Dog picture of the day

Gym? What's that?

I've been slacking off about going to the gym.  I only went once last week and the week before that.  Around this time last year, I had just signed up and was going a minimum of 4 times a week.  I think since I reached an acceptable weight, I've definitely relaxed the work out and eating plans.  I've been eating like a piggy too.  I think spaghetti on Friday night was the only home cooked meal we had!  My fitness goal for this year is not focused on losing weight, but working on my tone and definition.  I'm sure weight loss will accompany that (which I don't mind, my dream weight is another 5 pounds away, but I think that is pretty unrealistic), but I think this requires more lifting than cardio, and I don't think the machines at the gym are going to cut it.  To achieve my goal, I think I have to spend more time with weights, but still have time to run now that I'm signing up for the half marathon.  That seems like to achieve my goals, I have to spend longer in the gym (ick) or go more often (not so icky).  I have to train, but it's so hard to run that many laps around a track that is a little more than .1 mile long.  Now I'm just making excuses and this entry has lost any coherence to it if it ever had any.

Bottom line, I need to start going again and more consistently.  I'm hoping to go 3 times this week, but at least two.  I think since I'll be snowboarding on Sunday that can count as a workout.

Dog picture of the day

Egg Roll needs some blog love too.

*Facepalm*

I just spent the last 5 hours at the annual coach's and rules interpretation meeting for lacrosse.  F-I-V-E hours and we didn't get everything that needed to be said said.  So frustrating.  And to top it off, I didn't get elected to any positions.  Not that I was dying to be on the board, but I hate losing.  I think the people who got elected will do a great job, but I don't like losing and it felt like a popularity contest and obviously, I'm not that popular.

This meeting tried to be more organized in the past, but if people don't come prepared then all the preparation in the world won't make a difference.  If you something is sent out in advanced to read, please don't waste everyone's time and ask to discuss every change that you should have read before you got to the fricking meeting.  It would have taken you 5 minutes to read the damn thing, but instead you choose to waste 45 minutes of everyone's time.

Blarg... the season hasn't even started and people are already annoying me.  How am I supposed to ref with these people?  It sucks even more now that I'm a district I can't even ref with my friends anymore.  I've doomed myself for the rest of my reffing career to have less experienced refs as my partner for high school games.  It's not going to be easy or fun anymore.  I don't see getting a lot of college games this year since it's my first year to be eligible to do them, but we'll see.  But I won't be able to enjoy myself in those games because I'll be too worked up about not screwing up club and college varsity games.  Someone remind me why I do this?

I guess the extra cash doesn't hurt.

Red's nap

Her mouth is slowly falling open. What a weird dog!

What school do you play for?!?!?!

I was being a bit crabby today, so my oh-so-smart hubster decides to take me out to get my belated Christmas gift.  A new lacrosse stick/head.  Since I finally decided which one I wanted, we hopped into Heidi and drove over to Midwest Lacrosse and picked up the DeBeer Tempest Pro 2.  Surprisingly, the head was cheaper than anything online and $5 cheaper than what was quoted to me over the phone.  Here she is:




I was trying to choose between a white or black head to see which would match my green Harrow shaft.  I asked the young worker (he could not have been more than 15) which one he preferred.  His response just blew me away.  I'm still in shock.

Kid: What school do you play for?
Me: *blink* *blink*
Me: I play post collegiate, so no real team.
Kid:  I like the black.  You see good players with darker colored heads.
Me:  Ooooooo-k

What school do you play for?  Hahahahaha!!  ROFL!!  LOL!!  ROFLCOPTER!!!

I sure hope I do not look like a high schooler or do I want to look like I'm in high school?  I'm getting closer and closer to 30 and I realized last year that I was at least a decade older than anyone on that field.  Should I be flattered or just chalk it up to some kid who doesn't know how to tell how old someone is?  If he thought I played in college, I guess that would be ok.  I'm only 7 years removed from undergrad.  I'm just being sensitive about my age and aging.

Lacrosse Sticks

I broke my lacrosse stick in the last scrimmage of the year, and it was totally unnecessary.  I whiffed a left handed shot and hit the ground with my stick where the head of the stick broke in two places.  Great!  The only good thing that came of it was that I needed to get a new stick anyway or get that head re-strung since it was going to be illegal in the upcoming season.  My friend said she would give me the head of her old stick, but I think it was an Apex like mine.  I wonder how much it would cost to re-string.  The hubster was going to get me a stick for my Christmas present and I had decided on the DeBeer Tempest Pro, but I later found out is uses transfer offset system (TOS) which requires a special shaft.  I like the shaft I have.  I don't think its been improved upon much since I saw it at Dick's the other day for around $70 or $80.  I did some research this morning and think I'll get the DeBeer Tempest Pro 2.  At the DeBeer booth at the lacrosse convention, they said they were moving away from the TOS sticks since people wanted to mix and match shafts and heads and the Tempest Pro is only compatible with DeBeer TOS shafts.  The Tempest Pro 2 looks very similar to its predecessor, but can use a regular straight shaft  (I think).  So that's what I'm going to go with.  Now to find it discounted.  I hate paying full price.

Dog picture of the day

Paw Beards!!!

Moms are always right

I think we've all had one point in our life or maybe several where you remember something your mom said when you were younger and you thought "God, my mom is dumb.  How can she possible think this is the right thing to do?"  I've thought or said this on numerous occasions, and on numerous occasions thought "OMG, mom was right.  I was stupid when I was (fill in childhood age here)".

I had one of these moments the other day.  I played soccer when I was younger.  I only played because my best friend and next door neighbor played, and I wanted to do everything she did.  So we ended up playing soccer together for the next 5+ years.  Anyway, I lived in Bucks County, PA at the time and it was cold during soccer season.  On especially cold days, my mom would have me wear tights/hose under my shorts.  I'm not talking the spandex/under armour tights they have now.  I'm talking opaque dress tights.  I thought it was the dumbest thing ever.  You can see right through them!!  I would fight her on this every time she made me put them on.  I wanted sweatpants like all the other white kids.  Sure, they looked just as dumb in over sized sweatpants, but I wanted to fit in.

So tights have been getting more and more popular or so it seems to me.  But sometimes, I have to have a trend knock me over the head to "get it".  I bought some to wear with my new BR dress.  The tights/dress combination looks great and they keep me warm....  Hmmm... tights keep you warm.  Who used to tell me that?  That's right, M-O-M.  Dammit, she was right again.

I've already had several of these moments.  I wonder how many more I'll have.

More Snowboarding Stuff

The little bro got me a gift card to Dick's for my birthday.  It finally arrived in the mail today, and of course, I ran out and spent it.  Well not really.  I read on slickdeals that Dick's had snowboards on sale for 75% off.  I figure I'd take a look and see if I could get something for the hubster.  Turns out there were none, so I figure since I was there I would take a look around.  I had a 20% coupon and a $10 off $25.  I ended up looking at helmets and some other cold weather gear.

