Spontaneous Spouse Survey

WITHOUT ANY prompting, ask your husband/boyfriend these questions and write down EXACTLY what he says (switch the pronouns as needed to do this with your significant other or spouse! Post a link to your results in the comments below)

1. What is something your wife/girlfriend always says to you? “Honeybear…”

2. What makes her happy? “Snuggles”

3. What makes her sad? “What’s the most obvi–I guess when a character in a show dies.”

(all the tears, all over again. T^T)

4. How does she make you laugh? “Being silly”

5. What was she like as a child? “Uh… from all accounts a pain in the butt.”

6. How old is she? “You are 28.” (me: “I’m 28 NOW or TURNING 28? *starts doing math*”  Jeff: *laughs and rolls his eyes because I can never remember my age this year* “you ARE 28, you are TURNING 29.” LOL)

7. How tall is she? “Um.. 5’8? 5’6? Somewhere around there.”  (5’6″)

8. What is her favourite thing to do? “I thought you already asked that? Number 2?” me: “No, that question was ‘what makes me happy,'” Jeff: *snort of laughter* “Aren’t they the same? Snuggle?”

9. What does she do when you’re not around? “Imgur.”

10. If she becomes famous, what will it be for? *long pause* “Art.”

11. What is she really good at? (as Taz is walking on me and getting in the way) “Uh, working around your cat!”

12. What is she not very good at? (as Taz steps on the paper I’m using to jot down the answers and I’m ineffectively trying to shove him off while writing at the same time) “Working around your cat :P”

13. What does she do for a job? “What do you do for a job?  You yell at people. Usually indirectly.”

14. What is her favourite food? (no hesitation) “S’mores.”

15. What makes you proud of her? “Lots of things.  Success in your career, or really anything you try to achieve.”

16. If she were a character, who would she be? “Well that’s a broad question.  Fantasy, movie, book?  I dunno… That’s a tough one.. There’s a few on the end of my nose–tongue–whatever….I can’t think of any!  (pause) You’re very much not a one-dimensional character.  (longer pause.)  Uh. That ‘what’s a meow-meow’ girl, I guess.”

17. What do you and her do together? “Be unproductive, which may or may not include snuggling.”

18. How are you and her the same? “We’re married :P”

19. How are you and her different? “Boy and girl? Just kidding 🙂 Um.. You’re more driven than I am for physical stuff.  I’m more driven for mental stuff.”

20. How do you know she loves you? “Just your behavior. It’s rare to not see you smiling, unless you’re crying or watching TV.”

21. What does she like most about you? “Clearly my humor and wit ;)”

22. Where is her favourite place to go? “Sculpture Garden.”

source: Quennell Rothschild & Partners

Sketching, not sketchy; hotels

I guess one good thing to come out of the last week is that my muse is back. I’ve been sketching and drawing…and realising just how out of practice I really am. I’ve been enjoying myself, though, and happily sharing my works with others.  Specifically one of my guildies who keeps me supplied with ample music to draw to…

I even brought my sketch book with me to South Dakota, where Jeff and I will be helping my sister’s family move into their new house.  I’d be drawing right now except for the fact that it’s the 5 o’clock hour and Jeff is asleep. The whole room is dark, and I’m writing this from my phone.

It’s actually a shame that I’m up, but it couldn’t be helped. It’s the 3rd or 4th time I’ve been up over the course of the night. This time my back and hips made it too insufferable to go back to sleep, so here I am.

The alarm is set for 6:30am… Then I’ll be able to be productive. Even then I won’t be breaking out the pencils and paper… Oh no.. then I’ll be breaking out the fit deck and getting some stretching in.  I’ll get plenty of exercise today, but I’m hoping I won’t be in pain for most of it.

After that, breakfast is in the 7 o’clock hour, then we’ll head over to my sister’s apartment to drink coffee and wake up with the rest of the crew.  See, we could’ve stayed at my sister’s house–it was an open invitation and they’d make room.. but see, with me in my condition and getting up all night long, I opted for the comfort factor of a hotel.

