I Think She Forgot, What Do You Think?

This morning we had a meeting at 9am in the York office. My boss was supposed to pickup myself and Carmen at the Harrisburg office at 8, so that we could car pool down. At 8:20, she still wasn't there, so I decided to call her thinking she may have forgotten us and was already on her way to York.

Me: "Hey, it's Jsto."
Her: "Hi, what's up?"
Me: "Um, you were supposed to pick us up at 8 to go to the meeting in York."
Her: "Oh, I'm running a little late. I haven't left my house yet and when I get there, we have to unpack the back of my car, so that you can sit in the backseat."

Luckily, a person from another department was about ready to leave for York, so Carmen and I just went with her instead. It was good because Carmen and I always argue on who has to sit upfront and talk business. It usually comes down to who arrives last. I was last this morning.

Sidenote: When we get to the meeting, at the beginning we had to "check in" by saying the title of a movie, a line from a movie or a character from a movie that best describes how we're feeling at that moment. We go around the table and it gets to my boss: "I'm Maria from the Sound of Music because I like to sing and I want to change the world." Really? You're going to go with Maria? Really? And you mean this completely seriously? I apparently had a reflex snicker because I didn't even know I had done it but the girl beside me said I did. This is what I put up with every day.

They Like Me. They Really Like Me.

Look at the beautiful roses that my volunteers gave me last night. Aren't they so pretty! Unfortunatly, I discovered that I do not have a wide mouth vase and so they are in a glass water pitcher. I feel that secretly the flowers are scoffing at me. "Can you believe this? She doesn't even have a proper vase to put us in! Really! The nerve of some people!"

Apparently at one point, there had been a discussion about favorite colors with my volunteers (though I don't remember this at all or why there would be circumstances in which to discuss favorite colors with a group of adults). I had said that mine was purple and they remembered. Though with all the problems that this group has caused, this bouquet should be ten times the size it is (or at least presented along with a tiara like Miss America). Or a bunch of purple roses could've been made into a shawl like the ones they make for horses at the Kentucky Derby. I guess these will have to do.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

Today is Earth Day, and I know there are lots of ways that are recommended to help save the Earth. I know there are lots of crazy ways out there (aka don't shower except once a week in order to save water), but there are a lot of simple ways as well. Here are 25 things that I do and that I think are really simple.

1) Recycle: DUH! I know not everywhere has recycling or only recycle certain things, so just recycle whatever you can. If your office recycles paper, recycle paper. If you have curb pickup for glass and plastic, put out your glass and plastic. If your grocery store recycles plastic bags, take your plastic bags there. If you live in Indiana like my parents and can basically recycle everything, then recycle everything.

2) Use a lunchbox instead of paper bags. I'm not telling you to pull out the transformers lunch box that you had in 2nd grade. There are really cute lunch bags available now.

3) Don't want it? Give it away. There are lots of charities out there that would love that slightly pilly sweater or the book you really hated or that gag gift your best friend gave you. Before you throw it out, see if someone else wants it. Or Freecycle it.

4) Turn of the water when your brushing your teeth. Really...why does this have to be so difficult people? Wet your brush. Turn off the water while your brushing and then turn back on to rinse.

5) Warm it up in the microwave instead of the oven. A microwave oven uses one-third of the energy of a conventional oven. Plus your baked potato can be done in 5 minutes versus 5 hours!

6) Take your own bag when you go shopping. Ok, so I forget to do this sometimes. But if I know I'm going somewhere, I take a cute bag with me or a big purse so the small things I can just throw in my bag rather than wasting another one. Plus I keep my reusable grocery bag in my car at all times, so in case I'm stopping for milk on the way home from work, I already have it.

7) Unplug your chargers. I know its ridiculous to unplug or turn off your power strip for everything (it screws up the automatic clock on lots of appliances), but just unplug your chargers. When you pull off your cell phone or Ipod, pull the charger out of the wall too!

8) Edit before you hit print. Make sure that you've proofed what your printing before you just go ahead and print, make more changes, print again, see another error, print again.

9) Snip your six pack holders. Think of the poor birdies and fishies that get caught in these. Take the five seconds and snip the holes in your six pack rings open.

