The sun always rises.

One of the amazing things about this time of year, particularly since I must be awake before the butt crack of dawn, is just that...I get to see the sunrise.  This morning's sunrise was breathtaking.  I wish I had my camera and time to walk around the fields taking pictures.  On my drive in to work this morning it looked absolutely peaceful.  Everything was still, wisps of fog still lingered, caressing the tops of the tall prairie grass, kissing the surface of the man made ponds...the blue sky turning to shades of pink and orange, beams of light bursting through transparent clouds casting light shadows across the sky.  Through the stillness, a sense that everything was alive, the energy thrumming to the heartbeat of the earth.  I wish I had the opportunity to stop and take pictures...But, I had to get to work and I had to settle for warm rays stretching across my desk turning my cubicle that shade of orange only the sun can provide.  

At least I got to sit and luxuriate in it for all of 5 minutes as it passed over me onto the floor of my boss's office.  I have a view out of the window of my boss's office but the natural peacefulness is painfully marred by the construction equipment and giant fields of dirt right up to the neighborhood down the street.  Although it may have its own sense of peace with the lone fog wrapped dozer sitting quietly in the middle of the field, nothing can compare to the awe inspiring views of an 'untouched' grass field. I say 'untouched' but really it was a man made field and pond for the nature preserve. It's still pretty though!

Now the fog has dissipated, the clouds moved on, and the sun a bright awesome yellow that hurts to look at...but the image lives on in my head. 

Techy Time-Out?

Smart phones, e-readers, tablets....what's next? I sit here reading about the newest edition to the tech world...the upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook, and I can't help but think..."iWant".  I certainly don't need the shiny new tablet.  But in a world where technology rules, it's almost impossible to get away with not having some kind of tech toy.  I myself have an iPhone and e-reader.  I have been able to resist getting much more solely because of the costs associated with these new toys.  We're addicted to it, dependent on it.  Why learn how to read a map if someone else has come up with a way to triangulate your position and give you directions via computer voices, that can range from British hottie to Homer Simpson?  

It's all happened so fast, a blink of an eye in the lifetime of the Earth.  I remember the first mobile phone.  It had a battery pack bigger than my head.  I remember my first laptop that I played Wheel of Fortune on.  It was bigger than a standard size brief case.  I remember my dad's video camera.  Now I can take videos with something that fits in the palm of my hand, and there are smaller options too.  I'm not that old, so if you think about it...we've come a long way in a short amount of time. They said we'd have hover cars by now, and somewhere there exists a prototype I'm sure.  Now I'm waiting for the invention of teleportation, I can't wait to be able to be 'beamed' somewhere.


Even me using this computer to write this entry is using technology.  Can I survive without using it? Can I survive without my phone...my lifeline to the rest of the world?  Do I want to?

Falling off the anger wagon...

I know, I know, I said I am removing the phrase 'I hate it when..." from my vocabulary and every day speech but you know what...today, I need it.

I hate annoying sales calls. I like to think I make things pretty damn clear when I say "I'm not interested".  Sometimes, I'll be nice and let them go through their entire spiels before letting them down easy.  But how many times does a person have to say NO THANK YOU before getting pissed off?  You can say all you want but I'm totally not listening.  Eventually, I will hang up on you.  It depends on my mood on whether or not I warn you before doing so.  Sometimes I will use misdirection especially if the call is not directed for me in the first place.   It's my nice way of saying SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE.   Please do not think you can get to me, because you will invariably lose.  One call I remember telling the infuriating woman that I will hang up on her if she does not shut up...3 times, then because I could I tapped the receiver on the counter several times to make a loud annoying noise and hung up on her.   I do not feel any kind of remorse for that.  I would tell any other person that was inappropriate behavior but I very kindly told her multiple times and still she kept at it.  Ok, so I have a bit of a temper.  Who doesn't?


So what brings on this rant of my hatred of telemarketers? Oh, the fact that I had to field yet another one at work.  My department at work has our own phone number, which I never give out because I never want to answer the phones, my boss never gives out because its not my job to answer the phones, and no one else here even knows it.  Every once in a while a call will come in to our engineering phone line, and I have to answer it...99.9% of the phone calls I've taken are unwanted.  The only time it ever was someone 'important' was the most random thing.  

