The Obligatory 100

I've never done one of these, but have noticed it's somewhat of a blog orientation , so here goes.

A list of 100 things I've been doing this week when I should have been blogging:
In random order...

1. Listening to my Barenaked Ladies' Christmas CD.

2. Trying my hardest to make my house look like the inside of a snow globe.

3. Wishing KYIS 98.9 would play non-stop Christmas music on the radio like last year.

4. Wishing Delilah on Magic 104.1 would get a life. And a better Christmas play-list.

5. Obsessing over a way to get to see Trans Siberian Orchestra in concert w/out spending $120.

6. Falling in love with the NONFAT Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks.

7. Discovering the NONFAT Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks has 2 grams of fat.

8. Tasting the NONFAT Eggnog Latte at Starbucks.

9. Discovering the NONFAT Eggnog Latte at Starbucks has 15! grams of fat. Hmmm...

10. Considering becoming Jewish just so I could make a dreidel out of clay.

11.Realizing that all of my Church of Christ friends already think I'm going to hell for being Catholic.

12.Considering becoming Church of Christ.

13.Realizing that being Catholic is way more fun. We have wine IN church, people!

14.Considering that some of my Church of Christ readers may be offended by what I just typed.

15.Realizing that the Church of Christ readers that know the inside joke behind this comment would think it was funny.

16. Considering that I should move on from this topic.

17. Determining that one Thanksgiving dinner doesn't ruin your Weight Watcher goals.

18. Determining that 3 Thanksgiving dinners and 2 birthday celebrations in one week DOES!

19. Making green bean casserole, twice in two days.

20. Making WW pumpkin cheesecake fluff.

21. Wishing WW pumpkin cheesecake fluff tasted more like pumpkin cheesecake.

22. Getting excited over my birthday gifts.

23. Getting excited over my gifts even though I knew what they were in advance.

24. Gaining a new respect for my husband's party planning.

25. Gaining a big head thinking that I had the biggest influence on that.

26. Learning more about myself from Nathan's party game.

27. Learning more about what my family thinks of me from Nathan's party game.

28. Spending most of my birthday party looking at Black Friday ads.

29. Convincing my husband that Black Friday shopping will be fun.

30. Going to bed convinced I would go shopping alone.

31. Being shocked when I had a shopping buddy in the car with me.

32. Being shocked I made it to Kohl's at 3:30 in the morning.

33. Wishing I hadn't left my coat at my brother's house the day before.

34. Being the first to check out at Kohl's on Black Friday.

35. Hoping these people will think their gift was worth the above 3 items.

36. Not being the first to check out at JC Penny's on Black Friday.

37. Hoping my nephew will appreciate his telescope from the above item.

38. Standing in line at 4:45 a.m. for Toy's R Us to open.

39. Wishing AGAIN I hadn't left my coat at my brother's the day before.

40. Racing through cart-pushing slow pokes to get an ultra-cool Hot Wheels Radar Gun for my nephew.

41. Laughing that others started to grab the same radar gun only after they saw me get it.

42. Laughing harder that Nathan was upset that I didn't buy one for him.

43. Not laughing when I raced to an empty pallet of DVD players at WalMart at 5:20 a.m.

44. Rejoicing upon noticing a DVD player abandoned on the Battery Center at WalMart.

45. Containing my excitement and desire to call my sister at 5:25 in the morning to tell her that I did the above 2 just for her.

46. Drove past a Starbucks to be one of the first in line for Home Depot's opening on Black Friday.

47. Staying in my car until I saw someone approaching Home Depot's door.

48. Saw someone heading to H.D.'s front door.

49. Grabbed my purse and raced to H.D's door.

50. Realized that it was an associate not a shopper.

51. Stood in line anyway.

52. Handed Nathan his box at Home Depot and exclaimed, "Merry Christmas!"

53. Headed to Jimmy's Egg and waited for it to open.

54. Headed to the tile store.

55. Got disappointed that I didn't have to wait in line.

56. Went home to take a 3 hour nap.

57-78: I'm taking the liberty to skip these because I just wasted the past 45 minutes in which I could have completed these numbers arguing with my husband on the topic of requiring interviews for African American coaches in college football. I'll save both of our opinions for another post another day.

