IHOP-e you saved some room

Yesterday some girls at work asked me to come out with them to IHOP after work. We had an awesome time, they're crazy :p One girl started talking about how she'd been made bead captain a long time ago but knew nothing about making jewelry and that I should be bead captain, whatever that means. So I got out my baggie of jewelry that I always keep on me. Stuff I've made for friends & family as Christmas presents. I was showing them off when the waiter came by and asked if I made jewelry, I said yes. Then he asked me if I sold jewelry, I said yes, but not this stuff it was christmas gifts. Then he asked me if my stuff was expensive and I said not really, most of my stuff sells for between $10-$25 and mentioned that a lot of jewelry makers use an outrageous formula to calculate their prices. We then tried to explain to him that we all worked at Michael's and he didn't know what that was. :p If only I'd had business cards! I will get some made up soon.

Weight Watchers Smart Ones Savory Steak & Ranch Flatbread

Lunch today is Weight Watchers Smart Ones Savory Steak & Ranch Flatbread - 300 Calories

Seasoned Beef Steak, Fire Roasted Green Bell Peppers, Onions, Reduced Fat Mozarella Cheese, with a Creamy Ranch sauce on a flatbread.

I thought I'd give this a try, it looked yummy! Trying it though it tastes like a veggie quesadilla, there's no ranch flavor at all. The steak looks like dog food cubes. It's not good, it would have been different if I wasn't expecting it to taste like Ranch sauce. I won't be choosing this version again.

$ $ $ $

I had a meeting with my advisor at the nearby University of Phoenix campus today to go over everything and fill out the financial aid paperwork. I spent a good hour with her, she was very sweet, answered all of my questions, told me that another campus would be opening in November and it would be a bit closer to me than the current one. I'm hoping all the aide comes through.

I had to lock Princess up in her crate because even last night I went out to the store for 30 minutes and she caused havoc in the dining room. She was pretty pissed at me when I got home and kept trying to nibble me to death.. but it's so cute it's hard to be mad. :)

It was such a windy but nice day today. This morning was strangely warm, a bit humid but it felt good being outside with Princess. Lately I've been having to wear a light jacket in the mornings. Then it turned cloudy with so much wind, it knocked over everyones trash cans.

On the way home from the appointment I stopped to treat myself to 5 Guys hot dogs & fries. The manager of Michael's was in there and I saw that she recognized me and she said hi, but I'm not sure she knew why she recognized me. I was supposed to get a call early last week about work but never did. Maybe this will spark some action, but still I wish it was more hours.

When FB Games get out of hand

My internet went out last night :( I was in the middle of doing something so I waited for it to come back. So I didn't get much sleep. About 4 1/2 hours.

Some chick had a hissy fit on Facebook Fairyland because I didn't post when I spotted a Rainbow Dragon. Whatever. I spent a ton of gold and time trying to get it, it wasn't her first one, I was tired and took a short nap instead of posting. Even if I had it would have been lost in all the spam her garden is getting right now as people fight over watering. /sad

I got called to go to an interview tomorrow at 4:30pm. It's about an hour away if traffic is good. I don't think I meet all the requirements so it will probably be a waste of time, but whatever, I've got time. The worst they can do is say no, I'm not hiding the fact that I don't know some of the things they want, like "Experience with data analysis, specifically trending and exception reporting are critical.​ Advanced Microsoft Excel skills are necessary including pivot tables, and complex charting, crystal reports and preferably sequel reporting." Probably will be a big deal. Oh well. At least they called me. I'm still a bit nervous, and I don't have any other shoes but sneakers till my husband mails my boxes :/

It's hot and sunny today so I finally went to vacuum the ac filter under the house. After opening up the small doorway and using a stick to kill spiders and wipe away webs, I was standing at the door talking to Princess about not wanting to go in and she ran in. :) The whole time I was down there (more than 20 minutes because I had lots of trouble getting the damn cover back on) Princess was down there with me, exploring. She didn't want to leave. She's such a strange girl :)

Then we went for our walk, didn't really see anyone, waved to the mailman and the cop who lives down the street. Princess saw her first squirrels I think, she's so funny when she's curious, she stands up tall and stiff. I swear her neck is 2 feet long and her big ears stand straight up too..

