1. I ate a lot of vegetables last week and I felt the effects within a matter of days. Good ones I mean. I just FEEL better.
2. The little cans of V8 juice are the way to go. You can chug it (only if it's cold, think of it like beer--no way am I drinking either one warm) and then casually drink a giant glass of water and be good to go. The soda can size of V8 will make you feel gross and then you'll feel bloated after the glass of water.
3. People in Texas like to power wash things. Sidewalks, roofs, cars, whatever.
4. Bart's fish fry events somehow induce the best conversations, a very small percentage of which are appropriate to then relate to your mom the next day.
5. I think I might delete my MySpace and just go with Facebook.
6. The thing keeping me from deleting my MySpace is the ease with which I can find new music.
7. I need some more candles for the apartment.
8. Tomorrow I am going to see the Spurs play and hopefully narrow down my choice for favorite player.
9. Sunday nights I cannot fall asleep at a decent hour. Ever.
10. My bedroom is always my favorite place to be wherever I live.
11. I can read blogs all day on my computer or sit and type for hours at a time, but forget about watching a tv show or playing with You Tube. I lose interest after about five minutes.
12. It's been a good year since Starbucks discontinued almond syrup and I still haven't found a proper replacement as my favorite drink.
13. I don't like being one of those people who gets the same drink (coffee or alcoholic) every time.
14. Even so, my adult beverage of choice usually involves vodka and my jags of getting the same thing can run for a good amount of time.
15. I need a job. I don't know where to look any more. I know something is out there, but this is a very frustrating process.
16. I would really like to write a book some day, about my life.
17. K, his sister, and I are seeing Coldplay in June!
18. There is currently a big pot of chicken on the stove so I can make some chicken and dumplings before it gets too hot around here to even want to eat it.
19. My next cooking adventure involves tofu. I want to cook it in some tasty manner to add to a salad.
20. I'm growing out my hair.
21. My sister's kids are not good at taking naps. There is just way too much stuff they NEED to do.
22. I love my cell phone.
23. Rearranging your living room can make a huge difference.
24. K gives very sweet back rubs.
25. It has been way too long since my last bubble bath.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
nephew break
And for a break from the serious:
My nephew went into my sister's room last night saying he couldn't sleep because Jesus was talking too much. She sent him back to bed and when he crawled back into bed, she heard his prayer bear say "Now I lay me down to sleep..." He threw his hands in the air and said "SEE?!" Jesus kept talking to him because he kept rolling over onto the prayer bear. My sister moved the bear to the dresser so all should be okay.
Little kid logic and explanations are the best, especially when you let them tell you the entire story and answer all your questions.
My nephew went into my sister's room last night saying he couldn't sleep because Jesus was talking too much. She sent him back to bed and when he crawled back into bed, she heard his prayer bear say "Now I lay me down to sleep..." He threw his hands in the air and said "SEE?!" Jesus kept talking to him because he kept rolling over onto the prayer bear. My sister moved the bear to the dresser so all should be okay.
Little kid logic and explanations are the best, especially when you let them tell you the entire story and answer all your questions.
health, weight, exercise, blechh
Well, I feel strangely accomplished tonight. I went to the grocery store instead of driving thru someplace and ended up with a really fantastic salad. The dark green and red lettuce mix, baby shrimp, green apples, avocado, dried cranberries, and balsamic vinegarette I have some food for tomorrow which is nice and a variety of V8 products. I'm starting a new diet that focuses on grains, fruits, and vegetables. It will be an adjustment as quite frankly I just like stuff that's fried and otherwise high caloric, but I really need to do this.
I feel like I've posted entries like this before where I talk about all the reasons why I need to eat better, exercise more, and lose weight and then I say this time is for real. So let me just say that this time I feel a lot more determined than the last time I started Weight Watchers and I am more focused on making more permanent changes to my diet and exercise habits.
So, I'm rearranging my living room and dining room. I'm basically flipping it. The little nook by the kitchen where you put your kitchen table is going to have the tv and futon and maybe a book shelf. The bigger part, the living room, is going to have the desk, the kitchen table, and the big huge book shelves that are already in there because I would like to avoid moving those if I can. But the ultimate goal is to have more room to put an exercise dvd in and be able to actually move around. I think the side bonus is going to be taking some time to really put stuff in places it can actually belong. My living room has been a mess lately because there's a lot of little things that just get put here and there because it just happens to fit there for the time being. I would like to have more defined spots for stuff.
