Evenings with my yenta

So part of the greiving process is spending every non working moment with my sister. Really, not that much different than normal. Bear and I have been working on getting back on the horse...that horse being match.com. Remember when eharmony called me an asshole? Oh, yeah I remember. So Bear has some highlights over at her blog, you should check it out.

New Year's Post

So I have been inspired by Sister Bear to look back at 2009 and name my top 3 events. Suffice to say, 2009 was was real roller coaster.

1. I got unfat and Shredded. In fairness that process started in 2008, but the most intense work was done in the beginning of 2009. "Moderation" in 2008 took me from obese to overweight, but I wanted to be average. The light bulb came on, if I was going to eat in "moderation" I was always going to be moderately fat. I am 5'1", my resting pulse is 54 beats, my blood pressure is 106/62, even my breathing is slow! I have no metabolism. So 2009 started with calorie restriction (carefully monitoring fiber, protein, calcium and taking a multivitamin) which finally made the unfat goal (BMI in the average range) obtained around June of 2009. 70 lbs gone. From on my way to morbid obesity to average. Yay average! I started The 30 Day Shred. I still do it almost everyday and lost another 5lbs and gained a ton of muscle. Pretty crazy, from quickly approaching a size 20 down to a size 2 jeans by August of 2009. I don't care if that is vain, you can suck it. The world is a much nicer place when you are thin. It is unfortunate, but that is reality. I do have much more energy, my cholesterol levels are insanely awesome, and I am very strong if that makes you feel better :) Sometimes I flirt with the idea of losing the last 25lbs to get lean enough to do a pull up, but let's face it, my face would just get more hatchet-like, my butt would get flatter, and I'd still have a ginormous rack. You can't fight genetics. So I am working on maintaining, well in truthfulness getting the 5 holiday pounds back off. Goal for 2010, stay vigilant.

2. Bear moved to town in June. Yay Bear! I love her and Yoshie dearly. I can't imagine not living next to them ever again. She just provides so much companionship, support, and help. Any task I have to do, she will help and it will go more than twice as fast. Yoshie is always good for a laugh. Bear and I are high strung and his levity is good for us. I am so glad that we are growing as friends. My sister is now one of my Besties. Goal for 2010, convince Tottie to move to Peoria too :)

3. Fall of 2009, fell in love, awww. It was very fun and all encompassing and a real learning experience. Unfortunately, the beginning of 2010 has left me pondering the old question, "Is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?" And that sucks, hardcore. I'm still in the grief stage, but life goes on. I can't let this define my 2010. Goal for 2010, find a new man. Well men, you can't stick with the rebound :)

So that's my top three. Not mentioned were getting the new apartment in October (yay), Xena moving to Singaport in August (boo), getting really good feedback at work including a raise despite a wage freeze (yay, but still boo cause they took away the 401k match and have announced more of the same in 2010). Here's hoping for more yays than boos in 2010.

For Xena in Singapatch

Some pics of the semi new apartment. I love it. I should have moved eons ago. Got my first utility bill...$28, hahaha, for the whole month. I only have to pay electric. How am I ever going to buy a house? Seriously $28 and I can take as many long hot showers and keep the thermostat up as high as I want. Note: I do not waste too many resources :) When you first walk in, you face the bathroom. The laundry room (yes a whole room) is on the left and the little hall to the bedroom is on the right.


Finally I have a headboard like a real person. I love it. It is gray, velvet, and tufted. Unfortunately it looks too classy for my duvet cover. So I am on the hunt for a new one. Also the bedside table is going. I found the perfect thing at Macys online. However they won't ship to Peoria and it costs $80 to ship to Bear's Mother in Law in Springfield. Get with the times Macys, ship to store. I am sure a truck comes to Peoria put my shit on it and if the truck is already going to Springfield don't charge me $80, let me come get it at the store.Walk in closet, Yay!
Turning left and looking into the main area. Kitchen on the left, dining room table, aka junk catcher on the right. Living room straight ahead. The giant window is a slider out to a tiny balcony. It was too bright for a good pic. For the first time in 11 days the sun is shining.

Tiny kitchen, that actually is perfect sized, because of the tons of counter space, good amount of cabinets and small floor to mop. Oh that's right, I actually mop floors now. I have turned over a new non dirty leaf.

Standing with my back to the slider. There's your chair. Normally the yoga mat isn't in it, but I had just vacuumed. Oh yeah, vacuuming.

So request fulfilled. Now maybe in 2 months I will post some Christmas pics.

