Thursday, June 29, 2006
Things that go BOOM in the dark
Last night, the hubby, kidlet and I drove up to Albertville to check out my little brother's brand new house, and drop off a new storm door. It was a nice drive, long, and in rush hour. We stopped at Joe's Crab Shack in Maple Grove on the way home. Mmmmmm.... steamed crab legs....
So, we get back into Apple Valley a little after 10pm. We're in the left turn lane on Cedar to 140th. I lean over to play with the radio, and BOOM! We're hit! A young girl was having a diabetic episode, and rear ended another car, which smashed into our truck, and then spun and hit us again. Now I'm sore. My head hit the passenger window, but I'm really the only one in our vehicle that has any injury other than a lot of shaken nerves and new paranoias.
Since I hit my head, once we got back to our house, we got into my car and went to the ER to be checked out. When the doctor told me he was going to get me some Vicodin, I said that I'd have to have liquid. He looked at me strangely. I repeated, for like the 4th time, that I've had gastric bypass and cannot take pills easily. He asked what I'd like for a pain killer, and I said that I'd probably be best with some Roxicet. He had to go look up the drug to see what it was. He had never heard of it. I didn't know that liquid pain killers were so rare. But I guess for this ER doc, they are.
Anyway. Everyone that was in the accident, all 6 people involved, are doing okay. The young lady spent her night in the hospital to get her blood sugars back under control, since she was at 40 when the cops showed up. Another woman has a broken ankle, but she was in relatively good spirits when we talked to her in the waiting room at the ER. Looking at our truck today to get personal things out, it's amazing that more people weren't severly hurt. I'm grateful that everyone lived, and that the young girl who started it all will now be taking better care of herself.
It's been a long day.
So, we get back into Apple Valley a little after 10pm. We're in the left turn lane on Cedar to 140th. I lean over to play with the radio, and BOOM! We're hit! A young girl was having a diabetic episode, and rear ended another car, which smashed into our truck, and then spun and hit us again. Now I'm sore. My head hit the passenger window, but I'm really the only one in our vehicle that has any injury other than a lot of shaken nerves and new paranoias.
Since I hit my head, once we got back to our house, we got into my car and went to the ER to be checked out. When the doctor told me he was going to get me some Vicodin, I said that I'd have to have liquid. He looked at me strangely. I repeated, for like the 4th time, that I've had gastric bypass and cannot take pills easily. He asked what I'd like for a pain killer, and I said that I'd probably be best with some Roxicet. He had to go look up the drug to see what it was. He had never heard of it. I didn't know that liquid pain killers were so rare. But I guess for this ER doc, they are.
Anyway. Everyone that was in the accident, all 6 people involved, are doing okay. The young lady spent her night in the hospital to get her blood sugars back under control, since she was at 40 when the cops showed up. Another woman has a broken ankle, but she was in relatively good spirits when we talked to her in the waiting room at the ER. Looking at our truck today to get personal things out, it's amazing that more people weren't severly hurt. I'm grateful that everyone lived, and that the young girl who started it all will now be taking better care of herself.
It's been a long day.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Here's pictures... long overdue
Done with tacos, back to the beach
Now we have all decided that we're going to be going to Puerto Vallarta for our vacation. Costa Rica is out. Either way, it doesn't matter to me. I do, however, find it slightly amusing that I'm going from one event surrounded by tacos to the land of the taco. I bet you the tacos in Puerto Vallarta are light years better. Something about them being authentic or something.
So... back to updates on me. I'm still losing. And still pretty quickly. I'm down 50 pounds as of today! Woo Hoo! Yay me! That's as much as my kid weighs. That just boggles my mind. I have more energy than ever, and I feel great. Clothes have a whole new outlook for me already. I look better in them, and I like shopping so much more. I know that there's going to be so much more to come. This is only the beginning.
So... back to updates on me. I'm still losing. And still pretty quickly. I'm down 50 pounds as of today! Woo Hoo! Yay me! That's as much as my kid weighs. That just boggles my mind. I have more energy than ever, and I feel great. Clothes have a whole new outlook for me already. I look better in them, and I like shopping so much more. I know that there's going to be so much more to come. This is only the beginning.
Monday, June 19, 2006
The Ghetto, Part 2: The BIG day
Well, Dee's wedding was this past weekend. I didn't attend the ceremony, but I heard it was beautiful. The rain held out until the reception had begun. The bride and groom both looked great. Bobo looked amazing too.
