It's On

Full strength - baby fever that is. Going to a double baby shower probably didn't help my situation out at all. Justin and I drove up to Utah to see my sister and attend a shower for my Aunt and a Cousin. It was good to see everyone but the talk was babies. "When are you going to have one?" "Your mom is waiting." FYI - I doubt that. She's got four to play with.

Or my Grandma Dot saying, "I've got too many. I don't need anymore at my age." Phew, we're off the hook with her at least.

Speaking of Grandma Dot - While Justin, Heather and my Grandma (Dot's daughter) sat back laughing, I was trying to cram her into the van after the shower. She was laughing and teasing me the whole time. "Ouch that hurts! Just kidding." According to Justin, it was the funniest thing he's seen in a long time. I'm glad someone was having a good time.

Overall, everyone seems to be doing well up there. All of my little cousins are grown up, married and/or having babies. These are kids I knew when they were born. Some I didn't get to see because they aren't around anymore. Sarah and her big sister Angel whom I miss, are off working at Disney World. Their dad, my Uncle, likes to read my blog. This is my shout-out to you Doug! And I forgot to give you that playbill for Avenue Q again. It'll eventually end up in your hands.

I'll be heading up there again over the 4th of July week for a secret surprise party for the Dot-ster. She's turning 90 and doesn't know everyone's coming up. As I said good-bye to her yesterday, she said to me, "Should I cry because you're leaving?"
"Only if you want to." The Dot-ster is quite the jokester.

2 years later and I said yes again

Actually it was around the fourth of July when I agreed to run the Las Vegas Marathon. This year, two months earlier. I was talking to my friend and co-worker John about the marathon. He's now big into fitness (which is great and it's showing on him) so while discussing it, I mentioned I'd never do a full again but maybe a half. So he said, "Wanna sign up?"

"NO!"

But after many people talking me into it, including Justin, I agreed. This time around will be different. I'll have people I know training with me; John, his wife Chris, Matthew (husband of a friend at work), Nita and Justin! I had a friend the first time but we all know how that ended-sorry Poodle. I'll actually strength-train and cross-train this time and not be a sissy. Obviously that's why I was so weak when I did the full.

Not that I'm going for a competitive finish time, I would like my training to be easier and yet still challenging. I went into the first one weak and dumb. I'll just go into this one dumb but stronger!

So our first run is this Sunday...for 20 minutes...or so I've been told. But honestly, I could build up 13 miles in 28 weeks. I'll keep everyone posted.

Kitchen Update!

Justin and I always have big plans for our house, but it usually takes forever to actually get it done. So we set aside Saturday to finally put up our stainless steal back splashes and I have to say...I love the finished look!

Before: This is right before we started installing. So normally my espresso machine and other kitchen gadgets are around.


Installing the first panel!


So far so good.

Almost Done!


Ta-Da!



We think it turned out great! This was a big job and Justin did a great job. Up next: our under cabinet lights (that have been sitting boxed up for almost a year). We also put up a bar but our bar stools won't be in for about 5 weeks. So I'll post pics when that's complete.

Becausing Helping is Good

Justin and I are participating in the Race for the Cure - Las Vegas in May. And since we both haven't done any running since my marathon, we are sticking with the 5k walk. A bunch of friends from work are doing it too so it'll be a great time. I told Justin he should bring his yo-yo so he can practice walking and yo-yoing. Cause that's a trick that most can't do. (Ask him about the Wee Willy Wonka trick--my favorite)

So this gives me about 2 weeks for us to do some fundraising for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. We both pledged $150-easy with your help.

You can go to my page or Justin's page and see our progress and make a donation.

Thanks friends! See you May 5th!

I Wasn't Expecting That.

(click on picture to play)

Can't Wait til Next Weeked

Sunday night, I told Justin "I can't wait til next weekend!" He yelled "Why?"

"So I can do nothing!"

Actually, I had a very restful weekend and yet I got a lot done. I sewed up a new purse (which I'm going to put in my shop) along with a bunch of fabric. I organized my fabric closet and found some that I just have no use for. So off to sell them.

I also altered a pair of co-workers slacks. It was interesting because I had never altered a waistband. But I think they turned out great. I rule! Except I forgot to bring them in. I kinda rule.

Justin and I saw some movies. It was weird to rent them, something we haven't done in a long time. We watched Children of Men on Saturday night. Overall a great movie but much too deep for me on a casual Saturday night. Then to continue the trend of dramatic entertainment, Sunday we watched Babel. Again, great movie, drama all around but this one I could handle. I recommend both movies.

