Archive for October, 2007 Page 2 of 2

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What is with the answering machine voice?

Published by Jessica on October 8, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

I have called several people today and ended up getting answering machines.  It struck me that on every single on of these machines people have these profoundly sing songy voices.  Why do we do that? It’s almost unavoidable. We don’t talk like that in in regular conversation.  So, why do we do it on answering machines? Even if we don’t do it we spend a great deal of time trying and energy trying to not do it. 

“If you are satisfied with your message, press pound. To delete and re-record, press star.”

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“If you are satisfied with your message, press pound. To delete and re-record, press star.”

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“If you are satisfied with your message, press pound. To delete and re-record, press star.”

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Ugh.

The Theme For My 25th Year

Published by Jessica on October 8, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

To All:  I started this entry about a week ago, I am just finishing it now.

Last year, nearing my 24th birthday–I had a bit of a crisis.

Maybe it wasn’t really a crisis…I mean, I refer to it as my quarter life crisis but maybe it was just a moment of realization that my life had started and I better get on it. So, I decided that I was going to do some things. I started attending yoga regularly and I took a pottery and a sewing class. It was nice–quite liberating actually…I succeded in breaking up the monotony that was allowing me to watch my life pass me by without any real engagment.  I guess if I were going to give my24th year a name, it would be something like “Don’t just sit there, DO SOMETHING!”

So, today…we were at the beach.  Issa and his dad usually meet up every Sunday to go surfing. Since we moved up to Orange County, Issa and his dad and I have met up a couple of times down in Oceanside to go surfing.  Well, I don’t go surfing…they go surfing and I watch, walk on the beach…

I would watch Issa in the water and I would be a little jealous. He would fearlessly charge the waves and harness them to hitch a ride down the beach and it would eventually dump him off somewhere, when it had lost energy…then, he would fall off the board or jump off, into the waves that followed and i would really just envy the way in which he engaged the ocean, unafraid of getting water up his nose.

What’s more, surfing has conditioned him amazingly well and he can not only be proud of his body–his body will also do amazing things for him as he has grown stronger! If you know me, you know I have always been a little self conscious about my own shape and so I could not help but wish I could be more like Issa…unabashed confidence in everything he did…

So, sitting on the beach I worked up the courage to enter the water.  I was certain nobody was watching me to point and laugh at the few dimples of cellulite on my thigh, or mock my choice in swimsuit…and so, down I went to the water and walked in. I let wave after wave crash into me, standing strong against them. I realized that even though the waves looked big and mean, I was strong! Strong enough to stay standing, in pretty much the same spot….

After a few waves had crashed over me, I decided to swim with them to shore–body surf, if you will…and that was a blast!  Sure I got water up my nose, but so what?? Yeah, so I hit the sand once and got a little scratch on my hip–big deal!

Issa was so thrilled to see me in the water and I was thrilled that he had seen me being brave.

After a while, he came over to me, he was done surfing and I went to give him a kiss…when he asked me–wanna get on? (the surfboard)…I looked at him and said “Are you sure?” and he said sure! So I got on, and he had me paddle out a bit (so funny, he insisted I was doing great but I know he was pushing me…) so we went through a few waves, head first, I had to hold my breath and the white water crashed around me…but it was only for a second and I didn’t die…

After a few of those and “paddling out” (I use the term lightly), he asked me if I wanted to ride it in…WHAT!? Moi?? Si!

So, he spun me around and we waited for the perfect wave to come and sure enough, when it did–off I went, on my belly, on the board…riding the whitewater.

OH MY GOSH! It was SO FUN! I did it once more and his dad got a real kick out of it (his dad is a big time surfer-dude), he told me later it made him so happy to see someone learning….

And honestly, I was proud of myself! I had faced my fears and I didn’t die…sure I got a few owies here and there but they were nothing in comparison to the fun I had…

So, the theme for my 25th year? “Face your fears, owies are ok!!”

My Doggies, My Heroes…

Published by Jessica on October 2, 2007 in General. 3 Comments

Today I was putting dinner together and cleaning my kitchen and dining room…it was 5:00 and I was expecting Issa home in about half an hour. All was quiet and calm, I had the television on and I was lost in thought when I heard the door open. I glanced at the clock and it was just shortly after 5:00, I looked out the window and saw that his car wasn’t in the driveway…so I yelled “Issa?”

There was no answer but I heard footsteps in the entry hall…it was then that Ally came flying furiously down the stairs from the third floor to the second and at the same time, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the first to the second ”Issa?!?!” I was yelling now…

Ally was going crazy, all the fur on her back was standing up and she was guarding the top of the stairs on the second floor with a vicious bark I have rarely, if ever, heard come out of her…Erin was barking wildly as well….so, I bounded up the stairs to the bedroom and locked the door behind me…I heard footsteps going down the stairs beneath me, and then there were footsteps in the entry hall…and then…the door opened and slammed shut. I looked out the window but didn’t see anyone so I sat there with my back against the door for a few minutes, then went and peeked out the window where I saw a person walking by and although Ally and Erin were still sporadically barking, I was certain that the person had left and the danger had subsided…so I slowly crept down the stairs, into the kitchen…where I plucked a small paring knife from the butcher block and laid it on the stairs just behind the wall so that I could use the element of surprise if need be–assuming someone was still in the house…then, I went down the stairs again to the first floor/entry hall with Ally and Erin in tow…

I hooked Ally up to the leash and we crept outside and she followed a scent to the end of the driveway…

I didn’t see anything suspicious, but my heart was still racing…so I went back inside and locked the door, certain I had just narrowly avoided some awful fate…but then I found myself start to wonder if I had imagined the sounds I had heard or if there was some simple explanation that I hadn’t thought of–like it was the maintenance guy…but those ideas were quickly dismissed as I thought to myself that there was no way Ally would have reacted in the way that she did  to something I had imagined.  And the maintenance staff is quite diligent about ringing the doorbell and yelling “Maintenance!”…

So, what should I do? Call the police? Say someone just walked into my house and was scared off by the dogs??

