I mentioned that we (my meetup group) started a weekly water aerobics class, but it was such an interesting experience that I think it warranted it's own entry.
I arrived early (as I always do) and stood in line to make sure that we could actually take the class we wanted. There was a man in front of me trying to pay for summer camp for his daughter. It is April, and all of the spots, except for 5 were taken for a camp in JULY. Wow...early planning!
Eventually the other three ladies arrived and we all paid and headed to the locker room. As always, I forgot to take my classes off until I hit the shower and realized they were still on. They have those lockers that require you to put in 50 cents (they were only 25 when I was a kid!) in every time you open the door, so we all shared a locker.
There was a little question as to which of the 5 pool sections we were supposed to be in. The pool is huge, and we were confused by the three classes starting concurrently. The first thing that happened to us in the pool was an older man (70's) coming up to us and telling us "on Mondays we wear gloves!" We were a little confused, but they are these webbed gloves that cause more resistance when you are in the water. It wasn't the end of the world that we didn't have them, but he was perfectly happy to tell us several times what they were, where to get them and when to wear them!
I didn't know beforehand that our teacher was apparently a drill Sargent in a past life. "Water walk! Faster people! Faster! Get that blood flowing" She yells over the splash of 30 people sloshing through 5 foot deep water. We walked so fast that you could lift your feet up and be carried along the current, that is until you hit a corner and went careening off into a wall.
We walked for a couple of minutes to get the blood flowing and started marching, jumping, hopping, scooping from one end of the pool to the other. The drill Sgt. turned out to be a very nice lady who kindly showed us most of the moves, since everyone in the class were apparently regulars and she merely just had to yell the move at them. Some classes have teachers standing on the edge yelling out the different moves, but she was in the water with us, actually doing most of the exercises with us.
The bunny jumping with wavey hands from one end of the pool to enough was fun enough, but then she added in water dumbbells. The teacher told us that the blue ones were the hardest resistance, and she "didn't want to see ANY dumbbells above the water!"
Threat in hand we moved onto doing bicep curls, back curls and a myriad of other bends. Then...we had to put the dumbbell between our legs. As my friend Kiki says "It is every day that you are working out and they tell you to put a dumbbell between your legs!" From that position, those of us that didn't immediately flip backwards, or have it pop out, (umm...me?) were able do some ab exercises. Next time I'm going to get a tougher dumbbell. I have pretty strong muscles from working out before I moved here, but I didn't want to hurt too much the next day.
After class we hung out in the hot tub for a bit, and then headed over to kikiverde's to play with her puppy and eat the most amazing salad.
I wasn't sore after class, or the next day and it didn't hurt my back at all. I was however incredibly ravenous and exhausted. I had a great time and hope to try the deep water class next week with Mona.
Have you ever taken a water class? What was it, and how much did you love it?
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
My life is getting busy!
I haven’t written a blog entry in awhile that didn’t involved a lot of pictures so I thought I’d do an update.
My meetup group is doing really well. I have a group of 5-6 women that come to almost all of the events, so we have an excellent group going on. On Monday we started with water aerobics, which was a lot of fun. We were the only people under 60 in the group of about 25 people. I loved it! we started out water walking, and chatting until the teacher told us to split up. We were apparently talking too much, and not walking enough. Mona and I loved it so much that we are going to take it AND deep water aerobics next week. My schedule has the potential to get really busy, but I am really enjoying it.
Our new semester of yoga just started today, but unfortunately our regular teacher (whom we adore) wasn’t present. She was taking a workshop and had to miss this week. We had the same sub as we did last semester and none of us really like her. She is VERY technical and expects us to hold poses forever while she is incredibly picky about how we do them. Ourn regular teacher is relaxing and melodic and puts us at ease. Instead, I was super stressed. It just isn’t a great combination. we can’t wait for next week, and our favorite teacher to return.
Today I seem to have the klutz sydrome, dropping things left and right. First I realized the chicken packets were leaking (so gross) and when I went to clean it up, I knocked out my yogurt, breaking one of them. Granted, I got to eat the yogurt but then I dropped the spoon on the couch and had to clean that up. Big sigh...
I am sick of eating out. In fact, I am really happy that I set a menu, even in a rough form, to shop and eat for this week. I cook for myself, but have enough also for Aaron if he wants some. If he doesn’t, one of us has left overs the next day.
Meals this week have been
Havarti chicken sandwiches (as always, delicious) with roasted brussel sprouts. I didn’t know that roasted is code for really burned. They were good, but a little too mooshy. Ironic since I cooked them less than they suggested. I will definitely try again in the future, but I’m out of sprouts this time. My friend Michelle told me about a recipe her husband uses which basically caramelizes them.
sliced chicken breast sandwich (I just used the round bread, toasted it with a little Havarti and then put some chicken breast and spinach on it.
Panko crusted chicken w/ spaghetti and spinach salad
I realized that my other recipes for pecan chicken and tandoori chicken requires marinating time, so I took some of my chicken out and tried out panko breadcrumbs for the first time. I pounded the chicken thin (warning, it will shrink back up during cooking), dusted with flour, dredged it in egg and then put it in the panko breadcrumbs. I put this in a pan with a little olive oil, put a top on it and cooked it for a few minutes, flipped and cooked a few more minutes. After I turned the heat off I put a little grated cheese on top, and put the top back on for a little bit so that it melted. While the chicken was cooking I made a little spaghetti. I drained that while the cheese was melting and poured a little sauce on top.
Tonight: Tandoori spiced chicken with naan. I got the naan frozen at Trader Joes. It doesn’t take long to make, and is really good. On the side I’ll probably make some asparagus, or spinach salad.
