Tripping through fictional fancies

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce

I know, I was a big fan of books when I was a kid. Mostly fantasy books, some historical books, and even some more modern fiction books. Long after I learned to read I would still pull out the old watch sue run, run sue run, book, just for nostalgia I guess, and read it cover to cover when I was supposed to be in bed. There were some great fiction books I remember loving, some that I only remember the title and liking the book, but from what I recall, if it was fiction, there wasn't a book I picked up that I didn't like. Perhaps that is why I tend to horde them now...
In any event, I want to know, what are some of the books that you really liked as a kid? My favorite book from the earliest I can remember was a pop up book about dinosaurs. Then I found the boxcar children, the bobsey twins, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and so on and so forth, finding my way from Narnia to Goosebumps. I think my favorite Narnian tales were the Magician's Nephew, and A Horse and his boy. Now I still prefer fiction, although I tend to lean more toward a narrative tale, and have the occasional romance novel lying somewhere out of sight. We love the stories but can't bear the embarrassment... I really do enjoy a good historical piece as well, like the Shadow of the wind, set in post civil war Barcelona. A beautiful book, and then there is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, brought me to tears. Ah books. *warm fuzzies*

Piloga my Yoga!

I've been on a fitness kick for at least the past two months. My job as a nanny has been a big help for that, in that if the weather cooperates, I'll take little Mara for a walk in the stroller. Working as a nanny has really altered my perspective, well, maybe just enrichened. BJ likes to joke that when we have our first baby, I'm going to be a pro. Thank you Mara for teaching me how to take care of babies for more than a couple of hours. Seriously, I've gone with her parents for doctor's appointments, I've gone grocery shopping with them, for eight hours a day during the week, I get to be a mom. And I really really enjoy it. She's a great little baby, very calm and easy to please. And she makes me want to have one of my own, like yesterday!
So how does this baby conversation tie in with the fitness idea I just launched? It's all about preparation. I am overweight. Like a lot of people, I'm carrying around some extra poundage that I just don't need. Are you ready, I am about to shock you with this story. I am 6'2" and I know I am very overweight, although nobody else seems to think so. BJ's siblings Eric and Roxana were visiting one weekend and we were shopping in BJ's Wholesale. They found a weight scale and were taking turns weighing themselves. For those of you who are curious, Eric weighed 80 pounds. I won't tell you Roxana's, but suffice it to say she was still in the two digit area of the scale. I weighed myself, and then felt a little bit sick. 335 pounds, the heaviest I have been in my life! Now to look at me, you would not realize that I am all that heavy. I told my buddy Mary that I am a sneaky fat person, because I distribute all my extra weight well, she laughed and then there were several jokes about fat ninjas. I love that we have such similar senses of humor. The part that really got to me was BJ. He weighed himself too, and the stinker was only 270. We look pretty similar, so I was even surprised that our weights were that different.
Now, I want to have a baby relatively soon. Here's the kicker though, both my Dad, and my Grandma have diabetes. Women who are overweight when they get pregnant are almost guaranteed to get gestational diabetes, and women who are predispositioned toward it (like me) are more than likely to keep it after the baby is born. Not to mention there are all kinds of risks and developmental issues that can stem not only from gestational diabetes, but just being overweight while pregnant can cause all kinds of issues. I want our child to have the best advantages in life. Not to mention I want to be an active and healthy mom, so that hopefully the little Garmon will have a good body image and develop healthy eating habits because that's what he or she is exposed to.
I have to decided to give myself, at minimum, one year, to try and lose 100 pounds. This way it will be gradual, and safe, and less likely to rebound back on. I have bought a couple of things to help me out with this journey of mine. I went to Dick's sporting goods and picked up a good, thick pilates mat, and started doing some exercises I found on youtube. I looked into gym memberships, but to belong to the Y would cost almost $75 a month for me and BJ, and they only offer a pilates class one night a week. I looked into different pilates studios, but they were more like $20 a class, and that's just too expensive. I think that when I am pregnant, I will join a prenatal exercise class, because there will be more at stake than me just pulling a muscle, and that's well worth the cost. Until then, me, youtube, and the apartment complex fitness center are buddies.
I bought a book, called the Gabriel Method. What is interesting about the Gabriel method is that it's more about visualization than about counting calories. It talks about reasons your body may feel like it needs to be fat to protect itself, and how to get past those stumbling blocks. I, being a visual person, found the idea of imagining myself disliking certain things really interesting and decided to turn my cognitive powers on my number one foe. Coca-Cola.
For those of you who don't know, I have always been obsessed with Coca-Cola. Anytime my parents offered us a drink from the store or gas station, I was ready, 20oz of the black liquid in hand. Any time of day, morning or night, I would kick back with that red and white label, and feel my stress just melt away. After starting in on the Gabriel Method, I started thinking to myself, "Coke tastes really bad." And saw myself drinking coke and then making an icky face. After two days of this, I met BJ at a Chick-fil-A near his work, and bought, of course, a coke. Here's the interesting part, it tasted horrible to me. I couldn't believe that the idea could have worked after only two days, but I tried coke from another place and it tasted the same, icky. I had successfully turned myself off from something I had struggled with for a really long time. The next time we ate out, I ordered a sprite, no surprise here, it tasted icky. Apparently my visualization was so strong in my mind, I turned myself off from all soda products...whoa. Now I drink at least 8 bottles of water a day, if not more. I do kind of like lemonade, so I'm not at a complete loss when we eat out, but I don't want anything carbonated, and it feels, liberating.
As of last night, I weighed myself. The scale told me I weighed in at 319, and BJ is at 256. I feel pretty good about myself. Now, I just have to see if I can find a good exercise/ stability ball...

