he made sure not to hit anyone, although he culd have accidently. He comes back tomorrow, we'll see if he apologizes to staff & the other kids.

One kid I was meeting with was having peer issues and she so badly wants someone to like her that she ignores the very obvious lies and manipulation. I gave her some advice yesterday & some unwanted observations (she would rather have had me not say anything, but I did) and today she pulls me aside and is like "You were totally right about him." And I'm just like "So, this is the part where I say I told you so - right?" She laughs and says "Yes and proceeds to tell me about the next issue."

Time to go.

6th Week of 8-week plan

Here's the run down of what to add. You can look at previous posts if you want to see what you should be doing already.

Add:
Cooked Greens 1x this week
Increase walking to 35 minutes
Increase news fast to 4 days
Visit an Art Museum

Now I am not sure I'll get to an Art Musuem, but the purpose of the exercise is to exposing yourself to something beautiful, inspirational, & creative. I'm going to go see "The Diary of Anne Frank" at the local theater, so I think that could count just fine.

Kallen Sleeping 

Weekend Part #2

So, the second half was not nealry as thirlling, but we did stay busy.

Yesterday evening we went to a Candlelight Hike at the local state park. You could hike or cross country ski it, but there was just not enough snow. It was a nice walk. It was neat listening to the wind in the trees and seeing the glowing candles in the containers. They had a bonfire going at the beginning of the trail and that smelled so good and made me want to go home and start a bonfire int he back yard. It was a good night for a walk in the woods by candlelight -- not too cold. It was fund stopping periodically and making out on the trail.

After that we stopped at La Tapatia and picked up some food (some Gorditas & Ceviche). We have not seen any restaurant in the US have Ceviche on their menu. We fell in love with it when we first went to Costa Rica. Then we just watched a bunch of movies on cable.

Today - we got out of the house and went to Plaza Morena. It was their 2nd Anniversary and they had 50% off everything today only. So, the 2 of us packed away 4 different Mexican beers (Andy) and a raspberry margarita (me) and pina colada (me), lots of chips & salsa, combo #1 (Andy) & shrimp fajitas (me) and then came home. The Super Bowl is on now and New England is about to win.

Weekend - Part #1

I guess I technically started my weekend early -- on Thursday -- even though I had to work on Friday.

Thursday night I went over to Kate's house and she made tacos for us. Her & Cathy (who happens to be my tax accountant) planned this girls night out a few weeks ago. We went to this hotel called The Grand. There were 6 of us (me, Kate, Cathy & 3 of Cathy's friends). They have karaoke in their bar on Thursday nights. We had plenty of wine to drink before we got there so I was plenty buzzed. I knew people were expecting me to sing Baby Got Back, as Kate promised them as much. Cathy & I didn't expect each other to be as fun as we are, as we only ever knew each other in the business sense. But we all had a blast. Kate & I sang "our song" Goodbye Earl. And then I sang Baby Got Back & all the girls got up and started waving their tails around to the rest of the people there. We sang Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, which was totally not in any of our ranges. Then I sang I'm Too Sexy and once again the girls got up to strut their stuff. Kate tried singing Flashdance because she knows I just can't resist doing some type of interpretive dance to that song. She laughed so hard that I don't think she got even 20 words out. Then Kate sang something else that Carrie & I danced to (we were funny!). We ended the night with singing Happy Birthday to Carrie. So - of course all of this was with additional beverages. Then back to Kate's house for snacks. Needless to say, I was very tired Friday morning (as well as hoarse, my voice may have been able to pass for Barry White's - this always happens when I sing too much and strain my voice and am in a smokey bar.)

Last night, Andy & I headed out for a little getaway. I bought this "Getaway Package" to the Best Western in Menomonie, WI. It included a pizza from their lounge & 2 movie passes to a local theater. Actually - I am typing this entry at the hotel as I wait for Andy to get ready (he's slow this morning - very sleepy). We went to see Aviator. I thought it was just an ok movie. It was just shy of 3 hours. So, soon as he gets ready we head back home, with a few stops in the city. It was a nice little break from home, used the hot tub, and got to sleep uninterrupted from the cats, which is always nice.

I will post Part #2 later (after it happens.) Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Timberlodge Appetizers

Get Apps for a Buck at Timberlodge. (Yes Andy, I said apps.) You can go through the website and sign up to get this coupon and they send you the coupon in an email & they give you this link. It's the same link for everyone.

We used this on Saturday and got some wings(w/ celery & ranch & blue cheese dressings).

I am sure I will use one again next time we go, as long as the link posted here is still good.

