Saturday Six 4/7/12

Sorry for the radio silence lately. Life exploded (crazy work schedule, trip to Indy, my grandma passed away, and we both got a nasty stomach bug) and then I hit a bit of a rut (a book rut, writing rut, blogging rut, life rut). But life is settling back down (again) so how about a Saturday Six to get back in the blogging swing of things?

1. Allergies. I have them. And hate them. I actually had to call in this week because I felt so bad I thought my head was going to explode. Not a fun way to feel.

2. Spiders. I have them too. For some reason we’ve had a ton of these little quarter sized off-white/tan colored spiders. Doug sprayed around the house but we’ve still seen a few. I actually went to pull out a measuring cup to make Easter dessert earlier and there was one in the cup!! Ahhhhh!! Not cool.

3. So my favorite rock star – Stefan Lessard from Dave Matthews Band. Has started following some of his fans on Twitter. I got followed today. I am a happy girl!

4. We decided this week that we are going to go to an IndyCar race this summer. I cannot wait. We went to an IndyCar fan thing in February and I got to meet a few of my favorite drivers and had so much fun. There is such a great group of fans for this sport and I love being part of it.

5. On that note – I’m not going to get to see DMB in concert this summer. I am bummed. Doug can only request time off so far out and by the time he was able to request and it was approved there were only single seat tickets left. We prefer seats over lawn (Doug’s not a big lawn fan) so we decided to go with the race instead. I’m excited about the race but kind of bummed about the concert. However I am still keeping an eye out for any ticket giveaways

6. I’m in a major book rut. The last few things I’ve read have actually been Jen Lancaster books – which I’ve already read. I have quite a few books I’ve never read on my shelves but nothing is jumping out at me. I’ve written down a few titles that my book blogging friends have mentioned lately so I may look into those. I’m ready to get lost in a good book again.

Friday Five 2/3/12

1. Wow, an actual Friday Five post – shocking! I blame the bazillion hours of overtime I’ve been working for my lack of posting. We’ve seriously had overtime all but 2 weeks since Thanksgiving. I’m so drained and so over being in the office. I’m sick of the site of my cube walls.

2. Even with all the overtime I’ve still been making time to hit the gym. My gym is doing this challenge where you get a point for every 30 minutes of exercise you do and each week you have to have a certain number of points and the total increases each week. This is week 3 and so far so good! I’ve been going to zumba class twice a week, hitting the treadmill, and I started using some of the weight machines. This weekend the gym is starting a cardio kickboxing class and I’m planning on going. My zumba instructor went to the trial class and she said it was hard but awesome. So I’ll report back if I actually make it and survive!

3. I’ve also been managing to get some reading in. So far I’ve read 5 books – including my first book for the Presidential Challenge. I’m currently reading The Paris Wife and then I’m going to start the next president book. It is pretty big so I’m a little nervous!

4. I just watched the first episode of Big Bang Theory with Amy Farrah Fowler. I really like her character and think she is hilarious. Bazinga!

5. I’m excited for the Super Bowl. Not because I like either team (I don’t) but because it is Indianapolis – which I love. It sounds like Indy has been doing a great job so far with all the pre-game activities (have you seen the zipline?!) and they’ve even included IndyCars by painting them up in NFL team colors. I really wish I could go and check everything out!

 

Anyone planning to watch the game? Who are you rooting for?

Friday Five 1/6/12

 

1. I’m so glad it is Friday. We’ve had mandatory overtime at work this week and it has really worn me out. I pulled 10 hour day today and then ran around for 2 hours running errands (with more to do tomorrow) and I am so beat. But I’m trying to stay awake to hang out with Doug tonight. I think it may take more tea…. Also, since I’m so worn out, the rest of this post will be mostly photos.

2.  This is what I’m reading right now. I am really loving it. So good!

3. This was one of our presents from my parents. I drink a ton of tea (see #1) and it is so handy to have this to make a quick pitcher of yummy goodness.

4. This is one of my favorite zumba routines. We haven’t done it in a while but my instructor brought it back Tuesday night which made me very happy. I have no idea who any of these people are but the routine is basically the same one we do.

5. Tweets and pictures are starting to pop up on Twitter from some of the IndyCar drivers I follow about getting ready for the upcoming season. This makes me very happy! The season (and the highlight –May!) isn’t all that far away now!!

Friday Five 12/16/11

 

1. As of yesterday I’ve officially hit my new, lowered, book goal for the year. 75 books done. The highest total I have on goodreads is 78 so I may try to match or beat that amount.

2. This was not a very good week work-wise. I got put back on an assignment I was on in July and it was just as frustrating now as it was then. I even took a half day today because I was so stressed out on Wednesday that I found the first available time this week (which was today) and took it. Then of course they put me back on my regular work an hour before I left. Oh well.

