Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!


1. I'm going to succeed.

2. I think I like adventure and daring.

3. Perhaps today you can make it a point to do one random act of kindness (RAK).

4. I admire anyone with a true adventurer’s spirit.

5. Compassion is something I need to work on.

6. Try your hardest to succeed no matter how difficult.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to purse shopping (not really!), tomorrow my plans include my usual workout and errands and Sunday, I want to finish the project at work early and get home to relax!
 
Until Next Time,
 
Kel

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!


1. I feel happy today.

2. Every weekend I try to play to catch up.

3. Do something nice for someone every once in a while.

4. I am completely unique.

5. It's hard to know how much or how little to say in awkward situations.

6. Somebody does something stupid and I'm amazed when someone else follows suit.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include working out and running errands and Sunday, I want to take my time reading the Sunday paper!
 
Until Next Time,
 
Kel

You Got Something to Say to Me?

So, I've said it before:  I'm a big girl.  I own it. I can't say that I'm proud of it, but I'm not delusional and think that I'm smaller than I am.  I work out, watch what I eat and dress appropriately.

My question, then, is why do people I barely know think it's their lot in life to offer me diet/weight loss advice - especially when I didn't ask for it!!

It happened to me twice today and that's probably why I'm so sensitive about it right now.

One of my co-workers asked me to lunch today.  We went out and got sandwiches and returned to the office; she joined me in my office to eat and chit-chat.  During our conversation, she started talking about a friend of hers who has lost nearly 100 pounds and the diet she followed and how she can put me in touch with this person so I can learn how she did it and maybe that would help me out.  What?  She continued to tell me about how she's done South Beach and the things she eats to stay thin (yes, she's thin) and had I tried South Beach or Atkins or maybe Jenny Craig.... 

At that point all I could hear was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah because I was so mad at the nerve of this woman.  I'm sure her heart was in the right place, but I don't want to discuss my weight, exercise or food intake with anyone.  I don't ask you about yours or give you advice on how to add some meat to your skinny ass, so I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same for me.

Later, while in the locker room at the gym, a woman that I see quite often came in and said something about how she sees my hard work at the gym is starting to pay off.  She then starts questioning me about whether I've heard of Sparkpeople and how I should use that to track my food an exercise every day and how wonderful and motivating the site it for staying on a diet and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  Yeah, I tuned her out, too.

I still don't get why people feel it's ok to just launch into a "how to diet/exercise/take better care of yourself" conversation with me.  Do they really care?  Or is it some misguided notion that they can HELP me?

Thanks, but I don't need or want your help.  My guess is that if we go head to head in comparing our health and fitness, I'd probably kick their asses in both.

Until Next Time,

Kel

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. This is what life does. It lets you get comfortable and then pulls the rug out from under you.

2. Can you just appreciate the moment?

3. Upon reflection I think I made a huge mistake.

4. I've been sad for quite a long time.

5. Later, you wake up in a panic!

6. I would like to travel to the far and boundless sea.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening, tomorrow my plans include another tough workout and Sunday, I want to get caght up on the laundry!

Until Next Time,

Kel

Makin' Groceries

In New Orleans, people don't grocery shop.  Or go to the supermarket.  They "make groceries."  I grew up with that saying, and at one time, there was even a local chain who used "makin' groceries" in their jingle.

Can I just tell you how much I hate makin' groceries?

This morning I woke up with a craving for some comfort food.  For me, that means one of a few dishes:  gumbo, jambalaya or red beans and rice.  The red beans won the toss today, mostly because I have 4 pounds of Camelia brand dry red beans in the pantry.  But, in surveying the fridge for the rest of the ingredients, I realized that I was going to have to make a trip to the store.  Ugh. 

Well, since I was going, I might as well make it a meaningful trip.  I took an inventory and figured out I needed other things like milk, fruits and veggies, some kind of meat, maybe some cold cuts and bread....  Before heading out, I went through my trusty coupon stash and pulled out the ones I knew I could use.

So off to Safeway I went, coupons, list and reusable bags in hand.  I lucked out and got a parking spot right at the front of the store!  I grabbed a basket (or cart as non-New Orleanians call them) and headed in.  That's where the 'fun' always begins.

Trying to maneuver around people who generally don't know how to steer and park their baskets is bad enough, but today, at 1:30 p.m., Safeway decided it was time to restock the shelves.  So, there were clerks in every.stinkin'.aisle with their gigantic carts full of products stocking shelves!  And, what's with the new practice of stacking sodas, chips, canned goods - whatever - in a line down the center of the aisle?  That makes for a fun obstacle course.

Oh, and don't get me started on the families who come in groups of 15 and all have to have a hand on the basket as their 'pod' walks slowly through the frozen food section arguing about who wants what kind of ice cream....