A-OK

Had a physical and annual exam yesterday. Everything looks good. My blood pressure was great (105/58). A year ago I went on the "Patch" for birth control and it raised my blood making me hypertensive; I was not comfortable in my own skin having that high of blood pressure. Needless to say I did not use that form of birth control very long.

Had to get some shots too. I needed new tetnus and I asked to start the Hepatitis A series (series of 2 shots given 6 months apart). I got one in each arm, so they are a little sore.

Tomorrow I need to go into the lab to get my blood drawn to have a cholesterol check done. Last year it was borerline high, so that's not good. I've been walking a lot more and been taking supplements that are supposed to help with cholesterol, so we'll see how they have helped. You have to fast for 8 hours to have the test done, so I couldn't get it done yesterday as I had my appt shortly after lunch.

Companies that Piss Me Off

Andy told me last night that we are going to HAVE to move to Costa Rica because there will be no companies left soon in the U.S. that I will do business with.

I hate Sprint. They just steal your money with all sorts of charges. We don't do business with them anymore and won't do business with them again. See - that's what happens - I get pissed and that's it, no more business with them. They probably don't want to do business with me either.

Then there is this local plumbing company. This one particular company really pissed me off. They were double charging on the trip charges and extra time on the labor time and I just didn't want to be taken advantage of. BTW - I HATE TRIP CHARGES. WTF! So, anyways, I started out talking calmly to this woman there about the charges and I was getting no where and asked to speak to a manager and she refused - the bitch - and so I started to get mad and then she started telling me I should not get upset and should lower my voice - that pissed me off even more. So, I filed a complaint with the BBB and got money back for the extra trip charges, but they said they only charge for FULL hours, so I had to pay for 2 hours when it was only 1.25 hours. Bastards. I don't do business with them anymore. I have not had good experiences with plumbers and have a general dislike for them. Poor Andy had to learn how to do all sorts of plumbing since I don't like them. I hate the idea of paying $250/hr. on a weekend or a night because my pipe burst. We actually had to pay that once but luckily we had this insurance thingy that the sellers gave us and that covered it.

So now, my latest target is Dell. I have wasted 2 hours of my life online with them, 30 minutes on hold on the phone (which they never did pick up and I had to settle for online), 4 days of an unusable laptop & now another 2 weeks of an unusable laptop. First off, if they would give one customer undivided attention they could get done with the chat thing in 10 minutes, but instead last night I was there for 1 hour 11 minutes because it was 2-4 minutes between responses, and those were busy work stuff that did not solve anything. Now I have to wait for them to send me a box so that I can send my computer back and it will take up to 9 days for them to fix it (that's what they say, but the phone also said I would have up to a 10 minute wait and I was there for 30 minutes and still had no help.) I also hate that any Dell part or Dell ink for the printer HAS to be bought from them. You cannot buy it from any other place (except maybe eBay - you can find anything there and it's a very dangerous place for me, at times I am very addicted to Ebay.) So, I still have no working laptop. For some reason it is not recognizing the adapter and is only running off the battery and the battery runs out of juice. So, I am sure I am bound to get more pissed off before I get a working computer. I don't ever want to buy another Dell product just because their customer service sucks so bad!

There is also a seller on Half.com (elephant something) that I don't like. They sell a lot of stuff there and usually have the cheapest prices, but they cancel a lot of orders because "they don't have it anymore" (jackass - take it off your inventory then) and they FORGET to send out your stuff. I had this happen to me twice (both times I ordered several books from them at the same time). Luckily I always have gotten refunded through half.com, but it takes a LONG time to get your money back. So, now I just don't buy from them. Always check out feedback of people on half.com & ebay. That is what it is there for. There are some crummy people out there. I have to say that half.com has been good about refunding for crummy sellers and paypal has gotten my money back a couple times when sellers did not ship their products (so - kudos to half.com & paypal - both eBay companies.)

I am sure there are plenty more companies out there that piss me off, but that's the list of ones I won't do business with anymore because they piss me off so bad. Why put myself in a situation that I may potentially get upset? It makes no sense to me.

Lazy Weekend

Andy & I went to eat some Chinese (Lo-Mein - a favorite) at Long Cheng's and then went to Javalive (a coffeeshop) to see their free live entertainment, Kicking Pharmeceuticals (a punk band).

Saturday, we drove to the Cities so that Andy could pick up some parts for his project car. They we stopped at a new natural food store & an Aveda salon on the way home. Dinner was at Timberlodge.

Sunday I went to a babyshower and that was the highlight of my day.

A pretty dull weekend if I may say.

