Thoughts While At the Gym

It occurred to me that my brain goes all over the place when I'm at the gym. Today I tried to remember some of the random things that passed through my head...

- Do I want to listen to my iPod or watch the Today Show? Not feeling music, Matt Lauer it is.

- I feel like Al Roker doesn't match today.

- Why can't Republicans and Democrats remember WHY they are doing what they're doing instead of fighting with each other? It's never good for a family when mom and dad just fight all the time, what makes them think it's good for the country?

- Why did I bring my phone in?

- Wow, "Atlas Shrugged". That's some pretty heavy reading for the gym.

- I wonder what the story is with those two. He started to talk to her recently, I never see them with anyone else, no wedding bands... romance at the gym?

- I wish Planet Fitness offered aerobics classes...

- Michelle Obama made the Maxim 100? OK then.

- Jim Cramer was awfully calm this morning... so different than when he's on "Mad Money".

- Oh man. Maybe they'll do the Cosby Show reunion while I'm at the gym. Better pay attention.

- Wow! Even the guy who played the grandfather is going to be on the reunion... he has a walker? Wow. Time has certainly passed...

- I love the little old ladies at the gym. They're so cute.

- Glad those people who got lost at sea scuba diving are OK. I wish I wanted to scuba dive because Steve wants to...

- Has it really been 25 years since the Cosby Show debuted? I wish I had DVR... oh well. I'll just look on Hulu later and see if the interview is posted.

- Why oh why do women get all dolled up with hair and make-up to go to the gym? I guess that's not as bad as the perfume though... makes me gag when I'm trying to work out. I can't be the only one. How do you address that with someone? It's awkward like the BO conversation...

I won! Honest!

So... despite my absence from the blog world of late, I've received this awesome award from Kristin - one of my oldest and dearest friends and author of the Pink and Green Teacher Blog! It's the "Honest Scrap Award", and as a recipient it is now my duty to:

- Pick 7 blogs to give this award to (I'm trying to pick people Kristin didn't award it to!).
- List 10 Honest Things about myself.



And the newest winners of this award are:

- Mags over at Ms. Maggie Moo Talks to You
- Greg over at We're Taking Bets That...
- Matt and his blog at Matt Bortmess' Blog
- Nina at My Food Revolution
- Danielle and Nigel of the Dallaire Family
- Amy and her family at the Lembke News blog
- Missy over at Austin & Missy's Blog (and check her other blog out detailing the adventures of opening a café in Downtown Lawrence).

Now for 10 honest things about myself:

1. I committed my life to Christ on September 9, 2007 and while it hasn't always been easy learning how to live as He wants us to - it's a decision I can say has lifted me spiritually and has given me a different set of eyes to view the world through. I love how the beauty of the whole thing is that He has forgiven us, He understands and loves us as we are with all of our faults... it truly is "Amazing Grace".

2. My dream job is to be a stay-at-home mom someday, even though selling airplane parts is a pretty cool job.

3. I have 3 close girlfriends that I have been friends with for more than 10 years (2 for 15 years each and one for 13 years as of this September). While I don't get to see them as often as I might like to, it's amazing to know that when I do see each of them it's like we never spent any time apart.

4. I love the beach and even though it's stuck in 1989 I wish I could go to Hampton Beach every Wednesday in the summer with a picnic dinner to see the fireworks.

5. I used to hate seafood, but in the last couple of years I've grown to love a lot of it. That said - I still am not a fan of the two New England staples: lobstah and clam chowdah.

6. I am scatterbrained and as a result I don't always think before I speak. This has been known to get me in trouble or in disagreements on more than one occasion.

7. I don't mind traffic and usually take it as an opportunity to either spend some time in prayer, people watch the cars around me (it's amazing how many people pick their nose in traffic...), or sing really loudly.

8. I eat breakfast every morning, usually some sort of cereal.

9. If I could get paid what I get paid at AMETEK to instead spend time cleaning my house, read, and crochet all day I would quit my job in a heartbeat.

10. My husband is also my best friend, which makes marriage a little bit easier to grow into.

You've Got Mail!

Some weeks are really terrible for mail. Nothing but bills, junk advertisements, more bills, more junk advertisements, and the occasional credit card offer.

But then... there are weeks like this one. When the mail is just amazing.

On Monday, I had a long awaited swap-gift arrive from a swap I was in on Swap-Bot. It was late; it was supposed to be mailed by December 15 and didn't get sent until January 2. But... it was worth the wait. Those who know me know that I love me a good scarf... and also I love purple and pink. This was all three:



Then there were a couple of days of a mail lull... until Thursday. As part of my Christmas gift, Steve gave me a homemade gift certificate to order any apron I wanted from Etsy, an online emporium of handmade goods. I love so many of the aprons that are for sale by Etsy's various merchants, but I had to choose one. I finally decided on one from Bella Bee handmade aprons, potholders, and accessories. I ordered it a couple of weeks ago, and was thrilled when it arrived.



Then today was the final piece of mail awesomeness arrived - a surprise package from our friend Kimberly! In it was a Pop Rocks Chocolate bar, a coupon for $0.90 off at Whole Foods, an all-natural candy cane (dyed with vegetable based dyes)... and 2 Korknissers made with corks from our own collection!



It was, indeed, an amazing week for mail.

Virtual Christmas Card

I hope that all of you had a bright, wonderful, and Merry Christmas!



Here's a virtual toast to an exciting and awesome 2009, full of more awesome experiences and adventures.

