Seepage

My work life has officially seeped into my "real" life:  I am now seeing Grainger ads on the blogs I read. 

Please Note: Most of the blogs I read are related to food, dogs, or vintage culture.

Sigh...

Daily Gratitude - 13 August 2012

Part of taking the time to stop and notice what we are thankful for in our daily lives is the act of doing so when we're feeling cranky, burdened by others, and otherwise ungracious.

Like me!  Today!  (grumble-grumble)

So here goes:

#1 - I was able to pick up some needful household goods at Target over my lunch break today.

#2 - The infected cut on my hand seems less infected and appears to be healing.  It hurts less.

#3 - I cannot express the sheer delight I felt in discovering that such a things as "pie birds" exist! (See previous post.)

#4 - My mom sent me bath soaps and candles as a housewarming gift. 

#5 - My dogs will be waiting for me when I get home home from work!  Yes, this is a five-days-a-week occurrence, but it always makes me happy to be home.

Pie Birds?!

How did I not know about these until today??

Click here to learn about Pie birds!

My Blogging Soul Sister?

Back when I had "free time" (...seriously, what does that even mean??) I used to tweet on Twitter.  On Twitter there is (or was) a popular weekly event (for lack of a better word) called Follow Friday where you recommend another Twitterer to your followers.  "Hey, they are GREAT you should read what they have to say!  You won't regret it!"  That's it, in a nutshell.

 Now that you're up to speed, I intend (when I remember) to carry on that tradition her on ye olde blogge where I will recommend a blog that I enjoy and think my readers (all two of them...) might enjoy as well.  When I remember to do so!

The inaugural installment of Follow Friday is a blog I began reading TODAY.  Yes, today.  And I'm already irrevocably hooked.  It's about food (which I know and love) and running (I'm going to be a runner!).  Guess what?  The author has a GSP who is 7 years old and  GSP/Lab cross (who is 4... and male... but whatever!)!  We're even the same age.  What are the odds?

 Emily Malone writes the Daily Garnish.  You should read it!

Aren't sure where to begin?  Allow me to point you in the right direction!  Or at least some direction or other.

How to make your own Vegetable Masala burgers!  (Just like the Trader Joe's frozen ones... but better!)

I spent part of my lunch hour at work today reading through Emily's Running Journey which is what finally gave me not only the motivation but the initiative to take on the Couch to 5K (C25K) training challenge.  Just trying to get out there and "do it" without really knowing what I'm doing hasn't been very effective.  I've taken Lola and Gatsby each out once during the past week and have been making excuses every morning for the past few days.

Time to get the lead out!

The Present - 10 August 2012

I just ate slightly over half of a club sandwich with added pickles.  I didn't eat the entire thing.  And my stomach wasn't rumbling like a half full rock tumbler.

I not only printed out the Couch To 5K training program, but I actually glanced at it!

Tonight I might actually get my new bed.  Third time's/tries a charm?

Tomorrow I'm going to an estate sale with B. and then breakfast at Blue Willow.

Before I do that, Lola Lulu and I are doing Day One of the C25K (see above).  There!  I've stated it publicly, which means I have to do it or risk losing face or street cred or whatever it is that keeps my eyes bright and my nature intense!  Plus it's only twenty minutes of various things jiggling off and on.  Surely can't that cause permanent damage!  Right?  Oh, dear...

There is no way that I've had enough coffee thus far today to be rambling like this, but I'm gonna go with it...

I'm the second one from the left, don't I look tan?  (...kidding)

Broke, Quick, Improvisational Lunch

I woke up extra early this morning.  4 am, to be precise, and like all mornings where I awaken extra early I am lulled into a false sense of having more extra time that I genuinely do.

So while I had time to take Gatsby for a lovely 40 minute walk, enjoy a leisurely (and hot!) shower for the first time in months, and tidy up the yard I was also sprinting out the door, hairpins flying, & frantically wishing that I would make my bus to work.  I ate approximately 90% of my breakfast (guess who inhaled the crumbs?) and ran out the door with a protein shake, a frozen veggie burger, and a couple of yogurts hoping that I could cobble together something edible for lunch.

Guess what?  I did and it was delicious!  I knew that I had some leftover lettuce (current condition: unknown) and some random items in the fridge at work.

Here is what I made:

Yes, this is a paper bowl and plastic fork.  I'm sorry, planet Earth. :(

Yes, I know that my cellphone takes fairly lousy photos.  The lens is probably dirty and smudged, too.  Oh, well!

Black bean burger, crumbled atop the edible remnants of the curly leaf lettuce (not many curls in evidence...), with chiffonaded (is that even a word? I've never used "chiffonade" in the past tense...) freshly palm-crushed mint (aromatic!), half a package of roasted/salted peanuts from Costco, and the dressing was made with two genuine soy sauce packets (no MSG or weird stuff, whew!), a splash of orange juice, some crushed red pepper, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper.  No need for additional sodium with the soy sauce and salted peanuts, folks!

I also ate three slices of dill pickle, but that is neither here nor there...

P.S. It's a good thing that excessive parenthetical blogging contains zero calories... jeepers...  (...ellipses, on the other hand...)

Daily Gratitude - 7 August 2012

#1 - Went for a 40 minute walk with Gatsby around the U of A mall and campus early this morning; such a beautiful location to walk the dogs!

#2 - Almond. Italian. Soda.  Delicious!

#3 - I am taking on new responsibilities at work!

#4 - Tomorrow I should be getting my new queen size bed!

#5 - Hopefully today I will be able to finish cleaning out my old duplex and finally be done with that place for good!

Daily Gratitude - 1 August 2012

#1 - I am, where I am, right now.

#2 - Today is Gatsby's 7th birthday!

#3 - One of my favourite pieces just came on Pandora Radio (Gymnopedie for Piano No. 1 by Erik Satie).

#4 - I slept well last night and feel calm this morning.

#5 -  I found the jade earrings my grandmother gave me; I'm going to wear them today.