Wow, finally a way to fight back. Sign, friends! We should not be paying what we already pay.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Turn it off!!
I left the oven on the other day. All night. My husband then told me that I could've burned the apartment down, all the while putting on his best impression of my father.
My dad was very insistent on turning everything off while I was growing up. He still is, but I don't hear him anymore since I no longer live with him. He has a mantra that he practically chants on his way out the door: "Make sure you turn off and unplug everything. And turn down the heat. Make sure the doors are locked. Did you turn off the curling iron??"
We have to unplug everything because appliances will blow up. Heat is expensive. We will be home invaded, tied to chairs, tortured, and shot if the doors aren't locked. As for the curling iron... that is something we haven't done in maybe 10-15 years, so I don't know why it's on the list.
He does have a point in some cases. There was a rash of violent home invasions in our general area several years ago. Also, gas prices are soaring, so why not save on the heating bill? He and my mother do insist that they've known people who's TV exploded. I'm not sure if they remember their names or not, but it happened!
His fear of fire has probably been honed by my sister and the few days of torture that she put him through when we first moved into our new house 12 years ago. My sister was not yet fully trusted with stove top elements or the big oven, so my dad compromised and bought a toaster oven. Not much damage you can do with those things, right? The day after he bought it, I was sitting on the couch when my dad started yelling in the kitchen. Suddenly he ran by holding the toaster oven over his head, flames blazing out of it. He somehow managed to get the back door open and flung it out onto the snow-covered deck. We then watched it in silence as it finished burning the remnants of the taco shells my sister had been "browning". He then ranted and raved a bit, before returning it to the store and telling them it was defective.
Fast-forward to the next day. My sister must've had another craving for toasty taco shells because she was at it again. And once again it was flung out into the snow in a dramatic fashion. One more "defective" toaster oven was returned to the store, and my sister was at once banned from using it without his supervision.
Poor dad. The stresses involved with having kids.
For the record, I may have left the oven on overnight, but last week my husband left a giant candle burning overnight. There was little left of it in the morning and somehow it didn't burn through the tabletop. Which one's worse??
My dad was very insistent on turning everything off while I was growing up. He still is, but I don't hear him anymore since I no longer live with him. He has a mantra that he practically chants on his way out the door: "Make sure you turn off and unplug everything. And turn down the heat. Make sure the doors are locked. Did you turn off the curling iron??"
We have to unplug everything because appliances will blow up. Heat is expensive. We will be home invaded, tied to chairs, tortured, and shot if the doors aren't locked. As for the curling iron... that is something we haven't done in maybe 10-15 years, so I don't know why it's on the list.
He does have a point in some cases. There was a rash of violent home invasions in our general area several years ago. Also, gas prices are soaring, so why not save on the heating bill? He and my mother do insist that they've known people who's TV exploded. I'm not sure if they remember their names or not, but it happened!
His fear of fire has probably been honed by my sister and the few days of torture that she put him through when we first moved into our new house 12 years ago. My sister was not yet fully trusted with stove top elements or the big oven, so my dad compromised and bought a toaster oven. Not much damage you can do with those things, right? The day after he bought it, I was sitting on the couch when my dad started yelling in the kitchen. Suddenly he ran by holding the toaster oven over his head, flames blazing out of it. He somehow managed to get the back door open and flung it out onto the snow-covered deck. We then watched it in silence as it finished burning the remnants of the taco shells my sister had been "browning". He then ranted and raved a bit, before returning it to the store and telling them it was defective.
Fast-forward to the next day. My sister must've had another craving for toasty taco shells because she was at it again. And once again it was flung out into the snow in a dramatic fashion. One more "defective" toaster oven was returned to the store, and my sister was at once banned from using it without his supervision.
Poor dad. The stresses involved with having kids.
For the record, I may have left the oven on overnight, but last week my husband left a giant candle burning overnight. There was little left of it in the morning and somehow it didn't burn through the tabletop. Which one's worse??
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Why was it so good??
Wanna know one of the best and worst parts of travelling to other countries?
Finding something you love.
I was lying here on my couch watching "Outsourced" when I got the munchies. And the first thing that came to mind was a Korean snack that I ate quite a bit of while I was over there. I guess you could call them chips. They were thin, crunchy potato sticks that came in two flavours: red and green. I guessed that one was plain and the other a little onion-y. The onion one was so good that I'd find excuses to eat them. I think what made me love them so much was not the flavour, but the crunchiness. They were crunchy enough to be annoying to other people, but not hard enough that they would break your teeth. MMm.. love.
But guess what? I have not seen them since leaving. Nor does my husband remember what they are called. I have not heard of any currently-in-Korea bloggers talking about them, nor have I seen them on any food websites. So that's what makes it the worst part of finding something you love.
