Archives for 2014

1. Yesterday I got home nearly 13 hours exactly after I left for work in the morning and OH MY GOD I AM OFFICIALLY SO OVER THE EXTRACURRICULARS THAT ARE TAKING UP SO MUCH TIME. It’s two days a week but dang, after work, I just want to get home and get some dinner on the table and work out, if I’m lucky. Last night, I did none of that. I grabbed dinner from a drive thru (and I hate fast food for the most part) and basically put on my pajamas the instant I walked in the door. I didn’t feel like doing ANYTHING. And I hate that.

2. May 1. How on earth is it May 1? Whoa, 2014, you are flying.

3. I have an appointment to get my hair colored today because ugh, gray. I wish I could be content with the whole aging gracefully thing but basically I don’t want to so I’m going to.

4. Spent the weekend in Chicago last weekend and it was amazing. I love Chicago, love being in the city. Chris and I had some amazing gelato at Black Dog Gelato and I’m pretty sure there will be a repeat visit in my future (salted peanut gelato? YUM). It was good to have that change of scenery, as well. I’ve been feeling run down with all of the stuff in my schedule (see Item #1), so I needed some down time. It was a good thing.

5. Dots candy are the best.

6. Sometimes I get sucked in to looking at Etsy and there’s really nothing I need but it all looks so wonderful anyway. The latest rabbit hole was chalkboard lettering prints, though…some people don’t get it. No one would write in comic sans on a chalkboard.

7.If someone asked you to say five nice things about yourself, how long would it take you to come up with five? It took me far too long. It’s tough! Maybe the number one great thing about me is that I don’t have a huge ego?

8. Anyway: Say five nice things about yourself, in the comments: Go.

9. I’ve done a third of my Avon Walk fundraising! It’s the most intimidating part, so I’m always relieved to see progress. Still a long ways to go, though.

10. I had lunch with my former coworkers a few days ago and I am again relieved that I gained real friendships from that experience. They are all amazing women. That they tell me how much they miss me at the office is just extra. (It’s nice to be missed.)

1. And somewhere along the way, I added a plugin that made embedding images a huge pain in the heinie but it’s A-OKAY because I’ve gotten rid of it now and VOILA. Random Darth Vader in my living room.

2. It’s been a crockpot week. I made a crockpot chicken taco recipe yesterday and a repeat of a crockpot chicken tortilla soup will be in my slow cooker waiting for me to get home tonight. The tacos were great – but far too spicy for the kiddos. A great lean recipe – just spices, chicken breast and salsa in the slow cooker for hours plus the tortillas to serve them on. I’m convinced the leftovers will make great nachos and since the kids didn’t eat any, there is plenty left over. Sooooo, nachos anyone?

3. Easter is coming and the girls will be with their dad and after shelling out bucks TWICE on the behalf of the Tooth Fairy last week, I guess I’m okay with the Easter Bunny skipping my house. And yeah, the Easter Bunny still comes because one is a believer and if one is, they both kinda are by default.

4. These mythical gift-bearing characters are a pain in my ass.

5. While waiting for The Princess to be done with gymnastics last night, I did squats while Pumpkin hitched a piggy back ride. This is what happens when you can’t afford a gym – you get creative.

6. This weather this week? I am NOT okay with getting snow again. Here’s hoping those days are behind us. Again. (The kids have missed FOURTEEN DAYS OF SCHOOL THIS YEAR due to snow. FOURTEEN. That’s… kind of a lot.)

7. I feel sorry for boys who have to get creative while asking girls to prom these days. I’ve seen a lot of kind of extravagant “asks” being posted by moms on Facebook, to which I say: I think teenage boys have it really easy when it comes to a lot of things but my god, to be forced to come up with some kitschy way to ask a girl to prom should just not even be a thing. Not that it’s even remotely as awful as dealing with periods and the whole mean girl thing that girls are dealing with – but you know what? If you’re a teen girl and you need that much fanfare for a prom invite, maybe you should just stay home. Alone. Also? When did this become a thing?

8. Eventually, I imagine I’ll get back to blogging more than once a week again.

9. New Ingrid Michaelson album was released this week and I’ve yet to download it and something is seriously wrong with the world, right? (Just being frugal, is all. I’m sure I’ll cave eventually.)

