weekend summary

So, I'm going to get the P90x talk out of the way.  We are finished with day 5 and I can honestly say that I like it, though I'm pretty sure Rob hates it. So far, I have found yoga x the most undesirable.  It is 95 minutes of agony.  Plank to upward dog x 45 minutes is the bane of my existence.

Moving on.

This weekend has been pretty crazy. We ran so many errands this weekend getting groceries and equipment we needed for the coming days in the program.  We spontaneously made an eye appointment for Rob in Mason so that took up four hours of Saturday.  Also half my week's wages. Plus side: we got to stop over at Rob's parents for a little bit and visit.  At Christmas, Jane (my mother-in-law) showed us the crocheted afghan she was working on and when we stopped in on Saturday, we got to take it home.  It is seriously so pretty, and I love it!  The colors are awesome.  She is very talented!

 

Today was less hectic than yesterday, but we still were out a bit.  I got my car washed, we picked up a capo for Rob's guitar, ate Chipotle (we attempted to make it P90x friendly), and went to Target.  When we got home we did our workout and I got to work on the lemon garlic chicken from the nutrition guide.  I was worried because when it started baking it smelled way too strong and pretty terrible, but luckily it did not taste the way it smelled, ha.

Oh!  And I made Rob take pictures with me in our little backyard today.  I know he loves that sooo much.

And lastly, my latest drawing.  I thought about not posting it because I don't like it too much.  The polar bear cubs look a little weird.  Whatevs.  It was also too big to scan so I had to take a picture of it.

 

I have some creative ideas floating around in my head but I do not feel like I have enough time or energy lately to actually do anything about it.  Hopefully that changes soon.  

Oh!  And lastly, Freelance Whales.  Have you heard this band?!  They don't have any official video that I know of for the song I want to share, but they are wonderful.  Our favorite song from them is "Broken Horse".  It sounds very Sufjan Stevens-esque and is pretty,pretty, pretty.  Basically I'm saying to go HERE and buy this album now.  The end.

 

End post.

nanny diaries?

Why do I always hate Thursday the most?  It always seems to suck more than the first three days of the work week.  Probably because my patience is wearing thin and I just want it to be the freaking weekend already.

I feel like little girl is doing everything she can lately to push my limits.  Unfortunately, being mild-mannered with children is something that has taken me over a decade to master, and after a full day with one that has acted particularly rotten, it is all I can do not to flip out and kill everyone (not a death threat).

We went to the museum again today, and she was too busy being cranky and defiant to actually get any good out of it.  I'm sick of her telling me, "No".  I would also like to point out that at this point sometimes when I am talking to her she will slap me in the face and then watch for my reaction.

Oh my.

The final straw came tonight at dinner, after I spent over a half hour getting together her meal.  I was putting her in her chair and she kicked her tray, spilling all the food all over my clothes and the floor.  At that point I literally wanted to scream at the top of my lungs and just leave forever.  Not an option.  Instead I had to very calmly fix the tray, clean up the floor, find her new food to eat, and not make it obvious to her that there were tears running down my face.


Now I guess I should go do our work out.  Endorphins.  I need endorphins.

day one

First day of P90x = check.

It really wasn't that bad.  Minus the wallet rape-age I described in the previous post, of course.  The food was pretty easy to get together and the workout, though intense, was not as bad as I thought it would be.  We were able to make it through the whole hour (kinda) and after Rob manages to pull himself away from Call of Duty we are going to create our own menu for the rest of the week.  Hopefully we can stick with it.

I promise I'll stop writing about this one day.

The end.

health = $$$$$$$$

Attempting to be healthy is expensive.  Really stupidly expensive.

Current example: after reviewing the menu for p90x (which we are starting tomorrow), I realized that I would need approximately a thousand ingredients.  After further review, I canceled out some of the deemed extraneous ingredients in order to cut back on the mass expenditures that would be necessary to carry out even the first week of this diet. 

Anyway.

I then proceeded to make a modified menu until I became so overwhelmed I was compelled to say, "Eff it", taking only the menu for day 1 and heading to Kroger to get what we needed.

THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS LATER, and I didn't even have everything I needed to even complete the meals.  Thirty-five dollars.  Some quick math: if every day of p90x cost this much (Lord willin' we make it that far), food alone for this program would be THREE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS.  Yes, you would need a comma to complete that number.  HOLY FRICK. 

Needless to say, we will be creating our own menu. 

Here's hoping it still works.

random thoughts for a friday night in

Snow.
I hate it.  I'm over it.  Winter used to not get to me this way, but I can say honestly this year, it is making me miserable.  The cold hurts and it makes my job harder and it makes the air dry and it destroys my skin and my hair and yeah...I'm over it.


Schedules and obligations.
For the past however many weekends, we have been really busy.  Not with bad stuff, but with organized hang-outs and such that is supposed to be super fun and always does end up being super fun.  However, I am thrilled that tonight we have nothing to do.  I am unfortunately the type of person that feels suffocated by schedules and obligations (part of the reason I would probably not end up being a good teacher).  Even if I make the plans myself in advance, by the time it's time to do whatever plan I made, I don't want to do it, solely because I feel obligated to do it.  It's a really weird thing about me.  And this applies to almost anything.

Fashion magazines.
The lady I nanny for gets some of these in the mail.  If by chance I didn't bring my laptop and forgot whatever book I'm reading, I will flip through one of these.  They seriously irritate me.  For example, today I was reading through an article in the latest issue of Lucky magazine about Nicole Richie.  It was describing her as such a great person because now she is all "thrifty" and her supposedly great philosophy on fashion.  Really?  Because no.  Stuff like that and then all the buy this designer face cream or wear this obscenely priced outfit or carry this bag so that if you collectively spent all this money together, you could put a down payment on a house.  Or sponsor several children from Colombia or something.  Just saying.  They are insanely superficial and it drives me nuts.

Sketching rabbits.

My second drawing since I told myself I was going to start drawing more.  This will be in honor of all those little half-alive bunnies I rescued from the jaws of my cats growing up.  In case you were wondering, none survived.  And yes, it was traumatizing.

happy snow day from winterized chipmans!

 

Hooray for getting to go home early, boo to slippery streets and small cars.

holy snap.

Right now, I am watching the first workout of the P90x program, which Rob and I will be starting next Wednesday.  I like to know what's coming.  Besides the obvious fact that the host is both ripped and obnoxious, this is going to be extreme.  I am only about 10 minutes in and there have been approximately a zillion push-ups, which is bad news for me and my absence of upper-body strength. It is going to be very interesting chronicling our progress. In an attempt to say something positive, one thing I like about the program though is that there is a constant countdown going on the bottom of the screen so you know just how much time is left for each specific workout as well as the overall video. 

In other news, I got a frame for Woolly Bear today!  If you need picture frames for anything, Michael's has all frames for 55% off this week.  Now it is hanging proudly in our...bathroom?  I approve (clearly).  I'm waiting to see how I want to frame the other one because I found a frame I really like on Etsy but it's $60, and I can't quite justify it yet.  Give me a day or two.

 

On a completely unrelated note, when I was uploading all kinds of junk from my SD card, I came across this decently aged engagement-picture-turned-part-of-our-wedding-invite our friend Sam took and had to share.

Rob looks like such a freaking rock star hottie, I love it. 

things

The best thing about today was that our prints came in the mail!  I found them through the site postercabaret.com, which a friend suggested to me.  They have a lot of cool underground artists who design concert posters and have other original work.  These are the two that we bought:

Two Rooks by Diana Sudyka

Woolly Bear by Julia Potts

I am so excited!  I just need to find some epic frames and they will be good to go.

The lamest thing about today is that I have been in a bad mood.  I can't decide if it started before or after work but basically the entire day I have felt pretty irritated with every little thing.  Maybe it was the rain, I don't know.  Also I was irritated because after work I went through the drive through at Wendy's and ordered Mr. Pibb and after I drove off I found out they gave me ROOT BEER.  If you know me, you know that I hate root beer, the foulest of all the fountain beverages. Obviously this changed into a happy mood when I came home and found that the prints had came.

