Youthful Milestones

This morning I was talking with some co-workers about things we did when we were growing up. One of them has a nine-year-old daughter, so she was asking us when we did certain things or reached certain milestones. That got me thinking a lot about when I was little, and how bad I wanted to be a teenager. But I also had really strict parents and was sort of a late bloomer, so I did things a lot later (at least in my opinion) than most people.

So I have a few questions for you all, and I thought this could be a fun little trip down memory lane. These questions are mostly for the ladies, because that was my experience.

1. How old were you when you got to shave your legs for the first time?

I think I was in seventh grade, and I got to shave them for the first day of school. I had wanted to shave my legs for ages, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She finally caved for the first day of school when I told her my best friend Molly got to shave her legs. I was so excited and spent hours trying to get every last hair off my legs. She would only let me use an electric razor because she didn’t want me to cut myself. I think I wore my shortest pair of shorts that first day of school to show off my newly hairless legs.

2. How old were you when you were allowed to wear makeup?

This also happened in seventh grade for me. My mom doesn’t wear makeup, so she wasn’t big on me wearing it, but I LOVE makeup and always have. I snuck it out of the house to put on in the school bathroom before classes started for a few years before I was technically allowed to wear it. In October of my 7th grade year I switched schools and decided to really do myself up for the first day at my new school. I was wearing a yellow sweater, so I decided on yellow eye shadow and bright pink lipstick. When I think about that now, I’m thinking maybe my mom should have had someone teach me about how to put on makeup before I was allowed to go out of the house, so I didn’t end up looking like a Frankenhooker. (thanks for that great word, MamaTulip)

3. How old were you when you got your first period?

It seems like girls keep starting this younger and younger. I was almost 14 before I got mine, and was so excited that I ran out to the car when my mom got home to tell her. Now, I could totally do without it and be just fine.

4. How old were you when you went on your first date?

I was 15 and it was quite the battle to be able to go on this date. It was homecoming my sophomore year, and I was asked to go to the dance by a guy I really liked. My mom caved right away, but my dad was a harder sell. My mom overruled his “no” and I went. And it was a great time.

5. How old were you when you had your first kiss?

I was also 15 for this. The same boy who asked me to homecoming took me to a “Haunted Forrest” around Halloween that year. He kissed me while we were waiting in line to go in, and I was so excited I couldn’t stand it. I had been waiting what seemed like forever to have my first kiss. After that, of course, we made out like mad any time we got a chance.

6. How old were you when you got your first bra?

I think I was about 15 for this too. I didn’t really need it until I was about 17 though, but I was dying to get one because everyone else had one. Now I wish I had the problem I had when I was 15, because now I have to wear one and I hate them.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Go ahead and answer in the comments section or on your own site and leave a link in the comments. I’m curious to see if I really was as late of a bloomer as I thought I was, or if everyone else was more like me.

I Love Lists

I really do. I make lists all the time. Sometimes I remake lists to make them more organized. I think I just like lists because they're just so simple - the list contains everything you need right there in front of you, and they keep you from forgetting things, one of my major problems.

I also like lists as blog posts, because often you want t talk about something, but there's not enough to talk about to stretch it into an entire post. So, surprise! That's what you get today.

1. We are staying home this weekend. The bribe worked! Well, that and the promise of a long relaxing weekend. The tradeoff is that we have to go up north to see his parents next weekend, which brings us to point #2 on this list:

2. My inlaws are moving to Florida. In, like, 2 weeks. I am both happy and sad about this. Happy because, hey, now I have an even better excuse to go to Florida regularly. Sad because when I have kids they won't be close enough (location-wise) to their grandparents to see them all the time. I'm also a little worried that they're going to want our help to move down and September is the worst month out of the year for me to do anything in. Work is crazy in September, and if I ask for time off my boss is likely to look at me like I just swallowed a big ol' crazy pill, because it's so not going to happen.

3. I posted a few pictures from the wedding this past weekend on Flickr - you can see them on the Flickr flag I have over to the right. The pictures didn't all turn out as well as I had hoped, but there are some cute ones.

4. I am really excited that football season starts this weekend. Football is a big deal in our house, because it comes with bragging rights. You see, I'm a Michigan State fan, and Aaron is a University of Michigan fan, and those schools are big rivals. So, although he usually gets the bragging rights, I sometimes get to have a little bit of hope, at least at the beginning of the season. Football also brings the season of Crispix mix and Rice Krispie Treats, and really, you can't go wrong with that.

5. I'm seriously excited that there's probably a trip to Florida in my near (post-September) future. And? They'll only live a few hours from the Keys, which has me so excited I can barely sit still. Woohoo!

Updated to add:
6. Mini-rant here: It's still August, so can someone please tell me why in the hell it's cold outside? Seriously! It's like 65 degrees outside and it wasn't any warmer than that yesterday either. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the fall (mostly due to football, apple cider, hay rides, and all that), but it's not supposed to start yet. Gah!

How Sweet It Is

So on Sunday, the day after the wedding, I was exhausted. I had gotten about 4 hours of sleep on Friday night, got home late after the wedding on Saturday night, and was woken up by an alarm on my phone going off at 6:45 on Sunday morning. That last part was totally my fault, but it still sucked royally because I couldn't fall back asleep.

When I'm really tired I'm hard to deal with. I acknowledge that freely and try to be on my best behavior, but it doesn't always work. I'm also pretty hard to deal with when I'm hungry, and since I hadn't eaten for approximately the whole week, by Sunday I was starving. For me, starving and tired is a Very Bad combination. So thank goodness for a sweet husband who is willing to not only put up with me when I'm in that kind of mood, but who spoils me rotten on days like that (which he'd had two weekends in a row - he's truly a saint).

