wally definitely earned his keep in the last two days! with not having his snow tires on yet, there's no way scott would have been able to get around town in his truck - he said the interstate wasn't really plowed yet when he went up to a meeting in lowry around 10:30am. honestly, if we didn't have wally, neither of us probably would have made it off of our street - we live on a tiny side street that will never be plowed, and the intersection with the secondary street we live off of just gets so snow and ice packed, erma wouldn't have been able to make it out. this morning, scott left at the same time as me with the intention that if he got stuck, we would try to rig up a tow so that wally would help haul truck out of the ice. he managed to get through on his own, but still - it's nice to now that we have an option like that. (although it might be a more solid option if, you know, we actually had a hitch on the back of wally.)
we measured the snow on the driveway at about 5pm last night, and there was actually 1/2" less than there had been that morning despite the fact that it had been snowing all day. i think the snow yesterday was a lot heavier and wetter than the snow from wednesday, so it sort of compacted what was underneath - i noticed, too, that along the back wall, the drifts had fallen about 2" by yesterday night from where they were in the morning. so i'll estimate that we got maybe 17" of snow all told, which really only equals about 1-2" of rain! isn't that crazy? it kind of makes sense, though - i had wondered how colorado has so many drought/water issues when we get such ridiculous amounts of snow in the mountains every year, but the 300+" of snow the mountains get equals probably 20-30" of rain - most likely closer to 20" since so much of it is the dry powder. granted, that is over the entire high country, which is pretty big - colorado has the most land over 10,000 feet in the u.s. i checked aspen, steamboat, and telluride's annual snowfalls, and they're all over 300" of snow, and the three towns are very spread out. hmm, although this other site says like 136" of snow annually for aspen, which is pretty different ... either way, a ridiculous amount of snow doesn't necessarily mean a ridiculous amount of precipitation.
snow day!
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labels:
winter
i'm currently enjoying a snow day at home! we shoveled 8" off of the driveway last night at around 5pm, and by 7:30am today had another 7" built up. i haven't measured since then, so we'll call it 15" and counting. we closed the office at 1:30 yesterday, and i'm off today, too! the office is technically open today, but we don't have the snow tires on scott's truck yet, so he needs the forester to get around today. we were just planning that i would drop him off at work and then pick him up afterward, but it turns out he has a meeting this morning up nearish my work then needs to get back to his office down south. we were trying to figure out the logistics of both getting to where we need to be, and i was planning on asking my coworker who lives near us for a ride back down here after work, but she took pity on me and told me not to worry about coming in since they really don't need two people there today. yes, i do feel a little bit guilty ... but i'm still going to enjoy my pajama day.
check out my facebook for snow pictures.
check out my facebook for snow pictures.
around-the-house weekend
dinner last night turned out well! i was skeptical at how the bread would turn out - i felt like i had to add a lot of extra flour to make the dough non-sticky - but it was good! the recipe turned out two big round loaves, and our small group (8 adults plus a 2 year old last night) pretty much polished them both off. definitely will add extra cornmeal to the baking sheet next time, as the loaves stuck pretty thoroughly after baking. green beans were very tasty, but not as much of a hit as the bread. squash was also quite good - even scott ate two pieces, and he normally won't touch squash with a ten-foot pole! i probably should have cooked it an extra few minutes, but it's hard to tell how long to cook stuff when you have an oven crammed full ... plus my oven door sort-of broke (a very important screw fell out) mid-cooking, and i was tired of trying to hold the door together to check on the squash.
oh, and the beef stroganoff from saturday was also super tasty. the downside of cooking dinner in the crockpot all day while you're at home is that you can smell dinner all day and thus you're hungry all day. it's definitely a recipe i'll keep on hand for future use, though. (the reviews on cooking light's website said that they thought the sauce on the stroganoff was a little bit runny. i added probably an extra cup of liquid - plus a little worcestershire sauce - because i didn't think there'd be enough liquid to keep the stroganoff from burning over 8-9 hours of cooking, and we thought the sauce was perfect. oh, and i used dried parsley instead of fresh, and some rosemary and tarragon instead of dill because i didn't have any, and it was still good.)
anyway, this leads me to a list of things we broke this weekend:
1. two wine glasses. the pretty green pottery barn ones that we bought after our wedding, that i had carefully stored in a cabinet for three years, then happily put in a wine glass rack above our sink when we moved into the house. we started with six, and now have three. (and no, pb doesn't make them anymore.) scott was doing dishes, thrust up his arms to get his sleeves out of the way of the soapy water, and knocked two off of the rack - which is, ironically, precisely what happened to the third one back at easter.
