Productive Day

I think I can actually say today is the definition of a productive day. Sort of a good way to start off the year! :)

In chronological order:

1. replaced crushed hub cap with my spare
2. removed expired permits from car
3. lay down salt on the sidewalks
4. exercised on the mat (push-ups 12, 10, 8! crunches, planks and lunges)
5. performed surgery on shredder
6. took out recycling including shredder bag
7. swiffered
8. scrubbed down kitchen island and counters 
9. found a place to hang my puzzle 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch
10. adjusted budget
11. uploaded reimbursement receipt
12. watered the plants
13. cooked wontons and miso soup for late lunch
14. created Target shopping list for household supplies
15. created grocery list for Shaws
16. filed week's worth of snail mail
17. replaced brita filter
18. caught up with my old roommate
19. changed out one of my picture frames
20. hung up souvenir wall things from Italy (trip back in '98)
21. hung up my diploma
22. scrubbed kitchen floor
23. used Sear's text chat support to schedule a repair service for washer door (roommate broke handle)
24. wrote this blog post!

The only thing I had intended to do that I still haven't done is patch a tear in my PJ pants (casualty from when I was disassembling the dryer), but there's still a few hours left in the day so I might still be able to get that done. I'll resolve to get that done and then can call it a day! :) 

And It's a New Year!

As with many, I made a mental list of things I want to do in the new year. Not actually writing them down means no one can hold me to them, cause we all know how much we keep to our new year resolutions.

Honestly I never really made new year's resolutions in the past. They didn't work very well so I don't bother setting myself up for that fall.

But I will reach for low hanging fruit and tick off things I know is within reach (and some already accomplished). So, ok fine, I'm making a resolution list and writing it down. Let's see how well this works.

1. Cook with my slow cooker (check!)
   Made a beef stew with carrots, string beans, bell peppers and mushrooms. I think the key was NOT to be home when you cook it because I was hungry from the smell of the food 3 hours into the 8 hour cooking time. So far a success, will definitely do again.
2. Exercise more
   Ok, this is probably on everyone's list. I'm back in volleyball so that will help, but I think I need to do more than that to undo the damage of the last 6 months. Goal is to be beach ready by March.
3. Take a beach vacation
   As alluded to in the previous item, I want to take a beach vaca in March. A good break from the winter cold and the gray snowy skies. Currently thinking Puerto Rico. We'll see if that pans out.
4. Watch less TV
   and play more piano, computer games, DS games, puzzles, board games, and just about anything else that's not so passive. It's not that I watch a lot of TV. I'm just noticing that I don't diversify in my downtime. TV is so passive and it makes me feel more tired. At least with computer games I'm thinking and moving my fingers.
5. Keep plants alive / grow new plants
   My basil from last summer became a squirrel's bedding. This summer I hope to have a whole lot more than just one basil plant and wish to keep it alive so I can make lots of food with basil in it. meanwhile I need to keep the spider plants in the house alive. The Turkey Mum has finally passed on after a month, but that's probably actually pretty long for an indoor mum. 
6. Eat less acidic foods
   Ok now that's a hard one. I've been putting down relatively simple things to achieve on this list so far. But this one is hard. I love my red sauce, chili's, salsas, and the like. But I have to acknowledge the volume and quantity I take in is probably not good in the long run. So I need to set some kind of limit. For now I'll put the limit at 1 of everything per month. No more than 1 trip to Jose's, 1 jar of salsa, 1 jar of red sauce, 1 home made mexican dinner, and 1 pot of chili per month. Vacations are exceptions.
7. Eat less carbs
   Another hard one, but I think it's a good idea in general. I love my breads, pastas, rice, and potatoes. but I need to reduce the overall intake. And stop eating late at night. 

In reality, 2, 6, and 7 are all supporting 3, so we're really talking about 4 goals here. Given #1 is already done we're really talking about 3. Should be manageable. We'll see.

