We all do it. The fad diets. The exercise for about a week. And we all have the best intentions of following through in the end. Yet...something always deters us. Whether it's a vacation or a weekend away or just not having the time allocated, living a healthier life isn't always easy.

In fact, I'm here to tell you that it's a lot of work. But I think it's beneficial in the end.

Starting last week, I began looking up healthier alternatives to some of my favorite meals. And in the process I stumbled across a few other recipes that caught my attention.

By far, the best has been the homemade peanut butter cups. Let me tell you...Cool Whip Free and peanut butter is a delicious combination. Top it off with a dollup of chocolate syrup and...heaven. And if anyone wants that recipe I'll be more than happy to share it. But it has 56 calories as opposed to the 230 in a regular Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. And ladystarblade, the peanut butter cup connoisseur, loved them.

Tonight's experiment was not as tasty. It was a pasta that included spinach, cheese and sausage, but we substituted the sausage for mushrooms. This left the spinach very overpowering. It was...meh. We added 3 tbsp of spaghetti sauce to each bowl to give it a bit of flavor and moisture. It probably would have been better with the sausage to counter-act the spinach. We learn. And that was thumbs down...but we ate it. It was...tolerable. But the recipe went into the garbage can never to be tried again.

But I expect that. We're at least trying new things.

In addition, ladystarblade and I have added an extra regiment of yoga to our daily routines. Once in the morning. And once at night. Two different instructors. Similar moves, but not done the same. And it's nice to add that to the evening walk.

Sure, it means we're down a bit of time...and we still have to practice our guitars...which burns calories as well. In fact, 15 minutes of sitting down and playing guitar burns 27 calories. Our 20 minutes of yoga burns between 46 - 130 calories depending on what we choose to do. And our evening walks, if done at a leisurely pace, burns about 54 calories in 20 minutes. If we walk faster, we burn off more calories.

We've started only getting one entree at restaurants...and splitting it. I never can finish mine and this prevents either of us from thinking that we have to finish it so it's not a waste of money. Found out on Friday...that one entree definitely fills us up when split between us. And it saves money when we go out.

We make better choices. We pay attention to calories, but we don't let it govern our choices. If I want a brownie...by god, I'm going to eat a brownie. I won't deny myself food...nor starve myself. I'm all about getting in shape, but I'm going to do it the healthy way. The right way.

And thankfully, I have a good workout partner in ladystarblade. We bitch and complain at times about the food and about the working out...but we do it. And we've definitely made some progress.

Last night was so wonderful. renquestor and only_playing came over for dinner. I love an evening with good friends, good food, good drinks, and good conversation. And this was a night that had all of those!

Being that I was dealing with the Migraine From Hell™ all day yesterday, it was very relaxing and a very good time.

It always is! :)

Just have to get through today...then it's the weekend!!!

So, tonight ladystarblade discovered something of great importance. Our local Kroger gets their fresh shipments in on Friday morning, so on Thursday, they discount everything before raising prices back up on Friday.

So, we went out to the store to make a few purchases. Our goal was to spend $20. We spent a bit more and ended up with quite a few good deals. The ONLY things we bought at full price were a package of flour tortillas and some chocolate chips (ladystarblade owes her bass instructor some!). Everything else was discounted. And we ended up buying four things of meat/chicken. We usually bypass this (not good!) because it's too expensive. I'm excited to incorporate meat back into the diet on a more regular basis.

What should have cost us $51.09 ran us $36.71. That means we saved $14.38 total. Yeah. That's awesome. That's for 23 items as well of substantial food. I'm quite pleased. WOOOT!!

Just two hours to go and my ass is heading here:



Cheeseburger.

Fries.

Alcohol.

It's going to be a good end to the week. Yes...yes it will.

I've blogged about this...sort of...before, but after today's trip to the grocery store, I felt the need to blog about it again.

FOOD PRICES!

WTF??!!

This is what ladystarblade and I bought this week during our grocery shopping:



24 pack of toilet paper
English muffins
Eazy Mac (4 pack)
Oyster crackers
Box of 100 calorie packs of Doritos
1 gallon water
1 gallon milk
Pack of AAA batteries
1 pack Ranch dressing
1 pack shredded cheddar cheese
1 pack shredded mozzarella cheeze
1 12 pack Diet Mt. Dew
Another item that we had to purchase...very necessary...is a gift...cannot say...