Anyway, this guy originally dialed the correct number for the main office and asked to speak to one of my 'engineering' co-workers who promptly asked for it to be sent to voicemail seeing as the name was totally unrecognizable and he didn't want to deal with it at the time.   But because the telemarketer got his voicemail, he hit 0 expecting to be bounced back to the receptionist.  But to my horror, it turns out that when someone does that in the engineering department, it gets bounced back to ME.  FML.  So I'm stuck listening to his spiel because I mistakenly confirmed I was in the same department...well not mistakenly, since he sits 3 feet away, but unfortunately for sure.  So since I'm not sure if this was something my co-worker was looking for at any time, I play nice and misdirect.  "You can email John all the information" I say, but this dude will not shut up.  I don't care about some project management program, we already have one...that barely gets used.  Why would they want to spend money on another one?  I'm getting visibly agitated listening to this guy.  I mean, after I got off the call, my boss was laughing because he watched me hold the receiver away from my ear as I sneered at it hoping the man on the other end would mentally feel the ice from my glare.  


But in some way, I'm less mad about the telemarketer than the fact that what PROBABLY happened was the receptionist up front after being told to put the caller into John's voicemail didn't tell the guy that John was unavailable and if he'd like to be put into his voicemail.  Instead she probably just threw him into the voicemail system without warning the guy who expected to talk to a person.  Which brings me to yet another thing I hate....

I hate when the receptionist answers the phone and while transferring the call to me will occasionally just throw it over to me without warning.  MOST of the time she will say who is calling before transferring the call...so I will pick up the phone seeing it's her extension calling me and greet her fairly casually.  This morning was one of those times she threw the call without saying a word.   Which resulted in me embarrassing myself with a bright cheery 'Heeeyyy' on the phone as a greeting.  Luckily, the person calling was a woman I have frequently spoken to in a casual manner.  Even luckier I didn't answer with "Hey biatch"... I mean, what if it's someone I don't want to talk to at the moment? What if I wanted this person to be put in my voicemail instead because I'm busy with something? 


Agh...TESSA SMASH...........



OK, much better.  Breathe in, Breathe out.  Back to the zen state I was in previously.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Happy 1st day of Fall! Hooray for the season of changing leaves, pumpkins, and Thanksgiving. Boo for shorter days, colder nights, and Halloween.  Which I only dislike because it seems just an excuse for some girls to be dressed like an unsuccessful prostitute distastefully, and its a "holiday" surrounded by horror...That and I really hate haunted houses.

Fall Equinox.  Tomorrow begins the lengthening of the dark hours until the longest night of the year on the Winter Solstice, December 21.   Here's a little clip I saw on Yahoo about it...

Well, summer quite literally went out with a bang this year...it hit about 90°F and then it thunderstormed.  I had to turn the A/C back on for a few hours because the house was at a sticky 80°.  But that's how the weather is around the Equinox times in spring and fall, and while today might only reach the mid 70's, tomorrow's forecast is predicting another 90° day. As the husband says, "welcome to the Midwest".  What I wish, but cannot count on based on the weekly forecast, is to have that random beautifully balmy day this coming Saturday.  Not only will I be outside, I will be in the city.  I could only hope for a nice day, free of rain for the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure.

This year is the first time I'm team captain and I'm a little unsure if I need to do more than get my team together and walk around.  It will be a learning experience, and one event I hope to be able to continue to participate in the coming years.  I've been blessed with numerous amounts of supporters and sponsors and my goal of $1000 raised (which, at the time I thought, is quite a high goal since I've never raised more than $200 before) is nearly met with 3 days left to go.  At this very moment I only have $49 left to raise, which I'm hoping to have met by race day.   If you're out there, and if anyone other than my husband is reading this...please show your support for me here.  And always remember...a little can go a long way.  God Bless.


Oh and while I'm at it....Happy Oktoberfest!!! (Even though it's nearly over)  I missed National Talk Like a Pirate Day...maybe next year.

Reverting from Zombie

Oh, how nice it feels to be alive again...mostly.  I have come back from a state that is in a way worse than dead.  I was a zombie for the duration of Thursday night/Friday.  I think I was awake for maybe 5 hours total between 8 pm Thursday and10 am Saturday.  I have minimal recollection of anything that happened on Friday with exception to going to the first Chick-Fil-A in all Chicagoland.  And that's because I took a picture of the Chick-Fil-A.  But, I have no qualms about how much I slept in a 36 hour period...considering how quickly I have been able to bounce back.  I expect to be fully functional by tomorrow.  Last night was kind of a set back since I had a whole pot of tea at dinner and couldn't get to sleep until far after midnight.  It wasn't very restful either. 

Time to get back into the daily routines...and to catch up and get photos uploaded to finish that entry on The Things I Eat...

The Battle Continues...

