So, I had a checkup today, complete with the results from the blood work-up that I had last week. Since February, my cholesterol has jumped 18 points and my blood glucose (blood sugar) has gone up 41 points (almost to the "We'll need to check this weekly for a while to see if you need insulin" numbers). Not to mention I'm 8 lbs up (I was already up 30 lbs since being the MOST pregnant with my baby (who will turn 15 yrs old this month)from the last time I went to the doctor (which was only May) Oy! Turning 40 sure has played some nasty tricks on me! Of course, I have been overweight for the last 15 years, so age, for me has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Food, on the otherhand, has everything and then some, to blame! Why God, Why must you punish me for liking Dr. Pepper? And cheese (on top of pizza and burgers and baked potatoes with bacon)? Is it so bad that the most exercise my body ever suffers through is the walking that I MUST endure to get from my vehicle into whatever building I'm headed? Or to the refrigerator?
Well...no more my friends. I have entered a contest with Candy 95, and whether I'm chosen for the fitness challenge or not, my ordeal with the fight against hunger (mine) is going to be chronicled on this here blog. If you read it to begin with, you have suffered through my other ordeals, and you'll get through this just fine - I promise.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
House of Blues - Nothing Personal....
Yesterday, I did something way out of the ordinary for me. I took a vacation day and I tested the age limits of attending a rock/pop concert. It wasn't just an ordinary vacation day either; this was the kind of day where I took my 14 yr old daughter Austyn out of school and joined my friend Ginger and daughter Kelsey on a one day outing to Houston where we spent the entire day at the House of Blues! Oy Vey - what a long day!
All this was so that our daughters could see some of their favorite bands and meet some of the band members. And I use the term "our daughters" lightly as Ginger is a HUGE fan of these kids too! I was the only person asking on the way to Houston "Now, who are we seeing again?"
It was the All Time Low on their Glamour Kills tour. I don't really know if Glamour is the noun I would have chosen, but 40 is kind of old to be rocking out to 20 something musician's...but I digress; I didn't know any of the bands but I had heard their music before. Just ask my kids: I think everyone is either "The Fray" or "Creed" or whoever it actually ISN'T. Not sure what kind of music I would classify as MY genre, but I'm sure there isn't a group alive (alive being the key word here) that would make me want to remove my bra and throw it on a stage full of skinny emo punks wearing girl jeans and looking like they moussed their hair and then stood sideways in front of a very powerful wind machine. However, I have to admit that I am actually hooked on two of these groups; and I wasn't even drinking or smoking anything! It's punk/pop/emo crap (not the screamin emo - that's just not music); but it was still the kind that had my ears ringing well after the concert ended. As long as a person can sing well, they have my vote! After that.... the music either falls into place or it doesn't. Sometimes, it really depends on the lyrics, and I seriously doubt that any of these guys will be exemplars of performing into their golden years.
The concert started with Friday Night Boys who were weird enough, but had some good musical talent. Then it was Hey Monday, whom my daughter and her friend met inside the House of Blues Restaurant earlier in the day. Nice kids. And I'm serious when I say kids - these guys are REALLY young! But any pop star who will take the time from their lunch and pose for pictures and give autographs to their star crazed fans get an A+ in my book.
The third group was We The Kings and Kelsey (Austyn's friend and musical guru confidant) had Meet and Greet tickets for these fellas. Austyn and Kelsey were the only two in the meet and greet but Ginger and I still couldn't persuade the girls to say "Hey, can our mom's come in too?" I mean...what's up with that? Don't want to be seen with your mom's at a concert venue?? Touche'! Regardless - I think this is the group that I liked the best, but the actual headliner for this MUCH TOO LONG concert was All Time Low. Lead singer was a cutie, but these guys are much too young for me. All I know is I stood up from my barstool quicker than I ever typically get into a standing position when that concert ended. And whomever threw their triple D bra onstage (mind you, this was one of MANY BRA'S thrown up there)....Heaven Help Us!!!
I will say this: EVERYTHING is funny at Denny's at 12:00 a.m. after a loud concert when your ears are ringing and you feel like you have to yell to the people at the table. I mean...EVERYTHING!
"I think this fork is sticky too...." Uh....maybe your hands are sticky....
Yep - one of those had to be there moments....
All this was so that our daughters could see some of their favorite bands and meet some of the band members. And I use the term "our daughters" lightly as Ginger is a HUGE fan of these kids too! I was the only person asking on the way to Houston "Now, who are we seeing again?"
