February 10, 2012: Five Question Friday

1. How often do you shave your legs in the winter?

This could be quite embarrassing and I would be interested to know how many women actually answer honestly. So, to be honest, if it's cold and I'm wearing jeans a lot, I don't shave that often. I've been married for 15 years. Who am I trying to impress?? And it seems like complete wasted time and effort to shave only to cover up with jeans. But let's face it. It's San Diego. It's February and my AC is on because it's 80+ outside. I'm wearing capris. When I'm wearing shorts or capris (I don't wear dresses and skirts), I shave every other day. And that's my honest answer. 

2. Valentine's Day cards for your spouse: funny or romantic?  

We hate this holiday. I don't think we've exchanged Valentine's gifts/cards since 1999. Or maybe it was 1998. Who cares?

3. What are you most looking forward to about spring?

 

Hiking. We're going to hit the desert this spring while the flowers are blooming and before it gets too hot. We haven't hiked in the desert since we've been back to Cali and I'm really looking forward to it. 

4. What's your favorite way to pamper yourself?

 

I don't pamper. I don't do spas, facials, mani/pedis. When I get my hair done, I do go to a fabulous salon and have a stylist that I love, but I don't get head massages or hair treatments. I also don't care much for baths. My idea of being nice to myself is buying a new lip gloss, a new shade of nail polish, or a new pair of shoes. Or maybe a nice, quite meal out with the Mister. 

5. Does your tax return go into savings or do you spend it instantly?

 

Savings. Ha! Last year we bought new furniture and saved some of it for our anniversary vaca. This year we're paying off some stuff and then putting the rest of it away in savings. We're trying to grow up and behave like adults with our return this year. ;)

Thieves Suck

People suck. I know, I know. I've said it before. It's becoming my mantra. But it just seems like negativity is more prevalent these days. Case in point:  The Oldest Child's iPhone was stolen out of her backpack yesterday at school. I honestly can't understand why someone would have stolen her phone because it was cracked all over the place. We refused to replace it because she refused to keep a cover on it and to keep it out of her back pocket. And I mean it was cracked. Why steal someone's broke ass phone? Because people suck.

What makes it worse is that I'm almost 100% positive that it was stolen by a military kid. Why? Because we used iCloud's "Find My Phone" (Yes. Not only do people suck, but they're stupid too.) and tracked it to a base housing area in the College Grove area of San Diego, specifically, Chollas Heights Navy Housing. Yeah. That's right. I know where you live because you are just that stupid.

It could've been a friend visiting over there, but I would be willing to bet it's a military brat that has her phone. Not sure what they plan on doing with it. I have it set to wipe the next time it's turned on and I'll also be having it deactivated. We're figuring that they're going to take it to one of those cell phone recycling kiosks and get a couple bucks for it.

You know what else sucks? Bad karma. They'll get theirs.

White Sangria Recipe

We like to make sangria. It's currently our favorite mixed drink. Typically, it's more of a summer drink because it's full of fruit and it's easier to find a greater variety of fruits in the summer, but we like to make it all year long. We don't discriminate, hehehe. ;) When I make it, I like to tweet a picture of my pitcher (ha) because it always looks so pretty. Then, I get @replies asking for my recipe and it's really hard to send a recipe in a 140 character tweet. So, I thought I'd share on my blog and then I could refer people to this post when they ask.

I've tried lots of recipes that I've found online and have since modified them to our liking. That being said, I don't think I've made sangria the same way twice. Use this recipe as more of a guideline, substituting amounts of alcohol and fruits to your liking. I don't think there's a wrong way to make sangria.

