What Would Jen Do

Archive for the ‘everyday life’ Category

I’ve had a busy busy week so far.

Over the weekend Cat and I did Bountiful Baskets.   I’m enjoying incorporating things i wouldn’t normally buy into my foods.   For instance the red peppers we got, I have been chopping them up and putting them into my salads.   It’s only recently that I can eat any of the colors of bell peppers again.  A long time ago I ate a veggie pizza and later got pretty sick (not from the pizza) and spent the night throwing up.  All I could taste were the bell peppers and after that even the smell would make me gag.   But now I’m over that and can eat bell peppers again with no problem.    I also made out with the champagne grapes, which i’d never heard of before, but they are so cute and tiny and look just like all those wine/grapes themed decorations.

We’ll be getting another basket this weekend, I can’t wait for the season to change so we start getting more root vegetables.

Also went to a bday/graduation party over the weekend, again for Cat.   I limited myself to three beers and then called it a night on the drinking.   I brought Michelob Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry and  Lime Cactus.   Both very tasty but the Dragon fruit peach remains my favorite.

I’m holding off on getting a new phone, it’ll take a charge now but it won’t last very long.  I can suffer thru having to charge it every day if it means I don’t have to spend the money on a new phone just yet.  I had to get new tires yesterday and that was quite a chunk of change.  On the plus side, i shouldn’t have to get new tires for at least 5 years, or ever have to pay for another tire rotation.

my husband bought us a ceramic knife a few weeks ago, weird i know.  but that sucker is major sharp.   I have a love/hate relationship with knives.  that one started about 15 years ago when i accidentally cut the tip of my left index finger nearly to the bone with a knife.  I still have numbness in that finger sometimes.     I also bumped my pinkie fingers second knuckle into a butcher knife and that tiny bump was enough to cut the hell out of my knuckle.  My hands are completely scarred and I will never be a hand model.

Anyway, this ceramic knife is awesome but in the first week i managed to cut off my finger nail twice and then a couple of more times I somehow sliced my nail on the nail bed and the skin on the side of the  nail as well.    Think one big slice across the middle of the nail bed all the way to the skin on the side.  so now i have one very short nail that is also missing a chunk of it in the middle.  thankfully the knife did not slice all the way thru my nail to the nail bed, i’m imagining that would have been extremely painful.

It rained something big last night at our house.   The sun was still shining bright so it was a little confusing.  The wind was so extreme it took on of our heavy patio chairs and tossed it across the yard.     That was the first really good storm of the season.

What a week!  First I update iTunes and my entire library of music was gone!  GONE!  I’m not as upset as I thought I’d be, and I still need to make a phone call to iTunes to see what the deal is.  fortunately for me most of my latest music was in CD form and I still have those.   somewhere.

My phone is dying and I apparently need a new one.

I got my oil changed yesterday and they wouldn’t rotate my tires because your best tires need to be on the front.  My best tires were already on the front.  Needless to say I need new tires.

My car registration is due.

Then there was all that work drama, that mostly got worked out. I’ll say I’m still peeved, and leave it at that.

1. Who has it easier-men or women? Feel free to elaborate!

In then end I think it probably evens itself out.  Aside from guys getting to pee anywhere they want, cleanly.    And then we have to give birth and have PMS.   So wait, I guess men have it easier.  Also when they get older they become distinguished and we just get old.

2. What’s the most scandalous thing you’ve done this week?

I said swear words loudly to my boss!!  oopsies.

3. Worst pick up line you’ve ever heard?

Can I take your picture?   Except that it totally worked and I married that guy.

4. Who’s your celeb crush?

Jesse James was one of them, but then he turned out to be a huge douche.

5. Do you feel comfortable talking about sex?

With who? My mom?  Hells no.

6. What’s your all time favorite movie?

Probably Shaun of the Dead.  Or Dawn of the Dead. Or Can’t Buy Me Love.

I guess I need a new phone, mine won’t charge past the 1st bar.  I just got a new battery so I guess it’s the phone.  I HATE PHONES.   I don’t use it, I only have it for emergencies.  And I don’t want to spend the money on a new phone either.

