I decided to wait this week in order to post on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day in the United States. This is a day that has always had special meaning for me because every eight years my birthday falls on this day. This year wasn't one of those times, I still have another three years, but I'm still considered to have a 'Thanksgiving' birthday.
I unfortunately had to work so I wasn't able to join the rest of my family for their big Turkey dinner hosted by my aunt and uncle, but I did get to see them briefly when I dropped by husband and child off. I was presented with a pilgrim hat made with a peanut butter cup, girlscout cookie, and frosting by my cousin for the road. It was so cute.
Needless to say, this entry is about what I am thankful for.
First off, my husband, child, mother, and step-father ... he infuriates me more often than not, but my husband tries in his own little ways and I think I need to be more aware of that. My baby will always be my baby, no matter how big or smart she gets. Any my parents, I would not have made it without them here. They give so much.
My job ... There are so many people in this economy that are suffering and have lost their jobs. For a while there, I was so afraid that my job too was on the chopping block as things were being evened out and cut back in our place of work. But there is a huge necessity to my position, and I'm thankful I am still here.
My car ... it's working and it's reliable. It's not the best, and I've put a lot of money into it recently to keep it that way, but it'll get me through the winter and then some.
Okele and Shadow ... I could not get through each day without them. They are both very very far away from me and yet, they are both always there and I can count on that. Other people have drifted in and out of my life and they have both remained constant.
Crafts and art ... it's such a stress relief and I make time to do it. The finished product is what keeps me going and I look forward to hearing what people think of the gifts I make for them.
The roof over my head and the utilities that make my place liveable ... I could not imagine getting through this winter not being sure where I am going to be sleeping the next night and if it will be warm or not.
I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season from now until New Years. Until next week, have a great one.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Weeks in Review
So I skipped a week... didn't necessarily mean to, but things got a little hectic and I found some artwork I wanted to do and a new project I'd like to start working on... and Christmas Shopping. Oh I did so much!
Anyways, what I'd like to do here is a recap of some of the recent posts I've made ...
ACNE
I believe I have won the war. I did a good trial run with the products I originally had and saw a significant change in my face. I added the Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Night Cleansing Pads to my night routine and immediately saw further results. I skipped one night and didn't do my regular routine and I had one breakout. Seriously, I am so surprised it worked, but what I have learned that you can buy as many spot treatments or cleansers as you want, but nothing will do the trick until you use the correct products together as a team. And it's guess and check to find what's right for your face!
SEASON ENDINGS
The leaves are gone and it's getting cold. Too cold even for my little one to outside without a hat. Heavy jackets will be coming out soon. We got our first snowfall just after Thanksgiving last year, so I'm sure it's right around the corner. The car is all fixed up and ready. I'd love an extra few months of mild fall weather... seriously.
H1N1
Both my husband and I were immunized. I was offered it at work due to being on a high risk unit and immediately accepted with no severe side effects. My husband was offered it at his latest clinic appointment for the reasons he works with handicapped individuals and he is asthmatic. He had no side effects. My daughter got her seasonal flu shot, but was only granted eligiblity for H1N1 this week, but she has a rattly cough so it might have to be put off for another few days. After a number of kids died from it in our local area and others falling severely ill, her not having it scares me more and more every day.
Where am I
Art Therapy of my own making has ALWAYS been a HUGE saving grace for me. I have since talked many things over with my husband and extended family that have been bothering me. I have been spending more time doing crafts and relaxing that I have in a long time and that has really been helping my stress level. I feel so much better now and ... happier. I am working on some projects with some friends of mine and those partnerships do wonders for my mental health. It's good to have some support!
Dipping
I failed. I made it about 5 days and on the fifth, I realized that I had a nearly full jar of White Salsa Con Queso in the fridge and I didn't want it to go off, so I ate it. But still ... it made me more aware of how much and what I dip, what I don't need to and I have really cut down. Now I wish I could tackle weight loss in the same manner. :D
That's all for me. See you next week and have a great one!
Anyways, what I'd like to do here is a recap of some of the recent posts I've made ...
ACNE
I believe I have won the war. I did a good trial run with the products I originally had and saw a significant change in my face. I added the Neutrogena Acne Stress Control Night Cleansing Pads to my night routine and immediately saw further results. I skipped one night and didn't do my regular routine and I had one breakout. Seriously, I am so surprised it worked, but what I have learned that you can buy as many spot treatments or cleansers as you want, but nothing will do the trick until you use the correct products together as a team. And it's guess and check to find what's right for your face!
