Overwhelmed

I get so intimidated when I try and make a grocery list.
Because if I make a grocery list, then I need to have meals planned out.
To have meals, then I need to sit down and search through the PLETHORA of recipes in my personal cookbook collection and the internet.
Crap.
I'm sure I get a bit overly ambitious, because I have done it before.
I make a meal plan, but by the time I get home from work and do my gym thing, there is NO WAY I want to stand and cook and wait for a meal for over an hour.
My desire for instant satiation usually wins on weekdays.
SO. What to do. I guess just make meals 2 or 3 times a week.
But then I also have to plan for my lunches because I can't eat out everyday.
Oh yes, then breakfasts!
And Snacks!!!

Oi. I totally have not lived enough for this yet.

Tempis fugit!

Mamamia.....I had no idea I was so neglectful. I forget sometimes that I like to write.

So, the Boy and I moved. I'm trying to fall in love with a new schedule (drive to work, go to gym, dinners...) but it'll come. It's only the first month. But I like it so far. It's more like a house than an apartment. (attic and basement access!) Also, a dining room. It's very "posh". Sorta. We don't really have furniture. But he have new couches!! Fancy reclining couches. (He won't let me eat snacks on them yet...)

What else....oh yes. Vacations! Wyoming. Awesome. And I got to hang out with my favorite girls? oh yeah. What else could I ask for?? and Maine. OMG. House right on the cliffs. Beautiful. A coupla snaffoos, (plumbing, plumbers and excesses of airborne addictions) but I saw a few whales, seals and got to lay out on the rocks doing nothing at all.

I think I'm made to not work. I just would have so much time to do what I really love. (p.s. - I hate my job. If you need an environmentalist, I'm the girl for you!)

Also....possibly...perhaps changing websites. The Boy has one all made up for me to blog and I haven't had the time to play around with it. Don't look for it anytime soon. Hell, I still gotta unpack!

Back to my growing up home this weekend, it's both of my little brothers b-days. Happy 21 and happy 14!!! (holy crap!)

Happy International Day for Biodiversity !

Convention on Biological Diversity

Few things -

I just need to talk about them or else I won't get any work done.

*As of a week from Monday, I will be a certified asbestos project monitor. As such, I will be missing a week of work starting THIS Monday. I am already behind for THIS week. Weird.

*Mothers day is this weekend and the Boy and I are going to venture to our hometown. I will also (hopefully) be going to an Eve6 concert!! So, I will not be able to stay here to catch up on Friday.

*Physical therapy for my wrists after work (yesssss...heaaat) and then a meeting with a personal trainer to get my crap in shape. I have a 4.1 mile hike with camping equipment to do in August!

*El Boyfriend and I had a rather interesting lunch. We were having burritos (Taco John's on South Ave = Amazing), and he has a direct line of sight to the street. Well, it is apparently located right across from the "halfway house from hell." People wandering around tearing up sticks, talking to themselves, drug deals.... Yeah. I think of myself as pretty clueless, but it was so obvious, even I saw it. My favorite was "tearin' stuff up guy." Such a unique neurosis.

*Office politics. Seriously folks. Chill out.

I just cracked myself up by calling someone a "thuggish brute."

Man, sometimes even I question my sanity.

A place to pause

I blew it. Already.

I wonder why it is so hard to keep this going. I'm so easily distractable.

This weekend my cousin and her boyfriend came to visit. We did about a million things (about 4) and were worn out by 1030 pm. Amazing.

My aunt and uncle just moved into a new house. It's a little sad because the one they moved out of was my first home. I also lived there for a time during college, not to mention all of the other times I was there while my parents were away. All of the dinners that were in the kitchen and frisbee golf games, the "playhouse" and the soggy place at the bottom of their yard...the basement (which was perfect for the Halloween haunted houses they had), all the hot chocolate after the sledding trips, all the card games and family chats. Yeah, it was a cute little house on the hill.

However, I hear their new house is beautiful, large and very happy to have a family in it. I hear there is a large 4 season porch, a finished basement with a bar downstairs and 3 full bathrooms. I'm glad they are so happy about the house, they deserve a nice place.

I create attachments to places. My parents are also talking about moving. The house where they live now is TINY, needs a lot of work, and is on the edge of an iffy neighborhood. And yet, I will be sad when they leave that house. That was where I grew up! That was where I had my sleepovers with the seances and that was where my Boyfriend and I would stay up late and watch tv way past when he was supposed to go home.

In reality, houses are just a place, just a stop where life takes place, just like on any vacation or any short term stay. But when you put a personality to a location it's hard to just look away. It was good to hear that is why my aunt and uncle did on the last day before they left. Walked through the empty house, and said their goodbyes. This is my goodbye to the blue house on the hill.