I also fell in love with this particular scent of Johnson&Johnson's baby powder called "Blossoms". I have a small bottle that I brought over with me that I only put on on special occasions. Every time I use it, I get an explosion of memories of my husband's grandmother's house where I was staying. It is also hard to find online. BUT, the good news is that my husband's cousin just came here from Korea and he brought me five bottles! Enough to last for a long time! I even gave two bottles to my mom and sister. But now I'm half afraid that if I over-use it, I'll lose the memories associated with it.
Finding something you love.
I was lying here on my couch watching "Outsourced" when I got the munchies. And the first thing that came to mind was a Korean snack that I ate quite a bit of while I was over there. I guess you could call them chips. They were thin, crunchy potato sticks that came in two flavours: red and green. I guessed that one was plain and the other a little onion-y. The onion one was so good that I'd find excuses to eat them. I think what made me love them so much was not the flavour, but the crunchiness. They were crunchy enough to be annoying to other people, but not hard enough that they would break your teeth. MMm.. love.
But guess what? I have not seen them since leaving. Nor does my husband remember what they are called. I have not heard of any currently-in-Korea bloggers talking about them, nor have I seen them on any food websites. So that's what makes it the worst part of finding something you love.
I also fell in love with this particular scent of Johnson&Johnson's baby powder called "Blossoms". I have a small bottle that I brought over with me that I only put on on special occasions. Every time I use it, I get an explosion of memories of my husband's grandmother's house where I was staying. It is also hard to find online. BUT, the good news is that my husband's cousin just came here from Korea and he brought me five bottles! Enough to last for a long time! I even gave two bottles to my mom and sister. But now I'm half afraid that if I over-use it, I'll lose the memories associated with it.
aw grandma :)
There was also an excellent restaurant that my roommate and I would frequent late at night. It's called Country Chicken (촌닭) and it is so good. Crispy chicken bites and rice cakes in sticky hot sauce. Served with white rice to take the edge off of the heat. Delicious! My husband has made this for me a few times, but there's something about the real deal. I miss it!
Do you have anything that you would LOVE to have right now but it's unavailable where you are?
Ah, enough reminiscing already. Time for bed!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
My amazing Sherlock Holmes husband found that snack. He has never heard of it nor seen it before.
It's called 눈을 감자 - Let us close our eyes.
My amazing Sherlock Holmes husband found that snack. He has never heard of it nor seen it before.
It's called 눈을 감자 - Let us close our eyes.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Zzz
I am tired today. I worked almost 8 hours, came home and crashed. I then had the strangest dream about working for a really old Romanian optometrist who didn't care if we had patients or not. His wife was his receptionist, and if it was even possible, she was older than him. She didn't even speak English.
The truth: I do work for an optometrist. But he's not old. And I worked all day with a very chatty coworker from Romania. Funny how your day spills over into your dreams.
Speaking of which, my hubby has developed a bad habit due to me. I had a horrible sleep last night due to two factors. The first being the two cups of coffee at 10pm. Bad move on my part. But the next.... I had a feeling it would eventually happen. I have a problem with sleep-talking. I used to sleep-walk a lot, so I figure sleep-talking is a lot safer and less embarrassing. My husband has told me that I wake him up quite often with some tidbit of useless/incoherant knowledge that he just NEEDS to know at 4am. How he is getting good marks at school is a miracle.
BUT, last night he was full-out sleep-talking. Not once. Not twice. But many times. Is sleep-talking 100% contagious over a long period of time? I'm gonna say yes.
So much for him being a sound sleeper! Oops!
The truth: I do work for an optometrist. But he's not old. And I worked all day with a very chatty coworker from Romania. Funny how your day spills over into your dreams.
Speaking of which, my hubby has developed a bad habit due to me. I had a horrible sleep last night due to two factors. The first being the two cups of coffee at 10pm. Bad move on my part. But the next.... I had a feeling it would eventually happen. I have a problem with sleep-talking. I used to sleep-walk a lot, so I figure sleep-talking is a lot safer and less embarrassing. My husband has told me that I wake him up quite often with some tidbit of useless/incoherant knowledge that he just NEEDS to know at 4am. How he is getting good marks at school is a miracle.
BUT, last night he was full-out sleep-talking. Not once. Not twice. But many times. Is sleep-talking 100% contagious over a long period of time? I'm gonna say yes.
So much for him being a sound sleeper! Oops!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Friday is here!
I'm tired today. I've just worked my normal 5 days in a row and now I have to work tomorrow too. Add that to the fact that I'm not used to exercise and I have a feeling that I just might sleep very well tonight.