You’re not supposed to talk about your work on your blogs because it can get you fired, but I’m starting to not even care.  If you watch The City, my treadmill show, you’ll know how Erin feels about Olivia.   She gets whatever she wants, never gets into trouble, doesn’t do the best job, coasts thru.  Erin is constantly frustrated and no one will do anything about it.  Eventually she has to take matters into her own hands.   Today I am Erin.   and depending on how tomorrow goes, well…. I’ll just wait until tomorrow.

I am so thankful that my home life is top notch.  I couldn’t bear having to live in a house that I didn’t want to come home to.  All I ever want to do is come home to my house and my husband and my dogs.   If my living situation were less than ideal, I’d probably lose it.   There is enough other stuff going on in my life, I need a peaceful place to come home to.

Also beer helps.

And candy

I also need this shirt really really pretty badly

so on to the good, no matter how small it is, it’s still GOOD:

Doing another Bountiful Baskets this weekend, still splitting it with Cat.   Even tho it doesn’t seem like that much food, it really is.  And it’s kind of hard to use it in a week, we’re not ready for a whole basket each.

I am a season behind on Bones and just finished season 4 today and it had the crappiest ending ever.  Season 5 isn’t being released until October and I could only find episodes 13-the end on line.   But Cat also had the same problem and she sent me the link her husband found her for Season 5 episode 1.   WIN.   Now that I feel I have closure I can wait until October for the DVD release.

I am trying desperately to catch up on True Blood, fortunately for me it’s On Demand on my cable and I’m about 5-6 eps behind. I can probably catch up this weekend, because apparently something MAJOR happened (don’t tell me what it was) and now I need to know.

Also this weekend is a bday/graduation party for Cat.   I guess I’ll have to be social and mingle amongst humans for a few hours.

So back to my birthday.   Aside from the whole crazy drunk driver situation, it was a very good birthday.

The day of my birthday I ate free twice at two local places owned by the same guy. He actually owns three restaurants and you can hit all three for the birthday trifecta but I couldn’t swing breakfast on a workday.   I also got me some red velvet cake at lunchtime.  note to self, when you bring red velvet cake home make sure it gets its own box.  otherwise it tastes like the mini hamburger you also put in the box.

The hot stone massage I got was just ok.  Not sure if it was the massage therapist, the actual hot stone massage or the fact that it probably would have been better in winter, but i think i’ll pass on another one.   It did make me pretty tired tho.

Friday i made my husband go to golden corral at like 2:30pm. but it was so awesome, I ate everything in sight.   twice.

Saturday we went out for dinner to  a tiny little place in the middle of downtown.   It’s (pulled from their site) a charming re-creation of a neighborhood French bistro, but with a BYO twist.  the food there is TO DIE FOR.   I brought home the rest of my chocolate caramel tarte.  (it got its own box)

and then there was the zombie portrait. I know that’s not for everyone, but I really love it and it’s an original. It’s about 16×9 and i can’t wait to get a frame this weekend.

For as much TV as I watch, I am almost always continually a season behind on say 30% of my shows. This is so I can watch as many as I want in a row on DVD without having to wait for a new one to start up next week.  some new shows i don’t even bother to watch, just put them straight into save in my netflix dvd queue.    Lots of major networks only let you watch the last 5 on line and that’s a pain in the ass if you aren’t up to date.  ok so now that i’ve given you a lesson in the best way to utilize your time watching TV, my actual point was that I was actually 2 years behind on The City.  Which is actually the entirety of the show.   This is the show I watch on the treadmill.   Unfortunately I am almost done with it, and I have no idea when season 3 starts.    And my actual real point was that if you watch that show, which you probably don’t. I want Kelly Cutrone to be my real life friend.

Because she said this

really … who gives a f**k about her opinion? No, she’s dead! She is f**king dead! Because I’m gonna f**king come up like a shark underneath a glass bottom boat and f**king whip the s**t out of her.”

I filled out a police report.
we were on our way to my b-day dinner when this guy cut us off pulling out of a neighborhood street onto the main road in front of us.  we both ended up turning right at the light and he ended up behind us on that street when the lane he chose merged into our lane.   then like out of nowhere he seriously almost rammed us twice from behind, it was like the movies.  like he sped up and then slammed the brakes.  the section of road we were on was down to 25 mph and he probs did about 50.

so we get over a lane because this guy is crazy cakes and now we are in the lane next to him and he’s basically swerving into us.   we pull off the road and call the cops.  as we are talking to them someone else is calling them about the same guy. because they saw him almost hit us and then drive over a median.  so this good Samaritan follows him to a panda express where he parks terribly and gets out of the car with his 7 year old kid!   It’s now a felony if you get a DUI and have a minor in the car with you, you can just expect to go to jail.

while we’re having dinner the cops call us back and ask us to come down and identify the car.   we do.  we see the guy and my husband effing knows the guy.  not like they are best friends or anything, but still.  it’s not like we live in a tiny town.