Thanks house. :o)

Possible Reasons why I get Grumpy

1. I'm hungry.
2. I want to sleep.
3. The word that the hypnotist planted in my psyche was spoken. The word was probably "the."
4. That bug finally burrowed its way into my brain and pokes the amygdala for fun.


I'm trying for the NABLOMO the month of May. Posting everyday for one month (at least).
Happy May Day!

Alvin Ailey - Wade in the Water

Okay okay.....I know I just posted, but I have been on YouTube watching some classic modern performances and I just LOVE this one:



This is how I love to move.

Belhurst!

Here we go!! Pictures from the trip! ....two weeks ago! :oD



Belhurst is the name of the castle, but they also run this building; the White Springs Manor.







And the room....and the fireplace.....and...the picture. Here, lemme give you a close up:


















Yowza.


Moving on to: the spiral staircase to downstairs.

Pretty sweet, huh? It was kinda awesome to walk down this to go to the bathroom. They had the fancy bathrobes too, but we didn't touch them cause I was afraid we would get charged for it or something. Everything in there had a price attached to it. Except for the fireplace. So we fired that baby up! then we ate Ben and Jerry's and watched cartoons. The dinner was el sucko (we went to a different restaurant, not the one here) so we went to wegmans, and then we realized they have cable! and we do not! so we caught up on our cartoons. So fun.
I have more, but I am really not a fan of how blogger lets me post pictures...so here is one last good one of the last light of the sunset. It was a great weekend.

She's a maniac...maaaaniac thats for sure...

Okay, so no pictures yet. I'm sorry.

But not that sorry because it's been a gloriously slow week. My moods are wreaking havoc again, so it's good not to feel pressure to do anything (although I do - house is a mess, need to work out, need to write..).

Anyway, I tried out a dance company class yesterday. I'm a little discouraged because it didn't seem like I would be able to get into the actual company to perform anytime soon. But a woman who teaches there was really nice to me and was telling me about all these trips she takes to Toronto to dance and watch shows up there. Sounds awesome, but I kinda want to get back into the swing of things before I take a master class. But it would be good to get out and see a little culture.

It's been a long time since I've done modern dance, but surprisingly, stuff came back to me quickly. Some of the combinations are a little tough because they require so much trust in your muscles, and quite honestly; I'm not sure they are ready yet. I think I'm going to take more aerobic classes at the gym to get my stamina and core prepared before I cancel it or whatever. But I am really excited!

Things...26-50

26. Fly a plane
27. Invent something
28. Go on a vacation with The Boy
29. Volunteer frequently
30. Teach children about the environment
31. Have high tea in England
32. Go to a French bakery
33. Karaoke in Japan
34. Beat The Boy in a video game
35. Build a Green House
36. Camp out in a tree
37. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro


Ya know what? I do not think I have lived enough life yet to know what I am missing. So that's my list. (It's been sitting in my edit folder for about 2 weeks now and I haven't thought of anything new.) I say...not too shabby a list.

OK! Today is finally Saturday, so The Boy and I are going to our mini-vaca! hoorah! I will bring my new camera and hopefully get some sweet shots to showoff what it looks like. In the meantime, Happy weekend everyone!

You can't eat your pudding if you don't have any meat!!!

Last night, there was a death. Well, near death.
Of a smoke alarm battery.
For safety reasons (of course) there is a feature that warns the occupants that the battery is loosing it's juice. What time of day that feature goes off (ahem, night) is not important.
Most alarms I have heard have a soft beep every minute or so. Not the one upstairs.
A triple beep every 30 seconds. From 330am onward.
In all seriousness, I wanted to stab my temple. I love my sleep, and I actually would wake up about every half hour, and considered getting up at 5, just so I could leave and not hear it anymore. I went up the back stairs hoping that it was in the hallway and I could tear it off the wall (or, ya know, take the battery), no such luck. It was in an apartment. ::siiiiigh::

In other news, nothin' wrong with me. Full panel of blood work and everything is relatively normal. Although, my "albumin levels" were a little low. Heh, the doctor recommended I eat more red meat....nearly raw. Yeah...right doc.
I think I'm going to go to the Park Avenue Dance Company to try it out...I miss dancing. Although this is contemporary dance. It's been awhile since I've done that. I'm picking this company because I know they put on shows. Ideally, I would hope that I could get into this show, but, Em! Take a class first!

It's about time for me to get out of work. (And no, I am not doing this on company time.) Everyone is havin beers and playin mini-golf (a sort of reward party for the company) but I just want to go home. We'll see.

Ta!

Spring?

