Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Love that are "Cheesy"

(In no particular order)

1. Andy Capp's Cheddar Fries- if you haven't had them, they're awesome junk food
2. Cheesy Potato Casserole- cubed hash browns, shredded cheddar, sour cream and a little magic- how could you NOT love these?
3. Papa Johns Cheese Bread- This will forever remind me of Karen. We used to order this in college all the time.
4. The Nacho Bell Grande- HELLO TACO BELL!
5. 80's movies- esp the ones about teenage angst
6. Big Hair Ballads- I bought a CD of them at Target for 8 bucks! They're great!
7. Greeting cards about Love- I always find a couple and save them to give to Kendall when he's having a bad day
8. Those crazy cutouts that you can put your face in- any time Kendall and I see one, we get our picture taken in it, even if it's only on our cell phone. I have one of me with Ricky Bobby and me as an astronaut, among many others.
9. Walking with my arm linked through Kendall's like an old lady would- old fashioned, but so comfortable!
10. Easter basket grass- okay, it probably hurts the environment to make it or something, but I love eating my candy straight out of that cellophane grass!
11. Seeing my first robin in the spring- it always gets me excited (for spring that is...)
12. Holding my breath in tunnels- remember doing this as a kid? I still do it! I make the kids do it on the bus ride to DC every fall.
13. TV Land- Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy, The Addams and The Munsters- They're all such feel good shows!

Wednesday One

1. I just wanted every one to know that Bev at the Troy Starbucks makes THE BEST Carmel Macchiatto known to man. YUMMMMMMMM!!!! (We're BFF.)

No news here!

Priorites (from another perspective)

So I read Jen's entry on being someones #1. I read her comments. And I decided I needed to write my own blog about this.

Kathy commented that only Jen's single friends probably really got how she was feeling. I don't think that is true. I think we've all been where Jen is, even if we're not there right now. I think what some of the other people were trying to remind Jen of, is that her own self esteem is important too. I don't think it had anything to do with the fact that we all had our own #1 people and were just trying to give kind words.

I know exactly how Jen feels. I once put someone very special to me above everything else in my life, even moving to be with them. It didn't work. And going back to being your own #1 is hard after a serious relationship. It almost seems/feels impossible at times. And you feel like you'll never meet anyone else. And it's sad. And that's okay. I wallowed for quite a while, myself. And when you realize that you probably weren't the #1 in the other person's life to begin with it just makes it harder. Just because I have someone else in my life now doesn't mean I've never been there and don't understand. We've all been single, even if I'm married now, I still remember what that hurt felt like.

And I haven't said much about this, but sometimes I resent being labeled and defined by my relationship with my husband. I work very hard not to be. I am not defined by my husband. I am defined by my own actions and beliefs. Moving to a small(er) town has shown me how very quickly we can be labeled. In many people's eyes I am Dr. E's wife. That is bothersome. I make efforts for people not to label me that way. Even if, at times, I seem outrageous in my methods. I'll even correct people when they introduce me that way. I'll say, "Actually, my name is Lisa. Not Dr. E's wife." While it turns heads and may offend people, I feel it's important to not be defined by someone else.

And sometimes, I still put myself as #1. You have to in order to keep your sanity. Married people aren't saints you know. While we all like to try and put our spouse, children, significant other, whatever, as our first choice, sometimes we're selfish too. Anyone who says they never do that is lying and just trying to look good.

And Jen, that's what's important, defining who you are with or without the other person. And from what I've read lately in your blog, I think you're doing a good job of that. It's still hard, and it still sucks, but you're putting yourself out there. That's huge. And I DO understand how you feel, even if I'm not single now.

My BBH

So the short version of this story is that my FABULOUS husband brought me a Starbucks coffee the other day because I was dragging. I just can't keep up with these 5 day work weeks. Who knew work could be so hard?!?!?!

Anyways, he's been in my room several times before. But never without his glasses on. And it seriously threw some of my kids off.