And if I haven't mentioned this to every person I've seen over the last month or two, my braces come off today. I'm excited mostly cause I'll be able to eat an apple whole. Oh ya, and that they'll be straight and purty. That too.

Of course I don't have pictures of anything listed above. But I figured after the beautiful photo of the El Bomba for a week, I'd spare you any imagery. My mom thanked me for posting something to move it down. So you're all welcome!

And the Winner is...

Before I announce the winner, Justin and I want to say that it's been a fun week reading all the potential names submitted by all of you. Thank you for the entertainment. We hope you had a great time.

Here are the finalists:

Chimminy-Changa
Deep Fried Fear with Beans
El Bomba
Gut Bomb
The Widow Maker
Six Dollar Burrito
Super Colon Blow
B.U.S. (Burrito of Unusual Size)
GIGOrito


We chose this particular name because we both LOVED it and felt it described my new favorite style of burrito at Super Mex.

Say hello to:

EL BOMBA!

Congratulations to David for winning the "Name that Burrito" contest. You've won a fabulous yo-yo. Complete with decorative stripes! Email me your address and I'll send it off to you for hours of enjoyment.

*During College, Justin and his College Band went to Mexico for a concert. The first night there, someone in his room clogged the toliet. Not unusual with this bunch at all.

Deciding the best thing to do was ask for help, they found some maids in the hall. With very little Spanish speaking skills, they asked,

"Do you have a toilet plunger?"

"Que?"

"Do you have a toilet plunger? We clogged the toilet."

"El Bomba??"

"What? No, do you have a plunger?"

"El Bomba?"

"YA El Bomba! Whatever!"

Name That Burrito!

I know it looks gross but it's so good! While ordering my new favorite burrito, which is just a bean burrito deep fried like a chimichanga, Justin and I decided we needed a name for it. We only came up with one and it's apparently derogatory. I swear I don't think it is but what do I know.

So we are leaving it up to you. If you can give my favorite burrito a name, you'll win a fabulous prize hand picked by me and Justin.

Since I've been slacking at updating my blog, I'll give you a week to come up with a new name. We'll announce the winner next Friday.

Good luck!

Red Robin Why Do You Hate Us?

You're a chain restaurant, why don't you publish your nutritionals? Don't you know people want to make informed decisions about what they eat before they eat it?

We are going there tonight with some friends. Normally I love that place, but since I've totally re-done the way I eat, my big blue cheese burger won't be in my tummy tonight. I'm sad, but happy to know ahead of time that I won't make myself sick by eating an f***ing amount of calories and fat thanks to Red Robin's lack of social awareness. Don't they know there's an epidemic of OBESE Americans?

The safest thing I can see on their menu is a simple salad (very simple) or a grilled chicken sandwich (plain). Which are fine for me but when I see everyone else enjoying their gigantic burger, I'm going to hate Red Robin even more.

Maybe one day I'll be able to eat it as a special treat for that year. Because the amount of calories I can only assume it would be my quota for at least 2 weeks. Sick.

Overall Ok

Ok, so my days have been better, thanks for asking everyone (those who called too). I still don't know who hit my car. Maybe they ate the can of bad peaches. I can only hope.

My parents are coming to town along with my grandparents. Should be fun. Except when I told Justin where my grandparents are sleeping he guffed.

"Why can't they sleep in the same bed like normal people?"
"Cause they haven't my entire life."

My serger is out on the table and I started on these pants (5144). Pretty simple design for pants (not the gauchos) but I think I used the wrong stitch. Oh my serger does like 12 different ones so I just guessed. Guess I was wrong! The pants themselves don't look bad at all. I still need to hem them up. But I want to do the cover stitch on it. Gotta find out how to thread it. But it's so nice!

After the pants, I'm making Justin a wallet. He's been begging for one and the test one didn't turn out so good. He's picked out better fabric so it should turn out much better than the first.

Well here's to a better week.

It Started Bad, I Should Have Known

The only good thing was Justin coming home from another trip to Kansas City. Work started off crappy with my crappy latte made from crappy coffee instead of espresso. It was like their espresso machine was down. Jerks! I've already complained to Starbucks once this year. Gotta wait a while.

I love getting yelled at first thing when I sat down at my desk (with a crappy headache by the way). Although it wasn't my fault, I still got the brunt of it. Jerks!