I didn't know that VFWs were in strip malls. But I guess there is at least one in that situation. The hall was decorated nicely, as long as you didn't look up at the ceiling. It was just scary up there. I don't think there were two ceiling tiles that were the same color. Not to mention the missing tiles. But people seemed to have fun. The DJ was fun. Who doesn't love a guy in a kilt? The food went over well. All of the taco meat disappeared. A few less people showed than planned, so I think everyone got to eat all they wanted. There was so much extra food. But it all disappeared too.
Big Red, the other "cook", was so wonderful. She was a cleaning freak. She wasn't feeling so good after she ate, so she holed up in the kitchen and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. She did so much more than she had to. Such a great person to work with.
Well, on another, slightly wedding related note, I ran into someone I haven't seen in almost 15 years. She was my best friend in 6th grade, junior high, and the beginning of high school. She was at the wedding with her parents! It was so strange seeing her again. The oddest part, she looks the same! There is nothing that was different. Same hair, same wall flower personality, same everything. So strange. I'm there, working my butt off to make sure that people get fed, in a fun, new dress, and she's there, the same as high school! I'd like to think I don't look like the same kid I was in high school. I've grown. Gotten married, had a child, grown up some (not a lot, just some). It was strange. Very very strange. Kind of Twilight Zone strange.
I didn't know that VFWs were in strip malls. But I guess there is at least one in that situation. The hall was decorated nicely, as long as you didn't look up at the ceiling. It was just scary up there. I don't think there were two ceiling tiles that were the same color. Not to mention the missing tiles. But people seemed to have fun. The DJ was fun. Who doesn't love a guy in a kilt? The food went over well. All of the taco meat disappeared. A few less people showed than planned, so I think everyone got to eat all they wanted. There was so much extra food. But it all disappeared too.
Big Red, the other "cook", was so wonderful. She was a cleaning freak. She wasn't feeling so good after she ate, so she holed up in the kitchen and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. She did so much more than she had to. Such a great person to work with.
Well, on another, slightly wedding related note, I ran into someone I haven't seen in almost 15 years. She was my best friend in 6th grade, junior high, and the beginning of high school. She was at the wedding with her parents! It was so strange seeing her again. The oddest part, she looks the same! There is nothing that was different. Same hair, same wall flower personality, same everything. So strange. I'm there, working my butt off to make sure that people get fed, in a fun, new dress, and she's there, the same as high school! I'd like to think I don't look like the same kid I was in high school. I've grown. Gotten married, had a child, grown up some (not a lot, just some). It was strange. Very very strange. Kind of Twilight Zone strange.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
The Ghetto, Part 1: 2 lbs of taco seasoning?
This is something that I just have to share. I was asked to share it too, so all the more reason. I have a friend, let's call her Bobo. Bobo's friend from childhood, Dee for this tale, is getting married this Saturday. Bobo is going to be Dee's matron of honor. I was asked to help with the cooking for the reception and getting all of the food out and everything. No problem. I'm there.
Well, this is turning into quite a funny little adventure. The wedding is now officially "Ghetto", at least as "Ghetto" as the VFW in Princeton with multiple missing ceiling tiles that have pink insulation falling out, can possibly be.
I've seen the fabric of the bride's gown, and it's amazing. Beautiful. Really stunning. I'm sure that she'll be a gorgeous bride. The flowers are rumored to be just as grand.
But there is a limited budget here. Very, very, very limited. There are going to be around 75 guests. Not too shabby of a number. It's an adult only reception, so it should be lots of fun. Quite the party. Even if it in the VFW. You can drink bad surroundings away. Or at least think that you did.
This brings us to the food for the reception. What would you feed 75 guests at a wedding reception? This reception is going to have tacos. Yep, you got it, tacos. Hard shell only. No tortillas. So, last night, Bobo and I went shopping to get our list of groceries. Here's the list... straight from the bride....
Here are the items that we will need for the reception and the receipe for the Mexican Rice.
4 to 5 lbs of Ground Turkey
10 Lbs of Ground Hamburger (80% or more lean is fine)
1 or 2 large Black bean and corn Salsa, should find in refrigerator section in large plastic tub? If not at sams then at regular grocery store. Use your discretion on the size, if they are smaller containers then get 2.
2 - 3 Large depending on the size bag or bags - Tortilla Chips, yellow corn if possible.
3 Mild & 3 Hot Salsa (this should be the refrigerated type may not find at Sam's club), Salsa Lisa brand in mild and Hot are good and they sell them in larger bottles in most rainbow foods, including the Rainbow Foods in Maple Grove.