And then, there's the sticker shock when you get to the register.  I faithfully use my shopper's card to get the weekly specials, whipped out my $7.50 in coupons and I still shelled out $81 for 3 bags (one was the size of 2 reusable bags) of grub! 

When I got home, I assessed the damage:  there were only 3 things on that receipt that either wasn't on sale or I didn't have a coupon for:  a pound of ham and a half-pound of cheese from the deli and a pound of ground beef.  Every other item was discounted in one way or another!

I don't know how my friends with families do it.  They have to buy way more than I do, and they make groceries every week!  I'm lucky enough to be single and can stretch my purchases out enough that I can avoid the store like the plague.

So I'm going back into grocery store avoidance and won't be makin' groceries for a while.  The trauma is too much to handle on a regular basis.

And the red beans?  Well, they're on the stove now...

Until Next Time,

Kel

The Cow Kitchen Timer

Several years ago (okay, it was many years ago, but I'm not willing to admit that), a friend at work gave me a silly little cow kitchen timer.  It's a cute and handy little item, especially since I never mastered the timer feature on my stove.

It's easy to use - you wind it up, set the number of minutes you need and the bell rings appropriately.  I've used it all these years.

Today, I used the little cow timer because I was making a batch of brownies to share at at a meeting I was going to.  As I twisted the cow to set the time, I realized I hadn't used the timer in I don't know how long.  I started thinking, and really couldn't remember the last time I baked something and needed to time it.  Hmph.  Not a big deal, but one of those puzzling moments that made me wonder why I haven't used my oven and cow timer for so long.

The house was filled with the smell of brownies and the bell went off on the timer and suddenly, the tears started flowing.  It was at that moment that I realized how much I miss Aero.  No matter what that dog was doing or where he was in the house, when the cow timer's bell went off, he go racing into the kitchen baking his head off the whole way there.  Then, he'd stand in front of the stove barking at it and turning circles, excitely wagging his tail, like he knew something good was coming out of it.

And Lord help me if I didn't get to the kitchen quick enough for his furry highness.  He'd seek me out, bark at me and then run back and forth between me and the kitchen as if he was telling me to follow him.

He was such a little character.  And I still miss him terribly.

Until Next Time,

Kel

Friday Fill-Ins

It's been a while, but I always thought these were fun.

And...here we go!

1. Layers of covers at night on the bed make for a good night's sleep.

2. Most days I wish I had more insight.

3. I'd be willing to bet I'll be spending a lot of time at the office for a while.

4. Any loud noise scares the dog.  (Aero was pretty much scared of his own shadow!)

5. I'm fond of cream cheese frosting.

6. I'm working way too much!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting out of the office at a reasonable time after staying late for the server work, tomorrow my plans include a tough workout with my trainer and a fun meeting, and Sunday, I want to sleep late and enjoy reading the paper!

Wow - Has It Been THAT Long?

I'm a little shocked at myself for 'ignoring' my blog for so long.  It hasn't been on purpose.  It's just life got a little crazy lately and I haven't kept up.  Here's the scoop:

I don't remember much about April.  Except I got a new haircut (and you thought I was gonna say dog, didn't you?).  Totally different style for me and SHORT.  It was quite the shock.  Oh, and I won 2 round-trip tickets to anywhere in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or Hawaii.  Am thinking I'll go see Christian play football in his senior year.

I do remember May:  work, work, work.  And work some more.  Our office moved and with that came the crazy overtime.  In six weeks time (May through the middle of June), I worked nearly 70 hours of overtime.  I'd get home at night and just be downright pooped.  All that time included some weekends, too.  It wasn't pretty.

June.  Yep, added another year to my life.  Feel like I'm 10 years older and am starting to look my age.  At least I think so.  The crazy overtime continues.  I had a complete meltdown one day in the office.  That was fun and caused my boss to make me take 2 days off to regroup.

And here it is July.  Well, I'm writing this while sitting in my office waiting for a call from DC to walk me through some server work.  Umm-hmm.  Overtime again tonight.

Other news that I haven't reported:  still no dog.  With all the time away from home, I've kinda put my search on hold, but have been applying to various rescue groups.  Still not much hope since they all seem to be so picky about working full time and leaving a dog alone all day.  Stupid people.

On the workout front, I had gotten up to going to the gym 5 days a week, thanks to a challenge by my trainer Denise.  Oh, yes, I'm still working out with her and she's still kicking my butt.  I had slacked off during June, but am determined to get back to my 5 days a week this month and for the rest of the year.  I've started riding Mr. Stationary Bike for my cardio.  At the end of May, it took me nearly 30 minutes to ride about a mile and a half.  After a couple of challenges from Denise, I'm up to 7 miles in under an hour.  But boy, does that seat hurt!!!

So friends, that's what's happening in my little 'Korner' of the world.  I hope to get back here to post more often - I'm always composing something in my mind but never quite get to the sitting down and typing it part.

Hope you're all well....

Until Next Time,

Kel