2. my favorite cutting board. it was a gripperwood board, so it had lovely little rubber feet on the bottom so that it didn't slide around the counter when you cut. acorn squash are evidently very dense and hard - i was using my biggest, sharpest knife to cut them for dinner on sunday, but the knife became wedged mid-cut. my ill-advised solution was to grab the handle of the knife, pick up the whole thing - squash and knife wedged together - and smack it on the cutting board a few times to try to make the knife finish cutting through. it did finish chopping through the squash, but also broke my cutting board in half.
3. an extension cord. scott was out front finishing trimming the bushes saturday morning, i heard the electric (corded) hedge trimmer start up, and 10 seconds later scott was inside with a sad look on his face - he'd accidentally cut through the extension cord. yes, this is the second time it's happened in the year that we've owned the thing - i think the first time was within the first few minutes of its use - but to his credit, it is easy to accidentally do. i used the trimmer to cut back the barberries that overhang the driveway, and almost cut the cord a few times myself.
4. oven door. well, we didn't really break this, it more sort of broke itself. one of the screws at the top inside the door fell out while i was cooking for small group - i had to hold the door together with an ovenmitt every time i opened it until we found the screw (in a little lip on the drawer under the oven). it's fixed, now, though, thank goodness.
5. my tire. again, didn't really break it. friday night while we were out, the low tire pressure light came on - the last time it came on a month and a half ago, the tires were just a little low, so we didn't think much of it. got to church on sunday, i'm standing by the rear of the car waiting for scott to get his stuff out of the back seat, look down, and see a squished tire. whoops. it was at 14psi, we filled it up and by this morning it's back down to 26psi. wally's at goodyear right now getting patched up.
oh, and the beef stroganoff from saturday was also super tasty. the downside of cooking dinner in the crockpot all day while you're at home is that you can smell dinner all day and thus you're hungry all day. it's definitely a recipe i'll keep on hand for future use, though. (the reviews on cooking light's website said that they thought the sauce on the stroganoff was a little bit runny. i added probably an extra cup of liquid - plus a little worcestershire sauce - because i didn't think there'd be enough liquid to keep the stroganoff from burning over 8-9 hours of cooking, and we thought the sauce was perfect. oh, and i used dried parsley instead of fresh, and some rosemary and tarragon instead of dill because i didn't have any, and it was still good.)
anyway, this leads me to a list of things we broke this weekend:
1. two wine glasses. the pretty green pottery barn ones that we bought after our wedding, that i had carefully stored in a cabinet for three years, then happily put in a wine glass rack above our sink when we moved into the house. we started with six, and now have three. (and no, pb doesn't make them anymore.) scott was doing dishes, thrust up his arms to get his sleeves out of the way of the soapy water, and knocked two off of the rack - which is, ironically, precisely what happened to the third one back at easter.
2. my favorite cutting board. it was a gripperwood board, so it had lovely little rubber feet on the bottom so that it didn't slide around the counter when you cut. acorn squash are evidently very dense and hard - i was using my biggest, sharpest knife to cut them for dinner on sunday, but the knife became wedged mid-cut. my ill-advised solution was to grab the handle of the knife, pick up the whole thing - squash and knife wedged together - and smack it on the cutting board a few times to try to make the knife finish cutting through. it did finish chopping through the squash, but also broke my cutting board in half.
3. an extension cord. scott was out front finishing trimming the bushes saturday morning, i heard the electric (corded) hedge trimmer start up, and 10 seconds later scott was inside with a sad look on his face - he'd accidentally cut through the extension cord. yes, this is the second time it's happened in the year that we've owned the thing - i think the first time was within the first few minutes of its use - but to his credit, it is easy to accidentally do. i used the trimmer to cut back the barberries that overhang the driveway, and almost cut the cord a few times myself.
4. oven door. well, we didn't really break this, it more sort of broke itself. one of the screws at the top inside the door fell out while i was cooking for small group - i had to hold the door together with an ovenmitt every time i opened it until we found the screw (in a little lip on the drawer under the oven). it's fixed, now, though, thank goodness.