It was the All Time Low on their Glamour Kills tour. I don't really know if Glamour is the noun I would have chosen, but 40 is kind of old to be rocking out to 20 something musician's...but I digress; I didn't know any of the bands but I had heard their music before. Just ask my kids: I think everyone is either "The Fray" or "Creed" or whoever it actually ISN'T. Not sure what kind of music I would classify as MY genre, but I'm sure there isn't a group alive (alive being the key word here) that would make me want to remove my bra and throw it on a stage full of skinny emo punks wearing girl jeans and looking like they moussed their hair and then stood sideways in front of a very powerful wind machine. However, I have to admit that I am actually hooked on two of these groups; and I wasn't even drinking or smoking anything! It's punk/pop/emo crap (not the screamin emo - that's just not music); but it was still the kind that had my ears ringing well after the concert ended. As long as a person can sing well, they have my vote! After that.... the music either falls into place or it doesn't. Sometimes, it really depends on the lyrics, and I seriously doubt that any of these guys will be exemplars of performing into their golden years.
The concert started with Friday Night Boys who were weird enough, but had some good musical talent. Then it was Hey Monday, whom my daughter and her friend met inside the House of Blues Restaurant earlier in the day. Nice kids. And I'm serious when I say kids - these guys are REALLY young! But any pop star who will take the time from their lunch and pose for pictures and give autographs to their star crazed fans get an A+ in my book.
The third group was We The Kings and Kelsey (Austyn's friend and musical guru confidant) had Meet and Greet tickets for these fellas. Austyn and Kelsey were the only two in the meet and greet but Ginger and I still couldn't persuade the girls to say "Hey, can our mom's come in too?" I mean...what's up with that? Don't want to be seen with your mom's at a concert venue?? Touche'! Regardless - I think this is the group that I liked the best, but the actual headliner for this MUCH TOO LONG concert was All Time Low. Lead singer was a cutie, but these guys are much too young for me. All I know is I stood up from my barstool quicker than I ever typically get into a standing position when that concert ended. And whomever threw their triple D bra onstage (mind you, this was one of MANY BRA'S thrown up there)....Heaven Help Us!!!
I will say this: EVERYTHING is funny at Denny's at 12:00 a.m. after a loud concert when your ears are ringing and you feel like you have to yell to the people at the table. I mean...EVERYTHING!
"I think this fork is sticky too...." Uh....maybe your hands are sticky....
Yep - one of those had to be there moments....
Friday, October 2, 2009
No Room for more than one Enemy
Who would have thought that I would be 40 years old before anyone ever said anything to me that made me want to cut ties with them forever? And I should perhaps forewarn my faithful four readers, that I question even posting this at all because it's not even remotely my style. But since there is always the possibility of me throwing a completely unvarnished thought out there (yeah, me!?), what the heck. I'll take sweet revenge if that's what it amounts to.
It is unfortunate that there are no clear cut warning signs to help us avoid negative people; those toxic friends that complicate your life without you even realizing it until it's too late and you find yourself shedding tears because of someone who so obviously could care less and take obvious joy in your emotional pains.
Confession: I don't care either. I have absolutely no interest in getting into a friendship breakup fight. Especially one that coats the vitriol even thicker and just makes me feel worse. The best way to get the toxicity out of your life is to get rid of the toxin; the sooner the better!
True, I may have wasted some precious time and much needed energy trying to help this person or just in talking to them and maybe even caring what they thought. But I'm not the one that put the "end" in "Friendship" darlings.
Burch luck of the good kind (yeah...there is some I figure) is discovering that the thorn in your side can easily be removed without having to shed more bitter tears. I (and I alone) shall retain the position of my own worst enemy! No room for two!
It is unfortunate that there are no clear cut warning signs to help us avoid negative people; those toxic friends that complicate your life without you even realizing it until it's too late and you find yourself shedding tears because of someone who so obviously could care less and take obvious joy in your emotional pains.
Confession: I don't care either. I have absolutely no interest in getting into a friendship breakup fight. Especially one that coats the vitriol even thicker and just makes me feel worse. The best way to get the toxicity out of your life is to get rid of the toxin; the sooner the better!
True, I may have wasted some precious time and much needed energy trying to help this person or just in talking to them and maybe even caring what they thought. But I'm not the one that put the "end" in "Friendship" darlings.
