Curiosity killed the cat

So curiosity has finally gotten the better of me...I just wanna know what you guys think I'm really like. So go here and tell me what you think.

File this under: Effective Weight Loss Strategies

Last night Husband & I decided to dine at the Cheesecake Factory. I should preface this story by saying that since I'm essentially vegan, I typically have 1-2 options per restaurant. Well, at the Cheesecake Factory, they have this Chinese Chicken Salad, that I really enjoy (of course sans the poultry). I got a craving for the salad, so we decided to go there. Being vegan, I also do not eat cheesecake, so I really was going just for this salad.

I order the salad such: "I'd like the Chinese Chicken Salad WITHOUT CHICKEN." He repeats back the 'sans chicken' part of my order, and I think everything will be great. I continue sipping my wine, excited about the impending yumminess awaiting me.

WELL. My salad comes, and I'm happily eating the first 2 bites. Then I suddenly realize on the 3rd bite that I'm biting into something that is definitely NOT lettuce. I should insert here that I've never eaten meat - not fowl, poultry, or anything that ever had parents, swam, or walked. Now that we have that clear, you'll understand that my brain suddenly stopped working and I went into panic mode when I realized that what I was chewing on was tasteless, rubbery, slightly stringy texture.

WELL WELL WELL. I have never lost my appetite so suddenly. It was instantaneous. The server felt terrible, and immediately took the offending plate away and said that he'd put in an order for a chicken-free salad, but the thought of eating anything else was just unbearable. So instead, I had another glass of wine.

I know some of you may question how the hell I missed that there was chicken in my salad. Well, it was sliced very thin and in the sneaky dinner-time lighting of the restaurant, it looked like a piece of lettuce. And I wasn't paying that close of attention because I figured my salad was sans meat. And for the rest of you that may not think this was a big deal or that I'm overreacting, I'M NOT. Remember, this was my first introduction to chicken.


In other news, I made these fantastic peanut butter, chocolate-chip, oatmeal cookies (from Matha Stewart, of course). They are so yummy. However, I ended up burning the side of my arm on one of my cookie sheets. It's quite the sizeable burn, and it hurts like a b*tch. Husband wanted to know why I burned myself, and I said "because I like pain, of course".

Fashion police, now issuing tickets.

THIS needs to be banned from all things figure skating.

'Nuff said.

Putting those rubber gloves to good use.

What's worse than not having a dishwasher?

Having a dishwasher that does NOT work.

Not only do I have a sink full of dirty dishes, now I have a sinkful of dirty dishes and a dishwasher full of still dirty dishes. *Sigh*

Dick Button is pleased as punch, and so am I.

I'm watching primetime Olympic coverage of Ice Dancing. Of all the winter Olympic sports, Ice Dancing is my favorite. I love everything about it...well, almost everything - those costumes are pretty terrible! But I still love it. I don't think it would be the same without the terrible costumes. I've also gotten quite addicted to curling, thanks to CNBC's serious coverage of it.

On a completely different note: GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU TAKING THE BAR EXAM THIS WEEK! You're all superstars!

The cat is testing out that whole "9 Lives" theory.

The cat has just tonight discovered he can jump up behind the TV and flip the power switch. While I am watching the Olympics. In the span of the last 6 minutes, he did it twice. He is now sitting in solitary confinement. NOBODY messes with mamma's Olympics.

And don't you say this serves me right for watching 75 hours of Olympic coverage everyday.

Ha ha ha

Husband told me this joke tonight, and I'm still cracking up over it (like I am about Heather's pirate joke):

Two potatoes are standing on a street corner. How do you know which one is the prostitute?

The one that says: "Idaho".

HA! Ha ha!


Yes, I am still watching 75 hours a day of Olympic coverage. It's fabulous. I finally have my phone hooked up so I can dissect the games with my sister. And NO, I do NOT want to talk about Bode Miller, our men's hockey team, or the scoring debacle that was the men's figure skating long program. Don't even get me started on that last one.

A big shout-out to the MIDWEST!

This is just because I'm from the midwest. And yes, I know where Muncie, Indiana is. I've even been there. So there.

Emotional investment gone awry.

*Sigh*

Oh, Johnny Weir. What could have, might have, should have been.

I'm more sad for what could have been, how you should have been at the end of your free skate. You should have been holding your head high, smiling ear to ear. You should have been proud of yourself.

The snowboard cross is F-U-N! It makes me want to invest in a snowboard and go hit the slopes tomorrow. Of course, the men's hockey USA v. Latvia also made me want to pick up hockey. Our phone gets set up tomorrow, and I'm going to be calling the ice rink just down the road to see if there's a free skate. Yes, I've been skating forever, although never any lessons. My parents were too interested in music lessons. And now we're getting a little revealing.