Week 5 of 8-week Plan

Ok - Now you need to add the following to what you are already doing.

Note: There were optional items that you can do each week, but they are optional (like fasting) and I did not include them in my list. You can buy the book if you want to find out what they are and do them.

Add: ginger tea, increase walking to 30 minutes, increase news fast to 3 days, listen to uplifting music, take a sauna.

I am actually enjoying the news fasts and am really enjoying the flowers.

Plastic Surgery

Tonight I was watching this show on Discovery Health about Plastic Surgeries before and after and this one woman got a breast augmentation because 1) her breasts were different sizes and 2) they were very droppy. The doctor doing the consultation and surgery measured the droop in her breasts and said that they want the breast at about 22" (measuring from the collar bone to the nipple). This woman on the show was measuring 31". Wow! That's 9 additional inches of droop. That's crazy. Of course I had to measure mine and see where I was at. I'm fine.

I am starting to notice lines on my forehead more now. I am not sure if they have already been there. Not noticing any wrinkles, just the lines. But now I will watch if they get worse or are just there. I wouldn't be opposed to plastic surgery in the future if I felt I needed it, but that time is not right now.

Week 4 of the 8-week plan

Soemthing have been easy to do, others a little more challenging, and other things I have already been doing.

So, as before, add this to what you have already been doing:
* Eat more garlic
* Increse walking to 25 minutes
* Contact someone with a healing (healed) experience
* Get an Air filter (at least one for the bedroom)
* Check out your bedroom & mattress and make sure there is no disturbances and you can sleep comfortably

Last week I was not able to get in the 5 times walking. I only did my walking 3 times and did yoga once. I have no excuse worthy of typing why I did not complete the rest.

I have been liking buying fresh flowers. Today I bought a pot with pink tulips in them. The potted plant cost as much as the cut flowers and they are just beautiful. Almost makes me forget about all that snow outside.

I've been trying to cut back on the exposure to news, as it does seem like everytime you see a commercial for a news program they are telling you about how your children (or yourself) are all going to die and you better tune in to find out what you can do to prevent that. I can do without all that.

And I didn't really replace meat twice a meat with soy products, I just started adding them in, like soy milk, black soy beans, mix some tofu in the scrambled eggs, etc. Although I have really started to watch the portion sizes of the meat I am serving and keeping them to reasonable portion sizes (3-4 oz.)

I did notice that when I didn't take my vitamins this morning (& waited to this afternoon) that my energy was zapped and the flowers to make me feel nice.

A Good 8 Inches

Ok. So, maybe it wasn't 8 inches. I didn't measure it. It could have been 7 inches, or it might have been 9 inches for all I know. All I know is that it's the biggest I've had all year. I think it had Andy baffled too, as he was pushing it all over the place on both Friday & Saturday. And Andy was so willing to offer his services. I am sure the neighbors really appreciated it. And when he was done, they could just go about their business. He even offered his services to the little old lady with the bad back who lives across the road. After Andy was done she was not going to have a bad back that night. Although, he didn't really offer, it was more of he just went ahed and did it. You should see all the piles of white stuff all over the place. It's just amazing. I would have never thought there would have been so much, and that was just from Friday. I am still not sure what we are going to do with all those piles. I was playing around with it, but it's not the good sticky kind that you can make balls with. So, after I was done throwing it at the dog I was done with it.

We pretty much had to stay inside all Friday because of it. It just would not stop. It was about over when we decided to go to bed, but that is when all the blowing started. I am not sure I am ready for anymore, but it might be happening again this week. I hope that this time we just don't get so much snow. You knew that was what I was talking about all along - didn't you?

The Milk Man Delivers

It's for the Twin Cities area and does not go any further south than Lakeville/Elko. Andy & I saw the milkman truck when we were last in the Cities and I was just reading about it in one of my mags and thought I would check out what's online about it - and sure enough. You can get fresh milk delivered to your house the same day. I am so jealous we can't get this.

Dumb Ass Ways to NOT Break the Law

If you are going to break the law and get caught, then be a dumb ass about it so that we have something entertaining to read about in the paper and talk about it at work. Here are the Dumb Ass Ways to NOT Break the Law:

1) If you are going to steal beer, don't pass out at the scene.

2) If you are going to be transporting drugs, don't commit minor traffic violations.

3) If you are going to pass yourself as an actor, make sure you know what country they are from.

4) If you rob someone, don't call them back and ask for a date.

5) If you are in prison, take what you get. Beggars can't be choosers.

6) If you are going to sue Mc Donald's, make sure they don't have a reason to counter sue.