OMG, an update?!

Heh heh heh...I've been baaaad. I mean I know it's been a long time since I updated my blog, but February...seriously! *slaps self on hand* I don't remember what I have shared and what I haven't, so please forgive any repeats. I am now 26, as of March 15th, BJ turned 27 in May. I quit working at the doggy daycare, it was just too darn hot, and I couldn't get the ac to work. You know it's too hot when the dogs don't want to play, they just want to sprawl out on the concrete to keep cool. I have my awesome nanny job, which has gone to three full days a week and two half days and I love working there. The only downside is that it makes me want to have babies, like NOW! but it's not time for babies yet, I keep telling myself, house first, house first, house first. But I can't stop myself from checking out the awesome baby stuff on target and babies R us online. I told my friend Mary what I was up to, and she flipped because she thought I was pregnant. AM NOT!!! House first, house first, enjoy being newlyweds, house first.... BJ and I have been looking at foreclosed homes in the Norcross area, looking to purchase with an FHA rehabilitation loan. I've been watching diy network online and was shocked to learn that making concrete countertops is a lot like making a puppet mold, meaning...I can totally do that! And I've learned all sorts of neat stuff and eyeballing tools that I would love to give a home, but will probably end up renting. Come on, who can really spend $1,600 on that awesome table saw at the drop of a checkbook? We have an awesome realtor helping us out in our home search. It seems like the biggest problem we are coming up against is the face that an fha loan closes in 45 days, and the houses that we have made offers on told us to pay another $10k over the asking price, or that they were going to wait for a lower cash offer because it would close faster. It's disheartening, some of the houses we have really, really wanted, but we'll find a house and make it home, eventually. There are a lot of great home buyer incentives in place, especially for first time homebuyers, that we want to take advantage of, including the tax incentives for updating your home. I still have to chat with the guy over at H&R Block to get some more concrete information on the energy star tax credits, but I have time. BJ and I watched the latest Star Trek movie for his birthday, it was awesome, it was one of those movies that when the credits roll, you want to clap because it was just that cool. And I'm not even all that interested in the original star trek. When I was little I was secretly in love with Captain Picard, but don't tell. I've been raiding the local library, and studying all sorts of home supply stores. If you live in the area, and we get a house, be prepared to be called to come perform manual labor services in exchange for pizza. If the kitchen is up to speed, it may even be homemade pizza. The whole, make your own concrete countertop is definitely messing with my brain. Now that I know the process is so simple, and similar to things I have done before, the possibilites are ENDLESS! I even proposed the idea of pouring concrete pavers to replace a driveway. :P My husband is so accomodating to my wild and exciting ideas. On the career front, Synchronicity's season has come to the summer break, so no more working for them until next August, although I may not have time to do so. I am working for Essential Theatre this summer as an ASM for one of their shows, and then after that, I have been asked to be the props designer for Aurora Theatre's prduction of Buy my house, Please! Aurora Theatre, incidentally, is BJ's new place of employment. He is working for them as their new TD, and their next show is a production of Kiss me Kate, and I am so excited! 'Brush up your Shakespeare...' is my favorite song in that play, next to Too Darn hot, which is much better in the staged version than in the movie, although Life that I once led is also stellar. Ooooo, can't wait. So yeah, that is how we say, sum up. It's Summer here in Georgia and we've been in the apartment pool a couple of times already. I love swimming, and it's also really good for my back. The only think I don't enjoy, is the drops of swimmer's ear after my post swimming shower, it burns! It burns us, precious!!

