Pampered Chef Anyone????
Hate to do this guys but hey, its worth a shot. My brothers girlfriend is a director for Pampered Chef and each month her team has a quota they have to make in order to keep a position in the business. Basically, she's short for this month and so forgive me for doing this but Dean wants to help her out and thus, I'll do what I can. If you, or anyone you know, enjoys Pampered Chef products and are able to buy immediately (she has to get the order in before midnight tomorrow night), please go to the website and check out the products. You can then email Jill your order (her info is on the site). This stuff really is awesome - my mom and I have so far accumulated a $250 order between us and may add more. So if you are interested, we all greatly appreciate it (especially Jill!) If you have any questions just let me know! Sorry for the sales pitch!
www.pamperedchef.biz/jillskitchen
No pain, no gain???
Okay so I was feeling especially lazy/fat/lethargic after thanksgiving weekend.... I mean who wouldn't after 3 days of lounging around in pjs watching movies/tv and reading books and eating pie? And hello, I want to be able to fit nicely into my winter pants - and not just the stretchy waisted ones! So, I was watching Goonies on tv and decided to do my usual workout with the weights I have at home but I had to improvise with the leg workout. Usually at the fitness center I use the machines for the lower body workout but yeah, no machines at home. So I get the brilliant idea to do my normal lunges (20) and then I did 20 squats. Okay, so typing 20 seems so small and maybe some of you are like, no big deal. But you go and do 20 good squats right now and then tell me how you feel tomorrow!! I am telling you, my legs hurt so bad today. I guess its a good hurt because I worked the muscles but dang. I'd like to be able to walk normally, thank you! This workout stuff is for suckers. Okay not really. I gotta stick with it and someday I can do squats without being sore afterwards! And can fit back into my favorite jeans :-) You know what, the soreness is wearing off I think. . maybe I'll do some more squats.
I am Thankful
~ for loving parents~ for a retreat to come to away from the city!~ for the changing of the leaves~ for friends~ for music~ for books~ for good food~ for pie~ for cool winds (when they blow)~ for warm showers~ for cold water to drink~ for cotton pajama bottoms from Old Navy~ puppy kisses*I'm sure I can think of more, but what are you thankful for? And not just the typical "serious" things but also the fun quirky aspects of life that make you smile?
Ramblings
Many things going on lately and I doubt this will be a very eloquent post but I figure I gotta say SOMETHING. So here's whats going on in my world lately:
~ A person I have worked during my entire career has gone and personally I am relieved. I won't say too much for fear of getting in trouble by mentioning work but this person has regularly been the butt of many jokes and gossip. It may not have best for this persons career but I think/hope morale at work will improve. Course, gossipers will always find something/one new to prey on....~ There is turmoil at my church and I'm really struggling with how I feel about it all. I love my church and I have great friends there -family really. I know that no church is perfect and they all have probably the same issues. But now that I'm older and am really involved, I feel more responsible for helping leadership, etc. Apparently we are having money issues and not making enough in offering for our bills - no surprise with the economy. Everyone's pockets are tight lately. But when I wrote to my Pastor to tell him my thoughts and ideas, he responded and told me I hurt and offended him and that I did not have accurate information. He wants to meet with me. So I think I will get someone else who was at the recent meeting go to with me. Might as well see what he has to say.~ I took the plunge and paid for a month on eHarmony, just to see if all the hype is right. Now I have been "matched" with a guy I went on a blind date with almost 2 years ago. Yeah. So I'm a little nervous because I actually liked him, but he never called again after we met once. I have no idea why so we'll see what happens this time around. I don't know if he even remembers me.~ I'm heading to the wonderful town of Clifton for Thanksgiving to hang out with my parents and enjoy the quiet country life for a few days. I already have plans to get together with one of my HS classmates, and will probably go horseback riding with another. I will also be researching places for our 10 year reunion and things to do. Clifton has changed and grown a lot in 10 years so I think I can be creative and find good stuff. I want to make it fun!~ I may attempt to go renew my drivers license tomorrow because I'm afraid the longer I wait the better my chances that I'll have to take all the tests again. I haven't been able to renew it because I had a warrant out (I know, bad girl!) and its a long story. But I have paid that, and am waiting for the reciept. But my expired license is a really big deal. Its now been 14 days. YIKES!
