Interviews and toenails

I’ve been MIA. Here’s more of the charm, wit, and blatant obnoxiousness you’ve grown accustomed to…

I’ve been watching copious amounts home improvement shows with all my time off, and I’m all revved up and want to fix up my dad’s place. It’s a nice house, don’t get me wrong, but why not tinker? It’s been 70 degrees ALL week and it’s been much-needed. I got to get out and get some fresh air every day this week either by going to the park with baby brother and Nugget, or just walking Nugget. He’s appreciated it very much. So has lil bro, who now expects a trip to the park daily after daycare.

I’ve been job hunting. Specifically, contacting families looking for a nanny. I guess it’s the motherly side of me that really would like to work for a family with an itty bitty baby again. I so miss them. I adore my toddlers and all the kids, but I miss baby smell and rocking it to sleep and teaching them how to sit up or clap for the first time. Plus, life is so much easier when the diet is always the same and you can bring powder and water with you ANYwhere. Breast milk is a different story, but still. I miss my itty bittys. I’ve specifically been in contact with three families looking for someone at the start of April Hopefully one will bite soon! The worst that could happen is that I have the entire month of March off work and start with something new and exciting for April, which couldn’t be terrible. I mean, I can look at it as a detox, right? Get all my freaking ducks in a row.

I’ve got about…. a 15×25 foot room full of crap, and I’d really like to cut down on junk. I listed all of my dog sweaters bought for the puppy that never was on ebay, that’s exciting. I’m sure I could find a ton more for an Ebay pile. I sold the ginormous kennel I sort of accidentally bought 2 weekends ago at $30, for $50, so that’s super exciting! It’s funny that I would be so worried about getting a new dog to fit in when I’m gone to work so much, and all of a sudden I have an unexpected month off, so I can acclimate Nugget properly. Funny how things work out :p

Nugget has a new saint patty’s day collar with little shamrocks because he has a doting momma. Aww. Charlie (sister’s dog, for future reference) gets insanely sad the minute you take his old blue collar off like you’re trying to get rid of him, so I wasn’t allowed to buy him one.

I’ve been working on staying at home and just doing FREE stuff around home that will make things much easier when I’m working again I suppose, and mostly just staying on top of things and not spending. I still shop around online more then any person I’ve ever known, ha! Hey, if a pair of jeans that’s normally $65 is on clearance for like, $49, and half-off clearance sale is going on, making it $25, and I happen to have a $10 off total purchase coupon, it’s SO worth it. I’m the QUEEN of frugal, if you haven’t noticed. I learned after working in retail so much how much of a waste it was to pay full price for almost anything. Especially with the economy being shitty, EVERY freaking store is having great sales. My biggest recommendation is to be on the mailing list for EVERY freaking story you like to shop at. You’re gaurunteed a $10 off every season, and it all adds up. My fave, FAVE fat-girl-cute-clothes store is Torrid. A club top (read, 1/2 the fabric of a normal tee) can easily run you $40 for something as simple as a cotton tube top. So I’m on their mailing list and wait till what I want is half off on clearance and then snag it.

I mean honestly, at 22, I’m probably not buying pieces I’ll be wearing in 10 years. The only exception to this is jewelery and classic accessories.  For one, I can’t AFFORD the classic Burberry scarf I’ve been oogling for 3 fall/winter seasons. And in all honesty I don’t want to be this weight when I’m older. I’m losing weight by the day, it would be almost irresponsible to make an investment in something I’ll hopefully never be able to wear again. I can’t justify spending more then maybe $20 on some kind of jewelery because in 5 years it won’t be in and could look garish to wear it, you know? I’ve been finding amazing vintage faux pearl necklaces (read, faux from the OLD days, where they really tried hard to make a good fake, haha. Glass with a covering that’s pretty and not a plastic bead) on ebay for under $10 with shipping, and everyone’s been asking me about them. Hello gift ideas?!

I bought new workout shoes a few months ago as incentive. Then I decided I didn’t LOVE them, and was going to return them, and then Nug chewed up the shoebox while in my car when I ran into the bank, so I decided to start using them now that they’re un-returnable. Ha! They’re comfy, my typical Nikes that I always buy. I’ve been wearing this style since the 8th grade. I’m so boring. I think one of the best weight loss ideas I’ve come across is the small little rewards for amounts of pounds lost, or hours worked out, etc. Since I’m unemployed-ish, I obviously can’t be as lavish as I want. My first excitement was the new Nikes to use. I think after I lose my first 20 lbs from my highest weight, I’ll treat myself to… a new pair of workout shorts. My favorite part about losing weight, beside the ultimate hotness, is workout clothes honestly. They’re cute! Shut up. My favorite choices for incentives are pedicures, waxes, tans, and products. I’ve finally decided I just can’t justify tanning salons because I don’t willingly look for health risks anywhere else, and I really like gradual tanners, so a new tanning PRODUCT, and not a chunk of time spent at the tanning salon. Sidenote, have any of you ever been to them? They almost ALWAYS smell tropical and lovely from all the product in the entryway. I love that smell. And I love laying in the tanning bed, it’s like a warm dry bath. I just adore it. But NO. Ha.

Since I have all the time in the world, I’m really getting serious. I COULD work out 6 hours a day like the people on Biggest Loser. I mean, I could probably lose 20 lbs in this month if I did. We all know that ain’t happenin. But I could focus on spending at least 2 hours a day doing something physical. Something I always forget is that walking Nug counts. But I need some strenuous exercise and weight training going on too. And most importantly, food. The thing that’s always a double-edged sword is that once you start dieting, you use less food, and generally the fresh wholesome food is cheaper. The problem is that initial switchover when all you have is fattening, processed shit and you have to TOTALLY revamp everything. I like being a cheapass and making delicious meals without a ton of ingredients, so this hasn’t been a huge problem. The most exciting thing for me was using Sunflower Market, they just opened one down the street a few weeks ago. Generally speaking, that organic soy dogfood crap isn’t my style, but if you read their weekly circulars they have GREAT sales, the most important ones on produce and meats. So I made this delicious pasta dish (I know, it’s an oxymoron to eat pasta when losing weight, but it works) from the Dr. Oz thing my bosses were trying. I added my own flair, but the basic jist of things is whole-wheat pasta, a big can of whole steamed tomatoes chopped, eggplant, zuchinni, onion, and a bell pepper. You add some good seasonings and a bit of olive oil and essentially you’re eating this delicious 2-servings of vegeta

bles warm pasta dish that doesn’t even TASTE that healthy. And since my family is full of people that need meat at every meal- I add some baby shrimp to their servings, and they think it’s awesome.

I’ve written a novel. I’m hungry too, ha. I have an interview this afternoon and then I’m watching the triplets tonight, so I guess I should try to put away all of the 8 or so loads of laundry I’ve been working on. I NEVER put laundry away.