Interesting Experiment

As most of you know I just took part in the A to Z Blogging Challenge in April. So you’re probably thinking ‘why the heck is she posting already, its only May 1!’ In an effort to stay in the word game I’m thinking my blog is going to become a daily occurrence in the months to come.

Hey, if I can write 11,271 words over the course of one month and have even one or two of the posts involved produce something of value then I’ll have done my job. So I might as well keep that train rolling.

And yes, I did actually go back to all of my posts and add up the word count so that number up there is dead on accurate.

When’s the last time I even considered writing that many words in a month? August last year when I penned Reckless Abandon? The November before that when I did my final NaNo? Some other blog challenge month long thingie?

The answer is that it doesn’t matter when it was, if I can write 11,271 words in a month here imagine what might come out of me if I just keep writing here every month.

If things come to me and I want to write them, I will. Lots of stuff is going on right now so my guess is I’ll have quite a bit to say for a while (you’re welcome). One thing that I really enjoyed about the A to Z Challenge was that I scheduled a couple posts in advance every day. Writing up 2-3 posts every day while posting once a day meant I finished writing most of the month in the first couple weeks.

That allowed me plenty of time to do other things. Other writing projects, other projects, life stuff. It kept my writing muscle working, kept me challenged but also kept me on my toes. If I wasn’t done writing up the posts by lunchtime I knew I’d never have a chance to work on other types of writing that day (fiction, poetry, etc.).

And you know what? That was completely okay. I loved that there were some days I was inspired to move on to other stuff after blogging and there were times I loved spending the day on nothing other than the blog. It’s all still writing. It’s all still valid. Any of it could produce something that turns into something. Writers will understand what I mean.

In addition to finding how much I enjoyed doing the posts I discovered a few new blogs that I’m so happy to have run into. Whether I found them by clicking through the participating links on the sign up website, or they found me and left a comment first, doesn’t matter. I’m enjoying reading their daily posts as well.

The final thing I noticed is that in doing a themed type of post (letters at least in my case since the posting collective had no theme) meant that I had to think long and hard about how to relate a post to every day’s particular letter. That pretty much meant my posts would be short and soft.

The richness of the content may have been edited down but I kind of liked that aspect of this challenge as well and will likely strive to post shorter burst posts all the time from now on (well, okay not all the time, I know some of you know me better than that!). Especially when I’m posting every day. Well maybe I’ll take weekends off. But I can schedule that in advance if I like. It feels more like a job when I’m doing it every day. And I like that. Plus I’m looking forward to doing it because I love it. And loving one’s job can never be a bad thing!

Ride that Zamboni Right into the Playoffs Boston Bruins!

Despite the lockout that happened forcing all of us hockey fans into a world free of pucks and checks for a few months, I’m still a fan. For a few weeks I wondered if I’d get back into it again, if I’d be able to forgive all the crap that happened on both sides. In the end I decided I’m not in it for the money, I don’t fall on either side. I’m just a fan.

I like to watch the guys skate, I like to see what trades happen and who does well on what team and I like the thrill of the rush to the Stanley Cup. What they decide about contracts and all the other hoopla that comes with professional sports these days is not of any concern to me as a spectator. Not really.

So I stuck through the season and they were 40+ of the best games I’ve watched because every single one was like watching the playoffs. Teams for the most part brought their A game just about every night and it was high energy watching it unfold.

Being in Phoenix now we have the Coyotes to root for and I do like to see them do well because I’m a supporter of hockey in the desert. Rink rats and desert rats aren’t really that different. Sadly the playoff hopes for the Coyotes went down the drain in this short season. I just hope it doesn’t get them bought by someone who plans to move them to Canada. We have plenty of Canadian snowbirds here in the Valley, keep the ‘Yotes here and fill the seats!