One kid actually asked:

"Who is that guy?"

To which I responded:

"He's my butler!" *A titter of classroom laughter erupted*

To which my butler replied:

"Actually I'm her boyfriend! Shhh, don't tell!" *More tittering*

Which was lastly followed by:

"But I thought he was her husband...I'm confused!" *Loud laughter*

My final response:

"Actually he's my butler-boyfriend-husband. It's a complicated relationship."

My kids then all proceeded to shout out the door how much they loved him (in repsonse to my "I love you" when he was leaving) including, but not limited to:

"I love you like a sister!"

"I love you like a pet goldfish!"

"I love you like my mom!"

"I don't love you! Okay I do!"

To which he repsonded when he peeked his head back in the door:

"I love you all like puppies!" *Mad dash for the car*

P.S.

Kendall is now officially my butler-boyfriend-husband.

More on that story later.....

Pilates School Dropout

Okay, I'm a big puss. I made it through one night of Pilates and then dropped out. Yes, you can laugh. I am not ashamed to say that I went back and re-signed up for my Yoga class. Pilates gave me a whole new appreciation for Yoga.

My biggest complaint about the class actually doesn't have anything to do with my being a wuss. The instructor was way too fast for me. I told her at the beginning of the class that I had never done Pilates before. I guess the class I signed up for was not considered beginners Pilates. Even though the Y doesn't offer a beginner class. So I assumed that had to be this class. Everyone else in the room had taken a class before.

While I was able to keep up with the Yoga moves, I also felt they were done unsafely. It actually made me feel a little bit like a hippie. I'm used to smooth, graceful moves that are gentle and safe for your muscles. This instructor turned Yoga into boot camp. We did moves in quick, repetitive progression. I just didn't feel it was safe. Furthermore, I couldn't keep up with the new moves because I was trying to watch everything she did before trying it. The other people in the room kept up nicely, including my friend Jamie.

The second reason that I dropped out was my back. By the end of the one hour session it was killing me. I told the instructor this and she basically told me I had to suffer through a few weeks and it would probably go away. Okay, probably is not good enough for me. If my Yoga class didn't make it all go away, what makes her think high intensity Pilates will?

My last reason is just immature. I couldn't stand one of the ladies in the class. She was like a Pilates Queen. I think she takes it 5 times a day. 2 times at the Y and 3 times at home on a video. Okay, not really, but she's hard core. She was the Billy Blanks of Pilates. And she was distracting me!

So I limped out to the lobby last night and switched classes. I'm heading to Yoga tonight to hopefully repair the damage from last night. I think I need to try a tape first before I go back. Maybe then I could keep up. Jamie says I really broke up with her, not the class. I called her to break the bad news. She said it could have been worse. I could have texted her, "F*ck you and Pilates." I love her. She's so funny.

To soothe myself, I went to Kroger with Kendall and we bought 10 bottles of pop, 3 gallons of ice cream, and two boxes of cookies. Hey, I totally earned it. I sweated for like a whole hour. ;)

Blah blah blah

I don't really have anything funny or witty or even interesting to write about. And I'm too bored to write about my weekend.

My car is still sweet. We had it in the shop to make sure everything was running well, and it is. Every time I get in it I bless America for allowing me to buy my giant beast of a gas hog. :) I figure that since I'm totally willing to pay exhorbitant prices for the gas without bitching, that I deserve this car. I wouldn't be suprised if it cost me 100 bucks a tank by the end of 2008. Did that make any of you earthy, hippy people sick just now?????

I guess I'm feeling a little antagonistic today. *grin*

Oh, and I'm starting a Pilates class with my neighbor tonight. I think it will be fun. Jamie is funny. I can imagine her bitching while we do stuff. I will most likely laugh more than I particiapte. But at least I'll be working my abs.

Oh, and one last thing- what's up with this shitty weather? The last two days have been FABULOUS! Now I'm under a freaking Winter Storm Warning again. This is unacceptable!