Wedding Weekend Recap

We had a nice weekend.

Bye.

Just kidding.

We went to my friend's brother's wedding.  There are a whole lot of random observations from it so forgive me, it'll be scattered.  **Disclaimer:  I'm not going for some big religious debate, I'm just going to state a few observations, give some background and tell anyone who may be thinking of emailing me asking if I have a personal relationship with God that yes I do, we both do and we're good with it.  If you can't take some religious humor, skip this one.  I'd like to think God has a sense of humor as well and wouldn't want anyone to get their Spanx in a bunch in His name.  Amen.**

So the Mr and I were both raised Catholic, so even though I stopped going to church about age 8, I still went long enough to know what you were supposed to say during mass and when.  The Mr went through it all for much longer so he knew as well.  Turns out this church either does something different than all the other Catholic services or services are different here.  I used to go to this church when my other friend's mom wouldn't let her spend the night with me but offered to let me spend the night so my sinnin' ass could be dragged to this church.  (Trust me, when you're seven or eight, you're being dragged no matter what)  Their services were the same as the church I went to so I don't know when the shout backs changed but as the only non-Catholics (we're Lutherans now) in the crowd, we flubbed a few lines when they threw us curve balls.  I would notice he would stop the same time I did like "hey, that's not right!"  We thought it was one line but nope, it happened again.  That's when I decided I would leave it up to the pros and let the regular church goers pick up my slack.  I say Amen a lot though so I think that counted.

My attention span has apparently gotten much shorter because while I was listening to what the priests were saying, my mind kept wandering.

"That wine looks pretty pale.  I wonder if it's watered down or maybe they've been hoarding Boone's Farm Strawberry wine from the bottom shelf?"

"Why is the younger altar boy wearing tennis shoes?  He should know better than that.  Damn kids today."

"Ooh, look how the stained glass reflects onto the wall, I should take a picture of that."  

"I just saw the younger altar boy yawn his Amen...surely that's worth one or two Hail Marys.  Damn kids today."

"The maid of honor looks like an attention stealing soul suck.  Sorry God but really...look at her with the sneer on her face and then the look of utter sweetness when the bride looks at her.  Don't tell me You weren't shaking your head up there too."  (Turns out I was right on that one.  Can't go into details but lets say she left the bride high and dry in a time of need and upset her the morning of)

"Note to self:  45 minutes is when your big butt now waves the white flag and goes numb."

There are parts that I was used to being spoken that this dude busted out in song.  I was so taken aback I almost bit through my lip.  I almost busted out laughing inappropriately no less than 8 times.

Yeah so those were just some of the things I thought as I was in church for an hour Saturday.  It was funny to see that old church.  I'm pretty sure the kneelers are the same...not that I used them.  They gave us the option to sit and burying my face into the groom's great aunt Bunny's hair whilst I knelt on my already aching knees was not my idea of wholesome church fun.

A nice pic of the brides bouquet I snagged after the ceremony

When we got to the reception after a nice 3 hour gap (don't ask) we giggled when we saw where we were seated.  I believe they call this the "red-headed stepchild" table.  You know, the one filled with all of the friends of hers your sister made you invite?  I wouldn't have expected to sit anywhere else quite honestly and I was fine with it but if you've been through a wedding, you know your order of importance based on where your seats are and when the emergency exit is at your back, well...hello bottom of the social ladder.  We were seated with one couple we already knew, a guy I went to high school with and his partner.  The others were all people I'd never met but who apparently had heard all about me for years on end and were so glad to finally meet me.  How awkward is it when people are like "I've heard all about you for YEARS!  So good to meet you after all this time!" and you have never heard of these people?!  All I could say was "thank you and I hope it wasn't all bad!"  I thought saying "odd, she never mentioned you" would be a bit arrogant.  HA!  We ate a little bit and drank our waters while the rest of the table drank their weights in craft beers.  For a room full of supposed party people, not many people were consistently on the dance floor.  I even bought some flat shoes because I was eventually going to shake my groove thing but there was never a good enough amount of people up there out of 150+ guests so I never did.

Next time, dance shoes...next time.

Everyone was far too worried about getting drunk on all of the FREE booze.  See people, this is why you don't have an open bar.  People will get tanked, make moves on people they shouldn't (it happened), talk entirely too loud, be entirely too obnoxious and someone always ends up yakking outside too close to the smokers.  We had no alcohol at our reception (even said so in the invites) and we couldn't keep people off the dance floor!  Matter of fact, the dance floor was too small and people were flooding between tables and we had to scrounge through the dollar dance money to pay for another hour for the DJ!  People didn't want to leave!  The amount of drunken speeches at this wedding was enough to reaffirm why that was a good move on our part all those years ago.

But for being dubbed the "rowdy table" we pretty much stayed in our seats, chit chatted with each other and occasionally got up when my friend was able to make her way back there.  It was a nice time and who knows when I'll ever get to another wedding again.  It doesn't seem any of our family is primed to do so, so I think we're safe for a while for being put at the "lump all the freaks and singles at this table" table.  It's all good and I can't believe that little kid my friend used to fight with and pick on is now a married man.  I'm old.

Now if you'll excuse me, Kenny G's "Silhouette" just came on the smooth jazz station, maybe I'll rectify that whole no dance thing.  (Edit:  Done!)

How was YOUR weekend?

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Stink bugs, explosion and what I'm reading this week

One moment.

Dear rat bastard stink bugs.  I know you think that you will seek refuge in our home for the winter but you thought wrong.  The Mr is hellbent on destroying you and I'm tired of feeling like one of the plagues has taken residence on our screen door.  You WILL go down...tell your friends.  Word to your mutha.

While the construction crew didn't dig up my internet wires yesterday, they did explode something or a house dropped out of the sky on a striped sock wearing witch...definitely one of the two.  But since I don't recall seeing a mushroom cloud, maybe it was the house.  I cannot wait for them to be done with everything.  It's been 2 years of it happening on either side of us and I don't even bother washing the car anymore because every day it's coated with more construction dust.  Bleh.