7) If you are working security at an airport, make sure you don't get caught stealing. Who is the security from airport security?

8) If you don't want to get arrested for animal cruelty, then don't bring a van full of sick & dead animals to the police.

9) If you want to keep your kid, don't dangle them out of a window. You are not Michael Jackson and don't have the money to pay many lawyers to get you out of trouble.

10) If you are going to chase down a bus because they forgot your kid, you might as well just drive them there yourself. Don't be such a Dumb Ass!

Too Young for a Baby?

This whole post was spurred on by a comment I was going to leave here:

As a disclaimer: I am not against those who have children; I'm against the pressure on me to have children. I don't intend to offend anyone with my post.

I'm turning 28 pretty soon and am childless and know what you are talking about. I want kids sometime in the future and we're talking about it, about starting to try in about a year and even though I am thrilled at the prospect of being a mom I am also scared out of my wits. I'm too young to be a mom. I feel like a kid myself yet, but I know seeing my age makes some people think "Why are you still waiting?" All of my co-workers are older than I am and all have kids and make me feel bad that I have a social life and buy new purses and and shoes like it's nothing. There are some days I feel completly like SJP's character, Carrie, in Sex in the City , with the exception that I am a little bit more settled (have a husband & a house.)

I have co-workers asking me "When are you having kids? You know you aren't getting any younger." Gee! Thanks for reminding me. I never felt old before this year. It's like the closer I get to 30, please need to remind me of that fact. The good thing is that all my co-workers are older than me and I can remind them that they are still older than me.

But then I get the comment from a co-worker "What's wrong? Are you guys having trouble conceiving?" WTF? The dude that asked me that was someone I had only been working with for a couple of months. I tell him that we are not even trying and are still in the practicing stage and aren't quite ready yet, as we are still young. He then goes on to tell me that all of his adult children (who are younger than me) have babies and that I am not getting any younger and I should think about starting soon.

But you know - things change with a baby. Like right now I would not be able to put the amaretto creme liqour in this morning's coffee (or even drink my occasional cup of coffee while being pregnant.)

Yes, I am getting older and people are reminding me of it. My MIL even gave me a Sweet Potato Queens Book (which is a whole other post, as I am still analyzing why she gave me this book as a present anyways) and it's a constant reminder that YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY YOUNGER! But I am just turning 28! I am not there yet, and I am not 30 either.

I had a conversation just yesterday with a co-worker who is 36 and unmarried and at her last gyno appointment they brought up that she is not getting any younger and does she want to make her birth control permanent. Apparently, there is a new method that does not require surgery in which the fallopian tubes get plugged up and prevent you from getting pregnant. She totally freaked and was like, "Wow! I know I am nearing 40, but permanent birth control. I am not sure I am ready to give up on the idea of being a mom in the future."

Now, next Sunday I am going to a baby shower for a co-worker, who in her mid-30's is having her first child and was just married 9 months ago. I am already prepared for the questions of when I will be with child.

On the positive side of becoming pregnant - I can blame my continued weight gain on the pregnancy rather than own up that I just don't work out enough, have a pretty sedentary job, and enjoy sinful & rich foods.

I see how much kids change the lives of my friends - for good and for bad - and well, I see how they cramp the styles of the childless. I think I just got used to my life the way it is right now and don't want to change anything quite yet. I still have some childless memories to enjoy.

But until then I am sure there will be plenty more personally invasive questions about my child-bearing status, more not-so-subtle hints from the MIL, more constant reminders that I am getting OLD, and more guilt trips that I buy stuff for myself. Luckily though, I think my mom is even less ready to be a grandma, so the pressure is not coming from her. She seems to avoid the conversations about us having children, although I know with my youngest sister's wedding & shower happening this summer I will get plenty of questions from aunts & cousins asking when we are having children and reminding me that I have been married for almost 4 years (although, silently I will be thinking that I chose to plan out my life more, pursue a career and become financially stable first rather than trap a guy, make mistakes, and be forever and continually strapped for cash and have to depend upon my parents to financially support my unplanned or naively planned family.) (Wow! That was a load off.)

So, I am sure I am not too young to have a baby, but I am not too old either and it will happen when we are ready or when God thinks its about time (& if that happens, then we will be ready.)

