31 October 2010

enough!

I don't know what came over me. I need to make some changes in my life, with my appearance.

This morning I canceled my hardly-used, non-satisfying gym membership. It doesn't work for me and there's no use wasting money on it. Then I went home and tried on every single piece of clothing in my closet. I'm so sick of nothing fitting.

I ended up with a pile of giveaway clothes that included several hardly-worn pairs of slacks, my favorite pair of khaki capris that were always borderline too-tight but are now a camel-toe fest, a brand new dress that ended up being too short, lots of too-tight clothing that I have no idea how I squeezed into, and several things that I have just grown out of, like my snoopy t-shirt.


I ended up keeping a pair of both brown and black slacks that fit nice, as well as some skirts. Everything in my closet now fits. I also ended up with a lot more closet space and a ton of hangers!


...and a cat who is annoyed that her naptime turned into a clothes and hanger frenzy.

Next on the agenda is to go buy some new pairs of jeans that aren't too small. The ones I have now are digging in and uncomfortable. Ugh I hate jeans shopping, but it must be done.

I think what's happening is that my body is changing. I feel heavier, but the scale says otherwise.
I'm realizing that I'm getting more hips and booty, and my figure is becoming more woman-like.

That, I like. I just have to figure out how to dress this newish body, in a way that is age-appropriate: modest but flattering.

As far as my workout options go, I think I'm going to utilize our neglected treadmill and take advantage of this absolutely gorgeous weather and try to get back into running.

I also think that I'd like to try Curves. I used to love working out there, and I know it actually works for me. I just have to find a convenient location.

Ch-ch-ch-chaanggeeesss

29 October 2010

happy list

Tough day at work. Two instruments down for the second day = not a very happy camper. No one was. Especially the nurses in ICU. But I managed. It was better than yesterday. I got a little overtime this week (which has become a no-no), so my boss let me go home early. Sweeet. I was and am so very tired and headache-y.

But let's focus on the positive!

Things that are making me happy right now:

  • The smell of chex mix in the oven. I always love that smell.
  • A full pantry. Sad pantries are just, well, sad.

  • The fresh parsley and oregano in my fridge. Fresh are much tastier than dried herbs and well worth the extra cost. I think next year's garden MUST include herbs. Herbs!
  • The fresh clean sheets I'm about to put on my bed. I'm still waiting for a nice cushion in my savings account before I get my big girl bed. Fresh clean sheets always make me happy.
  • Cinnamon chex. Mmm. Can't wait till breakfast.

Of course, all these things are related to food or sleep. Does that mean I'm a lazy fatty? If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. ;o)

28 October 2010

i hate car problems that don't make sense to me.

This is the weirdest thing.

My car has abruptly stopped making noise. Now, I know most people do not complain about the lack of noise coming from a car.

But it's really annoying.

See, when I turn my blinker on, there's no clicking noise. When I open the door with keys in the ignition or the lights on, or if there is someone not wearing a seat belt, it does not ding to let me know. It also does not alert me when I'm low on gas, or if coolant is low, or whatever else it beeps for. What a random thing to go wrong with a car!

I want these noises back.
I like the, "Oh shit you're about to leave your lights on!" warning.

I've tried the fuse panels, but non of the labels describe, "Noises your car makes." That, and nothing else is really going wrong, so if it was associated with a fuse that also controls something else, I'd know it.

Super lame.

24 October 2010

weekendness

The weekend:

Trip to Lake Livingston for a friend's birthday. Beautiful, relaxing.
Add another place to my list of new places to visit this year.


P.S. Missy and I make a great foosball team. I now want a foosball table.

Laundry, chinese takeaway in lieu of groceries, snuggles with pumpkin, and sketches for Stephen's first birthday cake. Can you guess the theme? ;o)


I can't watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without thinking that his mom is just Bellatrix Lestrange in disguise.

As always, another weekend that seems way too short.

21 October 2010

TA-DA!!


Isn't it beautiful??? So shiny, new, and nice and tall and curvy so that even when the sink is piled high I can still get water. Porcelain washers that are guaranteed to NEVER LEAK. I'm so smitten with my new faucet. I literally giggle when I turn it on.

