I'm complaining..

This has been the week from hell. The full time job has run me into the ground, which wouldn't be so bad except that right after I'm done with the job that takes all my mental strength, I then have needed to turn around and go to Target. On the nights that I didn't work at Target, I stayed late at the full time job. And even though I am sensing relief because its Friday, you all know I don't get to fully enjoy the weekend. And its supposed to be 75 degrees both days. I am seriously considering giving someone my Sunday shift because honestly, I need a day. I had 2 nights in a row where I got 4 hours of sleep, which means no, I did NOT make it to the gym this week. I was going to go last night but instead I passed out cold as soon as I got home and slept for 3 hours. When I woke up, I made dinner and spent the rest of the night in bed watching TV before I went to sleep. I usually feel guilty about being so lazy, but last night I was 100% ok with it. You know those days at work where you come home and you cannot even form a rational sentence? Yep. That's been me, all week. Right now its probably 75 degrees out, and the sky is blue, and it smells like flowers. And all I want to do is go home and mix a drink and unwind. But I will have just enough time to throw on my red shirt and khaki's and rush off in Friday traffic to Target, where I will stay till 10:00. By then I will be too tired for the drink. If I actually get undressed for bed tonight, I will call it a success.

If you are still reading this bitchfest and haven't yet clicked off to read a better post, there were some good points to this week. I finally got my sub today, and it was fabulous. I bought a red teakettle to match my red decor in the kitchen, and I love it. Yes, I could absolutely heat water for my tea in a pot or in the microwave, but I think the red kettle is more fun :) I got a new pair of shoes, because I needed silver ones for a wedding in April, and I made sure to get ones I can wear anytime. Today was their debut, and they were a hit. I also got a new purse. It's bright white, from Guess, my little present to myself with my bonus I received last week and its FABULOUS. I have been wanting a white purse and I am IN LOVE. What else... what else... I am sad to say this is all the good that has happened. Not a good week. I very much hope next week is better...

Have a great weekend!!

The Day That Joe Biden Makes It Personal

Today was going to be a great day. Today Jimmy Johns was having dollar subs. (For those of you who do not have a Jimmy Johns, I'm sorry. They are fantastic. And no, your sub place is not better. Accept it.) Anyway, Jimmy Johns is busy on a normal day, so in order to not be in line for 2 hours to get the sub, I would need to leave work 15 minutes before they opened and try to be semi close to the front of the line. Yes, its kind of like getting concert tickets. People camp out overnight for this. (I don't know if this is true, but I like to think it is.)

Anyhow, my friend DJ and I had the plan all set to go. He was driving, we were leaving at 10:45, getting there at 10:55, and they open at 11. Simple. So we leave. The exit to the highway is right next to work, and as we get on we see two marked police cars, one unmarked, and a truck with one of those "Stop Traffic" blinking lights on it, all lights on all cars flashing, flying onto the highway. So we are all like,"Man, I bet there is an accident, I hope it doesn't make us late for Jimmy Johns, which sub are you getting..." and so on. We are driving along, and suddenly all the cop cars make a full speed, death-provoking choreographed spin-out and stop sideways, blocking traffic and testing the brakes of all the people right behind them. Lucky for them it appears everyone was up to date on inspection because I could totally see how that little trick could have ended in disaster, but anyway... we stopped. And waited. And waited. Did I mention that they pulled this stunt RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE EXIT? Like, I could have easily walked to Jimmy Johns. DJ was getting all mad and jonesing for the sub, and was saying things like, "Do you think they would be mad if I eased by and got on the exit? Do you think if I got out to ask what was going on, they would draw their guns? What is going on?" (I know you are wondering whether or not a Jimmy Johns sub is worth a standoff with a police officer. I'm not saying that it is, but I'm not saying that it isn't either..) We called a friend back at work to ask her to check the news, was there a chase happening, what was going on, and how long can we expect it to last? She didn't know. So we sat. And sat. Until she called back and whispered, "I found out what's going on. Joe Biden is in town, and they are blocking the highway for him." Well, damn.

