Mistakes I've Made This Week

While the mistakes I've made this week are numerous and probably a little long to list, I thought I'd take a stab at it while enduring my latest mistake. Here goes:

• Planning on making lasagna on Boot Camp night. I didn't get home until 6:30 and after a shower and prep work PLUS the time it takes to cook the lasagna. It's looking like it's gonna be nearly 9 p.m. before we eat.
• That leads to another mistake: not getting my morning or afternoon snacks. I was "too busy" and didn't eat lunch until 1:30, but that's not nearly late enough to sustain me until the lasagna's ready.
• Not getting a limoncello at Sole Mio on Tuesday when we were saying goodbye to Sue & Walt from writers group.
• Not picking up on the signals from a customer that I was getting the "I'm gonna pass you off because I don't want to directly tell you no."
• Daily freak outs over the amount of work that I have to do. It's a constant. The only thing I can do is change my approach to how I see it.
• Being too transparent and not transparent enough.
• The second glass of wine at the baby shower--mostly for caloric reasons--and also because I get to be a smart ass as well.

So, not a bad list. I'm a little concerned that two of my mistakes included liquor, but that's a random week and not a common occurrence.

Maybe I'm Not So Interested in Amsterdam

Chef got us a series from a foreign TV station that highlights the nights of Amsterdam. It's not really dirty. Mostly just a matter of fact account of the business of sex--windows in the red light district, online escorts and on-stage sex acts. Without seeing anything, of course, but it's fascinating to see the interviews of the couple that perform 5 live sex shows together 6 nights a week. That just seems exhausting. The way they describe what they do is not at all romantic-clearly.

And clearly the government has their hands in things. There are taxes on the prostitutes and the windows. They also provide extra police to patrol the area--which averages 40 arrests a night. The two patrolman have a good sense of humor. They seem to be often intervening between sex worker and client. It has to be a little bizarre.

The whole show is a little weird, very interesting, not at all sexy and totally putting me off on visiting Amsterdam, although I'm sure it's very little. It just seems surreal.

Mad For Mad Men

When we last left them, the group from the former Sterling Cooper were starting their own ad agency. And Betty was leaving. And Don was having his secrets unravel. It's the perfect beginning for a new season. Now the question is going to be...when will the new season start? Not literally when. That's easy. AMC has been hyping tonight since Breaking Bad ended its season.

But when in history? Remember how they messed us all up by coming in mid-Kennedy administration and then assasination was near the end of this season after the end of the previous season highlighted the campaign and debates? The great thing about Mad Men is the antiquated way it showcases the workplace. Women as secretaries who are naive to the ways of the world. Only unmarried girls who actually worked. Drinking during a meeting. Smoking indoors. It's a throwback to a time that seems so foreign to the modern work environment. It also makes me wonder what the future will think of how we work now.

The other great thing about Mad Men, of course, is the fashion. It makes me want to break out my pencil skirts (or buy some) and flaunt my curves. The show's costume designer is launching her own line on QVC. I LOVE it. Hope I think about it and actually go back in September to check it out. I'm not a big QVC watcher (despite my heritage--Mom was a HUGE fan), but there's always the web site.

Anyway, here's hoping that tonight's premiere continues in the pattern of the show that we know and love. At the very least, I'd like to see Jon Hamm continue his career for a while and since they gave him hook hands on 30 Rock, my dream of him being Liz Lemon's husband is out of the question. However, she did take my superior dream of having Matt Damon as a boyfriend and make that real.

I love TV. Maybe too much.

"She Thought I Could Handle It THIS Time"

Chef called me over tonight so I could watch a video from my home state. It made me simultaneously laugh and cringe. Apparently a guy exactly my age was arrested in Indianapolis for child neglect---because while he was playing a video game, his two under 2 years old children wandered out into the apartment complex near a busy street.

I'm not enough of a snob to think that this scenario couldn't have easily been replicated in Tennessee--in fact, it probably has been. What immediately I thought of was a scene in the movie Idiocracy where it shows the fertility of a below average Joe compared to the very intelligent couple who wants to wait and then can't conceive. The basis of the "de-evolution" of the movie.

The second thing that came to mind was the man's reaction when he was arrested. He immediately admitted to not being good with watching children. And then when asked why his wife left him with the kids while she was out of state, he replied with "She thought I could handle it this time." Tihs was one of the last thing's the reporter says in his story, and frankly I think he's burying the lead. If you flip it around, you can come up with a great lead story for The Onion: "Man's Wife Thinks He Can Handle Their Care This Time, Kids End Up in Street".