Early in the day they had replaced the leaky one with another cheapy faucet that looked exactly like the original. Except. Mom happened to mention that it didn't have a connection for the sprayer.

That was a problem. Seriously, a major problem.

See, I love that sprayer. I use it constantly. When I told this to mom, she said that she didn't think it would be a big deal because she doesn't even use the one in her kitchen. Then I reminded her that she has a dishwasher. It's a different story when you have to hand-wash your dishes. I really do use it ALL the time.

So then I had accepted the fact that I was just going to have to be sprayer-less, when I came home to the guy installing a whole new faucet. Then I felt like a brat for complaining, but mom said that if we installed a cheap faucet it would just end up leaking again.

So I have an awesome new faucet (that was $80, by the way, I had to pay for it lol) and it doesn't leak and it's just so... awesome. *sigh* Well worth the money.

Oh, and I was also super-productive this afternoon. I switched over my car insurance, and finally sat down and read through and filled out all the paperwork for the health and vision benefits that I now get through work. Then I canceled my existing expensive health insurance, which was literally a 3-minute phone call. Easy peasy.

Oh, and I also managed to spend a freaking thousand dollars in 10 minutes today. I paid the 6 months car insurance and then paid mom for half of the repair bills. Since I don't pay rent and I regularly "shop" in the fridge and pantry, I figured that was fair. We had them fix my bathroom ceiling and faucet, and then replace the leaky (eew) toilet and faucet in the hall bath. The hall bath and my parent's bathroom AND the entry way were painted, as they've been sitting there in mid-paint for about a year. I swear, the trim has been taped off and the paint cans have been sitting in the entry way for over a year. So, now it's done and things look much nicer.

Like I said, productive day. Cereal for dinner, then bed. I'm TIRED!

hey there

Good morning, cinnamon chex. You make 330am happy.

I woke up to pee about 45 minutes before my alarm went off, and I think in my intense desire to fall back to sleep, I thwarted myself. I got up a little earlier than I'd normally do to make sure my breakfast dishes were washed and put away and there was no underwear on the floor-- new faucet today! AND, remember the bathroom ceiling damage from Ike? Getting fixed too. Holla.

But I'm still ready way too early to leave for work. And I can't go in early to get a head start on things because they're cracking down on overtime. Which doesn't bother me one bit because I like leaving on time.

I hope things go smoothly today. Our chemistry analyzer is older than dirt, and it's been giving us problems lately. Today I'm by myself, which I love, but I just hope things go smoothly. Nothing like a problem with chemistry to stress out my morning.

Shit, I still have 30 minutes.

18 October 2010

FEED ME

If you know me at all or read this blog, you know that I don't like to be hungry. At all.
Hungry's just not my thing.

Today I was hungry.
A lot.
It was just one of those "hungry days."
It sucked.
BUT I drove home eating an apple and some leftover dry cereal to hold me over, and made myself an awesome dinner.
Fish that I finally learned how to cook. (One type of fish, cooked one way. Hey, it works.) With leftover rice, some steamed broccoli and carrots.
And now I'm not hungry.
Just full. And happy.

...With a sinkload of dishes- but I'm so happy about being not hungry that I just might do them.

And the word Hungry starts to look very strange when you look at it for a while.

Also, I love my toot. Just sayin'.

'Nuff schmoop.
Time for dessert!
Frozen peanut m&ms
:: big huge lazy smile ::

17 October 2010

Weekend comments

I'm really feeling this purple argyle cardigan at NY&C. I don't like the way it looks on the model though.


I'm glad that Sam Moon's is a 45-minute drive. Wall-to-wall handbags, jewelry and accessories is SO MUCH FUN and I came home with a new bag and several bitchin' and cheap pieces of jewelry. I actually did not purchase this one, but I do like it.



Rock band is still not my favorite game.

Puzzle mats are both good and bad. Good because they do roll up, but bad because the mat comes out of the box creased and the pieces kinda get wonky.

Massive 2-story Forever 21 stores are amazing. It was like a whole other world in there. I could easily spend hours in there (the one in the Woodland's Mall). I should have taken a picture; words cannot describe.

