To the dog park

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Yesterday I woke up all ready to attack the day with my laziness. Followed by teaching HEAT class. But then I made lunch.

It was a good sandwich that I just randomly came up with. Some multi grain bread from the local bakery, sliced cucumber, sauteed red peppers, cream cheese, and a slice of cheddar. I slapped that on the panini press and lunch was served.

Immediately following, my stomach started hurting. It hurt so bad that I called for a replacement to teach my class last night…and I got in bed. I thought perhaps it was the cheese or the bread that did me in, but we’ll never know.

I tried to survive through dinner that Tyler brought home, but I think that made it even worse.

We took Layla for a walk afterwards, and then I knew I was a sicky-sick little lady (HA! Little?).

I woke up this AM with a sore throat, some post nasal drop and a headache that made me fall over when I got up to pee. (YOU’RE WELCOME).

And yet, I still managed to take my four-legged child to the park. Hells no I was not going to walk her, I am dead people! I took her to the fenced in dog park, slapped my chair in the corner, and watched her do her thing. Unfortunately for me, she knew the park was right next to the river, so she whined and jumped on my until I hooked her up and brought her for a swim.

So there I was, in my pajamas, coughing and moaning, while my idiot of a dog jumped into the frozen (ice not visible to the naked eye) water. Then she freaked when she heard all the broken ice clanking around her. I laughed. Then coughed. Then laughed and coughed at the same time.

You see, since I have been a miserable beast of a mess all day, I have no energy to do things to write about. Nor am I my witty, hilarious self. And don’t even get me started on how difficult it has been to attempt homework today. I think I might lay in the tub (with water in it, of course) and take a nap. And by nap, I really mean sit in there reading my book until I pass out, and then wake up with a crook in my neck.

I might also get real stupid-ass stubborn and head to the gym for a cardio interval session on the treadmill. I’m kind of craving it right now.

Oh, and I am making pulled pork.

And coleslaw.

And since football is on tonight, I might have an adult beverage. Doubt that’ll help with the sickness, but it’s Thursday, dang it! )That means absolutely nothing to me since I have been happily unemployed for 8.5 months now. Wow, time flies when you live in a foreign country with a dog, a dude and no money!

I gotta get better by Saturday! A friend and I are making out own impromptu pub crawl downtown! I can’t wait. Are you in Calgary and want to join? Let me know!

Also, I am accepting applications for a new best friend in the Calgary area. Must like working out, drinking, and laughing. (Kysha and Katie, you’re still my besties, but I need a gal that doesn’t have to use a passport to see me!) Why am I interviewing for a new friend? Because I need someone to have fun with! Someone that doesn’t always have to do ‘couples’ things, or has a bed time, or is a grump. Someone who isn’t Tyler. I love him and all, but I need me some quality fun-girl time.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some moping to do.

Weekend Recap

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Ah, the Sunday blues. The worst feeling. Except for probably childbirth, but I haven’t done that yet.

Cute pictures of my dog help a little bit.

She has entirely too many toys. Tyler brought her home a big bright pink one that’s name Silly, but I haven’t snapped a pic of it yet. (He brought me Moroccan Oil! What a gem of a guy #lovehim. And yes, I just used a hashtag)

Oh hey, and look what I Tyler installed (I helped)

Light! Glorious, bright, light! You have no idea how excited we were to get this puppy up. The hallway is just too dang dark, and we are still pretty painted-out from the living room/dining room/bathroom, that we haven’t tackled a brighter color for this space.

Sidenote: I did NOT know Rock of Ages was adapted from a musical. I was not prepared to watch over 2 hours of singing. oof

Sidenote#2: Never have a valued the performance of a humidifier more than now. Hello, boogerless sleeps!

Here’s a funny story: We took Layla to our favorite park yesterday. It’s completely fenced in, there are other dogs she can play with, and it’s close to the river so she can take a swim (and by that, I mean lay in the water).

Anyways, we get to the park and there is a tent set up. It was a little thing promoted by the city(?) to educate people on how to properly clean up after their pets. Ummm, what? I’m pretty sure it goes like this:

Have bag.
Dog poops.
Put hand in bag and pick up poop.
Flip the bag inside out, tie a knot, and throw bag away.

Guess people don’t know about that little trick.

I also guess that wasn’t really a funny story, but I thought it needed to be told.

On an unrelated note, I had a really great workout after the walk. I completed 40 minutes of crazy intense spinning and then since I was pressed for time, I did a quick set of bulgarian split squats, elevated squats, hamstring extensions, single-legged dead lifts, and clean and jerks. This may sound weird, but when I have a set of muscles that feel tight, I actually like working some strength on them because it feels like stretching. Silly, yes, but it works for me. Now my hammies feel fantastical.

(Insert brief pause here, while I go downstairs to change the laundry)

Oh hey, date night!

I clean up pretty decent. I’ll admit, I don’t get myself ‘done up’ too much these days, but DAMN it feels good ~~to be a gangsta.~~

He looks pretty slick himself.

Tyler got a Groupon for Koiji Restolounge. Poor guy has had a mean craving for sushi, but hasn’t had it in forever since I’m not a seafood person. And then, I caved and told him I’d give it a go. The restaurant was small, but it was super nice, and the waitstaff was really friendly. Helped take the edge off, for sure.

Not gonna lie, I was nervous.

