Thoughts on Being Competetive...and Overly So...

It's official - my lifestyle has changed.  Back in October 2013, Greg and I joined a program called Max Fitness, and it's totally transformed our lives.  We've completely changed the way we eat, and we've been exercising 5 days a week!  It's been a wonderful change for both of us as individuals, as well as a couple.  We're both, in general, healthier versions of ourselves.  Of course, like always, Greg has had a much easier time than I have with the weight loss portion - I've probably lost a grand total of only 10 lbs, and he's somewhere around 20+, but we've definitely both changed physically...in a good way!

Part of the reason I say this has been a total lifestyle change is that we've basically gotten into the routine of what the program requires...and although there are days when I want to just break down and eat a dang cheeseburger or some pizza...we have pretty minimal challenges in making the principals of the nutrition plan work in our every day lives, and I see no reason why we'd change or regress at any point in the future.  Plus the exercise portion is usually fun, has remained challenging, and allows us to interact on a daily basis with people who have committed to the same changes we have.  Overall, it's a very positive process, and the support system is really what makes it so successful in my opinion.

So, here's the sticky wicket.  At the end of each exercise class that we attend, the entire class does a plank.  If you're not sure what that is...here's a picture of some random woman performing the exercise:

Basically, you engage your entire body in an endurance challenge to hold the core of your body tight for an extended period of time. 

When we started this challenge, Greg and I, along with everyone else in our class, found it challenging to hold the plank position for just 20 seconds.  The below image pretty much explains how I, personally, felt about planking for the first 4 or 5 weeks of the initial 10-week challenge:

Since mid-way through our first 10-week challenge, I've become more comfortable doing planks, and have even advanced my abilities to include side planks:

And 3-Point Planks:

And I'm currently working on mastering a 2-Point Plank:

All of that progress aside, I cannot forget that feeling of being a newbie and feeling challenged to hold just a simple plank for just 20 seconds.  It was difficult.  And, even now, with these advanced plank moves, I still find it challenging to hold a plank for more than 2-3 minutes.
 

On January 13, a new 10-week challenge began, and our exercise class got a whole gang of new members looking to transform their lives.  The classes are intermixed, so, since Greg and I are still participants in the program, we work out alongside the newbies.  It's an excellent business model because, the workouts are designed so that they can be modified up or down depending on your fitness abilities, and, it's been proven that working out with people who are more physically fit than you naturally motivates you to push yourself harder.  On top of that, the program relies on "Legacy" members to provide help, as needed, to people who are just starting the program.

So, this week, with the new members only 3 weeks into the program, and, presumably, like me, still feeling like the elephant caught in a bad position when they're trying to plank for a mere 30 seconds, there has been a challenge to see who can hold their plank the longest.  It started out innocently, and reasonably, enough.  People were holding planks for 2-3 minutes and feeling great (and trust me...that's hard work!).  But, we've now progressed, in less than 5 days, to people holding their planks for 10 minutes and more.  I'm not joking.  It's ridiculous.  I held one plank once for 4 minutes.  And that was pretty exciting.  But 10 minutes is a bit overdone, in my opinion.  I mean, sure, it's a challenge, but at what point do we start defeating ourselves (and probably demotivating our peers) when we're so focused on the length of a plank rather than the proper form held for a reasonable, do-able amount of time? 

Like I said, we perform the plank exercise at the end of each class.  And, you know what?  We end up running over time -- literally every day this week - because we're waiting for one or two people (out of 15-20) to finish their marathon plank.  Of course, everyone has to sit there and cheer the person (or people) on so that they are motivated to continue.  But, to me, it all seems a bit forced.  Even when I did my own personal best and held up for 4 minutes, I was a bit uncomfortable with, although grateful for, all the attention that was on me, pushing me to hold on just a bit more.

I feel like, if we're going to spend many minutes doing something as a class...it should be something that's benefiting all of us health-wise.  Classes are only 45 minutes long.  And, lots of time, we spend the last 3-4 minutes (and then go into OT) focused on planking.  To me, we should be focusing more time on perhaps more sit-ups, or push-ups, or running, or something...that everyone can do.  Having 75% or more of the class simply sitting and cheering someone else on doesn't seem that great of a use of time to me.  Even when I'm the one planking.  And, frankly, to me, it seems the least fair to the new people who are just struggling to get to class and participate.

