March 2010 Archives

Eager With Anticipation

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I am eager with anticipation for Spring to be in full gear.  Like, really eager.  We have been teased (blessed?) by mother nature the last few weeks with unusually warm weather (50s and 60s!) and, uncharacteristically, no snow.  Her last hooray may have been the foot and a half we got the last week of February. 

Now the early spring plants, like tulips and daffodils, have gotten a very early start and they are getting me excited (yes, I know how dorky that sounds/is).  Even though they aren't really much to look at yet in terms of beauty, I took pictures anyway.  And I want to subject you to them (sorry).

Daffodils Now:

spring flowers 01.JPG 

Daffodils Soon:

spring flowers 04.JPG 

Tulips Now:

spring flowers 02.JPG 

Tulips Soon:

spring flowers 03.JPG

 

Most people tend to dislike yardwork.  It does have the word 'work' in it, afterall.  I, however, really enjoy it most of the time.  I am eager to get outside into the sunshine.  I am eager to make my yard look prettier.  I enjoy the satisfaction, both physical and mental, I get from it.  I am in my element when it is springtime. 

  

Do you enjoy doing yardwork or is it just a necessary evil?

 

New Oven

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Last weekend my boyfriend and I went appliance shopping.  Specifically, we were looking for a new oven and over the range microwave.  We scoped it out the week before, with the help of my parents when they were visiting, and did some additional research online.  We were informed when the particular items we were looking at were going to be discounted even further (Sunday evening) so when the time came around, we headed out.

We decided not to spend a fortune and settled for something without all the bells and whistles.  It's still nice, it's just not fancy.  It does everything we need it to do, and it has a few upgrades from the old one. 

  1. The heating element on the bottom is hidden rather than exposed. 
  2. It is self-cleaning (to be fair the old oven was self-cleaning as well, it just didn't work).
  3. Dual burner on the front right.  It can be switched to be either 6 in. or 9 in.

Like I said, not fancy.  We aren't spectacular cooks so decided we'd rather save our money and not get all the extras that we wouldn't use or would use so rarely they wouldn't be worth it.  In all honesty I could have been easily convinced to buy a much fancier, higher-end one, but my boyfriend wasn't making any sort of attempt at convincing me to upgrade.

It was delivered Wednesday afternoon.  Tuesday night I received an automated call saying it would be delivered the next day between 1:15p and 3:15p.  So I ran home from work and arrived just after 1:00.  The delivery men pulled up at 1:18p.  Now, I don't know what your experience has been like, but whenever I get a window like that, they either come at the very end of the window, or they blow by the window completely and come hours later.  Anyway, they came, they laughed at the old oven, they installed the new one, and hauled the old one away.  Seriously, I wish I had taken a picture of the old oven before it went so you could have gotten a hearty chuckle as well.  A joke was made about it likely being older than I am.  It probably wasn't much of an exaggeration.  It was a leftover from the previous owners which I amended to the contract and technically paid $1 for, so I am just pleased it lasted this long and I was able to put off buying a new one this long.

I am sure you are dying to know what we cooked as the inaugural meal in the new oven.  Right?  Well, I'll tell you.  We made london broil, marinated the night before, and cooked up some veggies on the stove top.  We read the manual (yes, I have a boyfriend that actually reads directions) and were excited about using the brand new oven.  We read what we were supposed to do and everything was going great.  We were broiling away.  And then we were really broiling away.  And then we started to notice a lot of smoke.  And then....

*beeep beeep beep*

*short pause*

*beeep beeep beeep*

Shit.  We set the smoke alarm off.  We opened all windows in the vicinity and tried to direct the smoke away from the alarm (I was waving the black and gray knit hat I made, since it was handy).  I sent a text message to my sister who knew we were cooking:  Lots of smoke!  Alarm is going off!  She texted me back a little bit later asking what the status was, but I didn't see it.  So then quite a while after that I get another message, "hello?"  I finally replied at that point, but since I hadn't replied earlier she had been worried that we burned the house down.  Luckily, that was not the case.  And, as it turns out, the london broil turned out better than it ever had before.  Cooked to perfection, despite a little drama.

