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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Myspace Migration: 29 on the 29th!

Since I only do that ONE TIME in my whole life, I'm gonna wear it out: I'm 29 and it's the 29th. Anyway, I AM 29 and here is an exerpt of the things I've learned in the last year:

Life was actually more fun when I worked out. Guess I should start that up again.
There are around 1000 calories in every starbucks drink I consume - so, I cut down to 4 a week instead of 7.

It takes an inordinately long time to say goodbye to most people. It's just not as simple as "Talk to you later" and "Ok, Bye!" Seriously, here's what it's sounded like over the last year:
"Well, thanks ever so for calling. We'll talk soon."

"No problem; glad I could be of help. Have a good (week/weekend)."
"You too; Bye now."
"I will; say hello to your kids for me."
"Oh, cool - thanks; will do. Back at you. Talk to you later!"
"I will - you know my kid (insert quasi-interesting thing here; made less so by the fact that I REALLY have to [pee/dosomethingelse/getoffthephone])..."
"No, really? That's great! Ok, well talk to you later!"
"Yeah, ok - have a good (week/weekend)!"
(Thinking, "Man, we've DONE this part already!") "K, Buh-bye!!"
"Bye!"
This excludes the normal ramp-down time that I need in order to end any and all conversation. This is AFTER that (yeah, Bev, I know what you were thinkin'!)
Continuing on with the things I've learned....

Diet Soda is really kind of a wash - it just really makes you want to have something that IS sweet because your mind is tricked into thinking you actually did something good by swigging battery acid that has no calories. I resolve for my birthday to quit them again - because the reports are right: you do lose about 10 pounds the first year that you're off soda and really, it's horrifically bad for you... put some on a penny. Anything that cleans the crud off a penny is PROBABLY NOT something I want in my digestive system. See? With age does come wisdom.
It does no good at all to get irritated by the fact that the people at the drive-thru window can practically never understand me. Now I just make "Wha-wah-wha-wahhwah-wha" noises into the speaker in Charlie-Brown-fashion, like it's some kind of game and see how they like the favor returned. I then tell them I'm coming to the window to order and we both win. They get my order and I don't have to repeat it three times. Try it, seriously, it's amusing and a stress reliever.

When it comes to dating, it takes about three months for 'crazy' to come out and play. I'm old enough now to KNOW it; but not yet old enough to know how to FIX it. So..... not dating right now (which is fine, because I'm not quite to the point I have the time to anyway!)

Speaking of, I've learned that the resoounding, reoccuring themes in my life are "I've got the kiddos" and "I don't have time for (whatever it is)..." So, I think I'm moving. Close to work; so I WILL have more time for my kids and hopefully that will translate into more time for everything else....

I've learned I love Chicos - the biggest size anyone can ever be there is a "3" - and I'm not. I'm a "2" - don't ask me what that translates to in real-people sizes, because that's what's making me like that store right now... I don't HAVE to deal with real-people sizes! :p With age comes the wisdom to know to avoid the things that depress or just plain tick you off....

So, for my birthday... today I'm going to hang with my girls and my family. Next Friday night, I think I'm doing Karaoke - it's either going to be at Dukes in Frisco if they really WILL let you rent a karaoke room or at a japanese karoake house (and yes, Bev, you WILL have to come, anyway, because it's my birthday... you're the FORMER diva and can definitely deal for one night with no stage, right??? Besides, you'll always be center stage because I think you're the best singer out of all of us! :)

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Myspace Migration: I.LOATHE.IKEA.

Current mood:annoyed
Let's start with the fact that I'm not really all that into shopping. Pair it with the fact that I actually enjoy customer service. End it with, when I spend multiple hours looking up furniture on a website; I actually like it to BE the price I saw online.
I was planning on buying the MALM bed for Lindsey with the attachable side tables. What I expected to be 170 pre-tax ended up being 220. So... ask me if I bought them? Um... no. I ended up with a completely daybed.



And it was 119 - NOT the $99 listed on the website. At that point, though, IKEA had won. I was completely worn out. So, I bought it and went on with my life. So, now Lindsey has a daybed for her new room that, with any luck, will make it to her apartment one day....and I will never have to go back to that soul-sucking store again

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Myspace Migration: I Grill!

