A New Superstore

Get this. A new superstore is opening. It is called IGrow. Apparently, this will be a superstore, megastore, Walmart, ToysRUs or whatever for pot and pot growing. Yeah, pot. Well, you could grow tomatoes but I doubt customers will be going to this store for tomatoes. Geeeeez, what next? I guess calling it Potmart or Pot4Us would have generated a law suit.

Happy Hour Friday - Melon Ball

I had the martini version - a Cantaloupe Martini. The difference is the glass (martini glass, of course) and the amount of ingredients. And they look different, of course, since a martini is shaken. But the taste is pretty similar.

Melon Ball

• Fill a tall glass with ice.
• Add 1 oz. vodka.
• Fill with orange juice.
• Float with 1/2 oz. Midori.
• Garnish with a cherry.

Yummy!

A New Toy

The big news is the release of the new iPad from Apple. I suppose most people have taken a peek at it by now. My first reaction -- a big iPhone. Cracked the heck outta me. It reminds me of my big giant pen, my old giant eraser, whatever. Not sure it is getting good raves yet since the newscasts seem to be making the comparison to the Touch on steroids. But Apple has a huge following so we shall see what their reaction is to this new toy. As for me...nahh, I will pass. I will stick with my iPhone.

Super Duper

I missed the football playoffs (I was at the mall) but I heard the games were pretty good. So, the not so new news is that the Saints made it to the Super Bowl. This is their first time and I think that is so cool. Best of luck to them!

Happy B

Happy birthday, Ellen D!!

A Law I Would Like To Break

As in Murphy's Law.

This is just too funny. I would start to say that this may be my imagination but, so far, I have been hitting ten out of ten tries. I have been whining all week about the rain just not letting up. Yes, we did have some fierce days but the rain has been constant. All week. There were a few pockets of the rain letting up. A window of opportunity. Make a break for it. But just figures. I am usually a Murphy's Law poster child and it sure did not let me down this time. Every time I put on my sneaks to head out to the gym, run an errand, run to the store, etc. -- it started to rain. Every time. But I laugh it off. It seems that Murphy's Law has made itself comfy around me. Juust figures...

Happy Hour Friday - Long Island Ice Tea

How about an old school drink? Ha ha. Not sure what brought on the nostalgia. Thought it would be fun.

Long Island Ice Tea

Fill a tall glass with ice.

Add:

• 1/2 oz. vodka
• 1/2 oz. gin
• 1/2 oz. rum
• 1/2 oz. Triple Sec
• 1/2 oz. tequila

Fill with sweet and sour.

Float Coke on top.

Garnish with lemon.

To oldies!

Rainy Day Rx

Sigh. It is still rainy outside. It has been a pretty constant showery kind of day. I am watching Ellen De Generes right now. This gal cracks me up. Some of the stuff on her show just cracks me up so bad it puts me into tears of laughter. Side splitting. There is this one game she has on her show called "Aw Snap" and I can barely get off the floor from laughing so hard. The show is hecka funny. If you need a good laugh, watch her show. You will definitely feel uplifted after watching it. Put a smile on!

The Worst Cook

The Food Network has a new show on this season. It is called The Worst Cook in America. Hmmmm. Now, I wonder why I was not nominated to be on this show. Cook, I am not. I can probably do a bit better than the contestants that were picked but definitely not a cook. More of a dine in or take out kind of gal. Cooking for one can be an ordeal and can take a lot of time. This girl wants to eat. And when I want to eat, I want to eat now. A no nonsense chick when it comes to eating. Quick and easy is me. I microwave almost anything I can get my hands on that is not bought already made to eat. A Microwave Queen. What a crack up, eh? Even my steaks barely make it a couple of minutes in the grill pan. I spend more time washing dishes than eating. Okay...washing dishes is another story and another thing that is not my forte. I am cracking up because I am foraging in the fridge for something to microwave and eat.

Just gimme that darn fork so I can get down to eating. I just like to eat. You do know that, riggght??

Thunder!