I had searched on kayak and booking, as well as other discount sites, but it turned out to be cheaper to just call the hotel and ask for cheapest rates.  The hotel we originally wanted to stay at cost about $200/night…they had raised the prices for some reason compared to online.  Plus, they didn’t have anything smaller than a king suite and we really just wanted a place to rest our heads.  The reservation clerk actually referred me to a sister hotel. They had an efficiency suite, including breakfast, for less than $100/night.  I didn’t expect there to even be a refrigerator, let alone a stove!

We likely won’t have a chance to use it on this trip, but it’s nice to have the option.

It’d be nice to have the option for a nap later, too, but I don’t see that happening… T^T at least if I get too zonked, we can retreat to the hotel instead of waiting for everyone else to wind down. There’s that, at least.

K. Time to wrap up before diving into the day. Be well!

Party Rock – on a rock – in game

This weekend was 100% enjoyable.  a majority of it was spent gaming, hanging out with the family (Jeff, and our two fur-balls, Taz and Toby).  A LOT of it was spent studying because I had two exams to post for.

Breakfast this morning was Quaker Real Medleys with blueberry and banana, with a side of research.  See, I’m still dealing with chronic back pain.  Turns out, I’m doing it wrong.  When my back hurts, I feel like I can’t  exercise because of the pain.  It’s like, I can’t twist or bend, so why try?

Well, I was reading some peer reviewed articles on www.spine-health.com and one of them said that for Chronic Intractable Benign Pain (CIBP) one of the best things you can do is to exercise.

 A typical response to experiencing back pain is to take it easy – either staying in bed or at least stopping any activity that is at all strenuous. While this approach is understandable and may even be recommended in the short term, when done for more than a day or two it can actually undermine healing. Instead, active forms of back exercises are almost always necessary to rehabilitate the spine and help alleviate back pain.

Guess who’s going to the gym after work?

 

Sugar Wednesday

Today was a bit hectic. We stayed up super late last night (1am), so this morning was rough.  I had a sensible breakfast, then pizza, a sensible lunch, (salad and menacotti (sp?), then too much sugar.

Since things are stupid stressful at work, people keep bringing around doughnuts and treats, and I keep eating them. The scale reflects those decisions…

Iaido and groceries (cross post)

Yesterday was spent cleaning house and practicing iaido.  Since class us across town, and an hour and a half on its own, going to iaido takes up 3 hours. Add in getting ready to go and cooling down, well, half the day is shot.

It’s worth it, though. It’s a really enjoyable pastime. It just means Sunday becomes the chore day instead of Saturday.

Today I got the menu planning done for the week and the grocery shopping, too. I got our budget up to date, ordered my text books for school, cleaned the kitchen, visited family, and even made time to work on a drawing for a friend.

On Pinterest today, I found the idea to make your own instant oatmeal packets. To that end, I bought oats and chia seeds at the Co op today.

Crosspost from MegsfitnessPhotoTracker – Lunch: long day, short nutrition

Jeff’s family was visiting between Christmas and New Years Eve, so I’ve been scarce as far as this blog goes.  They’re gone, though, so I’m back 🙂

Today started out rough. My back hurt, and I was supposed to be to work at 9, but Taz has a worrisome sneeze, and he’s been ripping his fur out. A trip to the vet revealed no cause for the fur pulling, but his sneezing is probably feline herpes virus. His hypothyroid seems to be stabilized, but they’ll be checking his T4 anyway.

Lunch included a spicy chicken sandwich at 11, and a lunchable at 2.

Skittles and water mean my habits from 2013 haven’t but the dust just yet, but my fitness challenge says I’m trying:

Crazy little thing called love

I figured that I may as well post about our wedding planning since Valentines day is right around the corner.  This post is being brought to you via the mighty WordPress mobile app.  And sometimes my keyboard gets finicky and I end up with unresolved typos. I ask your forgiveness up front…

Just kidding, any typos are the result of fluffy fluffy paws on the keyboard.