And this came to just about $45.00

You know...for $40.00, we used to be able to fill the cart. I mean, seriously fill the cart. And for $45, we are able to get 13 items. Does anyone else see something wrong with this?!

And this is the worst part...this is stuff that we needed for this week. We pretty much have what we can do for food this week in the cabinets and freezers. This was for lunches, snacks, and the usual items that we get every week. So...um...what the fuck gives?

I'm sorry, but this is beyond ridiculous. Granted, I told ladystarblade I might just cry again, I didn't. Because while the bills keep rolling in, and my bank account dwindles, the fact that we could buy so LITTLE food for what we'd normally spend and fill a cart pissed me off rather than upset me this time.

And this is at Wal-Mart!! God forbid if we had done our grocery shopping at Kroger! We'd have 6 items at most, I bet.

And why is it like this? Because as gas prices rise, so does everything else. Thank you inflation!! Thank you for making my paycheck so much harder to hold onto. I keep saying I need to save, I need to save. How the hell am I supposed to save when I can only get 13 items from Wal-Mart for grocery shopping?!

I just don't know how in the world the people in America are going to get through this recession. Because we have to go to work, and we have to go certain places...and we can't afford the gas, and we can't afford the items at places like grocery stores...so how are we going to climb out? Food prices rise as vegetable plants are wiped out by storms, heat, etc. Bread prices have skyrocketed because of the cost of wheat rising. Milk...Milk was $3.58/gal at Wal-Mart!!! That's almost double what we're used to spending on milk!

This is a time when companies aren't giving raises (they can't afford to), and paychecks are staying the same while the cost of living is rising. But the government insists that we're not in a recession...and we're not heading toward another depression.

I beg to differ.

*sigh*

And is there an end in sight for any of this? Nope. There isn't. And I doubt prices will drop anytime soon. Gas prices steadily climb each week. Everything else follows suit.

We've given up driving over to Louisville for things because we can't afford to use up the gas. Do you realize that Louisville is a simple drive over a bridge? Yet, we can't afford it.

And it sucks. And it won't get any better. So we have to learn how to deal with it...

Without putting ourselves into debt.

Wish us luck.

And then I can go. I can get outta here. I can go home. Change. And head out to eat with ladystarblade, congoddess, and her boyfriend before we head out to see Jeff Dunham!! So excited!! :)

Achmed the Dead Terrorist...YES!

Been looking forward to this for awhile. So...it will be a nice escape.

Well...I got signed up for ONE Summer I class. I want to take another, but can't attend the class. So, I e-mailed the professor and asked if an independent study was an option. We'll see what I get back.

I really, really didn't want to do summer classes, but I really, really want to get out of school by 2010. Seriously!

*sigh*

Going out to eat tonight. I can't wait because I've been craving Mexican food for weeks now! YUMMY!!

I wish it was time to go, because I hear it's beautiful out!

And I have to call my brother this week and get him to send me some money that he owes me. And has owed me now for YEARS!! So...it's time.

And I swiped this from ladystarblade:

I eat the feet...

Your Chocolate Easter Bunny Personality

You are logical, rational, and consistent. You take big decisions pretty seriously. You can be considered a bit aloof at times... But you're probably sitting back and analyzing things. Your emotions don't control you, and you are a very disciplined person. There's no way that you'd go out of control and eat too much chocolate!

Well, today at work was just...BLAH!!

But I went out to Red Lobster with ladystarblade and that was good. We then proceeded to go shopping. Got all our groceries taken care of and kept it under $50. WOOT!!

Came home and I had to call and leave a bitchy message for the office people. I swear to GOD...this office is the worst to deal with. I called this morning because ladystarblade is having toilet issues. So, I wanted to get it fixed. Did it get fixed over the course of the day? NOPE!!! Not at all.

Also, last night, some of the ceiling in the hallway fell down. Not kidding. It's a mess in the hall. And you know what? I reported that too. Was it taken care of? OF COURSE NOT!!

SO. MUCH. HATE.