It is thundering out today. It has been awhile since we had thunderstorms such as the one going on right now. It has just started and it is expected to rain and thunder more into the night. So far, not too too bad. I know this weather is nothing compared to other parts of the nation but it is something a bit different in the Bay Area. We are in the middle of a series of storms that has/will be hitting. It is expected that tonight's storm will be the worst. I hate rain. I know we need it but I hate it. I hate being getting wet. With big windy, stormy, thundering nights one has to expect to wake up and see what chaos happened overnight. I live near the park (Golden Gate) so I am saddened when I see fallen trees and floods in the park. The park is so beautiful and serene so when it is hit by storms it is so sad to see it weak and fallen. But we shall see. Maybe Mother Nature will give it a break this time.

Happy Hour Friday - Kamikaze

I used to drink these a long, long time ago.

Kamikaze

In a shaker full of ice, add:

• 1 oz. vodka
• 1/4 oz. Triple Sec
• 1/4 oz. lime juice

Shake until cold and strain into a rocks glass.

Skinny Buns

Have you tried the thin buns yet? Both Oroweat and Earth Grains bake them. There are sort of a hybrid between a hamburger bun and pita. Sort of. The buns are round which remind me of a hamburger bun but the bread in thin, thin, thin. It is made from whole grain (I tried whole wheat), is fairly low in calories (100) and has a decent fiber count (4 grams). They are tasty but a bit lacking in the heft department. What I mean by that remark is that they are a bit skimpy. I suppose it depends on what you will be filling it with. I made a turkey burger and these are not quite meant for a burger. The buns have pinholes in the bread so meat juices will soak through. This makes for a quick meal because you will have to eat faster to keep the bread from getting too soggy. They are also not good toaster candidates. Tried it and the buns slump into the toaster so when it is done toasting you have sort of a collapsed oval. Better off not toasting. I think if you limit your sandwich filling to something drier, it is doable. Question is -- would I buy them again? I suppose I may but I am not too crazy about them. They are tasty but the negatives will make me think twice. I will most likely ask myself if a bun or bread will be better. But do try it. It may work for you better than it did for me.

Thinking of Haiti

So, so awful. The devastation in Haiti. I am sure all have been watching the newscasts of the horrible earthquake that hit Haiti. While we had our own big temblor in Northern California, it hits home personally even harder since we all know all too well how much damage a large earthquake can cause. It puts tears in eyes to watch, hear and learn of so much chaos and devastation. Take time to pray for all that are suffering in this chaos.

Scents-ibility

Oh, no. Not another gym thing. Right after another. The gym I go to strongly suggests (and rightly so) that members not wear heavy scents into the gym or class. I know a lot of people who have sensitivities to strong scents and the gym is really not the place for one to work out with heavy cologne or perfume. The kicker about this is the offender was a male. Now, normally, a man's cologne would have worn off by the afternoon. But this guy must have just put on his cologne right before he hit the gym floor. The scent, itself, was not bad but I could see where other members would have an issue with the amount splashed/sprayed on. And, no, this was not the person I was laughing about wearing heavy bling to work out. The gym has its share of characters that is for sure. Not what I would have expected in this gym but others. Oh, well, it does make for conversation and something for me to blather about.

Bright Daze

What a funny incident. I was at the gym the other day and a gal walks in wearing dark sunglasses. And I mean dark lenses. Which I really had to do a double take. It was an overcast day outside but I am talking about this gal wearing sunglasses on the gym floor. No, no, no. These were not photo-sensitive lenses that change from outdoor to indoor. These were dark. Funny thing is this was not the first time I had seen someone wear sunglasses indoors to work out in a gym. First time was a guy but I figure he was one of those flashy look at me types. He had flashy clothes on and was also wearing heavy gold bracelets. Some serious bling. I doubt he was there to work out. Which is strange since this is a serious gym and the people that come here are really into working out. This is not one of those gyms where people come to meet and greet. Well, I give this gal the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she had an eye condition or something. But still, there is a part of the gym which she could have worked out without too much light bothering her. But, oh well...

Happy Hour Friday - Vodka Collins

Let's keep it light and easy for the new year.

Vodka Collins

In a tall glass:

• Fill with ice.
• Add 1 oz. vodka.
• Fill with equal parts sweet and sour and soda water.
• Optional garnish - cherry and lime

Resolutions - Second

Okay, so I blathered about my resolution number one. Here goes resolution number two.