I'm not sure if I can call myself sick if I've been feeling up and down.  It's almost as if the virus is toying with me...allowing me to think I've been able to fight it off, but not quite giving me the satisfaction of beating it back to the trenches.  I can envision a war field with my antibodies on one side, a massive band of knights ready for battle, and evil spindly looking virus creatures on the other. My antibodies are suffering extensive damage as the virus tentacles out and picks off the weakest of the army waiting to make a deadly strike. Triumphant roars bring fear and insecurity to the masses.  This is a critical moment in which I as mistress of my body need to instill a burning fury against the evil hoard before they take me down.

Seriously though, I'm starting to feel like crap. My head is pounding, my nose is a faucet, and my body aches.  This is one battle I am losing.  Good thing it's nearly the weekend.  I look forward to sleeping.  

Office sweaters, coffee, and cough drops

Not knowing what time I actually entered the dreamworld last night, based on how I'm lethargic and mostly incognizant this morning, only leads me to assume one of two things.  Either I didn't fall asleep until after 11pm or somehow I managed to suspend myself in a limbo like state between my two conscious minds for 7 hrs.  Considering I was actually in bed at 9:30, lights out at 10, I cannot be sure which situation is true.  All I currently am aware of is that I would very much like a nap already.  

One of the annoying things about work is how the indoor temperature always seems to hover around 72°F.  Which, for me, is perfect for bedtime in the summer.  Give me a nice big fluffy comforter and I'm down for the count.  Alas, this is not the place for sleeping.  But neither is it the place to freeze while I sit at my station working.  So I have a permanent sweater designated for my cubicle. It's not the nicest sweater, a knit light brown, but it works.  Sometimes too well, especially on days like today when I just really need some more sleep, since it induces the hibernation instinct to curl up and pass out.    Most days I try not to wear it, and when the bosses are out of town we, as in..the women..., sneak around and raise the temperature to 74-75°F.  If  you want to know how 2 degrees makes a difference, try sitting under the vent for a whole day and see how much less the cooled air hits you on the back.


One of the nice things about work is free coffee.  And sodas but the coffee is what I'm lookin' at now.  It's not a high quality coffee, but it's pretty good.  I never used to like coffee, but ever since I started having to wake up at 6am and now 5:30 or earlier because of the dogs, it's grown on me.  I've been trying to avoid drinking coffee every day.  A cup of coffee might be healthy for you but the cream and sugar I add to combat the bitterness is probably not.  Stick to tea and honey. 


The case of the sleepies could also be caused by an impending illness.  I've had my cup of coffee for the day and still I feel like sleeping.  Usually by now, caffeine's effects have already started to affect me.  I seriously hope it's not because I'm getting sick.  I've been fighting off my husbands germs for a week now...and whatever germs my father in law brought with him from Lexington.  My efforts seem futile it seems, as I find myself coughing and holding back sniffles.  Well, hopefully it at least holds off until after my dinner party tonight...wouldn't want to be feeding my guests germs.  And when I say "party" I mean my 2 best friends coming over so at least it's not a crowd.   But look for The Things I Eat Chapter 2, which in editing will be changed from Pork Chops and Guac to whatever I end up cooking tonight. 

i photoshop...

I heart Adobe Photoshop...  

Newest project for my lola's 80th birthday is a scrapbook.  To save on time and money and to avoid dog fur in the glue I have decided to digiscrap.  I think I will forever more digiscrap instead of paper scrapbook.  

What is digiscrap? It's short for 'digital scrapbooking'.  Basically, its the same thing as paper scrapping...only you create your layouts on your computer using software.  Since I'm not an avid scrapbooker, (yet) I'm content searching for the freebies online.  I've found several places that offer free kits and e-papers. At first I was like...e-papers? that makes no sense at all! But after sifting through hundreds of pages, I realized how silly I was and smacked myself on the forehead.  They are backgrounds of course... how could I be so dense? 


I've only accomplished 2 pages so far, and while it probably actually took me just as long to put together a page digitally as I would have with paper, it was only because I kept changing my mind on how the layout should look.  This picture is what I've done to one of the pages so far.  I'm already loving it.  I can foresee this turning into a hobby...

