Weekend Review

So, I had a pretty awesome weekend, with a couple of minor obstacles.

Friday at work wasn't too bad. Then I went home and read some while my husband took a nap. Then we went out to eat and went shopping. We didn't get home until nearly 10, and I cooked and did housework for close to an hour! He didn't care for what I had made, but I decided to carry it to the work party anyway. Maybe someone would like it.

Saturday rolls around and I'm up early cooking and cleaning again! So, I finish my cooking and shower and get ready to head out to the work party I had to go to. After a couple of various stops we had to make, we were about 30 minutes later than planned getting to the boss's very nice house. The party was fun, and I think even my husband had a good time. I entered my "nut crack", as the guys refer to my spiced pecans, into the cooking contest. I won second place, so the hubby and I have dinner for two at Applebees. As a door prize I also won a pound of coffee from Starbucks. I was informed that the recipe from Friday night, Baked Cinnamon Crisps, was good. For exactly the reason Josh didn't care for it. Makes me happy I took it with me!

After leaving the boss's house shortly after 5 we headed out to hang out with our friends Shay and Dee. We spent 2.5 hours in their pool. It was a TON of fun. We ended up watching Batman Begins later in the evening. I slept through a bit of it though because I was a little tired. And all the time in the pool left my back in nasty shape. I was glad I had filled by painkiller prescription Friday night!

Sunday was the Pepper's Party at Dee's house. That was a blast even though there were only 5 folks there. Dee had gotten veggies and fruits and I brought stuff for a cheese tray. She also had little weenies. We had a fantastic time during the party, and I had fun getting everything set up with Dee. It was also a lot of fun to hang out with just girls. Normally we're overrun with guys!

Anyway, back at work this morning and we're a bit busy. One of our guys is on vacation this week and it's left us terribly short handed. I'm hoping that we are back to normal by tomorrow and not so busy!

Oh! And another minor inconvenience. I'm in two separate walking challenges right now. And I wear a pedometer to help me keep up with my walking. Apparently I lost my pedometer out at Dee's last night. Or possibly before I got there. I'm not terribly sure. All I know is that I'm lucky I knew were a cheapo one was at the house so I could have one for today! I'm hoping to find mine, but if not I guess I'll just have to replace it.

Economic Stimulation Package

Since I chose to do a direct deposit on my tax return this year the hubby and I got our economic stimuls check today. But I'm a bit concerned on it. I know that it is supposed to be money to help everyone out. But how is this going to affect my taxes next year? Am I going to have to pay taxes on it? Is it considered an advance on next year? I'm actually scared to spend all of it.

I know that it is supposed to be "free" money, but I don't actually trust the IRS. Is that a bad thing???

Plans....

I had PLANNED to post a book review today for Colette Gale's new book Master. But I haven't been able to get it yet. Oh well. I'll something else instead... (And I'll get the book ordered this weekend!)

I'm attending a work cookout on Saturday and have volunteered to bring something along the appetizer/dessert line. I say it that way because I'm planning to make two different things, and I think they could qualify for both. The first is some seasoned nuts that my friends LOVE. Although I'm going to make them with slightly different spices. I'll let you know how those turn out this time. The other is a recipe I found on SparkPeople that I've wanted to try. It's called Baked Cinnamon Crisps. You cover tortillas in butter, cinnamon, and sugar then bake them until they are crisp. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

This morning I decided to make my own character sheet for a DnD character I'm playing right now. I decided to set it up in Excel and have it calculate everything for me. That took a fair chunk of my morning at work. Which is a good thing because it's been a little slow. But it's cool because I have it set up where if I change one thing, it changes everything that is affected by that for me. Pretty cool huh? And if for some reason I misplace my character sheet, no biggie. I can just print it out at work again. The sucky thing, we're not playing tonight because the DM has a big deadline at work. :( But at least I can use the time to work on my cooking for the party on Saturday!!!

Well, I'm off to check up on all y'all. Have a great day!

Quote

I have the Wild Words from Wild Women daily calendar sitting on my desk at work. I do not keep up to date on it. However, today I decided to get it up to date. It was still showing March 3rd. And, I thought I would share today's quote because I looked over and it struck me as funny.

"Just saying 'no' prevents teenage pregnancy the way 'Have a nice day' cures chronic depression."
-Faye Wattleton, past president of Planned Parenthood

There was another awesome one that I read, I forgot the date, but I'm not sharing it yet. :) I'm holding it out for a book review I'll be posting as soon as I get the book.