Happy New Year!

Turkey Mum

Sometimes you'd be surprised at what you can find in the local grocery store. I was out running errands the weekend before Turkey Day and had some time to kill before my evening plans, and decided the best use of that time was to go to the grocery store. There wasn't anything on my shopping list, cause I had just gone the day before to Trader Joe's. So I already knew I would be overspending cause I was "looking" for groceries to buy.

I got some hummus, taco seasoning mix, sponges, etc. Nothing all that exciting. But walking past the floral section I noticed some really cute flower arrangements. I thought about buying some for the big Turkey Day dinner, but thought bringing pie is probably more than enough. So I kept walking.

Then I saw the most creative thing - a mum, dolled up to look like a turkey with pipe cleaners. I couldn't resist and sifted through to find the most "turkey looking" one and brought it home.

They did a pretty good job. The picture doesn't show it well enough, but there are gold sparkles on the mum itself. The eyes are just lop-sided enough to make the turkey look dopey, especially when it leans the same direction as the thing that hangs from its neck (which I just learned is called a wattle). It fits the color scheme of my kitchen so there it sat to accompany us at dinner and any other time we're at the table (which is almost all the time).

It's totally an impulse buy and way overpriced for a single mum. But the entertainment value is well worth it, cause it's still going strong.

I Caught a Gigantic Cold!

Well no, not really. I didn't actually catch a cold, but the GIGANTICmicrobes are just that much more fun and more cute than the GIANTmicrobes. Come on.. admit it! It's adorable! and it's blue! and if you know me you'd know that my favorite color in a stuffed animal is just irresistible. Alas I did resist taking this cold home from the Museum of Science store and brought home a reusable plastic cup+straw instead. Better for the planet that way (and less than half the price!). I won't stop gawking at it though. It's enormous! I love it! =)

Washer Agitator Filter Took Flight

Today was laundry day, and I did 3 loads because I put off one load from the last laundry day, and a bunch of towels needed to be done as well.

Apparently this was too many loads for the poor washer to take. The first load went ok. The second load was sounding kind of odd, where during the spin cycle it was shaking a whole lot (for a load that's not as heavy as the first). I stopped it to check that it wasn't off balance, and everything looked good.

When the third load started it seemed fine, but I had gone down to the basement when the spin cycle was going and didn't hear the really awful clanging until I came back upstairs. It stopped shortly when the cycle ended and when I opened the lid, I found the agitator filter had detached and scrapped along the edge so much it left plastic pieces all along the well opening.

I took the part to Sears and asked how much it would cost to replace it. The part itself isn't too bad, but not knowing whether the original clanging was indicative of a larger problem, and why there's this oily residue all over the place, tells me I might need a technician to come out and make sure there's nothing else wrong. Given that will cost a pretty penny, after the part is added, it's already half the cost of a new front load washer.

The unfortunate thing is, I currently have a connected stacked washer/dryer, so I can't replace the washer without replacing the dryer. Sigh.... I guess it's time to buy a new set of washer and dryer. This time, I'm going for separate washer and dryer so they can be independently serviced and replaced.

The Minion Family

So I went back and created a whole family of Despicable Me Minions. Every single one of them has a different combination of hair, eyes, mouth, clothing, and arm positions. I don't believe I repeated any. Here they are in alphabetical order.

Baby Eye

Bewildered Eye

Dancer

Dopey

Inspector Eye

Miss L-eye-lac

Mr. Boss

Newton

Sleepy Eye

Tool

Despicable Me Minions

A whole bunch of us went to see Despicable Me at the school movie showing last night, since we all managed to miss it when it came out in the theaters. The most fun were the minions!

So I went searching for fun minion artifacts and found a Minion Maker, where you can make your own minion! Here's a bewildered one I just made. Sort of representative of my psychological state at work at the moment. =P

I'm sure I'll be going back and making some more funky and fun ones if I get time to play around with it more.