I don’t know the difference between centripetal acceleration and centrifugal force, nor do I have any understanding of electrochemistry. I do know a few things, though. Unfortunately, none of them will help a student preparing for the MCATS, but here you go…
One. I know that I have a concrete date set for my road trip to Chicago, and that I’m not coming home without a pair of jeans, and I will name him George. And I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him.
~no, I’m not going off the deep end. Don’t you remember that Bugs Bunny cartoon?
Vickie has recently checked out the Chicago vibe and she reports no Trekkies in sight, so the countdown is on: T minus eleven days.
Two. I know that I am going to enjoy Van Gogh: The Life. This is the thickest book I’ve actually volunteered to read in a very long time. Usually I listen to books on audio, but come on – this is Van Gogh. The theory in this book is that Van Gogh did not shoot himself and focuses a bit more on his illness. Brilliant artist. Should take no more than a year to finish. lol
Three. I know that I have been totally loving my new book Q & A a Day: 365 Questions-5 Years-1,825 Answers. It’s a 5-year Journal that has a designated question for every day of the year. By the end of the 5th year, I will have answered all 365 questions exactly 5 times. As the years go by, I get to see how I’ve evolved through my answers.
Four. I know that if my first floor bathroom doesn’t get finished soon, I’m going lose every bit of patience that is left in my body (and I already feel pretty depleted). The room has been at a stand-still for two weeks because of an error in ordering the vinyl flooring. BUT, the floor was laid on Tuesday. Funny thing is, from the photos you can hardly tell there’s been ANY progress. Still, here’s some progress pics for your amusement:
Five. I know that being given a surprise compliment is really good on the ego! I’ve been taking a class with a new yoga instructor and I really like her. After my second class was over, I went up to her and thanked her for such a great class. She said, ‘Oh, you’re welcome. You must be advanced, huh?’ I stared at her blankly for a moment, then started laughing. ‘No. I’m definitely not advanced. In fact, I’ve only been to Yoga 2 once.’
‘Well,’ she said. ‘You work through the poses very easily and take direction really well.’ I thanked her and quickly dismissed the compliment – as I usually do whenever I’m given one. But on my way home I felt really good about what she said. Advanced? Hardly. But, I have finally mastered this pose:
In case you are wondering, this is called Side Crane Pose. Is that pose even real??!
Six. ‘Tis the season for pumpkin bread and I made some last night, slightly altering my original recipe from last year by eliminating one cup of sugar and using 2 eggs instead of Eggbeaters. It tasted just as good. If you haven’t tried my original version, you can find the recipe here and if you would like a slightly less sweet but equally satisfying pumpkin bread, tweak it a bit like I did.
I’m off to Panera this morning to meet a friend for breakfast before I head to work. I always try to have my order planned out ahead of time, but I can tell that I’m going to have to force myself to refuse their Chai Tea Latte. Such a weakness of mine, those things are. Have a great weekend, everyone – and remember, Monday will be our Moving Mountains Update. Even if you didn’t participate last month, you still have the rest of this month and next month to make a change.
~Ellen
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I must acquire one of those Q&A books for myself! There are few things in this world I must have, and that is one of them.
So glad yoga is going so well, Miss Appearing Advanced.
And Panera – oh, how I love that place. It’s partly the food, partly the beverage, and mostly the atmosphere.
Have a great weekend!
I’ve been thinking about pumpkin bread lately. I guess the coming holidays are on my mind.
I will be getting that Q&A book! Thanks for posting about it!! You made me LOL for real when you said you mastered the Side Crane pose. I love your sense of humor! I bet you know 1 person who is SUPER excited about their first ever Moving Mountains Update! How much space do we get when leaving a comment??
xoxox
So much good news in one small space! Kudos on the yoga compliment! I would’ve been bouncing!
Love the idea of the Q&A book. If I ever get an amazon check, I might have to break my book diet for this one.
And yes, I remember the cartoon.
I want that Q&A book!!
And I really believed it when you said you’d mastered that pose
Can’t wait to see your next jeans update…do you have specific stores you plan to visit? It might be worth making an appointment at one of those larger, upscale department stores with a personal shopper…it’s free, you know!
I never even thought of that, Karen! You may have just saved my marriage! lol My poor husband will be grateful that I’m not wandering around clueless like a deer caught in headlights. Thank you!
(oh, and the owner of my yoga studio cannot even do that pose!)
I didn’t go through half the trouble you have for your jeans and I am like that cartoon (which I totally remember!) I make sure not to wash them very often and they are always hung dry. And I wear them every chance I get. Sometimes I wonder if people believe that it’s the only pair of jean I own. I don’t care! I love them!
Hooray for random compliments!
The bathroom pics made me laugh out loud. At least you are brave enough to attempt it. Our home projects pretty much ceased with the arrival of children starting 11 years ago. And it shows. One day…..
I actually dug out your Chai Latte recipe earlier this week because I have had a few run ins with the store made kind and am working on my own. I have a post coming in a week or two with my own experience.