If you know me, I agonize over buying things at full price.  I'll find something I like and usually, it's the most expensive one there, and then I find a suitable substitute that is less expensive, but I don't like as much.  I'll walk around the store or just sit in front of the display and think and rationalize and text and call and talk about it until I can make a decision.  This usually drives the hubster insane since I am texting/calling/talking to him.  My first pick was a Bern Berkely white gloss helmet with a gray knit fuzzy ear warmer thing that attached to the inside of the helmet.  It was $110.  I thought that was it.  Then I'm thinking that's a lot for a helmet.  I found a white RED helmet, but it was white matte, but it was also $65.  So I spend the next hour trying on the two helmets and yes, looking at myself in a mirror.  Not like I can look good with a big ole helmet on my already large head.  I finally decide and I got a white RED helmet and two neck gaiters.  The Bern was just not as comfortable even though it looked cute and was slightly smaller in size.  I just could not justify spending $55 more for it.  Even though the white matte initially was not my favorite, it was just way more comfortable than the Bern.  I also was afraid the Bern would get dirty since the chin strap was white and the knit attachable hat was partially white.

I also got my bindings in the mail today.  They look like they are fine.  The latch things all work and that's all I really checked.  All I need to do is wait for the board which comes in on Monday.  I've also got some socks, gloves, and a tool thingy.  Yay!!  I'm all set for snowboarding next weekend and the hubster only needs is some pants.

<3 Egg Roll

I love how Egg Roll waits for me to get into bed before she scurries around to the other aide of the bed and up the doggy steps. She's so cute. On the other hand, Red will leap over your head and plop onto your pillow before you can even touch the bed.

Dog toys everywhere

I have two dogs, but if you came into my house on any given day, you'd think I had 5. I buy a lot of dog toys for dog. Usually of the cute stuffed animal variety. I haven't thrown a single one away. If the stuffing is coming out, I sew it up. Missing a leg, sew it up or sew it back one. I've accumulated many over the 4 years we've had the girls. I walked in today to find nearly all the toys out of their storage containers and all around the house. Too bad you can't teach dogs to put away their toys when they are done or that they can only have one toy out a time.

Belated Birthday Dinner

I redeemed another birthday perk last night.  We went to dinner at J. Gilbert's.  Weird to go on a Wednesday night, yeah?  Well, we had planned for this weekend, but we got word that we'll have the step son this weekend.  So that threw all our plans out the window.  I didn't want to wait for next month even though there really was no hurry because there was no expiration date on the offer.  Most places make you come in during your birthday month.

We first went to J. Gilberts maybe a year ago.  It was good food and great service, but we've noticed that the service has been incredible lacking in the last few visits.  After this last visit, I think we need to find another restaurant to go to for special occasions.  Anyway, on to the food.

The hubster had the Mixed Grill which is a 4 oz fillet mignon, grilled chicken breast with mango salsa, and BBQ shrimp with chipotle cheddar mash.  He seemed to really enjoy it as he only left all of his vegetables (typical) and one bite of chicken.  He usually gets the fillet and shrimp combo, but I pointed out this to him.  For two extra bucks, why not get some chicken too?  I started out with the Tortilla Chicken soup.  I usually go with the Crab Bisque, but I think I wanted something lighter.  This isn't like your normal Tortilla Soup.  This is a more brothy soup rather than cream based soup.  It's so flavorful and the scoop of guacamole is just the icing on the cake for this soup.  It really is good.  For my entree, I got the fillet mignon trio which is what I got the first time we went to J. Gilberts.  It was just as good as the first time.  It's three fillet medallions each topped with something different: mushrooms, blue cheese, and bearnaise.  I don't like blue cheese except to dip hot wings in, so I opted for two mushrooms.  The mushrooms were a little salty for my liking, but still palatable.  I only finished half of the bearnaise and three quarters of the one of the mushrooms.  WTF, 4 yeas ago I probably could have scarfed the whole thing down.  But alas, the life changes I made aka diet/eating habits have been solidified.  Oh well, that just means leftover for dinner tonight!

On a side note, I did get to wear my new dress from Banana Republic that I blogged about 2 weeks ago.  I bought new tights from Target ($5!) and wore my Christan Dior booties.  I have to say it's definitely a no eating dress.  I had to unzip the side for the car ride home.

Overall, not bad for a belated Wednesday night birthday dinner.

Mug

So I had a post card from Starbucks for a free drink for my birthday that expired today. So I took the extra time this morning to head to my local Starbucks to redeem it. I don't usually drink coffee while driving so my beverage usually cools down too much by the time I get to work.

To avoid this, I brought along mu Audi mug. I love this mug. During the summer when I was bringing in iced coffees in the morning, this thing kept my drink ice cold. It works so well that mu drink still had ice in it at the end of the day! It's amazing! So it's doing a great job keeping my coffee hot and I can enjoy my hot free drink all day.

You might be asking how I got this awesome mug. Well, I got it for free when i bought my car. That's how we bargain in Ohio. If I had known how awesome this mug was going to be i might have asked for two, but I know that if I ever lost it, I'd pay to get another one. Knowing Audi, it's probably like $50 or some insane price.

I'm Crazy!

I think I'm crazy or have really high physical aspirations.  First, it was wanting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro before I turn 30, then it was the half marathon (quite the jump in level of difficulty), now I'm considering doing a triathlon (for some reason, I keep sticking an extra "a" in the word triathlon).  I think I could handle the biking and running part easily.  Whether or not I could do them sequentially is still in question, but isn't that what training is for?  I've no idea what my swimming prowess/stamina/endurance is.  I can swim, but can I swim efficiently?  And by efficiently, I mean do I have the right technique or look like I swim correctly or swim with the least amount of energy used.  It's like when I go to the gym to run and I see these people (mostly women) who run like they are rag dolls.  It's like legs and arms are everywhere.  I'm not expert runner, but I feel like that's a lot of wasted movement.  It's not very "lean" if I want to bring in some work training into this.  Also, I think they look stupid.  Anyway, maybe I'll start substituting swimming as my cardio at the gym.  There is an indoor pool, but then I'd have to buy a more sporty swim suit.  I doubt cute triangle type, string bikinis are suitable for "long" distance swimming.  It's "only" a half mile.  Maybe I'll mix things up a bit at the gym and bike/run instead of just run.  I have been meaning to mix up the cardio routine at the gym, but never got around to it.  If I commit to it, I'll have to.

Then it raises all sorts of other questions.  Do I need a special bike for the biking part of the marathon?  I don't want to spend money on one when I have a perfectly good bike at home.  It's a road bike too.  Am I going to be a complete idiot during the race?  This whole transitioning thing that I've briefly read about is kinda scary.  And biking competitively, what is the drafting rule?  I'm gonna be the douche that causes the big crash in bike races because I didn't signal correctly or something.  It's very intimidating just thinking about it.  I might just have talked myself out of it, but I'd be more inclined to do it with someone else.  I'm such a wuss.