Tried a new snack, which I accidentally grabbed at the grocery store. I thought I was grabbing Dole's Pear Fruit Cups but grabbed a Dole Creme Parfait Apples & Creme fruit cup instead. I didn't think I'd like it, thought it would be too heavy or sweet and it was pretty sweet but it wasn't heavy. I kinda liked it actually.

Slow Sunday

Last night: N came online at 11:30pm and said he had time to watch episode 19 of Haruhi which I've been dying to watch for the last month! That was super awesome, the episode itself was a bit of a let down, the end of a 8 episode groundhog day series, but I'm so glad it's over and we can get back to the real story :)

Went to bed sometime around 2am, woke up at 6am when R called, then back to sleep at 7am till 8am. It's Sunday though so I'm thinking I'll go get the paper and the light bulbs I need then call it a day and nap.

Lunch was the same as yesterday, 260 calories for Ham, Pepperoni, Cheese, Lettuce & Mustard Sandwich.

In order to be happy, you need 3 things: Something to Do, Something to Love, and Something to Hope For.

Took Princess for her walk, a group of little girls ooooh'd and ahhhh'd at her :) She loved it!

Just heard that my nephew, D, just got back from the hospital. They think he either has common pneumonia or swine flu. The doctor's didn't know which. Right now he's in quarantine in his room and has to wear a mask. If ever there was a time to send him lots of books & video games it would be now :/ I don't know if his PSP ever got working again. Last I heard they thought the battery needed to be replaced but didn't hear if that worked. Poor kid :( He's going to miss so much school and fall behind, and be bored.

Dinner is a new option. Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Grilled Whiskey Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Vegetables. 250 calories. The size of the bowl is very deceiving, it's less than half full. The sauce is a nice and light tangy bbq, the meat over steamed a bit, I would have rather used my own meat, but the vegetables came out well. Corn, Green Beans, Red Potatoes, Carrots, Onions & Tomatoes. Not a bad option when I'm craving something heartier.

Watched Episode 5x02 of Supernatural. Excellent episode, great twist. <3 <3 Dean

Spent a little time trying to get a good picture of the necklace I made my Grandma for my mom. It's a long necklace so laying it down just didn't give it's length. So I hung it on the doorknob, moved my desk lamp to shine on it and laid down on the floor to get a good angle. Princess was amused by my antics. I got a pic of her from the floor after she got bored of trying to figure out what I was doing. :) Now my brother has commissioned a necklace and earring set for his former teacher. If only my sales would start up on Etsy :) I'd feel a lot better than just having family purchasing.

Gonna watch another episode or two of Blood+ and try to sleep. I don't know when I'll hear from work so I'll have to be ready.

Where there's Smoke there's F I R E

My neighbor had been cutting tree branches all day yesterday, which is what he was burning, but last night I guess he cut down some of his big trees completely. I had the windows open at around 7:30pm when I heard a crack and falling tree sound and a thud with a crack. I went outside with Princess to see what was up but it was too dark to see. He had a huge bonfire that night though that got so high he had to hose it down a bit because the ashes were spraying into a nearby tree and falling on his roof. Turns out this morning I see a huge tree fallen onto his wooden fence, totally smashed and he'd built it himself. His poor doggies spent all day tied up to his porch. If I knew them better I'd have offered to let them run around my yard with Princess. She'd have loved the company.

Went to bed around 11, woke up at 7:45am. Chatted with Reina for awhile while I fed Princess and sat with her outside. It smelled like a nice smokey fire all morning, and it was nice, cool and crisp out too. Then I went to the Post Office and to the Grocery store. My last shopping trip was $65 a little more than the $50 I budget per week but it lasted 11 days. This trip was $75 and I'm so pissed I forgot my coupons :/ Hopefully it'll last as long or longer.