On Sunday, Aaron took me to see Snakes on a Plane, even though he didn't really want to go see it, and bought me popcorn and pop. Then he suggested that we go to the local ice cream store (which he usually avoids because it's expensive) for a scoop or two. He let me sleep the whole way home from my parents house, and then bought me pizza and breadsticks for dinner.

Reading that, I see a pattern of Aaron appeasing my bad mood with food - that might not be the healthiest way to keep me happy, but it works.

This coming weekend holds two possibilities - going up north to Aaron's parents house for his brother's birthday and another wedding, or staying home and relaxing. I'm voting for the staying home option, but Aaron is still undecided. So I'm trying to bribe him into staying home, with, what else: food. The college football season starts this weekend (woohoo! We love football season.) and so I've promised him a big "1st football game of the season" spread if he chooses for us to stay home this weekend, complete with bbq meatballs, snack mix, veggies and dip, chips, and whatever cookies or brownies his little heart desires.

So what do you think? Would you stay home for that? Also, is our use of food as bribes totally bad news, or what? If our weekends continue like this, we're going to gain about 50 pounds each by the end of the year.

Imagine This...

You've made it through the wedding without tripping or making an ass of yourself. You've made it through the limo ride, complete with leaky limo roof due to the torrential downpour happening outside, and are now standing next to the bride ready to deliver your speech as Maid of Honor. You start in:

Standing here, looking at the two of you tonight, I once again am sure that some things really are meant to be.

It's going well, but you realize that you're starting to shake. You're actually shaking really bad, but you continue on:

For those of you who may not know, K and I met 24 years ago at daycare when we were just toddlers. My mom and I weren’t supposed to live in our hometown for long, but fate intervened and we stayed. Kara and I have been friends since the day we met, and I’m glad fate kept me in our hometown so I could be friends with someone as wonderful as her. We were meant to be.

Shit. You're really shaking now. You can't even read the paper the speech is written on so you set it down, and continue on, mostly from memory:

Then, just two years ago, K changed plans. She was supposed to be in Columbus for a year, but she decided to head to California instead. By the end of the first semester she had met J and they started dating. From the way she talked about him, I think I knew she was in love with him before even she had realized it. I think her decision to move to California was meant to be – she had to go there to meet J, the love of her life.

You're almost done. Why are you shaking so hard? You often talk in front of large crowds, because it's part of your job. So why is this happening? Ah, emotion. You'd usually cry, but today, for some reason, you're shaking like a leaf instead. Okay...just finish it. You'll be fine.

I couldn’t be happier for the two of you than I am tonight. True love always makes me happy, especially when it is so clearly meant to be. I love you both and wish you only the best.

To K and J – who are truly meant to be.

Thank the Lord, it's over!

You listen to the best man give his speech, which is also really good. And he didn't shake or cry at all, of course. The toast is over, so it's dinner time.

After dinner the bride and groom start making the rounds while you and the best man are still sitting at the head table. The pastor approaches, walks up to the best man and says "That was a really great speech. I really enjoyed it. Good job." and walks away.

Yeah, this is a great start to the night. It can only go up from here.

(P.S. It did go up from there, and a great time was had by all, including me. Everything went perfectly, aside from the downpour that happened during and after the wedding, and the happy couple is safely on their honeymoon.)

Holy People Looking for a Cookie Recipe, Batman!

So, I got like a million and five hits today just because Anne Nahm linked to me. Well, okay, because she linked to me and it was about a cookie recipe I sent her (which I wrote about here). So, since I hadn't posted the recipe I'm sure there are a lot of people that were unfortunately disappointed because they were expecting the recipe that she was raving about.

So I figured, what the hell. I'll share it with everyone. Here it is:

Chocolate Chip Crispers

1/2 c. butter, softened (original recipe calls for margarine, but I used butter)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. Rice Crispies (r)
1 c. chocolate chips

Here's what you do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, beat margarine and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well with a mixer. Stir in the Rice Crispies (r) and chocolate chips.
5. Grease a cookie sheet (or use a non-stick cookie sheet, or parchment paper, which is what I used) and drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until light brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

(Source: Kids Cook! Fabulous Food for the Whole Family by Sarah Williamson & Zachary Williamson)

Okay, there it is. I hope you all enjoy! The recipe says it makes 2 dozen cookies, but I got 4 dozen small cookies by using a teaspoon to form them. The small ones still took 12 minutes to cook.

I also just realized that this is the first time I've ever posted a recipe on my site, which, considering how much I cook and bake (which is pretty much all the time), is pretty amazing.

Starting Over, Tra La

So yesterday was a Bad Day. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was a Very Bad Day. I almost called in sick yesterday and realized about halfway through the day that I really should have. I was so excited last night that it was bedtime that I couldn't fall asleep right away. The day was over, Yippee!!!

Well I finally fell asleep and had bad dreams for half the night, woke up for an hour at 3, finally fell asleep again and woke up in a surprisingly good mood. I am determined to make this day so much better than yesterday. I'm going to be happy and cheerful and friendly all day, dammit. Even if it kills me.