Dog picture of the day

Travel

I feel like this year I'll be doing a lot of traveling, not all necessarily by air, but just trips in general.  Here's what I have coming up (some are definite, some are still being decided upon)

• Snowboarding in OH (not sure where)
• San Diego - annual trip home (summer)
• Vail - Vail Shootout (July 4th weekend)
• Pennsylvania - Wedding (October)
• San Diego - Silver Strand Half Marathon (November)
• Pennsylvania - Thanksgiving (November)
• Various Work Trips - Utah (February)
• Vegas trip - with friends (unknown)
• Portland - visit older brother (unknown)

Looking over the list, it doesn't seem like a lot, but it is for me.  I also feel like I'm missing some trips.  Hmmm...

Bunnies!

Caroline's sister and her roommate have by far the cutest, fattest bunny I have ever seen. I think the fatness added to its cuteness.




This picture does not do the bunny justice in its cuteness factor.  I want one, but I don't think dogs and bunnies go together. I would love to see Red and a fat bunny cuddling together, but really it would look more like Red chasing a furry blur around the house and making an even bigger mess than when she chases Egg Roll around. Also, there are a lot more rooms, nooks, and crannies that said bunny could get lost/hide in. I still love dogs more than bunnies, but this was one cute bunny.

Wrap Up

I got from Baltimore at 11 pm on Sunday night.  I was tired and sooooo glad to be home.  I had enough energy to unpack and watch Bones on my DVR.

Being away made me realize two things: the hubster is the most unobservant person I know and that he tries very hard to make me happy.  He did a relatively good job in keeping the house clean while I was away.  When I travel, I expect to come home to a house exactly as I left it because I always clean up before I leave.  Usually this works when we both travel, but not so much when the hubster gets left behind.  He tried really, really hard and I appreciate it, but he didn't notice some things and it was pretty gross.  I'm not going to say what it was because then people will think I live in a unhygienic pig sty which I don't!  He's gotten so much better than before, but he's not quite there, but honestly, I don't think he'll ever meet my high standards.  Hell, I don't even meet my own standards.

I did learn a lot about officiating, but I also realized how I'm not as good as I thought I was and how much I could improve.  I was nice to see people from out of the region, but I'm definitely not as good as friends with them like every one else.  Getting from Baltimore to DC was an adventure.  The National Portrait Gallery was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.  Even though we only saw a small portion of it, I was surprised at how modern the subjects were.  I was very pleasantly surprised, and nothing beats free.

I've had two whole days since the convention and one whole day to marinate about my whole trip.  I still haven't come to a conclusion on the trip.  It had a lot of ups and downs, so I'm not sure how to process it all.  Would I do it again next year?  I don't know.  Like I need another excuse to go to Philly.

Red Velvet

After visiting the national portrait gallery, we stopped at Red Velvet for some yummy cupcakes. While eating and talking, I saw two girls eating cupcakes with a fork and knife. What kind of world has this become where people eat cupcakes with a knife and fork?!?!

Amtrak and DC

Caroline and I never did master the Light Rail, but we did manage to get from Baltimore to DC. We ended up taking a cab to Penn station and an Amtrak train to DC.



The concierge at the hotel told us $6 for the cab and $15 for the train, but noooo, we were misinformed by like $15. Very disappointed, but we made it and it was an "adventure". Now it's time for dinner with Caroline, her sister, and her friend. I'm so tired and hungry.

WTF

So I'm sitting here in the lobby and this woman sits down next to me. She is approached by the bellman about a taxi or something and she says "I need an orange. It has to be thick skinned and juicy". WTF! How about a please or some semblance of being a human? Seriously, what grumpy old bitchy woman! She even had the audacity to ask for another one. Good thing my friend came to get me or else I might of had to endure some more of this woman's assholishness.

Longest plane ride ever!

We finally got checked into the hotel at 12:20 am. That's 6 hours after I left for the airport. It's a 50 minute flight from CMH to BWI. What did I do for those extra 4 hours? I sat in a plane that had to be de-iced three times, lost auxiliary power once, had to be towed back to the gate, and couldn't push back from the gate.

But were here now and I'm currently sitting in my bed at the hotel. The convention starts at 11. I'm thinking about taking a shower and finding a place for lunch before the convention starts. What a great start to the weekend!

Still in Columbus

My flight was scheduled to take off at 7:15 pm. We're still sitting at the gate. We werent always here. We waited for 20 minutes then went to get de-iced and then we lost auxiliary power. Then we waited for a tow back to the gate. Now we're back at the gate with power, but waiting for someone to check us out. We were supposed to have landed by now. Thanks a lot winter weather advisory. I'm getting hungry again. Grrrrr....

The Wait

It started snowing before lunch (probably before that, I've been indoors with no window for too long).  I checked the flight status earlier and it was "On Time".  I just checked it again and now it's delayed for 15 minutes.  So, the waiting begins to see if my flight is gonna happen tonight or not.  Good thing the Light Rail runs until 1 AM. (Yes, I checked and I'm sure to double check and print out the schedule before I leave for the airport (if I leave for the airport)).

All Set

I'm all set for Baltimore/DC this weekend. I picked up my Marriott gift cards from Giant Eagle after lunch (thanks Caroline) and grabbed some small bills for public transit. All I have left is to pack my toothbrush when I get home. I hope this winter weather advisory won't affect our flight out tonight.

So Close

I'm thisclose to being snowboard ready.  My cousin picked up the board today and I won my auction for bindings.

I'm very pleased with how everything turned out.  Even if I totally suck and don't get better, at least I'll look super awesome with my board.  Now all I need are mittens and to wait for everything to get here.  Maybe I should get a new snowboard jacket...  Ha, I think the hubster would kill me.

Arm Cross

I've been finding myself doing this thing that I find incredibly annoying.  Annoying probably only to myself.  I hold my arm across my stomach like I'm trying to hide my stomach.  It's almost like I'm wearing an imaginary sling for my arm.  I catch myself doing this at least 4 times a day.  Usually I'm just sitting (in bed, at work, in chairs).  I don't know why it's so annoying to me, but it is.  It's like what the hell am I hiding.  It reminds of the Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode with the mechanic who kills people and is married to a woman who pretends to have a daughter, but really never gave birth and has a dead stone baby still inside of her.  And Detective Goren exposes her by tipping  a lamp at her and she covers her stomach.  Maybe there is a fossilized burrito in my stomach....

It's also weird because I've lost nearly 20 lbs over the last year, so I should really be exposing my stomach and not hiding it.  I'm gonna try and stop doing it because it's annoying as hell and it's starting to hurt my elbow.  I can feel the muscles tensing from holding it there for long periods of time.

Sicko

Perfect, just perfect.

I'm home sick today.  Woke up feeling like crap.  No idea what I have, but I know I have 24 hours to kick its butt.  Good news is that I'm all packed and ready.  Ugh, I think it's time for a nap.

Just got confirmation from my brother that he'll run a half marathon with me.  Yay, now I have accountability.  Next up, to pick which one we'll be doing.  It's between the Silver Strand Half Marathon and the Disneyland Half Marathon.  Difference of about $75 in registration fees, but you get to run through the park.  Decisions, decisions.