SEASON ENDINGS
The leaves are gone and it's getting cold. Too cold even for my little one to outside without a hat. Heavy jackets will be coming out soon. We got our first snowfall just after Thanksgiving last year, so I'm sure it's right around the corner. The car is all fixed up and ready. I'd love an extra few months of mild fall weather... seriously.
H1N1
Both my husband and I were immunized. I was offered it at work due to being on a high risk unit and immediately accepted with no severe side effects. My husband was offered it at his latest clinic appointment for the reasons he works with handicapped individuals and he is asthmatic. He had no side effects. My daughter got her seasonal flu shot, but was only granted eligiblity for H1N1 this week, but she has a rattly cough so it might have to be put off for another few days. After a number of kids died from it in our local area and others falling severely ill, her not having it scares me more and more every day.
Where am I
Art Therapy of my own making has ALWAYS been a HUGE saving grace for me. I have since talked many things over with my husband and extended family that have been bothering me. I have been spending more time doing crafts and relaxing that I have in a long time and that has really been helping my stress level. I feel so much better now and ... happier. I am working on some projects with some friends of mine and those partnerships do wonders for my mental health. It's good to have some support!
Dipping
I failed. I made it about 5 days and on the fifth, I realized that I had a nearly full jar of White Salsa Con Queso in the fridge and I didn't want it to go off, so I ate it. But still ... it made me more aware of how much and what I dip, what I don't need to and I have really cut down. Now I wish I could tackle weight loss in the same manner. :D
That's all for me. See you next week and have a great one!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Art of Dipping
And now for something a little less serious this week.
Dipping.
A person can't get anything these days without a side of ... dip. At home, we keep bottles of condiments in our fridges to dip everything from fruit to meat to desserts. At restaurants, it either comes with a little container of meal related condiment or you can make your way to the fountain drink area to find little foil packets of everything under the sun.
At McDonalds the other day, my daughter's happy meal came with caramel dip for the apple slices and I was offered a choice of dips for her nuggets... when asked what they had, the server behind the counter rattled off about six, most of which I forgot moments after she said them, and then decided ketchup in it's little foil packet would do. She likes ketchup anyways.
At Red Lobster a few weeks ago, the fish came with tartare sauce, the crab legs with melted butter, the salads with your choice of salad dressing in a little cup on the side, for pouring or dipping depending on the diner's choice.
Buffalo Wild Wings offers around 14 different buffalo wing sauces for their wings, which also serve as dips if you prefer something other than mini chicken wings. My husband bought a bottle of his favorite flavor to take home... Why? To dip his steak in.
Waffles and pancakes come with their own little container of breakfast syrup. Small packets of crackers or breadsticks have dippable cheese. Pizza Hut serves a side of marinara dip with their breadsticks.
Sushi comes with soy sauce and wasabi.
Chip Dip ... ranch, french onion, nacho, spinach... We have an old family recipe in our family for cream cheese potato chip dip with onions. And a friend of mine used to bring over a wonderful eggplant dip with pita chips. And lets not forget good old hummus or if you prefer, Guacamole with your corn chips. I spent thirty minutes the other night trying to decide on the right dip for my corn chips. I settled for a white salsa con queso nacho dip, good but a little too spicey for my taste.
I am a mayonaise-a-holic. If it's dippable, there is mayonaise on my plate.
Vegetable trays come with dill sour cream dip. Fruit trays with vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt.
How about bread dipped in your soup or stew?
Wiki of course has many more than I can think of off the top of my head. I only remembered the ones I've eaten in the past two weeks. But seriously, all this in the past two weeks? Clearly, dipping is more than just a condiment, it's a necessity!
You can't escape it.
Here is a funny tidbit of information... I met my husband at a fondue party. Fondue is an art of dipping!
Even a the age of two, my child requests dip, so much so that I put a dob of ketchup on her plate with every meal now before she even asks.
Dip. Empty calories full of flavor and fat and salt.
I think here, the ultimate question is ... can we eat foods without dipping them? I think some, yes. Salad dressing isn't exactly a dip, although it is used as one here where I live. Ranch being the most popular, it is not only a salad dressing, but a dip for things like breadsticks and deep fried or baked cheese. A couple of guys I knew in high school used to dip their pizza in ranch.
But back to my salad ... I dislike the taste of oil and vinegar based salad dressings such as italian. I think it stems from the tartness/sourness of the vinegar and a long history of hating the smell of vinegar when they used to can pickles at my grandmother's house. So I quit having salad dressing on my salad and went for a straight dash of olive oil, lemon juice, and some pepper. Which clearly goes to show that even if I don't like a particular dressing for the salad, I still need something on it to make it a bit more palatable. Something to bring all the flavors together.