Now that I have those two pet peeves out of the way, let's get on with...

16 Ways to Cook Eggs

19 Seasonal Fruits and Veggies to Eat This Fall

53 Best Body Weight Exercises

Crossfit's Dirty Little Secret

Mom Sells Daughter's One Direction Ticket After Lippin' Off  (I kinda love this)

Family Photo Session Not Your Average Day at the Beach

Burger King Reveals Lower Fat "Satisfries"  (McDonalds, get on this please)

Two year old becomes youngest gastric bypass patient  (Words escape me)

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss Public Meltdown (this is pretty hilarious.  I didn't know this was a "thing")

Stay Flexible and Injury Free with 10 Minutes of Stretching (this is a good one.  Video starts on landing)

16 Most Surprising High Fiber Foods  (Please pass the Beano)

Thelma and Louise Ride Again  (One of my faves!  They look pretty dang good!)

Trader Joe's Ex-President To Turn Expired Food Into Cheap Meals

6 Things Your Pee is Trying to Tell You 

What Would Happen If You Just Stopped Sleeping Forever  (courtesy of the Mr)

Why We Hate Change  (Raising hand)

Justin Timberlake Shows Us How Dumb We Sound Using Hashtags  (This is why I don't use hashtags.  The first time I heard this, I wanted to punch the Mr square in the bozak for playing it but it makes a real point...society is plummeting into idiocy if we continue to accept this as language.  Now get off my damn lawn, you kids!)

We've got a wedding to go to tomorrow and it's kind of spaced weird so it's going to be an all day thing.  Sigh.  There wouldn't be a 3 hour gap between the wedding and reception if they just consulted me as soon as they were engaged.  I only planned my wedding for 4 years...two of them with an actual fiance.  ;-)

How about you?  What's on tap for the weekend?

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Easy "Unfried" Rice

Thanks for the great feedback yesterday.  I wish I could've responded but my internet was down all friggin' day so that was fun...not.

Sometimes you just get the hankerin' for Chinese or Thai food...or both.  I love fried rice but it's certainly not the healthiest thing you can get.  That's why my cheat for making a healthier version that I can control the sodium myself is better than takeout.

This is more of a guideline than a recipe I suppose.  I grab my TJ's Basmati Quick Cook Brown Rice and raid the freezer for frozen veggies.  As I use them I put them in a big zip top bag so I can keep track of them easier in the freezer drawer.  Last night I decided to use peas, corn, broccoli and the last of the roasted red peppers in the fridge.

I used 2/3 cup of rice and 2 cups of water and when it was about halfway done, I added the veggies and covered it to cook the rest of the way while I grilled up my protein.  Yum!

Last night I added some General Tso sauce (2 tbsp) to our rice.  This is a great hearty entree or a side dish.  Get my bed ready...

...for my Maple Sriracha Shrimp.  (Click for the Maple Sriracha Sauce recipe)  It was insanely good and the Mr loved it!  Only took about 20 minutes for all of it!

This recipe is highly adaptable to whatever veggies you have on hand.  You can use low sodium broth over water for a little more flavor or the sauce like I did.  Add whatever salt free spices you like.  The possibilities are endless!

Nutritional information per serving (for what I used for the rice/veggies which were on the carby side):  Calories:  350  Fat 4g  Carbs 74g  Fiber 7g Protein 11g

525 cals for the whole dinner.

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Yeah, I know...I'm slacking

Recipes.

I know.

I've slacked...big time.

I guess I feel like I have to do these big homemade deals from scratch even though that isn't always the way I cook and that you guys wouldn't be interested in my faster "cheats" that I do most weeknights.  Semi-homemade if you will.  (Fish tacos, bbq naan pizza, mini pizzas)  But then I think "holy Hell man, YOU get overwhelmed looking at all the steps in some bloggers recipes!  What makes you think people don't want an easier "go to" some nights?"

So I'll let you decide what you want to see...

Mostly from scratch, semi homemade or a mix of the two?

(I know what my vote is but I'm curious what you guys want to see!)

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Kick butt workout, less than kick butt series finale and new blog feature

I think I need a walker.  Atletica kicked our butts up one side of the basement and down the other!  I don't know why but the 20 lbs I started out with felt like I was going to buckle so I would use them for round one and then drop down to 15 lbs for the repeat session.  I felt like a slacker having to drop back but I know proper form is way more important and it was suffering with the heavier weight.  I tweaked my shoulder a bit on the 2nd round and had to nix 20 lbs altogether for the shoulder pull backs but upped it again for the circle squats.  I made sure we did yoga stretches when we were done because I need to get in the habit of opening up my hips and legs when we're done to hopefully make my joints a little more limber and less sore the next day.

I won't spoil it for people who haven't watched it yet but Dexter...WTF man?  Here's how *I* would've done this season.

The season opens with Deb feeling guilty for what she did at the end of last season.  Because Dexter has always taken care of her, she takes it upon herself to try to "fix" him and take care of him.  Almost like a serial killer AA, if you will.  Mid season, he's been trying and then they notice something...Harrison is showing disturbing signs of picking up Dexter's tendencies like maybe in action figure play that is beyond your "typical boy" stuff.  They both are scared for him and Dexter, feeling his urges are at a peak and uncontrollable (maybe, he goes on a killing spree that scares him because he didn't follow the code), he convinces Deb to put him on the table and raise Harrison.  She relents, is horrified and such but eventually sees this is the only way.  Dexter sets up a kill room in a shipping container because he wants to die in blood as he was born into blood.  When Deb arrives, she sees pics of all of his victims over the years from the neighbors dog to Little Chino to even Harry since he blames himself for his suicide.  On another wall, all the people he's come to love as he's evolved into a more human version of himself including his co-workers, stepkids, Rita, Hannah, Deb and Harrison.  He instructs her what to do with his body and how to raise Harrison into a good man.  She sobs, begging him to just stop and he says he can't and she needs to put him down because he feels like a rabid dog.  He tells her what kind of man he wants Harrison to be and she says something back to him dropping an F bomb and he says "you have to stop cursing like a sailor, Deb.  I don't want Harrison to be a serial killer but I also don't want him in detention his whole school career for your influential mouth!"  They laugh, she hugs him and says she can't do it.  He reminds her of all of the people he's killed and how it's progressed because he has now killed innocents and can't go back and it's only a matter of time before he's caught and behind bars.  Sobbing over him, she says "I love you Dex" and he says he loves her too and she plunges the knife in...fade to black.  But, you know, they didn't ask me!  HA!