So about P90x.  If you read the last entry, you may have remembered me mentioning Rob and I are going to attempt this apparently hxc exercise program, and are now wondering what I am doing by going through a fast food drive-thru and ordering soda?  Well, the first reason is obvious: I am lazy and have very little will power.  And secondly, we have not yet started said work out program.  We are starting next week.  So I guess I have until then to make unhealthy decisions?  Justified.  

However, I am excited to eventually start the program.  I don't think we are disgustingly overweight or anything, but we are both definitely out of shape and I think we should attempt something of a lifestyle change while we are still "young".  We are going to go grocery shopping this weekend for more appropriate foods for the diet.  It is awesome because Rob is also really into doing this and it helps to have someone working at it with me.

Speaking of Rob, yesterday he had the day of work for MLK day and guess what?  He cleaned the entire house!  Vacuuming and dishes and everything.  Seriously, I was so happy I thought I could burst.  And Rob - see?  was it so bad?  You are awesome.

weekend summary

Dear three people who read this who already know about my weekend because you were involved but I am going to recap anyway because I can,

Another good weekend that I didn't get enough sleep, but oh well :)

Friday - dinner with Rob's family - Jane, Dan, Jess, Erik, and little Ethan at Five Guys.  A lot of fun and we ended up hanging out talking until they closed!

Saturday - woke up and went to babysit Ethan!  Seriously, cutest kid ever.  Rob and I took him to Ikea and that was a lot of fun, too.  Plus we got a new rug!

 After we got home, Paige and Jarrod came over and we played Mario and Sonic again, some Scrabble, went to dinner at Dewey's and then came back and played more Mario and Sonic and Scrabble , until the wee hours of the AM.

Sunday - slept in due to exhaustion, woke up and started laundry, made breakfast, and eventually made out way out to Eastgate so my mom could cut Rob's hair.  It was good to see my family for a bit. We went to Target and got some things we needed, including exercise mats (we are going to attempt P90x...)

Love, Abi

it's wednesday.

So yesterday's day of recuperation was successful.  I felt so much better this morning than I did the past few.  I literally laid on the couch and watched movies all day, something I generally never do because I am too attention deficit for that.  I even tried to be productive by attempting knitting.  Impossible.  I read dozens of step-by-step procedures on various websites, watched YouTube videos, and still couldn't even figure out how to cast on.  Apparently I am a dunce.  So then I reverted to crocheting, which I can barely manage, but quickly gave up because I did not have a good variety of yarn available to me.  My final product of the day went back to the only thing I feel comfortable using, a freaking pen. 

 

Of course I drew an owl.  It was actually a lot of fun and I need to start drawing more.  It's been awhile.

Other than that, nothing much to report in life.  Little girl was especially good today so that was nice.  Rob and I ate Chipotle for dinner (again) (fat).  I just spent $75 on some totally sweet prints that will hopefully spruce up our wall space.  I got some jeans I ordered a bajillion years ago in the mail today.  Umm...and Rob's work holiday party is tomorrow so I guess I have to go to that.   

Hopefully one day I'll write something actually regarding our marriage, which is why I set up this blog.  I guess after all is said and done, it's sort of awkward to just have something like that available to anyone.  Plus I'm still trying to figure out what to say.


Until then.

sick day

I did something for the first time ever today.  I called in sick.  I actually feel less crappy then yesterday but with the snow and everything I figured it would be an excellent day to recuperate.  Rob is home too, and that is awesome.  Except he is working.  So I get to veg out on the couch, drink more chamomile (gag), and watch my movies.  Staring with Nick and Norah of course.  What an excellent film.  Michael Cera is perfect.

Yes.

right now.

It's Monday and I'm at work and I'm sick and I was sick all weekend and it's stupid and I want to go home and sleep forever.  Perhaps a more worthwhile update when Google/my own body isn't persecuting me.

Drama.


++++++

Let's try this again.