But my real team of course is the Bruins. They only have a couple games left as I write this post on Friday afternoon. By the time this posts on Tuesday I’ll already know who took the top spot in our division – Boston or Montreal (Update: Stupid Bruins not getting it done!). Since the Habs finished just about dead-last one year ago, I have to scratch my head how they could’ve turned it around so fast this season.

Well, they did sweep the B’s. Much to my chagrin. And the chagrin of the entirety of Bruins Nation.

But by the time this posts, all of that regular season drama will be over and the playoffs will begin in short order for everyone. And most of the injured B’s are back in full force now. Watch out, here we come.

When the Cup Finals finally wrap up its likely going to be in the 110’s around here. I guess it’s just as well the Coyotes are out this season. Water skiing is tough wearing all that padding and the Zamboni wouldn't do as well on Lake Jobing.com Arena.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge Z is for Zamboni

Yardage, Square Footage, and Inches. Oh My!

Now that the wedding spectacular is behind us, Matt and I have some pretty serious priorities for our money. Don’t get me wrong, we still want to get out and have some fun but most of our cash is going to be conserved for home improvement this summer and another wedding (yea!) coming up this fall.

So I’m getting my tape measures and lead pencils ready because in the next few weeks I’m likely going to measure out the entire house and put some plans together. Yesterday I even ordered a couple samples for kitchen renovation. But I must admit that the thought of starting something like this again causes me to get that ever so slight twitch in my forehead vain. Imperceptible to anyone but Matt.

We’ve been here before. We’ve dedicated our entire wallet and free moment to making a house look and function better while living there. Every fiber in my being is nervous to do another major renovation. Every nerve ending perks up, as if I was walking through a power plant, alerting me to tread with extreme caution. But I know the feeling just stems from the residue left after that first failed experiment.

This time will be different for many reasons, primarily because we’re not thinking of leaving this house anytime soon, but also because we have learned from the first time what we should and shouldn’t hire a professional to do.

Flooring, windows & gas plumbing? Yes, a pro will do it all. Ripping down the fireplace, removing the extraneous wall, pulling up carpet, painting and stuff like that? Uh, no. I refuse to pay someone else to do the parts of this I know I’m good at especially if it will save considerable money.

But the pros will definitely come in handy to save me from breaking a hip. I’m not 28 anymore like I was when Matt & I bought our first fixer.

In our youth we did everything with the exception of carpet install, some demo, the electric-to-box connections, and some of the shingle/paint on the higher places of the exterior. And when I say we did everything I really mean everything. Demo of the entire inside including horsehair plaster/lathe on all walls and ceilings. We re-oriented the entire second floor so the bathroom was accessible from both bedrooms. Matt installed all the windows (20 of them) in the middle of the winter in New England. Insulation went in everywhere. Every single one of those 145 pieces of drywall were hung and mudded then painted. And we installed all the floors that weren’t carpeted. Oh yeah, and both bathrooms plus the entire kitchen, a back deck, two doors, and all the landscaping.

Uh, if even a fraction of that needs to be done to this house I’m so hiring someone to do most of it because just thinking back on those days makes me wonder two things:

1. How the hell did Matt and I manage to stay married through all of that insanity? And

2. Putting that kind of undue strain on our relationship again isn’t something I’m really thinking sounds like fun.

Welcome contractors! Come in and look around then please leave your bids at the door. Because the décor and function of the interior of my house is pretty old now. But so am I so you can bet your ass I won't be doing that much work this time around. 

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge Y is for Youth

The Letter Ex

I could see them standing inside the xyst but from where I was down on the lawn below it was impossible to hear what they were saying or even try to read their lips. I was dying inside to know what the outcome was going to be. It had been too many years of agony on his part and she wasn’t in a much better situation. Their collective misery was a recipe for catastrophe. I was afraid the culmination of that chaos was set to diffuse within minutes.

