Thai-mazing

Last night Jeeves' aunt who is a dear and awesome lady, came for a short visit. Her hubby (Jeeves' uncle) is a soldier and is spending 6 months in Ft. Leonard Wood for some school stuff, so on her way back to Illinois, she decided to spend a night on our couch.

I didn't feel like cooking and was craving something different, so we asked Aunt D to help us order some Thai food. She grew up in CA but her family is Korean, so she knows the best types of Thai, Korean and Vietnamese foods. She picked out a spicy beef with onions and cilantro, and a papaya salad. Jeeves, being the culinary adventurer he is (sarcasm) ordered a big thing of Chicken Pad Thai (yummy, but boring). We also picked out some dumplings and ordered a few sides of white rice.

Nam Tok (spicy beef)

Papaya Salad (yum!)

Chicken Pad Thai

When the food arrived, the aromas that floated through my house were amazing and I proceeded to stuff my face so epically that when I was finished, I felt like I was going to die. It was all so good, spicy, but not overly so, flavorful, and upon some research, really, really healthy. The papaya salad was basically no calories, and the beef was so lean I have no idea how they did it. The worst part of the meal (calorie wise) was the white rice, and I only had about a serving of it, so it was forgivable.

I have asked her to teach me how to make some of these really yummy things, as she is an amazing chef when it comes to the foods that her parents brought her up with. In September, we are going to go for a visit and she is going to school me in the arts of flavoring Korean/Thai/Vietnamese food. I'm so freaking excited. I am going to take a notebook and take photos of what she is doing so I can remember it and translate it into recipes in my family cookbook.

The place we ordered from is pretty close and open for lunch, I may drag  someone along with me one day this week to try some new foods from there, I'm feeling adventurous.

I am also feeling inspired, Jeeves' loves Chinese take out, and I bet I can make it healthier. I have this idea for fried rice which id blowing my mind, and I bet I can create a baked version of General Tso's that will satisfy and be lower in calories than the fried version. I need to head out to the Global food store and pick up some papaya and fish sauce (totes going to make papaya salad) and I also think cabbage/chicken stir fry might happen at my house tonight.

Blog - blog - bloggity - blog

This morning was payday (yay) and I have to pay a few bills, (boo) but I got in to work around 7 this morning and so I'll be leaving well before 5 (yay) I have no plans this evening so I'll probably put on my pajamas and do laundry and then maybe work in the spare room.

Oh! yesterday when I got home, Jeeves (who was still in his pajamas) asked me to take out the trash. So I grabbed the bag and toted it out to the can, when i opened the lid a smell smacked me in the face that nearly caused me to toss my cookies. I looked in the can and there was a DEAD RACCOON in there. I shrieked (like a girl) and dropped the bag. I totally made Jeeves put on clothes and come deal with the trash. It was so gross, OMG the smell... really, really bad.

The trash is a day late this week because of the holiday, and our dumpster isn't very full, so I'll probably fill it up(read: make Jeeves put the trash in there) and make a trip with a car load to the good will, and then see where my efforts have gotten me. I have a new reason to get spare room done. It needs to be a usable space as soon as possible. Jeeves and I have decided that it's weird that we have two rooms we are not using and every time we have people over the rooms just sort of become the catch all for crap that doesn't have a home, bad call.

Also why, with two extra bedrooms, do we not have an extra bed where guests can sleep when they come to visit. It's just silly, a whole lotta silly.  We are going to get this worked out and Surprise! Jeeves has offered to help me with it. Such a decent guy, I love that dude.

So, it's July and it's time to start thinking about Christmas (no really, it is) I may have mentioned before that I am a home made gift fort of girl and so I begin shopping sales for supplies really early and then I have more time to get things done and freak out less over the holiday. This year I am not crocheting much, so completing projects will take hours and not days, I'm going to be working up a list and a schedule soon. I love crafting and it gives me such a thrill to be able to give people things I have made with my own hands.

Diet wise I'm plugging along and I may go for a run this afternoon if my stomach cooperates. I am hoping to do 5K tonight, just jog it out for as long as I can. I love jogging on the treadmill, I don't have to carry my water bottle, I can maintain a pace that is comfortable, I don't have to deal with hills, and I can pump up the Pink and the Black Eyed Peas and just lose myself in the rhythm of the jog, it's good times. I also need to get back with the toning of my flabby bits, arms and inner thighs to be specific, I've been slacking and now I'm flapping more than I like.

I got a few new event flyers for the next few months, and am going to try my hand at a non-muddy 10K pretty soon. speaking of muddy 10K's though, I have started working on my outfit for next years run, as well as plans for a most awesome after-party with our growing team. I mentioned to my contact at the MS society, that there ought to be completion medals for the mud run and she said she would mention it the some folks, cool!

Alright, this had no inspiration, but I feel as though I've chattered at you for long enough.

Confessions

1. I love Doritos; which is not news to many of you. My confession is that I have been eating way too many of them. Recently, they have put out the Taco flavored ones again which were sort of always my cryptonite, and it needs to stop.
2. My fluid levels have been dismal for the last two weeks. I have been slacking big time in the hydration department.
3. I have been a gym slacker as well. Only going a handful of times in June and really half assing it the whole time I was there. not cool.
4. I sometimes eat cold hotdogs right out of the wrapper, standing in front of the fridge.
5. I'm consuming way too much salt and I can feel it in my giant puffy hands and feet.

I feel like I've let go of my good habits and let lazy bull-shit creep back into my life. I'm really lucky that I haven't been more affected by it. I've been back on the ball this week, flexing my calories between 1200 and 1500 and eating tons of veggies and grains. I've been sticking to leaner proteins and both Jeeves and I have sworn off red meat for the summer.

