You Asked Me WHAT?

Today at work I ran into an old co-worker. I haven't worked with him since December of 2004. I am glad that I don't see him any more often. After work chit chat for several minutes, the conversation goes a little something like this:

"I see you've filled out, when are you due?"

You're kidding me, right? You'd think I'd be used to this, because this is at least the SECOND time the douchebag has made comments about me filling out, the last time was months ago. A woman never gets used to being told "she's filling out". And WTF do I have to be all ashamed about? I'm happy, my husband is happy, and my doctor has never mentioned a problem with my weight. Go eff yourself. And while you're at it, get some manners.

After the comment was made, since he's already told me this before, ya know, the whole filling out thing, I was prepared with a comeback. I in turn said I was looking for tips on how keep up my appearance and wanted to know what he did to keep up that STELLAR body of his. Stunned silence, then the conversation quickly shifted. I was just trying to get the hell away from him. You insult me, the conversation is over.

I am a 30-year old WOMAN. Keeping the same body I had in high school and college is not going to happen. If I'm OK with my appearance, why isn't the rest of the world? Shame on any man or woman for trying to make me feel bad about myself. Why would anyone even care??? I guess some people get off on putting others down.

However, don't let me fool you, I'm caught up in appearances, my OWN, but for someone to pass judgement on me because I'm not a size 0 anymore....well, I don't even know what to say. I'm left utterly speechless. And disgusted. So there. I vented, and I feel better.

*****

Some cute pictures of some of my favorite friends.

Baby It's Cold Inside

When the Husband and I woke up on Tuesday morning, the furnace wasn't running. We thought maybe the thermostat program reset itself, so we didn't worry too much about it for a little while. I continued getting ready for work, and after the heat never kicked on, we knew something was wrong. Frick. I went to work. I got a call from the Husband that he thought we blew the fuse to the furnace. Hopefully an easy fix. Whew. I get very scared about furnace and gas problems, you know the stuff that could cause some serious damage to a house if something went wrong.

I got a call around 3:00 while at work, the furnace still wasn't on. Double frick. The Husband had made a couple trips to Lowe's and Menards and was trying his best. He even took the day off work himself. He got another call that he had to take while he was telling me the furnace wasn't on yet, so I figured we'd just talk when I got home.

I arrived home to find an electric blanket all set up on the couch and a couple of room space heaters set up to keep me toasty. God bless him, he takes such good care of me. He said he figured I would've planned a girls night with my friends so I didn't have to hang out in the cold house. I told him we were in this together. So we had a pretty uneventful night. Not that we could do much with how crappy the weather was anyway. I actually heard thunder while it was raining last night. That was of course, before the snow started. At least the power wasn't out. That's all I kept saying. We had electricity to keep us warm. Thank goodness someone invented electric blankets and space heaters.

This morning was a pretty chilly one trying to get ready for work. I think the thermostat said it was 61 degrees in our house. It could be worse. The furnace place opens up at 7:00 a.m., so hopefully the Husband can figure out what we need to have done and get it fixed up. School was canceled again, so he's got another day at home. That actually worked out pretty well for us to have "darn-near blizzard conditions" (definitely not a fun trip into work for me though, but that's another story). Oh yes, and our new fridge is being delivered today too. Sometime between 11:30 and 1:30. Lots of stuff going on. It keeps life exciting, that's for sure.

*****
Furnace update....Let there be heat.

The Husband got the furnace fixed at 6:00 p.m. last night, so we're back in business. Yeah! A cold house is never fun.

The refrigerator has been rescheduled for delivery on Friday. Stupid bad weather.

What If I'm Not Good Enough?

It took a lot for me to put this post together. This shows my 'weak' side. I normally don't willingly put this side out there for the world to see. But it's life. My life. And that's what this blog is about.

