Wednesday, February 24, 2010

DISHY

I am still alive! It has been a crazy busy week. I have hardly been at my desk. And my feet are paying for it.

Tonight is bunko! The theme is Mardi Gras/costume, so I'm sure there will be lots of beads and masks. At least, I assume. I've never really celebrated Mardi Gras.

I mean really. I have nothing to blog about! Wanna see some cute serving dishes I am coveting? I saw these on Giada De Laurentiis's show the other week and then found them in Z Gallerie - where, by the way, I could spend my entire paycheck. Giada made some pink sherbet... or was it gelato? and served it in these. I imagine anything tastes better when its served under a dome! What yummy little confection would you serve in these?

Friday, February 19, 2010

CERTIFIED

Guess what y'all? I am now Red Cross certified. Yes, this girl is who you need to call when your life is on the line... though just to be safe, I'd still go with 911. But you know. I'm here if you need me.

In my few years in the gig I currently have, I have had to call an ambulance twice while on the clock, so I was super ready to get this training under my belt. And - this is not meant to be funny but it's true - there is a lot of senior citizen traffic through our doors. So on Tuesday, about 30 of us set out to learn how to save some lives in case duty called.

We went through CPR stuff first: using a "breathing barrier", you do two test breaths and then start pumping for 30 seconds, to the rhythm of - wait for it - "Stayin' Alive" or "Another One Bites the Dust." No, seriously. If ever in that situation, you can bet I will be pumping to "Stayin' Alive" and not the other song. Why stop there, why not "Since You've Been Gone" or "Live Like You Were Dying?"

We followed that session with AED training - Automated External Defibrillator. These are the things you see that shock hearts back into rhythm. Only they don't go square on your chest like in the movies, they go on the upper right, lower left of the chest, so as to mimic the natural flow of blood to/from the heart. These machines walk you through what to do - "remove all loose clothing and jewelry" - so you can just calm down and listen instructions while it reads the heart movement. And then, if a shock is necessary, it tells you to stand back while it delivers 150 jules of energy to the person. To give you an idea of what that's like, your run-of-the-mill taser only delivers one jule. So the machine shocks the heart back into rhythm and everyone lives happily ever after.

We also learned about choking and when it's time to step in. You should always ask "ARE YOU CHOKING???" because you never know, it could be an asthma attack. So you give the person five pops on the back, in between the shoulder blades, before you start the Heimlich abdominal thrusts. Dr. Heimlich only recommends the thrusts, not the pops on the back first, whereas the Red Cross endorses both of those moves, so no more calling it the Heimlich, at least not around here. My favorite part of this session was the advice to "point" the person away from other people, because once that Jolly Rancher/chicken bone/grape becomes loose, it comes FLYING out and then you'll be doing first aid on someone who gets a Jolly Rancher to the eye.

I can also make a splint, dress a wound, and a whole host of other helpful activities. Just one thing - I started getting very lightheaded during some of these conversations. I am not sure I wouldn't panic or pass out. I didn't use to get woozy at the sight of blood or whatnot, but in the past few years, I most certainly have.

My card is coming in the mail soon, but please don't test me on any of these skills. They say you are more likely to have to perform them on friends and family than strangers, which makes me super nervous. C came over for dinner Tuesday night and afterward I showed him how I could save his life if he choked - he was thrilled. Unfortunately, he "didn't make it" so I had to start "CPR" on him. Then I got freaked out and realized I didn't ever want to be in that position. So y'all take my word for it and please don't make me have to show off my skills on you.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

SORRY

Okay kids, I hate to do this. I am turning on the comment spam verification thing. I HATE having to do this when I comment on other blogs so I was avoiding turning it on for my own blog, but the spam comments are getting out of hand. I am deleting a few every day. Sorry Charlie. Do y'all mind? I hope not.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

OLYMPICY

Two things we need to talk about ASAP regarding Olympic Coverage!!!!

