Fun Food(??) Friday

I'll let you be the judge on the Fun in this Food Friday. hehe. I thought it was fun.. if disgusting. Don't tell me you weren't warned. Womb for Improvement has hijacked Fun Food Friday this week with quite the book about a certain food idea. I'm not even going to attempt to come up with something equally as attention grabbing.*

Spit or Swallow
(yes, it's dirty)

*In a secret aside whisper... "Thanks WFI, for getting me off the hook this week. *wink*"

A Little Update

Yes, I attempted to take a photo of individual snowflakes with my camera. I think I heard my 4 year old digital point and shoot snicker as I clicked the shutter. That snow was particularly lovely. My frostbitten buns were not. I am glad to be warm again. It's funny though how quickly Hub and I both sink back into that world. It took us a long time to adjust to Florida, and we still have moments where we feel alien. But in that world, a day or two is all it takes. I guess that's what happens when you spend 20 plus of your formative years somewhere.

Right now I find myself scrambling. Trips, Christmas presents, cards, cleaning, decorating, work, errands, blogs, knitting, bills... all heaping up on my plate. Most of the things are pleasurable, and I want to get to them, there just aren't enough of me!*

For now just know that I am not really dreaming of a White Christmas.... er.. ok, perhaps just a day or two. But I am dreaming that perhaps someone could come be my personal assistant for a few weeks?

*Multiplicity comes to mind.

Fun Food Friday is Back

I'm Back! My latest obsession for lunches at work is Lean Cuisine Spa Classics. I know, I know. It's a frozen meal. But seriously, when these suckers are on sale, I go crazy! They're more "whole" foods than many other frozen meals. The pastas and rice are all whole grain. They're very tasty in my humble opinion. (I particularly love the butternut squash ravioli, chicken in peanut sauce and sesame stir-fry.) And they have a LOT more veggies than most other meals! Hurray! I usually don't even have to be starving to want to eat the chicken!

They are more expensive though, so I buy them when they're on sale.

Womb for Improvement joined up last week, but I dropped the ball. So better late than never! If you want to join in, leave a note. :)
Zinc or Swim

*P.S. I realize I'm a little off in my writing. I am quite sleepy.

Happy Things Post

Work is decidedly NOT better. It's great that I exceeded expectations and all, but if you're going to treat me like I'm an asshole, why give me the good rating? Good news is though that I spoke to everyone else, and 7 of my 9 coworkers think I'm doing a good to great job, the head of the department of the project I like working on and at which I feel competent thinks I'm doing a great job, and the boss of my bosses is very happy with my work and communication style. Other managers also know the situation with mine. So I should be pretty safe if I want to go somewhere else within the company. That's a great thing. It's good to know I'm doing well, but at the same time, why are these people allowed to continue their crap?

OK.. enough about that. The whole point was, that situation is so crappy that I decided a Happy Things Post was in order. Here goes (in no particular order)...

1. Seeing the space shuttle at night for the first (and probably last) time!
2. Being able to see Jupiter and Venus with the naked eye.
3. Elizabeth Rose
4. seeing one of the nephews this weekend
5. seeing snow this weekend
6. leaving said snow behind after this weekend
7. Nintendogs (yes I'm behind the times)
8. BrainAge
9. Sweet, supportive Hub
10. homemade Christmas gifts
11. Sleep
12. Comfy warm sleeping clothes
13. Crisp air, but warm sunshine
14. Nice high basal temps (and the girls are sore! GO progesterone!)

All done. :)
FCiF

Happy/Sad

Another one of our family's old guard passed away today - my great Uncle. And my great Aunt (my Grandma's sister) had a stroke a few days ago. It's hard to accept this changing of the guard. My parents and their peers are now the heads of the family. I don't like it one bit.

On the other hand, Jen and Baby Steps to Baby Shoes may be having babies soon! Life is so complex and horrible and beautiful all at once. I often think though that it could not be nearly so beautiful without the tragedy.

A Note on the Brownies

These were quite scrumptious and have piqued a lot of interest online and off. They are Ghirardelli (pronounced as in Grrr.. not George) brownie mix found in most grocery stores. In fact, they were buy one get one at Publix last week. I have tasted most of the flavors, and this was hands down the best. They were dark chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mmmm mmm. Quite easy. Have fun baking!

Lots of Thanks-Giving

Hey Peeps! Thanksgiving was so fabulous. I absolutely love to cook. It's one of the ways I think I can mother without being a Mom. Plus, I just love the creative aspect of it.

Anyway, so since I had to work, I started cooking days before. I'm notoriously bad at homemade stuffing, but I used a good recipe this year, and it turned out ok. I despair of ever cooking stuffing like my Mom does. She tells me time and time again how to do it, and time and time again it just turns out gross. Mom's is like a big meaty loaf of chicken and herby roasted bread. I LOVE IT. And I haven't had it in 5 years. sigh. I also pre-made dark chocolate Ghirardelli brownies. WAY worth it. More delicious than any brownie I've ever tasted. Seriously. My pumpkin pie is scrumptious and always a must. And finally, for the preparation extravaganza, I made homemade cranberry sauce that I found on The Pioneer Woman. It was PERFECT! I was incredibly happy with it, and so were it seems, my "guests." I already have another bag of cranberries in the freezer, ready to go for Christmas. Thank you PW!

On the day of, with the help of the wonderful Hub, the turkey breast went in and we made pole green beans with bacon bits, noodles and gravy and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. A delightful co-worker came over with some libations, and we all thoroughly enjoyed the spread. Then Hub and I continued to enjoy it for 4 days afterwards. Just as we were getting tired of it, it was gone. I LOVE HOLIDAY FOOD.

And finally, though my fatigue continues, I've been feeling so balanced emotionally and hormonally. Peace hasn't lasted this long for me since before puberty. I imagine Hub is giving thanks for that every single day... possibly every single hour. Could it be the Metformin? I don't know yet. But if it is, it's also caused another reason for giving thanks - I ovulated!!!

It didn't seem like the best ovulation ever with the best fertility signs, but it's a step in the right direction! I really do hope it's the Met so that I know once and for all that insulin issues are at the heart of my main problem. Nothing else seems to be the primary culprit. I guess we'll see if I keep ovulating and if my bloodwork shows improved blood lipid levels, testosterone and glucose scores.

I'm also so incredibly thankful for some truly wonderful family, friends and experiences. I feel like Hub and I have had an amazing life together and have seen and done amazing things. I'm very proud of who we turned out to be as a couple. I've made some great new friends the past few years that I hope to have for a lifetime as well. Even if we haven't hung out much, I'm so glad to have met and known you. Jen and Matt, a great group of girls from work, Kelly and Karl, Stephanie, Lisa, this great online community (including all of my links on the sidebar) - thank you all. You have helped to shape me and show me the way through this struggle.