Grammar and things to come

My wonderful husband (and grammar Nazi) informed me that one of my last entries had a couple of grammatical errors. I decided that I should let me readers know that I type this exactly as it comes into my mind and as if I were talking to you one on one, and sometimes I type it quickly and late at night, so errors will occur. In fact, I catch myself adding too many commas (I love commas!), typing has as as or won as one (um, yes I know the difference!) and using prepositions at the end of the a sentence (Shut yo' mouth!), but I don't really care. I know the rules, but I'm not bound by them. In fact, here in this space, it's my rules and only my rules, so advert your eyes and put away your red pens, my dear readers. In the words of a famous cartoon, "I do what I want."

In other news, March is looming on the horizon. It's already filling up with fun things. Here's what I have to look forward to, so far:

. a friend's band playing .

. Ani Difranco concert, if you don't know who she is, look her up, I heart her .

. eight straight days off from work, if I don't get called in .

. date night this weekend .

. Alice in Wonderland. I heart Johnny Depp .

. another girl's night out .

. a gynecologist appointment. Yes, I'm joking about this one .

. lunch with several lady friends .

. a flea market trip .

Can I get a woot! I'm starting to get really sleepy, so that's all that I can think of without going to get my planner. I love forcing myself to stay up, due to my work schedule, which is 3:oopm-3:00am tomorrow. Why does my bed call to me so loudly on nights I need to stay up as late as I can?

February, a love story

Happy things that filled February:

. new cookware .

. a husband returning safely from a ski trip .

. a nephew who got another year older .

. 3.5 pounds lost for no apparent reason .

. being told I was a good nurse multiple times by my patients .

. tons of thrifting .

. months of collecting finally hanging in a collage for all to see .

. a PLANNED trip to Florida .

. successful trips home in the snow .

. our trash service offering recycling collection and bins .

. organic oranges .

. P(edatric)A(dvanced)L(ife)S(upport) certification .

. Nurse Jackie marathons .

. many conversations with my family .

. words with friends games with Mr. O .

. dinner with a friend that I hadn't seen in ages .

. discovering new music .

. tea parties with my favorite two year old little girl .

. Julie & Julia for $6 .

. 60 degree weather and sunshine .

. homemade Valentines .

. Mr. O seeing me, smiling , and then saying how cute I am .

. eggplant ratatouille .

. Scrabble games that never quite get finished .

. google reading time .

. a PLANNED girl's night out .

. late nights filled with Hoarders, Oprah, and Dr. Oz .

. keeping up with blogging .

Don't call me Grace

So today, as I gingerly strolled down to the mailbox to check the mail, I fell and it wasn't pretty. I could chalk it up to the rain, the steepness of my driveway, which is pretty dang steep, but I live in a place with hills in the name, so what do you expect, or I could I blame my super cute Cole Haan loafers. The true is this isn't the first time I've fallen on my driveway. No, it's not the second or even the third. I can count at least five. I guess, since living here six years, I'm ahead!

The worst part for me, besides the scabbed knee and ankle (oh yes, another scar), is that I put a hole and a run in my favorite brown tights. Hey, a good pair of tights is hard to find! Now, most people may have felt that the worst part may have been that a car happened to be going by at the same time and saw the whole thing. They even slowed, I'm pretty sure, to check on me, but it may have been to laugh. I avoided eye contact and acted as if nothing had happened, though my knee was there, throbbing, reminding me that it had just had a brief relationship with the aggregate of my driveway.

You see, grace isn't something I really have. I have been clumsy my whole life. Mr. O says that I stomp through the house, but, actually, I'm just walking. I admire how graceful dancers are when they dance. How they float and you don't hear them land when they jump. It's awe-inspiring.

So, don't mistake me for Grace, which is a running joke in my house, it seems I'm not the only one that is blessed with this feature, we are all lacking that beautiful name. So remember, Grace will be the one floating lightly by and I'll be the one stomping and possibly tumbling down. Hopefully, my crown stays intact.

