I wanted to write a comment on my sister's blog, but as she doesn't have comments enabled, I cannot. Since I think she reads my blog, I'm going to respond here instead. (Hopefully, she won't mind)
In her blog she wrote, "...and she [Natalie] said how she admired me for being a fighter through all of this. It boosted my self-esteem, but at the same time I think she's giving me a little too much credit. I have plenty of self pity time..."
What I have to say about it is this:
Bravery isn't the absence of fear. It's continuing on and doing what you have to do in spite of the fear.
I don't think you are a fighter because you never get down or never have moments of self-pity. Then you wouldn't be a fighter, you would be some sort of alien, super-hero.
Rocky didn't win all his battles, and you won't either.
But he kept coming back to the ring, determined to fight as long and as hard as he could.
You're still in school. You're still following your dreams. You're still doing what you need to do to live your life in a meaningful way. You have hope for the future.
Maybe you have to work a little harder for them than most people, and that sucks, but the point is that you keep going.
I AM proud of you, my little brave chica.
Don't forget - you don't have to fight the good fight alone, I've always got your back.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
In the Refrigerator?
I went to get my lunch from the refrigerator today. By the time, I get there it's usually pretty empty as I don't eat lunch until 1 / 1:30 if I can help it.
There sitting in the middle of the top shelf was a "Maple Brown Sugar" granola bar.
Why would you refrigerate a granola bar?
Is granola better cold?
Have I been f*-ing it up all these years eating it at room temperature?
It just doesn't seem like the kind of food that would benefit from being cold.
Don't be offended if you love cold granola.
To each their own.
Just explain it to me. The why part, I get the what and the how.
There sitting in the middle of the top shelf was a "Maple Brown Sugar" granola bar.
Why would you refrigerate a granola bar?
Is granola better cold?
Have I been f*-ing it up all these years eating it at room temperature?
It just doesn't seem like the kind of food that would benefit from being cold.
Don't be offended if you love cold granola.
To each their own.
Just explain it to me. The why part, I get the what and the how.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
A Swing and a Miss
Before I get to the subject of this blog...
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful day!
It was so gorgeous out! It felt wonderful to be outside.
Cash and I went for a long walk this afternoon... and I was wearing a t-shirt. It was awesome!
I love, love, love this weather (finally)!!!
I tried to make sweet-n-sour shrimp tonight and it did not go well.
The smell of the cooking shrimp made me sick to my stomach (and I love shrimp!).
The sweet & sour sauce... just didn't quite taste right.
Jeff actually ate some of it. He said he liked the rice.
I couldn't stomach it. I ate some of the veg and had to quit.
Yuck, yuck, yuck!
We might try to make it again, only with chicken instead of shrimp and a different kind of sauce. The only problem is that shrimp is more calorie economic at 76 cals/serving versus 110 cals/serving for chicken.
Not sure how I'll solve that problem. Maybe less rice, but how much less is the question.
Boo. It makes me sick just to think about it.
Oh well, back to the drawing board on that one.
On a completely unrelated note, I was watching the Simpsons tonight and the Max Power song came on:
Max Power,
He's the man who's name you'd love to touch,
But, you mustn't touch!
His name sounds good in your ear,
But when you say it, you mustn't fear!
'Cause his name can be said by anyone!
Ha! That is the best song ever! I love it when Homer sings that song.
In fact, I love it when Homer sings any song. He sang "Mellow Yellow" in the next episode, which was awesome as well.
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful day!
It was so gorgeous out! It felt wonderful to be outside.
Cash and I went for a long walk this afternoon... and I was wearing a t-shirt. It was awesome!
I love, love, love this weather (finally)!!!
I tried to make sweet-n-sour shrimp tonight and it did not go well.
The smell of the cooking shrimp made me sick to my stomach (and I love shrimp!).
The sweet & sour sauce... just didn't quite taste right.
Jeff actually ate some of it. He said he liked the rice.
I couldn't stomach it. I ate some of the veg and had to quit.
Yuck, yuck, yuck!
We might try to make it again, only with chicken instead of shrimp and a different kind of sauce. The only problem is that shrimp is more calorie economic at 76 cals/serving versus 110 cals/serving for chicken.
Not sure how I'll solve that problem. Maybe less rice, but how much less is the question.
Boo. It makes me sick just to think about it.
Oh well, back to the drawing board on that one.
On a completely unrelated note, I was watching the Simpsons tonight and the Max Power song came on:
Max Power,
He's the man who's name you'd love to touch,
But, you mustn't touch!
His name sounds good in your ear,
But when you say it, you mustn't fear!