We ordered an avocado roll, 2 California rolls (avocado and snow crab), a spicy tuna roll, Alberta (beef, arugula and cucumber), and Tuscany (cream cheese, sun-dried tomato and something else).

a.) I suck at using chopsticks.

b.) Around the 6th piece, I had a nasty gag reflex and needed to gulp my wine and take a breather.

c.) I love wasabi.

I’m not in love with sushi now, but I can definitely tolerate it. This made Tyler a very happy man. (Is it weird to still taste seaweed the next day? Because I do)

Fast forward through the night, and here we are. Sunday football, pumpkin pancakes, homework (gag reflex at its finest), and watching a man jump from space.

That man is crazy!

What did you do this weekend? What’s your favorite sushi?

Barfing in my mouth

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I kind of barfed in my mouth when I walked into the kitchen this morning. I was grossly dirty. HOW did I let it get that bad?! I must have spent 2 hours cleaning the fridge out (DANG I let some stuff get bad in there.) After that and laundry and general house-pickup, I had to light a bunch of candles and just sit. But then the dog started getting all whiney on me.

And that, my friends, is when I remembered how much I hate cold weather.

(Also, this is what you will look like when you practically never put makeup on anymore.)

But my friggin’ dog loves this not so lovely weather. I mean, I get the whole opposites attract thing- that’s how Tyler and I work so well- but this dog/me situation is just not cool.

She was wagging her butt more than usual today. And rolling in the wet grass. And kept looking back at me with a huge doggie smile. Pffff.

Ok, let’s talk some stuff. No, I’ll talk and you listen. Comment if you’re so inclined.

I read this article today. And then I realized, holy crap I like never wash my bras. ~~(I never really wear them anymore anyways, but that’s beside the point)~~ I used to wait till I drove home to my parents and have my mom wash them, but now I can’t be bothered. K, you can chime in now about this- do you wash your bras? I will be especially intrigued if any guys answer this.

I also saw these cookies on my Reader this morning and was determined to make them ASAP. Oh but wait, here in Canada, Thanksgiving is BEFORE Halloween. Ugh, I guess I’ll just have to make these beforehand. That’s more Thanksgiving-y.

It’s photos like these that make me happy that Tyler and I opted out of engagement photos. I honestly think even the ‘normal’ one are pretty cheesy, but that’s just me. I have a whole mouthful of things I can say about this whole wedding thing (and it’s all my opinion, mmk?!) I thing going formal is too cookie cutter. I think the ‘cutting of the cake’ and other designated events are so stuffy. I think it’s retarded how expensive flowers and photographers are. Obviously the booze is $$ but that’s what I WANT. It’s a party, people. I think the only traditional thing about my wedding is the dress. Only because I wanted lace. And when you go to bridal shops, lace= super wedding-y. But yeah, I guarantee you I will be putting ice down my back to keep cool, and I’ll probably do a few planks or pushups on the dance floor. Did I mention the open bar? Ok, I’m done with the wedding rant. I just see all this wedding stuff on the internet and it drives me batty how cray cray other people get into it all. I pretty much planned mine in 2 weeks in August. And it’s not until next July. BOOM.

That said, I’m off to the gym for a sweaty session on the treadmill/upper body/core workout.

Playing catch up

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I know my last post was a bit depressing. But I really needed to vent. And there was no way I was about to do a happy recap of the weekend.

So I think I’ll do that now. Incredibly modified, of course.

There were walks with Layla. Quite a few of them.

Meandering through bushes. Being a crazy whiny dog.

We hit up a Home show downtown on Saturday morning and spent a good chunk of time looking at stuff. And buying things. I haven’t taken pictures of them yet, but I am sure they’ll make a post soon. And beers at what we have just recently dubbed “our place.” Both Tyler and I agree that we love the menu selection AND the beer selection, and it’s really close to our house, so it’s a favorite! What is it? Brewster’s!

I had a really awesome steak salad.

Today, I made homemade doggie treats.

Maple scones (not pictured), and pork and coleslaw sliders.

SO GOOD.

Layla and I had another wonderful walk. It’s totally Fall.

Oh, and my dog rolls. A lot.

Workouts included:

Friday: 40 minutes Spin/30 min lower body strength

Saturday: Walked the home show/Layla

Sunday: 60 minute combo workout with kickboxing, body pump and interval style training

Monday: 30 minute treadmill run/30 minute full body strength

Lots more to talk about, but I am TIRED. Night!

Recipe break!

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

It’s me again.

I have been doing homework ALL.DAMN.DAY. Lots of reading and researching and discussion questions…ay yay yay.

I have been breaking it up with household chores, errands, walks, and intermittent exercises.

And recipe making. Since it’s time for me to take another mental break, I decided to write a post to share my recipes from today!

First up, Summer Salad. This was inspired by a recipe from Athena’s blog-she actually made it for me when I stayed at her place last month. I didn’t have the exact ingredients, so I made up my own.

Summer Salad

Here’s what you’ll need:

cucumber
tomatoes
onion
garbanzo beans
kidney beans
olive oil
lemon juice
S&P

Here’s what you do:

1. Dice up the cucumber, tomatoes, and onion (I am not listing amounts because that’s up to you. I made just enough for lunch/dinner, but you can obviously make as much as you want- and add more of the ingredients you like better)

2. Rinse the beans.

3. Mix all the ingredients. For my batch, I used 2 capfuls of lemon juice and 3 capfuls of olive oil.

4. S&P to taste.