Lazy Wednesday; Blue-Collar baby

Free Energy

Ok, I have been holding out on y'all.  My life is about to get so much simpler.  I.am.stoked.  I will have so much free energy to spend, after these past 53 weeks of limbo, I know I will asexually sprout a twin.  In fact, my doppelganger has already been spotted at Lake Havasu.  Sweet!  I hope she's hotter than my actual self, and with BIGGER BOOBS!

I am so thankful and have found peace and quiet.  Lately I have just been hot and tired...which is why I haven't posted.  I even returned the 6 books I wanted to read,  back to the library.  I am thankful that when I go to lift there is a slap-in-the-face of cold air conditioning that helps me move some iron!  I missed a phonecall last night at 10:16 because I was so sound asleep!

I successfully managed a potential horrible conflict at work.  This one included name calling, a Menudo Debate, and NOT involving a 3rd party.  Everyone made up and we celebrated at El Guero Canelo.  I treated the other person how I would want to be treated and humbled myself when I learned I.was.wrong.  Warm fuzzies all around.

On the topic of food however, we FINALLY got a new stove.  The old one blew it on Memorial Day weekend.  I have been thankful for the microwave and crockpot for sure!  Today I fixed a macaroni and cheese with ham and peas and tomatoes, FROM SCRATCH.  I had not been able to make a bechamel sauce on the old stove and I was surprised how amazingly simple it was.  Baby G gulped it up.  Same with my Chickpea soup last night.  I will probably post an analogy later about cooking with an old, *too hot* stove, in the dark as compared to my new stove.  The art of cooking is so.much.easier!

Lastly, the basil plant I bought at TJs is thriving in benign neglect.  I decided to try Basil Ice Cream using about 3T fresh basil instead of the mint in this recipe:
Chocolate Mint Ice Cream

Again, the photos will not do it justice but you should know that baby G wanted to scrape out the frozen bowl of the mixer and was still doing so after 10 minutes.  Badow!  This stuff is.that.good!

So, happy *official* summer to everyone!  I hope you are stoked enough to grow your own twin!

Thursday; Thoughtful and Thankful

air conditioning
clean, crisp sheets
advil
pacifiers
learning I can microwave pasta (stove is still broken)
a day off (from the gym)
coloring with crayons; I am fond of the glitter ones
coupons
sunset
a fenced-in backyard
Burt's Bees Bugspray
the beer selection at 1702 :) and specifically Left Hand Milk Stout
laughter at lunchtime
Fathers and Father's Day
my leopard-print bikinis specifically b/c they make me happy
a full tank of gas
4 full bellies
bedtime
completing so much of my "to do" list it's RIDICULOUSLY awesome

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

Bedmates

Woah there gentle reader(s).  Not that kind!

I have been thinking how sweet it is that both my doggies like to chill in my room.  They are our guard dogs.

I removed my bed frame to hopefully encourage Chalco; 8yrs old, to hop on up with me but his hips are just horrible.  I remove his collar every night also to let his neck dry out and try to retard the growth of bacteria and yeast.  Chalco is my high maintenance dog.  Jasper however is always ready to fill the other 1/2 of my bed.  He is happy-go-lucky, eager to please, and somewhat spastic.  Early this morning he was perpendicular to my body.  Uncomfortable.  Right now he is parallel to me.  There is something peaceful about a sweet puppy curled up in a ball, breathing slowly, legs twitching as he runs through dreamland.  Adorable and calming. That mildly-musky, semi-dry doggie smell is comforting.

My friend KL asked if I needed an intervention.  "Dogs instead of a man?!"  She gave me the look.  Well, both can keep you warm, are comforting, are protectors, and like to snuggle and FART.  But a dog won't get offended when you tell him that his *ss is stanky...you know?!?!  Gentle reader, I hope you are at least smiling.

My boys (Chalco and Jasper) are the best.  What a privilege to live with dogs.  They remind me how sweet and simple our world can be.  

"3 close friends"

Finding Inspiration; recharge

So I have anew colleague at work which is.totally.awesome.  I have someone to talk to during the day now which may be why I have less to post and/or write about.  He landed in lab as one of my best friends transitioned out of lab and onto the job.of.her.dreams in the far hinterlands.