The Battle of the Body Wars Begins - Flu and Cold Season approaches

I wore a jacket this morning for the first time this season because it was chilly which got me thinking about fall. (side note: I have grown completely in love with the fall, the sounds the smells, and I can't wait to go outside with my new camera and take pictures of the trees)  As the weather cools down, I'm sure I will be hearing my grandmas and my titas claim "its cold, put a hat on or you'll get sick".  I wonder how much actual truth there is to that.  It seems relatively impossible to get sick just because it's cold out.  We learn that bacteria thrives in warm, damp environments, growing and spreading everywhere they come in contact so in the cold, it wouldn't survive.  But the cold and flu are not bacteria, and they seem to attack us the most during the fall and winter.  Everything moves slower when its cold...down to the molecular level, and yeah the nerd in me is even thinking about the germs floating around in the air.

This isn't the first time I've thought about this, and my theory is that when you're cold, your body is working harder to keep your body temperature normal than to fight off the little buggies.  So either there is some truth to my theory or I'm just making up words to justify and reason out why people would say being cold makes you sick.  It still doesn't explain summer colds though.

School has started, and although I don't have little harbingers of illnesses of my own, I'm surrounded by people that do.  Kids are everywhere.  It's unavoidable, and I'm finding myself already starting the battle now that my husband is home sick.  As a minor hypochondriac, every sneeze, every cough, every twinge in my sinuses is being scrutinized and analyzed.  Is it allergies or an oncoming viral outbreak?

When school starts, there is a sudden influx of advertisements for the flu shot.  About this time last year one of my bosses contracted the dreaded swine flu and was out for 2 weeks.  We had disinfecting wipes randomly placed around the office to prevent the infected from spreading the germs to everyone else.  We just talked about how it's time to get the flu shot again.  I haven't gotten a flu shot in at least the last 5 years.  Now is when I debate again for weeks on whether or not I'm going to go to the local drugstore and get poked with this seasons virus.  

POW!

I don't have the strongest immune system, as I get sick at least 3-4 times a year, so it is a common thing for me to have colds.  But, I have noticed since I've been out of school, it's been less often.  Something about the congregating of mass quantities of persons and communal equipment allowing germs to fester having the potential to create an epidemic.  But even if you're not in school, the germs still manage to find their way to you.  And consequently, to me. 


So begins the battle, and my seasonal ritual of tissues, tea, vitamins, disinfectant, and hand sanitizer.  Bring it on...

Note to self...

...Don't stay up drinking with the neighbors until midnight on a school night.  Er, work night.  At least, not when I have to be awake by 5:30am.  Not good for staying awake through the rest of the day.  Good thing I like coffee now.

Still, it was a fantastic way to end the long weekend.  A long, laborious weekend.  So much for Labor Day weekend being 'labor' free.  We chopped down 4 trees in our yard, which we had been itching to do since we moved in to the house almost a year ago. And when I say "we" I mean my husband did the chopping while I stood around and took pictures of the mass destruction (I haven't uploaded the pictures yet, so I'll have to add that later). I helped move branches though...

The work is still not yet complete but at least we're making headway, and the front of the house is slowly becoming known to the world through the jungle that used to be the "arborist's dream".   What kind of person thinks an overgrown yard is even remotely attractive?  An actual arborist would probably be appalled at the bedraggled state of this yard considering it was so unkempt that things were starting to kill each other.

I finally went back to hot yoga on Saturday, after a 4 week hiatus.  They still remembered me, and I had to admit my failing to come to yoga for 4 weeks in a row.  Though, I have to believe they understand that most people in my position who only come to yoga once a week anyway, feel no shame in skipping multiple weeks.  It was fantastic, although I screwed up and fell asleep awkwardly on the couch the following morning with the puppy.  Now my back is all tight again.  Looks like I'll have to go again this weekend as well.  

The best part of the weekend is finding out I have lost 4 lbs since the beginning of August when I last weighed myself.  So maybe there is some hope still.  I have been assuming my family and friends have been going crazy when they tell me I lost weight and how good I look.  I still think they're crazy because 4 lbs is not noticeable by far since I've not lost any inches at all. My Lola even told me "You look good now, getting smaller.  Not fat anymore." It didn't faze me...old Filipino women are as blunt as they are dramatic.  But I did ask my Ninang..."I was fat?" as I'm taking pictures of the delicious smelling pancit she cooked.  "Oh you know what she means...I keep telling her she has to be careful who she says things like that to you know..."  Still, it's nice to hear they perceive that I'm losing weight. 

The next best part of the weekend is completely tiring out the puppy.  Hooray for a docile half asleep puppy for 2 days straight.  I'm sure after sleeping it off today while I'm at work, he'll be ready to go again tonight, but it was great while it lasted.  The key to a lazy hound is a combination of a large open field, a frisbee or some ball like retrievable object, and willing victims kids.  This morning he literally sat there on our bed sprawled across my husband, watching me get ready for work when usually he's in my face trying to get me to play/feed him. 