So anyway, here are some random thoughts/occurrences that in no way are related, but which I've been saving for a day like today - a day where I have nothing to write about because I'm forgetting yesterday even happened. So here goes:

• We have new neighbors in our building, and they live on the first floor. First floor apartments have a small concrete patio outside their front door. The new neighbors apparently don't like the look of concrete, so they decided to, oh, I'm going to say, "spruce it up" a bit, and put down green indoor/outdoor carpet. Saturday morning Aaron and I walked downstairs and both said, "Really?" at the same time, because it looks horrible. It's not even laying flat. Someone's totally going to trip and smash their head into one of their butt-ugly planters. Some people, geez!
• I still haven't figured out what that "London Bridge" song is about, but it's stuck in my head all the damn time. Maybe if it made some sense it wouldn't bother me so much. No, actually, it still would. I just want to know what it means!
• I really, really want to go see Snakes on a Plane this weekend, but am completely busy because of The Wedding. Also, did you know that I can't wait for The Wedding to be over? I'm more stressed out about this one than I was for my own wedding, and my own wedding was the same week as my finals for that semester. The hell? Why am I freaking out so much? So I think that I may make Aaron take me to SoaP on Sunday afternoon.
• I would like to start downloading some songs from iTunes, but I have no idea what to choose. My music selection is fairly stale - the newest songs being from the James Blunt cd and Weezer's Make Believe cd. So yes, my music is old and outdated. What should I buy? I'm in the mood for songs that are upbeat, but not too pop-ish. Suggestions, anyone?
• Finally, I'm looking for the best marinara sauce recipe out there. I'm going to have a ton of tomatoes on my hands soon (who knew that four huge tomato plants would be too much for two people!) and have decided that marinara is their fate. I also have a basil plant so if you have a recipe using both a ton of tomatoes and a ton of basil, send it my way if you don't mind.

So yes, random post. Sorry. Just trying to make today a great day and so I'm emptying things from my brain as much as possible. I figure if I don't have all these things floating around in there I might be able to function a little better. I am so still keeping my fingers crossed that I don't cry today, because 3 days in a row would be too much.

Procrastination

Liking nothing more than putting things off until the last minute, this week is going to suck. Why, you ask? Because I need to lose just a couple of pounds before my friends wedding. This Saturday. So I will be working out like mad and dieting all week. Miso soup for lunch, here I come.

Also, some last minute news from the bride, I am 3 inches taller than the best man, who is the same height as the groom, and the bride is 2 inches shorter than that. And I have 3 inch heels. Time to go buy some flats so that I don't look like a giant in all of the pictures.

Last night I decided to try on my whole ensemble for the wedding and found out that none of my strapless bras fit, so I have to go buy one of those too. Being a maid of honor really sucks money out of your wallet, because in addition to spending way too much on the bachelorette party this weekend (which I would rather not talk about, for I am still exhausted and crabby) I still have to pay for getting my nails and hair done. Which, 0h yeah! I broke two nails yesterday, without even getting out of bed once. Yes, I am that talented!

But there is some good in all of this: a husband who puts up with me. After watching me mope around all day and cry twice from exhaustion and once because I have gained weight recently, he made me drag my recently larger ass out of bed and go for a walk. Actually it was more of a jog, because in order to keep up with him and his long-legged stride I have to jog half the time. We went probably about four miles and ended up with a 25 meter sprint back to our front door. Then, revved up from the hike I did stretches and 100 crunches.

After I was done, and I was lying on the floor, sweating, Aaron looked at me in that certain way. "Watching you work out is hot," he said, and from that point on I was definitely not the crabby person I had been earlier in the day.

Never a Dull Moment Around Here - Part II

So, two weeks ago there was a shooting right down the street from my apartment, which drew attention away from me telling you all about the fabulous bridal shower I threw that weekend. Today I was going to tell you about the fabulous bachelorette party I'm throwing this weekend (which will not include the bride making out with a random guy out for his bachelor party), but my plans have been foiled once again. Seriously! People need to stop shooting other people in my neighborhood!

So yeah, two weeks ago, the guy was killed in the apartment down the street. Within a week they had arrested the guy who did it. Here's the lowdown (in case you were curious): The guy who was killed knew the people who killed him. They had come to his girlfriend's apartment, where he was living, to rob him. They ended up holding both of them at gunpoint (the girlfriend's relatives report that they held a gun to her head during the entire thing), robbing them, and then killing the guy. I don't think this guy was up to any good to begin with, but he certainly didn't deserve that.

The weirdest thing about the whole situation is that there was a "For Rent" sign out in front of the building within a week. Don't think I'll be renting that one, thanks.

So, the whole thing has been pretty much forgotten in the neighborhood. People were back out walking in the evenings at dusk, and going about their lives as normal. Then yesterday, someone in our neighborhood got shot again.

The news reported that a shooting had occurred in our town, and named a street. "Hmm," I thought to myself, " I don't know that street. It must be far away from here." Yeah, no such luck. If you go to the corner where the last guy was shot, hang a right and then a left at the second street (less than a 1/2 mile from my door) you're right there. On that street. Right near my house again.

This guy didn't die, but he was having surgery yesterday due to several non-life-threatening wounds. Yeah, that's right. I said several. Great. I'm thrilled, can you tell?

We now live in a suburb of the big town where we used to live. We moved because the crime was spreading into our area. Obviously we didn't move far enough (we're only about 4 miles from our old place) because now it's spreading down here too. I'm still not feeling to scared about it all, but it is definitely weird, especially since in my hometown there has been one murder in the past 15 years. Come to think of it, it was in the apartment complex where I used to live. Weird. I think I need to choose better places to live, apparently.