Shape up my shoulders. Yeahhhhh. As much as a fitness nut I may be, I have weak shoulders. I remember my first physicial assessment by a trainer. I had to go through strength machines to determine how much I could lift or whatever. When I got over to the shoulder press machine, I bombed miserably. The trainer kept going down in weight...further...and further...until he hit rock bottom on the machine. I just cannot lift over my shoulders. His comment was, "Wow, you really have weak shoulders." Wahhhh. I really need to work on shaping up my strength.

Why did my sister bring this up? I do not remember exactly what we were talking about but she reminded me of the time when I could not get my carry-on into the overhead bin on the airplane. She started by saying, "I do not mean this in a bad way but...". Yeah. When someone starts off a conversation like that it only goes downhill from there. Then she went on to, "You are not all that when it comes to fitness..." and on and on and on. Well, yeah...duh. I really got away from the fitness addiction when I transferred jobs and the company gym got axed. I never really joined a gym after that being it was hard thinking of paying for something that used to be free. It is just the point. I just got into running in the park. Oh, gosh, that was always so nice and zen running in the park trails. The trees would mask all the traffic and so much more healthier than running in the streets. But I was concerned for my safety after awhile. Apparently, there was a rapist that was attacking women in the park. To boot, an attack happened exactly at the entrance I use to get into the park. Around the same time of day on the same day of the week. I am not sure if the perp was ever apprehended but it was enough for me to not go running in the park.

Long story short. My resolution for this year is to work on shaping up my shoulders. This will be a good thing. I used to be a whole lot more defined in the arms but lost all of it. At least in the shoulders. Okay...here we go...

Resolutions - First

I have not made any new year resolutions for the past few years. Not sure why now that I am thinking about it. Guess I did not want to make any commitments. Whatever.

Well, I did not have to think too hard about making a resolution this year. Apparently, my sister has unwittingly made them (yes, more than one) for me.

First one, stop being too nice. Yeah, go figure. I knew this awhile ago but being nice is just so easy. So what is the issue here? Not so nice people tend to take advantage of nice people. They take advantage of the goodness of someone's heart just so they could get ahead in whatever. That is not nice. Some people mistake too nice for weakness. That is so far from the truth. Nice is just nice. The world would be so much better if everyone just practiced kindness. A few years ago, my friend really put it in to perspective. She has said that I should not change because it is their (those not so nice people) shortcoming and not mine. She was totally right. I would hate to not be nice. But where does this fit into my resolution? I am going at the slant of just putting up more boundaries. I guess sometimes I am just so laid back (not always) that I let things roll off my shoulders. (On the other hand sometimes not at all.) Setting boundaries up front will be an offensive instead of defensive maneuver. Get those not so nice people right up front so they would not even try.

Okay, I guess I should be asking what resolutions you made for the new year.

(Number two resolution set for tomorrow's blog.)

Marathons

Ha ha. Not running marathons. Quite the opposite. I mean television marathons. Admittedly, I have been caught up in series marathons on some of the popular shows.

There is always the good ole standby CSI. But I have mainly been hitting up the Criminal Minds episodes hoping to catch some eppies I missed. I used to watch them live but lost keeping them up awhile ago since I had been taping the CSI cities series. I think I had an overlap and one had to lose. So I am playing catch up with that series. Then I hit the Dog marathon (yes, sheepishly admitting it). I like the Hawaii episodes (not really liking the Denver shows) and I see if I can spot where they are driving. I do not know most of Oahu but it is kinda neat to say that I have been there when it flashes onto the set.

Oh, and of course, there were all of those Housewives marathons. Atlanta and OC. Then watching Tabatha in her Salon Takeover episodes. It actually creeps me out thinking that a salon can be so dirty. Ugh.

Okay, I can slow down on telly now and get back to business. I mean, after all, another year has turned over.

Happy New Year!!

Another year has just gone by. For some, it went quickly. For others, it may have felt like a lifetime. I think it depends on how your life went the past year. Kind of like whether or not your life was glass half full or glass half empty.

For those who had a great 2009, I wish you a fabulous 2010.

For those who could not wait for 2009 to end, I wish 2010 will be the beginning of something new and better.

Happy 2010!!!