Downloaded some music from my very very long list. I wanted 1 or 2 songs per album but had to download the whole thing. Things like Lady Gaga - Paparazzi (stuck in my head right now, especially after watching the video OMG ERIC) Rob Thomas – Diamonds, Kristinia DeBarge – Goodbye, Kelly Clarkson – I do not hookup & Already Gone (also stuck in head), Jordin Sparks – Battlefield, Keri Hilson – Knock you down, The Fray – Never Say Never.. Nice to have some new music finally, I've been playing it all day when I'm not watching a show.

Watched some Law & Order: Criminal Intent, these last few episodes have been better. The finale was pretty darn good. I'm really starting to like & hate Jeff Goldblum in it. His character is so odd, I can't really relate to him, but he's funny so it sort of saves him from outright hatred.

Made Lunch: Ham, Pepperoni, Cheese, Lettuce and Mustard
80 - 2 Slices of Bread
25 - 1 Slice of Cheese
75 - 3 Slices of Pepperoni
70 - 6 Thin Slices of Honey Ham
5 - Dollop of Spicy Brown Mustard
5 - Few bits of Lettuce
----
260

Started looking at Tub & Shower styles. Mom wants to replace the tub, shower and tiles in both bathrooms to prepare for selling. Maybe the cabinets and sinks too, with some paint. It'll look nice :) Gotta get measurements then really narrow down the options and call in a guy my dad knows who installed the windows.

Took Princess for her walk, a little girl was following us on her bike a ways. We stopped so Princess could sniff it. Again same route as yesterday so .8 mile.

Got the beads in for the necklace mom commissioned, I had parts of it done so I put most of it together but I need to make a few more of the clover links. Maybe tomorrow, don't want to push my thumb too much. It already looks so elegant, I think she'll love it, I do!

Dinner is Lean Cuisine Swedish Meatballs, 300 calories. The microwave instructions are hard if you don't know how to set your microwave at half power, like me. Hand-me-down's don't come with instructions. Still it's got a good gravy and the meatballs are a nice change from mostly veggie stuff.

I was outside watching Princess play while on the phone with AR when Princess dashed to the fence and stood statue still staring at something. I walked over and the neighbors outdoor cat was laying there staring back at Princess. They did that for about 10 minutes then I grabbed onto Princess' collar and tried to shoo the cat away, it just slinked into the bushes. Princess stood there staring and sniffing for awhile longer then kept trying to crawl into the bushes. I walked over again and held Princess and the cat dashed under the barn. After 20 minutes though I decided that Princess wasn't going to go to the bathroom as long as the cat was there so I brought her inside. I hope the cat doesn't make trespassing a habit! Princess doesn't growl or seem aggressive at all, just really really curious and stiff but when the cat runs, she chases.

The neighbor behind my house, K, has a gorgeous wolf-dog and he was walking her around the block so I waved. Then he came by again with his retriever so I walked over and said hi, and he came down to the fence so I could pet him. The wolf-dog is a girl and she and Princess probably wouldn't get a long, but she happily sniffed at the retriever through the fence. K told me some disappointing news for wolf-dog lovers in California though, they've apparently decided to ban them and if a county worker says your dog is a wolf-dog (wolf looking dogs like Husky, Malamute, Akita are especially vulnerable) you either have to give it up or spend $3000 to get a DNA test to prove it's not. Breed banning is so stupid :( Ban bad OWNERS and get tough on puppy mills and abusers!!

Watched a few episodes of Blood+, I'd never heard of it at all so I didn't know what it was about but I like it. The first few episodes are cheerful & gruesome. I'll probably watch up to episode 10 tonight and then try to get some sleep. Good luck, self.

A little bit of Everything

Still not sleeping well. I went to sleep around 3am I think and woke up at 8am to feed Princes and had a 2 1/2 hour long chat with R. She's going through a lot right now with her family, her Grandfather's health, her "boyfriend"..

I started cleaning the house while I was on the phone with R. Just wiping things down and sweeping, starting the laundry. Things that wouldn't be too loud because the connection on our phone calls is usually bad enough, plus it's been really windy on Guam and she talks to me while she's outside.

Vampire Diaries, episode 1x02. Still not sure if this will be another silly teen drama + Vampires. I don't hate it yet, but it is sliding towards too cheesy.

