Down the Rabbit Hole with the Semi-Evil Squirrel

i just keep losing my beat*

1823 hrs - ETA: This is my 500th blog post. Considering I've had this blog since 2003, that's maybe not all that impressive. But still - cheers!

0947 hrs:
Sometimes it seems that the only reason I get up in the morning is because the coffee is already brewing. This morning it was particularly difficult to convince myself to get out of bed. I hit snooze until I absolutely couldn't any more. We are supposed to get freezing rain today and my sleepy brain was making up a really great excuse (that since the ABS and traction control of my car are not working, best not drive today) to call into work with. Two things saved me from taking a vacation/sick day: 1) Murphy was meowing outside of my bedroom door to be let in and 2) I heard the coffee maker brewing. The cat meowing at the door I could have dealt with and gone back to sleep, but the coffee must NOT be wasted. It's a good thing I have it programmed to start before my alarm goes off, otherwise, the lazies might get me more often than not.

This weekend was ok. I updated the blog on Saturday, so no need to review that day. Yesterday (Sunday), I went to drill and it was surprisingly not a waste of time. On the way home, I called and talked with Mom a bit. We ended up talking for over an hour about all sorts of things and then I took a nap before beginning the usual weekend cleaning. I did a couple loads of laundry, did dishes, cleaned the kitchen counters and stove, vacuumed, picked up my room, etc. All of that is usually spread throughout Sunday, but since I didn't start on it until almost 7pm, it was a late night. It probably didn't help that Nailz and I got a bit absorbed by the Victoria's Secret clearance website and were shopping. All-in-all, by the time I was done showering, writing a weekly letter and writing in my journal, it was almost 1am. *le sigh* It was a good weekend though, and I'm not at all disappointed with it - plus I have an awesome sweater jacket from VS to look forward to this week or next.

1055 hrs:
As is our custom, Nailz and I went to the grocery store this weekend. I went with a list that had 2 items on it. I ended up buying a strange assortment of items that I am now wondering what to do with, but will find something (I hope)...Of course, it is also the custom to stir (and in today's case, brighten) up Monday with the announcement of the Grocery Titan, Grocery Saver and (where applicable) the Target Titan. This week we have all three categories to announce, plus a special guest! Without further ado...

This week's Grocery Titan goes to an unusual item: the sushinori (seaweed wrap) from the Asian foods aisle, coming in at (imagine my best Bob Barker impression) ... $3.09.

The Grocery Saver would have to go to the frozen Cub Foods Green Beans that were on sale for 10/$10.00. I scored one bag of frozen beans for $1 - How awesome is that?

Target turned out to be an expensive shopping trip (as per usual). I only got 7 items, yet managed to spend almost $50! *shock-u* The Target Titan for this week goes (completely unchallenged) to the 7th Generation laundry detergent at a hefty $14.99. Luckily, I only buy laundry detergent about 2 or 3 times a year. *wipes brow*

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. This week, we have a special guest Titan. Taking the advice of the nutritionist who was the instructor at the nutrition class I took a couple of weeks ago, I've decided to try a health shake for breakfast this week (if I remember, I will post the recipe tomorrow). One of the ingredients is a tablespoon of pure whey protein. She recommended that it be pure whey - as in no sugar or anything added. Though I searched the aisles of Target and Cub Foods, I eventually gave in to the idea that I would have to go to GNC in the maul to find what I was seeking.

A small jar (which in actuality is huge, but not as HUGE as the barrels) of pure whey protein with no additives or flavoring from GNC came to a staggering $32.01!! I dub this purchase the Health Food Titan (possibly of all time).

Rather than suck my thumb for comfort (heh), I convinced myself that this one container of protein would last me forever because it is only a tablespoon a day. We'll see if this purchase was worth it....stay tuned!

1519 hrs:
It's the afternoon slowdown. Time is always unpredictable after 3pm for me. Lately, I've had so much to do that I work right up until 4 and then realize that I haven't concluded and posted the daily post. Not so today. Today, I have actually looked for work. It is a very strange thing indeed after last week.

I have the distinct feeling that my posts have become rather boring. Perhaps it is because I am writing them from work where my brain shuts down all creative functions. Or it might be because there are a lot of background processes running all the time. Two of the main background processes revolve around photography-related stuff and the impending JET interview. I am trying to take a break from the photography stuff for a little bit. I've become a bit too focused on it and it has started to consume my thoughts and my income. XD

Well, best post this. It is getting long and I should find something to do for the last half hour...

*Queen - Somebody to Love

Labels: grocery savers, grocery titans, guest titans, target titans, weekend sum up, work

it goes on*

0942 hrs:
So it is finally Monday, eh? I never thought I would be so relieved to be at work on a Monday morning. This weekend felt like it lasted forever and I feel more tired now than going into it. Nailz kept apologizing for the trouble (the car issue was the one flogging us), but none of it was within her control - so she really is blameless. Sometimes life just beats you up like that. To be dramatic: this weekend was like some sort of sick, sadistic monster that sucked us both in and we were lucky to escape into Monday with life and limb. I can't remember ever being through such a vicious weekend. I am positive Nailz feels glad to have it over as well.