Today was crappy.  I feel like crap.  I look like crap.  Whatev.

Now I am lying on a stripped bed, drinking chamomile (I hate chamomile).  Hopefully the combination of clean sheets and herbal hotness will set me on the right path.

Still not worthwhile.  Maybe tomorrow.

thursday, thursday

The best/only tolerable thing about Thursday is that it means tomorrow is Friday.

I think I am getting sick, and that is totally lame.  I couldn't sleep because I felt like I was gagging on my own mucous (gross, sorry).  And all day my throat has been sore and stupid and crappy and I better not be sick this weekend.  And to top it all off I have a somewhat massive *blemish* on my chin that won't go away and at this point is just pissing me off.

+++end rant+++

Actually this day has not been all bad.  Despite current ailments it has been pretty good.  Little girl and I went to the museum center today and she loved it!  I had never actually been in the children's museum before, and it was a nice excuse to go.  We also went into the museum of natural history and science because duh, dinosaurs.  Afterward we stopped in Clifton and picked up Rob from work and went to lunch together at Chipotle.  By the time we got back to her house there were only a couple hours left so yay, that.

Thursday face?

Cincinnati Museum Center.  Look at that smile!

am i really so boring that i would write about a vacuum cleaner?

Yep.

Last night Rob and I made a spur of the moment Target run to get a new vacuum cleaner.  I had started to sweep our rugs (our house is wood floor throughout) and I have been using our Kirby (which by all vacuuming standards, is supposed to be a totally sweet vacuum) but it sucks. Sweeping the floor is literally one of the most stressful parts of cleaning because of how crappy this vacuum is.  And unfortunately we got a sweet Dyson that we put on our wedding registry, but we returned it when my grandparents bequeathed us said Kirby.  Anyway. As I began freaking out about how garbage-y a job the Kirby was doing, Rob suggested we just go buy a new one.  Right then and there.  So like any normal girl I called my mom to ask her if she had any suggestions on what make/model we should get.  She suggested the new Shark Navigator.  Apparently she had seen commercials for it and it was supposed to be as good as the Dysons but at half the price.  Well, knowing nothing about vacuum cleaners we decided to give it a shot.  I have to say it is very nice because at least this week it was on sale for $179 from its $199 and the Dyson we were looking at was $499.  Plus, the offer this week with purchase of this vac got us a $20 gift card to Target as well.  So...yes!  We bought it and I immediately came home and swept the floors.  

My verdict...excellent vacuum.  Totally worth the <$200 it costs.  The rugs haven't been this clean since they were first opened.  The only downside is that it is fairly small so the dust thingy had to be emptied after just one use for me.  But really it's not a big deal.  I know I have only had it a day, so hopefully it holds up.

In other news, since I looked up those projects yesterday, I have not been able to stop looking up more and more fun things to make.  I am overwhelmed by the number of blogs of freaking amazingly talented people who have page after page of seriously awesome art and craft ideas!  I don't even know where to start! 

i want to make stuff

 

um. I think this is awesome.  And I have so much scrap fabric.  Done.

  I found this idea here.

Also I have been wanting to make some of those fabric flowers because they're crazy cute.

Google search for this led me here.

And this pillow for obvious reasons.  Apparently I need to invest in a sewing machine.

Lots of genius ideas including this here.

I had every intention of starting a project last night, but I fell asleep at 8:00.  EIGHT O'CLOCK.  I slept for twelve hours and I am still tired. Unbelievable. Oh well, maybe tonight.

weekend summary

This was a super great weekend.

NYE we had some friends over and we played Wii and The Game of Things until the wee hours of the morn and it was a lot of fun.  Downside: our house still smells like wine due to some spillage.

Saturday I went shopping with my mom and brother.

Today Rob and I had a "date day" which included church, the museum center/omnimax (we got passes!), a nap, dinner out, and soon we will finish up the Lord of the Rings trilogy we started a week ago.  We are nerds.

I want to start taking more pictures.  I have an idea.  It may be available to you starting tomorrow.  We shall see.

TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN