Sheldon Cooper

Thanks for all the suggestions to help spice up the cornbread quiche.  Glad you guys have a flair for the heat, too. 

Won’t lie- definitely had to google “white pepper” because I had no idea such a thing existed and was quite intrigued. Ahhhh the things I’ve learned as a blogger…

Anyway, yesterday was a day full of ups and downs.

Clearly, I don’t ever enjoy Tuesdays. Especially the morning- because there’s still the entire day to get through.Breakfast at work when I have to be there early is still pretty awesome. I use it as my “chill time” to ease into my day.

Plus, people tend to leave me alone until the plate is empty. Must be because they know my mood otherwise…

The day just seemed to drag. And drag. And drag.

Needless to say, I came home exhausted and feeling like “blah”. Really “blah”.

What helps?  Mail that isn’t a bill.

Especially when it comes from a dear friend. Who loves all the same things I do. And thought I should have this:I may have jumped up and down a little when I first saw the shirt.  I LOVE Big Bang Theory. Especially Sheldon. Oh Sheldon Cooper… you have my heart…

Ashlee is awesome. And when I thanked her for it, she said she and the husband were shopping and ran across the shirts in the men’s department. She grabbed one for herself and it was her husband who said she should probably get a matching one for me and send it my way.  Fantastic. Now we’re twins.

Best thing you’ve gotten in the mail recently?

That put me in an instant good mood- is it a coincidence the package arrived on a dreaded Tuesday or did she plan it? I’ll never know… But after that I might as well have skipped out of my apartment (which would have been dangerous given there are stairs).  Off to the gym!

It was a crosstraining day, so I did 28 minutes on the elliptical and a solid session of arm weights. And because I am chillin’ off the stairmill (oh hey- I’m still getting over climbing a skyscraper!) I just decided to hop on the treadmill for a mile.  When was the last time I just up and ran a mile?  Don’t remember. Even when I’m not training, it’s usually at least 2 or 3 before I move on to something else. It was nice.  That’s how an 8:20 mile at the end of my workout happened.  Not bad.

After getting home and a quick shower, you know I threw my Sheldon shirt back on. 

Do you think it’d be tacky to wear to work, too? Even if I wore a collared shirt underneath? (sexy sexy)

Bazinga!!!

And Exhale…

There’s a reason why my rest days fall on Thursdays.  I’m not ashamed to admit it.

We call it Grey’s Anatomy (which I was not overly impressed with last night, btw).

And The Office.  And Community.  And even 30 Rock on occasion.

And Big Bang Theory- which just recently made the move.

And Jersey Shore…

Am I missing anything?

Clearly I didn’t get to watch everything.  But at least I have something to keep me busy when I have downtime over the weekend, right?

I swear I don’t freak out about television that much.  But you wouldn’t have known that yesterday, huh?

When the Big Bang Theory started, I made sure to be positioned at my coffee table (acting as my dining room table) with food ready.Deli sandwich, a salad and Sheldon.  That’s all I need to make my Thursday night a good one. 

Nope- It’s not a coincidence that my rest day and the Thursday night lineup overlap.

Ahhhh….

If you’re training, or just like to workout on a daily basis, is there a reason you have your rest day scheduled for a certain time of the week?

By the way, I know a lot of you were intrigued by the Middle Sister wine.  I’ve had a couple different ones- all pretty fantastic in my humble opinion.  Check them out here if you’d like- the website’s pretty fun.  I took the quiz of which “middle sister” I’d be.  Turns out I’m a good fit for the “Drama Queen”, which is coincidently what we drank the night before.  Which I find amusing, but whatever… it was a pretty tasty wine.  Maybe I could use a little drama in my life… 

But there will be no drama tonight.  Only good times.  Rod Tuffcurls and The Benchpress are playing tonight.  And as much fun as their last couple shows were, how could we not go?

This weekend is PACKED.  All fun things (as you will see), but the sleep will be limited unfortunately… eek!

You can exhale and take a moment to enjoy the fact that it is FINALLY Friday. 