5. my tire. again, didn't really break it. friday night while we were out, the low tire pressure light came on - the last time it came on a month and a half ago, the tires were just a little low, so we didn't think much of it. got to church on sunday, i'm standing by the rear of the car waiting for scott to get his stuff out of the back seat, look down, and see a squished tire. whoops. it was at 14psi, we filled it up and by this morning it's back down to 26psi. wally's at goodyear right now getting patched up.
inspired!
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labels:
sewing
i was googling around this morning, trying to figure out how to recover glider cushions, and i am completely inspired now. isn't this the cutest glider ever?? i love the colors, and the patterns. those are amy butler fabrics, in case you're curious. (if you ever want to know what the trendy fabric of the moment is, go to a trendy diy site like, say, etsy, search for a trendy item like, say, a wristlet, and read the descriptions of the cutest looking ones. amy butler, my friends.) i'm not sure that scott would go for a crazy floral turquoise glider in our otherwise mostly green and brown living room, and i'm not sure that i want to pay amy butler prices (which granted i've only checked out online), but seriously, that is a piece of furniture that i would not be ashamed to have in my house.
for real, though, i'm not letting myself start on that until i'm done with my picnic quilt, and with making a collage for a friend. i think sometimes that i like ideas better than i like projects.
for real, though, i'm not letting myself start on that until i'm done with my picnic quilt, and with making a collage for a friend. i think sometimes that i like ideas better than i like projects.
why i like family, among other things
so i have to confess that the number one reason why i enjoy family coming into town is entirely self-serving: free dinner out. scott's half-sister (yes, that makes her my sister-in-law, but as i have four of them i thought i'd specify) and her boyfriend are in from california for a work conference and offered to take us and goo out to dinner. we originally thought they'd be in denver, but turns out his daughter lives in boulder, so they're based up there for the week - who are we to pass up a free dinner just because of a 45 minute drive, though? we're driving up to boulder after work. :) i have absolutely no idea how nice we're talking, or where we'll be going, so i'm wearing my normal jeans and cardigan to work, and brought a skirt in case they take us someplace nice. i even wore a necklace today. (edit: scott just told me that the angels playoff game is tonight, his half-sister is a huge angels fan, so we're going to this sports bar called the lazy dog up in boulder to do dinner and watch it. i'm possibly more excited about that than i was about a fancy dinner because i love the lazy dog. there was one in denver when we first moved out and we went there all the time to watch games, but it closed a few years ago. they have amazing bbq chicken pizza, and i get to wear jeans.)
other exciting things this week:
- i bought a chair for $25 off of craigslist. a glider and gliding ottoman, to be specific. it was just such a good deal, i love gliders, and i have the perfect nook for it in my upstairs living room. (right next to the stairs in the big empty space.) the cushioning is in really good condition, and it's going to be the comfiest place to sit and read once i get it recovered. the current fabric is plush and shiny, sort of gray with blue and pink streaks in it, very early 90's. if i can convince scott to let me out of house project duty for a while on saturday, i think i'll run down to joann fabrics and see what sort of upholstery fabrics they have available, and how much it's going to set me back. i'm very excited about my project. almost as excited as i am for the picnic quilt that i already have fabric purchased for.
- i spent a good 5 minutes both last week and this week arguing with the kid i tutor about how old he is. he was born in december of '98, so he's 10, right? except he thinks that because he was born in 1998 and it's now 2009, that makes him 11. *sigh.
- we got to use my office seats for the last pre-season nuggets game on tuesday night. we used them a few weeks ago when they played belgrade (which is in serbia, fyi), and i will confess that watching two american teams play each other is much more exciting. we ate dinner at home before the game with the solid intention of NOT getting junk food there ... but you can really only sit in the presence of things like nachos and hot dogs for so long before you crave something. scott got us a churro in the 3rd quarter.
- i got to work out, eat home made chicken pot pie, and have a 2 hour long phone date with my friend alison last night.
- and i'm very excited about cooking this upcoming weekend: i bought some stew beef on clearance sale a while ago, and finally had a brainstorm last month that i can use it to make beef stroganoff. i did some investigating today and found a slow-cooker beef stroganoff recipe on cooking light that i'll be making for dinner on saturday. then sunday night we're hosting small group, and the host typically makes dinner for the group to eat together beforehand. i think the last time we hosted, i didn't feel like cooking, so we got papa murphy's pizza for the group. this time, though ... oh, this time i'm making a small fall feast. chicken legs, green bean salad amandine, homemade rosemary walnut bread, and the pioneer woman's sweet-roasted rosemary acorn squash wedges. trust me, i'll let you know how it all goes. and if you've never made chicken legs before, i highly recommend you give it a whirl - all you need is chicken legs and a canister of italian breadcrumbs which you can get generically for like $1.29 and lasts for forever. dump out a small pile of breadcrumbs on a plate, roll your thawed chicken legs (yes, skin and all) around in it one at a time until they're coated, put them on a sprayed baking sheet, bake at 425* for like 35-40 minutes, and voila. cheap, easy, seriously tasty stuff.