I got off work early and headed to the gym to sign up for a year. I figure if I'm paying hard-earned money for this thing, I might just be motivated to go. I then had time to kill before the Latin dance/cardio class so I decided to get on a bike and watch Judy Judy on the overhead TV. I barely made it to 10 minutes.. on easy "flat terrain". But at least it wasn't downhill or anything! That would be embarrassing! ;)
The dance class was the best class I've done so far. As one older lady told me at the beginning, it doesn't matter if you get all the moves right, so long as you add in a lot of enthusiasm and energy. So I gave it my best and almost passed out at the end. Phew!
Then I cancelled out all my efforts by having wings and wedges for dinner with friends, with a nice, cold glass of Coke. MMmm.. It was all worth it :)
We went skating tonight, as well, for a friend's birthday. I use "we" loosely here, as I did no such thing. I'm not crazy about winter sports, anymore. I sat on the sidelines and played the role of "Hockey Mom": tying people's skates, giving them coffee when they skated over, taking pictures. In the process I drank my coffee and then my husband's.. so I might not sleep well tonight, after all..
It's Friday! yay!
I got off work early and headed to the gym to sign up for a year. I figure if I'm paying hard-earned money for this thing, I might just be motivated to go. I then had time to kill before the Latin dance/cardio class so I decided to get on a bike and watch Judy Judy on the overhead TV. I barely made it to 10 minutes.. on easy "flat terrain". But at least it wasn't downhill or anything! That would be embarrassing! ;)
The dance class was the best class I've done so far. As one older lady told me at the beginning, it doesn't matter if you get all the moves right, so long as you add in a lot of enthusiasm and energy. So I gave it my best and almost passed out at the end. Phew!
Then I cancelled out all my efforts by having wings and wedges for dinner with friends, with a nice, cold glass of Coke. MMmm.. It was all worth it :)
We went skating tonight, as well, for a friend's birthday. I use "we" loosely here, as I did no such thing. I'm not crazy about winter sports, anymore. I sat on the sidelines and played the role of "Hockey Mom": tying people's skates, giving them coffee when they skated over, taking pictures. In the process I drank my coffee and then my husband's.. so I might not sleep well tonight, after all..
It's Friday! yay!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Exercise, anyone?
So I finally went to the gym. (*cue hallelujah chorus*)
I had to fill out some paperwork when I got there and there was a question that asked if I was ever in an exercise program. I put no. The girl at the desk read over my paper and said "You've never exercised??? Like, EVER?!?" Yep, sadly that sums up my life.
I signed up for a yoga/tai chi/pilates class. I've barely done yoga, only pretended to do Tai Chi as a kid when I saw old Asian women doing it in the park, and I don't really think I exactly know what Pilates are. (something about a blue ball filled with water?? no?)
The class was fun. I learned that I have very bad balance, horrible posture, and no strength in my limbs whatsoever. Let's face it. I'm a weakling.
I went to another class today after work. This one was cardio with hand weights. Again, I did horribly. This time I learned that I have no coordination and I can't remember one set to save my life.
It's gotta go up from here.. if it goes down, then we've got a problem.. :-)
I had to fill out some paperwork when I got there and there was a question that asked if I was ever in an exercise program. I put no. The girl at the desk read over my paper and said "You've never exercised??? Like, EVER?!?" Yep, sadly that sums up my life.
I signed up for a yoga/tai chi/pilates class. I've barely done yoga, only pretended to do Tai Chi as a kid when I saw old Asian women doing it in the park, and I don't really think I exactly know what Pilates are. (something about a blue ball filled with water?? no?)
The class was fun. I learned that I have very bad balance, horrible posture, and no strength in my limbs whatsoever. Let's face it. I'm a weakling.
I went to another class today after work. This one was cardio with hand weights. Again, I did horribly. This time I learned that I have no coordination and I can't remember one set to save my life.
It's gotta go up from here.. if it goes down, then we've got a problem.. :-)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Sleigh bells ring
I'm not one for winter outdoor activities. As I've mentioned before, I get cold extremely easily and find it impossible to warm up. Despite that, almost my entire church assembly went up north a ways for a sleigh-ride and cookout. We couldn't have asked for a better day. The sun was splitting the trees, the snow was sparkling, and the farmer was jolly (this may have had something to do with his "hidden" flask).
I really enjoyed myself, even though we had gotten lost about 2 minutes away from the farm and kept going back and forth on the back roads.
I've stolen these photos, but they're too good to not share :)
I really enjoyed myself, even though we had gotten lost about 2 minutes away from the farm and kept going back and forth on the back roads.
I've stolen these photos, but they're too good to not share :)
I love horses :)
My husband petting his first mule/donkey
photos by bonjourstacy
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