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

More Sweetness

So… how ya doin’?

Enjoying your Monday morning?  It seems your coffee’s getting a little cold and low.  You can go grab some more.  I’ll wait.

…. yeah, I grabbed some more, too.

Thanks for all the nice compliments on the baby shower cake I made Friday night.  I really do love baking.  Quite a few people have asked if I’d ever go into “the business”.  My answer to that is definitely NO.  Granted, I have no problems doing it for friends or people who ask from time to time. But never on a regular basis.  I think it would ruin the fun.  Because I’m usually wiped for a while after a big “order”. 

And I would probably end up eating 10 pounds of buttercream on a weekly basis.  If we’re being completely honest.

Anyways, don’t think I’m done talking about sugar just yet.  Because my breakfast yesterday was actually lunch and definitely a BBQ sandwich, I had breakfast for dinner.  If you know me, this isn’t really that uncommon.  I often have eggs for dinner.  But what about pancakes?Yeah, that’s right.  Want another look?Those are cinnamon roll pancakes.  In efforts to find an interesting new spin on my occasional pancakes, I ran across these at Big Red Kitchen.  I’ve been holding on to the recipe for a while.  Then today I just couldn’t take it anymore!  They seriously look like cinnamon rolls, right? 

Of course I put my own spin on it.  Mostly because of lack of ingredients.  I used my Trader Joe’s multi-grain pancake mix- looking back, I think making her version of the pancakes may have been more fitting.  But whatev.  I still added a little powdered sugar to the pancake mix and it was over the top indulgence!  My icing that I used was a really simple combo of milk and powdered sugar.  That’s how my grandma used to make it. 

One thing to be careful about?  Well… when you put the “filling” in the pancake, it does come out a bit when you flip it.  And if you let it sit there for the next round, it will most definitely burn.  So watch out for that.

Moving on… because I was still a bit tired from my night out on Saturday, I kept the workout light.  Which was how my Sunday was supposed to be anyways.  I did a slow 2 miles and walked another couple.  Then I did a little yoga, but about half way through I stopped and said “no Jillian, I’ve had enough today”.  I’m sure she’ll make me pay for that later.

Can you believe I almost forgot about the Emmy’s last night?  I just wanted to say congrats to MODERN FAMILY!  It was by far my favorite show all last season and I can’t wait for it to be back!  Also, JIM PARSONS won for playing Sheldon in Big Bang Theory!  My friend Ashlee and I texted each other immediately in excitement.  I still very much heart Sheldon. 

What show are you looking forward to this fall?  Modern Family and Big Bang Theory are the two I go out of my way for.  There are others… but they’re by far my favorites.

Alright- I gotta go and get this party started.  Have a good day!

A Little Whimsy

So you remember how I said Annie and I’d be doing an 8k together? It’s this one!PAWS Chicago is a great organization.  Quite frankly, I would have ran it anyways, just so I could do a race with Annie.  But I really do love that I’m supporting a good cause.  I’m not a pet person myself (let’s face it- trying to take care of my own self has proven to be challenging enough), but the cause is one I support 100%!

So that’s my big announcement for the day.  That’s all, kids…

Just kidding…

I wanted to run 5 miles.  But stopped at 4 instead and opted to spend the last “mile” on the elliptical.  Quite honestly, it was because my tush and inner thighs were still recovering a little from the shred/resistance band workout I had done the night before.  For reals.  Way more intense than I initially realized.  I did the 4 miles with an average of 8:30-paced miles.  This was fine. I had no desire to go faster.  I’m not kidding about my ass.  Then 12 minutes on the elliptical.  Here I go with the random numbers again- why 12?  Who knows… 

We all know my love of all things peanut butter.  So clearly I was intrigued when I found this stuff in my HLS swag bag:Barney Butter.  This stuff is made up to be THE almond butter to top them all.  What other way would I try it than with my breakfast?Looks good…  I tried to be all cute with it, but then it came out as just one big blob.  Lame.  I guess that’s what I get when I play with food.

