Snow, snow go away!

We got a little bit of snow today here in Kentucky! I was at work all day and didn’t think to take in pictures, so this photo is courtesy of our local newspaper website. There are some days that I really appreciate living back at home. Before I left for work this morning my father cleaned off my car and check all the engine fluids. Thanks, Dad! Although, I could I have done with out the lecture about how dirty the inside of the car was ***blushes*** “You know, if you throw things out a little at a time, it doesn’t get so bad.” “I know, Dad.”  Sheesh! Am I back in high school again or what!  But if a little lecture keeps me from having to scrape ice off my windows, I’ll take it! And luckily, aside from the small hassle of digging my car out after work, travel was not that much of a problem.

Well, good night everyone! I know there is also a lot of snow in large parts of the Eastern U.S. and also in the UK, so please everyone keep safe and warm!

Ahh, Memories!

I’ve been off work today and spent most of the day trolling around Facebook  looking at old high school photos.It’s been snowing here in Kentucky a little bit, so it was nice to hang out inside with the cat, lol. Here she is watching the snow. The concentration on her face kills me! 🙂

But looking at the pictures that some of my classmates had posted (Hello Class of SHA 1995, lol!), I can’t believe I’m about to turn 33 (January 19th, y’all!). It’s amazing to think I graduated high school almost 15 years ago! One of these days I’m going to locate all my high school photos and post them on here, just for giggles! The 80’s didn’t leave Kentucky until well in to the mid-90’s, so it’s all puffy sleeves, waterfall bangs and crimped hair! Ha ha ha ha.

Being in my 30’s doesn’t really bother me, though. I’ve had some great experiences so far, but I’m happy those years are behind me! I feel more settled, more confident and more happy with myself now than I ever have. Sure, there are things about my current circumstances that I would change (i.e. being back at home living with my parents), but I’m working on changing those things. I’m looking forward, and I hope that 2010 holds positive and new opportunities and a lot of great memories and experiences.

I think back about what I was like in high school and I know it’s cliché, but I wish my 2010 me could go back and give advice to my 1995 me! I am such a different person now than I was then.

Well, tonight it’s off to girl’s night at Courtney’s and then back to work tomorrow. It’s supposed to snow more here tonight, so everyone keep their fingers crossed the roads aren’t a mess in the morning. Have a great night!

Happy New Year!

Hi, All! So my vegan meatloaf went over well on Wednesday night. The pan was empty by the end of the night.  As my friend Sarah (http://seesaraheat.wordpress.com)  said, “We killed it!” LOL.

Thursday night I drove up to Cincinnati after work to hang out with some of my best friends for New Years Eve! We had a lot of fun, and ended the night a neighborhood bar called Stanley’s. It was a lot of fun and they had their outdoor patio area open and -slightly- heated, so it wasn’t too stuffy or crowded! I would have to say the funniest moment of the night was the New Year’s kiss I got from some random guy with his friends commenting to me, “Don’t worry, He’s a dentist!” Ha ha ha ha! Gonna be my line for the New Year!

Also nice has been being off work and out of town for a few days. I’ve enjoyed having a breather from home. As I’ve said before, I truly appreciate being able to be back in my parents house, but sometimes it’s good to be away. It’s been an odd experience, though. I’m not sure what the protocol is for an adult living at home? I ended up just telling my parents where I was going and when to expect me back. It was a little irritating qualifying decisions I’ve been making for myself for years now. But the way I look at it, I would do the same with whoever I lived with. I can’t imagine taking off and not telling a husband or boyfriend where I was or when I would be back. Even a roommate might wonder if they hadn’t heard anything and I hadn’t been home for a couple days! So I guess the balance I will try to strike will have to lean towards politeness and consideration, not permission. It still irks, though. I always thought one of the perks of being single was being able to go anywhere and not have to worry about other people. And exactly what am I going to do about any dating I do?

Well, let’s get real about that, at least. Apart from a bad kiss from a random drunk guy on New Years Eve, my dating prospects for 2010 look pretty bleak. 🙂 But for now, I am just going to appreciate being off work on this lovely Sunday. I hope everyone else does the same! Have a fabulous day!

Vegan Meatloaf and Harry Potter?

Hello Cold Weather! My skin is dry and itchy and my sinuses are all plugged up, so winter must be here, lol.

