A first time for everything

I cooked. 

Yes, thats right.

I know you're thinking "umm...that can't be the first time Alicia's cooked".  Well, its not.  But it IS the first time I actually favored cooking fresh chicken and vegetables over making the absolutely delicious Trader Joe's pizza I have in the freezer.

Now, I know when you look at the picture you will probably think "yes...that looks like something Alicia might have cooked"...but in my defense...#1.  thats cheese.  #2. I took the picture on my phone.  #3.  The brown-looking chicken is only that color because I used brown sugar to cook it in.  #4.  There actually is color to the vegetables (for example, red skinned potatoes and green zucchini) it just all disappeared under the influence of cheese and a poor quality photo. 

Despite how it looks, it was delicious...and, not too bad health wise.  I know I keep saying "cheese!" (in fact, all I could hear replaying in my head all night has been "Cheese, George, Cheese!!!"), but apparently a little goes a long way and there's actually very little on there. 

In other news, the snow is gone.  Replaced instead by heavy rain, extremely gusty wind, occasional power outages, and the overwhelming desire to stay inside with the covers over my head. 

In fact, I'm currently in bed while writing this, as my bedtime is 8pm (okay, so I'm a little bit past that) now that I'm a part of the land of the living (aka dayshift).  So, soon, I will get to pull the covers over my head as I listen to the overgrown bushes scratch at my bedroom window.

*mentally adding hedge trimmers to my growing list*

My theory on housework is, if the item doesn't multiply, smell, catch fire, or block the refrigerator door, let it be. No one else cares. Why should you?
~ Erma Bombeck

The first room to be completed...

The craft room...a place for everything and everything in its place.... 

For the time being at least.

My "to do" list is already at 6.  I need to catch up!

In other news, my car is back in the driveway!!   It rained all day, so while the roads are still super slushy (not sure why they haven't plowed now...this would be a perfect time for it...), they're still passable and I was able to get home with minimal scariness.

Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them.
~ John Shirley

First Shovel

The price of Independence

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude. ~ Voltaire

First snow of the year

I have made the determination....snow is only fun if you don't have to work in it...

My car several hours before I left work....it continued to snow after I took this picture.  I left it there & caught a ride home.

Atticus LOVES the snow.  He spent a lot of time running...

eating...

more running...

and catching snowballs!

My scarf.  ha. 

Homebound for the night!

The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches. ~ e.e. cummings

The first night before the storm

The weatherman is predicting a fairly big snowstorm starting tonight into tomorrow.  Of course, they've been predicting this storm to hit since Sunday and so far no go, so I'm hoping that the predicted 10 inches of snow to fall starting tonight will turn to rain.  I know I know, 10 inches?  Pbbbbttt...thats nothing.  But in my defense, in our defense, its 10 inches for the PNW, areas that are used to being hit with mild temperatures and 4 months of rain during the winter. 

I went from east coast driving in the snow with very little worries to west coast being a nervous nelly when the roads aren't even being touched with snow.  Its something about the area and the fact that I have to worry about all these inexperienced drivers out there, I think.

Anyways, Atticus and I hung out a bit outside today after work - it is actually eerily sunny.  The calm before the storm?

Just one more day of work.  I need to be at work at 4am (or earlier if they get overwhelmed), so I cancelled my gym and coffee plans for the evening and will have a relaxing few hours with my dog, a beer, and perhaps pinterest.

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. ~ Carl Reiner 

First then Second

Got my second "run" in today.  Really, they're a cross between jogging and walking.  But still.

Also, was amazed at the amount of crazies that were in the gym at 9am.  Its Saturday, people...sleep in!!!

Ate for the first time at a local diner I've wanted to eat at for years, but have always been unable to for one reason or another.  Its one of those really cool places that you just want to sit and drink everything in.  I hope to go back soon.

Back to work early tomorrow morning.  I'm not dreading going to work (despite their call for super cold weather and snow), I just dread how early 4am comes. 

Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary. ~ Mark Twain

First down...not yet out

What a past couple of days.  If its not one thing, its another.

Wednesday night I rushed home after a 12 hour shift, let Atticus outside, and went back to my bedroom to change out of my work clothes.  While I'm back there I heard a really loud "BANG".  I was pretty sure the sound was somewhere in the house, and I eliminated basically everything I owned making that sound because of the actual sound.  You know how you hear something fall or hear something break and you just KNOW what it is based on the sound?  Well, I could tell you I DIDN'T know what it was based on the sound.  I knew it came from inside the house somewhere, but I couldn't even pinpoint where.  I walked from room to room looking for possible culprits.  Nothing.  I looked outside with Atticus.  Nothing. 

Oh well, I shrugged to myself.  I'll figure it out later.  I had to leave to go meet up with someone.  I go out to the garage (I don't store my car in the garage - I'd have to concentrate too much on not hitting anything, its pretty small - but I do leave and enter through my garage just because I like to.)  Anyways, I hit the garage door button, and I hear something akin to high tension wires snapping, and the whole garage door mechanism, from the bottom to top, starts making a really loud sound and shimmying very badly.  There were 2 wires on either side that starting bouncing around too. 

Huh.  That would probably explain the bang I heard.

I got outside and hit the garage door button again.  Haha...I really wish I would have recorded the door thumping to the ground.  I mean, it didn't fall off the tracks or anything, but it made a decisive "thump" when it closed.  

I called my landlord when I got to my meeting location.  He answered the phone "now what?".  In a nice way, of course.  He came to check the door out after I got home that night, and to check on the water heater etc.  The "BANG" I heard?  That was the main spring at the top of the door breaking.  I'm pretty sure it stayed contained in the door mechanism, but now that I know what it was, I wouldn't be surprised if I find a spring embedded in the wall somewhere. 

Since then, I have talked to Mark (landlord) and Alex (Mark's brother who is going to fix the garage door) about 20 times.  Seriously.  Alex calls to make sure I'll be home so he can access the garage, then he calls for garage door information he didn't write down, then he gives me progress reports etc.  Hes funny.  The first time he came over he played more with Atticus than doing anything with the garage door.  I don't mind...Atticus needs a friend.  Someone other than me.  Mark has actually been very proactive with my whole electric bill thing.  Next week we have a guy coming over who is going to go through the house to see if he can find any major energy draws.  I think he's also going to have the electric company check the meter to see if its broken.  And, he's going to replace the heating elements in my hot water heater.  I'm pretty sure I need a whole new hot water heater, but I'm willing to deal with the one I have now as long as its not the energy vampire. 

I'm feeling a little better about life.  Not in such a funk.  I think it helps that I had a full and fun weekend.

Oh, and I started to run.  Actually run.  Tonight was my first night.  Pretty sure I'm going to hate myself for it tomorrow, but guess what.  I'm going running again tomorrow. 

All because I signed up for a fun run. 

:D

One of the many reasons why going out with girlfriends is fun...they're willing to split a huge brownie dessert!

The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.
~ Erma Bombeck