It's premiere week!  My DVR is going to break by week's end!  Last night was The Voice and I think we recorded HIMYM (even though we're not regular watchers but wanted to see how they intro'd the supposed mother.  We think she's a plant.)  We also recorded Sleepy Hollow.  WOW, talk about a great show!  I would much rather see scripted TV than "reality TV" so I'm glad to see some good shows in that genre making a comeback.  I'm SOOOO excited for American Horror Story!!  Kathy Bates anyone?  Yes please!

I don't know if y'all noticed a new feature when you comment but if you click "notify me", it will notify you if I respond to your comment.  So if you want an email if I respond, clickity click when you leave your comment!

What premieres are you excited for?  Were you happy with the Dexter finale if you watched?  (If you're going to reference spoilers, please say so in your comment so others who haven't watched it don't read.  Thanks!)

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Walking our legs off, unexpected visit and improved exercisin'

Oh mah Lord, what a weekend!

We went to this huge antique show at this fairground and it was sprawling to say the least.  It seemed like every corner you turned, it just kept going.  I am stingy with my money.  I'd been saving up to buy at this event but I only ended up walking away with one item to refinish.  I almost bought some antique ski's to do a project with and even when I was walking away, I knew I'd regret it...still do.  But, my loss.  Do you think I remembered my phone to take a few shots?  Nope.  Blogger fail.  I don't use a cell phone so there's a 99% chance I will always forget it.  We walked for 5 hours there.  To say we were in pain was an understatement.  There was a point where serious hunger was setting in and we kept walking by this little old lady that made the trek with her baked goods.  Her buttercream cinnamon rolls beckoned and we figured 1 1/2 wouldn't kill us given all the walking.  Oh curse you little old lady and your sweet smile because your rolls sucked.  Sigh.  We both ate one out of sheer needing something in our stomachs (and lunch was going to be at least another 90-120 minutes) but when it came time to split the third one, we both decided it wasn't worth the calories and threw it out.  I did the same with a cupcake later that sucked.  It was still a pretty high cal, high cal day but I guess I'm glad even MORE didn't go into the gullet that wasn't worth it.

By the time we got home, we'd been on the go for 13+ hours.  We were whopped and completely spent.  Then I see my friend, who told me she wasn't coming to town, was actually here.  I'd been wanting to get her her birthday presents for a few weeks and it was looking like I was going to have to send them but with her here, I asked the Mr if he was game for going out to her mom's house to drop them and her brothers wedding gift off to be done with it.  If looks could kill.  Trust me, after that long of a day, it was the last thing I wanted to do.  I looked and felt like fresh Hell.  But we made the 30 minute drive out and visited with everyone and it was nice.  I don't get to see her mom and brother and his fiance much so it was nice to get to see them outside the confines of the wedding when we'll get the nod, hug and all will be lost in a beer haze once the reception hits for them.  

I am praying listening to gang members in Grand Theft Auto 5 (affiliate link)  is not going to be my new normal.  I've gotta be honest, hearing the N word well over 1,000 times (I wish I were exaggerating) is not either of our ideas of good times.  I'm at twitching stage and he's got a long way to go before winning the game.  I never thought I'd miss Niko so much from GTA4.

Yes, the Mr somehow still had the strength to go on missions after that long ass day!  (Shocker)  I fell asleep on the couch and he dragged me up around 1-something-AM.

I was expecting the worst with my legs when I got up the next morning as I had the weekend before but my legs felt somewhat refreshed.  Of course that feel changed slightly when it was time to workout yesterday.  We did Turbo Fire 45 EZ, which is what we did last weekend at the same time.  I know my legs were feeling better though because that time last week, I couldn't even kick my legs forward without the tendons feeling like a rubber band about to snap.  It was incredibly painful but thankfully no sign of that this week and that means my legs are adjusting!  Woo hoo!  I've also been trying to do tree poses and modified dancer poses to work on my leg balance.  Tonight, I fear I need to kick up the strength and do Atletica by Powerstrike.  I know I won't be able to walk well for the following 2-3 days but it's been too long and if I have to do another mindless free weights session right now, I'm going to scream.  So...torture it is!  ;-)

The Mr is resting as I type this...I want to give him a wet willy.

What did you guys do this weekend?

(This post contains a few affiliate links.  Should you buy through them, I'd receive a nominal kickback.  Not enough to buy the Slice of Life boat and take it for a spin around Miami but it would go toward keeping the blog hummin')

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What I'm Reading This Week

It is Friday y'all!  Can I get a whoop whoop?!  Never mind, don't do that.

It's time to dork off and see...

The Easy Seven Resistance Band Workout

Drew Barrymore's Stuff for Sale for charity  (I love her style!  Most of it is sold but it's fun to snoop!)