With a look around I decided to see if I could get a better vantage point to maybe sneak a listen. With trepidation in my steps I edged closer to the covered portico where they stood about a foot apart from each other. I took no more than two steps then watched as she stepped backwards from where he was standing. He immediately reciprocated the gesture and took another step toward her. I stood stoic as she took yet another step back. Her motions were definitive and he didn’t mirror them.

Instead, he hung his arms at his sides in a loose manner and I watched his shoulders hunch over ever so slightly as his head dropped into his open, ascending palms. With her attention full on him, I decided to make another approach and took a small sideways step closer to the stone stairs that rose to meet the entrance of the garden path. Neither of them flinched or turned to look at me so I covered a little more ground. They were almost out of view but I assumed I would be at a better listening advantage.

I sat down on the third step from the top but all I heard was silence. Not a peep came from the other side of the long corridor of trees where he and she stood facing each other. I was anxious but didn’t want to make my presence known. After what felt like an hour, with nothing to hear or see, I had to admit defeat in my eavesdropping endeavors. I got up and started to make my way all the way across the lawn, toward the guest quarters, west of the main house and xyst.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge X is for Xyst

The above story is fiction.

Possible V Posts

Very late and very short – What this post will be by the time I finish writing it because I’m out of preloaded posts now.

VW – Matt’s car did pretty great on the way up and back to the Canyon for the wedding (tomorrow’s post!).

Variety – The musical selection on my iPod/iTunes/Pandora. It just played Matchbox 20 and Ani Difranco, then busted right into Soundgarden, Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis, and Air Supply. Yup. Because that’s how I roll. By the end of the day I’ll have heard every Nineties grunge/Alt band, most of the Adult Contemporary from the Seventies and Eighties, a big handful of solo female folk, and probably a healthy smattering of current pop.

Vampires – I’d love to write about this topic but you already know that if you’ve been hanging around here for a while. My favorite vampire type stuff is here, here, and here, if you’re interested in some extra credit feel free to peruse these earlier stories.

VHS Tapes – Yes I still have some as well as a VCR. I’m pretty sure the VCR is on its last leg though as it keeps losing time regardless of how many times we re-set the thing. We’ll watch them until we can’t anymore then add the whole kit and caboodle to the yard sale pile in the garage.

Vacillate – One of my favorite words of all time. Phonetically it sounds exactly like what the definition is, if that makes any sense.

Vacation – The reason I’m so behind on pre-written posts, comments, exercise, Blog Tour promotion, and quitting smoking. Time to complete at least four of those five things. Later.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge V is for Vagaries

All but Useless

Here in Arizona one might think the umbrella is a totally useless piece of junk cluttering up a closet. Most of the time I’d be inclined to agree but there are definitely times during the year when we are truly in need of a sturdy working umbrella.

You like our early seventies tile? Hot right?

Monsoon season is just around the corner and I don’t know about you but I’d prefer not to get stuck out walking across the mall parking lot or something when this is coming down.



On the road back from Tucson, yes that is a line of rain.



The winds before it are what bring in stuff like this.



It was right about this moment Matt asked what I was thinking getting out to take pictures.



And then usually, if we’re very lucky, the rain, thunder, and lightning are close behind. That’s what makes stuff like this happen.



Very early but same pattern. April of this year.



It’s raining mud! (You should’ve seen Matt’s car just from his drive home.) But despite the gross factor of the falling clay, the rain brings the temperature back down from the 110+ range to something more reasonable like 95. Trust me in the middle of July in Phoenix 95 does feel cool.

Lots of people here use their umbrellas in the middle of the day too. That sun can really beat down on you and an umbrella will keep those dangerous rays from sneaking under your skin to cause any permanent damage. Plus you won’t go ruining your white T-shirts with cheap sunscreen stains.

Which is the primary reason I just picked up some bleach this week. It isn’t my preferred method, not as environmentally friendly as I’d like it to be but certainly effective. And it helps me from purchasing more new white clothing which probably has a bigger impact to produce than my small bit of bleach going down the drain.

