this morning

well i guess you could say that this morning started last night. last night as my entire schedule was thrown for a loop, the great husband said "it's going to rain tomorrow." me: "you're still going to wake up though. and when you do you'll wake me up and then we'll start our usual routine." him: "nope. i'm going to wake up at 7:37 and you're going to bring me coffee."

... well.. one of us sure woke up at 7:37. me. which made for some rushing around this morning. which always makes for some interesting stories.
1. i forgot how our new tv works so i turned on the ps4. that got his attention.
2. because i just got my hair cut again and she told me to use paste in my hair to keep it doing the things i want it to, i put this stuff in that's called spike glue. because that's what we have and it seems like a paste consistency. negative. it seems like a glue consistency. now i can't run my hands through my hair. i can't run a brush threw my hair. i might as well have just stuck some gum in it.
3. my outfit is acceptable.
4. i didn't eat breakfast.
5. i left my house late. i need a clock in my bathroom.
6. because i woke up so late, usually i have a chance to drink a cup of before work. since that didn't happen and i was rushing around, i tried to put the coffee pot back where the cups go.
7. it's raining.
8. as i'm rushing down the hallway, trying to figure out how to get my umbrella to work (again sans coffee in my mouth) i spilled probably 1/4 of my sole cup of coffee on my favorite skirt.
9. i didn't end up getting my umbrella open before getting to my car. but i also kinda hoped that some how the rain would wash out the glue. not so much.
10. as i'm leaving my parking lot with no coffee in my system, no breakfast, a lap filled with the coffee i wish was in my mouth, i turn my car around and there's another car. just sitting there. making it so i can't get out of the stinkin' driveway. lady - people have places to go. we're not just hanging out so we can see your benz.

so there you have it folks. another day, another glued hair, lack of coffee, stained skirt, irritable situation. what would make my day perfect is if for whatever reason my boss was like you know what? today - you can go home. just go home. save your skirt and your hair and we'll see you when the rain stops. until then...

because english

my dear husband is wearing off on me. he's been ranting for years about the degradation of society. mainly, he rants about how kids speak/not speak, people obsessed with their phones and generally not functioning in/with the world. the man is obsessed with video games, tvs and technology in general and yet cannot understand why people would need to shorten the word "crazy" to cray. or why people can't type out full words and use letters to communicate things. it tends to be a joke between us and yet, i guess, by making it a joke it slips into our vocabularies as well.

reading this article from the atlantic about how english (yes i know i'm ranting about the english language and i refuse to capitalize. irony people.) has a new preposition - because internet. basically people can no longer speak in full sentences. there are too many words included in making complete sentences to generate ideas. honestly, i don't have a problem with these things for the most part. what i have a problem with is that because these things happen and are accepted people do not learn how to correctly communicate with one another and then what's going to happen? *nod, shrug *text* maybe a smile. *end conversation (i almost typed convo. lol. <-- nbsp="" p="" terrible="">
it's bad enough the our attention span is so short everything has to be explained in shorter and shorter methods - soon our feature films will be as long as commercials! or youtube clips. it's bad that i can't sit through a 13 minute youtube clip right? i'm not saying i'm any better than anyone else. i've already admitted to using these forms of speech but i'm afraid of what will happen to the world when people aren't able to communicate any other way.

idiocracy, anyone?

because stupidity. 

i had a creepy dream last night

a dream where for whatever reason i had to marry my cousin and at the last moment i was like "we can't do this! we're first cousins!" (these are probably dreams i shouldn't share with the internet. whatever.) so since the wedding was all set up and everyone was already there i was going to marry my ex-boyfriend instead. (i'm guessing this was a scenario where i never actually met my true love and women had to be married...) anyhow, this wedding - in the first place- i'm pretty sure was planned for someone else (i think a friend of mine). reusing weddings, weird. and i was just thrown into it. so we just rolled with it. and as i'm walking down the aisle i grab my ex-boyfriend's brother to be his best man because literally everything was supposed to be for this other wedding. wedding party included.

it's totally normal for me to have dreams like this. i come from a long line of odd dreamers. i loved the little things though. i remember when i was supposed to marry my cousin i couldn't stand how he smelled. and marrying the ex, i hated how he laughed. (true story. terrible thing to hate about someone too.) and i kept thinking "man, this is it for me. this is not what i was hoping for."

thankfully, i didn't have a wedding like that. i feel badly for anyone who had those thoughts on their wedding day.

it did get me thinking about my perfect wedding though. the one that i have all the money in the world to plan and can completely shop off of etsy. this changes depending on my mood. (i'm a girl. it's allowed.) but for round one of emily's dream wedding this is what it includes:


      

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

chair review.

remember when i told you all about my ball chair and promised further information and then i told you nothing? that was really nice of me..............