Everyone knows that I’m hooked on hulu. I have a new show which is called Body of Proof. It is a very interesting forensic show that, best of all isn’t as gory as the show Bones. I generally likes bones, but Dr. Brennans character this season seems even more badly written. No person is that socially inept but incredibly intelligent and is, apparently incapable of learning. It’s like she is purposely dense. The only problem with Body of Proof is that it is almost predictable that it is a family member who kills the person. Come on writers, shake it up, your characters are great but endings of your shows are a little too predictable. I love how it isn’t just about dead bodies, but about learning ‘the stories of a life, and it’s our job to tell them.’
My meetup group is doing really well. I have a group of 5-6 women that come to almost all of the events, so we have an excellent group going on. On Monday we started with water aerobics, which was a lot of fun. We were the only people under 60 in the group of about 25 people. I loved it! we started out water walking, and chatting until the teacher told us to split up. We were apparently talking too much, and not walking enough. Mona and I loved it so much that we are going to take it AND deep water aerobics next week. My schedule has the potential to get really busy, but I am really enjoying it.
Our new semester of yoga just started today, but unfortunately our regular teacher (whom we adore) wasn’t present. She was taking a workshop and had to miss this week. We had the same sub as we did last semester and none of us really like her. She is VERY technical and expects us to hold poses forever while she is incredibly picky about how we do them. Ourn regular teacher is relaxing and melodic and puts us at ease. Instead, I was super stressed. It just isn’t a great combination. we can’t wait for next week, and our favorite teacher to return.
Today I seem to have the klutz sydrome, dropping things left and right. First I realized the chicken packets were leaking (so gross) and when I went to clean it up, I knocked out my yogurt, breaking one of them. Granted, I got to eat the yogurt but then I dropped the spoon on the couch and had to clean that up. Big sigh...
I am sick of eating out. In fact, I am really happy that I set a menu, even in a rough form, to shop and eat for this week. I cook for myself, but have enough also for Aaron if he wants some. If he doesn’t, one of us has left overs the next day.
Meals this week have been
Havarti chicken sandwiches (as always, delicious) with roasted brussel sprouts. I didn’t know that roasted is code for really burned. They were good, but a little too mooshy. Ironic since I cooked them less than they suggested. I will definitely try again in the future, but I’m out of sprouts this time. My friend Michelle told me about a recipe her husband uses which basically caramelizes them.
sliced chicken breast sandwich (I just used the round bread, toasted it with a little Havarti and then put some chicken breast and spinach on it.
Panko crusted chicken w/ spaghetti and spinach salad
I realized that my other recipes for pecan chicken and tandoori chicken requires marinating time, so I took some of my chicken out and tried out panko breadcrumbs for the first time. I pounded the chicken thin (warning, it will shrink back up during cooking), dusted with flour, dredged it in egg and then put it in the panko breadcrumbs. I put this in a pan with a little olive oil, put a top on it and cooked it for a few minutes, flipped and cooked a few more minutes. After I turned the heat off I put a little grated cheese on top, and put the top back on for a little bit so that it melted. While the chicken was cooking I made a little spaghetti. I drained that while the cheese was melting and poured a little sauce on top.
Tonight: Tandoori spiced chicken with naan. I got the naan frozen at Trader Joes. It doesn’t take long to make, and is really good. On the side I’ll probably make some asparagus, or spinach salad.
Everyone knows that I’m hooked on hulu. I have a new show which is called Body of Proof. It is a very interesting forensic show that, best of all isn’t as gory as the show Bones. I generally likes bones, but Dr. Brennans character this season seems even more badly written. No person is that socially inept but incredibly intelligent and is, apparently incapable of learning. It’s like she is purposely dense. The only problem with Body of Proof is that it is almost predictable that it is a family member who kills the person. Come on writers, shake it up, your characters are great but endings of your shows are a little too predictable. I love how it isn’t just about dead bodies, but about learning ‘the stories of a life, and it’s our job to tell them.’
Saturday, April 9, 2011
What is in YOUR refrigerater?
Yesterday morning I drove from my parent's in Ohio to WV where I got to hang out with my friends for a bit before picking up some eggs from my friend's farm. I hope hoping for 6 dozen, but since it isn't terribly warm yet, I only got four. Coming back up I got a text from the friend I was going to stay with saying that their daughter wasn't feeling well. It was enough to push me into driving all of the way home (another 3 hrs) to surprise my husband by coming home a day early. It worked, and I was so happy to sleep in my own bed again!
Today my hubby and I headed to Trader Joe's to pick up lots of food since, of course, he didn't shop at all while I was gone (except to pick me up some flowers while at Costco!!). I am so sick of eating out. Wow...did I say that? Anyways, I was dying for fruits and vegetables and my kitchen!
I'm going to post our shopping list, and then some pictures of our fridge.
Fruits (I wanted to make fruit salad to always have around!)
-clementines
-mango
-cantaloupe
-grapes
-small container of organic blueberries
-kiwi
-Pineapple
Vegetables
-sweet onion
-baby spinach
-brussel sprouts (I had them for the first time last week and may be in love. I'm planning on roasting them)
-asparagus (something else I didn't think I liked, but with olive oil, salt and pepper it's yummy!)
- carrots
-tomatoes
-sweet peppers
Meats
turkey lunch meat (good in scrambled eggs, salad, and sandwiches
ground beef (85/20)
Starch
loaf of round bread (for Havarti sandwiches)
Dairy
skim milk (I don't mind drinking only almond milk but it doesn't taste the same in tea, and has NO protein)
buttermilk (didn't end up getting, but I can pick some up, or curdle milk from the pecan chicken recipe)
Greek yogurt (1.5 cups in tandoori chicken recipe)
laughing cow cheese (for greenlitebites recipe, but TJ's didn't have it...I'll have to pick it up)
Other
seltzer water (TJ flavored..so good)
Green machine juice for Aaron
lemonade (to mix with seltzer, not drink straight...or it will be gone in 24 hours)
orange juice
We were each allowed 2 'treats' that weren't on our shopping list.
Hubby: raw mixed nuts, and coconut water (wow his are healthy...)