Maybe I'm just not that into competition?  Or maybe I've lost my edge.  Either way, I needed to vent.  So...there.

Happy Friday!!!

I KNOW!!!

 I know it's been forever since I have posted anything.  In fact, I even considered never posting again just so that I wouldn't have to deal with the guilt that comes with sporadically posting -- and trust me -- I feel guilty!  But then I had to take a step back and REMEMBER...that the reason I have this thing in the first place is so that I can write stuff for "the world" to see - but I have absolute control over it and it's my perogative to post as often or as infrequently as I'd like.  So...with that said.  I'm back.  For at least today.  You're welcome :)

Really, I just wanted to post some pictures from our trip (in AUGUST!) to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It was the first time I'd been to the OBX since 1999 (the year I graduated from high school and went off to college).  Prior to that, I had been a handful of times, and always with my family.  We used to load up our suburban full of toys, food, beach blankets, and a couple of bathing suits, and drive the 9 hours down to "the shore" and spend a week in a beach house - always with some of my Mom's sisters and their families.  Those were fantastic family memories!  And, to me, beach vacations are the ultimate way to relax while getting away!  There's literally  not much to do but sit on the beach or at the pool, sunbathe, eat, drink, and be merry.  And, that, we DID!

All told, there were 14 people with us including my Grandmother and my 3-week old nephew, Emitt.  We stayed in a house about 2 blocks away from the beach that had it's own private pool and hot tub.  The weather wasn't great during the week we were there, but we made do, and, personally, I got a TON of reading time in, so that was amazing.

Here's some pictures of our glorious time together.  We didn't take many pictures - especially of all of us together as a group.  But, we sure did have a great time!

Our Family's First Boy!

I'm proud to be an Aunt to this little adorable boy, my first nephew, Emitt Philip Wismer.  He was born on Sunday, July 21, 2013 and weighed in at 6 lbs., 10.7 oz.  Mom and baby are both doing great - they were sent home from the hospital today.  I know I'm totally biased, but I think he's quite perfect.  Greg and I got to see him Sunday night, when he was only about an hour old, he's the tiniest little thing - and we were both instantly in love. 

        

 

As my sister Adrea so eloquently put it, "The female cycle has been broken!"  Bring on the Tonka Trucks, Transformers, and G.I. Joe's, we're ready, Little Man!

On Passing Tests and Planning Trips

It's official, I'm legally a Professional Engineer!  That means that I can actually sign off on official engineering drawings and be liable for their contents (eek!).  Here's my results letter:

Results Notice
PE - Environmental Exam

05/31/2013

State Board: New Jersey
Exam Type: PE - Environmental
Exam Date: April 2013
Exam Result: Pass

Congratulations! You have achieved a passing score on your recent NCEES exam. Please note that NCEES does not release numeric exam scores; results are reported as pass or fail only.

See below for information on how to proceed with the licensing process in your state. We wish you continued success in your career.

---

Your certification/license will be issued by the State of New Jersey within 60 days of passing the NJ Law examination, receipt of the Activation of License form and all license fees. If you passed the FE exam, you must also forward your final transcript to the NJ Board prior to the issuance of your certification. You will receive written notification and a copy of the NJ Law Examination if you have passed the FE/PE examination and have not already taken the NJ Law Examination. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE BOARD OFFICE FOR ANY MATTERS PERTAINING TO THE NJ LAW EXAMINATION.

  

I'm beyond excited, and, truthfully, RELIEVED!  That I don't ever have to take that exam ever again!  And, really, that I don't have to study any more!  Ever if I really don't want to.  I mean, unless I go back to school to get a master's or a MBA, there's no reason for me to study ever again for anything!  Weird, right? 

We'll see what happens!

In other news, Greg and I just booked tickets to go to Ireland with my Grandmother, Mom, Aunt, and Cousin in the fall.  I'm very excited about going back to the Green Isle - Greg and I went once before we were married - and the country is truly spectacular!  I can't wait to taste delicious Ireland-sourced Guiness, eat tons of potatoes, and dodge sheep herds while driving from town to town.  It's going to be EPIC!  Here's a picture of our first trip to Ireland...it'll be fun to compare these pictures to the ones we'll get in a few months...I'm sure we look much older now!  haha.