..... oh wait you still want to hear about my ball chair?


oh, ok. well, here is the chair with the ball i was using. remember? the ball that made my elbows hurt and my hips feel weak? i had that ball just on the floor and my boss told me i looked like mini me. then i got this chair. but the problem was that i couldn't just inflate the ball it came with and be merrily on my way. no, the ball has to warm up. then you have to inflate it 80% of the way, wait 24 hours and inflate it the rest of the way. what do you do when asked to wait? anything else. so of course i tried to put my ginormous but says it's 55 cm ball on my chair frame. do you think it fits?

do you think i tried to sit on this baby anyhow? do you think i/the chair/the ball went flying? you betcha bottom dollar! only took me twice to figure out that's not a good idea. 

so here's the chair with the ball at 80%. not big. not what i was expecting. in fact, the ball itself is sitting on the floor. doesn't even fill up the ring! queue emily freaking out that this isn't going to work! 

i went home that weekend, filled 'er up the rest of the way and came back in with a brand new hope. 

still it's smaller than expected but it actually fits in the ring quite nicely. 

and here i am one week? two weeks? (anyone else feel that was a bit count from sesame street - esque?) into it and i honestly feel like everything is where it's supposed to be. my knees are at about 90 degrees, my elbows are by my sides, and i'm slumping less. also if i sit too long my butt goes a little numb so i have to get up and do something else which is a good reminder. 

yup. that's my messy desk. and purple shoes. don't judge. judge. i don't really care.

i did hide my candy stash from you in this picture. :) 

yes i'm hunching in this picture. how else are you supposed to fit your body in and take the picture yourself?

also i wanted to show charlie that yes, i do wear my tutu/tulle skirt to the office. hello charles!

italian sausage soup

i'm about to make you jealous and not because of my amazing photography skills. 

this soup. 

italian sausage soup.

super easy italian sausage soup to be exact. 

was made with homemade sausage handmade by my father in law. 

as was the homemade bread to go with it. 

this was probably the best soup i've ever made. 

and erik even liked it. or... ate it rather. and he doesn't usually eat soup.

then again, he was super sick. 

but usually i can't get him to eat certain vegetables. 

and this has carrots, zucchini and spinach! 

i give it an A+!

i've recruited a buddy.

that's right amy has officially agreed to being my #30inthirty buddy. we even have our own google doc. that girl. she loves her google docs. periodically i will check in, let you know how it's going. any interesting stories that i may run into . ... hahaha get it? run. into. haha. i'm awesome.

for example, yesterday - as part of my yearly duties for being an adult - i was getting my car inspected. so i went on a walk to a) get fresh air because i'm pretty sure fresh air has saved me from becoming my husband* b) i had to go to the post office. c) i didn't want to hang out in the car place for 30 - 45 minutes. so i walked. unfortunately i had not thought about walking prior to my arriving at the car place so therefore i was wearing my lovely llbean slippers. which i often try to pass as shoes.

the problem with wearing these babies whilst walking for 45+ minutes? i have these little blister/rub spots on the tops of my feet. awesome, right? get your 30 miles with those!

 *(fantastic side note: last night erik asked me how on earth i've managed to stay healthy whilst he is basically dying. i truly am the healthier of the two of us. this rocks my socks beyond measure. he's all, "but i work outside, and i'm more active than you are and you work inside and sit around all day..." and i'm all yea but i a) have been drinking water like a fish because i figure if it can't stay in my body, i can't get sick right? b) i've been doing my best to get as much fresh air as possible. i open the window every time he leaves the bedroom... c) i leave the house often. i try to get up and not linger around him. mainly because he's irritable and i find that annoying but also because there are things to do and i have to get them done. and d) i'm trying to stay active. cooking, cleaning, moving... anything. so i'm happy to say, so far so good. although i'm only 75% sure that i've made it out alive and the slight sore throat, mild cough and drippy nose may mean i haven't made it out completely unscathed but i'm alive!

