Wednesday Confessions

I've been in training class the last few days and super busy at night this week. Needless to say, ye olde blog has gotten a little neglected. However, I LOVE Wednesday confessions and the blog hop and I have to fire off a one on my lunch.

Before we get started, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KEV!!!! I can't believe it's been 8 years. I really can't believe that someone could live with me and my... quirks for that long. :) LOVE YOU!

Confession - I don't like to take no for an answer. Some people might look at it as being aggressive, some people call it stubborn, I call it persistence. Case in point. I went to Earth Fair to get some meat and decided on a bacon wrapped, Greek marinated Turkey medallion skewer. (Yes, it's delicious)

Here's my convo with the Meat Counter Man:

Me - So how do I cook this?
MCM - There's instructions on the sticker.
Me - Cool
MCM - You can grill it.
Me - No Bueno, I don't work the grill by myself. Can I put it in the oven?
MCM - I guess.
Me - How long would I cook them?
MCM - Ehhhhh, until the juices run clear
Me - How long is that?
MCM - You should check it
Me - How long? In an hour, 5 minutes?
MCM - Check it often.
Me - What temperature should I cook it?
MCM - Until it reaches 165 degrees inside.
Me - OK, what should I set the oven to?
MCM - Medium
Me - MEDIUM? Set the oven to MEDIUM?
MCM - Or Medium High
Me - OK, to recap, I should set the OVEN to medium, leave them in there for an undetermined amount of time, anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and check them periodically until the juices run clear, whenever that happens.
MCM - Looks scared and nods.

In my defense, I'm not trying to be aggressive, I just want instructions on how to cook the damn meat. You are wearing a white jacket and a paper hat, I assume you know more about meat than I do. I rely on your expertise to guide me towards a delicious meal that won't give me food poisoning. Is that really too much to ask???

Confession - I'm loud. I really don't think this is a confession to anyone who's ever met me. I'm not the shy quiet flower type. Kev swears that my voice carries at a different frequency than the rest of the population, that's why it stands out over everyone else. And I'm not sorry about it. I'm not sorry for being me.

 

 

Confession - I'm not really the "nurturing" type. Kev called me out on this after like our 4th date. Thankfully he didn't run away screaming afterwards. I care about the people and things I care about but I don't get upset by things happening in the world. It sucks and is terrible but I don't really have 'feelings" about them. If you've ever taken the Myers Briggs test, I'm a text-book ENTJ. Thinking over feeling, I just don't have the feels gene. Don't get me wrong, I can tear up with the best of them (OMG, when Clara answered the phone and it was #11?!?!?! So many feels, damn you Moffat.)

 

I also don't know what to do when people cry in front of me. I really don't. When I have to have tough conversations with people I bring a box of tissues so I can awkwardly push them across the table when someone starts to sob. I can try a one-armed hug but we're both going to feel worse afterwards. 

 

 

That's all for me today! Don't forget to head over to Fitness Blondie and Vodka and Soda for the blog hops!

 



Wednesday Confessions

Hey all! As you;re reading this, hopefully I'm on the beach. My SIL and her family came to visit and we took off for a little overnight beach trip. Have I mentioned that I LOVE living 2.5 hours from the beach?

It's time for a Weds Confession and a Link-Up with Vodka and Soda and Fitness Blondie. Yes, I do a lot of Link-ups. This blog is a baby blog, gotta spread the Cookies Cardio and Clothes love any way I can, right?

 

Confessions:

 

1. I apparently have a love of making lists. I noticed that 80% of my blog posts are lists of some sort. It's like I'm a mini Buzzfeed.

 

 

Maybe next week I'll figure out what kind of potato I am.

 

 

2. I was taking some compliance classes at work yesterday and could not stop laughing at the harassment section. It was so ridiculously fantastic.

 

 

I had the choose the inappropriate comments. The highlighted one says, "If any one can help a man last an hour, it's Diane." There was a section that asked me what I learned and the only thing I could come up with is that Diane is extremely skilled in what she does.

 

 

3. When I get up in the middle of the night to pee, I don't flush the toilet. I'm not trying to save water or anything like that. When you flush, the cat hears and thinks you're up for the day. Then she meows at the door and WON'T STOP. I have to get up and lock her in the spare bathroom to get back to sleep. Yes, I tip toe around the house so I don't disturb the cat.

 

 

 

4. In the theme of disgusting confessions, the only time I replace my shower poof is when I accidentally leave it in a hotel bathroom. I'm sure those things should be replaced every 6 months or something and that just doesn't ever happen. I figure that it gets soap and water on it, it's gotta be clean.

 

 

5. I went to get my eyebrows threaded on Sunday and when I sat down, the lady looked at me and said, "Oh, it's been a while since you've been here." Look lady, I'm aware that I look like Wilford Brimley right now. Let's just take care of them without the side comments, mkay?

 



 

 

6. I can't for the life of me remember what I wore last week but I can recite words for word some random song from an obscure hair band that I haven't heard in 20 years.