At least I’m going with that tradeoff for now.

Anyway, as far as the umbrella goes, I’m really posting the picture today for my mom because we talked weeks ago about u is for umbrella and I didn’t want to let her down.

How else can we stay dry during these summer months in the desert.

All photos taken by me

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge U is for Useless

Too Many Topics

As I’ve been writing most of these posts way ahead of time I haven’t had the benefit of going through the whole day for inspiration on the letter at hand. It has forced me to think a lot more about what I want to say and how I want to say it.

So when I get to a day like today with a letter of such commonality it ends up leaving me blank. Because there’s just too many topics for T.

T! The letter T! It’s so easy, just pick anything and it probably has a T involved.

Tea

Tristan Prettyman (who’s singing on my Pandora right now)

Tongs

Toasty temperatures

Travel

Tops

Totally unrealistic character traits

Torture

And so many more I don’t have time (Time!) to go through the dictionary to document them all. So why can’t I just get one of those topics up there as my quick blast creative writing assignment and tell you all about it?

I could tell you how I like to sip a cup of iced tea in these toasty temperatures while listening to Tristan Prettyman and spinning a top.

But that would pretty much be bullshit. I’m not much for iced tea, don’t own a top and really have to be in the mood to listen to Tristan. Even when it is toasty outside.

After my “Blue Shirt” experiment the other day I know that those particular topics above would have a different feeling, resonance, vibe for everyone who reads them. Someone might not know who Tristan Prettyman is and wouldn’t think to write about her. Maybe someone else has never traveled outside their hometown so that would be their travel story. What tale might be told related to tongs?

I think I’ve just been writing so many posts per day at this point I feel like maybe I’ve run out of interesting stories to tell. Or something like that. I’m still rambling on so clearly it hasn’t taken too much of a toll. But I seem to be struggling right now because I’m actually looking forward to getting back to working on my fiction.

Only six more posts though and this challenge is in the bag. Then I can get back to torturing my beta readers with totally unbelievable character traits.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge T is for Topics

S is for Fear

We’ve all heard the saying “One step forward, two steps back” and know it’s a convenient theory for why sometimes setbacks appear in our lives. It’s like we’re saying ‘oh well, I really tried but now I’m even further behind’ so we can then absolve ourselves of not venturing further forward.

Are setbacks real? Is there such a thing as writer’s block? Or are devices like this simply a manifestation of fear? A fear of the unknown that exists past our comfort zones. But isn’t it true that once we step a little out of that zone we become comfortable with that newness eventually too?

I like to think so. Because I’ve never seen it proven otherwise.

As a baby I couldn’t crawl, walk, run, speak, spell, carry on a conversation. But I could learn. And as soon as I learned I was trying the new thing in question. As a kid we rarely have fear. We’ll talk to anyone because everyone could be a new friend. We tell people we want to be something grand and fantastic when we grow up because we don’t know anything that could stand in our way of becoming that thing.

As we start to get older there are more roadblocks placed in our way – no you can’t use the car Friday night, you aren’t going to be Valedictorian, I’m sorry but we hired another candidate – so we start to let go of those early innocent dreams of grandeur. But do we have to accept the roadblocks or can we jump over them to get where we want to be?

I think there are times where we have to listen to our inner voice, the one that most of us ignore after we get used to hearing the word no, and allow the early dreams to flood back in. When what we want is buried so deep inside us that it becomes a passion to pursue it and we find ourselves drawn back to it over and over again it’s hard to ignore no matter how many people say we can’t.

Call it a dream or call me easily fooled but I believe that I can overcome my own setbacks by venturing out of the comfort zone I’ve established to get exactly what I want. Because writers block is nothing but fear and I’m tired of being afraid of writing what I really want to say.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge S is for Setbacks

“Well, the truth of the matter is, I don't report to a Commissioner…”

“I report to a committee. Some of whom are appointed, some elected, and the rest co-opted on a bi-annual basis. It's a quorum, so to speak.”