Taking the Cheap Way Out

I stole this from Ms. Sizzle, who posted it a while back, because it looked like a fun meme. Also, nothing exciting is going on in my life, except for a crappy day yesterday that I'd rather not dwell on. So a meme it is! Here you go:

Grub-ology:

• What is your salad dressing of choice? My absolute favorites are a tie: Ken's Steakhouse Lite Caesar and my grandfather's recipe for roquefort vinaigrette.
• What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Well, if we had them here, it would be Sonics, because, seriously, have you seen all the ice cream treats they have? Yeah. If we had Sonics here I would weigh probably 50 pounds more than I do now. Unfortunately they like to taunt us with their commercials, but won't build in Michigan (my dad called - he's as interested in the ice cream treats as I am) because since they depend so much on their cold menu items for sales, and since it's cold in Michigan for so much of the year, they don't think they'll sell enough. I think they underestimate the lure of ice cream. But yeah. I don't have a favorite fast food restaurant. I try to avoid them whenever possible.
• What is your favorite sit down restaurant? That's a tough one. I'd say the one we go to most is a little pub in the next town over called The Peanut Barrel, but it's really more of a pub than a "sit-down" restaurant, but you do sit down and are waited on so I'll count it here.
• On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? 20%. And I always tip that much or more unless the service is horrible. Then they get 15% which Aaron still thinks is too much.
• What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? I think I'll have to say pasta with vodka sauce (so yummy!), but I think I'd have to have vegetables on the side, because if I didn't I'd miss them. I love to eat a lot of vegetables, and feel so much better when I do.
• Name three foods you detest above all others. Lima beans, egg salad, and mustard. Although technically that last one is a condiment, but this one is really tough. I'll eat pretty much anything.
• What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant?
  Well, there’s only one restaurant I’ve found that makes this particular dish, and it’s in my hometown. It’s called Princess Chicken and it’s non-breaded chicken in a spicy garlic sauce with onions, peppers and peanuts. It’s awesome. But since most places don’t have that I tend to stick to something “Kung Pao” or vegetable lo mein. There’s a Chinese restaurant near where I work and they have a menu item titled “Vegetarian General Tso’s Chicken”. I’ve never asked what that is, and I’m a little afraid to. I’m thinking they only feed the chickens vegetables. What do you think?
• What are your pizza toppings of choice? Well, there are two standards in our house. One is pepperoni and mushroom, and the other is pepperoni, tomatoes and banana peppers. Both are delicious and it depends on the day which set of toppings is my favorite.
• What do you like to put on your toast? Peanut Butter. Hands-down, that’s my favorite.
• What is your favorite type of gum? I think chewing gum is gross in general, but if I have bad breath and it’s the only thing around, I’ll chew a piece of mint gum.
  

Tech-ology:

• Number of contacts in your cell phone? Fourteen. But, I just got a new phone and haven’t put in everyone’s number yet. Just those I call regularly.
• Number of contacts in your e-mail address book? Probably over a hundred.
• What is your wallpaper on your computer? On my work computer it’s a picture of a cherry tree from my vacation in July.
• What is your screensaver on your computer? A slideshow of all the pictures I have on my computer.
• Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? No.
• How many land line phones do you have in your house? One.
• How many televisions are in your house? Two.
• What kitchen appliance do you use the least? Probably my griddle. It’s never been used actually. But of the ones that are sitting out, I’d say my KitchenAid. I only use it once a week whereas I use my coffee grinder, coffee pot, and toaster almost every day.
• What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? I listen to the commercial-free college station or NPR. The college station plays mostly independent, alternative-type music.
• How many sex toys do you own that require batteries? Um, pleading the fifth.
  

Bi-ology:

• What do you consider to be your best physical attribute? I like my feet. They’re not too big, not too small, and have a high arch. Aaron teases me that if I stand on my tiptoes they look like Barbie feet.
• Are you right handed or left handed? Right.
• Do you like your smile? Sure do.
• Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Just my wisdom teeth. Oh, and some extra fat cells from when I had a puncture wound on the back of my knee. They were hanging out and so the doctor just cut them away so he could clean up the wound. Kind of gross, I know. Sorry.
• Would you like to? Nah. I like everything just where it is.
• Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? Not really. If there’s something there, but mostly then I’m sitting in there reading and not going to the bathroom. So I prefer to read elsewhere.
• Which of your five senses do you think is keenest? I’d say my eyesight. I can play Where’s Waldo and win every time.
• When was the last time you had a cavity? Last summer. It was my first. I was very sad.
• What is the heaviest item you lift regularly? Probably a container full of clothes that I keep on a shelf in my closet. I lift it down to get something out and then have to put it back up. It’s probably about 50 pounds.
• Have you ever been knocked unconscious? I’ve fainted but it’s never been because I was knocked unconscious.

Misc-ology:

• If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No. I like surprises. And I’d probably worry myself to death before that day actually got here if I knew when it was.
• If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? I like my name, but if I had to change it I’d probably pick Grace, even though I’m not the most graceful person by far. It's my grandmother's first name, and I think it's lovely.
• How do you express your artistic side? Sewing, crocheting, knitting, writing, painting…pretty much you name it, I do it.
• What color do you think you look best in? I like myself in blueish-green hues.
• How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison? Not very long. I get bored easily and am kind of a wimp. But hey, I could surprise myself, I guess.
• Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake? Not by mistake. My mom has told me about quite a few things I ate on purpose when I was a little kid.
• If we weren’t bound by society’s conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at? I’m going to go with none here. I can’t get past society’s conventions.
• How often do you go to church? Probably a couple of times a year. I'll be more serious about going when I have a kid, probably.
• Have you ever saved someone’s life? Not personally, although I can name a few people who have saved mine.
• Has someone ever saved yours? Not from anything dangerous, but there are people that have helped, just by being there, more than they’ll ever know.

Dare-ology: For this last section, if you would do it for less or more money, indicate how much.

• Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000? If I weren’t going to be arrested? Sure. I’d want someone to walk with me though.
• Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Sure. But just a quick peck.
• Would you have sex with a member of the same sex for $10,000? Happily married, thanks. I think that would mess that up too much to even consider it.
• Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? No. I like my little fingers! And I type all the time so that would make it way hard.
• Would you never blog again for $50,000? Sure. But I can’t say I’d stay away from blogs completely. I'd have to still be able to read as many as I wanted.
• Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000? Sure, if tastefully done. I wouldn’t do hustler or anything like that. I’d prefer it to be like a Vogue photo spread.
• Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? Sure. Make it Franks. Hot is a misnomer there.
• Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000? I’m so not violent, but if they had hurt someone I loved, it would be a possibility.
• Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000? I guess so. Could I wear a wig?
• Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? I sure would. I try all the time to watch less television. $25,000 would definitely be enough motivation to get me to stop. Although I’d have to have the televisions removed from my house because I’m not good with avoiding temptation.

I Would...but I Can't

I would have a great big, fun entry for you today, if I hadn't spent 4 hours (yes that's right, 4 hours) last night playing a computer game. I won't tell what it is though, because that would make me sound like even more of a geek.

I would write more about the cookies (which, Aaron told me I had to make another batch as soon as I come home tonight because they're almost gone. The recipe made almost 4 dozen cookies and I've had fewer than nine. Dude! Stop with the eating of all the cookies!) but that's not very exciting.

I would write about the latest hot topic in the blogosphere (as written about by both Dooce and Amalah yesterday), but I'm not ready to discuss that yet as I'm not quite past it.

I would write about a lot of things today, but I have to leave in five minutes for a meeting that lasts all. damn. day. long. (Grrr....)

So instead, this is what you get. Maybe I'll do something more interesting than look at a computer screen tonight so I have something to tell you about tomorrow. I wouldn't hold your breath though.

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Updated: If you want the funny today (which you are certainly not getting here. Sorry.) go here to annenahm.com and read about some good advice and her unfortunate way of discovering it. I'm seriously crying with laughter.

Quite a Threat

On Sundays I usually do my baking for the week, which typically means I make some sort of sweet (cookie, cake, or brownies) for us to eat as dessert for the week. This past weekend Aaron wanted chocolate chip cookies, but I wanted something a little different, so I made chocolate chip crispies. Chocolate chip crispies are basically chocolate chip cookies, but you add in Rice Krispies along with the chocolate chips. And they are delicious.

Well, anyway, last night while watching the season finale of Hell's Kitchen (I am so excited about the person who won, because I had picked her from the very beginning, but this has nothing to do with this story) I went to the kitchen to get a cookie and noticed that they were already out and open. Aaron looked at me sheepishly and said "Jess, they're so good. I've had nine cookies already today".

"Well, okay, I'll put them away and then to get them out of your way I'll take them into work tomorrow for that meeting"

As I said the last half of this sentence his face fell, and then a look of evil spread across his face.

"Do that and I may have to remove one of your arms and one of your legs."

"Well that wouldn't be very nice."

"Yes, but then you'd know the pain of me being separated from those coookies."

I guess I'm making another batch this weekend!

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On a completely unrelated note, did you know that you can have Samuel L. Jackson call someone about his new move, Snakes on a Plane? My mom did this to Aaron (it's really just a recording, but it was hillarious because we weren't expecting it). Just go to http://snakesonaplane.varitalk.com/ and enter in the information, and whoever you pick will get a phone message from Samuel L. Jackson. It's pretty cool. I can't wait for this movie to come out so I can see if it lives up to all the hype.

A Few Random Weekend Stories

1. On Friday afternoon I went to a step aerobics class after work. Now, I sweat a lot when I work out. Like really a lot. And? Yoga also makes me sweat even more than most aerobic workouts. So combine 50 minutes of aerobic exercise followed by 10 minutes of yoga, and I'm pretty sweaty.

On Friday at my gym there was some tennis event going on, so there were a lot of people around who were not familiar with the facilities there. I was in the locker room after my class, and a random woman walked in, looked at me, and asked "Oh, is there a pool here?"

Now, I don't know if that was just a general question asked for no reason, or if I looked like I just got out of the pool, but I chose to answer "Yes", and pretend not to be embarrassed about how sweaty I was. Still? It was a little embarrassing.

2. You get a picture with this one.

So, yes I know it's a little blurry, but that's a frog. It was on our balcony on Thursday night when Aaron went out to water the tomato plant (which 4 pretty big tomatoes that are about to turn red, and a bunch more possibly on the way. Hurray!). Now, that alone is weird enough. Our balcony is about 12 feet up. But what makes it truly hillarious is Aaron's running commentary on the whole thing. To paraphrase:

"I just don't get it. What makes a frog decide to climb a building like that? It's just hopping around and it happens to look up, and think 'Huh. Haven't been up there before. But hey, it's only noon. I've got the time. I'm going to go see what's happening up there."

Then he would make the frog climbing up the building motions and we would all fall into heaps of laughter. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty hillarious.

3. There was a festival of sorts in town this weekend, so on Friday night we headed over for dinner and to check things out. Now, this is a yearly festival and my friends and I (not Aaron so much, he's apparently smarter than the rest of us) always look forward to this festival, thinking how great it's going to be and how much we can't wait to attend.

Then we get there. It's always boring, and we always forget this ,and are sorely disappointed. This year was not any different. We went and ate some ethnic food and then looked around, and felt disappointed because it's lame. Like always. I don't know why we fall for it every time, but we do. Then we laughed about it the rest of the weekend.

Overall it was a great, relaxing weekend, where we accomplished absolutely nothing, but had a wonderful time doing it.