 



 



How often do you change your shower poof?

 

Do you have to hid from your animals?

Wednesday Confessions

Hey, it's Wednesday and you know what that means, it's time to link up with Vodka and Soda. I'm sure you noticed that I've been linking up a lot recently, reason being, it's a great way to find new bloggers and to maybe get a few more viewers. If you've ended up here from the link-up, HI, (waves)

Today I was thinking about a few things that I need to confess, so here goes.

 - Sometimes when I'm at the mall and I'm a little hungry, but not hungry enough to actually order a meal, I do the "Walk of Chicken". You know how all the Chinese / Japanese restaurants wave you down with chicken pieces on toothpicks, yea, I pretend like I'm interested, eat the Bourbon Chicken piece, nod and tell them I'll think about it. I never come back...

During the Walk of Chicken, look for the people behind the counter, they'll give you multiple pieces.

 - I kinda still like Creed. (hides face in shame) I actually have "Higher" on my running play list. I can't even begin to justify it. 

 

 - Sometimes I take Cleo for a walk and it turns into a 2 poo walk but I only have one bag. I just run away. I actually feel pretty bad about this. I take a bag, she poops, I throw it away, we walk more, she poops again, I get scared and run away. I carry 2 bags, she poops one time. Argh....

 - I eat raw cookie dough, cake batter, brownie batter, you name it. I know it might give me salmonella, but it's too delicious. I'll probably stop when I actually get food poisoning, but until then, everything is up for grabs.

I've had food poisoning a few times, once from a burger and it takes me a lot to actually want to eat a burger. Seriously, I might have had 10 in the last few years. I'm sure I'll have the same issue with cookie dough if things ever go bad, but until then, EAT ALL THE DOUGH.

 - I'd rather text than talk on the phone. Ugh I know it's awful but I can text in-between doing other things.

 - I love me some Honey Boo Boo... and Hoarders and People's Court. I seriously can't help myself.

 - I don't trust really tall people. Like really, really tall people. What do they see all the way up there? I think it's an entirely different world up there and I just don't trust it.

 

 

  - I can't decide if Benedict Cumberbatch is attractive or funny looking. In some angles I think, ooooo, yes. And in others, eww.

 

This one is a yes.

 

Don't forget there's still a little time left to enter my give away here!

Have you ever done a "Walk of Chicken"?

 

Benedict Cumberbatch, hot or funny looking?

Scenes From the Weekend and Some Cake!!

Wow! The weekend really went quickly! With starting the new job Monday I'm just now getting around to recapping the weekend. I don't know, is this a terrible blogger faux pas? For some reason I don't think my 11 followers would be terribly upset. You're cool with it, right? Yay.

 

And because it's wednesday, I'm linking up with Vodka and Soda! I just love her snark, definitely head over there and check her out!

 

 

Alright, on to the weekend. I did a bit of baking, a bit of cooking and a crap-ton of laundry. I'm really starting to hate laundry. It's my Sunday evening nemesis. At least I get to watch whatever TLC awfulness is currently playing. Yep, it's been me and Sister Wives for the last few Sundays.

First up, I decided to make some Paleo Brownies. I used the recipe here with a few exceptions. I removed about a third of the coconut flour and added coco PB2 instead. I thought it would give it a nice peanut buttery undertone, which it did. I also only used about 1/3 cup of honey and added some Enjoy Life chocolate chips. 

The weren't bad. Definitely had that coconut flour taste but the PB2 helped.

After the baking session, I had to head to PetSmart, then it was time for the pool. I was kinda hungry and decided to make a smoothie. I received some coupons from Influenster to test the new Jamba Juice at Home Smoothies and decided to try the Green Fusion Smoothie. I'm going to do a full review on what I received but I have to say, this one was pretty tasty!

I took that, some water and a can of seltzer to the pool while Kev played tennis. I needed to work on the horrible farmer's tan I'm still sporting.

That evening we headed to the Angus Barn for dinner and I was 2 cosmos in when my food came. Sorry, no pictures. We split a giant Prime Rib and some vegetables. It was delish.

Sunday came pretty quickly and one of the things on my agenda was to try out a new to me gym. My new job is in a different part of town than my old one and I'm a little worried about my ability to get to my old gym in time for my classes. I wanted to see if there was anything closer and I stumbled across Lifetime Fitness. It turns out they're a little more out of the way than I thought but damn, it was a nice gym. They have a rock climbing wall, 2 studios for classes, a spin studio with 80+ bikes and a crazy awesome pool and cabana.

I tried to get a lower rate in exchange for promoting them on my blog and social media. They weren't impressed by my tens of followers. 

Instead I went to a Cardio kick boxing class that was taught by a young Billy Blanks.

Anyone else remember Tae-Bo?

Every time I go to kickboxing, I remember how much I love it. I used to LOVE Body Combat classes and sadly the gym I was going to changed the schedule and no more combat. I need to find a gym that offers it regularly or I need to become an instructor myself. 