The driver was ‘impaired’ that’s all I know, but apparently very impaired.

the cop that we were talking to about all of this is the same cop that breathalyzed our friend at his bachelor party earlier this year, just for kicks.  he was working as security at the bowling alley and they got him to breathalyze my friend and the cop even remembered that!

My friend Cat and I did the Bountiful Baskets this morning.  There was a bit of confusion (probably only on my part) when we got an email that said YOUR PICK UP TIME MAY HAVE CHANGED.   when I signed us up there were two choices for pick up 7am and 7:30am.  i went with the 7:30am.   then suddenly on the website there are 3 times.  7, 7:20 and 7:40.    so we just showed up at 7:30 and it was no big deal.    Everything in the basket was basically stuff I was going to buy today.  Cat got the lone cantaloupe and basket of strawberries.   I got the celery.  but we both got bananas, tomatoes, nectarines, carrots, blueberries and bell peppers and maybe something else i can’t remember.

Last night I randomly looked in my spam folder in email.  normally I just delete everything that is in there without looking because i don’t need a larger penis or  rolex watch or viagra.   and that’s all that’s usually in there.  but i saw an email from Philosophy and opened it because i love Philosophy.   And it was a b-day E-gift card from my mother in law!  HOORAY.   I went straight to the website and spent it.   I ended up with these 3 in 1′s  (shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath)

calm me (it’s lavender scented)
pineapple coconut
red velvet cake
vanilla birthday cake

Philosophy stuff is an indulgence I would never purchase for myself.

The dogs are currently on a partial raw diet, stew meat on top of a little bit of dry food.  Voodoo, the big one has turned savage now.   Any plastic baggie you take out of the fridge he assumes is full of steak for him and he follows you around all cracked out.   We’ve only been doing it about a week but it seems like they are a little more feisty.

1. Are you a neat sleeper or a messy sleeper?

both I guess. I wake up with bed head and sometimes dried drool on my face. But my side of the bed is also pretty much already made when I wake up, I just need to smooth out the quilt.

2. Fill in the blank. I wish I was more _ambitious___.

3. What is something that you wish you had been warned about?

I honestly can’t think of anything.

4. What was the best thing you ever found at a garage sale/flea market?

I’ve honestly never shopped at a garage sale,  and I’ve only been to indoor and outdoor swap marts here, and I don’t think I bought anything except maybe a churro but let’s face it those are pretty awesome.

5. If you could have any meal brought to you right now, what would it be?

It would be the fried chicken and deep fried okra at this southern BBQ joint that closed down.  OMG BEST FOOD EVER.   I still mourn the loss of it.

Does anyone watch UFC?  Probably not…. Anyway Anderson Silva is fighting this weekend and i’m tempted to get the fight.  But if you do watch UFC then you’ll remember his last fight he actually danced what I think was a jig in the ring, told a few jokes and acted a complete fool.   He’s a great fighter and that was really strange.   Everyone was pissed and if I could have gotten my money back for the PPV  I would have.   Part of me wants to watch to see if he’s going to do that again, but part of me is also afraid to waste my money in case that happens again.   Word on the street is that if he does do that again he’s fired.

of course it’s Friday hop time!

I’m really feeling like August is going to be a good month for me, and not just because it’s my birth month.  Even tho it’s hotter than crap outside and that usually makes me lethargic, I’ve gotten back a level of energy that I definitely didn’t have in July.   I’m taking advantage of that energy and have gotten back on my treadmill, which was all but abandoned last month.   My lungs do not agree with running for really any period of time, thanks to childhood asthma that made a comeback last year.  It’s worse in humid weather and inhalers and/or meds don’t really help much, so i don’t bother.  I can live with it the way it is and jog for very short periods of time.

anyway, my point is, i’m taking advantage of my new found energies and putting them towards something productive.  I really love walking and the 4 months a year i can walk outside, i do.   I got the treadmill specifically for the hot weather months.  And probably to the surprise of everyone, it didn’t become a clothes rack.   Like I said, I watch TV whilst on the treadmill and that really helps pass the time.   otherwise walking indoors is rather boring.

i’m also dedicating August to doing new, fun, interesting things or things that make me happy.