I think this may result in the longest and most boring game of fetch, ever...It's very cute and inventive, as are many of the pics on icanhascheezburger.com I just polished off a tasty lunch of peanut butter and jelly and a glass of milk. Mmmm, nothing like washing down peanut butter with ice cold milk. I think I will have another glass!! Yummy! I know that most of you would expect me to be sucking down coca-cola like it's going out of production, but an impasse has been presented. BJ suggested that if I were to give up my coke addiction, we could try to pay the subscription fees for wow. Of course I have a case of coke relaxing next to the kitchen, with one out of the 32 being gone, I must ration it out to wean myself off this sweet and tasty beverage. Of course I leapt at the chance to get back into the virtual world of azeroth. I'm so happy to be playing world of warcraft again. I love playing with my newest character, the death knight. She can just keep on swinging! Now I am back to the evils of system maitenance. The world server is down for extended maitenance until, at least 3 pm. I already downloaded the latest patch on my computer and must load it onto BJ's, so that we can terrorize the computer monsters after he gets home from work. Because I work on the weekends we have decided to relocate our valentine celebrations to this Thursday. We are going to go to the movies! I'm very excited. I haven't been to the movies since I went with Mom to see Bolt in 3D when she visited before Christmas. Huzzah!!!

Poor unloved blog

I have been seriously neglecting my blog lately. And, as it seems to be one of those days to just chill out in front of a tv or computer, I might as well make something useful out of it. It's cold here in Georgia, and in a effort to save money on our gas bill, we are keeping the thermostat at a brisk 64 degrees. In attempts to stay warm and moderately comfortable, I have stripped the blanket off the bed and cocooned myself in it with a space heater occasionally running at my feet. A space heater, you may say, defeats the entire idea of saving money because you are just spending it elsewhere. Well, yes and no, we are spending money on the electricity to run the space heater, but the space heater only has to make us warm, not the whole apartment. And I frequently turn it off once I am comfortable, thus saving more money! Woot!
In other news, I have discovered that Blizzard is being very very sneaky. You can try out their latest expansion on a ten day trial if you already have an account. BJ and I both have inactive accounts because, in another heroic effort to save money, we cancelled our subscriptions and save about $30 a month. So for me, the wow junkie who has not played in about 6 months, the ten day trial = heaven!!! From what I have seen of Northrend, and all the various new things that have come out, I am mightily impressed with Blizzard. This xpac is ten to twenty times better than the old burning crusade xpac, which, while new and interesting, definitely has its flaws. So yeah...the restart should be just about finished...Catch you later!

Huzzah for Pizza!!!

I like the idea of having one set night of the week for homemade pizza. I can't decide what night it ought to be, but I'm playing with the idea at the moment. BJ and I decided we want to have one night of the week to stay in with our future children and play board games or watch a movie together. And we figured to keep from conflicting with inevitable activities, it would be during the week like a Wednesday or Thursday. So maybe that would be a good pizza night!! Last night's creation had bacon, egg, and spinach pesto. It was pretty good, but the spinach and feta pizza is still my absolute favorite.