Overall a blessed weekend. Couldn't ask for more. :-D

The things I Eat...Chapter 1

So, what does one do at home during the afternoon when the television set is broken and a serious case of the munchies emerges from the depths of the stomach? We cook of course.....

"Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet." ~ Julia Child

Sometimes, the mood just strikes me...though most times it's purely out of necessity.  This afternoon it was both. I'm no chef, or even a fantastic cook for that matter.   I hardly ever come up with my own recipes, continuously scanning the internet for other peoples ideas.  Most days I rather enjoy cooking...coming up with different meals, perfecting and experimenting with the ones that work. 

The husband purchased an ice cream maker attachment for my stand mixer.  It was my birthday present this year, although like he says, its "the gift that keeps on giving". I've made an assortment of ice cream and sorbet so far and fully intend to keep on making more.  In fact, today I made more...

I keep my ice cream maker attachment in the freezer for days like this when I get in the mood to make some of this delicious homemade  sweet treat.  Time to pull it out.

"Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos."  ~Don Kardong

Everyone should have ice cream from time to time.  Lactose intolerance be damned.  Don't let that stand in your way.  Fresh, creamy ice cream.  Is there anything better?

So I've made triple chocolate chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip, coffee chocolate chip (see a pattern?), raspberry sorbet, kiwi-strawberry sorbet, and raspberry-mint sorbet.  The booklet that came with the attachment has all of 3 ice cream recipes.  Vanilla, Chocolate chocolate chip, and Orange Creme?...  Here's where my endless online searching comes into play, ice cream recipes! Last night I found a recipe for Moose Tracks....who doesn't love vanilla ice cream with mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and fudge swirl?  

Laptop = Recipe :-)

Reese's!

Notice I also have Reese's Peanut Butter Chips and Chocolate chips as well.  I wasn't sure what I should use.  In the end, I used both.  I chopped up the Reese's...

Yum.... I may or may not have had a few bites prior to mixing them into the ice cream. I'll leave that up to your imagination.  

Vanilla is almost done

The final product....Moose Tracks!

Is it amazing you ask? Why, yes, yes it is! Time for me to chow down. Chapter 2 coming soon...Guacamole and Pork Chops.

Summer endings...

Since I am now officially one of 2 people in my department at work for the rest of the week, I am hereby switching to weekend mode. *click*  BSB party in my cube...initiated. 

Although the actual date of summer's end isn't for another couple weeks, most mark Labor day weekend as the unofficial official end of summer.  The kiddies go back to school, the sun isn't out as long, the white pants get put back into the deep recesses of the closet...  and all I can think is, "It's already September?! Where did the rest of the year go?"  Is it just me or is time moving faster? 

I now have about 4 months remaining to lose that extra 15 lbs I vowed to shed at the beginning of the year. Oops.  Well, there's still time. If my husband can lose 20 lbs in the middle of summer, I can lose 15 before Christmas, right? <insert cricket noises here> Unfortunately for me, I enjoy the activity of eating far too much. And with Halloween candy, Thanksgiving turkey, and Christmas hens in the line up...I'm pretty much done for. 

While setting this blog up, I also included a link to the Homeowners Chronicles blog and since have realized how little house decorating I've accomplished since we've moved in.  That was my goal for this summer and I have thoroughly failed on that one.  That is one of the blogs that I ran out of 'free space' to include more entries.  I was in the process of editing and compiling the various entries into an archived blog but alas, I have failed on that one too.  

Kona

So, I didn't accomplish what I set out to accomplish this summer but I did undertake the training of the new puppy, and I got another tattoo.  2 things I wanted to do for several years.  Maybe it takes me longer to achieve some of my goals but by golly I get there. Puppy training is so far going quite well.  I managed to teach "shake" in all of 1 evening.  I taught it so well now he wants to do it continuously, even when I'm sleeping...and on my face. I'm sure I  don't need tell you, a 50 lb dog stepping on your face while you're sleeping is hardly comfortable. But he's so cute!  

Summer has come and gone, and I believe I'm through enjoying the hot weather.  Even though we still have several weeks left of warm nights and even warmer days, now it's time to look towards the weather cooling down, the leaves changing colors, the 2 month long holiday season, and snow.  White, fluffy, cold snow...and the general assortment of terrifyingly thrilling, blood pressure increasing, ab and thigh burning winter activities.  Maybe it won't be that hard to lose 15 lbs after all....