How One Can Tell It Is Spring Break/Bike Week

Today is the official start of Bike Week.  It is also the unofficial start of Spring Break.  What many people don't realize is that Spring Break in Florida is actually about 8 weeks long. The different parts of the country take their breaks at different times.  The heaviest two weeks are the ones surrounding Easter.  Today I saw many tell tale signs of these weeks starting today.  I thought I would share a few.

- Entire softball teams wandering through the mall where I work.  Many colleges come to Central Florida for spring training.
- A motorcycle parked in the snake* looking bicycle corral.
- A drunk Asian tourist giggling at herself and waving at herself on the entry security screen at the grocery store.
- A group of bikers and friends stopped on the side of the road discussing directions.  The friends then climbed into their minivan to follow the bikes.
- Many people out in shorts and flip flops even though the temperatures are supposed to drop into the 40s this evening.  Since they are coming to Florida it must be warm and sensible clothes should be left at home.

* The BBC always starts hissing and yelling "SNAKE! SSSSSSS! SNAKE!" when we are out shopping at the mall when he sees these.

Definitely a Full Moon

We called the fact that it must be a full moon about halfway through the day today.  My drive home was definitely a full moon kind of drive.  There were random traffic jams throughout.  I spent the last half of the day panicking about the safety of my Hawaii cousins.  It was hard being at work because we were cut off from all media and just heard bits and pieces from customers. I am glad it turned out to be minor and that they are all safe.  I am finally home now and Shawn cooked a lovely dinner of comfort food.  Grandpa's pepperoni is definitely just what the doctor ordered.

Down To The Wire : I love

I am running a bit late tonight.  I thought I would do another I love list.

- I love impromptu dinners with good friends.
- I love the look of my eyebrows after trying threading for the first time.  It was a bit painful but unlike waxing I do not look like a neanderthal.
- I love my sweetie.
- I love my job.
- I love shopping with my CarCar.
- I love that my old Barbie collection is apparently a treasure to someone else.
- I love eBay.

Haircut

Today I went and got a haircut.  My mama has requested a picture so here it is.  Aubs was the lovely photographer.  I realized while I was trying on a dress today that my haircut is nearly identical to the one I had for my high school graduation.  I have a hard enough time getting people to believe I am thirty-two. I am pretty sure my cute and adorable haircut, chopped another year or two off of how old people think I am.

UPDATE: I think I found a new hairdresser.  I had to wash my hair again, I was having a reaction to the stuff they used at the salon, and I was able to replicate the look.  I have only had two other hairdressers that could do that for me.  One was my roomate and one is my cousin.  Neither of them are in this state. 

I'm Up.

I am up way ahead of schedule today.  I had a late night at work and was thinking of sleeping in a bit.  Now I am thinking of going for a run and packing up Aubs things for school.

I am also posting a picture of Joshua at his lesson the other day.  He has come so far, it is exciting to watch.

I'm An Idiot Award

When I worked at SeaWorld we fondly referred to the waiver you had to sign to get security to pop your lock as the "I'm An Idiot Waiver". Today I nominate myself for a similar award.  I got out of bed this morning all excited for the greek yogurt I bought yesterday.  Only to discover this morning that I had left it on the counter in the bag with the coffee I also bought.

Laundry Confessions

Today I am playing catch up on our chores.  Aubs and I stayed with friends this weekend so I did not do the laundry like I should have.  The laundry pile is ridiculous.  It takes up my whole hallway. The cold snap doesn't help since winter clothes are twice as big as summer clothes. We fold all the laundry as it comes out of the dryer.  That is quite an accomplishment for us, we used to just put the clean clothes in baskets unfolded. That may sound like gloating so since laundry will be taking up most of my day I thought I would do some laundry confessions:
- If something comes out of the dryer inside out, I fold it that way.  Aubs called me out on this the other day and I told her that if she wants her clothes all rightside out then she should put it into the laundry that way.
- I won't fold underwear.  I just stack it in the baskets.
- If I know I am wearing a sweater to work, I will just iron the cuffs and collar of my work shirts.

I Am Either...

...Incredibly brave or ridiculously stupid.  Just before the above picture was taken the following question came out of my mouth "Jenn, can you hang upside down in the silks and can I lay on the ground underneath?" After a moment of looking at me like I had lost my mind, Jenn said yes.  I think the results are amazing. The instructor liked the shot so much she asked if I could come do more.  I worked out a trade for a tissue lesson.

Updated.  The picture has been added.