Okay so I think thats the drama. maybe I'll get some more inspiration in Clifton - easier to write good stuff when I'm not as busy. I'll let you know! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!!
Ty loves the fire
you know its cold when......
. . . even the cats won't get out of bed! My cats are always up at the first alarm in the morning, usually meowing at me to get up, too. But the past 2 days its been so cold that they are both sleeping right next to me and even sometimes on top of me and in the morning neither one even budges. I am trying to keep my electric bill super low since I've moved into a bigger apartment, so I'm freezing my booty off by not running the heater. I woke up at 2 a.m. with frost on my nose so I finally turned it on to 65 and it came on in short bursts during the rest of the night. But both cats looked at me from the bed this morning as if to say, " are you crazy? get back under the covers and keep us warm!" Of course, my dad would say "thats what they have fur coats for!" In reality, they are the ones who keep me warm now. I am glad for the cooler weather, though. Yay for autumn in Texas! well at least for however long it lasts.....
39 Days til Christmas
39 days until Christmas and already they are playing Christmas music on the radio and the Christmas decorations are up in the stores. Did they forget Thanksgiving? are we ignoring the turkeys altogether this year? or did we switch the dates and now Christmas will be on November 25 and Thanksgiving is December 24th?? If I have to endure 40 days of Christmas music and decorations I'll be sick of Christmas before it even gets here!!! The whole tradition is that you put up Christmas decorations AFTER Thanksgiving. Not after halloween! I was actually shopping for halloween decorations and only found CHRISTMAS STUFF. What the heck? I'm just baffled. Has anyone else noticed this? I am now going to avoid the radio stations playing Christmas music because I enjoy Christmas music and I don't want to get sick of it before the season actually starts!!!!!!
bachelorette dinner
1 piece cornbread
1 can chopped spinach (heated)
1 mini bag buttered popcorn
at least i'm eating some vegetables. i need meals on wheals. or some wonderful delivery service that delivers perfectly balanced ready to eat meals exactly when I want them, exactly what I want to eat.... yeah thats what I need. anyone know of a service like that?
dang weather
yesterday it was 88, hot and muggy. today it is 69. i have a cold now. i heard a radio deejay say something so true. he said we don't get autumn in texas. we get hot hot hot and then suddenly a cold front blows through and freezes us out and everyone has pneumonia for the rest of the year. *sniffle* *cough* *sneeze*
George Carlin's Views on Aging
(a friend sent this to me in honor of my birthday)
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key. You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!! But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60. You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-daything; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; youTURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92." Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!" May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!
Birthday Cake
How cool is this? Claire took the card that everyone signed for me and had it scanned to be put on the cake! its hard to tell but its really cool - everyones signature, etc is on there! and it was YUMMMMMY!!! She sent me on a scavenger hunt to get to it - the cake was the final destination. She started me with a clue at my desk this morning telling me to start my "journey" at 2:00. I had a hint for each destination and my journey sent me to the desks of my coworkers in a random order and with very cute clues. It was a lot of fun! Would have been more fun if I hadn't have tripped on stairs 3 times today. I am now barefoot with a sore ankle. dang heels! haha thats what I get for being old and decrepit. I fear what may happen when I turn 30!
Birthday Girl
I've had time to think about it and I suppose 28 really isn't all that bad. Its a nice even number. Its growing on me. For your enjoyment here are some birthday pictures. Me and some girlfriends out at Billy Bobs Texas Saturday night. And the cutest little thing in the world that someone at work gave me - its called a Jitterbug and its handmade, this one is Sunny and she's a chocolate lover (just like me!) She came with a stretchy string that I have attached to my shelf in my cubicle and she can hang there or if I choose I can swing her or bounce her. Isn't she hilarious??? Happy Birthday to me!
Group Activity!