• 1 bottle of white wine. I like to use a Pinot Gris most often. I don't recommend using an overly sweet wine at all though. For white sangria, one whole bottle of white wine is not optional.
• 2-3 cups of vanilla vodka. I love the flavor that the vanilla adds, but this is totally optional. You can use any flavored vodka or even a plain one if you prefer.
• Fruit. Of any kind. For the sangria pictured I used 2 green apples, a handful of raspberries, 1 orange, the juice of 1 orange, 1 lemon, and 1 nectarine. Slice the fruit. In the past, I've used oranges, pomegranates, and cranberries for a Christmas theme. You could also use all stone fruit or all berries for a themed sangria. 
• Here, you can add 1/2 cup of simple syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part water, bring to a boil and whisk until sugar dissolves. Cool before adding.). Again, this is only if you prefer a sweeter drink. Totally optional and you can add more or less to your taste.
• I like to mix this up with my hand if you can imagine that. You could use a long wooden spoon if you're not adventurous like myself.
• Then you chill it in the fridge for about 3-4 hours. The longer, the better.
• Serve over ice (or not if you prefer). Top off with some club soda or Sprite for some fizz. Add some of the fruit to the glass to make it pretty. ALWAYS (if you're using it that is) put a slice of green apple in the glass and eat it at the end. It's the best. You'll see what I mean.
• With this sangria, I saved some raspberries and we're going to pop them in our glasses when we serve it up because raspberries totally break down after sitting in the sangria for hours. They look really pretty in the glass. 

That's it. Aside from all the slicing of fruit, it's pretty easy to make. It's soooo yummy that all the slicing it totally worth it. It makes me feel creative too. Oh. And some recipes called for flavored liqueurs, like peach or whatever. We've made sangria with peach schnapps before and it was a good additive but not necessary. Like I said, follow a recipe to start out, but change it up and make it your own. 

February 3, 2012: Five Question Friday

1. What have you done recently that you are proud of?

I finally made myself go to the doctor...and get referrals to three other doctors, lol. I'm a mess.

2. What is your favorite way to work out? Or if you don't workout, what are you wanting to try?

 

I always work out on our elliptical machine. I don't know if I'd call it my favorite way but I'm not into bouncing my flab in front of other people so it works for me.

3. If you knew you best friend was cheating on spouse would you tell?

 

I probably wouldn't tell on my best friend. I'm inferring from the question that I'm not really friendly with the spouse so why would I tell? I wouldn't be able to stop myself from judging though. If you're that unhappy in your marriage that you have to cheat, grow a pair and get out of it. Please, just be good enough at the cheating that I don't find out and don't bring me into it.

4. If you could afford a live-in maid or nanny, would you have one?

 

Yes. Definitely. Yes. Without hesitation.

5. Do you stress out about birthdays (specifically the age) or do you enjoy them?

 

I didn't used to care until I turned 30. Now I obsess about being/getting old. 

Tea Time

I know nothing about tea. All I know is what I like and what I don't like and that I still haven't figured  that all out either. One of these days, I'll be a tea snob. ;)

Black Tea...Don't like. I have never tried a variety of black tea that I like. It has too strong of a tea flavor I think.

Sweet Tea...I honestly don't understand how anyone likes sweet tea. Living in the south for three years, it was EVERYwhere and I was probably the only person around that could have cared less. It's so thick and sickening sweet. Yuck.

White, Green, Oolong, and Herbal Tea...I haven't come across a variety of these teas that I didn't like. I like them plain and I like them flavored. I like them cold and I like them hot. I love how the different blends have different health benefits. I love how a hot mint tea feels wonderful to drink when I have a cold or sore throat. I love a cup of hot tea on a cold day. Yum.

Mate'...I've only tried this variety in a blend so I can't say whether or not I like it for sure.

Rooibos...I've never tried this variety. At least I don't think I have. I'm gonna though.