1. We Are the World 25 for Haiti - I was not watching live when they debuted this song during the opening ceremonies, but as you already read, I did watch plenty of Olympic Coverage!!!! on Saturday, which is when NBC finally played the FULL song and video. I was not impressed the first time I heard it (Friday night), but when they took time to air the whole song (Saturday), I really liked it more. If you haven't seen the entire video, make sure you do it as it's much better than the short, sped-up basically commercial that they showed during the opening ceremonies. What I could do without - Wyclef. He is WARBLING. It sounds like a really annoying bird. Wyclef, you are the weakest link. No wait, Miley. NO! Justin Beiber. All three of them could've stayed at home and I'd have been just fine!

2. Biathlon - HOW did I not know about this sport until this year? I guess when you are watching daytime Olympic Coverage!!!! you see more than just snowboarding, speed racing and figure skating. So for those like me, who only tune into the really cliché Olympic Coverage!!!!, I will explain. The skiers take off on a cross-country, 12 mile race. Actually, let me interrupt you right here. In the days when my family would take an annual ski trip, I would inevitably get stuck having to do a little cross-country action when my dad would yell at me to bear left and I'd bear right (I feel like I have talked about this before - I get my right and my left mixed up all the time). So there I'd be, clear on the other side of the slope and I'd have to ski my way across. I think one time I decided it'd be easier to ski down, get back on the lift, go back up the mountain, and bear the correct way this time. A mulligan, if you will. And several times, I remember someone deciding we'd take a "shortcut" over to another side of the mountain. Every "shortcut" brought plenty of cross country skiing course. Point is - I have dipped my toe in the water and HATE it. What misery. So these people are going 12 miles cross-country skiing, and every three miles or so they have to stop AND SHOOT A RIFLE. Is this a sport? They have to hit five targets (twice standing up, and twice "prone" or lying down) and if you miss, you have to take a spin around the penalty loop for every one you miss. I get the difficulty - obviously, your heart is racing from the challenge of skiing cross-country, so it's hard to calm down enough and steady a rifle. I just think it's funny. Why not add some dizzy bat after each round of shooting? Or maybe even a good old-fashioned egg toss during lap four? Three-legged race? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

Monday, February 15, 2010

VALENTINED

Hey kids – did everyone have a good weekend? I hope you each felt loved and safe this Valentine’s Day weekend. I know I did.

On Saturday night, C and I went to see Valentine’s Day – it was GREAT! He had low expectations for it, something I discovered while we were sitting in Opry Mills mall traffic for 45 minutes. Knowing it would be a busy night, I had bought tickets ahead of time on Fandango. But sitting in that traffic, I was intensely scared we were going to miss the movie and I would be out $22. I started calling the movie theater to find out what would happen if I was too late to get a seat because they had the traffic equivalent of the Iron Bowl in their backyard, but luckily, we parked the car and made it inside with just enough time. Honestly, you would have thought they were giving away money at Opry Mills. I have NEVER seen it that crowded. Picture mall traffic on the five days before Christmas… then combine all five days. That’s what we were dealing with Saturday night. From what I could tell, it ended up being a bunch of people teenagers just going to the mall. If we had not have already purchased tickets, I would have not even bothered getting off the interstate. It. Was. Insane.

But I digress. After the super cute movie, I figured someone* would want to go home post-haste to watch some Olympic coverage. Turns out, he had other plans. C surprised me and drove us to Rumba, the restaurant where we had our Valentine’s dessert last year. How cute! We enjoyed a drink and dessert each. And no one was upset that there was a TV showing the luge footage in the bar behind us.

Sunday night, we started off the day as all days should start – with a big fat breakfast at Waffle House. Full as ticks, we spent the day together on the couch, watching - Olympic coverage - before I split to finish gift shopping and get ready. C picked me up and we went to eat at J. Alexander’s, which was delicious. I love dressing up and eating out, but more importantly, spending time with C. Really. We could have just as well gone to Shoney's. And we have! He’s just so fun to share a booth with, it doesn’t matter where we go. Or, as Sugar said in Some Like It Hot, "It's not how long it takes, it's who's taking you." He's a good one.