79. Preserving and admiring my cake made of flowers that my husband brought to my work for my birthday three days ago.

80. Realizing that sushi restaurants aren't open on Sundays, even if it is your birthday.

81. Skipping a chance at a new restaurant for a "sure thing" at a favorite.

82. Getting excited about buying pants that actually aren't falling off of me.

83. Cleaning out my purse.

84. Trying to arrange the entire bathroom cabinet of stuff in my old purse into my new purse.

85. Scrolling up through this post to see if I had already mentioned the purse.

86. Wishing the batteries in my digital camera were juiced so I could take a picture of my new purse.

87. Getting a new mixer with...wait for it...ejectable blades!! from the girls at work.

88. Using it the next night to make a "questionable" cake for a friend.

89. Actually jogging 4.0 miles per hour on the treadmill for an ENTIRE song.

90. Subsequently having to pull the plug on the treadmill before dying.

91. Purchasing my Christmas cards to mail out.

92. Wishing I could pay someone to write our Christmas newsletter to go in them.

93. Budgeting half my pay check to cover the cost to actually mail them.

94. Contemplating what I want to ask "Santa" for for Christmas.

95. Snarfing at the $60 limit that "Santa" put on my request.

96. Snarfing at the countertop shop that won't tell me when I get new countertops.

97. Day-dreaming about wiping down my new countertops.

98. Not day-dreaming about using all of my certification bonus from work to pay for the countertops.

99. Hoping that I will be a better blogger in the upcoming weeks.

100. Hoping that the time I spent on this blog will suffice my readers and prove that I really have been busy the past week.

NaBloPoMo Mercy post

Thought I'd check in for a moment only to selfishly point out to Jessica and Charly that my little blog has offically been visited and commented on by the renowned Friday Playdate twice now. I do believe that brings the tally to: 2 for Liz , 1 for Jess, and 0 for Charly. Just sayin'...

What A Difference A Rake Makes

Is it all for nothing to rake your leaves when all your neighbor's yards are covered in brown and orange crumblies? I think every neighborhood association should have assigned days in which all home owners should have to rake their yard on the same day. My yard shouldn't be punished for everyone else's lack of love for their yard.

I imagine a fabulous neighborhood where every weekend before Thanksgiving all neighbors celebrate the annual "Rake, Rooftop,Rub and Roast ." Everyone would rake their yard and then decorate for Christmas. After decking the lawn with red and green, the neighbors would gather together for massages to ease their sore muscles. All massages would be fully clothed ones though. Let's be honest. It's all I can handle to see you getting your morning newspaper in your robe.

After the massage, everyone could gather around a big bonfire and feast on seasonal goodies and drink egg-nog lattes. The bonfire would be an open forum for all the neighbors to apologize for the World War III that they overheard while you were "discussing" the layout for all 93 extension cords to be plugged into 2 working outlets. The best part is that The Blais' would never have to stand up to apologize for anything. We could just sit back and listen to all the other bickering neighbors and then go home and talk about them. Thank goodness Nathan and I NEVER argue about silly things like extension cords. It's much easier to stomp around the yard declaring "JESUS is the reason for the season! Merry freakin' Christmas."

Yeah, that would be a nice neighborhood. I think it would be called Lizville. Because perfect neighborhoods need perfect names.

A Note To My Book Club

Rant-let. Defined as a small, completely insignificant, mini-rant to only be used in the context of lighthearted poking fun; guilt-trip.

Dear Book Club,
How I look so fondly on our many great laughs and reads together. The times we have shared will always hold a special place in my heart. I look forward to our dinners, book conversing, and mostly the wonderful life stories we share as a group. I have gained many friendships from our gatherings and I look forward to many years of growing closer. I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to spend my time with.


Now as for the "book" part of our book club. Your behavior over the past couple of months is deplorable. I would say that I am a pretty lenient book picker and I allow plenty of time to complete the assigned book. I do believe I have allowed a good number of opportunities in which to purchase, actually read, and then discuss the last book of my choice.


I had accepted that maybe no one really wanted to read my last selection because I had not been the best book-picker in the past. But, after reading this post about our current book choice that was written by someone I would consider well-versed in literature and then subsequently receiving a phone call noting that this said post encouraged one of you to ACTUALLY start reading the book, and then subsequently informing me that "yeah this book is pretty darn good," I started to become a wee bit annoyed at your behavior.