3. A bright note thought from work is that we had our department holiday gathering (not a party) and our manager gave us cards that she had written a note in to us. My note was about how I’ve come a long way since joining her department last year (she hated how shy I was), how proud she is of me for how well I’ve done since getting the promotion, and how she thinks I can go very far in this company if I want to. I’ve never gotten this type of praise in a workplace before. It’s pretty awesome.

4. I need one more thing and I am done Christmas shopping. Then I just have to wrap it all. I am not a good wrapper so I put it off until I have a huge pile to tackle. Doug wrapped some for me the other day so that’s a big help.

5. I have something cool coming for you guys next week. I’m pretty excited about it and I think/hope you guys will like it. So stay tuned!

Friday Five 12/2/11

 

1. They moved a bunch of people around to different desks at work today (they like to do this every so often for some reason) and while I didn’t move they did move my buddy away from me. I didn’t know her before I moved to my current spot last fall but we got to be good work friends and I’m so sad to see her move - so I was not a happy girl today.

2. I’ve decided that since there is no way I am going to meet my goal of 111 books in 2011 that I’m going to aim for 75. That is still way better than the 35 I read last year and with my promotion to the more demanding job and the stint of having 2 jobs I’ll be pretty happy with 75. That means I need to finish 3 books by the end of the year. I’m about halfway through a book right now so I think I can have that done by the end of the weekend. I think I’m just going to have to choose very carefully for the last 2 books.

3. Speaking of books – I’ve been thinking about my reading goals for 2012 lately and while I haven’t decided on a number or picked any challenges yet I have decided that 2012 will be the year I finally read Gone With The Wind. It has been sitting on my shelf for about 4 years now and I’ve just never picked it up. That will change.

4. I went back to my usual Tuesday/Thursday zumba class with my favorite instructor for the first time since I started the part-time job last night. I missed that class so much and it was one of my deciding factors for quitting the job (yes, I made a Rory Gilmore-ish pro-con list – and zumba was on it). It felt so good to be back. The Saturday morning class I tried had a different instructor and it just wasn’t the same. My usual instructor is so upbeat and encouraging and FUN. I missed her! She through out a “welcome back Kayla!” into her headset during one of the first songs. I felt so special

5. I read something tonight that sort of annoyed me – apparently having an interest in cars is not something that is typical of girls and is therefore somehow masculine or a “boy” thing. This bugs me to no end. I spent a lot of time growing up running around with my car loving dad. My mom worked during the mornings and my dad worked second shift to cut down on the time I was with a sitter so I was always with my dad when he would run out to his friend’s house to look at a car or when he would run to the auto parts store to pick something up. Also we’d usually run out to the gas station/towing company place a friend of his owned on Sunday mornings to say hi or get something and we’d look at the cars that had been towed in on Friday and Saturday nights. (My dad was a genius – that is the best “don’t drink and drive” lesson ever.) I learned a lot about cars hanging out with my dad on those trips and just hanging around his garage. He is also a huge NASCAR fan and I have been to more than 1 race track in my day. If a family vacation had us somewhere near a track you bet your bottom we were going. I think Daytona was my favorite. And finally some of my favorite toys growing up included my bucket of Hot Wheels and my plastic car track.

And now, as an adult, I’m a huge Indycar fan. We actually just went to Indianapolis Motor Speedway a few weeks ago to check out the Hall of Fame museum. One of the reasons I’m hesitant to get rid of our upper channel package on our cable plan is because I want to keep Versus so I can watch races. My Twitter feed is full of drivers, bloggers who follow the sport, and a few of the sportscasters for races. I can tell you statistics, I can tell you about the cars, and I will tell you why certain drivers are the best (and why some aren’t) until I’m blue in the face. I also love the show Top Gear – both the British and American editions. I like learning about the cars, seeing what they can do, and basically just watching them go around the track really fast (it helps that both shows are really funny). I don’t spout off facts about cars off the top of my head but I do notice really cool – and really horrible – cars when I’m out and about and I have been able to have some more in-depth conversations about cars because of this show.

 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame

So, basically, I like cars. And I don’t see how this makes me any less of a girl. Maybe my parents ruined me by letting me play with Hot Wheels and not forcing my to stick with Barbie (which I also had and played with a ton). Maybe they never should have let me ride around a racetrack in a van with a bunch of fellow tourists decked out in shorts and t-shirts with cameras around their necks and sensible shoes on their feet. Maybe I’m just a little weird. But I know I like cars. And I’m quite sure that I’m a girl.

Sorry that got a little long for a Friday five post, but I just saw this recently and it really bugged me.

Friday Five–Birthday Edition 11/18/11

 

1. Happy birthday to me! I’m actually not all the gung-ho about my birthday this year. After my freak out last year I’m sort of over the whole birthday thing. I used to be very “hey everyone, today is my birthday!” but I really haven’t mentioned it much this year. Um, except here I guess.

