Weekend Preview

I have been absolutely loving our weekends as of late and this weekend promises much of the same-- things that are (at least, in part) responsible for all the warm fuzzies I get going into Friday:

Friday afternoon—dog park with The Husband and The Pup.

Saturday morning—some housework and errands... okay, these do not give me the warm fuzzies, but they are oh-so-necessary.

Saturday evening—Painting with a Twist. I’m so excited for this, actually. My sister gave me a gift certificate for Christmas, and I’m going to paint The Pup. We’ll see if any of my artistic “talent” (and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word) from high school remains.

Sunday—Hike/walk with The Husband and The Pup at Walnut Creek. We just discovered this park last week and, really, we should be ashamed. It’s (give or take) 10 minutes from our home, and we’ve lived within that distance for nearly 6 years. The scenery is so beautiful that I completely forget that I’m minutes away from a major street in the middle of Austin. Such a lovely respite for us. For The Pup? Well, we’re teaching her to swim in the creek. Aside from that (her least favorite part of the day), she also loves exploring every inch of the trails.

How do your weekend plans look?

Snow Day!

The best laid plans...

Y'all may or may not know just how much of a planner I am.

Various and extensive pro/con lists are made before I purchase a pair of shoes, days off from work come with plans of attack that could be confused with the invasion of a minor country, to-do lists for parties are in the form of spreadsheets that begin weeks before invitations are even extended...

What I'm saying is I am a Planner, with a capital P. It's both a pro and con when it comes to life with me.

When a few unexpected paid-days-off fell into my lap prior to our Christmas vacation, you know that I had Plans for those days. Tightly-scheduled, starting-at-7am (to allow for "sleeping in"), allowing-an-hour-for-lunch Plans.

Then, The Husband, who has kindly but consistently rebuffed my requests for a puppy, said "What do you think about getting a puppy?"

...

...

...

Um, yes, yes, please!

Plans or not, apparently I am less a Planner and more Weak in the face of a snuggly, wiggly, busy wee puppy.

Those unexpected, but carefully scheduled days off turned into even-busier-than-previously-planned days off, and earlier this month, we welcomed into our little family Miss Perla.

I think we'll keep her.

#13 and #14: Change name on credit cards/bank account COMPLETED

Completed: 11-24-10

Only 2 years and almost 11 months to complete this one ;-)

But, hey! In my defense, the financial institutions don't exactly make this an easy one step process. Save for one credit card, which is another reason why it's my favorite, but that's another story for another time.

Some unplanned time off fell into my lap last week, so I took the opportunity to go visit the two that required face-to-face meetings to make the big switch. Done and done.

Turkey Day Plans

Have I mentioned that Thanksgiving is my very most favorite holiday? Above Christmas Eve, Christmas Day (although they run a close 3rd and 2nd, respectively), New Year's Eve and even my birthday, Thanksgiving Day is simply the best.

This year, The Husband and I will be celebrating together and, even though it will be an intimate supper for two, you betcha this gal has got a plan of attack. Any excuse to draw up menus and timelines and serving plans, right?

I think we'll start the morning off with these Easy Cheese Danishes, a la Ina Garten. This was going to be a surprise for The Husband, but he reads this blog, soooo... (hi, hubby!)

The rest of the menu is part-traditional, part-let's-use-what's-in-the-fridge-and-avoid-the-crazies-at-the-grocery.

Roasted chicken (in lieu of turkey)

Stuffing (yes, I stuff, not dress, and I don't care to hear one word about it)

Gravy
Mashed po-tah-toes

Sauteed spinach (in lieu of green beans)

Cranberry sauce (from the can, yes)

Pecan walnut pie (a new recipe to attempt)

Wine (very necessary)

Speaking of wine, my mom has (had?) an apron, which I loved to wear while testing my baking skills in the kitchen as a youngster. It said "A Day Without Wine is Like A Day Without Sunshine." So. Mystery solved, I think. Also, Mom? I can haz that apron now, yes? Pretty please?