Me: Orange Chicken and baked onion ring snacks (totally not healthy...but totally good)
Menu:
-pecan crusted chicken (recipe in cooking light)
-tandoori spiced chicken (sides yet to be determined, another cooking light recipe)
-our chicken/havarti sandwhich
-cheesy beef tacos (www.greenlitebites.com recipe)
note: if you notice a chicken theme, it is b/c cooking light had a recipe on 20 chicken breast recipes, and...I've got chicken in the freezer.
Snacks:
fruit salad --I always want to have some on hand to snack on so we make healthier choices
I took some pictures of my fridge--do you dare to do the same? I took a tip from Roni and reorganized it. No longer does my produce hide in the bottom to rot, unseen. Rather, it sits at the top and middle of my fridge, the grapes and blueberries nestled next to a bag of brussel sprouts. I'm excited to start cooking! The first thing I made was a fruit salad. Oh so good...
Today my hubby and I headed to Trader Joe's to pick up lots of food since, of course, he didn't shop at all while I was gone (except to pick me up some flowers while at Costco!!). I am so sick of eating out. Wow...did I say that? Anyways, I was dying for fruits and vegetables and my kitchen!
I'm going to post our shopping list, and then some pictures of our fridge.
Fruits (I wanted to make fruit salad to always have around!)
-clementines
-mango
-cantaloupe
-grapes
-small container of organic blueberries
-kiwi
-Pineapple
Vegetables
-sweet onion
-baby spinach
-brussel sprouts (I had them for the first time last week and may be in love. I'm planning on roasting them)
-asparagus (something else I didn't think I liked, but with olive oil, salt and pepper it's yummy!)
- carrots
-tomatoes
-sweet peppers
Meats
turkey lunch meat (good in scrambled eggs, salad, and sandwiches
ground beef (85/20)
Starch
loaf of round bread (for Havarti sandwiches)
Dairy
skim milk (I don't mind drinking only almond milk but it doesn't taste the same in tea, and has NO protein)
buttermilk (didn't end up getting, but I can pick some up, or curdle milk from the pecan chicken recipe)
Greek yogurt (1.5 cups in tandoori chicken recipe)
laughing cow cheese (for greenlitebites recipe, but TJ's didn't have it...I'll have to pick it up)
Other
seltzer water (TJ flavored..so good)
Green machine juice for Aaron
lemonade (to mix with seltzer, not drink straight...or it will be gone in 24 hours)
orange juice
We were each allowed 2 'treats' that weren't on our shopping list.
Hubby: raw mixed nuts, and coconut water (wow his are healthy...)
Me: Orange Chicken and baked onion ring snacks (totally not healthy...but totally good)
Menu:
-pecan crusted chicken (recipe in cooking light)
-tandoori spiced chicken (sides yet to be determined, another cooking light recipe)
-our chicken/havarti sandwhich
-cheesy beef tacos (www.greenlitebites.com recipe)
note: if you notice a chicken theme, it is b/c cooking light had a recipe on 20 chicken breast recipes, and...I've got chicken in the freezer.
Snacks:
fruit salad --I always want to have some on hand to snack on so we make healthier choices
I took some pictures of my fridge--do you dare to do the same? I took a tip from Roni and reorganized it. No longer does my produce hide in the bottom to rot, unseen. Rather, it sits at the top and middle of my fridge, the grapes and blueberries nestled next to a bag of brussel sprouts. I'm excited to start cooking! The first thing I made was a fruit salad. Oh so good...
 |
| Eggs, meat, and lots of produce |
 |
| See above for every fruit that is in that bowl! |
 |
| My seltzer is in the drawer rather than putting my produce in there... |
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
CD's killed the record star, a record altering adventure
Not too many people have turntables these days, and a lot of people (like my uncle) are more than happy to unload unwanted record. What is a crafty girl to do? First I made bowls, and gave them away for Christmas. Next a clock which hangs in my house. It was fun to make, but putting together the clock mechanism was really annoying. Today, my dad and I had fun with his lathe making....coasters!
After some experimenting my dad almost had it so that I didn't have to sand the edges. Now I need to coat them with polyurethane or something similar to make them waterproof. I think that they turned out really well. I was thinking of doing something with the 'shell' of the record, but the edges aren't terribly even since the record actually melts a bit if it spins too fast.
We had fun! Hopefully our adventures will continue tomorrow.
 |
| you start with a pile of records, and apparently a spring form pan that I found sitting around to put the finished product in |
 |
| My dad used two pieces of wood with a screw to hold them together and put the record between them. This way when he turns the lathe on, the record doesn't wobble... |
 |
| Taking the record off of the screw holding it on |
 |
| Hi Dad! He's holding what is left of the record. |
 |
| coaster:) |
 |
| a pile of coasters |
We had fun! Hopefully our adventures will continue tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
My day in pictures.
I had such an awesome time today! I woke up early, had breakfast, showered and headed over to visit my friend Eric. After watching Megamind (hilarious!) and catching up I headed over to see my friend Sophia. Eric and I have been friends ever since he started talking to me his freshman year in band class. I quit band, since I was getting tortured daily by this girl behind me (and oh yeah, private lessons actually taught me something) but I kept Eric. Good choices on my part.
She requests that I write about how much I totally love her. Sophia--I LOVE YOU (and you are awesome)!
Now that that is out of the way, Soph is like my sister. In fact, I call her that frequently. She is awesome, fun and hilarious. She's 8 years younger than me, so when I graduated from high school I handed down my locker shelves that my dad made. As we were leaving the middle school one woman asked if I wanted to join the PTA. I told her that I would have to have been eight years old to be Sophia's mom, and we walked out. Nice to know that I can look mature occasionally, right? Either that or it speaks to how young some parents look.
Picture time! People seem to love the pictures, and unless I run out of space on here I will continue to post copious quantities of them.
First to Eric's house!
