August 23, 2010



REALLY?


I am so hot and miserable. There were 2 women in the grocery store today, looking cool as a cucumber in their sleek short dresses on their sleek thin bodies, minimal jewelry except the 20 karats on their left hand. I looked like a fat slob.


and…I realized that if I had started a sensible diet in January and lost just 5lbs a month (that’s just over a 1lb a week), I would be 40(!) pounds lighter!


so…I was talking to a pal at work who has started the HCG diet. I am going to try it, too…for 21 days. I think I should be able to do that, although I thoroughly bombed the Master Cleans. It looks a lot like the old grapefruit diet, but supposedly I will not be hungry and all the fat will just melt away…although I think that today all I would have to do is stay outside in the 111 degree weather…that surely would melt the fat (sigh).

August 17, 2010



work - i work for my husband scott part time (20 hours/wk). it’s not hard. i do it to help him out, so it isn’t like i majored in finance (opposite - i majored in biology) or anything. so, don’t ask me how the market is doing or how will it end for the year (i don’t know). it is just a job. i do envy people, sometimes, who are working their dream job, but i’m part time and the boss and i take vacations together and i usually get my way when i ask for time off, but it’s just a job.


so, what makes it pleasant (excluding, of course, that i am SURROUNDED by nice people…had to say that…i mean…i work for my husband AND brother-in-law, right?)?


well, what makes it better is starbucks…daily…



lunchbox filled with goodies: yogurt (fage is sooooooo good), fresh fruit, and this really cute ‘bento’ box. i got it from a place called rock paper scissors in wiscasset, maine. i need to look and see if it has a website…later…after this post. i mean, look at it! anything i pack in it tastes better. what is in it today? fresh blueberries for my yogurt, crackers and peanut butter. these crackers are not your ordinary saltines. these are from annie’s. this company makes organic saltines shaped like bunnies, hearts, x’s & o’s. they also make cheese bunnies like goldfish who are just as cute…the goldfish i mean, and bunny shaped graham crackers, chocolate cookies and chocolate chip cookies like teddy graham size. okay teddy grahams are cute, too, but bunnies? adorable!



a shiny lunch pail given to me by the boss…



i also like my calendar which i downloaded, for free, at the beginning of the year from somethingshidinginhere.typepad.com. you have to visit their website. it is so full of stuff. i will be purchasing something soon, i just know it, from their curiosity shoppe. and, they have awesome bowties now! husband scott isn’t the bowtie type, but maybe some day…


i hope they have a calendar for 2011. i love the huge size. i printed it on different colored card stock.



and of course my ipad. it makes me feel cool to own one AND know how to use it. actually, it is too cool for me, but i have it anyway (ha ha…ha ha ha). see the cover for it? it’s from byrd and belle at etsy.com. it is made out of a heavy felt and leather trim. and, see that snap closure? on the inside of the cover the metal part is covered with felt so it won’t scratch my ipad. it is so nice and so very very well made.


so… that is what makes work pleasant for me…to have my favorite things on my desk. oh! and of course the great people in the office, too.


where are my photos? i am needing some updated ones from my favorite photographer at michelle-connolly.com (hint hint…sure would like a mini photo session of jason and scott). so if anyone is out there reading, what makes your desk a happy desk?

August 16, 2010

OMG!

scene: at the butchers in Central Market


butcher: may I help you?


girl in her 20’s with 2 small boys (hopefully her nephews): I would like some hamburger


b: how much?


g: enough for 2 adults and these 2 boys. which hamburger do you recommend for hamburgers?


b: this one


g: how long do you grill it?


b: till it’s almost done, but don’t over cook because it will dry out since it is lean.


g: what can I do to make it not dry out?


b says something, but I don’t hear it because it is still early in the 21 questions game.


g: maybe I should get some chuck mixed in with it?


g: can you grill on the grill or on a George Forman grill?


g: can you mix the to hamburger meats together for me?


b says to me, as he goes to the back to mix the meat together: I will be with you in a minute.


me, trying very very hard to be patient, smiles


girl to butcher when he comes back: what buns do you recommend? which brand do you prefer? is there one brand that is better than another?


g: what kind of cheese goes with beef? what do you prefer? cheddar cheese okay?


me silently thinking and imploding inside: OMG!


girl still asking questions when another butcher comes and helps me.


