Friday, July 31, 2009

Fridays are RAD


Dontcha think? I do. As someone who works full time, I find myself living for the weekends. Not that I have any grand plans or anything, but it's just nice to know I don't HAVE to be anywhere.

We've had something to do every night this week so I'm looking forward to snuggling up on my couch and spending some quality time with my DVR. And S.

Not in that order of course.

The teen leaves for band camp on Sunday so we'll be kid free next week. And we have no plans after work except for our weekly dart match.

I'm not sure what that means yet, except that I have the option of walking around nekkid all week if I really wanted to. That is if our air conditioning didn't stay somewhere between freezing and hypothermia.

So what are YOUR weekend plans?

Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Trim the Fat" Thursday



While typing the title of this post, I wondered to myself if it was all a lie. I certainly haven't "trimmed any fat" since I've been participating in TTFT and it hasn't motivated me to exercise any more than normal.

Normal being very, very little.

That being said I have found myself ordering water (with lemon) everywhere, and yesterday I resisted the temptation to stop for a McD's sweet tea. Now THAT was hard...sweet tea is like my crack.

I knew that I hadn't gotten in enough water for the day and that if I bought the tea I wouldn't drink anymore. So even though the fat is still hanging out I have made some positive changes. Drinking water & taking my vitamins has become second nature to me.

And I figured out why I'm so hungry when I get home. After tracking what I eat for breakfast & lunch at work I could see that I was lacking protein. Typically I eat cereal for breakfast and leftovers or a salad for lunch. Snacks were fruit, sugar free pudding or fiber one bars. So very little or no protein.

To fix this I've tried eating peanut butter in the mornings and cheese in the afternoon & I think it's working.

Also per Angie's (& her doctors) recommendation I picked up the Flat Belly Diet from the library. I just started reading it but I'm considering trying it out. The only downsides so far is that most of the food listed is brand name, which means I will have to seek out alternatives that are similar in nutritional content. That equals to "pain in my ass" and "expensive".

Of course if losing weight were easy then we would not have an obesity epidemic in this country and I wouldn't be whining about any of the above.

~sigh~

Goals this week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 2 days a week.
4. Finish reading the Flat Belly Diet.
5. Possibly start the 4 day jump start. If not start tracking calories.

It's time to start looking at what I'm eating and adjusting my portion sizes. If the FBD doesn't seem the way to go for me, then I will just keep a calorie count of what I'm eating.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Photos, fuschia & flaunting

It's a rare occurrence that I like a picture of myself. Despite my multiple attempts at self-photography, they just don't turn out well.

And then out of the blue I find one that doesn't make me want to hurl...


This picture took on a whole new persona in black & white that I just couldn't believe. Dare I say that I actually liked it.

But I would be remiss if I didn't post the original since I had a legitimate reason for taking a picture of myself last night.


Proudly rocking the fuchsia and flaunting (yet again) that I never act my age.

Take that you whippersnapper biatches!
Sex and the Suburbs

Climbing on the soapbox...

Sometimes here at Brandy de la casa I tend to get a little serious when I dig out the soapbox and speak my mind. It's not the norm because this isn't a political blog or a space just to rant, but since it is MY place it tends to happen from time to time.

I can be a little opinionated.

And by "little" I really mean a lot.

The story about the Harvard professor is old news. Or so you would think, but I keep hearing about it & frankly I find it completely ridiculous that anyone, especially the President is wasting his time on this.

Newly released audio tapes show that the neighbor who called 911 never said "black men" as previously reported, which is good for her since I've read that she has received a lot of flack for supposedly saying that.

This morning Jessie Jackson was on the CBS Early Morning show to discuss this event and the new information. He must have said "racially motivated" 3 or 4 times. His interview was right after they played the audio of the 911 call so I have to ask...

What about that call was racially motivated?

Nothing.

Not one thing in that call indicated what race the possible burglar was, so one could access that there was no way for the police officer to know before arriving on the scene. And yet with this factual knowledge Mr. Jackson still referred to the incident as "racially motivated".

Why do people like this add fuel to the fire? Oh yes, it's because it gets them on TV.

It sickens me that the media allow people like this to be an "expert" on a situation that he has no first hand knowledge of. He's no more an expert than I am on the subject. Neither of us were there and the opinions that we have formed are just that - opinions.