10) Buy in bulk. I live in an apartment and don't have a lot of space for bulk products, but things like laundry detergent that I use all the time, I always try to buy bigger. Not only does it save packaging, but its usually cheaper.

11) Get rid of unwanted catalogs. I know I already posted on this, but I think its a really good idea. I was always getting catalogs that I didn't really want, but didn't know how to get rid of. Well, go here and they'll take care of it for you.

12) Turn lights off when you leave the room. If all the lights in your house are on, the TV's on, a radio's on and you're in the shower...there's some problems there.

13) Don't use electrical appliances for things you can easily do by hand. AKA the can opener. Build those arm muscles.

14) Put on a sweater instead of turning the heat up. I keep my apartment fairly cold during the winter. I'm hardly ever here so what's the point. But when I am here and I get chilly, I go for a sweater or fuzzy blanket instead of the thermostat.

15) Use a filter to filter tap water rather than buying bottled.

16) Run your dishwasher only with a full load. I'm not telling you to abandon all of your appliances, but don't run it with only a fork in there.

17) Give live plants instead of cut flowers. Every girl loves flowers. Mother's day is right around the corner. Give a plant that can be planted outside or kept in their house rather than cut flowers that will die in a week.

18) Use (and reuse) gift bags instead of wrapping paper.

19) Buy local. Go to the local farmer's market or orchard. Not only will there be less preservatives in your food, but it will also cut down on the costs and pollution associated with transporting food to your grocery store.

20) Go to the library. Ok, most of you are aware that I don't read. But whenever I want to try a new recipe or new craft or learn a new skill, I hit the library rather than the bookstore.

21) Skip the elevator take the stairs. This is one that you always hear associated with exercise and dieting, but have you ever thought about how much electricity it takes to run an elevator. I don't really know, but I'm guessing its a lot.

22) Group your errands together. Post office near the grocery store. You might not be out of stamps yet, but shouldn't you pick some up while you're so close?

23) Use a digital camera and delete before you print. Oops! Got your finger in the way? Don't print that picture.

24) Just because its free doesn't mean you need it. This is one thing I've really been working on. Next time you're at that convention and see the keyring with the thermometer on it, think about if you'll actually use it or if it will end up in the trash in a couple months (or weeks...or days).

25) Instead of driving to the gym on a beautiful day. Go for a walk. Not only will being outside be good for you. It will also save gas and electricity.

A Weekend of Firsts

This weekend was my big trip to New York to visit Marcia. I'm a little pissed at myself because I had my camera in my purse the whole time and did not take a single picture. I have nothing to show on my blog. Ugh. We did ridiculous amounts of shopping (which I've of course done many times before), but there were also many things that I have never done before.

1) My first train ride that was not purely for scenic purposed. I took Amtrak up. Surprisingly, there is a direct route from Harrisburg to New York City. Slightly shocking. Don't get me wrong its a very scenic ride there, but my purpose was actually to go somewhere not just to admire the cute Amish children frolicking through the farmlands. Overall, it was a good experience. The only slightly weird thing was that I got on and sat down and when the train started moving I was facing backwards. That's fine. It was a little fun, but then after we stopped in Philly and the train started moving I was suddenly going forward. That was weird.

2) My first NYC subway experience. I have been to New York many times but all the other times either a) my dad drove into the city which is a scary thought or b) I was with a group on a big charter bus. There was never a subway involved. But I had to take the subway from Penn Station to Marcia's apartment...ALL BY MYSELF. I'm a grown up though, so it was fine. The most difficult part was finding the subway part of Penn Station.

3) The first time I was in the same city as the Pope. My grandmother was very concerned that the Pope would cause me difficulty on my trip, but he didn't. I wouldn't have even really known that we was in the same city as me except for the news coverage on every TV channel. We simply checked the newspaper for the Pope's itinerary to make sure he wouldn't be inferring with our shopping, but he didn't so it was fine.

4) My first oysters. We went to Fish and I had oysters with their good horseradish sauce. They were pretty good. I'd have them again. While I feel pressure to say that I LOVE oysters, I will reserve that word until I've had them again when I'm slightly less intoxicated and can judge if I do love them or not.