The other side affect, hopefully, will be an apartment that is once again easy to invite people over to at a moment's notice. I think just sitting and watching tv will be a little more comfortable since there is now a ceiling fan above the futon so that will be nice this summer. But since the main part of the non-bedroom part of the apartment will be all nice and open, that will encourage me to take advantage of that rather than flopping on the couch.
I'm concerned about my blood pressure and cholesterol. Quite honestly, I am also concerned about how I look. Last weekend my mom really graciously bought me some new clothes and they are really cute and perfect for job interviews or doing Mary Kay parties or anything else I need to look professional and all put together for. The way it used to be, I'd buy clothes that had bigger sizes than I wanted to admit I needed to wear but I'd look in the mirror and think I was doing pretty good with what I had. These clothes are fantastic, but when I look in the mirror, now I honestly just see a fat girl with really cute clothes. I would like to look in the mirror and see cute clothes and a girl who is healthy. I can't see my blood pressure or cholesterol, but by making the changes with this diet (it's called the DASH diet and it's really reasonable and not some kind of fad thing--Weight Watchers is awesome but I just can't afford it right now for the record) I know they will be in much better shape.
So that's where I'm at this week. Might as well be doing something productive while I'm waiting to hear back on the kajillion job applications I've turned in. :)
I feel like I've posted entries like this before where I talk about all the reasons why I need to eat better, exercise more, and lose weight and then I say this time is for real. So let me just say that this time I feel a lot more determined than the last time I started Weight Watchers and I am more focused on making more permanent changes to my diet and exercise habits.
So, I'm rearranging my living room and dining room. I'm basically flipping it. The little nook by the kitchen where you put your kitchen table is going to have the tv and futon and maybe a book shelf. The bigger part, the living room, is going to have the desk, the kitchen table, and the big huge book shelves that are already in there because I would like to avoid moving those if I can. But the ultimate goal is to have more room to put an exercise dvd in and be able to actually move around. I think the side bonus is going to be taking some time to really put stuff in places it can actually belong. My living room has been a mess lately because there's a lot of little things that just get put here and there because it just happens to fit there for the time being. I would like to have more defined spots for stuff.
The other side affect, hopefully, will be an apartment that is once again easy to invite people over to at a moment's notice. I think just sitting and watching tv will be a little more comfortable since there is now a ceiling fan above the futon so that will be nice this summer. But since the main part of the non-bedroom part of the apartment will be all nice and open, that will encourage me to take advantage of that rather than flopping on the couch.
I'm concerned about my blood pressure and cholesterol. Quite honestly, I am also concerned about how I look. Last weekend my mom really graciously bought me some new clothes and they are really cute and perfect for job interviews or doing Mary Kay parties or anything else I need to look professional and all put together for. The way it used to be, I'd buy clothes that had bigger sizes than I wanted to admit I needed to wear but I'd look in the mirror and think I was doing pretty good with what I had. These clothes are fantastic, but when I look in the mirror, now I honestly just see a fat girl with really cute clothes. I would like to look in the mirror and see cute clothes and a girl who is healthy. I can't see my blood pressure or cholesterol, but by making the changes with this diet (it's called the DASH diet and it's really reasonable and not some kind of fad thing--Weight Watchers is awesome but I just can't afford it right now for the record) I know they will be in much better shape.
So that's where I'm at this week. Might as well be doing something productive while I'm waiting to hear back on the kajillion job applications I've turned in. :)
Monday, March 16, 2009
yellow
I love Coldplay. I have all their albums and have been a fan from the first time I heard the song "Yellow." It was just very sweet and simple to me which is always the best kind of love song. Even though Chris Martin recently admitted he has no idea what that song is about, I still adore it. It just makes me happy.
I remember when it came out talking with my friend August and telling her how I wish I had a boyfriend and he'd pick that song to be our song and it would just be deliciously romantic and cheesy but great. She said it could be our song. And from August, that wasn't weird or anything. One time she goosed me when she came to visit me at work and my first thought was "I hope that's August" not "Why the hell is someone grabbing my butt cheek like that?!" Which I guess doesn't really explain much why it's okay... I don't know.