Is it the weekend yet?

It's only Tuesday and I feel like this week should already be over.  10 hour days and I'm anticipating a busy weekend at the US Lacrosse Convention and I'm already pooped.  I talked with my friend Caroline today while at work to discuss logistics about the upcoming trip.  We're trying to make this has economical as possible, so we're entertaining the thought of using public transportation.  I think it's hilarious that both find public transit so intimidating, but we're gonna do it.  We're gonna ride the Light Rail from BWI to the convention center.  It's what we both agreed to as an adventure.  Of course, I have already printed out a map with step by step instructions on how to get from point A to B.  It's really quite simple.

Easy peasy!  We'll be spending Saturday night with her sister and friend, so we'll be using Amtrak to get down to DC.  I've never ridden on Amtrak before... I don't think... I may have taken a train from Warminster, PA to Philly once, but that was a while ago.  Now all I have to do is pack and print out my boarding pass, hotel info, registration info, and whatever else I need.  Oh, I can't forget to pack snacks too!

Not so E-Z Pass

I got a bill in the mail from E-Z Pass today for not paying a toll.

It's totally not my fault.  My aunt lets me borrow her E-Z Pass whenever I come visit and I had it in the car with me.  I held it up to the sensor like we always do and the little sign said E-Z Pass not read or something like that and to keep going, and we did.  On the way off, it registered it.  In the back of my mind, I think I know this would happen.  I don't mind paying the toll, but what I do mind is the $25 administrative fee they tacked on to it.

So hopefully, I can get the right information to not pay this exorbitant fee.

Empty Nesters

I just called my older brother to wish him good luck and safe travels tomorrow.  He is moving to Oregon.  I caught him while out to dinner with the rest of my family.  I let him know that he'll have to do a better job of keeping in contact with my mom now that she's lost two of her three kids.  Even though the younger brother is still in San Diego, he's not likely to come home a lot.  He did just move out a few months ago.  Older bro will have to tell little bro to go home more often at least in the weeks to come.

Older bro told me that my mom has cried a few times as his departure nears.  I'm shocked that she cried more than when I left.  Really though, I'm sad that my mom is sad.  I'll have to call home more.  She says she'll be ok after a few days, but I still feel for her.  I think she needs some grandkids.  *looks around*  I wonder who will give her some...

Success!!!!111!!!1

I won the auction for some snowboarding pants.  Now I can return the ones I bought and save $20!  I'm pretty sure these pants I bought are much better than the ones I bought at Sports Authority.  In other news, my cousin was able to buy me a snowboard.  So take that stupid ebay and esnipe.  I don't need you for a snowboard!

He really went above and beyond to help me out.  I think he likes introducing new people to the sport and we're family!  So a big shout out to Cousin Andrew!

From the sounds of it, it's a pretty decent one.  Now to find some bindings and mittens, and I'm pretty much set!  So freaking excited!

I Hate Water Chestnuts

That is all.

Ebay Fail

So I'm not sure I'm ready to write this post.  I lost my auction last night and I was pretty upset/disappointed/devastated.  If I could produce tears, I would have cried.  I was being a real baby and even the hubster said I was acting like a princess.  I don't even know what that means, but I was acting like a retard.  I don't even know why... sorta.  I got caught up in the auction and desperately wanted to win.  I know, mistake number one.  I used esnipe as my cousin suggested, but it never put my bid in and what stings worse was that my maximum bid would have won my auction!  So I sent off an email to figure out why the hell it didn't work.

So I'm trying to find another suitable board.  My cousin has been providing a lot of help and advice which is greatly appreciated.  Knowing me, I'd pick the prettiest board with a brand name and call it day.  I'd probably pay way too much for it too.  So he sent me a few auctions to keep an eye out on.  I'm giving esnipe another try, but I hope it doesn't let me down.  I don't want to be disappointed again.

Bad Start to the Week

So I'm headed to Baltimore for the US Lacrosse National Convention.  I'll be going with my friend, Caroline, and some reffing friends.  Caroline coaches a very successful middle school team here in Columbus.  It should be a fun trip.  So because of the convention, I have to take Friday off.  I'm trying to save my vacation hours for upcoming vacations this year (cousin's wedding, half  marathon in So Cal, Thanksgiving with the relatives, etc), so I'll be doing 10 hour days this week.  Hopefully, this will happen and I won't have to use any vacation time.

I'm already dreading waking up at 6 am to make this happen, but that was not a problem this morning.  I woke up at 5 am to the sound of Egg Roll vomiting.  Well, that's what it sounded like.  I jumped out of bed to search for a mess, but I couldn't find any.  I try to go back to sleep, but keep smelling something.  I thought Red had farted since I had just commented on a friend's blog about dog farts.  Nope, I wish.  Egg had made a poo-ey mess under the bed!  It was gross and stinky.  So that's how I spent my morning.  After that, I couldn't get back to bed, so I got into work extra early.  I think getting to work is hard, but staying there for 10 hours a day might prove to be even harder.  Wish me luck!

Dog Fight!

This is a tame one compared to the doozies I've seen.

Dog breath rating: 4

It's the worst in the car - small confined space plus two fighting dogs who leave their mouths open the whole time.

A Sunday morning at Easton

We went to go see "The Green Hornet" at Easton this morning.  It sucked.  Really, really, really sucked.  A terrible movie.  I wanted to walk out about 20 minutes into it.  We went to Panera for lunch and went to a few stores.  I wanted to go to J Crew because they had an extra 40% off their sale items, but as usual, there sale stock sucks.  I did see a shirt I had contemplated buying on-line, but since it was kind of a weird shape/cut, I didn't want to risk buying it on-line without trying it on since their sales are final sales (which I think is totally absurd).  It was way too big, but I got an idea of what it looked and felt like.  I should scoot on over to their site and see how much it is and if they have my size.  After J. Crew, we went to Banana Republic.  They had an extra 40% off sale and 25% off regular items.  I bought two things which is a lot since I don't own much from Banana Republic (my suit and a wrap top).

First, tuxedo pants:

They didn't have my normal size, and by normal, I mean the size I bought my suit pants in since that's the only reference I have.  So I tried on a size smaller since the suit pants weren't too tight, and they fit!  The site has them on sale for $90 (regular $110), but I got them for $20!  Score!

Second, a dress:

I have to say I'm late to the whole color blocking thing, but it took me a while to find something I liked, in my size, and cheap.  Also, I look way better than the model in this dress.  I ended up buying a petite size only because it was the only one I could find.  It still fit, maybe a little on the short side, but it's still super cute.  I guess I sacrifice a little on the fit for price.  Oh, well.  So the site has this dress on sale for $100 (regular $140), and I got it for $30!

I love sales and good deals.  Now if only I can win my ebay auction for a snowboard and snowboard pants...

Pictures are up!

Here are the framed sketches all hung up.





I don't think they are perfectly level, but it's good enough for me. There are actually three nail holes behind the Eeyore frame and I wasn't about to make a fourth.

