February 2012 Project

I actually pieced this one in November (I think). I remembered last week that I had the stuff I needed to quilt it up! So, here’s my February quilt.

It’s been kinda… meh.

It’s time for another goals check-in! So far I have to say I’ve been pretty “meh” about the goals – at least about the ones that aren’t fun. The one that I’m falling down the worst on is eating real food. It’s sooo hard for me to do that one. I don’t know why. Is it the will-power thing? Is it lack of planning? I don’t know. I just know that it’s way too easy to eat weird stuff.

To a lesser extent I’m having issues with avoiding white stuff. When I’m home it’s pretty easy to avoid it. The only white things I have in my house are sugar and flour – and those are saved for baking. But when we go out to eat, it becomes a lot harder. Same thing at work too.

I downloaded a C25K app on my iPhone the other day. I had plans of working through it with DH starting today (he wants to run a half marathon with me, but he doesn’t run now). He got sick this weekend so I started it myself. The app is pretty good. I like having the audio cues so that I don’t have to look at my phone so much. The only down side is that it doesn’t keep track of how far I run. When I got home I had to figure it out with mapping software. Oh well. The point of the app is to use it as a cheat sheet for the C25K program, right? Right. I won’t be ready to run the whole 5k that I signed up for on March 11, but I’ll be ready for the next one.

So far I haven’t looked any further than the 5K in March. I should probably get on it and sign up for a couple more 5K’s and a couple of 10K’s too.

I’ve already finished 2 projects for February. Both are bags. One is cute, the other not so much. I also screwed up on a handle for the not cute bag. Oh well, it adds to the charm, right?

I’ve been doing super well with cooking a new recipe each week. Last night I made a super simple shrimp dish. Last week I made beef stroganoff. Oh, and today I’m trying my hand at a berry cobbler from our new Disney cookbook. I’m not sure what to make of the cobbler… it doesn’t look “right” to me.

I haven’t gotten started with the computer/work related goals either. I probably should start to do that soon.

Oh! And I did the first step for buying a house – I got our taxes ready to file. I just need to look at them one more time, get DH to hook up the printer again, and file them. I also got the paperwork together to change my name on our checking account. I want to start going through closets and cabinets and storage to get rid of things I don’t want to move into a new place. I know we’re several months away from buying, but I don’t want to have the added stress of a mad-tossing party.

I’ve also been helping my brother out with his blog (http://goesgreatwithbeer.com). He comes over once a week and cooks a meal. The meal is paired with beer. We post the recipe and a picture. He took a couple weeks off because I wasn’t home, but we’re back up and running now.

OK – it’s just about time to fold the laundry. Then I need to figure out what else is on today’s to do list. Until next time!

The cute bag

 

The not so cute bag

 

January Project

As some of you may know, one of my goals for 2012 is to finish a quilting or sewing project each month.  I had a few different options for projects, but I decided to finish one that I started in November.  I had most of the fabric (including the backing!) in my stash at that time.  There were a few yards purchased in the November Shop Hop so that I would have enough to complete the quilt.  I quickly pieced the top in those bright inks and greens I currently love so much.  I sandwiched the top, batting and back together and got to quilting.  I got the whole thing quilted and THEN turned it over to survey the back… and was horrified.  Soooo many mistakes.  Mistakes I would have caught had I checked the back WHILE I was quilting.

I decided to leave the bulk of the terrible quilting and pull out the most offensive portions.  It took 3 days to pull out the quilting in the border (the worst spot).  And then I was so disgusted I didn’t want to look at the stupid thing.  So it sat on the sofa, reminding me of my mistake.  By the time I finally got the gumption to re-quilt the border I’d fallen while jogging and everything hurt.  The blanket sat there some more until I decided to finish it for my January project.

So here it is, in all its error filled glory:

Springy pink and green quilt

 

A closeup of the problematic border

The Pain!

I officially completed one of my 2012 goals: finish at least one half marathon. I did that today around 9:30am. OMG are my legs sore! It took 3 hours and 14 minutes, but I’m done!