Here's my opinion based on the information that I have received:

The neighbor was concerned about a possible break in. So many people "turn the other cheek" these days, I would have been grateful that my neighbor was thoughtful enough to call the police.

The policeman involved was doing his job. He didn't know the professor from Adam and was required to ask for identification. He was obligated to clarify the situation and it was the professor that said the "racially motivated" statements.

It was the professor that overreacted & was subsequently arrested for his behavior. Later the charges were dropped so there is no pending litigation against the professor or the policeman, and yet he could not let it go.

The whole thing is so blown out of proportion that even the President has involved himself. As if he doesn't have more important things to worry about, he is going to meet with the professor & officer to "have a beer" on Thursday.

Give me a break!

How many veterans has the President invited to the White House for a beer? How many sit downs has he had with people that are facing foreclosure?

None that I know of.

Now don't misunderstand me. I'm not so ignorant that I believe that people don't discriminate because of race. They do. Just as people judge others because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation and pretty much any reason that makes one different.

It's unfortunate & sad but it happens.

It just didn't happen in Connecticut, at that house, on that day.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Cherry-o!

This weekend I channeled my inner Martha Stewart & worked it in the kitchen. Not only did I make strawberry freezer jam (YUM!!) but I made an awesome fresh cherry cobbler for dessert last night.

I'm posting the recipe today...far, far away from Trim the Fat Thursday cause I don't want to sabotage anyone.

Except for myself apparently.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and modified it a little based on some of the reviews. The original recipe can be found HERE.

Here's what you'll need:


1/2 cup butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk (I used skim & it worked fine.)

3 cups pitted cherries (I used Bing since they were on sale last week; that's why I decreased the amount of sugar.)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice (Guesstimate since I just squirted directly in the bowl.)

Tip: Wear gloves & old clothes to pit your cherries. Cherry juice WILL stain your hands & it's quite messy.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter into a 9x13 pan and insert in oven to melt. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder & milk. In a separate bowl mix the cherries, sugar, flour & cinnamon. Remove the pan from oven and add the batter. DO NOT STIR. Then add the cherries evenly over the batter. Again DO NOT STIR.

It will look a little like this.


Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

I realize that nothing about this picture says "golden brown" but the crowd was anxious for dessert so I didn't take any pictures before serving.



I'm one of those weird people that like crisp edges so I loved the corners where the butter almost fried the dough, however I would have liked a little more "cobbler" to go with the cherries.

Next time I might divide the recipe into two smaller pans, increasing both the cherries and the batter a little. And I would also cut my cherries in half. They didn't cook as much as I would have liked because they were so big. That's what she said.

Cherry cobbler & True Blood = The perfect way to end my Sunday

Friday, July 24, 2009

My first senior moment

Let me apologize in advance for my absence today but I'll be doing the "parent thang" this morning & taking the teen for his senior pictures.

We are NOT taking this outfit.


I'd say this is the first of many tasks ahead of us this school year. Senior pictures, college choices, scholarship applications, auditions, etc., etc., etc.

It's exciting and sad all at the same time. Exciting to know this time next year he will be headed to college and sad for us because he'll be headed to college.

I just pray that my meds keep on working & that I have the patience to deal with all of it.

~sigh~

This parenting gig ain't for lightweights.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

"Trim the Fat" Thursday



Welcome to another TTFT where I didn't meet my goals!

Blah.

This is what I had planned on doing this past week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
A lot of water was consumed this week- everyday in fact. But I know that it wasn't 4 glasses everyday. Blah.

2. Buy NEW vitamins.
I DID buy some new vitamins. They still suck ass, but not nearly as much as the others. They are smaller than my original multivitamins & I don't have to chew them so I'm trying to suck it up and just do it.

3. Take vitamins everyday.
Did & done.

4. Do 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week.
Um, here is where my miserable FAIL comes in. I don't have any excuses...I just simply don't enjoy exercise. I might have even been lazier this past week then normal.

I have to find something to motivate me to get off my butt. It's stupid & frustrating because I know I need to do it, but the "doing" it part is not appealing.

Blah.

Goals this week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Take vitamins everyday.
3. Do 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week.
4. Start tracking what I'm eating.