2nd butcher: may I help you?


me: 3/4 lb of extra lean ground beef, please


2nd b: anything else?


me: no, thank you


girl still asking questions about making hamburgers as I leave to get the salmon.


I kinda want to see what the hamburgers are going to look like when she serves them to the boys.

August 10, 2010



everyday, i wake up and say to myself, “today i will not get mad. today will be a good day. today, i will get things done/finished.” husband scott would disagree with this in that i say this all in my head and i am not what you would call a cheerful morning person. it takes me a while to wake up. BUT, i do try everyday to be patient and good.


lately, however, i have the shortest fuse ever. everything annoys me. everything makes me mad.


and, i am not sure why.


do you think it might be that every route possible to work (and i mean every way possible) is shut down to one lane?



or perhaps, it is this…



or that i am getting fitted for my mother of the bride dress in 3 weeks. is there something i can do to drop 20 lbs in 3 weeks? i mean something besides getting sick.


so…tomorrow…i am going to not lose my temper. i will get everything done/finished. and i will be nice. (sigh, again)



or maybe, today i pressed my lips together (possibly to control my temper) and “ouch” why did that hurt? oh…yay…a pimple (deep DEEP sigh).


oh and could iphoto BE anymore flattering (in chandler bing voice)?

August 05, 2010



to b & b or not to b & b? that is a very good question. get it? macbeth?


thanks to some wonderful relatives (thanks mary and rolf), i have gotten to stay in some very very nice hotels. this is a photo of dale chihuly’s glass ‘garden’ in the lobby of the mandarin oriental in nyc. so, yes, i am very spoiled and because of that, i don’t like to stay at standard hotels. one of my favorite stories that i tell (over and over again, according to my children) is the time daughter michelle and i were checking into a hotel and son jason comes up and says, “this is a really nice hotel!” michelle and i looked at each other and went, “meh.”


anyway….i booked a lot of b & b’s for our maine trip.



so here is husband scott enjoying a motel in bar harbor, maine (though, it looks like he is not enjoying me taking a photo). this is highview motel which i truly recommend. it is family owned, very clean, and look at the great screen door.


scott doesn’t particularly like staying at b & b’s. he doesn’t like the intimacy of staying in a home. he feels that he has to be quiet and not disturb his neighbors. some of the places we stayed were very charming, but small or much to scott’s chagrin came without a tv. how can he stay on top of everything going on without a daily dose of cnbc? or espn? or cnn? i, not so secretly, like the fact that i can’t watch any of those channels. and why do men beeline straight to the remote when entering a hotel room? i also tried to save money by choosing a more inexpensive room which sometimes meant that the private bathroom was across the hall. it was not a shared bathroom, but to have to go across the hall…..well husband didn’t like that much.


these things don’t deter me, however.



i mean, how can one NOT like a view like this one at squall inn in wiscasset, where the host comes out and talks to you. paul was a great story teller and with his british accent, i couldn’t get enough. i think that husband scott came out on the porch just hoping paul would come out and say hello.



and, the bed and breakfast places were in charming houses like this one in bridgton. this one came with the nicest dog, daisy, which is a great compliment from a cat person like me.



noble house also came with a bottomless jar of homemade cookies, conveniently located. i am very appreciative of rick and julie for not commenting on the fact that scott and i ate on the average mmmmmmmm…about…oh i don’t know…a dozen cookies a day.


the breakfasts we ate were really good especially at the noble house and squall inn. and, one could, if one wanted, skip lunch since the breakfasts were very filling. we didn’t do that, but one could.



actually, at the end of the trip husband scott wasn’t complaining that much about the b & b’s. he got pretty comfortable.



the best part of staying at a bed and breakfast, though, are the people that stay there with us. we spent 4th of july weekend at one place. we had breakfast and great conversation with mitch and his girlfriend. we sat on the porch with everyone else and cheered the runners that ran by us for the four on the fourth, which included george and his daughter misty. we would talk with another couple who goes to bridgeton 3 times a year and stays at the noble inn each time.


and…we met chris and christine who decided to get married on the bridge in bridgton and spent time at the b & b with us, too.


could you do that at your average hotel?


nope!

August 03, 2010



what i like about the iPad…
when i can’t get to my computer, i can still post…yay!