Other interesting things, you should know about today:

• My tights were part of a super cute outfit. Picture it, chocolate brown tights, brownish-red loafers, a mustard, tan, orange, and blue plaid button up, gray cardigan, and my blue-jean shorts, which I've rekindled my relationship as the weather hints of spring. I read a lot of fashion blogs and think it wouldn't be a bad idea to photograph some of my outfits, mainly to remember some of the things that I throw together, but I'm sure it wouldn't be interesting to most of my readers. Well, on second thought, maybe one. Plus, it looks like a lot of work and I don't have a camera remote or a tripod and would feel pretty foolish posing for someone.
• I planned out my March menu plan. It only took about an hour and a half. Yes, I'm getting faster! It helped that I had already pulled some recipes that I wanted to make this time around last month. On the menu this week, bean burritos & mexican rice (we had this tonight), spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, white chicken chili, roasted eggplant ratatouille, veggie pizza (remember this post?), and buchons au thon, salad and green beans. If I hadn't just devoured some leftover Valentine's fruit snacks, I might actually have had a watering mouth over typing that. Instead, I'm nursing a gummy belly. What can I say, I'm a kid at heart. Check out the skinned knee, if you don't believe me.
• I cried while watching Oprah (an episode from last week), Hoarders, and Intervention. People's stories get me. I'm surprised my eyes aren't swollen. Hey, maybe that's why I fell?!
• I discovered this morning that I've lost 3.5 pounds. Maybe it could be that I've been eating better. I really have and I feel better too, besides the whole sleep thing, but one day it'll be back to normal. Yes, it could be that, or it could be that I work 12 hours straight, don't sit down besides my 30 minute lunch break, so that I no longer snack, burn tons of calories and my meals consist of things that can be eaten quickly, either 15 minutes before I leave, on the drive to or from Dickson, or in said 30 minute lunch break. Plus, on most of my off days, I sleep in, not this week, and miss at least one meal. Oh yeah, no sodas still. I'm proud of myself on that one. In fact, most sugary things taste too sweet now. Um, that could explain the gummy belly. Sugar may no longer be my friend...and we were so close.
• Every time I walked by the collage of pictures and things that Mr. O hung over the weekend, I smiled. I've been collecting things for a while and am happy to finally see them displayed. I may post a pic, even though it's incomplete.
• Finally, the most disheartening news today, I will not live in Wonder Valley, after all. I tried looking up the house today and it must have sold because it is no longer listed. I hope the person that bought it, lets it live up to it's incredible potential. It would be an injustice to do otherwise.

Nothing says I love you like grass fed beef

Okay, since today's post posted like it was Valentine's Day post, I thought I'd blog about Valentine's Day and see what happens.

Valentine's day was a good day. Aaron got home from his weekend of skiing. I miss him so when he's gone. Needless to say, I did not sleep very well with him away, six hours on Friday night and then four and a half hours on Sunday morning, when I got home from working Saturday night.

We meet up with B & D (my bff and her husband, if you are wondering) and ate dinner at Chipotle. It was delicious. It's a very low-key place, which is perfect when you want to avoid crowds on an otherwise crowded restaurant day. It's baja burrito with organic food. That's right, most of their ingredients are organic and bought from local farmers. How awesome is that? So with my new found love of organic food and eating healthier, then it was perfect for a day that focuses on love. After dinner we grabbed some delicious low-fat frozen yogurt. Oh yeah, I failed to mention that Aaron got me new cookware. I know, score!

All in all, it was the perfect day filled with good food, good company, and lots of love!

Negative Nancy

I have had a day today. Let's just say when you wake up to dog pee you can expect that your day is down the drain. So, I woke up to the dog pee, the coffee maker timer had ended, so the coffee was cold, I put a cup into the microwave and it boiled over making me have to clean out the microwave and did I mention the headache I woke up with? So we have the headache, the pee, the boiled over coffee, can you say cranky? I know, I'm forgetting something, but you get the gist of it.

Today got increasingly worse as the day went on. I let it take over and take hold of me. I was angry by about 3:00. I mean, really angry. I was scowling while driving, yelling like a sailor at other cars, and had said some not so nice things to say to my husband. Did I mention, I hadn't eaten anything all day?