the death plague saga continues

day seven. seven days. seven days of having a sick husband. on day five he was supposed to go to the doctor. his symptoms include fever sweats, achy body, extremely sore throat to the point of being unable to eat the chili i made him because his throat is so raw, lots of mucous, possibly (is this possible?) too much saliva, super tiredness, super laziness, super not leaving the bedness, royally irritating his wife, being super irritable and snapping at everything said wife says and complaining about the massive amount of ricolas ingested.

on day five, his father came over and they had a discussion revolving around the fact that going to the dr is not going to make him better. thanks dude. not only this but others have had similar cold/viruses that have lasted two weeks. so we have another seven + days to go! yay!

on day six, i got home from work to have an actual conversation with my husband. an actual conversation! i've never been so happy! somehow, coughing up the mucous that was so large he gagged on it and spending the entire night hacking in the other room made it so that my husband had rounded the bend and i had him back! sort of. he still snapped at me when i suggested maybe he could go outside.

on day seven (yes today) he sends me a message "So if my mucus i coughed up looks like dijon mustard, is that bad?" of course that's not bad. what makes that bad? when you coughed up blood, that made me nervous. but dijon mustard? oh wait, internet research is telling me that you have tonsil stones. tonsil stones? what is this thing? that is so weird. nope, further research tells me that you are probably getting better.

please pray that we are on our way out of this and that i do not murder my husband.

selfish

you know what the hardest part about having a sick husband? i haven't been able to talk to anyone for days. i haven't been able to talk to my best friend about my work, my life, any random thing that happened to me. days have gone by and i didn't get any questions about my visit with my dad, my all day assembly, my 4+ hour drive. i have no one who cares about anything that i do. well, maybe not no one but at the same time it's really hard having no response to anything that you do. i know when i get home tonight i won't be able to talk about my day. i'll spend my time cleaning up and making sure someone else is taken care of... this is why i don't have kids. i'm obviously ridiculously selfish.

runvember

i'm feeling very unmotivated. run wise. it's cold out there and i'm super lazy all of a sudden. getting myself to move is like waiting for ketchup to come out. it takes forever so i need to be wacked.

so i'm going to do another 30 in 30. or #thirtyin30.  between skinnychickblog.com and bjones style #fitfabfallchallenge i guess november is the time to do it. plus, october's almost over so that would just be silly to try and do something in october. plus i have a lump of a shmuzband. he's sick. it's killing me. i'm at work and i'm basically sleeping. i have no idea how i've managed to not get sick so far. how does that happen? how can you be in such close quarters with someone, have them hacking on you all night and not get sick? i'm gonna go with my body is better than his.

plus, can we talk about sick men for a moment here? when i'm sick, i give myself the necessary rest and what not but i also know that things still need to get done. there's still cooking and cleaning if i want to eat/live.plus, i don't know about anyone else but i get to a point where i a) need to clean the sickness out of everything - how can you get better if you're still laying in your sick sheets with sick air surrounding you? b) need to move/get fresh air. see a. c) have to get stuff done. it doesn't matter if i'm sick. the world still moves on. and dishes don't get clean if i'm laying around feeling sorry for myself.

for the past 4 days, life has revolved around a certain sick person. he hasn't left the house. he's BARELY left the bed (not enough for me to change the sheets i can tell you that much. the one time i straightened out the blankets i was yelled at because i ruined the heat nook he had created.).never in my life have i ever called out sick for more than one day. not even when i drove myself to the hospital because i didn't think i would ever stop puking.

i hope he doesn't have strep again.

so in order to keep me going, here are some sick husband jokes.
     
