Boston

My mom, sister, and I just got back from our annual Christmas shopping weekend and this year we went to Boston. Ahh...Boston. You were wonderful. In no particular order (and without any photo editing), here are a few things that we did, outside of the massive amounts of Christmas shopping and Boston Cream Pie eating:

Cemetray with Hancock and Mother Goose and other important people:

Mike's Pastries. Cannollis. mmmmm....

We took the T:

And went to the Sam Adam's Brewery:

We got caught in a major snow storm:

And then went to Faneuil Hall:

And Quincy Market:

We then went up to the Old North Church where Paul Revere was signaled for his midnight ride:

And then we went to see his house:

We also went to see the Cheers bar:

And walked through Boston Common and the ajoining gardens to see the ducks:

Work Pet Peeves

Someone asked me recently what my work pet peeves are. At the time, I was only a couple of days on the job and was totally in the honeymoon period. I'm now on week 5 and have found that I actually have a number of work pet peeves. Some include:

1) If you set a meeting with me, please don't spend the majority of the time checking e-mail and doing things other than actually talking to me about what the meeting is about. It's a complete waste of time and I'd prefer to update you via e-mail if all you want to do IS read your e-mail

2) Don't talk to me about projects that I know nothing about as if I should be fully versed in what the issues are. And when I tell you that I know nothing about what you're talking about, either tell me the backstory or drop it. Don't just keep speaking.

3) If I send you an e-mail, don't tell me that I didn't. Because if you look through your inbox, you will find it. I can reforward it, but that just makes you look dumber than you already look.

4) If you get an e-mail that was forwarded to you and has the backstory included in it, I'd suggest reading through the last few e-mails so you know what's going on. Don't tell me that I'm wrong when I start talking about information that was just as available to you as it was to me.

5) Don't just tell me I'm wrong, period. Unless you are entirely certain that I am wrong. It's insulting.

6) Don't answer the phone when we're having a meeting unless it's your boss.

7) ATTEMPT to learn processes and don't blame your ignorance on being new.

I have more, I'm sure. but this is what I have so far. I know I sound picky about all of this, but I'm currently frustrated with certain job situations. Luckily I like the actual work I do. It's just working with new personalities that drive me crazy.

Working

With working, comes frustrations.

I just have to say AARGHHHH!!! SIGH.

More to come. Maybe when I'm not actually AT work.

Weekend, 10.17.09

Ahh, the weekend. Now that I'm working again, it actually MEANS something to me. Saturday is a day for laying around the house and catching up on the DVR and possibly doing some errands, instead of doing that sort of stuff all week. While not everything got done (groceries? Not so much), I was able to both get some stuff accomplished and also watch some bad TV. Not everything was accomplished, however. There are some serious hairballs floating around the place. I've got to stalk those suckers and take them out this week.


Along with finally getting back to what a weekend actually feels like, I have pretty easily gotten back into the swing of things with a work week. Getting up in the morning has been fine (it helps that I always got up at 7am, even when I was off of work) and sitting at a desk all day is pretty normal. The best part is probably being able to talk to people again and feel like I'm using my brain. Things are getting more clear and I'm starting to feel more confident in my ability to do my job. It's a nice feeling.


So this weekend. Let's see. I caught up on my DVR'd shows (aka shows that Bob won't watch so I have to watch them when he's not around, eg. Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Project Runway), took a 4 hour nap (!!!!) and then walked up to the 7-11 to get a slurpee. Total lazy day. I probably SHOULD have cleaned the apartment or done something more productive, but now that I only have 2 days a week to be lazy, I had to use one of them.


Sunday was a full day. Liz (hi Liz!) and I went shopping for about 6 hours on Sunday. Target (love/hate) and TJ Maxx and other stores like that. While totally fun, I was EXHAUSTED when I got home. Hard-core shopping like that can take a lot out of you! :) I didn't get too much, considering, but did get some work clothes, which is always fun. Or fun for people that just started a new job and need to have clothes that fit that aren't jeans and t-shirt like they have been wearing for the last 8 months.