It was actually good.  Granted, I feel that way about most almond butter.  But that’s not the point.  This one was good.  Better than others?  Not really.  It’s a bit sweeter than what I usually buy- I assume from some added sweeteners and such.  That being said, I still quite prefer my Trader Joe’s.  Nothing but almonds.  And maybe flax if you buy it that way.  All with a stronger taste- in my opinion.

It seems my world is slowly calming down and I’m feeling like I’m getting back into my routine after long birthday weekends, family vacations, half marathons, and Healthy Living Summits… whew.

Of course this routine doesn’t apply for tonight.  Yesterday I got the opportunity to swipe some concert tickets to a venue I’ve never been to.  They were free.  I said yes please!  It’s not like I didn’t have a set schedule for tonight of what I was going to eat and do at the gym and get done in the house, but in the words of the wonderful Sheldon Cooper of Big Bang Theory, “what’s life without a little whimsy?”

I may regret this decision tomorrow morning when I’m possibly sleep deprived and a bit groggy for other reasons including a bottle of adult beverage…

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done lately?

I don’t know if this is considered spontaneous or just stupid, but I made it all the way to work one day this week with the gas light ON.  Won’t lie- it made me pretty anxious every time traffic slowed down to a crawl…  Don’t get mad, mom.  I was running late.  And like to live dangerously…

Take it eeeeaaaaasssssyyyyy….

Ok, so I got my ticket for the Healthy Living Summit!  Hooray!  I’m really excited about going!  Drop me an email if you think you’ll be in attendance- I look forward to meeting you. 

Today is awesome (and yeah, it’s a little early to say that).  But that’s because it’s a day off for me.  Sometimes a mental health day is necessary, you know?  Plus, I have hours of baking ahead of me… so it’s an excuse to get started on that…

No baking can be possible without a healthy breakfast, right?  Otherwise, I’ll be spooning that cake badder into my mouth like it’s a smoothie.  Not pretty.  And kind of disgusting.My attempt at baked oatmeal that I adapted from The Running Rabbit.  It’s topped with unsweetened coconut, peanut butter, and a little honey.  Quite a few of you were surprised with my thing I have against most fruit (of course I like the less traditional ones, such as avocado and coconut)- I wish I understood it, but I don’t.  So my adaption naturally didn’t include the mashed up banana.  It was good- but I didn’t find it that much different than my regular stuff.  Maybe a little more creamy?

Gotta love the throwback 70′s ramekins, right?  Not pretty, but they do the job.

Today is a rest day, so I’ll be taking it easy.  I’m probably going to do a walking loop on the trail just to get a little movement into my day.  And let’s not lie- it’s a last effort to get some color before the wedding I’m attending this weekend.  I’d been hitting up the Jergen’s Natural Glo, but then realized I should chill out a little when I noticed some streaks on my hands and elbows.  I should have known better.  I can’t paint between the lines, what makes me think I can tan myself evenly?  I need a helmet…

Last night, however, was not a rest day and I got in a quick 3.1 after work at an 8:23 pace.  I may have done more of a cool down if I hadn’t of been in a rush to make sure I’d get a spot at the Summit.  Running after work on my later days (when I don’t leave the office until after 6:00) is going to be rough.  Hence the reason I’m considering switching to morning runs on these days.  But until then, I’ve been at least enjoying the nice weather we’re having.  Sure it’s a little cooler than it  usually is this time of year, but whatevs.

Oh and because I don’t get out on the trail until that perfect time where the sun is setting, and the bugs are starting to stir, I had the pleasure of inhaling a few bugs.  Through my nose and my mouth.  So that leads me to the ask the question- which is worse?  A bug up the nose or in the mouth?  I believe the nose thing is a pretty gruesome experience.  The one I swallowed quickly went…uh… down.  I’ve also had one fly into my eye before- which is why I almost always try to wear sunglasses.  Sure, I didn’t need them last night and ran in a lot of shade.  But I’m not taking any chances when it’s that hour within sunset and it’s bug city… blah!

Genesis tagged me for a blogger award yesterday and I just wanted to say thank you, my dear!