The first three miles weren’t bad. Just a typical 5k through Disneyland. Mile 5 was hard, but I’m not sure why. It was definitely more mental than anything else at that point. Mile 7 was really fun with the marching band and cheerleaders. Mile 9 definitely started to hurt. Mile 11 I passed our hotel and waved at my husband. My legs were really unhappy with me. Then it was through California Adventure to the finish line.

Even the parts that didn’t have Disney all over them were fun. I’d totally recommend this race.

I am in so much pain! Gonna hobble slowly through the parks some more and eat icecream. Its my reward for finishing.

2012 Goals Check-in

Time to check in with my 2012 goals:

Cook 1 new recipe each week
So far, so good.  I didn’t think I’d get a new recipe in this week because we weren’t planning on eating dinner at home this week.  Staying home on Sunday instead of going out to San Francisco worked to my advantage.  I made split pea soup with yellow peas that I found at the Indian market by my house.  Pretty yummy.  I didn’t follow the directions 100% though…  I dumped everything in the pot and let it cook instead of adding the carrots and celery in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Eat real food
This one I’m falling down a bit on.  Most bread in the supermarket has some kind of weird preservative in it.  I’m also trying to use up my peanut butter and salad dressings before I buy more (budgets, ya know).  And of course the cookies and candy at work don’t really work so well for this.  I just need to focus more and be more aware of what I’m putting in my mouth and what I’m buying.  I can do that.  It might be difficult at Disneyland next week, but I’ll do my best.

No white grains
Do onion bagels count as white grain?  Or the rice at lunch yesterday?  Or the flour that’s used to make those delicious cookies in the lunch room?  I’m pretty sure they do.  *sigh*  FOCUS Danie!  I’ve been doing good except for those three slip-ups.  And my sister was super sweet to buy pizza with whole wheat crust for my nephew’s birthday.  Thanks Sis! Yay me – I’m almost succeeding with this one!

Finish one quilt or sewing project each month
All I have to do is attach a border to this hot pink quilted throw I made and the project for month #1 is done!  I also have the stuff I need to complete at least on project for month #2!  This goal is going well.

Buy a house, not a condo
I showed DH some McMansions around our neighborhood that we almost have 10% down on.  I think we’ll probably end up buying something a little more manageable payment and upkeep wise (read: smaller and cheaper).  We have 20% down on bank-owned prices for smaller homes, but we need to save more for closing costs and any repairs/upgrades the houses might need.

Learn basic web development technologies
I haven’t even started on this one.  DH showed me a series of videos I can watch to get the basics down and then take tests to get certified on this stuff.  I’m just not super motivated on this, though.  Got any tips to get me motivated?

Get Project+ certified
This is a direct response to some project management training work sent me to awhile back.  I have all of the training materials I need sitting in the 2nd bedroom upstairs.  Have I watched one refresher video?  No.  Read one chapter of one book?  No.  Maybe I need some prizes to motivate me, what do you think?

Run a 5k without stopping; complete three 5k races; complete two 10k races; complete at least one half marathon; wear a bikini comfortably in public
I decided to lump all of these goals together because they each build on one another.  I signed up for a 5k, I joined a gym, and my rib is healed so I can focus on these goals more.  My weight went up in response to the gym-going though.  Just a pound, but I know that is water retention from the upper body workout I did yesterday.  Seriously, my arm muscles are so sore that it’s a miracle I could turn on the shower this morning.  I also jogged on the treadmill twice this week, which felt really good.  I’ll keep doing that until I’m jogging for the whole 30 minutes the gym allows.

 

I found a house

One of my new year’s resolutions is to buy a house.  I really, really want to have a place to call my own.  Someplace where the neighbors’ marijuana smoke doesn’t waft into my living room.  Someplace where I don’t hear gunshots with regularity.  Someplace where I can do laundry whenever I want.  Someplace where I can have a heater that works and appliances in my kitchen that are good, and….  you get the idea.

We almost have enough saved for a down payment.  If we’re really conservative we can buy a very small house by June.  So of course I’ve started dreaming and looking at houses for sale.  And of course I found one… and quickly found that it’s not the right house (whew!).