What are your plans for the big day? Big family celebration? Small dinner with your significant other?

Whatever they may be, I hope you have a wonderful and very Happy Thanksgiving.

#15: Pay off credit cards. COMPLETED

Remember when I did this?

Seven months later (almost to the day), amazingly, the second credit card is paid off, meaning wee ol' number 15 is completed.

Honestly, I'm not certain I believe it.

For longer than I care to think about, I would pay a little extra here, a little extra there,The Husband would give me a sizable cash gift to help, but we would never really see much (downward) movement on those balances. And I got discouraged. Because I had never been one to carry a balance on my cards, let alone the ginormous (to me) balances that they had accumulated.

I was defeated, practically convinced that nothing, save for winning the lottery, could bring those big numbers down to a little number-- my beloved zero.

But then I got mad. Mad at one credit card company in particular, which kept switching my statement dates and payment due dates, thereby accumulating a greater balance. Mad at myself for not being persistent enough to just pay them off already.

I talked with the The Husband to see what, if anything, he could take off my financial plate to make this work. I created a real-live, honest-to-goodness budget, with the goal of finding unnecessary expenses that I could do without and, instead, put that money towards finally (finally!) paying off that stooopid debt.

I paid the minimum on one card (bigger one) and put anything unspent towards the other (slightly smaller one). And it worked! This past April, I paid off my first credit card. Phew.

Then, after discussing the pros/cons with The Husband until I was blue in the face, I transferred the balance from the remaining card to the then only paid off card. And, put everything (and I mean everything) I could towards that new balance.

For seven months.

My hair has gone un-trimmed, un-highlighted. My previous love of starbucks is, surprisingly, extinguished. I've learned how to make a decent cup o' joe with my office machine. My belly misses sushi like you would not believe.

But, these are all first world problems, so who am I to complain?

Oh, and I'm credit card debt free. :-)

Intertubez, meet Fitzherbert

aka: #33-- get an indoor plant and keep it alive for 6 months.

Fitzherbert has bravely volunteered for this effort with nary a peep. Actually, I think his odds of making it 6 months or more are pretty darn good.

You see, once upon a time, in a land far far away, I had another plant named Bob. And he survived more than 3 years. If you know of my ::ahem:: record with outdoor plants, I could see how you would find this hard to believe.

Alas, it's the truth. And now Fitzherbert will enjoy that long a life (maybe even more!) with me and The Husband.

The first goal: February 26th, 2011.

The second goal: to infinity and beyond!

(Also? It's surprisingly challenging to wrangle Fitzherbert for a snapshot. I guess he's just camera shy...)

So you wanna go to the DPS?

First, I assume it's more due to a *need* to go to the DPS and less a *want* to go to the DPS.

Sure, the DPS (oh, that's Department of Public Safety, bee tee dubs) is a very good place for great people watching, true, but beyond that, it's just teeming with feelings of frustration and anger. Yes, anger, and I'll get to that in a moment.

In the interest of providing something useful, here are my tips for navigating the DPS.

1) Bring a cooler stocked with refreshing beverages, snacks and maybe even a hearty meal. Better to be over-prepared than under, in this circumstance.

2) Think of every single official governmental piece of documentation you have ever received in your life. That's right, every single one. Your birth certificate? Grab it. Your marriage certificate? Yup. That state ID you picked up that time someone stole your driver's license on Bourbon? That, too. If you have some recent blood tests proving you're O+, better add them to the pile. Surely, the Social Security card goes without saying.

3) Don't forget your insurance card and car registration. May as well toss your emission's test into the mix.

4) A camera or, better yet, a camera phone with a direct link to your twitter account. How else are you going to capture the super-snazzy harem pants of your co-DPS-line-waiter? Or the uber-cute 80-year-old-married couple dragging along matching lawn chairs?