Everyone: go to Google and type in your name followed by the word needs just like this: "Jan Needs" and then you can either hit enter and see what sites show up or you can do what I did and I just hit I'm Feeling Lucky and I came up with a list full of sentences that start with "Jan Needs...." some excerpts were:
~ Jan needs a man
~ Jan needs help (there were 4 of these)
~ Jan needs to be arrested
~ Jan needs a rest
~ Jan needs glasses and is reluctant to admit it until she crashes her bike into a few important things
~ Jan needs to learn how to shoot
~ Jan needs to escape the world
Try this with your own name and then comment on here with the first one it brings you! Too funny! I love GOOGLE!
saturday in the city
i don't know why i did it - why did i wait til saturday to go to the mall? am i nuts? yes apparently so. i went to the mall. i wanted to go to the gap to get some jeans (because they have the ones that fit me the best and my other two are ruined). so i drove around the back instead of trying to park off the highway and as soon as I turned down an aisle I saw people getting into a car 4 cars in. yay! so i put my car in reverse to give them room to back up but I hadn't gone far when a car pulled in behind me. he wouldn't budge! I kept indicating for him to back up but he wouldn't so I opened my door bc I thought maybe he didn't see me. I asked him to back up and he says "No way, you missed it!" I was like, "Actually, no I didn't but you're just making it more difficult". The nice guy pulling out went to great pains going back and forward to get out of the spot but obviously he understood the issue and I held my ground. What a jerk! But I got the spot, thank you very much!! Then I enter the mall and the onslaught of people, old and young, baby strollers, big shopping bags and more. omg. Just find the gap, get in and get out. it took forever to finally find the jeans that were just right and then they rang up the wrong price so it just took FOR-EVER. I practically ran out of the mall! And just as I'm backing out, sure enough someone turns into that aisle and by the time they see me in reverse they are right on me, so they back up and thankfully no one blocked THEM in. Never again. I will NEVER AGAIN get out on a Saturday to go shopping of any kind. Always go Friday night!!!
chocoholic
is it possible to overdose on chocolate? because i may be in serious danger if so........
Manners!
so i understand that at one point or another we are all in a situation like this, either as a "giver" or a "receiver" but i'm curious as to your opinions on what to do. earlier i was in my neighbors office and i heard someone come into mine and then leave. when i returned to my office there was a very unpleasant odor lingering. we did not know who had entered my cube until a little later. a man came into my office and i was looking up some information for him, so he was standing right behind my chair. and with no warning - no noise - i was overcome by a very unpleasant odor again. when i say unpleasant i mean hold your breath so as not to gag unpleasant. i managed to take small breaths and go about what i was doing without making a deal out of it. he stood there calmly. until ANOTHER wave of an unpleasant smell overcame me and thankfully this time I was done with what i was looking up and he made his exit. he never said a word. as soon as he was around the corner i bolted from my office and went running down the hall to a friend because i could see that my other neighbor was also there, seeking solace from the unpleasant odor! okay so seriously - its one thing to let a "little" one go quietly and pray that it doesn't smell. but we are talking about a "omg what did you eat for lunch, that is horrendous" smell. like a dog fart. i mean OH MY GOSH. and he had to know! there is NO way he couldn't smell his own nastiness! but its like, how do you be graceful about such matters? in my opinion he should have discreetly stepped outside my cube before releasing his gas so as not to overwhelm me. he could have even excused himself!! but he just stood there as if nothing happened while my neighbor is running for air and i am about to faint because i'm holding my breath! what would you do - either in his situation or in mine??????
baby bug
okay so i'm not married and thus the chances of having a baby are um, yeah zero but is it possible to get the baby bug anyway? because omg THEY ARE SO SWEET! i am not the girl who sees babies and immediately swoons and coos and has to hold and touch and smell them. that is not me. but last night a friend of mine brought her new baby to church (he's 9 days old) and as soon as i saw her walking up with the baby carrier i went straight over and said "give me that baby". she just laughed and handed him over (he's her second so she's not a clingy mom). i held him the entire service. he was awake some of the time, just looking around and stretching because yay! he can! he's not squished in her womb anymore! and then almost as soon as the praise and worship started he was out like a light. i had him in one arm and the other arm tapping my leg in the only clap i could do with one hand and he could have cared less. it was soo cool. i got a good arm workout too. granted, when i really think about it i know that i have to have a husband first and we need to be married awhile first (maybe 6 months because you know, i'm not getting any younger dadgummit!). and am i really ready to do the whole sleep deprived, diaper duty, chaos that is a new baby? probably not, considering how anal i am about my time and space. but then i think, hello i can give that stupid selfish stuff up for a new life. i could. it may be painful but it would be worth it. so then to add insult to injury i go over to our music leaders house after church and another couple walks in with a baby carrier. i didn't even know they had had the baby yet (this one was a surprise and came earlier than expected) and i just thought I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE! but of course, i planted myself on the floor next to the carrier and just watched her sleep. just a few days younger than the other baby. still so tiny and peacefully sleeping. they are the best when they are sleeping. okay so to any of my readers who didn't have the bug and you do now, i apologize. you must share in my misery. our day will come. it will, i know it will. and who knows, maybe we can all go through it at the same time. that would be cool. but until then, i might become a baby snatcher to get my "fix".