Good Intentions

We had planned on going to SeaWorld today with some friends. It was a beautiful day with highs in the low 70s. Aubs apparently had other plans, ones that included being sassy and disobedient. Needless to say Aubs and I stayed home while the others went to SeaWorld. I stuck to my guns and didn't give in, even though it was my idea to go to SeaWorld in the first place. Oh well, life lessons can be hard to take/teach. On and up note we have steak and mashed potatoes on the menu this evening. I enjoyed them last weekend and decided to have them again.

Laid Back Four Day Weekend

Today was day one of four that I have off. I am excited for this and will be hanging with Aubs, Dawn, and Joshua for the weekend. Aubs and I kicked it off with a trip to Michael's and lunch at Panera. It has been a pretty great day, I hope this continues over the weekend. I am going to try to keep the weekend posts short and sweet so that I can focus on the girl.

Lenten Commitment Update

I made it through all of Genesis. It conveniently made up the first 30 pages of my Bible. I had quite a few AHA! moments when reading. I did think that many of the chapters read like a family tree. I wonder if that is why people used to put their family trees in the front of their Bibles. That may have been because it was the one book everyone had. So far so good. I hope I can keep this commitment as well as I have my others I made for the year.

Can You Give Up Laziness For Lent?

I was pondering this idea during my morning work out.  Facebook was full of questions/prayer requests for various friends and their Lenten choices.  Soda, coffee, caffeine, chocolate, and sugar in general were all things people were considering. These seem to me to possibly fall under the category of gluttony.  Is it a requirement that your Lenten sacrifice be one of the Cardinal Sins? As such shouldn't we be shying away from these items on a daily basis? I know we are all sinners and that is why Jesus died for us. I believe giving up laziness would fall under sloth.  If my theory is correct. Exercising seems to help put me in a place of communing with God.

I think it is time to work on The Thirty Project #29. I think in addition to giving up laziness, I will also try to add to my life by using the time frame of Lent to read the Bible cover to cover. I have 695 pages in my pink Bible so that works out to about 17 1/2 pages a day. UPDATE: Since I will be including Sundays as reading days it will really be 15 pages a day. Sorry, I didn't even think that Sundays weren't included in the 40 days.

Just Call Me...

...Tropical Destination Girl. Not only do I get to go to Hawaii in 3 weeks and 2 days, but who is counting?  I just found out that we get to go on Shawn's company's cruise. To Cozumel. For Free! GAH! I have never been on a cruise so Aubs and I are super stoked. (I am totally using this word in preparation for Hawaii.)

Monday Marathon

On the Mondays that I work they  seem to be the longest days ever.  I usually work from around 9 or 10 to 6 or 7. Today I start at 11 and work until 6, it is a nice short shift.  I also have my tap classes on Mondays so the day can be very, very long as I usually don't get home until almost 10pm. Today knowing I didn't have to be awake for another hour I still jumped out of bed and decided to meet the day.  I have already folded laundry, put another load in the dryer, loaded and ran the dishwasher, packed Aubs' lunch, reunited her backpack and contents, and snuggled with Aubs and Shawn.  Today will be great, albeit long.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have spent a low key weekend filled with shopping, Nascar, and love.  Aubs and I went out yesterday and found the perfect dress for Hawaii.  We also had a lovely lunch at Pollo Tropical.  I had to work today but was lucky enough to have the early shift so I was out at five. Shawn is camped out on the couch watching the second race of the weekend. I hope everyone has as nice of a weekend as we have.

Double Names

In the past couple days I have had to clarify which person we were talking about.  In our family we have multiple occurances of double names.  We have enough Michaels that they now each have a nickname.  I do believe however that outside of Ireland we are one of the few families that have to clarify which Maureen.  I am also pretty sure that we may be one of the few in the world that has to clarify which Helen.  I love you my extra special doubled-up name ladies!

600

Today is my 600th post.  Last time I hit a milestone post I waited for something fun.  Since my goal is to post every day this year, I don't have that luxury.  I have not missed a day this year and have even had a few days with multiple posts.  Things are great here, I started the day with some yoga so that may be responsible for my happy attitude.  I am feeling more in shape already and have blogged everyday, I am doing great on my New Year's goals and am thrilled about it.

Up And At 'Em

Today I got up with Aubs, I supervised lunch packing, and watched her get her breakfast.  She is so self sufficient now it is amazing.  I was thinking about going back to bed after she left since I don't have to be at work until later.  I have already done my work out, had my coffee, and tried on my new bathing suits.  I set a goal to wear a bikini in Hawaii, so that has helped fuel my workouts even when I don't want to do them.  I had a great evening shopping with Molly and Riley yesterday. I got the bathing suit tops at the Victoria Secret outlet for $4 each.  I have bottoms in a range of colors so I just needed bikini tops instead of the tankinis I have worn for the past few years.