Bargains: $20 Calvin Klein dress that fits me great. Originally $70.

French onion dip and Ruffles are irresistible. I simply can not say NO.

The Garden Ridge in the Woodlands is SO MUCH BETTER than the one that turned shitty in Sugar Land. 

Boo, Kroger does not carry cinnamon chex.

My mom wants me to buy my mattress at Big Lots. I'm sorry, but I just don't feel right buying a mattress at Big Lots. If I'm going to spring for a new bed, I'm getting a decent quality one. Big Lots doesn't exactly scream 'quality.'

I still have to do dishes :o/

15 October 2010

and.i'm.out

What a friggin' week.

Looking forward to Huntsville!!

14 October 2010

car insurance

Oy, car insurance quotes.

It's time to break free from the nest and get off mom and dad's policy. Our local Allstate agent will not return my phone calls, so I got a quote from the 1-800 number. If I switch to my own policy, I'd pay $200 more every six months. I hate to part with them, after they treated me so well after the accident, but our agent pissed me off and they're simply more expensive.

Farmers was even higher- they quoted me DOUBLE what I'm paying now. I mean, I want full coverage, but sheesh.

I also checked out AAA. Yeah, apparently they offer auto insurance, not just roadside assistance. The guy I talked to was super nice, and unless I misunderstood, you have to get a membership to get the insurance. Which is kind of cool, but I don't think I need quite that much, as I rarely go outside of a 30-mile radius of my house, haha. Anyway, they quoted me about the same as Allstate.

Then I called Progressive and they totally rocked my socks. The premium is only a few bucks higher than I'm paying now, and I get the same coverage, and this is with the accident on record (almost exactly 3 years ago) and without all of mom and dad's multi-car discounts. I'm pretty pleased about that.

So it looks like Progressive is winning the quote battle. Not that I plan on making claims *knock on wood*, but does anyone have any good/bad experience stories to share?

Also, I'm surprised at how easy it is to get a car insurance quote. I hope it's not making little dings on my credit score or anything, haha. Not that it matters anyway.

AND, AND, more adult-ful-ness: I start getting benefits at work soon. Hel-lo better, cheaper health insurance! Hel-lo vision! and my mom might force me to get dental since I have no intention of doing anything dentist-y any time soon.

Oh, oh and also, my dad is going all Steel Magnolias and lighting firecrackers to scare the birds away while he changes his oil so they "don't shit on his truck." Classy. I love it.

13 October 2010

fratastic

Text message at 3am (or 10pm his time?) from Chris: "The barracks have turned into a frat house."

There are many things I have imagined the barracks are like, and a frat house was never one of them! You know it's got to be bad for him to be disgusted.

I'm sorry Ash, that's all I have for you today. My life goes like this: Wake up, contemplate working out but go back to sleep, eat breakfast + check email and facebook, go to work, come home, eat dinner, shower, go to bed.

I guess I have to live vicariously through other people again, unless you want blog entries that say, "This morning I ate chex instead of corn flakes." (Which I did.)

Also, my afternoons are livened up a bit by trying to figure out my coworker's sexuality. I just can't pin it down, as this person is a rather odd individual to begin with. Nice enough, but odd.

09 October 2010

saturday

I came home to fabulous GF "poo" cupcakes, made by Suzy. <33

Long, tiring week. I crashed HARD last night and I feel a little better today. Still headcoldy/allergies-y. I can't tell. Didn't really get my list done. Meh, next week.

Today = UH FOOTBALL!! My house has been taken over by MS State fans. Oy.

Been getting pictures of paradise on my phone from Chris. It looks sooo beautiful.
Except they deploy for Afghanistan soon. NOOOO I thought it would take much longer.

Anyway, festivities are gearing up for the game, it's gunna be a beautiful day.

05 October 2010

my mom is AWESOME

Today, after a long and tiring day of work (which included screaming doctors), I came home expecting the aforementioned disgusting pile of dishes and instead saw this:


Oh my gosh!! Even the super-grody crock pot and blender were cleaned and gleaming! You have no freaking idea how happy this makes me. Like seriously. I'm so happy I could just cry. Because I know how huge and disgusting the dishes were, and I know it was a huge gesture.

