C is for Cat

I was running late this morning and I had a terrible headache.  The nausea from the headache made brushing my teeth a gag marathon.  Short story - bad morning. 

So on the way to work, I put on a song that made me feel peppy and slurped away at my morning coffee.  Less than halfway to work a cat dashed across the road.  I slammed on my brakes and tried to avoid him...or her.  Without reliving the horror, let's just say I wasn't able to avoid the cat and I hit him...or her. 

I didn't see it behind me and I didn't see it run off.  So now I know I have mortally injured this poor creature.  I cried the rest of the way to work and at my desk a little bit.  I told the story twice today and cried both times.  Now I'm out of tissues and my headache has come back.

There's nothing like an accident to make you feel like a horrible person. 

Cowboy Take Me Away

More like, cowboy, where are you taking me?  Hopefully if someone is taking you somewhere, you at least know their first name.  This song sounds like a rape victim waiting to happen. 

Gunpowder and Lead...now that is a song I can get behind. 

I should take up song writing.  Or at least become a lyricist.  My songs would be more middle road...like:

You're cute, but I don't trust you yet. 
And don't hug me, when you're covered in sweat.

Or...

I'll flirt with you, but I'm gonna balk
Until I have time for your Facebook stalk
(honestly, how else do you do your research nowadays?)

How about...

I'm not your mom and I'm not your spouse
So try and clean your own damn house

Here I am...a bunch of wasted talent!

Aging

When the hell did I get older?  Just the other day I was in my early twentties and my only concerns were about partying and my social life.  Now I'm 30, working full time, griping about bills and preferring to stay home versus getting dolled up to "be seen" out at a bar.  Whaaaaaaat?

My friends that I thought would never mature are now wives and mothers.  Granted, children don't bring maturity, but most of my friends seem to have found it along the way.  It is hard to reconcile the girl I knew that danced on tables to the woman who now attends PTA!  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad a mother isn't out shaking her rear cheeks anymore, but when did we all change?

What the heck have I been doing that I've missed this?  Isn't 30 a little too young to be this creeped out by nostalgia?

Friday = Food Day

Most Fridays at work, our office orders in a lunch to share or brings in snacks.  Sometimes we invent occasions, sometimes there are actual ones to celebrate.  One co-worker completed her tenth year with the state, so we had to eat in honor of this milestone!

I opted for a giant chocolate chip cookie.  This is one of my favorite desserts and probably the reason I porked up every summer.  Mom's friend used to bring this everywhere and now I've stolen it as my own.  It's gotten popular with other friends and have been asked to share the recipe.  I thought I would post it here, so my sister has it to make when I come home to visit!  Assuming she still reads this...


Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 box French vanilla cake mix

2 eggs
½ cup oil
½ tsp vanilla
½ bag chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease (a spray like Pam) round pizza pan (the disposable pans are great) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together cake mix, eggs, oil and vanilla. Once mixed, add chocolate chips. With your hands, press dough into the greased pan until evenly spread. Bake for 15-17 minutes until top turns golden. Remove and let cool before eating.

Enjoy!!  And remember, I love this and you should all invite me over next time you make it.  :)

Life vs TV

I have a passion for HGTV and the Food Network.  Give me a carpenter and I could have a room re-done and looking fantastic.  I have a decent talent for cooking and don't often jack up a dish I'm working on.  My problem is - I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming and life is not a television episode.  There are no giant stores with discount furniture and furnishings.  There are no specialty food markets here.  Sometimes you can't even find fresh regular produce!  Sure, I could travel an hour or two to find these things.  But unless you are majorly overhauling a home or planning a super special dinner party, you can't jet off for a 45 minute drive to the next closest city. 

I'd like to see HGTV or a Dinner Impossible show make magic happen with local buys in a more rural area.  Get out of Ontario Canada or New York City and focus on the regular folks that don't live in a giant urban area.  Try Cheyenne!  Sure, you can find the random cute vintage chair or lamp at one of our few antique or junk stores.  Yes, sometimes King Soopers carries seafood that doesn't smell like 10 day old trout. 

I realize that with the right checking account, you can have whatever you want.  But with limited funds, you have to get pretty clever with your purchases if you still want the wow factor. 

Maybe this is justification for my mediocre surroundings.  Maybe it is.  Maybe I still have a point.

The Cleanse

We're a supportive group.  Or maybe we are easily persuaded.  Either way, we are all doing The Cleanse.  It may have a more official name, but I don't know it.  Adam decided it was time to bring this bad boy back out and we all jumped on the Cleanse wagon.  Today is my day one (of fourteen).  I can suffer through no carbs and no sugar.  Giving up cheese will be a trial.  But no caffeine just may kill me.  I'm not a huge soda drinker, but I do love my winter time Earl Grey and my daily coffee.  I'm not a giant coffee snob, but when you get used to kick starting your day with 8+ ounces of hot, dark and smooth mouth magic, it's hard to give up.  I'm trying non-fruity herbal tea as a substitute, because that is all I am allowed.  Additional posts on this subject may be interesting.

Preparedness is key to The Cleanse.  You have to prep everything.  You can't just nuke a quick meal...you have to cook and plan it all.  And unless you include protein and fat in your meals, YOU WILL STARVE.  Or at least feel as if you are starving.  Mix that with the caffeine withdrawal and the intense craving for carbs and sugar and you've hit the "snap point".  Last time I tried this cleanse I hit my snap point around day two or three and couldn't push through.  Adam, a pillar of extreme will power, can pretty easily change his diet and stick with it.  So he finds the snap point of others amusing, if not downright comical.  Cocky bastard.

So here's hoping the caffeine withdrawal doesn't kill me and the snap point is easily overcome!

My friends, my champions

"It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us."

- Epicurus

I have some pretty fantastic friends. I know I usually go through my week frustrated or even annoyed by one or more of them, but they constantly surprise me.

I probably rag on my roommates the most. A is singularly gifted at making me angry in no time at all.& We are complete opposites and how we stay friends is such a mystery to me. But this is the same guy that picked me up after oral surgery. He bought me tea last time I got sick. He picks me up when my car is in the shop. He bought tickets to a concert I wanted to go to. He talks me into things I want to do, but am too scared or self-concious to try. He is one of the first people I seek for advice. When I put all this down, I feel like a jackass for being annoyed with him. But let's be real, the man has his flaws. He forgot his wallet at home today so I bought him lunch and gave him my debit card to get gas. This means I have no money this evening and I had no inclination to cook. So My other roommate, D, fishes out his credit card and buys us pizza for dinner. So they are pretty great guys, even though I know I will spend the rest of my evening cleaning up after them...