gurgly IS a word!

I am ABOUT to have a phone interview for a job. It's been the second bite after many applications to businesses/workplaces of all kinds.  My phone is charged.  My heart is pounding harder.  My stomach is gurgly. (Yes, Dictionary, that is a word.)  The minutes are passing and I'm trying to stay relaxed, to 'be yourself' as I was so wisely advised (xo CK).  I'm going to 'kick butt', as I've also been told.  I have my notes in front of me, my webpages open, my application documents available for reference.  My hope is that I won't have to rely on any of those. :) My eyes are wide but my mouth is smiling.  Who the heck knows how this is going to turn out?...but this job sounds amazingly fun and right up my alley.  Aaaahhhh!  God is in control of everything!  "Thank goodness, a thousand times!" a 5-year-old said to me yesterday.  Even though she was referring to her older brother being sent to time-out for repeatedly pestering her, I still find her comment appropriate and comforting to my state of mind this afternoon.  :)

best bed ever

If you ever need a recommendation for buying a mattress that is:
1) healthier on a number of levels than any regular mattress you can buy
2) comfortable and will help you sleep better
3) lasts at least 20 years without getting worn out or need to replace it...
then come ask me.  I could talk to you for an hour!  I did many long hours of research before buying the mattress that arrived yesterday, and let me tell you...even after one night it's already amazing.  I look forward to the next 20+ years on it!  Hooray!  And thank you, CK, for trusting me on it. ;) xo

high fashion?

Secretly want to compete on Top Model?  Maybe...  In reality, I'm no high fashion girl.  I'm practical fashion girl.  I decide, "Does this make me feel good about myself?" and "Would this stand out in a crowd?"  ...in the good way, obviously.  I'm come to the point in my shopping journeys where I won't buy an item if I don't think I'd ever get a compliment about it. My reasoning for this is 10% self-esteem booster and 90% functional for maintaining shopping control. This trial and error process is fun and often budget-conscious (with an occasional splurge), and my success rate is increasing.

Take today's ensemble.  Tailored, deep purple, bow-belted dress.  "In" tweed-patterned tights.  Marigold, button-detailed pea coat.  I had a good success rate today, which is why this was on my mind to share.  So, if you're battling between the urge to splurge and the mind the leave it behind, send a pic message my way.  I am honest and kind. :)

T/O/R/N

Traveling the world,
Obtaining a fulfilling new job,
Reproducing ---
No clue what order we should or will do it in.

Now I'm awake!

It's been a long time since I freaked myself awake.  I stayed up too late last night.  I did hot yoga in Charm City til after 10pm, and it was nearly 11pm when I got home.  Go figure after a relaxing shower, I plan to read for 'a few minutes'.  Before I know it, it's 1:30am.  Oops.  Needless to say, after my radio alarm somehow snoozed itself twice and my human alarm* bounced me into consciousness, I dragged myself into the chill to 'relieve myself'.

[Tangent: don't you hate that feeling when you kind of wake up and want to go back to sleep but you know there's NO freaking way you'll be able to because you have to pee?  I hate that! haha]

Anyways, I'm drowsily seated.  I reach for the TP when I suddenly emit a *screech* and jump up off the toilet!  Okay, fine, I'm awake NOW!  There was a freaking stinkbug on that first dangling square!  UGH!  After I quickly regain my composure and rub the sleep out of my eyes, I make the adult decision to humanely tear off the square and flush it.  My human alarm comes to my rescue, but I don't need it this time.  Wait...yes, thank you, make us some coffee. :)


*human alarm - the other person who lives in my home who is sometimes still present to audibly and tangibly arouse me from slumber; also, the love of my life. xo

big plans

Wow, the world has so much to offer!  So much of me wants to just drop everything and go travel, seeing all the places in the world I want to see.  Gosh, that's everywhere! ;)  I'm sure it would change me so much as a person, experiencing all those things.  I wonder how different it would be if I were alone or with one or two of my favorite travelling partners?  VERY different, I know, I know.  I'm just curious what it would be like.  First, I would be scared.  But second, I know I'd totally take charge like I am able to do!  Fulfilling self desire in that way would surely change me for the better as a person.

Reality check: I have responsibilities.  Mainly, a job.  Wouldn't really be able to keep that if I dropped everything and left for a couple months. :) And dang, I'd miss my family!  If I didn't have my husband with me, I'd REALLY love/hate travelling alone.  What a challenge it would be personally.  At this point in my life, I don't know if I would want to do it that way. (Responsibility coming into play here again!)

On another note, each of us has our own, unique 'big plans' for our own lives.  We may or may not voice them.  We may not even solidly identify them in our own minds; sometimes they are just lofty thoughts or 'what ifs' that float around in there and never come to fruition - for most of us, anyways.

Here are my big plans!  Own a cupcake shop, travel the world for a year (or more), be a professional singer/songwriter, own my own video recording & editing business, become a supportive wife & mother, be a professional photographer and sell my work, be a personal trainer, be a health guru and resource for women in my community, be a magazine model, be a makeup artist, learn gymnastics (at least gain the ability to do a split), be a personal shopper, and build a successful, progress-making sustainability awareness organization.