OMG, We are SOOOOO Lame

But funny. At least we think so.

Last night I made a dinner I had been craving. You see, you take ham, sliced potatoes, green beans, and (for me only) carrots, dot with butter, dill, and a dash of garlic salt and wrap each serving in it's own little foil packet. Then you bake the heck out of it, and it comes out absolutely delicious. And it's called a Hobo.

(Side story - the word "hobo" never fails to make me laugh, in any use. So this has dual reasons why it's one of my favorite meals)

Sitting down for dinner, we had this conversation:

Me: How is it?

Him: It's great. In fact, it's the best hobo I've ever eaten!

Me: Glad to hear it.

Him: Yeah, that Ed, he's so tall and skinny - such a string bean.

Me: **Rolls Eyes**

Him: And Cliff? Such a ham. He always makes me laugh.

Me: **Giggling** Are you done?

Him: Yeah. I think so.

Then we both burst into a major case of the giggles that didn't subside for about 10 minutes.

I'm glad we at least crack each other up. Everyone else probably thinks we're lame. But we? Think we're hillarious!

The Most Fun Part

(Sorry if I'm milking the baseball game experience for all it's worth this week - can you tell that absolutely nothing but work has gone on since then? I've been totally, completely, and utterly consumed by work this week and am so happy that it's Friday that I almost literally bounced out of bed this morning. It's that good. Anyway, moving on...)

Aaron and I decide the absolute best part of going to a Tigers night game? Is walking through Detroit. At night. In the dark. (Can you feel the sarcasm wafting off those sentences? You should be able to. In fact the sarcasm should practically knock you out.)

Yeah. You've never seen a group of people move so fast in your life as people just trying to make it safely to their car at night in downtown Detroit. It's really not the safest city there ever was. On the walk from the place we parked to the stadium we walked through numerous splatterings of car-window glass. There were crazy-looking people walking the street everywhere, and by crazy-looking I mean that they were talking to themselves or other such activities.

So, yes, you've never seen a group of people move so quickly without being in a race. It's a little scary, although I know I felt safer moving in a big group of fans. Once we got closer to the car we were pretty much by ourselves and practically racing each other to the car. We got in, shut and locked the doors, and sped off as quickly as possible. We just wanted to get the hell out of town. Yes, we're wusses, but seriously. If you'd heard the stories I have? You'd probably do the same.

From now on I'm sticking to day games.

I Forgot, and What the Hell?

Two totally separate and non-related things today:

Thing the first:

I totally forgot the best part about the baseball game last night. (Molly you'll appreciate this one - it is one of our favorites from the past.) Ty Pennington was there, as was the rest of the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team. They sang a completely horrible rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch, but still. I was in the same area as Ty Pennington. Swoon. I don't care if he's 15 years older than me, he's still really good looking. Too bad he's annoying as hell.

Aaron, my friend Molly, and I used to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition every Sunday night and (this is going to make us sound like horrible people, but whatever) make fun of the people on the show. Like the kid with the really fragile bones. We didn't really make fun of him, but of the shot they showed of Ty picking him up and giving him the "man hug". You know, the one where you hug but pat hard on the back? Yeah. Way to break all the kids ribs, Ty. Then there was the one where the family's house burnt down because they left a bunch of space heaters running while they weren't there. This is why things have warnings like "Caution: Coffee is Hot" or "Don't iron your clothes while you are wearing them" (I totally know someone who did that second one). It's just common sense.

So anyway, I got to see Ty Pennington in person on Tuesday night - a very small and far away Ty Pennington, but it was him nonetheless. Swoon!

Thing the second:

Okay, have you heard the new song by Fergie? The "London Bridge - Oh Snap!" song? Um, what the hell? I may be old and prudish and not hip at all, because I don't get it. The refrain goes:

"How come everytime you come around, My London, London bridge, wanna go down like, London, London, London, wanna go down like, London, London, London, we goin’ down like… "

Okay, so what's my London Bridge, and what's going down? Does it really mean what it seems to mean? Also, why is the song so catchy (I like the beat) and so annoying (what the hell is she doing with her voice, and why did anyone think that was a good idea?) at the same time?

I really don't get it. Could someone please explain?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Last week Aaron came home with tickets to last night's Tigers/Twins game from one of his clients. So, of course, we went to the game last night. Besides the fact that the Tigers lost the game, it was pretty fun, although I don't know if we'd do it again anytime soon. Getting home at 12:30 on a worknight is just too late for us weaklings.

Of course, once again, I had as much fun paying attention to the crowd as I did to the game. The people seated behind us were also avid crowd-watchers, and so I got to enjoy their ongoing commentary too. Their best commentary was on the couple sitting in front of me that made out for eight straight innings. Seriously. It was gross. One of the first things Aaron taught me when we started dating is that you don't get all lovey-dovey at sporting events. That is, unless the "kiss cam" is pointed in your direction. Then it's fine to kiss, but otherwise, you're there to watch the game, so you'd better watch the damn game. When the couple left at the beginning of the 8th inning, the people behind me waited just long enough for them to be out of earshot before a barrage of comments they'd been holding in spilled forth.

"Wonder what they're going to do!"

"Ah, I remember when I was young, and the backseat seemed so large and inviting."

"There's no kissing in baseball!"

I was shaking with laughter, so the lady behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "That was pretty bad, huh?" There was nothing I could do but agree. It was pretty bad, fairly disgusting, and not what I had come to watch. Aaron was so engrossed in the game that he (luckily) missed the spectacle these two were making. They were sitting right in front of me so I had to look over the making out to see the game. It was horrible.