I am the only tea drinker in my house. Well, I used to be the only one. Yesterday, we took a drive up to North County Fair (When I went to their website to get the link, I discovered that they now call it Westfield North County Mall. I knew it as North County Fair so there.). It's a nice mall and we hadn't been there since we moved back to San Diego. On the second floor, I looked over and lo and behold, I saw a store called Teavana. I dragged the Mister and the kids over because I just had to go inside. We'd barely stepped over the threshold when we were offered samples of teas. I tried them all and so did the Oldest child. We both liked what we tried except she didn't like the sample of Oolong tea we were given. Then we were educated on cast iron teapots and how they are the superior way to drink tea. They had alllll kinds of cast iron tea sets. And I mean all kinds. I had the hardest time picking out a set. ;) I decided to go with a neutral gray set that had a dragon on it. It's the year of the dragon and I like what the dragon symbolizes:  Power, strength, good fortune, happiness, and immortality. I figured we could use some good fortune and you can never have too much happiness.

After picking out my teapot, I then had to decide which teas I wanted to buy to drink out of my pot. I made the Mister try the sample of "Chai Chai" that they had out because I thought he'd like it despite the fact that he thought he didn't like any teas. And I was right. So we bought some of that blend. I really wanted the Monkey Picked Oolong but at $25.00 for two ounces, I thought it a bit pricey. So we decided to get the Youthberry Wild Orange Blossom blend that was also a sample and was the Oldest's favorite. Then I picked out Blackberry Mojito Green Tea simply because I liked the sound of it and it smelled wonderful in the tin.

Last night, the Mister, the Oldest and I (the Youngest was at a sleepover) tried both the Youthberry and the Blackberry teas. After some trial and error with measurements, I brewed an excellent pot of each variety. They were just fabulous and all three of us liked each pot. This morning, we're having the Chai Chai blend. It has as much caffeine as a cup of coffee so we saved it for the morning. I LOVE my teapot.

I still refuse to look at the receipt to see how much we spent, lol. It was like once I got started picking out stuff, I couldn't stop myself. We spent enough that they brewed us three complimentary cups of Chai Chai. We're going to go back today (there's a Teavana at a mall close by) and pick out a few more teas. I'm excited! Teavana is my new favorite store. I love everything about it down to the tissue paper they used to wrap up my tea set. We also appreciate that they appreciate the military by giving us a 10% discount on tea.

My Dragon Teapot Set

Turns Out, I'm a Man

I got this from Lady Banana. How does she always find these interesting things?? Anyway, Google thinks I'm a man. Nifty. According to their results from analyzing my Google cookie, I'm a 25-34 year old man and that's how Google advertises to me. Heheh. Whatev. This is what they used to determine my maleness...The things I "Google":

Business & Industrial

Computers & Electronics

Food & Drink - Cooking & Recipes

Food & Drink - Cooking & Recipes - Meat & Seafood

Games - Online Games - Massive Multiplayer

Internet & Telecom - Mobile & Wireless - Mobile Phones - Smart Phones

Internet & Telecom - Web Services - Web Design & Development

Shopping

 

I'm assuming the major determining factors are the Games, Internet & Telecom, and Computers & Electronics. Probably Business & Industrial figure in too. It's kind of insulting that Google thinks these interests fall under the male aegis. Oh wells. 

Wanna know what Google thinks about  you?  Click Me and find out.

January 27, 2012: 5QF

 

 

1. Do you swim in the winter?  

Why? The ocean is too cold almost year around here so it's certainly too cold in the winter. The pool isn't heated. I'm not into polar plunges or whatever it's called. So, no.

2. Do you love or hate winter?

 

I'm not a winter person but winters in San Diego are barely winter. It was in the 80's today. I can live with that.  

3. Do you put makeup/actual clothes on when you know you're going to be home all day with just family? 

 

Sometimes I do. If I'm feeling down, it helps to make myself up like I would if I were actually going to be around people. Other times, I revel in being able to be a slug at home. I always put regular clothes on if I have to leave the house for any reason. I'm not one of those moms that's comfortable taking the kids to school in my jammies.

4. How old were you when you had your first alcoholic beverage?

 

Geez. My parents might read this, lol. Seriously.

