Last Hurrah

In a couple of ways this weekend is my last hurrah. I have been really bad about my eating habits this month. I have, I think, gained weight. I have been consuming salt in large amounts. Of course not just spoonfuls of salt--oh no--salt on lots of chips, nuts, in cheese, and other foods. I decided this is the end of the line. On Monday I am starting the no C diet.

We are visiting the fam this weekend. I'm not sure when we will be able to do that again. Not Thanksgiving. I already made an agreement with my parents that Thanksgiving is at my place this year. So maybe Christmas time or next year. Our nieces have grown so much since Thanksgiving, and I can't imagine not seeing them for almost a whole year!

Also, when we get back we have so many things to do and so many things to plan. This weekend is my last hurrah. No worries. No plans, no diet, no work outs, no packing (oops, I am going to have to do some packing), no phone calls, no work. I have a couple of days off. Hurrah.

Texas Weather

January in Texas means ice.  Not snow, ice.  Our yearly ice storm hit yesterday.  It was an adventure driving to work last night.  Texans have no clue how to drive in inclement weather.  People were doing 10 miles per hour on the freeway, or even worse--completely stopped in the left hand lane!  It was a funny thing to watch the news this am.  They were showing the mix master in Fort Worth, with the cars completely stopped on the ramp.  It was really funny (the newscasters were giving a play by play).  Some people got impatient and went around the stopped cars.  It was a real hoot.  My class was cancelled this am, so I'm going to stay home and try to be productive.  I took some photos this am.  I like the ice between the rocks, and my favorite is the frozen dandelion puff.

Not So Good

I have been a mess lately. When I feel stress I do three things: ignore it, sleep, and eat. I have been working out a few days a week, but when it comes to my diet, well, it has been atrocious. I eat constantly, and I'm not stuffing my face with fruits or veggies. I need to get back on track.

I have also been slacking on other things. My to do list is very long. That is nothing new, but now I feel a deadline, so I'm feeling the pressure. Hence, I'm trying to ignore it, sleeping at least 12 hours a night, and eating everything in sight. I am trying to be organized about my to do list. I've made lots of to do lists, with different deadlines, and then I am breaking those down even further. Today I managed to do everything on my to do list--except exercise.

I haven't been soaking my piercing. I haven't been wearing my retainer. I haven't been putting things away. I haven't been losing weight (duh, see first paragraph). I need to get with the program, but I have no energy or motivation.

At least I can say that there IS half a gallon of milk left in the fridge. It took a lot of restraint, but I managed not to drink the whole jug.

Eye Poster

Tiffany gave me a huge stack of Japanese and Taiwanese magazines a while back. This week I went through the magazines and ripped out all the cosmetic ads with big, made-up eyes. Last night I clipped out a bunch of the eyes and glued up a bunch of them too. The eyes in the Japanese magazines are a lot larger than the ones in the American magazines. A couple of them are so large I don't have room for them. I still have a huge stack of magazine ads and a ziploc bag full of eyes that I have already cut out. For some older photos check out my other eye poster post.

Pet Peeves

I've been thinking about this post for a long, long time. The bottom line is that inconsiderate, clueless people really annoy me. I'm sure I'm leaving out some things that really bug me, but here is a list of the things that commonly get me riled up.

1. Subject-verb agreement. I've written a post on this one before. Things are not getting better. I still read and hear subject-verb disagreement all the time.

2. Hoverers. Really, don't get me started on hoverers. If you feel that you must hover above the toilet, then either aim or clean up after yourself. I love how women hover "like a proper lady", piss all over the toilet seat, then haughtily walk out of the stall with a look that says "That didn't come from me!" Well, you may or may not avoid germs, but you will get the evil eye from me.

3. When people park between our driveway and Ottos. Again, I've already written a post about this. People are just inconsiderate.

4. Smokers. They stand in front of buildings creating a cloud that I must walk through to get in. The worst is the litter. I see smokers toss butts all the time. I see butts and empty packs all over. Gross.

5. Itch and addicting. Itch is that feeling you get when you got crabs from sitting on the toilet. Scratch is what you do to relieve that feeling. It makes me cringe a little when I hear "He's been itching that spot so much he made it bleed." The other word I commonly hear is addicting. Piercings are addicting. Tattoos are addicting. Chips are addicting. Video games are addicting. No! They are addictive.

6. Bad dog owners. Some are clueless. Some, are just jerks. I could go on and on about this one, but I think you know what I mean: shitting, barking, wandering, scratching, jumping, bowling over dogs with owners who just don't care.

7. Whiners. Please don't complain to me about money. Really, ever. If it is such a problem, then stop spending. If you are buying crap and eating out, then I have no sympathy for you. Point. Please don't complain to me about your weight if you aren't doing anything about it. Yeah, like I'm going to sympathize with you when you say you are fat as you stuff donuts in your mouth. Yeah, right.

Man, this post makes me sound like a bitch. Well, I am. A judgemental bitch.

Oh, and just to add another thing in. Please don't tell me everything happens for a reason (and it will all work out for the better). Please don't tell anyone that. That is a crappy line that never makes anyone feel better.

Cousin Bette

I finished reading Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac last week. Yeah! That is the first grown up book I have read in two years. It was an 1800s Parisian soap opera. I really enjoyed it. Let me tell you, It made me grateful to be living in Texas in 2009. It also made me glad not to be leading a soap-opera life.
The book has been made into a movie more than once. At some point we will get Netflix, and I'll make sure and put Bette in the cue. We watched Tess of the d'Urbervilles on Masterpiece Theater--it was an old school English soap opera (which again made me happy not to be a woman in the 1800s) . I'll have to come up with another classic novel to read, but I might give my brain (and my eyes) a little break.

Good (and Good for you) Pancake: Step 1

As a kid, I never really liked pancakes. Strange, cause my mother loves them, and my dad makes great pancakes (apparently). I think syrup was the root of the problem. I just don't like syrup. I would eat my pancakes with butter and jam. Still, I preferred Swedish pancakes--flat and rubbery, to regular fluffy pancakes.

At some point I had some tasty pancakes on a visit to Austin (I tried Ross's, I would never order pancakes!). I started to rethink my ideas about pancakes. Pancakes became my post-call treat when I was in Maryland. The hospital food was disgusting, but I loved the fluffy, buttery pancakes with jam on them.

I don't make fluffy, buttery pancakes. Instead I make apple-oat-flax pancakes. Healthy, yet not as fluffy and yummy as those cafeteria pancakes I'd come to know and love. My quest is to come up with a good for you pancake that isn't hard, flat, and rubbery.

Step 1: Make a good pancake that might not be so good for you. For this, I called my dad. Seems I take after him--he doesn't measure either. He gave me his pancake recipe and I tried it (with modifications of course) out tonight. Fluffy, yummy. Not as buttery as those ones in the caf--but I know they were just adding water to a mix, so they probably had some kind of imitation butter flavor in them.


The Fluffy Pancake

1 1/4 c all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder

1 egg
3 Tbl. melted butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c milk
vanilla

1. Warm griddle over medium heat.
2. Whisk together flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg. Stir in melted butter, salt, milk, and vanilla.
4. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Do not over mix the ingredients--leave a few lumps.
5. Pour/spoon batter onto griddle. Flip pancake when you see a bunch of bubbles forming.
6. Cook other side for a minute or so.
7. Smear on butter, jam, or syrup if you have to.
8. Eat. Eat. Eat!

Oh--I had oj with my pancakes in an effort to conserve milk.