Taking T-Bones for All They're Worth

If you live in the Southern NH area, you probably know about a small restaurant chain called T-Bones. They have locations in Salem, Derry, Hudson, Laconia, and Bedford NH as well as 2 sister restaurants - Cactus Jack's - in Manchester and Laconia. Their menu has tons of variety, all their food is made to order (you can modify it however you want), the prices are reasonable, and the food even tastes pretty darn good.

Those that know Steve and I know that a) we're planners and b) we like to look for the best possible bang for the buck. Enter our annual taking of T-Bones - with this year being the most lucrative one yet. Here's a comprehensive list of how you too can take T-Bones for all they're worth.

1. Sign Up for the Paybacks Program: This is T-Bones instant win for people who go there 2-3 times per year (maybe 4 depending on what you get). For every $100 you spend in food you get a $10 coupon for use at a future visit. Oh yeah - it's also free to sign up.

2. Pay Attention: Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas (and also at occasional other points to raise money for charity) T-Bones offers a deal where for every $5 in gift certificates you purchase you get back $1 in gift certificates. Free T-Bones money. Also, this year I paid attention and caught that for the first time ever, and for a limited block of time, T-Bones was allowing gift certificates purchased to go towards Paybacks points. This means for every $100 in gift certificates purchased - $10 coupon back. If you need to buy a gift for someone this is a great way to make $5-10 in free gift certificates for yourself OR do what we do (since we don't know many other people who go to T-Bones) and get yourself free T-Bones money. This leads to number three...

3. Be Prepared: If you like T-Bones/CJ's, and you know that you and your significant other are going to go on dates or want to go out to dinner at some point during the year, plan ahead. Each year Steve and I have in our annual budget anywhere from $200-300 that we block off to pre-purchase our date nights to T-Bones. With their $5 in GCs get $1 deal, this means we're guaranteed $50-60 in FREE T-BONES MONEY by planning ahead. This year, we were able to do $300, which means we've got $360 in gift certificates AND (remember what I said about this year's limited time Paybacks offer?) another $30 in Paybacks coupons which means we've got $390 set aside for our date-nights and emergency "Don't Eat At Home Tonight" funds.

Ridiculous? Yes. Amazing? Also yes. For those that didn't catch the math on that - for $300 in gift certificates we got a 30% return on our investment and almost $100 in free food at T-Bones by planning ahead.

Oh... I'm not done yet.

4. Don't Forget Your Calendar: T-Bones has an annual calendar that has coupons for each month of the year. These coupons are each good for one appetizer, one dessert, or one kid's meal and have a value of up to $9.99. Now... here's the thing with the calendars: they are available right after Thanksgiving and they typically go pretty fast. If you don't get them the first week after Thanksgiving, there is no guarantee that there will be any left - so make sure you get out and get them!

But wait! This year there's more!

Remember I said that we bought $300 in gift certificates? We found out about a super-secret added bonus last night. This year, when you buy over $100 in gift certificates, you get a dual spice pack containing the T-Bones House Seasoning and the Cajun Seasoning blend they use at Cactus Jack's. Inside the pack is also a recipe card containing the recipes for NH's Best Burger and Cajun Fish Fillet.

There you have it. That's how you take T-Bones for all they're worth. If you've never been to T-Bones or Cactus Jack's, we highly recommend it because the food is great and the waitstaff are usually super friendly and attentive. Then if you like it, we've given you a guide for how to get the most bang for your buck when you eat there.

Enjoy.

The 2008 Annual Pull

A Day in the Life: Photomentary

The events you're about to see are real. They took place on Friday, November 28, 2008 and are all from my perspective. Please be aware that some images may not be suitable for underage viewers. They contain graphic images of chores, video games, and other such things.

I woke up around 8:45 AM. I decided to be a nice wife and let my husband sleep in. While I waited for him to get up, I started a load of laundry. Darks, to be exact. I couldn't remember if I added soap... so I checked.


As I waited for the laundry to finish washing so I could move it to the dryer, I noticed a slight rumble in my tummy. Hunger. I hadn't had breakfast. Since I knew I had time before Steve got up, I made a cinnamon breakfast flatbread using a recipe for pizza dough. When Steve got up, it was ready. We had flatbread and coffee. It was good, and satisfying. The rumbling stopped, and hunger subsided.


We finished breakfast and Steve left the house to do errands. Laundry had since finished and I had washed and dried our sheets. It was also time to rotate the mattress. I walked into the bedroom and was faced with the following horror:


It was awful. The clean sheets, the bedding... the PILLOWS! But I was brave. I rotated the mattress (it was light, and easy) and made the bed. 20 minutes later... the horror had passed, and peace was had.


Then I realized I needed to make reservations for my 10 year mini-HS-reunion. I was late, and nervous that the slowest restaurant in Salem would be full. I called... no problem. 9 people could easily fit. I sent a message out to the eVite respondents.


Then... it was time. The floor had to be swept. I had just done it two days prior... but yet... the dust monster won't leave my apartment. Just two days and THIS was what I saw... I beat it, and threw it in the garbage. No dust bunnies in THIS house.


I was tired. I needed my fix... of Guitar Hero. But I couldn't get it to work with our new system. Steve had to fix it... and then I rocked it.



After I was done rocking it hardcore (well... really easycore) Steve settled in to play his video game.