Ugh! I probably shouldn't have been as sarcastic and bitchy in my message, but it took them over a week to fix the shelf that fell in my closet. It's beyond ridiculous!

Just sayin'.

It all started after work on Friday. After coming home for about an hour and a half, ladystarblade and I headed out to go see Phantom of the Opera. Beautiful musical. Well done. My only problem was that the guy playing the Phantom had a hell of a voice...but wasn't a very good actor. But, not half bad. :) This was my second time seeing this musical on the stage and the first time for ladystarblade. She enjoyed a lot of the special effects, and the opening scene with when the chandelier rises up over the audience.

On Saturday, we got up and headed out to the malls for a good portion of the day. We got there about the time they opened. Worked out well. And I ended up buying two shirts I didn't need to buy. But I did anyway...and then put them on and made ladystarblade take pictures so you can see them:

( Click to see these awesome shirts )

I ♥ them!

So...as I said, didn't really need to buy them, but I couldn't resist them either. And they were on sale. 2 for $15. And since I'm starting to think my dress isn't going to EVER be made by the person I paid to make it back in June...well...yeah. This is how I compensate. Although the medieval gown would be far prettier.

Anyway...picked up another few knick-knacks. Ate lunch at Cici's pizza. Then went grocery shopping and kicked butt at it. Kept it at $47.00 even. Yeah. Getting good at this.

Came home and that's when the whole computer fiasco started. I worked on my required reading for my quiz on Tuesday. I took notes so I wouldn't have to re-read the entire chapters before the quiz. I have the most important parts down on the notes...which means he won't ask anything on those and it will be the other stuff buried in the reading.

ladystarblade put together my new CD shelf and loaded up my CDs...in alphabetical order. Which...they were in anyway, but she did a great job getting them all in there and leaving room for me to add.

The computer fiasco went on. Gave up, went to bed.

Today...was a very good day.

Woke up at 7:00 a.m., very early for someone who went to bed after 2:00 a.m. But, I got the rest of my reading and note taking done. Had to...as I have plans tomorrow night, so couldn't do it then.

We got the computer back up and running. Took the garbage out. Put the old CD tower out by the dumpster (it was gone when we got back home later), put my new license plate on the car, went out to Half Price Books with a BUNCH of CDs and got $10 for them! YAY! Went to Cold Stone Creamery (YUMMY!) for some ice cream. Too rich for just me alone, so ladystarblade and I always split. We got cookie dough flavored ice cream with chocolate chips mixed in. SO FRICKIN GOOD! Sinfully delicious!

Came back home. Got some writing done. Made Hamburger Helper for dinner. Yummy. Began clearing files off of computer. Finished doing that. Showered. Wrote more. And then baked banana nut muffins. Yep...keeping myself busy!! And now...there is breakfast tomorrow. Brilliant.

Tonight!! WOOT!! I'm heading out to see Phantom of the Opera. It's a Christmas gift from ladystarblade because I had been wanting to see it and kept bringing it up. I'm very excited!

I saw it two years ago at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA. So this should be a blast. It will be fun seeing it again!

After that...off to Steak & Shake. Yum!

There was actual snow this morning when I woke up. Not a lot. And it had turned to rain by the time I left the apartment, but there was enough that the windows had to be cleared off on my car. I'm sure it will be gone by this afternoon, but it was nice to actually have it around for a moment. The roads and sidewalks were completely clear...just wet...so nothing to keep people in.

Dang it.

I could have used a day off from work...and school for that matter.

Semester just started and I'm already burned out on it.

In other news...

I discovered something last night. When a recepie for potatoes calls for mayonaise to be added to the cheese...don't do it. I hardly ate any of the potatoes because the mayonaise taste was too strong. Blah. It wasn't good at all. I think next time I'll make them the way I did last weekend instead. No mayonaise involved.

I've discovered that text books have taken over my life. Perhaps this is why I'm so burned out. And I HAVE TO choose a research paper topic this weekend so I can see about getting necessary materials and getting it written and DONE! 10 page paper with endnotes. I'm living a nightmare.

Just sayin'.

In light of the ever-rising price of sodas these days...I am going to give them up (as far as purchasing the big box of 12 cans at the store) and go back to drinking water instead. This isn't because I want to be healthier. It's so I save at least $6/week on the grocery bill. I've done this before and I know I can do it again. Not a new years resolution...just learning to be a bit more economical in the long run. WOOT!