Next we went to the mall where we walked around for awhile. On Monday I start water aerobics and I needed a swimsuit which we quickly found. Basically I sent her out to get anything in my size, and then she told me which one she liked best. It worked well for me!
After seeking 'nourishing liquid' (in the form of Starbucks Frappachinos) we were getting tired and then saw...a Brookstone! I love Brookstone and I love the man there named Gary who hooked us up in these awesome massage chairs for 15 minute massages (he would have let us stay longer but we didn't want to hog the awesomeness).
If anyone noticed that my shirt changed half way through the day, it was because the first thing I did when I got to my friend's dorm was buy a school t-shirt. It is so soft, and I'll advertise.
Thank you my wonderful friends for a great day! Next my mom and I head back to my parents house so my dad and I can play with records. Want to know what I'm talking about? Check back in a couple of days for details.
She requests that I write about how much I totally love her. Sophia--I LOVE YOU (and you are awesome)!
Now that that is out of the way, Soph is like my sister. In fact, I call her that frequently. She is awesome, fun and hilarious. She's 8 years younger than me, so when I graduated from high school I handed down my locker shelves that my dad made. As we were leaving the middle school one woman asked if I wanted to join the PTA. I told her that I would have to have been eight years old to be Sophia's mom, and we walked out. Nice to know that I can look mature occasionally, right? Either that or it speaks to how young some parents look.
Picture time! People seem to love the pictures, and unless I run out of space on here I will continue to post copious quantities of them.
First to Eric's house!
 |
| Eric attempting to remove a dog from my lap |
 |
| there are 3 dogs there all sniffling each other and attempting to sit in my lap. The small dogs weren't bad, but that big dog is HUGE (like 250lbs). Yes, one of the dogs is licking my chest (hence my laughing so hard) |
 |
| When I arrived we were chipper and awake (mostly) |
 |
| When I was younger my dad took me to this Chinese Buffet. I felt this need to find it again to have lunch with Sophia. It isn't in as good of shape as it was 10 years ago, but the food was still yummy. The wallpaper however, garish beyond all description, so of course I had to take a picture! |
 |
| Yummy... |
After seeking 'nourishing liquid' (in the form of Starbucks Frappachinos) we were getting tired and then saw...a Brookstone! I love Brookstone and I love the man there named Gary who hooked us up in these awesome massage chairs for 15 minute massages (he would have let us stay longer but we didn't want to hog the awesomeness).
 |
| relaxing |
 |
| I was captured |
 |
| We saw this guy walking around with this odd thing on his head. It is a head massager. Sophia gets migraines, and immediately fell in love with this device. Find it here! It's experience, but man it works! |
 |
| We each got a pillow too so we could get a sale and split the cost. I finally got my memory foam pillow. I love it! We actually hung out on the tempurpedic beds in the back for awhile trying out all of the pillows. |
 |
| My dorm room sure as heck wasn't this big!! Plus she's got a sink, and a bathroom across the hall. I'm a bit jealous. |
 |
| At the end of the day, we were tired but happy! |
Thank you my wonderful friends for a great day! Next my mom and I head back to my parents house so my dad and I can play with records. Want to know what I'm talking about? Check back in a couple of days for details.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Friends!
Ohhhh it has been such a friendful week! I drove from WV to my parents house, which wasn't too bad of a drive. I just pop an audible book on my phone and away I go!
I'd like to put in an advertisement for www.audible.com.
I'm crazy for audio books. My dad read to me nightly as a kid. I grew up listening to his deep voice read The Hobbit
, Watership Down: A Novel
, James and the Giant Peach
(and ever other Roald Dahl book), Gulliver's Travels
(I was so little I had to ask what half the words meant) and too many other books to name. I remember reading him Journey to the Center of the Earth (Qualitas Classics)
as he fixed his car. Books were a huge part of my life as a kid. I could always find comfort losing myself in a book. In our house we didn't have to be cajoled into reading a book, but rather putting it down long enough to have a conversation.
I tell people my brother taught me how to read. If he didn't (I now don't remember) he certainly set an amazing example of reading, as he was reading at a college level in...4th grade. Yes, smart kid and a great reader. I remember how much he loved Steven King, long before any kid his age should have been able to understand them. I now love audibles because I can put them on my phone, pop in some headphones and walk around my house cooking, cleaning, organizing and other stuff while still listening to a book. They are addictive!
Today my mom and I drove from Ohio where they currently live, back to Indiana where we lived for close to 10 years. First I dropped in on my friend Megan whom I went to school with for mannnny years. We used to pass notes in 7th grade History class. She now has an adorable two month old daughter and two very rambunctious dogs. I got a tour of her house, and got to sit and chat for awhile.
Next I got to see the other Eileen. No seriously, we are the Eileen's when we are together. She has two of the cutest and sweetest little girls. Her older daughter, now 4 (blows my mind) just crawled up in my lap like we were old friends and played a game with me. It was so much fun!
How the Eileen's met is a funny story in itself. See, there aren't too many Eileen's in our generation so when we came across another of our name we'd stop and discuss. We were both at a Halloween party and when people heard my name, they would tell me there was another Eileen there. Eventually we met and the conversation went something like this, "Hi, my name is Eileen!"
"Oh my God, your name is Eileen too? That's my name!"
"Oh sweet, what's your middle name? Mine is Katherine."
"Gabrielle!"
"Pretty...wanna be friends?"
"Sure!"
Weren't things simple when you were a teenager? So basically, we've been friends since.
It's weird to see people again after years when you keep in touch on facebook. For example, I hadn't seen Megan for years (since high school graduation) but seeing her again after keeping up with her life on facebook made it seem like we hadn't been apart for more than a couple of weeks.
Same with Eileen. I keep up with her life and children on facebook, and all the text pictures she sends me of her minions, so it really doesn't feel like we are apart. I feel like I lost track of years of family member's lives before we had things like skype and cheap long distance phone calls. I love that we can keep in contact with friends in Germany, or I can show my friend from WV my house over skype. I love technology (when it works!)
