February

The first few days of February have been frustrating and fun.

Do-it-half-assed-yourself with Mel & Mister!
The Mister and I wanted quieter fans in the bathrooms, since the construction-grade ones that were installed in the house were about as quiet as a drum solo.  We could hear them over the shower running.
Since I'd replaced so many switches in the house last year, I felt semi-confident replacing the fans.  Since the Mister had re-installed the fan in the guest bath, I felt mostly confident we could replace all of them.
So we attempted to replace one of two in the master bath to start.
The process began with removing the old, noisy fan/light.  Not too bad.
But the new fan was bigger.  The Mister had to cut a bigger hole in the ceiling.
Then there was the matter of mounting the new fan.  Since our attic is terribly difficult to get into, he didn't want to have to go up to try to mount it, especially since it meant I'd have to do work from the bottom that I probably wouldn't do right.
He figured out a magical, half-assed way to "mount" it:  use some anchors through the drywall on one side, screw directly into the joist on the other.  The fan stayed where it should.
Unfortunately, the damn thing wouldn't work right.  Yes, the fan would come on.  But only when the lights were off.  The lights worked either way.  The Mister suspected we needed a switch with more poles on it.
We tried searching the internet, contacting the build website we'd gotten the fans from, and contacting the manufacturer.  No answers on the internets, the build website provided some, and the manufacturer knew less about what I was asking than I did, which was extremely frustrating.
After cussing and trying everything he could think of, he finally relented to my suggestion that we call an electrician.
Fortunately, the electrician was out of town for the week.  Yes, fortunately.
Because while we waited, we attempted to install the second fan in the master bath.  And this one the Mister wired a little differently than the first--and it worked!!  Yay!!
So he pulled apart the first one, rewired it, and it worked too!  Hallelujah!
By that point, the guest bath fan was no big deal.  I had most of the minor install work done by the time he was done cutting the hole in the ceiling, so he basically just wired it, taped it, and tightened some screws.
yay us!

In the past week, we also tried pilates.  Since the Mister's doc told him he needs to stretch his hamstrings so they stop pulling his back the wrong way and strengthen his core muscles to support his back better, and I need want to try some no-impact exercise, this fit the bill.
Before we went, the Mister was skeptical.  "I don't know if I'm going to really be into this"
Well, ok, but don't go into it thinking you're going to hate it.
So we went.  We worked some muscles, built up a light sweat, spent some time together doing something good for us, and the Mister liked it enough that he wants to keep going.
yay me!!

A few days ago, after going to pilates, I started to feel icky.  After checking out the tonsils, I discovered ick in them.  Tonsillitis (hence the previous post).
I slept, I emergen-c'd, I drank water, I had soup, gargled with salt water, had fruit smoothies, and today I can say I feel 75% better.  My one tonsil is still a little swollen, but since I'm feeling better, I imagine it's just a matter of time before it catches up.
Of course, after the first day of me being sick, the Mister started to feel yucky, too.
He's tired, sore, and just blah feeling.  Hopefully he'll catch up to me, too.

Today, since I was feeling more energetic, I went to the pet store to get a cable to replace the one Lily broke, from use & cold weather, on Friday.  I also managed to find a tug toy that allows me to play with both of them at the same time.  They can either tug against each other, or me, and I can tug against both of them at once.  win!
yay doggies!

whine

Why, oh why, did she let me have my way about my tonsils when I was 8 and cried at the thought of surgery to have them removed?
I was 8!  I cried when my sister put gum in my hair just to "see what would happen".
Now, at the age of 30, I still have my tonsils.  And they're infected.  For the second time in 4 months.  And it sucks.
And the thought of having surgery on them as an adult sounds horrible, like an actual horror movie, from all the stories I've heard.
Why haven't doctors figured out a better, less painful way to remove tonsils?

Conversations with the Mom

On the phone today, I ask what her plans are for the weekend.
Instead of a coherent reply, I hear "ow, damn it, I just fingered myself"
well, that's awkward.
After laughing at her own hilarity, she says, "No, I mean, I just nailed myself"
omg Mom!  seriously!?

She gouged herself in her own palm with her fingernail.
Still.  Words you should hope to never hear from your mother are "I just fingered myself" or "I just nailed myself"

Camera 3

I'm going to channel Jon Stewart for just a minute because I have something very important to say....

Weather, meet me at camera 3.