'Cause his name can be said by anyone!
Ha! That is the best song ever! I love it when Homer sings that song.
In fact, I love it when Homer sings any song. He sang "Mellow Yellow" in the next episode, which was awesome as well.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Me, Myself and Three Crazy Dogs
Well, it's Friday night and I'm flying solo.
The husband ditched me to hang out with his work people. They are always having these team building events. Those people can't get enough of each other.
So, anyway, I wasn't sure what the hell to do with myself for an evening alone, so I actually went to the gym tonight. I never usually go to the gym on Friday nights.
It's usually date night.
But since, my darling love is missing and I bought some new shoes (another pair... what? they were on sale buy one get one 1/2 off) and I wanted to see how these would do on the treadmill since the other pair caused some soreness in my shins. I do NOT want shin splints. (I think the other pair will work better when I'm on the elliptical)
This pair worked MUCH better on the treadmill. I was finally able to stay at 6 mph for the entire 28 minutes I ran.
Shut up! I know that's not really that fast, but it's fast for me. I am a s l o w runner. I have some short term speed, but I'm not usually much for stamina. This was my first goal. It was painful and I had to talk myself into every minute after 14. Oh I'll slow down once I hit 17 minutes... this isn't so bad, I'll just slow down at 18 minutes... and so on. It was not easy for me, but I finally managed to do it! I'm exhausted now though.
Let's see if I can do this the next time I try the treadmill though (goal #2, not sure what goal #3 will be when I can do this consistently)... you have to take the highs with the lows.
Now, I'm just chilling at home with the pooches. It sure is fun to take care of 3 crazy dogs by myself.
Ha! Don't buy this self pity act...much! The dogs are crazy for about the first 15 minutes, then they settle down. Right now all the dogs are just laying down. They are so sweet once they've got that first burst of energy out of the way.
Still not sure what to do for the rest of the night. I've got Doctor Who on Netflix and the husband usually just sleeps during episodes of that anyway, so maybe I'll go down stairs and watch some of that.
The husband ditched me to hang out with his work people. They are always having these team building events. Those people can't get enough of each other.
So, anyway, I wasn't sure what the hell to do with myself for an evening alone, so I actually went to the gym tonight. I never usually go to the gym on Friday nights.
It's usually date night.
But since, my darling love is missing and I bought some new shoes (another pair... what? they were on sale buy one get one 1/2 off) and I wanted to see how these would do on the treadmill since the other pair caused some soreness in my shins. I do NOT want shin splints. (I think the other pair will work better when I'm on the elliptical)
This pair worked MUCH better on the treadmill. I was finally able to stay at 6 mph for the entire 28 minutes I ran.
Shut up! I know that's not really that fast, but it's fast for me. I am a s l o w runner. I have some short term speed, but I'm not usually much for stamina. This was my first goal. It was painful and I had to talk myself into every minute after 14. Oh I'll slow down once I hit 17 minutes... this isn't so bad, I'll just slow down at 18 minutes... and so on. It was not easy for me, but I finally managed to do it! I'm exhausted now though.
Let's see if I can do this the next time I try the treadmill though (goal #2, not sure what goal #3 will be when I can do this consistently)... you have to take the highs with the lows.
Now, I'm just chilling at home with the pooches. It sure is fun to take care of 3 crazy dogs by myself.
Ha! Don't buy this self pity act...much! The dogs are crazy for about the first 15 minutes, then they settle down. Right now all the dogs are just laying down. They are so sweet once they've got that first burst of energy out of the way.
Still not sure what to do for the rest of the night. I've got Doctor Who on Netflix and the husband usually just sleeps during episodes of that anyway, so maybe I'll go down stairs and watch some of that.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Shut Up, Spike!
I've been watching Top Chef - Season 4 for a couple of weeks now and I was growing a bit concerned because I didn't really care about anybody yet, for or against. They were all kind of the same for me.
Well, that worry is now over.
Favorites:
Richard - He seems slightly awkward, but brilliant. I like him in spite of the faux-hawk.
Dale - I loved Hung last year, so why not Hung v 2.0?
Stephanie - She hasn't shown much personality, but she seems to have cooking chops
Andrew - Dude loves to curse. He's so over the top it makes me happy.
Mark - Loves To Kill a Mockingbird and Mad Max, nuff said.
Least Favorites:
Spike - Shut up! You don't know junk about good food, and you've been in the bottom the last 2 weeks at least, so quit bashing Richard, Dale and Andrew! P.S. I'm not impressed by your sub-par sabotage. Bah!