Next...dinner with the family! I took my mom, brother and his girlfriend out for dinner to this little diner where we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner. Hahahahhaaha sorry I can't stop laughing at the thought of us behaving. The three of us (mom, bro and me) are pretty loud and silly on our own, but add in the girlfriend and things were hilarious, kind of loud, full of joking swearing and other obscenities. I didn't get hit, and only threw a creamer at him once. The four of us just snipe back in forth, in love. I'm putting some pictures below. Shhh, don't tell Shawn since I pinky promised him I wouldn't put them on facebook. Wait, I didn't promise I wouldn't put them on my blog. I'm feeling a little evil...
Tomorrow I'm off to visit more friends. The awesomeness continues.
I'd like to put in an advertisement for www.audible.com.
I'm crazy for audio books. My dad read to me nightly as a kid. I grew up listening to his deep voice read The Hobbit
, Watership Down: A Novel, James and the Giant Peach (and ever other Roald Dahl book), Gulliver's Travels (I was so little I had to ask what half the words meant) and too many other books to name. I remember reading him Journey to the Center of the Earth (Qualitas Classics) as he fixed his car. Books were a huge part of my life as a kid. I could always find comfort losing myself in a book. In our house we didn't have to be cajoled into reading a book, but rather putting it down long enough to have a conversation. I tell people my brother taught me how to read. If he didn't (I now don't remember) he certainly set an amazing example of reading, as he was reading at a college level in...4th grade. Yes, smart kid and a great reader. I remember how much he loved Steven King, long before any kid his age should have been able to understand them. I now love audibles because I can put them on my phone, pop in some headphones and walk around my house cooking, cleaning, organizing and other stuff while still listening to a book. They are addictive!
Today my mom and I drove from Ohio where they currently live, back to Indiana where we lived for close to 10 years. First I dropped in on my friend Megan whom I went to school with for mannnny years. We used to pass notes in 7th grade History class. She now has an adorable two month old daughter and two very rambunctious dogs. I got a tour of her house, and got to sit and chat for awhile.
Next I got to see the other Eileen. No seriously, we are the Eileen's when we are together. She has two of the cutest and sweetest little girls. Her older daughter, now 4 (blows my mind) just crawled up in my lap like we were old friends and played a game with me. It was so much fun!
How the Eileen's met is a funny story in itself. See, there aren't too many Eileen's in our generation so when we came across another of our name we'd stop and discuss. We were both at a Halloween party and when people heard my name, they would tell me there was another Eileen there. Eventually we met and the conversation went something like this, "Hi, my name is Eileen!"
"Oh my God, your name is Eileen too? That's my name!"
"Oh sweet, what's your middle name? Mine is Katherine."
"Gabrielle!"
"Pretty...wanna be friends?"
"Sure!"
Weren't things simple when you were a teenager? So basically, we've been friends since.
It's weird to see people again after years when you keep in touch on facebook. For example, I hadn't seen Megan for years (since high school graduation) but seeing her again after keeping up with her life on facebook made it seem like we hadn't been apart for more than a couple of weeks.
Same with Eileen. I keep up with her life and children on facebook, and all the text pictures she sends me of her minions, so it really doesn't feel like we are apart. I feel like I lost track of years of family member's lives before we had things like skype and cheap long distance phone calls. I love that we can keep in contact with friends in Germany, or I can show my friend from WV my house over skype. I love technology (when it works!)
Next...dinner with the family! I took my mom, brother and his girlfriend out for dinner to this little diner where we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner. Hahahahhaaha sorry I can't stop laughing at the thought of us behaving. The three of us (mom, bro and me) are pretty loud and silly on our own, but add in the girlfriend and things were hilarious, kind of loud, full of joking swearing and other obscenities. I didn't get hit, and only threw a creamer at him once. The four of us just snipe back in forth, in love. I'm putting some pictures below. Shhh, don't tell Shawn since I pinky promised him I wouldn't put them on facebook. Wait, I didn't promise I wouldn't put them on my blog. I'm feeling a little evil...
Tomorrow I'm off to visit more friends. The awesomeness continues.
 |
| Brother not loving the loving lol |
 |
| No seriously, the only way I got a picture was to make him laugh. |
 |
| smirk...yes, his glasses are crooked. |
 |
| My brother got a mustache out of a 75 cent vending thing, and my mom claimed it. She didn't want me to put her picture up until I told her she was in a disguise so no one would recognize her...mwahahahaha... |
Friday, April 1, 2011
Radio Silence
Sorry for the apparent radio silence. I am not abandoning you o blogger world, but the screaming infant wouldn't let me stop patting her bum long enough to update my blog.
Seriously though, I'm been too busy or sleep deprived to write a coherent sentence. It is still debatable as to whether that is going to happen in this post. While I do get sleep, I generally stay up with the baby until after her 2-4am feeding and then crash until around 11. Yea, I get sleep but my schedule is completely backwards so it feels like I don't. It is strange how your body reacts to your sleep schedule being turned around.
I've been eating complete crap and that isn't helping. I went to visit the little girl I used to watch and omg she is so big, and smart and talking! She told me an entire story about how the leprochaun came to her classroom at school and left a mess. It blows me away how quickly she learned to talk once she started. It was awesome to catch up with them. I stuck around for dinner and we had pizza with steamed veggies on the side. Growing up brussel sprouts (that is how you spell it right?) got one heck of a bad rap, but they are good! They are nice and crunchy with a slight smoked flavor to them. The asparagus wasn't bad either. They put a little olive oil and a pinch of salt/pepper and yeah...I had seconds. I'm rather excited at this discovery.
I am craving salad, and will never eat another pop tart again after this trip. I wonder how long it will take for me to detox all of the sugar and crap I've had out of my system (I wonder as a idly drink a diet coke).