True Grit

We watched True Grit last night and I really liked it.  I didn't have any expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I actually thought it was very funny.  Some of the lines in that movie made me laugh out loud which is pretty rare.  Two thumbs up!  I'd totally recommend it.

So Fresh and So Clean Part II

I have a confession to make.  I only just started to use bleach in my wash last May.  I've been out on my own and doing my own laundry since 2005.  That's a long time.  I figure my lack of bleach started with how I learned to laundry.  It was my freshman year at UCSD and I was living it up in the dorms.  Ha, why live at home a mere 20 minutes away when I spend loads and loads of money living on campus.  Here is where I first learned how to do laundry.  It was spring quarter (yes, I was taking home my laundry every other weekend *hangs head in shame).  So my suite mates showed me the ropes of the washing machine and dryer.  I was doing laundry on my own!  Settings were cold/cold or cold/warm, but it was definitely cold.  And everything was washed together.  There would be no segregation in my laundry.  I didn't want bleeding or shrinking (not even sure if this is true or not).  So that's how I did laundry.  Then an much needed shaming by my mom and aunt.

My great grandmother had just passed away in May.  I was to bring white dress shirts (for my mother and me) for the funeral.  I packed 3 shirts with me and when my mom saw them.  She gasped in horror.  Those aren't white.  What have you been doing stupid daughter of mine?  Don't you use bleach, haven't I taught you anything?  So my mom took away the offending shirts and washed them, this time in bleach.  There was a slight improvement.  So one of the lessons I went home with was to start separating my wash.

So when the week after I got home, I set out to my laundry.  I separated our clothes and I was astonished at the small amount of whites we had.  I thought I'm gonna waste a whole load of laundry on this teeny pile.  Pssshhhh. Then my mom's voice popped into my head and I had no choice.  So in went the white, the laundry detergent and the bleach.  The outcome was amazing.  We have 4 huge "white" bath towels we use for showers.  We use two a week and rotate.  I just so happened to put the two washed with bleach and the other two next to each other and what I saw was AH-MAZING.  I was sold on bleach.  This stuff is great.  Why did no one tell me sooner?!?!

I know a fascinating story about laundry and bleach.  Definitely living up to my blog name.

So Fresh and So Clean

Egg Roll finally got her bath yesterday.  No more stinky dog.  Yay!!  I feel like I've gotten so much done and it's only Saturday.  That's probably because I took Friday off.

On Friday, I went out to find some snowboarding pants and gloves.  Still no luck on finding the perfect gloves.  I might just have to settle.  I vacuumed, did 3 loads of laundry so far, got the framed sketches up (pictures to come - waiting for some decent light in the office), filled a garbage bag of clothes to donate, got rid of our sun bleached ugly ass leather couch (finally), and hung up all my clothes in the closet (also finally).  I think I've missed some things that I did do, but I feel so accomplished today.  And there's still have Sunday too.

Dog picture of the day

Ebay

I'm trying to buy a used snowboard to learn on for this season.  Craigslist isn't really working out since I live in Columbus.  I don't want to drop the money for a new one either, so I turned to ebay.  It's such a mindfuck though.  I love and hate it.  I love that I could potentially get everything I need for super cheap and its addicting to search for what I want or maybe I'm confusing it with my obsessive nature.  When I figure out something I want, it's all I think about - non-stop.

Bids start out super low and you're like "Yes, I'll save money", but then it creeps higher and I get a sad face.  Currently, I'm trying to win a snowboard and bindings.  On the advice of my cousin, I'm using esnipe.  My first time using it and bids for you at the last second.  I randomly (like 5 times a day) check out the auction and to my dismay, I clicked on the auction today, the price went from $48 to $103.  It's still below my max, but it makes me sad.  But what if it goes above my max bid?!?!?  Do I fall into the trap and raise it?  Knowing me, that's a very probably outcome.  Maybe I should just stop looking and check my email Sunday night to see if I won or not.

I'm also trying to bid on a pair of snowboard pants.  I don't think I'll be too sad if I lose those since I bought a pair today in case I don't win.  If I do win, I can just return the ones I bought.

Here's to hoping I win.

Dog picture of the day

Ah, Memories!

I was going through some old pictures on my computer and found this video of Red's first winter.  This is the winter before we got married, so circa 2008.  This video makes me smile.  My favorite parts are when Red jumps on my back while I'm on the ground and when she runs towards the hubster and pauses for a second.  She looks like a fox!  I love Red.

I love my Kitchen Aid mixer

Not only does it makes baking so much easier, it has the coolest attachments.  I got the meat grinder for a Christmas present from my brother and I whipped it out for the first time tonight.  I got the idea to get a meat grinder because I was tired of buying the 90/10 ground beef since the hubster hates fat and gristle.  I saw my parents had a meat grinder and that maybe I should get one too and lean cuts of meat when they are on sale and grind it myself.  I should have taken note what those lean cuts of meat were.

We went to Kroger on Monday night and saw some meat for sale.  It looked lean enough, so we bought it with the purpose of grinding it up.  I unwrapped the package and to my dismay one of the pieces was not so lean.  I spent some time trimming it up and into the grinder it went.  It works great!  I put it through twice per the instructions.  The second piece was much leaner and it went a lot quicker too.  I ended up putting it through the coarse grinder twice for the first piece and using the coarse and fine grinder for the second piece.  I think the latter method worked a little better.

Now the hubster can make some chili this weekend.  I hope he appreciates all this work I do for him.

Another Year

I had a great birthday.  I got so many birthday wishes (<3 Facebook) and phone calls.  The most since I moved away from California.  This year's birthday was way toned down.  We usually do the fancy dinner out and get dressed up, but not this year.  It was sushi and bowling and McDonald's sundaes for dessert.  Well, we tried to get McDonald's after bowling, but someone who will remain unmentioned just drove right on past it on the way home.  Oh well, a nice mug of hot cocoa was a worthy replacement in such cold weather.

The only downside of yesterday was that I LOST at bowling.  Ugh, so ashamed.  It was the hubster's best game of bowling though (real bowling, not Wii/Kinect bowling).  Good for him.  I blame the ball selection and the little girl in the lane next to me who would steal all the green balls I would bring back.  I think by the time we left, she had 5 green balls plus her family's balls.  There were only 4 bowlers in her lane.  I was stuck with an orange ball that was a little too heavy with finger holes too close together.  Oh well.

Yesterday was awesome and the last year has been more awesomer.  I can't wait to see what this year brings.

Sushi and bowling!

Off to eat yummy sushi and go bowling with the hubster. He may be better at Kinect bowling, but I'm gonna crush him.

Morning Success?

I did it!  I made my breakfast this morning, but it was not as awesome as I was thinking it was going to be.  It's still a "W" in my book.