5) My first popover. We had brunch with some other ND friends at Popover Cafe which is obviously known for its Popovers. They even had directions on how to properly reheat your popover so that it isn't chewy and you can also order a Popover Bouquet to mail to someone. I really wish I had taken a picture of the basket of popovers which were each roughly the size of my head. Maybe its me, but I wasn't really impressed with my popover though the strawberry butter that they served with it was REALLY yummy.

6) However, I was really impressed with my first PINKBERRY. It really lived up to the three days of hype. I daringly chose the Green Tea which was absolutely delicious. I highly recommend it with mango, coconut, and pineapple mixed in.

It was a great trip, and I will definitely be going to New York City more often.

Let the Adventure Begin

Today I'm off to NYC to spend the weekend with my roommate from college, Marcia and her husband, Matt. I'm really excited, but today will be a lot of firsts for me. My first travel by Amtrak and my first NYC subway experience. I'm sure that being the seasoned traveler that I am, everything will be fine and, as I told Marcia on e-mail, if its not, I'll at least have the makings of a good blog.

Unnecessary Pickles

I realized yesterday that I have three jars of dill pickles in my refrigerator which just seems ridiculously too many.

The first jar is actually sandwich sliced dills which I bought nearly two years ago when I first moved in because for some reason pickles just seems to be something I think that every refrigerator needs.

Some time after that, I decided that it was getting low and needed another jar of regular dill pickles. I do not remember buying this jar AT ALL. I do not even remember considering buying another jar.

Then I got invited to a potluck picnic and decided to take a pickle and olive tray because it was easy, no one else usually brings that and my family was always kinda pickle people. Not know that I already had two jars in my fridge, I went and bought another jar.

So if you're in the area, stop by and chow on some dill pickles with me.

Ben and Jerry are Geniuses

I busted on them when they came up with the Black and Tan lager flavor ice cream, so it's only right to give them props when they do something good. I have a major weakness for ice cream, so I stopped keeping it in my freezer because I'd start with "I'll just have a spoonful" and a pint later, I'd be trying to figure out how to fit in three extra hours at the gym for the next day. So I was really excited when I saw the single serving Ben and Jerry's at the grocery store. It's great! I have one serving and then I'm all done. The best part is that it comes with its own little plastic spoon hidden in the lid. I'm not sure why that really excites me, but it does.

The Fashion Disaster

First, I must explain the hosiery dispute that has been going on in my office for about a month now. When our new employee handbook came out, it listed that hosiery must be worn at all times. (I pointed out that it doesn't necessarily have to be on your feet). Anyway, this pissed off a bunch of us that like to wear open toed shoes and sandals during the summer. It also mad several higher ups unhappy, and they have basically just ignored the policy. Though I have a boss who is a stickler for the rules and don't have such luxury.

Following this rule change, I was complaining about how my cute little shoes were going to miss out to which my boss chimed in "you can wear open toed shoes as long as you have hosiery on." I stared at her blankly to which she responded "there's nothing wrong with wearing hose and open toed shoes or sandals." I muttered "well, you're not going to catch me doing it."

Flash forward to today. My boss comes in wearing a black pants suit and white blouse. Fine. (And actually a welcome change from the God awful purple and black power suit that she was sporting yesterday.) Then I see her feet. She had on these white patent leather open toe heels and black hosiery. Someone needs to take this woman and shake her violently...or call What Not To Wear.

Did You Ever See a 5 Foot Tall Woman Beat the Snot Out of a 6 Foot Tall Man?

Well apparently that's almost what happened on Saturday. Two weeks ago my dad told my mom that one of his VP's was planning to have a card playing party on April 5th and asked if they had any plans. Upon checking her calendar, my mom informed him that that day was, of course, the Final Four. (Trust me, my mom does have such things in her calendar). My dad said ok. So then this week when my dad announced they were going to the party, my mom was pissed. However, my dad assured her that there was a replacement to play cards in her spot and she would be able to watch the game the whole time. My mom conceded and went, only to find that her replacement didn't show up. My mom still claims that the whole replacement story was a lie to get her to go. Luckily the games weren't that good or I think that my mom would've ripped off my dad's arm and beat him with it.