So you’re supposed to list some random things about yourself.  Let’s see if I can…

1. My favorite tv show is Big Bang Theory.  Mostly due to Sheldon.  He’s my nerd crush.  (What’s  yours?  This could be fun…)

2. I snuck into the Justified/Stripped tour when I was on a school trip in high school when we traveled to Dallas.  Two friends and I found ourselves in a suite for the entire Justin Timberlake performance!  Our supervisors probably should have been mad, but they just laughed because they couldn’t believe we successfully got in.  And found our way there.  In Dallas.  All by ourselves.  What were we thinking???

3. My dream job would have something to do with event promotions for either the city of Chicago or a sports club.  So you can imagine my disappointment when Chicago didn’t get the 2016 Olympics.  Seriously.

4. I know how to knit.  And have a blanket that has been in the works for over four years still in my closet.  I should finish that…

I’m horrible about tagging people for these things, so consider yourselves tagged! 

Wow… this post is kind of a hodge-podge of sorts.  But really- what’s new?  That’s just how I do things.  Well I’m off.  I have a quick trip to the grocery store to get some last minute things before Baking Bonanza 2010 happens in my little bitty kitchen.  Wish me luck.  More so that I don’t pass out in a sugar coma and let the cakes burn than anything else.  If we’re being completely truthful about it- that’s my only real concern.    So yeah… my goal is to get the shopping done and be back to my place in time for Regis and Kelly.  Think I can?  Annnnnnnd…. go!

(Oh and the title is a clear reference to the Eagles.  They kinda rock.  That is all.)

Hangin’ With The New Roomies

Well, I made it through the first day.  Good to hear, right?  The work day was hectic, but not awful (considering we’re short-staffed).  The commute was… uh… we’ll talk about the commute at a later time.  I still have to fully assess the situation.  But I made it to my temporary home in one piece!  Success!

I heard the little doggies barking as I let myself in.  Then they stopped… stared… and were confused.  Probably not the person they were expecting.  Hey girls… heeeeeyyyyy!

Either way, they may have been a little timid at first, but were all about the walk when I looked at them and went “are ya ready?!?!”  One of the neighbors recognized the dogs.  “Aren’t you getting married soon?  That must be coming up!”  Um… no, that would be Jaime… she’s blonde.  And four or five inches shorter… I found it funny she recognized the dogs but didn’t realize I wasn’t the owner.

When we got back, it was time for rest.  So I took it as a chance to get a good pic.  Say hello to my new roommates for the next couple of weeks!The sassy blondish one is Hazel.  She’s a yorkie-shih tzu.  The exotic darker lady is Princess- a yorkie-poo.  They will most likely be the guest stars of the blog sporadically over the next two weeks.

They watched in confusion as I worked in the kitchen to make dinner.  Jaime and Scott aren’t so much on the cooking- more on the carryout.  And yes, Jaime, the stove works great!  (It was broken for a few months before they got it fixed)

I made myself some Trader Joe’s pizza on a pita:Spinach, zucchini, and mushrooms with a little feta… This girl had a happy tummy.    And check out the sweet glass- we’re not in Cardinal territory anymore, are we?  Not everyone is a fan of the cubs, but we all love Harry Caray! Holla’!Back off girl… don’t touch my eats!

By the way, I think they’re warming up to the idea of having me around for a while.  Princess farted on me while I was catching up on the blogs with her in my lap.  And if one person is comfortable enough in a relationship to do that, I guess we’re doing good…

I also learned the word “outside” creates chaos in the household.

Oh and I feel kind of bad.  There is another roommate that almost got looked over.  But that doesn’t mean he’s any less important.  Hey everyone- meet “fishy”.Fishy is the quiet, dark and mysterious type.  He likes being that way.  So I won’t say too much about him. As to respect his dark demeanor.

Anyways… the rest of the night was spent getting used to my surroundings.  And chilling with the girls on the couch while watching Big Bang Theory.  We talked about it as a group and decided we all love Sheldon equally.