  

spell check

my spell check at work is on crack.

that's the only explanation for the things that happen. often, i am reprimanded by my boss for not catching a misspelled word and i've recently realized it's not my fault. when you spend most of your day deciphering someone's handwriting and formatting letters your typing becomes some what second nature. i type. a lot. when i'm not writing letters for work, i'm writing ridiculous long emails to my friends about the ridiculous things that happen. (of course, with discretion.) when i'm not writing to my friends, i'm blogging. hello. :) all typing. therefore, typing is something i often do with no thought behind. when you're typing someone else's thoughts and opinions often you have to shut off your own ways of doing things in order to write things the way they want it rather than how you think it should be. so i type. without thought. unless it's interesting in which case i do pay attention. but that's rare. .... my point being that i type and i don't pay much attention and therefore things come out of my fingers that i don't necessarily mean. i think my right hand is faster than my left hand. sue me. no please don't.

so when i'm done with a letter i run it through spell check and often times my boss will come back and say things like, what's this word mean, yo? what does ahve mean? find os in the dictionary for me please. yesterday alone, i found that my computer accepted iwth on two separate occasions but would not allow mischaracterized to be a word. i don't get it. but today, i laughed today i typed out

iwht

guess what my computer thought i meant to type.. 

guess... 

wrong. 

so wrong. or worng like i just typed... maybe i need typing classes. 

iwht = ahead. yup. demon spell checker right there. just trying to get me fired. 

my ball adventures

so recently i've switched to using an exercise ball instead of a chair at work. i did my research. i made the commitment. i decided i would switch it up as of the time that my bosses went on vacation for several reasons:
a) no child would be tempted to play with my "chair"
b) no one would be able to give me grief about it
c) i wouldn't have to hear anything about it if i hated it.

also other reasons,
d) i sit at a desk all day, my hope was that i would move more
e) apparently you can burn an extra 350 calories a day. i'm all for that.

selfish reasons. mainly to keep my own sanity.

i brought in the exercise ball i already had. $5 at some store. cheap. i figured if i liked it i could get one that would actually work. according to my research i would need a ball that was 55 cm since i'm 5'6". i thought about getting a bigger one since i do still need to be up a little higher but soon after bringing my small ball in i was given the chance to borrow a 55 cm ball and i thought, "sweet". yes, i am really that deep.

so bosses on vacation for two and a half weeks. what did i notice? i noticed that i sat a whole lot lower. i have to bounce (don't laugh) in order to see if someone has parked in the parking lot or if someone is coming in. i'm probably at least 10" lower than i would be in my chair. but that also has it's benefits. i can cross my legs and not hit my keyboard. i also realized that i got up a whole lot more. i have to get up to check the phone to see who's calling. i have to get up to file. i have to get up to hit accept on the fax machine. but also i wanted to get up. move around a whole lot more.

but also while they were gone i was doing a whole lot of things that didn't really require me sitting all day so now that they're back, it's a whole new ball game.

my job mainly consists of answering the phone, making appointments, filing, making folders for clients, dealing with clients, and typing. lots of typing. i know proper form for desk sitting. both feet on the floor, computer monitor at head level, keyboard just below your hands, elbows bent at 90 degrees...

this ball is short. my boss has started calling me a less fond word than "tiny". when clients come in i have to stand up so they know i'm there. (there's a counter space above my desk so i'm hard to see)

also, while i love that i do get up more and move more i'm getting pains in my hips if i don't move for too long. probably from my rolling forward and resting on the backs of my heels. and my reach is wrong for my keyboard. so that's why i'm happy to inform you that today is my last day on the ball.

with all hope, by tomorrow i will be riding high on this:

Isokinetics Inc. Brand Fitness Ball Chair - Metal Frame - Adjustable Base and Back Height

i like that there are wheels and adjustable heights. while i do believe that my posture has gotten better, i am a bit thankful that there is a small back support. i have been using my ball to do some stretches/exercises in my down time so i'm hoping that will continue. plus i hope that just having the ball will inspire me to move more. since that is the whole purpose of it. plus it will keep littles from playing with it. possibly. and hopefully it will solve my hip problem.  

only time will tell. and i'll keep you updated on the progress. 

o m g

this is reason enough to train for a race.

joy the baker

have you been following joy's cooking tips? she's basically a genius. i love the way she breaks it down. i'm pretty sure we could be best friends.

http://joythebaker.com/2013/09/baking-101-how-to-read-a-recipe/


http://joythebaker.com/2013/09/baking-101-must-we-sift-this-flour/

<<  this one was so spot on for what i needed.
http://joythebaker.com/2013/09/baking-101-why-we-use-unsalted-butter/


http://joythebaker.com/2013/10/baking-101-the-difference-between-baking-soda-and-baking-powder/


http://joythebaker.com/2013/10/baking-101-natural-vs-dutch-processed-cocoa-powder/

all the more reason to love jennifer lawrence

“I’d rather look chubby on screen and like a person in real life,” the actress has told Marie Claire.