Links Worth Taking a Look at

I was looking through my bookmarks and was organizing them and thought I had some links that others might be interested in. So, here's what I got:
Loan Calulators
Philadelphia Travel Guide (complete w/ discounts - Yea!)
Generous Travel Adventures (Buy a donated travel package and proceeds go to charity. FYI - package on there for rafting on Peshtigo River through Kosir's Rapid Rafts)
Online Calorie Counter (Also, tracks exercise too!)
Be In A Movie!
List of Businesses that Give you Free Stuff on your Birthday
Amusement Advantage (Secret Shopping @ an Amusement Park, although none currently in MN)
Mystery Shop Providers Association (great place to get started finding companies to secret shop for)
Real.com (downloads w/ Realplayer for 49 cents a song)
Random Url (blog that links you to random things - kinda interesting)

My Name

My name on my blog has been brought up for discussion once again. Here is my blog entry about how I got my name.

Seed Exchange

This Seed Exchange is in the Midwest, but there are plenty of other locations (even other countries). So, just surf around the site. I think this is a neat idea.

Alone in the Dark

Today was day 2 of 2 of my days and in our small community the theater is only open when kids are not in school (nights during week days and mights & matinees on weekends and when school is not in session.) Today was one of those school not in session days and I decided to go see White Noise.

A lot of the kids I work with went and saw when it opened and loved it and said it was freaky. So, I decided to see it today. But apparently other people forgot the theater was open, because I was the only person in that theater. So, here I am (sitting smack in the middle of the theater - makes it seem more like it's all for me then) alone in the dark watching a seriously freaky movie. It was a very good movie and if you like suspense you will like this. What I liked was just when you thought it was going to do one thing, it would do another. It literally and figuratively kept you on the edge of your seat.

Ok - gotta go finish my candy hearts. I bought a bag yesterday and they are almost all gone. Yes, I ate them all. Those things are addicting. I need to have my candy heart fix this time of the year, peeps at easter time, and candy corn at halloween time. Ok - they are gone now and my teeth hurt.

Strawberry Bread Recipe

I got this recipe out of The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook vol. 2.

Strawberry Bread
Ingredients
1/2 C. butter
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 eggs, separated
1 C crushed strawberries
2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Directions
Spray a 9"x5" pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and almond extract. Beat in egg yolks. Add strawberries and blend well.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into strawberry mixture alternately with the flour mixture. Turn the batter into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes on a rack. Makes 1 loaf.

No More Burnt Rice

So, several years back it was burnt eggs. Did you ever forget about your eggs boiling in the water only to have them burn and explode all over the place and create a smelly mess? You would think after someone does this once and completly freaks everyone out because they are not sure where the smoke came from and why their is this awful smell of burnt sulfur and they are pretty sure they are going to die from some toxic gas, that they would learn to watch their eggs. But not me! I must have blew up about 5 pans of eggs before Andy politely requested that my brother-in-law who had my name for xmas a few years ago buy me an electric egg cooker.

I absolutly love it. I can make hardboiled eggs and poached eggs and it will stop cooking when it's out of water and no longer are there exploding eggs in my house.

But there have been a few instances of burnt rice, the most recently being last week. It totally sucked and the smell was stuck in my hair and just hung in the air in the house for days. It took several scented candles to remove that smell. I have a microwave rice cooker, but it is always overflowing with water all over in the microwave. It's a pain and I don't like to deal with it. I finally broke down and bought an electric rice cooker. I made rice tonight and it is fan-freaking-tastic. The rice is even sticky like it is when you get Chinese take-out. Yeah. No more burnt rice and no more burnt eggs. I think those are the only things I have trouble burning, so now things should be just fine.

Do you Understand?

So, I was driving around running on errands and I was thinking of words that if you take them apart you can figure out what they mean. So, one of the words I was perplexed by was -- understand.

Here's the defintion of under (basically means beneath, less than, or inferior), and then there is stand (basically means either upright, valid, or motionless), and finally there is understand (basically means to comprehend).

Just thoughts.

Friggin' Freezin'

Ok - I wanna move. I just don't like this cold. If starting over wasn't such a pain in the ass I would move tomorrow. The below zero stuff is supposed to end on Tuesday, but is being followed by freezing rain.

So, Friday night we went to Andy's work holiday party. We opted to not stay at the hotel because of the below freezing temperatures and we did not want to make the dog stay outside in that. Freaking dog ruined everything. Although, we did have a good time. It's great having him work for a big technology retailer, because they can throw nice shindigs andgive away A LOT of stuff. All employees got $10 gift cards, choice of a DVD (on the table) and choice of technology accessory on the table, plus door prizes. Andy's name was one of the first ones chosen, so he got his pick early (which was a KLH speaker system worth about $350 - I think). He was pretty excited about that and set them up. The subwoofer on this set is so much better than our other one.