It hit me when I was reading GalleyCat the other day and came across an article titled “Best Quora Answer of the Year” that I’d left a very important movie off my favorite laugh and quote list. I mean, So I Married an Axe Murderer is the quote movie of all time around our house. It made me wonder why I had forgotten to include it. Perhaps the lines have just become so ingrained in our daily use it’s like they were always there.

However, as far as I know it’s the only movie to use the word quorum.

Which of course is the perfect word for today’s post.

Perhaps this is cheating using a movie title that has nothing to do with the letter Q but hey, I included the article too and that really makes use of the Q.

So the article was about the winner who responded to this question: “What does the first day of a 5+ year prison sentence feel like?”

And for those interested, the Quora response in question was awarded during the annual Shorty Awards. I’d never heard of the award before so it seemed smart to look them up. Turns out it’s the social media content awards. Unfortunately blogs aren’t included unless they’re posted on Tumblr. Here’s the info. Despite the lack of Blogger or Wordpress to make the cut, the awards sound pretty interesting.

Strangely I had never heard the word quora before. Then as I was typing this up in MS Word I got the little red squiggle beneath the word indicating a misspelling. Suggestions included quota, quire, and quorum among others. I couldn’t get any results on dictionary.com either. Seemed strange.

I wondered if quora was the plural of quorum because quorums didn’t sound right. But Word didn’t say it was a misspelling so that furthered my confusion. So does anyone know what a quora actually is? It might be good to know in case I ever want to enter the contest someday. Someday if I ever decide to use Tumblr.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to “turn off the Bay city Rollers, the game’s about to begin!”

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge Q is for Quorum

Procrastinating Projects

Or more aptly named - Projects for Procrastinating! Its already quarter of my workout and I’m just sitting down to write this post now because I’ve been taking care of all kinds of random stuff this morning. All those projects that ended up coming to light when I cleaned the office up the other day. And who was I trying to fool? I’m not about to put them in the garage or they’ll never get done. So today was make headway on projects day.

I finally finished pulling the inserts out of all the bottle caps I’ve been collecting for the past two years. I’ve got a few plans for these involving boiling, spray painting, hole punching, linking, and/or magnetizing. For now I’m just glad to have all those inserts pulled out. It was slow and tedious but all part of the process. I’ll post some pictures when I get them all done up.

A couple years ago I inherited a whole bunch of wooden hangers from my Gram’s place. Since being in Arizona I started noticing them drying out a bit and it was raising the grain. Not cool especially since I usually use them for my nicer items and I don’t need those snagging. So I sanded them down and used some of my satin poly on hand to smooth them out. They’ll dry overnight and I’ll put the final coat on tomorrow or the next day.

The guest room is finally sorted and appropriate stuff moved in while other stuff was moved out to the garage or other places. While doing that it forced me to reorganize the front hall closet too. Not a lot to do there but it’s nice to be able to just reach in and grab something now.

I hemmed the super cool pair of stretchy jeans I bought a couple weeks ago because they were about four inches too long on me. Story of my life. I’ve gotten good at hemming jeans over the years. I also bleached out the bottom of the hem so it looks a little more naturally hemmed. It turned out okay but I think it went a little further than I would’ve ideally liked. It isn’t white or anything so I’m sure it’ll be fine. And I’m going to wear them regardless because they’re so super comfy!

Then of course there was some laundry and dishes I’d been putting off dealing with. Sadly those can only build up so long and something has to be done. Unlike dust. That shit can pile up until next September for all I care. And if Matt wasn’t around to care about it I guarantee you it probably would pile up.

There are just some things I still feel fully comfortable deferring. 

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge P is for Procrastinating

Nothing in Particular Just a Little of Everything

I’m feeling random right now. Feeling kind of basic too though. This is going to probably become a broken thought process type of post. About everything and Nothing. Stream of consciousness. My own self-contained, self-proclaimed, meme. I can feel your enthusiasm through the monitor.