Best Interview Ever

Ok, aside from getting to tour the Center for Puppetry Arts and seeing one of the skeksis from The Dark Crystal, I had one of the coooooolest interviews today. I interviewed for a job with a doggy daycare and the interview involved me wandering the yard with all the doggys on both sides, the small dog side and the big dog side. I had so much fun! I picked up poop and I was enjoying myself. I've got my fingers crossed in hopes of getting it, they should let me know next week. Here's to hoping!

This may sound odd but,...mmm, fermentation

Although the word fermentation used to bring a certain past roommate's hockey bag to mind, I'm reassessing how I feel about the term. Although I am not a big wine person, fermentation is the process by which many fine drinks are created. Also, the growing of yeast in delicious bread dough is considered a fermentation process. And today, yes, today, I have a new thing for fermentation. Sitting on a warm heating pad was a pot of milk and active cultures, and I have made plain YOGURT!!! Although I have yet to taste it, the thought of slurping up hot, tart yogurt is not high on my list of favorite things, it smells delicious!! Updates will come after eating said yogurt to see if this will be a process worth repeating. I certainly hope so. I've got about 8 cups of the stuff cooling off in the fridge. Made from scratch cooks unite!!!!

Yummy yummy pizza!

This one was a little different, whole wheat flour with the bread flour, and it was pretty good. It needed a little more water, but it was good. I also sprinkled mozzarella on the crust so it crisped in the oven. OOO, it was good. Spinach and artichoke with feta and mozzarella = tasty.

I heart my wii

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R98qC0fd_1w&eurl=http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/index.php?p=3&feature=player_embedded

Go there, watch it, laugh as hard as I did, and pay attention to the song lyrics.

Oooo I made a tasty pizza!

Many of you know I have a great love of pizza. I'm talking huge love of pizza. And gourmet pizzas are not only fabulously expensive, but they are also fabulously tasty. So, in my attempts to be a better housewife and cook more interesting things, I have made a delicious and tasty spinach and feta pizza. I already know what I am going to fiddle with for the next time I make this delightful dish, and I am really excited! Yummy pizza!!

Furniture and fresh bread totally go hand in hand

BJ and I got really lucky the other day with the free section on craigslist, as you all know. We had been keeping our clothes in some very functional, and very plastic, drawers we had gotten from Wal mart. As I promised pictures of the new furniture, even though it has yet to be refinished, here you are!!! The most exciting aspect of the furniture has to be the fact that it is solid wood. So, when there is time and warm weather, a possible stain may be applied, and we're definitely getting some new hardware. In other news I accomplished a new baking feat last night. I made a loaf of honey oatmeal bread. As far as I can tell the only bad choice I made was not checking it before time. It is a little bit scorched on the outside, but just a wee. It really didn't need a full 40 minutes to cook in our oven. But, it is delicious. The husband and I chowed down on it last night while it was still warm, and it tasted heavenly. It's no surprise we ate half the loaf before we stopped and enjoyed the warm glowy feeling of good food. Yummy. I promised Kelso that I would share the recipe with her, and by the way this came from a library book called, the weekend baker. I made this in my stand mixer, but I'm putting in the make by hand instructions for others benefit. Enjoy!Honey oatmeal bread, makes 1 loaf

1 1/4 cups whole milk (I used 1 % and I don't think it suffered)
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, not instant
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon melted for glazing, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1/3 cup honey
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I love using king arthur organic flour)
1 packet instant yeast

1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in the oats, the 3 TBS of butter and the salt. Cover and set aside, stirring frequently until the oatmeal is soft. (Now, I thought it would actually make oatmeal from these instructions, but the whole point is just to soften up those rolled oats. Don't despair, it takes about 20 minutes for it to soften up.) Then stir in the honey. (I have an electric kettle, so I will frequently heat some water and then pour it over my honey container to heat up and soften the honey. It makes it easier to pour and mix if it's already hot.)