Anyway - pardon the Hallmark moment. After dinner, I wanted Chris to try the wonderful cookie-dough egg rolls at Jackson’s, so we made our way over there. In a shocking turn of events, he was more interested in the accompanying ice cream than the cookie-dough egg rolls, which meant more for me except I was so stuffed from dinner that I couldn’t finish them. Oh well.

We headed home and swapped presents. I received some dark chocolates, some new perfume and my favorite gift, a stuffed kitten with big blue eyes like Chris’s. Hilarious. This way I don’t have to subject him to a real kitten (except I might still get a real kitten). But this one is a good sub! For instance, the stuffed kitten—which was promptly named Delilah—spent the night doing pretty close to what a real cat does (unless the real cat is Kate’s cat): sitting pretty in my lap and keeping quiet. Chris received equally silly/useful gifts – some sweets, some toys and games, and in the useful department, a pizza stone and the Hangover DVD. But both of those useful gifts? Not just useful for him, my friends. I love pizza, and I love the Hangover. So a happy Valentine’s Day it was indeed.

Hope you all had a good weekend. It flew by too quickly and left snow in it's wake. Boo. Spring, where are you?!?!

*Chris LOVES the Olympics. Ever heard of a hunter’s widow? This weekend withstanding, I am an Olympic widow. See you in March babe.

Friday, February 12, 2010

SURPRISED

Remember me asking for this for Christmas? Well, I didn't get it. But imagine my surprise when I came home after work on Wednesday and found a package from my mom waiting at my door; the contents: one new comforter. Wahoo! What a sweet mommy. It looks lovely and I sleep so soundly now with the contents of my comforter evenly distributed and not causing me fits as I flip around in my sleep. Thanks mom! What a nice Valentine's surprise.

Speaking of, I hope you all have a happy Valentine's weekend! Don't forget to check here if you are looking for a good card to send your sweetie (or sworn enemy). As for me, I bought us tickets to see Valentine's Day (the movie) tomorrow night, and C is picking a restaurant for dinner on Sunday. I hope he picks a place better than this one. Did I mention it went out of business about a month later? But I wouldn't have done anything differently - what a funny memory we have from that one dinner. Wonder whose salad SueAnn and her bell peppers will ruin this Valentine's Day?

And in case you're curious what I am asking for this Valentine's Day, here's the answer - A Couples Snuggie!
When I sent it to C, his reply was hilarious: "So you’d have to hold hands the whole time? How would you even stand it? You’d explode with joy." What can I say, I'm an affectionate person.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

DROWSY

Late last week, C was offered some free tickets to see the Drowsy Chaperone, which is playing at TPAC this week. Originally, he declined. But then his car got stolen (no updates, by the way) and he decided free tickets would, in fact, be a nice addition to what was swiftly becoming a bad week. So, Tuesday night we bundled up and headed downtown for a night at the theater.

Y’all. What a funny musical! It’s very satirical. It’s billed as a “musical within a comedy.” That means that there is one lonely, nerdy character on stage and we are in his living room with him (comedy). He puts on a record for us to hear, the sound track to a (fake) musical from the jazz era called The Drowsy Chaperone. Character by character and scene by scene, the entire musical comes to life in his living room with him to narrate and give parenthetical references and in a few cases, join in the scene himself. It’s important to remember that it’s MAKING FUN of early musicals – the drama, the jazz hands, the tap sequences, the puns, the bad accents, so everything so over the top, overplayed, over-exaggerated, etc. But, it makes it all the more hilarious.

There was one song that had me laughing so hard, I almost wet my pants. And then C and I were quoting it all night have been quoting it all week. I was so glad we went to see it. If it's in your area, try to see it. It's not as well-known as some other musicals, but it is just as good. Next in town: Color Purple (sans Fantasia), Mamma Mia, Chorus Line aaaand Beauty and the Beast!

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

LITERARY

I finished my library book last night. I was so excited to get my hands on this one - Nanny Returns. It's the follow up book to the very popular and really good Nanny Diaries, which I loved, so I thought I'd devour this book in no time flat.