A Little Too Excited For My Own Good

Ok, flash back to me in fifth grade. I'm lying in my bedroom with Hangin' Tough in my cassette player, a purple Joey Mac poster above my headboard (complete with pictures cut out of Tiger Beat taped around it), and on my feet were my brand new neon pink high top inspired New Kids On the Block Sneakers. So obviously, when I heard that the New Kids were making a comeback I was practically giddy. (Because now I'm old enough to go to their concerts and stay up really late!) Then I realized that I was ridiculous, but felt better when I got a voice mail from Danielle and that she was pretty much as excited as I was. It has also sparked off a new season of Danielle psycho e-mails which is exciting as well. (I can't believe I just admitted all of this on my blog.)

Injuries I Don't Want to Have to Explain to a Doctor

I dropped a jar of banana peppers on my toes. After recovering from the wooziness I experienced from the pain, I iced my toes with some frozen corn and I think all is well. Though my middle toe is multi-color and unusually lumpy.

My First Sonic Experience

Our area has recently been bombarded with commercials for Sonic, but their aren't really any Sonic's in the area (at least not yet). So being the sheep of commercialism that we are, when Amanda and I had to go when we were at the outlets Saturday in Lancaster and saw one just across the street. (on a side note, I then went to King of Prussia with my cousin Molly the following day...too...much...shopping...must...stop...now) I was a little nervous because of the whole drive in format. How do I order? How do I pay? But everything turned out fine. There was a little awkwardness when the condiment boy and I both went for a mint at the same time (what a degrading job that is! you can't even deliver burgers, you're reduced to ketchup, salt, napkins and honey mustard.) The Caramel Java Chiller was yummy and the tots were tot-a-licious (I just made that word up). So if you have a chance to try Sonic, have no fear and go for it!

Help Sponsor My Walk

Ok, so I've already posted about how I'm doing a 60 mile walk for breast cancer. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do this because after my 12 mile training walk, I thought my feet were going to fall off. Well, now is the time for me to start begging for sponsors. For your sponsorship you will receive months of posts regarding the ridiculousness of my training regime not to mention the detail of the three day walk you can look forward to in October. To help me reach my $2200 goal, you can either click on the ugly box ad that I've added to my sidebar or go to this link. Thanks in advance.

Easter With a Twist

Tonight I went to Easter Dinner at my cousin Heidi's house. Dinner was supposed to eat at 6 but really we didn't eat until 7. Then after dinner was the egg hunt...in the dark...with flashlights. I have to admit when I first heard this idea I was a little jealous that I was no longer in the egg hunting age bracket. I was in charge of hiding eggs for two of the older kids, so I did my best to make them a little difficult. There were six kids total and each had 15 eggs in their color to find (plus one "money egg" that was rainbow colored and had $5 in it). The egg hunt was fine and dandy for the first half hour or so and then it gets a little tougher and then it really sucks when you're down to three kids who each need one egg. You're trying to retrace all your steps. "did you find the one by the pool?" "yep" "Did you find the one in the bush?" "yep" "Did you find some over by the rocks?" "Yep" "How many?" "A couple. How many did you hide there?" "Two or three." And its even tougher when you were hiding for two kids and randomly just sticking eggs places because then you can't remembers which kids you put where. I put like four in the area with the rocks, but were they all for the same kid or 3 and 1 or 2 and 2. I had no idea. It was dark and I was cold and wasn't paying any attention to what color I was putting under rocks. So there are still 4 plastic eggs out in her yard somewhere that they are hoping to find in the daylight.

How I Pretend to Save the World

Back in January, I started getting Body and Soul Magazine, one of Martha Stewart's cogs in her plan to control the universe. Anyway, I really like it and every month after I read it I resolve to take my own bag to the grocery store, eat more leafy greens and practice some deep breathing (or various other ways to improve myself and my world). This usually last for about a week until I forget, go back to my old way of living and then when I get next month's mag it starts all over again. This month there was actually something really good and really easy to do. It's a way to opt out of catalogs that you don't want to receive. Now I love catalog browsing as much as the next person (bring on the billion Victoria's secrets and Pottery Barns), but I get catalogs full of men's clothing that don't apply to me at all. So go to this link and put an end to all the wasted catalogs you are receiving. Now the bad part about this is that you have to actually know the names of those catalogs. That was hard for me because I usually just pitch the ones that I don't want. I'll have to start paying attention to them though.

Ingredients for the Perfect St. Patrick's Day Party

My uncle held a St. Patrick's Day Party, which turned out to be pretty good.

