An Expensive Lesson. Shut Up.

So.  Two weeks ago, give or take a day or two, my washing machine started making this God awful noise.  A grinding, screechy noise that was worse when the washer was agitating. This coincided with me washing Larry's thick, heavy Colts Super Bowl sweatshirt so I thought that's what the problem was.  The machine started making this really loud noise so I just turned it off, heaved that heavy ass sweatshirt out and let it dry in the tub.  For three days.  But the machine kept making that noise every time I washed a load of laundry so I thought the sweatshirt had burned the motor up.

Nope.

This did.

I finally called a repairman today and this is what he found.  The underwire from my favorite bra that has been "missing" for two weeks.  Guess where it was??????  

The wire had cut through my bra one day and I just took it out and put it in my jeans pocket and forgot all about it.  I've been wondering what happened to it!!  The repair was $130, the bra, probably $15. 

Idiot.  

The Hula Girl And The President

THIS is why President Obama keeps going to Hawaii!

Absolutely scandalous!  :)

These little cuties were given to me today by my friend and coworker, Lisa (yep, we have two Lisas at the office!).  She bought them for me when she was in Hawaii last week.

They are SO presh!!!

Bunco

So. Much. Fun.

We had Bunco Night at Heidi's house last night and had such a great time!!  My sides still ache from laughing. I even won a little money! 

Wine, good food, good friends and dice.  I can't wait 'til next month!  

It's Complicated...And Hilarious

I finally saw this movie tonight. It's only been out since Christmas and I've only been wanting to see it since Thanksgiving!  

I went with my coworker and friend, Lisa, after we'd had supper at O'Charley's.  I did SO GOOD at supper!!  I had the Baja Chicken but without the rice and I didn't eat the tortilla strips on top, I had a salad and a side of steamed broccoli.  And sugar-free raspberry iced tea that was really, really good.

I laughed out loud so many times during this movie.  I thought it was hilarious, sweet and touching all at the same time. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin play a couple, Janie and Jake, who after 19 years of marriage and three children, divorced because he cheated on her with a much younger woman, a woman he later married and then she cheated on him and had a child with another man.  Some 10 years after their divorce, Jake and Janie begin an affair around the same time she meets and begins to like Adam (Steve Martin), an architect who's building an addition to her house. This movie ain't called "It's Complicated" for nothin'!  

I Feel An Addiction Coming On...

It's Starbucks' Cinnamon Dolce Latte (the skinny version, sugar-free, nonfat milk). I cannot get enough of these things!

The tall one is only 90 calories and it's becoming a daily thing for me.

I even traded two dozen finger nut cookies from Wilson's Bakery yesterday for one of these. I'm either dedicated to this doing right thing or crazy, I'm not sure which one yet. It felt good turning down my favorite cookie, though!!

And Now Back To Me

I have had the most peaceful, restful, wonderful rainy day!  I really needed it, too.  I haven't had a week off in almost a year (but one's coming soon!) and I am exhausted.  I don't take enough time for me and the older I get, the more it shows on my face!  I'm trying to do better with that this year.  I'll be 43 in June.  I have to do better.

Today I slept obscenely late, cooked a little, read a little, walked on my treadmill, lit a bunch of candles, watched a movie and just enjoyed my ME time.

I started the South Beach diet January 3rd and tomorrow will be the end of the first two weeks, Phase 1, the most restrictive part of the diet.  I have to admit I have not been hungry. The first few days were rough coming off sweet tea but I am so proud of myself for making it!! Unsweetened tea's not all bad.  I don't like artificial sweeteners, I just don't trust them, so I just roughed it the first week without sweetener.  I did a little research online on Truvia and I think it may be safer than aspartame since it's made from the stevia plant and the natural sugars that fruit makes when it ferments.  But who knows for sure if it's any safer?  Guess I'll find out 'cause I got me some!

The first week I lost 9 pounds.  Then I lost one more. Then I gained three!  I went to our local bookstore and bought the book Tuesday and as of this morning, I've lost 11 pounds!  I just wasn't doing something right.  I got that book, read it and followed it to a tee and I started losing again. I think I was just mixing Atkins and South Beach and they are two totally different diets. South Beach seems to be easier for me to imagine doing long-term.  I love vegetables and milk and a life without them just won't work for me.

I'll blog about my weight loss more now that I've actually lost some!  I wasn't going to mention it in case the first two weeks were epic fail and believe me, I've had two weeks of diets before that were just that.