Y'all have a fantastic day!

Wednesday Weigh In

Well, being completely and totally broke was good for one thing this week, I lost 2 pounds! I guess not eating out is a bigger thing than I had thought!
Ok, so I knew it was having an effect. I just didn't realize it was that much! Because that is the only thing I did different. I've been exercising just the same. Walking is almost all that I do. I'm doing a light strength training program, but nothing major. I'll be kicking that up in the next few weeks and doing more.
That 2 pounds this week was a nice thing though. It really makes me feel like I can accomplish my goals this year. I'm now three pounds down for the year with only 19 to go to hit my goal for the year. I still hope to blow it out of the water, but I want to keep things simple and achievable. And I do know that it will take effort and work on my part.
Well, even while I'm not doing a ton of commenting, I have been reading everyone's blogs. I promise I'm not ignoring you! Everyone seems to be doing fantastic. And now I'm off for something work or something.....

What a weekend!

I didn't accomplish ANYTHING.
I did go to my friend's graduation on Friday afternoon. He was one of the last to walk. It was cool though.

I spent the entire weekend in pain. My back had started bothering me on Thursday afternoon, and Friday evening and Saturday were awful. I just sat at home miserable. :)

Luckily it was a little better on Sunday. Josh and I visited with his parents. We bought his mom a rose bush for Mother's Day. We watched the USA movie marathon, or at least the first two movies. I had never actually seen The First Wife's Club. It's actually a pretty good movie.

I called and catched with my mom, but we're not visiting them until June. With Mother's Day and Father's Day being so close together she asked my sister and I to just come in between the two and us celebrate them at the same time. Fine by me. I can't really afford the gas anyway!

I'm happy to say that my back is doing better today, but it's still not 100%. It's bothering me a bit. But at least I can survive work. One of my coworkers is out sick today. Which really sucked this morning. We had a LOT of calls this morning. Between teachers entering grades and students wanting to see their grades we didn't have a break!

Well, y'all have a great week!

The Peril's of Work...

I've been a bit psyched lately because we had a new guy start at work. We've been seriously short handed since February, and short handed for a while before that. The guy had been working out pretty well. He was interested and able to talk about a lot of the stuff that is discussed in a helpdesk environment. IE, computers, video games, movies.
Well, while I was off work sick this Monday he apparently called in because his wife was sick and he had to carry her to the doctor. Then he didn't call in or show up Tuesday or Wednesday. My boss-type lady (I honestly don't know WHAT she really is...) finally heard from him this morning and apparently he's quit since the wife is sick.
I hate that he had to quit because he was a great guy. It made lunch time in the office a lot better. And if he had to quit, why couldn't it have waited until NEXT week. I have to skip work for a graduation ceremony tomorrow afternoon, and we're even more short handed on Fridays than the rest of the week.
Oh well. I'll probably just be working by myself for an hour while the other two folks in the office eat lunch. Not like I haven't done that before. And who knows, maybe someone will volunteer to do lunch at MY usual lunchtime of 11am. (I was going to have one of the guys go at 12 since both of them went at 1.)

Now I wonder if I'm the only one going to graduation tomorrow. It's one of my friends FINALLY graduating, and I don't know if any of our other friends that work for the university are taking off to go or not. If it's just me that will still be cool, but a little lonely. Graduations are boring!

Wednesday Weigh In

I lost a half pound this past week. I'm feeling good about that, and hoping for another half pound this week. I know that's not much, but small goals to start with. I'm trying to turn everything back around!

Iron Man

I went with some friends to see Iron Man Saturday afternoon.
Awesome movie. Everyone should see it a couple of time!
I would say that this is the best comic book adaptation I have seen.

I also found this awesome post about the movie on Holly Black's livejournal that I thought I would share....

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Book Series I Collect (in no particular order)

1. The Cynster Novels by Stephanie Laurens

2. The Bastion Club by Stephanie Laurens

3. The Casebook of Barnaby Adair by Stephanie Laurens

4. The Gardella Chronicles by Colleen Gleason

5. The Dark Series by Christine Feehan

6. Ghost Walkers by Christine Feehan

7. The Drake Sisters by Christine Feehan

8. The Mercedes Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs

9. The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward

10. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

11. Dark Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon

12. The Drakon Books by Shana Abe

13. The Merry Gentry Series by Laurell K. Hamilton