Six Habits of the Leanest Americans

Five Women Explain Why They Chose Not to Have Kids  (Great article for people to see us DINKS aren't all He-Man Child Haters.  Well, not the well behaved ones!  And definitely not the punkin's in the next link)

Young Boy Asks Santa to End His Sisters Bullying  (Grant it Santa, his sister deserves it)

94 Creative Ways to Save Money

Armless Body Builder Inspires Fitness World with Her Ability

Dairy Queen Employee that friggin' rocks and gives me hope for the future

Best obituary ever?  (I seriously want an obit this jovial when I buy the farm)

How to Make Your Entire Internet Life More Secure in One Day  

Mark Wahlberg Graduates High School  (Congrats Mark!  Where do I send the card with $20 in it?)

Always a fun one to watch  (video starts on landing)

We're going to a huge antique show this weekend and lots of walking is in my future.  I'm hoping that my feet handle it well since I was so sore last weekend.

How about you?  What's on tap for your weekend?


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Hybrids, zombies and regular internet searches turned odd

Last night was "make up for poopy work crap" night.  Our car paperwork FINALLY came with 2 days to spare before our tags expired so we met at the BMV and then hit the video store on the way back.  We got in our workout, the upper body hybrid and did it until our muscles turned into heaps of puddin'.  I made TJ's pizza formaggios for our movie night to make it more fun.  Too bad I overcooked them.  That's the only problem with those.  If you want a crispy crust on bottom, the top gets overdone.  If you want the top all perfect, the bottom crust tastes like cardboard.  I didn't have time to skillet them before starting the movies so lesson learned for next time.

We rented World War Z and My Amityville Horror .  (affiliate link) The latter was an impulse rent of the kid who survived the Amityville stuff in the 70's.  Boy, he's a hot mess.  If you're into the paranormal and maybe like the show Intervention, give it a rent.  It's at least worth ending up on your Netflix queue for those who imbibe in the service.

World War Z .  (affiliate link) Um, I didn't know Z stood for zombie.  I know, I know...what rock have I been under?  But nowhere in the trailer did I see zombies, it looked like a Deep Impact type movie and I didn't read the book so I thought it was like the medieval abbreviation Z for 2000.  I'll say this, if there's anyone who is still scarred from the Boston bombings, you might not want to watch the very beginning.  Despite it being another city, we were surprised how much it resembled the marathon bombings.  I'm not a fan of zombie anything but I must say not going in with a preconceived notion or piss and vinegar that they didn't stick to the original plot, I found it quite good!  The zombies in this move at a terrifying speed that will probably pop up in a nightmare this week.  Sorry ahead of time Mr!  But did ya see the part on the plane where the dog... and then the thing... and then he pulled the...damn man!  I don't know what it is about Brad Pitt but I really like him as an actor.  It's like his charming Midwestern upbringing tends to show through in his movie roles and then you have those eyes.  Either that or I just can't help but see the dreamy guy talking to Carol Seaver and giving plain Jane girls hope on Growing Pains.

Great googly moogly.  Scruff.  My weakness.  So, would I recommend it?  Yep.  Good flick even if it was a little long.

Sometimes when I'm bored I will do a random one word search on the three popular search engines to see what pops up.  Here's what happened when I entered the word "IS" in Google, Bing and Yahoo searches.

Wow, talk about a mixed bag of searches!  Apparently someone needs to make sure Jackie Chan is alive since he was searched as possibly expired in two of them.  I don't know why but "is Phyllis leaving the Young and the Restless" made me laugh.  Yes, she did.  Her character is in an indefinite coma which means she can come back or in an act of tomfoolery on the writers part...be recast in the future.

The Mr FINALLY got Grand Theft Auto 5 after, oh, almost a year of being pushed back.  So suffice it to say there will be a lot of virtual cars, guns and hookers on the menu for the weekend.  Lucky me.

Rented any movies lately?  What was last night's workout?

(This post contains a few affiliate links.  Should you choose to buy through them, a zombie will show up at my house, hand me a nominal kickback check and leave in search of brains)

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Left to my own devices

The Mr gave me a call about 8:30pm to let me know part of what they needed wasn't working so it was going to be a minimum of an hour to see if his fix will work and then he had about 15 more steps after that.  I could hear the defeat in his voice.  So I went down and ironed his clothes and made his lunch for today so he wouldn't have to do that when he got home or this morning.  I hate it when he has these projects because they rarely go the way they're supposed to and he's the "go to" man so a lot of the responsibility falls on him whether it's fair or not.  I try to do what I can to help him de-stress.  If only I knew his line of work, I'd pitch in.  That's how it is with us, I have his back and he has mine.  It's so cute because I have some projects I'm working on and when we're antique hunting, he'll point something out and/or say "hey, do you want this?"  He's my "bird dog" as he calls himself.  When I take on a new project, he's right there to support me or tell me how awesome I am.  I know I'm lucky as hell to have a Mr like him so I try to return the favor when he takes on something new.

My night was spent keeping myself occupied.  I went down about 4:15pm to shake my booty for an hour.  I don't know why but when I have to workout by myself, I sometimes default to dancing.  I'd say 725 calories of tomfoolery is a good way to burn some bacon.  I ate my lasagna roll ups on the couch because it just feels weird to eat at the table all alone.  I wrapped my friend's birthday presents so I'm ready to see her this weekend and cleaned up the house a little bit.  Then I got seriously bored and started rummaging through on demand movie channels.  Mistake.  I ended up watching Another 9 1/2 Weeks.  I remember seeing 9 1/2 Weeks with my friend when we were probably way too young to watch it and it felt like "ooh, this is what grown up sexy time movies are like!"  I mean who can forget the food scene?  Man, Mickey Rourke was sexy back then.  Me-ow.  This horrible sequel was probably about one or two plastic surgeries in for him before his face turned to complete hamburger from being a pro boxer.  A lot of the sexy scenes were in shadows and the redhead lead was the most horrible actress ever.  I'm too disinterested to look up her name.  Oh yeah, it was one of those ones with absolutely NO payoff at the end.  I wanted to punch my TV when it was over.