Once I got home I watched a neflix movie, "Every Little Step", which is a documentary about the creation of "A Chorus Line" and the casting of the revival in...2006? I think? While I was never a musical theater actor or dancer, I've always loved musicals and really enjoyed the behind-the-scenes aspect of the movie. Seeing what these performers went through to get the jobs was surprising (8 months from first audition to final? then another 8 months until curtain? wow) and you were able to become invested in some of characters. I enjoyed it a lot and it totally made me want to see "A Chorus Line" again.


And then the Bears played. But I'm not going to discuss that. Harrumph.

I totally do this

From the blog mimi smartypants:

... Do you hide your underthings at the doctor’s office? I noticed that when I made a pile of my clothing on the doctor’s chair, I carefully inserted bra and underpants into the middle of the pile. Which is funny, because the doctor is about to handle MY NAKED BODY, but god forbid she see my bra.

It totally made me laugh. I had to share. :)

Employed!

So I'm now gainfully employed. I have to say, it feels really good.

My first day was yesterday, and while it was all training and HR stuff, just being in the corporate setting again was good for me. During my time off, there were days that I was totally fine and happy, but the majority of the time I was depressed and my confidence just fell every day. Too much time alone and in my head, maybe? It was not good. I'm definitely the type that needs to work. I enjoy getting up and going into the office and saying hello to people and sitting at my computer to check e-mail. I feel better about myself and my confidence starts to grow again. It's just all-around better for me. So...hurrah! Back to work.

Today is Day 2 and I'm just sitting here waiting for it to be 8:15 so I can leave. Bob and I haven't really coordinated our morning schedules yet, so we stuck to the old one where I left at 7:15. I'm kind of hoping that my new hours are 8-4 so that'll stay the same, but I don't know yet what times I'll be working...I just know that today I should get in at 9. :)

Yay to Day 2!

July

While I was attempting to fall asleep last night (a large diet coke and a 2 1/2 hour nap yesterday made it a little difficult), I starting thinking of things that I had done over the last month. Being out of work for so long, the days just blur together and I feel like all I really do is go online and search for jobs and watch TV. It's REALLY gotten old, FYI.

So, following is a list of things I've done in the last few weeks:

1) Watched the entire series (all 7 seasons) of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. LOVE

2) Watched a number of movies: No Reservations (ugh), Run Fatboy Run (awesome), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (ha!), New in Town (Ugh x2), Beverly Hills Chihuahua (sigh), Strictly Ballroom, Happy-Go-Lucky, Night at the Museum, Yes Man, Confessions of a Shopaholic... I'm definitely getting my money's worth on Netflix.

3) Made a pillow

4) Seen Mama Mia (the movie) three times. Thanks HBO!

5) Played Burger Shop 2 all the way through and started playing it again

6) Went to two birthday parties (Aunt Sue and Jack)

7) Started the Couch to 5K program

8) Waited for the oven to be fixed by the landlord....for 5 weeks. It's still not working.

9) Had a phone interview (no word yet. Please stop asking)

10) Read Harry Potter 6, Harry Potter 7, Twilight, and started Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa puffs

And the sad part? I can't think of anything else. I really need a job. :) I'm definitely one of those people that gets a lot more done when I'm busy. I don't do well sitting at home all day...I'll end up watching movies, TV, and taking naps. :)

Fridge Friday, 7/24/09

Fridge, 7/24/09
Originally uploaded by hak123

Yeah, I know. I only blog pictures of my fridge these days. But there you go. :)

Also? Mmmm...pudding.

Fridge Friday

IMG_4545
Originally uploaded by hak123

I've been wanting to do this since the first time that I saw Geggie's Fridge Friday and I've finally remembered to take pictures!

There's something about scoping out other people's fridges that I find so fascinating...it's kind of like checking out the medicine cabinet without the risk of finding creams that you don't need to know about.

Weekend

This past weekend Bob and I went to Jackson and Janna's wedding. The bride was beautiful and the groom was dashing and we had a fabulous time. :)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thanks for always making me laugh and making me feel loved. You're the best.

Finally, finally, my internet is working again. oof. I rely on it too much.

