"I'll stop the world and melt with you"

I'm sitting on my couch folding laundry like a good little girl and I smell something. Then I catch another whiff. It smelled like someone had just blown out a lot of birthday candles. My first thought was - I know I switched fabric softener, but it couldn't be that. (I smelled my clothes twice to be sure.) Then I thought - I had plugged in my toothbrush to charge. Maybe there was a short? But then I stood up and remembered I had the dishwasher on. I walk over to it, opened the door, and sure enough - one of the tiny lids to a tiny rubbermaid container had fallen to the bottom and was touching the heat thing that produced heat to dry the dishes. D'oh! I had put the lids in before but was always apprehensive about it. Turns out I had every right to be. I'm just glad I was awake before it turned really bad. This is why I never turn on my dishwasher and leave the house. "Just in case." And now it reeks downstairs. Instant headache. I turned the ceiling fan on. I opened my front door. I sprayed fabreez. It still smells like someone turned 109 and blew out the candles.

"It's been one week since you looked at me..."

It’s been two weeks since getting my side tattooed, so I finally returned to the gym today. Oh gym, how I missed thee! And after two (maybe three) weeks of not running… I ran (outside, per usual). Yep. I ran a mile and a half but… I stopped to walk. To WALK. It probably didn’t help that it was 85 degrees outside and my mouth was so dry that I couldn’t swallow the nonexistent spit in my mouth, but I had to stop to walk for about 10 seconds. I know I should’ve been happy with my run, but I wasn’t proud. So my punishment was to ride the bike for 30 minutes once I was back inside, before starting my leg weight machines, etc. What made it worse is that I miss my running partner. He’s not allowed to run for a while because he got injured on a run. I know some people would say “just find another running partner” or “join a running group” but the fact is, there are very, VERY few people who motivate me… which means there are very few people I actually *want* to run with. So no, finding a new partner or joining a running group just isn’t going to cut it. Thanks, but no thanks. And as a side note - I think I’m going to invest in one of those water bottles meant for running with… the kind that Velcro around your hand so you don’t have to use so much energy actually gripping it tight. I realize I should’ve done this a long time ago while I was running in 90+ degree weather… but… better late than never? Anyhoo… it felt really good to work off some energy. I’ve grown to rely on the gym as a way to get my endorphins going just so that I’m happier in general. I have been in need of a good dose!!! The world is simply a better place when I’m regularly exercising. And with that being said, I’m off to go blow up my fitness ball so I can start using it, and then hit the shower - because boy do I stink!

“If you want it, come and get it and understand - you take me as I am”

This past week I’ve really been pulling from my inner hippie-ness. I didn’t shave my legs all week and I haven’t been wearing a bra. It bothered me in the beginning, but I think because my ta-ta’s have shrunk from losing weight, it’s been a teensy bit easier dealing with the no bra thing. It helped too that my mom reassured me that they didn’t look like they were down to my waist. Lol. Well it’s been 6 days like this so far and while I did shave my legs this morning, I am still not able to wear my bra yet. But that’s okay. I’m actually getting used to it. I find that if I’m wearing a tank top, I don’t mind it. And if the jiggling bothers everyone else, oh well. I’ve come a long way. I never used to be able to leave the house without a bra on. Today I ventured outside and ran errands. Yes, people. That’s right. I’m not wearing a bra, and those ARE my nipples. Speaking of nipples - on the flipside, it just makes me want to pierce my nipples even more. I know. I just grossed some of you out by saying that. I’ve only admitted wanting to do this to one person. I like how it looks when women have their nipples pierced and wear hoops in them. And if I had mine done now… well, I would probably be going braless more often in the summer time. Heh. Even though I’ve been going braless because I got my side tattooed last Saturday and endured just under 3 hours of needling, it doesn’t mean that I have the balls to go get pierced like that. I know how it felt when I got my navel done and that is not a sensitive area. And I’ve talked to a couple guy friends who have their nipple(s) done. I know it would hurt like HE-double hockey sticks. Not to mention I’d have to be drunker than a skunk and/or taking some good pain meds to endure the process as well as having it possible to get them both done at the same exact time.



To recap…

Hairy legs

No bra

Tattooed side

Talk of nipple piercing



Who am I?! I’m the person I’ve always been. I’m just becoming more comfortable in my own skin… both literally (as my tattoo heals) and figuratively.

"We all live in a yellow submarine"

Sometimes no matter how badly I want to sit down and write, the words just don’t come to the surface how I hope them to. Or maybe I’m just trying to write about all the things I’m not meant to write about right now instead of the things I am. All I know for sure is that I’ve hit the delete button far too many times this evening in the hopes of this being something worth reading. Clearly I am not doing a good job of that tonight.


So instead I shall go eat pizza, drink my glass of wine, and watch an episode of Downton Abbey. It’s the only logical step to take next. Right?

