The F Word

We've started watching "The F Word" on BBC America and I love it! We were already huge fans of Chef Gordon Ramsay, but this seals the deal for us. He's so different on this show from how he is on Hell's Kitchen, for the most part. He still has little challenges for wannabe chefs and is pretty rotten to them, but he's way nicer and more friendly to his other guests. Moving on... I have been m.i.a. on here for the past week or so for a couple reasons. My roommate got pneumonia and was in the hospital for 4 days last week. He hasn't been able to work in 2 weeks and tomorrow is his first day back. It was incredibly stressful for me while he was sick and in the hospital. I was worried about him and worried how he could let it get to the point it did. It's hard to take care of a grown person on such a infant-like level without letting it affect the relationship. My boss is still up in the air about my hours which put a big strain on my attitude about juggling work and the roommate. Part of me is scared to get my hours cut even though I do have a make-shift plan put together. I really want to look it this as a blessing though. I will only have to work 20 hours a week - 4 hours a day! I can finally have my life back and focus on doing things for my future instead of spinning wheels for my present. I've cut back on a few of my expenses and I feel more in control rather than freaking out because things are changing.
Finally, I got my free issue Body+Soul magazine in the mail today and I love it! The one I got was the January/February issue and it has this "challenge" to transform your body/soul into "a new you". It goes week by week with tips and tools to follow. Day 1 has a few questions to consider:

1. What are the healthiest-and least healthy- aspects of your diet?
-healthiest = I drink at least 4 glasses of water each day
-least healthy = probably my one a day ramen habit and my need for chocolate after every meal

2. Do you have particular weaknesses?
-I think I do = chocolate, chips, and take out when I wait too long between snacks. I hate being hungry and I make bad choices when I get to that point.

3. What, if anything, would you like to change about your food choices?
-I would like to choose more fresh foods instead of ready made ones. I want to eat more vegetables and fruits every day as a habit, not out of forcing myself to do it


That's all for now friends. Take care of your body, you only get one!

-September

Test...Passed!

I finally figured out how to post blog entries from my phone! an hour later....

Yay Mary Kay!

This evening I attended a Mary Kay Bingo rally with a couple friends. One has recently become a consultant and invited us to go along with her to score some free products, or so we thought. We were crammed into a small(ish) hotel conference room with about 100 other women and 2 bags of Cool Ranch Doritos; right away I noticed it was not a good ratio. The emcee was a woman from our area who had crazy high sales and was at the top of the chain in whatever region or section she belonged to. She, very enthusiastically, proceeded to tell us how wonderful and lavish her life is and how her goal is to get every consultant to the level she's at. She called up the upper levels of consultants for testimonials and goals and more enthusiasm about Mary Kay makeup. I hate to say this because I know it sounds like a stereotype or a generalization or whatever, but at one point it started to feel a lot like a cult (or a non-denominational church with too much confidence. Sorry I had to say it, you know what I'm talking about). Anyway, even with the foundation caked smiles and over-the-top enthusiasm I did manage to take something away from the experience: a plan b. These women have managed to create a business and a backup plan for themselves. That's definitely more than I can say for myself at this point. I work for an insurance broker who I'm sure is crapping his pants daily in fear of the government nationalizing health care. There have been other assistants in our office who have had their hours cut already and I didn't think it could happen to me. Well, it's time for me start creating a plan b. I could panic and worry and not do anything OR I could take control of my future and see this as a blessing in disguise. I'm not really into the idea of being a make up, party food, or sex toy consultant, but I would love to have my own small side business. I am considering my options carefully and will post updates and hopefully a conclusion will be reached within the next month.

Thanks for always being there for me,

September

I Heart Blogs

One of the interests I have listed in my About Me section is learning new things. I LOVE learning new things, it's part of my love for change. It keeps you feeling fresh, which I think is very important in life. I live in a small-ish city in a secluded part of the county. By secluded I mean that not a lot gets in and people are somewhat forgotten about here. I first found out what blogs were about two years ago. I wasn't very involved in the Internet beyond MySpace so I didn't really have a clue what was going on beyond the 419. I had (and still currently have) zillions of magazine subscriptions and one day when I was looking through Jane they had a small article about Sarah from Pink of Perfection. I looked up her blog and instantly fell in love with it. I read all through her posts and followed all of the links she had in them. I also followed all of the links she had in her "Links" section and read through those blogs and followed those links and so on until it was apparent that a better, more interesting, life did exist beyond The Great Black Swamp. It felt like my whole world had instantly opened up! I found so many other people who shared the same interests as me, but I also found new things that I never knew I liked. I found this add-on for Firefox called Foxmarks to organize all of my bookmarks since they were starting to get a little out of control. So, below is a list I put together of some of the blogs/websites that have influenced me, taught me something, or just piqued my interest. Feel free to share yours favs with me!