other exciting things this week:
- i bought a chair for $25 off of craigslist. a glider and gliding ottoman, to be specific. it was just such a good deal, i love gliders, and i have the perfect nook for it in my upstairs living room. (right next to the stairs in the big empty space.) the cushioning is in really good condition, and it's going to be the comfiest place to sit and read once i get it recovered. the current fabric is plush and shiny, sort of gray with blue and pink streaks in it, very early 90's. if i can convince scott to let me out of house project duty for a while on saturday, i think i'll run down to joann fabrics and see what sort of upholstery fabrics they have available, and how much it's going to set me back. i'm very excited about my project. almost as excited as i am for the picnic quilt that i already have fabric purchased for.
- i spent a good 5 minutes both last week and this week arguing with the kid i tutor about how old he is. he was born in december of '98, so he's 10, right? except he thinks that because he was born in 1998 and it's now 2009, that makes him 11. *sigh.
- we got to use my office seats for the last pre-season nuggets game on tuesday night. we used them a few weeks ago when they played belgrade (which is in serbia, fyi), and i will confess that watching two american teams play each other is much more exciting. we ate dinner at home before the game with the solid intention of NOT getting junk food there ... but you can really only sit in the presence of things like nachos and hot dogs for so long before you crave something. scott got us a churro in the 3rd quarter.
- i got to work out, eat home made chicken pot pie, and have a 2 hour long phone date with my friend alison last night.
- and i'm very excited about cooking this upcoming weekend: i bought some stew beef on clearance sale a while ago, and finally had a brainstorm last month that i can use it to make beef stroganoff. i did some investigating today and found a slow-cooker beef stroganoff recipe on cooking light that i'll be making for dinner on saturday. then sunday night we're hosting small group, and the host typically makes dinner for the group to eat together beforehand. i think the last time we hosted, i didn't feel like cooking, so we got papa murphy's pizza for the group. this time, though ... oh, this time i'm making a small fall feast. chicken legs, green bean salad amandine, homemade rosemary walnut bread, and the pioneer woman's sweet-roasted rosemary acorn squash wedges. trust me, i'll let you know how it all goes. and if you've never made chicken legs before, i highly recommend you give it a whirl - all you need is chicken legs and a canister of italian breadcrumbs which you can get generically for like $1.29 and lasts for forever. dump out a small pile of breadcrumbs on a plate, roll your thawed chicken legs (yes, skin and all) around in it one at a time until they're coated, put them on a sprayed baking sheet, bake at 425* for like 35-40 minutes, and voila. cheap, easy, seriously tasty stuff.
in case we ever have triplets
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labels:
family
so last week on glee, there was a scene where a couple was discussing baby names, and the guy suggested the name "drizzle". that made us laugh, and scott was commenting that it's the double-z that makes a name awkward. (because the fact that the name is drizzle is not generally awkward enough?) i asked what real names have a double-z, and he said, "oh you know, fuzzy ... wuzzy ... wuzzabear."
as in:
fuzzy wuzzy was a bear
fuzzy wuzzy had no hair
fuzzy wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?
if we ever have triplets, they're doomed.
as in:
fuzzy wuzzy was a bear
fuzzy wuzzy had no hair
fuzzy wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy, was he?
if we ever have triplets, they're doomed.
the high school movie
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labels:
opinion
scott had a bad cold last week and was still feeling sicky this weekend, so in addition to our previously planned tailgating prior to going to the airforce v. wyoming game with friends on saturday and yardwork on sunday, we ended up chilling and watching movies. since we'd already rented two redboxes, scott consented to watching 10 things i hate about you (the fabulous 1999 teen movie, not the undoubtedly trashy new tv show that i haven't actually watched) on saturday night, and it got us to thinking - what happened to the high school movie?