 

 

Love Letter to my Husband

My Dearest,

Phew, where has the time gone?  Five seemingly short years ago, while on a hot, sunny beach on a tiny island off the coast of Puerto Rico, we vowed to love, support, protect, cherish, and laugh with each other for the rest of our lives.  We made all those promises based on getting to know each other as "more than friends" for a mere 1 year and a couple months.  But, at the time, I hadn't been more sure of anything in my life.  Plain and simple, you were (and are to this day) THE ONE!

These past five years have been tremendous.  We have gone from being somewhat careless city dwellers to suburban homeowners.  From hockey-stand builders to true do-it-yourself construction "experts" (even if we're the only ones who will certify that to be true).  We have traveled to distant continents as well as explored a few near-home locales, all of which have been intriguing in their own right, but none have been more comforting than the calm we feel when we return to the home we've made together!  We have experienced MANY ups and our fair share of downs, but we have managed to stay on the same page, forever forging forward, together, in what is now OUR life.

In the grand scheme of things, five years doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment.  Especially when you compare our longevity with that of many of our friends and family, who have managed to stay the course of loving one person for 10, 20, 30 years and more.  However, based on the life we've lived these past 5 years, I have not one doubt that we will surely be celebrating a Golden Anniversary, together, 45 years from today.  Think about that.  45 years from now.  That's more years away than either of us has been on this earth individually.  And, yet, I'm confident that we'll be old, gray, wrinkled, and still together, and, more importantly, still in love 45 years from today.  I HOPE that we'll be comfortably retired at that point also - but even that I'm not 100% sure of.

I know I don't take enough time in our normal day-to-day routines to stop and thank you for simply being the one person I share my life with - the one who I want sharing in my every happiness, every pitfall, and every roller-coaster ride in between.  Sometimes, when I talk about you with other people, I realize just how lucky I am to have such a loving, devoted, understanding, and non-judgemental person standing by my side.  You truly are my rock. 

Thank you for being unjaded, and for constantly striving to get me to see things through the same rose colored glasses you seem to wear daily.  Your ability to see the positive side of every situation amazes me - and your willingness to work hard to achieve your goals without letting the "little things" slow you down sometimes seems like a miracle to me, who gets caught up and hung up on too many details to see the big picture you see so clearly.

Most importantly, my dear, thank you for choosing me.  I have no idea what I did in this life or ones I've lived in the past, but I am positively certain that good karma and some act of kindness from "the gods" had a hand in us ending up together.  I love you more today that I did 5 years ago, and I look forward to experiencing our love grow as we both grow as individuals and together as the super awesome team that we are.

Happy Anniversary. 

Always,

Sarah :)

We have PLANTS!

Forgive the picture quality, as these were taken on my terrible Blackberry phone, but we finally have some plants in front of our house!  We are also trying to grow more grass, so we spread some topsoil, which is why there are parts of the lawn that look like big patches of dirt. In the front of the porch, we have pencil hollies on the outer-most corners, dwarf lilacs in the center, burning bushes adjacent to the stairs, and Jacob's Ladder in front of all three.  Around the tree, we have hostas, coral bells, day lillies, and more Jacob's Ladder.  I hope these things all grow in nicely!  Greg did a great job of outlining the garden borders using Belgian Block we got for free from our town (SCORE!).  I still wish the garden to the right of the stairs was a bit higher in elevation so that everythign in the front of our house didn't look so askew, but, to accomplish that, we'd need to add a retaining wall and fill in soil from the sidewalk back, plus we'd need to raise the screen stuff under the porch - which, as you all know, took entirely too much time to get installed last year, so we aren't really interested in modifying it at this point.

We'll see what happens as these plants grow in - I was afraid of planting too many things close together, but the front still looks a little bit bare to me.  Here's hoping these things start growing and blooming!

 

   

I've Been a Very Bad Christian

Today is Good Friday.  And Greg asked me this morning if this was the day that Jesus had the Last Supper with the Apostles.  And I promptly replied, "No, today is the day Christ rose from the dead."  Then I stopped and thought for a minute at the same time that Greg said "Umm, didn't he rise on Easter?"

RIGHT!  I thought.  Easter.  That's when Christ rose from the dead.  And it was a miracle because it was three days after he died...three days...count back from Sunday...three days prior is Friday...making Good Friday the day that Jesus died.  Of course.

