Tuesday, March 24, 2009

So Is This What People Do Instead of Watching TV?

Lost night I made mini-cupcakes...70 of them. Homemade. Homemade butter cream frosting. Four different colors.

No I did not suddenly spring a 1st grader from my loins. They are for a Lottery Yarn function this evening. When I was asked to make a dessert for this class the cover of MS Living from February sprang to mind. I mean they are mini cupcakes. How hard could that be? I'll tell you...easy. The hard part...time consuming.

You see, during my recent hibernation, I have watched just about every old episode of NCIS. For some reason it became my favorite show. This is a sign that I am depressed, I watch too much meaningless TV. (I still like the show but how many times do I need to see the "Dead Man Walking" episode, really?) I watched my Dad do it and somehow I seem to slip into the very same habits as he did when he had his bouts of depression. I think one of my lobes is technically jelly now because I have been so attached to the TV.

Anyway, when I realized how stressed I was about the time consuming nature of said cupcakes because another show was on that I wanted to see is when it hit me, I have a problem. I am missing out on way too much by plopping in front of the boob tube to watch Mark Harmon slap Michael Weatherly on the back of the head. It was then I decided to not watch any TV that night, no matter when I was finished. I took my time, playing with colors and swirling the frosting on each mini cupcake. When I was done, it all looked so cute and pretty. It was about 3 and a half hours of work but I made something tasty and pretty. It was a pretty good feeling.

I guess what I am trying to get at is, I need to lift my head up to fully move out of my March crud and into the spring. There is too much out there to do to spend my life with my head down.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Small Grrr: Warming Up the Car

This has bothered me for quite some time. I live in Southeastern PA. We are not living on the frozen tundra nor are we living in a place that even resembles one. So please tell me why if you don't have an infant or a sick child or an elderly infirm person getting into your car at 7:00am do you feel the need to 'warm up' your car?

Today it was about 40 degrees when I was out walking G-dog. Not freezing, barely cold but as I was walking by houses I saw many cars with their engines running in the driveways. I know these homes. I walk by them EVERY morning. I know they don't have elderly people or infants getting in those cars in the morning so WHY must they 'warm up' their cars EVERY DAY?

Did you know that it is illegal to have your car idling for more than 5 minutes in some states? You can be ticketed for it. Also, most car manuals will tell you NOT to do it as it does the car no good. Basically, all you are doing when you leave your car running that that is wasting gas and contributing to greenhouse gasses. I mean seriously, do these people not own coats or gloves? Is 5 minutes of cold going to kill them while the car runs as they are driving to their destination? I think not.

The next time I see this happen and it is not cold and there are no infants or elderly people in the home, I am going to leave a note on their car asking why they feel the need to do this. Maybe it will shame them into toughening up just a tiny bit.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Are You Guys New?

I think it was probably the worst thing ever said to our football team.

Yes it is that time of year again. I am playing football on Saturday for the next 8 weeks. This week, however, we were handed a defeat and an insult (not meant as one) at the same time. You see we are all (ok not all) in our mid 30's. We have creaky joints, trouble waking up on the weekends and some of us could stand to do a little more exercise. We just love to play and are not ready to give up the idea that we could win a 6th championship. However, we looked like we were playing underwater this week. Afterwards, it was all we could do to crawl to the beer cooler to refresh ourselves and say that it was 'only the first game', no big deal. It was unfortunate that at this time one of our player was talking to one of the players from the opposing team and they asked, 'Is this your first season?'

Oh the SHAME!

We have played together for about 5 years and also been playing in the league for about 10. We just happened to play against a team we had never played in the years past. What do you do when you have been shamed as such? It made me think. Is this what it has come to? Should I still be playing? I admit I was pretty shaken. Then, another team needed some girls to round out their team (ok, they are required to have 3 of us). It was in the Competitive division (we play in Recreational) so it was a bit scary but we figured what the hell.

We lost there too.

BUT!

My pass completion percentage was 80%.

Maybe I'll play a few more seasons.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Climbing Out from Under the Bed

There are a lot of dust bunnies under the bed and I am tired of them stealing my food.



That's not the only reason I am back. I am back I think because I need to be. I have writing in short bursts here and there. I see the humor and the insight that I thought had left me so I decided that I'd better start flexing that muscle again if I am going to take my place back in the land of the living.



Ok, the fact that it is no longer an ice box in the office anymore and the fact that someone else is taking care of G-dog today so I can write quickly in the office also helps but that's not the point.



I need to start somewhere and I think that starting here is the key. More later...I promise this time. :)