My Not So Little Project

Some of my fellow bloggers have lit a spark under my lazy ass. I often dream of a pristine home with organized closets and cabinets. Right now, I'm frustrated with the amount of unused crap I come across when I'm looking for something I actually need. Johanna at Losing Sanity just recently cleaned out and organized her fridge as part of her Fulfillment Project. Also this week, MommyBags wrote the Urge to Purge post. Now, I'm in a "Get Rid of Everything" mood and I plan on taking full advantage of it. I don't expect my home to be pristine, but it would be nice if it were clean enough on a day-to-day basis that I wouldn't be embarrassed when someone stopped by unannounced. So, I'm going to start acting like a real adult. I have no idea why being a "real adult" to me means a clean house. I know plenty of real adults whose houses aren't clean... but.. Anyway...

I'm going to get my house clean and keep it clean. One room at a time, I am going to purge and clean and I have it all planned out. It starts tonight... after work... because if I don't do it and get that sense of accomplishment now, the motivation will be gone when I wake up tomorrow.

Here's the plan: 1 Room a day. Saturdays and Sundays are mandatory. Friday night if I don't have plans. Weekdays if I feel the urge, but I plan on using the weekdays to keep on top of the rooms I've already finished.

For each room, I will do the following:

1. Go through everything. Throw out/ give away everything I don't use or want.
2. Re-organize the stuff I'm keeping
3. Clean all surfaces including marks on walls and baseboards.
4. Make a list of daily, weekly, bi-weekly and monthly tasks to keep the room clean and orderly.
5. Put the tasks from #4 on a calendar. Hopefully the scheduling will make it so I won't end up doing a lot of labor intensive jobs on any one given day.

Of course there's going to be a bit of catch up for the next few weeks. Doing one room a day will prevent me from spending my entire weekend cleaning. Luckily, I have my crap spread throughout the house. Each room shouldn't take more that a couple hours since I expect most of it will be going into a trash bag.

This weekend the plan is to clean the kitchen, dining room & living room (all at once since it's one big space) and master suite including the master bath and powder room. Also, get caught up on my laundry... well... mostly caught up. Caught up enough that the hamper has room for next week's clothes without over flowing.

I am really excited to get rid of all the crap in my house that's been sitting in boxes since we moved. The main living areas should be done in about three weekends. I'll be able to start the holidays with a nice, happy, peaceful, clean house. YAY!!

Holy Stinking Tired!

I know... I've got nothing on you stay at home moms or working moms for that matter. But this chica is done! and it's only Tuesday!

So, lets start with the fun stuff! Saturday I went to a Halloween Party. I went out... Got myself a short costume... Well short on one side. It had an asymmetrical hem. It was short on the left and longer on the right. I don't have a good picture. So unless one of my friends comes through on Facebook, you'll have to take my word for it when I say I looked hot and totally rocked it! LOL!! It was really fun! There was drinking and some dancing. Not much eating because I was too busy drinking or catching up with friends I haven't seen in a while. We got home around 3 am. I was looking forward to sleeping in, but I woke up at 8 am and couldn't get back to sleep. Thankfully, I got to just hang around the house on Sunday. I made some chili in the crockpot and just chilled around the house. Unfortunately, I didn't nap on Sunday and I was feeling the effects of not enough sleep yesterday.

Then, this morning  I was up an hour earlier than usual because I had an interview before I went to work. It went very well. If you read last week's post, you'll know it's at a place I had interviewed at in July. Instead of getting a whole new candidate pool they revisit the good candidates they saw before. Everytime I go there all I can think of is how ideal it is. It's 15 minutes from my house!! With my current 45 minute commute, I can't help but long for a job close to home. What would I do with that extra hour a day? It's also in the state I live in, which would make tax time alot less stressful for David. It's a larger work environment and would be a great change of pace from the small offices I've worked at the last 5 years. It would be nice to have more than 3 other people to interact with. There are more reasons why I want this job, but that list could get very long. Overall it just seems like a decent place to work. I should know something next week. I'll keep you posted!