I'm keeping the top 3 & I have a feeling it will always be on my list. As for #4, it's time to take a look at what I'm eating. I'm not going to count calories this week, but I want to see when I'm eating.

By the time I get home in the evenings I'm starving & that means I overeat at dinner time. Not something I want to do so I've got to work that out somehow.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I'm Blitzing...but not very well

For all of you that are friends with me on Facebook, you may have noticed my current obsession with Bejeweled Blitz.


Probably because you've been spanking my ass at it.

Seriously, Kat what's your secret? How do you get scores that high? Jayme, maybe you can shed some light since you've also surpassed my score.

I NEED to know the secret. S & I are in a fierce competition to be the ultimate winner in our house. We've been battling it out for the last few days...first me on top, then him, then me, then him.

Is it getting hot in here or is it just me? *Ahem*

As of bedtime on Monday S was in the lead, but then a miracle happened. The tournament ended yesterday; meaning that all the scores reset.

Hallelujah!

Yesterday I played that game so many times my eyes crossed, but I managed to get to 45,500. Still so far from the 50k medal that I wanted. SO. BAD.


Although it was enough to stay ahead of S.

For one day anyway.

What's your current obsession? Are you competitive? Will you still love me if I never reach 50k?

**In case you missed my "hellz yeah" message on FB, I just scored over 64,000! Hey S- stuff that in your pipe and smoke it!**

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Summer Vacation-Part II...The Haunted Version

After touring the battlefields at Gettysburg (Part I found here) we went into town. We had dessert before dinner (YUM!) & then decided to do a ghost walk.

The Dobbins House tour was recommended


so at dusk this guy took us around town to different places, giving us more of a history lesson than a "ghost" story. (Obviously I do NOT recommend the Dobbins House tour.)



Even though it was pretty eerie walking around at night, his stories weren't doing much to scare me so I started taking pictures.

He had spoken about orbs and I was determined to catch some on my camera.

(Click to enlarge)




This is S walking away and you can barely see an orb to the right. But then in the next frame the same orb is still there but very bright.




I knew that some of my pictures had orbs, but it wasn't until I downloaded them that I saw how many. I would say 98% of my pictures had at least one orb in it.

How freaky is that?!

So tell me, do you believe in ghosts? How about orbs? Do you think they are spirits or "just dust" as some believe?

Monday, July 20, 2009

Bits & Pieces

I woke up this morning to a raging thunderstorm. While I would have appreciated it yesterday morning when I had nothing to do...eh, not so much on a Monday morning.

I got soaked getting in the car and then had to fight the monsoon in order to get to work. Pair that with some sinus issues I'm having and it's just not a good start to my week.

Anyway, let's catch up.

I'm declaring victory over the gnats! I haven't seen one all weekend & would be happy to never see one again.

Two weeks ago my new neighbors moved in next door. He is a sheriff in our county & they have two kids. Guess that's the end of our nekkid "clown" parties.* (<--code word alert)

I had an attack of lazyitis so I didn't paint my shutters this week. After much thought I'm going to pass on purple & neon green, instead trying the classy black suggested by so many. Thank you!

I dyed the blonde right outta my hair last week. S said that he preferred the bleached streak but an overall color was much needed. To cover the {cough}gray{cough}. Now I just gotta decide if I want to do that again or go for something more drastic. I'm thinking hot pink...

Several bloggy pals have given me awards over the past couple of months that I have failed to acknowledge. My apologies to all of you...I horrible about not reposting them quicker but I DO appreciate them.

Thanks to April, Lana & Christina! (I hope that I didn't leave anyone out!)



*I'm totally joking about the "clown" parties. Pinkie promise.

Friday, July 17, 2009

What's been bugging me lately

This pesky little bug has been driving me crazy. Well crazier than I was to begin with.




Lest you did not recognize it from that very microfied picture, that is a GNAT. And the bane of my existence right now.


I swear I feel like that picture looks. A little "gnatty" and a lot aggravated. Those little bastards are EVERYWHERE.

We had a couple in my kitchen before we left for vacation so I created a homemade trap and caught them suckers.

Or so I thought.

But then I saw some in West Virginia.

At work they have been bugging me (pun completely f'in intended) all week.

Then yesterday there was TWO in my car. IN. MY. CAR.