Most of you know me as a happy-go-lucky kind of a person, which I really am. I am the person telling you to be positive, even in the worst of situations. I really do feel that the energy you put out, is the energy you are going to receive back. Um, do I even need to point out, that today proved that point?

All I know is that as the day got later and later I really saw how ridiculous I was being. So what, I had to clean up dog pee and clean the microwave, which needed it. Get over yourself. Really.

I think the juggling of my schedule and just getting used to working 12 hour shifts and odd hours in the day, has finally started to wear on me. I am so tired. I mean, insanely tired to where I'm taking naps and falling asleep if I lie still, which is so not like me. Maybe it's winter blahs and I'm ready for some sunshine? Maybe I need more vitamins? What I do know is tomorrow is another day and choose to face it with optimism because I know it will be a much better day.

Working it out

I just finished doing yoga. I am so relaxed and centered. I'm definitely going to try to do this more often. I can also tell that, even though I'm relaxed, my abs and legs will be sore tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm hitting the shower and I'm ready for work! Yes, I get to work on this lovely Saturday night. Let's hope the snow holds off until I get home at 8:00 in the morning!

Money can't buy me love

I love....

All you need is love

I LOVE love. It's good for you. It makes your soul happy. Whether it ends badly or ends well, somewhere along the way, it made you happy. If it didn't, then honey child we need to talk.

I actually like Valentine's Day. I know people babble about it being made by Hallmark and other card companies, but what's wrong with a day filled with telling the ones you love that life is better because they are around and that you love them dearly.

Now, don't get me wrong, I distinctly remember working at Dillard's when I was 21 and listening to hour after hour of romantic songs around Valentine's Day. I, being single, was a little jaded. In fact, my friend/co-worker, Lori and I made up new lyrics to the love songs that played and it was not pretty. We called our group Jaded and said we were going on a world tour against love. We loved until we cried (joyous tears) that night.

What I think of first, every time I think of that Valentine's Day, isn't that I was single, but instead how much fun we had that night. We still to this day joke about having a reunion tour. Moral of this story, Valentine's Day is what you make it.

So, this year, and pretty much every year since, I'm going to honor the ones that I love on the day that's devoted to doing just that. So, if you're reading this, my life is better because your in it and you make me happy and I am grateful.

Now go out and tell the ones that you love that you love them or go out with a single friend and change of the words of love songs into not so love songs. Whatever you do, do something that fills you with happiness and makes the best of the day.

$80 and a lot of patience

I always go thrifting with no expectations. Sometimes I walk out with my arms full and sometimes totally empty. Today was an armful kind of day. I'm super impressed with myself on the amount I spent, $80 (see title), and with the great finds. Unfortunately, I didn't try anything on in the store though. I was already a staticky mess, so I didn't want to make it worse. Plus, it would have taken forever! So, three items are being returned. One of which, is my favorite item, the sweater vest lying in front. I'm sad about that, but check out the other things. I'm in love with that raincoat with the plaid hood. I've being trying to find one forever and this one is not only adorable, but fits perfectly. Score! The two skirts on the right, I will wear belted as dresses. I picked up some things for my nephew, which are on the left and a pair of brand new pants for Aaron. You've gotta love Target's deal with Goodwill. There is nothing better than getting brand new clothing for $5.99 or less. The blue Converse One Star hoodie in the front is also a brand new. At this very moment, I'm in the process of washing everything. I know, exciting Friday night. Don't hate. My lovely husband is skiing, so what else would I fill my time with? Laundry and Oprah, of course! I'm actually having a pretty good night, which is an excellent way to close a great day! Now, I just need to clean out my closet, so that I'll have a place to put the new things.

A whole lotta nothin'

I was on a roll with my blog entries. What happened? I'll tell you one thing that happened, planning a family trip to Florida. It's not easy trying to please an entire family, especially an entire family that won't give me a budget or confirmation on days. I want to scream! I'm thinking about just trashing the idea and planning a trip with just Aaron and I. I mean, it would be so much simpler. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent researching, emailing, and negotiating pricing. Yes, I said hours. I'm going to need this trip after all the planning!