It scares me just a little that I had to think about this.  Because, as I've said before, I acknowledge that I'm not a practicing Catholic - but seriously, I went through a LOT of religious education, PLUS I went to church every single Sunday of my life from the time I was born up until I was 17 (almost 18) and headed to college.  I have all the tools I need to know exactly how to answer my curious husband with definitive and correct answers related to the fundamental principals and, certainly, the MOST PROMINENT FOUNDATION of Catholicism!  Yet, today, I FAILED!  Miserably.

I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does.  Certainly I don't like failing at anything, but it's more than that.  I feel a little bit sad to know that I've lost a little bit of something that was such a huge part of my childhood.  Logically, I understand that it's because of my choice to no longer practice Catholicism, and being out of practice gives plenty of reason for why my knowledge would diminish - I'm just shocked that the diminished part is about the most important celebration in the Catholic church.

Now I'm off to prepare for this most festive holiday.  Have a Happy Easter everyone!  Afterall, it is the day that Jesus saved all the Bunny rabbits in Nazareth and brought them to a manger and had formerly scandalous women wrap the bunnies in cloth that was stolen from some dead person's tomb while his mother, Mary, cried because all she wanted was for Jesus to turn some water into wine so she could drink to forget that, despite her uncouth upbringing, her son Jesus was in love with Mary Magdalen.  Or something like that right???

Flowers, Please!

Yeah, it's been a while.  And I have nothing much to report for my lack of posts.  Mundane, I know.


On a positive note, Spring is right around the corner...and Greg and I are planning projects for our house, which is always exciting!  This year, to compliment the work we did on our front porch, we plan to tidy up our yard - raise the grade where erosion has had it's pesky way, add some plants to our "flower beds", plant some grass, and fertilize and water our lawn regularly to see some green results.  We'll see how it goes.

You've seen the "before" pictures of the front of our house from the multitude of pictures I've posted from our front porch renovation.  Now, I'm scouring the web for inspiration for planting plans for our front that will work with our lifestyle and what we want the front to look like.  Here's a few things I'm considering thanks to Better Homes and Gardens online garden plans.  At the risk of sounding exactly like my mother, grandmother, and probably my great grandmother -- That magazine sure is full of great ideas!

Cracking the Fat Loss Code: Week 4

I know, I know, I haven't posted anything in a while.  On the plus side, I've actually been following the diet I wrote about in my last post - and have only made a couple of *oopses* - not too bad for someone that usually has less willpower than a kid in a candy store.

Add a few years of life to this chic, and basically you have
a pretty good picture of the extent of my willpower.

I usually have great ideas that I don't follow through on, and find all reasons in the world to blame my lack of committed-ness on.  General reasons include having other more pressing things to do (ie watching re-runs of Happy Days), washing my hair, and my general love of chocolate.  In short, my willpower essentially equals zero.  So, when I manage to stick to something for almost a full month, I am nothing short of shell shocked, amazed, and overly proud of myself.  Gooooo me!

Anyway, it's been successful thus far - I've lost approximately 7 pounds in those 4 weeks, and I've definitely noticed a change in my feelings about food and portion sizes and eating times.  The one down side to this whole lifestyle change is that I still haven't managed to convince myself to start exercising.  I don't know what the hang up is - it's not like I have lack of time as an excuse - I think it must be pure laziness.  Why would I exercise when I could simply sit on the couch and watch MORE Happy Days re-runs?  Or a few episodes of Kourtney and Kim take Miami (or is it Chloe?) - they're all interchangeable to me.  And equally ridiculous.  I repeat, there's NO EXCUSE for me not to exercise, I just don't.  I'll get to it, I swear!

Greg has also lost weight as he's been participating in this program with me.  It's been great to have him supporting me while also making changes to live healthier - and, again - having friends at work who are also following the same plan helps on those days when I can't remember why I started this mess in the first place.

Here's hoping the good work keeps up!  I'm nervous about the SuperBowl on Sunday - watching it in the absence of chips and salsa, wings, and beer seems JUST WRONG on many levels.  I've been trying to think of low carb snacks I can eat instead - maybe something like cucumber slices with some kind of cheese and protein topping (maybe shredded chicken in buffalo sauce with blue cheese).  Hmmm...that could be interesting.  We'll see.