When the cops finally let us go, we drove the 17 feet to the exit and arrive at Jimmy Johns. We get out and walk around to the door, only to see the line was wrapped completely around the building. I may or may not have seen a tent from the previous night, just sayin.. and since we are supposed to have a half hour lunch and we had already been gone for a half hour, we admitted defeat and drove away, cursing Joe Biden the entire time. And since I knew it was dollar JJ's day, I didn't bring a lunch. So we settled for Quiznos. And y'all know I love Quiznos, but when I was looking forward to a JJ's sub, a Quiznos salad doesn't really cut it.

To sum up, Joe really put a dent in my mood today. If not for him, we would have made at least the MIDDLE of the line. If not for him, I would have spent $1.00 on lunch instead of $7.92. So Joe, if you are reading this, I am very disappointed. You owe me $6.92, and yes, I will take a personal check. And I hope you let Barack know that this little stunt you pulled today will be taken into consideration during the next election. Remember that.

New Blogger, Show Some Love!

Sorry that I have been MIA the past few days, work has been insane this week. But I wanted to give a quick shout-out to my friend Amanda, who started a blog this week about her family and raising her son Nolan. Her son is super cute, and she always has some good stories to tell! Her and her husband have been together since 8th grade and still going strong. So pop over and check her out!

http://filiatraultchronicles.blogspot.com/

I hope to be back tomorrow... fingers crossed...

Fun Facts

Its Monday and I feel like crap because I had macaroni and cheese last night for dinner. I KNOW. I don't know what I was thinking. But its all good, I'm not going to let a small setback ruin my mood, which is decent for a Monday. I have a couple little tidbits to share that I learned this weekend, so enjoy :)

Did you know that eating one pound of meat is equivalent to driving 40 miles in an SUV? This means that it took THAT MUCH energy to produce one pound. Times that by all the thousand pound cows, plus pigs, chickens, and whatever else, times 9 billion animals per YEAR that it takes to feed America, and yeah. That's mind blowing. If people could make at least one day a week in their household meat free, think of the impact that could have.

A disturbing fact that I learned from this month's Women's Health magazine.. if not for government subsidies, conventionally grown produce would cost astronomically MORE than organic, due to the costs of chemicals and pesticides. I'm really happy to see that our government will happily offer millions to farmers in order to get them to spray their soil and crops with poison instead of giving the population affordable organic, chemical-free food. I am not really a conspiracy theorist when it comes to a lot of things, but I am getting more and more skeptical of the way our food is being regulated. Also mind blowing, in my opinion.

Speaking of organic, I love shopping at Whole Foods. When I tell people this, they like to counter with, "But WF is SOOOO expensive." Well, since Target actually carries a bunch of organic produce and also the soup I like, I started buying it there. Until I realized that the soup was over a dollar more at Target, and the spinach that I buy a ton of every week was also $.50 more. So I don't really get the argument that its so expensive. Organic is going to be expensive no matter where you buy it, thanks to the government apparently.

While at WF, I asked a worker about vitamins. (One of the main things I love about this store is that the people who work there actually know what they are talking about. Any other grocery store would be all like, "I don't know.." while giving a blank stare.) Anyway, I was curious about D and B12. I take a supplement for B12 anyway because I don't think I get enough with my diet, but I wanted to know more and if there was a better one since mine is a pretty generic brand. He pointed me the way of liquid B12. I took it yesterday before work and I would swear it gave me more energy. I wasn't even looking for it to do that, and of course I forgot to take it this morning, but I am definitely liking it. And J is starting to take the D vitamin, even though he sighs heavily when I hand it to him. Another tidbit about J... he is black, and he will swear that black people don't like the sun. He is literally almost never in the sun for any length of time. So I told him he needs to take the supplement with me, because even though I am in the sun in the summer, I'm sure I don't get enough year-round.

I got a delicious mixed-berry cup while I was there. It had strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries in it. And I also enjoyed the warning: "May Contain Strawberries." I understand people have allergies, but what dumbass needs the warning when the cup is clear, and you can SEE them? If you were allergic to strawberries, you wouldn't buy it. (I hope.) But I'm sure that at one point, someone was stupid enough to do it anyway, thus the warning.