1) Irish Food: The menu for the evening included Irish Soda Bread, Corned Beef, Cabbage and Mashed Potatoes. (There was also rye bread, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island Dressing for anyone that wanted to make a Reuben)

2) Irish Drink: Bailey's, Harp, and Guinness were all readily available. As well as limeade for the kids (hey, its green). I, however, chose to drink a Blue Hawaiian wine cooler. I was told that if I mixed it with orange juice it would make a "Green Leprechaun" but I didn't.

3) Ridiculous Irish Themed Desserts

I think a giant cake decorated like the Irish flag counts. (Side note: my cousin's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day). Each section of the flag was a different flavor. The flavors were lemon, mint chocolate chip, and butter pecan. I'm not sure that was a good idea. Other Irish themed desserts were green mint fudge (with '69 food coloring in it), and two different types of shamrock shaped cookies. Actually the cookies my grandma made were clubs (as in hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs), but she thought they were shamrocks.

4) Festive Irish Decorations. I didn't take a picture, so you'll just have to take my word on it.

5) Odd green Irish apparel.

I rest my case.

6) Traditional Irish names. My cousin's name is Patrick McMinn.

7) Bloodshed. Ok, so we didn't get this but we were darn close when my ex-con cousin and my aunt began to state their case on why OJ Simpson is completely innocent (apparently their belief is that his son did it) and my other cousin and his wife told them that they were morons. But my grandmother broke it up because it could actually escalate to physical violence.

8) Irish music. There wasn't this either. At least, I don't think there was. Not that we could've heard it above the screaming kids (and adults). We did have on some special Foods of Ireland program on the Food Network (at least until the Big East Championship game came on).

All in all it was a pretty good party. My mom even brought crafts for the kids to do, so that each kid could make their own shamrock pin. (Is that what I have to look forward to in 25 years?)

The Green Fudge

For the second consecutive year, I've made green mint fudge for St. Patrick's day. I'm taking it to my uncle's St. Patrick's day party tonight. I took all the ingredients (sans butter and sugar because I knew there was already some there) over to my grandmother's house yesterday, so that I could spend more quality bonding time with my mom. My mom suggested to use my grandmother's green food coloring rather than waste my own because "she's had it a long time." She proceeds to pull out a glass McCormick bottle of green food coloring. I make some smart ass remark like "wow, it looks like its from the 70's." Upon further inspection, we discover that the bottle is dated 12/69. Guess she did have it for a long time.

Back Away From the Dishes!

My mom is in town. Yesterday, she came to pick me up to go to lunch, but we couldn't leave my apartment yet because the cable guy was here and while there isn't really much to steal in my apartment I didn't feel like "just lock up when you're done" was an option. So we waited and watched some TV. At which point, my mom turned to me at says "Can I put away your laundry for you?" To which I answer (as any self respecting adult would) "No, you are absolutely not allowed to clean anything while you are here." Cable guy gets done, we go to lunch and then come back and watch a movie on HBO. She leaves and only then do I discover that somehow covertly she cleaned my bathroom sink. I don't know how. I don't know when. But she did.

Are Babies Ever Born on Their Due Date?

Seriously. My coworker, Charlene, went into labor yesterday. She's due on March 21st. Just a little early. So I am a little STRESSED because my work basically doubled overnight. I think that since a baby has yet to be actually born my supervisor is in complete denial and still thinks there's a chance Charlene will be able to work this event on Saturday. Hello? Can we get a clue?

Thanks, That's Really Helpful

Today at the Princess for a Day event that I was working, a girl's crown fell off her tooth during snack time. Of course, there was a load of tears because she was only 6 and in all honesty, there would be a load of tears if a crown fell off my tooth and I'm 27. So we called her mom to come pick her up because girl crying for longer than 1 minute = parents turn to deal with it. The girl was sitting on my lap and I was trying to comfort her while also explaining to the other kids what a crown is and why this was different than losing a tooth. It was taking her mom a really long time to come. The girl turned to me and between sobs said "are you sure my mom is coming?" and I did my best to assure her that her mom would be there any moment. The girl beside her turns to us and says "maybe your mom lied to you to make you spend the night here." Of course that led to another onslaught of crying. Thanks little girl. We could've done without that little commentary. Though it does make me wonder if she was speaking from experience.