5. How many ill calls in a 12 month period do you think are acceptable?

 

It depends. Some people are more susceptible to illnesses like bronchitis or other types of illnesses where it makes it impossible to function. If you're hacking up a lung, you can't really interact with people if that's the type of job you have. On the other hand, I don't let my kids stay home from school unless they're puking, and/or have a fever, and/or bleeding. The sniffles or a headache, in my opinion, isn't a sufficient reason to stay home. I never think it's ok to call off sick if you're faking it.

Intruder Alert

Yesterday, I was in and out of the house all day running errands or whatever. Right? So, last night I go to open my bedroom window because it was hot and stuffy upstairs and I notice a sticker on my window. It has a drawing of a falling child and says something about the dangers of falling out of second story windows. I look at the Mister and ask him if that sticker has always been there. Umm. No. That sticker is new. We looked in the office and sure enough, another sticker. We go into the Oldest Child's room and ask her if she has one and she does. WTF???

I call the housing office and I'm like, "Was someone in my house today?" She said that yes, they had been around to all the houses to put stickers in the windows. And I'm all, "So you're telling me that while I wasn't home today, a perfect stranger was in my house without any warning or notice at all??" And's she's all, "Well, we put notices on everyone's door two days ago." I never saw a notice. I asked the kids if they had possibly taken it off the door and they both said no. I start giving this lady an earful. Then she asks me if I'd like to speak to the district manager. Yes please. I give that lady an earful. I'm all like, "I know this is military housing but I don't appreciate being treated like a second class citizen. I also have two pets one of which is a kitten that likes to try and run out the door all the time and the other is a big, older dog who is getting snarky in her old age and who has never been around strangers without one of us being with her." The district manager is all apologetic and understanding but she's like, "The stickers were mandated by the Navy." Fine. I don't have an issue with the stickers other than the fact that they insult my intelligence. I have a problem with strangers being in my house without giving me proper notice. A note on the door blowing away or being stolen by the neighborhood kids isn't a proper notice nor is it an excuse for me not getting notice. I never give PTE (permission to enter) when I'm not home because of my pets. Geez. She asks if I would like them to put a note with my key that they never have PTE. Uh...YES!! I would like that. Cripes.

I have never felt so violated. I hate knowing that someone was in my house and amongst my things without me being there. I'll also be sure not to toss any kids out of the second story windows now that I have a handy sticker reminding me that it's not such a good idea.

Effers.

If It Isn't One Thing...

I keep getting things messed up in my head. Twice, recently, I've been wrong about days of the week and appointments. Luckily, I figured it out ahead of time before I actually showed up to these places without an appointment. One of those appointments was for the doctor which was today.

I would say that I have moderate "White Coat Syndrome". It's not so bad that I can't make myself go to the doctor, but it's bad enough that I put it off until I absolutely can't anymore and I'm a freaking mess while I'm there. My blood pressure today was the highest it's been since I was pregnant. My chest was flushed completely red. And my hands were shaking. I'm lucky that they didn't commit me.

I have finally found a really nice doctor and the nurses are fabulous too. I had to have blood drawn and the nurse was so good that I barely felt it. I'm an easy draw anyway, but she was really excellent. I also had to pee in a cup. If peeing in a cup isn't the epitome of fun, I don't know what is. And you know a man designed the cups for that.

I was told that I have to stop taking Excedrin and Advil for my headaches. I also have to cut back on caffeine and spicy food. Turns out that I'm a walking time bomb for stomach ulcers. I also have to get my stress under control. I'm working on that. I had something like 4 of the 6 indicators for ulcers. Or 6 of the 8. I can't remember. I know for sure that I had all but two.

I have a referral for physical therapy for my shoulder. I've been having some pretty good pain in my left shoulder for a few weeks now. I have a pocket of fluid in my shoulder which is causing my pain. I've never had physical therapy before so this should be interesting.

I also have a referral to a dermatologist because I have two cysts that I'm tired of living with.