Breaking Up (30 Project Related)

I am officially trying to break up with bottled water. Our water here tastes so awful that even after being filtered it is barely palatable.  So because of that I am taking a baby step and switching to the 2.5 gallon or larger bottles that I can recycle.  Shawn's company gave out fabulous Nalgene type bottles at the convention.  They have screw tops and hold about 1.5x the amount as a regular bottle of water.  I have been drinking 2-4 of these a day as I try to lay off of soda and caffeine.  Is it bad that I count it as a bonus that they match my handbag?

I haven't posted a 30 project update in a while, I am still plugging away at my list though.  I plan to post an update when I return from Hawaii, since that trip will be major parts of completing list items.

Grocery Shopping

Last week I discovered the magic of Aldi.  I went back again this week and stocked up on produce.  Between the produce and meat prices at Aldi and using the coupons at the other stores, I think that I will be able to get all the house groceries for under $50 a week.  At Aldi this week I bought a pineapple, pint of grape tomatoes, 3 beefsteak tomatoes, 1 seedless cucumber, 2 green peppers, 1 pineapple, 1 container strawberries, 1 box cheese crackers, 1 bag pretzels, 2 bags baby carrots, 1 container laundry detergent, and 1 pack of sponges.  I spent $27.  I was pretty excited.

I Concede

Today I bought Aubs SpongeBob valentines.  She wanted Jonas Brothers ones because they are boys so the boys should like them, and which girl doesn't like the Jonas Brothers. This was after she wanted Scooby Doo for the boys and Hannah Montana for the girls.  She was very put out when I told her she could only have one box.  I hope she likes them since it may have actually caused me pain to purchase them.  She and Shawn will watch the DVD's over and over and laugh every time at the same jokes.  I usually roll my eyes.

Not So Super Bowl

If you ask Aubs the super bowl is not so super.  We had some friends over who are a bit over zealous in their love of the Saints. On the super long touchdown run in the fourth quarter, they went a little crazy.  They scared Aubs so badly she was shaking.  My poor baby may never want to watch football again.

Yoga

This morning Aubs and I did some yoga to start our day.  I wish I could get it together enough to start every day like this.  I feel so calm and refreshed.  Aubs also straightened up her stuff in the family room.  We also folded some laundry and washed some more.  I hope it continues to be a productive day before work, Aubs will be hanging out with Shawn this evening.

100

Aubs has to do a 100 days of school project.  We chose 100 paw print stamps.  I can't believe we are this far into the school year already.  It is flying by this year. Well off to stamp.

I Love

- The I just finished a hard work out and have that I can conquer the world feeling.
- The fact that I will be buying a ticket to Hawaii this afternoon.
- The fact that I tear up when I think about being there for Jake's wedding. My lovely grown boy cousins have a new special place in my heart since the stuff with my brother. They cannot imagine what they mean to me and my girl. Annie is pretty darn great, too!
- It is barely noon and I have worked out, cleaned the kitchen, done most of the laundry (hurry up an wait game for the dryer/washer to finish), straightened the family room, planned a dinner menu, and planned my grocery shopping trip.
- I have a few weeks of shorter work weeks so I get more quality time with my family.
- I have already had a textversation with Jenny and am looking forward to some quality phone time later in the day.

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

Still Feeling Icky

I still feel like crap.  Enough that I even stayed home from work today.  Since I am my father's daughter you can all figure out how easy that was for me to do. I am beginning to get a bit stir crazy though, Shawn took Aubs to day care after school so I could rest. I am pretty bored but have no energy to do anything. Thankfully there is a Law & Order: SVU marathon on TNT.  Has anyone watched White Collar?  The previews make it look intriguing.

Sick Fueled Shopping

I turn into two things when I shop while ill.  My father and a little old Latin woman.  Today I went to the store to pick up something for dinner and a box of cold medicine.  I came home with the following:
- Cold Medicine
- Guava & Cheese Pastries
- Pan Sabao (Puerto Rican Sweet Bread) to be put on the sandwich press with butter.
- Green Tea Gingerale
- Taquitos
- Sour Cream
- 4 tubs Chobani Greek Yogurt.  They added new flavors I was eager to try.
- Mexican Coca-Cola.  It is sweetened with sugar instead of HCFS.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies from the bakery
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 loaf of bread for Aubs lunches
- 1 box cheese nips