I didn’t sleep well.  But I think a lot of that comes from being in a new place.  That shouldn’t be an issue tonight being as how I’m a weeeee bit sleepy.

Yesterday was a rest day.  Unless you count the strength training aka three trips down my apartment and then up Jaime’s apartment stairs with heavy luggage (ok, so it was clothes and shoes- but dude, that’s heavy).  I need to figure out a workout for the night.  The Shred is doable.  But I need a yoga mat… hardwood floors are not so good for my back in my old age…   A lunch spent at Target (and the gods rejoice!) may be necessary.

Back to the Grind

Well it’s Tuesday and I’m back at work.  On my least favorite day.  Ick!  Oh well, it was soooo worth it. Ashlee and I had a blast yesterday.  We slept in (until like 8:30- woot woot!) and just slowly got ourselves going and making plans.  We narrowed it down to a museum day- Chicago History Museum and Field Museum.  I still hadn’t made my way into the History Museum yet, so I was ready.

We decided it might be fun to do breakfast in the city.  So I grabbed a Fiber One from the gift basket I got at Jaime’s shower to tide me over.  Thank god I did…  we took the metra in and tried out the bus system.  I never claimed to be an expert on public transit in Chicago.  Never.  I rely heavily on Google transit to tell me what to do.  But sometimes human error occurs.  And sometimes you end up getting on the wrong bus.  And sometimes you end up in areas you probably shouldn’t be.  Like what happened to us yesterday.  Uh… oops.  So the bus ride was a little longer than we thought it would take.  But we got to where we needed to get eventually:

Elly’s Pancake House!  Our brunch we planned to have around noon or a little after turned into lunch because of how late we had gotten there.  And we were STARVING.  Hamburger and fries for both of us…

No pictures, sadly.  Why?  Because my camera battery crapped out on me.  I didn’t realize it was low after the weekend.  Even that morning, I thought, “Should I charge my camera battery?  Nah… it has enough power surely…”  Nope.  I turn it on and get the message “Change Battery Pack”.  Damn!  Enough with the camera issues!!!  And Ashlee’s had died well before mine because she was already on day 4 of her trip…

So, I apologize for the grainy crackberry pics you will be seeing for the rest of the post.  But a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…

One thing that did go our way?  We made it to the History Museum, and it was a day of free admission!  Score!  So first, we checked out the children’s museum:

My legs weren’t even  long enough for that bike.  And I’m no shorty! 

Then we strolled upstairs… The little Playboy display was one of my fav things to look at.  Apparently the bunny costume was modeled after the measurements of this girl Suzy- who was decided to be the ideal proportions for the Playboy club.  Yeah… her waist was 23 inches.  I’d have to break a couple ribs to come close to that one…  And we won’t even talk about how much help I’d need to fill in the top of the costume… damn “runner’s boobs”.  :pMany of the exhibits had to do with the World Fair.  They had a train car you could walk into and around and pretend to be a member of the times.  Ashlee was Newton- a grocer who enjoyed the moving sidewalk exhibit. My card said I was Matilda- a widow who liked the Agriculture Building.  I decided she was probably a sassy broad.  Just like me.  The History Museum was a lot of fun.  We stayed until close.  Sadly, there was a fashion exhibit that was closed- we were both a little bummed about that one.  But honestly, time-wise we may have not gotten to see it anways.  After the History Museum closed, we decided to skip Field Museum (figuring by the time we got there, it’d be closed, too, if not already).

To Ogilvie we went to catch a metra back out to the ‘burbs.  Both of us just adore Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, so we got some carryout at a little Mexican place near me and made it back to my apartment just in time to watch it.  Turns out it was a rerun we had both seen, but really- it’s still hilarious.  Check out my burrito I got:

It was a chicken burrito the size of my head.  For reals.  Apparently my toes were just curling in excitement.  The awesome people at the restaurant gave us chips and dip while we waited for our food to be ready to carry out, so I didn’t need that at all!  After the pic, I took a knife to it.  Three meals out of this craziness.  Holy crap.