2. In a large bowl combine the flour and yeast. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended. (Officially out of my territory. I used my stand mixer from here on in, but I will try to provide insight when possible.)

3. Check the temperature of the oatmeal, it should register about 120 degrees on an instant read thermometer. (I used a meat thermometer to check mine.) In order for the yeast to grow, the liquid needs to be between 115 and 125 degrees. Add the warm oatmeal to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a rough, shaggy dough forms. Lightly dust a work surface with a little flour. Dump the dough onto the surface. (It really does look a little shaggy. It clings to the sides of the bowl as it mixes and almost looks like shaggy hair.)

4. Knead the dough with your hands. It will be sticky at first, but resist the urge to add more flour. First, gather the dough together. Next, using the heel of one hand, push the top part of the dough away from you. Fold that piece over the dough nearest you. Give the dough a quarter turn clockwise and repeat. Keep on kneading until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. (It took 10 minutes in my stand mixer and then really wasn't all that sticky, it was kind of cool.)

5. Lightly grease a bowl and pop the dough into it. Cover the top securely with plastic wrap. The author likes to use a big rubber band to secure it to the bowl. Let the covered dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size. About 45 minutes. (All right, back to my experience realm, I grease the bowl with a tablespoon or two of canola oil. Other bread recipes I have made have asked for it specifically. I roll it around the bowl until it coats the sides and then plop the dough in, rolling it over to coat it in the oil. Other recipes have told me to do this with bread dough, I think it helps keep the heat in for the yeast to grow or something. I just cover the bowl with plastic wrap and don't worry about making it super tight, just as long as it holds is fine in my book. I ran the microwave for a minute with nothing in it and then put the bowl in there, so it was nice and warm. There are alternatives though, I did something different when I had to let it rise a second time. I have heard another person sets up a heating pad on high and puts it under the bowl. Something I would love to try, but I have no heating pad. I just set a timer for 45 minutes thinking if it got a little bigger than that, it wouldn't be much of an issue.)

6. Lightly grease a loaf pan, 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches. (I use a silicon loaf pan, so no greasing for me!) Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface, there is no need to flour, the dough is soft but not sticky, and press down gently to deflate it. (I got oil all over my counter, so be prepared to clean up. I think it kept the dough from sticking though, so no complaints here. You're really just trying to squish out the extra air, so be gentle and lightly press down with steady pressure.)
Press the dough into a 7-by-10 inch rectangle. Starting at the short side, roll up like a jelly roll. Pinch the bottom and side seams closed. Place the dough on the counter, seam side down, and perpendicular to you. Using the outside edge of your slightly curved palms, press gently but firmly on the bottom seam until the dough forms a smooth rectangle 8 inches long with a rounded, taut skinned top. (I realize now I should have taken more pictures.) Place the dough, seam side down into the prepared pan. Press the dough to flatten and fill the pan in an even layer.

7. Cover the pan loosely, to allow for rising, with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes. The center of the dough will rise about 1 1/2 inches above the rim of the pan. (I ran my oven for a couple of minutes on warm and then turned it off. I put the loaf in covered with the same plastic wrap I had used on the bowl, lightly as it says to keep it from compressing your rising loaf. I just set a timer again for 45 minutes and let it run.)

8. When ready to bake, position an oven rack on the middle rung. (I did this before since I wanted it to rise in the oven.) Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the plastic and, using a very sharp knife or razor blade, cut a slit about 1/2 inch deep down the center of the loaf traveling it's length. (This will give it that heart shape on the top.) Bake until the loaf is puffed and browned, about 40 minutes. (Check it, mine was burned at 40 minutes) Transfer the pan to a rack and brush the top with the melted butter, if using. This will keep the top soft and especially buttery. (I totally did the butter glaze and it tastes really really good.) Tip the cooked loaf onto a rack and remove the pan. Set the loaf on its side and let cool completely. (I enjoyed mine by schmearing it with butter. Yum!)