the eighties had a zillion amazing high school movies, from the breakfast club to sixteen candles to say anything. the nineties had instant classics like clueless, can't hardly wait, and she's all that. this decade has had ... what, high school musical? does that even count? i guess bring it on was technically made in 2000, but come on, today's high school seniors were going into 4th grade when it came out. yes, mean girls was made in '04, and it was a fabulous example of a high school movie until lindsay lohan turned into a trainwreck and most likely a "mean girl" herself ... it's just not so amusing anymore. superbad? yikes. it just makes me feel bad for the current generation of high schoolers.
the eighties had a zillion amazing high school movies, from the breakfast club to sixteen candles to say anything. the nineties had instant classics like clueless, can't hardly wait, and she's all that. this decade has had ... what, high school musical? does that even count? i guess bring it on was technically made in 2000, but come on, today's high school seniors were going into 4th grade when it came out. yes, mean girls was made in '04, and it was a fabulous example of a high school movie until lindsay lohan turned into a trainwreck and most likely a "mean girl" herself ... it's just not so amusing anymore. superbad? yikes. it just makes me feel bad for the current generation of high schoolers.
sheesh
i just finished madness, marya hornbacher's book about her bipolar - it was a much faster read for me than wasted and slightly less intense, but still, holy cow. i am oh so very thankful that i don't have any mental illness to deal with, and also that my husband doesn't. in college, i remember reading kay redfield jamison's an unquiet mind (among other memoirs about mental illness, like girl, interrupted and undercurrents), and while i haven't read an unquiet mind in probably four and a half years, the difference between bipolar i (madness) and bipolar ii (unquiet) is really startling. to the best of my recollection, bipolar i is more severe and is typically marked by more mania and mixed episodes, whereas bipolar ii, while still clearly a major problem, is typically more treatable and involves more depression and fewer major manic episodes. right? either way, i feel like madness really rounded out my mental picture of bipolar. not that it really matters that i have a well-rounded impression of bipolar disorder, but hey, i evidently find it interesting.
next up on my reading list is apparently the narcissism epidemic: living in the age of entitlement - i say "apparently" because i had placed a hold for it at the library and my copy came in this week. then back to finish up the (i think) four books that i have sitting half-finished at home. hmm.
and now, since i'm at work, i think i'll go do some work. most of the office is out at meetings this week, so i'm just sending out some (and by some, i mean like 75) tax documents out certified, which is quite tedious work ... thus i wore my yoga pants and uggs into the office for maximized comfort, and plan on catching up on this season of grey's anatomy on hulu while i work. i really can't complain.
next up on my reading list is apparently the narcissism epidemic: living in the age of entitlement - i say "apparently" because i had placed a hold for it at the library and my copy came in this week. then back to finish up the (i think) four books that i have sitting half-finished at home. hmm.
and now, since i'm at work, i think i'll go do some work. most of the office is out at meetings this week, so i'm just sending out some (and by some, i mean like 75) tax documents out certified, which is quite tedious work ... thus i wore my yoga pants and uggs into the office for maximized comfort, and plan on catching up on this season of grey's anatomy on hulu while i work. i really can't complain.
glee and marriage philosophy
[quick preface: if you only read my blog via reader or e-mail, please go to my real blog site now to ooh and aah over my new format. i'm very proud - i found the background through a blog, then decided i wanted to change the fonts, so i went to kevinandamanda.com, downloaded and installed her super cute free (free!) fonts, used her tutorial on how to change the font for the sidebar and post titles, and then used microsoft word and irfanview to create the text picture for the header. it's way easier than you'd think to put the words on a transparent background - when you're saving as a gif, there's an option on the right to set a color as transparent. anyway, go check it out - i like it a lot, and i'm quite pleased with myself that i was able to figure out how to do all that.]
so we were watching glee last night, loving it as usual, but at the end of the episode i found it really troubling that the main character is a married man, but you're completely rooting for him to not be with his wife. i'm clearly anti-affair, and as a general principle don't think that divorce is a good option ... and yet when it comes to will schuester and his conniving wife terri and sweet co-worker emma - i want him to leave his jerk of a wife and go be happy with emma! yes, it is just a show and they're just fictional characters, but i do think that the media we consume can shape our views and thoughts. i don't know. i like the show, and i have no plans of cancelling my tivo season pass for it (especially since it's not necessarily any "worse" morally than any other show on tv, and a lot better than many), it just made me stop and think.
food for thought:
- does empathizing with a fictional character who you think "should" leave or cheat on his wife make a person more likely to consider the same behavior in real life?