So... I'm a little tired this morning... I lie.. I'm alot tired this morning and my coffee is gone already. :(  On the bright side, I have left over chili to eat for dinner. Tonight, I am going to relax and maybe go to bed early to catch up.

Something I Need to Lose

No... It's not a few more pounds... Well it is, but that's not what I'm writing about here. What I need to lose is the "Fat Girl" mentality. It's simple. I was fat. 20 some odd pounds ago!! I've lost 20-25 pounds (depending on the day) and I still think "Fat Girl" when I look in the mirror. I know I'm not fat. I'm a measly 3-5 pounds away from what is considered a healthy weight for my height according to the BMI scale. What the hell is my problem?

I come across this problem any time I might have to venture out in something above the knee. I'm sure you remember the Bathing Suit Shopping debate. Well, there's a Halloween party tomorrow night.... I have yet to get a costume because they're all so stinking short! All I keep thinking is that those things aren't going to cover the junk in my trunk. I've even had dreams about flashing my ass to the whole party. LOL!!

Can someone just slap some sense into me? I'm being ridiculous and my husband would tell me as much if he were inside my head. I should just go out... buy a fucking costume, slap on a leo and tights underneath, and get over it. Because GOD DAMMIT! I'M NOT FAT!

Sometimes All You Need is Patience

You know the sayings "Good things come to those who wait" or "Good things happen when you least expect it." They are totally true! Well... for me anyway. My husband came along when I wasn't looking for a boyfriend... Probably because I had one when I found out he liked me, but that's another story.

And just when you give up on something happening and just forget about it.. What you were hoping for happens!

A few months ago back in the Great Day post... If you read the parts after the bikini picture, you would know that I mentioned that I had an interview. Then, in the Interview!! post, I wrote about how great the interview went and how awesome the company seemed. Well... I never updated on this because there wasn't much to update. I didn't get that job and was told that they'd consider me for a position in the future... I had completely given up on this position since it's been months since I'd spoken with them.

Well.. Hot damn! The future is here! I got a call out of nowhere from the HR Rep. to find out if I was still interested and to set up another interview with the paralegal manager. So... I have an interview on Tuesday morning!! Thankfully, the manager gets to work really early and can do the interview in the morning before work. So YAY!! Happy Happy Wednesday! I hope I get it this time since my paralegal options here are non-existent.

You're Thinking What Now?!

The conversation I had with my husband the other night is totally blog worthy. Completely out of left field:

Dave- If we have a baby, how much time would you take off from work.
Me- Well it's required by law that I get 6 weeks if I have a normal labor and 8 weeks if I have a c-section.
Dave- Oh.... I was thinking you'd take an extended leave.
Me- An extended leave? How long do you think?
Dave- Until the kids go to school.
Me- Say what?! (some discussion of finances) Well if that's what you wanted, you should've married my sister. She'd love to stay home with the kids all day.

What brought on this question? I did ask... He just hung out with a buddy from college who's married and has a one year old. It happens that his wife stays home with their child. It also happens that she didn't work her bum off to earn a bachelor's degree and doesn't pay $300 a month in student loans. If I were to stop working, it would seem like a waste of a shit ton of money. I'm sorry being proud of oneself for earning a degree isn't worth $30,000+ of debt.

Ok... I'll admit it's not just about the money... If the idea of having kids isn't scary on its own, the idea have being home all day bustin' my ass with the household duties and taking care of the kids is down right terrifying! Or annoying because I know my husband's inability to empathize with what I would be going through on a day-to-day basis. Then, there's the question of my losing the little sanity I have left...

I know alot of women would love to have the ability to be stay at home moms and I can see the benefit and joy of it. I mean I wouldn't mind being a housewife, but a SAHM... Not so sure about all that.... Maybe if the child was a perfect little angel just like I was. LOL!!! Ok.. Fine! I'll admit it. Kids are alot of work and well... I'm lazy and like sleep.

Don't get me wrong. I hate going to work as much as the next guy. It just never occured to me that there might be a time in my life that I wouldn't get up and go to a job outside of the home.

