Sent from my ...

A few weeks ago I woke up really early on a Friday morning and went to
stand in line with MANY other people. We talked, chatted and shared
stories about ourselves. We talked a lot about the reason we were all
standing out in the cold and then the heat as the sun rose. Some
people were out the all night. Me I was in line for 5.5 hours. What
was the reason we'd stand in line so early in the morning for so long?

To buy into the marketing hype and to geek out clearly!

As my co-worker told me, so much for me keeping up the facade that
differentiated me from my fellow Engineering geeky co-workers.

Sent from my iPhone

LA Vacation - for the love of friends

Eric and I just returned from a little road trip we took down to Southern California to visit a number of friends. As I have grown up in California, road trips to LA have been frequent but Eric grew up in Appalachian Pennsylvania so he doesn't think too fondly of all of the concrete, the pretentious pretty people and the misplaced tropical flora in the dessert that is LA. I have taken Eric to LA before, but that was to help a friend of ours do some apartment hunting, and well... Eric didn't get a good taste of what LA has to offer. A little too much pavement hitting and Beverly Hills apartment looking for him I think.

This trip was the idea of his childhood best friend. Him and his wife were going to be vacationing in Las Vegas and LA and wanted us to join them. Since Eric has even lower opinions of Las Vegas, he agreed to a long weekend in LA. The main reason for the trip was to see his friends, so really he didn't care where or what we were doing as long as there was some good hang out time. As a bonus, the third of their "Three Amigos" surprised us by flying out from Florida.

These three boys (yes, they are still boys), got in to tons of trouble as kids and have remained "bros" over the last 30 years. This weekend was really special to see the 3 reminisce and share stories, some of which I hadn't heard (and many I had). How special that has to be to still remain close with friends you literally grew up with, even though all three live in different states now.

The weekend's festivities included:

• getting lost in the Hollywood Hills while viewing the fancy houses and then finding ourselves NOT in the Hollywood Hills anymore
  
• a day on Venice Beach... all getting burned to varying degrees (REAPPLY SUNSCREEN!)
  
• BBQ and fireworks viewing, up over the hill at the house previously owned by Gallagher
• Spur of the moment decision to see Wicked (LOVED IT!)
• Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Blvd, and other general LA touristy stuff
• Loads of very rich and luxurious foods and one night of acid reflux (it was the CHEESE!)
• Most important of all, we got in a lot of TIME.
  

Since some of my best friends moved down south a few years ago, Sunday we spent a lovely afternoon visiting with them and seeing another area of LA county. I miss my friends and am shocked each time I see how much their kids have grown. It was truly too short of a time to visit with them, so a follow-up trip will be planned soon. (Especially since Eric seems to be warming up to the idea that LA has more to offer then concrete).

Today we were on our own, as all of the PA buddies had gone home or were visiting other friends, so Eric and I spent the morning walking around Beverly Hills (where we were staying). It was HOT but really quiet and we enjoyed slowing down to take in the area. We found coffee (ICED of course), fresh squeezed juice and croissants, and genuinely enjoyed each others company. As we were lazily walking back to the hotel to check-out, I received a text from my blogging buddy, Starshine, that her and her hubby were on their way to meet us for lunch. YAY! A table of empty plates and 2 hours of visiting and getting to know each other better signaled the end of our little mini-getaway.

6 hours on the road later, we are back at home to some very loud kitties, piles of dirty laundry, and loads of work emails waiting to be read. And wait they will.... work doesn't start till tomorrow.

BTW - No pictures of the trip were taken so I have none to share. SOMEONE (me) forgot the camera and couldn't justify buying one down there, although it was seriously considered!

Finding the Brain Power for the Blog

A few weeks ago my therapist said, you ready to start blogging yet? And I said, maybe. But really I meant no. Sure I posted a bit but I just haven't been driven to write, share or basically sit still for any amount of time to concentrate. I haven't been able to read anything without getting uneasy, coudn't listen to music as it would irritate me. She suggested I start working in some meditating but conveniently I have been too tired, or busy or you know how the story goes.

Well lately I have been missing the community I found via blogging. I miss the friends I've met out here and following the stories they choose to share. Hell, I miss the friends I had before blogging. I just haven't been HERE much, let alone there or over yonder or anywhere really.