So, the BL diet is over. I lost 2 pounds. Whatever. At least I have more food ideas. That never hurts.

Last weekend was a big Kentucky Derby party complete with fun hats!! (note...no pictures of me. The ones that exist kind of suck)

Dustin wins for best Derby hat:
Then, on Wednesday, I got to go on a Field Trip with my nephew. We got to take the Metra Train a few stops, go to a park, and have a picnic lunch. He's such a cutie and we had a great time. I even got a little sun! (yay for summer!!)Now it's back to job-searching. Le sigh.

BL Diet, Days 3, 4 & 5

So the weekend totally trashed the diet. We BBQ'd at a friends house on Friday, had breakfast at a diner on Saturday, and dinner at an Italian place on Sunday...there's no way I could follow the plan! So we took the weekend off. But...I started again on Monday!

At the beginning of this thing, I was following everything to the letter, making sure I followed meal plans as well as I could, but not, just a few days into it, I've realized that doing that it harder than it should be. I'm adjusting things for foods we don't like (or I don't want to make) and have all of these cross-reference notes all over the place (Swap lunch day 3 with lunch day 21! Swap protein of day 4 with protein of day 17, leaving veggies!) and it's just a pain. So now I go through the meal plans and just look for what I'm in the mood to eat and make. It's a little complicated since I need to make sure we have the ingredients for the recipes, but it's easier in terms of figuring out what's for dinner.

So things are going ok! I haven't weighed myself since the evil 3+ weight GAIN, but think I'll do that tomorrow and see how things are going. I don't feel any lighter, but I'm happy with my food choices, so there's that. :)

And here are some food reccomendations from the book:

1) Portobello Mushroom Pizzas. Essentially this is just using a portobello mushroom as the base, adding marinara sauce, lean turkey sausage (cooked & crumbled) and low-fat mozz cheese. Baked for 6-8 minutes. Really yummy and only 100 calories each!

2) I just ate a chinese cabbage salad with homemade dressing. It was must tastier than I thought! The dressing had a lot of ingredients, but it turned out well. I can see it being a pretty good marinade too.

3) I've decided that my favorite snack is either the apple and string cheese or the laughing cow cheese with a slice of whole-wheat bread. I like cheese.

4) the turkery burger was awesome. easy and tasty and totally didn't feel diet. It's the diet trifecta!!

Now it's time to figure out what's for dinner...

Photo Flashback--June 2005

(Note: Day 3 of the BL diet will come tomorrow. :))

Photo Flashback time!

In June 2005, a couple of us came up with an idea to have a huge water balloon fight at a park near our local bar, lemmings. We stopped in for a drink or two before-hand, and decided to just have a fight there, in the bar.
Well, not IN the bar, really. We made some rules about not being able to throw balloons at people in the bar, but since there were water guns as well, we ended up getting things kind of wet. Luckily Matt the bartender was a really good sport and we made an effort to not get things going inside as much as possible (which can be hard in the heat of battle).

The picture below is one of favorites from the day...you can see Dave and Brent hiding from each other, both waiting to let loose with another water balloon.It was a super-fun day, and I highly recommend a childish, water-filled day next time it's warm out. :)

Day 2

So I made it through Day 1 and learned a couple of things:

1) Jicama is weird. I'll eat it IN things and in small quantities by itself, but 1 cup of sticks? By itself? Eh, I couldn't do it
2) Same thing with tomatoes. I love them warm and IN things, but I wasn't a huge fan of the tomato salad
3) Hot sauce makes plain chicken awesome
4) Trader Joe's Thai green beans are spectacular

And thus far today, I've learned
1) greek yogurt must be an acquired taste. it's just kind of odd and
2) mushroom soup is pretty tasty, even if it looks kind of gross. And it's tastier with pepper.

I weighed myself yesterday so I'd have a starting point and plan on checking daily just so I can see how things are going. Today when I weighed myself, I was down 3 pounds! And, yes, that's got to be water-weight, but still...yay! :) I do NOT expect the same amount of loss tomorrow, that's for sure.