This morning I sadly took Ashlee to the airport on the way to work. It’s funny because we started chatting away as soon as I picked her up on Sunday straight through the entire trip all the way until I dropped her off.  I’m so glad she came!  She said they might try to make another trip up to Chicago over the summer.  I said fantastic.  Everyone loves the Chi in the summer…

Anyhoo, so that was my great weekend!  I loved it.  And now everything goes back to normal…  Back to work.  Back to my workout schedule (Nothing crazy tonight- just The Shred if I’m up to it because I really am a walking zombie today).  Back to my routine.  The sleep will be needed.  But she’ll be missed until I get to see her again! 

Have a good Tuesday everyone!  I’m gonna go grab another cup of coffee…

Where’s the reset button?

Yeah, my crabby Monday mood just got worse as the day progressed.  I had to deal with two completely unrelated customer service issues (my own personal things that have gotten all screwy) and not one of the calls helped me or made me any happier about the day.  Without getting too detailed about anything, various people just bugged me today.  Add that to my lack of sleep and you get an Amy you want to avoid.

Where the hell is the reset button on this day?!?! 

4:30 finally came.  Get in car (which is out of gas- but at this point, it’s not like that much more could actually bother me) and drive home after going out of the way to fill said car with gas.  Mental health break happened somewhere in the car ride home.  And a call from Annie really helped…  I usually don’t like long phone conversations.  I’ve adapted to the trend and am a much more avid texter.  Which can be difficult at times- sarcasm doesn’t translate nearly as well via text.  Either way- hearing my bestie’s cheery voice calmed me down back to normalcy.

And thank goodness for the gym.  Otherwise I would have resorted to a wine night- which would have led to another bad night of sleep and the vicious cycle would have continued.

I ran my allowed mile- a little under a nine minute pace.  I know I’m very well-equipped to be able to go faster.  It could be the fear of an injury repeat or it could just be I want to drag out my running as long as possible that keeps me from speeding up a little more that keeps me from speeding up.  No clue.  I’m not questioning it at this moment in time.

I also spent my time doing weights.  Then went home to do plyos in the privacy of my own home (sorry downstairs neighbors!).  Maybe next time, I’ll tackle the plyos first- after extensive arm attention, my form was lacking.  It lacks anyways (if I’m being  honest about it) but they were rough…  So I only took down 40 last night for the Core Challenge.  My focus is situps tonight after I add another quarter mile to my run.  It really is time to get outside soon.  I’m craving it.  This girl also needs a good dose of vitamin D that doesn’t come in the shape of a pill.  To get rid of some of those winter blues (which may have contributed to my crabby Monday).

After my killer plyos, I settled onto my futon for the end of the CBS lineup- which left me giggling, texting “Bazinga” to my friends during Big Bang Theory, and giggling some more.  I really do heart Sheldon.  

I also started finalizing plans for my trip to St. Louis for Mardi Gras.  I’m making the car ride down with three boys.  Things could get interesting.  I believe this will be the time that I learn how to become an efficient packer.  There’s only so much room when we’re traveling in a sedan and two of those boys are well over 6’4.  Believe it.  A pair or two of shoes may have to be left behind.  Also, I know exactly where they stop every time- it’s this Wendy’s along the interstate.  Don’t laugh because I am totally going to their website to check their menu to find something that I may consider edible.  I did not grow up on Wendy’s and never grew accustomed to it.  My stomach is not made of steel.

To sum up, Monday ended up not being so bad after I got away from the office.  I’m glad I figured out where that reset button was…

Come On, Leg!

I’m going back to the doctor on Monday. It’s been officially over a month since I’ve ran. An entire month. Even when I was half-assing workouts in college, I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long. Even as a beer chugging, rum sipping freshman I made it to the rec center a couple times a week.  Even when I was smoking I could still pound out a mile or two on a regular basis. 

The first week or two really sucked. I mean really. I sat around miserable. Pity party for Amy. All day and night. The crutches didn’t really help matters much. Once I got off of them, I started feeling a little better about things. I go to the gym three times a week to keep those lil’ arms and tummy in the best shape I can while lacking any cardio whatsoever unless you count my walking to and from the gym.