Anyway, K just got a new cell phone. He's all kinds of excited about it and is slowly getting used to all the new features it has. He showed me that he gave me my own ringtone. It's "Yellow" by Coldplay.
I don't even care if he remembered me telling that story or not. I think I'm a lucky girl to have such a sweet boyfriend.
I remember when it came out talking with my friend August and telling her how I wish I had a boyfriend and he'd pick that song to be our song and it would just be deliciously romantic and cheesy but great. She said it could be our song. And from August, that wasn't weird or anything. One time she goosed me when she came to visit me at work and my first thought was "I hope that's August" not "Why the hell is someone grabbing my butt cheek like that?!" Which I guess doesn't really explain much why it's okay... I don't know.
Anyway, K just got a new cell phone. He's all kinds of excited about it and is slowly getting used to all the new features it has. He showed me that he gave me my own ringtone. It's "Yellow" by Coldplay.
I don't even care if he remembered me telling that story or not. I think I'm a lucky girl to have such a sweet boyfriend.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
super auntie!
This week I am watching the babies. I will always refer to them as "the babies" even though they are now five and four and would be indignant to hear themselves referred to as anything besides "kids" or basically not babies.
I am used to getting up early and having a full day but I am not used to having days as quite as full as these past few have been. My niece and nephew are very good at playing with each other and entertaining themselves but since I'm here, they want new and exciting things to do. So far I believe I have met the challenge. There has been fort building, bike riding, backyard lap running, book reading, movie watching, hiding and seeking, thank you note writing, picture drawing, back rubs, and lots and lots and lots of laughter. This has equaled out to me being EXHAUSTED at the end of the day.
So far, I think my favorite thing that happened was yesterday. In the morning, we made a ginormous fort and they had tons of fun hiding out in it with their stuffed animals. Then I realized it was still kind of cool outside and it would be a perfect time to get some bike riding in so we went off to do that. I took them to one of the courts so they could ride around and I wouldn't have to run so much. My niece likes to go super fast (and luckily laughs her head off when she falls) and my nephew is still having a little trouble understanding that if he pedals backwards he's hitting the brakes. So we're riding and riding and they both are getting tired so we start heading back to the house. My niece says to me "Auntie! After we get back home, you can put us back in our cage!" Of course her little voice echoed through the neighborhood. I tried to say just as loudly that it was a FORT not a cage, but mostly I'm hoping everyone was just at work.
I keep telling them I have super powers. We played Hide and Seek yesterday and they both literally walked right past me in two different rounds so I told them obviously I can turn invisible. And today I made them toad in a hole and I think that may have just sealed the deal. Who knew an egg cooked in the middle of a piece of bread would be such a big deal?
I am used to getting up early and having a full day but I am not used to having days as quite as full as these past few have been. My niece and nephew are very good at playing with each other and entertaining themselves but since I'm here, they want new and exciting things to do. So far I believe I have met the challenge. There has been fort building, bike riding, backyard lap running, book reading, movie watching, hiding and seeking, thank you note writing, picture drawing, back rubs, and lots and lots and lots of laughter. This has equaled out to me being EXHAUSTED at the end of the day.
So far, I think my favorite thing that happened was yesterday. In the morning, we made a ginormous fort and they had tons of fun hiding out in it with their stuffed animals. Then I realized it was still kind of cool outside and it would be a perfect time to get some bike riding in so we went off to do that. I took them to one of the courts so they could ride around and I wouldn't have to run so much. My niece likes to go super fast (and luckily laughs her head off when she falls) and my nephew is still having a little trouble understanding that if he pedals backwards he's hitting the brakes. So we're riding and riding and they both are getting tired so we start heading back to the house. My niece says to me "Auntie! After we get back home, you can put us back in our cage!" Of course her little voice echoed through the neighborhood. I tried to say just as loudly that it was a FORT not a cage, but mostly I'm hoping everyone was just at work.