So here's the meal plan for today, Day 2. I swapped out the breakfast for another breakfast (greek yogurt, oatmeal, and a banana) since my bananas were ripe enough and also swapped out the lunch for a different day's lunch (mushroom soup, a slice of bread, and a wedge of cheese) since I didn't want to make or find sushi. :) Especially brown-rice sushi!

Breakfast

1 serving Banana Nut Oats

½ cup fresh blueberries

3 hard-boiled egg whites

8 oz fat-free milk

Tea or coffee

Snack

6 tablespoons creamy hummus

2 medium stalks celery, cut into sticks

Lunch

6 pieces California roll brown rice sushi

1 asian or bosc pear

Ice water or iced tea

Snack

PBJ: 2 slices Ezekiel whole grain bread with 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter and 2 tablespoons sugar-free black cherry all-fruit spread

Ice water or tea

Dinner

Doc’s Chili

1 ½ cups chopped romaine lettuce with ¼ cup sliced bell pepper, ¼ cup sliced cucumber, and 1 tablespoon low-fat vinaigrette

Ice water or iced tea

Jump Start Day 1

Ahh, Day 1. When you still have the best of intentions and you follow everything to the letter. Well, I'm trying.

Below is Day 1's menu, if you're curious. :)

So far I've only adjusted it a bit (adding a little bit of chocolate to my milk and using frozen fruit instead of fresh) so it's going well. The hardest part? I'm HUNGRY. I'm allowed to eat every 3 hours but I'm not used to eating limited portions. At least I know where my problem lies!

I made little lunch bags yesterday for today's meals which worked out really well. I'll have to do the same for tomorrow...

Breakfast

1 Ham & Cheese Breakfast Melt--YUM. I'd make this again every day.

¾ cup fresh blueberries--I didn't have fresh, so I had frozen. And added splenda.

8 oz fat-free milk--I added a touch of chocolate. I don't like regular milk.

Tea or coffee--neither

Snack

1 large apple--I had a small/medium apple. It's not really apple season.

1 stick low-fat mozzarella string cheese

Ice water

Lunch

Turkey Wrap

6 baby carrots

1 cup jicama sticks

Ice water or iced tea

Snack

2 servings (4 pieces) Hummus Deviled Eggs

Dinner

5 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled or broiled

8 medium asparagus spears, grilled or broiled

1 cup cherry tomatoes with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

8 oz fat-free milk

Jump Start

I bought a book recently, The Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start, with the idea to try some new recipes and to use as a guideline to help me eat healthier.

I read the book very quickly and found it really easy to follow. The ideas presented are all the same ones that you always read, but the good part of the book is that it's not a restrictive diet like Atkins or any of the other low-carb things.

They give 30 full days of recipes and food to eat and for once it's almost all food I'd eat! I've found that the meal plans are not as well-mixed as I'd like, but the food is interesting and the recipes are simple. I think I just need to mix up Day 7 with Day 14 (or something of the sort) so that I'm not eating fish 4 days in a row. :)

I went shopping today to get the first week's worth of food and, WOW. That was a lot of food. And a high grocery bill, but I'm hoping that a lot of the food can be used in the upcoming weeks. Yikes.

So tomorrow is Day 1. I've made the lunch and the snacks for both me and Bob for tomorrow and put them in lunch bags (hee) so we're all set. I just need to get up in the morning and make breakfast, which should only take about 5 minutes. Quick and easy! And it really is a good amount of food for the day.

My biggest problem is going to be cutting down on the diet coke. :)

Wedding Photos!

I don't have very many, and most are from later in the evening, but it was a beautiful wedding. :)

Bob and I are off to Wisconsin tonight so we can attend the wedding of Erin & Dennis.

3 1/2 years ago, Erin and I went on a cruise only expecting a fun little vacation and maybe a suntan, but she came back with something much better: the love of her life.

Dennis and his friend Walt were taking a vacation together too and the first night on the cruise, we met them in the piano bar and spent the night having drinks and chatting. Erin and Dennis hit it off and they spent most of the rest of the cruise together.