2 regular sized jars or cans of Jalepenos
2 - 3 large tubs of sour cream
1 or 2 tubs of Guacamole
Lettuce (pre-shredded would be easiest) we need enough for 150 taco's
Shredded Cheddar Cheese ( 60oz or 15 cups worth should do it)
10 - 12 medium sized tomatoes
1 bundle of green onion (not much needed of this)
150 hard shell tacos, I decided against the soft shell taco idea.
15 packets of taco seasoning or a very large packet that would make enough for 15 lbs of meat, LOL!
Will need coffee to serve but not a huge thing from sams, let me talk to mom about this one.
1 large watermellon
4 or 5 lb bag of Rice - need 19 cups of white long grain rice
1 large not giant bottle of veg oil for rice
19 8oz cans or as close to 152oz as you can get of Tomato Sauce
9.5 or 10 lb bag of FROZEN veggies, must be the bag with mix of only "corn, peas, green beans & carrots" not the mix with Lima beans, YUCKY! If you don't find one with green beans but it has the others then that's ok.
My hope is you can find a giant bag at sams to get the amount we need.
Spices.........
These you can pick up at Rainbow foods or cub.... generic brand is good.
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Cumin
Reg Salt
If you would pick up a small thing of decaf coffee and a larger thing of regular french roast coffee. Also a small container of sugar cubs and some sort of creamer for their coffee.
So, as you have read, she's planning on 150 tacos for about 75 guests. That's just 2 tacos per person. Hmm... last time I checked, the average adult male could eat 3-7 tacos in one sitting. Or maybe that's just me. Hmm... interesting. So, Bobo and I got everything on this list, and a little extra ground beef.
Shopping was interesting, educational, and fun. I didn't know that you could get a 2 lbs container of taco seasoning and have it work for 20 lbs of meat. I also didn't know that they sold tomato sauce in 105oz cans. Did you know that you can buy 1/2 lb jars of sliced jalapenos? Did you know that Salsa Lisa might be the hardest brand of salsa to find in any store? Did you know that Taco Bell brand taco shells are the only ones stocked in quantities of 10 or more? (We had to get 13 boxes of shells) So, three stores later, we are done shopping and ready to get taco meat making.
Is there possibly any good way of making 20 lbs of taco meat, using only 3 pots, all at one time? Not in a normal kitchen. But we did our best. Our very best. Can't use the same utensils for the ground turkey as the ground beef. Be very careful. Don't die laughing when Bobo keeps reminding you that the ground turkey looks like Alpo. Don't die when the puff of taco seasoning is so overwhelming that you almost gag. Try to find some way to convert quarts to cups at 8:30 at night. Then do lots of math to figure out the best water to seasoning to meat ratio. Simmer. And simmer some more. And then just let it simmer a little longer. Find a way to get all that taco-y meat into some ice cream buckets and ready for the freezer.
All in all, it was an interesting night. I'm sure that it will get more interesting as the weekend goes on the Ghetto Wedding approach. Maybe Bobo will add some more wonderful Ghetto qualities in the comments here. I know she's reading.
Well, this is turning into quite a funny little adventure. The wedding is now officially "Ghetto", at least as "Ghetto" as the VFW in Princeton with multiple missing ceiling tiles that have pink insulation falling out, can possibly be.
I've seen the fabric of the bride's gown, and it's amazing. Beautiful. Really stunning. I'm sure that she'll be a gorgeous bride. The flowers are rumored to be just as grand.
But there is a limited budget here. Very, very, very limited. There are going to be around 75 guests. Not too shabby of a number. It's an adult only reception, so it should be lots of fun. Quite the party. Even if it in the VFW. You can drink bad surroundings away. Or at least think that you did.
This brings us to the food for the reception. What would you feed 75 guests at a wedding reception? This reception is going to have tacos. Yep, you got it, tacos. Hard shell only. No tortillas. So, last night, Bobo and I went shopping to get our list of groceries. Here's the list... straight from the bride....
Here are the items that we will need for the reception and the receipe for the Mexican Rice.
4 to 5 lbs of Ground Turkey
10 Lbs of Ground Hamburger (80% or more lean is fine)
1 or 2 large Black bean and corn Salsa, should find in refrigerator section in large plastic tub? If not at sams then at regular grocery store. Use your discretion on the size, if they are smaller containers then get 2.