Tomorrow, I have the day off of work to watch the Inauguration and go out to take some winter photos. I am pretty excited for the day off and for the events of the day. It will be nice to sit and do only what I want to for a day. I don't even have chores to do (well, except for laundry) as I did manage to do most of them Sunday evening. I have a few things that I'll be imbibing during the Inauguration, so that will be nice too. I'm planning on getting up around 6:30am to go out and get pictures of the sunrise. Winter sunrises are AMAZING, so I'm hoping tomorrow morning doesn't disappoint. Much coffee will be made and consumed tomorrow. Maybe a nap after the Inauguration will be in order since I haven't napped in the afternoon for a few weeks.

Well, best get to the Grocery and Target Titan awards. I didn't do much shopping this weekend and my lists were very limited, but here goes anyway:

This weekend's Target Titan title goes to....*drum roll*...the leather and wool gloves that were on clearance for $8.98!

Let's give them a hand! *laughs at own bad pun*

I put those in the pockets of my fancy goat coat *laughs at typo too* to wear this coming weekend to the theater. Yay!

Ahem....Now on to the Grocery Titan for this weekend. The title goes to the 3 lbs of lean ground beef weighing in at $10.79.

Isn't it amazing how much meat costs? Dang! Well, I'm trying to cut down on how much meat I consume (since I seem to consume quite a bit), so hopefully that will last me a month or so. :D

The title really could've gone to the 1 pound of mixed, raw nuts that I bought. The total for a smidgen over a pound was over $8! That sure beats the $3.60/lb that the meat cost.

1124 hrs:
I might leave after lunch today. I'm not sure I can make it through the rest of the day with these people. Normally, it is like water off of duck's back when my cow-orkers criticize my work, but after this weekend, I'm just not sure I can take it. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can't, because as I write this, tears are welling up in my eyes. I feel like just giving up and leaving and it's over something completely stupid - which makes me even more likely to bust out crying. (It's always the stupid things, ne?)

I'll tell you what made it come on:
Today, we are having a potluck. Even though the rest of the corporate world has today off, our managers decided to schedule mandatory training today and then on top of that, do a potluck. SO - I signed up to bring mashed potatoes. Well, that is quite hard to make in advance and keep warm and even so, I don't have a crock pot big enough for as many potatoes as I would need to bring. SO - I looked up a crock pot recipe and one of my cow-orkers said she would bring in her big crock pot. Long story short: I added too much water and when I asked another cow-orker for help she just started bombarding me with "well, why didn't you do this? Or why didn't you do that? Why didn't you make them this weekend and then just bring them in to heat them up?" And so on and so forth. I felt like yelling at the top of my lungs that instead of focusing on what an idiot I am and all of the things I should have done (but didn't), why doesn't she try to help me. I must have made a face when I turned to walk away because the cow-orker who brought in the crock pot for me to use came and has been helping me out. Isn't that nice of her? I feel like hitting the other one in the face with something really heavy and blunt, but hey....I'm sure that urge will pass....Maybe.

*Spoon - The Minor Tough

Labels: bad day, cow-orkers, grocery titans, target titans, weekend sum up, work

the minor tough's walking past again

0921 hrs:
*grumbles* It seems that no matter how hard I try, I'm just not a morning person. Even when I feel awake in the morning, I still don't feel motivated to actually do anything. This morning I am neither feeling very awake nor feeling motivated. I have a cup of coffee in front of me. I hope it helps - otherwise, a whole day spent trying to keep my eyes open would totally blow.

1009 hrs:
My office chair is magic today. The moment I sit down in it, it casts a spell and I can't keep my eyes open. Have been doing more of the Sarbanes-Oxley training, but have had to stand up while reading it so I don't nod off. Our cubicle walls are the medium height ones (4 ft?), so when you stand up, everyone can see you. I felt weird, but hey - better than fighting the heavy eyelids all morning. I think the coffee might be starting to (FINALLY) kick in, so I'm giving the magic chair a try.

1305 hrs:
I can't think of much to say today. I feel like the super-grumps may be descending upon me. SO - to avoid any interaction with my actual personality, I'll announce this weekend's Grocery Titan and the (new category)Target Titan.

In order to do my best to reach one of my goals of 2009, I decided that one of the small parts of achieving that goal is to do weekly meal planning and only buy the groceries that I need for the week's meals. Of the groceries on my list, I also made it a point to buy the product that was on sale or the least inexpensive. Because of this, most of my groceries were under $2.00 a piece. This weekend's Grocery Titan goes to: the Oberweis 2% milk at $3.69 + the $.85 bottle deposit making it a total of $4.54! Now I hope that I can drink all of it before it goes bad. :D

I did well in the grocery department of sticking to my list, but I did not as well while in Target. I'm horrible at not making spur-of-the-moment purchases. This weekend's Target Titan is the red fleece winter pullover (for running) that was on clearance for ... $14.99.

Please give our Titans a boisterous round of applause. Of course, the Target Titan was priced much less than I would have paid for it from a sporting goods store, so I guess it really does deserve kudos.

1502 hrs:
Just about to post this. I'm going to borrow an idea from Sesame Street and say that this blog entry was brought to you by the letter "F". This past weekend's activities largely revolved around facebook, Fantastipo and fotos (heh). Write at you all tomorrow. :)

LIST THAT PLAYED:
random from my mp3 player, but Fantastipo was played more than a couple of times XD
Album: Weezer - Red (Deluxe)

P.S. Check out this handy recycling site. Sorry, completely random!

Labels: grocery titans, link blogging, playlists, sleepy, target titans, work