Called Michael's. I had my interview 2 weeks ago, I already bought 2 sets of work clothes and was just waiting to hear back on the background check. I spoke to the Assistant Manager who had interviewed me and she said that they've had to scale back hours for everyone and that she'd call me some time next week if she can schedule me some hours for the week after. :/ At least she said my background check went through ok.

Bones, episode 5x01, season premiere! Cyndi Lauper as a psychic :) I'd worry about spoiling that little tidbit but it's the first 5 seconds of the show. Not a bad premiere episode. I "liked" the crime and Cyndi Laupers character.

Finally got my order of Samhain 2009 Scent from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs that I ordered a month ago. Love the scent, wasn't quite impressed with the purchasing & receiving experience. A week ago I tried to find out where my order was through the CCNow tracking number but it came back saying there was no such order yet the money had been taken out of my account, very confusing and I'm sure the system wastes a lot of their time answering emails like the one I sent them asking WTF? It took them 4 days to answer that email too, letting me know they would be shipping it out soon.

Walked Princess, according to google directions we walked a total of .8 mile. My neighbor was burning some tree branches in his front yard so I stopped to talk to him and his little daughter wanted to pet Princess. I told her to hold out her hand and let Princess sniff it, which she did but then she backed away and wouldn't come any closer. Same thing when my neighbor tried to pet her. She's a bit skittish around cars and apparently other people, or it could have been the proximity to the fire that was bothering her.. clogging up her ability to smell "nice people".

Watched more of last seasons (8) Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Not really impressed with these episodes, but I want to catch up and get them off my hard drive before all the other shows start up next week.

Mowed the backyard, such a gorgeous day. Slightly on the warm side but so breezy that with the windows open the house is pretty cool. Around 77-80 degrees outside, sunny and bright with a nice breeze, perfect weather actually. Nice timing too because I just got my electric bill and /sigh gonna have to keep the AC off as much as I can. It's turning out to be a nice golden fall sunset too, I already see the glow on the freshly mowed grass. :) Tonight's a new moon!

Made dinner: 2 Oscar Mayer hot dogs which I've decided I do not like plain, too salty for my non-smoking, dieting taste buds, on low-cal bread with low-cal cheese, bit of onion and mustard. Yumm!

Here's the math (which I double checked 800 times because I suck)
260 -- 2 Hot Dogs
32 -- 2 Slices of Cheese
80 -- 2 Slices of Bread
5 -- few bits of onion
10 -- dollops of Spicy Brown Mustard
------
387 -- Dinner <3

I'm in the mood to make some jewelry, but my thumb is a bit sore and after mowing today I won't risk it for a day or two. My mom commissioned a necklace for my Grandmother's birthday to match the earrings & bracelet she and my brother bought from me already for her. I'm waiting on an order of Fancy Jasper rounds and gold chain to complete it. It'll be quite fancy I think, at least in my head. :) I've used some hand-jigged gold tone 20 gauge wire clovers as links. Stay tuned for pics on my flickr &/or Facebook in a few days.

Jeez, did I manage to use every label I have in this post? Oh, nope! There's still Anime & Birthdays, Games, Holidays.. etc.. got more work to do :p

All In

I felt really lazy today but Princess always has other ideas. She pulled a few things off of the counters to get my attention. We went on our walk, and I played in the back yard with her while she dashed around like a maniac. She's been going to the bathroom on the deck lately which is bad, so I was trying to keep an eye on her and stop her, but she won't go while she can see me. Not sure what to do about that.

I meant to go out today and pick up a weed wacker, not sure if they're on sale this weekend but pretty much everything is for Labor Day weekend. I wish I had a few $20's to blow on the Michael's sales. I've got my eye on some gold, copper and silver chains.

I finished off the bracelet I was working on yesterday. I love the pattern and how it looks finished, but it was very repetitive. I had an idea for a necklace while I was finishing the bracelet so I made that right after. Job well done I think. I'll add them to my various pages tomorrow, I still have to name them, usually naming is pretty easy for me, or at least not this hard. I can't think of anything for either piece!

Other than that, it's been an uneventful day. I finished up the last few episodes of House. The last one of season 5 was pretty good. I haven't watched the whole series, at least not in order but I enjoy it. I wish there was a doctor like that for my mom!