I may only be able to pick one or two of these, but any of these could keep me going on this quest in life to change, influence, and help people, maybe in subliminal ways, towards a happier, more fulfilled life in the short time we're here on Earth.  It won't be long, people!  So get on board and make big plans for yourself.  See just what you can achieve that makes a difference to others and to yourself.  And on your way, find the Love.

customer service

I'm being a very impatient customer today.  I am a very patient person in real life and typically would not find myself in a state of impatience, but I have found that with the instantaneous gratification of technology comes the feeling (for me, anyway) that the people on the other end of the technology should also provide instant gratification in the form of answering my questions.  Like, I'm first in line in a store.  I'm on your website.  I have stepped up to your counter of products, and I am asking what I want to know.  Why aren't you answering me the moment I ask?

The trade-off for not simply calling the customer service number provided to talk to a real person in real time.  Another result of an increasing technology-based culture = people avoidance.  It provides us outs to not speak to people - other humans like me - like we have something to hide or be ashamed of.  This is the mask that some undoubtedly hide behind.  Others simply opt for the benefit of saving time.  Why wait on hold or be forced to make a phone call during business hours (when I'm taking care of MY business, too, duh!) when I can just send an email on my own time?  And on YOUR own time you can answer it, too?  And on MY own time I can read your response?  You can read this blog in YOUR own time.  This is the pro for me.

Finding the balance between that and the tendency to expect (and in some cases demand) instant gratification in this fast-paced world?  This is a delicate task, and one which I must constantly remind myself to consider.  We're all only human. :)

But then again, sometimes others just provide bad customer service. ;)

inspire and desire

so much to do
so little time
we all know that line.
responsibility -
for you, for me
for everybody.
wishing and waiting
for the day
my spirit can run free
and be me.
thoughts fill my mind,
inspire my insides.
unconfined
unrefined
grounded, sublime,
no constrained time.
mine, all mine.
That's where I want to be.
Love surrounds me.
Day in, day out.
Day in, day out.
Found, unbound,
Confiding,
Thriving,
Alive and living.
All mine.

c.o.f.f.e.e.

Craving. Caffeine. Charge. Comforting. Community.
Ongoing ritual. Only pleasure. Ominous withdrawal.
Fresh. Frothy. Fulfilling. Friends. Fashionable. Function.
For you. For me.
Entertain. Embrace. Endear. Endure. Eternal.
Every last drop.

Camera. Swallowed. Check!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I swallowed a camera, a feat that even you could accomplish...only if your doctor asks you to have the test. :) It's called...the PillCam.  Google pillcam images for reference.  At the same time you wear this AWESOME shoulder purse and bullet-proof cummerbund.

Well, it may not be bulletproof, but there's gotta be something special about it if it has wires coming out of it attaching to the AWESOME shoulder purse!  I am 'proud' to wear my purse for the entire day, after which the doctor person will download up to 57,600 images of my digestive track.  Freaking amazing if you ask anybody! Not freaking amazing = clear liquid diet for 27 hours, drinking an entire small bottle of reconstituted Miralax, and reading the directions NOT to retrieve the camera after it has been 'released' from my system.  Most say 'gross!' but I say 'darn'!  This thing is freakin' cool!  Pictures of every place my food goes?!  Let ME see!!!

Not freakin' cool = reviewing 57,600 images.  So that's why the follow-up is 6 weeks.  Ha.  Alright, I'll cut him a break.

words on traffic

I have two thoughts on traffic today.  This morning while getting ready for work, I heard on the radio that there was a broken-down tractor-trailer on the side of the road right by my exit for work, causing delays on the beltway.  I could've taken back roads to get to work but thought, "What the heck, I'll just go the regular way.  It's only 3 exits down."  You might think I'm about to write about my 'big mistake'.  Not so!


The traffic wasn't all that bad.  There was some construction happening on my on-ramp, so all the cars had to wait in line to pull out directly into the right lane of traffic.  Don't we all agree that if vehicles just acquiesced and rotated every-other that all would move along smoothly?  This doesn't always happen, but there were a good chunk of conscientious people on the road this morning, and this was happening pretty regularly.  When it was my turn several cars went by before I could pull out.  What do you know?  It was another RAV4 who let me in!  


Does anybody else sense this unspoken bond between him/herself and other drivers who own the same vehicle as you?  Of course, this is ridiculous.  But I have always felt some type of unique connection to other drivers of my choice of make&model.  They have my back, and I have theirs...whether they know it or not!  But that's beside the point.  My mind is my world, right?  I'd like to believe that that RAV4 slowed to let me in because I was a RAV4.  And I thanked it because it was a RAV4.  And lo and behold!  There was a RAV4 in front of me, too!  I also chose to think that the RAV4 at my front and back were protecting me as I journeyed the distant 3rd exit to my destination.  Simple happinesses.  Lovely! :)


My other thought on driving actually occurred while listening to the radio about the broken-down tractor-trailer.  They said it was causing delays because, as always, everyone wants to stop to look.  We all know that not everyone wants to stop to look...because I don't!  "Go, people, driiiiive!  Everyone's seen a broken-down vehicle/accident/police car/[insert choice source of attention and delays] before!"  Some get more emotional about this than others.