For the record, we have yet to decide if we're ever having kids so it's a not an issue. Yes I know that most people discuss this stuff before they get married. However, we have one of those relationships that just go with the flow. I am not pregnant nor do I want to have kids right now. This is just something to think about if we ever talk about seriously having kids or if we accidentally get pregnant. So, put in your two cents if you'd like. I'd love to hear someone's opinion that isn't all "GAHH! NO! NOT CHILDREN!" and yes sometimes when I think about having kids, that phrase does run through my mind. :P

Blog Fest!

Woo BlogFest!! LOL!! I'm always on the outlook for new and interesting blogs to read. Why not join a blogfest? Especially after reading the rules. The original post can be found at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. The idea is that everyone that links up to the blog fest should post 3 of their favorite blogs that fall under the radar. The hosts also encourage you to check out the blogs that are linked on the other participants' blogs. Well they encourage all... but this thing is huge!! I will be checking out as many as I can as time allows.

So here are my three:

1. A little nepotism.. sorry! But I always plug my little sister when asked to post my favorite blogs. She's my BFF and is one seriously awesome woman. She has two blogs so you'll get two for the price of one. :P If you're more weight loss oriented, check out Super-Shell Loses Weight. It's fairly new and about her struggles.. and soon about her success! If you're more into day to day life kind of stuff, check out Super-Shell Flies Again.

2. Leah at Leah: The Kind Weight Watcher. She's a vegan and does weight watchers. It's about her struggles, her successes, and numerous revelations she's had while on here weight watchers journey. I found her on weightwatchers.com last year and loved her blog there. When I found out she has a blog here, I had to follow. She's a beautiful person inside and out. Her blog has really opened my eyes to some things I never considered. She is truly an inspiration.

3. Finally.... of course, I can't leave out Cyn at The Purple Goddess. She's my bloggy BFF. :P I k now I mention her constantly, but she deserves every single one of them. She's just so much fun. She's probably the reason I'm on blogger and doing this blog fest. We seem to have the same attitude and a similar personality. She gives me a glimpse of how awesome I could be in the future. She does have a second blog, but you'll find it when you go to this one.

Spread the love and check these lovely ladies!!

Rome! Finally!

I know this is really overdue... So, here it goes. We leave the hotel in Prague kind of early to make our 11:50 am flight... and 30 minutes before we're supposed to take off we find out our flight has been delayed 6 hours because Roman Airlines went on an 8 hour strike that morning... Lovely! It did give us time to spend some of our left over crown. I bought a few bracelets and some candy and water.

We got to Rome around 8ish? Then, went to dinner at a restaurant that over looked the Colosseum... Again... No picture because night shots suck on my camera. You'll just have to go there and see it yourself. :P After that we went to the hotel and checked in.

**Just a note- The hotels got progressively worse in each city. The hotel in Rome was the worst. First, there were rumors of bed bugs... (I didn't get any bites so we're good there) The bedspread was quite worn. There was mold on the ceiling in the bathroom. The room was so small that I would wake up and get ready. Then, I would wake Dave up and he would get ready. There wasn't enough room for the two of us to be roaming around the room at the same time.

Okay.. Moving on... We spent two full days in Rome. We got up early the first day. It was a Wednesday and the Pope just happened to be in Rome doing his weekly general audience. So, we hopped on the Metro and were on it for 2 minutes... Got off and one of the girl's we were traveling had her bracelet stolen... That quickly. She saw it falling off and before she could grab it, it was gone...

Anyway we first checked out the Capuchin Monks. You can't take pictures inside. So this is from a google image search. If you didn't know... There aren't any living monks at this place. It's a crypt and the whole place is decorated using human bones... of about 4000 dead monks. It was kind of creepy.

Then, another short trip on the metro... And a semi short walk to the Vatican... God it was *bleeping* hot!! We had a Vatican tour planned later in the day so we were all in "church dress" (which is shoulders covered and nothing above the knee). So, St. Peter's square wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be. Even our tour manager was surprised. I got a pretty good look at the pope as he was riding around the square in his pope-mobile. Unfortunately, I'm too short and couldn't snap  a picture fast enough. I did manage to get a picture of everyone else trying to get a picture. LOL!!