My plain chicken sandwich wasn't plain. It was filled with crappy cheese and bacon. Plain means plain jerks!

I was too exhausted to go to the gym. I'm a jerk.

I went to the grocery store instead. Walking out I notice someone hit my Silly Car! The baby blue paint now has f-ing white paint scratches along with a dent. It apparently happened a while ago because I don't park next to a white car at work and the car next to me at the store was green.

If it was someone at work: I hate you forever for not notifying me. Everyone knows the Silly Car is mine!

If it was someone who doesn't know me: I hate you even more for not having the balls to leave a note. I hope you eat a can of bad peaches and get botulism.

April 2nd is THE day

THE day=Braces come off! The almost 2 1/2 years has left me with very nice, straight teeth (with a minor cross bite that will never be fixed I was told today, but who cares). He warned me that they'll look nice when they come off. I'll take his word for it on April 2nd.

Exciting news #1--Braces Deadline

Exciting news #2--Secret Sauce

I can't tell you excatly what it is but Justin, who is awesome by the way, got me a "seasoning packet" for something that we can't buy out here. So needless to say, I'm double excited.

I still haven't opened my serger. I think after the gym tonight I'll finally open the box and try it out. I miss sewing. But I'm still excited for this machine.

Declutter Time!

It happens about 4 times a year at my house. Justin doesn't mind but he just hates going through everything. This weekend we decluttered the living room, closet and the office (which always needs decluttering). I sold our huge IKEA coffee table and down sized to one that matches and is smaller. Bonus! We also gave our curio cabinet away and got a taller one that takes less space. It's nice.

Speaking of IKEA, I finally tried their meatballs and I'm hooked. Too bad the closest store is 4 hours away. But if anyone watches Good Eats with Alton Brown, he showed me how to make them. I'll give his recipe a try.

Justin's in love with Alton Brown. He calls him the man's man. So he wants to be like him. But I remind him constantly that he is a man's man. Maybe he needs to hear it from Alton. Sounds gay to me.

So we are off to watch the game, eat some meatballs (that I bought on our last IKEA trip) and fall asleep (that's my job). The decluttering will continue after that.

Look for a Change

Just a little one. I decided I needed more control over the ads on my blog. Mostly I wanted cute ones. I'm not quite to the "cut the check" mark for Google Ads so I made them text links incase you miss them.

I think these new one will cater to you, my loyal readers, better than anything that's just pulled at random. Plus I'm sick of seeing the "E-coli at Taco Bell" ad.

Please let me know what you think or don't think. If you care or don't care.

Thank You Everyone!

Including the wonderful people I work with who did this to my desk:














It's hard to see but there's Tinkerbell everywhere, including my tiara and my very own little pink wands. (That's Doug in the background, he's happy the pink stayed on my side of the pod.)

Dinner last night with Elsa, Frank, Courtney and her husband John was great! The "communion" wine was consumed in orange juice glasses so who knows how many we all actually had. Then we headed off to see the fountains at the Bellagio. Yeah for musical fountains!

A club in the Bellagio scared some so we left and went to Margaritaville for...you guessed it-beer. Just kidding. I had a margarita and it was tasty. The clock read midnight but Elsa's celebration continued and Justin and I headed off for bed. 6 am comes quickly! So today we are sleepy but we'll be ready to have some fun after work.

And this special day isn't just for me. My cute little nephew, Evan, shares this day with me. But I'm sure he'd protest all the Tinkerbell cuteness.

Early Birthday Gifts

My birthday came a day early for various reasons. My friend Elsa is coming out to see me! Actually her 30th birthday is today so it's just by chance. But I like to think that it's all for me.

I haven't seen her since her wedding like 4 years ago!

Actually the best part about today is Justin bought me my first Serger! He's been hounding me to pick one out and I've learned that you can't ask people about their machines. Everyone has an opinion.

"I love mine"
"Our brand is the best"
"That other brand blows"
"It's a pain to thread"

Technically they are all a pain to thread so that's a cop-out. But it gets even better! I got a machine with a cover stitch. What's that you say? I have no idea but I wanted it!

Just kidding. A coverstitch is usually seen in ready-to-wear clothes. It's a pretty sweet stitch.

He got me the Singer Quantumlock Serger:



I can't do anything until I read the manual and actually thread it. But I think it should be fun learning how to use it.

Plenty of projects in line for this.

