Category: personal

Goals Update Redux

Goals I have accomplished recently…

#5. Make David’s lunch three times a week for a month – This is something that helps us save money and makes it easier for David to eat healthy. It’s just not going to get done unless I do it, and that’s fine with me because I like taking care of my man. I’m not always consistent with this, but the goal did get completed.

#23. Transfer my old 401k – This should have been as easy as a conference call, but turned out it was no simple matter, friends. It was actually a YEAR-LONG PROCESS. I am not exaggerating. My financial adviser said that he has never encountered such a difficult transfer. When I got the checks in the mail I rejoiced. I worked for this one.

#27. Sell something on eBay – I sold a book on Half.com. I’m totally counting it.

#32. Take the preceptor class – I am officially “qualified” to precept new nurses, so says my hospital. The class was boring, the end.

#68. Obtain a vacuum cleaner – We got SO lucky on this one. A coworker of David’s recently got married and ended up with two vacuums. She just GAVE us one. We’ve had it for a few months now, and it is my favorite chore. I don’t know how we lived so long without it.

#83. Start using reusable shopping bags – I have been doing this for awhile now, just haven’t written about it. I hang them on a hook by the back door, so they are easy to grab when I’m on my way out to the store.

#84. Send Mary, the child we sponsor in Uganda, a picture of us – mailed a picture from our wedding to her in my last letter. She’s only 4, but hopefully she’ll like it!

Goals I’m actively working on…

#20. Pay off my credit card bill –

#21. Put at least $1000 in my IRA – We have $100 a month automatically going toward that. Eventually we’d like to increase that amount, but we’ve got to get ahead on our finances first.

#24. Implement a system for David and I to save our change – A system involving a hollow ceramic shell on our mantel has begun, but before I call this one complete I want to follow it through until we cash the money in. Somehow, the change seems to disappear again once it makes its way into the shell.

#40. Read all the books I own but haven’t read – Finished a couple lately. The problem is, I keep buying more books. Must stop this.

#74. Get pregnant – No comment.

#75. Send 10 “just because” cards – I sent one, and it was so much fun to do. This is something I plan to work on soon.

#81. Donate blood once a quarter – I think I am actually going more often than this, because every time Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center calls me I schedule an appointment. Sometimes my hematocrit isn’t high enough to donate, but so far I’ve gone 3 times total.

#87. Complete NaBloPoMo – Obviously.

#92. Memorize Philippians 3 – So far I have my favorite verses memorized, verses 7-12, which our church used to use as a corporate benediction every Sunday.

#96. Complete a Beth Moore Bible study with homework – I have been working through Beloved Disciple on my own, and I have the CD’s to go along with it.

#99. Become a true fan of the Texans by watching every game and discussing with David – Two weeks I had to settle for listening to the game on the radio when we were out of town, but I have watched every single other game, even if I had to DVR it and watch after work. It’s actually been really fun, except when they pull something like last week.

Goals that I’m beginning to think may be impossible to complete…

#13. Spend an entire day at the spa – I think I might have been dreaming here. Unless someone wants to give me a bunch of money, I don’t see us being able to afford such a luxury.

#26. Learn CSS/HTML/PHP well enough to design and run my website independently – I just don’t know if I’ll ever have the time it takes to learn this. I’m still hoping, though.

#42. Learn conversational Spanish – This isn’t exactly something you can just pick up easily. It will take a lot of time and work. Not sure if it’ll happen in this time period.

#54. Drive down the California coast – Another one I’m not sure we’ll be able to afford. Maybe in a couple of years.

#67. Build a pretty and well-organized home office – This one worries me because the office is not my top priority on rooms to fix up, and again there’s the money thing.

I’d say it’s coming along nicely!

November 12, 2009
Wishing

Today is not a good day for blogging. So here, look at some things on my Christmas wish list!

Rosetta Stone Spanish

Pricey, but I hear it’s effective. Learning conversational Spanish is on my list of goals, plus it will help me a lot at work.

A Million Miles In A Thousand Years

Love me some Donald Miller.

New tags for my dogs

Cleo lost her tag in the backyard somewhere. And these are just adorable.

Coffee travel mug

Gotta stop those spills.

Sports headphones

My little earbuds aren’t working too well anymore. They’re always falling out when I run.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Gotta be honest, I don’t read her blog. But I’ve heard a lot about the cookbook, and I think I’d like it.

Clarisonic Mia skin care system

It’s like giving yourself a facial!

A cute apron

The one I use now is plain white. Or, plain white with some stains on it. Either way, not cute.

See you tomorrow, folks. Maybe I’ll have something to say.

November 11, 2009
Book Club: Olive Kitteridge By Elizabeth Strout

Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush! I LOVED this book. Go read it, now!

Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I’ll tell you a little about it: Olive Kitteridge is a retired schoolteacher in her early seventies living in the small coastal town of Crosby, Maine. She is sometimes harsh and sarcastic, sometimes witty, sometimes feisty and possessive, sometimes strangely compassionate and intuitive. She is deeply flawed, and yet I loved her.

Each chapter in this novel is a story unto itself. In many of them, Olive is the main character, but in some she just passes through, or is briefly mentioned. We learn about her husband Henry and her grown son Christopher, as well as a host of other townspeople. There wasn’t a single story that I didn’t like. I must have marked a dozen passages that I want to go back and read over and over again because they are so perfectly described, so poignant, so true, so inspiring.

This book is supremely well-written. It’s easy to see how it won the Pulitzer Prize. I didn’t breeze through it, but took the entire month to read it. After each story I wanted to decompress, to take it all in. The main thing I liked about it was that it made me appreciate life. It made me not want to take anything for granted, which seems to be a theme with me lately. I kind of feel like I’m an elderly person stuck in a 27-year-old body, for all the premature nostalgia I experience on a daily basis.

Five out of five stars, no question. I’d like to read it again someday.

***

Next month’s book will be The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel and Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. As always, you’re welcome to read along!

November 9, 2009
#47. Go To Another Dynamo Game

The Dynamo are Houston’s major league soccer team. I know most of you are probably like, “Who cares?” and that’s fine. If you were writing about, say, water polo, I would have the same reaction. But I love soccer. I have played it since I was seven years old, and I pretty much lived and breathed it from the time I was in junior high through college. I’ve been playing on adult teams since then, but because of my schedule I can now only play during the summers. So I consider it my duty to support our pro team.

I was so excited when my parents told me they had an extra ticket to today’s game! It’s the first round of the playoffs, it would be a fun chance to hang out with my family, and it was free! We had great seats that enabled us to see the whole field well, with the bonus of a nice view of the Houston skyline.

A sea of orange!

It also gave me a chance to wear the super cute Dynamo jersey I own.

My mom, me, and brother David. My husband’s not really into soccer, unless I’m playing. :)

I tell you what, there is nothing quite like soccer fans. They are wild and tireless. There was a small section of Seattle fans right across the aisle from us, and every time our goalkeeper took a goal kick they would shout, “You suck, a**hole!” It didn’t take our fans long to catch on, and every subsequent time they would repeat the phrase, but directed at the Seattle section. I was thinking to myself how tacky the opposing teams fans were, until I realized that every time Seattle’s goalkeeper took a goal kick we were shouting this which, if you grow up playing soccer in south Texas, you learn is Spanish for something not very nice at all. I can’t even bring myself to type it, because I try to keep things family friendly around here. So apparently it’s just vehement hate on both sides.

Enjoying the game

But guess what? We won! 1-0 in overtime. My husband says soccer hasn’t caught on in America because there’s not enough scoring. But I say that the entire game is exciting even without the goals. You will rarely see The Wave being started at a soccer game, because The Wave is a sign of boredom. (And for the record, I detest The Wave, and yet find it strangely fascinating.)

Celebration at the end of the game

Seeing soccer made me so nostalgic for it. There’s just something about lacing up your cleats, stepping onto the grass, and having that whole field in front of you. The feel of the ball at your feet, and coming together as a team. I’m lucky I still get to play at all, but I miss the competitive days of my youth where I could play three full games during a summer tournament and wake up for another the next day. My body would revolt if I tried that now.

At least I can still be a fan!

November 8, 2009
Breakfast Casserole

I’ve been craving a breakfast casserole all week long, because I’m high class like that. I decided to make one for our dinner exchange tonight, with a fruit salad side. I didn’t have a recipe, so I searched and searched. I ended up combining a few of the ones I found, and it turned out pretty well. Next time I’ll probably use less hash browns and sausage and more eggs.

Ingredients:

1 (2-pound) bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1 pound pork sausage
2 slices cooked ham, diced
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish. Place the hash brown potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.

This already takes up half of the dish. Like I said, next time I’ll use less potatoes.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook and stir the sausage until the it is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink; drain. (If your husband likes onion this would be the time to cook a small diced onion along with the meat. Also, I decided to include some diced ham, because we had some on hand.)

Mmm, meat. A lot of it. Too much, actually, but oh well.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and pour over the potatoes. Layer with half the Cheddar cheese, the sausage mixture, and the remaining Cheddar cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.

That is a lot of cheese, my friends. Just how I like it.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove cover; return casserole to the oven and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Forgot to take a picture of the finished product until after we had already eaten. We just couldn’t wait!

This was definitely good, but I’m not ready to declare my undying love for it. There was so much meat and potatoes that I could hardly taste the egg. I’d like to try it with some modifications, but if you’ve got a tried and true recipe for a breakfast casserole, I’d love for you to share.

November 7, 2009