It looks like my meetup group is really taking off! We have at least two things scheduled every week now. I'm looking forward to starting water aerobics when I get back and jumping into a new semester of yoga. I was thinking of graduating myself to yoga1 plus but Mona reminded me how awesome it was to take the class with a friend. I'll stick with yoga 1, our teacher Melissa will tailor the class to us and our needs. I was really disappointed in the DVD I got being 13 minutes of working out and 50 minutes of this insane woman talking and looking stoned. I think this is the DVD. I wouldn't suggest getting it. The woman really gets on my nerves.
We have lots of events planned for the next couple of months, so if you are in the area, check out our group at www.meetup.com/happyhousewives
On a completely different topic, I am having an online pampered chef catalog party. Not because I want to monetarily get anything out of it, but because I actually like their products and really enjoyed the party that I went to last week. I have already gotten my first order, which made me happy. I'm considering actually becoming a host, the whole social aspect really appeals to me. I'm still thinking on it. In the meantime, if you are interested in the log in information, there is a note on my facebook wall, or you can message me/leave a comment here.
Tomorrow after a baby shower I am going to, I head to my parents house. I'm excited that I am stopping off to see an old friend on the way. I haven't seen her in years, and it will be wonderful to relax and catch up. My dad and I are planning on making some vinyl record coasters (he has all the neat tools to cut things), and my mom and I are going to do some cooking and go to Indiana for a couple of days to visit friends.
Ever since our old neighbors died I haven't liked going back to the town where I grew up. I haven't really felt that there was anything there for me anyone. Ramona and Stan were family, and with them gone it just feels different. I still dream about the house we lived in there, a huge, old, beautiful Victorian with a servants staircase in the back, and a basement that had bats in it. It was a mysterious and interesting house, and I have to admit that I was sad when my parents moved. I like their new house though, it just doesn't have as colorful of a past as our old house.
It will be nice to go see Sophia at college. I've known her since she was a little girl and we were almost raised as sisters. When I was in German class I started calling her sofatisch (coffee table) in German and it sort of stuck. I sent her cookies not too long ago and her roommate apparently really enjoyed them. I'll also get to see my friend Eric who is going to college near her. He was one of my best friends in high school and we went to my senior prom together. That was a fun night. We went to prom and then went back to the house where I was living (teacher's house lol) and watch Lord of the Rings the extended edition. There was no sex, drugs or alcohol involved but lots of rock 'n roll. The plus part, no hangovers or unwanted pregnancies!
Alright, enough reminiscing about my high school years, lets just say I'm really excited to see my friends. It has been awhile. If I had time I'd dip down to Indy and see Jess. She's my oldest friend and I don't get to see her enough.
I've really enjoyed this traveling time, and have been surprised that while I really miss Aaron, it isn't this this heart wrenching pain like it used to be. I think it is because I am with people that I love so dearly. Let's see how I feel after getting stressed out by my mom....
note: I'd read through this and catch at least 20% of my typos, but I'm tired and have to feed a baby. Sorry hubby...just grit your teeth and remember how much you adore me (wink!)
Seriously though, I'm been too busy or sleep deprived to write a coherent sentence. It is still debatable as to whether that is going to happen in this post. While I do get sleep, I generally stay up with the baby until after her 2-4am feeding and then crash until around 11. Yea, I get sleep but my schedule is completely backwards so it feels like I don't. It is strange how your body reacts to your sleep schedule being turned around.
I've been eating complete crap and that isn't helping. I went to visit the little girl I used to watch and omg she is so big, and smart and talking! She told me an entire story about how the leprochaun came to her classroom at school and left a mess. It blows me away how quickly she learned to talk once she started. It was awesome to catch up with them. I stuck around for dinner and we had pizza with steamed veggies on the side. Growing up brussel sprouts (that is how you spell it right?) got one heck of a bad rap, but they are good! They are nice and crunchy with a slight smoked flavor to them. The asparagus wasn't bad either. They put a little olive oil and a pinch of salt/pepper and yeah...I had seconds. I'm rather excited at this discovery.
I am craving salad, and will never eat another pop tart again after this trip. I wonder how long it will take for me to detox all of the sugar and crap I've had out of my system (I wonder as a idly drink a diet coke).
It looks like my meetup group is really taking off! We have at least two things scheduled every week now. I'm looking forward to starting water aerobics when I get back and jumping into a new semester of yoga. I was thinking of graduating myself to yoga1 plus but Mona reminded me how awesome it was to take the class with a friend. I'll stick with yoga 1, our teacher Melissa will tailor the class to us and our needs. I was really disappointed in the DVD I got being 13 minutes of working out and 50 minutes of this insane woman talking and looking stoned. I think this is the DVD. I wouldn't suggest getting it. The woman really gets on my nerves.
We have lots of events planned for the next couple of months, so if you are in the area, check out our group at www.meetup.com/happyhousewives
On a completely different topic, I am having an online pampered chef catalog party. Not because I want to monetarily get anything out of it, but because I actually like their products and really enjoyed the party that I went to last week. I have already gotten my first order, which made me happy. I'm considering actually becoming a host, the whole social aspect really appeals to me. I'm still thinking on it. In the meantime, if you are interested in the log in information, there is a note on my facebook wall, or you can message me/leave a comment here.
Tomorrow after a baby shower I am going to, I head to my parents house. I'm excited that I am stopping off to see an old friend on the way. I haven't seen her in years, and it will be wonderful to relax and catch up. My dad and I are planning on making some vinyl record coasters (he has all the neat tools to cut things), and my mom and I are going to do some cooking and go to Indiana for a couple of days to visit friends.
Ever since our old neighbors died I haven't liked going back to the town where I grew up. I haven't really felt that there was anything there for me anyone. Ramona and Stan were family, and with them gone it just feels different. I still dream about the house we lived in there, a huge, old, beautiful Victorian with a servants staircase in the back, and a basement that had bats in it. It was a mysterious and interesting house, and I have to admit that I was sad when my parents moved. I like their new house though, it just doesn't have as colorful of a past as our old house.