2 - 3 Large depending on the size bag or bags - Tortilla Chips, yellow corn if possible.
3 Mild & 3 Hot Salsa (this should be the refrigerated type may not find at Sam's club), Salsa Lisa brand in mild and Hot are good and they sell them in larger bottles in most rainbow foods, including the Rainbow Foods in Maple Grove.
2 regular sized jars or cans of Jalepenos
2 - 3 large tubs of sour cream
1 or 2 tubs of Guacamole
Lettuce (pre-shredded would be easiest) we need enough for 150 taco's
Shredded Cheddar Cheese ( 60oz or 15 cups worth should do it)
10 - 12 medium sized tomatoes
1 bundle of green onion (not much needed of this)
150 hard shell tacos, I decided against the soft shell taco idea.
15 packets of taco seasoning or a very large packet that would make enough for 15 lbs of meat, LOL!
Will need coffee to serve but not a huge thing from sams, let me talk to mom about this one.
1 large watermellon
4 or 5 lb bag of Rice - need 19 cups of white long grain rice
1 large not giant bottle of veg oil for rice
19 8oz cans or as close to 152oz as you can get of Tomato Sauce
9.5 or 10 lb bag of FROZEN veggies, must be the bag with mix of only "corn, peas, green beans & carrots" not the mix with Lima beans, YUCKY! If you don't find one with green beans but it has the others then that's ok.
My hope is you can find a giant bag at sams to get the amount we need.
Spices.........
These you can pick up at Rainbow foods or cub.... generic brand is good.
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Cumin
Reg Salt
If you would pick up a small thing of decaf coffee and a larger thing of regular french roast coffee. Also a small container of sugar cubs and some sort of creamer for their coffee.
So, as you have read, she's planning on 150 tacos for about 75 guests. That's just 2 tacos per person. Hmm... last time I checked, the average adult male could eat 3-7 tacos in one sitting. Or maybe that's just me. Hmm... interesting. So, Bobo and I got everything on this list, and a little extra ground beef.
Shopping was interesting, educational, and fun. I didn't know that you could get a 2 lbs container of taco seasoning and have it work for 20 lbs of meat. I also didn't know that they sold tomato sauce in 105oz cans. Did you know that you can buy 1/2 lb jars of sliced jalapenos? Did you know that Salsa Lisa might be the hardest brand of salsa to find in any store? Did you know that Taco Bell brand taco shells are the only ones stocked in quantities of 10 or more? (We had to get 13 boxes of shells) So, three stores later, we are done shopping and ready to get taco meat making.
Is there possibly any good way of making 20 lbs of taco meat, using only 3 pots, all at one time? Not in a normal kitchen. But we did our best. Our very best. Can't use the same utensils for the ground turkey as the ground beef. Be very careful. Don't die laughing when Bobo keeps reminding you that the ground turkey looks like Alpo. Don't die when the puff of taco seasoning is so overwhelming that you almost gag. Try to find some way to convert quarts to cups at 8:30 at night. Then do lots of math to figure out the best water to seasoning to meat ratio. Simmer. And simmer some more. And then just let it simmer a little longer. Find a way to get all that taco-y meat into some ice cream buckets and ready for the freezer.
All in all, it was an interesting night. I'm sure that it will get more interesting as the weekend goes on the Ghetto Wedding approach. Maybe Bobo will add some more wonderful Ghetto qualities in the comments here. I know she's reading.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Answer: What is weight, hair, and my sanity.
Question: What have you lost in the last 9 days?
I'm funny. I know... you're all out there chuckling. Now I'll tackle them one by one for everyone out there.
Weight: Still losing. Yay me! I feel great, and from what people tell me, I'm looking pretty darn good too. So, there ya have it. I'm a happy camper in that department. Foods are going well. Had a small piece of a veggie pizza today. Yummy.
Hair: I've chopped the locks. They are gone. Very, very, very gone. My hair is so short, I don't have to worry about it blowing into my face when I'm driving 80 down the highway with my windows down. It's funky, it's me. And now I get to play with all these fun hair products. You should see my bathroom. There are all these bottles of different colored goo everywhere. I love it!
Sanity: When I had my spur of the moment, "Don, pull over. I want to get a haircut, now", Juliann decided that she wanted her hair done too. I told her when school was over (last Friday) that I'd take her to go and get whatever she wanted done to her hair. Well, needless to say, I now have a child with hot pink highlights. Yep, hot pink. And she's only 7. You should've seen some of the looks I got in the salon when we were getting it done. But I don't care. She's girly, and I'm going to help her be that way. We were at the salon for almost 2 hours. She loved her first real salon experience. She got hot cocoa and a magazine while we were waiting for her hair to process. I think she was in heaven.