“Butterflies in the sky, I can go twice as high”

I finally started reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I co-worker told me about it a few years ago and gave me the book to read. She told me it was a wonderful story and that if I could just get past the first couple chapters, it would be worth it.

In trying to de-clutter my world, I’ve been trying really hard to read the books I have accumulated over the years that are sitting on my bookcase before going off and buying new ones. I’ve made some progress, but lets be realistic - it’s going to take a while to get through all of them even if I am an avid reader. I’ve detoured a couple times, but mainly with borrowed books. I’ve only bought two new ones and I’ve read one. The other I’m saving as a treat because it’s a Dan Brown book that I haven’t read, and there aren’t a lot of those to pick from. Rest assured that when I DO read it, I will devour it rather insatiably. Even though Outlander is a borrowed book, it has been a book on my bookcase for a rather long time. The only problem will be that there are a few after in the series. Okay. No biggie. I’m sure I’ll find em at the library.

So back to what I was saying. I started Outlander. I’m only on page 69 but I think I’m going to enjoy it. It turns out that it’s a time travel book. I can’t help but laugh as I say that because never in a million years would I have thought I’d be reading that kind of book. It reminds me of my Nana. She loved those kinds of books. And I’m going to venture to say that because this book was first published in 1991, she probably read it before she died. If she were alive I imagine she’d be eagerly awaiting as I read it so that we could talk about it together. It’s a really neat feeling to know that I’m reading a book that she probably read. In a weird way it makes it seem like her and I are spending time together as I read it. To add to the greatness, the book pages are extremely soft. I enjoy feeling the book in my hands as I escape into the story, even though it’s a fairly thick book - 800+ pages in all (and that’s with normal sized font and pages).

Books really can be magical.

“Cause I’m gonna make this place your home”

I’ve taken a liking to watching The Property Brothers… so much so, that I actually dvr it now. I like that it’s about finding a home and decorating it/remodeling it to your taste. I know that fixer uppers can be A LOT of work. I also know that I have no capability of doing half the work that would be needed. Just because I’ve helped cut sheetrock and hold it in place while my dad screwed (nailed?) it in when my parent’s redid my old bedroom does not mean I qualify to do it all myself. Nor does it mean that I have the money to even consider buying a place! It does make me wonder what kind of a fixer upper I’d end up with if I had a reasonable budget to work with. I’d like to think that while it might not be my complete dream home, it’d be a place that I’d love anyways. I think I’d be able to have reasonable requests and keep the price low enough to make it work. Maybe if I start saving every single dime and stop doing everything, cancel my cable, cancel my landline, never go out, and live off of vegetables, I might be able to afford a fixer upper in about… oh, never. Lol.

Ideally I’d love a three bedroom so that I could have my master bedroom, a guest bedroom, and a craft room. I know I rarely have company these days, but I’d like to know that I’d have a place for someone to stay if they wanted to come visit. But I know I could get by with a two bedroom. I’d make it work like I make it work now. My main detail is that it would be a house, not a condo, not an apartment. I wouldn’t want to share walls with anyone else. I don’t need a huge front yard, and I don’t need a huge backyard. I wouldn’t mind at least a small space in the back where I can have two patio chairs and a small table. And I’d love to have a small patch of land where I could have my own mini vegetable garden. I think that’s pretty reasonable.

My dream kitchen would be white with splashes of yellow and teal (more yellow than teal). My dining table would have a rustic look to it and possibly mismatched chairs on one side and at the ends, and a bench seat on the other side.

In the place I’m renting there is an accent wall made of brick. I really like having that element inside. It makes it feel earthy and friendly to me. If possible, I would want an accent wall in my dream home too. It wouldn’t have to be a big wall, and I realize that it might now work in all layouts, but if it could work, a faux brick wall would be awesome!

I’m accustomed to smaller living rooms so mine wouldn’t have to be huge, but it’d be nice if it was at least the size of my current one. I would use all my current furniture because I love what I have. In fact, if you could relocate my place into a place that is a stand alone house, I’d take it. With the exception of a remodel of the bathroom and kitchen update (and floors). The size is just fine for one person. And since I don’t plan on getting remarried, I don’t need it to work for anyone but me.

Okay. Enough daydreaming. (See what that show does to me?!)

"On the good ship lollipop..."

You know how I always say it’s the little things that count? This is one of those times.

When I was a kid there was a cereal I remember enjoying. Some of you are familiar with the ever so popular Rice Krispies. Well, the cereal I’m talking about was Rice Krispies with marshmallows. Eventually Rice Krispies Treats cereal came out and the one with marshmallows just vanished. I occasionally search in the hopes of it making a great comeback. Well… I was at the grocery store on Monday and it just so happened I walked right by this….

So I bought it and tonight for dinner I made this…

   

!!! How happy am I right now?!