I also finished up the last few episodes of CSI and trying to find the last few episodes I need for Ugly Betty & Canada's Next Top Model so I can catch up on those. I'm not sure how I feel about Grissom being gone from CSI, don't know if I still like the show without him, Sara or Warrick. Still Nick, Catherine & Greg are great characters.

I've been on the diet for 3 weeks now, and I eat 3-5 times a day. I'm having a hard time getting to 1000 calories per day still. I need some cheap options to fill in with. Preferably something that will be filling, cheap, last at least a full week & still have some taste. Any suggestions?

First Week

First week on the diet, it's always the hardest but I've been ok. I'm naturally a saver so I just thought of the food as money. Today I went grocery shopping even though I wanted to wait until tomorrow. It's been storming all day so I couldn't mow the lawn, if it happens to dry out tomorrow I'll be doing that instead. I love thunderstorms. I ended up spending more than I'd planned for but not by too much. It happens, most of the stuff will last through next week probably. I'll just have to be more cautious.

First week of quitting smoking, it's always the hardest and the cravings have been brutal. I just refused to go buy any, and having quit 3 years ago after smoking for 12 years, I knew what to expect.

I picked up a Green & Black's Organic Bittersweet Dark 60% Chocolate with Crystallized Ginger Pieces. I tried their Mayan Gold bar last week which was Dark Chocolate With Orange and Spices. Not quite the Mayan Chocolate I wanted but was still very good for Orange Chocolate. I've only had 2 small squares of the Ginger bar so far, they're about 17 calories each, and it's pretty good if you let it melt. You don't get very much of the ginger flavor if you chew it. Then it's all crystallized texture.

I've been watching a new show that I've wanted to check out for awhile. The Unusuals, it stars Amber Tamblyn who is a favorite for my husband and I from her show Joan of Arcadia. I also followed her, Alexis Bledel, Blake Lively and America Ferrera in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The show is pretty funny, the tape delay they used on a suspect was outrageously funny. Odd things happen, like a buck shot imprint of Jesus on the wall. The dispatch narration is hilarious, each character has quirks and mysteries to figure out, all swirling around each other, not really connected which feels more real than having them all tie together.

Sixth Night

Sleep came easier last night, though I suppose that was due to the lack of sleep the night before and/or the hysterical hour.. I woke several times and it didn't seem very restful. Still I slept with the light off in the bedroom, but light on in the hallway so I guess I count that as more progress.

I finished the second Dune book that my husband let me borrow, Messiah. I keep track of my books on facebook through the visual bookshelf app but the review I wrote there said: 3.5 stars

The whole time I was reading it I felt like I'd read it before. Yet there was enough I didn't remember that made it worth a second read if that's what it was. The end has such subtle and well written emotions that it more than made up for the slower parts. It felt like a history book.

I also got caught up on the Tudors last night, Season 3. Mostly this season dealt with Jane Seymour but the last few episodes were about Anne Of Cleves. I'm a bit disappointed that Anne was only a couple of episodes but she was only Queen for a few months. Next up, Catherine Howard, who is the star of the first book I read by Philippa Gregory, The Boleyn Inheritance. I'm currently reading her first of the Tudor series, The Constant Princess, which is about Catherine of Aragon. I'm such a royal geek :)

I also cleaned out the house, top to bottom. Even though I'm only using 2 of the rooms plus the bathrooms I cleaned them all. They were pretty clean to begin with, the last tenant had a maid service come just before I moved in, but there's always moving dust, the bug spray from the exterminator and it just felt good to do. I still need a vacuum to properly clean the bedrooms but I used the dust buster to pick up what I could see.

The earrings I made today I based off the earrings I saw on the Young & the Restless today. I named them Baroque Ambrosia. 2 <3's if you can tell me why :)

I got to talk to my friend, AR, for a few minutes today. Since her apartment was burgled she's been without a computer and rarely home for me to call her. We had a decent but short chat and I miss her a lot. Good wishes for her internship which she says will begin after Labor Day.

