The Leftover Queen

It is very difficult to eat right - and it's very expensive to eat wrong. David was going over what we spend and we were quite alarmed to find we average close to $175 a week. Since it's just the two of us plus a few pets that doesn't make sense.  I know part of it is the entertainment budget but on closer inspection I noticed last week we have a lot, we buy a lot - and we only eat anything that can be prepared in 5 minutes or less.  So the mountains of Good Intentioned Ingredients  languishes in the pantry while we horse down cereal and cheese. So last week I started making tomorrow's dinner at the same time I was making tonight's. While making something quick I threw a couple of yams in the oven and simmered chili. The next night I had chili, tonight I had the yams and sauteed tofu while I made a Greek picnic pie to eat tomorrow and then I have that and the chili for the rest of the week.  This way I can eat things that take awhile to cook without having to eat at 9 pm. Anyhoo, Janet is coming by on Saturday and we are having a guest from England at the end of May, the guest room is getting quite the workout these days. The Hostess has been enjoying it of course, she lives for the guests.  It was back to chilly today but not as bad but now it's raining which is a big Eww in my book.  

My Scale Must Be Wrong

Yes, I'm afraid it's that time of the year, somewhere between Christmas Candy and Easter Rabbits I gained weight. It's a yearly event and you would think I would be able to control myself, but no. It's not really the easter candy that does it, it just adds a little extra umph to what's already there. At work they're starting a Weight Watchers group, but I'll be in Stroudsburg so I really can't join it. I have, however been investigating the online Weight Watchers and I think that might be the way to go. I just don't have time to attend a weekly meeting along with all of the other things I currently have on my plate. Yesterday was shopping day, We did AC Moores and Borders again, Ray is collecting some DVD detective series and Borders is having a 50% off sale, not to mention we always have a coupon. We also went to the used furniture store, what a disappointment, someone has jacked the prices in there shamelessly - I know because a table we'd looked at a month ago for $60 was now repriced at $150! (I wouldn't buy it at that price either, it needs repair and is not quite old enough to be a true antique), that will be our last trip in there. We did Wegmans and Sam's club, we're replacing all of the junk food with fruit and stuff - David swears they put some sort of addictive drug in Ring Dings, seems like it, doesn't it? I'll get on a kick with that stuff and it's awfully hard to stop eating it, I'm forever one more day, this is the last time, after this box is gone that's it, etc... and then I go and buy one more box.  We went out to dinner at the italian place in town, we usually end up there because it's too far to drive anywhere else and we like it there. The food is good and the staff is nice. We watched movies last night, Transporter 2 was on, I love those movies - everyone is getting chased and blown up. And now I have to get started - work is calling.

Pocono Brewing Company

Well, yesterday we didn't see the Indians AGAIN and this time it was due to David. Ray arrived about 10 am and right before we were ready to leave David found a house he wanted to look at in Saylorsburg despite making a lot of noise the last time we did this about NEVER taking me to look at a house again, etc... Well, he did it anyhow and got what he deserved because it turned out the house was almost 30 miles from the Indian museum, we got caught in a terrible traffic jam and Harry called to let David know the house had been temporarily taken off the market to boot, so there. Needless to say I was a little (a lot) crabby and we ended up skipping the museum and went to AC Moores and Borders which is always fun since I had printed up coupons for Ray and myself. At least we didn't have to skip the last activity which was going to the Pocono Brewing Company, I knew David and Ray would love that. I'd been there before but they hadn't - they have really exceptional food and a zillion and a half kind of beers of course, the beer list takes up a couple of pages on it's own. They no longer carry the Portobello Burger - that I found very disappointing. Given the way I feel about mushrooms (Donna is absolutely NO danger of my sneaking around her yard for those morels!) that portobello burger was amazing. They marinated it in some sort of balsamic dressing and grilled it I think, I tried to reproduce it but failed miserably. I ended up having a Reuben sans the meat and we had Black Forest Cake for dessert. I'm not sure what we're doing today, I think the grocery shopping and out for an early dinner most likely - the weather is holding up beautifully but it's still a bit cold. When it gets warmer we'll be heading up to Bushkill Falls as it's closer than I thought it was but it's still too cold to be wandering about the woods. 

They Wait.....

...is yet another cinematic example of why white people should not mess around with Chinese ghosts - someone is going to take a hit for the team and it will be you. I'm  not sure what was more amusing - the fact that the heroine injected herself with poison on the say-so of someone she only met ONCE( and in a basement no less) or the ghost with one of her peepers poked out trolling behind everyone constantly and just making a general nuisance of herself. Why do they have to be so silent and miserable? Why not just say what the issue is and get on with it, instead of randomly appearing with a constipated look on your phantom face and hoping some hysterical blond will figure out that you were a worker in a sweatshop that was having an affair with your boss and you accidentally discovered it was just a front for shipping illegal bear bile to China and the boss's wife saw you peeping and she didn't like you anyhow so she gave you a big old whack with the hatchet which is how you lost your peeper in the first place.  I myself would just write a little ghost memo or something. Anyhoo, I went to the chamber of commerce breakfast the other morning - I had to stand up in front of a room and introduce myself and talk to people I don't know again - that seems to be my life lately. The breakfast was pretty good but I couldn't take as much as I wanted to because I was late and ended up sitting next to a very skinny blond person. She had two wee little pieces of melon and a grape on her plate that she was picking away at - I took fruit too and some eggs and that was it. Bastards. We are still looking for a physical therapist so I've been working on that with our communications dept - that's our biggest stumbling block at this point.  I've put up some fliers around town, the communications wasn't too hot on that (since they had to make the fliers) but if one PT or OT sees it, it will be worth the effort - I operate under the You Never Know way of living most days. It's worth a try. Ray is coming out this morning so I should be getting up and moving, his room still needs a little de-catting and I have to make up the bed. I'm still working away on the sweater, I have a paper cut on my right index finger which is the worst place for a knitter to have one. If I leave it open it hurts like crazy and the yarn gets caught on band aids so it's a quandary, isn't it?