I am not sure if I’ve mentioned it on here before, but Wednesday nights some friends and I get together for a girls’ night potluck. It’s always an enjoyable time, even if things don’t always turn out the way we plan (i.e. a stove fire the eve before Thanksgiving). It’s my turn to make the entrée this week, so in honor of the cold weather  I decided to try my hand at a nice, warm vegan meatloaf!  My friend Sarah  (see her blog at http://seesaraheat.wordpress.com ) has been doing a mainly vegan diet and so I wanted to try to accomodate her. The loaf turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! It even held together pretty well. I’m excited for everyone to get to try it!! On a side note, it has been interesting to cook now that I’m back at my parents house. There house has a more open floor plan, so basically, I’m cooking in the main living area. I hate it! I don’t need all the comments from the “peanut gallery” about the noises/ smells coming from the kitchen, lol. Plus, I worry my banging around is disturbing my family while they are trying to watch TV, talk on the phone, etc. I’ve decided that when I buy my own place, I definitely want the kitchen separate from the main living area. I don’t need people watching me cook or seeing what a mess I make while I do it. 🙂

***Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Spoiler Alert!!!!*** I’ve mentioned before what a fan I am of Harry Potter and of J.K. Rowling. But I’ve been excitedly following all the movie-related news regarding the next installment of the Harry Potter movies! The website http://gallery.the-leaky-cauldron.org/picture/256015 has some screencaps that Warner Brother released of the movies. One of my favorites of these is the picture of Hermione with bloody hands, which must have been taken after she and the boys escaped from the ministry. EEEK! Can’t wait! I am so excited about the fact that they are splitting the last book in to two movies, which means they will (hopefully) have an opportunity to do the book justice. I can’t believe I’ll have to wait until November 2010 to see the first installment 😦

Oh well, I’m sure the time will fly by fast enough! The older I get, the shorter a year seems. Hope everyone is having a fabulous night!

Happy (Belated) Christmas!

Hi, All! I hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful holiday! I am posting this from my now working lap top! Yay! And I am also doing so from the comfort of my bedroom, as one of my fave gifts this year was a wireless router!!! It feels so good to be back online on a regular basis! I am excited to catch back up on a lot of my favorite podcasts and hope to be posting more frequently now. Plus, it feels good to have some personal space while I’m online. The main desktop computer is in a very high traffic area and not very convenient to use.

That’s one thing about moving back home – there’s a significant drop in privacy. After living on my own for so long, it’s a tough adjustment. I recognize that living at home means I share household responsibilities and bills, but sometimes it chafes me a little when I feel like things go beyond that. It’s uncomfortable to find myself, in my 30’s, starting an argument with my mother that makes me feel like I’m back in high school again. How quickly those old patterns emerge! For my part, I when I feel myself start return to that childhood dynamic, I try to take a step back and consciously try not to feed in to it. I try to just let it drop, rather than allow things to escalate in to a childish argument. And in those times when I’m feeling exceptionally frustrated by the situation, I need to remind myself to be more appreciative of what I have; a family who cares about me enough to allow me the opportunity to save money and get back on my feet financially. So in that sense, I have had a very wonderful holiday season back at home.

I still have a lot more work I want to do on my room, but I haven’t been able to find time. I guess I’ll just have to tackle it one piece at time, like every thing else 🙂 But probably since it’s the only space I really have control over, I want it to be nice. I have some ideas, and I know I’ll get there eventually. And really, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I mean, the goal is for this situation to be temporary, so any big renovations seem a little silly 😛

On a fun note, for Girl’s Night this week we went to see the light displays in the big cavern underneath the zoo. It was really cool and had some pretty incredible displays, along with some suitably cheesy holiday music! You were allowed to drive through in your vehicle. I took some pictures from my phone, but unfortunately poor picture quality and a moving vehicle didn’t really show the lights off to their best advantage, lol.  It was a good time, and the wait wasn’t even that bad, since we had Starbucks and enjoyable conversation to keep us entertained as we crawled through the line!

Well, night all! We’re getting some snow flurries here that are supposed to last through morning, but nothing like the snows in the North East or the floods in the South, thank goodness! I hope everyone stays safe and warm this evening. Have a good night!