And I added the next set of ingredients to the Amish Friendship Bread starter... only 3 more days til I make a loaf:


I then continued on to work on the latest dishcloth to go with my Christmas stash (beware: this could be yours...)


A few minutes into working on the dishcloth... our phone rang. It was our friend Chris asking us to come to dinner. We got in the car and headed out.


We went to Lowell Beer Works where we partook in good food and spirits.



Then we left to return to their place and play games.


It was at this point my camera battery warning light turned on and I knew my photomentary was over. I was not a good photojournalist and did not properly charge my battery that morning. Maybe next time...

...and also maybe next time I'll do something a bit more exciting.

Blueberries, Beer, and Bruins

I was recently invited to come along to a Boston Bruins game with my good friend Mags. She scored some sweet tickets fo' free on Craigslist and when asked to go - I heart Mags, so of course I went!! I took the train down and met her for dinner at Boston Beer Works, a local restaurant chain that brews 16 kinds of beer at their restaurants in Boston (2), Salem, and Lowell.

It was a triumvirate of excitement: a girls' night out with Mags, my first Bruins game, and trying out a "famous" new restaurant. Holy crap - my head essplode.

First of all - I have to say that hanging out with Mags is one of the most fun things ever. It's so nice to hang out, laugh about life, and just have a good time. It was great to see one of the hometown teams win a game on home turf (7-4, it was a REALLY good game).

But the point of this post is not to get into the inside jokes that Mags and I have or give you a blow-by-blow of the game. It's to tell you about the obligatory sports night beer that I partook in at Boston Beer Works.

First, let me show you:



That, my friends, is a Bunker Hill Blueberry Ale. The little balls - for those that have not had a blueberry beer at a place that does this - are wild Maine blueberries.

I'm not much of a beer fan. There are some that I don't mind, but usually for a beer to really grab my attention it has to have some sort of character to it - a flavor if you will. There are a couple of Dogfish Head IPAs that do this and my favorite bottled beer is the Harpoon UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen. I recently had a sip of a Pumpkin Spice ale that I thought was just great. This beer ranked up with some of my favorites with absolute certainty.

The beer itself was (as you can see) a lighter ale. It had a crisp taste with not a lot of bitterness as it went down. There was the definition of a light beer, but with the sweet hint of blueberries as it made its way across your tongue. It was enjoyable and didn't feel that filling on the stomach - which is good, because a lot of beers can feel like you ate 3 dinner rolls by the time you finish them. Without a doubt, this was one of the best beers I've had while I've been out to dinner someplace.

The neatest part though were the little blueberries. As I drank the beer, every so often one or two of the little guys would make its way into my mouth and add a wee bit of blueberry "pop" to the taste of the beer. At the end of the beer, I had 5 or 6 blueberries left at the bottom of the glass which I dug out with my fork to eat. It was the perfect ending to the beverage - instead of beer that had a slight taste of blueberry, I had a mouth full of blueberry that had a slight taste of beer. As we were having our meal, the blue globes of goodness kept rising and falling up and down the brew as kind of a "blueberry beer lava lamp" (as Mags put it).

Oh... the food at the restaurant was quite tasty too. But with a name like Boston Beer Works, the beer had to live be at least decent and it most certainly was.

New Sleeping Arrangements

Yesterday I did a bit less cleaning out of my cabinets because Steve took me out to dinner at my favorite local restaurant - Grand China. The reason is because we were out and about getting stuff for our...

...NEW MATTRESS!!

I am admittedly oddly excited about the fact that we bought a new mattress set. Why? Because even though I work full time, have bills, rent an apartment, cook dinner every night and clean up - sometimes it hasn't hit me yet that I'm now a "grown up". Maybe it's because we don't have kids yet or the fact that I haven't hit that magical "30" number in age or the fact that I'm back "in" school. I'm not entirely sure what or why, but sometimes I forget that I'm an adult with responsibilities and the little things like this remind me that I am indeed all growed up.

For a little while now, Steve and I have been contemplating getting a new mattress set. Originally we were going to get it when we were going to buy the house, but when that didn't pan out it went on the back burner. However, after a few more months of uncomfortable sleeping on a hand-me-down 11 year old mattress - we decided to start looking. If you weren't aware (which, we weren't) - mattress buying is a process and a half. We must have laid on about 20 different mattresses between 2 different stores before we decided on what we would get. I can't remember the exact model name, but after about 4 total hours of laying on mattresses we decided on a Nature's Rest something-or-other that was soft enough for me and firm enough for Steve all at the same time.

Yesterday Steve stayed home from work to wait for the delivery and take away. The fine delivery people from Jordan's Furniture came in, took our old mattress away, and replaced with the Nature's Rest. When I got home last night and put my bags down, I went in and plopped on the new mattress. Even more comfortable than in the store. Then Steve showed me the crazy part - the mattress was manufactured on 9/4/08 - it was delivered only 5 days after manufacture! We thought that was pretty darn cool.

The one issue with the new mattress was that it is a larger mattress in height than we previously had. As such, when we put the sheets that we had on the bed they were just slightly too small; one or two false moves and the fitted sheet would pop off the corners. That meant... NEW SHEETS!!! And, since our cheap bed-in-a-bag comforter was starting to pull apart where the quilting was and the inner cotton was getting thinner... we figured we may as well look for a new comforter as well. After a lot of examining sheet sizes and visiting 4 different stores for comforters, we were able to find sheets and a comforter set that we agreed on.

The end result? A grown-up looking and comfortable bed and a fabulously comfortable night's sleep.