It will be nice to go see Sophia at college. I've known her since she was a little girl and we were almost raised as sisters. When I was in German class I started calling her sofatisch (coffee table) in German and it sort of stuck. I sent her cookies not too long ago and her roommate apparently really enjoyed them. I'll also get to see my friend Eric who is going to college near her. He was one of my best friends in high school and we went to my senior prom together. That was a fun night. We went to prom and then went back to the house where I was living (teacher's house lol) and watch Lord of the Rings the extended edition. There was no sex, drugs or alcohol involved but lots of rock 'n roll. The plus part, no hangovers or unwanted pregnancies!
Alright, enough reminiscing about my high school years, lets just say I'm really excited to see my friends. It has been awhile. If I had time I'd dip down to Indy and see Jess. She's my oldest friend and I don't get to see her enough.
I've really enjoyed this traveling time, and have been surprised that while I really miss Aaron, it isn't this this heart wrenching pain like it used to be. I think it is because I am with people that I love so dearly. Let's see how I feel after getting stressed out by my mom....
note: I'd read through this and catch at least 20% of my typos, but I'm tired and have to feed a baby. Sorry hubby...just grit your teeth and remember how much you adore me (wink!)
Monday, March 28, 2011
I found my camera!
 |
| She's starting to open her eyes longer and stay awake, but she doesn't seem to know what to do while she's awake so she cries, and then takes her paci and falls asleep. Oh the cycle that never ends... |
 |
| She likes to kick off any swaddle and sleep with her feet up in the air. |
 |
| And what beautiful long feet that kid's got! Her little toes just make me swoon...and kiss. |
 |
| Dori, their cat looked pitiful, so I let her take up half of the bed. |
 |
| cranes! |
 |
| more cranes! |
 |
| Mariette and I colored this. We like coloring. I'm thinking it will end up on the wall where the butterflies were long enough for me to take a picture and then mostly fell off. I'm still annoyed about that. |
What do you do when you friend has a baby, and you are craving cake? Buy a delicious cake and claim it is for her birthday! This thing was half white half chocolate with almond buttercream frosting. Best cake I've ever had. My friend's agree. The lady at the bakery was cracking up when I told her that I didn't care if it was chocolate for vanilla because I really just wanted the frosting. I lied...their chocolate cake is amazing.
If you are in Morgantown, check Nonna's out--
http://www.nonnasbakery.com/
I really miss my hubby and kitties. He wants to give me his iphone since mine is on it's way out. It doesn't like to umm...work. The fact that these devices cost us hundreds of dollars and become obsolete so quickly is insane! What else do we pay this much for and then accept it dying so quickly?
I need some meetup ideas. The ladies are getting together without me while I'm away but I want to branch out and do more than just crafting meetups when I get back. I hope I can get some people to go to the cherry blossom festival with me. I should look up other events that are going on.
I am eating horribly--so I'm looking forward to going home to my sugar free (mostly) house and eating some salad. Cake, chinese, pop, subway...not really stuff that is normally in my diet and I'm feeling gross as a result. I should be calling my old trainer and getting as many work outs in as possible but instead I'm popping ibuprofen to kill my headaches and backaches.
I'm thinking of getting my hair cut. In fact, I know I need to. I actually ended up really liking the haircut I've got, especially when I did this with it:
Now it's too long. Hopefully the hairdresser I went to can repeat the haircut.
Okay...I'm tired. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
 |
| I was craving cake, so I bought one... |
 |
| I finally got a decent picture of the bedding and wall behind it |
I need some meetup ideas. The ladies are getting together without me while I'm away but I want to branch out and do more than just crafting meetups when I get back. I hope I can get some people to go to the cherry blossom festival with me. I should look up other events that are going on.
I am eating horribly--so I'm looking forward to going home to my sugar free (mostly) house and eating some salad. Cake, chinese, pop, subway...not really stuff that is normally in my diet and I'm feeling gross as a result. I should be calling my old trainer and getting as many work outs in as possible but instead I'm popping ibuprofen to kill my headaches and backaches.
I'm thinking of getting my hair cut. In fact, I know I need to. I actually ended up really liking the haircut I've got, especially when I did this with it:
Okay...I'm tired. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Izzy's nursery pictures, and a visit to a farm
Welcome to a picturific blog post. I still can't find my camera. I'm starting to think that I pulled it out to ensure it was packed and umm...then didn't pack it. I also can't find my phone charger so basically I'm a hot mess all around. It was up till almost 4am with Izzy, first sleeping then crying then feeding then sleeping (the baby, not me!) so I'm a little tired. Luckily I'm a night person so being up late and sleeping in works better for me than trying to force myself to bed early.
Okay peeps--picture time!
The decals are from Michaels. They work pretty well but the flowers come up pretty easily, even if you use the 'applicator' (basically a credit card sans the buying power. I bought a pack of flowers and a pack of multi-shaped circles. I used about .... 2/3s of them.
A farm visit:
Last friends of ours (former co-worker of the hubs and his wife) bought some land and started farming in their 'free' time. They have chickens, turkeys, guinea hens, and baby ducklings. They have baby goats too that they are getting next month. We had so much fun when we lived here going down to the land and camping out with a big fire.