So today I cleared out my RSS feedreader of the hundreds of posts posted over the last few whatevers (weeks, months, I dunno), so the number didn't look so daunting. I unsubscribed to some blogs I really don't have that much interest in reading anymore (sorry Dooce, but something tells me you'll do fine without me). Then I took a bit of time to catch up on those I have been really missing and commented on just a half a handful. I realize this makes me a lurker, and I will only get out of the community what I put in, but I'm taking baby steps here and trying to find a way to maintain the community without so much of the time. We'll see how it goes.

I'm going back to bed now, because this whole waking up at 12am, 2am, then give up at 3am to open up the laptop to write down that thing that is nagging me, just to forget what it was until now at 4:40am, will not make for a good day.

Priorities Out of Whack

I am working pretty hard at learning how to find balance in my life, but this morning I found a very big and glaring mistake on my part which shows just how off my priorities are.

Monday is our one year anniversary. Pretty big deal right? So today as I checked out my work calendar to see if there is anyway to take the day off I see that I have managed to schedule an early morning meeting, a few other pretty important meetings sprinkled through the day, and the clincher is a training I have to give until 9:30pm which'll put me getting home at about 11pm.

I haven't told my husband yet, but the guilt is hitting me pretty hard.

Bad wifey! BAD!

I knew that date looked really familiar.


Update: I finally got a hold of Eric and he was very cool and wonderful about it. Told me not to worry or feel guilty. That it's not about how we spend that day, but about how we treat each other and spend most of the other days. Which I know he is right. He is wise and has a very loving heart.

Worrier

Last week I was worried for one friend who's family was displaced due to a wildfire threatening her childhood home. The next day I learned sad news from another friend about loosing her father and worrying about how she is doing. Today I learned sad news from yet another friend about loosing her mother, and I worry about how to be a friend for her during this time of grief and healing. For the last week I have been worried about my own mother's 2 week travel plans which begins tomorrow (see, worrying before I have anything to worry about), and today I learn she is planning another trip this summer, Oy! You fold in the ridiculous amounts of worry I give to work and no wonder I also worry about the frown lines which grow deeper between my eyebrows each night. (I actually get up in the middle of the night to put more de-wrinkling cream on them if I have had a worried filled sleep).

Today I worried about backing up our dying computer, but not wanting to spent too much money but worried about buying the wrong solution. I worried about the fact we haven't paid off our wedding debt even though our anniversary is next week or figured out our joint finances let alone filed our last year's taxes. I worried about feeding our cats a high carb dry food diet which might give them diabetes and researched a better alternative. Which then lead to down a long road of worrying about their teeth, their colons, their kidneys and their general happiness to be indoor kitties.

I have known for a long time that I am a worrier, but I have been finding that my worries seem to be much of what I think about. If I were to be more mindful of my worries, I think I'd worry I was worrying too much, which I guess I worry about. So for now, I accept my worries as part of my heart and part of my chaos. I honestly don't know who I'd be if I didn't worry.

I Guess Gas Prices Have Gotten To That Point

This morning as I was running out of the house to get on the road to make my first meeting of the day, I walked between my car and my husbands work truck in the car port and found what I thought to be an odd site. Wet asphalt, a gas can cap, and the gas tank open on the work truck. Someone had siphoned my husbands gas!

Really? Has it come to this?

My husband was inside on a work call so I didn't want to alarm him while he was trying to sound all talented and all knowing of fruit and landscape design, so I wrote him a little post-it note. I pointed to the note a few times but he was obvious busy so I got ready to leave again. I didn't want to leave in case they drained him of all of his gas and he would need a ride to get a gallon or two. But alas, thanks to his double tank truck, they only drained him down to half, and he doesn't think they got much, especially since they probably spilled a half gallon by the looks of the mess.

But still RUDE!

Oh, and then I called our HOA manager to ask her a question, but then also let her know of the gas stealing. She said, "ok". OK! Really, you have nothing more to say then OK? I don't expect much more I guess, but no 'Thank you for letting me know' or 'I'll give the security company a heads up', or anything. Have I mentioned how much I love living where I live? Have I? Please someone let me know when the market is going to turn so I can can be packed and ready to leave. Hell, screw the packing, I'm outta here.