10. I really try to not get all crazy with eating horribly because by and large I like to be healthy and not buy bigger pants, but I tell ya, when I’m stressed, I WANT COOKIES. All of the cookies. Give me a cookie please.

1. Sometimes the internet really annoys me. I’ve been reading articles about the latest internet security breech and I wonder just how hard it is for people to live their lives with these tinfoil hats on. Not the people who are worried about security, but the people with the conspiracy theories about the breech. Nothing is ever just an honest careless mistake anymore. Everything must always be some calculated evil thing done by {insert political party or religious affiliation here}. It’s tiring.

2. Anyway, changing passwords.

3. It’s Spring Break for the girls but because I don’t have time off this week, it’s been business as usual for me. As much as I wish I had time to just hang out with them, I know we’ll find time this summer. Yesterday, they got to help my stepdad babysit their cousins and so they’re definitely keeping busy. The Princess has managed to lose two teeth, as well. She’ll be needing dentures when she goes back to school if she loses any more before Monday!

4. GOOOOOO DETROIT! (I haven’t been watching hockey this season. I admit it. I haven’t followed anything over the past few months but Project Runway, but still….PLAYOFFS.)

5. Have finally decided to get a few inches of hair cut off. My hair is getting to be too overwhelming. I feel like I look like someone who is philosophically opposed to cutting my hair or something. I’m not. I just wanted long hair. I still want long hair. It’s just… TOO long.

6. We wrapped a MAJOR project at work this week. Feels GOOD to have it done.

7. Treated myself and the girls to manicures for our “spring break” this past weekend and have had nail color remorse since. Ugh. Resisted my favorite dark colors and got a bizarre light blue/gray. I kind of hate it.

8. The fuel economy on my Prius? I’m in love. It’s unbelievable.

9. Since we’re not going anywhere this week, the best part of spring break is how fast I can get ready in the morning when I’m not also helping two kids figure out what they’re going to pack for lunch or make for breakfast. I’ve been getting ready, on average,  a full fifteen minutes earlier the past few mornings. Whoa.

10. Hopefully, spring has finally sprung and my energy bills can continue dropping. This brutal winter was also brutal on the wallet. I’m ready to turn off the heat and crank open some windows!

1. Whoohoo! I have insurance! Whoohoo! Just in time for my yearly appointment with my dermatologist to have my moles checked out. I’m a bit mole-y, and though I’ve had no problems ever, there is a history of skin cancer and other cancers in my family. So, once a year I go and get checked over and my doc uses some iphone app to see if the moles are staying the same and it’s all very bizarre, but you know, better safe than sorry.

2. Work has been VERY. VERY. BUSY. And that’s good stuff, except a) I’m still learning and b) learning when a place is insanely busy like that is exponentially tougher. It’s been challenging and there have been some days this week where I have felt completely drained. I can see where, once I get through this learning curve, I’m going to find my stride. For now? Trying to learn while everyone is too busy to breathe is tough. I CAN’T WAIT TO NOT BE NEW!

3. I’m so hooked on the 2048 game and I STILL HAVEN’T BEAT THE DAMN THING.

4. Pumpkin’s Girl Scout troop leader quit the other day amidst what must’ve been some sort of dramatic behind the scenes accounting issues because the letter she sent home was…dramatic. Also, “I can’t balance a checkbook” is apparently a reason to quit leading Scouts. Don’t get me wrong, I give her credit for running the group as long as she did – and I probably won’t have done it – but what the heck, lady.

5. Gymnastics season is OVER for the year. The Princess is talking about taking dance for awhile instead. I have all these awful visions of Dance Moms in my head. Do. Not. Want. Her. To. Do. Dance. The reality is that I’ll support whatever she chooses to do – but the thought of dance and stupid recital outfits and all the makeup for shows, ugh. It doesn’t appeal to me for my daughter.

6. So, baseball season started and that means absolutely nothing to me. TOUCHDOWN! (Just kidding!)

7. Speaking of sportsball, this year has been my absolute worst worst worst showing for my March Madness bracket. All my teams managed to bite the dust early on so I haven’t really paid much attention this year – even though I usually LOVE it. Boo.

8. Drove to Detroit last weekend in the new-to-me Prius. It was pretty awesome watching my fuel efficiency in action – I’m so easily amused by that miles per gallon measure. It’s also interesting to see what has an impact on your fuel economy – your speed, whether your heat is on, whether you’re using the bluetooth, all that stuff seems to play into it.