Now I'll have to get pictures of my new do and Juliann's new do and get them posted up here. You're all going to die laughing. Don doesn't like to go out with us in public anymore. We're freaks. And Juliann and I love every minute of it.
I'm funny. I know... you're all out there chuckling. Now I'll tackle them one by one for everyone out there.
Weight: Still losing. Yay me! I feel great, and from what people tell me, I'm looking pretty darn good too. So, there ya have it. I'm a happy camper in that department. Foods are going well. Had a small piece of a veggie pizza today. Yummy.
Hair: I've chopped the locks. They are gone. Very, very, very gone. My hair is so short, I don't have to worry about it blowing into my face when I'm driving 80 down the highway with my windows down. It's funky, it's me. And now I get to play with all these fun hair products. You should see my bathroom. There are all these bottles of different colored goo everywhere. I love it!
Sanity: When I had my spur of the moment, "Don, pull over. I want to get a haircut, now", Juliann decided that she wanted her hair done too. I told her when school was over (last Friday) that I'd take her to go and get whatever she wanted done to her hair. Well, needless to say, I now have a child with hot pink highlights. Yep, hot pink. And she's only 7. You should've seen some of the looks I got in the salon when we were getting it done. But I don't care. She's girly, and I'm going to help her be that way. We were at the salon for almost 2 hours. She loved her first real salon experience. She got hot cocoa and a magazine while we were waiting for her hair to process. I think she was in heaven.
Now I'll have to get pictures of my new do and Juliann's new do and get them posted up here. You're all going to die laughing. Don doesn't like to go out with us in public anymore. We're freaks. And Juliann and I love every minute of it.
Monday, June 05, 2006
When one measurement doesn't move, the others do
So this past week, I haven't lost any weight. Seems bad, but not really. I hit one month on 6/2 and it's probably about time my body played catch-up with the scale. I haven't changed really what I've been eating, however, I have really gotten to be more active. When I started to "move" more, my clothes started fitting less. To the point where I've now fit into clothes I haven't worn in almost 5 years. Scary.... ooohhhh.... Now I'm not complaining. I feel great. Everyone says that I'm looking good. In general, life is good. So, since the scale is taking a break from moving, it looks and feels like the inches are falling off. When my body is done moving things around, the scale should pick up and move again. We'll see what this week has in store.
Since it's June now, and we've had a couple of scorcher weekends, I chopped my hair on Saturday. On a whim. So now it's SHORT! Super-upber-almost-ridiculous SHORT! But I like it. Now it's fun, funky, and most of all, comfy. It should be a great addition to my summer. No more hair blowing away when I'm trying to enjoy the weather.
I hope that everyone had just as fun a weekend as I did. There may have been some work in there, but it was all fun!
Since it's June now, and we've had a couple of scorcher weekends, I chopped my hair on Saturday. On a whim. So now it's SHORT! Super-upber-almost-ridiculous SHORT! But I like it. Now it's fun, funky, and most of all, comfy. It should be a great addition to my summer. No more hair blowing away when I'm trying to enjoy the weather.
I hope that everyone had just as fun a weekend as I did. There may have been some work in there, but it was all fun!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
I'm a slacker!
Not that this should be new news to anyone, but I really have been a posting slacker. Would all expect any less?
So, tomorrow I will be ONE MONTH out! That's a whole 31 days! And I'm down 38 pounds. I keep bouncing around the same 2-4 pound area. Just means that I need to watch my water and protein intake and excerise. Hope Juliann is ready for some more bike rides! Even though the scale isn't dropping as fast as it was the first couple weeks, clothes are really starting to sag more. They say when you aren't losing pounds, you're losing inches. I guess they are right. I'm going to have to dig out some clothes I have stashed a couple sizes from where I started.
Work is still going. Two people that I used to go to lunch with and talk with all the time left this week. One expectedly, on Tuesday, the other, suddenly, on Wednesday. So now I am starting to find myself at a loss for lunch buddies. But one of my "boys" is still here, so he's going to have to deal with me one on one until we find some new recruits. Sorry Mr. 2-Hottie... you have to deal with my mood swings all on your lonesome!
Hope that everyone out there in blog-reading-ville is doing well. Vacation plans are starting to come more to fruition. Mmmmm... beach....