Lists

Sometimes when the chaos gets too much and I find I start loosing myself, I need to stop and take a moment to figure out where I am and where I'm going and what I need to do to get there. I usually find comfort in writing lists of goals and tasks to help me feel like I'm living a more managed chaos. Sometimes in my life I consistently turn to those lists, sometimes to the point of OCDing all over those lists. Sometimes I have a healthy balance of goals in my life where those lists are more like reminders, casual to do lists. And then there are times, like the last 5 months, where I'm so lost that even the thought of a list and thinking how to get my life back makes me crumble.

Everyday is filled with goals, big and small, and when I'm feeling lost, any task to reach a personal goal becomes overwhelming, tiring, burdensome, and far too hard to even begin. Note I said personal goal. By that I mean anything that is strictly for me or at least mostly for me. So that means laundry still gets done, taking time to connect with friends is still revered, social events are still attended even if getting dressed for that event may include a break down. And my big problem during these times is the sick sick relationship between me and the importance of my job in my life (I could go into that bit of introspection but I'll save that for another day). This is what my depression looks like.

A few months ago I stopped talking, and I don't know really know for how long and to what degree. I didn't stop talking all together, but I was no longer talking about me. Since I need to talk or write to process what is happening in my life, I filled up. I stopped caring about me. I was no longer taking time to be a friend, a daughter or a wife. I stopped cooking, stopped cleaning, I just stopped. The only thing I continued was my work. If I was not working, I was sleeping. And one day I yelled, and cried, and then.... I talked.

This is when I made my first list in a long time.

You might think this list would be long, and exhilarating as I realized where I had gone and was waking up to all of the possibilities. But it was not long at all. It had 3 things on it to do everyday:

Take a shower
Get dressed
Do my Hair and put on make-up

A few weeks later I added to the list:
Walk outside for 10 minutes everyday
At the end of the work day, list the tasks of the next day
Don't work again that day once that list is completed

And yesterday I added:
Office hours - out by 6pm
Take public transportation
Write during commute - Blog, journal, email, lists,etc.
Evening walk with Eric

We'll see how this process goes of finding me and regaining some sense of balance. I may or may not write about it here, and then again I might write it ALL here. I'm giving myself permission to slip, to fail and to just be.

Appetite Booster

Tonight we went out to dinner and decided to check out a steakhouse we had never been too. It's a chain, and I had heard it was ok so we gave it a shot. I have been talking about wanting a steak for a few months, so we finally bit the bullet.

***Long run on sentence tangent warning***
Now I would normally grill my own steaks, but our patio is having a bit of an issue right now, so I won't be using the grill until we spend some quality time together with gloves and brooms, trash cans, and any organizing know how tossed out the window because Eric just will NOT be neat and tidy with his tools, but his current method is not working, and the BLACK WIDOW we helped not build her nest next to MY GRILL will be all the reminder he needs that it is REALLY not working.

Ok, back to my steak eating outing story...

So we found ourselves in a bit of a cheesily decorated chainy type restaurant. As we walked in I glanced at the platter the guy behind us was chowing down on. He got the Prime Rib, and although it wasn't cooked to the doneness I prefer (way not enough pink), the whole meal looked pretty good. Eric and I had already decided we wanted to try their Ribeye before we got the menu, so the meal was underway quickly.

The steak was ok, drier then most ribeyes I've had, but the seasoning was great. The rest of the meal was tasty, but when I was about 3/4 full, I glanced up at the TV which was pointing towards the bar, but I could VERY easily see. On the screen was possibly the most appetizing movie a steakhouse could possibly be absentmindedly be showing.... SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

I stopped eating, and couldn't understand how Eric continued. But continued he did... until his plate was clean. Of course I realize that I was full on eating and enjoying the flesh of a cow, but having Hannibal Lecter's beady eyes looking down at me made me a bit uneasy.

Blech.

What NOT to do with your beer mug

What was that you say? Oh! You haven't heard from me for quite a while? Yes, I suppose that does happen every once in a while. Pretty much life has overtaken my free time, and when I'm not lifeing, then I'm trying to sleep and well.... I REALLY like sleep.

But I did want to share a little advice I learned this weekend...