Mmmm, food blog makes me drool.

Aspiring baker / chef that I am, I've been oogling some food blogs today. You'll find some linked down on the side, and others, oh the others...I want to eat my computer screen, seriously.

Oh bagel I cooked in my toaster, why are you not as good as panera?

Lately I find myself fighting my consumerist nature. I want everything to be mine! I want to go to panera and buy bagel, and go to starbucks and but chocolatey coffee drinks, and buy new games to play on my ds, and buy books, lots of books! *Hyperventilating... I don't know what brought on this rash feeling of, buy buy buy, but I am holding back as much as I can. I bought some cinnamon bagels while I was at BJ's, they just can't taste as good as panera bagels, with their tasty hazelnut cream cheese...*sigh I am still hunting the job market. I got really excited when the store manager of woodcraft said to come in and fill out an application. What he didn't bother telling me is that they don't need any help right now. They're going to hold on to my application in case they need help in the future. Deep sadness and disappointment affliction. I imagine they will file it away, maybe in the drawer marked to be shredded. I did actually end up getting a new game for my DS. BJ suggested I find a fun ds game that I would be cool with playing for a few hours at a time while he plays final fantasy, which is a one player, on the PS2. Hoo boy does my thumb ache after last night's fun. I got Super Mario brothers for the DS and it...is...AWESOME! I love it. It combines classic mario play with outstanding graphics, and nostalgic little nods back to the original mario brothers. At the end of each level you jump on a flag pole, and go in a wee little castle, and when they shoot off fireworks, it's the same sound effect from the original game. OH I LOVE MY DS!!!! I am reminding myself, a lot, that the whole point of buying that game was for me to play it when BJ is playing a one player so we can still hang out. Because otherwise, I would be playing it, right...now.
In other news I have to go to the hardware store today. BJ and I struck gold on craigslist and picked up a solid wood dresser and two night stands. Although we will not be sanding and refinishing them for a while, think next relocation move, they have excellent potential, and aside from a few cosmetic defects, are in excellent shape. Some of the joints are coming apart on the drawers, so I must get some wood glue and clamp them while they dry, but all the drawer tracks are in great shape, we have real wood furniture, not laminate and particle board, and did I mention they were free? I may have to wander into the drawer and cabinet pull aisle once I pick up some wood glue. Although we won't be replacing the hardware for a while, a girl can dream, right?

Ravelry...weeeeee

Tonight I made a gateau breton, or otherwise known as a Brittany butter cake. It came out much like I think it was suppossed too, so it was a success! It's very much a cross between a cake and a pastry. It's a little dry for cake, but a little dense for pastry. It's nice and crumbly on the outside, which makes it perfect with vanilla ice cream and strawberries. Yum! I joined a knitting community known as ravelry and decided to pick a more daring project than just a scarf. I am going to make...Mitts!!! Hopefully. I picked up my dpn's (double point needles) at the local hobby lobby, and decided to do some web sluething. I have since joined an atlanta area knitting group and learned of several, very cool, independent knitting shops I have in easy driving distance. I love living so close to Atlanta. One of which I must investigate is Knitch...it's got a really cool web site, so google it and be jealous! I'm trying to decide if I am really interested in spinning in that whole, hey I could totally do that kind of way, or the hey, that's really cool to look at kind of way...*sigh. I have also determined I want to make another list of 2009, of movies I will be watching whether they be on tv, at home on disc, or in movie theatres. Bwahahahaha...now, how do I start this whole knitting in the round thing again...

What an interesting idea!

My friend Kelso mentioned something she did when she was younger at her mother's request. She told her to keep track of all the books she read in a year. I think this is a wonderful idea! And, without further ado, I plan to keep a running list on the sidebar of all the books I read this year. We'll see how this goes, but I am excited! I wonder if I started the book in 2008, can I still claim it on the 2009 list? Hmmm. In other news, my case of the plauge has receeded a good bit. I bow before the goodness of medicinal tea as the other medecines were just making me feel worse. I heart my yogi tea, and I heart my gypsy cold care. :)