Back To The Gym

It's been a while since I have been to the gym. Travel, vacation, and really hot weather have been the main drivers in keeping me away. But the good part is, I returned.

I got out of work and went straight to the gym. Going home would have doomed me to surfing the web, watching TV, and reading books. I know, it's been part of the reason I have been away so long. I got to the gym and hopped on the elliptical for a while just to ease back into things. I jammed to my IPOD which took a little bit of set up, but I got it working, and had a good old time.

When I left the gym, a considerable increase of people were trying to find parking spaces for the gym. Often they will troll the aisles in hopes of finding one right near the door. I have taken to just parking in the first spot I see, but watching people do this baffles me. They are going to the gym to presumably work out for some period of time and can't walk an extra 30 yards to plenty of available parking. Of course, I don't understand the two people who were next to me on the elliptical machines who grabbed the hand rails to off set their weight and paddle really fast either. At least they were all making an effort to be there. That's more than some I guess.

Wireless Freedom

After two and a half months, we finally plugged in the wireless router! That means I am writing to you from the comfort of the couch downstairs. Very exciting. The biggest challenge is going to be to see if this connection doesn't flake out on me like the last time I plugged it in. But in the meantime, I will enjoy the ability to sit on the back deck with a drink and playing on the internets.

Sly Fwatting

Have you ever been the only one to see a fly buzzing around and you find yourself following it like a cat would? Erratic flying patterns making your head jerk around and the urge to swat at it peaks as soon as it almost lands?

I noticed a lead at work doing this today. I did not see the fly and without knowing what she was doing, she looked like a crazy person chasing imaginary air things. But I imagine this is what I look like after I have found a fly that is bugging me. Moving my head all around, very intent on killing, smacking my hands together multiple times, sounding as if I don't know how to applaud properly. It really bumps my score in the "acts real grown up like" category. In fact it's happening now as I type this. Clearly a very current topic.

I also kind of wonder if flies aren't something of dare devils themselves because they always seem to be just out of reach and move a millisecond before the paper/hand/swatter would have made squashedness out of them. Also, and this may prove some days I don't have enough to do, if you don't actually really hit the fly dead on, they will wait a while and then get up and move around again. They get to feign their own death.

All in all, I think flies were put here to make us crazy. And be food for spiders. That's about all their usefulness that I can tell. And quite frankly, I would be happier if the spiders starved. I don't care for them either. So, in closing, I leave with you Bucky as he analyzes the species.

Close Encounters with Famous People

I don't know how many of you watch the Food Network, but it's in my top ten that I check for interesting shows. Tonight they had a Food Network Challenge for Chocolate Runway outfits. I am pretty sure the model were kept in the fridge until the time to walk the runway.

Anywho! If you have watched it, you may know Alton Brown. He is the host of several shows "Good Eats", "Feasting on Asphalt", "Iron Chef", and others. The show, "Good Eats" is all about how to do it "the right way" and answering the why behind doing it that way. Kind of fascinating and gives me a new appreciation for specific methods. That and he is a little nerdy. Let's face it, I have a soft spot for nerdy people.

Now most of the time I don't have the kind of time he demands for "proper cooking", but I like to watch it all the same. My favorite part of his shows are his trips to the grocery store. The grocery store he goes to all the time is Harry's Farmers Market which happens to be located in *drum roll please* Marietta, GA! For those of you who have no idea where that is, it's in the same town I work in and live 15 minutes from. So I have actually shopped at the store where he shops! How fabulous!!

Of course, I have never seen him there, but I know exactly where he is in the store when I see him on TV AND I am almost certain we have both been in the same exact location. This probably sounds stalker-ish. I am ok with that. He's pretty cool. If I ever went and he was shopping, I would totally ask for his autograph.

He has also been to the library I visit routinely. There was a sign up that you could pay to hear him speak. I didn't make it, but it makes me think he probably lives in the area somewhere. Wouldn't be unheard of. Famous people need to live SOME where.

I'll Take The Bananas

I dislike Publix. It's a well known fact. I dislike it for many reasons. Some of these include not being able to find at least one item on the grocery list each time I go to the store. Last time I went it was turkey pepperoni, the time before that, lady fingers. Before that it was Green Chilie Sauce. You get the idea.