I'm a mess. It's embarrassing. Which is why I feel like sharing publicly I guess. ;) Ultimately, I need to get my stress under control. Everything that's wrong with me, with the exception of my shoulder and the cysts, is caused by stress. I have headaches about five out of seven days a week (I have one right now which would make four days in a row so far.). I have heartburn or acid reflux several days a week. When I have a headache, I take Advil or Excedrin which can cause heartburn or make it worse. It's a nasty cycle but hopefully I'm on the road to getting everything under control.

January 19, 2012: 5QF

 

 

1. Where do you hide the reeeally good snacks?  

We don't really hide snacks from the kids. We actually have a large bowl that we put snacks into for easier access.

2. Do u keep your vehicle clean or am I the only one who has things falling out of their van?

 

My car is spic and span. Yes, I'm smug about it. It never has trash and stuff in it and I just recently Armor All'd, Windex'd, and vacuumed it. My windshield needs cleaned though. It always seems to get this film on it even though I don't smoke or anything like that. When the sun shines in it in the morning, I can barely see where I'm going. The outside of my car is another story. It's hard to keep cars clean in San Diego because it's so dry and dusty all the time. The Mister's car is always a pigsty. He went golfing a couple weeks ago and left his clubs in the back. I don't know how many golf balls rolled out of it, but they are now rolling all around inside the car. He's also bad about bringing in dirty coffee mugs and take out bags.

3. Have you ever been to Vegas?  

Nope. We've thought about going a time or two especially considering that we live within driving distance of Vegas but I dunno. It just seems that if I have the money to spend to go there I'd rather spend it and go somewhere else. For instance, we considered going back in 2002 but we went to San Francisco instead. I think we might be heading to Vegas for a weekend pretty soon though.

4. Warm room light blankets or cold room warm snuggly blanket?

 

I prefer a cool room and warm blankets. But the ventilation in our house doesn't work right and our bedroom is always hot. Even in the winter. 

5. What is the worst airplane/flying experience you've ever had?

 

Geez. Where to start? We had to argue once with an airline to get seats with our kids even though I booked seats together but they overbooked the flight. This was when the girls were babies/toddlers and too young to be by themselves. 

 

There was also the time I flew from Ohio to Florida for the Marine Corps Ball. I was six months pregnant with the youngest at the time. I had a connecting flight in D.C. The flight was late and I literally had to run from one side of the concourse to the other so I could catch my connecting flight. Yeah. That was fun with a purse, carry on, and being six months pregnant. 

 

Once, I was flying to Ohio with the girls by myself. The incoming airplane (my outgoing flight) was late so we departed late which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Denver. The girls and I spent the night in Denver but it was at the cost of the airline so it wasn't too terrible. 

 

Another time we flew to Ohio and right as we were landing in Columbus, the plane all of a sudden pulled back up really hard and we circled the airport again before finally landing. My dad saw the whole thing from inside the airport (this was before 9/11 when you didn't need a ticket to get back to the gates) and it turns out that they almost landed us on top of another airplane. My dad said that there was black smoke coming out of the engines because we pulled up so hard.

 

Most recently, I flew to California from a rinky dink airport in N.C. I got there early like you're supposed to but not early enough. Because it was such a freaking rinky dink airport, the same person that did ticketing also did security so when I tried to check my bags, there was no one there to do it. This caused me to miss my flight and I had to sit in the airport for FREAKING HOURS waiting for the next flight out. I was so incredibly angry and never used that airport again. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to live in the sticks. 

I think that's it. We used to fly a lot going back and forth from Ohio to California but not so much anymore. Considering what it takes to get through security nowadays, I don't miss it.

What Your E-Mail Address Says About You

I saw this in the Feb 2012 Reader's Digest and thought it was funny. Turns out it's from The Oatmeal but that site is black for the SOPA protest so instead of referring you there, I'm going to type it up here. You can check it out for yourself tomorrow when they're back up and read a more in depth write up in which they go so far as to speculate the age and build of e-mail users (Which is, in my opinion, not accurate.).