This note, however, does not come to you by the aforementioned phone call alone. This comes to you as a combination of the phone call from one of you and this blog entry by another one of you stating that you are reading/listening to other books that have not been selected by our group. This is unacceptable behavior. Our book club comes first. No babies, work trips, incompetent spouses, holidays, or even hospital visits should come between the members and the selected reading.


Now, I am not one to hold a grudge. So I leave you with this. READ the darn book!! It's good. I promise. I'm sure that with a little time and a few homemade weight watcher treats, I can be bribed into forgiving you for your long delay of book club etiquette - reading. Now, I must be on my way. I'm only halfway through the book myself. Which is totally why I can be bribed. But, I'm still upset. But, not really. But, I'm still going to monitor your progress. But not really.

Truly yours,
Liz


P.S. For the member that stated she likes to judge a book by its cover and therefore had not picked it up, I leave you this. Another cover I found of the EXACT SAME BOOK. Read it!

=

Christmas Update #1 (and quite possibly the only)

Mission Accomplished: Ding Dong The Grinch Is Dead!!

I am super-stoked that I convinced Nathan that we absolutely HAVE to start decorating for Christmas this coming weekend. I am so ready this year. I can't wait to get all my cute color coordinated stuff from last year out.

My theory: Starbucks is decorated for Christmas, so I should be too. I should do everything Starbucks does. I should live in a Starbucks and then Britney Spears (I think that makes 6, Jess) would come over and she and I could chat about how I am so proud that she has turned so much into a complete nutcase that even my husband who obsessed over her many years ago can't even tolerate her. I figure the more I can cross off of "his list" the better.


Anyway, I can't wait to put up my Christmas tree. I can't wait to go shopping to put stuff under the tree. I can't wait to place cayenne pepper around the edges in attempt to keep my sweet Enid out of the tree. I've already purchased my first Christmas gift to be wrapped (lovingly by my freakishly perfect wrapping husband) to go under the tree first thing. One guess as to who it's for. He's small, smells like fresh laundry, and his name rhymes with "tan." Anyone who guesses incorrectly gets to come over and help Nathan put lights on the roof.

NaNoBloWhatever

I know. I failed you. I failed myself too. I tried. I really did. But, I've been busy. I've been playing host for nearly 6 days and I'm pooped. I had a great time though. It was a much needed break from the everyday. My brother-in-law, Brandon visited us from Maine and the days and nights were filled with lots of to-do's and eating. Good god! The eating! I'm so sick of eating.


The upside: I haven't cooked one meal since last Wednesday. That part was awesome. The downside: I haven't cooked one meal since last Wednesday. That means I've eaten out every meal for a week. Not exactly a Weight Watcher's shining moment. I stuck to my guns, though, and have managed to stay within acceptable scale fluctuation for being "on vacation" at home. Now my husband on the other hand, I'm pretty sure he could skip a couple six meals or so to recoup.

I decided instead of chronicling (is that a word?) all that we've done the past few days, it would be much more comical to see all that Nathan and Brandon conquered in the amazing culinary world of OKC. I would note what I ate at all these places, but listing grilled chicken and salad gets pretty boring after the first three meals.


Saturday: Pop from Pops in Arcadia, Johnnie's Charbroil, Papa Murphy's, (chips, cookies)

Sunday: Sonic, (Super Chunky Choc. hip cookie dough ice cream and popcorn), Shoguns, Starbucks

Monday: (waffles, bacon), Louie's, (veggies and dip, crackers and cheese, cookies), Old Chicago
(revisit the ice cream)

Tuesday: City Bites,(wine tasting with cheesecake Hershey Kisses),Cheesecake Factory,
(left-over Old Chicago)

Wednesday:Krispy Kreme before the plane ride home.


THAT! people, is what you call a vacation!! Luckily, I managed to have some sort of motivation to workout everyday on that list. AND! I managed to subside the urge for cheesecake with a very large cup of decaf. You can pull a Tiger Woods and pump your fist in the air if you want. I did. You can also send gifts. I like gifts.

I'm sorry I didn't keep my end of the bargain to blog everyday. But, hopefully, the extra blogging in the next couple of days will allow you to forgive me. So all the guilt-fest comments and phone calls may cease. I'm busy living my life over here!

Get a Life! ... at least an exciting one

What does it say about a couple that has an entire conversation about looking forward to walking on the moving walkway at the airport? Yeah, we need to get out more. Help Us! Invite us somewhere!