where have i been?

you may be wondering where i have been lately. for the most part, i have been right here, on my couch, shushing my dogs as i watch the entire series of six feet under. of course i was able to fit a few other adventures in the last month or so.

the husband and i met up with the fam in maine and did a little snowshoeing and perhaps too much drinking. i found myself cooking all the time, oh and then there was that thing about how we went on vacation. yup vacation. FINALLY. this winter has been long and cold and darn snowy. more so than usual for new england. so we thought we would pack up the sunblock and head to the carribbean like the rich folks. what we found out later was that it's not so much the rich folks but rather the old folks who find themselves on cruise boats in february but i didn't care. why? because went from this masked robber type:
to this fabulous sun glass wearing chick who hangs in miami in about 3 hours flat:
we had such a good time that i am already plotting my way back onto one of these giant boats again. oh and yes, in case you are wondering, i wore my hat and sunglasses, spf 55 and was fully clothed almost the whole time. i know how to have fun right?

i have more stories to tell. more posts this week. back on the band wagon.

I should have been a food blogger. (Maybe I still can be....) Why? because lately, all I want to do is read recipes, try recipes, go food shopping, and use every piece of Fiestaware I own to serve (and photograph) fabulous food. Very little else interests me lately which is a serious problem.

Well it's serious in the sense that I would also like to loose 15 lbs, write quite prolifically
on the collectionspace about all things I find fascinating about collecting, finish watching the 1st season of 6 Feet Under, succeed at my insurance job, find the happiness that must have been packed in our office move, and finally recover these chairs in my dining room. That's a lot and made for a great run-on sentence and it's being put on hold for the most part because I am
obsessed with cooking beans and Swiss chard in chipolte tomato sauce.

In other words, I have been majorly distracted lately. I have been distracted before but I am having a harder time getting out of my own this time. So in am attempt to look my demons in the eye I bring you:

10 Things I Like (to be distracted by)

1. Cooking- as I mentioned I just want to stand in my kitchen with a stocked pantry and an endless supply of vegetables and chop and dice until I've run out things to saute and roast, when I will move on to baking and finally eating. Someone else can wash the dishes ;)

2. Color Junction- I have a sickness. I love really dumb games. Curse you iGoogle.

3. Sleeping- On the weekend you are a great way to spend a morning hiding from dogs who want to walked in a cold snowy winter, all snuggled up in my very comfortable bed underneath the beautiful silver gray duvet. During the week you are a great thing to avoid doing for when I sleep all weekend I get all f-ed up and then have a hard time falling asleep at 10pm like I should.

4. Reading- Not that its a bad thing to spend time on, but how much time is appropriate to be spent reading articles about fish oil? Lately I say ALL the time.

5. Vacation Planning- The dream of taking a mid-winter retreat to warmer lands will finally be realized next month and it takes a lot of planning and internet research to be carefree for 6 days.

6. Not Going to The Gym- Yes, not going is also a distraction because I spend lots of time thinking about going, or devising a plan of when to go and then I don't actually go. I do something like play Color Junction for an hour. Then I have to make excuses for myself. Vicious cycle you see.

7. Day Dreaming- Nothing like practicing your award acceptance speech while walking the dogs.

8. Watching bad movies- The power to turn the TV is in my hands and my hands only. "Waiting" was not worth it. Sadly, I did not utilize my remote control.

9. Watching Good Movies- Actually, take this one off. Good movies are not a distraction, they are good for you!

10. Creating Lists (Top 10 type included) for myself- at work and at home I have started a collection of lists. Soon to keep track of them I will have to make a list of my lists and then catalog them, and well thats just silly.

11. Listening to Fresh Air and The Moth podcasts- Actually, I don't know if this falls under distraction or good use of time. Either way I've been really enjoying both lately. I like the stories.

So there you go internet, these are the things I have been using to hold myself back! or something like that. Anyway, I guess this is as close as I will get to writing a new year resolution post. If you'd like to read a properly inspiring one, Holly at, Nothing But Bonfires has written one for you and the rest of us.

Here's to being less distracted in days to come. Cheers!

This Pretty Much Sums It Up

There's really not much more to say about today. Oh right, it snowed and I never left the house. Perfect lazy Sunday.

december storm

you may be noticing all the fluffy white stuff out there. big storm today. which meant that the drive home was super slow and super long. the news had been reporting snow since Monday, and somehow they can predict snow with great accuracy, but we always have to wait until there is already 3 inches of snow on the ground before the big boss closes the office. as always every other big boss in the technology park does the same thing which sends the 2,000 people that work there heading toward the TWO exit streets at the same time. remind me not to go to work should a real emergency be looming because it took about 30 mins to travel the 1 1/2 miles down the street to the exit. it took another hour or so for me to get home after that. so had there been an outbreak of bird flu or an alien invasion i never would have made it. oh well. it was fine. i know it happens every time.

i know i mentioned angry dad the other day but i haven't seen him recently waiting at the end of my street. so i will have to wait until he appears again to block my view.

now i am off to suit up so that i can shovel again. wish i had a plow.

10 things i like

1. today was the first snow we've had of the season and the husband shovels the driveway

2. the silly border collie that lives on our street was trying to herd the shovel his owner was using to clear the sidewalk when i drove by.

3. this post about ugly oatmeal - i too enjoy my own brand of ugly oatmeal that i eat at my desk every morning while reading the important and unimportant daily news.

4. the street are filled with the soft glow of christmas lights which makes my drive home and my walks with the pooches a little nicer.

5. my drive to work was uneventful, despite it being the first snow of the season.

6. school was delayed two hours which meant that the angry dad at the end of the road was not waiting at the bus stop blocking my view of oncoming traffic.

7. tucker the ninja dog steals briggs giant bed every day, and briggs is just fine sleeping on tucker's small bed even when it's under a table.

8. i started to refinish a chair i've had in the garage for over a year.

9. yesterday i baked banana muffins, which meant we didn't waste the brown bananas

10. that we finally bought a new battery charger for the camera

ah-hem

1. snow- enough already- not feeling it- be gone before somebody drops a house on you!


2. sickness- you have pretty much gotten your grimey hand on everyone I know-enough already!

3. BIRD- point finger and yell BIRD- its a parking lot thing


update on 3/22- there is still much too much snow on the ground for spring. sickness listend and has pretty much disappeared. note to blog- buy a bird book.

blinded by the light

woke up this morning to find that an inch or so of powdery snow had fallen on the ground- actually I think most of it fell while I was walking the dog last night- but that's a different post...about walking. but today as I went about my morning routine the sun came up all bright and clear cloudless and cold . I drove into the office on my usual route and couldn't help but notice the sun. it paraded down through the barren trees, bounced off the shiny snow covered fenders and wet windows driving past me. it blasted through my dirty windows and only pretended to be shielded by the wimpy sun visors that VW installs. passing the reservoirs - the sun danced on the waterways and then froze on my windshield. it penetrated through shopping plaza signs and my oscar de la renta rip off sunglasses. there are few mornings like this through the NE winter where you don't mind the blinding sunshine as you drive. you just take your time and enjoy feeling those rays that you thought you lost forever back in December.