Seriously, there are so many laughable, cryable things in this story that I think I'll just leave the rest of it up for your interpretation.

I'm Not The Least Bit Sorry For Lindsay--And You Shouldn't Be Either

Seriously, I hope Lindsay Lohan serves every bit of her 90 day jail sentence. Of course, she won't. Most non-violent first time female offenders typically serve only 25 percent of their original sentences. But I'd still like to see her serve it all.

According to MADD, someone dies from drunk driving every 45 minutes. And most of those people who are driving don't have access to personal drivers or an entourage or enough money to buy cab rides from LA to New York for 1 million people.

We've all had moments where we've pushed the limits of driving and drinking. Right or wrong it happens. But what kills me with Lindsay is that she has had multiple DUI arrests over several years. And at least 4 stints in rehab. And a cocaine possession arrest. And the day before she's to go to jail, she checks herself in to a treatment facility---owned by her latest lawyer (Robert Shapiro--also known as OJ's savior and the spokesperson for legalzoom.com). There has to be a point where someone says enough. As a taxpayer, it pisses me off to think of how much time and energy our legal system has wasted in tracking her down, issuing warrants, arraignments, proceedings, and more. I mean, couldn't California just make Lindsay pay a percentage of their budget deficit? Could she subsidize the thousands of state workers taking massive pay cuts or losing their jobs?

To think that you're above the law, is ridiculous. I know it's the status of fame today, but I'm not sure it's just fame. I think it's primarily money. If you've got the money, you can get out of jail even when you deserve it.

Here's what I DON'T want to see. I don't want to see Lindsay doing PSAs for drunk driving or substance abuse. I don't want to see publicity shots of her doing community service at the Special Olympics. I don't want her publicists and lawyers trying to gloss over what she's done and spin it in the public with photo shoots. I want her to spend 90 days in jail. Not 90 minutes.

South Park Was Right Again

A few years ago, South Park did a spoof on Mel Gibson during an episode entitled "The Passion of the Jew." There's a whole story line where Kenny and Stan track down Mel Gibson to get their money back after having to sit through what they called a religious snuff film. Here's the part where South Park is right: They depict Mel Gibson as being bat-shit crazy. This was long before any "sugar tits" comments or any leaked phone conversation.

At the time it did what it was supposed to do: made us laugh. Mel Gibson was depicted in his blue Braveheart face, running around naked and saying crazy stuff. I wondered how mad Mel Gibson would be about it. But looking back it just proved that they were more insightful than I ever gave them credit for.

Seriously. How holier than thou do you have to be to think you can talk about women, races, religions and be so incredibly insulting and not face any public backlash? Everyone has the right to say whatever they want to say. It's a great freedom that we share. But with most freedoms there are unintended consequences. One of which is knowing that you may have the right to say anything you want, but it's not the best idea to always do so.

I'm Strangely Intrigued

First of all, I can only move my arms in small increments right now. Today's boot camp was focused mostly on arms and mine are paying the price for it. I actually benched more today at boot camp than what I maxed out at in high school. It wasn't a lot, but considering I could mostly just comfortably bench the bar, it was a step forward.

But I digress. So, I'm now torn. I thought I always hated Leonardo DiCaprio for being a smug bastard that only dated models and was not at all attractive. Now I'm torn because I love Chris Nolan as a director (Hello, I've professed my love of Dark Knight already), and I want to see his new movie, but it's got Leonardo DiCaprio. Then I realized. I actually like most Leo movies. How can this be? Ugh, I might have to reconsider my anti-Leo stance.

Two Things that Made Today Weird

1) For some reason the eyeliner I used decided today would be the day that it would smudge under my eye. This not only made me look creepy but also gave me the appearance of a fighter with a black eye for a good part of the morning until I went to the bathroom. All in all. Not a good look for me.

2) I was on my way to Lowe's to buy some rope (different story, different day) when I was behind a bright yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser that bore a Twilight sticker and a personalized Tennessee license plate with the word "Cullen." For those of you not in the know, or not caring, that is the name of the main vampier character family in the Twilight books.