At this point, I still had about 3 hours before bed.  HGTV is always good for sucking me in to their House Hunters and Property Virgins shows for 2 hours.  I blame them for my open house obsessions.  (I've been trying to be good and not drag the Mr to any.  When you walk in and realtors know you by name, there's a problem.)  Clearly I do not do well when left to my own devices.  I guess I do better than I used to though because I might've been tempted to eat out of boredom but I didn't.

If there were a crap ton of typos, please forgive me...my proofreader was indisposed at the time of writing.

What do you do when you're bored at night?

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It is what you make it

It's more than a logo on a shirt from the store, (affiliate link) it's a way of life for us.  We're not always perfect but day's like today make me proud.

The Mr has a big work project today.  He got up early to workout on the rower and he could pull a double today because of course these things rarely take the time you think they should.  I made him a big dinner of Lasagna Roll Ups but he'll likely eat it for lunch so he can fill up and then grab his wrap and fruits when he has time throughout the night.  I know today will be really stressful for him but I know he will do his best, like always.

What I'm most proud of is his continuing commitment even though he won't be on a regular schedule today.  He's got healthy food and snacks where others will be ordering out and/or raiding vending machines.  He knocked out his workout so he's still getting it in instead of hoping to squeeze it in whenever he gets home and is beat from the crap of the day.  I know he'll get in his water too because he's much better than I am at that.  I'll do my workout and eat my lasagna roll ups for dinner while I do a few little projects to keep myself occupied.

A "life happens" day is no excuse not to make time for the things that truly matter when you have to do things that matter to others.  Always put your health first even when it's not convenient...that's what mah man is doing and I'm a proud wifey poo.

Do you make time for you when a "life happens" day threatens your workout schedule?

(This post contains a link to my store.  Should you buy through it, the money will go toward keeping this machine hummin')

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Road trippin' and seasonal eats

Man, what a weekend!

We did a road trip and while I'm not a fan of leaving when it's dark due to sleep deprivation, I am a fan of the way everything looks in morning light.  This particular morning was stunning.  The fog was plentiful and while the trees haven't changed yet, many of the fields were a golden hue with the fog kissing the top.  Fields of cows lazily grazing, horses swatting their tails and goats kneeling and lounging after their breakfast.  Sometimes a drive through the country is very invigorating as long as the smells don't infiltrate.  I didn't have the good camera but the phone captured one of the many foggy roads we encountered.

We went antiquing and I ran across this old dollhouse I used to have as a kid.

I was so sad to see it because I wondered what happened to mine.  I spent many an afternoon playing with that thing.  Sigh.  If you only knew when you were a kid how much you would miss those things in your adulthood.  We walked around this place for 3 1/2 hours and about that time, my hips, ankles and feet were on fire.  This was the first time I wore my level 3 inserts in the shoes for a long period of time so that means my leg muscles were re-aligning again.  Forrest and her magic shoes.  *rolling eyes*  I need to keep this up though because we have a side trip coming up in a few months and I need to be able to take long periods of walking.  I took ibuprofen and it did nothing for the pain.  I hobbled through the rest of the day and the long car ride home was a welcome rest.  

The next day was all about welcoming Fall.

Breakfast was pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes, 2 strips of center cut bacon, fruit and tea.  Lunch was grilled cheese and tomato soup.  Holy yum.  Dinner was turkey chili with low sodium oyster crackers.  We enjoyed the cooler temps and I am ready for the season to commence!

Yesterday we started off the workout week with Turbo Fire 45 EZ.  Before I could do anything, I had to have the Mr massage my knee before I could move.  I had to massage his hip before he could do anything.  so there we are laying on the floor with his head toward my feet, rubbing each other, looking like were ready to get in a classic naughty position and feeling 80 years old.  We're settling into middle age quite nicely.  Halfway through the workout, I had to modify because I could no longer kick my leg forward at all.  When we were done, I had to enforce a mandatory yoga stretch session because walking the rest of the day was out if I didn't.  We did that and a little foam rolling with the big monster.  (affiliate link) We felt much better and could continue with our day.

I've got all of my meals planned out for the week which is one less thing to think about and I'm down with that!

What did you do this weekend?

(This post contains an affiliate link.  Should you buy through it, I would get a nominal kickback...and a mini pumpkin.  I think that's the new rule for Fall.)

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Movie marathons and useless knowledge nuggets

We've been watching a lot of movies lately.  It amazes me how we can have 300+ movies and still have a hard time finding something that sounds good to watch some nights.  But this past month we've burned through quite a few.  It's occurred to me twice that we don't own Revenge of the Nerds.  I'm hoping the Mr clicks that link and adds it to his wishlist especially since it gets great reviews for the extra DVD features on that one which is sadly rare these days.  A proper DVD needs to have a gag reel, behind the scenes featurette and at least 3 cast interviews or it's typically a fail.  The Mr got me Warm Bodies for my birthday and it has great DVD features so if you're an extras geek like us, you'll love that movie and apparently that 80's classic!  I don't know what happened but we've lost The Wedding Singer.  I know we wouldn't have let anyone borrow that so I don't know what happened to it.  Grrr!  Back on the wishlist it goes because I miss watching it!  I've got a busy few weeks coming up, I don't know when we'll be able to go on a movie binge again but I'm looking forward to it!

Let's get to...

17 Science Backed Ways to Bust Out of a Workout Rut

Change Your State of Mind with a Gratitude Session

Hack Your Mind:  23 Tricks to Learn Anything Better

How to Burn More Calories Through the Day (Without Even Noticing)

How to Live on Less

Sort Your To Do List By Emotion or Reward to Motivate Yourself

Survival Myths That Could Kill You

Watch Blind Puppy See for the First Time

What Not to Say to a Sick Friend

Courtesy of The Mr

1970's bunker in Vegas Lets You Weather the Apocalypse in Brady style

Quick Ice Box Cake  (I'm so making this!  Video starts on landing)

"No Cyrus" Chrome App will block all things Miley Cyrus  (Sign me up)

"Uncertain Condition" for NASA Photo-bombing Frog

That's the randomness that made it past mah peepers this week.  Use them to make your Friday chug on by.