Oh yeah... about the cabinet cleaning... our lunches came from food already in the house; I had an egg salad sandwich and Steve had a PBJ.

Sudden Rain

The weather here in New England this summer has been kind of bizarre for this area of the country. The old addage "if you don't like the weather in New England, wait a minute" has really been fulfilled.

This morning I woke up and saw the sun and a clear blue sky grinning at me through the window, politely asking me to throw on some walking shoes and a baseball cap and come for a walk. I accepted the invitation and went outside, the sun glistening down upon me and the birds chirping. I came home after 1.34 miles and was glad I did.

This afternoon, to take a study break I decided to go to the drugstore. I noticed on one side of our driveway the clouds were beginning to look menacing while the friendliness of the morning skies was still off on the other. When I came out of the drugstore I felt a stronger wind picking up and noticed that the grocery store had sent their baggers outside with umbrellas to help the little old ladies inside. Thunder in the distance, and halfway to my car a lightning bolt came down somewhere far behind the Grand China restaurant. One drop... two drops...

As I closed the door to my car, the skies opened up and let loose a flurry of the biggest raindrops I've seen in a while. Thunder crashing, lightning dancing across the sky, giant puddles forming in the road and sidewalks. It was really an amazing thing to watch from the protection of my little Corolla on my way home. When I pulled in the driveway, I just waited a minute and listened. I listened as the rain came down upon my car and made rivers down my windshield. I listened as the thunder crashed in the distance and faded at the end of each rumble. I waited and just listened for a few minutes before I came inside. It was pretty relaxing, and if I didn't have homework I would have just sat there until the storm passed.

View from our window onto the street, no cars - just rain

Four-Sixty

I currently drive a 2004 Corolla LE with just over 70K miles on it. It's been in one accident and had a flat tire recently, but overall it hasn't been any trouble and is a great little car. The A/C and heat both work almost instantaneously when I need them to. I keep up with the scheduled maintenance and it's running quite fine. I have a confession to make though, which I'll get to in a second.

My first car was a 1988 Ford Taurus. When I got it, the transmission sounded like one of those little toy cars that you pull backwards to make go. The alternator didn't work properly for the first few months because the prior owner had decided that a Toyota alternator would do just fine. The radio did not work, so a small cheap one had been installed underneath the dash.

My second car was a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix. I gave it a mobile library with bumper stickers from the Goo Goo Dolls, Static Mind, and a couple of other select bands. The odometer was stuck at about 75K but the car must have had well over 100K when I got rid of it. This car had a very interesting quirk in that the ignition was junk. The only way I could get the car to start sometimes (and this is true, I have witnesses) was to SLAM the door shut as hard as I could so as to jar the ignition into a position it could start in.

The last car I had before I got my Corolla was a 1992 Buick LeSabre. It was affectionately known as "The Boat"; my brother once joked when I picked him up from the train station while he was in the military that though he was a Navyman, a boat was not necessary for his transportation. This car ran well, better than the other cars I'd previously had. The only problems it had were the multiple leaks (oil, transmission, radiator, and power steering) and a very loud bang that sounded like you were crashing into something if you turned the wheel too far to the left. The guys at Tweeter were quite worried when they pulled the car out of the bay after removing my Alpine when they heard that noise.

All three of those cars had one thing in common: the air conditioning did not work, and so I was left to the vices of 4-60 air conditioning. For those of you who don't know, 4-60 air conditioning is when all four windows are down and you're driving at 60 mph. This also means that in order to hear the radio, you have to blast it. Have to. Which of course means that you have to sing at the top of your lungs. Yes, with the windows open... and the wind blowing through your hair, and the driver's tan getting more prominent with every mile of road you cover.

Whatever you say about it, driving 4-60 air conditioning is kind of fun. Of course, in this day and age of fuel efficiency it's not the best thing for your gas mileage. Also, I am now blessed with a car that has reliable air conditioning for my warm weather needs. But sometimes (and here's that confession) I do miss the 4-60 air conditioning, usually on a 75-80 degree sunny and dry day. So when I get off the highway, I'll roll down my windows and indulge in a little 4-35 or 4-40 air conditioning. I'll roll down the windows, blast the music, feel the breeze and sun... and smile.

So Silly...

I'll admit. I have a whole blog post drafted about Arlen Specter and Spygate. But that can wait until another time.

Today is Friday, May 16 2008. Today is the day that the New Kids on the Block appeared on the "Today" show and were originally supposed to announce their reunion. I'll be honest, I was kind of hoping they'd come out and perform one of their new songs because I listened to the clip on their website and it seemed kind of fun and catchy.

Instead... here is the first clip that I found:



The NKOTB busted onto Rockefeller Plaza and sang... their old hits. In a medley. And I cannot BELIEVE that Joey actually busted out the old hat with no tap. So silly. And what the heck is with the dancing chicks??? New Kids on the Block don't have DANCING CHICKS!! A few minutes later I did find a clip of their new song "Summertime" and I can totally see myself downloading that on the old iTunes (iTunes... New Kids on the Block NEW MUSIC on iTunes... speaking of things I never thought I'd hear myself say) and blasting it in Lil' Car this summer.

My final analysis... I was VERY close to buying tickets the other day. And, if someone wants to go with me and is willing to spend $71 for the ticket I would probably consider it. Just for fun and because I never went to a concert as a kid, I think it could be neat to go. But there was something about seeing them sing those old songs and seeing all the 25-35 year old girls who SKIPPED WORK to go to Rockefeller Plaza IN THE RAIN wearing their old NKOTB hats (yep... the black ones with the neon green and pink screenprinting... I had one too) and sporting the old pins the size of their head...