On Sunday night, as I sat plucking away at my eyebrows which is a fairly regular ritual for me (I must've been related to Bert from Sesame Street in my former life...if former lives exist), my mind began to wander. I started thinking about the people who have asked me if and when I'm going to have kids (the appropriateness of those questions we'll discuss another time). That's when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and looked myself straight in the eye. I stared for a second at myself. I want to have children, but I'm scared. What if I'm not good enough? I stared at myself a little longer. I got tears in my eyes thinking about the times when my child is going to come home upset from being picked on, and thinking of the right things to say to make it all better. The answers to their questions. What if I crack under pressure? And the list goes on and on. I guess the mere fact that I'm scared to begin with shows that I'm putting a lot of thought into the decision. That's good I guess. I suppose a lot of people go through this stage when planning to transition into the next phase of life. I certainly can't be the only one with self-doubt. I hope...

New Fridge On the Way

Tonight the Husband ordered our new fridge! Yesss! It's got a bottom drawer freezer which will be interesting to get used to. Next we're getting a new light fixture and counter tops for the kitchen. Hooray for home improvements!

Because Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes

I've been sulking all week. It's got to be the weather and the crazy amount of snow we've been getting. I am so not a cold weather or winter person. At all. I hate the short days, driving on snow, scraping windows when I come out of work. Everything. So to make myself feel better, I ordered a new pair of shoes. Check 'em out. Everyone needs a pair of polk dot shoes, don't they? Well, it did make me feel better. That was the whole point.

Behold the Power of Soy

I've been wanting to try Soy Milk for ages now. I finally just grabbed a small carton of it on Monday while I was at the store. I figured it I didn't like it, I could ditch it, and it wasn't that much so it wouldn't be incredibly wasteful.

I picked up some organic Vanilla Soy Milk. I like vanilla, so what the heck. I gave it a go last night. I poured a little shot for myself. I had to test it before dowsing my Special K in potential nasty milk. Oh. My. Goodness. It was sooo yummy. I scarfed down a bowl of cereal in no time. This gives plain cereal a whole new taste.

After the Husband arrives home, we do the normal chit chat and then he asks what I ate for dinner. I told him cereal and soy milk. Then I proceeded to tell him how great I thought it was. He in turn tells me, "I know, Kerri. I used to be a hippie. I actually used to drink rice milk, but soy is better for you.". Hmph. Well, I thought I was onto something here. Then I said "I wished I wouldn't have told you how good it was, because now you'll drink it all.".

Which is true. It seems like whenever I buy things for me, he's always getting into them. We'll start with the Slim Fast shakes in a can. I used to buy them for a quick breakfast because of my long commute and early work hours, I never have time to eat at home. Yep, he got into those. He'd just sit and drink them at home. Just because. When I asked about it, it turned into "why are those just for you? You don't know how to share". Never mind the watching my weight thing and the convenience of it all. Fast forward to my South Beach diet. I could have like 70 calories of sugar a day in Phase One. So I purchased some sugar-free Jell-O and Fudgesicles. Those were the only things saving me during that point in my life. Yep, got into those too. I mean, the guy can eat anything in site, but he has to eat the stuff for my diet. I was limited to meat, cheese and vegetables. I'm a carb addict. I don't think I have to say that I felt like I was dying. And to eat my last fudgesicle was crucifixion for me at the time of occurrence.

Ok, so back to the present. Man, can I call it or what? I race home today, looking forward to that bowl of Special K for dinner, and half of the milk is gone. I had a good laugh over that. Hey, at least there was enough for me to eat dinner. That's all I cared about. And next time, I'll buy more, because contrary to his belief, I do know how to share.

Another Perk To Being Married

Forget about the tax break.

I can play air guitar and soprano sax to the opening credits of Law and Order with my best Blues face on without feeling the least bit embarassed about the Husband seeing me.

I pulled that gem out on our honeymoon. It's been an on-going thing ever since. I think he secretly likes it. I mean, how could he not?