Burch luck of the good kind (yeah...there is some I figure) is discovering that the thorn in your side can easily be removed without having to shed more bitter tears. I (and I alone) shall retain the position of my own worst enemy! No room for two!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Raindrops keep falling on my head
The back window on our trail blazer doesn't stay up on it's own. It requires a tape, a toothbrush and a Koozie. This seems to work, unless it's raining, then the window comes down about half-way (hey, without the koozie, it slams down inside the door to a completely different dimension).
Yesterday, when I arrived home it was about 1/3 of the way down, but since I was in the carport, I just decided I'd fix it in the morning before I left to take Austyn to early morning band practice since I knew it would gradually slide down overnight anyway. Relatively normal thinking and true to my word, I fixed it in the morning so as to keep out this great rainfall we've been getting and we were on our way at the butt crack of dawn (or 6:20 a.m.). Just as we pulled out of the drive-way Austyn and I heard a muffled "Meow." Great. Kitty Cat had decided to make the vehicle his home the night before. So, I backed up, Austyn coaxed him out and that was that. Imagine, had we gotten further and heard that!
Of course, no Burch story ends with "that was that." This time we got about 3 miles down the road before we heard the muffled "Meow." The twin to the first cat decided he wanted out too. Keep in mind here, Austyn has to be in the band hall at a certain time or run laps and because she has Burch blood in her too, I knew I had to prevent that!. So we whipped the car around (ironically in the driveway of our veterinarian - I thought of dropping kitty there...but Austyn wouldn't hear of it) and drove little kitty all the way back to the house. We called out to any others who might be hiding in the back seat; I actually expected to hear another meow!
And of course, the window was already halfway down again, so I got out in the rain to readjust and was reminded of another Burch Luck story which is what I actually wanted to share today. I had recently posted it on my baby sister's Facebook, but I think it bears repeating.
We were finally getting rain in the Brazos Valley about a week ago (yay weather) and of course, I needed to go to my car in the middle of the day to retrieve my purse which contained my reading glasses, that I desperately needed. I was on my way to the elevetor and in stepped two little Aggie girls (they had to have been freshmen because they still looked happy). They were having a conversation that went something like this:
Aggie Girl 1: "I'm glad it stopped raining..though with my luck it will start as soon as we get outside." (heh - she's talking about luck...)
Aggie Girl 2: "Stick by me - I'm really lucky. It usually stops for me the minute I need it to."
Me (like I could be quiet now): "Well, you should both steer far from me....it will probably rain the hardest today just while I'm outside (cuz my umbrella was at home)"
Aggie Girl 2, A.K.A. Lucky: "Oh no, I promise ma'am, I'm lucky.... seriously...you can walk with us."
Me, to myself: "Oh boy! Can I!?!" I just wanted to get out and get my purse, but whatever!
We got to the door, and sure enough, it had stopped raining. Lucky little Aggie grinned at me and said "See?"
You would have thought rainbows shot out her butt!
We ventured out together and are halfway to my car in the parking lot, about as far from the building as you could get when it started pouring rain! I looked at Lucky Aggie as we started hurrying and said "See?"
"She just laughed and said "Man, who are you'"...
"I'm a Burch, welcome to our world."
Lucky for me, I was in the faculty/staff lot...student lot was a Lot further.
I got to my car and hollered "See ya ladies!" (Suckers....) Shouldn't have called me ma'am.... and I shoulda brought my car keys downstairs with me. Burch Luck.
Yesterday, when I arrived home it was about 1/3 of the way down, but since I was in the carport, I just decided I'd fix it in the morning before I left to take Austyn to early morning band practice since I knew it would gradually slide down overnight anyway. Relatively normal thinking and true to my word, I fixed it in the morning so as to keep out this great rainfall we've been getting and we were on our way at the butt crack of dawn (or 6:20 a.m.). Just as we pulled out of the drive-way Austyn and I heard a muffled "Meow." Great. Kitty Cat had decided to make the vehicle his home the night before. So, I backed up, Austyn coaxed him out and that was that. Imagine, had we gotten further and heard that!
Of course, no Burch story ends with "that was that." This time we got about 3 miles down the road before we heard the muffled "Meow." The twin to the first cat decided he wanted out too. Keep in mind here, Austyn has to be in the band hall at a certain time or run laps and because she has Burch blood in her too, I knew I had to prevent that!. So we whipped the car around (ironically in the driveway of our veterinarian - I thought of dropping kitty there...but Austyn wouldn't hear of it) and drove little kitty all the way back to the house. We called out to any others who might be hiding in the back seat; I actually expected to hear another meow!