I'm too old for boy band mania. Especially a boy band who are now all in their late 30's, married, and have children.

(Here's a clip of one of their new songs. I like it, possibly better than some of their old stuff. Also, I would have been thrilled had they busted out into some "Cover Girl". Just sayin'.)

Cooking Lesson

I learned a lesson yesterday.

I'm actually a bit nervous when it comes to cooking an "exotic" recipe. If it has the name of a Middle Eastern, Asian, or African country or nationality in the title of the recipe I'll usually avoid it for fear of screwing it up royally and having it taste terrible. I know people who can make Indian or Chinese food on the fly, and I've always thought that was such a cool thing to be able to do. There are some things that I can make on the fly and I can be a bit creative sometimes, but when it comes to non-American fare I get cold feet.


A couple of weeks ago, I bought a can of chickpeas (or Ceci, or Garbanzo Beans... whatever you prefer to call them) because I like chickpeas and wanted to keep them on hand. The thing is, I have no general idea what to do with chickpeas besides put them in my chili or process them into hummus. Last night I got up some bravery and made Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Soup (incidentally I had to buy 2 more cans of chickpeas to make it) from a recipe I found on the Food Network website. It was so freakin' good. I got rave reviews from Steve and was advised strongly that this should be a repeated recipe.

Lesson learned: Quit being a chickenpants when it comes to cooking new things. Worst case scenario is that it's gross and you make a PBJ.

I Played the Silver Ball

Every now and again I enjoy a good game of pinball. I always thought that pinball machines were a neat and inexpensive way to have a good time. The most recent fun pinball memory I have is one I have from last summer. The day after our wedding, Steve and I had a double date with my parents up at Hampton Beach. We got some yummy seafood at Brown's and then headed down to Playland Arcade where my dad got some change and we played a few games of 4-way pinball. It was a blast!

Even though pinball is a very fun game, I never thought of it as much more than just a few machines in various arcades and in the basement playrooms of fun-loving families. I never would have thought it to be a competitive thing. However, recently in Las Vegas there was indeed a pinball championship competition held at the Pinball Hall of Fame/Museum. How freakin' cool is that! Now, I'm no where near good enough at pinball to even ATTEMPT to enter this contest, but I guess it just goes to show that there are contests for everything and always a way to satisfy our competitive juices.


When I started this posting I was going to go a bit deeper into competitive pinball, but then I read about the Pinball HoF/Museum a bit more. The place is run by just a regular guy named "Tim" who one article described as a "Big Lebowski" type guy. The facility is home to 200+ pinball machines of all ages and all fully functioning. Additionally, this Tim fellow is not at all in the pinball business for the money - for himself anyways. Once the money is counted and mandatory expenses like rent, electricity, insurance, and endowment savings (the guy that owns it is a member of the Las Vegas Pinball Collector's Club) the remainder goes into the pockets of the Salvation Army. What a better way to dispose of your quarters in Vegas than in a slot machine in a loud smelly room!

I find this Pinball Hall of Fame so fascinating. When I first clicked the link I was expecting some flashy, showy place with a gift shop that sold soundtracks to The Who's "Tommy" musical*. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find a regular guy who has the opportunity to do what he loves AND to do something good for those in need. How cool is that?

Oh yeah... incase you're wondering who won the World Championship of Pinball, it was a 32-year old dude from Salem, MA.

*That's where the famous song "Pinball Wizard" is from, incase you weren't aware.

"And if you try to keep us down we're gonna come right back!"

Okay, because I don't want to ramble on incessantly about it for too long - I promise that this will be my last posting about the New Kids on the Block.

Unless I go to a concert on their reunion tour. Because then you'd better believe you'll hear about it.

At any rate, I've decided that if anyone wants to feel like they're about 15 years younger all that needs to happen is for their childhood boy-band heartthrobs to announce their reunion and plans to come back on the music scene - and still be all heartthrobby. That's how I've felt ever since Tuesday when I first heard of such goings on with my own teenage boy-band crush. Today I just got darn giddy (internally mostly, I can't have those things gushing out now - I'm an ADULT).

For those of you who haven't seen the Today Show clip yet, here it is. Please note the gross amount of 25-35 year old women in the crowd:



Looking back, I have to say that I wasn't the craziest or even the biggest or most extravagant New Kids on the Block fan, but I was still a fan. I knew all the words to all the songs, I owned all the cassettes, I had a couple of posters, I had slumber parties where we watched the Hangin' Tough Live video and stayed up all night singing NKOTB songs. I entered the contest to go on the cruise with them (and lost). My first celebrity crush was on a New Kid. There was something about Donny Wahlberg singing "Cover Girl" that I just knew he was singing to me (yeah right), and I even entered a contest to win a sweaty towel he had thrown from a stage during a concert in a Tiger Beat magazine (uh... gross?). I was going to marry Donny Wahlberg (again - yeah right, but such are the thoughts of a silly 12 year old).