Ryan - Your favorite movie is "Dumb and Dumber"? You don't know what Chicken Piccata is? You've never heard of To Kill a Mockingbird? Shut up Ryan!
Antonia - She threw her teammate under the bus a couple of weeks ago, when she hadn't even tasted her food. Shut up Antonia!
On the bubble:
Jennifer - Actually I was a fan of her and Zoi, until this week. But, Zoi's whining affected Jen's popularity as well. Plus, she doesn't seem to be that great of a chef.
Nikki - You failed to make your "signature dish" of mac and cheese correctly last week... Seriously your signature dish is mac and cheese? And let's not forget the craptacular extravaganza that was blueberry mushrooms a couple of weeks ago.
Lisa - I barely remembered you exist.
Zoi - Stop your whining. You are clearly not the "amazing" chef you believe yourself to be if you can't make pasta salad. 2 weeks in a row on the chopping block. Quit the whining or you're going to Team Shut Up next week.
Well, that worry is now over.
Favorites:
Richard - He seems slightly awkward, but brilliant. I like him in spite of the faux-hawk.
Dale - I loved Hung last year, so why not Hung v 2.0?
Stephanie - She hasn't shown much personality, but she seems to have cooking chops
Andrew - Dude loves to curse. He's so over the top it makes me happy.
Mark - Loves To Kill a Mockingbird and Mad Max, nuff said.
Least Favorites:
Spike - Shut up! You don't know junk about good food, and you've been in the bottom the last 2 weeks at least, so quit bashing Richard, Dale and Andrew! P.S. I'm not impressed by your sub-par sabotage. Bah!
Ryan - Your favorite movie is "Dumb and Dumber"? You don't know what Chicken Piccata is? You've never heard of To Kill a Mockingbird? Shut up Ryan!
Antonia - She threw her teammate under the bus a couple of weeks ago, when she hadn't even tasted her food. Shut up Antonia!
On the bubble:
Jennifer - Actually I was a fan of her and Zoi, until this week. But, Zoi's whining affected Jen's popularity as well. Plus, she doesn't seem to be that great of a chef.
Nikki - You failed to make your "signature dish" of mac and cheese correctly last week... Seriously your signature dish is mac and cheese? And let's not forget the craptacular extravaganza that was blueberry mushrooms a couple of weeks ago.
Lisa - I barely remembered you exist.
Zoi - Stop your whining. You are clearly not the "amazing" chef you believe yourself to be if you can't make pasta salad. 2 weeks in a row on the chopping block. Quit the whining or you're going to Team Shut Up next week.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Formerly a Hater
I used to hate reality tv. I still do in a way. I won't watch Survivor or Big Brother.
I've made an exception for food related reality programs (Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen) and there was nothing better on this year, so we've been watching American Idol. (Totally a stretch, but I still have my principals here, people!)
American Idol
Mostly a boring evening, I wasn't even that impressed with the best performances. I probably won't buy any of this weeks performances on iTunes.
I totally called Syesha butchering "I Will Always Love You"
It's an awesome, awesome song, but when you sing it you will be compared to Dolly and Whitney. That's just a given, and that is almost never going to be a flattering comparison.
I totally LOVE Dolly Parton though.
If Nonnie (my grandmother) had been a country star, she would have been a lot like Dolly Parton.
She just has that wonderful Southern way about her.
There were the real compliments (David A)
There were the Southern-not-really-a-compliments (Kristy Lee Cook) ("Well, she made it her own" ha... so not a compliment)
Ha! She was awesome!
Hell's Kitchen
I love Gordon Ramsay.
I love watching him run around and yell at everything in sight.
He even threw chicken tonight! HA!
One of the guys is a total jerk he said apprx "I'm not going to lose to the women. The only thing I might lose to a woman is an ironing contest."
One of the guys is totally delusional "He may be the captain, but I'm a four-star general. To me, he's just a private"
Um... okay, crack baby, whatever you say!
Jeff and I were giggling like crazy through the entire episode.
It's funny. We watch Top Chef together too and it doesn't affect us like this, but we can't help but laugh during HK.
On a personal note...
The treadmill totally kicked my ass tonight. All things in balance I guess. I finished it, so I guess I have that going for me, but Thursday had better go better than tonight did. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Tats again! :0)
I've made an exception for food related reality programs (Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen) and there was nothing better on this year, so we've been watching American Idol. (Totally a stretch, but I still have my principals here, people!)
American Idol
Mostly a boring evening, I wasn't even that impressed with the best performances. I probably won't buy any of this weeks performances on iTunes.
