Category: Uncategorized (Page 157 of 188)

i just read on someone’s fb status that they went for an evening workout and i was taken aback to my days of OU glory when i would take a jaunt over to ping for a quick run and lift. just like that. you get up and go. then when i was in upper i took part in similar activities. i would run up to US fitness, push a weight or two, then jog on home. on the really cold days i’d drive up and utilize their treadmills. then i’d go home and have dinner. it really required little foresight other than when dinner would be ready and if i needed a second shower that day.

when we moved to the grand metropolis, the price for a Y membership didn’t change too much from what we were used to (i think?) but we had a lot less money, so it got ganked from the budge. i know, your health shouldn’t be the first thing out, but in all actuality i can run outside for free and largely only used free weights so a couple of 5 lb’ers at home did the trick. and i was pregnant – how much was i really going to use the gym anyway? jj lived out his workout aspirations at the gym on campus and we we able to pinch pennies.

but now the prospect of him having a job with a paycheck (that is the same every time) will be happening about the same time i’m recovered from birth #2, i was quite tempted to see what it would take to have our membership make it back into the financials. oh, the high hopes. but alas, the price is a bit high and i would still have to pay $2 every time i wanted to leave a kid at the babysitting center (and is that PER kid?!). i’m just not sure we can do it. but i had to see for sure.

so i start doing my financial reporting. the great thing about moving and starting new checking accounts is that they’re fresh and they match what you have in the computer. however, sometime around march, something started not matching. and sometime around april i stopped importing those important docs into my handy quicken so that things would stay on track. and so, yes, this evening’s daydream of future memberships rapidly became a quicken nightmare. night. mare.

i am so saddened… now my checkbook shall never match again because, no matter what, even when you start fresh with a “new account”, it just doesn’t cut it. i think if i were to use the past 6 months of data and divide it, i might get a fairly accurate portrait of where we’re at, but it’s just not the same. and did i mention i hate math? hate it. and i’m a little too detail focused, so that i can’t be ok with just rounded numbers. i need exacts.

so here i am, rounding out my year and importing months upon months of data and i still don’t get a true portrait (months march through june are lost forever, according to the bank website). but i strive onward toward the goal. *sigh*.

on the upside, we did make more money than we spent this year, which i consider a victory. someday that gym membership shall be within my grasp. i suppose as i start composing my list of ways that 2010 will be better than 2009 keeping on top of financial records should probably appear somewhere. either that, or “delegate to husband.” but then we have to start working on trust (that things get done the way *I* want it) and other character issues. let’s just stick to a few practical things and keep the image alive, shall we? 🙂

tis true. i just stumbled upon 2 different blogs that i follow and they’re giving stuff away, like books and touch screen computers. i’m thinking about making those rolo on pretzel treats with m&ms on top? that’s the best i can do. sorry.

you’d think that i haven’t posted in a while because i have nothing to say. au contraire. (go ahead cara, correct my french. is that french?). there’s actually so much swimming around in this tiny little brain that i can’t put it into appropriate words and sentances – at least not without using words that mean nothing like “lots” and “so” and “idk” or ending my sentences with prepositions.

the past week or so has been a rough one. i didn’t realize just how rough until all the crying and then the cold sore popped up. as i previously mentioned (oh, real bloggers link to previous posts, too. this is a free skill so i will participate in an effort to convince myself someone takes me seriously), there are 4 reasons for cold sores appearing in my life and one of them is stress. i thought the crying was baby hormones, but then i decided to cut myself a tiny bit of slack and admit life has been a bit trying.

we no longer get to go on the cruise, which is a HUGE disappointment. seems so petty in comparison to the children dying in africa and all. but we had our hopes on an escape with warm weather and now it’s gone within a month of departure. boo. but i took it pretty personally since i’m the reason we’re not going. or, at least, i’m carrying the reason we’re not going.

then there was the threat of losing our health coverage. praise be to jesus that it turned out that badly worded forms were sent to an over-reactive control freak and thus we’re still covered. but that was a rough couple of days, too.

then i forgot to pay the mortgage. it got paid, just late.