Enjoy the SuperBowl everyone!  And, if you're trying to lose weight, I officially state that I endorse this Crack the Fat Loss Code book - it's reasonable to follow, doesn't require weird food combinations, and teaches you really great ways to change the way you eat.  So far, so good!

Happy New Year

This post is a little bit late, but, hey, better late than never, right?

This year I have several resolutions - all of which are pretty intense to tackle:

1.  Get my financial life in order.
2.  Lose some weight
3.  Start exercising or at least moving around more regularly
4.  Pass my PE exam
5.  Create a Living Will

All of these are seriously daunting tasks for me - but I have had enough of my "just go with it" attitude.  Things need to change, and I'm the only person who can make the changes I need to make to be a better me.  Yeah, I just said that.

Thankfully, Greg has agreed to work on all of these with me - so I have a partner in crime.  Which is awesome.

So far, here's what I've accomplished for each goal:

1.  Greg and I re-looked at our budget, set up a LearnVest account that truthfully tracks the money we're spending, and are holding each other accountable for every single purchase we make.  We'll see how we fare at the end of the month when we look at totals of what we spent in January.

2.  I started a diet today.  Thankfully, Greg is on the same diet, as are two of my female co-workers - so I have lots of people to look to for support.  We're following the "Crack the Fat-Loss Code" book - which means that I can't eat any carbs this week at all.  Which is going to be interesting.  But I'm up for the challenge.  The good news is that the diet requires me to eat once every three to four hours, so hopefully I won't feel too hungry at any point in the day and lose my resolve to continue.  Today's menu:
6:30 AM - Egg McLehrer "Muffin" (mini egg/egg white crustless quiche made with turkey bacon and cheese)
9:30 AM - Cheese stick
12:30 PM - Salad with lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, grilled chicken, and dressing
3:30 PM - Tuna fish mixed with celery, onion, and a little bit of mayo
6:30 PM - Steak with steamed broccoli and salad with cucumber and dressing
9:30 PM - Protein shake (probably chocolate raspberry or something like that)

I know you're jealous!  Greg and I have both recorded our starting weights - I'd like to try to get starting pictures also - we'll see how that goes.

3.  I walked one day last week, and once over the weekend - not Great, but better than what I was doing before. This week I'll try to walk more - maybe like 3 times??

4.  The exam is in April - I will be paying for it today - and start studying soon.

5.  Living will documents filled out, just need to get some witnesses to sign off on them and make sure the people I've identified as proxies are OK with taking on that responsibility.

So far, not so bad, right?  Wish me luck!

And, good luck to all of you out there who have resolutions of your own.  You can do it!!!!

It's The Most Wonderful Time...

This year I'm just not in the mood for Christmas.  I want to be in the mood.  I want to be excited about Christmas.  I want to think about things that are pretty, shiny, sparkly, and whimsical.  I want to enjoy the prospect of being able to start again with a new year, and, maybe, unlike year's past, a new me.

Last week, my company had one of the many holiday parties scheduled for this year.  This one was department-specific, and happened to be in good ole' New York City.  In my mind, New York is quintessentially Christmas, and visiting the "city that never sleeps" at this time of year usually gets me to feel more holiday-ey.

The stores are all decked out with unbelievable displays, bars and restaurants are filled with people gathered with friends, the Union Square holiday market is in full swing, and Times Square and Broadway are filled with tourists catching shows and having dinner before making the pilgrimage up to 48th St and 5th Avenue to catch a glimpse of the world renowned Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.  That larger than life fresh cut tree that's draped in millions of twinkling lights, looking over an ice skating rink where new loves hold hands trying not to fall down with an audience of thousands looking down upon them and parents try to teach their children how to glide across the ice with ease.  Opposite the plaza from the tree, stands Saks Fifth Avenue, whose facade is lit up with decorations that blink to a chorus of classic Christmas carols.  To get to 5th Ave from the tree, you have to walk through a canyon of lit up angels with trumpets in hand, making you feel like all this grandeur is just for you.  It really is magical.

So, since I haven't been quite up to the holiday madness this year, I decided that I'd meet up with Greg after my work holiday party on Friday, and we'd go up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree to get me into the Christmas spirit.