So I started taking on the role of grocery shopper in our family because honestly I don’t get out much as a writer so for a day or two every week I get to at least interact with other humans in the real world. It’s a total Catch-22 though – I hate grocery shopping. It is quite possibly my least favorite type of shopping. Except maybe for landscape stuff. Yeah, that’s all Matt’s department.

Anyway, the grocery shopping. The reason I dislike it is because it seems no matter what time of day, which day of the week, and/or who is shopping, navigating those places becomes a blood sport. Something I can’t ignore in the grocery store is people’s sudden lack of desire to adhere to any type of personal space.

Ever notice in the checkout line people have to be right next to their own groceries? As if the cashier is going to accidentally put 10-20 of their items into the bag of the person in front of them. They have to stand guard to protect their foodstuffs. This sadly forces those people up the ass of the person in front of them because grocery stores place the pin-pad thingie right at the end of the belt. And out the window goes all personal space.

The one store I’ve been to that gets it right is Target. The machines are past the cashier at ours so the paying customer and the produce bodyguard behind them never have to crash.

I can’t be the only one irritated by this practice, am I?

So the truth is that I’m actually writing this post on April 9, 2013, the day that ‘H’ posted. I wrote that one on the seventh after attending the Coyotes game the day before. But this one, letter ‘N’, isn’t even due to post for another seven days.

Does that mean I’m writing for a future that you’ll be reading when its already the past? Whoa. Okay, I kind of freaked myself out with that question. Never mind, I just hope you’re enjoying it.

My office has stayed relatively clean and organized since this challenge started, which makes me pretty happy. I went on a tear the day I set out to organize my space and ended up doing so much more than just the one room. It felt good to get some stuff into the right spot in the house or at least out of bad spots in the house.

The exercise bike is definitely getting some good use since we bought it. I can’t say I’m on it every day but probably 3 days a week and then two others I’m doing another workout of some sort. Haven’t lost any weight yet but really can’t expect Biggest Loser type numbers or anything, I only have fifteen to lose. Of course that’s a double edged sword because it’s a small number, which is nice, but it’s always those last few that are toughest to shed.

I’ll get there, I know this for fact in my head that if I keep working hard I’ll achieve my goals, but my least virtuous trait is my extreme lack of patience.  

Patience is boring and I hate to be bored. Truth.

Hmm, yeah I think that's it.

I guess Nothing really became something huh? 600+ words of some kind of something. You’re welcome.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge N is for Nothing

The Movie is better than the Book?

Although it will come out sounding awful and all of my Author friends will deny knowing me after I say it I’m just going to come right out and say that I’m much more apt to see the movie than read the book. There. I feel so much better just for getting that off my chest.

I think visually, even when I write I’m envisioning the scene in my head and how it will play out. But it isn’t just the characters I can see. I see the setting around them, little chotchkies surrounding the characters, the color of a car they’re riding in, the use of lighting and color to evoke emotions, and any host of other tricks a film director might employ to evoke a specific emotion. And I’ve been told that my books read like a movie sometimes. That’s pretty cool.

One of the first movies I ever saw was “On Golden Pond” and no I wasn’t nearly close to old enough to grasp the overall concept of the movie at the time. I was probably around eight years old.

My mom and aunt had taken my sister and me to the drive-in. Yes, I’m that old. Sort of. Anyway, we were supposed to stay up for the first movie, crash out in the backseat, then mom and my aunt would watch the second movie in peace. I want to say the opener was “Snow White” but my mom can weigh in on that one. It barely left an impression but still, after it was over there wasn’t a chance in hell I was going to sleep.

Are you kidding? I mean I was a kid in a car watching movies. It was, like, the coolest thing I’d ever experienced to that moment of my young life and I wanted it to last as long as possible. My sister was out like a light. Long before the first movie even ended I think. I hardly made a peep while I watched, with wide eyes, the grown-up movie from the backseat.

