TMI

I don't really like prunes, but sometimes I eat them anyway. If.you.know.what.I.mean.

I realize this might fall into the category of too much information, but I'm sorry. I just ate some and they are kind of gross and I felt I needed to share.

Dish Therapy

I'm in a rut and I desperately need to pull myself out. I spend too much time at work and not enough time at home and the time I do spend at home feels very unproductive (and now that I mention it, the time at work also feels unproductive). It seems like I'm always just "calling it in." I feel run down and I don't have a lot of energy. I'm not exercising at all, have all but totally abandoned yoga, we've been eating out way too much and my sugar intake has spiked again. I feel like I spend every week just trying to get to the weekend and then every weekend trying to catch up to start another week (which I never do get caught up). For the most part, I stay on top of the laundry, no one can complain that they ever run out of underwear. I hired someone to clean the house about a year ago which was one of the best decisions I ever made, so the house stays pretty clean, but I still have to straighten. However, I never get to much else beyond the basics. Meaning, the drawers and closets never get cleaned out. So the house looks relatively tidy on the surface, but if you look in the closets, under the beds, etc., it is a cluttery mess. I know if I force myself to attend a couple yoga classes and watch what I eat for a couple days, that will help tremendously. I just need to find the will to do it.

But enough of my depressing doom and gloom. Let's talk about dishes.

Yes. Dishes.

I have spoken before of my love of bowls and platters and the like. The dishes I registered for when I got married were the exact same dishes I had in my condo when I was single, just in a different color. Fiestaware. From God. I went from cobalt blue and some sort of maroon (I can't remember the name now) to scarlet red. I love red, it is so bright and cheery and so versatile. There are a thousand different shades of red.

About a year ago, I decided we needed cereal bowls because the bowls that come in the 5 piece fiestaware setting are too shallow and we always spill milk from them. I wanted some nice deep bowls for cereal. So, one day, while fooling myself into thinking that I am frugal, I purchased some cheap red bowls from Kohl's for a couple bucks a piece. They were almost exactly the same color as my fiestaware so I told myself they would do. It turns out when chipped, these bowls are white underneath. A white chip really stands out on a bright red bowl. I don't know if the fiestaware is white underneath too because none of them have ever chipped. The kids are hard on my dishes and these cheap bowls are getting more and more chipped as the days go by.

A couple weekends ago I found myself back at Kohl's and what do you know, Fiestaware is on sale. 40% off Yes! Just the excuse I need to rid myself forever from my cheap chipped bowls. I loaded up the cart with 6 beautiful deep scarlet red 24oz Fiestawarebowls and I bought them.

And I started to think, of course this was after my credit card swiped through the machine. Why am I buying all red? Fiestaware comes in a rainbow of gorgeous and bright colors. Why just stick with scarlet red? So I left the bowls in my car and last weekend I went back to Kohl's and exchanged some of the red ones for other colors. Yellow, blue, teal and red. I have a rainbow in my kitchen and they make me feel happier every time I open my cupboard and see them in there.

Now I'm thinking how that yellow in a dinner plate would look like the sun just sitting there on my table........

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning

Okay, it isn't technically the "wee small hours", it is 10 am, but it's Saturday and it is wee small enough for me.

Dave is in the basement running on the treadmill, the kids are at their mom's house and I am sitting in the living room with my laptop and a cup of coffee and near total silence.

It is bliss.

I was supposed to be in NJ this weekend visiting my lifelong pal and soaking up some much needed baby love, but I'm trying not to think about that.

We did the Asian food last night and it was somewhat of a disappointment. I don't really have much to say about it except for one tiny tidbit. We both ordered soup. I ordered hot and sour and Dave ordered miso (sick, I hate miso). When the waitress came with our spring rolls she only brought my hot and sour and then bolted before we even had a chance to say anything. We got her attention a minute later and I said, "he ordered miso" and she looked at me for a second and then said, "Yeah, I know" and walked away again. It wasn't like a snotty "I know" it was bizarre. So she came back a couple minutes later with his miso. It was very twilight zone-y.

(Val, the pad thai was not as good as my West Bloomfield restaurant. I still need to get over there.)

So that was that.

I love the weekend.

The Block

Ugh, I am so boring lately. I have nothing interesting to say, but maybe if I post something it will break the block.

So I'm just checking in with a few random thoughts.

#1 Teenage boys are gross.

#2 Becca got sick, but I don't think it was the swine flu.

#3 What is this weather? What a crap fest.

#4 We are trying a new Asian restaurant. I hope it is good.

#5 I am so glad we got a dog. I love my dog.

#6 My dryer if finally fixed and I can catch up on the laundry.

#7 Becca is watching The Little Mermaid right now and I am remembering how much I love that movie.

#8 I actually cooked this week and it was bang up good. I adapted a Rachael Ray recipe for bolognese and everyone loved it. That made me feel good. I'm a domestic goddess. Sort of.

all the news that's fit to print

Today I did something I should have done last Friday and took the day off. It has been increasingly hard for me to get out of bed and make myself go through the morning ritual. I am becoming much too familiar with my snooze button than is appropriate and yesterday I some things slide that I really shouldn't. I could tell if I did not do this that I would be coming down with a terrible cold or flu very soon.

Usually, I try not to take days off when the kids have school because I still have to get up to prod them along, but today I did not care. I slept in until 7 which was good enough for me and I dozed off while watching Paula Deen so I missed her making chocolate bread pudding and woke up just in time to see her taking it out of the oven. Oh well, I don't usually make her recipes because she uses too much butter.

In other news, I am still not a fan of my job and now that the horrifying reality of what happened last week is starting to sink in and the shock is starting to wear off, I have realized that #1 I have gotten very little done in the last 6 days, and #2 WTF am I going to do without the people I had to let go? I have fielded several employee phone calls asking my why/how did I choose and various variations of that question. Everyone is worried about their own jobs and their workload, myself included.

I'm supposed to be going to visit Mandy (you have to call her Miranda) next weekend and in a cruel twist of fate flights to that side of the country have skyrocketed and now I don't know if I am going to be able to go. That makes me mad.

I am very unsure of my new boss. He does not work out of my office and is in fact 4 hours away. I can't get a read on him. I feel inadequate as the lone woman in a group of all men (I'm not kidding - I am the only woman) and on the other hand that makes me feel quite proud of myself. The youngest person on the team, the only woman, and with a liberal arts education and English/Writing in a group of engineers. What am I doing? I am a chameleon, that's what I am.

I have been watching Food Network a lot lately as it suddenly occurred to me that we have a DVR that is only ever used to record endless episodes of South Park and various History Channel specials. I am a food nerd and I love Iron Chef America. Since it is on at 10, I never watch it. So I've been recording it and watching it at my leisure. It makes me a little sad. I wanted to be chef. I wanted to go to culinary school and I think I would have made a fine chef and that quite possibly that may have been a profession I could get excited about. I'm not a big one for regrets, but this is a regret that frequently crosses my mind (more now than ever before). People say, "do it now" but I don't know if I would have the heart now. Perhaps I would. Who knows?

Last Week

Last week. Last week I had to tell three of my employees that they no longer have a job(one of whom has a pregnant wife at home). Last week I had to walk 3 people to the door with a box full of their belongings. Last week my boss lost his job.

I don't think I have to tell you that last week was total crap.

And I think if I continue to talk about any of this that you will never want to come back to my blog again.

So I am going to stop talking about this even though it has consumed me for the last 7 days.

Tomorrow I will try to share something better than this.