I am happy to report that last night we made pizzas in the new oven and there were no smoke issues.  Or any other issues for that matter.  Our little make-your-own pizzas came out tasting great.    

There is still one little problem with the oven though.  Now my kitchen counters look even crappier and more out-dated than they did with the old antique oven. 

NewOven.JPG

 

I was watching a show the other night that mentioned a man with obsessive compulsive disorder washed is hands over twenty times a day.  They said the 'twenty times a day' in a long drawn-out dramatic kind of way as if it were an astonomical number.  It didn't seem quite that excessive to me.  I don't wash mine that much, but I do wash them quite a bit:

  • Every time I eat (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
  • Every time I go to the bathroom (4-5 times a day?)
  • When they get dirty (duh, usually a time, mayb two, a day)
  • When I get home from a shopping trip (like the grocery store or target)
  • When people at work are sick I wash my hands when I get home

 

I know over the last few years I have become increasingly germaphobic, and I understand some of this is a little bit overboard and probably a little silly.  I'm not sure if this is within the normal range of behavior.

Is that normal/near normal?  How many times a day do you wash your hands?

Knitting Hats

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What I really wanted to make when I first decided I wanted to learn how to knit, was a hat.  But, being the semi-intelligent girl that I am, I knew it would not be smart to try and knit a hat as my first project.  So I started with scarves.  I knit two of those, decided I had the basic stitches down, and graduated to hats.  It was intimidating, but I jumped in anyway.  Since then I've knit 4 hats.  Each hat only took a few days to do, and were really fun to make.  

First I wanted to knit a hat to match the green scarf I made.  I was going to start with the simplest of hats, the roll-brim, but decided I wanted to do an inch or two of ribbed border instead.  The size wasn't quite right, but it was wearable.  Not terrible for my first attempt. 

green hat 01.JPG

The second hat I knit was a roll-brim.  It was in the same green color, with the same yarn.  I didn't get any pictures of it though.  I actually made it for a friend.  More accurately, it was for my friend's 1 year old.  I just wanted to knit something quick to get a gauge on the sizing before knitting the "real" hat.  It was definitely a little too big, but hopefully she'll be able to wear it early this coming fall/winter. 

So then I knit the "real" hat.  My friend and I were looking at various patterns, trying to decide on one, and she settled on an adorable strawberry hat.  It seemed easy enough for me to attempt so that's what we went with.  And, oh my gosh, I think it came out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.  I was pretty proud.  My friend sent me photos of her daughter in the hat and it was absolutely precious.  A huge sense of accomplishment right there.  I could hardly believe that I actually crafted that myself with my own two hands.  I have a much more analytical and mathematical mind than a creative one, so these things shock me sometimes.

 

strawberry hat 01.JPGThen I decided to try another one for myself.  All ribbing, and alternating between two colors.  Not nearly as cute as the strawberry one, but I didn't think it was as appropriate for me to be going around in a hat that looks like a strawberry, my being 31 years old and all.

striped hat 01.JPGI learned a whole lot in making these 4 hats: 

Back At It

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The sun was shining all day long.  The temperatures broke the 60 degree mark.  I looked out the window longingly from 9a until 6p.  I decided mid-afternoon that I would go for a run/jog after work.  I just couldn't resist.  I had put it off long enough.

There was a huge hurdle, mostly a mental one, in getting going again.  I was so afraid that I would be back to square one again and not be able to finish my route.  I was really dreading that.  It took me several weeks from when I started to be able to run the route without having to stop and walk.

I was pleasantly surprised this evening.  I was certainly slower than the last time I ran, but I finished!  My small accomplishment for this warm St. Patrick's Day 2010.  I cleared the hurdle and I'm ready to go.

Smell the Coffee

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I mentioned quite a long time ago that I don't have a sense of smell.  I've never had one.  Not that I can remember, anyway.