Own Domain (e.g., me@trisha.com) - You're skilled and capable.

@gmail.com:  When the Internet stops working, you actually try rebooting the router before calling a family member for help. 


@hotmail.com:  You still think that Myspace is hip. 


@yahoo.com:  You send e-mail chain letters saying that Bill Gates will eat your hard drive unless you forward this message to everyone you know.


@aol.com:  You phone friends to tell them about a neat website, then say into the receiver, "Ok, go to...h...t...t...p...colon...slash...w...w...w...dot..."

It happens that I think this is a pretty accurate picture of people. ;)

Gonna Be a Weird One

I have a general feeling of weirdness. Time Warner finally got the HBO Go app (Time Warner is the parent company of HBO so why in the world were they one of the last cable providers to get this app???) so I've been catching up on the show Six Feet Under. I've kinda been watching it nonstop for several days now. I'm a big fan of both Michael C. Hall and Peter Krause so I had to give this show a try. To be completely honest, I have a hard time seeing Michael C. Hall as anything other than Dexter Morgan. It's strange watching him having actual feelings and it's even more strange seeing him be a gay man. I had never heard of him before the show Dexter so that's probably why I'm having a hard time adjusting.

I'm into season three and I really like this show. It's so existential. How can a show about undertakers not be? I've been in a weird place for about a year now. I can't really explain it and don't want to on a public blog. But Six Feet Under is really speaking to me, making me question things and pay attention to other things. Has anyone else watched this show? Please tell me if you have and what you thought about it.

Monday was MLK Jr. Day.

Today, all the schools, year around and traditional, went back to school. Traffic was so light is was almost scary. Where was everyone this morning? Then, I came home and had a second cup of coffee with a bagel and cream cheese. A) I don't eat breakfast. And 2) I hate plain cream cheese. What's up with that??

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment. I've been entirely neglectful of going to the doctor on a regular basis. I don't think I've been to the doctor since Vermont. That would be five or six years, I would guess, at the least. I hate going to the doctor for several reasons. One, I haven't been to a doctor in years (if ever) that I've actually liked. They always walk into the room but keep one metaphorical foot out the door because they're so dang busy they don't have time to give you their full attention. Two, doctors are pill pushers and I hate taking meds. Going to the doctor stresses me out and makes my blood pressure high (I've been losing sleep over the anticipation of going too). I actually let one doctor prescribe a pill for that and all it did was make me pee ALL DAY LONG. And it was the kind of urgent pee that I was afraid to leave the house. How can a person live like that? So I stopped taking them. Three, I'm afraid that one time I'll go into the doctor and actually have something fatally wrong with me. I think I have a fear of illness. I don't want my life to be structured around one doctor's appointment after another and having to count out pills just to get through my day. I think I also equate pills, doctors, and illness with being old. I have a fear of that as well. You know. Being old. I'm putting all that baggage aside and going in tomorrow though. I've met this doctor already. I took both of the girls to him last year. With both of them, he actually came all the way into the room and sat down and talked with me. I have hopes that he's not a total asshole. (sorry) And before someone goes off the deep end, I'm not going because I suspect something is wrong. Geez.

This weekend the Mister and I are taking a date night. I know I said on FB that we were going last weekend but the Mister and I had a miscommunication and we had actually planned to go this weekend. The Mister is also taking a father/daughter day with the girls one day this weekend. None of us have any idea what we're doing for either day but we'll figure it out.

Oh. And one last weird thing. I can't find freaking ground pork anywhere and there seems to be a general shortage of pork products. The commissary was out of almost everything pork related so we went to Albertsons. I actually asked the butcher for ground pork and he said they were out. We checked back a day later and still no ground pork. Wth is up with that? I'm going to be two meals short this week because I can't find the meat that I need.

Everything is just weird right now.