I do like raw veggies, but there is something about being able to dip the veggie that turns good food into even better food. But you have to ask yourself, if raw veggies are good for you, aren't you defeating the purpose of eating healthy food by dipping it in the sour cream or ranch dip with all it's salt, fat, and sugar?
Probably.
But I suppose that doesn't mean we are going to stop dipping. In fact, we'll probably do it more. As soon as we know something is bad for us, we feel guilty but we do it anyways.
I wonder if I can go a whole week without dipping? I'm not sure, but I think I'll try. I wonder if I can even remember that I set this challenge for myself given that it's 0600 in the morning and I've not been to bed yet. The joys of working night shift.
Tune in next week for a blog post recap of some of the more interesting points of the past few weeks since I started this blog and of course, whether not I followed through on my challenge not to dip for a week.
Dipping.
A person can't get anything these days without a side of ... dip. At home, we keep bottles of condiments in our fridges to dip everything from fruit to meat to desserts. At restaurants, it either comes with a little container of meal related condiment or you can make your way to the fountain drink area to find little foil packets of everything under the sun.
At McDonalds the other day, my daughter's happy meal came with caramel dip for the apple slices and I was offered a choice of dips for her nuggets... when asked what they had, the server behind the counter rattled off about six, most of which I forgot moments after she said them, and then decided ketchup in it's little foil packet would do. She likes ketchup anyways.
At Red Lobster a few weeks ago, the fish came with tartare sauce, the crab legs with melted butter, the salads with your choice of salad dressing in a little cup on the side, for pouring or dipping depending on the diner's choice.
Buffalo Wild Wings offers around 14 different buffalo wing sauces for their wings, which also serve as dips if you prefer something other than mini chicken wings. My husband bought a bottle of his favorite flavor to take home... Why? To dip his steak in.
Waffles and pancakes come with their own little container of breakfast syrup. Small packets of crackers or breadsticks have dippable cheese. Pizza Hut serves a side of marinara dip with their breadsticks.
Sushi comes with soy sauce and wasabi.
Chip Dip ... ranch, french onion, nacho, spinach... We have an old family recipe in our family for cream cheese potato chip dip with onions. And a friend of mine used to bring over a wonderful eggplant dip with pita chips. And lets not forget good old hummus or if you prefer, Guacamole with your corn chips. I spent thirty minutes the other night trying to decide on the right dip for my corn chips. I settled for a white salsa con queso nacho dip, good but a little too spicey for my taste.
I am a mayonaise-a-holic. If it's dippable, there is mayonaise on my plate.
Vegetable trays come with dill sour cream dip. Fruit trays with vanilla or fruit flavored yogurt.
How about bread dipped in your soup or stew?
Wiki of course has many more than I can think of off the top of my head. I only remembered the ones I've eaten in the past two weeks. But seriously, all this in the past two weeks? Clearly, dipping is more than just a condiment, it's a necessity!
You can't escape it.
Here is a funny tidbit of information... I met my husband at a fondue party. Fondue is an art of dipping!
Even a the age of two, my child requests dip, so much so that I put a dob of ketchup on her plate with every meal now before she even asks.
Dip. Empty calories full of flavor and fat and salt.
I think here, the ultimate question is ... can we eat foods without dipping them? I think some, yes. Salad dressing isn't exactly a dip, although it is used as one here where I live. Ranch being the most popular, it is not only a salad dressing, but a dip for things like breadsticks and deep fried or baked cheese. A couple of guys I knew in high school used to dip their pizza in ranch.
But back to my salad ... I dislike the taste of oil and vinegar based salad dressings such as italian. I think it stems from the tartness/sourness of the vinegar and a long history of hating the smell of vinegar when they used to can pickles at my grandmother's house. So I quit having salad dressing on my salad and went for a straight dash of olive oil, lemon juice, and some pepper. Which clearly goes to show that even if I don't like a particular dressing for the salad, I still need something on it to make it a bit more palatable. Something to bring all the flavors together.
I do like raw veggies, but there is something about being able to dip the veggie that turns good food into even better food. But you have to ask yourself, if raw veggies are good for you, aren't you defeating the purpose of eating healthy food by dipping it in the sour cream or ranch dip with all it's salt, fat, and sugar?
Probably.
But I suppose that doesn't mean we are going to stop dipping. In fact, we'll probably do it more. As soon as we know something is bad for us, we feel guilty but we do it anyways.
I wonder if I can go a whole week without dipping? I'm not sure, but I think I'll try. I wonder if I can even remember that I set this challenge for myself given that it's 0600 in the morning and I've not been to bed yet. The joys of working night shift.
Tune in next week for a blog post recap of some of the more interesting points of the past few weeks since I started this blog and of course, whether not I followed through on my challenge not to dip for a week.
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