I keep telling them I have super powers. We played Hide and Seek yesterday and they both literally walked right past me in two different rounds so I told them obviously I can turn invisible. And today I made them toad in a hole and I think that may have just sealed the deal. Who knew an egg cooked in the middle of a piece of bread would be such a big deal?
Friday, March 6, 2009
shameless plug
I just started my own Mary Kay business and I need some help getting started!
First of all, if you want to just straight up buy some product, you can go to my web site at:
www.marykay.com/melissamcneil
If you live in the area, I will deliver it. If you do not live in the area, I will ship it to you, free of charge.
Secondly, if you live in the San Antonio area and you have skin and some time this weekend or next week, please call or email me. I would love to give you a free facial. If you have a few people who are interested, we can also set up a skin care class. In either case, you and your friends (as the case my be) will get to try out Mary Kay products and I'll give you some samples to take home. I am just trying to get some practice in my presentations. I absolutely love the Timewise skin care line and think everyone should just get a chance to try it for themselves. Don't worry about buying anything. I just need you and a little bit of time so I can get some more confidence!
Thirdly, if you do not live in the San Antonio area and would like a free catalog with some samples inside, contact me and give me your snail mail address. I'll get you on my list!
I'm excited about this venture! Please help me get off to a perfect start. :)
First of all, if you want to just straight up buy some product, you can go to my web site at:
www.marykay.com/melissamcneil
If you live in the area, I will deliver it. If you do not live in the area, I will ship it to you, free of charge.
Secondly, if you live in the San Antonio area and you have skin and some time this weekend or next week, please call or email me. I would love to give you a free facial. If you have a few people who are interested, we can also set up a skin care class. In either case, you and your friends (as the case my be) will get to try out Mary Kay products and I'll give you some samples to take home. I am just trying to get some practice in my presentations. I absolutely love the Timewise skin care line and think everyone should just get a chance to try it for themselves. Don't worry about buying anything. I just need you and a little bit of time so I can get some more confidence!
Thirdly, if you do not live in the San Antonio area and would like a free catalog with some samples inside, contact me and give me your snail mail address. I'll get you on my list!
I'm excited about this venture! Please help me get off to a perfect start. :)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
spring break!
Next week is my Spring Break and it is also the babies' Spring Break. My sister and I somehow struck a deal involving my mom where I will go to my parent's house every day and she will bring the my niece and nephew and the three of us will have grand adventures Monday through Friday. Am I insane? Yes. Do I anticipate being exhausted at the end of each day? Yes. Am I fantastically excited? Yes I am.
I adore those two and I am excited to take a gazillion pictures and have even more stories at the end of the week. I have a list of things we can do and hopefully pieces of it are just new enough to them that they will start to call me Super Auntie. Okay, maybe not really, but I will say that when I get my doctorate some day, I will be like Dr. Jill Biden and have no qualms about preferring people call me Dr. Maybe they will call me Dr. Auntie.
I have baked cupcakes with them a couple of times and really, once was enough to know this is not going to be included on my list of possible activities. It is enough to suddenly be in charge of a 5 year old and 4 year old for a week, it is another to willingly subject yourself to the sugar highs of a 5 and 4 year old. My niece asked me on Saturday if we could make cupcakes. This is how the rest of the conversation went:
"No, I don't think we can make cupcakes. We'll see, but what if we make pizza from scratch one day?"
"Scratch pizza? What's that?"
"Pizza FROM scratch. It means you start with nothing and make something! We'll make the dough and then put the sauce and cheese on top. What do you think?"
"Auntie, how do you know how to do that?"
"Because I have a list of magic recipes."
Immediately turning to my sister...
"Mommy! Auntie said we can make scratch pizza because she has MAGIC POWERS!"
It truly will be a fantastic week. :)
I adore those two and I am excited to take a gazillion pictures and have even more stories at the end of the week. I have a list of things we can do and hopefully pieces of it are just new enough to them that they will start to call me Super Auntie. Okay, maybe not really, but I will say that when I get my doctorate some day, I will be like Dr. Jill Biden and have no qualms about preferring people call me Dr. Maybe they will call me Dr. Auntie.