Saturday we sat inside all day and watched movies on cable. I am not sure I can remember all the movies we watched. Also did some more cooking, made this strawberry bread (kinda tastes like a strawberry angel food bread) and shrimp gumbo, and then spaghetti & a homemade meat sauce.

Today we did manage to get out of the house to run to Papa Murphy's to pick up a pizza. I spent about 2.5 hours rearranging the cupboards in the kitchen, watched some more movies (including "Mean Girls" - which was the DVD I had Andy pic out from the party), and Andy watched the Vikings get their asses handed to them (I just listened to him yelling at the TV - A LOT!)

And now I still have 2 days off of work - one for the holiday (MLK day) and one is a staff development day, but since I am contract I don't really have to go, so I am not.

Week 3 of 8-week plan

In addition to what you are doing for week 1 and week 2, now you need to add:
Another serving of fish
An extra serving of fruits or veggies
soy instead of meat 1x
Vitamin E
Selenium
Up walking to 20 minutes
Add stretching
Read an inspirational book
Make a list of friends you enjoy spending time with
Locate an organic food store
Stop using electric blankets & move alarm clock at least 1 ft. away from head

Freebies

TCBY frozen yogurt

Pacific Chai

Cooking CD-ROM

BOGO Hollywood Video Rental

ACT Mouthwash

Basis Cleaner Clean Face Wash

Biz Laundry Detergent

Naughty 

Special Request: Veggie Recipes

Since I just made these I can remember what the recipes are (plus they are pretty simple):

SPINACH BALLS

1 box of frozen spinach (thawed)
1 C parmesan cheese
1 C fine dried bread crumbs
2 eggs
1-2 cloves minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Form into 1" balls and place in pan. Freeze overnight (or at least 8 hours). Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until brown on both sides. Make sure to turn the balls after about 15 minutes. Serve with a spicy horseradish sauce.

Spicy Horseradish sauce
1 C mayo
1 tsp. horseradish
1/4 tsp. dill weed
5-10 drop of hot sauce

BAKED EGGPLANT

1 eggplant
1-2 large tomatoes
2/3 C shredded mozzerella cheese
olive oil
basil
salt

Slice eggplant in 1/2" slices and sprinkle with salt and let sit for at least 30 minutes (1-2 hours is best). The salt will make the eggplant "sweat" and cut the bitter flavor. After it is does "sweating", squeeze the excess water out of it; you might need to pull the eggplant back into shape. Place eggplant slices on greased baking sheet. Top with 1/4" slices of tomato. Sprinkle with olive oil and basil to taste. Bake @ 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. The last 2 minutes sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. Serve.

Weekend in Review

Here's the run-down:

Friday -- had some friends over for dinner (it was very yummy - apps: spinach balls {kinda like meatballs, but w/ spinach} & breaded cheee curds, salad, Tiliapia, surprise mashed potatoes {cauliflower made to be like mashed potatoes}, baked eggplant w/ tomato, mozzerella cheese, olive oil, & basil). And then we played some games of pool, had some drinks, and then played some Karaoke Revolution.

Saturday -- stayed home most of the day, but in the evening we ate at Applebee's & went to a movie "Meet the Fockers". It was a pretty funny movie.

Sunday -- obviously nothing except blogging, as I had 8 posts yesterday (did you read them?), and I did make a bunch of food (homemade lemon spongecake, homemade lentil soup, sushi rolls, & soaked and cooked some back beans to make pinto de gallo tonight -- a traditional Costa Rican beans & rice dish.)

And now it is Mondy and I am back at work.

Embassy Suites

Andy's work Holiday Party is this coming Friday at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington.

We decided to get a room this year, as our drive is an hour and we thought we would stay and party, maybe have the party room.

And I plan on taking full advantage of the amenities & services:
* The Manager's Reception (sounds like free apps - Andy hates me saying apps)
* Complimentary Cooked-to-Order Breakfast (includes eggs, pancakes, omelet, etc.)
* Kitchen w/ fridge & microwave (we're bringing booze & snacks - no high bar tabs for us)

Should be a fun time, now I just have to decide what I am going to wear.

Rabid Ragdolls

I was searching the internet for my friend's band, Rabid Ragdolls. If you click on the photo page you can see some pictures of Jeni. Since she lives in Colorado & I in MN, I have never seen her band perform. Apparently their face is all painted -- and well, they look like rabid ragdolls. Jeni is the one with the tatoos (leopard print on her shoulders, flames coming up her chest).

I saw Jeni last a couple of years ago when she was in MN visiting. She's been pretty busy with her band and she also bought the bar, 15th Street Tavern, she had been working at & the band played at it.