This weekend the Mr and I are road trippin' to some big antique shows and we're going to our favorite pizza place.  I'm hoping I pick up some awesome finds.  It's supposed to be cool and I'm ready to break out the sweatshirts baby!   I've got chili ready to brew up today and can't wait to dig in for dinner tonight!

What's on tap for your weekend?

(This post contains affiliate links through Amazon.  Should you click through and buy, I'll get a nominal kickback to help keep this mystical unicorn den up and running!)

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It's a mixed bag people

I must've stared at this screen for like 2.37 hours before deciding that this post was just going to be a big ol' mixed bag.

Let's dig in, shall we?

Great googly moogly am I sore!

We did our Total Trainer/Free Weight lower body hybrid last night because I felt like I needed to start building more strength in my legs and they responded pretty immediately.  Within two hours we were both gruntin' and groanin' like elderly people getting up after a day long Matlock marathon.

The weather is supposed to turn cooler over the next week and I am READY!  I know we didn't have a grotesque summer like we did last year in triple digits but it's been in the 90's the past few days and for a girl that doesn't do above 83, that about did me in.  I'm ready for sweatshirts, fuzzy socks, crisp air and pumpkin everything.  I'm planning my first batch of chili for this weekend.  

Random thought of the day:  1997 called, they want their animated gifs back.  Seriously, WHAT IS UP with the new (old) obsession with animated gifs???  It's like humans who were pooing in their diapers finally became of age and discovered something those of us over 30 have already lived through and they are, on cue, running it into the ground.  Back in the day, the quickest way to spot an outdated website, forum or in the past 5 years, person was if they still used animated gifs on their website and/or in their signatures in forums.  Say kids, care to go back to dial up days for fun as well?  I'm sure the Mr has hung on to a modem somewhere so you can learn the importance of anticipation.  As you were.

Is my Sirius/XM/whatever the hell it's called "free preview" almost done in my car yet?  I HATE it.  1)  I hate the idea of paying for radio when it's free and we have like 25 stations in our area.  2)  I flip stations just as much as I do with free radio.  3)  It doesn't work in parking garages, under bridges and on particularly cloudy days.  Siriusly?  People pay for this crap?  (No offense to anyone who does, it's just not where I'd choose to put my money because I'm cheap.)

Is it really obvious that Aunt Flo pulled up in the driveway today because I bet if I looked back on posts around this time of the month in months past I would be just as snarky.  My apologies.  It'll pass...in about 3 days or so.

Your turn...share something completely random.

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Letting go

I had a friend visit me yesterday that I used to work with back in the day.  She's a great lady and she and I used to commiserate about how bad our jobs sucked once management changed and some people (namely our bosses) showed their true colors.

I was lucky, I was able to leave and while I was pretty bitter for a year or two having to leave a job of 12 years over people being flaming a-holes, I also knew that they were closing our branch so I'd be out of a job in a year anyway.  I was right and I was glad I left on my terms.  It would've literally killed me due to stress if I stayed there.  I had my two week notice letter on my desktop for three months and at the end of the day every day, I moved my last day one day out.  One day, my boss pushed me too far and I was under such stress I lost my hearing.  I thought I was having a heart attack.  I messaged the Mr and told him what was going on and he told me to print out the resignation letter and get the hell out.  I told him not to tell me that unless he was serious because I would and he said it was time to put my health first.  There was nothing like seeing my supervisor's face when she found out the only support staff that knew everything (including part of her job) was leaving.  I still smile a bit when I think of it.  It was hard that first year after because the bitterness of having to leave at all when I cared about so many of my co-workers was still consuming me.  When I heard that the boss got a job at another place and karma hit her life pretty friggin' hard, I knew I could let it all go.  She wasn't sitting around worrying about me, why the hell should I hold on to all of that anger about her?

I told you that to tell you this, if I sounded bitter, my old co-worker is me x100.  Not only does she hold on to the bitterness of the job we worked at together but also one that she was let go from a few months ago.  Now I'm not saying she doesn't have the right to be angry, her boss was rude and belligerent and I think was trying to get her to quit.  She didn't but he doubled her duties while she was in the throws of a hard chemo treatment when she tried to come back to work too soon.  He felt he had cause (I don't think he did) and she is consumed by making him pay for lying about her.  As I sat and listened to her and tried to encourage her to let it go and let karma take care of it all, I saw the person I used to be.  I don't think I ever complained or obsessed quite as much as she did but I saw how hard I must've been to live with when I was going through the worst of my stuff with my former employer.  It brought back all of those bad feelings and I was so thankful that I'm in the position to be able to work from home and not have to deal with people who make my work existence so horrific that it consumes me not only off the clock but months and/or years later.

via SearchQuotes

I worry about her taking all of that on still because she's fighting cancer and she doesn't need to worry about crap that doesn't aid in her recovery.  One thing I have learned once I left was to stop letting people or circumstances out of my control eat at me so furiously that it could be killing me from the inside out.  I'm a dweller so that kind of stuff is in my nature but I don't know if it's age, experience or just not giving a rat's ass as much but I think I'm improving on that stuff and it kills me to see people allowing those things to control them.  I know I have improvements to make but after seeing her, I know I already have made big strides in taking control of my mental health which as we all know translates to better physical health.  I just say a little prayer for her that she lets go so she can focus on the good things in life since she's been given a second chance at living.

Have you let your job and/or other people's actions affect your mental well being?  How do you learn to let go?

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Sofa shopping, 80's awesomeness and a lazy Sunday

What a nice weekend!  