Other than that, I've been rather busy today. Got up early this morning after a restless night. But I did have an odd dream:

( If you have seen 'I Am Legend' go ahead and click to hear about the dream )

Yeah...hard to explain. But I had a restless night as it was. Weird dream.

Aside from that...got the Christmas decorations down over at the house. Went to lunch at IHOP. Cleaned the apartment in the rooms that seriously needed it. And have been doing a few things on and off since then, including cooking supper.

Tomorrow...it's back to work. Tuesday...back to class. Ugh.

Okay...so in an attempt to save some money, an honest attempt to eat out less is being made. So, I started going through the cookbooks that I've received over the years from friends, family, co-workers, bosses...all who know I'm a horrible cook...and gave a serious look at them.

When I lived in Alabama, I worked for a "good ole boy" at the real estate title company who took great pleasure in calling me "The Yankee" as I moved to Alabama from New York. Anyway, one year, as a birthday present, he gave me "The Civil Wah Cookbook." I kid you not.

Well, I opened it up today and found a recipe that starts with this:

Miss Sally's Chicken Wiggle

Miss Sally could make an ole hen taste just like peacock...and, durin' the war, this was sumpn!

Catch a 5 lb hen...ring it's neck and undress it and stick it in a pot. Throw in a couple of stalks of celery (chopped) and 2-3 pods of garlic (sticka toothpick in em so's yawl can find the onry little things to take out!). Scatter enough salt and red pepper to make it taste rite...splash in enough branch wattah to cover the ole sister and cook til the meat is 'bout to fall off'n the bones. Take her off and get the skin & bones off. Now break up about 1/2 of a small box of spaghetti in the stock and cook til almost tender...dump in the cut up ole hen, a can of tiny green peas and a small can of pimento. Let it heat and then add about 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce.

Serve this with a salad and home-made bread...and stand back!

HAHAHAHAHA!! And in the middle of the book...The Confederate Master Plan to rise again against the North. Oh...I miss my boss.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It was quite a busy day at the house today. It consisted of me waking up way earlier than I would have liked. Meh. I lounged in bed...then got up and showered. Dressed in my Naughty Santa Hat and my t-shirt that says, "It's Not Easy being Naughty"...and had breakfast.

While eating, we (being my mom, dad, my kitty, and myself) all opened presents and emptied stockings. This year I received:

From k4me2, bro-in-law, and nephew: 2 shirts and a hair straightener

From my bro, sis-in-law, nephew, and neice: calendar of baby pictures

From the parental units: a sweater w/ lace camisole, Snowbaby, calendar of Medieval artwork, and a portable DVD player w/ travel case.

My brother and his family came over for a few hours and in time for dinner. The kids kept me quite busy and I even helped my nephew build his train set. And by that, I mean I put the entire thing together and did my best to keep him from destroying it as I worked on it.

Ate dinner. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, and dessert. I opted for the peanut butter haystacks I helped make on Christmas eve because...I'm addicted to them!! :)

Then it was off to a movie. We saw National Treasure. SO good.

Came home. Re-packed the suitcase. Hopefully it closes tomorrow. And now I'm vegging. My flight out is tomorrow evening. And then it's like Christmas all over again with ladystarblade and congoddess.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...

Well, today was the big day of the office holiday party. And it was insane. We ate. We all pitched in by bringing something. That was actually good. We had a lot of variety. But then it was time for the wild gift exchange. I drew a #5, so I fell in the middle of the gift selection. When I went to pick my gift, as there wasn't one I wanted to trade out with, I grabbed a bag, opened it, and there was a pink cardigan sweater that we had in the back room forever there. I busted out laughing. But it was just a ruse. I was handed a real gift and it turned out to be a martini set. WOOT!!

Then, my boss was after me and she took it away from me. Dang it.

So, I had to go pick again. So, I went over to the gifts and selected another bag. Inside that one was a very familiar box. I didn't even have to open it to know what it was. An IU Southeast letter opener. Yeah. I got one of those about two weeks ago at the Donor Dinner. I was like..."No...I already have one of these! I don't need two." So, there was much joking about me getting six of them and making them into a set of knives. Ugh. But, the Vice Chancellor took it from me, and I stole the martini set back.