So you can understand my excitement for my next doctor’s appointment to check in and have x-rays (to make sure it hasn’t gotten worse or become a- heaven forbid- fracture) on Monday afternoon. I’m really crossing my fingers that he might start letting me do low impact activities such as the elliptical for the remainder of my down time.  Or hell- even yoga.

I still have every intention of doing the Shamrock Shuffle in March. It’s less than three months away. And I’m ready to rededicate myself to prepare for it. Of course I know my time will not be near what it could have been. But now, my victory will just be finishing a race again. SO FRUSTRATING. But it’ll be something.

I randomly lost a few pounds in the last couple of weeks.  At first I was pleasantly surprised.  Then I realized it’s a product of loss of appetite.  Due to inactivity.  And hell- probably loss of muscle mass.  Maybe not, but either way…  I feel yucky.  Yes, yucky.  There is no better way to describe it.

My friend is already relishing in his supposed Mario Kart victories he’s planning for tomorrow.  I told him I’m gonna find something to beat him at and do my victory dance in circles around him.  He said good luck finding something I’m better at.  I told him to just wait until I start running again.  We’ve ran together before and it’s only a matter of time until I’m dragging his butt up and down the trail… Just you wait…

Come on, leg.  It’s time to sit and heal on the couch and finish watching the Monday CBS lineup…  I heart you, Sheldon!

Giving Thanks

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, here are a few things I am thankful for this year.

1. Good Family and Friends.  I love you all dearly.  I’m excited to see the family in December when I go back for my brother’s college graduation and Christmas (the two trips back to Missouri in December are the reason I decided to sit Thanksgiving back home out this year).  I’m also thankful for all of my friends back in Missouri and here.  My mom won’t admit it, but I think she was terrified I would spend Thanksgiving by myself watching the parade with a Lean Cuisine in my lap.  Granted, this would probably help battle putting on holiday pounds, but I had various invitations to join my friends’ Thanksgivings.  Which I greatly appreciate.  I’m going to Jaime’s this year and am excited about trying out her dad’s good eats!  She says he thrives on the holidays, so I’ll be more than ready for it all!

2. My Health.  I’ve been lucky so far to survive the attack of the swine flu in my office building or any other little case of the sniffles.  Another shout out to my love for running should probably be inserted here.

3. My Job.  I may complain about this or that from time to time- but you know what the unemployment percentages are.  Enough said.  And it makes it all the better that I love the majority of the people I work with.  Another reason my move has been so easy and great.

4. My Clarity in Various Aspects of My Life and Confidence in the Future.  The rose-colored glasses are off (as Jaime said once).  I know what I want and refuse to settle for anything less.  It takes a while to actually get yourself to face it, but once you do, it really is a weight off your shoulders.  Everything’s looking beautiful!

5. My Sarcasm.  Because someone’s gotta be grateful for it. 

6. My Apartment.  I love my cozy little nook.  In my lovely little city.  Next to my wonderful big city.

7. My Discovery of Trader Joe’s Wine.  And this also goes along with being thankful for the close proximity of the Trader Joe’s next to my apartment.  This could also be dangerous for my wallet, but we’ll worry about that later.

8.  The Monday night CBS lineup and Grey’s Anatomy.  I heart Sheldon.  And McSteamy…

9. That I No Longer Work Retail.  In college, it was the most stressful time of the year, the schedule always sucked, and people were straight-up mean for no reason.  I cannot stress enough how happy I was to finish working my last holiday season (which in retail world, technically extends through a good majority of January- returns… shoot me now!!!).

10.  The combination of chocolate and peanut butter.  It doesn’t get any better.  Another reason why I’m that much more grateful for my love of running…

So yeah… that’s what I’ll be thinking about alllllll tomorrow.  That’s a lie.  It’ll be the friends, family and food part.  Besides, it’s not Monday and Grey’s Anatomy will probably be a rerun… 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!