There was this one little asian dude who was so excited to get a picture of the Pope... He was squealing like a little girl.

The picture is about as zoomed in as I could get. The dude in the white in the middle of the stage is the Pope. We stayed for a while and listened to him talk. It wasn't in english and we weren't waiting around for him to get to the part where he gives the address in english. We were hungry and it was pizza time!

Per our tour manager's recommendation, we went this pizza place near the Vatican. They have all these different types of pizza and you say "a little of that one." "A bigger piece of that one" "Oooo! That looks good! No... a little smaller.. Perfect!" Then, they weigh it and you pay. It was freaking cheap ass pizza and it was the best pizza I've ever had!

With our tummies full, we took another metro ride over to the Spanish Steps.

Then hauled buns over to Trevi Fountain... In the spirit of the legend and coin throwing into the fountain, I made a wish, turned around and threw a Euro over my left shoulder with my right hand. I faced the fountain again and threw a second coin to ensure I'd return to Rome. I didn't throw a third. Legend has it the third coin is to bring a nice Italian boy into your life that you'll fall in love with... Well... I already have a husband and I wasn't risking another crazy man to come into my life. LOL!

Then, we booked it back to the Vatican for our tour. Sorry, no pictures of the Sistine Chapel. You're not allowed to take pictures there. Here are some of the best pictures I got during the tour.

 This next one is of a statue of Mary holding Jesus. It's in St. Peter's Basilica behind bullet proof glass because people have tried to destroy it... and by destroy, I mean that in 1972  "Laszlo Toth, 33, a Hungarian-born Australian, had leaped over a guard rail in St Peter's crying, "I'm Jesus Christ!" and attacked the statue with a hammer." (http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Altars/Pieta/Pieta.htm)  It's kind of fuzzy. Sorry!

After that I was done and it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. That night (again no pictures) we went to an Italian Folklore Dinner Show. It was totally random and I have no idea what they were singing about because...well.. It was all in Italian. It was alot of fun though.

The next day we went to the Pantheon and the Colosseum. I still have to steal those pictures from a friend since I was too lazy to take my camera that day.

** Note- all these places were insanely crowded. At one point on the Vatican tour, there was a lady walking so close behind me that I could feel her rather large breasts pressed up against my back... And I won't even get started on the lack of personal space on the Metro. Also, there were gypsies everywhere and not like the nice ones in Berlin. There were old ladies with "babies" but they didn't throw any at us. Then, there were the deformed ones... These guys mostly hung out around the Vatican. I guess it's the best place to get handouts from good Catholics who just saw the "holiest" man in the world... Away from the Vatican, most of them were playing music in one of the many squares to earn your money.

Weightloss Update

So, I hopped on Mr. Mean Scale last Friday.. and down 2 pounds! (from the last time I weighed in about 2 weeks ago?)That's what I gained since leaving for vacation. YAY! I'm back down to pre-vacation weight! That was after a 2 snack size Peanut Butter Cup a day habit I had developed that week... and... I won't lie... The week before.

This week's habit... Mr. Chocolate Chip Cookie... or 3 everyday... all week... Then there was the pizza I ate for 3 days, and the soda, and maybe a little Captain Morgan thrown in for good measure. Yeah, needless to say I don't expect much from the scale when I eat crap. When I eat like that, I like to check in on my weight. I've lost 22ish pounds in the past 2 years. Down 15ish from this time last year. I definitely don't want it to get out of control again. So, I hopped on Mr. Not So Mean Scale and... down 1/2 pound! Which is the average for me.

I need to get back to working out again, but someone (I won't name names) moved my heavy as all hell 19" TV from 1999 to the basement and has yet to move it back up the 3 flights of stairs to the loft where I do anything that requires privacy. Yes... I know it's an excuse, but it's mine and I'll own it. I'm one of those "everything has to be how I want it and it has to be perfect" kind of people. The only person I'll workout in front of is my husband. Since his brother is living with us, my basement workout zone is occupied and gets really hot now that there are 4 huge monitors and 2 PC's constantly running. The zone is no longer an ideal place to workout.