So the latest development with wedding planning includes the conclusion of the majority of alterations on my gown.  My mom asked a friend to “take a look at it” but this friend ended up working wonders.  I was in my gown standing on a wine crate while she’s got pins at the ready. “yep and I’m just going to baste it here…” And before I could get too carried away with the mental image of her using a turkey baster in some manner she saw my look of confusion and explained what basting meant.  “oh!! Like what the mice do in Cinderella!!”

I think she needed a moment to decide whether or not to be offended, or perhaps just to recall the scene in question.. Then her face lit up and she confirmed my simile.  Diane had been just wonderful and I’d say my dress is about 98% complete.

The invitations were assembled with the help of some good friends.  My buddy Gloria has some really nice pictures of the details, but we’re waiting to release those until they’ve had time to arrive in the mail.  Once I get the first update that the invitation was received, there’ll be a flood of invitation detail pictures and descriptions posted here 🙂

We were able to go to the post office at the international airport to get the invitations mailed.  They’re the only post office I know of that’s open until 11pm on weeknights.  The clock behind Jeff’s head is accurate =P  I think it was almost 9pm by the time we were done 🙂  The cool news is that they’ve come out with a new “Global Forever” stamp that can be used to mail any 1oz letter ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD for the low low price of $1.10.

Considering we thought that the cost of mailing each Canadian invitation was going to be $6.75, we were THRILLED to discover this new stamp.  The stamps for the U.S. invitations were only $0.66 each and featured cute little cakes on them.

 

We’ve got plans for the rehearsal dinner (cupcakes will be involved!), got the measurements started for the men’s tuxes, corrupted Lori and Ross with Talenti ice cream, and got some more details worked out.  It’s honestly staggering to realize how much we’ve done and how much we still have left to do.  Things are really moving along and we’re pretty excited about it.

So, on this wedding-related note, happy Valentine’s day!  No matter where you’re at in your life-stages, take time today to reflect on things that make you happy, and the people and pets that you love.  It’s just a day for love and warm fuzzies, so I hope you catch some 🙂

Dogs vs. Cats, His Parents vs. Mine.

Whoooooooo…… *deep breath* So, Rah-rah’s parents, his brother, and Sparky (Toby’s nemisis) came down to visit from Winnipeg, MB Canada.  They got here last night.  I was GREAT last night but now I’m starting to worry a little bit.  I had been doing really well with my working out and eating right lately so I thought I’d weigh in this morning.  The scale has not budged one inch!  How are the two related?  Well–we may not have the most restaurants per capita, but it certainly seems like it.  Food is the major attraction during their visit.  Last night, we descended on Famous Dave’s in search of good barbeque. We certainly found it.  Dave’s has got the best BBQ in the area (in my opinion).  Unfortunately, they also have tasty sides that boast outrageous calories/fat.  My favorite ‘treat’ there is the cornbread muffin: 

Famous Dave’s Cornbread Muffin:
Calories 390
Total Fat 20 g
Total Carbs 48 g
Sugars 23 g
Protein 5 g

Now, considering that my total allowance for each MEAL is supposed to be 350 calories or less, last night was kind of a disaster.  I not only had the cornbread muffin, I also had some toffee chocolate chip cookies that Mrs. Roomie made, boneless chicken and a cornbread puff.

At the moment, Toby is rolling around in catnip, Mrs. Roomie is surfing the web, Rah-rah is lamenting the release date of his newest game, I am resisting the urge to eat cookies and Mr. Roomie is making waffles and sausage for brunch.

On the agenda today is touring the cities and seeing some of the landmarks.  I know we are going to see a park, a cathedral, and a computer-parts/accessories store.  Tonight’s dinner is going to be at a Brazilian Steak House, served up buffet style.  I am hoping that I can just get the salad bar and stop myself from going crazy and diving head-first into a protein coma.  It might be harder than it seems, though, because Rah-rah’s parents and my parents are meeting for the first time today.  If that’s not something to be anxious about, then I don’t know what is.

I’m excited though.  And hopeful.  Always 🙂