Ok, back to the CSI. Yes, I know - shocking! I'm watching non-Olympic TV!!! Go ME!

Well now I'm playin' with the big kids.

Tonight I finally decided to sign up for a site meter. I had been on the fence about this because do I really want to know how many people look at my site? If I know how many people are reading, will I then feel pressure to have to perform? I guess my curiosity won out. So no more hiding, lurkers. And I guess this means I have to accept the fact that when I'm unemployed, I am obsessive about checking the blogs on my list. Which I suppose could make me look like a stalker. Hmmmm.

I'm gonna' need an activity intervention when this is over.

I have figured out something that, were it not for the subject matter, would be downright embarrasing. Ok, even with the subject matter, it's still embarrasing. I figured out that I am watching somewhere in the vicinity of 10 hours a day of Olympics. My friend says I am in the throes of an OVERDOSE. I'm not arguing. I just can't help myself.

Good timing to be laid up with a pulled muscle in my back, huh?

I just finished watching the MOST exciting men's hockey game EVER - USA vs. Latvia. Phew - I thought I was going to hyperventilate by the time it was over. I won't do any spoilers in case there's anyone out there who wants to see it and hasn't, but suffice it to say: in the hockey game of Life, I want THIS MAN as my goalie.

I realize that is probably one of the worst and cheeziest analogies ever. I think all this Olympic-induced TV watching is truly rotting my brain. I may just need to read something super cerebral after the games are over. Any suggestions?

Crashes and wipeouts and mistakes galore!

It's a bad day to be competing in the single women's luge. Also not a great day to be a woman downhill skiier. Yikes! It makes me glad I'm not really even slightly athletic (oh, I'm an amazing skater in my head).

I am feeling better this morning, as in I'm actually able to move, although something still feels pinched down into the top of my right leg. I hope I can avoid going to the doctor (it's the money, or should I say lack thereof?).

Newfound empathy...

...for people with back pain.

I bent over (at the waist, naughty) to pick up the cat this morning. My cat is NOT heavy, probably somewhere in the vicinity of 8 pounds, probably less. Well, as I was straightening up, I felt something pop/burst in my lower back and had IMMEDIATE ACUTE WHITE HOT PAIN!

I have spent the rest of the day laying on the couch in my pajams, icing my back, requiring help to even go to the bathroom.

A few months ago, I was rollerblading on the beach and did one of those almost fall moves, where you lean forward and then snap back to catch your balance...well, that's when my lower right back initially got tweaked. I consulted with my sister, a physical therapist, who suggested ICE IMMEDIATELY. Which I did, and the pain went away.

Then, with packing and moving boxes, it has flared up again. Well, now I can hardly even move without sounding like someone is runing me through with a butcher knife. And I don't think it's a good sign that the pain is radiating down into my butt.

I'll be calling doctor's offices first thing in the morning and update when there's something to update about. Hopefully I'll be given DRUGS! DRUGS! DRUGS! Why did this have to happen on a Sunday?!? At least there's been Olympics on TV for me to be occupied with.

So sad it's heartbreaking.

Michelle Kwan has withdrawn from the Olympics.

This is just so sad. I mean I'm glad she's not going to end up skating terribly and go out that way, but the whole thing just seems so unfair. She was supposed to go out on top. Sigh.

Does it make me an evil person if I hope that Sasha Cohen doesn't even medal?!?

Oh, our ladies ROCK!

I'm watching our ladies hockey team RIP the Swiss team a new ass! With a 5 on 3 disadvantage, we STILL scored!!! The only bit that's a little disconcerting is that our ladies seem to be a bit penalty happy. I hope they can keep the shoving to a minimum to get through to the medal rounds.

Because I'm an Olympics junkie, I watched NBC's re-airing of the opening ceremonies last night. Mostly I just wanted to see our athletes. And my, oh my, wasn't Bode Miller just looking cool as a cucumber? He's such a cool kat. I think it's about time that Bob Costas went to greener pastures. I mean I know you can't have network coverage of the Olympics without Mr. Bob, but last night he really pissed me off. He said something to the effect of: 'most of these athletes don't really have a shot in hell of getting a medal, so the opening ceremonies is the only time they have to really shine'. See, BOB, the thing is, that's just MEAN. I know there are lots of longshots, but that's what makes the Olympics so exciting - the possibility of the unknowns and longshots making it! That's the beautiful thing about the Olympics. And BOB, you are just full of mean beans.

In other news, I spent a good 1/2 hour last night trying to figure out how to change my location city on my site's description. Obviously, I lost patience with trying to figure it out. But yes, I do realize that it needs to be changed. I also know that I need to update my blogroll. Sigh. I'll get to it eventually.

I love my cable!