When carrying a beer mug in a big parade/walking event/festival thingy (aka Bay to Breakers) where you are part of a 500 person float which contains 25 kegs of beer and 8 taps integrated into the float frame (Disco to Breakers ), do not keep your cell phone and lip gloss in said mug thinking you'll use it like a "purse" because eventually you WILL put beer in the mug and cell phones DON'T DRINK BEER!

And yes, this happened at 8:30am and I hadn't even had any beer. Guess that lack sleep catches up with a person. So if you are trying to call me, give me a few days to call you back so I can see if the poor phone will dry out enough to be revived (hopefully the beer smell will go away too!).

Missing my Husband

Ever have those periods in your life when you just don't seem to have time to do what you would normally do?
I'm kinda feeling that about now. I don't know exactly what is happening, but I haven't been home much and when I'm home I'm pooped, and can only seem to get the most basic and essential tasks completed. My routines just feel off.

We still have clean clothes, and there is milk, eggs and bread in the fridge, but we seem to be in a state of chaos.

I think work has kind of taken over our lives at the moment. I've gone into my cyclical routine of doing just one more thing before I head home from the office and then suddenly its 7pm or later. I work best in the early morning and in the evening, and over the years I have found that I will do these spurts of working later and later and then I burn out go back to normal-ish working hours. Eric's business has been keeping him very busy. He is currently having to schedule jobs months in advance and juggling more then one client project at a time, which is awesome but taxing.

We are finding we are missing each other, which is sad for newlyweds who live together. So many nights someone goes to bed alone while the other is either not home yet or is just finishing up one more thing. We haven't even been sharing meals together which as many of you probably know, is a big deal in my book. I haven't been cooking, and have been eating a lot of crap lately. Yes, fast food containers have re-entered our lives. Eric actually eats more dinners with my parents then he does with me (his plant nursery is at their house so he often works there until the sun goes down and then my dad fixes him dinner). Which is cute, but I miss him.

Since one person has said they need to work late, then the other justifies working late too, and then... we don't see each other.

Finding balance is something we have always struggled with, so we'll find it this time too. But we will probably have to keep reminding ourselves.

Taxing

Have I mentioned we are procrastinators? Yes both of us are, and even though one of us plugged in HER numbers into the ol' computer days before the deadline, the other one didn't get on it until a few hours before the witching hour. Most frustratingly to the person who gets very stressed out about rules and such.

I kept begging him to work on them sooner (while also begging myself to work on them sooner). The worst part, was that hours before it was time to click that e-file button, we realized there might be a problem with my part of the paperwork. Not knowing enough about it, and no luck in searching the internet for help I concluded that I had screwed up. So little miss high and mighty over here, who was freaking out on her very busy husband ended up being the bottleneck to the filing on time, and off went the extension.

After some frustrated words were shared and knowing the alarm for 5am would be going off too soon, we sat in bed talking about why we do this procrastination thing to ourselves. We didn't come to any conclusions, but being unorganized and living in a slightly functional chaotic way might have something to do with it. Soon we laughed it off with the thought of us sitting there, looking defeated with tax papers all over and the word "FAIL" written over our heads.

Yes, we will be hiring an accountant very soon to help our sorry asses with organization and do's and don't, and hopefully setting up a better financial system for the business. It was one thing when we each were only responsible for our own monies, but now we have to be all responsible as a family and business owners. Man, growing up is hard.

East Coast Trip

Soon, I will be going on the first business trip I've been on in over 4 years. The itinerary is packed with working a conference booth and customer visits. I was completely overwhelmed when I saw I would be flying into Philadelphia, driving to New Jersey, staying in New York, and back to New Jersey for more meetings and then flying home, all over 3 days.

This California girl doesn't know much about East Coast living and got a little upset by the packed trip. My husband, who grew up in Pennsylvania, has assured me that my trip won't be as crazy as I think it'll be. That really, all of the places I'm going to visit is completely reasonable in a few day period.

After closer inspection of the itinerary, my co-worker and I will actually have the night we are staying in New York free of planned meetings and this has definitely lightened my outlook on this trip. I've only been to New York once, and that was the last business trip I was on. I had to work the entire trip, and my only sightseeing adventure included going out on my own at 11pm with my now husband on the phone telling me where to turn on my guided walking tour, assisted by Internet Maps. My hotel overlooked Ground Zero and I pretty much just walked around that area.