Realistically, yes, 99.99999% of the drivers on the road in that backup have seen a [insert choice source of attention and delays] before.  But the .00001% of drivers who haven't seen it before aren't causing all this delay. So why do people slow to a virtual stop to look on?  Curiosity?  Perhaps.  Sounds like discourteous curiosity to all of us stuck behind you.  Couldn't it be more than curiosity?  Two innate reasons occur to me, both stemming from that fact that we are all human.


Being humans, we were created by Love and therefore are creatures who innately yearn to love and care.  Part of my heart surely wants the people involved in [insert choice source of attention and delays] to be well and okay.  Doesn't yours?  And I'm sure a large percentage of people on the road in that delay feel the same way, too.  Maybe they aren't consciously choosing to check on the well-being of persons involved as they drift by, but our hearts just draw our eyes to look over to hope and wonder if they are okay.  They people holding you up are just caring!  On another hand, sometimes we forget how human we are.  In today's world, it's easy to get sucked up into everything going on and forget to take a minute to breathe and remember that we're only human.  Maybe some of the people in these lines of gawkers need a little bit of humanity put back into their daily lives.  Take an accident, for example.  We get so caught up in our busyness that we forget we're not invincible.  Maybe seeing that accident will remind people that people do get hurt, things do happen outside of our control.  And maybe they won't consciously think about that now, but maybe it will change a little something in their hearts that will impact them down the road (no pun intended).


Often these two realizations/reminders won't fully satiate our annoyance for being delayed.  I also would rather whiz by at the speed limit and say a prayer for those involved, but it is what it is. Oh, life!  When I take the time to think about these things, it makes me feel human.  And thankful for being the one caught in traffic, alive and well.  Next time you're stuck in traffic, forgive all the gawkers.  We're all only human.

Crock pot experiment

I'm not the kinda girl who necessarily will tear a recipe I want to try out of a magazine.  There would be nothing left of the magazine if I did that.  Also, I couldn't do my R#2 (RRR - Reduce Reuse Recycle) by passing on the magazine to a girlfriend.  Pages of paper shreds barely bound together by a big seam of glue is not very appealing to the next reader.  So instead of tearing out recipes, I like to think that I glean all of the ingenuity from those delectable combinations to influence my own cooking at home.  Don't get me wrong, I love following recipes; I know that what I'm making will turn out correctly!  But so far, that's mostly been for baking.  For cooking meals, I lean more towards inspiration.  Generally, my concoctions turn out pretty darn good.  Plus, my husband Costas will eat anything, so he may not be the toughest critic. :)


So, in the works right now, I've taken several recently gleaned inspirations to make dinner tonight.  As we speak, I have a whole chicken, cleaned and gutted, in a crock pot with some diced onion, a can of cream of chicken soup, salt, white pepper, black pepper, rosemary, and thyme.  Other crock pot recipes I've seen usually direct cooking on high heat for an hour or so then on low heat for about 5 hours.  I've been told crock pot recipes are so easy because you dump everything in and leave it to cook for hours and VOILA you have a meal.  Are these recipes only for the unemployed or stay-at-home parent?  I can't run home at noon to start the crock pot!  Or maybe the recipe writers are assuming I have a time-delayed start version of a crock pot.  


Well, I had to improvise. Since I'm currently a workin' girl, I'm hoping my stretch of about 9-9.5 hours on low heat is not overdoing it.  HAHA!  I'm laughing in curiosity over what might be happening in our kitchen right now; at the same time I'm praying that the soup/juice gravy isn't bubbling out all over the counter as I'm imagining, since the chicken basically occupied every cubic inch of space in our little crock pot.  We may have chicken mush for dinner, but at least it'll taste good!

Take a deep breath...

It's happening.  I can't believe it, but it is.  I never thought the day would come.  I have a new title in the world, a new representation of me.  I'm a wife, a sister, a daughter, a friend, a colleague, so many more roles...and now, a blogger.  Aahhh!


Why blog?  Why me?  I decided that due to my admiration of life in general and my love of hilarious shit that happens in my life, I thought I'd write it all down for myself to look back on.  And to share with anyone who wants a peep into my life for a laugh or for a 'heck, yes, that's so true!' moment in your day.  Oh, and you know how I cursed 2 sentences back?  I might do that once in awhile - that's life!  But I'll never drop the f-bomb.  And you better not either, or else...BALEETED! (anyone know that reference?)


We'll see how often I end up posting.  Of course I will aim to post soon after events or thoughts occur, like within a day or so, but no promises.  Especially since I can think of a few things in very recent memory that I may choose to share.  Life is just so interesting and full of wonder!  For real.


Word on the Jelly Belly jelly bean background:  first of all - did YOU know those were Jelly Belly's?  And second, I feel they represent the essence of my purpose for this blog...just as each bean brings you a new flavor, a new sensation, a new delicious and interesting experience, so does each day bring such things to me.  Hence, my life's motto..."Oh, life!"  :)


Okay, let me go ahead and post to see how the settings I blindly selected turned out.