- as a christian, i hold to the bible's teaching that divorce should really only be an option in instances of adultery (and, i'll add, abuse). (disclaimer: clearly plenty of christians get divorced every day for reasons beyond those two, and while it makes me sad, i'm not going to condemn them for it.) should marriages between non-christian hold to that standard as well?
- what is the purpose of marriage in a society where 50% of marriages end in divorce?
- for non-christians, is there any real difference between marriage and committed co-habitation? which is preferable?
- realistically, are there any differences between the marriages of non-believers and those of christ-followers? (here, i mean real, legitimate christians who are actively following christ - not people who claim the title christian but show no life change.) what about non-believers and christians (by which i mean people who claim the title and may or may not actually put any belief behind it)?
because i'm a planner
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labels:
gym,
personal finance
so evidently working out doesn't make my legs immune to walking down ridiculous numbers of stairs. the last time i did the my building's full building evacuation drill (two years ago), i remember my calf muscles were in knots for a full week afterward - and so far, it's looking to shape up the same way this time, too. what a drag.
on a positive note, i discovered close to $1800 in my checking account that we had left over from transfers made for things like landscaping and purchasing walden that didn't get used! i had known for a while that the checking account looked abnormally full, but couldn't decide why and didn't feel like going back through my savings tab to figure it out until this week. even though it's clearly money we already had, it's still fun to be able to transfer it back into savings and mark it down on my spreadsheet. if all goes according to plan, our 6-month emergency fund should be fully re-funded by mid-november, which will allow us to put extra money each month at my student loans, and we could have those paid off by next august! *fingers crossed* at that point, we could throw money toward any number of things - saving for a new car for scott, retirement, paying down our mortgage ... the sky's the limit!
on a positive note, i discovered close to $1800 in my checking account that we had left over from transfers made for things like landscaping and purchasing walden that didn't get used! i had known for a while that the checking account looked abnormally full, but couldn't decide why and didn't feel like going back through my savings tab to figure it out until this week. even though it's clearly money we already had, it's still fun to be able to transfer it back into savings and mark it down on my spreadsheet. if all goes according to plan, our 6-month emergency fund should be fully re-funded by mid-november, which will allow us to put extra money each month at my student loans, and we could have those paid off by next august! *fingers crossed* at that point, we could throw money toward any number of things - saving for a new car for scott, retirement, paying down our mortgage ... the sky's the limit!
the treadmill ...
remember the pioneer woman? turns out she has a has a cookbook coming out later this month, and is doing a book tour. book tour? as in traveling to different cities to talk and sign books? yes, friends. i merrily clicked on the link to her book tour page to find out when she'll be in denver ... and found out pw will be in town on a monday night, which is when i have whiz kids. blerg. i was thisclose. alas!
__________
we've been working out at the rec center near us for the past year, and i have to say that other than the few weeks that we did weights in 10th grade p.e., this is probably the first time in my life that i've actually enjoyed and looked forward to working out. i'm glad for that, because a few years ago i really despaired that i would never enjoy exercising but felt like i should do it anyway.
along with enjoying working out, i'm also enjoying the benefits of working out - not that i've lost any weight (which doesn't really make sense to me), but that i'm definitely in better shape than i was pre-workout era. i remember the first time i used the elliptical, i lasted like 10 minutes and was huffing and puffing the whole time with a ridiculously high pulse rate; now i have to remind myself to get off after 25 minutes so that i can get some stretching and weights in before scott's done with his workout. the first time we rode our bikes last spring, i think we rode for a grand total of 20 minutes and my legs felt like jelly afterward; our last few rides of the season, we were out for close to two hours and went home because it was pitch dark out and we have no bike lights.
the point of this storytime, though, is that i very proudly reached a new milestone in my workouts last night. the past few times at the gym, i didn't feel like i was coming away feeling as pushed as i used to, so i decided to step it up a notch and hit the treadmill. the treadmill. i have only used a treadmill one other time in my life, when we lived at our first apartment out here that had a mini-gym in the community building. i think it went well, though. i spent about 25 minutes on there, half each running and walking, split up into several minute segments. the gym does have an indoor running track, too, and maybe i'll venture up there eventually; for right now, stepping out of my elliptical comfort zone within the safety of the cardio machine section is enough. when we got home post-gym last night, i realized that after spending an hour at the gym, i actually felt energized rather than ready to collapse. my legs (and ribs??) ache for sure, but in a good, i-pushed-myself-and-won kind of way. i guess getting out of your comfort zone every once in a while is a good thing.