Read more: http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/04/jennifer-lawrence-reveals-she-was-told-to-diet-or-get-fired/#ixzz2hKX2WII4

i'm trapped in my office

there is a creepy man outside. i want to lock the door and hide. maybe just hiding will be sufficient. nope. he's done. this is awesome. unfortunately he's done in a donald trump "ya fired!" sorta way. yesterday i locked the door and put my computer on the floor so i could hide from him. in all honesty, he's my boss's friend and was doing some work on the building. i'm sure in his own right he's a very nice person and he means well but he gives me the bageegies. there's just something off.

anyone else creeped out when someone tells you calls you pretty? i feel like in an office setting that's just not ok. if you aren't my boyfriend/friend/husband/mom then call me by my name. pet names can be ok but only if they're universal. and not given by creepy men.

also, i'm freezing. just throwing that out there. anyone who wants to bring me a warm cup of soup, have at it.

speaking of soups, i've created a soup board on pinterest. because i love it that much.


also i made my first calzone last night. it's missing something. i used karen's recipe for the dough and literally just folded a regular pizza in half. i'm thinking it needs a little more work cause the dough was kinda thin. but still delish.

run fail

i've failed again!

my 30 miles in 30 days, i came in 1.9 miles under the limit. technically, i could have done it. but i didn't. i ran out of time. i wanted to run. but i had far too many other things going on. every time i thought oh i can squeeze another small run in here, i didn't. so i guess it's back to the drawing board. i can try again. maybe this month. maybe not. who knows. it's gonna be another crazy month but hopefully i'll be able to do something.

i finished the tuftonboro 5k in 27 minutes. that's not so bad. it was a pretty good course. i think i'd do it again. i was telling erik this was the first race i've ever been in that i actually wanted to do well in. that's strange, right? why would you do races if you don't want to succeed? well, technically for me and i'm assuming for a lot of other people i do succeed. only my measure of success is against myself not against super runners. people who run all the time. people whose lives revolve around running. that's not me. i'm more of a free spirit when it comes to running. if i start to get stressed out, i go for a run. if i'm feeling fat or frumpy, i go for a run. if i need to clear my head, i go for a run. i don't need to run for anyone else but myself. which is nice. but it doesn't win any races.

this race i wanted to do well in because i had people counting on me. i was running as a "sponsored" runner. i was running for follansbee landscaping. and because of this, i actually wanted to do something for more than just myself. that's a lot of pressure you know. especially when you're counting on your body and your body is a product of what you do with it.

i recently read this article about the slowest generation. my generation. well, maybe just a year or two under my generation. i'm gonna say my generation was the start of it but we still have some umph. i've watched articles about the rise of running. about how people started races. about how the nyc marathon got it's roots. but then here we came. this generation that was raised in a "you can do anything you set your mind to matter". a generation who's parents had been hippies. (maybe that was just me.) and who truly believed anything was possible.

the downfall of anything being possible is that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. to limit yourself sounds harsh. who stays with one job? who stops going to school? you can be anything! you can do anything! why stop?!?! (that's a story for another time.)

so here's the slowest generation. the generation that gets an award just for being there. just for showing up. a generation without pain, without heartache, without .... drive. if you never lose, if you get a medal just for trying what's the point? why try hard? why put any effort into it? why bother?

it reminds me of this skit from louis c.k. we aren't feeling. we aren't feeling like winners. we aren't feeling like losers. instead of competing, we're gliding. instead of doing something to better ourselves, we're rewarding ourselves with beer. we reward ourselves for the thought of the effort. go me. i may or may not accomplish this but yay. look at me "trying". maybe we just actually need to want something we can't have. or maybe we just need to feel something. or maybe we just need to be punched in the face so we can remember why we're doing things in the first place. i'm all for a happy go lucky attitude toward life but i also think we need to have something to believe in. something to feel. something to want so bad we would do anything to accomplish it.

if everyone just gets to do whatever they want... what's the point?

presents for my brother

hahaha..


poor kid. he can grow it, but he can't keep it.


boring..

beth in show

maybe you don't watch youtube. because you're an alien or you haven't heard of it yet. that's ok. i'm here to inform you: it's safe. go at it, big boy. ... wow. that just got weird.