LOL

Red is such a funny dog.  She is so cautious of everything.  I'm sitting in bed about to browse the interwebs on the Netbook and turn on my wireless mouse.  I put the mouse down by Red's butt since she's facing the hubster because he's eating cookies.  She jumps up, turns around and stares down my mouse.  Just hovering over it ready to pounce in case the laser turns into a real laser.  I move my hand around and she just follows it with her head for like 5 minutes.  After a while, I guess I got too close and she ran away.  Silly dog.

Pre-Birth Day

That's today!!

I got a Pre-Birth Day phone call tonight from my bestest grad school friend, Benji.  It was great to hear from him and even better to hear that he got a new job and starts tomorrow... my BIRTHDAY.  I know tomorrow will be super special for everyone.

I have big plans for my birthday.  Well not really, but I have plans at least.  Forethought is better than no thought.  Tomorrow I plan to make myself breakfast in the morning.  This is special because I usually eat breakfast at work and it consists of a piece of fruit (typically a banana) and a granola type bar.  It used to be Clif bars, then Fiber One, now Kashi Go Lean Crunchy.  So a hot breakfast will be a treat.  I have Trader Joe's French Toast and turkey sausage in the fridge now.  What will most likely happen is that I will choose to snooze too many times tomorrow morning and my hot breakfast of yummy french toast will be a McDonald's bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit meal.  Also yummy, but will also leave me feeling guilty.

I received my free drink postcard from Starbucks today in the mail.  Maybe I'll use that tomorrow too.  Ha, who am I kidding?  I'll save it for another day when I happen to snooze one less time than usual.

We get 4 hours off for our birthdays at work to be used on or around your birthday.  I'm using mine this Friday so I'll have the whole day off.  What should I do?!?!?

Of Course

I have the worst luck with car washes.  Without fail, after every one, there is some sort of precipitation to mess up my pretty clean car.  I got my car washed before I left for my PA trip and of course, it snowed on the way out there and my car was a disgusting mess when we finally got to my aunt's.

I finally got my car washed on Sunday after coming back from PA.  And look what happens.  SNOW!  And SALT!  Ugh, I should give up.

Dog picture of the day

This what the hubster just sent me. That dog knows how to nap.

Dog picture of the day

Dog picture of the day

Christmas with the In-laws

We spent the day down in Cincinnati to celebrate a belated Christmas with the hubster's mom's side of the family.  We had lunch and opened gifts.  Overall, a good time.  I gave everyone calendars again this year.  This is the third year we've done that.  I was starting to feel that they might get tired of looking at pictures of us year round.  We do try to make the majority of the calendar include other family members and focus on the hubster's son.  They all seemed to really like them and would like to continue getting them.  It is getting harder to make sure we have enough pictures to fill each month every year.  I made sure to bring my camera and tripod this year, so we'll have at least one picture guaranteed to make it in to the calendar.

Dog picture of the day

Happy early birthday to me

Pretty new snowboarding boots!

Now I have to go again. I think we're looking at early February.

Growth

I went out tonight to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday.  He's a fellow umpire and just an overall great guy.  I was reflecting in the drive home how much more social I've become in the last year.  I've lived in Ohio for over 4 years now and it's taken over three years to collect a small group of friends that I interact with socially.  I guess when I moved out here and got married, I just hung out with the hubster and that was enough.  Obviously, that was not the case.  I did get resentful at times that I had come out here to be with him and left behind family and friends.  The hubster always encouraged me to call acquaintances from lacrosse or wherever to go out, but I never did.  I was always afraid that they wouldn't want to hang out with me or they would be busy or would think why is this person calling me.  In short, I was afraid of rejection.  It turns out I was being stupid as usual.

I took my first steps a few months ago and initiated dinner and drinks with some friends and wasn't a disaster.  It turned into another outing.  Amazing.  This is what it's like to have friends again.  This has been great for our marriage too.  I get to go out and the hubster gets to go see his friends without me getting bitter.  I think I lost the point of this post, but I'll sum it up with this:  I've had so much fun with new friends this past year and hope I can keep it going.

P.S.  It occurred to me that this makes me sound like a total loser and loner.

More Dreams

I had the most fucked up dream last night.  Way worse than the zombie ones.  I dreamed that I was getting married again, and it was bad.  I was wearing a magenta monstrosity with  super long train.  My hair and make up consisted of lots of glitter and fake flowers and beading off a shirt (don't ask, all I know is that my aunt was removing said beads off a shirt).  The hubster was also wearing a magenta jacket because his black one was too small.  Hair and make up was late and I was getting anxious and upset because everything was running late.  We decided to switch venues for some reason, and I decided to go to the new venue alone, but decided to stop into a Ralph's in full wedding attire to buy the following: a $20 salad from the salad bar, orange juice, balloons, and ice cream.  W-T-F!!!!  I got stuck in traffic.  My hair and make up was still not done.  Everyone was waiting at the new venue.  And to top that all off, Egg Roll could sing.  I so so so wish I could remember what she was singing, but she could sing.  A simple little song in her dog voice.  Maybe I need professional help.  I'm going to chalk it up to be overheated and the resultant dream was really a hallucination.

What a day =(

I woke up late this morning because I forgot to set my alarm clock.  I didn't mind getting in to work a little late since I had only 4 more hours to get in for the week.  This meant at the latest I should have left at 1 pm.  I had a deadline today to get some action items completed from a meeting in December.  Everything was pretty much squared away.  I was waiting for some data to process and off it should have went.

Well that obviously did not happen, especially if I'm writing about it now.  I didn't leave until 4:30 pm.    I was not a happy camper.  After about 2:00, I realized I wasn't going to leave any time soon.  The hubster had a pretty rough day too.  He spent an hour and half coming home.  The hubster and I ended up going to Five Guys for dinner and stopping into Victoria's Secret for their Semi-Annual Sale.  I bought a bikini (which I don't need) and a pair of panties.  The quality and selection of their sale items has gone down drastically.  I needed to buy something to make my day a little better and the hubster didn't want to go to Anthropologie with me.  We also stopped at Trader Joe's.  I'm not cheered up yet from my sucky day at work, but hopefully, more shopping tomorrow will.

Indications of a Bad Mom

My last post got me thinking:  Will I make a bad mother?

I closed my last post saying that I loved Egg Roll more than Red because she exhibited positive behavior while Red did something bad.  If I ever have multiple children, will the level of my love for each vary depending on how much they please me?  Will I encourage a competitive environment between my future children?  Will sibling rivalry develop because they want my love and approval more?

If I were to answer that now, I think yeah, I would make a terrible mother.  If Elaine Jr excelled at her lacrosse game, then Brock Jr. would be SOL on dessert that night.  If Brock Jr. got an A on his test, then Elaine Jr. wouldn't be getting a new pair of shoes.  It's terrible.  I'm sure most moms will say it all changes when you have kids, but does it really?

I guess there is only one way to find out, but once you find out you are a bad parent, it's too late to give them back.  Wouldn't you want your kids to grow up in an environment where they don't vie for their parents love and affection?