A short time later, the guy behind me shouts out "Get that man a Bro!" and his brother yelled out "No, it's a 'Manziere'".

I love random Seinfeld-isms.

There was this guy running around without his shirt on, trying to get the crowd to do the wave, who really was in serious need of a "manziere".

So, we had fun, but we're exhausted today. I'm working from home this afternoon, and a nap is really tempting, but I really want to get this task out of the way (just so you know? Transcribing sucks.) so I can get more important stuff finished the rest of the week. So no nap for me. Just an early bedtime tonight.

So, yeah, I threw a Bridal Shower this past weekend...

...and it went smashingly. Aside from being completely crazy that day and waking up at the butt-crack of dawn, everything turned out perfectly, even if I did break the cardinal rule of party-throwing. I used new recipes that I had never made before. Luckily they were pretty basic and so I wasn't too worried.

Everyone loved the favors I made, even though one woman said "Ew, I don't really like green tea" to the green tea that was inside. Tough, lady, it's free. Stop bitching. Here's what they looked like:

I was really happy with how well they turned out, and they were super easy to make.

Here's the spread we managed to put together, without me killing anyone (I get to be a little teensy bit of a control freak when planning a party, so woe to anyone who messes something up):

Everyone ate a ton, and drank almost all the punch, which seemed to be the biggest hit of the day. It's really easy, and delicious, and also another recipe that I didn't try before that day. The pie racks that I have the food on had to be fixed the day before the shower - they had each lost a leg that had to be welded back on. I think I got high from the fumes at the welding shop because I was not stressed out at all that night, just the next day.

I also made the tea-towel cake that I mentioned before. Here's a close-up of that, which I used as a centerpiece, and which was also my gift to K:

It took more towels than I had expected - I expected it to take 6, but ended up having to use 8. So she has a lot of tea towels, which is never a bad thing. It went together easily, and looked great (in my oh-so-humble opinion of course - gee I have no pride, do I?).

Now that the shower is over, we're planning the bachelorette party. It's going to be in less than two weeks. At my house. Yet another thing for me to fuss over for almost two weeks, and another opportunity for everyone to nickname me Martha, like they did this past weekend. And even though there are a lot of people out there who are not Martha fans? It made my day.

P.S. There are a few more pictures of the shower up on Flickr, if you're interested.

Bleh Stupid PMS

I am in a Bad Mood today. Yes, that is with capitals. It is a Very Bad Mood, indeed. I am at work, but would like to be not at work. In fact, I want to be so very much not at work that I looked at other job openings around here and around my home town. Unfortunately there was nothing I wanted (or could be fortunately, I guess, I don't know. I don't want to make decisions today).

I tried to make a dinner/grocery list for this week, but it was too hard, so I gave up. I called Aaron to give him a semi-complete grocery list so that he could go shopping, and almost cried when he said he wasn't going grocery shopping for the week until Wednesday (we're going to a baseball game tomorrow night, otherwise he would do it then). Then I almost cried because my boss was annoyed. Not at me, just in general, and she snapped a little bit. Now I'm almost crying because I'm typing about almost crying.

Ridiculous!

Sometimes I hate being a girl because of the stupid mood swings. All I want today is to be home in bed, cuddling with Aaron, and for him to be a mute. Just for the day. Just so he doesn't get smacked for saying something completely reasonable, which I will take as unreasonable because I am feeling bitchy.

I have my first visit with a personal trainer today, and oh, what a crappy day it is for that. Not to mention that I forgot to shave my armpits this morning and then proceeded to pack a tank top to work out in. Way to go, me! That won't be embarrassing at all!

Also making me want to cry today? The fact that I have to come back to work tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, ad naseum.

Sorry about all the whining. I just had to get it off my chest and everyone around here is sick of listening to me. I probably would be too. In fact, I pretty much am.

Never a Dull Moment Around Here

The plan for this morning was to tell you all about the bridal shower and show pictures. Then we came home and saw the crime tape around the building at the end of our block, which pretty much made us forget all about the shower.

The reason for the crime tape? Someone was murdered. They haven't released the cause of death yet, but have confirmed that it was homicide. Also? They don't have any suspects. They really haven't released anymore details than that, except the exact address which is why I'm not posting a link to the story here.

I watched the news last night to see if they had anymore information, but that's about all they gave too. They did interview a neighbor from across the street. His quote was classic: "I thought moving out of the trailer park I'd be more safer". Geez, guy. Way to make our neighborhood look classy. That made it look worse than the murder, which to me looks like it's probably drug related.

The place where the guy was killed is the run-down apartment building on the block. Our complex is actually pretty nice and there are enough old people here that no one gets away with anything without them noticing. There's also a church in between here and there, and for some reason that makes me feel a little safer. Well, that and the fact I'm not doing anything illegal that would bring said murderer into my house.

It's a little scary, of course, but I'm pretty sure this is an isolated incident and that I have nothing to worry about. But, damn, what a way to wrap up the weekend.

**Updated to add: It appears now that the guy was shot. Some neighbors report being woken up by a strange noise at around the time the murder occurred, and they all agree that it sounded like a gunshot. They're doing an autopsy today. It's still so weird!

I'm Insane

I must be. Why else would I be up at 6:30 on a Saturday morning? I'm so anxious about the bridal shower I'm throwing today that I can't seem to sit still, or sleep, apparently. I got some things done last night, but I still have a lot to do and I can't stop going over the list of to-dos in the my head. In fact, what am I doing here? I'm going to go make the "tea towel cake". Pictures tomorrow or Monday probably.