Well... those days passed and the New Kids disappeared. Joey and Jordan went on to passing solo careers, Jon and Danny disappeared, and Donny played a heroin addict in Bruce Willis' bedroom in "The Sixth Sense". I watched my sisters go through their boy band stages with Hanson (Dawn) and N*Sync (Becky) and smiled with nostalgia as they did the things I did with NKOTB. I even went to a Joey McIntyre concert back in 1999 or 2000 when he came to Hampton Beach because I knew it was the closest I'd ever get to going to a NKOTB concert. It was a blast - even though "Please Don't Go Girl" sounded completely different now that Joey's gone through puberty (he sang it for the encore). "The Right Stuff" became the "stuff" of a 1:00 AM dance on a Leadership Retreat in college where I did a tired version of the dance to the amusement of a few female student leaders.

But a reunion? Reunion tours are the things of old washed up rock bands who just want to have one more go 'round, playing the old music and singing out the old songs to the crowds of their middle-aged fans. Reunions, come backs, and such things are not the things of boy bands. Or... are they?

On the Today show and various other outlets today the New Kids have announced that they'll be making a come back. Tons of 25-35 year old women around the country are in a heated frenzy (yes, even the committed and married ones) and there are discussions on my craft boards about the old boxes of face pins, lunch boxes, and posters that people still have. I instantly feel like I'm 12 years old again singing "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" in my bedroom into my microphone (hairbrush). I don't want to marry any of them now - I'm quite happily married, thank you very much - but I'm excited at the prospect of being able to see my teenage boy band in concert.

I've long since gotten rid of the couple of posters and all the cassettes I had and am left with a NKOTB Greatest Hits CD and memories of a teenage boy-band phase (and a new desktop background at work). I'm excited, and as a friend of mine said to me - I really hope that they don't come back and stink. That would be a giant let-down and they'd fall into the category of come backs that never should have happened.

But... they're the New Kids. And since our teenage boy bands are infallable and never a let-down, they totally won't.

Right?

Favorite Jeans Blues

When you find a pair of jeans that becomes your favorite pair, the saddest part is realizing you're going to have to let them go at some point. You notice the wear in certain areas and know that they'll rip soon. Sure, you can reuse them to make a purse or something - but it won't be the same. You won't have that denim providing that comfort you've come to know and love. I came to this realization about a month or so ago with my favorite pair of jeans. Dark blue stretch bootcuts from Lane Bryant, size 18 petite. (That's right - for those of you who haven't seen me in person I'm a short chubby girl and for those of you who also don't know Lane Bryant is a store for girls who wear a size 14-32 and still want stylish clothes. Now you know the "secret".)

Finding pants for me is pretty hard because I've noticed that most of the size 18 pants I find will only fit a woman over the height of 5'5" without needing hemming - and I don't know how to hem. When I was in college, Old Navy used to be the only place that I could find jeans that fit. I fit quite nicely into their size 18 short pants and absolutely loved their jeans. Then a few years ago Old Navy decided to add this "Women's Plus" line and ever since then their size 16, 18, and 20 pants do not fit the same way - and the 16W, 18W, and 20W don't fit right AT ALL. Having given up on Old Navy pants, I headed over to Lane Bryant about 4 or 5 years ago and tried on their 18 petite. Bingo - for about $10 more I found jeans that fit perfectly. About 2 years ago I got the pair that are my current favorite pair.


And now they're about to die. And of course, sometime within the last year Lane Bryant also changed their sizes in their jeans. And it's kind of complicated and somehow the store associates know the formula to decide what size you should wear. It involves colors and numbers that in no way reflect what your size is. It's ridiculous. A woman shopping for LB "Right Fit" jeans is either a 1-8 in size, petite/average/tall, and yellow/red/blue. I'm a 3-Red-Petite. Whatever that means. All I know is they told me a 4-Red-Petite when the measured me and it was too big.

As if women's shopping wasn't complicated enough. This reinforces why shopping for men's pants - which only require you to know your waist circumference and your leg length - is SO MUCH EASIER. You can buy pants just about anywhere and they FIT RIGHT without trying them on. I can go out today and buy Steve a pair of pants and be 99% assured that they'll fit him when I get home. If he tried the same thing... it would likely be a miserable failure. In fact, when I tried to explain this system to him I thought his head was going to explode.

Anyways. I've been trying to figure out what possessed LB to come up with this crazy numbering scheme. I can kind of put my head around the colors; the colors are for different body types and curvatures that women have. Line up 10 women and there's a slim chance their curves will fall in the same spot. But the numbers? Why not just have the same number sizes instead of these weird specialty ones? Sure, I might be a size 3 at LB but there's NO way I can go anywhere else and pull a size 3 off the rack and expect it to fit anything other than my arm. Or maybe one half of my leg. Why not maintain the same 14-16-18-20-etc. numbering system??

The only thing I can come up with is that they're trying to help the overweight ladies feel better about themselves. In about 10 minutes I went from wearing a size 18 to a "size" 3. I'll never be a size 3 anywhere else - even if I lose a bunch of weight, that's just not my body type. But man... can you imagine the excitement if I lose weight and get to a "size" 1!!

Whatever. I'm not going to try to figure it out. My new pants fit and they fit mostly comfortably, so I'll just be happy with that.

Takin' Me Back....

I wish someone would hand me $8,600.00 and tell me I had to buy one thing with it, and had to buy it for myself.

When I was a kid, my favorite toys were my He-Man playset. Yes, I know I'm a female and yes, I had Barbie dolls too; but there was something exciting about setting up Castle Grayskull and yelliing at the top of my five year old lungs "BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL - I HAVE THE POWER!", taking the Prince Adam get-up off of my He-Man action figure and getting him ready to battle the evil skeletor on our living room floor. I mean, let's face it - if Barbie and Ken battled, that wasn't awesome - it was modelling domestic violence. And domestic violence isn't cool.