5) Speaking of co-DPS-line-waiters, here's a fun tip to pass the time: count the number of disgruntled masses. Make a game of it... one point for someone who's simply seething. Two points for someone verbalizing their complaints. Three points everytime storms out of the building angrily. 500 bonus points for the physical removal of disgruntled person by the Sheriff's Department!

In short, folks, the 5 hours you're about to spend applying for your Texas driver's license or state ID or renewing your driver's license are hours you'll never forget.

Especially not if you wait 2 hours in line, only to make it up to the front and be told that you're missing 1 of the 25 pieces of proof of citizenship required, "... so, please come back again tomorrow."

Oh. What. Joy.

Do you like giveaways?

I don't typically do the giveaway thing-- hosting, entering, promoting, etc... not for any particular reason, but it boils down to lack of focus and love of other shiny objects, if you know what I mean.

However. Except.

Y'all. Capitol Hill Style is doing a little giveaway of the Goody Spin Pin.

There must have been something in the air yesterday because I picked up my second set at the drugstore last afternoon on the way home. Sure, I forgot to pick up the one thing I went in for, but I came out with these wee twisty miracle workers and in blonde this time, not brunette. And not a moment too soon, as I've misplaced one half of my original set.

So. If you haven't given these pins a go, and you're stuck wearing your hair in a low-pony for work *again*, then either enter Capitol Hill Style's giveaway or sneak out on your lunchbreak and pick up your own set. Your hairs will thank you.

(No, seriously, they will. Just like mine did right after I ripped open my new box and shoved twisted in those new pins for the quickest two-second-bun ever.)

"Should have" and "Instead"

Yesterday, I should have caught up on the massive pile of laundry...
I should have mopped the floors...
I should have dusted the blinds...
I should have cleaned the kitchen...
I should have gone to the gym...

Instead, I played around with pastry dough and tested my way towards the perfect blueberry filling.

I think that was the better choice ;-)

(And, hey, at least I made the groceries!)

Encouragement

I strive to keep this blog as positive as possible. Or, when purely positive isn't possible, find the humor in it all.

Some days, though, require a little extra encouragement. A little mental boost to help us weather the muck of everyday... at least that's what I'm telling myself today.

So, with a bit of reservation, here is my note to self for today. Maybe some of it will apply to you, or maybe it will inspire you to give encouragement to the person who deserves it most in your life-- you.

XO,
ashleycita

Dear Self,

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

Or, in non-fish, non-Disney terms, just keep moving.

You are not where you want to be today. And, frustratingly, it feels like you are not any closer to being where you do want to be than yesterday.

But, you are. Really, you are.

Yesterday, you ran an 11 minute mile. Today, you ran an 11 minute mile for a longer distance than yesterday. You are healthy and getting stronger. Progress. Movement. Closer to your goal of running a 5K.

Yesterday, you went to work. Today, you are at work. You are employed and earning money. Earning money that is allowing you to pay off debt. Progress. Movement. Closer to your goal of being debt-free. Closer to being free.

So, please. Don’t be discouraged with yourself. They may seem like small steps, but they are still progress. They are still movement.

Each day you get closer. Just keep swimming.

Love,
Me

In which I lose... to a corn pancake...

Last night I made my first attempt at cachapas. Cachapas are a Venezuelan corn pancake, basically. The dish is so popular it even has its own wikipedia page: See?

Now, the cachapas that I've met and loved look like this:



Gorgeous, no?

They are sweet, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and tasty and typically filled with a cheese (queso guayanes) that it similar in texture to fresh mozzarella, but a bit saltier and stretchable.

I should have known that this was not going to be simple when the following things occurred:
1) I could not find queso guayanes locally,
2) I could not find queso guayanes on le intertubes for less than $40, and
3) My brother-in-law laughed his butt off when I said I was going to make cachapas from scratch.

However, once I decide I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it come hell or high-water. It's part of my charm, this stubbornness. You can thank my father. Or my mother. I'm not sure which deserves the most credit, honestly.