then our overly-expensive (but the grandparents insisted) car seat arrived while we were out of the state and i had to fret for a good 12 hours that it was stolen from our front door. thankfully we live in a safe neighborhood and have fantastic neighbors. crisis averted once again.

then there’s the complete lack of holiday cheer. now, pre-thanksgiving-ish time and the days immediately following, i was totally into the yuletide groove. and then the tinsel lost its sparkle. i have no idea why. i think it was the previous 4 paragraphs. but our tree was delivered tonight, and as mentioned those rolo things are on the books, along with an upcoming cookie exchange, so maybe we’ll get a little spirit in our step. fortunately i have everyone but 2 people shopped out, and i have an idea for one – just need to get it purchased before amazon’s free shipping time expires.

when it’s all typed out it doesn’t really sound like much. i mean, everything mentioned really is “just life”. but i feel like there’s been a lot of “just life” really fast. not to mention the whole growing a baby thing. i’m not one to plead pregnant too often (generally only when manual labor is involved), but my cousin RAB once said that she told her husband, “I grew a lung today, what did you do?” and it’s quite true. all this development of healthy body parts on top of “just life” can really wipe a girl out.

so, i must end the post by bragging about my exceptionally good taste in husbands. with all this going on, the hubs has been 100% perfect. just super. supportive, taking on more and more at home so when i walk in i never think “and now i have to ____?!” and he’s an amazing dad. henry loooooves spending time with him and jj’s fatherly instinct is as good (if not better) than my motherly one. and tonight i walked into a homemade fried chicken dinner – because i wasn’t “eating healthy” – and barely any dishes in the sink. he really is amazing. it seems his only recent fault is that he makes me feel guilty for not being able to do it all. all the single ladies out there: don’t settle. these type of guys really do exist. oh, and he passed the business praxis. he’s smart, too. what. a. catch. and so i must post this picture to exemplify truly how “lucky i am”. who can resist that face?

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if you know me, you are well aware that i read. all the time. “book whore” has been used in such context. there is nary a book i haven’t enjoyed in some way, save the occasional pointless romance or Special Topics in Calamity Physics. i can generally find redeeming qualities in most literature.

so it puts me in quite the pickle when book club requires that i give away one of my precious paperbacks. each year we do an exchange of both a piece of crap – known amongst some as “white elephant” – and a good book (or that we hope is good, if we haven’t read it).

i have several books that i know my ladies would enjoy. i enjoyed them immensely, so i’m not real anxious to give them away. what if i were to “need” it again? now, rarely have i ever reread fiction (a few non-fictions have had reruns, and they were just as enjoyable on round 2). i don’t mind loaning the book… but giving it away?! i know, i seem like a spoiled brat. i think i’d much rather buy someone their own copy than give mine… which seems… silly.

i need to wish that my beloved book will bring as much joy to reader #2 as it did #1. that general quality is in me – if you know me, you know that i quote, cite and recommend books midstream of about any conversation. while there was a time that my mom could say “i have a pill for that” i could also toss in “i read a book about that…” probably, to a fault.

so as i gaze over my shelves i think i have a selection. but it’s hard. clearly there are deeper issues at play here – hoarding, or my need to be in possession . sure, i want you to enjoy this book, but i want you to enjoy the library’s copy. or my copy, but give it back. why? WHY?! i probably need to see a shrink. or read a book about that.

i just finished a homemade life – by the author of Orangette. i’m not going to lie, i cried a little at the end – and i’m already married and i haven’t lost a parent. but if you love good writing alongside good food it’s a spectacular way to end your day. i’m not an adament follower of her blog, but after finishing the book i think i should be. it might inspire me to make things that don’t involve cream cheese. i’ve got a list of 2 people who may or may not get it for christmas. but since i borrowed the library copy i’m not compelled to feel at a loss for giving “mine” away. they’ll have their own.

i’m curious as to the next book club selection… jill seems quite hopeful and really, she’s got the best track record of any of us when it comes to good picks. here’s to hoping my white elephant comes packaged with something i haven’t already read!