Well, all I can say is, it was kind of disappointing.  I don't know what happened.  It could have been the fact that I had imbibed quite a few glasses of wine and was more on the drunk side of sober, or it could be the fact that I'm getting older, or it could have just been the crowds of millions constantly bumping into me as I tried to take a peek - but the tree just didn't do it for me this year.  I took a few pictures with my phone - but as stated above - I wasn't exactly stone cold sober (and the people were bumping into me) so all my pictures came out kind of blurry - but here's the "best" of them:

Not so impressive, right?

Here's a picture taken off the official Rockefeller Center website (gives a much better illusion of the "magic" that the tree brings to life):

And here's an even better picture taken by some random person, whose picture I found doing a quick Google Image search:

In my mind, that is the tree I should have seen.  I think our first mistake was trying to see it from the side rather than from the "Angel" point of view - meaning we entered Rockefeller Center from south of that canyon rather than facing the crowds heading directly into that area.  I'm all for getting away from the crowds, but that seemed to be the fatal flaw.  We didn't even really see the angels, and we also didn't see the Sak's Fifth Avenue facade - leaving my holiday spirits in the same rut they were in to begin with.

I have a few more days to get my act together and get my Christmas spirits high.  I just found out that my Mom won't be working on Christmas Eve, so hopefully me, my sisters, my brother-in-law's, my Mom, and my nieces can all gather at my sister's house early on Christmas Eve to sing carols and drink holiday sangria together.  And if holiday sangria can't do the trick, I really will be worried.

Happy Holidays!

Best Travel Mug...EVER!!!

Last weekend I traveled to south Jersey to be home with my mom and my sisters so that we could continue our annual tradition of baking a MILLION Christmas cookies that we can give to our nearest and dearest friends as gifts for the holidays.  It was a ton of fun being with them, making a mess, and baking up a storm!  Here's a shot of our end-result:

Yes, those are full size buffet trays.
Each filled with multiple layers of  artery-clogging , delicious treats.
YUMM!!!!

Anyway - on Sunday morning, my two youngest sisters and I decided to attend mass with my Mom.  Although none of us are really religious, my Mom is, and it makes her happy when we go to church with her, so we did.  Of course, none of us decided we would definitely go until we only had 10 minutes to get out of PJs, comb our hair, and put on some decently non-wrinkled clothes.  As we were rushing around upstairs getting ready, my Mom offered to make us coffee to take along on the ride in travel mugs.  I happily accepted her offer, and just before going out to the car, I threw some milk into the already-prepared cuppa' and hopped into the car.  The coffee was very hot, and I burned my tongue taking the first sip.  Needless to say, because the coffee was so hot, I didn't finish all of it on the 10 minute drive to the church.  Sad that I had to abandon my coffee in the car, I left the mug in the back seat and begrudgingly went into church with narry a half a cup of coffee trying it's hardest to get me to fire on all cylinders.

Mass was fine, nothing earth shattering happened, although, the homily (the part where the priest talks to the congregation after he's read the gospel), was delivered by Catholic evangelist, Gary Zimak.  He didn't have anything earth shattering to talk about either, but he was, at least, interesting to listen to (afterall, you can't be an evangelist and not be charismatic) but, what I got out of his talk was that his facial expressions are extremely similar to those displayed by the actor who plays the character of Nick on one of my favorite TV sitcoms - The New Girl.  (His real name is Jake Johnson, but he will forever be Nick to me.  He's acted in lots of movies you don't even realize until after you become a fan of The New Girl - like the other day I realized he was in 21 Jump St - saw the movie when it first came out, but didn't realize it until I was watching it on showtime.  But, as always, I digress.)

Gary and Jake even look like each other a little bit when they're not making any crazy facial expressions!  Case in point:

Jake Johnson

Gary Zimak

Take away Mr. Zimak's glasses, and add some grays to Jake's hair, and I think they would look like the same exact person.

ANYWAY...what was my point?  

Travel Mugs...RIGHT!!!!

So, after church, we go out to the car, and I make a comment about knowing my coffee, that's been sitting outside in 40 degree weather, won't be warm enough to drink anymore.  My sister Adrea tells me that she bets it will still be warm since the travel mug I used is the best one they have at home and it keeps things warm FOREVER!  SO, without much faith in any travel mug's ability to keep coffee warm enough for me after an hour in a tempered environment, I open the mug and take a sip...and HOLY CRAP BALLS!!!!!  The stuff is hot.  Not lukewarm.  Not pass-able.  IT'S HOT!  (I feel like I should make reference to a Jay-Z or Usher song here - but I'm totally drawing a blank on that one.  Fill in to your liking.)