So I haven’t blogged in a while…

So I haven’t blogged in a while. Mostly that’s because my laptop is not working yet again! It caught a virus, boo! Maybe the H1N1 is contagious for computers too? But luckily my brother has been working on it and sent me a message the other day that he thought it was fixed. Thanks, Andy! What a great Christmas present!! So with that fixed I should be able to get back to blogging on a more regular basis!

I was also sick a few weeks back. I’m pretty sure I (unlike my computer) did actually have H1N1. One of my best friends, Stephanie,  is a nurse practitioner and she said that all my symptoms matched for the flu. The doctor did test me for H1N1 when I went in and I tested negative. But according to Stephanie the test is only about 70% effective?!  So that leads me to believe that there are a lot more people walking around with it than have actually been diagnosed. Ugg . I was really sick for an extremely rough week and missed about four days of work (thank God for employment benefits!!).  I have pulled through and am feeling much better, though I still have a cough that I can’t get rid of.  One good thing I think has come out of this flu scare is that my employer is actually encouraging employees to stay home if they feel sick. They are worried of overburdening already overworked staff by having even more people out sick. Hopefully employers will learn from this and start realizing how important it is on all levels to have healthy, happy employees.

As if catching the flu wasn’t enough, I am still dealing with a sick cat. My cat, Minerva, had her second seizure last week. I had hoped, since the lab work at the vet didn’t reveal anything, that the first one may have been an isolated occurrence. It is nerve-wracking knowing that there is not a whole lot I can do about it and that she could have another seizure at any time.  My vet does not recommend putting her on epilepsy medication until her seizures become more frequent and severe because there are so many side effects to the medication. Now, I am going to start off by saying that I am not a vet and I can not confirm or deny any of the information about the brands involved. Please check with your vet before making any decisions about your own animals.  After doing some research I decided to switch Minerva to a more natural cat food to see if this would help with her seizures. When I looked in to it, I was absolutely astounded by all the chemicals (and other disgusting stuff) in most cat foods. After  talking to a couple vets and a lot of friends, I started wondering if maybe a food allergy could be to blame for her symptoms. I had been feeding Minerva the Original Iams cat food (the orange bag) and while it was not specifically included in the cat food recalls of the past few years, I did note a lot of complaints (including allegedly causing seizures) made by a lot of pet owners online. So I  have switched her to Natural Balance Limited Ingredients Diets Green Pea and Duck formula. She has been on the new food for about a week now. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it makes a difference. If anyone else has had problems with IAMS or with the Natural Balance brand cat food, I would be very interested to hear from you. I am looking for all the information I can get.

As for the rest of my life, I am still adjusting to moving back in with my parents. I have been off work today and spent most of the day finishing up holiday shopping and better arranging my bedroom. It’s amazing trying to condense an apartment-worth of stuff into one room! I have to work Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, but I am not going to complain about that when so many people are out of work this holiday season!

It also impossible for me to finish up my blog without mentioning something else that has been on my mind for the last day or two, which is the death of actress Brittany Murphy. Rumors are swirling that she died of heart complications due to an eating disorder. If this is indeed the case, I hope that the media chooses to use her death to open a positive discussion about the negative body images imposed on women by Hollywood. Murphy’s death is an  indication of how seriously dangerous those standards are. And the sad fact is that eating disorders are not just a “celebrity” issue. Millions of girls and women are affected and Hollywood perpetuates this by idealizing unrealistic, unhealthy body-types. My condolences  to Murphy’s  family and friends. I can not imagine what it must be like to grieve in the middle to such a media frenzy, but my heart goes out to them.

Wow, this is a pretty long blog, so I am signing off now.I have a long day tomorrow. I have to work and then it’s off to enjoy Christmas lights with some of my favorite girls!! Night! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, whatever holiday they celebrate. Please stay safe and take care of each other while you’re celebrating.

Too Pooped to Post

Well, I am still mid transition between my apartment and home. Thanks to a coworker’s husband, all the big furniture was moved yesterday. And I also sold one of my couches off of craigslist. Whoo hoo! I am still exhausted from all the moving yesterday. I also had an extremely trying day at work today and then went over to my apartment to clear out some stuff. What an exciting Friday night, LOL! So for now everything is still in transition. I don’t really have a bed or a spot at either place, or a whole lot of privacy yet. I’m also a little aggravated because I don’t have any wifi for my laptop, which means that for the time being I have to use my parent’s desk top computer in the basement. Also, there’s not a whole lot of spots to park back behind the house and we have three cars here now, so that’s also going to be a struggle. How did I ever make this work before?! But I know things will settle down soon. I have to be out of my apartment by the end of the month, so that is the priority right now. But after that we can all focus on adjusting things so that everyone is more comfortable.