_______
oh, and for dinner last night, i made stuffed peppers. they turned out well! i used a salt-free tomato sauce and felt like i added a ton of salt to the rice/meat mixture and that it was still bland, so i'll probably use a normal tomato sauce next time. and maybe add a few dashes of tabasco to the mix. i was skeptical, but one stuffed pepper each was really enough for us for dinner - scott did request that we have corn and/or beans on the side next time, which i suppose is a request i can accomodate. all in all, very tasty - i recommend it.
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we've been working out at the rec center near us for the past year, and i have to say that other than the few weeks that we did weights in 10th grade p.e., this is probably the first time in my life that i've actually enjoyed and looked forward to working out. i'm glad for that, because a few years ago i really despaired that i would never enjoy exercising but felt like i should do it anyway.
along with enjoying working out, i'm also enjoying the benefits of working out - not that i've lost any weight (which doesn't really make sense to me), but that i'm definitely in better shape than i was pre-workout era. i remember the first time i used the elliptical, i lasted like 10 minutes and was huffing and puffing the whole time with a ridiculously high pulse rate; now i have to remind myself to get off after 25 minutes so that i can get some stretching and weights in before scott's done with his workout. the first time we rode our bikes last spring, i think we rode for a grand total of 20 minutes and my legs felt like jelly afterward; our last few rides of the season, we were out for close to two hours and went home because it was pitch dark out and we have no bike lights.
the point of this storytime, though, is that i very proudly reached a new milestone in my workouts last night. the past few times at the gym, i didn't feel like i was coming away feeling as pushed as i used to, so i decided to step it up a notch and hit the treadmill. the treadmill. i have only used a treadmill one other time in my life, when we lived at our first apartment out here that had a mini-gym in the community building. i think it went well, though. i spent about 25 minutes on there, half each running and walking, split up into several minute segments. the gym does have an indoor running track, too, and maybe i'll venture up there eventually; for right now, stepping out of my elliptical comfort zone within the safety of the cardio machine section is enough. when we got home post-gym last night, i realized that after spending an hour at the gym, i actually felt energized rather than ready to collapse. my legs (and ribs??) ache for sure, but in a good, i-pushed-myself-and-won kind of way. i guess getting out of your comfort zone every once in a while is a good thing.
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oh, and for dinner last night, i made stuffed peppers. they turned out well! i used a salt-free tomato sauce and felt like i added a ton of salt to the rice/meat mixture and that it was still bland, so i'll probably use a normal tomato sauce next time. and maybe add a few dashes of tabasco to the mix. i was skeptical, but one stuffed pepper each was really enough for us for dinner - scott did request that we have corn and/or beans on the side next time, which i suppose is a request i can accomodate. all in all, very tasty - i recommend it.
lazy lazy weekend
oh my, what a lazy weekend. we had planned on going apple picking with friends yesterday, but then that fell through so scott watched the football game with the alumni assoc downtown while i hung out at home and did laundry and baked. (pumpkin chocolate chip cookies - they turned out very well, even if the recipe does make them a little bit fluffier and cakier than i typically go for. i stepped out to run errands later in the afternoon, came home to the overwhelming smell of baked pumpkin, and found myself craving turkey and mashed potatoes.) we had my office tickets for the nuggets pre-season opener vs. belgrade last night, and scott looked up insults such as "you suck" in serbian on my iphone before i took it away from him. i made up for it by cheering for them - they only had like 40 fans in the entire audience (shocker), so i felt bad. scott tells me that i'm going to be that soccer mom who cheers for the opposing team if they're losing. haha!
today i did even less than yesterday: sunday school, church, lunch with sunday school, then home for a 2.5 hour nap followed by sitting on the couch watching tv and reading john grisham's the innocent man. scott did take me for a walk just now which made me feel at least a little less slothful. aaaaaand, that's my weekend.
i think as an adult i like summer for the same reasons that i liked fall as a kid: it's when new things happen. by mid-summer, i really just wanted a week of doing nothing on my couch at home because we were so busy and traveling and doing new things and hanging out with friends all the time, but now that fall has hit and things are calming down to the point where i can basically spend an entire weekend at home doing nothing, i really miss our fun active summer. and yes, i really was that crazy kid who loved fall because i got to go back to school and see friends and play soccer and be busy. i'm pretty sure i even told me 5th grade teacher that i liked doing homework on weekends.
