Somedays

Some days I wish I could just stay home all day and snuggle cats.

And then I remember what bastards my cats are about snuggling.

Oh well.

Other days I want to stay home and watch Sailor Moon all day and I can't do that either. Although, with the Roku we got for Christmas and the magic of Youtube, I can watch it on the TV instead of the laptop. This is made of win and joy.

I kind of want to start a Sailor Moon tumblr full of screencaps and head cannon and doodles... hmm.

Goal Progress

Totally just did a backlog of blog posts on Minty Projects. Hooray! Did creative things and posted about it.

What else?

Menu for next week has been developed and purchased. Lunch items have been purchased. Healthy snacks are purchased.

Going to weigh in here for a baseline when I'm done with this post.

Jake has started figuring out how to get the shelving up in the pantry.

We talked about chores, but nothing definitive yet.

Progress? Some. I'll take it, since I've been incredibly grumpy all freaking week.

Goals for 2014

I have decided not to make resolutions for 2014. Resolutions are things that are made to be broken. Goals have deadlines and consequences when you fail to meet them.

I have decided to make Goals instead (it sounds more important in my head as well, if I capitalize it).

• Goal #1: Get Healthy
• Accomplishing this Goal requires:
• Watching what I eat: correct portions, more fruits and veggies, less junk food, cutting back on soda, eating out less, and cooking at home more
• To Accomplish this I will: Make menus for the week, go grocery shopping on a specified day, pack lunches for myself and my husband at least 4 week days, prepare dinner at home for at least 6 days, limit eating out to 1 meal per week
• Getting moving: reducing the amount of time spent on the PC/watching TV, getting moving, working out regularly
• To Accomplish this I will: Work out at least 30 minutes per day at least 4 days per week, bike to work when the weather allows, walk for exercise as the weather allows, complete 1 5K this year
• Taking care of routine health issues: eye exams, dentist appointments, regular check ups
• To Accomplish this I will: Make the appropriate appointments and keep them
• The Goal to reach: Weight loss of at least 50lbs, regular meal routines, and all routine health appointments/check ups completed before the end of the calendar year

• Goal #2: Get Organized
• Accomplishing this Goal requires:
• Determining areas of our house that need better storage/organizing solutions
• To Accomplish this I will: Review room by room with my husband the appropriate use for each room and how we're currently meeting it
• Determining what items we need to keep, need to trash, need to donate
• To Accomplish this I will: Review room by room with my husband and go through all the boxes, closets, and containers that have been piling up since we've moved in, including the boxes that we still haven't unpacked. Items will be sorted into "Keep", "Trash", and "Sell or Donate" piles and handled accordingly.
• Assigning maintenance chores to keep the house organized
• To Accomplish this I will: Make a list of all routine maintenance chores the need done and their frequency. Once the list has been devised, my husband and I will chose which chores to complete and be expected to complete them in a timely manner. If chores are not completed, fun activities cannot be pursued.
• The Goal to reach: A reasonably organized house where items can be found easily. A house that does not involved a full day cleaning spree every time we want to have company. The goal is to evaluate and institute a chore schedule by the end of January 2014. 

• Goal #3: Complete the renovation projects we keep talking about
• Accomplishing this Goal requires:
• Hanging of shelving in the pantry area to make it usable (also ties into Goal 2).
• To Accomplish this I will: Shelving was a Christmas gift. I will determine the number of shelves to be hung and Jake has already committed to hanging them for me. I will reorganize the pantry supplies once the shelves are up
• Finishing the bathroom
• To Accomplish this I will: Finalize paint colors, purchase a new medicine cabinet, purchase new fixtures (faucet, towel bars, etc), a new light and vent fan; Once purchases are made, Jake and I will work together to complete the bathroom
• Hanging shelving in the craft room
• To Accomplish this I will: Determine the amount of shelving needed and where I want it placed, purchase additional shelving (if there is not enough left from the pantry) and hang
• Turning the basement into a usable space
• To Accomplish this I will: Start with Goal 2 and determine what items need to be kept, provide appropriate storage for the items we are keeping, and finalize our plans for what we want to do with the basement space
• Repair the outside stairs
• To Accomplish this I will: Entirely replace the stairs on the side porch with a set that is not rotting and has a banister that is actually attached to something, determine if I want to keep the back porch or replace with stairs
• The Goal to reach: Completed pantry and bathroom before end of 1st Quarter 2014, completed basement by May 2014, completed porch/stairs by 4th of July, and completed craft room by end of 2014

• Goal #4: Create
• Accomplishing this Goal requires:
• Determine which projects I want to do
• To Accomplish this I will: Pick projects, find or purchase the appropriate materials to complete them, and budget time at least once a week to work on them without interruptions
• Blogging about projects
• To Accomplish this I will: Blog at least once per week about my current project, projects that I want to do, or something else craft related over at Minty Projects
• The Goal to reach: At least 1 new blog post per week that is crafting related and at least 12 major crafting projects completed. I have joined Otaku Senshi Idols over at DeviantArt just because it means that I have to sit down and draw things, which I've missed like crazy during the last year.

Fall Favorites: Fair Week (Part 2)

So, as I said in my post the other day (Fall Favorites: Fair Week), I'm quite a fan.

Fair week is well and done now (it ended last Saturday) and we went two more times.

Friday (Date Night, Fair Week Edition):
We walked down after work and moseyed about, looking for fun and exciting things. First off was dinner, because: food. We had been tipped off by a mutual co-worker (although, I suppose if you work in the same office they're ALL mutual co-workers) about a stand that was selling stuffed pretzels.

Pretzels. Stuffed with delicious goodness. This needed to happen.

So, we walked around a bit, managed to circle the place twice before we actually found it. But, oh, was it WORTH it. It was like a giant hot pocket made of pretzel. But better because it was made right there. There were several varieties, but we decided to get one that was filled with chicken, bacon, ranch, and cheese (because if you're going to get a stuffed pretzel, it better have cheese and bacon... see also: rules for any stuffed food items). It was fantastic. I'd post a picture, but, honestly, after the first day I got lazy and stopped taking pictures of food (or anything for that matter).

So then we wandered around a bit more, ate some fried cheese, drank copious amounts of lemonade, and ate a deep fried Snickers bar (I recommend this whole heartedly). After that we decided we had ate enough for a while and went and walked through the art exhibits for a while. I keep saying "Oh, I should enter some jewelry sometime" and then I remember that I'm a lazy, lazy bitch and don't. There was lots of super cool photography and paintings and quite a few of them I wish I could bring home and put on my wall, but unfortunately most of it is exhibits and not for sale.

Then we got some more food (because: fatties): I got shrimp jammers (these are shrimp stuffed with cheese and jalapenos... needs more bacon) and the hubs got seafood chowder. We then proceeded to run into a bunch of our co-workers and made our way back to the animal exhibits, because it cannot be fair week without seeing the rabbits.

They were adorable. And fluffy. And adorable. And did I mention adorable? I wanted to take them all home. Someday, I want to have a Flemish Giant, because go big or go home.

A random Flemish Giant, from Living the Dream Farms' website

Then I got myself a roasted ear of corn and the hubby had some fries and we walked home.

Because the next day my sister was coming!

But first we had to go to the Selinsgrove Market Street Festival in the morning (a separate post about this may or may not happen). This is a yearly event in my hometown and you just do. not. miss. it.

So, we did that, had lunch at the brew pub, and came back home to wait for the kids (my sister and her fiancee). After struggling through traffic, they finally made it up and we walked down to the fairgrounds for more wandering and eating and wonderful.

Almost immediately after getting into the fair we ran into a friend of my sister's from high school that was at our house so much she might as well have been my other little sister. It was pretty awesome and we got to meet her college roommate whom she was taking to the fair for the first time.

Then we ate deep fried Oreos, deep fried pickles, and deep fried mushrooms (because everything is better when it's batter dipped and fried) and the also the world's messiest gyros. Messy, but oh so good. Then we doubled back to see the dog show, because try to tell my sister she can't see puppies and see how far you get with it. Then we wandered a bit and the kids got their own fried cheese and then my sister and I split a tray of chocolate covered strawberries from Catherman's Home-Made Candy & Cakes (free plug, because they're seriously awesome people that make seriously awesome candy and wedding cake and other delicious things). I attempted to find a place to get an apple dumpling that didn't have a line 8 miles long and the boys bought apple cider. Then, eventually I was able to get my dumpling (and the hubs got a peach dumpling) and the kids had gravy fries and we walked home, very tired and super sore (especially me because I developed a HORRIBLE blister from all the walking... stupid shoes). 

The kids crashed at our house overnight and the next morning we took them to the diner for breakfast, since it was Lin's birthday and I had been promising her a trip to the diner for SOS (creamed chipped beef on toast, for those not in the know) for about forever. Then the kids packed up to head back to my mom's, since there was a birthday dinner and a 2 hour drive back to college for them yet.

Fair week was successful!

I'm a little sad that it's over, but now I have the opportunity to delve into one of my other fall favorites: comfort foods.

Just a Thought...

Is it weird that I knit to heavy metal?