Come Out, Come Out Whoever You Are!

I bet y'all didn't know that today is, well, yesterday was, a holiday!  It was National Delurker Day!!

And since I'm usually late for everything anyway, it's perfect that I'm celebrating today!  I know somebody's out there reading this other than my family and a few friends because my little traffic counter has gone crazy since I installed it Wednesday and I would love for you to leave me a comment just to say hey!

You might not be saying anything because your mama taught you like mine taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say about somebody, don't say anything at all.  I sure hope that's not so but even if it is, I still want to hear from you!

Remember, if you don't comment, you're letting the terrorists win.  :)

Okay, So Maybe My January's Not So Bad After All

I took this from my friend Brandy's blog because I was just SO STRUCK by it.  Here I am whining 'bout our morning temps in the teens and Laura and her family were HAPPY that it was ONLY 20 degrees below zero where they were.

Kinda puts things in perspective for ya.

This little peek into life for the Ingalls family comes from Laura's book The Long Winter.  I had all the Little House books as a girl and I remember reading this one.  This winter just dragged on and on and on for them.  Blizzard after blizzard cover the town, their supplies run out and they end up having to send Manly out to find food or they'll starve.

Kinda makes me feel like I should just hush and enjoy my winter.

They never had central heat, they never had a pantry full of food, they never had electric blankets and I betcha five dollars they never had a Snuggie (I don't either but I'm trying to make a point here).  Yet they were HAPPY that it was ONLY 20 degrees below zero.

Maybe I'll dig that old book out and read it again.

Another thing I want to touch on is how aggravated I get when somebody asks me, "Is it cold enough for you?" Gah!!  I cannot stand that.

My new aggravation is "Where's all that global warming we've been hearing about?"  I've been hearing that a lot this month.  Nobody ever said that because of global warming, we'd never have cold weather again.  We're still going to have winters and we're still going to have summers. It's the long-term climate change that we need to be concerned with.  I'm not going to turn this into a political debate but I am gonna say that even if you don't believe global warming is real, surely you believe that the earth is real.  There are things we should do to protect it anyway, whether we believe global warming is real or not.  Conserving electricity and water, driving energy-efficient cars and composting and recycling whenever you can to reduce garbage going to landfills are just little things that can make a huge impact on the earth.  She's everybody's home, whether we be tree huggers or tree cutters.  She's the only home we have.

Christmas Is Over (If You Want It)

I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, from Christmas cards and wrapping presents to watching Christmas movies and drinking eggnog by the fire.

BUT. (Y'all saw that but coming, didn't you??)

'Round about January, oh, let's say, the EIGHTH, it's time to put everything away for next year. Except in this case, it's THIS year, isn't it?

Some of my neighbors still have Santa outside. In this cold! I hope he don't bring them nothing this year.

It makes me absolutely crazy. Being a Southern girl, I'm used to seeing Christmas lights still up on houses in May but not big old giant inflatables. I drive past Santa and Frosty and Snoopy with his decorated dog house every day and they just hang their heads in shame. That might be because their air is low but I really think it's because they know they ain't supposed to still be out there.

Will We Or Won't We?

We might, just might, get a little snow tomorrow night.

If it's going to be THIS cold, the absolute least it can do is snow for us.

I'm just sayin'.

I'm still hating January.


***** Update *****

Uh, yeah, we didn't.

I Hate January

The holidays are over, the decorations are gone, we're two days into January and I effin' hate it already.  I don't do well in cold weather.  And it's cold here.  Cold as a welldigger's ass and since I come from a family of welldiggers, well, that's pretty cold.

It's so cold that the butter I keep in a little dish beside my stove is hard.  Of course, the heat is on but room temperature is keeping the butter hard.  Y'all. That can't be right.

It was in the mid-twenties last night and I know my Northern (read: Yankee) friends and readers are like "quit yer bitchin'" but I'm gonna whine any-dang-way, 'cause I'm a Georgia girl and it's 'sposed to be warm here, by God.  Monday night, it's supposed to be 18 degrees. 18!!!  I doubt I survive the night.

It's in the 40's today but the wind. Oh my God, the wind. The wind takes the cold to a whole 'nother dominion of hatefulness.  

I'm already longing for spring.  For sunny days to plant flowers, to spring clean my house and hang clothes on the line to dry.  To just be outside and listen to the birds sing.  

January sucks.  So. Hard.

But wait. What is this?? Could it be daffodils budding by my front door? Why, it is!  It is daffodils budding by my front door!!!