I have baked cupcakes with them a couple of times and really, once was enough to know this is not going to be included on my list of possible activities. It is enough to suddenly be in charge of a 5 year old and 4 year old for a week, it is another to willingly subject yourself to the sugar highs of a 5 and 4 year old. My niece asked me on Saturday if we could make cupcakes. This is how the rest of the conversation went:
"No, I don't think we can make cupcakes. We'll see, but what if we make pizza from scratch one day?"
"Scratch pizza? What's that?"
"Pizza FROM scratch. It means you start with nothing and make something! We'll make the dough and then put the sauce and cheese on top. What do you think?"
"Auntie, how do you know how to do that?"
"Because I have a list of magic recipes."
Immediately turning to my sister...
"Mommy! Auntie said we can make scratch pizza because she has MAGIC POWERS!"
It truly will be a fantastic week. :)
Friday, February 27, 2009
ta-da!
I am now a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. You can check out my web site at
www.marykay.com/melissamcneil! You should totally tell your friends. :)
www.marykay.com/melissamcneil! You should totally tell your friends. :)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
as the world turns
Okay, I have a job. I'm keeping it for the time being. I'm a personal assistant. That's the best way to put it because I do a very wide variety of things that you can categorize but it's pieces of each here and there throughout the day/week. We'll see how it all turns out... My main goal is to be able to pay all my bills and sock enough money away to pay for summer session classes just straight out of pocket. I have some other possibilities in the works too that I think may work out really well.
In other news, I now have plans for spring break. I am taking care of the babies while my sister and bro-in-law work that week. We have arranged it with my mom that my sis will bring the kids to her house and I will take care of them there. Just call me Super Auntie! And pray for me. I will be in charge of a five year old and a four year old. I don't know what I've gotten myself into... Actually I think it will be a lot of fun. If we bake cupcakes or something sugar filled, it will be on Friday after nap/rest time. I am going to try to plan some fun things like making a little obstacle course in the back yard to run around and doing things like having them help me make lunch (pbj or sprinkling the cheese on a tortilla for a quesadilla, that kind of thing). I'm going to cut sandwiches into fantastic shapes and bring some books to read to them and plan on definitely getting some exercise in running around with them and helping them ride bikes. If anyone has any ideas for ways to entertain kids while staying mostly at home or doing things that are very low cost, let me know!
My grandmother is in the hospital with an infection of an undetermined origin. She's hopped up on pain killers and antibiotics and feeling much better, but still has been admitted to the hospital. I am a little worried about her, but mostly I just want her to not be in pain and to have the life she wants to have. I have thought for quite awhile now that she is much sicker than she has really told anyone because she is much sicker than she is ready to admit to herself. Up until yesterday or the day before, she was still able to carry on her day to day business without any problem. I hope that the doctors are able to figure out what's going on so she can just go back to her normal schedule. It's so hard to say how healthy she really is. She has bounced back from quite a bit, but there is definitely something going on with at least her liver that just isn't right. Hopefully I'll be able to make a post soon that says she's just fine and has made plane reservations for sometime in July to come see my new niece.
My apartment is kind of a disaster area, so I need to get on that while I have the time and energy to actually do a good job. :)
In other news, I now have plans for spring break. I am taking care of the babies while my sister and bro-in-law work that week. We have arranged it with my mom that my sis will bring the kids to her house and I will take care of them there. Just call me Super Auntie! And pray for me. I will be in charge of a five year old and a four year old. I don't know what I've gotten myself into... Actually I think it will be a lot of fun. If we bake cupcakes or something sugar filled, it will be on Friday after nap/rest time. I am going to try to plan some fun things like making a little obstacle course in the back yard to run around and doing things like having them help me make lunch (pbj or sprinkling the cheese on a tortilla for a quesadilla, that kind of thing). I'm going to cut sandwiches into fantastic shapes and bring some books to read to them and plan on definitely getting some exercise in running around with them and helping them ride bikes. If anyone has any ideas for ways to entertain kids while staying mostly at home or doing things that are very low cost, let me know!