Strange side note here, my big dog often lays on the couch or bed or chair with his head hanging off and this makes his nose drain.   Just right now his nose drained right onto my shoes!! GROSS.

Example:

The yellowish color on the photo is from taking this picture in the dark with no flash.  He was sleeping on New Years Eve, apparently worn out from all the partying he did.

My friend Cat (go visit her) and I signed up for Bountiful Baskets this weekend.   that’s where you pay for a basket of half fruits and half vegs that is locally grown.

From their website:  Each week different items will be in the Bountiful Basket! We base the basket contents on what is in season, high quality, good value, and local. We generally have 6 fruit items & 6 vegetable items. We focus on what would be well received in our homes, and the extensive surveys we’ve done with participants over the past 5 years to know what families eat.

Cat and I are splitting the first basket for a few reasons.   Neither of us has done this before and we’re both too scared to go alone.  The closest one to our houses that had this going on at the time I wanted to go (i’m bossy like that) only had one basket left and also i have heard/seen that you get a crapload of stuff in these baskets and we weren’t sure if it would be too much for one household.   so we’re feeling it out this weekend to see what it’s like.

Somehow I managed to watch 5 seasons of The Hills and 2 seasons of Laguna Beach and have moved on to The City. Which I have only allowed myself to watch on the treadmill. I find that if I associate a certain television show with exercise it helps me get moving. Anyway………… yesterday I was really tired after work and didn’t feel like getting on the treadmill and then I remembered that I baked a cake and really wanted some. So I decided that it would be ok to have cake and ice cream (birth month celebration) if I put some time in on the treadmill. That is like the exact opposite of how you are supposed to look at food and exercise. Except that I actually don’t feel guilty for having that cake now………. I think I’m on to something here.

Happy Friday Blog Hopping, if you are here from any of these hops and want a little background info on me,  I’ll direct you to this post.

Monsoon season has been here for a month and a half, but that’s only because they decided one year to put an actual date on it. I think it might be June 15th.  you can’t really put a start date on it because you can’t predict the weather down to a specific day.   Statistically, we consider it a “monsoon day” when the average daily dew point is 55 degrees or higher.   Anyway, so it was monsoon season with no real monsoon.  But yesterday we got buckets of rain and it rained on me on the way to work this morning.   It feels nasty out there.  I know some of you are like oh woe to you, we live in a state where it’s always like 100% humidity and/or rains alot.    Arizona is a dry heat, I swear.   This is a big deal to us.    Our average rainfall is like 7 inches.

Also most of us can’t drive in the rain.    I don’t mind the rain at all, if I am not on the road.    I can drive in the rain, but it seems like most Arizonan’s just completely flip out and forget how to drive as soon as one drop comes out of the sky.   OMG WATER IS FALLING FROM THE SKY.  I certainly don’t know how you guys drive in snow…..

1. Did you have a favorite blanket or toy as a kid? If so, do you still have it?

I did and I do. It’s a blanket and I still have it.  A childs blanket serves many purposes. It’s a cape.   It’s a picnic blanket.  It can be wrapped around your waist as a long skirt.  It can be a turban.   It’s a wedding veil.   You can wrap your own ‘babies’ in it.  It’s a stylish scarf.    The possibilities are endless.

2.  Do you dream in color?

I definitely dream in color, not like techicolor or anything.

3. How tall are you? Do you wish you were shorter or taller?

I’m 5’5″, and i could go with being a couple of inches taller.    You know, and stay the same weight.

4. If you could have anyone’s (celeb or other) voice as the guide on your GPS, who would it be?

Jesus, then he could actually be my co-pilot.    Actually James Earl Jones.

5. Do you return your shopping cart to the corral or leave it wherever in the parking lot?

I always return it, i think people that don’t are especially lazy.  The corrals are all over the damn parking lot.   I really hate it when people leave their carts NEXT to the corrals, or like one parking spot away.   And don’t even get me started on the people that think it’s ok to leave their cart behind my car.