I just checked the website of the hotel we are staying at on our night in New York. It is located near the Southwest end of Central Park. I've never seen Central Park! I'm totally going to go for a walk in Central Park!

When I first found out about the trip, all I knew was that I'd be going to Philly, and I said I would be fine as long as I get a cheesesteak sandwich (which I better still get!). Now, I have a whole night in New York to experience. Even if all I get is another phone assisted walking tour, I'll take it.

Any suggestions?

Also, since this California girl is also an engineer in a tech company she also doesn't have any business attire to wear (got rid of all of that stuff ages ago), so she will be going shopping in the next few days as well. Look out closet! You will get to house more then t-shirts, jeans and tennis shoes soon. Hope its nice because I don't think I'll be able to find cold weather clothing in these parts at this time of year.

Finding Old Friends

Last night I had the pleasure to re-connect with some dear friends from my past. As I mentioned here and here, I have joined Facebook and was able to find a friend who I was sad to have not kept in touch with after high school graduation.

This weekend, my friend had a Spring celebration BBQ and invited my husband and I. Very excitedly I accepted the invitation. I was a little surprised that I did not feel nervous or especially anxious when the day came, which would be par for me. I made a few dishes to share potato salad and cupcakes, because as you already know I share food to express emotions. I had to stop myself at two, but I probably would have made a whole buffet to show my excitement.

When we arrived at her house, there was a small amount of squealing and hugging. There was an immediate feeling of welcome and familiarity. Through the night, I saw a little bit of the life she has lived over the last 16 years. I was also able to catch-up with 2 other people I haven't seen since high school, which was an added bonus. By the end of the night, we both felt like we knew each other but really there is so much that we don't know. Perhaps through catching up, sharing and time, we will each find ourselves a new friend.

PS - Neither of us thought to take pictures until the end of the night when we were both pretty tired. But next time, for sure!

Disposable Memories

One of my goals this weekend (other then taxes) was to go through my box of photos to find some memories to share. There were 2 sets of pictures I was specifically looking for, some from Jr High and High School, and some from about 10 years ago.

I am meeting up with a friend from high school this weekend who I haven't seen for 16 years, and I had some funny and mostly dorky pictures of us together from the 80's. We were pretty close back then and after graduation we never spoke again. Frankly I only kept in touch with 2 people. Thanks to Facebook, we have gotten back in touch and if the emails are any indication this weekend is going to be a blast. She recently posted a photo of us from Jr. High and I joked that I would do that same.

The other photos were of a 3 year old's birthday party which I had separated out all of the doubles for her mom. That 3 year old is now 13, and I thought her mom might appreciate the pictures. I remember putting them in an envelope to mail to her but I don't think I ever did. I wanted to make sure she got those pictures as her little baby with blond curly hair is now a beautiful TEENAGER with black and green hair. HA!

Sadly, as I pulled down that box of pictures, I realized that it was far lighter then I had remembered. Very vaguely I remember "cleaning out" this box last year. I think I was tossing photos that weren't in focus, or weren't clear from using a crappy camera, ones I would never put in a book or scan on the computer. Perhaps there were also some memories I decided I didn't need to keep a photo of because I had them in my head well enough. I had probably just watched "Clean Sweep" on TLC and had been inspired.

So now I'm bummed. Sad that the memories aren't quite as clear as they had been on that cleaning day. Sad that I don't have the fun pictures to share, or the history to archive. I do know that there was a large bunch of pictures in there that I had once thrown away when I was still living at my parents and my father pulled them out of the trashcan and gave them to me, telling me that someday I'll regret that.

Papa, you're right. I do.

Tired

Apparently eating Sunday morning cereal is exhausting.

Jabbawokeez!!!!

If anyone has been watching Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew on MTV, you already know how awesome this group is. We have been enthusiastically watching from the beginning and although my call for the final 2 didn't pan out (Kaba Modern was robbed!), I did call Jabbawokeez to win it.

Here is the performance that finalized it for them, Evolution of Dance. All of the crews had to dance to the same music, incorporating the same dance phenomenons while still having their style shine through.

They rocked it for me, I hope you enjoy it as well.

Mmmm Crap!