Just one problem: I hated it. It was hard to follow on a macro and micro level. Characters would just come and go and disappear (to Africa, even) with little to no discussion. The storyline that didn't involve the X family (for whom the main character used to nanny) was uninteresting. And then scenes and conversations were hard to follow because there wasn't much description in the writing. I finished the book because I felt like I had to. I'll admit I was mildly intrigued to learn the outcome of the X family's long and complicated plot - but only mildly.

Bummer. I was hoping it would be a lot better. Have any of you read it? I would love to hear your thoughts and see if you were just as confused as me.

Next up - Going Rogue. Yeah, you heard me. I love a good biography!

PS - Happy Birthday little blog. Today you are four!

Monday, February 08, 2010

SAD

I was enjoying my last few minutes in the peace and quiet of my bed before getting ready to face the morning when my phone rang. It was C. Someone stole his car right. out. of. his. driveway.

What kind of person STEALS A CAR?!? Especially one with two little car seats in the back? If I were a criminal, that sight alone would break my heart just enough to stop stealing the car and find something else to do.

I rushed to get ready, picked him up, bought him a hot biscuit from Hardee’s and loaned him my car. Poor, poor guy.

Luckily his has some bumper stickers that make it easy to spot, so I am hopeful they will recover the car. However, the wounds of violation and anger will take some time to heal.

It’s been a rough day. Leave him some comment love.

Friday, February 05, 2010

BRIEF

...Friday Few?

1. So, I still have not seen Avatar. Am I the only one? I think I might be. At $15 a pop, Avatar should be seeing ME.

2. My new hummus de jour - Roasted Red Pepper! YUM. Remember last time we talked hummus, I told you I discovered edamame hummus and my world had not been the same since. Well edamame hummus and I fell out of love. I don't remember when or why but I stopped eating it. Luckily, I have a new hummus fling in my life, and if you're smart, you will too.

3. Chris and I watched Modern Family for the first time the other night (well, my first time at least). HILARIOUS. Until Glee comes back and American Idol gets good, I am going to catch up on this show.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

KITTENED

I may be the only one, but I think this video is HILARIOUS. I need to go back and pull our home videos from when I was around this age. Surely there is You Tube fame to be found somewhere in all those VHS tapes. Until then, this little girl will have to do.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

SORRY

Today I was driving to meet C for a quick lunch. I looked at the car ahead of me and could see from the driver's side mirror that the girl was bawling her eyes out.

It made me feel very small and sad. I wonder what was wrong? Had she just lost her job? Had a bad doctor's appointment? Received some news that was either so overwhelmingly good or bad that she could only cry out of pure shock?

I recently heard someone say that if we all put our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd immediately grab ours back.

Just a reminder that even though they may not be bawling in the car ahead of yours, you never know what your neighbor is dealing with. Let's all play nicely together.

Monday, February 01, 2010

BACK

A little late for the Friday Five... what about Monday's musings? Whatever. You're just happy I even posted. You'll read it and you'll LIKE it... or else!

1. I went to the dentist last week for the first time in.... two years. Is that gross? Oh well. I HATE GOING TO THE DENTIST. I did not put this off because of that, though. Rather, my last appointment was in April 2008. Between the move and job change, I just kind of fell off the grid and my dentist didn't know how to contact me. And I certainly was in no hurry to reach out to them. Finally I did and GUESS WHAT. No cavities. I survived. No thanks to my Mom, whom I called en route and she started telling me about her below the gum cavity. I started yelling at her to be quiet when she brought up lasers. ::Shudder::

2. Fame - bad movie, greeeeaaaat soundtrack. I love Asher Book.

3. In case you hadn't heard, Nashville got some snow. It was exciting for about one night, then it got boring and a nuisance. Thankfully my knight in shining 4-wheel-drive was able to rescue me from house arrest for at least one night and keep me from going insane, cooped up in the apartment. The other two nights, I was working! Yes, just call me the postal service because "neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us me from the swift completion of our my appointed rounds." I can't decide if I am proud or sad about that.

4. I won some goodies from Chick Fil A on Twitter last week. I wonder what they'll send me? Hopefully it involves coupons.

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