Other than that, I don't know really where the days have gone this week. I was off of work the last two days. I was hoping to get more accomplished, but I guess I should be glad that I just did some of the things on my to-do list. I plan on doing some more errand type things tomorrow, including eating lunch with B. Yea!

Okay, I'm putting myself to sleep with this post. So, I'll leave you with a list. Maybe something more excited will pop into my head tomorrow.

You know it's cold when....

1. You pull your cute little bikini briefs from the drawer, only to turn around and put them back and replace them with full-coverage boy shorts. Hey, the more fabric on your bum, the better!
2. You spend hours planning a trip that is months away, so that you can look at, dream about, and picture yourself on the beach.
3. You, being a non-snuggy owner, spend much of your day wrapped in nice, cozy spiderman blanket. Literally, wrapped, so that it stays up when walking or moving. It's almost like a go-to outfit.
4. You actually try to reason, encourage, or just yell, as if they would understand, at the dogs to go to the bathroom faster when you are outside because you are freezing. As for instance, "Sophie, I swear if you don't go right now, we are going inside and I'm not walking you again. You can forget. I swear you're doing this on purpose." Oh yeah, not to mention, you have on long sleeves, a tank, a hoodie, a coat, a scarf, gloves, the above mentioned boy shorts, pants, knee high socks, and furry dog-walking shoes when walking said dogs.
5. When visions of spring clothing keep dancing in your head.

Renee, Urban Dictionary style

So, seems like a lot of people on FB are looking up their names in Urban Dictionary. I decided to look my name up and see what it said about me. Um, I'm pretty sure someone must be stalking me. Other than the hypocrite comment, which I would totally own up to being if I were being a hypocrite, and calling myself one of the most amazing people you'll ever meet or the whole beautiful thing, I think it's pretty dead on. Sounds like I need to find some more friends with the name Renee. What do you guys think? The quotes at the end cracked me up.

Renee:

Renee is of the most amazing people you'll ever meet. She's random and weird, and most likely somewhat insecure, in addition to being outspoken, fiercely loyal to her friends, very sexual, very beautiful on the inside and outside, open minded, mean at times, dedicated to music, and impulsive. She can be a hypocrite, but often owns up to it rather than denying it. She may not always use her head and she tends to make excuses for the people she cares about.

Jeff: Who's the hot girl over there who's rambling about garlic bread's role in government conspiracies?

Tom: Oh, that's Renee. She's pretty weird, but she's really cool.

Random Tuesdays

Let the randomness ensue!

• Today I've made some head way on my long, long To-Do List. Finally.
• Being on the computer really zaps time. I some how spent three hours basically emailing, talking to friends, and checking Google Reader. Wow.
• This is what I had for lunch. All organic, besides the salad dressing, and delicious!

• Speaking of food, I cannot stand when people are eating and I'm not. I can't stand the sound of chewing and don't even get my started about chewing with your mouth open. It really makes me sick. I've been this way as long as I remember. Lucky me, I usually finish dinner way before Mr. O and get to hear him chew for 30 minutes after I'm done. I make an exception to him though, but you may find me humming in head or turning up the TV to hide the noise.
• Ah, Giada has a new line of cookware at Target. I love it, but I don't love her, which makes me hesitant on buying it. I hate that. Arrogance and rudeness are two more pet-peeves of mine. I saw her on Oprah and on a cooking contest show and she was so rude. She even gave a snide comment to Oprah on HER show! That kind of thing really turns me off to a person. That's why I don't watch, unless Aaron really wants too, films with Hillary Swank or Tom Cruise. We may be different from each other, but that doesn't mean you are better than other people.
• Check out Blood, Sweat, and T-shirts, if you have the Green Channel, which I can't seem to remember the channel number. It really makes you think and appreciate what you have. We watched Blood, Sweat, and Take-aways also. That one focused on food and where it comes from. This series focuses on clothes, how they are made and the poor workers. It makes me grateful that I live in the USA and makes me ashamed for how much we take for granted. Oh my goodness, one of my Target shirts was on the first episode. The shirt I bought was made by people making $2.00 a day. How sad is that?
• I'm glad the snow is almost gone. It was fun and all, but I'm glad the roads are clearing.
• I'm on a mission this week to do a little thrifting for some new every day dishes. My plan is to get a bunch of different ones. I think it'll make a fun table setup when we have guests over. Plus, my target every day dishes are starting to crack, chip, etc, not bad for having them eight years. I think we're down to five or six plates out of 12.
• I met up with my friend, Christy, for dinner last night. It was so fun! I miss seeing all my friends. It's much harder when jobs, responsibilities, and children come into play as you get older.
• I washed my great-grandmother's quilt today. She made it just for me. It brings so many memories back, like building things with empty spools of thread in front of the warm stove/furnace, helping her cook, while sitting on a red, metal 1950's stool, the smell of the bathroom soap, which smelled very grandmotherly, and watching the Christmas parade because we usually went on Christmas Eve every year. I wish I could use the quilt because it's very pretty, but I'm terrified to mess it up, especially considering that I was the last one to get one made for them before she died.
• I got called into work tomorrow. Boo, hiss, boo. It's good for our bank account though. I'm grateful that I have a job too, so no more complaining.
• I better head to bed because I have to get up at 4:20 to eat and leave in time to make it to work by 7:00. Sigh.