This just in.. I still grill!
Current mood:amused

And some of the food I grill actually gets cooked! LOL So, had a few friends out this weekend for what should have been the Providence Fireworks Show... too much water, courtesy of our monsoon season. My grill died, so I went to get another one.
Anyone who knows me knows I have the capability of being a decisive person. I wasn't planning on purchasing another grill yet (did want to upgrade later this season, but with Lindsey's birthday, my brother's birthday, MY birthday, and various assorted and sundry purchases that need to be made... I didn't want to do it NOW); so, I decided almost instantly, I was going to spend less than $300. Lowes had grills 20% off - Greatness. I park the car, walk over to the grill display out front; there's another guy looking at the "mid-priced grills," too. I see which one I need in exactly 30 seconds, walk in the store, to the register and purchase it. The cashier goes out to unlock the grill and put it in my Mom-mobile. The guy, who was formerly looking at grills, wants to know if there's an advantage to having them unlocked while I'm looking at them. I explained I had already bought it; he looked at me like I lost my mind.

Seriously, it's a grill; I'm not deciding which tools to use for open heart surgery. 42k BTUs and 32-burger count is really all I NEED to get by. Now, if I could JUST figure out how to cook chicken legs (Sorry, James!)...

I really enjoyed myself, though. It's been well over a year since I grilled out with friends on a regular basis, but I used to do it pretty much every week. I think I'm going to get back into the habit of it - I love cooking, and whole foods has a host of cool things to put out on the grill. I got a recipe for blue-cheese jalepeno burgers that I'm itching to try out. The girls and I had salmon burgers today and I'm grilling coconut chicken tomorrow. :)

So Bev and I were discussing the topic of 'territorial marking' - kinda got me thinking about dating.... how many of you have been 'marked' in a current or past relationship? How does that make you feel?

On the dating scene... still not a whole lot going on. I did go out with someone who is actually busier than I am, which gives me hope for me.. but not for developing a relationship with that person. I have come to realize that I'm still a little gun shy after the 'worst.date.ever.' I think I'm about ready to blog about that date, now... so, I'll tease you today with I'll post that tomorrow.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Myspace Migration: Ok, Now THIS? I'd Be Into

Current mood:sleepy
... if I had the energy and, um, was actually dating right now. Which I'd probably do more of... if I had the energy. See a pattern?? LOL Anyway, great stuff, thought I'd share - because this is totally what I'd be doing in a relationship:

10 Habits of Happy Couples
by Dr. Mark Goulston

Happy couples know that the real relationship begins when the honeymoon is over. Unless you maintain a garden of love, it will grow weeds and its beauty will wither and die. So let's explore 10 habits of highly happy couples:

1. Go to bed at the same time. Remember the beginning of your relationship, when you couldn't wait to go to bed with each other to make love? Happy couples resist the temptation to go to bed at different times. They go to bed at the same time, even if one partner wakes up later to do things while their partner sleeps.

2. Cultivate common interests. After the passion settles down, it's common to realize that you have few interests in common. But don't minimize the importance of activities you can do together that you both enjoy. If common interests are not present, happy couples develop them. At the same time, be sure to cultivate interests of your own; this will make you more interesting to your mate and prevent you from appearing too dependent.

3. Walk hand in hand or side by side. Rather than one partner lagging or dragging behind the other, happy couples walk comfortably hand in hand or side by side. They know it's more important to be with their partner than to see the sights along the way.

4. Make trust and forgiveness your default mode. If and when they have a disagreement or argument, and if they can't resolve it, happy couples default to trusting and forgiving rather than distrusting and begrudging.

5. Focus more on what your partner does right than what he or she does wrong. If you look for things your partner does wrong, you can always find something. If you look for what he or she does right, you can always find something, too. It all depends on what you want to look for. Happy couples accentuate the positive.

6. Hug each other as soon as you see each other after work. Our skin has a memory of "good touch" (loved), "bad touch" (abused), and "no touch" (neglected). Couples who say hello with a hug keep their skin bathed in the "good touch," which can inoculate your spirit against anonymity in the world.

7. Say "I love you" and "Have a good day" every morning. This is a great way to buy some patience and tolerance as each partner sets out each day to battle traffic jams, long lines and other annoyances.

8. Say "Good night" every night, regardless of how you feel. This tells your partner that, regardless of how upset you are with him or her, you still want to be in the relationship. It says that what you and your partner have is bigger than any single upsetting incident.

9. Do a "weather" check during the day. Call your partner at home or at work to see how his or her day is going. This is a great way to adjust expectations so that you're more in sync when you connect after work. For instance, if your partner is having an awful day, it might be unreasonable to expect him or her to be enthusiastic about something good that happened to you.

10. Be proud to be seen with your partner. Happy couples are pleased to be seen together and are often in some kind of affectionate contact -- hand on hand or hand on shoulder or knee or back of neck. They are not showing off but rather just saying that they belong with each other.

Even if these actions don't come naturally, happy couples stick with them until they do become a part of their relationship. They know that it takes 30 days for a change in behavior to become a habit, and a minimum of six months for a habit to become a way of life and love.