After finishing the nursery I got a call from my friends A&L asking if I wanted to come down to the farm and then back to their place to see baby ducks. When they ask you to the farm, just assume you'll work. I forgot to bring work shoes, so my gym shoes might have chicken poo on them still. Oh well, I've been wearing them in wet grass a lot to clean them. I really wanted to go visit these guys:
Note: ducklings aren't a fan of being held, but they don't really mind being pet if you just let them walk around
I think that's it. The baby is eating, big brother is watching Mickey. My back is NOT happy about having helped turn soil in the garden and then right as we were about to leave a guinea fowl escaped. We tried to catch it (circle around and chase it back into it's pen) but it decided to be independent. It was a fun day:)
Okay peeps--picture time!
 |
| all ready to go home. It took awhile to get her in the carseat because the latch for it was bigger than her legs... |
 |
| I loved this bedding. I mean, purple and green--too cute. I painted the letters to her name and put lots of decals. Hanging there is a mobile my friend Mona and I made using paper cranes. You can see a second one in the picture below |
 |
| These three hanging things came with the bedding. I'm going to cut the tags off, but I didn't have scissors. You can see more of the cranes on the right side of the picture |
 |
| decals! If you notice that they stop it is b/c I didn't want their son (18months) to figure out how to peel them off, stand on the guest bed and do just that. Yeah, he would. He got in the bathtub fully dressed tonight. |
 |
| I was so proud of these magnetic butterflies. I was soooooo sad/pissed off when they all started falling off the wall. Warning--if your wall is 'textured' in any way they won't stay up. Now to find some double sided tape and ensure they never move again. Sadly I broke one in the dark not realizing it had fallen. I have a picture that my friend and I colored that can also go there. Still figuring where to put that. |
 |
| a bedding close up. The sheet is light green, although it looks...white? In this picture. I love purple, butterflies and flowers, so thats what Izzy got! I owe you more pictures of the bedding. I found it at babies 'r us online clearance from around $130 dollars to $60. The quality seems pretty good, and it is really pretty and soft. |
A farm visit:
Last friends of ours (former co-worker of the hubs and his wife) bought some land and started farming in their 'free' time. They have chickens, turkeys, guinea hens, and baby ducklings. They have baby goats too that they are getting next month. We had so much fun when we lived here going down to the land and camping out with a big fire.
After finishing the nursery I got a call from my friends A&L asking if I wanted to come down to the farm and then back to their place to see baby ducks. When they ask you to the farm, just assume you'll work. I forgot to bring work shoes, so my gym shoes might have chicken poo on them still. Oh well, I've been wearing them in wet grass a lot to clean them. I really wanted to go visit these guys:
 |
| baby ducklings...so adorable and incredibly soft. They are starting to get little butt feathers. Too cute! They still live A&L's dining room. |
 |
| Ducklings all snuggled up under the heat lamp. Percy, their youngest kitty loves to sit on top of the cage and stare at them. We can't figure out if it is an instinctual thing where he knows he should hunt, or if he just likes how warm it is by the heat lamp, or if the moving cheeping creatures are just fun to watch. Oddly, the ducklings don't seem to care, at all. Percy will spend a big chunk of his day just staring at them. |
 |
| This is two days worth of eggs. There are a couple of dozen there. L found a cache of 6 eggs one hen had hidden in part of the barn they don't usually go in. Some of the hens lay green eggs, the rest brown. A washed the eggs and made me box them for him later. He sent me back to my friends house with a dozen. Guess what we had for breakfast *yum!* They are overrun with eggs, and selling them cheap (cheaper than non organic and these sucks are totally free range cage free organic and delish)--near Morgantown and want some? Write to me! |
 |
| Last but not least...this little jerk was following me around. He likes to puff up his feathers and gobble. We gobble back and have conversations. He doesn't like women, since he apparently thinks that we are his competition for his ladies attention. The ladies are much nicer. I had to pick up a stick and prod him to keep him from trying to peck me. The dog is terrified of the turkeys since he got pecked pretty hard. |
quick update...
I've been doing stuff! I've been taking pictures, but since I can't find my damn camera (which I swear I packed) I've been taking pictures on my phone. Sub par, but they get the point across for the most part.
Izzy is a doll, but likes to sleep all day and be really pissed off during the night. We'll see how tonight goes. I should be sleeping but since I went to my friend's house and we didn't get dinner till after 8, I'm not tired at all.
I went down to my friend's farm today, and as always ended up working. We were turning soil for a garden, one damn clay encrusted rock at a time. They also wanted to replant their hops to use in homemade beer. They have around 40 chickens, 3 turkeys, and 8 adorable ducklings, some guinea fowl and roosters. The ducklings are still at their house because they are babies. I've got pictures...but once again they are on my phone. Yeah, I'm lazy. I promise pictures soon!!
What else...I miss my hubby. He is having fun organizing and moving my stuff around *grrr* while I'm gone. Either I will come home and be really happy or really pissed off. Since he, at times, can be an organizational freak, this may end well for all of us.
Okay..I'm sure there are lots of grammatical and spelling errors in here. My husband gets so annoyed by them, but I can't spell check my own stuff. I try...I read through every post but I miss things every time. I know it. It was my biggest downfall at my first (and last) 'real' job. How do you learn to proof-read your own stuff?
Izzy is a doll, but likes to sleep all day and be really pissed off during the night. We'll see how tonight goes. I should be sleeping but since I went to my friend's house and we didn't get dinner till after 8, I'm not tired at all.
I went down to my friend's farm today, and as always ended up working. We were turning soil for a garden, one damn clay encrusted rock at a time. They also wanted to replant their hops to use in homemade beer. They have around 40 chickens, 3 turkeys, and 8 adorable ducklings, some guinea fowl and roosters. The ducklings are still at their house because they are babies. I've got pictures...but once again they are on my phone. Yeah, I'm lazy. I promise pictures soon!!
What else...I miss my hubby. He is having fun organizing and moving my stuff around *grrr* while I'm gone. Either I will come home and be really happy or really pissed off. Since he, at times, can be an organizational freak, this may end well for all of us.
Okay..I'm sure there are lots of grammatical and spelling errors in here. My husband gets so annoyed by them, but I can't spell check my own stuff. I try...I read through every post but I miss things every time. I know it. It was my biggest downfall at my first (and last) 'real' job. How do you learn to proof-read your own stuff?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)