Almost every single day at work someone comments on the smell of the food I am eating, or about to eat.  I eat both breakfast and lunch at work.  Every morning since early-mid November I have homemade quiche and eat it with some Turkey bacon.  I had no idea that quiche was so... odoriferous (love that word).  It's a strong smell, and one that almost everyone seems to agree is very pleasant.  I always feels awkward and a little guilty, I guess, when someone comments on the smell.  I feel bad because I feel like I am disturbing them, somehow.  Like I am invading their space.  I also feel bad because I don't have enough to share.  Heh.  I feel like apologizing.  Weird, I know, but I seriously do. 

I will also often bring in some yummy leftovers from dinner and heat it up in the microwave.  Sometimes it's like a little game that my co-workers like to play called, guess what Erin's eating by the smell of her food.

quiche.JPGAll of these comments make me frequently think about what I am missing out on, not being able to smell.  And so I thought I'd do a top 10 list of things I wish I could smell.

 

1.  Roses (and other flowers)

2.  Coffee

3.  Oranges

4.  The kitchen after baking cookies

5.  New baby smell

6.  Chocolate (because I love to eat it)

7.  Vanilla (because everyone seems to love it)

8.  My boyfriend  (I hear every person has their own scent and I wish I knew what my boyfriend's unique smell is)

9.  The ocean  

10.  My quiche!

 

So, please tell me, what are some of your favorite smells? 

 

Weekend Randomness

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Friday night my boyfriend and I went bowling.  It was a function put on by our employer.  I was not feeling well on Friday and really didn't feel like going.  I actually asked someone else to take my place (someone who wanted to go but didn't have a team).  They already had made other plans so I decided to stick it out and go.  Other people were counting on me and I didn't want to ditch.  I actually ended up feeling better after resting for 30 minutes after work before we had to leave.  I ended up having a good time.  My high score out of three games was 136.  I was pleased.  My boyfriend, not to be outdone, outscored me by 100 points.  Yes, he bowled a 236.  I have NO idea how he did it.  We have been bowling three times in the 3 and a half years we've been together (3.5 years tomorrow!) so it's not like he gets a lot of practice. 

Saturday night we went out with another couple.  We went to a Thai restaurant which was good, but I was actually a little disappointed by my Pat Thai.  The other couple really applied some pressure about going out for dessert afterward and I caved.  We went to this AMAZING little place and my boyfriend and I split a slice of Austrian Chocolate Torte.  To match, I also ordered an Austrian Hot Chocolate.  Best hot chocolate I've ever had and it was a perfect complement to the torte. 

Sunday was spent knitting.  I started a hat for a friend on Thursday but Saturday night, when it was almost done, I decided it was no good.  I needed to start fresh.  It was too big, and I messed up on switching between two colors in one row and the stitches in between looked all weird.  Unacceptable!  So Sunday morning I unraveled every last stitch and started over.  I spent about 6 hours trying to re-do it.  My friend was expecting to get it on Monday and I wanted to get as far as possible.  She won't get it tomorrow, but she will on Tuesday.  I think the size is much better, and I figured out how to switch the colors without it looking all funky.  It's a hat for a 1 year old and it looks like a strawberry.  I can't wait to show you the finished product.

I also meant to bake some brownies from scratch (for the first time ever) but it just didn't happen.  I bought all the ingredients two weeks ago, and my boyfriend is eagerly awaiting them ever since.  I better get around to that soon. 

Final note on the weekend: we had fabulous weather here.  Warm(ish) and plenty of sunshine.  I am getting so excited about the first signs of spring that should be started to pop up in another month or so.

 

So how was your weekend?  Productive?  Relaxing?

 

About This Blog

Stories, advice, and random thoughts from a thirty-something female.

Many people in their thirties are dealing with common issues and concerns. Some of these include buying a home, establishing a career, starting a family, and dealing with aging parents. I will blog about all these things as well as other every day stuff as I make my way through this third decade of life.

You can read more about the author behind thirty-something blog on the About Me page.

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This page is an archive of entries from March 2010 listed from newest to oldest.

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