So today wasn't so good of a day. I woke up rather sore from yoga and with a headache, ate breakfast, took pain pills and went to work. Headache continued so I skipped on the yoga today, and instead went to my 3rd lunch out of the week (crap rule - only 2 lunches out per week).

I was hell bent on eating fried food (crap rule - No fried foods), so off we went in search of Fish N Chips (if i'm gonna crap on my crap I oughta do it right!), but the Irish pub we walked into only had beer. So we found a little burger joint and I got a sensible-ish sandwich, which I ate half of, and onion rings, which I again only ate half of even though re-heated onion rings are gross and I would usually justify eating all of something due its poor reheatability.

After being at work already later then I should, I was shown where to find a bowl of mini peanut butter cups, which is my favorite, and I wasn't feeling guilty yet so I had one. (Crap rule - no candy). I was on a roll! What? There are still some Girl Scout Cookies in the fridge? Well I can't have that.... Gone (but I had help with those).

Funny thing about this is that while I was realizing that I was crapping on my crap rules, I wasn't exactly feeling guilty but I wasn't feeling all high and mighty either. I was just feeling like I kinda want some crap today, so crap I got. At least I was making the conscience decision about putting the yummy crap in my body.

Before I left the office I did wander into the gym to do some weights and I had a bunch of asparagus for dinner, so at least I did some of the positive things on my list.

Perhaps my next list should include going to bed at a reasonable hour because once again, NOT SLEEPING! Quiet brain... Be Quiet! Maybe I should've done that yoga after all!

Putting my Face Out There

I've been finding myself reminiscing a lot lately. Mostly about the school years and loosing touch with friends. I am terrible at keeping in touch with people even if they live very close by. My co-workers tend to be my closest friends because I see them everyday. But then (oh about 10 years ago) with the growth in popularity of Instant Messaging, I was able to keep up with more friends so even though I didn't see them everyday they remained part of my everyday and therefore remained close. Of course this only seems to work out with my friends who are able to be online during the day.

What about the others?

In comes Facebook. I know, EEK! Yet another online community project? Well, my young'n co-workers kept talking it, plus a few of my good friends were on there and not wanting to be left out, I joined. Sure most of my "friends" on there started out being co-workers (masses of techy folks all up on the latest online thing), but then I found some bloggy friends, and then... childhood friends! (including one who I found out lives a few doors down from me!)

I've been having a good time finding out where people have ended up, and catching up a bit. I wasn't very involved in high school my final year (you know that most important Senior year), as I was dating someone out of high school and working, so I really failed to cement those relationships. Sure there are always friends from school who you grow apart from and many you never see again and that's cool. But these were some really great people, who I would like to know today, or at least be able to connect with again.

I kinda see the whole Facebook thing as a form letter type of blog where people can search and connect IF YOU WANT TO. People can stop by and see what you're up to, contact you if they want, or just leave a comment. Kinda like on here, except you can't ignore someone on the blog, it's out there for people to find if they want to find it. Sure there are tons of silly things on there, but you can use it how you want to use it. And since part of why I started the blog was to connect with people (from my past or future), I see it as a good thing.

Here's to friends! Old and New!

*************************************************

Update on the crap:
As J noted over here, as soon as you want to cut something out of your diet, it is exactly what you want! I really don't eat that much unhealthy stuff, but I do eat a whole lot of the stuff I should probably moderate. But man I keep thinking of fried stuff.

I did get up this morning to do some strengthening and stretching back exercises (I messed up my back and neck while I was recovery from surgery all slouch on the couch for 6 weeks), and I'm in the process of doing an hour long yoga session (with the TV, which is now paused because going from zero to 60 makes my head spin - literally, ok J, not literally but it does make me dizzy).

Cutting the Crap... for 2 weeks

Last December I had decided I was going to challenge myself to CUT THE CRAP for 30 days. My friend Liz said she'd do it too so we talked about defining what the crap is first. We chatted about it a few times but never wrote down our lists. Last week she said she's going to try for 2 weeks starting after Easter and then see how things are going. Seeing as I am becoming increasingly irritated at the thigh/butt growth but have done nothing about it, I'm in. And since accountability is worth more then my word to myself, here goes:

CUTTING THE CRAP! (and some general healthy living goals)