So apparently living this close to Canada nets you a Canadian cable channel...which just so happens to be broadcasting the opening ceremonies of the OLYMPICS L-I-V-E!!!

I am sooooo stoked. And "stoked" isn't even a word I've ever used. I should just warn you all now: I am an Olmpics freak. These next 2+ weeks will be entirely filled with Olympics. I am watching absolutely every single event that is shown. And maybe with this cool Canadian cable channel, I'll get to watch stuff LIVE, instead of hours later when you can go and find out results online, which is totally not cool.

Finally: the 4 Things Meme

Heather: I didn't forget!

Four jobs you have had:
*Editor at my undergrad’s writing center
*Law clerk
*secretary/receptionist at a chemical company outside Chicago (thank you, temp agency)
*sales assistant at Southern Living magazine in Chicago, which was by far the coolest job I’ve ever had - my boss had a liquor cabinet in his office and we had happy hour every Friday afternoon. It was awesome. Plus I had lots of free time, so I got paid to surf the internet.

Four movies you could watch over and over:
*the remake of the Thomas Crowne Affair (hot hot hot)
*When Harry Met Sally
*Love Actually
*Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Four places you've lived:
*Alpena, Michigan
*Ogden, Utah
*Marshall, Minnesota
*Valparaiso, Indiana

Four TV shows you love to watch:
*Grey’s Anatomy
*Boston Legal (love me some James Spader)
*America’s Test Kitchen from Cook’s Illustrated (yes, I love PBS)
*Sex and the City (except now I can watch it unedited and uncut WHENEVER I want! HA!)

Four places you've been on vacation:
*Ojai, California
*Florence, Italy (favorite city)
*Norway (in high school my parents & I went all over the Southern half of the country - my dad is Norweigan.)
*Park City, Utah (AWESOME skiing)

Four of your favorite foods:
*Broccoli (yes, seriously)
*Mashed Potatoes
*Oranges (does orange juice count?)
*Wham (it’s a faux lunch meat product made by Worthington Foods and it’s DAMN good, so no mocking!)

Four places you'd rather be right now:
*In Wisconsin with my sister & niece & nephew
*Skiing in Utah (best snow on earth, yo, seriously)
*Chicago
*Does “Employed” count?

Four sites I visit daily: (only 4?!?)
*CNN
*Go Fug Yourself
*Defamer
*all the blogs I read

Four Bloggers you are tagging:
*Ms. 1,000 Words
*Cari G
*Ms. Utopaforia
*and: anyone who hasn’t already done this?

HOO HAH!

WE NOW HAVE INTERNET! AND WE NOW HAVE TV! YAY FOR CABLE!

Of course, we don't get our phone until the 17th. Why? I have NO idea. But whatever, we at least have TV and the internet!

I have lots to say, but I can't because we got this super duper deal on cable where we have just about every channel (not the movie channels), and I have been completely SUCKED into a marathon of Project Runway for the entire afternoon. I was even planning to make myself my birthday cake (albeit a bit late!) today (an angel food cake, from scratch yo), but I can't TEAR myself away from the design mayhem! It's just fantastic. I can hardly break away for food and drink.

So kids, I'll write more later. Maybe I'll liveblog the grammy's. We'll see.

Back in action...sort of

I'm up here in Washington! We arrived today after 2 1/3 days of driving. I was totally planning to do one of those "I'm on my way" sort of posts, but our internet got disconnected way earlier than I thought it was going to. And then I couldn't ever blog from the hotel at night b/c we stayed at ghetto-ass Motel 6's, because they accept pets. And right now I'm scamming one of my new neighbor's internet connection, even though it's super slow and sucky.

Comcast is supposed to come and give us a phone, cable, and internet at some point, but the cell phone kept cutting Husband off right when the Comcast people were about to tell him what day/time. So it'll be a fun little surprise whenever they get here.

Our stuff is supposed to get here Saturday morning, and I can't wait to get everything organized and set up. Oh, and I'm totally doing laundry right now and it's F-U-N!!!

K, we gotta' go grocery shopping. We dropped $300 at Target this afternoon, which was WAY FUN. I got some super fun cleaning stuff and other goodies. Oh, and there was a fire at another one of the buildings this evening. Fun times!

I'll post all about our trip up here and moving in as soon as Comcast sets us up.

all ready to go

I am done! Everything is packed and ready to go for 9:00 am tomorrow morning. I can't believe it's all really happening tomorrow.!. Even though I checked all the cupboards and closets and everywhere, I have this nagging feeling that tomorrow after the movers come, I'll discover a treasure trove of shit I forgot to pack. And if that happens, I'm going to just THROW IT ALL AWAY.

I am incredibly tired, and I think I'm going to go to bed. Everything aches.