Pet Duties

You see, much like having children, owning pets entails having to do a lot of things that no one tells you about. Some of those such items include the constant cleaning up of puke and hairballs, and the occasional butt cleaning. Hey, kitties can get a case of the nasties too, and poor Nico has so much fur that he doesn't stand a chance.

Here's a conversation that evolved between the Husband and I while cleaning poop from the cat's rear once again.

Him: You're gonna have to clean him up. I can't.

Me: ...Fine, I'll do it this time, but next time it's your turn.

...What are you going to do when we have kids?

...Like what if one of our kids came to you and said "Daaad, I've got a sore butt."

-slight pause-

Him: I'll say "Go tell your mom!".


Let me tell you, I'm counting down the days until I get the pleasure (or plague?) of cleaning up both kid butts and animal butts.

Death of the Yellow Colander

You know when you move in with your significant other, and you’re going through the whole sorting and combining of items? One of the items I inherited with the merge was a 70’s yellow-gold colander with a handle. I never really complained, not even when my smaller, “prettier”, white colander made it’s way to Goodwill a couple of years later. The Husband seemed to think this yellow colander was somehow the best of what we had and worth keeping.

Wedding registration came around. Even after I got a modern colander set from Pampered Chef, the yellow colander somehow still stuck around. It couldn’t help that it was so fugly; after all, it was still functional, but I began asking myself why I bothered to register for “nice” things for the wedding if the Husband and I were still going to use the ratty, old colander? You have to remember my old white colander hit the road to Donation City, so I was stuck using the yellow guy too before the wedding gifts arrived. I kinda got used to it, plus it was always stored in a much more convenient place to get to than my new set was post wedding.

So here we are last night in the kitchen; I’m making treats for work (So long fellow co-worker. I can’t wait until your crappy work is dumped off onto me to pick up the slack now that we're short staffed. All the best. Thanks), and Brett decides to whip up some linguine and marinara sauce. I’m minding my own business, trying to ignore the mess that I’m going to have to clean up after he zones out on the couch after eating his feast, and continue working on my own stuff. Time goes on, I’ve got the oven going; the stove is covered in dirty pans (3 of them), the yellow colander, a ¾ empty jar of spaghetti sauce and some spoons. I have my back turned to the stove and just keep plugging away at what I am doing. I keep hearing this crackling, snapping noise, but don’t think anything of it. Keep working. So I put my stuff in the oven, and notice the colander has some sort of soupy mixture in the bottom of it. I am wondering why the heck the Husband would put liquid in a colander on the stove, and all of a sudden within seconds it dawns on me, the stove is still on! I go to pick up the colander, just a little bit, and yeah, that thing has melted right onto our Flat Top Range. I call out to the Husband who is by this time lounging on the couch watching the Redwings play, enjoying his meal and a glass of wine. “Uhh, you left the stove on and burned the colander onto it!” It takes another minute for him to come into the kitchen and assess the damage. He lifts the colander up and it looks like cheese has melted all over the stove, with strings of the colander connected from the base to the stove, kind of similar to when you take a slice of hot pizza. The colander hits the garbage and I suggest that Brett get a razor out and scrape the plastic-cheese-melt up while it’s still soft. I’m patting myself on the back for that idea. Using a paper towel would’ve smeared the mess all over the rest of the stove, not to mention the burner was still hot so it's not like you could rub paper on it with your hands. I have to admit, he did a great job cleaning up. I thought it was going to be waaaay worse than it was. I was having small visions of having to replace a stove that wasn’t even two years old.

Several minutes later, he resumes his position on the couch, continuing to watch the game and I hear come out of his mouth, his eyes never leaving the television, “We needed to get rid of that thing anyway”. Of course we did! I’ve wanted to get rid of that thing since day one of moving in together! Ugh! Those are the thoughts running through my brain, but I calmly say, “So you burned it?”. We both had a good laugh over that. Then it dawned on me; it’s the perfect crime. Why didn’t I think of that before? Don’t be surprised if in two months you’re reading about the accidental fire at my house involving Grateful Dead, tie-dye t-shirts and Bob Marley posters.