I have been known to be a super fan of things (Anne, you don't need to mention Matt Damon, as I can "out" myself of being completely obsessed with him during my college years. And yes, I did go to two Backstreet Boys concerts --in my defense on that one, the beer lines were WAY short at those concerts.) That being said, I draw the line at having a personalized license plate or, as a separate matter, airburshing of any type. I also will not give naming rights to my children to a fictual character unless it's something cool and enduring like Scout.

Am I wrong?

Four Hours of Interrupted Sleep

I went to bed at the normal time of night last night. Laid there watching TV ("Million Dollar Baby" one of the best and most depressing movies around), and then made a deep concerted effort to roll over and go to sleep after two hours of watching TV. I went to sleep for 20 minutes, woke up and tried to go back to sleep. Did all the tricks. Relaxation. Meditation, clearing of the mind. All of it. None of it worked.

So I crawled out of bed and watched two more movies on the couch before Chef got up at 4 a.m. for work. I got back into bed (had the bed to myself--well, mostly. Some of the cats snuggled up with me.) I was up and down for about 4 hours. So all in all, I ended up getting about 4 hours of crappy sleep. And it took three frosty caffeinated beverages before I could start on the work that I needed to do. Nothing says professionalism like an error-filled presentation fueled from sleep-deprivation.

Oddly enough running on empty is a lot like being a little tipsy. I'm not nearly as sharp and it takes twice as long to do things. Fun! I'd try and take a nap, but I know that'd just screw me up for tonight. I hate having sleep problems, but especially when I'm not stressing out about anything in particular. I expeted it when I've got troubles, but it sneaks up on me when I'm okay.

And I'm not even in a frame of mind to go back

My work, the American Heart Association, had a huge push to our year end last week. It was a six state concerted effort to get the last bits of donations scraped from the sides of bowls and added to the cake of year-long progress. Baking started again the next day for this analogy. It's a bad analogy, but it works because this year we will spend the whole year preparing for next year. Meaning the money raised this year will be put into the oven and out comes something substantial. Sometimes its research, sometimes its community programs, sometimes its cool stuff we haven't even seen before.

All that is a long way to say that we're in a perpetual cycle that is beginning again. And I'm already behind. How can that be? I still have an open position so while I shift focus from my duties to cover the position, I lose ground on my job and while I'm focusing on the duties of my job, I'm losing ground for the open position. It's a battle that will only be won when the right candidate is found. Actually, it's a battle that will only be won about three months or so after the right candidate is found.

But I digress. That is all a long set up for me to say that I'm not quite ready to go into work today. It's Tuesday, but feels like Monday. If I had meetings scheduled back to back to back today, I might've called in sick and curled up on the couch to watch New Moon again to get into the mood to watch Eclipse. But it's a planning day. We have them monthly and its our time to graciously plan out what needs to be done and how we're going to do it. I must say that if there ever were a planning day that I needed to have, it's today's. And I'm now slightly more ready to go back.

Slightly.

Guess Who's Going on a Diet?

Nope, not me. Well, of course I'm trying to watch what I eat, but the real one going on a diet is Genghis. We took our little buddy to the vet yesterday because he had been scratching excessively at one of his ears. And as the vet tech tried to pull Genghis out of the carrier and struggled mightily, it was time to realize that Genghis is overweight. Don't get me wrong. He's a very muscular cat, but he's still a cat. And at nearly 20 lbs, he's put on a little too much weight.

During the exam we found out that his ear scratching was a bacterial infection. It was a little gross and a little reminiscent of my childhood when the vet pulled out the ear scope and it was covered in waxy build-up. I had an ailment as a kid that made my ears produce more wax than an average person. So I had to have my ears cleaned a LOT when I was younger. It sucked and I could relate to Genghis. Luckily, he just have to undergo some daily ear washings and drops for the next couple of weeks.

Of course, that will seem like nothing compared to his diet. Since we can't really just change Genghis's eating habits without affecting the other cats, things are a little hairy. Instead of the normal free feeding (leaving the food out all day), we are leaving the food out for an hour two times a day. When we picked up the bowls last night, there were quite a few meows of protest. In fact, the cats were more rambunctious and louder than normal last night.

I'm hoping that a week or so of the new routine will have Genghis looking a little more fit and the other cats not so whiny. Every single one of them has followed me around the apartment at one point today and looked up at me and Meowed as loud as possible. I'm not one who can talk with animals, but I'm fairly certain each one was saying "where the f*&k is our food?".