My grandmother is in the hospital with an infection of an undetermined origin. She's hopped up on pain killers and antibiotics and feeling much better, but still has been admitted to the hospital. I am a little worried about her, but mostly I just want her to not be in pain and to have the life she wants to have. I have thought for quite awhile now that she is much sicker than she has really told anyone because she is much sicker than she is ready to admit to herself. Up until yesterday or the day before, she was still able to carry on her day to day business without any problem. I hope that the doctors are able to figure out what's going on so she can just go back to her normal schedule. It's so hard to say how healthy she really is. She has bounced back from quite a bit, but there is definitely something going on with at least her liver that just isn't right. Hopefully I'll be able to make a post soon that says she's just fine and has made plane reservations for sometime in July to come see my new niece.
My apartment is kind of a disaster area, so I need to get on that while I have the time and energy to actually do a good job. :)
Monday, February 16, 2009
i think this is what i'm going to do
Mondays will be either a movie review or a list of facts you may or may not know about me. I would like to be watching more movies than I have been lately but time is the main factor. What can I say? I'm a busy working woman. So here you are:
1. I typically have two or more open bottles of lotion that I am using and they also tend to be scattered throughout my apartment.
2. I am addicted to Carmex. But it keeps my lips kissable and it's cheap!
3. I can handle a lot of body fluids and stages of people being sick but the thing that never fails to gross me out is snot or listening to someone tell me about an operations on the nose or sinuses. I have no idea why this is.
4. The addition of almonds or almond extract/flavor to almost anything makes it better.
5. I wish my hair was longer again already.
6. I love the Spurs. This season I am working on choosing a favorite player and hopefully going to at least one more game. Next season I will start to learn about stats. And the season after that, I may very well be a full fledged basketball fanatic.
7. Lately I have been really proud of myself for politely holding my ground on things.
8. Lately I have been noticing how jobs I've had before have all added up to me being the person I am with the confidence I have and the feeling that I have the right to politely speak up and call someone on their bullshit immediately instead of waiting a few days to figure out the right way to do it.
9. I have more respect for the Buddhist/Muslim/Jew/Hindu who practices their religion to the best of their ability than I do for a Christian who loudly proclaims they do and turns around and acts un-Christlike on a regular basis.
10. Yoga still makes me happy, from my very core.
11. I think gas is hilarious. Burping and farting totally make me giggle much to my boyfriend's consternation. I try to keep my own gas to myself because, after all, I am a lady.
12. I could eat Japanese food every day and not get tired of it.
13. I never ordered pizza for delivery before living in this apartment.
14. It irritates me irrationally when people add an extra "s" to things. It's Barnes and Noble. Not Barnes and Noble's.
15. My mom has an unusual first name and so my whole life I have unconsciously always made an effort to know people's names, preferred nicknames, and the correct spelling of all of the above.
1. I typically have two or more open bottles of lotion that I am using and they also tend to be scattered throughout my apartment.
2. I am addicted to Carmex. But it keeps my lips kissable and it's cheap!
3. I can handle a lot of body fluids and stages of people being sick but the thing that never fails to gross me out is snot or listening to someone tell me about an operations on the nose or sinuses. I have no idea why this is.
4. The addition of almonds or almond extract/flavor to almost anything makes it better.
5. I wish my hair was longer again already.
6. I love the Spurs. This season I am working on choosing a favorite player and hopefully going to at least one more game. Next season I will start to learn about stats. And the season after that, I may very well be a full fledged basketball fanatic.
7. Lately I have been really proud of myself for politely holding my ground on things.
8. Lately I have been noticing how jobs I've had before have all added up to me being the person I am with the confidence I have and the feeling that I have the right to politely speak up and call someone on their bullshit immediately instead of waiting a few days to figure out the right way to do it.
9. I have more respect for the Buddhist/Muslim/Jew/Hindu who practices their religion to the best of their ability than I do for a Christian who loudly proclaims they do and turns around and acts un-Christlike on a regular basis.
10. Yoga still makes me happy, from my very core.
11. I think gas is hilarious. Burping and farting totally make me giggle much to my boyfriend's consternation. I try to keep my own gas to myself because, after all, I am a lady.
12. I could eat Japanese food every day and not get tired of it.
13. I never ordered pizza for delivery before living in this apartment.
14. It irritates me irrationally when people add an extra "s" to things. It's Barnes and Noble. Not Barnes and Noble's.
15. My mom has an unusual first name and so my whole life I have unconsciously always made an effort to know people's names, preferred nicknames, and the correct spelling of all of the above.
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