Air Judge It

After about 7 years of performing, 6 or 7 years of teaching, I'm finally in training to be a Winter Guard judge. Tomorrow is the second time I'll be using a tape recorder other than making my making my own radio shows. The first time was when I was asked to critique a marching band show. It was rainy and windy and I commented about the use of their flags (or lack of) without realizing they were told to "air flag it."

I'm an idiot.

But I'm much smarter now and know I should probably not comment on such things. Now it's things like:
strength
hand placement
timing!
blah blah blah your guard sucks blah blah

Ok, never say that last part. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. That rule applies 100%. Or just make crap up. I learned that from Tony. Or maybe not. I think I made that part up as a quick back-up plan. Because you've always gotta have a back-up plan.

Hey we all had to start somewhere. Even if it was performing a painful looking show. And I'm sure the judges were just so nice to us. Because back then, they "appreciated" everything we did.

"I appreciate what I see." Which now translates to "blah blah blah your guard sucks blah blah."

Save the Chili Cheese Burrito!

Besides bean burritos, I love the Chili Cheese Burrito. But sadly I can't get it anywhere. Did you know that it's really hard to find because most Taco Bells dropped it from their menus? Can you believe that!? And with all that other crap on there...honestly, who wants to eat a quadruple decker stuffed-supreme taco/burrito? (Ok I made that up but they have some weird ones.)

I'm not the only one who's upset. Justin LOVES that burrito too. We tend to eat at least one while in Minnesota or Texas (where they take them for granted). He's always telling me of his days as a TB employee and how easy they were to make. But he also knows that nothing else on the menu requires those ingredients. So he understands why they might have scratched it. But I still think it's unforgivable.

My Grandparents were extremely disappointed at the local Taco Bell when they scratched it too. I was the one who introduced them to it. My Granny loved to go and get one for lunch sometimes. Then one day after a quick visit to Taco Bell, she came back with something else after being told they didn't sell them anymore. I told her it was true and she said, "Crimeny, they were so good!"

I know Granny.

But there's hope everyone. I'm not the only one who really thinks Taco Bell made a big mistake. Over at ChiliCheese.org, they've created petitions, forms, posters, banners -- Anything to get the Chili Cheese Burrito back in stores. So I'm asking all my blog readers to sign the online petition, even if you don't like the Chili Cheese Burrito or know what it is. This could be your chance to try it out. Unless you already live in an area where they sell them (lucky!), but you should sign it anyway.

Mamma Mia!

Sometimes things surprise you. Like your husband buying you tickets to see Mamma Mia after begging for three years. And what's more surprising...He loved it too! Ok I'm probably exaggerating about the "loved" it part but after the first act he looked at me and said, "This is actually really good!" And he's not even an ABBA fan.

Our seats were premium. We bought them through Nevada Public Radio where we are members, and we got a VIP pass for an after show question and answer time. Sweet!

Sitting third row in the middle, the band was loud and I could see the actors so well that we really got into it. But all the other NPR members around us didn't. It could have been that we were the only members under the age of 65 and this was a late night for them. Who cares, we had a great time.

I thought it was really clever how the songs (already written) were incorporated into a narrative that was written 20 years later. It's almost like buying a soundtrack to a show you've never seen until now. What was sad was some of the actors never liked ABBA growing up. I wonder if they just say they love ABBA now because they've got a job. I guess that'd be like saying "I hate Bill Gates" then go boot up windows on their PC at home.

If you come to Vegas and your spouse has been wanting to see this show for 3 or 4 years, take them. You might surprise yourself and get up and dance! Or you might just be surprised at how good it is.



VIP Baby!!

New Year...New You

A new you can be anything you want it to be. Consider a resolution that we all can easily do, for a new you, me and everyone. He's not our President (close, but no cigar) but Al Gore has a good point. Justin and I just saw his documentary An Inconvenient Truth and we are glad we are doing our part, even if it's small.

He might annoy some and bore others, but he's got a point about global warming. His documentary is a hard hit to the face about global warming, even if there were tons of charts and graphs. It's a serious issue. His life has been fighting this problem and up until I saw his documentary I didn't think it was such a problem. But it's not too late. We all can do small things to help.

Turn off your monitor or anything you aren't using (turn it off!)
Wash your clothes in cold or warm water
Plant a tree
Recycle at home
Carpool with co-workers/friends
Replace your furnace filters often

Easy! So instead of being selfish with the standard resolutions like "weight loss," "get more organized," "watch bad language." Be selfish by doing your part to keep it here for generations to come. Who knows, you might set a good example for the next generation. But keep the charts and graphs to a minimum.