Last Night I Slept without an Aid--It was Kind of a Big Deal

Last night I went to sleep all by myself. Not like I slept alone, but that I went to sleep without the help of my generic Ambien. It wasn't some big test, but more like a necessity because I forgot to pick up the prescription from Walgreen's before the pharmacy closed. I'm not a hero and I never pretend to be one.

So I had to draw upon the bag of tricks that I used to fall asleep pre-prescription days. I waited until I was tired before I headed to bed. I fell asleep to the lulling sounds of Chef's snores and the Style Network's Clean House. And I actually stayed asleep for the majority of the night. I only woke up three times in the night. And was able to go back to sleep each time.

However, one night does not a lifetime make. I got my prescription filled and picked it up today. So I'm again not playing the hero and will be induced into a log-sawing slumber in just a few hours. And I'm so excited for it.

Bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.

Tonight was penne with a tomato, bacon, cheese sauce. Sounds grossly unhealthy and sure there was some fat from the bacon, but what doesn't right? With the exception of the Olsen twins. All good things have some fat.

So, bacon, wine, pasta, tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Stir stir stir. Toss toss toss. Yumminess in my mouth. And not altogether that bad for me in small portions.

Good times. I wish that Chef had some of it. However, he headed to bed a little early tonight. Must have been the loads of laundry and cleaning he did while I was at work today. God bless it. The only problem is that I am now relegated to working on work things because I have the time, nothing on TV and the work. Or I could close up shop and relax. Or write a blog entry. Decisions, decisions.

Meal Plan Week Two

Okay, so week one was fairly successful. Aside from the great chicken debacle, we ate pretty well and I didn't have to answer a lot of food-related questions. This week has started out along a similiar vein. One thing I will say is that I'm a little over ambitious in the amount of meals I should be cooking each week. Mostly because we have a full fridge and need to add at least one leftover night.

We had cheesy grits with shrimp and bacon on Saturday night. Delish. Truly good. Tonight I think it's garlicky penne with broccoli. I had something else on the menu, but I'm a few dishes behind. I get overzealous.

Nonetheless, the experiment continues...

Mustard Chicken...Not so good

Tonight's dinner started out with good intentions and ended up with an emergency run for sustenance via a drive-thru. I'm fairly certain that's how most people end up in the their cars lined up for food that's passed through a window. That and good advertising.

But I digress. It was a baked chicken with a mustard herb rub. I made it, baked it and it took it out. The smell was pretty gross. I couldn't even make myself try it. I just asked Chef what he wanted from where and grabbed my purse. He was also in charge of clean-up or as he called it "hazardous waste disposal." Okay, it wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't good.

Tomorrow is a garlicky penne with broccoli. It's also my normal grocery day, so I've got to come up with some recipes for next week. Again, I'm open to anything you all want to send me!!

Chicken Parm Night Treated Us Alright

I used a Cooking Light recipe tonight for some Chicken Parmesan. It might have been "light" but it was also delicious. I have to admit that I fudged mine up. The pan wasn't hot enough and I was impatient, so the first round of tenders stuck to the pan. Chef intervened for his round. Even thought they weren't perfect looking, my tenders were delicious.

So three nights down and two to go. Tomorrow features one of my new favorite vegetables: brussel sprouts. Damn, those things are delicious. Just roasted with some salt, pepper and olive oil.

Cooking is nice but thankfully doesn't take up all night. What is there to watch on TV this summer? It seems like nothing. Everything on Showtime and HBO is ending, except for TrueBlood and FINALLY Entourage. Nothing good on network TV. No good sports. I guess I'll have to spend more time reading!

Well, I liked it

Tonight we had artichoke chicken pasta, a recipe from an American Heart Association cookbook, by the way. I love artichokes. I love olives, feta, olive oil, Mediterranean spices, all that stuff. And I love them all together.

Apparently my love to artichokes blocked out the fact that Chef isn't a fan. I swear that I asked him, but clearly I didn't listen too closely to the answer because I had two dishes this week featuring artichokes. One was put on hold and was a pizza, so luckily, I can adjust that accordingly.

Nevertheless, tonight's dish featured artichokes heavily (as evident by the title) as well as lemon, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and a bit of olive oil. It seemed to be a good, lighter flavored summer kind of recipe. And I loved it. It was flavorful, delicious and filled me up. Three things I look for in any meal. Add some salad on the side and BAM, I'm good to go. Needless to say, Chef wasn't the biggest fan as it tasted strongly of artichokes.