From that moment on I was hooked on movies. I loved how big everything was, it really added to the whole concept of a fantasy world when the actors were ten feet tall. It's true that "On Golden Pond" wasn't originally a book but let's just say in the years following my viewing of that movie, nine times out of ten I saw the movie before (if ever) reading the book. Not for a lack of imagination but simply for enjoying someone else’s take on what it would look like instead of just relying on my own.

So it shouldn’t be a shock that not only am I a big time movie quoter but I have an array of categories for when I’ll enjoy specific movies. With some flicks you just have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy them ya know?

Movies for when I’m sewing/crafting

Armageddon

Sixteen Candles

Almost Famous

Can’t Hardly Wait

St. Elmo’s Fire

High Fidelity

The Breakfast Club

Movies for when I need to laugh and quote

Old School

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Legally Blonde

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Clueless

The Ref

Just Friends

America’s Sweethearts

Napoleon Dynamite

Idiocracy

Waiting
Mallrats

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Movies for when I’m in a music mood

Singles

Spice World

Dazed and Confused

Reality Bites

200 Cigarettes

Almost Famous

School of Rock

Movies for days when all I do is think

Chasing Amy

Girl, Interrupted

Fight Club

American History-X

Love, Actually

Leaving Las Vegas

Stand By Me

The Crow

Movies for when I need adventure and excitement

The Goonies

Indiana Jones (first three)

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

X-Men (all)

The Bourne - original trilogy

Groundhog Day

Back to the Future Trilogy

Red

Movies for nostalgia

Rudy

9 to 5

Better Off Dead

Say Anything…in fact

Pretty much any movie John Cusack made before 1994

And for that matter, every movie Sean Astin made before 1994

Glory Daze

Practical Magic

An Affair to Remember

Dazed and Confused

Forces of Nature

It Could Happen to You
Mallrats

Movies I hated after reading (and loving) the book

Carrie

Pet Sematary

Thinner

OK, pretty much everything written by King then adapted for the screen except…

Movies I loved after reading (and loving) the book

The Shining

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Movies for when I’m in a Sports mood

Rudy

Goon

Fever Pitch

Major League

Rookie of the Year

Jerry Maguire

Miracle

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge M is for Movies

Kidding Myself?



The first time I asked it said Ask Later. This was my second response.
Uh-huh.



Who was I trying to fool when I set that goal of losing ten pounds before the wedding? I’ll be lucky if I lose two at this rate. Not to say I haven’t been eating healthy or working out. Quite to the contrary I’m trying to do some form of exercise every day and making much smarter choices for nutrition most of the time.

The operative turn of phrase here is ‘most of the time’.

For some reason I’m not taking into account the fact that I go out with friends and enjoy happy hour once a week, or at least twice a month. In which time I’ll happily imbibe a few glasses of wine and whatever bad for me food is sitting on the table. I’ve also somehow failed to factor in that I enjoy going to sporting events and the beer that goes along with them.

I’ve put on about twenty pounds. How come it’s so much easier to put them on than to take them off? Especially when I’m actually trying to take them off, not just sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine lamenting the fact that I’ve gone up two dress sizes in the past handful of years?

Starving myself is not an option, I enjoy food way too much for that. Plus I enjoy not passing out and since all this wonkiness started last fall I’m finding it’s crucial to keep my blood sugar at an optimum level. Any type of crash effects my weird head shit.

Because I need the added challenge apparently. So maybe it’s time to cut out or at the very least cut back on drinking. Because those empty calories found my midsection and are reluctant to let go.