Red the runner

Red tried to run away today... again.  I leashed her up this afternoon when I got home from work and instead of hooking around the D-ring, I hooked the flimsy ring that had her dog tag and licenses on it.  One hard tug and she was free.  The moment she realized this, she took off like a bat out of hell down the street.  I instantly dropped Egg Roll's leash (obviously not a smart thing to do, but she's never tried to make a break for it either.  She knows how good she has it here and it would take way too long to train another set of owners) and ran after Red.  The moment I realized that she wasn't going to stop for me, my heart sunk.  I was so afraid.  This is where all the running at the gym paid off.  I kept following her and yelling her name.  I was quickly running out of road (she would have made it into a wooded area that separates two condo communities, and then I really would have lost her).  Thank god she has ADD and stopped at nearly every tree/post/hydrant on the street.  I finally got close enough to yell at her and she did her cower/hunker down maneuver and I was able to leash her up properly.  Once I had her, I realized I needed to get my other dog.  I ran back down the street yelling Egg Roll's name.  Meanwhile, Red having a blast running down the road next to me in the snow.  Of course, Egg Roll is trotting down the street with her leash dragging behind her towards me.  I think I love Egg Roll a little more.  I know she'll never run away.  Red's currently in her crate right now and I don't know when I'll let her out.

Travel

There has been talk at work about needing to brief a colonel and general about the project I'm leading. I've been secretly hoping that they send me out to do it (they would pick me since I'm the technical lead) and soon. Only because I'd spend an extra day out in Salt Lake City to go snowboarding. I'd abhor trying to prep for the meeting and the actual brief, but it'd be worth it to go snowboarding again.  I think I've become a bit obsessed with going snowboarding after Blue Mountain when what I was doing slightly resembled snowboarding.

Dog picture of the day

My Christmas Snoopy that I drove through a blizzard for. And yes, it's staying out all year.

Water

I've recently reverted back to my old green Nalgene bottle from college since my current blue aluminum bottle started growing some black stuff on the o-ring. I guess I could just replace the o-ring, but I think I'd like a change.  This bottle is much bigger than my blue one. It's also clear so I can see how much I'm drinking.







I'm definitely drinking a lot more water which means I'm filling up my pur filter a lot more which means more filters. I think in an unconscious effort to ration my filters I wait to fill my bottle at work. It's so stupid. One because I cannot be that cheap and two, I have like 6 new filters at home waiting to be used. I mean I already use the filters until I can start tasting tap water and probably longer than that.

Dog pictures of the day

Watching me eat a Clementine during Top Chef last night

Watching the hubster eating cheese and crackers during Top Chef

Daily Blogging

I love reading blogs.  Any and all blogs.  I've noticed that I like reading blogs where the blogger posts prolifically.  At least once a day.  I think it's because they provide a nice distraction and break from work.  A few minutes to read a blog entry refreshes my mind and helps make the day move along that much faster.  A lot of these blogs that I like to read have some sort of gimmick: outfit of the day, documenting what they've been eating.  I've sort of adopted the dog picture of the day, but realized last night that the pictures I'm posting are being posted just to post a picture, not because the picture is of something funny or interesting or cute.  When I started blogging, I had just went on break from work and could see my dogs all day long and would be able to capture cute little things that they do.  Now I'm rushing home to snap a random picture of them.  Also the lighting sucks in my house when the sun goes down.

So I'm thinking of doing some other sort of "_______ of the day" kind of post.  I thought about food, but I eat the same thing every week.  There's not a lot of variety.  The only positive I could think of is that it could segue nicely into my goal to make a photobook of my favorite recipes.  It's still a contender.  I thought about doing outfits, but again, I wear the same things every week.  I think I have 7-8 work outfits that I just rotate around.  I wish I were more fashion forward and daring with my clothes.  I wish I varied my accessories to be more fashionable instead of wearing the same diamond studs, diamond hoops, jade pendant, Swiss Army watch, and gold bracelet all the time (which reminds me, I should put my jade bangle back on soon).  The only positive/negative I could think of is that it might challenge me to be more fashionable, but then I'd probably also spend more money to create cuter outfits.  This one is slowly falling off the list.  What else is there that I do every day that I could blog about?  Working out?  Work?  Maybe expand my picture subjects to more than dogs.  We'll see.

Food and Diet

I've made some changes to my diet over the last year.  I've reduced my soda intake from 2 cans a day to  2-3 cans a month.  I've drastically reduced the amount of fast food and eating out done, and I've tried to cook more at home.  I've noticed that my grocery shopping habits are very cyclical.  One month I might only buy the cheapest brand of certain items and only buy things on sale, and then some months I'll decide that I shouldn't stop buying healthy foods because of the price.  For example, bagged salads.  In this household, I'm the only veggie eater so buying a whole head of lettuce for salad is wasteful, so I opt to buy bags of salad.  This is a "I'll pay regular price for salad" month.  I think it's because I had a meat overload from my Christmas trip.  I'm hoping to keep this mentality throughout the year.  I'd rather cook extra meals at dinner than grab a cheap lean cuisine/healthy choice for lunches.  It's better for me, but maybe not so good for my wallet.  It's a trade I'm hoping I am willing to make throughout the year and hopefully become a life change.

Boot Camp

There are two reasons why I stay a member at Urban Active: the indoor track and the Boot Camp class.  I try to go every week, but sometimes life gets in the way.  Since this is the first week back from the vacation in NJ, I made it a priority to go.  I went to the gym Monday night to ease myself back into working out.  Boot Camp is a tough class.  I always get my butt handed to me.  I always leave sweaty and out of breath.

I left work on time yesterday to make sure I would get to the gym on time (It gets super busy this time of year.)  I thought I would be ok since most of my soreness and achiness from snowboarding and being sick had disappeared... or so I thought.  Warm up went well and so did the first two exercises in the circuit.  On the third exercise, I had to reach down and lunge at the same time, and boy, could I tell that my butt/tail bone was still not recovered.  I could feel it for the rest of the class... the 55 minute class.

I made it through, but dang, who would have known how much your butt comes into play when working out?  My arms are sore today, but overall, I'm feeling good.  Still losing some weight, not as fast as before, but just a little.  I'm thinking I'm going to rest today and hit up Trader Joe's/Easton after work for some shopping since Brock has class until 9:30 tonight.

Dog picture of the day

More zombies

*sigh*

Another zombie dream last night.  What the hell is wrong with me?  This time it was just weird.  A combination between Lost and The Walking Dead.  The hubster and I were racing to get onto a plane, but when we were in line to board, there was this high pitch sound that made us bleed from our ears and pass out.  We woke up on a plane with our female captain (not sure why the fact that she was an older woman stood out to me) was doing a loop to get a better view of Chicago.  Apparently, while we were passed out, the zombie apocalypse had taken place.  The airplane we were on rode more like what I imagine a spaceship/hovercraft would ride.  We were still in the air even though we were going slow.  We were flying past skyscrapers filled with zombies, and were flying through apartment complexes, around balconies, and all sorts of weird things.  As we passed balconies, we saw zombies hanging out like normal people, but they were zombies.  We passed a balcony filled with normal people which the zombies were not attacking.  Turns out they were the cast from Jersey Shore.  I know, super random!