I thought about the ADT commercial where that normal looking jogger who smiles and waves at the husband as he pulls out of the driveway, turns psycho and scary by pulling a hood over his head and then jump kicks down the door…she drops the dish in the sink and then ADT calls the woman and sends the police and how I always thought that was useless–how were the police going to help? Patrol the neighborhood??

Well, I was lost in thought and the doorbell rang.  I almost ignored it–afraid for what was on the other side when I realized that I was being silly, no murderer/rapist/robber is going to ring the doorbell…

I peeked through the blinds and saw my neighbor, so I opened the door…and said “Hi!” she re-introduced herself, and said

“Let me tell you what just happened…”

“Ok?”

“Well, I went to get my mail and found a card from a friend…I opened it and was reading it and walking back…I was so enthralled in the letter that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I just walked into your house and kicked off my shoes in the entry and walked right up your stairs! I didn’t snap out of it until I heard your dog barking halfway up the stairs and realized that I was in the wrong house!”

“Oh my gosh!”

“I was so startled and freaked that I ran out of the house, and ran to my house and I told my husband ‘Al, you won’t believe what I just did!’ and I told him and he told me I better run over here and tell you–I am so sorry, I was in such shock I just didn’t know what to do!”

I told her it was ok and that I was freaked out but I am glad it wasn’t an intruder…and I sincerely appreciated her coming over to tell me…

I will consider this a warning to keep my door locked from now on…this time my distracted neighbor and a funny story…next time someone with a plan??

My New Favorite Website! www.MealsMatter.com

Published by Jessica on October 2, 2007 in Websites I Love. 1 Comment

So, after a summer of meals on the go I had decided that when we moved in here and Issa started work, I would be making as many of our dinners here at home as possible. Well, I haven’t always been successful, this whole domestic thing is really a work in progress, but after a couple weeks of mostly chicken and rice (thank you Lawry’s and Rice-a-Roni!) I could tell that hubby was getting a bit bored–hey, you have to crawl before you can walk, ok??

But where to start?  Then, it came to me…You see, the other day I was getting my nails done and there was a Rachel Ray magazine at the station, so while the woman was painting my little piggies, I thumbed through and found a recipe for macaroni n’ cheese.  The ingredients were simple (no truffle or white wine sauce!) and the directions were basic but it was entirely from scratch and–albeit a bit fatty–it jumped off the page with flavor (so much so, the woman in the next chair asked to see it when I was done). I was truly inspired!

I realized that recipes don’t have to be complicated or include exotic ingrediants like Tahitian Mango Salsa…to be good…sometimes all it takes is a little time and effort and a couple basic ingredients in the right combinations….so now the questions are 1) where do I find those simple ingredients? 2) how do I organize them?

Well, lo and behold, I found the answer to both of those questions in one website. www.MealsMatter.com

This website is absolutely AMAZING and features the following:

There is a meal planner that features a view of each week and each day has three ”slots” for meals per day.  If you plan out your meals, and you decide that you don’t want to make “Vegetarian Lasagna” on Tuesday, but prefer to make it on Thursday instead, well you can just change the date and move things around…What’s more, the meal planner will export the ingredients from the recipes in your meal planner to a printable shopping list! And get this! You can input what you have in your pantry so that you can keep track of what ingredients you need and which ones you have already… I know, are you amazed yet??  Well, hang on! There’s more!

Where do these “meal planner recipes” come from??  Well, the next tab on the website allows you to search the database, or contribute to the database…which means that all of the users on the website can contribute their recipes giving you access to thousands of kitchens throughout the country!!  Users can also rate the recipes they have tried, and make comments so you don’t have to waste time–if you don’t want to–trying recipes that might not turn out yummy!

There is also a list of common substitutions and conversions, a quick meal tab that offers suggestions for “kid friendly” “one-pot” “six ingredients or less” and “crock pot” meals…among others…and a meal suggestions tab that plans out special meals for holidays or just “special meal nights”.

Under the “Cooking for Your Family” tab, you will find your personal cookbook! This is where you save the recipes that you love or want to try and you can add your own family recipes here to then export to your meal planner.  Also in this tab you will find information about healthy meal planning!

I could go on and on about how awesome it is.  You can print out the recipes on a 4×6 recipe card, just as I did. I posted it on the fridge and referred back to as I was making the meal–tonight I have a slow-cook lasagna in the crock-pot and MY GOODNESS does it look and smell AMAZING.  Let me know if you want the recipe!  

Also in this website you will find a personal fitness tracker and nutrition tracker which will tell you how much of what foods and activity you in order need to achieve your fitness, weight loss, and health goals….

I am really in love with this website, you should try it!  I think you will be impressed!

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