OK – it sounded awesome on the surface: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, farmhouse style, 1.75 acres with a creek running through, hillside views, country living close to civilization.  All for $219K in the SF bay area.  My jaw dropped.  I mean, seriously?  So I looked closer because the 4 pictures I saw showed some work needed, and I found a video and 5 more photos.

You have to cross a bridge to get to the house.  The bridge was washed out in 2010 (I think).  The guy who owns the house rebuilt the bridge but without permits.  So first strike: need to get the bridge certified.

The house is water damaged.  There’s no sheet rock, real flooring or kitchen.  The foundation “needs work”.  And the roof is currently a ginormous tarp. I don’t know what it costs to fix a foundation, but I do know that my Mom’s kitchen was redone a few years ago for $30K, the bathrooms were $15k, the floors were $10k, and the roof for her single story home was $20k (this place is 2-story)…  it was all high-end stuff to be sure and this was just before the markets crashed, but it gave me an idea of how much money would need to be sunk into this house to make it livable.

No wonder the house is going for so cheap!!  To give you an idea, there’s another house with the same acreage and same square footage going for $670K just down the street from this one.

Oh well…  if I was a contractor or if I had the $150k+ to get all this work done I’d be all over it.  But I’m not and I don’t so I can’t.  Oh well.  That just means that there’s a better place for us, right?  Right.

Damn.

This food thing is hard!

Granted I haven’t been focusing super much on food for awhile, but I don’t remember it being this hard!  Like today, I added one of those little packages of liquid creamer to my coffee when we went out to breakfast today without thinking anything of it.  During a lull in the conversation I thought “I wonder what’s in that.”  I looked at the package and saw that it listed 2% milk, heavy cream, and some weird additive.  Three ingredients, but one of them was weird.  *sigh*

Then I ordered a Denver omelet.  Sounded right: eggs, ham, bell pepper, onion and cheese.  I should have ordered it without the cheese – who knows what’s in the cheese that makes it orange?  Side of hash browns that I only ate two bites of, and a slice of wheat toast.  Notice it’s not 100% whole wheat?

OK, OK, it’s basically day 1, right?  I’m out of the habit of analyzing everything on the menu and all the pieces of a particular plate when I’m ordering.  I just need to do better.  I’ll know better for date night on Wednesday.

Tonight should be easier for dinner.  My brother is coming over to make us some dinner.  He’s making his “California Salad” with tilapia on top and we’re pairing it with an amber ale.  He’s a chef and the author of http://goesgreatwithbeer.com.  It only has one entry so far because he caught a nasty cold right after the first meal.  He’s back tonight.  I’ve had the California Salad before, but this time it will be a little different.  We couldn’t find the strawberries that he’d normally use so he’ll be substituting with raspberries.  And normally there isn’t any meat added in, but since it will be a main dish salad there needs to be something to go with it.  I’m totally looking forward to it.  Since we moved out a few years ago, I haven’t been able to spend a whole lot of time with him and I kinda miss him.

OK…  now onto the exercise portion of things.  I’m pretty limited in what I can do since I fell and cracked a rib a couple weeks ago.  I’m moving better now, but I can’t run or lift anything heavier than 5 pounds right now.  And even lifting 2 pounds repeatedly makes me cry.  So as soon as I finish with this entry, I’m planning on trying some lower body stuff just to get moving.  Squats, calf raises, going up and down the stairs, that kind of thing.  Nothing that requires twisting or using my abs too much – I don’t want to hurt myself worse!

And I weighed myself last night with my trusty Wii balance board…  I’m at 159.4 pounds.  Ugh.  I need to be around 145 to be at a healthy BMI.  So that means I have 14.4 pounds to lose.  I know BMI isn’t the be-all of health and fitness, but it’s a gauge to use.

Time to do some light exercise to get things moving.