I will leave you with a few pics because I love gazing at the moon especially when it's full. Please excuse the quality of the first picture. It was taken with my phone because I didn't have any fresh batteries for my camera. I took this last fall maybe October-ish. The sky was this awesome shade of violet and the moon was huge against it. Wish I had my camera when I first saw it while sitting at the light around the block. The shot would've been so much better... Better yet... I wish my camera was working. :P

This next one was taken a couple months ago. I love it when you can see the moon during the day. The first time I saw the moon in the afternoon as a child I was completely fascinated by it. I think I took this one in the late afternoon or very, very early evening.

Got Challenge?

Another plug for my girl, Cyn at Misadventures of a Chunky Goddess. She has so graciously bestowed upon me a challenge. And hopefully I'll be able to find 7 lucky followers to pass it on to. That's like 1/2 of my new followers in the last two weeks! :P

This challenge will have me digging around in my archives to find the answers to these questions. Cyn, got off easy since it was her brand new blog that got the challenge. This is going to take some thinking. I hope all my lovely followers enjoy the little snippets of bloggy past that you might have missed.

1. my most beautiful post- This is kind of a no-brainer for me. It was the first post I thought of when I saw this question. It's the Remembrance post for my cousin from a couple weeks ago. It's a little bloggy reminder to stop mourning the loss of a loved one and to simply remember the beautiful person they were or are....

2. my most popular post- Maybe...the Bad Advice one? I have quite a few followers that are in weight loss mode and I de-bunked the silly "You're probably gaining muscle" advice given to people who say they've gained X number of pounds in a week with well researched facts. One of the few posts where I seem somewhat intelligent.

3. my most controversial post- I don't think I write too much on controversial topics. The most controversial I've gotten is when I've discussed my Spirituality. We all know you don't talk about religion or politics. :P

4. my most helpful post- I'm thinking it may be the one about Understanding Our Justice System (In the US anyway). It's a little long... maybe a little boring if you don't care about how our court system works (or doesn't work if you're of that opinion). It was motivated by all the Casey Anthony verdict bullshit on Facebook from people who don't understand what is needed for a conviction... Also one of the few posts where I come off as an intelligent person.

5. a post whose success surprised me- My little Happy Friday post from last week seemed quite popular. It's probably because of the cute kitty picture I posted. LOL!

6. a post i feel didn’t got the attention it deserved- Ah.... the La Mia Famiglia series about the amazing women in my family didn't seem to strike a cord with anyone... and it was subsequently abandoned about 1/2 way through... Didn't get to post about my crazy aunts... I might revisit this in the future.

7. the post that i am most proud of- Most definitely the Great Day post. The main reason is because I posted a picture of myself in a bikini which is a huge step for some one with a piss poor body image.

Now for the 7 followers I'm passing this on to: Mostly just a plug for my favorites not already pinged by someone else. I honestly don't expect any of them to do this. They are all worth a read though.

1. Super-Shell Flies Again- Gotta plug my little sister! Great blog about simple day-to-day stuff and struggles.
2. The Adventures of Cheapsoda and Dooty Booty - this is a new one I just found maybe last week through Cyn. Such a cute little blog about basic life single mom stuff. I'm really enjoying this one. For some reason I love reading about other people's families and all the cool stuff they do with their kids that I "the childless one" don't get to do without people looking at me funny.
3. The Day After Yesterday- Anne is a new follower. I think she's my first follower outside of the states. YAY!! Basic well rounded blog on everything... Particularly liked trying to figure out the gadget she posted last Friday (?)  She's in the UK . I love looking at all the pictures she posts because I haven't been there yet.
4. Jessyca's Page- Jessyca, couping extraordinaire! I'm amazed at the savings she posts.

And the other followers I would challenge have already been pinged by Cyn. So that's it for now.

Yes... I know... No post on Rome yet. David got our friend's pics on a disc and hasn't brought it home yet. Gotta get on him on that one. I think I'm going to do 2 posts on Rome. We had two full days there which included the Vatican, seeing the Pope, the Spanish Steps, the Capuchin Monks, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Colloseum... Kind of alot to jam into one post. Maybe you'll get one tomorrow.