Defeating Skeletor and freeing Eternia from his evil grip - that was cool. Especially when he was defeated with the He-Man action figure that you loaded pop-caps in the back so that when he punched he made a "POW!" noise.

See? Cool. And it was even cooler when he had a chick sidekick in Teela and then a sister named She-Ra who could help with all this evil butt-kicking.

So what does my childhood love for He-Man action figures have to do with wanting an extra $8,600.00 to blow on something?

I'm not sure how I found this article, I think it was one of the headlines on my GMail RSS feed. There's a guy named Robert Burden who found a box of his old childhood toys and instead of throwing them away made these awesome paintings out of them. There's a gallery in Seattle who is currently exhibiting Burden's work and they're viewable online. These paintings are just incredible, and my favorite one is of BattleCat - He-Man's trusty tiger-steed - that is selling for $8,600.00.

Really if I had the ability to buy this painting, after 2 or 3 years I'd beat myself up for buying it. After all, it is just a large picture of a plastic green tiger and in your living room would be kind of tacky. But you have to admit - this is a pretty cool idea that this fellow had and I wish I lived closer to Seattle so I could see this exhibit live and in person.

2008 - Here I Come!!

OK... checklist...

2007 stuffs. Let's see.... got married - check. Made it to the end of the year - check. Identified and began to work on major self changes - check. Changed blog stuff for new beginnings - check.

Get goal list for 2008 ready - completing now. No, these aren't resolutions. Statistics show that something like 70% of New Year's Resolutions end up failing, and these are too important to me for that. So - I call them goals.

We all go through transitions and set goals for ourselves and recognize areas that we want to grow in. Last year, a lot of my goals were more things I wanted to do and tasks I wanted to complete. This year, my goals are going to focus more on the improvement of self and the continuing growth of our new marriage. So... here we go with our list of what's in store for Danielle in 2008:

- Set aside at least one night per week as sacred time with husband, not to be interrupted by other plans.
This is a huge one. Often times we have a tendency to get so caught up in everything else that three or four weeks will go by and we'll realize we haven't spent much quality time together. Or, we'll get so busy that our apartment will become a disaster (that's a different goal) and we'll end up spending our free time just cleaning. That said, as the keeper of the calendar in our marriage it's a goal of mine this year to make sure that we don't lose sight of the importance of quality time together as we continue to grow in our marriage.

- Make sure I spend at least 4 hours per week at the gym.
I have this amazing gym membership that I haven't put to good use. I want to get myself in shape for myself and my future family, and so it's important that I try to stick to this one. That's 4 days a week going to the gym (the trainer at Planet Fitness gave me a 1-hour workout plan). I really want to make a concerted effort to get there more often in 2008.

- Be a more organized housewife.
I really feel like my role as a wife is supposed to be the steerhead of the home and the comfort level of our environment. I can get so laid back when it comes to keeping the actual day-to-day functioning of the household. Simple things like keeping us on task with chores, setting healthy menus for the week, and making sure that things stay in order. A couple of people have recommended the Flylady website to me as a tool to use to become more organized, and I'm going to look into that. This is important to me to become more on task in this area, because I really want to be able to be a good role model for our kids when it comes to home-making.

- Spend at least one hour per week reading the Bible.
I am really invested in becoming a better Christian and living the life that Christ wants us to. That said, I don't entirely have my hands around all of the things that He taught us and I don't feel like I have a good enough understanding of the Bible to move ahead 100%. Confession time - I haven't spent a ton of time reading outside of our assignments for our Journey Group. I think it could be really beneficial to me as a Christian to spend some personal time reflecting on His word and incorporating that into my living. I got a great new study Bible for Christmas that I think will really be a help in this area, especially as far as understanding the text.

- Be sure that the people I love are aware of what they mean to me.
After losing my Nana this year, it occurred to me that the people I love on any level might not necessarily know how much I love and appreciate them. I've already started to make this effort, but I think it's important that people know. It's just a matter of figuring out a way to tell them in their own "love language".

There are some random other things that I want to do too. These are more along the lines of tasks and fun things than the serious things above. In 2008, I want to:
- Put our scrapbook together for the time period from our engagement through our wedding (I swear, for real this time)
- Attempt to learn how to knit
- Read at least 20 books (I did 11 last year with a wedding planned, so this is very possible)
- Make sure I start early for my homemade Christmas gifts

I think that's everything.

I wish all of you out there in the Blogosphere a wonderful, happy, and healthy 2008. It's going to be a good and exciting year, I can feel it.

2007 Goals Recap and Blog Changes for 2008

OK... touching on a few quick things here. The first thing I want to get out of the way is an apology for not updating - I just haven't been in that spot lately. BUT... I've been doing a lot of thinking about how I want to approach the Blogosphere in 2008. I enjoy blogging but I want to change my approach. Starting in January, there will be less about my day-to-day activities because I feel like "Saturday we got our grocery shopping out of the way and then went to the movies with Joan and Bob" can be boring after a while. I'm going to try and focus more on things of a bit of substance. You'll probably see more "Tackle it Tuesdays", posts on my crocheting, and thoughts on topics of things going on in the world around us.