The weather has taken a turn for the best, it really warmed up yesterday so hopefully the weekend will be nice for our running around. In other news David got a visit from the neighbor across the road - the minister has been getting nosy about his last name and stuff AND he got a postcard from the church. They are trying to claim him I think!

Breakfast In The Poconos

Off to another event - today it's a breakfast with the local Chamber of Commerce which would be a tad more enjoyable if it was a bit later - I have to be there at 7:30 AM so I need to be out the door around 6:30. Now, you would think since I tend to get up stinkin' early that would not be a problem. The thing is I DO get early but that doesn't mean I am dressed and ready to go. I can potter for hours and I've come to enjoy all the time I have in the morning.  So this morning I have to skip a lot of my morning routine which includes sitting outside and reading while Pearl tries in vain to sneak up on the chipmunks, working out on  the elipse and just mucking about in general. I also do cleaning as by the time I get home from work I just don't feel like it. I've been eating dinner later and later, after I get things put away, the dog walked etc it's generally about 7 pm. Usually I'm pretty good keeping easy things to make and making things ahead on the weekend, but this week that all went out the window for some reason and it's been veggie burgers and speghetti all week.  Ray is coming out this weekend so I have to fluff up the guest room and plan some things to do, Wegman's will be on the grand tour as the easter candy is almost gone and I think we should turn our eyes to more healthful food, despite the fact there is no way a spinach salad can hold a candle to a boxful of yellow bunny peeps. But peeps are not good for you and yesterday at work while polishing off a box of green peeps that Laurie had given me I had a bit of nausea so maybe it's time to stop eating them. Nah, I just need to eat them slower.....

Busy Bees

The job is interesting, to say the least. I volunteered to do the emergency visit at 3pm which which seemed to surprise everyone  - because it was over 30 miles away. From the office mind you, it was 60 back to my house. Didn't bother me though - I'm a WV visit nurse and since my record for one visit is 167 miles round trip 30 miles was a flash in the pan. The only thing that made me mad was this was the ONE day that I forgot my camera and I was heading into unknown territory. I GPSed it but couldn't find the house so I called and got the person's dad who steered me to the house over the phone. He was a chatty thing and didn't mind talking to me for 5 or 6 miles.  On the way back I slide sideways into Barnes and Nobles and got a knitting magazine, whoo hoo on my part.  Today I had to go to a luncheon at the local hospital in Stroudsburg. I dressed professionally and brought cards since I'm no longer there for the macaroni salad, am I? The only downside was the parking sucked bigtime. I didn't have time to shark around so I had to take the first (and only) spot I saw and was lucky to get that. Heels are not always a good thing. I've gotten very good at just going up to people, I might resemble a psychotic lemur when I do it, but I do it! And no, I don't think I actually think I look like a psychotic lemur, at least no one has backed away slowly yet. I also did another interview and am currently embroiled in a snafu, not of my making (thank goodness! It's always more fun when it's not your fault, isn't it?). Friday it's the Chamber Of Commerce monthly breakfast, I have plenty of cards ready to roll. In other news, I'm part of the way through the hood of the sweater, now that I've reached the last of it, its dragging away - mainly because that's very large amount of knitting . I guess I'd better get back to the sticks!

The Day After

Mom and Fred took off this morning sometime after I left. I leave at 7:30 am so that's not so hard to do. We had a really great weekend, I'm so glad they came up to visit. So. We've heard nothing from the lookers on Saturday but since it was a spur of the moment thing and the house really isnt' on the market yet, it's ok. We just started looking and there's so many houses coming back on the market so I'm content to sit and bide my time. I'm currently watching the very last episode of The Rock Of Love Bus Tour, I missed it on Sunday, you know, entertaining and all that stuff - and I'm not sure if Mom and Fred would have had the proper appreciation of Brett trying to find that Special Woman That Will Rock His World.  OMG!! They're trying on ENGAGEMENT RINGS,  this is, as Bret would say - Totally Awesome.  He says that quite a bit, he hopes everyone has an awesome time, he feels awesome, that is awesome, you're awesome,  yada yada yada. It's down to Mindy and Taya, I'm thinking it will be Mindy because she has that Special Connection........ I digress. Do you like that picture of me and Pearl? I don't! My hair is not quite done, no make up and I'm wearing the outfit I shlep around the house in before work because I don't want to mess up my office clothes. So I altered it a bit, I did a dark blur around the border and did an antique tone - when  I looked at it, it sort of looks like one of those old pictures you find in a shoebox. That didn't quite come out well, but you saved anyhow because you had it printed and you hate to throw out something you paid for. And it's funny because when someone looks at it years later, they don't see you have no make up on or your hair isn't quite done. They see that looney dog you loved so much or those crazy red pants you always used to wear. They remember that couch and see the picture of grandma up behind you. Time has a way of changing perspective.