We got pretty much all of our cleaning done Friday night so we could have Saturday to do what we wanted before company arrived that night for my final birthday gathering.  We hit up a garage sale with nothing I could repurpose and went to another one that apparently sold out the first day.  We went to the mall and hit up Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.  We were looking at the couch we've had our eye on for a few years and the lady offered to do up a quote.  When someone at a furniture store offers to give you a quote, that means the price on the tag is not what you're going to pay.  This was the beautiful couch we were looking at...

It's the Kensington in Fog Belgian Linen and me love it long time.  The $2500 price tag shot up to $4200.  It's a good thing I didn't open the quote when I was in the store or I would've shit a literal brick.  While I love Restoration Hardware, it's for people who don't need to have quotes done up.  The phrase "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" applies or at least "if you don't mind taking out a home equity loan."  If Restoration Hardware would like to change my mind by providing me with this amazing couch, I will likely take back everything I just said.  :-)

This now made my new mission to find an appropriate knock off.  I found one online pretty quickly at Kittles for $1400 and this is the one we'll likely be getting...

I will be honest, while it's very close aesthetically, you can definitely tell the RH one is super solidly made.  It doesn't really matter because they don't have the length we need, only 76" and 98" and we need 88-92" which is where Kittles comes in.  So when we're ready to purchase, that one in medium gray will be the winner winner tufted dinner.

When our friends came over we got to show off the new cars.  (They're car people so the Mr FINALLY got the satisfying reactions he'd been dreaming of.)  We had quite the spread of food, gabbed and then it was time to bust it out old school, yo...

For the uninitiated, those are called Fashion Plates.  They made being a kid in the 80's awesome.  Yes, you missed out.  :-)  The Mr was looking over them this morning and said it was funny because you could see everyone's personality in each one they chose and how they chose to color them.  That one is mine.  Very traditional poses but a splash of personality in the weird colors I chose.  The one my girlfriend chose was a sassy scantily clad lady with sparkles and leg warmers.  My friends' husband chose the tennis outfit and made it very detailed since he was an art major and drew a very lifelike penis beside it for good measure.  Hey, sometimes the 10 year old boy in us makes his way to the surface.  The Mr colored in the Speed Racer coloring book we have.  It was funny because we all were super chill after coloring.  I forgot how much it calms me and we're going to do it more often.

I was able to sleep until 9am for the first time in months yesterday which was AWESOME!  We sat out on the lanai and chatted for 2 hours.  We did Tae Bo, finished some leftovers for linner.  We got our showers, got ready for dinner (we had a gift card for this fancy pants restaurant and decided to go there) and then got our fruits and veggies for the week.  I have a friend coming over today and the Mr has training this week so our workouts will be later all week.  BOO!

What did you guys do this weekend?

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Gift from granny, hark the Swiss have arrived and Friday time wasters

It's been a long week.  We've celebrated my birthday for a lot of it and we've got another celebration with friends coming up tomorrow as well.  I wanted to share the best birthday present I got from my grandma...

That is her reading the Grandparents Day card we got them.  She read and understood it all and smiled.  Those who have family members dealing with dementia know this is a big deal and it was something that made us all happy.

The holidays are coming!  (Insert me screaming and running around the house with my hair ablaze in Fall oranges and browns then bursting into red and green)  The calendar doesn't let me know, the arrival of this bad boy does...

Let the games begin!  (I wrapped all of the Mr's Christmas presents yesterday while blasting my Deck The Halls Christmas Jazz CD.  (affiliate link) This is by far one of my favorite instrumental Christmas jazz albums and I have a few.  Target carried it last year but I don't know if they will this year)

Odd side thought:  Am I the only one who attempts to sing the German version of Nena's 99 Luft Balloons and knows only five phrases but sing them with authority when they come up?  I am?  As you were.

Now, let's get on with...

Three Yoga Poses for Your IT Band  (I need to do these!)

Why Sleep is Good for Your Health/Weight Loss  (I REALLY need to get more sleep.  My body can't seem to go longer than 6 hours)

What Makes a Summer Song Stick?  (Hey, Hey, Hey!!)

This Family Banned All Technology After 1986   (Totally tubular!  Seriously, I'd do this.)

The Mr brought this piece of wrong to my attention

21 Reasons You're Losing Your Hair

Where Are They Now?  The Girl From the ZZ Top "Legs" video  (I used to want to be her.  I thought she was SO adorable!  One of the best vids of the 80's for sure!)

How to Make a Cootie Catcher  (I never knew they were called that and I never knew how to make one.  You can bet I'm making one this weekend!)

Congrats Gwen and Gavin!!  (LURVE me some Gwen Stefani.  Please name it something normal this time)

FYI...If You're a Teenage Girl  (This is a really great read but then as I read the pissy comments it kind of got me thinking they were making a good point about the pics the author chose to use of her boys.  Interested in your take.  UPDATE:  The woman has since changed the pics of her shirtless boys on the beach flexing their muscles to fully clothed pics.  Still a good read though but yeah, picture her post and every pic of her sons being shirtless on the beach.)

Fake Foods You Are Eating

Beach Boys Sound Check Interrupts Wedding  (What happened after was fun, fun, fun!  Wah waaaah!)

9 Dirty Little Secrets of the Travel Industry  (I'm sure there are WAY more than 9)

8 Ways Screens are Ruining Your Family  (Preach it, yo!)

Another one from The Mr  (I would punch someone in the throat!)

Teen Witch Star Tries to Rap "Top That" 24 Years Later  (Please tell me I'm not the only one who liked Teen Witch!?)

Five Hawaiian Words to Live By  (Take 'em in people.  There's a reason this state has one of the highest life expectancies!)

Well that's what I've been reading this week.  As mentioned, we're having a soiree with our besties this weekend so I'm super psyched because I want to break out my Fashion Plates and color with my friend while the boys look up YouTube videos or play guitar.  Don't judge me.

What's on tap for your weekend?