Be well, do good deeds, and stay in touch,
September


1. Pink of Perfection
2. Dooce
3. Zen Habits
4. Wisebread
5. Geekologie
6. Marc and Angel Hack Life
7. Apartment Therapy
8. Create!
9. DIY Life
10. Dumb Little Man
11. Etsy
12. Found Magazine
13. PostSecret
14. Frock Shop
15. The Sartorialist
16. Go Fug Yourself
17. My Dollar Plan
18. Giveaway of the Day
19. My My
20. Joe's NYC
21. Flickr
22. Photobucket
23. The Martha Blog
24. Download Squad
25. Yahoo! Shine

Get Two Birds Stoned At Once

The dress I wore to my work banquet had this half-sweater that went over it and can be worn over other shirts too. I wore the half-sweater to work today with my favorite purple tank top, then notice the hook part of the hook-and-eye was about to fall off. I looked disheveled anyway this morning and with my shirt undone, I just looked like I was out drinking last night and wore that same outfit to work. So, I decided to take a chance and ask if anyone had a needle and thread and try to fix my shirt. Luckily someone did have a little sewing kit so I proceeded to sew the hook back on, totally not concerned what my boss would think. It felt so fulfilling to fix my shirt that I sewed the buttons back on my jacket too. I love sewing and making things and fixing things; it's so therapeutic for me. My next thought was 'I wonder how much more awesome this would feel if I could do this and get paid for it?' Probably pretty awesome. Doing what I love AND getting paid for it - getting two birds stoned at once. (I would love to take credit for that because it's so clever, but I can't. It's from Trailer Park Boys.) Anyway, the whole sewing kit thing made me think about what kinds of things should be kept in my purse .... Maybe later though. This post is boring me to death. It sounded like an interesting subject this morning, but its putting me to sleep now. Can I talk about how my job is sucking the life out of me instead? I don't mean to be a bitcher but goddammit work sucks. Have you ever felt like if you do the same thing one more time your soul might actually leave you in hopes of a better life somewhere else? I'm sure you have. And I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry, soul. I'm sorry you're stuck in my boring life with my boring job and dickhole boss. My roommate isn't any help either. Right now he's playing Saints Row with his friend on his headset. I'm sure it's fun for him, but it's hella lame for me. I'll try this again tomorrow, maybe I can muster the smallest bit of inspiration to write something the tiniest bit interesting.

Peace out.

Pity Party!

You are cordially invited to attend a Pity Party in my honor tonight from 5 pm until question mark. Cheerios will be served as an appetizer with a delicate dinner of fried perogies and diet 7Up. Hope you can make it!

HA! I fooled you. There's no party. I'm here by myself. It sucks when my roommate has to work evening shifts. Even though we spent everywakingsecond together over the weekend, I still miss him when he's not here with me (tear). Whatever. Moving on. I had my work banquet on Saturday night and it actually ended up being a lot of fun. Plus a lot of booze. I didn't get black-out drunk or make out with anyone or anything like that. I did dance my ass off, though. It felt so good! The dinner was excellent; I had a filet drenched in garlic butter with purple mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans. My filet was cooked perfectly medium rare. It was so good!

There is a lot more I wanted to touch on tonight, but my friend just asked me to go to power hour with her at this shit hole biker bar so...I'm out! I'll be back soon, don't worry.

Cordially,

September

'I wake up every evening with a big smile on my face'

Oh, wow. Sorry about that last post; it's just unbearable to read and I sincerely apologize. I started taking Ritalin about a week ago and I was very skeptical at first but, after reading that post and having the day I had on Thursday, I realize that it's imperative I take it everysingleday for the rest of forever (and then I should probably still double up on it just to be safe). Sadly, it's somewhat of a joke in my family about our "ZDD" (our last name is Zucchinibread and we oh-so-cleverly switched the 'A' for the 'Z' and, well, you get it) because it's so obvious we all have it. We're a comically stereotypical big Italian family with ADD and if we had a reality show, it would be more of a mindf*ck to watch than anything E has to offer. Ok, moving on. I took some pictues and rounded up a few questions that will help us to get to know each other a little better. The questions are from a list I compiled while networking socially via MySpace and Facebook (no links here; everyone knows where these sites are and no one needs to be encouraged to join them). Enjoy, friends:

Where'd you get that fancy blog name?
> "No Name" was the name of the only jellyfish that Sponge Bob couldn't catch. It was the most special one to him since it was unattainable. (Deep, I know.)

What about that weirdo alias?
> It was my Second Life name. There was an episode of "The Office" where Jim finds Dwight's Second Life character so, naturally, I had to get on there and create my own avatar. The laptop I had at the time was outdated and the video card couldn't support the game properly so I didn't go very far with it.
Why do you abbreviate random words? It's not funny.
> I just do it. My brother started it, it rubbed off on me, and I never looked back.


Typical Myspace survey Q's

-Are you dating anyone, if so, who?
= Yes. The person I'm dating is referred to as "my roommate" on here.
-What is your current living situation?
= me+roommate+Butterball (fat cat) and Lucy ( baby rat)

-What are you listening to?
= the steady hum my roommate's computer and the media center computer. And The All American Rejects

-Best way to start the day?
= With Beaners and Hawaiian music.

Facebook - Random Things about me
a. The only bottled water I drink is Dasani.
b. I can't have music on while I'm writing because all of my thoughts turn to singing the song that's on.
c. 'When you see my face I hope it gives you hell.' See, I told you. I can't do it
d. I've been effin' around all morning and I forgot to get shoes + stuff for my work banquet tonight!

Picture time.
1. Sugar Free Mocha Hazelnut Skim Grande not hot!
2. My littlest sister and me when I was 15. she was only a couple months old then :) She's 8 now!
3. Ganesha - my Vday gift to my roommate last year
4. A picture Hal took of a Red Panda; he framed it and send it to me. It's very special to me because it a sense, it is me.