I totally called Syesha butchering "I Will Always Love You"
It's an awesome, awesome song, but when you sing it you will be compared to Dolly and Whitney. That's just a given, and that is almost never going to be a flattering comparison.
I totally LOVE Dolly Parton though.
If Nonnie (my grandmother) had been a country star, she would have been a lot like Dolly Parton.
She just has that wonderful Southern way about her.
There were the real compliments (David A)
There were the Southern-not-really-a-compliments (Kristy Lee Cook) ("Well, she made it her own" ha... so not a compliment)
Ha! She was awesome!
Hell's Kitchen
I love Gordon Ramsay.
I love watching him run around and yell at everything in sight.
He even threw chicken tonight! HA!
One of the guys is a total jerk he said apprx "I'm not going to lose to the women. The only thing I might lose to a woman is an ironing contest."
One of the guys is totally delusional "He may be the captain, but I'm a four-star general. To me, he's just a private"
Um... okay, crack baby, whatever you say!
Jeff and I were giggling like crazy through the entire episode.
It's funny. We watch Top Chef together too and it doesn't affect us like this, but we can't help but laugh during HK.
On a personal note...
The treadmill totally kicked my ass tonight. All things in balance I guess. I finished it, so I guess I have that going for me, but Thursday had better go better than tonight did. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Tats again! :0)
Crankiness, A Gateway Drug
I often find that when a little crankiness finds its way into my life, more is to follow.
Yesterday, someone at work took a document I own (along with 2 others) and edited it. It doesn't annoy me that he edited it, but that he didn't ask or tell us about it. Now, I'm trying to sort through what was changed and it's very irritating. I exercised a certain amount of will power to not say anything to him about it... I think he thought he was being helpful. It's not nice to chastise people for attempting to be helpful.
Today, I was talking to a girl I'm friends with and we were talking about a variety of things, one of those things was a particular person that we both know. Although I believe that he is a nice person, he can be very annoying and do things that are sort of unintentionally offensive. He has made some questionable choices lately, especially in relation to my friend. Everything we said was true and none of it was said in a malicious way, more of just a venting, and underneath it all we don't really mind him after we've vented. I still feel a little karmically bad about it, but in my defense I'm always very nice to this person, which is about the most you could ask in this situation.
Now, the Accounting dept of my company is bugging me about something I find a little irritating. To sum, they covered a particular expense before and changed the policy without letting anyone know. I had to erase the email I was writing about 4 times.
I read this article about will power, how each time you use it, it becomes progressively weaker. I think it comes to the same thing with controlling my temper. Each of the situations above, annoyed me progressively a little more. I don't get mad that often, but I can have a wicked temper, if it actually comes up. It burns hot, but short and I usually feel bad about it. So, I try not to put myself in situations where I can lose my temper.
I'm glad I'm going to the gym tonight. I need to burn off some of this stress and negative energy. Hmmm.... maybe I need to say some nice things about people in order to balance myself out. Right the ship, so I can continue on with out all this negativity.
Here are some nice things about people I know:
1. The husband is a really hard-worker. He is so dedicated and is always under appreciated by everyone, including me. He loves me so well. He deserves everything good in the world.
2. My dad has a really generous spirit. I strive to be more like him in this aspect. He does things for people just because he wants to make them smile, without expectations of what he might get in return.
3. My mom is a really great listener. She listens and advises, without judgement. She just lets me talk out whatever is on my mind. I wish I were as good a listener as my mom.
4. Sis-C is strong. She isn't afraid to admit to her mistakes and try to make them better. She is always striving to be a better person. She inspires me to try a little harder as well.
5. Mr. Blume is brave. He is putting his ideas and weight out there for everyone to read and judge. I wasn't nearly that brave when I started to try to change. I admire his ability to be so forthright.
6. Sist-A is a fighter. She has had a hard couple of years. I don't know how she has managed to deal with everything that has been on her plate. A lot of people would take advantage or feel sorry for themselves, but while Ash may get down occasionally, she isn't out. I don't know if I could do as well as she has with everything. She inspires me not to feel sorry for myself.
7. Mrs. Blume is resilient. She knows why. I don't think I would handle a similar situation with as much strength as she did. I admire that.
8. Khaki Republican is a nice guy. I sent him a message of condolence recently and he actually took the time to write me back. He puts up with my sister (I love you Ash!). He puts up with our family. I have a sneaking suspicion he may be a decent human being. None of which means that if push came to shove, I wouldn't beat him up for Ash. :)
9. The Saint is a great co-worker. We can talk shop and personal stuff seamlessly weaving between the two. I enjoy talking to her about non-work stuff, but she's been the greatest boon to my job since I started at Epic. She has taught me so much stuff that is difficult to figure out and she is a great sounding board when you need to talk out the solution to a problem.