9. WHERE IS SPRING?

10. It’s very nearly Friday. I hate to wish my weeks away, but I’m pretty sure I need a Friday.

1. So, that whole not having a vehicle situation has been resolved. I purchased a new (to me) Toyota Prius after several visits to car dealerships. One of the managers of the lot is the husband of someone I know and I made him aware up front just how UNPLEASANT my shopping experience had been at other dealerships. He arranged for an excellent sales person to help me out – one that didn’t pressure or annoy. It was a GREAT shopping experience. I’m looking forward to seeing the savings at the gas pumps with my Prius.

2. The thing is, after getting in a car accident because of snow and ice, the last thing you want to do is drive on snow and ice and guess what? WINTER WILL NOT GO AWAY. Tuesday morning’s snow had me taking a massive detour to avoid the stretch of road where I had hit the patch of ice that sent me spinning into the telephone pole weeks before. Years of no problems at all and all it takes is one to terrify me.

3. Relieved my first season of girl scout cookie sales is over. What a pain in the ass those things are. Delivering them, collecting money, and driving to the troop leader’s house to pick up and drop off stuff and she lives no where near anywhere I want to go. Anyway. Whatever. Done.

4. Chris and I finally finished watching Season Two of House of Cards last week and dang… I’m curious where it goes from here. And, now I’m just counting down for the new season of Orange is the New Black. Okay, I’m not really counting, but I’m out of stuff to watch so yeah.

5. I got new glasses this week! I RARELY wear glasses at all (I just don’t love the way things look when I wear glasses because I’m so used to my contacts) and my prescription was well over four years old (whooooops). So, new frames. They’re pretty adorable. I may actually wear them in public on purpose.

6. That 2048 game… I’m addicted. I played while walking on the treadmill last night – ended up walking five minutes longer than I had intended. So what if I can never win, at least I’m getting exercise.

7. I still need new jeans. After getting through the stress of car shopping, you would think this would be easy peasy but you’d be wrong because THIGHS.

8. You know what would be awesome? Spring.

9. While I really dig my new job, adjusting to the schedule has yet to get easier. For the first time in a long time, there is a huge amount of importance on the weekends because those are the only days I can sometimes find time to get things done. Even that’s been tough, what with the car shopping and gymnastics hooey. I’m going to have to get better at relaxing on the weekends because WHOA AM I TIRED.

10. If I’m tired I really should make myself go to sleep earlier and yet… I don’t.

1. A giant resounding EFF YOU to winter. As I was driving (slowly, I might add – I’m a cautious driver!) to work yesterday, I hit a patch of ice. My car spun across the two lane road and then? Smashed into a telephone pole. I’m okay – sore, but okay – my MamaVan, on the other hand? Well. Ouch.

2. So I’m not sure what to do next. It’s a 9 year old vehicle with damn near 200,000 miles on it. Depending on the cost of the repair, I’m not sure if it’s worth it. Clearly I’ll know more in the next few days. I was anticipating needing to get a new car this year… I just figured it’d be on MY terms, not Mother Nature’s. But, you know… just in case: what do you drive and do you love it?

3. It was awesome to email my boss yesterday and say, “I was in a car accident – I will be late for work…” and have his first response to me be, “Are you okay?” It hasn’t been quite three weeks yet (almost!) but I like where I am, and I love that they’re people-focused.

4. Currently reading the new book by Wally Lamb and so far I’m loving it. I love his writing, and have since “She’s Come Undone.”

5. Sometimes I shake my head at the news. Well. Usually I shake my head at the news.

6. Pumpkin decided to try Girl Scouts this year and the cookies arrive next week. Confession: I don’t like Girl Scout Cookies. They’re not that great, they’re too small, and they just seem inadequate. Hashtag Homemade Cookies For Lyfe. Or something.

7. Have I mentioned lately how much I haaaaaate winter?

8. My sister needs to get her gall bladder removed tomorrow. I don’t even know what a gall bladder does, but whatever it is, hers isn’t doing it right. So here’s hoping the surgery goes smoothly and recovery is speedy.

9. I bought the ingredients for brownies but didn’t actually make brownies. That either shows incredible restraint or pure stupidity.

10. I’m finally caught up on old episodes of Parenthood so that I can finally start watching right when they air on TV. You would think this isn’t a very big deal but you’d be wrong.