Then the plane all of  sudden didn't have a roof and people were falling out of their seats and clinging on for dear life.  Of course, I fell out of the plane and into zombie Chicago.  Being resourceful, I started running around and meeting up with other zombie apocalypse survivors where we dodged zombie attacks by hitting them with plastic bags filled with bricks.

I really don't like these zombie dreams.  I wish they would stop.

Dog picture of the day

Birthday Month

We had stopped our mail while we were out of town and yesterday was when the post office resumed service.  Surprisingly, we did not have that much mail.  After going through the first couple of pieces, it became abundantly apparent that it was my birthday month.  Woohoo!  (I already knew it, but I'm so glad others know it too).

I got a free meal at J. Gilbert's (yum!), $10 off coupon at DWS, and a 15% off entire purchase in store coupon for Anthropologie (I even got a 15% off online code too!).  I think I should be getting a free drink from Starbucks too.

Yay for free stuff for being born.

Back to Normal

Yay!  My pictures are back.

Of course, the hubster was right when he said my blog would be fine, and of course, I didn't believe him.  He said it was a problem with the Blogpress app and it was.  Even though he knew it, he even offered to reload my pictures for me.  He's such a good husband.  He knows exactly what I need to hear even when I refuse to listen.  He knows me too well.

Thanks hubster!  You're the best.

*cry*

Where did all my pictures go?

I went to download some pictures from Flickr to make a calendar, and then when I came back to the blog, all my pictures are boxes with red x's.

What happened?

And on top of that, my BlogPress app is not working.  Maybe I'm not cut out for blogging.

Pants

Last year when I first joined the gym, I spent a boatload on work out clothes.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I'm one of those people.  The ones who just can't wear sweats and a t-shirt to the gym.  It's mostly motivational.  If you want me or anyone in my family to do something, throw money into the equation and consider it done.  I figure if I spend money on work out clothes, I have to work out.  And I did!  Anyway, I spent a few weeks finding the perfect winter work out pant.  I don't do tights without shorts over them and since I didn't want to drop too much money, buying two pieces was not in the budget.  I also recently found out that sweatpants make me too hot.  So tight capri pants were the solution and I found the perfect ones from Nike.  They had a zipper pocket in the back (crucial for me since I'm paranoid someone will steal my keys).  I worked out in them for at least 3 days a week.  Yes, I know.  GROSS!  But this was before the 3 mile runs and major sweating kicked in, so I justified it.  And they were the only ones I owned.

So I put them away when the weather got warm and I forgot where I put them.  When the weather got cooler last year, I looked high and low for them.  I couldn't find them.  Usually when I misplace something, I spend an hour looking for them and in utter despair say the magic words "Ugh, I've lost _______" and magically, I remember where it is or look in the right corner (which was previously looked at 15 minutes ago), and there it is!  That did not happen this time around.  I made do with running with longer tights with shorts over it. I had acquired a few pair of shorts over the summer.  I finally gave in and bought the same pair when I saw them at Lady Foot Locker at FULL price.  And then it happened.  Can you guess?

So yesterday when cleaning the house, I found my pants... in a shoe box.  !@#!@#@  A shoe box on a rubbermaid bin.  Ugh.  FML.  The bright side is I now have two pairs of awesome capris and I won't be stinky from wearing them too many times between washes.

After Christmas Shopping

I really thought I had escaped with minimal damage this year on buying Christmas stuff.  I thought being in PA/NJ would hinder any buying.  I left PA with 4 ornaments and 2 boxes of lights (I justify the lights because 3 strands per tree on our front yard was a little scarce, 4 would be perfect).  Anyway, I went out to the bank to deposit some money and decided to hit up Target and Wal-Mart.  Target was cleaned out (not unexpected as it's January 3), but Wal-Mart had tons of crap.  I ended up with another tree (perfect for the cleaned out Florida room), some garland for the new tree, reindeer antler headband (I've been wanting one), and some candy for Logan's belated Christmas with us.  So in total, I spent $15 plus $20 Target gift card on Christmas stuff.  No gift tags though.

ZZzzzzzz...

I could not get up this morning.  Alarm went off at 6:00 am.  "Hah!" replied my body, "Not a chance!"  Snoozed a few times and just gave up and reset the alarm for 7:00.  Who am I kidding?  I needed an extra 90 minutes of sleep before I could get up.  To make matters worse, I am still not 100% recovered from my stomach virus.  Still feeling slightly poopy, but not enough to justify a sick day.  Today is going to be a long day.  Probably exactly what I need after my vacation, but at least I know, I'll have no problems going to sleep tonight and probably an easier time getting up tomorrow morning.  Now to decide if I should go to the gym tonight?  Is that asking my poor body too much?

Denied!

So I woke up this morning feeling much better (slightly queasy stomach, no aching back, slightly less sore butt and neck) with a huge to-do list.  I had to clear out the office entertainment center to make room for the new framed sketches, make a payment on the Kohl's card, go grocery shopping, buy some organizational stuff (shelves, boxes, etc), clear out the Florida room to make way for the office entertainment center, and lots of other stuff which resulted from completion of above list.

Florida room cleared - check
Boxes broken down - check
Entertainment center cleared - check
Stuff from entertainment center properly stored - check
Christmas stuff stored away in attic - check
Kohl's card payment - check
Grocery shopping -check

But forgetting one task completely leaves me feeling like I accomplished absolutely nothing today.

I forgot to give the Eggers a bath!!!

I've been meaning to for like a few weeks.  I really meant to give her one before we left for PA, but I just could never find the time or I'll remember and just forget.  I don't think Eggs minds being stinky.  It only affects the hubster and I.  She just makes everything to touches a little dog funky, and she's been funky ever since we got her, so it's livable, but still, she deserves an hour or two of un-funkiness.  Red, on the other hand, could probably got a whole year without a bath and still not stink.  It's just the little one with a stinky affliction.

It's winter and it's cold, and I want to bath her during the day so she can dry inside.  I don't want a wet dog sleeping with me either, so there is a small window to get this done.  I guess I could have paid someone to do it, but it literally takes 15 mins and she's so small.  I guess I could have asked the hubster to do it, but I think that's a bad idea.  I feel like such a bad dog parent.

The hubster is gonna be out of the house for most of Saturday.  That'll be the perfect time to do it.  Here's to hoping and keeping my fingers crossed.

Dog picture of the day

Success!

I finally got onto the scale this morning to see the damage done by the holidays, and to my surprise, I weighed less than when I left for PA.  Hurray for stomach viruses?

So half a resolution can be checked off.  It must be a record of some sort.

New Year's Resolutions

1. Be a better wife
2. Get back to and maintain pre-holiday weight
3. Run a half marathon
4. Regularly post on my blog
5. Save money

For my mom

From Doris' engagement party

Dog pictures of the day

OMG dad you're going too fast!

This is what an Egg Roll seat belt looks like. She won't sleep on the pillow. She has to contour her million degree body to mine for maximum heat transfer.