And of course, the window was already halfway down again, so I got out in the rain to readjust and was reminded of another Burch Luck story which is what I actually wanted to share today. I had recently posted it on my baby sister's Facebook, but I think it bears repeating.
We were finally getting rain in the Brazos Valley about a week ago (yay weather) and of course, I needed to go to my car in the middle of the day to retrieve my purse which contained my reading glasses, that I desperately needed. I was on my way to the elevetor and in stepped two little Aggie girls (they had to have been freshmen because they still looked happy). They were having a conversation that went something like this:
Aggie Girl 1: "I'm glad it stopped raining..though with my luck it will start as soon as we get outside." (heh - she's talking about luck...)
Aggie Girl 2: "Stick by me - I'm really lucky. It usually stops for me the minute I need it to."
Me (like I could be quiet now): "Well, you should both steer far from me....it will probably rain the hardest today just while I'm outside (cuz my umbrella was at home)"
Aggie Girl 2, A.K.A. Lucky: "Oh no, I promise ma'am, I'm lucky.... seriously...you can walk with us."
Me, to myself: "Oh boy! Can I!?!" I just wanted to get out and get my purse, but whatever!
We got to the door, and sure enough, it had stopped raining. Lucky little Aggie grinned at me and said "See?"
You would have thought rainbows shot out her butt!
We ventured out together and are halfway to my car in the parking lot, about as far from the building as you could get when it started pouring rain! I looked at Lucky Aggie as we started hurrying and said "See?"
"She just laughed and said "Man, who are you'"...
"I'm a Burch, welcome to our world."
Lucky for me, I was in the faculty/staff lot...student lot was a Lot further.
I got to my car and hollered "See ya ladies!" (Suckers....) Shouldn't have called me ma'am.... and I shoulda brought my car keys downstairs with me. Burch Luck.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Jury Duty for 3 Weeks - How bad could it be?
So yeah, we all get the yearly summons for jury duty. This year, my card came in April for a county court date in May. As luck would have it, I was chosen and me and eleven other, like-minded individuals spent an amazing three weeks together.
Okay, the amazing part is a bit of an embellishment. The trial was a civil case and it was anything but civil. So basically, it was boring. I did have an AMAZING encounter with the prosecuting attorney that many of my friends and family have begged me to put on the blog, so I decided that I would share this today.
It so happened, that on the second day of the trial, both attorneys had just finished their opening arguments. The prosecuting attorney was preparing to call his first witness, but lucky for us, the judge decided to excuse the jury for one of our much needed and deserved breaks.
We typically used this 15 minutes to use the bathroom, grab a snack, stretch out our muscle aches that we all received from sitting in a VERY cramped and tight jury box. One thing that was common for ALL of us was to immediatly switch on our cell phones and check in at the office or with our kids. It was very important for us to remember to turn our cell phones back off or into silent mode, because who wants that going off in the middle of court? It had already happened twice to people who were just observing the trial, and the judge was NOT happy. Imagine what it would be like if it happened to a jury member.
If you got a minute, I can tell you.
We came back from break on that second day, and you-know-who forgot to turn off their cell phone (no, I don't mean Voldemort - he wasn't even there). It wouldn't have been so bad if my boss hadn't decided to call me at the exact moment the prosecuting attorney began to question his very first witness. Those with an Xbox will be happy to note that my kids had changed my ringtone to the theme song for the game "Halo" - so I had that going on...but it was set to get gradually higher/louder as I didn't answer so after the first ring, I knew it was imperative that I shut that baby off right away. The judges head turned slowly in our direction (think slo-mo) as I bent over to reach under my chair for my purse.
I believe I mentioned that the jury box was tight. It was not only a struggle to pull the purse out, but then I had to reach into the abyss of wallet, make-up, receipts, feminine products and whatever else just to find the phone. When my fingers finally found it, I jerked it out and turned it off at the same time. Saved the day! You would think. Except we are talking Burch Luck here, and as luck would have it, it was that time of the month for ole Ang and the guilty cell phone came out of my purse with a little packaged friend attached and when I had flung the cell phone open to silence it, the tampon went flying, landing at the foot of the prosecuting attorney. Mind you, he NEVER stopped questioning the witness at the time and this was not to be a deterrent either, as he just nonchalantly kicked the offending article back over to me and that was that. No big deal.