anyhow, since i know i'm basically writing this to amy and i could just write her an email but then it on the off chance someone else hasn't heard of the internet (i recently learned that 15% of people don't use the internet because they think it's hard or costly or don't have access to it. weird, right? i read too many random articles... on the internet...) and hasn't heard of my favorite youtubers i thought i'd share.

obviously anyone who hasn't heard of dailygrace has just been living in a hole. and if you haven't heard of her, welcome. take a shower and watch every episode possible. however, the real reason i wanted to share this was because of my new love, beth in show. i had a really hard time picking my favorite video of hers but this one is pretty high up there. along with any of her interviews (where she auditions or where she interviews awesome people like gweneth paltrow or amanda bynes.)

here goes nothing:

enjoy.

confession/rant time

i love clogs. i'm not afraid to admit it. they are fantastic shoes. they are comfy and they keep your toes warm without making you feel suffocated or trapped. i can wear clogs all day long and my feet are so happy. happy feet! they get to breathe. they can get out if they need to. happy. so why does the fashion world have such an issue with clogs? probably because when most people think of clogs they think of this or this and those, my friend, are some ugly shoes. so ugly they won't even allow me to put the picture on my blog.

while unfortunately it't not commonly accepted to wear these to work/meetings/play outside of the home, it should be. because they are fantastic.

and these are on my wishlist because who can say no when comfort meets style?

if someone gave me $160 this is how i'd spend it

these shoes are the things dreams are made of. i'm pretty sure i've had dreams about these shoes. maybe they are a product of my dreams. who knows. it's possible madewell has links in my brain. then again maybe i'm just watching too many sci-fi shows.

also, erik woke up this morning asked me to promise that if we were ever to rob a convenience store that i wouldn't leave him behind. i told him i couldn't make that promise.

taking stock

Making: memories. slowly but surely.
Cooking: quiche. always quiche. 
Drinking: hot coffee, black.
Reading: the bible.
Wanting:  far too much.
Looking: the leaves changing. 
Playing: poppit. again. i know. don't judge. 
Wasting: time. always wasting time.
Knitting: a blanket. it's taking forever. 
Wishing: for a vacation. 
Enjoying: time with friends and family.
Waiting: for my bosses to leave.
Liking: peaceful times. silence. calm.
Wondering: how this world is going to change.
Loving: the sound of the wind. 
Hoping: for big things in the future. 
Marveling:
Needing: a change. probably hair related. 
Smelling: the cool crisp change in the air.
Wearing: my first scarf of the season.
Following: more and more blogs every day.
Noticing: how much i've changed over the past few years. 
Knowing: too little and far too much. 
Thinking: this salted caramel hot chocolate looks really good.
Feeling: relaxed.
Bookmarking: boots. 
Opening: tabs. so many tabs. 
Giggling: silly times with my husband in bed. 
Feeling: overwhelmed. 

c/o pip and sydney

and counting...

this weekend marked the beginning of the end for me. well, beginning of my crazy weekends until probably the end of october with maybe one weekend breather. the beginning is marked with my first wedding i attended solo. i have to say, i thought going to a wedding solo would be a drag but maybe my dad makes everything more fun. would it be weird to invite my dad as my date to all weddings? probably. plus my mom would get jealous. she has moves too. on the dance floor. my moves landed her with an elbow to the face. have i mentioned that i'm an excellent dancer? i am. i can do the robot like no body's business.

my facebook feed has been splatted with pictures from the evening. thankfully none capture me in full dance fantastics...yet.

this is a picture of the two three years ago at my wedding.

this is them at their wedding.
 (the best picture i could find.)

this is me at their wedding.
 

apparently i'm confused. or in deep thought about what eric is saying.
"let me tell you about married life, eric..." is definitely not what i'm saying.

this is the dancing king.

 the bearded one. the other is the running king. he ran 6 miles before the wedding. i heard he also ate as many donuts.

this is me having an intelligent conversation with my aunt, barbara.

 just kidding.

this is what happens when you try to get all my mom's family together..

 and this wasn't even the picture where we forgot that the camera was on a timer..
this is what happens if you try to date me.

*all pictures stolen from marta. cause she's much better than i am and did not forget her camera at home.