2. Doug got me the Breaking Dawn soundtrack for my birthday. As corny and awkward as the movies can be I think the music is always really good. I’m bummed that there isn’t any Muse on this one though. I think the cd is really good though. And I must admit there were a few times when listening to it that I went “wonder what part this song plays during?” Sarah and I are going to see the movie Sunday, so I guess I’ll find out then.

3. I bought a bottle of Essie Little Brown Dress today with some of my bday money. I’ve loved this color for a year or so now but could never bring myself to spend the money for it. But Doug encouraged me to get it if I wanted it so I went to Walgreens today and got the last bottle they had. I just painted my nails with it and I have to say that I now understand why people pay so much money for for polish. I usually buy the cheap $1-2 bottles at Walmart and I can so tell a difference between the cheaper products and Essie. The coverage is so much better. And I love this color. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the brown on but it is gorgeous.

4. One of the highlights of my day was finishing Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I think I’ll probably review it on here but I absolutely loved it. I thought it was fantastic.

5. I went to a local clothing store today to try on some jeans because my mom wanted birthday and Christmas ideas for her and my grandma and they like to buy me clothes and all I really need this year is a new pair of jeans. But I had no idea what size I need now. So I went out and tried some on and I’m down another size! Happy day, indeed! I tried on the size I’ve been wearing (which I knew was too big) and the next size down and the smaller size is perfect. I’m very happy and I’m going back to zumba now so I see this trend continuing. Go me!

Friday (ok, Saturday) Five 11/12/11

 

1. Yeah, ok I missed Friday again. This week was crazy again. I worked my two nights at Second Job and then worked over time at my main job the other days. I’m so tired. I guess I looked like it Thursday night because my coworker offered to switch weeks and sent me home early Thursday night even though it was my turn. She told me to go home and rest. So now I’ll stay late next week. So next week will be a crazy week too. blah

2. I went to zumba this morning. I haven’t been since I got the Second Job since I now work when my usual class is going on. It felt so great to back even though it wasn’t my usual teacher. Class totally kicked my butt. I seriously thought I was going to have to stop for a minute. I’m almost afraid that I may have to go to the doctor to see about an inhaler again. I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma as a kid but haven’t had an inhaler in years (um, wasn’t much exercise going on there for a while). But I loved class. I think I’m going to try to get into the one class my fav instructor does when I can go. I miss her!

3. I’m watching Eclipse as I type this. It is cracking me up. It is so very cheesy. Seriously. Sarah and I will be going to see Breaking Dawn next weekend so I figured I ought to finally watch Eclipse. Sarah and I were never able to make it to the theater to see this one and we were never able to find a time to watch the dvd together. So I’m finally just watching it on my own. It is so awkward.

4. This morning at zumba I ran into the mom of a girl I went to high school with. After class she was talking to me and said she thought it was me but wasn’t sure. She told me that I looked really good and goes “didn’t you have knee problems?” and I said yes and she goes “well, you look really good. Really.” I said thanks and was really happy with the compliment….and then I started wondering – just how bad did I look in high school? lol

5. I watched the preview for Snow White and the Huntsman and I think it looks really good. I’m not a huge Kristen Stewart fan but apparently she’s said some great things about this movie and it does look really good. So I may have to see it.

Friday (um, Sunday) Five 11/7/11

1. So I sort of missed posting my Friday Five on Friday. Whoops. Last week was crazy. We’re totally swamped at work so I worked overtime there the days that I didn’t work at Second Job. It was a long week.

2. My birthday is coming up and Doug has to work the late shift that weekend, boo! But I’m off on my actual birthday so we’ll hang in the morning and go to breakfast or something. And then I think Sarah and I will go see Breaking Dawn sometime that weekend.

3. Also, pretty sure Breaking Dawn = train wreck. But we’ve put this much into the series so can’t stop now.

4. I am not going to hit my book goal of 111. I’ve realized this and come to terms with it. After my horrible total last year I’m content with where I am now, so anything extra is just great.

5. A lot of my friends are doing NaNoWriMo right now. I thought about it but I knew November is always such a crazy month for me and had a feeling that it would be worse with my new position and Second Job (looking like I was correct) so I didn’t do it. I wish this happened in January or February when I’m stuck at home due to cold and snow with nothing to do. Maybe I’ll do my own NaNo then.

Friday Five 10/28/11

 

1. I was off work again today and Doug has been on vacation all week, so we took a little trip up to the bigger city to visit a state park, eat lunch, and look around. We managed to buy a couple of Christmas presents while we were there. We also decided that it seemed too early to be thinking about Christmas and that just the mere thought of all the work involved in the holidays made us tired. So expect to see a little less Christmas spirit in the STCA household this year.