Only one other jury member really paid attention to that part, and he was a 20-year-old who had only just voted six months before in his first election. Seeing that he was only 20, and not quite what I would consider mature, he had a hard time controlling his mirth and for about the next 5 minutes, his chair vibrated with his laughter. Two more weeks into the trial, and HIS cell phone went off. He immediately silenced his and whispered to me "see how easy that was?" Little shit.
Okay, the amazing part is a bit of an embellishment. The trial was a civil case and it was anything but civil. So basically, it was boring. I did have an AMAZING encounter with the prosecuting attorney that many of my friends and family have begged me to put on the blog, so I decided that I would share this today.
It so happened, that on the second day of the trial, both attorneys had just finished their opening arguments. The prosecuting attorney was preparing to call his first witness, but lucky for us, the judge decided to excuse the jury for one of our much needed and deserved breaks.
We typically used this 15 minutes to use the bathroom, grab a snack, stretch out our muscle aches that we all received from sitting in a VERY cramped and tight jury box. One thing that was common for ALL of us was to immediatly switch on our cell phones and check in at the office or with our kids. It was very important for us to remember to turn our cell phones back off or into silent mode, because who wants that going off in the middle of court? It had already happened twice to people who were just observing the trial, and the judge was NOT happy. Imagine what it would be like if it happened to a jury member.
If you got a minute, I can tell you.
We came back from break on that second day, and you-know-who forgot to turn off their cell phone (no, I don't mean Voldemort - he wasn't even there). It wouldn't have been so bad if my boss hadn't decided to call me at the exact moment the prosecuting attorney began to question his very first witness. Those with an Xbox will be happy to note that my kids had changed my ringtone to the theme song for the game "Halo" - so I had that going on...but it was set to get gradually higher/louder as I didn't answer so after the first ring, I knew it was imperative that I shut that baby off right away. The judges head turned slowly in our direction (think slo-mo) as I bent over to reach under my chair for my purse.
I believe I mentioned that the jury box was tight. It was not only a struggle to pull the purse out, but then I had to reach into the abyss of wallet, make-up, receipts, feminine products and whatever else just to find the phone. When my fingers finally found it, I jerked it out and turned it off at the same time. Saved the day! You would think. Except we are talking Burch Luck here, and as luck would have it, it was that time of the month for ole Ang and the guilty cell phone came out of my purse with a little packaged friend attached and when I had flung the cell phone open to silence it, the tampon went flying, landing at the foot of the prosecuting attorney. Mind you, he NEVER stopped questioning the witness at the time and this was not to be a deterrent either, as he just nonchalantly kicked the offending article back over to me and that was that. No big deal.
Only one other jury member really paid attention to that part, and he was a 20-year-old who had only just voted six months before in his first election. Seeing that he was only 20, and not quite what I would consider mature, he had a hard time controlling his mirth and for about the next 5 minutes, his chair vibrated with his laughter. Two more weeks into the trial, and HIS cell phone went off. He immediately silenced his and whispered to me "see how easy that was?" Little shit.
Friday, June 26, 2009
By Popular Demand
And, by popular demand, I mean the ten or so people who e-mailed, called or chatted with me online and said I should post MORE of my stuff, or to keep on writing. The thing is...I never stop. In fact, I have probably 15-20 pieces started and saved into draft form on my blogger that I had been reluctant to share, but now feel it's worth it; at least to get some feedback.
Just to warn you though....a blog is ALWAYS like a first draft. What you see is what you get. I do not edit, spell check or fact check (though I may send you to a link every now and then, I have no way -or desire - to check it's authenticity) and very often - I make no sense at all.
I won't go as far to say I'm bringing you the "Best of" or "Angie's Greatest Wits." I'm just trying to fill up space on the internet. Whether you read further or not is entirely up to you.
Just to warn you though....a blog is ALWAYS like a first draft. What you see is what you get. I do not edit, spell check or fact check (though I may send you to a link every now and then, I have no way -or desire - to check it's authenticity) and very often - I make no sense at all.
I won't go as far to say I'm bringing you the "Best of" or "Angie's Greatest Wits." I'm just trying to fill up space on the internet. Whether you read further or not is entirely up to you.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Facebook IS the new Blog
Wow. I typed up a great blog for this title entry, and upon posting, even though I had saved multiple times, I lost the whole thing. I couldn't recreate that kind of spontaneous writing energy, even if I wanted to....so for anyone reading this...pretend it is something profound. At least until I can find the animation within me to move forward!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)