I should go visit her for a long weekend, although I don't know if I could keep pace with her. I was never really able to keep pace. I am too much of a "8-hour of sleep a night" type of person.

Week 2 of the 8-Week Plan

So - basically do everything from week 1 and add eating a soy product one time this week and start drinking Green Tea (switching from coffee if you drink coffee, or just start drinking it if you do not), start taking a Mixed Carotenes supplement, increase walking to 15 min., visit a nature place this week, take a 1-day news fast (no listening, reading, or watching the news), and find out where your drinking water comes from.

How does analgesic rub work?

I was wondering this as I was putting it on my L calf today (I think I strained it a little exercising the other day.) So, I had to do a little search to find out and I fugured if I didn't know then some other people might not know either, so here it is:

* works by stimulating sensory receptors of heat and/or cold in the skin. This produces a counterirritant response that overrides the sensation of pain in the deeper structures such as joints and muscles.

Top 20

My name is in the top 20 of girl baby names in 2003. It appears that when I was born (70's) the name was beginning to peak and has held top rankings since.

Andy is #5 on the list of boy baby names. Andrew seems to be a pretty popular name that is consistent over time. His middle name is rated #2 and has been consistently popular.

Good thing I never owned a red car

So - another thing I got from that blog I read. It's on the Dumb Network. Here are some laws in Minnesota.

Apparently there must have been some issues about crossing state lines with birds on your head, as you cannot have a duck or chicken on your head.

And in Mpls you cannot drive down Lake Street in a red car. When we lived in Mpls we were not far from Lake Street and went down it frequently.

And in Virginia, MN you cannot park your elephant on Main Street. Who the hell has their own elephantg?

Here are some laws in Wisconsin.

There are a lot of laws regarding butter substitutes. I guess Wisconsin is really serious about being the dairy state.

In Kenosha no male may be in a state of arousal in public - funny.

There are some in Sheboygan that Steph & Jason(I know you are in a neighboring town, but you might move back) might want to check out:
* Only police officers may shoot birds in the city.
* No person may water his lawn in such a way that anoys their neighbor.
* It is illegal to swim in the Fountain Park fountain. (Did you ever do this?)

It's good to know that in Sun Prairie it's illegal to manufacture nuclear weapons in the city limits.

And in St. Croix, woman can't wear red in public --- hmmmmm.....sounds like a challenge to me!

Finding a New Job

Saw this on this blog I read. I made 35 cents in the time Brittant Spears made $334.20.

What's even more depressing is this:
Me: 35 cents
Brittany: $334.20
Oprah: $1,280.38

I didn't even make what Oprah's change is. Poor Brittany only makes about 25% of what Oprah makes.

A Change in Plans

Our Costa Rica plans changed a bit. We are staying 4 nights at Hotelito Si Si Si on the coast in Tamarindo first and then we are staying at Hotel Aurora Inn in Tilaren for 3 nights (this location is a change) and then the final night at one of the Best Westerns in Liberia.

We changed from the other place in Tilaren, as I was not getting a response back from them and when I called there I spend quite a bit of time trying to explain why I was calling and they just could not understand me. So, we may or may not have a reservation there, but I have not been able to find out if we do since they are not returning my emails (sent 3 of them requesting confirmation of a reservation). So, I found a different place.

New Dress Choices

So - we have not decided on bridesmaid dresses for my sister's wedding yet (on July9th) and we really need to order the dresses in February. They are looking at David's Bridals now and have 3 choices (all basically cost the same.)

I don't think I like this one as the ribbon around the upper hips might make them look bigger and the last thing I want to do is look fat. I won't wear a dress that makes me look fat.

This one of the 3 choices is my fave. The dresses will be in lilac.

This would be my 2nd choice. I kindof like the tea length. And I might be able to wear this one again since it is tea length, so maybe this one would be better.

What do my blog readers think?

Need I Say More 

A Carrot Tan

My friend Kate has been drinking carrot juice, as something healthy to consume. She noticed (after a couple weeks), as well as others did too, that she looked somewhat tanner (& when you live in MN in the winter I am sure any amount of color is noticable.)

Drinking carrot juice has tremendous health benefits and it's pretty decent. Although, if someone is not used to eating carrots, don't like them, or doesn't eat that many "healthy" foods, then they probably won't like carrot juice, or it could take a while to get used to it. I, for one, like it.

So, anyways - I was interested in this whole turning "orange tan" and found some stuff online about it. The most interesting was this woman who conducted her own 1 month experiment and took pictures each week. Very interesting. There is a noticable difference, but not too noticable. Actually - the whole website is pretty interesting. The experiment was completed about 4 years ago.

