The men take a stand!

Just had to share this music video, it's pretty funny!

Caramel Corn Disaster!

My sister-in-law Tiffany makes the BEST caramel popcorn. So good that I dream about eating it on occasion... seriously. Today was one of those days and so I decided to try my hand at caramel popcorn making... after all, how hard could it be, right?

I should have just called her and asked for the recipe...

Instead, I just went to one of my go-to cooking websites, Our Best Bites thinking all caramel popcorn recipes would be the same, minus the added bells and whistles like nuts, etc. The recipe in itself wasn't difficult to follow but things just didn't turn out quite right... first the sugar seemed to be overcooked ( I followed the exact time... I believe my microwave's "high" is a lot higher then hers) and then when I added the baking soda it turned the wrong consistency. ( marshmallow jet-puff instead of thick yet pourable) I plugged on, hoping it would be alright in the end. However, instead of being soft and gooey it got rock solid before I was even able to get it mixed in well. By the time I was done, it had hardened into a huge ball of not so yummyness. I could have cracked someone's skull open with it... not to mention some teeth, so with not much coaxing from Ben, into the trash it went. *sigh*

I then decided to try another recipe altogether. One that calls for you to melt everything on the stovetop rather than our crazy microwave. I was surprised to see how much these recipes varied! (I was happy to see that this one didn't call for baking soda) I am about 90% happy with this recipe. It turned out gooey and soft like I wanted it too but we'll see how it hold up overnight. If it's still soft tomorrow I will consider it a success.

Tiff's definitely tastes better though... I will still have to beg her for it!

Fooey!

A monkey-wrench has been thrown into my 5K plans in the form of 2 minor foot surgeries, poo! One was done today and then next one will be in early March. They're nothing terrible, but enough to keep me from running for some weeks while I heal.

I may start running in the weeks between each procedure or I may wait until I am done with both completely... I haven't yet decided. I hate getting on a roll and then having to stop and feel like all my hard work has been completely undone, you know? And now its time to get back to the couch and prop my throbbing foot back up on a mountain of pillows, whilst waiting for the Lortab to do its job! ;)

Fast & Furious

If you're gonna get a stomach bug, I guess this is the way to go, huh? It seems like I've been getting a little bit of everything since I started working at the hospital and while I've been told its normal and every new employee goes through it, I wish it would just hurry up and be done! My hands (dry, cracked, and at times bleeding) are ample sign of my very frequent hand washing/disinfectant usage so I'm not sure what the deal is... Oh wells, this too shall pass, right?

I haven't puked in a few hours, so I think the nasties are on their way out finally! Woot! Here's to a puke free night and actually getting some sleep, sans my head in a bucket... ;)

No longer toxic!

About a year ago I posted this about not being able to donate blood. I was on Aygestin for a while (before my surgery in June) and then had to do my 6 month time in "you-may-not-donate jail." Well, my time is up (it was actually up about a month ago but with my new job I hadn't gotten around to going to OBI- whoops!) my sentence served, and today I got to go donate again!!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

It's been soooooooooooooo long. I dragged Ben along, kicking and screaming, but he went. They got his vein on the first time this go-round so all went well there. My donation experience was great as well! I'm next eligible March 3rd, so the countdown is on! It's so nice to be useful again :)

C2-5K: Week 1 Day 1

I just got back from my first walk/run! It's 27* outside (feels like 18* w/ the wind chill factor) but I was determined. I decided to take Sirius along with me (hoping he'd keep me going) but he really just slowed me down, wanting to stop every 5 feet to smell something or mark his territory, grrr... I don't think I'll be taking him anymore.

I was hoping it would go better than it did. I walked a lot more than I ran, but I'm sure that as time progresses that will turn around. I'm just glad that I did it and I'm back at home where it's nice and warm and the wind isn't blowing. I'm exhausted but quite content with myself. :)

Can I do it?!?!?!

I'm tired of being such a blob. I gained so much weight during our 3+years of infertility treatments and have never gotten around to losing it! Ben and I have been discussing getting serious about weight loss this year and since going on crazy fad diets just doesn't appeal to me, I figured if I'm gonna lose weight it's going to be the old fashion way... working up a sweat! (From a dietary standpoint I am going to try to cut back on sugars... mainly soda since I refuse to drink anything diet because its nasty!) I used to run when I was younger and due to knee and back problems gave up on that source of exercise years ago. I think I mostly just gave into the fear of "re-injuring" myself and let that be my excuse. I'm ready to face my demons though and at least give it a try.

I have friends that are super buff marathon runners and while I give them kudos and would someday like to brag that I've been there, done that, I think it's best I start small. I heard about this nice and slow program designed to get couch potatoes off their bums and running again and figured it might be best to start there. Whether or not I someday make it to marathon runner status is beyond me, but for now my goal is to be able to run a 5K without keeling over dead!

And so begins my journey to fitness. I decided to post this so that I have some sense of accountability and this new found excitement doesn't go the way of the Dodo bird here in 2 weeks. The plan is to run 3x's /week according to my little schedule here. I'll be posting updates weekly, maybe more often depending how I'm doing. I plan to start this Wed. the 6th of January, so if my calculations are correct, I should be done and running 5K's by March.

Can I do it?!?! I hope so!!! ;)