• no candy
• no soda (including diet!)
• no fried foods
• no fatty foods
• no fast food
• healthy snacks ok - in moderation - nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, veggies,etc.
• limited red meat - no more then 2 times per week
• at least one veggie side dish at dinner
• at least one piece of fresh fruit per day
• don't eat when not hungry/stop when full
• breakfast everyday
• work lunch - eating out no more then 2 times per week (saves $ and calories)
  
• water - 2 liters a day
• cardio - 3 times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes
• strength - 2 times per week
• assigned back exercises - 3 times per week
• up to 3 treats per week (moderately sized and using good judgment of course)

Now some of you my note that I made cupcakes yesterday and planned on bringing them into the office today and yes... this personal challenge means I can't even have one of those coconutty goodies which are not too sweet and perfectly dense but not too dense and are sitting within my view. Oh sure, I could have one as a treat but I'm stronger then that and might NEED it more nearer the end of the week! When we were talking about our personal lists (we each have slightly different ones), I mentioned that I was going to bake this weekend and Liz suggested that we could eat it if we made it but I see that as a dangerous loop hole so I'm going to just leave those yummy treats over there for the masses, besides I still have a bowl of leftover frosting at home and I TOTALLY MADE THAT!

It's only 2 weeks (no redbull? My only form of caffeine? Really?) I'll be ok, I know I will. (Most of Dim Sum is steamed right? That makes it healthy, doesn't it?) It's only 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks... we'll tackle portion control.

What crap would you cut out?

Need More Weekend

This weekend had one goal written all over it, PREPARE TAX RETURN!! Did we get to that? NO!

That has been the goal of the last 3 weekends, and its starting to get on my nerves. My husband and I are procrastinators by nature so it's not like I'm surprised. Sure, there have been a few years where I have been one of the many down at the post office mailing my return with only a few hours to spare. But this year is our first to file jointly and I just know it ain't gonna be pretty. Plus... I feel like we can't plan out any big ticket purchases like getting the house ready to rent/sell, booking our postponed honeymoon, or paying off the last of the wedding debt. Sigh!

So what did we do this weekend?

I claimed to be cleaning and purging the crap around the downstairs and in the hall closet while really I was watching romantic comedy after romantic comedy on TV. Not only was I serially watching the romance, I was watching twice the romance on 2 different channels thanks to TiVo. I even watched a movie I said I'd never watch again and it STILL made me cry. Where was Eric during the love fest on TV? He was upstairs napping and working and then napping again. When he came downstairs he asked if I wanted to watch a DVD.... SURE I said, so we threw in 'Becoming Jane'. Does this say something about myself?

Here they are not because I think anyone of you really want to know the movies I watched, but because I want to write them down to see the craziness for myself. (What's worse is I'm sure I'm forgetting some!)

• Monster-In-Law
• Clueless
• Wedding Date
• When Harry Met Sally
• The Perfect Man
  
• Titanic
• 13 Going On 30
• last 4 episodes of Sex And The City
• Becoming Jane - DVD

Sunday was lightly planned out with having my mom over for Easter Brunch and playing some cards, and then going to the climbing gym (assuming the taxes were done), and going to bed early to start the week off right! Of course it didn't turn out that way, but it was quite a lovely day even though the taxes didn't even get touched and the gym didn't get visited.

We both got up at a fairly decent morning hour and off I went to the store for brunch ingredients and Eric headed into the home office to finish a task which has plagued him for weeks. $100 later I return from the store (why can I not go to the store without spending so much?) and started in on the dough making and chilling, and the chopping and sauteing, and the whisking and baking and the frosting and decorating and taa daaa! Easter Brunch is served.

Mom very much enjoyed the Crab and Asparagus Quiche, green salad with pink lady apples and lemon garlic vinaigrette, some chunks of cantaloupe for freshness and finished off with coconut cupcakes. Somewhere in there I also made some mushroom turnovers for Eric to take to work over the next few days so we had to test those which turned out tasty while not the being the prettiest. But I think my mom most enjoyed the hours spent playing cards. We played until the sun started setting which triggered that she had been there for over 6 hours and should be going.

And now the kitchen is clean, leftovers are put away, the last batch of cupcakes are ready to go with me into the office and I'm heading up to bed for what better be a VERY restful nights sleep. (Man I hope I'm not jinxing myself!)

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend (and your taxes are filed and done!)