Anyway. Last night, after prepping the batter, a decent dozen attempts at the very simple process of making pancakes and the better part of an hour, I ran out of batter for cachapas.

The result? 4 kinda-sorta-maybe passable cachapas (albeit with mozzarella cheese as a stand-in), 6 piles of cooked/scrambled cachapa batter and 2 oh-my-word-is-that-burned-baby-food-?, uh, things.

::sigh:: I'm not giving up, though. No sir. I will triumph over cachapas. After all, I'm nothing if not stubborn. ;-)

Venezuelan Cachapas
Ingredients
3 1/4 c fresh sweet corn kernels
1/2 c sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3 egg whites
3-4 tbs arepa mix

1) In a food processor, blend the corn until it is a light yellow, milky mixture
2) Add sugar, salt and egg whites and blend
3) If mixture is too thin, add arepa mix until proper consistency is achieved (it should look like pancake batter)
4) Oil or butter a pan and heat until droplets of water sizzle
5) Make a pancake using the cachapa batter and let cook until golden brown on bottom
6) Flip and cook other side
7) Remove from pan, add cheese and fold in half
8) Serve and enjoy!

101 in 1001 Update; One year to go!

Wow. One year to complete The List. ::cough::

365 days to finish ::checks list:: 65 tasks. Or else some lucky non-profit will get a neither-underweight-yet-not-obese check for $325.

Let’s have a look at what has been accomplished.

I’ve been awfully busy in the Body, Food and Social categories. Only #89 (Join a committee and stay active for 1 year) remains in Social. Food has 7 out of 13 tasks remaining (#75, 77, 78, 80, 81, 83 and 85). And Body clocks in with 3 out of 14 remaining (#60, 61 and 72). One could infer this to mean I’m a body conscious, social, food-loving person. Possibly.

Where am I lacking? Travel (3/11), Home (6/21), Love (0/7), Mind (2/10) and that miscellaneous category, Other (3/12). I’m not going to draw a conclusion towards my personality from that. So there.

The Financial category is so-so (3/8).

As per usual, it appears I may have over-reached. I tend to not take into consideration the little things, like the fact that the 9 to 5 leaves an embarrassingly small amount of “fun time," or fiscal constraints. Perhaps I should add “learn how to make reachable goals” on the next 101 list.

Yes, I’ll probably do another 101 list after this one ends. I’m a weirdo like that.

Alright, 65 not-yet-completed-tasks. It’s you and me, buddy. Let’s go!

So, you wanna have a crawfish boil?

I was hesitant to say anything, in case one of the many key ingredients fell through, but now that we have a massive stock-pot chilling in our garage and Exxxtra Spicy boil mix, I'm feeling fairly confident that this party is a go.

Oh. And I already sent out the invitations, soooo...

We're kinda committed.

What have The Husband and I learned thus far?

1) There is a fierce fight over purging crawfish with salt vs without salt. No one can exactly tell me the pros of with salt (so far) but the cons are, apparently, that you'll end up with a bunch more dead bugs.

2) An 80 qt pot is tres large. Like, you could bathe a baby, and maybe a small toddler, in it large.

3) A hard plastic baby pool is a rare commodity. Who knew inflatables are taking over the world?

4) Everyone and their brother has a different cooking time for the crawfish. A gazillion years of cooking these things and no one has a set standard. Guessing the "done" time for a few mudbugs is more challenging than cooking a Thanksgiving Day turkey.

5) Finding the best place to provide your little crustaceans is tantamount to coordinating the invasion of a small country. You'll be negotiating the price per pound, the delivery time and site, the grade of your bugs and whether or not they come pre-purged.

And, we're still a bit more than one week out. Phew.

Of course, this will all be worth it once we're elbows deep in some delicious crawfish with all our favorite sides. Nom!

I’m going to install a turnstile…

… to replace our front door. This is getting serious consideration from me, but I’m not sure how it would affect the resale value. That and it would make it super easy for little critters to move right on in.