A Healthy Choice

How much Healthy Choice Ice Cream can I eat before it's no longer a "healthy choice"?

When I catch the cats giving me the 'ol stink eye wondering if I'm going to eat them next as I scour through the cupboards and fridge looking to over-indulge, I know it's time to do something. I always give them the same response when I get that look. Picture the Saturday Night Live skit with David Spade, Chris Farley and Adam Sandler as the Gap Girls in the mall sharing some fries...
Cindy, I thought you were, um, trying to lose weight?
LAY OFF ME, I'M STARVING!

I need to start the Push Diet asap. What's the Push Diet you ask? It's where you push your butt away from the table when you've eaten enough. Say goodbye to stuffing myself into a food coma.

The Windows Are Open in January

The twirps are all enjoying the fresh (unseasonably warm) January air.


Sasha concentrating hard...

Nico's mugshot...

Tayshaun looks like an old man...

Bring In the Spring

Can you believe it? The temps reached 63-degrees yesterday! We also had a crazy thunderstorm and tornado warning in areas to boot. It feels like spring, people! In a midst of crazy weather, (hey, I'm not complaining, because after Christmas the snow can just disappear for all I care), I gots da fever. I'm so ready for spring. For the last week or so, I've been spending a good amount of my free time researching flower seeds I want to sow this winter for spring planting. I can not explain how excited I am to try this. I've found a group of girls online just as into it as I am, which is cool, because now I have some people I can bounce my questions off from. I think I'm being a little overly optimistic with my success, but there's nothing wrong with keeping a positive attitude, right? Being a hopeful optimist never hurt anyone.


My big excitement is the pansies I ordered. Check these beauties out.

Before I can go any further, I must put this explanation out there: the Husband is not a fan of pink flowers. So I have to make careful selections. I'm not saying I won't have any pink or foo-foo colors, but I try to make him happy too. And how can you not love the coral-orange-yellow combo with a little purple to make them pop?

Excited for spring.

I've got some other seeds that I'm geeked to grow myself, however, these are going to be the show stoppers. Check out these yummy, green colors. I heart them so much.

I wish I could grow these coneflowers from seed, however, they are pretty new plants, so I'm going to be forced to buy them potted. Let's hope they do well!

Way excited for spring!

Bring it on! Or at least March so I can turn my house into a seed sowing machine!

Next Stop On the Crazytown Express

Yet another meltdown for Britney.

Here's a quote I found on one of my discussion boards:

I feel sorry for her. I REFUSE to even read or hear what's going on. She has people following her every move and we're there to buy the magazines and get drawn into it. She has problems and yes it's unfortunate that there are children involved but how would you like it if you were going thru some major PPD or other major mental health fiasco and people were constantly making fun of you and putting you down. I don't think you'd succeed very quickly at recovering. She has had anything but a normal childhood (life) and I really think that is playing a part in her mental health. She has no idea of what 'normal' is. Do I think she should have custoday - no. Do I think she needs help - absoultely. But people need to back off. If it were your friend would you laugh at her or try to help? We need to remember that she's someones daughter and mother and not just some icon that is plastered all over the TV and radio. She is a person like the rest of us.

Let me just say that if that was my mom or my daughter out there showing the world her who-ha, I'd be having a conversation with her about what was NORMAL. Stat.

The world probably wouldn't be laughing so hard at the pop princess had she decided to take a month or two off and sit her (obviously waxed) butt at home to fly under the radar for a while. It doesn't sound to me like she's trying very hard to help herself. When has she ever missed a photo opp to show off her latest trainwreck? If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was proud of her sordid life with how much she's out advertising it.

Is anyone else as sick of hearing about Britney, Paris and Lindsey as I am? How about we hear about some women with class for a change of pace?