Then, I opened the fridge to this:


(except it wasn't half-eaten.) It's delicious and I don't have to cook. 

It makes the fact that there is no more pumpkin pie a little easier to handle ;o)

I love my mom. 

bed-maker?

I feel like this is going to be a week of  procrastination.

Let's add to the top of the list: dishes and laundry.

I don't know what happened; I was super-exhausted when I left work yesterday. I was fine until about 3 when I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and conk out. The traffic-y drive home was horrible. I kept wanting to fall asleep.

When I got home I packed my lunch for today, ate some cracker jack for dinner, showered and went to bed.

I hope today is better.

A conversation yesterday made me wonder just how many people make their bed every morning.



I, for one, never make my bed. I can honestly say I haven't since I was about 10 and my mom stopped making me. Even when I change the sheets I don't really make the bed- I just kind of lay out the sheets and if I have to make it look decent, I spread out a big blanket on top of the mess and smooth it out. No tucking things in here. It just doesn't make sense to me.
But I know there are hard-core bed-makers out there. It's interesting to guess which of your friends are bed-makers and which aren't.

So, which one are you?

04 October 2010

week to-do

Yesterday I spotted pumpkin in the store and bought a couple of cans. Yes, I'm going to go back and buy 5 cans so I can have pumpkin pie when I'm craving it in May.

Anyway, so at some point during the day Chris texted me and asked what I was doing, and I told him I was making pumpkin pie. His response: "U better not eat that whole pumpkin pie u little shit."

He knows me too well. It's already half gone, and I'm not going to share. I am sticking with my story that pumpkin pie is healthy. It is!

Anyway, the real reason for this post: My to-do list for the week.
  • Research car insurance. Who do you use? Do you like them? I currently have All State and I like them but it's very expensive. The only company I will not use is State Farm.
  • Grocery shopping. Yay!
  • Wash my disgusting car. Inside and out.
  • Renew my ASCLS membership, or figure out why I should. I'm not exactly sure what the point is, unless I get some free CEs.
  • Make my way up to UH and get some new garb for the game. GO COOGS!

02 October 2010

cleannn

So I lied. I cleaned my floors. I even washed the rugs. I couldn't help it, it was SO gross.

It was SUCH a beautiful day. I got up early and got new tires. The guy helping me even removed the disposal fee; he was totally flirting and I just smiled and stayed friendly. Hey, it saved me some cash. Chris said the kind of tires that I got are softer so they'll grip the road better, especially when it's raining. Sweet, I've noticed some serious hydroplaning during these crazy summer storms. New tires = good.

Then I changed my bedsheets. Don't ever underestimate the power of fresh clean sheets. I can't wait for bed tonight. It's going to be awesome.

Flipping between Legally Blonde, Good Burger, and Little House on the Prairie in my pjs until it's time to get ready for Tosh Tour.

Aloha!

Well, it looks like Chris is scheduled to be stationed in Hawaii. For the near future at least. He'll be there in a week or so. He was upset because he thought he was going to be in CA and that meant a plane ride for a visit was doable. To Hawaii is obviously a little harder.

While he and his mom were upset about this, I was pretty darn happy. The farther away from those homemade roadside bombs he is, the happier I am. I don't know why but they seriously scare me. I do hope he gets to go somewhere cool in the future, just not in the thick of it.

He actually called last night and we had a nice chat. I miss just talking about nothing with him. It made me feel more connected than a text message. Not that text messages are bad, but I'm a chick; I need something more than that. Anyway, I'm happy with Hawaii. Plus, my mom is the cheap airfare queen and I've always wanted to go to Hawaii... Hey, I still think it's doable.

Tonight is Tosh Tour 2010!!

01 October 2010

lame laze

No wine tonight. The intentional glutening episode is still giving me lingering troubles, only made worse by wine. NEVER AGAIN!

Kinda bored but too lazy to get up and actually do anything.

And Ashley's wanting to name her new cat Tobediah. I think that's a terrible, horrible name! I also think that the more I hate it, the more she likes, it, lol.

I like the idea of re-naming the puppy Slav and calling the kitten Veter.