Cats

My cats seem super wound up today.

They're also freaking adorable.

Ms. Everytime, the Noodling Lovebug Owl-cat

Pretty Pretty Princess Miachu Monster Butt

Mr. Tinkerpotamus Rex the Fluffaluffagus

Maximus Bubby Grumpersaurus

That is all.

Fall Favorites: Fair Week

OMG, it's fair week.

I love fair week; I know there's a lot of locals that hate it because school is off all week and the increased traffic and the general inability to drive through downtown in a reasonable amount of time and being unable to find parking anywhere in town, but I LOVE the fair.

I had never been to the fair prior to going to college and the first year my (not yet at the time) husband and I went, we walked down from the university. The fairgrounds are at the complete opposite end of town. Getting down wasn't too bad... it was all downhill. Coming back was another story.

After we moved back here when my student teaching was done, we didn't live in town, so we would drive into town, find parking and then walk from there. After we bought our house, the first year we still did this, because I thought it was too far to walk. The 2nd year, we started walking a lot as part of my weight loss plan and I realized that the fairgrounds are less than 2 miles from our house and decided to walk to the fair that year (and then it was canceled due to extreme flooding from Hurricane Lee); last year ended up being the first year we walked down each day we went and it was surprisingly easy.

We went down on Tuesday and have plans to go tomorrow and Saturday as well.

Those that know me know that I love food. Food is probably my favorite part of the fair; I'll hit up some of the exhibits tomorrow (especially to go and see the rabbits!), but for me (and a lot of people) it's definitely about the food.

Cheese steaks, ice cream, french fries, apple cider, candy... you name it they have it. Those were all things I ate on Tuesday alone, by the way. There are fried pickles and fried Oreos and gyros in my future as well. If I can find a place with deep fried candy bars, I'm out to try one of those this year too.

There's just something wonderful about fair week. As I said to Jake as we strolled down on Tuesday (strolled because I've still got the head cold of doom and couldn't keep up at my normal walking pace), I love fair week; it's finally starting to feel like fall here and fall is my favorite season. The fair is fun, and not just for stuffing myself with everything fried on a stick - the people watching is amazing and we always run into so many people, some of which we only see once a year at the fair.

Yay, fair week!

And here's some of the delicious-ness that we had on Tuesday:

Cheese steak from Vince's! Steak, cheese, onions, mushrooms, sweet peppers, and hot peppers.

Jake's grilled beef and cheddar with mushrooms, onions, bbq sauce, and horseradish from Lora's Grilled Beef and Cheddar Sandwiches

Head Colds

Inevitably, if someone comes into the office with a cold, I end up with it.

I'm the administrative assistant. Everything in the office passes through my hands. Everybody uses my desk as a communal space. Everybody stops to talk to me.

I think the only thing worse is being a teacher during cold and flu season; I spent most of the semester that I was student teaching nursing a persistent head cold.

It sucks. One person in the office manages to get both myself and my husband sick. If I somehow manage to dodge the disease bullet at the office, my husband gets it. And then I get it from him.

Hooray for cold meds.

I'm going to listen to high school football stream online and knit until my cold meds knock me out.

Fall Favorites: Football

I think fall is my favorite season. There's just so much to LOVE about fall: cooler weather, fun holidays, eating comfort food because it's the perfect season for it...

And football.

For those that don't know me that well, I love football. High school, college, pro, doesn't matter. I've been known to spend entire weekends from Friday evening to Sunday evening (and sometimes Thursdays and Mondays) consuming football. It's not really a surprise that my husband sometimes says that I'm the "man" of the house, since he couldn't care less about football (or really, any other sports, which makes baseball season also difficult in this household).

I stream radio coverage of my high school games on Friday nights, since going in person isn't always an option, although I do try to get to at least one game each year (aiming for homecoming this year...). On Saturdays when I have nothing to do I'll flip between college games and same on Sunday for pro games.

Right now, I'm watching the Eagles while I'm typing. And when I'm done typing, I'll pick up my knitting project and work on that while I watch football.

Only thing that would make this even better would be some kitty snuggles and an Italian sub...

A Space for Me

Another day, another blog. What's the point this time?

The need for a space for me. A place that I can put my thoughts down about anything and everything, without being constrained by a theme, a topic; without being constrained by character limits or oddly enforced policies.

A place where I can post sketches and half finished projects without feeling that I'm neglecting anything.

A place where I can ramble on and on about how much I love whichever fandom has my interest today.

Just a place for me.

So, be warned; this space will be random, sometimes neglected, sometimes overwhelmed, sometimes chaotic, because it's me.