I've been applying online to as many nearby stores as I could think of before I head out on foot. Aside from all the secretary jobs that I applied for while still in NH, I also applied to a dozen more through monster.com this week, and then started on places like: Michaels, Staples, Bed/Bath & Beyond, Gamestop, Borders, Target, Dress Barn, Sherwin Williams, Radio Shack, Walmart, Payless and CVS. I'm wracking my brain and google to come up with more but I'm stuck. If you can think of anywhere else I should apply, I need to make at least $12 per hour, hopefully more if I can or I'll possibly end up getting a part-time job as well, please let me know.

I am trying to wait until I have no food left to go grocery shopping, so I get into a weekly pattern. Which should be Sunday, a bad day to grocery shop but will be necessary assuming I get work soon anyway. I've been scouring the mail and free paper for coupons, but with my diet I don't expect to spend much on food at all, just the extra things like soaps, etc.

Lowe blow

Went to sleep at 2am, woke up at 8am, took the dogs to the groomers a mile down the road. Went home picked up mom and the lawnmower then drove an hour to the Lowe's where we bought it. I had called them on Sunday and asked about getting it fixed, the girl I spoke to asked me if we'd purchased the extended warranty and I said no. She said to just bring it in and that I wouldn't need an appointment. However when we got there, I went inside to the customer service desk and the girl called another girl, Becky, and said she was about to do a return on a lawnmower. I said we didn't want to return it, just repair it.

When Becky came up to talk to me, she asked me about the warranty and when I told her we didn't have the extended plan she said they only service things on the extended warranty unless it was within 30 days of purchase. We bought it May 21st but had only used it maybe 3 or 4 times. I told her what the girl on the phone had told me and she said "oh I know who that must have been", shook her head and said "she was wrong, I'll have to speak to her about that." Then she said we should go get the mower out of the car. After we got it, she took the receipt and went to talk to her manager. He came out and said there was nothing they could do for us. I explained that we had been told to bring it in and that we live an hour away. So he went back inside and when he came back he said they could either send it out for us, which would take at least a week plus whatever time was needed to fix it and send back, or they would exchange it. So we got it exchanged. Since I hadn't planned on needing to exchange it I hadn't brought all the parts like the bagger, so I told him he could take the new one out. After he helped me load the new one into the car I went and parked and I guess they thought we left because when mom and I went back inside to look for a bulb we needed they were all standing around bitching about us. I dunno if they even saw us, but it made me giggle anyway.

They didn't have the bulb we needed, so we went to Walmart and they didn't have it, same with Home Depot but then we had to get home to pick up the dogs so we stopped to get drinks from Starbucks and drove home. Picked up the dogs and then my brother G went to town to get a haircut and check the mail. While he was gone the delivery of the wooden swing seat and adirondack chairs came. Finally got to take a shower and mom wanted to go to Concord to eat and pick up dog food from Petco.

She wanted me to sign her up for the Petco discount card and the cashier told us that if we purchased 200 pounds of dog food we would get 10% off, we already had 120 pounds so G went to get 2 1/2 more bags. 6 big bags of dog food and one small bag.

After that we went to Ruby Tuesday, I got a half rack of ribs and a salad bar. Mom and G got the salad bar and southwest spring-roll appetizer. We all got ice cream & strawberries on a pastry for dessert.

Busy but not a bad day. Now the rain has knocked out the internet and may be out for awhile. :/ But I wrote this up offline and will post it when it comes back up.

The Weight of Boxes

After a much needed 8-hour unconsciousness I woke up still feeling achy and weak. My brother had made some lasagna so I had some, even though I wasn't really hungry. My brother had unloaded the jeep for me, all 8 boxes and suitcases of my life. There's still 6 more left in Toronto that will have to be mailed. 14 boxes plus the little bit of stuff I already had here, that's all my life is now and I can't even unpack it. All kinds of metaphors fit nicely here but it hurts too much to find it funny.

Completely unrelated, the new taco bell commercial is pretty funny. They're playing the Pina Colada song and one guy makes a verse that says "Hate getting stuck in this lane" another guy sings "if you hate filling out your time sheets". I do that all the time, make up verses to songs when complaining. Just don't tell the RIAA.