I'm also going to stop doing my "Yellie Gets Skinny" blog and combine them into one, with my physical fitness updates on Fridays. I'll get to my status on that in my 2007 goals recap in just a minute. So for the few of you who were following that - renewed intentions in 2008 with updates here on Fridays.

Anyways... onto the recap of my 2007 goals, and where I did (or did not) get with them:

- Take a craft class or two at Michael's or AC Moore.
To be honest - I watched the schedules and nothing tickled my fancy. I'm scratching this as a goal for 2008 and will just watch the schedule to see if there's anything next year that I like.

- Paint at least 3 pcs of pottery.
I think I only ended up doing one... this one is only at 33%. I'll just have to go and paint more next year... oh darn.

- Start walking at least 4 times/week for 30 minutes at least.
OK... so I was doing really really well with this until the daylight started to shift and it wasn't necessarily the best idea for me to go walking when I had the time available. So, we got me a membership to Planet Fitness and I was doing ok for a little while. Then the last couple of months were insane, I lost some motivation and have really not been doing so well with it. I do still have the motivation to exercise more, so starting January 1 I'll be back in the groove. No, it won't be a New Year's Resolution - those always fail. We're calling this a renewal of taking care of the body God gave me instead.

- Go to the beach for the day at least twice this summer (Hampton Beach State Park, probably).
This didn't happen. However - Steve and I did have an awesome double date with my parents up at Hampton the day after our wedding. It was complete with a seafood dinner at Brown's and a few rounds of pinball at the arcade. At least we made it up there once - even if only for a little bit - and we did also go to Jamaica for a week. So that's not so bad either.

- Read and FINISH 10 books. This is harder for me to do than it sounds.
I did it! Finally, one goal on the list that I can say I finished! With the long-awaited completion of "Treasure Island", I actually came in with 11 books read in 2007 with a 12th started. Yay!

- Finish that blasted afghan.
- Actually make/finish the scrapbook I've been putting off.
Uhm... why don't we just skip these for now...

- Volunteer a bit more (as time allows).
Is it bad when one of the pastors at your church tells you that you can say "No" once in a while? I'd say that we're definitely both volunteering a bit more now, and we're more than glad to do it. Steve and I are pretty heavily involved with the First Impressions and Communion teams at our church, and we love it. We've helped out a couple of other events too, and it's just awesome. So... yeah, another goal that I can say I achieved. Sweet. Two so far... out of all those...

- Finish the other craft projects I have outstanding and maybe start/complete a couple more of them.
For those of you who either have seen my Ravelry page or have been reading this blog, you know that I have finished my football pillow and have also learned how to crochet Amigurumi toys. I was also able to complete at least 5 scarves for Christmas gifts. A third goal I can check off the list. Huzzah!

- Pass Microeconomics and start taking my Grad Classes.
As I mentioned before - I got an "A" in Micro this spring and Grad Classes are temporarily on hold until I take my GMAT and figure out what degree I would like, and where I would like to get it.

So... that's about it. Later this week, I'll be throwing up a post on my 2008 goals so that I can track those as well. Hopefully, I'll have a better track record next year than I did this year.

Drought

I've hit a blogging drought.

To be honest, I feel I've lamented enough and I feel that I don't have much of substance to write about recently. Work's been so busy I feel like a deer in headlights sometimes, I got a sinus headache today, my Grampa is in the hospital again (though on the plus side, my parents did come up from TN to make sure he's OK), and I've been incredibly busy because of Christmas coming up in ONE STINKING WEEK.

I'm still excited for it, I'm just not ready. Still have lotsa shopping/crocheting to do.

At any rate, I'd rather not waste my blog space with complaining because that accomplishes nothing. Recently, I feel like I have a lot to complain about and not much to write happy about.

And before you ask... yes, things with Steve and I are fine. We're still learning how to be married (it has only been 6 months after all) and with each lesson learned we get mushier and love each other only more.

Yes, you can barf now. No wait - we spent part of the weekend curled up together watching "Frosty the Snowman" and "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town". OK, now you can barf.

At any rate. I'm taking suggestions for topics that you'd like me to write about. Seriously. As silly or as ridiculous or as silly as the topic may sound. Why don't we shoot for 12 different topics - there are 13 days left in December starting with tomorrow, and that'll give me something to go for. Try not to pick something I've already written about (see the "Topics" label to the left for the 11 entries this year on a specific topic).

All righty... bring it on. :)

Busy Busy Busy

Things have been incredibly busy recently, I think.

Last weekend was awesome. Friday night we got to spend some time with my soul-sister Laura and her husband Chris. We decided we need to hang out more often as we really enjoy each others company and cherish the friendships we have.

Saturday was also good. We helped the Havens move into their new house in the morning, and then that night we went to a party at Jed's (the pastor who did our wedding). The party was a great time, and the night went by pretty fast. We got to talk to and see people we don't normally see in a social setting which was just great. We stayed to help Priscila and Beth clean up, and then headed home.

Sunday was also pretty good. After the usual Sunday stuff, we headed home and got some "football food" ready for the game. The Kelihers came over and watched with us - games are always better when there's more people, I think. Then we watched "Elf", the Pyes delivered Steve some of his favorite beer, and we headed to bed after everyone left around 10:00ish.

Outside of that, things have just been busy because of the upcoming holiday - I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away!!! I HAVE to get our package out to TN this weekend, and we HAVE to get cracking on Christmas gifts. We're pretty behind this year. Oh well - we'll be fine I'm sure.

Hope you're all having a great week!!! Don't forget to check the poll.