triptophan, schmiptophan

i have to say that i don't care for the bird. as my least favorite holiday, i'm glad to see it go. it's the gateway to christmas and it's music, the new year, and the only day of the year that's focused on me(in my world anyway), my birthday. although the food on turkey day was amazing(thx rose!), i am more excited about my week off. i have 1 more week of evening hell until I get a break to see my family and friends for the holidays. will it wreck my diet? possibly, but i'm going to try like hell for it not to. hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday with your friends & family :) cheers to a happy and healthy holiday season!

100 things

I...

1. lived in the same state all my life until 11 weeks ago
2. still own a home there
3. miss my friends & family
4. idolize my mother
5. am glad we're able to be good friends even though she's my mom
6. am the VERY youngest of 5 children
7. have 9 nieces & nephews
8. love them all very much
9. feel no pressure to have children since my siblings have so many
10. love my job
11. learn something new almost everyday at work
12. still think surgery is cool even though i've seen it almost everyday for 4 1/2 years
13. love helping people
14. love to laugh
15. think a good sense of humor is the best way to survive adulthood
16. wish i could meet john mayer
17. love to travel
18. plan on doing more of it when i have more cash
19. love to shop
20. express my individuality at work with cool hats & funky shoes(OR attire can be kind of dull)
21. am 5'9"
22. was 2 feet long when i was born
23. had hair on my ears when i was born
24. can now laugh about 23
25. had a stuffed dog named hobo my entire childhood that i lost when we moved
26. still wonder what exactly happened to hobo
27. hate that the stuffed dog was named hobo
28. relish in the thought that i can still wear flip-flops in november now
29. am proud of myself that i finally had the courage to leave my comfort zone
30. wish i could figure out how to fix up my blog without help from other people
31. still get excited about the mail everday
32. even though it contains bills no matter what i do
33. used to have the cutest dog named maizie/cookie
34. gave her away so she would have room to run
35. gained the nickname kookie because of cookie
36. didn't like cookie's name(even though she looked like an oreo) so i changed it to maizie
37. still have a hard time calling her cookie
38. hope to have a westie someday
39. don't care for cats
40. think cat hair is attracted to me rather than the owners
41. love to cook
42. love food tv
43. currently don't have cable so am missing food tv
44. am trying to wean myself from tv
45. have a renewed appreciation for sex and the city
46. watch it almost every night at 1130
47. think that the writers had some good thoughts about relationships
48. sometimes wish i was in one
49. other times am glad i'm not
50. had a boy break my heart and am still recovering
51. am wondering when the torture of the broken heart will end
52. am a worrier
53. come by it honestly
54. am loyal
55. to a fault
56. love good gossip(i have to admit it)
57. read people magazine(see 56)
58. love to watch dog the bounty hunter (see 44)
59. have too many favorite movies
60. can quote steel magnolias and sixteen candles on cue
61. can't quit smoking
62. really like vodka
63. but not as much as i like coffee and water
64. love to go camping with my friends
65. love that you can't communicate with the outside world from our usual campsite
66. enjoyed someone's dancing to dueling banjos
67. can karaoke if i have enough vodka in me
68. have been drunk enough to do the thriller dance(very poorly) in the past 6 months
69. can make people laugh
70. can see through people in a matter of minutes
71. wish i could cure aids
72. hope my brother in law can
73. love to sing
74. all the time
75. get random songs stuck in my head all the time
76. can't believe i'm already to 76
77. miss my dad
78. hope he lives a long time
79. hate to be morbid but can't help it
80. hope my siblings appreciate my parents as much as i do
81. love sting
82. couldn't begin to list my favorite songs, there are too many
83. once dated a guy who sang opera to me
84. wish we wouldn't have been in a public place when he did it
85. would love to ballroom dance
86. wish i had a partner to dance with
87. will quit wallowing
88. have never been to europe
89. want to visit austria most
90. haven't even started on my obsession with food
91. have lost 17 pounds in 7 weeks
92. am proud of myself for that
93. hate to workout
94. used to swim competitively (a LONG time ago)
95. love the water
96. think i talk about myself too much
97. if so, wish people would tell me
98. think i'm kind of boring
99. think i need to find more things to do with my time
100. thank my friend momo/peaches--she gave me the courage to start my own blog

check this out

I can't believe what some people will do. Read this article & let me know what you think.

http://www.tbt.com/tampabay/news/article32019.ece

what happened to november?

t-day is in 8 days! i can't say its my fave, but am looking forward to the spread. i'll miss cooking with my mom, and giggling at how excited she gets about the parade. and the melee. all the kids and their noise make the holiday a chore, so you can try to work off your meal by cleaning....its a theory, anyway. recipe for an appetizer that sounds like cat food, but tastes amazing. enjoy!
NONNA'S TREAT:
1 can deviled ham
1 brick (8oz) cream cheese, softened
dash garlic powder
1 tsp or so of worcestershire
mix together, let set in the fridge, and serve with triscuits....mmmm!

home again, home again

as they say, you can never go home again. i'm not sure who exactly it was, but they were right. already, i can't tolerate the cold. i also think i expected more...in a short amount of time, i should have had reasonable expectations, right? i'm hoping for the best in december. wish me luck :)

injured!

my sister margarita just called. my poor little nephew/godson has a concussion. poor thing, he is simply adorable anyway, but this just makes me love him more. he is so smart and type a for an eight year old, really. he was apparently very confused and kept asking about the day of the week. when margarita would tell him wednesday, he would respond, "oh no! this means my perfect attendance record is going to be ruined!" this continued every 3 minutes for the afternoon/evening. poor thing, to be worried only about getting an award at school. i'll post a photo so you can see how cute he is!

i have begun week 10 out of 13 at my current assignment. i can't believe how quickly it's gone! what an eye opening experience to be in a completely different environment. i've found, however, that there are people here identical to the one's at home. with different names, they represent the same attitudes--they even look alike--i'm not kidding. what a relief to also find that other people(besides the ones i worked with for years) actually think i'm good at what i do. i MIGHT miss it here.