It was an easy recipe that only took about 30 minutes start to finish (Chef awesomely cut and cooked the chicken for me) and came in at 298 calories per serving. I probably could've used whole wheat pasta to lower some of the sugars, but I didn't.

So night two of cooking is under the belt. Tomorrow is a baked chicken parm (non-breaded). I'm kind of excited that we're eating some different stuff. I'm a little nervous because we've had leftovers both nights and I'm thinking that we might have to have a "clean out the fridge" dinner. Although I can't really complain about having too much food that's ready to eat after having no prepared food options, can I? Of course I can. The grass is always greener. . .

Just a food question that's a little off topic, but when did IHOP start thinking that diabetic-coma inducing carnival food was a good marketing strategy? Funnel cakes are not main dishes. Putting syrupy fruit and whipped cream on everything does not translate into a fruit serving and a dairy serving. Stuffing pancakes or French toast or crepes with cream cheese is not the best start to the day. Am I the only one whose noticed this?

What's for Dinner? Stuffed Shells

Tonight was the first real night in the meal plan. We ended up going out on Saturday night to Sportsman's Grill (and the newly opened Sweet Cece's--which was delicious--I had Cake Batter FroYo with fruity pebbles on top--heaven! But I digress...). So instead of taquitos on Saturday, we had them on Sunday. And they were delicious, as usual.

Instead of having the artichoke white pizza from Sunday, I went ahead with the regularly scheduled program: Stuffed Shells. Even though it was not all that different than spaghetti, the fact that the noodles were differently shaped and the proportions of herbs were different made it a good change. Plus the recipe came from a Trim and Terrific book my stepmom Robin gave me and so the calorie count per serving was about 400 calories. And it was mighty hearty.

Chef suggested measuring out some low fat ricotta cheese to add a bit to each shell. That would've been nice. I think the only fault was that the recipe made so much and called for a 2-quart dish when it should've been larger. So some of the shells didn't receive as much sauce and dried out a little.

All in all, the main point that made me excited was that I was excited again about cooking. I forgot how fun it can be when you're doing it for fun and not out of chore or obligation. I hope this enthusiasm lasts for a while.

Strategic Grocery Shopping

So one of the banes of my existence is the question "What's for dinner tonight?". Seems like a simple question and it's not that difficult really. But the question seems loaded. By the end of the day the last thing I want to do is make another decision. I'm typically drained as soon as I walk in the door and pillaging through the cabinets to find something.

So after being inspired by my friend who plan the week's meals and derive their lists off of it, I decided to put the effort back in. I used to sit with Chef and plan for the week. It made life easier. But much like you forget how good it feels to work out after you've neglected yourself for a while, I forgot how nice it is to have the "What's for dinner?" question answered before I walk through the door.

Tonight was grocery night and my cart runneth over. The recipes were less a contributing factor to that than the fact that I was hungry when shopping and it had been about two weeks since I'd done a thorough shopping trip. Tomorrow is the first day and not that outside of the box. It's taquito night. The timing is judged by the ripeness of the avocados--the right avocados are key to the guacamole. Other dishes I'm making this week (for the first time):

• artichoke white pizza
• crab spring rolls
• jumbo stuffed shells
• artichoke rotini with chicken
• Herbed Chicken Parmesan
• chicken with mustard and herbs
• Penne with garlicky broccoli

Wish me luck!

Shudder Island

It was my fault. I was the one who bought into the hype. Or at least the "it's got an ending you won't believe!" promotion. I made Chef watch "Shutter Island" with me last night. I'm not someone who hates Leonardo Dicaprio. I'm not a huge fan either, but I respect his abilities. I loved "Gone Baby Gone" and "Mystic River" (both Dennis Lehane adaptions), so I had high hopes for this one.

It was a let down to say the least. About 45 minutes too long. About one twist too short. Visually beautiful, I will give it that. I should've known better after trying to give M. Night Shyamalan more than just "The Sixth Sense." (Who else has suffered through "The Village"?). The last movie I was truly surprised in was "The Hangover" and that's just because we saw it fairly early and with no added hype or indication of what the plot would be. But I should know that if something is advertising a twist ending, it's probably not a good sign.

However, if you want to save the two and a half hours and be more fulfilled, just check out this video that truly did surprise me: http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=264883&title=m.-night-shyamalan-twist-ending