2. I’m not a huge baseball fan but I do love the Cardinals, so I’m fairly excited by the World Series. However I’m mostly annoyed by a coworker’s facebook statuses the last week. She doesn’t like the Rangers but she hates the Cardinals so all of her status updates have been cheering for the Rangers and bashing the Cards. She’s driving me nuts.

3. Speaking of sports, it has been a rough season to be a Colts fan. But last weekend was painful. Painful. Still a fan though and excited to see how the city handles the Super Bowl.

4. There was a post on my online book club this week that basically said girls read books and boys like technology. This made me laugh as this week I’ve: 1. picked up my new (blue) iPod that I won in a charity raffle at work and 2. have started reading a book about Richard Hammond – who is a co-host of the BBC’s Top Gear television program (a show about cars) who talks about cars (and car accidents). And I’m loving the book. So does this mean I’m a boy?

5. I’ve turned Doug into an Adele fan. I love this. He listened to Rolling In The Deep from my suggestion and then Set Fire to the Rain and fell in love. We were talking today about how awesome she is. I absolutely love that he likes her stuff now and she’s something we can listen to together. Also, since we’re both big music people it is so fun to introduce each other to new artists and then see the other one really start to like them. The last one I got to introduce him to was Mumford and Sons. I heard Little Lion Man on the radio and knew he’d love it, he did. At one point I sort of wanted to go into A&R as a career, so maybe this is just a little taste of that. It’s kind of like when I was growing up and I introduced my friend to ‘NSYNC. I’ve always been so helpful, lol.

Friday Five 10/21/11

 

1. We went to Indianapolis today. I love it there, such a cool city. We went to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum which was awesome. Then we drove through downtown Indy. Apparently there’s a big FFA convention there this week. There were kids in FFA jackets everywhere. Still loved the town though. I really want to live there.

2. Speaking of IMS – Indycar driver Dan Wheldon died last weekend in a big wreck at the race in Las Vegas. I’ve been sadder than I feel I probably should have been consider I  never met the man. But everyone who met him just talks about how nice he was. Plus he has 2 young sons. Such a sad story.

3. We had a big fundraiser at work this week to raise money for a local charity. Part of it involved us getting raffle tickets for doing things like going to a meeting about the charity. You could put your ticket in to win prizes like a TV, an Xbox, an Ipod, etc (we do have to pay taxes for the item). Apparently I won the Ipod (I was off today but a coworker texted me). Yay! I’ve been worried that mine is on its last legs and this one is an 8 GB so I can add more songs.

4. I’ve already started thinking about Thanksgiving. I want to make a pumpkin spice cheesecake and I’ve been thinking about this sweet potato recipe I saw last year on Annie’s Eats. I’m trying to hold off talking to MIL about Turkey Day since I know not everyone plans ahead as much as me.

5. I got called mommy and ma this week at my job at the gym daycare. Apparently both kids call everyone mommy/ma but it was still pretty funny. I also got a nice “hello” from one of my little buddies – when her mom put her down on the floor she came running around to where I was standing and flung her arms around my legs. It was so stinking cute.

Friday Five 10/14/11

 

Some of my blogger buddies do Friday Five posts, so I thought I’d give it a try.

1. I got a promotion at work last week and officially started the new job this week. I was one of two people to get this new spot – I had to go through an initial evaluation, 2 rounds of testing, and an interview to get it. I was up against people who have been at the company since I was in middle school. So I was a wee bit surprised I actually got it. But I really like the work so far. It’s more of a challenge than what I was doing and I’m kind of excited about that.

2. I put myself on a book buying freeze after my overspending at Borders (which I still need to tell you about!) and Waldenbooks (and one book from Amazon)  last month. Well, I ordered a cd from Amazon for a road trip we’re taking soon and I sort of, kind of, may have added a couple of books to the order. In my defense I’ve wanted these books for a while now but had resisted.

3. I got a part-time job working a few hours a week in the childcare room at our gym. I’ve only been there a few weeks but I really like it. I’ve already made a couple of little buddies in there and I have so much fun playing with them. A couple of them loooooove me, which makes me very happy. I love little kids so this is such a great gig for me.

4. My mom is apparently getting her holiday shopping (and my bday shopping) list in order as she texted me today to ask what size I’m wearing now. I got to tell her a size that is quite a bit smaller than what I told her last year  

5. I’m obsessed with the show Top Gear – both the UK and US versions. My dad is a major car guy so I grew up around cars (weekend outings used to include driving by his friend’s car lot/gas station to see what kind of wrecks he had picked up over the weekend) but I was never really a car person myself. But Doug discovered the UK version on BBC America and the hosts are so funny and interesting that we’re both hooked now and have the DVR set to record the show the 65951446 times it is on during the week. We’ve also been watching the US version on the History Channel and love it just as much. I love me some Tanner Faust so that makes it even better. Seriously, even if you aren’t a car person these shows are so funny I think you should give them a try.