Night all! I’m signing off to get some rest as I have to work tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a fabulous night!

My Poor Kitty!

At some point after my last post yesterday, Minerva had a seizure. I woke from a dead sleep to find my cat in distress. It scared me the crap out of me as I have never dealt with such a thing before. My first instinct was to rush her to the emergency vet. But after we both calmed down, she recovered quickly and started behaving normally. At that point it was about 430 a.m. and my vet opens at 7 a.m. So I watched her for a couple of hours to make sure she was ok and then took her to my vet this morning. My vet monitored her through out the day, today, did a physical exam and a bunch of lab work. All of the physical signs came back normal so they released her. My poor little kitty is home this evening recovering.

If there is anyone out there who has dealt with a cat that has seizures, please contact me. Right now I am a little frustrated because there is not a whole lot I can do. I don’t really know anything more today than I did last night. She could have another seizure now or never have another one again. I’m just hoping that I get good news (or at least some answers) when I hear from the vet tomorrow regarding the lab results. So keep your fingers crossed and send positive luck my way!

Hope you all have a good night! Keep safe!

Bleh, Monday.

I don’t have a lot to post today. I did make a little more progress on the moving front. A coworker’s husband  is going to come over Thursday with a couple guys to help move the big furniture. So that’s one less thing I need to worry about. Thanks, Christine!  Now I just need to make sure all the big pieces of furniture are cleaned out and ready to be moved. I guess I really am moving, lol! Tomorrow I am going to post my washer/ dryer and couch on Craigslist since Facebook and Twitter haven’t garnered any takers! And I’m going to check on getting some more boxes from work.

I also wanted to mention that I have been participating in a sort of online book club on one of the the-leaky-cauldron.org and have been really enjoying it. We’ve been discussing the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, one of my favorites. It’s so great to get to discuss the books you care about in detail with other people who also love them! I hadn’t participated in a book club like this before. The wonderful thing about an online discussion is that you can take it at your own pace. It’s not like an actual book club, where you have to be at a meeting at a certain time. You can just check in and participate in the discussion whenever is convenient for you. So fun!

Well, that’s all for today! Hope everyone has a fabulous night!

Cleaning and Rick Steves?

On the moving front, today I continued cleaning out my apartment. I was mostly working on the kitchen. I think there were places I cleaned today that hadn’t been cleaned since I moved in (for example, the top of the fridge). It’s amazing the difference a good scrubbing can make! I am anxious that my landlord will be difficult about returning my deposit. I know that there’s no legitimate reason he could deny returning it, but I’m worried anyway.  And I am determined that a lack of elbow grease isn’t going to keep me from getting it back!  So now my kitchen is marginally cleaner than it was this morning but the rest of my apartment looks like all the drawers and closets exploded! Ha ha! I hate moving! I still need to sell my couch and washer/ dryer. I need to find someone with a truck and some muscle to help  me move furniture. I’m beginning to feel a little overwhelmed and, of course, Minerva is no help at all.  Completely ungrateful! I mean, honestly, what’s the use of having a cat if it can’t help you pack, he he.

On another note, I adore Rick Steves, sensible walking shoes, fanny pack and all! LOL!  Yes, he is completely nerdy and  not cool, but he is totally passionate about what he does. He’s always embodied what I love about traveling. For me, traveling is about learning from and experiencing other cultures. I think he does a huge service by making travel accessible and affordable to the ”average american” who might otherwise think such opportunities were out of their reach. And I have even more love for him today after watching him on PBS lecturing students about a trip he took to Iran. He argued we need to put politics aside and learn about each other. To paraphrase his words, it’s hard to bomb someone we’ve humanized. Sometimes it’s easy to for me  be jaded or pessimistic about the world and all its problems. But listening to him speak, it gives me hope to believe even a simple travel writer could be an instrument of world peace.

Well, time to get some rest and start it all over again tomorrow! Have a good night, everyone!