Why the hell would they be in my car? I don't have fresh fruit in there. Hell, I don't have ANY food in there except when I get groceries, which is temporary obviously. Cause I like take it out when I get home & everything.

I'm starting to wonder if my skin is giving off some overripe banana scent. Maybe my shampoo reminds them of a moldy strawberry. Perhaps my lotion is just the right flavor of fermenting grapes.

I don't know but I cannot take it anymore.

Bugs watch out cause the Gnat Hunter is in the house.

**If you've ever experienced a similar problem with gnats, here is the homemade trap that I used. Fill a small, shallow dish with cider vinegar & a couple drops of dish washing liquid. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, making sure it is tight. Use a rubber band to secure if necessary. Then poke several small holes in the plastic wrap. (I used a fork.) The pests are attracted to the vinegar but then get caught in the sticky dish washing liquid & have a hard time getting out of the plastic wrap.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

"Trim the Fat" Tuesday (+ a ?)



I took a little break from TTFT last week since I was on vacation. I'm happy to say that I did consume lots of water (and sweet tea but that's another topic) & I got PLENTY of exercise. BUT...yes, there's a BUT...I didn't take my vitamins. Heck, I barely remembered to take my Yaz everyday.

Out of sight, out of mind. ~sigh~

Since I've been back, I'm still drinking water & taking my vitamins again. I'm not that happy about it, but I'm doing it.

My vitamins suck ass.

Initially I was taking a large, horse-sized multivitamin that nearly choked me every morning so I asked for recommendations. Someone suggested the chewable variety so I ran to CVS and picked up TWO bottles. (Buy one get one free- I couldn't pass that up!)

It's like chewing a large, horse-sized piece of "orange" flavored chalk. It is disgusting & I dread chewing them. I've even considered just swallowing them without chewing but I don't know how that would work once it's in my gut.

So here are my goals for the next week:

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Buy NEW vitamins.
3. Take vitamins everyday.
4. Do 20 minutes of exercise 3-4 days a week.

You'll notice I wasn't specific about the type of exercise. Instead of limiting myself to videos, I want to be able to count lots of walking or working outside in the yard. So basically my goal is just to get off my bootay.

So how did you do this week?

If you are participating in "TTFT" don't forget to link up at Angie's place!
***********************************************************

Before you leave me, I need a little advice.

It's time to paint my shutters...



...but I can't decide what color. HELP!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

What I did on summer vacation...Part I

We went to the great state of WV


to visit with our pals. D&D are originally from NY (I ♥ NY) but have moved all over.


Last year they left us moved to WV & we had not been up since New Year's so we were overdue for a visit.

We arrived fairly late on Sunday so our first outing wasn't until Monday morning when we got to see their daughter in action.

I'm convinced she's the next Maria Sharapova...



After her match we got slurpees & I insulted the nice West Virginian cashier. Completely unintentional. I swear.







Then we road tripped to Gettysburg PA where we toured the battlefields & other monuments.
(That's the Gettysburg Address in case you're wondering. -->)











It's located on this building, which was actually at the end of our tour. You are used to me being backwards by now right?










You can see acres & acres of battlefield from the top.



And my hubs on the steps...


Before that we were at Devil's Den


Where S climbed up...

...and the kids gave me a heart attack.


Across from Devil's Den is what I refer to as the "pee house"


Remember the "castle" from yesterday's picture?

It might not be a real castle but it's as close as I'm getting...and as a Queen, it was my duty to be photographed in the "castle".


This concludes Part I of my summer vacay...Peace out!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Sometimes Reality Sucks...

I'm back to the real world.

Early mornings
Alarm clocks
Work

All things that currently suck in my real life. But I won't whine (too much) because we had a great vacation.

We spent lots of time with our friends, coming back in time for our dart match and then we were off again to visit a potential college for SS. Our very first official college tour.

When did I get so old?

Saturday we took a ride up interstate 81 (again) & went to a wooden bat baseball game. Then yesterday we went shopping.

To put it mildly - I'm beat.

That's the short version of my vacation but I have lots of pictures to download & share so more details will be coming...

I missed you guys!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Friday, July 3, 2009

God Bless America...


Have a fabulous, safe holiday...

Happy 4th of July!