Seriously, weather?  This is how you're behaving in the middle of what's-supposed-to-be winter?!  It's the end of January and we've only gotten a dash, pinch, and sprinkling of snow.  You do realize this is Montana, right?  We're supposed to be up to our ears in snow by now.  If not ears, at least ankles.  And instead of 50's, the temps are supposed to be BELOW ZERO, keeping snow in it's place on the ground instead of sublimating what's left of the ice on my yard.
While I know the skiers are bound to be frantic and likely having breakdowns due to no snow on their favorite hills, there's something more important to consider here.  Think of the trees!  Think of all the little forest critters, damn it!  Because, if this is how you're going to act, weather, come summer, all the trees are going to self-combust by mid-June when the sun thinks of even winking at them.  They'll just stand there, gasping for some kind of precipitation, and see the sun coming up over the peaks and throw up their limbs in despair, giving in to the inevitable--fire, smoke, and death.  All the poor little forest critters who live among the dehydrated trees will have to run far, far away--probably into town, because they can't go anywhere else, and then people will run them over or shoot them because people are assholes.
Is that what you want, weather?  Do you want the trees to commit suicide and the critters to get run over?  Because from the way you're acting, that's what's going to happen.
So get your shit together and sky poo on us already!  I've grown up enough now to appreciate winter for what it is--a season lasting 4-9 months where I get fucking cold and everything looks white and pretty.  So stop being a self-indulgent asshole, weather, and get your act straight.
Montana.  January.  Sub-zero temperatures.  A couple feet of snow.  Ice-covered roads.  People getting into accidents because they don't know how to drive.  Shoveling every day in my Uggs and mittens, scarf and hat to stay warm.
Do it!  Damn you, make it white and icy and cold and winter, weather!

Week 3

I feel like I just reached some unattainable goal.

On Tuesday, I attempted the first day of week 3 training--warm up walk for 5, run 1:30, walk 1:30, run 3:00, walk 3:00--and then repeat once more.
I did it!  I ran 3 minutes twice!  My legs got a little sore, but nothing horrible like Tuesday.
The weekly training will continue to involve longer runs and shorter walks, but for once I feel like I can actually do it.
yayay!

New Shoes

Same pain.

Of course, I started on longer runs than previous weeks, so I figured it would be harder.
But, really, shouldn't my shoes make me invincible to pain?
And, let's be honest, with shoes named "Storm electric violet lightning" shouldn't I be a professional marathoner as soon as I put the shoes on?

I may have the same pain, but at least the shoes have some purple on them.

Slow and Steady

I've recently started an attempt at jogging.

I've always wanted to be a jogger.  When I used to work out at the gym, I was concentrating more on weights than cardio because more muscle = more calories burning.  Which was fine and good...until the gym burned down.

Prior to the gym, I was a lazy bum.  Prior to being a lazy bum, I rode my bike.  A lot.  All over the old hometown.  I LOVED biking.  I still have the bike I babysat all summer in junior high to pay for.  I LOVE my bike.  However, since becoming a lazy bum, biking has become more difficult.
Nevermind that half the town bikes.  Nevermind that I live on a half-built street where not many people would see me.
I'm heinously self conscious about others seeing me huff and puff and grunt and cuss and eventually fall over in defeat.  It's why I joined another gym after the old one burnt down, went in once, and then never again.  Too many people could see me doing the huff to defeat routine.  Or even just the huff puff grunt.
I don't know why I get so self conscious--everyone else there is sweating and pretending to love it.  And I'm sure some of them have been where I am, but haven't given up.  But that doesn't matter, because in my mind, every single person in the gym isn't working out--they're all staring at me, waiting for me to fall over panting, so they can feel superior and super fit.  Jerks.

So getting a treadmill in August was wonderful.  I started using the iFit feature to download different walking plans to get me moving.
And then I stopped using it while Annie was here.  I blame it on her, but I'm sure it was just me being a lazy bum again.

Then, lo and behold, I happened to stumble upon a link, through a link, and a couple links before that that had nothing to do with fitness at all, that said Couch to 3K running program.  It's for lazy bums!
I can run and huff and puff and cuss and grunt and cuss and turn bright tomato-red and drip sweat with no one watching!
I've only just finished week 2.  It's a 9-week program.  Week 2 took 2 weeks to complete.  Some days I just can't complete the plan because I have hideous, crippling shin splints.
But...I plan to complete the program.  Sometime before 2014, at this rate.  But I will finish it!
And, proudly, happily, I can say my knees don't hurt at all!  I figured that since they've always been an issue, they would continue the proud tradition and make this program impossible for me.  But thanks to the fantastic treadmill's ability to provide cushion to my steps, my knees are ok.
It's just those damn shin splints.