So, in the end I got the martini set. WOOOOOOT!!!!

And, on top of all that excitement...I printed, stuffed and sealed the letters and envelopes for thank yous for the Medallion Dinner back in November. That is how much I rock!

Getting out of work early tomorrow. YAY!

Well, yesterday was a rather good day. I spent it with my family: Mom, Dad, Brother, Sis-in-Law, Sister, Brother-in-Law, 2 nephews and my neice. Full house! But it was a lot of fun. We ate our traditional shrimp creole, with red lobster biscuits, vegetables, and a choice of either key lime pie or brownies at the end. No pumpkin pie as most of my family doesn't like it. Hehehe.

Anyway, today will be sort of a quiet day. I have my sister coming over in awhile and then we'll head out to see her husband and 2 of his co-workers for lunch.

So, it was a good holiday. :)

And the reason is that...

1.) I'm tired.

2.) I thought I was actually getting ahead on school work, but my assignmnet due on MONDAY is in my school e-mail and as of last night, I haven't been able to access it from my laptop. This IS A PROBLEM!!! I can't do my assignment, which I think is a website, but I'm not sure, until I have access to my e-mail. And it's pissing me off.

3.) I have a huge project due in a week I haven't even started.

4.) Bills are piling up. Money an issue.

5.) The holidays. Affording the holidays. Affording the holidays and the bills that are piling up.

6.) Not knowing what to get ANYONE for the holidays as far as gifts.

7.) I'm hungry. And I'm still tired.

*sigh*

I'll go whine somewhere else now.

Well...I got food. And it made me so very happy.

And then I went on the search for Bo Bice's new album. And it took three stops and cost plenty of lives. Okay, maybe not the second part of that, but it really did take three stops. For once, Wal-Mart won out because they were the only people carrying it. WTF??

And it is SO GOOD!!

Only have listened to 4 songs so far, but have liked those. This is more of the Bo Bice that I know...that I love.

*sigh*

Happiness.

Oh...and bought Skittles tonight. I felt the need to taste the rainbow ;) And this is where ladystarblade enters a joke about Freddie Mercury. ;)

Seriously!! I'm starving. I'm ready to go to Logan's for dinner. I already know what I want. Food.

In other news...

I HELD A COLTS SUPER BOWL RING TODAY!!!! And let me tell you...that sucker is HEAVY!!

Okay, so I spent a majority of yesterday keeping myself busy. Time flew!

Work went by fast. I was doing writing, and getting my stuff done. The offices are quiet because most of the marketing team is on a retreat. They'll be back on Monday.

But, I left work at 3:45 p.m. to go to the BMV. Got there. And was out of there in no time. I thought that would take longer. But Steve (my car, for those of you who haven't been following along) is now properly licensed. Sort of. It's actually in my back seat. I'll put it on the car this weekend. But, woohoo! And only ran me $72.00. Not bad. But I'll get hit with the big bill this February.

Then went home and put in a call for maintainance to fix the lock on the door...again. They did. WOOHOO. Made spaghetti for supper. SO good. Had been craving pasta like there was no tomorrow. I ate it all too, which is a rare thing for me because I always put way too much on my plate. And I ate my breadsticks too...which never happens. With all the snacking I did during the day, I'm surprised. LOL!! But it was SO good.

Then the multitasking fun came in. I was busy working on study cards for the upcoming Political Science test. And I was writing at the same time. And doing a damn good job of keeping up. My fingers started to hurt from all the writing I was doing. I mean, honestly, I understand that there were a lot of landmark Supreme Court cases...but choose a few and test us on those. I don't know how I'll ever keep them straight. But, I got it all done by about 11:00 p.m. last night. Very proud of myself. And also started in on reading the required Barak Obama book "Dreams from My Father" for my Political Science class too. Great book. Easy read. I'm already over 100 pages in.

Now, I'm sitting in the office waiting on my boss to arrive. We have to get to work on the alumni magazine. It was supposed to be done a month ago, but things got crazy. And from the sounds of it, and what we discussed at the staff meeting on Wednesday...it's only going to get crazier.

Welcome to my life...