10. Poppie (my grandfather) is a sweetheart. He is the nicest man I know. It warms my heart every time he calls one of his granddaughters 'sugar'. Ever since my grandmother died, I've tried to send him notes or postcards every couple of weeks or so. Occasionally, he writes me back. His cards are the sweetest thing. He is such a gentle soul. I smile for days after I hear from him.
I'm not sure I believe in karma, but writing all this had really made me feel better. I had sort of a heavy, negative feeling when I came home from work, but now I'm feeling much more positive and happy.
Have a great day and may your karma be good!
Yesterday, someone at work took a document I own (along with 2 others) and edited it. It doesn't annoy me that he edited it, but that he didn't ask or tell us about it. Now, I'm trying to sort through what was changed and it's very irritating. I exercised a certain amount of will power to not say anything to him about it... I think he thought he was being helpful. It's not nice to chastise people for attempting to be helpful.
Today, I was talking to a girl I'm friends with and we were talking about a variety of things, one of those things was a particular person that we both know. Although I believe that he is a nice person, he can be very annoying and do things that are sort of unintentionally offensive. He has made some questionable choices lately, especially in relation to my friend. Everything we said was true and none of it was said in a malicious way, more of just a venting, and underneath it all we don't really mind him after we've vented. I still feel a little karmically bad about it, but in my defense I'm always very nice to this person, which is about the most you could ask in this situation.
Now, the Accounting dept of my company is bugging me about something I find a little irritating. To sum, they covered a particular expense before and changed the policy without letting anyone know. I had to erase the email I was writing about 4 times.
I read this article about will power, how each time you use it, it becomes progressively weaker. I think it comes to the same thing with controlling my temper. Each of the situations above, annoyed me progressively a little more. I don't get mad that often, but I can have a wicked temper, if it actually comes up. It burns hot, but short and I usually feel bad about it. So, I try not to put myself in situations where I can lose my temper.
I'm glad I'm going to the gym tonight. I need to burn off some of this stress and negative energy. Hmmm.... maybe I need to say some nice things about people in order to balance myself out. Right the ship, so I can continue on with out all this negativity.
Here are some nice things about people I know:
1. The husband is a really hard-worker. He is so dedicated and is always under appreciated by everyone, including me. He loves me so well. He deserves everything good in the world.
2. My dad has a really generous spirit. I strive to be more like him in this aspect. He does things for people just because he wants to make them smile, without expectations of what he might get in return.
3. My mom is a really great listener. She listens and advises, without judgement. She just lets me talk out whatever is on my mind. I wish I were as good a listener as my mom.
4. Sis-C is strong. She isn't afraid to admit to her mistakes and try to make them better. She is always striving to be a better person. She inspires me to try a little harder as well.
5. Mr. Blume is brave. He is putting his ideas and weight out there for everyone to read and judge. I wasn't nearly that brave when I started to try to change. I admire his ability to be so forthright.
6. Sist-A is a fighter. She has had a hard couple of years. I don't know how she has managed to deal with everything that has been on her plate. A lot of people would take advantage or feel sorry for themselves, but while Ash may get down occasionally, she isn't out. I don't know if I could do as well as she has with everything. She inspires me not to feel sorry for myself.
7. Mrs. Blume is resilient. She knows why. I don't think I would handle a similar situation with as much strength as she did. I admire that.
8. Khaki Republican is a nice guy. I sent him a message of condolence recently and he actually took the time to write me back. He puts up with my sister (I love you Ash!). He puts up with our family. I have a sneaking suspicion he may be a decent human being. None of which means that if push came to shove, I wouldn't beat him up for Ash. :)
9. The Saint is a great co-worker. We can talk shop and personal stuff seamlessly weaving between the two. I enjoy talking to her about non-work stuff, but she's been the greatest boon to my job since I started at Epic. She has taught me so much stuff that is difficult to figure out and she is a great sounding board when you need to talk out the solution to a problem.
10. Poppie (my grandfather) is a sweetheart. He is the nicest man I know. It warms my heart every time he calls one of his granddaughters 'sugar'. Ever since my grandmother died, I've tried to send him notes or postcards every couple of weeks or so. Occasionally, he writes me back. His cards are the sweetest thing. He is such a gentle soul. I smile for days after I hear from him.
I'm not sure I believe in karma, but writing all this had really made me feel better. I had sort of a heavy, negative feeling when I came home from work, but now I'm feeling much more positive and happy.
Have a great day and may your karma be good!
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