I’m not a stress eater and I don’t tend to binge on unhealthy snacks. In fact during the day I’m much more likely to eat small meals at intervals of every couple hours. Oatmeal (steel cut, no extras) with a little agave & cinnamon to start the day. Mid-morning I’ll have a granola bar and water. Lunch is usually something small like a can of tuna with light mayo or a can of soup with a few pita chips and hummus. Mid-day snack is usually an apple with some cheese melted on top. Dinner is sometimes a larger meal but we’ve been doing a lot of broiled fish, salads, veggies and either vegetable starches like sweet potato fries or healthier brown rice. And I usually don’t eat desert of any kind or another snack late night after 6:00 dinner.

Add in my hour workout every day and I’m at a complete loss as to why I can’t seem to shed these useless and much too heavy pounds. Am I just kidding myself that I’ll ever be a shape other than oval again? Has the cottage cheese effect come to stay?

I’m only forty (and not even there yet damn it!) so it can’t be that much more difficult to lose weight than it was in my thirties. Can it be?

It isn’t practical for my schedule to think about working out longer than an hour a day and I don’t have the money in the budget to actually join a gym so I’m doing it all at home, usually during my lunch hour.

But with only a couple weeks until this wedding the outlook doesn’t look too good. I guess I better start considering investing in a pair of Spanx and just keep pushing play so I can maybe lose something before summer and pool season are upon us.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge K is for Kidding

Magic 8 Ball CGI by Steven C. Santy

The Obvious Choice is J is for Jennifer…

…but this whole blog is about me so wouldn’t that seem a little like a cop-out or cheating? I mean there has to be something more unique I can find to report on the benefits of the letter J right? I said so yesterday and don’t want to be considered a liar or anything.

So let’s talk about something else, like June for example. June is going to be a big month this year. I’m turning forty in June. That’s supposed to be some kind of milestone right? I don’t feel forty. Well, after eleven years of gymnastics assaulting my physical being my body sometimes sure feels it. Sometimes even older (like when it rains and every joint in my body starts pointing and laughing at me). But mentally? Mentally I’m hovering somewhere around twenty-two.

Just old enough to drink but just young enough to be lazy with no one barking at you for it.

At least that’s how I spent most of my early twenties. Weekends weren’t filled with responsibilities or commitments unless they involved going to a ball game, the club or getting a real meal with family as opposed to eating Kix or Ramen every night.

Maybe if I went to less ball games and clubs I could’ve spent more on food. But let’s be serious, it wasn’t like I wanted to cook a steak on the stove top in my craptastic second floor apartment in Everett. Plus it wasn’t like I could even access the stove with the piles of dirty dishes cluttering it up.

What those dishes were used for is beyond me now. I remember a lot of things about that apartment and time in my life but what I ate while living in it isn’t one of them. In fact at one point the dishes got so out of hand it was easier and cheaper to just throw them all away and buy new ones.

No that’s not a joke. I was twenty-two and lazy remember?

Not much changed when I finally moved into my own place at twenty-seven. There were plenty of times a guy would come pick me up for a date, friends or family came over to visit and I’d just take the piles of dishes from the kitchen and stack them up in the tub behind the shower curtain.

I figured if anyone who came over was bold enough to peek behind that curtain then they deserved to see the specks of pasta sauce and old chunks of who knows what festering on my stack of bowls and plates. I moved them so those people wouldn’t have to see the nastiness in my kitchen.

The only time I remember doing dishes in that studio apartment was when I was having an overnight guest. I wasn’t mean enough to tell them they had to shower at the gym or something. So I guess that means I did dishes at least four or five times while living there before Matt moved in with me.

Thank god for Matt. He actually was the only guy who stayed over (before we were officially dating that is) that I did dishes for. When I said overnight guest I meant more like friends or family coming in from out of town. Guess that should’ve been my first clue that Matt was the keeper.

And this year he’s supposedly planning a party for my (alleged) milestone birthday in June. I don’t know how many people he’s inviting or who might show up but I’m just thankful we have a dishwasher.

Posted for April 2013 A to Z Blog Challenge J is for June