And now they're going to spend the rest of their life together!I feel so lucky to be there when they met and even luckier to be able to see them get married. :)

Monday

The first few weeks of my time off, I was super-productive and was getting a lot done: cleaning out closets, scrapbooking, making felt animals, and so on. Then...I got bored. And I did pretty much nothing, other than playing Lego Batman. :)

Now that I'm done with Lego Batman and have gone through my netflix movies, I'm starting to feel productive again.

Bob's been helping...he's taught me how to copper foil some glass beads that he uses for his pieces and has been bringing some home for me to work on. I did a bunch of larger ones last week and recently he brought home the "green box" of small beads. I've started on these and they're a bit more difficult! I don't know why, but the foil isn't sticking as well, but I'm trying my best. Hopefully he won't have to redo many of them!!I think I'll start scrapbooking again too. :)

Happy Easter!

I'm at my mom's for Easter this year and spent some time going through some old photos. This is so much fun. We laughed at our 80's hairstyles and the old house with it's shag carpeting and goldenrod appliances. What I woudln't give for some of the lamps she had back then...
In all of the photos I found a couple of Easter-releated ones:

Easter 1978. My sister and I. For some reason, all of the photos from when I was little cut off our toes or our foreheads. Lucky Jandy, she got it both this time!!

Easter 1980: A neighbor (I think) and me with the "Easter Bunny" (aka our neighbor Larry Ross). We were at an Easter egg hunt and I was wearing my awesome tulip coat. But apparently was afraid of the camera? I dunno.

I have more pictures to come. I found some good stuff here and could scan all day. But now I have to head upstairs to visit with the family.

Happy Easter!

Photo Flashback

I'm realizing that I've been avoiding my poor blog for a while now and am looking for something that I can do every week (at least) so that I'll post more often. I've found that if I write a little, it leads to most posts. :)

So...Photo Flashback time! I've only had a digital camera for about 5 years and don't yet have a scanner, so I'm currently limited to what I can post, but since I take pictures ALL of the time, I have a number of photos that I can post. So here's number one!

This is from a trip that a group of us took over Thanksgiving 2004. We spent 5 days in Amsterdam, eating pancakes, drinking Heineken, and walking around the city. This photo is from a moment when I was waiting for some friends in the square that was close to home--The Leidseplein. It was nearing Christmas so the lights were up in the trees and there was a list snow/rain falling. It was a nice, quiet moment, just sitting and enjoying the square.

Thursday Dinner

So I’m back on the cooking kick again. I spent a good amount of time earlier this week looking through cookbooks, trying to pick out healthy recipes to try out. After making a (huge) list, I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought all of the ingredients. And…only bought 3 things not on my list!! (pretty good for me, actually. Too bad one of the items was chocolate ice cream pops…)

Last night I made a recipe from my sister, cheesy chicken crescents. No pictures of that one (I forgot) but it turned out pretty well. It’s basically chicken, cheese, and onions rolled into crescent rolls and then covered in a sauce made of cream of chicken soup, milk, and cheese.

Easy peasy!

Tonight was white chicken chili from the Betty Crocker cookbook (page 543). It takes 5 hours in the crock pot and was really easy to put together. I’m not totally sure about whether it’s a repeat or not, but it’s healthy (about 400 calories a serving) and with cheese, it's not bad. Everything's better with cheese.

More dinners to come!!

Things to do When You're Unemployed

Yikes. There's not that many. :)

I'm reminded of a Friends episode where Joey teaches Ross how to spend his unemployed time. They start by crank-calling Chandler at work and when they're done, Joey says something like "and that's Wednesday."

That's kind of how time works when you don't have a job. You spread out what you do over DAYS instead of hours.

Today, my day's accomplishment will be adding a link to Bob's glass shop in my sidebar here. He's been posting and creating new pieces lately so it's worth checking out again. :)

...and that's Friday.

Dreams

I've been off of work for over 4 weeks now and each day is blurring into the next...I can't believe that it's been so long since I wrote about the tub. (it's fixed, by the way)

The highlights of my last week include: cleaning out the family room closet and making a real dinner twice this week. We also found some REALLY YUMMY beans at trader joe's. So much so that Bob actually made them willingly one night! They're thai-flavored and come frozen so they're super-easy to make. Totally a repeat buy.