OH Wait!  That reference should be to Nelly - that's why.  "It's getting HOT in here..."blah blah blah.  I know, I ruined it.  But it just hit me and I had to share.

OK, OK, OK!  Back to the mug.

Seriously.  How is it possible that my coffee, poured well over an hour ago, and sitting in a cold car, could still be hot???  By keeping it in a THERMOS brand mug made with ThermMax Insulation - that's how!!!!  Apparently, the same company that used to make those giant milk bottle things that fit into a lunch box that you had to bring for lunch every day filled with milk because your parents didn't trust you to use your quarter to buy white milk instead of chocolate at school every day - now makes super heat keeping travel mugs for your use and enjoyment.  I was FLOORED!!!  I've been using Starbucks brand coffee mugs for many years - and - seeing as it's a Starbucks branded thing and it costs an arm and a leg to buy - I assumed they were the best heat-keeping travel mugs my hard earned $20 could buy.  And, because I thought I already owned THE BEST, I thought I was just going to have to go through life drinking my lukewarm coffee from my travel mug when I got to work.  There were days when I would get to work and go to take my first sip of coffee and be so disappointed with the temperature that I wouldn't drink it at all or I'd go to the microwave, put the coffee into a ceramic mug, nuke it to get it warm again, then put it back into my travel mug just to be able to drink that necessary one cup I have each day.

Well, after this amazing discovery, I immediately considered taking that awesomest of awesome travel mugs off my Mom's hands.  She has enough stuff already...right?  

Well I made that joke...And was immediately threatened with death if I dared to even think about taking the thing home.  Gosh Mom!  I'm your first born!  Give a little, huh?  Clearly, she wasn't having it.

So, like every logical 30-something, I decided to "Google" the product, and found that Thermos makes whole line of vacuum-insulated coffee mugs and tumblers, including ones that have leak proof seals (the one my Mom has dosn't have that - so take THAT Mom!).  These suckers guarantee to keep hot beverages hot for 5 hours, and cold ones cold for 9 hours!  One review I read said that someone had used one of these things to hold iced coffee for a day, and, when he got home to wash the mug, he found out there was still whole ice cubes inside...after sitting in an office ALL DAY!!!  How is that even POSSIBLE???  I don't care how, really, all I know is that I had to have one. So, off to Amazon I went, and, thanks to my nifty Prime subscription, last night, my new favorite piece of kitchen gadgetry arrived.  I am using it this morning, and even at 10:30, my coffee is still hot and tasty.  I love this thing!  No longer am I forced to rush through drinking my coffee trying to ward off the inevitable cooling down to the point of non-drinkability.  Now, I get to enjoy every sip.  At my leisure.  I may be drinking coffee ALL DAY!!!!  Yeah, it's that good.  Here's a photo of my favorite travel mug (and lots of my various desk stuff).

This baby doesn't look like much, but it's AWESOME.  Seriously.  Thermos isn't paying me to say this at all - but hey, guys, if you're reading this and WANT to send me a free one of these gems, I wouldn't object.  Just sayin'.

And, the best part?  Totally leak free.  I literally sat this thing upside down on my desk this morning, (while it was still full) and peeled off a sticker with a bar code from the bottom, and had to keep it that way for probably 5 minutes, to get all that sticky residue off with tape.  Not one leak!

Sidenote: why do the companies that make stickers for barcodes not make stuff that peels off cleanly?  It's such a pain in the buttox to get that sticky stuff off sometimes.  I mean, come on!  Thermos can make a container that keeps beverages hot for hours on end.  How hard is it to make an adhesive that sticks without leaving behind residue???

Anyway - I think I'll be buying another one of these today.  They make one that's red on the outside that I'm kind of in love with.  The color change is apparently worth ten more dollars since this one cost me $17.99 and the red one is $27.99 - but honestly, I feel like I will be able to keep this thing for years without having to replace it.  Let's hope I'm right!

Sorry for the long post, I'm just SO EXCITED!!!!

Happy 12-12-12 everyone!!!!!  