Date Night: Extreme Pita

We moved our date nights to Thursday nights because DH wanted to take Judo classes on our regular night.  So last night we went to Extreme Pita on Automall in Fremont, but we didn’t mean to initially.  When you’re driving around the Bay Area, you often see restaurants out of the corner of your eye.  As you can imagine might happen, if you can’t fully read the sign you’ll make up a name that fits what you think you’ve seen.  So we were totally stoked to go to “Extreme Pizza.”  All day DH was texting me about the various types of pizza he wanted, the beer he hoped they had and how awesome dinner would be.  I was excited to find a cheap place to go that also met my New Year’s Resolution to try a new restaurant every week.  Imagine our surprise to drive up and see that “Extreme Pizza” was really “Extreme Pita.”

We poked our heads in and saw a clean place.  A girl was mopping and the floor was wet so we were scared to go in and ruin her hard work.  She scowled when we asked if it was OK to go in.  The guy behind the counter gave us a huge smile and welcomed us into the building.

DH ordered the small Buffalo Chicken Pita and a sweetened Lipton iced tea, and I ordered the small Falafel Pita (vegetarian) and a honey Lipton iced tea.  DH liked his quite a bit and finished it quickly.  He said that it was spicy but it was a good spicy.  Mine was good, but it was a little boring.  It needed more spices or something.  I’d definitely try something different next time.

Although the food was good, we ended up leaving hungry.  The small sized pita didn’t provide enough bulk to fill us up.

Bottom line: the place was clean and the food was good.  I probably wouldn’t make a special trip to south Fremont for this restaurant, but if I’m in the area and hungry I wouldn’t turn it down.

Week 11 – Tandoor, Hayward, CA

My mission to try a new restaurant each week continued today at Tandoor restaurant in Hayward, CA.  My fiance’s mom attended a baby shower that Tandoor catered.  She liked it so much that she wanted to eat at the restaurant today and I needed a new restaurant STAT, so we all piled into a couple of cars and stopped in to eat.

The decor is a bit bland, and the buffet is set up on three tables.  The people were really nice.  They could tell that all of us were first-timers.

We all ate from the buffet.  We took a little bit of everything, since most of us had never really eaten Indian food before.  It was really good!  Not too spicy either.  My fiance talked to the guys running the place, and they indicated that if we were to order from the menu next time they could alter the spiciness of the food.

My niece was really nervous about trying the food, but then again, she’s 8 years old.  We finally got her to try the naan (2 thumbs up from her), the rice (we liked it, but she didn’t), the curry chicken (everyone liked it), the tandoori chicken (everyone liked it, but she was freaked out by the red color) and the butter chicken (she didn’t like it at all, but I thought it was good).

It was a good experience, and affordable.  I’d probably order takeout next time so that I have leftovers.

Week 10 – Burrito Shop, Castro Valley

The next installment in my continuing mission to try a new restaurant every week…

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Last week was a close one – I almost didn’t meet the requirements of this resolution!  Originally my hunny and I were going to try a new restaurant before we saw Chicago at CSUEB, but then he got home late and we resorted to Taco Bell.  So, that left only one day to get my restaurant in… and I had to work that day!  So, I thought about the restaurants near work, and remembered the Burrito Shop in Castro Valley.  Believe it or not, I’ve never eaten at a Burrito Shop, so I thought I’d try it for lunch.

The location is a 3 minute walk from the staff entrance at work, but if you’re driving you might have to battle for parking.  The inside isn’t much to speak of: a few tables and chairs, and a big barrier of a counter with the menu posted above.  It’s definitely a fast food place, but when you only have a 30 minute lunch break you’re not looking for fancy!

I ordered the first gourmet burrito on their menu: the Santa Fe Chicken.  The girl rang me up, and my food came out shortly after.  It wasn’t until I’d had time to study the menu that I realized I could have asked for my choice of beans and tortillas, including whole wheat, at no extra cost.  Eh, next time, right?  I walked back to work to eat my meal, mostly because the Shop didn’t feel super welcoming.

My burrito was decent.  There was a good balance of rice, beans, and veggies, but it could have used more chicken.  I have to admit that eating zucchini in my burrito was different, but the flavors meshed well.

Overall, I’d probably go back for another quick meal if I forgot my lunch or the cafe in our building doesn’t have anything to offer.  I doubt I’d make a special effort to visit though.