scott just finished doing his spiritual gifts survey for the application to do children's ministry (we're working in the nursery together once a month starting this fall!), so i'm off to make an evite for a bbq for our sunday school class next weekend. and in case you were wondering, my "spiritual gifts" are administration 89% and servant/helps and hospitality each 78%; scott's are leadership 89% and administration and teaching each 78%.
today i did even less than yesterday: sunday school, church, lunch with sunday school, then home for a 2.5 hour nap followed by sitting on the couch watching tv and reading john grisham's the innocent man. scott did take me for a walk just now which made me feel at least a little less slothful. aaaaaand, that's my weekend.
i think as an adult i like summer for the same reasons that i liked fall as a kid: it's when new things happen. by mid-summer, i really just wanted a week of doing nothing on my couch at home because we were so busy and traveling and doing new things and hanging out with friends all the time, but now that fall has hit and things are calming down to the point where i can basically spend an entire weekend at home doing nothing, i really miss our fun active summer. and yes, i really was that crazy kid who loved fall because i got to go back to school and see friends and play soccer and be busy. i'm pretty sure i even told me 5th grade teacher that i liked doing homework on weekends.
scott just finished doing his spiritual gifts survey for the application to do children's ministry (we're working in the nursery together once a month starting this fall!), so i'm off to make an evite for a bbq for our sunday school class next weekend. and in case you were wondering, my "spiritual gifts" are administration 89% and servant/helps and hospitality each 78%; scott's are leadership 89% and administration and teaching each 78%.
revision of opinion
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labels:
opinion
i stand corrected: apparently mackenzie phillips speaking out about the completely icky nature of her relationship with her father has led to an increased number of people calling into sexual abuse hotlines - which hopefully means that more abusive relationships are being reported and stopped. in that case, while i'm still super grossed out by the story, well done, mackenzie phillips.
bow ties revisited
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labels:
opinion
so i was alone on the elevator with the bow tie wearer from across the hall just now, we exchanged hello's, and i then spent the next 45 seconds trying to figure out how to ask him how he decided upon bow ties. today's casual day at their office, though, so he was wearing jeans, a purple striped shirt, and a blazer - and no tie - and i just couldn't figure out how to phrase the question without making him think that i was a) stalking, or b) flirting with him. perfect opportunity lost; now the world will never know.
h1n1
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labels:
opinion
h1n1 is closing in. hearing about it on the news, it's easy to think that i'll be able to get through this flu season without getting sick - but in the past day, goo told me that her roomie likely has h1n1 and so asked if she can camp out at our place this weekend, and our building managment sent out an e-mail that someone in the building got h1n1 this week. plus, whiz kids starts on monday so i'll be around 22 grade schoolers once a week every week, and we all know what a breeding ground that is. *sigh. i'm trying to resign myself to the fact that i'm almost definitely going to get sick, and i am not a fan of that. i hate puking and fevers and using personal days at work just to lay in bed sick.
also, i'm very sad to report that chicago did not win the olympic bid for 2016. scott had promised me that if the olympics go to chicago, we can make a special trip back for it. yes, that's in 7 years, but let's face it, it's a good excuse to see chicago in the summer and actually spend time in the city, not just drive by on the way to see friends out in the burbs at snowy chilly christmastime. so, i guess i'll need to think of another reason to get back to lovely chicago. i was reflecting yesterday that my whole childhood, i dreamed of either growing up and moving to chicago, or of growing up and living on top of a mountain (inspired by our two trips to colorado as a kid - was it two? or just 1?). overall, while denver is NOTHING like chicago, i think denver's a good mixture of the two. i've got the mountains, i've got the city. maybe the only thing better would be living in chicago, and then having a home on a mountain with a private jet to fly in anytime i want. i'll work on that.
also, i'm very sad to report that chicago did not win the olympic bid for 2016. scott had promised me that if the olympics go to chicago, we can make a special trip back for it. yes, that's in 7 years, but let's face it, it's a good excuse to see chicago in the summer and actually spend time in the city, not just drive by on the way to see friends out in the burbs at snowy chilly christmastime. so, i guess i'll need to think of another reason to get back to lovely chicago. i was reflecting yesterday that my whole childhood, i dreamed of either growing up and moving to chicago, or of growing up and living on top of a mountain (inspired by our two trips to colorado as a kid - was it two? or just 1?). overall, while denver is NOTHING like chicago, i think denver's a good mixture of the two. i've got the mountains, i've got the city. maybe the only thing better would be living in chicago, and then having a home on a mountain with a private jet to fly in anytime i want. i'll work on that.
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