So I am brainstorming trying to think of something to write about.  It's not Wed so I can't just throw up a photo.  It's not Thu so I can't ramble about what I'm thankful for.  I could turn to music or the weather or the animals or my daughter or pending-ex-husband (see yesterday's post) but eh.  I could write about food or bevies or nothing at all.

But I want to write something.  I want to write about sitting outside yesterday, basking in the sun, listening to music in my rhinestoned leopard-print bikini for 6 hours.  It.was.heaven.  And then I went to dinner ALONE and sat outside and stared at the Catalinas as someone else served my dinner to me!  Yes!  I had a mommy's day off and it was about appreciating and enjoying the little things.  Like getting to turn all the AC vents onto myself rather than sacrifice airflow for the backseat :)  Like getting to CRANK up my stereo all the way and ride with the sunroof open without a care for anyone else's hearing or skin, or long-term damage to any of the above! It was about ordering lunch at Subway without a concern for what I can share easily and should I get banana peppers or not.  It was about getting to close my eyes for real.  It was about going to the bathroom and using the toilet alone.  It was about not listening for my child's voice; I think I have grown an extra brain lobe specifically for this task.  It was about allowing myself to think freely without wondering how to narrate every situation for a 21-month old to understand.  A sensory semi-deprivation.  I'll be honest, it was great!  And relaxing.  But I thought about her almost every minute and I missed her voice and smile and hugs with those skinny arms.

It was refreshing to recharge.

Speaking of, I have had a glass of red wine the past few nights.  Delicious!  Something must be up with the flora b/c my stomach has been kind of a nervous mess.  It's probably the pending changes.  Psychosomatic;  I'm digesting things.  Hmph.

Additionally, if I am recharging, from where is this energy coming?  Is the universe a closed system?  Isn't it cool to think that fat is stored energy in the form of useable carbons?  Yes, I am embracing full nerd-dom here!

Another Haiku

Since one of the haikus I posted here is getting ready to be published (awesome) I'll try another:

So glad to be done

You're going to be forty one

I'm not your mommy

Thoughtful Thursday

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.  A.LOT.  You know, important things like this:

Did the snake in the front yard eat the 12 baby quails I saw crossing the driveway earlier in the week?

Will Chalco's neck ever heal?

What if the speed at which we (over)eat is linked to 'our' morbid obesity?  Consider the rate of consumption, amount of processing, and rate of digestion.

What if our entire bodies are physically under-stressed but emotionally over-worked?

Can I change this?  Yes!  I need to find my lifting gloves.

I don't think we were designed for this 21st century lifestyle.  But we can adapt and compensate.

If the energy constant in the universe is a *constant*, from where was the energy borrowed for the 5 agave in the yard to bloom?

Maybe the oil spill in the Gulf?  :(

Does my water aerobics class just want me to put on a dog and pony show?

I have almost 6000 songs on my ipod!

When is it too late to grow up?  Do you miss a timetable or something?  Should you care?

What would 'we' be doing differently if we all had limitless money and time?

What would we do differently if we knew our days were numbered?

How many meals a week of beans will it take for me to live below my means?

How bad is that gonna suck?!  Or smell... :(  Ramen is cheaper!

If you have more pets than people under your roof does that make you a Redneck?

I hope I don't miss the recycling truck tomorrow morning.

I hope baby G doesn't get the virus I had earlier this week.  I thought it was (violent) food poisoning.

I'm thankful we don't get sick often.

WHEN will they be DONE with construction on Magee?

HOW much hotter will it get?  And, BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!

If we treated Mexico and Canada like brothers (or sisters) in our big North American family, and their citizens like our nieces and nephews, how would things be different?  Seems like the US likes to play Big Brother quite often anyway...

How can someone be a gentle shepherd and a fierce warrior?

Which bikini should I wear tomorrow?  How tan will I get?

How often is miscommunication responsible for anger and pain and loss?

I need a new trick at the gym besides 2-limb planks and one-legged squat/stands.

Off to dreamland!

Wordless Wednesday; 3 generations

Wordless Wednesday; Lifeline