Being a wife

So.... I am 8 months into wifedom and the major thing that I don't like about it is having to answer one question every afternoon from my husband "What's for dinner?" I love to cook but not when I have been working all evening and I am tired. As a single woman, dinner could be a bowl of cereal, cream of wheat, or a kids meal from Chick-fil-A. Now I have a meat-loving hubby who expects something every night. I try to cook 3-4 times a week and then have leftovers or takeout the rest of the week. The funny thing is, when I cook I don't even eat it. It's like knowing what the meat looked like raw just turns me off from the food. Tonight I threw together some chicken stir fry and brown rice and I all I ate of it was some mini corn I picked out the wok.

Happy New Year!

Here we are 2 days into the new year and I am thinking about my goals for this year. No resolutions. No promises of a whole new me. Truthfully, the only difference between this year and last year is 3 days. The turning of the calendar does not magically make anyone a new person. I have my ongoing goals of self-improvement that I keep in mind. This year my major goal is simple yet difficult: Utilize my time better. I waste gobs of time playing Farmville and Sorority Life on Facebook. I am not a very disciplined person so I play even when I have a deadline looming over my head for work. I am also a person who loves to sleep, therefore I have a difficult time waking up before 11:00 am unless I have something specific to do in the morning. Since I don't work traditional hours in an office setting, this is more often the case than not. So basically, I need to set myself up on a schedule no matter what the day. I don't expect an overnight change but I think it's realistic to develop better time management habits over the course of this year. My goal is not to be that mother who makes her child late to school every day, so while I am still childless I will work on that. Anywho...... Happy 2010!

My first NFL game

Yesterday my brother-in-law was fortunate enough to get 4 free tickets to the Redskins/Cowboys game. It was a last minute thing but I figured it would be fun to go because I have never been to a professional game. We caught the obligatory interstate 95 traffic jam and got to FedEx field right when the game started. We parked in a really muddy lot and followed some other people through a shortcut in the woods. We literally went over the river and through the (pitch dark) woods then up a hill to get to the main road. I dropped my purse in the mud and my blanket. When we got back out into the light, I noticed quite a bit of mud on my jeans and my shoes were caked in it.

Once in the stadium we had to walk up what seemed like an endless ramp because we were in the nosebleed section. Row 28 of 29 in the tippy top of the stadium. It was about 34 degrees last night with wind of 5-10 mph. But when I hiked to the top of the stairs to my seat, my heart was pounding and I was sweating. I peeled off my hat, scarf, and gloves, along with my coat and panted like a dog for 15 minutes. This is one of those moments when I realize "Damn! I'm outta shape." I put my layers back on and settled in to watch the game. The game itself was kinda uneventful. I am not a big football fan but I do know the Redskins suck! I think my high school squad could beat them.

Halftime comes and I have to visit the ladies room so I make my way down the stairs, terrified that I will fall. A drunken dude on the other side of the stairs rail tumbles down several stairs and lands head down in seat. That didn't help my fear. I return to my seat and wait for the hubby, his line brother and my brother in law to return. They wait in line for almost the entire 3rd quarter for food and he brings me back some overpriced chicken tenders and fries. We leave halfway through the 4th quarter, thinking we will beat the crowd.

Well, we ended up sitting in the parking lot for one hour before getting out and on our way. Overall, a very interesting first NFL game experience.

Must make these cookies

Merry Maraschino Cherry Cookies. I love maraschino cherries. These go on my Christmas baking agenda.

Update

It's been a rough couple of weeks. A good friend of mine suddenly passed away and it was really shocking. I am trying to get out of my funk because I know that she was the type of person who worked very hard and she wouldn't want me to be feeling this way. She would want me to get back to work and make her proud. I am giving myself until Friday then I am getting back to the grind. Her life and death were an important reminder not to take anything for granted.

Waiting for the dream to come true

Today my feelings have been very high and very low. I contacted a Realtor and a broker in order to assess if we could sell our condo and upgrade to a larger home. Things looked good. Our credit was looking great and I was already having visions of more space and room to grow. But then when D got home we talked about what buying a new home would really entail and it hit me like a ton of bricks that we would need more money for the down payment and closing costs. Unfortunately, we do not qualify for the home buyers tax credit due to being current home owners so that can not help us with our situation. I got so depressed when I realized that we have to delay our dream of more space even further. D asked me what is the big hurry and I guess there isn't one. I had just got excited about something new. I pictured a bigger, nicer home to have children in. I wanted to move NOW! All hope is not lost though. We regrouped and came up with a plan to pad our savings and hope to be in the market for something new in 6 months or so. It is just my hope that the market continues to have good bargains so we can get our dream house at a dream price.

Blessings

In the work that I do I often encounter people and families that lack what I take for granted each day, each moment. Every so often it just hits me how much I am thankful for the big things and the little things. I have an education, I have reasoning skills, I can use a computer, I know how to be professional, I have a family that looks out for my best interests, I have a home, I have a job, I have a car, I have my health, I am of sound mind, I have friends, I have freedom, I have love, I have faith, I have hope, I have the power to make decisions. I am thankful to be blessed!