Trader Joe's is kind of always a highlight for me though. :)

Also, I think I've been watching too much What Not to Wear. I had a dream last night that I was chosen to get the makeover...which was AWESOME. I also knew that it was my sister that nominated me since she hates that I wear black so often. They were super-nice to me but up-close (in my dream), Stacy was OLD and wrinkly and wore too much make up. Which is INSANE because she's so pretty and cute and had great skin. My dream mind was mean to her. Rude.

I think it's because I really need a hair cut and it's pushing me to actually call and make the appointment.

Tub

So our tub's still clogged.

I called the landlord last night and he returned my call today around 11. His parents are now here to try to unclog the beast. I feel bad for them, however, because everything that they're doing, Bob and I already tried. It's just not going anywhere. But, more power to them. Maybe it'll be like the pickle jar--once they try, it'll work (I loosened it for them).

So, I'm sitting here, trying to be out of the way while my landlords parents work on my bathroom.

And of COURSE I have to pee. I may have to go to target just to use their bathrooms! (any reason to head to target...)

What to do with your time off

Day 17 of unemployment (I can't believe it's been that long). Here's my day:

7:30am: Wake up. Putz around the house
8:30-9:30am: Walk the dog, shower, get ready
9:45am: leave for interview
10:30-11:30: Uh...interview
11:30: go home
12:30: go to target to get a plunger and some drano. The tub's stopped up
1:30: eat lunch, try to fix tub
2:00: watch Lost (ahhh!! Love it)
3:00: pay bills
3:30: scrapbook

And the rest of the evening will probably just be TV watching. Today is a pretty productive day. Some days are like this:

11am: wake up
11:30am: walk dog, eat
12-10pm: watch TV

I try not to let that happen though. :) If I have at least one project a day, I'm good. So...crafty fun! Scrapbooking has been going well...I'm into 2005. Hurrah!

Hello Again!

I feel like every time I write up here, I'm apologizing for not writing more. So...sorry. I'll try to do better. :)

I've been officially unemployed for a little over two weeks now and have been amazed how easily my days fill up. I've made felt animals, gone to roller derby, gone to the auto show, and to Trader Vic's (again). During the day, I've gotten just about my fill of HGTV at this point. oof. There's only so much you can watch! :)

I've also had one interview and have another set for tomorrow. Fingers crossed that one of these will work out! Both jobs seem super-interesting and something I'd like to do. In a perfect world, I'd get to choose, but I'd be happy with either.

5 Days

So I have just 5 work days left. And, frankly? the last one doesn't count since I'll be leaving the office early in the morning, after picking up my check.

My to-do list is dwindling and I'm working on cleaning out 10 years worth of files and e-mails. It's quite a task.

My other task is getting all of my music off of itunes and getting it home...wow. I accumulated a lot there. My 2 flash drives are full so this will probably be a project for the whole week.

I'm also starting to keep a (mental) list of all of the things I want to do while I'm off of work. Crafty stuff, mostly. I'll probably be hitting up JoAnn Fabrics soon...

Um...I should probably look for a job too. That's on the list too. Unless someone out there wants to find one for me? It's a long process. :)

Yep, Still Cold

And now the river is frozen (pretty much). I'm looking forward to the high of 5F this afternoon. Woo!

It's Kinda Cold Here

Like, really cold. Like wind chill of -40F cold. After my 2 hour (!!!) commute in this morning due to slow blue line trains, I sat at my desk for trying to warm up. I'm almost there, 3 hours later. :)

Above is a photo of the Chicago River...you can see the steam coming off of it and the ice that's starting to form on top.

Brr...

And I get to do this all again tomorrow! Yay Chicago winters!

Hmmm

Once upon a time I wrote on this blog. I will again, I promise. :)

I AM very good at updating facebook, however. Feel free to friend me over there...

In the meantime, check out photos from a recent evening out with friends. It was an interesting night to say the least!

And also...anyone know of any editorial/publishing jobs? Still searching and I only have 12 days of work left. Yeek!