Snowblizzard 2010

We actually got decent snow for a change. This is a rarity in Tennessee. In fact, I can't really remember getting this much snow in a very long time. There is something about snow that just brings your inner kid out. I was giddy watching it and even more giddy when I walked outside. It's part of what caused such a lovely (snowed-in) weekend with Mr. O. Though I wouldn't want it all the time, I love a good snow every now and again. I'm hoping this won't be the last time we see this amount of snow this year. It's slowly melting away today, which is kind of sad, but good for the drivers out there. Here are pictures that we took in our neighborhood on Saturday that captured just how beautiful our snow-filled world was, if only for a few days. Notice how the dogs didn't share my enthusiasm!

Mr. Sandman, where are you?

I can't believe how fast time is going by. Have I said this enough times? It's February and it seems like yesterday was Christmas. I need to find a remedy for this situation. I need to slow down and savor every moment. This year could bring very big changes for us. I'm already dealing with one called nursing-means-so-long-normal-sleep-pattern. I guess I am a night owl again, but it is much more forced than for pleasure! Otherwise, I'd be falling asleep either at work or on the drive home and neither of those are good options.

I did, however, savor every moment with Mr. O this weekend. Our house guests were away, which meant we revisited our former life with it only being just the two of us. It hasn't really been just the two of us in a year and a half. It was lovely. I really, really love my husband. It's utter craziness how much I love him. One day, we'll have kids and a million obligations and I'll look back on these days with a sense of sadness, but also with gratefulness because it's been us against the world for nine years. That's part of why our kids don't exist yet. We want to be able to cuddle and lie in bed on Saturday morning without a time limit, brave the snow and go bowling at 8:00 at night, or drop everything and go on a weekend road trip, which we're planning to do soon. Don't worry, our kids do exist in my head. We already have a pretty awesome story too. One day, it'll be for all the world to see, or at least our friends and family.

I'm not sure what February has in store for us. I know that I'm starting on a mile long to-do list tomorrow. It's much more needed than fun things, but I'm kind of excited about the mundane things like cleaning though. I can't explain it, but I feel like February is going to be fantastic!

Oh, and if you care or are wondering, here's what is on our menu for this first glorious week of February. I can't seem to step away from the food entries.

Weekly Menu
Monday: Hawaiian burgers, organic onion rings and possibly salad
Tuesday: Tilapia with braised red peppers & leeks, carrot salad, and rice
Wednesday: Chicken with chive dumplings (I'm especially excited about this because it's using homemade stock from a whole organic chicken and I've never made chicken and dumplings before-Go me!)
Thursday: Pasta w/pumpkin & sausage
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: I have to work, but I'm hoping to have Chicken and Spinach casserole ready to be put in the oven for dinner and if there are in leftovers from the week, then they can have eat those for lunch.
Sunday: I'll probably be asleep for breakfast, but for lunch, potato and leek soup, and dinner, spaghetti and salad