In the mean time, I'll have to stick with the classes. I started off with 10 minutes on the treadmill and then an hour class.

Not too shabby.

When I got home, Kev was asking for strawberry shortcake and instead of buying biscuits or one one those awful store angel food cakes, I decided to make one from scratch. It was surprisingly easy and a whole lot tastier (and healthier) than the store version.

Angel Food Cake:
12 egg whites
1 1/3 cup of sugar
1 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup cake flour

1. Separate the eggs and bring them to room temperature. Cook up the egg yolks and feed them to the dogs (we're pet sitting). Or you could read the entire recipe before buying ingredients and just get a carton of egg whites.
2. Mix eggs and cream of tartar for a few minutes (like 2). Start adding the sugar verrrrry slowly and whip them up until stiff peaks form (5-7 minutes)
3. Fold in the salt, flour and baking soda mixture.
4. Pour it all into one of those bundt pans, make sure it's sprayed with no stick stuff.
5. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until it's slightly browned.

Add some strawberries and whipped cream and you're good to go!

Shameless Plug, you likey what you see here? Follow me on social media, especially if you like bad pictures of random food.

What's your favorite summer treat??

A Study in Animal Backsides or My Trip to the DC Zoo

Hi all, we are back in sunny NC after a quick trip up North! I'm a little late linking up for the Weds Blog Hop, but hey, better late than never! Thanks again Fitness Blondie and Vodka and Soda for their respective hops! Also, be sure to check out Hey Trace, she's one of the co-hosts this week!

I apologize for the long post, especially for those popping over from the hop who aren't used to my rambling. This post is chock full of pictures, my fantastically crappy iPhone pictures. I was reading up on a blogging group and one of their requirements was that you feature high quality, professional pictures. Nope, not gonna happen. You get me and my off center, bad lighting pictures. Enjoy!

Yesterday morning we left Western NY bright and early. Of course a stop to the glorious Tim Horton's was in order. I also had a sour cream glazed timbit. Seriously the BEST donuts. Every single other donut I've ever eaten gives me a stomach ache. Not Tim Horton's though!

After about 2 hours of driving, it was time to for breakfast. We stopped in Central PA at the Dutch Pantry. In that part of the state, there's a strong Amish population and the food definitely reflects it. I really did take a picture of the place mat and all the delicious deserts. OMG, I remember eating so much Hot Fudge Ice Cream Cake in high school. I swear I haven't seen it on a menu since then.

Kev had to get the 3 for $1 Apple Fritters. They tasted exactly like they looked. Amazing...

I went with the traditional eggs, sausage and biscuits and ate probably a third of it. It was exactly what I wanted to to be.

Funny enough, one of my friends from college used to work there a while ago AND she was in town that day. We were apparently passing each other on that stretch of highway. So close I swear on one of these trips we'll finally meet up.

And a picture of the PA Turnpike, for no reason, except for me to turn into a cranky old man and complain about how ridiculous the tolls are. When I moved away about 10 years ago, I used to frequently drive the turnpike to get home. It was .90 between exits. NINETY CENTS. Yesterday it was $2.60. Thankfully I didn't even look at the price from Breezewood to Pittsburgh, I might have lost my mind. It was $4.40 when I first moved and something like $12 the last time I checked. The road is just as crappy as ever and there's no reason for it to be that dang expensive. OK, rant over. (fist shake)

After being on the road for a while an iced coffee was in order. I confess, I'm cheating on my Breuggers Hazelnut coffee. I've developed a new love for Einstein's Vanilla Hazelnut coffee. Iced and hot, they're both delicious. Flavored by beans and not syrup, amazing. Now to find one nearby.

Finally we got the the National Zoo in DC! Animals!!

First up, Prairie Dogs! Oh, look, a picture of its butt. (Needless to say, this theme carried throughout the day)

We got some side-eye from a tiger.

I found my new favorite animal, the lion faced golden tamarin. It was SOOOOO cute! 

Then we saw the backsides of some elephants. Nope, they never turned around.

We never did see an otter but I was really amused by their names. I love that Whole Food was the naming sponsor and they chose food names. Except Kevin. I wonder who Kevin is? Hmmmmm

Next we moved over to the Pandas. They were all asleep.

The we saw Panda Mission Control. It looks like ALL the Pandas were sleeping. 

After the pandas we found the backside of some Zebras.

One of the things I was really looking forward to was seeing the invertebrate house. Octopus and squid and stingrays are some of my favorites but unfortunately it was closed until further notice. The guide said there wasn't enough funding to keep it open. It stinks but it's also a reminder we need to support our National Parks and Zoos. The admission was free but they rely on donations to keep the exhibits open. 

Instead Kev bought me an octopus. I named him Mr Squiddles. He also gives great side-eye.

We had a fantastic time at the zoo, it was a great way to break up the trip. Now I'm harassing Kev for a trip to the NC Aquarium the next time we head to the beach.

What's your favorite animal??