Luckily, I know a couple runners, one of whom gave me some tips for stretching my shins--which seems to work.  Yesterday I completed the third of 3 week 2 workouts with minimal pain.
Now I just need to stretch every few minutes so my muscles don't attempt a return to their "but we were lazy and it was fun!" norm.

And find some decent running shoes.  Which means shopping.  In a shoe store.  Which, actually, doesn't suck, because trying on shoes doesn't involve stripping down like clothes shopping demands.  Maybe, just maybe, I can find a purple pair.  I'm sure purple shoes would let me run better/faster/less sweatier.

My new obsession

I have a thing for soup.  It's a recent thing.  And by thing, I mean thing.

Now that it's winter (supposedly), I feel that I can address some of my obsession with soup.

Soup, in my opinion, is pretty damn awesome.  You have a whole meal in a bowl--proteins, veggies, pasta, etc.--and it's hot and you can freeze it for a later date or slurp it up.

I discovered my thing at the Co-op.  They make fresh soups daily.  One of my favorite, apple potato bacon, is usually only available during the fall months when apples are plentiful.
But otherwise, almost every time I go to the Co-op, there's a soup option I can't turn down.
Last night it was green chilies bacon and cheddar soup.  It had jalapenos in it.  I don't even like jalapenos, but that soup was damn good!

Anyway, I first plagiarized a recipe based on Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagoli.  It was described to me, at the restaurant, as an "Italian-style chili".  With pasta.

So I hunted down the recipe for that soup.  Which then morphed into my Tuscan Stew.

The original soup at Olive Garden calls for about 9 ingredients.  I think I doubled that list.

• Beef broth
• Ground bison
• Kidney beans
• Cannellini beans
• Marinara sauce
• Diced tomatoes
• Carrots
• Onion
• Celery
• Red wine
• Spinach
• Kale
• Mushrooms
• Artichoke hearts
• Cheddar
• Garlic

And, of course, salt & pepper...
It's a very hearty soup, and full of goodness for you!


Last weekend I bought a ham.  I love ham.  LOVE ham.  If I had to pick one farm animal that I love more than any other, it's pig.  Ham and bacon.  I don't think I need to say more.

Anyway, I bought a ham because they were there.  And I knew, in the back of my mind, that no matter how small of a ham I managed to get, I'd have more than enough meat left over to put into a soup.  Or maybe I bought the ham for soup and figured there'd be some meat left over to just eat for dinner.

Ham, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, chicken broth and cheese.

Since I'm not a fan of beans with my ham, I searched all over the internet for a recipe that doesn't call for beans or peas or anything else that would ruin my ham.

I found a recipe for Cheesy ham & potato soup.  It doesn't suck.

I had me some of that

Apparently my obsession, as winter continues, is going to worsen.

I bought a soup cookbook.

From the New England Soup Factory.

Today was my first attempt at one of their soups:  Spinach & feta.  Originally spinach, feta and roasted pine nuts, but I'm no fan of nuts.

Cookin' on the stove--chicken stock, potatoes, onion, celery, white wine, garlic, spinach, cream and feta.

Steaming in the bowl

My next soups include Greek orzo, lemon and chicken soup, and apple, bacon and onion soup. The freezer is slowly filling up with soups.  yay!

Yes, there's more

I posted once about why I don't want to be a mother.

I'm in the middle of reading a book about being childfree.  I'm supposed to say childless because it connotes something I'm missing out on, rather than childfree which connotes that I don't have something negative, like sugar-free or paraben-free.

I have to say, even if it's "offensive", I'm going with childfree.  ;op

Anyway, in this book, it discusses all the different reasons people choose to not have children.  Financially, emotionally, etc. all come up.  My reasons tend to be more environmentally-related, but other reasons exist as well, like the fact that I love my Mister and we have a happy marriage and I know that if we had a child, it would lead to more stress--because he and I have very different views of child rearing.  And with his (former) busy work schedule, I'd be almost a single parent.

No thanks.

I'll leave parenting to people who truly desire children and bigger families.