Oh! To be a Tween Again...

Last week, Greg and I were lucky enough to see the Broadway performance of Newsies.

Which is based on one of my favorite all-time movies EVER!

It was released in 1992, when I was just a young lass of 11 years, and still thought it possible for me to one day be rich, famous, and a pop singer/movie star.  Due to my inherent lack of experience and wisdom that can only come from aging and facing reality in life as we know it, one of the reasons I was so enthralled with the movie was the cast of young men.  Boys, really.  Boys who could act, sing, AND DANCE!  And who were absolutely, without a doubt, hands down the CUTEST boys I had ever seen in my life.  All scraggly hair, with bright eyes and shining smiles - THEY were who people LIKE ME (in the adult verion of myself as seen from my tween-y perspective) ended up falling in love with, and, naturally, one day marrying before we lived happily ever after.  Take a look at this fantastic compilation of clips from the movie.  I mean, COME ON, what on-the-brink-of-hormonal-explosion tweenage girl wouldn't think that the all-star, talented, smooth chested, wise-ass smirking, newscap wearing, boyish smiling cast  lead by a twinkly eyed Christian Bale, is OMG - TO DIE FOR???

Anyway, the play was AMAZING!  There were lots of noticeable differences from the movie, but they didn't detract from the story or make watching it annoying if you know the movie by heart, like I do.  The songs were similar, but not exactly the same as they were in the movie, and there were some new additions that made me understand why the show received a Tony Award for Best Original Score.  I was glad we went to see it and would recommend it to anyone who likes the movie, or just likes well produced, talent riddled Broadway musicals.

In case you're curious, here's a pic of the twinkly eyed not-so-smooth chested man I did marry...true, he's not the best singer in the world (thankfully, he's also not the worst!), but he'll dance up a storm for me any day...even in public places...just to make me smile.

And, yes, he'll also do dishes with my sisters and brother-in-laws after a long day of cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the masses that are my family.  I may not be rich, famous, or a movie star, but I sure am a lucky gal.

Guilty Pleasures

There are several things in life that I absolutely love, yet feel somewhat ashamed to admit for any number of reasons.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving and expressing my gratitude for all the "little things" in life, here's a list of my most secret (or not so secret) indulgences:

#1 - Grey's Anatomy

I started watching this when it first aired - you know, when George and Izzy were still on the show - when it was actually good.  It's not that great of a show anymore - hell - it's basically a prime time soap opera.  But, I LOVE IT!!!!  And I soo sooo soooo want Christina and Hunt to get back together already!  And Mark and Lexie need to come back from the dead to marry each other like they should have for the 6 seasons they were alive and in love without admitting it to anyone but themselves. That kind of stuff happens in soap operas - and not just the ones that air on Telemundo either!  AMIRIGHT???


#2 - Nutella

Yep, I'm just like the squirrel around this stuff.  Get me a small jar and a spoon and I could finish Nutella off within an hour.  Add a jar of peanut butter to that mix and I'd finish it all in 30 minutes or less.  No Joke.  I think I might be addicted.  Are there support groups for this stuff?  *wipes the chocolaty smear off of mouth*

#3 - Facebook Stalking

This is self-explanatory enough as is.  I had a hard enough time deciding to put it up here, I won't bore you to death about all the graphic detail I now know about several folks I went to High School with and family members whom I've never met.  Let's just say that I'm good...very good.  Muahahahaha...

#4 - You Scream, I Scream, We ALL SCREAM FOR:

My freezer pretty much always has some sort of frozen dairy confection enclosed - and I will eat them, at any time of day, without abandon.  What time is it?  ICE CREAM TIME?  You bet your sweet arse it is!  The picture shown above (as are all included in this post) were found using Google image search - but it looks like a delightful trio of flavors I would be honored to slurp down would I be given the option of including three flavors on one chocolate dipped sugar cone!  Oh the insanity!!!!

And, finally, my favorite!

#5 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Why, yes, those are the Knights who say Nee!  And you must bring them an shrubbery!  A rather nice one - not too large, nor too small.  And if you don't they will continue to say Nee, Nee!

'Tis nothing but a flesh wound!  Come back here you yellow bastard!  I will bite your legs off!

 

Come back and I will taunt you a second time!

Happy Thanksgiving to One and All!!!!

NEE!!!!