The ::dun dun dun duuuuun:: annual shindig is over and now it’s off to my little sister’s college graduation.

I’m excited. Only about 1/16 of our family will join us, but that still totals a crew of about 15 or so.

Are you ready for us, Athens?

The Husband is staying behind, so no bright idears sneaky thieves lusting after our plain-white-everyday-china-from-macy’s. La Casita will be well guarded. ;-)

Spoiled.

I'm sitting on the sofa, wine glass in hand, Grey's Anatomy re-runs on the TV and my feet up with laptop in my lap.

The Husband is cooking what smells like a verra yummy dinner while I wait.

Later this week, I'll be off for our annual conference and big event, working 4 days straight with little time off, but not tonight.

Tonight I'm spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.

And I'm loving it.

For the record...

Wet swiffering (what? it's totally a word) the kitchen floor before 7am is no way to start a Tuesday.

Just so we're clear.

In the interim, I present: my purse!

Contents:
1 camera
1 memory stick reader/USB transfer drive
1 chapstick
1 lip pencil
2 lip glosses
1 lip balm
1 lip stain/stick
1 package of blotting papers
9 first aid related items, including but not limited to:
-floss
-asprin
-shout wipe
3 highlighters:
-1 blue
-1 yellow
-1 pink
1 pencil
3 pens
1 flash drive
1 mini binder clip
1 necklace
1 hair barrette
1 pink birthday candle (slightly used)
1 driver’s license (class E)
4 coupons for 5 free wings at Plucker’s
1 parking stub (from December)
3 love notes from The Husband (awwww)
2 Visa gift cards (used)
2 Costco coupons (expired)
13 receipts (assorted)
1 Barnes and Noble gift card (not used—yet)
7 business cards (self)
4 business cards (others)
4 random notes to self
1 stack of sticky notes
$6.69 in change
$26 in cash

Missing:
1 cell phone (answers to the name Louis)
1 wallet (answers to the name Bob)

In other news, I think I'm a pretty good bet for the next time you have a scavenger hunt.

Lessons learned today (all before noon!)

1. The day you decide to replace your lost ID card will be the day that the line stretches out the door and onto the street.

2. It takes an entire family to get one 18 year old's new driver's license.

3. The state of Texas will take a new photo when you order your new replacement.

4. The state of Texas will also require you to fill out another ID application form, despite verifying that all your originally provided information is still current.

5. Despite you writing your address "Grey Fox Road," the Public Safety employees will enter it as "Greyfox Road" just because they can.*

6. Getting your replacement ID is a quick and easy way to gain an inch in height. Woohoo!

*The street name mentioned is fictional and any resemblance to your street name is purely coincidental.

I'm thisclose to taking my ball and going home.

Dear Blogger and/or Google Gods and/or Lords of These Intertubez,

What the heck, man? We had a beautiful thing going, or so I thought. I signed in every morning, glanced through my blog reader, answered e-mails and then, every so often, contributed something semi-witty to this little blog.

But lately, you've been acting a little strange... dare I say, distant? A bit passive-agressive?

You deny me access, declaring my browser incompatable, or the interweb inaccessable... You give me only a few of the editing buttons, allowing me to type but not publish or type only in the font you like, or not make clickable links at all.

You fail to update the blog reader, so I don't know what all those other bloggers are saying the minute they're saying it and oh my dear lord, do you know what that's like in this age of instant gratification?!

And now, oh Lords of These Intertubez, you've gone and yanked my access to Facebook and Twitter.

::sigh::

I mean, SRSLY. It's as though you've read through the playbook of dysfunctional high school relationships, also known as: How to Get Her to Break-up With You in 5 Easy Steps.

It's cool if you need some time alone to figure things out. I just wish you were mature enough to just say it. Yeah, I went there.

XOXO,
Ashley-cita

PS- See you tomorrow? Maybe? Call me.