As I was saying before, there are many reasons.  And one of the big things the author noted was that a majority of people she interviewed for the research & book tend to identify themselves as introverts.

*gasp

*shock

*awe

Such a big surprise!  The people who feel most comfortable in solitude & calm environments don't really want to create little beings who provide the very opposite of those things.  

I've also been exposed to a new term in this book--pronatalist.  We live in a pronatalist society.  Many people have kids because it's expected of them.  Once you get married, it's the next "logical" step:  have a baby (or 6).  Family, friends, and strangers tend to assume that if you're married, you should have kids.  

In fact, it's usually the second question I hear when I talk to someone new.  I'll volunteer that I'm married.  "Oh, how long?"  I answer (currently 10 1/2 years), and the follow-up question, 99% of the time, is "Do you have any kids?"

Pronatalist.

Even in most of my preferred reads, romance, the characters dream about being with their opposite in the future, including kids.  In trilogies or series, former pairs are spoken of with a baby on the hip or playing at their feet.

The only series I read that specifically doesn't have a h/h with mini-mes, is JD Robb's In Death series.  The author has said point blank that the series would end of the couple had a child.  She's been asked countless times by hundreds of people (I'm guessing) when the couple will procreate.  Pronatalists!

I'm only thankful that she's made a pair that don't depend on little ones for any future happiness or completeness.

My life is complete as it is, happily, with my favorite first husband in our little house in the valley with a few furry critters and a big blanket to share in the winter.

Politics

Although I often share my political beliefs with close friends, I don't talk about it much around acquaintances because you never know when you'll offend someone.  And I always manage to offend, even without politics.  Don't want to shock & awe people with my offensive abilities!

This is a general rant, though.  Not a side-taking thing.  Which means:  I hope I don't offend anyone.

Why must politics be so difficult for politicians?  Why don't real people stand up and say, "Enough is enough, let's get shit done!"?
I'm all for the federal government taking care of the big things like the military and education and taxes.  I'm sure what I want done with those things are different from other people's wants, but overall, I think we all want the same thing:  a safe, healthy, stable place to live.
I'd like roads that don't crumble or destroy my car when I drive, and bridges that actually stay in one piece.
I want to know my taxes are working to educate kids in the best possible way, by the best possible teachers (though I definitely know that's not always the case).
I wish the homeless had warm, safe places to sleep, and options and help for getting back on their feet.

I WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO STAND UP FOR ME.
I mean, I want the government to make sure I have safe food for me to eat, clean air for me to breathe, and yes, ok, access to health care to make sure the food and air aren't doing me damage in case the government isn't keeping up with stuff.
I want the government to stand up, pull their big-boy pants on, and DO WORK.  Pass bills that MEAN something, not a silly thing that means "in god we trust" or "let's take 4 weeks off at Christmas instead of 3".  Make the country a better place to live, not a place that other nationalities look at with scorn.

Make paid maternity leave for at least 9 months MANDATORY, and 3 months of paid paternity leave, too.  Everyone preaches about how our nation's fundamentals are based on family.  Family this, family that, family shmamily.  But no one's making the first months of a child's rearing that important?  Giving a new family member a solid foundation?  Oh no, that's just not possible.
bite me.

Give equal rights to everyone.  I don't have kids--other people at work did.  The same with the Mister.  He was expected to work when others didn't because they had kids, families to be with--but he only had me.  We're still a family together.  Stop treating people unequally based on whether they reproduce or not.  And stop making it ok for businesses to do it.

Stop giving certain states priority over others.  Get rid of the electoral college--it's antiquated and useless.
Yes, the country has a good foundation from our founding fathers, but for the love of god, we're not living in the 1700's anymore--hence women's right to vote, people of different races not being slaves, and other minorities owning property.

Corporations are NOT people.  According to some people, a human only reaches personhood at conception.  Corporations aren't created from sperm and an egg.  Hard to believe, I know.

If a heinously rich woman can leave her fortune to her dog, let same sex unions exist in the eye of the government.  Surely a partnership that's existed for 3 decades between two people is just as important to the survivor as the few years a dog had with her human.
Family is family, love is love, you can't "cure" someone of homosexuality any more than you can "cure" them of being an introvert.  Marriage may be defined by religious people, but the country is ruled by law, not faith.  If we were ruled by faith, like some other countries, women would be "owned" by men and oppressed in numerous other ways.

I'm sure I have more ranting somewhere in my head, but that let some steam off anyway....whew