I'm gonna stay healthy if it takes everything I've got to do it, and it just might.

Beer! Running! Fireworks! America! (Thanks Mama Q)

Good morning all, fair warning: This is going to be a lengthy post, I'll try to avoid boring you to tears, promise.

Weekend Update
Friday night: Erin came over for dinner and the plan had been to barbeque. However, it was stupid hot outside, and I didn't feel like it.  So I cooked on the stove top, and that included making smore's on the gas range, just as good, no mosquito bites, win-win. Then we hung out and watched movies and TV for awhile, it was good to visit with my friend, she and I have so much fun when we hang out!

Saturday morning: I went and had coffee with the girls, we talked things out and I think I have been forgiven for being a total asshole. I was able to apologize and re-state my concerns in a loving supportive way and it really helped that no one was drunk as hell. It turned in to three hours of really good conversation, and at the end of it while driving home I kept thinking to myself, "I feel like an adult now." Times when I feel like an adult still surprise me.

Saturday Night: Jeeves and I took the Munches out to visit with his family and celebrate his uncle birthday. The girls had a good time chasing after the many dogs that were at the house. We ate way too much and enjoyed visiting. Then we went home and spent the rest of the night relaxing and not preparing for Sunday morning (which we should have been doing)

Sunday morning: Everyone had gone to bed late and so getting up in time for bible study did not happen. We did get to church on time, barely. My Dad and his wife joined us for church and then came back with us to the house for a meal, which I had not done any prep work for. In fact I had to go to the store to buy the food I cooked for them, so great was my procrastination. But I made our famous breakfast, a casserole with egg, bacon, cheese and croissants, and then I made biscuits and gravy and a big fruit salad with watermelon, strawberry and nectarine (I love the combination of the three flavors, so yummy)

Sunday evening: I did a whole lot of nothing. Jeeves and I hung out some more. It was so great to have two nights where we got to just be together in our house for awhile.Then Jeeves went to work and the munches and I went to bed early.

Monday morning: I got up at 5am and drove to the site of my July Run, Which was the 27th annual Firecracker Run, I choose the 5K. It was overcast and sprinkling when I arrived, I hoped it would stop, but it didn't, I ran 5K in the rain and did it in about 40 minutes. I had to pee when i started which made me slow down quite a bit, because jogging while having to pee is hard after having had two babies. Also I've developed a stitch in my side and my injured foot began to throb so I fast-walked about a mile of the run. After the race there was free food and beer for the runners and ice cream as well. We hung around and ate for awhile and then headed home.

Monday afternoon: I had plans to go to one of my mud run companions house and have BBQ and then head downtown for fireworks, but I was a punk instead. I was in pain and had developed a migraine, so i sent my excuses and stayed on the couch all afternoon. Around 8:30 Jeeves convinced me to put the kids in the car and we went and parked where we could see the city fireworks display, the Munches were unimpressed, and we had to leave early because Booger began shrieking and crying that she had to go potty. We got home and the lunatics in our neighborhood were shooting off fireworks and they scared the bejeezus out the girls, so taking them downtown would have been a horrific mistake. We went to bed by 10, and Jeeves went to work.

It was a long weekend, full of stuff, hope you enjoyed the update, and hope you had an equally full and lovely holiday.

not now, I'm busy

I have had a rough day and I have much to tell you, I'm not ignoring the blog, I just am ridiculously busy and will do a long post about the weekend when I get home this evening,

Salad Schmalad

So it's Saturday and I am not usually a weekend poster but I don't like to do multiple posts in a day so I drafted this yesterday afternoon. I recently decided that salad doesn't have to have lettuce to be salad. I got two small cucumbers, a Roma tomato, and 3 ounces of grilled chicken breast and chopped it all up in a bowl. Then added 2 tbsp of light ranch dressing and some pepper, this may be a staple in my lunch rotation this summer, it's so good and filling, plus only 269 calories for this huge bowl.

-heaven-

Zombie-Ninja

I have been feeling really lethargic and sleepy lately. Do you remember those Sudaphed commercials from a few years back where the cartoon people complained of having "medicine head" That's how I feel; weirdly tired and disconnected from the world around me. I get home from work and it's all I can do to get some cleaning done and spend time with the munches doing something other than watching TV. They deserve better, I spent the whole winter with an acceptable amount of energy and we were on the go a lot, it seems like as soon as the summer hit I just stopped working, I feel kind of broken.

Add to that, the fact that I am struggling with the draw of junk food to help me get a burst of energy. I know that good food gives more energy but when you feel like you are living in an antihistamine haze it's harder to make good decisions.

I am starting to wonder if this wasn't weariness isn't a product of my foot injury, I had been on an upswing when it happened and it sort of derailed me. I feel like, now that I am healed, I need to force myself to get back into my routine, which will be hard.

I took a unisom last night. It was a last ditch effort to get some sleep and to stay asleep for 8 hours. It worked, but today I feel like I've been lobotomized. I'm glad I don't have to do anything technical or difficult this morning at work, cause I'd screw it up royally.

I went to the gym last night, I jogged a mile and then did a Zumba class. I think I may go back to the gym again today, maybe I can trick my body into feeling better if I force myself to work out...I don't want to but I'm gonna.

Oh, some folks asked about the tattoos.
I have a small heart on my back, which is a Celtic knot. I will be turning it into a claddagh and adding some color, as it is now just a black outline. Then I will be putting a henna style floral design on the back of my shoulder, and will have it done in brownish red, so it looks like a henna tattoo but is permanent. I will be putting a lotus flower with 2 small koi fish on my hip, and a few small stars and curly lines behind one of my ears. Eventually I'll do something on one of my ankles or feet, but I don't have anything picked out yet.