So, I am curious, are you still making your own concentrate or are you avoiding it 100%?
I am still making my own concentrate, Vickie, and I drink it all of the time. My homemade version with SF Silk Almond Milk comes out to less than 40 calories a serving (60 with a bit of honey). Panera’s version is 280. Granted, I think the liquid content is more like 12 oz. than 8, but still, I can’t justify it. I think you’ll enjoy making your own, and the concentrate lasts a long time.
does SF mean sweetener free?
how much honey to original recipe?
can I include this info in my post this week?
Silk has a Sugar Free Almond Milk that is 35 calories per cup. That is what I use. 1/2 cup of almond milk, 1/2 cup of concentrate. In the original recipe is calls for 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar added to the entire concentrate after the boil, but I prefer to sweeten mine per cup (plus, everyone’s taste is different) so I use a little less than a TBSP of honey per cup, or I use 2 teaspoons of brownulated sugar (10 calories per tsp). Hope I didn’t make this more confusing! Any other questions, just let me know, and of course you are welcome to use whatever info you’d like
1. do you mean (what you wrote) ‘sugar free’ which usually means artificial sweetener?
OR
do you mean ‘unsweetened’ which usually means no sugar added (that is what I see on their website).
2. how are you warming yours please?
That yoga pose looks totally unnatural. No one should be able to do that!
I lived in Chicago for a month during a working stint and loved it. Wish I could come shop with you. I HATE shopping, but bet it would fun with you.
The Q&A book looks great. Where did you get it from? I might just have to get one myself.
I LOL’d at the yoga pose picture. For a second I actually believed it!
Actually Tim, I received that book as a gift and so I have no idea where it came from. Maybe with a search online you’d be able to find it somewhere.
~Yeah, can you see me doing that pose? Believe me, if I ever master a pose like that one, there will be a picture of ME doing it – that’s how proud I’ll be!!
You’re so funny. My daughter hit play to see the Looney Tune… I didn’t remember that one, hilarious! I love those things that have stayed with us from our childhoods.
that answer/question journal is fascinating to me. I think my hubby would get into that kind of thing.
Formulating my Moving Mountains update….
I love pumpkin and made pumpkin spice muffins without dairy or oil and they came out pretty good. I am trying to cut out the fat without giving up my favorite ingredient.
2 cups brown rice flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
Cooked at 375 for about 25-30 minutes and yum! I plan to check out your recipe too as I love pumpkin bread. I hope you find the jeans. I hit this place called Savers (Kind of a Goodwill) and found 2 pairs of jeans that look good. One was a Tommy Hilfiger & the other Eddie Bauer. Both fit, both were in fantastic shape and I bought both for $24.24 Hope you have as much luck in your jean shopping.
Paula, thank you so much for this recipe! I will be sure to try it, myself. I am a sucker for pumpkin and like it in everything this time of year
…and thank you for the good mojo regarding my upcoming jean excursion. I think it’s a matter of sheer stubbornness at this point that I’m even going to all of this trouble to find a pair. lol
Guess who made pumpkin black bean soup last night? It felt very Halloween. I am gonna have a go at altering pumpkin bread. I make one involving raw apples. I bet I can ditch a pile of sugar and sub in apple sauce. I just don;t want a gumball. I can’t remember the ratio that you cross over where it becomes a gumball. Ah well. Trial and error. I have all Fall to master it. But will I toss bad ones? Grrr.
Now. Oh how I have missed you while I was on the sickbed!
I loved that cartoon (I think I have seen all loony tunes more than once. I adored cartoons). That cartoon reminds me of my girlfriend’s brother petting this kitty with his hammer style petting while holding it still on his lap by grabbing its neck. Little kids do that too…. very amusing.
And my GOSH doesn’t your bathroom just exude zen. So roomy.
Maybe yoga is your thing Ellen. Imagine if you held tightly to your beliefs about yourself. You know those erroneous ones like I am not an athlete or I will not finish something if I do not pay ahead. I guess you can stop repeating those now.
Yes, roomy. I am thinking that adding the toilet at this point would just alter the feng shui too much. So much more ‘open’ this way. lol
Did you like the soup or was it too (fill in the blank) for you? Always curious when people try my recipes.
Toilets are decidedly unfeng shui. Squatting over a hole in the floor is all the rage anyway. Retro.
I loved the soup. I bought the pumpkin a while back in anticipation. It was so easy. I needed that combo for some reason. I am making it again over the weekend with winter squash.
I’ve done that yoga pose–side crow. But I’ve only done it on one side, probably less than 10 times ever. And it only lasted for about 10 seconds.
OK, you are my new HERO, Marion. I am amazed by this pose and have never seen anyone do it. I’d love to know what other poses you can do!!
I can’t wait to see you wearing “George”. I laughed so hard at that video!
I love your Q&A journal. How cool! I keep a 10-year (no questions) journal and just now have been journaling for one year and a month and a half. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading back on what happened a year ago. So fun to see all the changes in life. And mmmmm….pumpkin bread. 