Hmmmm.....

Brittany in the News

She's Back. She's Leaving. She Should Leave. She's Gone.

A Hat for Larry

Check These Out!

I think I like the leopard one best. The Anne's Housekeeper is cute too. They all are.

Crest Whitestrips? Colgate Simply White?

Anyone ever try the Whitestrips? Did they work? They are kind of pricey (if they don't work very well), but certainly cheaper than what the dentist will do. Anyone know of any harm these may cause to your teeth?

What about Colgate Simply White? Anyone use that one? Which is better?

2 More Months Until Sopranos

Their next season will start airing on March 7th with 13 new episodes. I am so psyched. Yeah!

8 Weeks to Optimum Health

I am in the process of reading 8 Weeks to Optimum Health by Dr. Andrew Weil. A lot of the stuff I already do, but some of it I do not do as frequent as he recommends. So, I thought weekly I would post his recommendations (for the 8 weeks) in case someone wants to follow along or are curious. Although, I suggest buying the book. It is very good and very informative.

So, for week one these are the recommendations and what I will try to do:
Diet: Broccoli 2x, Salmon 1x
Supplements: Vit. C (1000-2000 mg)
Exercise: 10 min. walk (5x/wk.)
Mental/Spiritual: list of illness/injuries recovered from past 2 years, Breath Observation (5min/day), Buy Flowers
Project: Throw out oils, artificial sweetners, artif. Colored, Buy olive oil, canola oil & seasame oil

In case someone is going to do this as well, I will list all the supplements needed, as if you are buying them it is easier to buy them at all once than order them separately:
Vitamin C
Mixed Carotenes
Vitamin E
Selenium

The back of the book has different recommendation for specific populations (over 50, over 70, under 20, men, women, pregnant or considering pregnancy in the future, parents of young children, living in big cities, travel often, overweight, cardiovascular disease risk, & cancer risk). So, you really need to read the book to find out what you need if you are one of those. My specific populations include women & considering pregnancy, so these are the supplements I need to add to the above:
Calcium
Magnesium
Folic Acid
Floride (possibly, need to talk to my dentist, as we only drink bottled water)

I already take an E, Folic Acid, & a Multi.

I'm Sooooo Glad It's Not 1955

The Good Wife's Guide from Housekeeping Monthly.

They have go to be kidding. This is hilarious. I don't think I would have faired very well in 1955. Plus, who the hell subscribed to Housekeeping Monthly anyways?

I like this one a little better, it's The Contemporary Guide for Stay at Home Dads.

Funny stuff.

Winter Sports

Yesterday we had freezing rain (in both morning & night) and NO SUN, plus it was as cold as a witch's tit. We have about a half-inch of ice on the driveway and its pretty much glare ice. The sun is out today and it has melted the ice off our East facing windows; they had solid ice on them and were like privacy windows where no one could see in or out but the sunlight could come in. I went outside to see if the garage down was iced shut -- it was. I salted the hell out of the ice in front of it, waited a little bit and then started chipping away at it. And woohoo! It finally came loose.

I looked around and realized that my asphalt driveway that was iced over was a perfect skating rink, so back in the house to put on some snow pants. Found my ice skates (these only make it out once or twice a year) and stared skating around. I knew I might not getting skating otherwise, as Andy doesn't like to do any type of skating too much (bad inline skating accident.)

It was a lot of fun; I didn't have to watch for little kids skating around me; I could go at my own speed; there was no one there to skate slow in front of me; and I set up a chair so I could rest when I wanted to. I am not that great of a skater, but I can stay up and get around. I wish I knew how to skate better. After the fact, I found this website on how to skate.

I let the dog chase me around, but she's dumb and she was going to trip me up so I had to play fetch with her as I skated in circles. We have a pretty long driveway that has a cul-de-sac at the end, so it really is an ideal place to skate. In the summer I sometimes get out the inline skates and have my fun.

So, I fell better knowing I have ice skated at least once this winter. I still want to go cross-country skiing. I think I will check the state parks in our area to see if any rent cross country skis. Most have trails, so that's not an issue. I just don't own any skis. It might be fun to do some downhill skiing too, but I doubt Andy wants to do that and it can be pretty expensive and takes up a whole day. Although if I want to save some money, I could buy a certificate from Flato (certificates in WI, MN, IL & FL for half price). And I still want to go sledding too. I used to do a lot more winter sports when I babysat, as kids are pretty eager to do them, adults get a little apathetic about winter sports. Maybe I'll have to find a friend with kids that is going sledding and tag along.

Keep warm.