It is Christmas Time!

So I have a new apartment. I should have moved the week after Trompy moved in 2 years ago. It is so quiet here. I am on the top floor. I am now the Tromper, and I love it. In preparation for the move, I got rid of a lot of junk. I am living much lighter in a many aspects of my life these days. However, for Christmas I need a little bit of "stuff." This is my Christmas tree. It is a little light up ceramic version that is similar to the one my Great Aunt Mildred had. I have some fond memories of her from when I was little. She always had her ceramic tree displayed with little plastic deer. Not reindeer, regular ones. So that is what I have too. Hers was set out on a cheesy, white, cotton batting roll with glitter. That is hard to find these days, so I have cheesy, white, "angel hair" instead. It is very fun. The perfect amount of Christmas.

Someday I Will Laugh About This, Just Not Today

So God smoted me, karma kicked my ass, whatever it was, a large portion of my hair was burned beyond recognition late Thursday night. My straightener malfunctioned and I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. It is pretty horrific. There is nothing to be done. You can't un denature proteins. Such is life, and it is my life for six to eight months...It can look okay from a distance if there is enough assorted gels on what is left of it, but the texture, oh the texture. What a way to start my 28th year. I am trying to get over it. I don't have The Cancer, it will grow back. But damn, it sucks. I haven't burst into tears over it in almost 24 hours, so that is progress. We will see how getting ready for work tomorrow goes. For a more humorous look at the incident head here.

Hey An Actual Post

So all's been quiet on the blogging front. When the rules are no blogging about work and no bitching about people who read your blog it is easy to hit a dry spell :) But this weekend I did get in the kitchen and do something fun. Friday was couples dinner party at Yoshie and Bear's, muy divertido. I got to get my cook on and the other half of my couple got to play Gears of War 2 with Yoshie (I met him through Yoshie). It really couldn't have gone poorly. So what did I choose for the big event? Keep in mind Bear only eats chicken as the protein, Yoshie only eats meat and bread, and the other half of my couple is lactose intolerant. I avoid gluten and sugar, but for special occasions (like the month of September), I indulge (hello 5lbs). So here is the menu:

Chicken Sandwich with Caramelized Onions and Paprika Aioli

This was an excellent sandwich. Kroger didn't have sourdough rolls, so we had to use sourdough bread. Not quite as classy but I got over it. The flavored mayo was delicious. Bear is a jerk and refuses to let me buy her a grill so our chicken breasts were brined and then broiled. They stayed really moist. That was the first time I bothered to brine chicken breasts, and for broiling it was so worth it.

Roasted Fingerling With Red and Yellow Piperade

Also a big winner. The only thing I would do differently is use less oil on the pan. They were a little oily for my taste. I also went light on the parsley and basil, I didn't want to scare away the less adventurous. I didn't pour the Champagne vinegar over the potatoes because I wasn't sure how it would go over. I just left it up to the individual. I was the only one who opted too...to bad suckers it really made the dish. It didn't make them taste vinegary, just better. I had to use red potatoes because Krogers produce section blows and their fingerling potatoes were all leathery and had a sell by date of 2 days prior...Krogers produce really has been letting me down lately. The basil was all brown. The red potatoes I did get weren't the greatest. It has been like this for awhile. I think I will have to stop at Schnucks on the way home from work if this keeps up.

Since Bear and Yoshie aren't veggie people I went with what my couple wanted, "crispy green beans" basically any version of green bean that hasn't really been cooked. Pretty easy. Sauteed some garlic in olive oil. Threw the green beans in the pan, splashed in some water, clamped the lid on so they steamed for a minute to get the chill off of them. Perfectly not well done green beans.

Bear was in charge of dessert and she made some peanut butter cookies, honestly they were the hit of the party. The menfolk inhaled them. It is a good thing I get enjoyment out of the process of cooking rather than the end results, otherwise with this crowd I could set out some Chicken Helper, let Bear make cookies, and get the same end result.

Tipping Point

So apparently when you are 5'1" there is a weight point when people think they can pick you up. I must have hit it around Friday since I have been picked up twice since then. Prior to that I had not been picked up since....oh first grade-ish. I am not sure how I feel about this. Yeah it nice to see that being "up in the gym just working on my fitness" (tm Fergie) has paid off. Yet, having both feet off the floor is a little disconcerting. Now I will say, these were people I care about doing the lifting, so over all it was a positive feeling. But dude, the first time some Random tries to lift my elfin self I am busting out the Shred muscles and kicking their ass.