(This post contains an affiliate link for a kick rump Christmas CD.  While I may get a small kickback if you buy through it, tis YOU who shall be richer for adding it to your yuletide playlist!)

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Feeling the burnout

I don't know if it's just me but I'm going through Pinterest burnout.  I don't mean on that actual site because it can be wonderful when you're looking for inspiration or putting together a wishlist for people for Christmas or your birthday.  But as my personal FB page is getting flooded with Fall ideas/recipes and people squealing over it all, I really feel like it has changed societies expectation for the worse.

When I did the Mr's milestone birthday party last year, I threw it together pretty quick for me...6 weeks.  Now 6 weeks might sound like more than enough time but I wanted to do it up right for him and knowing that people would be there who are Pinterest diehards, I knew there would be a certain expectation to what could be.  Well I did homemade mason jar cider glasses, redecorated a beverage tin with a jute twine rope with a bottle opener attached with the fancy pants sodas inside, mesh table liners over craft paper and mini hay bales with apples and mini pumpkins.  Homemade cake ball favors and desserts in addition to the cake since the lunch was being catered.  A big picture board with his age painted in chalkboard paint so people could leave messages on the back.  It was all wonderful and all of the Pinterest people were highly impressed.  I just thank God it wasn't around when my mom's 50th birthday rolled around.  That one took me 9 months of planning and if that expectation had been there for that one, I would've been there in spirit while resting comfortably on sedatives at the asylum.  Don't get me wrong, I loved planning the Mr's party, getting that creativity out and I didn't even get any of those ideas from Pinterest anyway but I knew that things have shifted and yes, I got sucked into it.  It's a blessing and a curse to someone like me with the entertaining gene.

My friend has been planning her future sister in law's wedding and bachelorette parties, etc and she is being run ragged.  She's been a zombie for 2 months and it's not even her wedding!  There is such an expectation to go all out for a unique party/shower/wedding that it's not really enjoyable for those having to put it all together anymore.  I mean hell man, I was thrilled with my bachelorette party and it was my mom, aunts, grandma and 3 best friends going out to dinner, a comedy club and renting a hotel room for the stripper (who was like a monk compared to today's strippers) to dance in and we had a slumber party afterward.  I didn't need an all day affair with mani/pedi's, a culinary tour of the city, group shirts so everyone would know we were together in a posse and a tiara or veil so that people would try to embarrass me all night.  I'm NOT judging people who do all that stuff.  I think it's fine if you want it or you want to go all out for the occasion but I fear that the focus is getting skewed a bit.  I'm a simple person with simple tastes, I guess...or just an old lady now.  I really wanted this rad 80's theme party with family and friends for my next milestone birthday but after seeing the way some people made his party about them or other emotional vampires that purposely weren't invited, the Mr has strict instructions that we will have 2 separate dinners...one for family and one for friends.  No rad 80's theme.  Just give me a drama free birthday please, apparently that's now more important to me than this blowout party I'd always envisioned.  Sigh.

I read all kinds of blogs from food to design blogs and the Pinterest influence is everywhere.  Lately I've been getting more and more irritated with the things I've been seeing.  People unveil their homes or room redo's and while yes, they may have needed an update, they go so far to wanting to live in that over styled magazine they read or pinned that, to me, the rooms now feel unlivable.  It feels like someplace where if I were a guest in the home, I would be sitting on the edge of the couch with my hands on my knees afraid to relax and definitely would refuse a drink because I wouldn't want to get water rings on the coaster.

Don't even get me started on what parents are expected to do for Valentines Day, Christmas (oops, I mean the holiday season or whatever PC bullcrap people call December now) and birthday parties.  What the hell happened to crepe paper streamers, balloons, a cake and a table with a cardboard happy birthday banner across it for the presents?  Yeesh!

Food blogs are becoming a big time turn off.  I swear to God if I see one more 6 main ingredient "stuffed" cookie/brownie/cupcake, I'm going to puke.  I saw one last week that was just like "are you serious!??!"  It literally looked like a big pile of dung and there were so many ingredients (all good on their own or mixed with 2-3 of them) they just looked and sounded gross.  I've got news people...the flavor of Nutella greatly diminishes when you try to bake it.  Matter of fact it says this on the jar...

Yes, I know it says "do not microwave" but I think heat is the main point here.  It's not that you CAN'T bake it but personally I think it's a "just because you can doesn't mean you should" thing.  I want to be able to taste the Nutella and you can taste it better as a plain spread, a filling, mixed in with frosting and such...not dumped in a bowl with Oreos, pretzels, peanut butter, M&M's, oats, peanut butter cups and chocolate chips.  I mean come on folks, chocolate and peanut butter together are pretty friggin' fantastic!  Six extra ingredients not required!

To conclude my rant, I think Pinterest is a great site...in moderation.  I'm thankful for people who visit my Pinterest page and find something they love and repin it if that's what makes them happy.  But I'll be honest...  I pin stuff, forget about them and never look at the board again.  Bad blogger, I know.  Pinterest fail for me.  (Or is that how everyone does it?)  But it's just too over saturated and such a time suck that I have to prioritize things.  While inspiration is a wonderful thing, let's not try to live in the magazine, please.  I think many people are spending so much time obsessing over every detail that they may be missing the big picture.

Do you like Pinterest?  Do you feel like it and similar websites have changed societies expectations of how we live and entertain?

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My day in pictures

I don't have a pic of us doing free weights and yoga but pretend.  :-)

Talked the Mr into a hooky day and the zoo was calling.  It was heavenly and very cute.

The cuteness continued with a swing by the pet store and a very soft, furry beagle I named Maddie.

Dinner was apple bbq pork chop (my ode to pork chops & applesauce) and chipotle bites. 

Dessert was a family birthday gathering at Menchie's fro-yo.  As you can see, I ate healthy.  :-O

What would your pictures of yesterday show?  

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