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

2012: Week one

The past 7 days have lacked excitement.

The Mister is still unemployed.  He's been sleeping and lazing around.  I know he'll get a job soon, and totally don't blame him for taking some time to decompress after all the stress of his previous job.

I haven't seriously looked for a job yet because if he can't find a job here then we'll be moving.  He's the major income in our household, so where he works is where we'll live.

I've noticed a big change in his attitude, though.  He's calmer, less grumpy, and more patient with the dogs.  We've had the chance to have some good conversations, too.  So not everything has been bad about him not working.

I had a dream last night about us living in a trailer.  It was pretty trashy & falling apart.
Hoping things don't get that bad....

2011: wtf?

2011 was supposed to be a year like any other.  Instead, it turned into (unfortunately) a year unlike any other.

January
We got a new backsplash in the kitchen!  I slate and found some lovely tiles that I wanted.  Fortunately they also matched our colors, which keeps happening, no matter what I pick out, it seems.  And the end result looks gorgeous!

February
Received news at work that one of my co-workers was leaving.  And just as I was beginning to like her.  blah

March
Had my work annual review.  Learned that I did half of the computer work in the office.  Was told I needed to be nice to Yappy and more social in the office, but otherwise I was doing a great job at my WORK.
Co-worker that I liked left.  Major bummer.
Went to Spokane to visit the cousins and aunt & uncle the week of our birthday.  They surprised us with a cake and the song.  I was immensely touched.  I love them so much.
Got home to, SURPRISE!, Mom waiting for us at our house.  Wonderful birthday.  So happy no one made a big issue of turning 30.

April
Celebrated a full year in our new home.  Yay us!
Learned that co-workers really are immature children.  Requested going to part time and was allowed to do so, beginning May 1st.

May
Switched to part-time at work, finally.  After a week of it, co-workers got even MORE bitchy, so I gave my notice.  7 weeks of it.  I'd had enough and it was obvious that no matter how hard I tried, I would not be allowed to work quietly at work.
I planted my very first garden!  Strawberry plants only.  Hoping they survive the winter and produce again next year.

June
I FINALLY QUIT!!  The relief, the joy, and the mixture of a few dozen other positive emotions summed up my entire month.
Although I was originally planning to go to Spokane right away for the birth of my cousin's son, the plan changed after all.  So I stayed home and literally felt weight lift from me every day.  Best feeling in the world.
I also got to start taking the dogs for walks daily at the big County park.  They had so much fun!  It lasted only until the heat of July made it more difficult--getting up at 7 AM to take the dogs for a walk was soon too hot, even at that hour.

July
The Mister and I went to Denver.  Got Nigel fixed while we had a vacation around town.  Celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.
90ºF+ every day, rained every night, got to see my first electric lightning storm.  It was our first real vacation, spending more than a day seeing the sights and relaxing.  So lovely.

August
We sold Nigel and ordered a new MINI Countryman.  Saying goodbye to a car was harder than I thought.  He was my first true dream car made real.
Thus began my 3 month homebound journey.  It got old, fast.
But we also got a new heat pump installed in the house.  Heat pump's provide air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.  Instead of running on gas, they run on electricity, so bills should be lower in the winter.

September
Tracked my new car on it's ship.  Obsessively.  Every day.  Multiple times a day.  It only took for.ev.er.

October
Things started getting shitty right about now.  Yes, I got my new car.  And the Mister got in a car accident.  It was his fault.
He got written up at work--for not reporting the accident right away, for not bringing his "A game" every day because of his chronic migraines.  His stress was high and no relief was in sight.  He was told that if he had a migraine, he wasn't allowed to come to work.

November
Mom came for a visit, we went to Broad Comedy.  It was a lovely visit.
The following week was Thanksgiving.  I made dinner.  Very proud of myself.

and....December
This month sucked.  Bad.
Received horrible news that made me doubt my life.
And the Mister got fired.  The day after Christmas.  For his "job performance".  Despite the fact that he'd gotten his migraines under control, continued to do his ad work, and was staying late (until almost 9 some nights) at least 3 days a week.

So now neither of us has a job.  It's not how I ever thought the year would end.  The Mister has always had such incredible work ethic, and he's an amazingly dedicated hard worker.
We may or may not be able to stay in our home.  We may or may not even be able to stay in Bozeman.  Although this gives him the chance to start a new job, where he'll hopefully be much happier, it's made our future look unbelievably questionable.

Life is suddenly a lot harder.
Here's hoping the New Year offers us a lot of great chances for a brighter future.

erratic apprising (random update)

Not a whole lot going on here lately.  It got cold, there's sky poo on the ground, and Smudge has returned from her sojourn to the spare bedroom for two months.

So now I'm back to the miraculous ability of multi-tasking:  pet the cat with one hand, rub Lily's paw (no idea why she likes this so much) with the other hand, and stroke Amber's belly with my foot.  Or pet the cat, rub Amber's neck, and pet Lily's belly with my foot.  The dogs are ok with foot love, the cat demands hand.

Smudge has declared Lily's kennel as her bed.  Lily hates me when I tell her to kennel up before realizing the cat's owning her place.
Their eyes only glow when they're in the kennel together, I promise.

Coolest packaging I've ever seen.  It came in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

Cut along dotted line, empty contents, turn inside out and enjoy the new satchel.  Seriously!?  

Turned inside out.

What was before a mailing pouch is now a reusable tote!  How flippin' cool is that!?

Not only has Smudge taken over Lily's kennel, she's helping herself to Amber's food.
I'm still trying to figure out why she thinks she's a dog.
Don't cats usually have disdain for dogs?

All that pilfering is exhausting.  And fattening.
Meet Pudge.

Amber is precious.  Sometimes she just sits there and stares at me.  I wish I could read her mind.

Fog!  Yay!!

This is spotted dick.  In a grocery store.
ew.

Moonrise.  Love it.

Lily doesn't sit & stare, she worms her way onto the couch and paws me until I pet her.
Or kiss her.
Or push her off.

No baking this year!  For the cookie exchange, I made peanut butter balls.  302 of them, to be exact.
This was just the first batch.

Don't my chocolate covered balls look yummy?

Smudge buries her face in pillows now, apparently.  Maybe it's a coping mechanism--if she can't see the dog coming, the dog won't come?
Or maybe it's because she's ashamed of herself for eating dog food?
Whatever the reason, I hope she realizes it makes breathing more difficult.