loaner

Wow. That's all I can say about my loaner car today. I've become accustomed to a new Volvo as a loaner car. When I took the Prius in for service this morning I thought I'd get a shiny new Toyota to drive around. ...Perhaps something that they had on the lot and would have me drive for a day in hopes of getting me to consider buying a new model. Nope. I got an old Corolla with over 123k miles on it. It's all beat up, no remote locks or power windows, nothing. It was a little comical to me. I didn't necessarily expect a brand new Avalon but something a little snazzier than an old Corolla.

easy a

I just checked my HR grade. No surprise, I got an A. It's not because I'm just that damn good but because I'm pretty sure everyone got an A. The professor basically told us in the beginning the only way to get a bad grade was to just flat out not turn something in. That means I'm officially halfway through my coursework. I mostly have core classes left to do.

I went to a lunch and a movie yesterday with Mistress since she was off for the holiday. We saw No Strings Attached, much better than I was expecting. It, of course, had a completely predictable ending but it managed to be really funny. We followed the movie up with a free cupcake from Jones Bros Cupcakes, soooo good! In case you live in the area and don't know; they announce their cupcake of the day on fb and if you go in and name it, you get it for free! Yesterday was Chips A'hoy which I didn't have high hopes for but it was REALLY good.

I have the gym today. I wish I could get my lower half looking as toned as my upper half. However, I think the only cure for my lower half is fewer cupcakes, quesadillas, and less wine. That doesn't sound like much fun.

OH. I think I figured out what I'm going to give up for Lent. I was really struggling because our vacation is during Lent so I didn't want to give up cheese or alcohol or basically any food. I'm going to give up swearing! I don't think I swear much until I hear Ralphie say, "What the hell?" I definitely need to put a stop to that before a grandparent hears it! I'll put a quarter in a bank or something as a penalty, maybe more. We'll see how it goes...

projects

We painted our basement over the weekend and all I can say is... WHAT TOOK US SO LONG? As in, it looks so much better. Why didn't we do that two years ago? We didn't realize how dark and cold it felt in there until we painted it a lighter, warmer tone. It's a shame we have to sell. ;)

Yago and I experienced the curse of the second visit over the weekend. Let me explain. Frequently we find a phenomenal restaurant (or anything, really) but when we go back a second time we are disappointed. So goes with a gourmet Mexican restaurant that we went to a couple of months ago. Oh well. Yago was good company.

After a weekend of really bad eating I'm going to go to the gym. Perhaps I'll even take in a movie today.

who's crazier?

Yago thinks I'm crazy for dreaming of having a home library one day. I've got about 70 leather-bound books that I'm hanging on to in anticipation of the day that I have a dark, mahogany library that boasts a giant crackling fireplace and a huge leather chair with a cashmere blanket careless slung across it. Insert a small table with a snifter of expensive brandy and you get the idea. What's wrong with that? I kind of gave up on owning a boat and having a posh in-ground pool. Well, the pool thing I haven't totally given up on but I'll settle for a canoe instead of a big speed boat. Maybe the house will be on a lake surrounded by mountains. Is this too much to ask?

Yago insists I can have the same experience at the public library. (?????) I don't even know how to respond to that. I think he's crazy.

easy cheesy...

I never realized how many of my friends had kids with b-days on V-day until I was scrolling through FB this morning. Okay, maybe it's only two but still...

We spent the weekend trying to work on the basement, painting and taping. Boring but it's starting to come together. So much work to do and I still have a paper to write, I'm not very motivated. I set my alarm for 5:00 am but didn't get out of bed until 6:00. Once up, I spent the time discovering v-day b-days on fb instead of reading and writing.

I will do it today, finish the book and write my paper. Also? I've decided to give up wine and cheese until Friday. (Nothing too crazy, just until Friday.) We'll see what this does for my weight. The quesadilla-and-half-bottle-of-wine-a-day diet isn't working too well for me. However, after deciding to nix the cheese all I can think about is the half wedge of brie in my fridge.

Three weeks until our vacation! Very excited. Also very stressed because we want the house ready before we go.

am i that freakish of a size?

I've been given the go ahead (actually it was a recommendation after last weekend) to buy a new swimsuit. I found one that I like surprisingly quickly online. The only problem is that I can't try it on so I need to study the sizing chart fastidiously. And now the problem... My bust size is XS (no surprise to those who know me), my waist a M, and my hips a 1XL. Seriously? It also gives no guidance for height which also means I risk buying a suit that will force me to continuously pull wedgies. Always fun if you're not already self-conscious enough in a swimsuit! Being just shy of 5'7", regular-sized clothes are often just a smidge too short and the tall size is way too long. Annoying.

wah

Our dog just chewed up the wolf ears that Ralphie got with his kid meal at Great Wolf Lodge last weekend. Oh the drama. He's pissed and inconsolable but I've told him repeatedly that you can't leave that stuff out with the dog around. I suppose I should be more sympathetic, understanding that a three-year-old is NOT going to put his stuff away. But can I say I'm sick of picking up legos, hockey sticks, cars and whatever random crap he decides he wants to dump all over the living room. It's like groundhog day around here.

And? The painting has not gone so well. I should have sprung for the expensive painter's tape because the crap I bought was awful. We've got two out of three bathrooms kind of done but have one bathroom with about 15 foot ceilings and a humongous basement to do. Plus we have to do all the baseboards, it's a lot of work ahead. I hate selling houses.

palm reading

Today is another snow day, Schmitty is one lucky kid. I don't remember getting that many snow days growing up. I remember praying for them frequently but I don't recall actually getting that many.

We painted the downstairs bathroom over the weekend. Yago removed the border that had been painted over by the previous owners and then sanded the walls. There are a couple of spots that will require touch-ups but it looks pretty good. Maybe today I'll start one of the upstairs bathrooms. I'm feeling ambitious and grubby. Ambitious may be overstating it...

Yesterday I bought groceries and had some difficulty finding what I wanted. First, organic peanut butter without palm oil and other crap. What's wrong with just organic peanuts and salt? Second, shrimp that's not from Thailand. I just don't trust it. I finally found some from the US but it wasn't easy. Third, domestic salmon that doesn't cost an arm and leg. I finally settled on some from Iceland. Iceland has standards, right? When did grocery shopping get so complicated? I asked about the availability of rabbit at the meat counter, I got quite a reaction. Rabbit isn't such a strange choice in some parts of the world, I saw it regularly in Germany. If I can buy pig face at a local Hy-Vee, why is rabbit strange? I'm curious as to how it would taste when not prepared over a fire at survival school.

I'm going to go find a can of paint. Wish me luck!