Oh You Thought I Might Relax Tonight? You're Cute :)

Its Thursday, and I realized that I haven't written anything in a couple of days. Its been a little crazy at work, and therefore they are expecting me to work ALL DAY instead of posting on blogger. I know, I work for slavedrivers. I will also probably be here late today but that's ok because I gave away my shift at Target. I know you are thinking I will be doing something fabulous on my night off.... perhaps you think I will be taking in some after work drinks, or going to the gym, or even maybe going on a little date with J. Well, you would be wrong. Mama needs to clean the apartment. No, seriously. It is OUT OF CONTROL. I got home last night and looked around like I was seeing it for the first time and thought, do I really live here?? Not good folks. Not good at all. There are piles of clothes in the bathroom, bedroom, closet, and in front of the washer. The kitchen contains zero clean dishes, and the sink is broken and apparently overflowed last night when J tried to clean up, so there is nasty water residue on the floor. (He attempted to clean it up... with an old shirt... and didn't nearly get all of it. I guess he thought it would evaporate since I stepped in a puddle when I got home, but to be fair to him I also left it there. What?? I was tired!) The living room is a cloud of pet fur, and the bedroom floor is covered in feathers from my feather bed that has a hole in it. Needle and thread? I don't understand..

The last time the apartment had a good cleaning was, um, before Christmas. It was my New Years resolution to be better at cleaning. Needless to say, that resolution and I parted ways at the speed of sound. Every time I do a really thorough cleaning, I promise myself to never let it get like that again. I say that I will do a small cleaning every day or every other day so that it always looks good. It's yet to happen that I keep this up more than a week or so. I live in a really nice apartment, one that I fought over with J because even though its expensive, its worth it. It has black appliances and countertops, brushed nickle fixtures, big bedrooms, and lots of windows. I'm not treating it right. So tonight when I get home, there will be no drinks or date or even the gym. I will scrub, vaccum, wash the floors/sinks/tub, dust, and, ahem, take down the Christmas tree. I heard a nasty rumor that some people actually took theirs down in January. I choose not to believe this nonsense.

The Full Post

I already told you the highlight of my weekend, but there were other good things I wanted to share as well. First of all, I went to the GYM!! For the first time since August! I woke up early on Saturday and went to spin class before Target. Then yesterday I went and did the stair-stepper for about a half hour. Before I stopped going, the stair-stepper was my new challenge. I have long ago mastered the elliptical and while I think its a great workout, I don't find it totally challenging. I need to do it for at least an hour to really feel anything. Even though the machine tells me I burn more calories with the elliptical, I am definitely more worn out after the stair-stepper. (And spin... the class can be absolutely brutal but I love it.) Saturday I ate really well, but yesterday I went out for Thai and felt like total crap afterwards. Not like food-poisoning crap or anything, but more like the way I usually feel made even worse because now I know I can feel so much better. Does that make sense? Anyway, I have leftovers in my fridge and I don't even know if I will eat them because that's how different the feeling was. I was tired, and dragging, and uncomfortably full. We went to the mall after and I felt sluggish and gross. NOT how you want to feel while trying on jeans. (Even though they were WAY out of my price range and I wasn't planning to buy any, but I would still like to feel hot and pretend like I can afford $160 jeans, thankyou.) Anyway, other than that it was a fantastic day off, and I so wish I could have a full day off more than once every couple of months. I am so jealous of people who get weekends. I haven't had weekends in a LONG TIME. Hopefully this summer.. everyone cross your fingers for me :) And I also had a margarita yesterday, which cannot be understated. It was heaven in a fancy glass.

I'm about to leave work, late due to a late meeting, but whatever. They are paying me more so I guess I need to stay when asked. I hope I make it to the gym because I am dragging again, but maybe its what I need.

Weekend Tidbit

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, because I definitely did. I will write more about it later, but the one thing that stood out for me happened at Target. (I can hear you all sighing, thinking "JEEZZZ she talks about Target wayy too much.." but this is a good one, I promise!!) A man and his two daughters came up to my register and one little girl handed me a bag of carrots and told me they were hers. I said, "Oh really, you like carrots?" She smiled a huge smile and said, "Yes!! We dip them in hummus, its my favorite snack!" I could have hugged her father right then and there. It was really nice to hear this after seeing one too many meltdowns over soda and candy bars. And not one thing in their cart was unhealthy. And the kids were smiling, and fighting over who got to hold the carrots. So for the people who say kids won't eat healthy, it CAN'T be done, well.... I bring you the adorable blond girls, both under the age of five, who were at check lane 26 this past Saturday.