I don't feel like I am asking for things that are harvested from the Planet Jupiter, but sometimes they make you feel like you are. It took three people to find pine nuts. The first two didn't know what they were. Same deal with Chorizo Sausage.

Now I will admit, they did offer to bake up some baguettes while we were shopping because they were out and we wanted a loaf. And they do eventually get you what you need. But the crap you have to go through sometimes is a little retarded.

Of course my favorite part of the trip is the bagging. I am perhaps used to Wegmans process a little too much. The cashier scans and bags together. So putting things on the belt in the order you want them bagged will result in desired results. Not so with Publix because the cashier scans it and tosses it to a bagger who can choose what to put in the bag as things come to them. It's a crap shoot to see what happens with the eggs, bread, and fruit I buy. Let's not even talk about the rest of it.

So now I try to eliminate smashed bananas by just telling them, "Oh I'll take those, thanks." What would make me really happy is if I could just bag it myself. But I guess knowing what's coming makes it easier for me to deal with it when it comes around again. I know I am a little OCD in this cateogry, but since it's a weekly event that will happen for the rest of my life, not much will change it aside from winning the lotto and having other people shop for me. I can dream...

Can We Afford That??

Planning for a wedding is probably the most interesting and unique experience of my life to date. Of course there is the obvious part, getting married to the love of my life. But then you have to figure out all of the details that go along with it and since we are not eloping, there are a lot of them. Where to get married? Who to invite? What are we going to wear? What are we going to eat? When do we want to have it? And the biggest driver for all the prior questions is - can we actually afford that?

Thankfully some resources have broken down the percentage of your total budget to tell you what should go where, but even still... holy cow! One of the break downs totals 105%. I don't think that's really going to help. Another issue is that some of it's just not really defined. For instance, there is no category of spending for centerpieces. I suppose you just steal from some other category, lump it in with the miscellaneous category (as well as every other thing you don't have a spot for), or you merge in with flowers category and call it a day. Or better yet, I can call on Ben to hijack at least two centerpieces per wedding until ours and we should have enough to go around. Brilliant!

I think I just had no idea how much of a balancing act all of this will turn out to be. What may not seem like a bad price for a DJ may end up being totally out of line with what you "should" have spent according to your total budget. I now have new found respect for those who have already planned a wedding a lived to tell about it.

What I am really trying to say is when you enter our hand made sand castle we built on the beach for the reception and see PB&J and bananas for dinner, but it is really well decorated, you'll know we clearly had no idea how much flowers would really cost. I can see the calculator and myself becoming very good friends over the coming months.

My Birthday and ME!

Some may know, I had a birthday recently. It's finally pushing me into the late twenties, but I am protesting that it's mid twenties until March. Mostly I don't care about that. Although I do know that youth is something to treasure and am trying to enjoy it.

Last year I mentioned the birthday week and this year I am happy to say, I executed it quite well. Andrea and Tyler's visit kicked it off and had a blast with them. Having only a 3 day work week was pretty fabulous. Wednesday I went out after work with some co-workers to help celebrate with a happy hour (or four). Thursday by default was a celebration day because it was my sister's birthday.

My actually birthday fell on an off Friday which was a pretty spectacular bonus. I slept til I felt like getting up, then watched TV for an hour or so and ate breakfast. I took my time getting ready and headed out for my spa appointment. I stopped over to Borders first to use my gift certificate I received. I got the next Jasper Fforde book and one I mentioned before, I Was Told There'd Be Cake.

The spa was lovely although sadly, it was not the best massage I have ever gotten, however it was still relaxing. I also spent an additional hour in their locker area in the steam room, then shower, and getting ready. If I am going to spend that kind of money, I plan to use their facility to my advantage and pamper myself.

I headed over to Vinings for some ice cream from Cold Stone for lunch and shopping. I was quite successful on both counts. I even landed on a surprise bonus round at Ann Taylor Loft. Every now and then they have sales for about a month where if you buy $50 worth of stuff you get a $25 off coupon in the next month when you spend $50. They were double the coupons so when you spent $50, you got 2 $25 coupons. My kind of deal.

Rob and I went to dinner out to the Thai Dinner. I didn't really have any particular place in mind, but I had been craving Thai food. Not to mention, they wait on you hand and foot and there's never a long wait for your food.

All in all, it was a fantastic day. I only hope next year is just as nice. :)