someone bring me some cheese because the whine is strong today!
stupid meaningless frustrations.....
~I hate that my day to day clothing choice depends on which pants I can fit into that day
~I miss the days of eating endless fast food and desserts and still fitting easily into my size 4 jeans (i miss those jeans)
~I don't want to be 28 yet - nothing in my life is the way it was supposed to be by this time!
~I really don't like being at odds with good friends, but I really hate psychotic mothers of said friends
~I wish I was a better morning person because man it sucks dragging my butt outta bed knowing I'm already late yet having no motivation to hurry
~lately my favorite radio station keeps playing the same songs over and over and they aren't even the songs that I like, grrr!
~I really wish the outside weather would make up its mind because while I love the mid 70s and sunshine, its difficult to dress appropriately for the chilly evenings that follow!
~Someone PLEASE help me cure my nail biting disease because I swear its a disease - even when there is no nail left and it hurts to chew, something in my brain won't let me stop and i end up with throbbing ugly fingers
~Whats up with 10 bills all coming in the mail at once? can't they stagger them just a little bit?
Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue and the dreams that you dream really do come true
Trick or Treat?
Okay so I'm not a fan of Halloween. I've never been all into the dressing up thing, I hate haunted houses and scary movies, etc. And then my company decided that they would have a big Halloween "to do" and have everyone decorate their areas, dress up in costume and have contests and everything. I really didn't know what to expect but by Friday my teammates had spent money and time decorating our area and I just couldn't sit by and not help out. I took the plunge and joined in. I didn't go crazy or anything - just put up black trash bags on everything to help with the decor, etc. I did not dress up in costume other than a tshirt that said "this is my costume..." well anyway, I must say. This place really went all out. I was very impressed with the amount of effort and creativity put into decorating! Now, I have to be careful here because I do not wish to be added to the list of those who get fired for talking about work on their blogs but considering I have no intention or reason to bash my company or to give away any top-secret information I think this is a safe topic. One area dressed up in Slush Puppie attire/gear and they decorated their area with information for a Pet adoption agency complete with pet information sheets on the back of chairs, etc. They actually took donations - it was so cool! They mixed Halloween fun with a real cause! Another area did a slumber party massacre complete with gory makeup consisting of a slit throat, sliced head, etc. It was very gruesome but actually VERY well done! An area did a corrections facility with each cubicle decorated as a prison cell, each employee wearing a jumpsuit and fake tattoos, etc. the HR department did a slumber party theme saying "staying up all night for you" so they had camping gear, sleeping bags and pajamas. Very cute. One of my favorites (aside from the pound) was the Brand Pageant Beauties. I gotta say, they were creative. Crowns made from soda boxes, bouquets made from cans and they walked around all day "parading". It was too cool. There were many more but those are the ones that stood out to me. We had a lot of good individuals and small groups as well and then at 3:30 - THE KIDS CAME. People had spouses or friends or whoever bring their kids up to the office in costume and there were committee members in every breakroom giving out candy and other toys/treats. They were so adorable! Little costumes and candy baskets and wide eyes at the decorations. that was my favorite part. Aside from eating a lot of candy myself. So in conclusion I must say that I do not "hate" halloween. I don't like the scary stuff and I hate reading in the news about the psychos who go out and take advantage of such an occasion to be violent and crude. But the decorating in themes and the creative costumes and the cute little kids - that aspect, I can enjoy. Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.