Not Unexpected

We got a call from Aaron's brother last night (he's the one who got married in mid-June) letting us know the good news. He and his wife are having a baby! I'm very excited for them, but also kind of sad for both them and me. Them because they're young, underemployed, and just starting out. In fact they're just moving to their very first apartment - they've never lived away from their parents before. It's not going to be easy, I'm sure, but I wish them the best.

I'm sad for me because, honestly, I wanted to be first. I'm not too overly sad, because it's a choice Aaron and I made together, and one we keep making - to wait just a little longer. Everytime we get to the month we've said is the month, we decide to put it off yet again. We have all kinds of excuses, including the money thing, the fact that we're finally having a little fun because we have enough money to have a little fun, etc. Honestly every time it's about that time I get scared, and I think Aaron gets scared too, so we decide to wait. So, this is what waiting has brought us. We're not first.

Being not first is also a good thing though. That means some of the baby pressure is off because there's going to be a first grandchild and first great-grandchild, so it will stave off the "When" questions from the in-laws for a little while.

All of this was not unexpected. My sister-in-law's siblings both married young and had kids right away. I knew this was going to happen. So did Aaron. It's kind of bittersweet. We're happy, because, you know, it's a baby. We're supposed to be happy. We can't really help being happy for them. But we're also a little bummed. Oh, well. No turning back now.

He says I'm a Brat. He may be right.

Scene: Mid-day in my office. I call Aaron to tell him the good news.

Me: Hey. We just got an email from the governor. She says we have to have pizza for dinner tonight.

Him: Um, what?

Me: Well, because it's so hot we have to work on conserving enery, so we shouldn't use things like the stove which will both use energy and heat up the apartment to make the air conditioner use more energy. So we can't use it. So we have to order pizza for dinner. I'm thinking pepperoni and mushroom.

Him: So the governor didn't really say we had to order pizza in particular. Just that we shouldn't use our stove.

Me: Right. But you ate all the lettuce we had left in a salad for lunch, so we don't have anything to eat that doesn't have to be heated up.

Him: Fine. Pizza it is.

Me: Oh, and you know how I'm supposed to wash the towels tonight? I can't do that either.

Him: The governor?

Me: Yep. The dryer does the same thing as the stove. Heats up and uses lots of energy.

Him: Do we have to pay such close attention to what she says?

Me: Definitely.

Him: You'll say pretty much anything to be lazy and eat pizza won't you.

Me: Absolutely. It's just that today I have a pretty good excuse.

Him: Brat.

Growth

When I was in college I was told by a counselor that I was seeing that I have low self-esteem. I thought I had great self-esteem – I thought I loved myself, both inside and out, and I didn’t understand why everybody didn’t love me too. I had real issues with people not liking me and tried everything in my power to get people to like me. Even, to use a slightly Oprah-ish term, giving up my power to others. I would allow people to treat me like crap just because I wanted them to interact with me. It was bad.

It was around this time that I decided to say “Screw it” to most aspects of my life. I dropped out of school for a semester and got out of the environment that was making me miserable and depressed. Almost instantly I was a different person – happier, more relaxed, and generally just better. I started eating again too, and that was important. I actually liked myself enough to take care of myself. Big step.

But I still find myself having problems relating to others. I still want to make everyone happy and still want everyone to like me. My feelings are easily hurt, which is one reason why I think sometimes this whole me-writing-a-blog-thing is a bad idea; my feelings get hurt when I see other see other people get more readers and comments than I do when their blogs are newer. I think I sometimes sacrifice my true self to try to get readers, but then when I really am myself? People respond. But it’s hard to always come up with things that people will relate to. Others seem to come by it naturally, but for me it’s sometimes hard work. I’ve decided I’m going to keep at it, because it’s relaxing and I enjoy it, but I’m going to try to stop letting the number of comments per entry or lack of hits make me upset. Much easier said than done.

What started me thinking about all this? Well, there’s a woman I know fairly well that’s pregnant. She has told a lot of people that we’re mutual friends with, but hasn’t told me. Everybody else knows all the details, but I learn them second hand from them; I haven’t heard anything directly. This was really bothering me, even though I’m not particularly close with this woman, nor do I really like her all that much. So why is it so important to me that I’m included in baby festivities? I don’t know. But I did realize one thing – this means I don’t have to buy a shower gift, and that made me happy. And it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. If she doesn’t worry about me, then I don’t have to worry about her either, and that’s one less thing to worry about, which is always a good thing.

So that’s growth. Right?

Like a Bee

I’ve been pretty busy lately, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon. People always complain about how busy they are during the holiday season, but the holiday season is nothing compared to late summer for us. We’re busy with personal things (currently, it’s trying to schedule an appointment with a personal trainer at the gym – we’re playing phone tag, and playing with the new computer), things with friends and family (bridal showers, baseball games, weddings, etc.), and work things.

It’s the work things that are killing me. Aaron called yesterday and I was too busy to talk. That never happens, in fact, usually it’s the opposite – I call him and he’s too busy to talk. He asked how long I was going to be busy like this. The unfortunate answer? Until at least October. Blech.

So in the mean time I’m trying to make my home life more relaxing, which I think is working. I’ve been slacking on my usual meal planning/cooking that I do, and instead going the easy route as much as possible (pizza anyone?). I de-cluttered and organized so that I don’t have too much weighing on me to get done. And even more exciting (for me at least) I downloaded the game that whoorl got me hooked on, and played it for hours last night.

But for now, I have to get back to work and act like the busy little worker bee I have to be these days. It’s not incredibly fun (but it is somewhat fun because I’m a giant nerd and I like what I’m doing), but I suppose I have to support my pizza and video game habits somehow.