I love that part of the early morning in spring, just as you notice it is actually light out when you wake up. When the sun seems to shine brighter, has a warmer tone, and you just feel like you have caught something beautiful at the peak of its radiance.

I just wish it would get over 25 degrees in the morning.

Things on my desk:

~an old tea bag
~a paper penguin from Bri
~NYSDEC Spill reports
~ a receipt for a paid student loan (by another loan company)
~invitation for a baby shower on Feb 2.

I think I need to clean.
However, I think the need for cookies is um...needier.

Eight

There's just something about this crazy, mixed up, inside out love.
It makes me smile,
makes me angry,
makes me loony,
makes me strong,
makes me think,
makes me feel completely warm all over.

Who knew this silly teenage match would end up as a "breakfast in a diner on sundays" kind-of couple?

I like this ride, lets keep going.
<3

100 Things to Do Before I Go

This is inspired by MightyGirl Blog. This is one of those blogs I read everyday. It's just a personal blog, but everything she does seems so professional. She's got killer style and she seems like a fun person to be around. Anyway, she decided to invite her readers (that's me! but I lurk... I rarely leave comments) to complete a list of things to do before you croak. However, she put it in a more tactful way. (Ah, that style, I love it!) So: I begin.

1. Visit Japan
2. Write a book
3. Return to Costa Rica
4. Have babies
5. Build an environmentally friendly house
6. Learn how to work an espresso machine
7. Learn Spanish, French, Arabic and conversational Japanese
8. Become a trail guide
9. Go backwoods hiking
10. Plant and maintain a successful garden
11. Own a dog
12. Run a marathon
11. Visit Alaska to see the northern lights
12. Help put my niece thru college (if she wants to go)
13. Live in Washington or Oregon
14. Have family dinners at least 3 times a week
15. Take my parents on a vacation
16. Take Mrs. Z to Ireland
17. Donate a lot of money to my Environmental Studies department
18. Help create a nature preserve
19. Delineate wetlands
20. Learn to do woodworking
21. Drive across country
22. Get myself into a few theater performances
23. Learn to play the piano
24. Carve pumpkins, make snowmen and bake cookies with my kids
25. Keep a goldfish for longer than a month

Breakfast.

It's really hard to eat a good breakfast when all your oatmeal is gone, and you made a big batch of grits for breakfast with honey and cream.

Sound good? It aint.

Manic

I feel like time is always trying to get away from me.
Like time is trying so very hard not to get cooties from me.
I just want to be able to get everything done. However, I am Ms. Anti-Task apparently.


Work words I now use everyday:
-However
-As such
-Apparently
-Observed
-Visible
-Previous

I tend to get a bit carried away when I go to take a "break" at work. On the internet.
I KNOW!
Such a stupid way to take a break.

Ways to take a 10 minute break at work:
-Take the long way to the water fountain
-Read the editorials in the newspaper
-Take the stairs to the top floor and back down
-Walk to the coffee shop

I get frustrated when work piles up unexpextedly. Liiiike...when I have a due date for a report that afternoon, and I'm really starting to get rolling and someone knocks on the wall of my cube and says: hey, are ya busy?
No, dork. I'm just sitting at work getting some knitting done.

Ways to manage time:
-Make lists
-Buy a calender
-Write in said calender
- .......
(as you can see....not so good at this part.)

::sigh:: I need help.

I have been doing my current job since....the end of October. That means that I have been doing multiple projects at any one time for 4 months now. How come I have not YET gotten the hang of it? That is a long friggin time. (As compared to "Okay, here is this dance sequence. Lets do it 5 times. Okay, now show it to me.) It's very frustrating to me that I am not good at it right away.

Things I want to do tonite that will probably not get done:
- Go running (probably will do this)
- Set out clothes for tomorrow
- clean the bathroom
- make a lunch and snacks for tomorrow
- make apple and cottage cheese pancakes
- finish a report

Things I think about doing all the time and never get to:
- Make jewelry
- Clean
- Write
- Read and have coffee at a cafe
- Time management
- Get my medical responsibilities in order
- Cook and write in the blog
- Backrubs
- Hiking
- Exercising
- Planning trips
- Cleaning out my clothes

I think I expect a lot out of myself.

Foodie

Few things:
I have started the food blog. Not officially, because I want to get a few things tweaked and get a few more posts up before I really start letting people in on it. Unfortunately, I'm having a hard time getting work done this week (hm...I wonder why....[note the time this was published]), so I don't have much drive to work on it nights.

New Camera! Yes, I have a new camera so I can't wait to really break it in!

Upcoming topics: St. Paddy's Day meal, and some mean chocolate -chip cookies. like, mean as in so good, you will eat them til your face falls off.

'til then...

Very Very Cruel.