Weekly roundup

In the last two (sheesh, I’m behind) weeks, I…

*FINALLY shared some of the amazing recipes I’ve made lately, including a super one for homemade peanut cups.

My friend LG read about them and tried them the very next day and loved them.

*Had a book club meeting where we finished “The Count of Monte Cristo”. It was a loonnnnggg book, and I had the abridged version (by mistake.) I’d like to go back and read the full version someday because I do feel like I missed some details. Someday.

*Went for coffee with my niece LB who was home from college for spring break. So fun to see her!

*Enjoyed a very lovely day off, including a long run outside. Well, long for me…about 2 miles. Slow (about 10:45 per mile), but still, I ran them all!

*Was all fancy and had dinner with my friend SH at a private club in St Paul. So posh.

*Saw the hand surgeon about my wrist. Surgery is scheduled for the end of May.

*Had dinner with my friend SP. And we tried a fantastic place for dessert. SO GOOD. And I could feel the diabetes setting in just walking in the door.

*Practiced at the studio. I do dance homework at home, but some things you just need the studio space for. But I hate practicing at the studio. Which is silly and ridiculous but true. My friend SH feels the exact same way, except I don’t think she practices at home. So we made a pact to meet at the studio once a week to practice. We did it last week for the first time, and it was great. Like having a workout buddy but with dance.

*Caught up with the fabulous KB over coffee. Alas, it was way too short – we didn’t cover everything!

*Took a knitting class with DF. It was great because she had never knit, and I learned some basic things (cough cough cast-on) that I never really learned properly.

*Had Easter dinner with the family.

Daily prompt: All about me

Daily writing challenge from Feb 12: Explain why you chose your blog’s title and what it means to you.

When I started this blog, I was kinda at a point of starting over in my life. I had never taken the time nor the effort to think about who do I want to be and what kind of life do I want. So I did that. Well, I’m doing it. I’m trying to reinvent myself into the type of person I want to be. Some days I succeed at that. Some days I don’t. But I keep thinking about who I want to be, and I keep striving for it.

In terms of my life and what kind of life do I want, I’m less successful at that. Mainly due to time and my schedule. But I’m working on it, and I make slow progress towards it.

So my blog title is all about me: I’m a lass who’s trying to reinvent myself and my life. If you want to read more, go check out my about page!

PB all the way

There has been a trend to my baking lately, without my even trying.

PEANUT BUTTER.

I love peanut butter. Especially with chocolate. You know I’m not much of a sugar person; give me salt! But peanut butter and chocolate…just can’t beat that combination.

A while ago, I made these buckeye brownies from Brown-Eyed Baker. They were amazing. My roommate still talks about them. Sadly, though, they didn’t really last long enough to take pictures of them.

Then a few weeks (months?) ago, my friend KB talked about these homemade peanut butter cups she made. Homemade? With salt? I had to try the recipe. So I got the recipe from the blog she found it on and tried it.

Bite-sized amazingness.

The recipe used full-size muffin liners; I made them mini-muffin size. The chocolate part didn’t quite work for me, I think because I used skim milk. So I remade them and this time just used melted chocolate. I should have added some cream, but they were fine without it.

Then I saw a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction that I had to try. Especially since my roommate pinned the same recipe because she wanted me to make these.

Amazeballs.

They were great. A huge hit at book club. I made them smaller than the recipe said to, and they worked out great.

Three fantastic recipes that use peanut butter. All of them so very good. And easy too.

Great, now I’m hungry for a Reese’s.

Weekly roundup

Last week, I…

*Got a Kindle Fire!

And it’s awesome.

*Went to the doctor and learned I need to have hand surgery soon to remove a cyst on my wrist. Luckily it shouldn’t interfere with my life too much. But still annoying. I find out more next week.

*Waged war on the mice.

Cotton balls with peppermint oil on them in tea defusers. And dryer sheets. Our house smelled like peppermint linen for a while. Then the smell dissipated, and we saw signs of the mice again. So more peppermint oil, more dryer sheets, and refresh both more often.

*Had dinner with MH and heard about her amazing trip to Belize.

*Saw “Searching for Sugar Man” with SP. It is a great movie – well deserving of the Oscar it received. Go see it. And then go listen to the music.

*Made these…

More on those soon!

*Finished “The Great Gatsby” for book club.

New technology

Every year, I get a tax refund. I plan it that way. My friend DP is appalled by that. He firmly believes that you shouldn’t pay more than you owe. Ever. I get that it’s my money and that I’m lending it to the government for free. But really, if I saved that money, what kind of interest would I really be earning? Even if interest rates were good, I’d still want a refund. To me, it’s like bonus money.

This year, I’m being responsible with most of it. But I did take some of it and get something I’ve wanted for a long time.

A Kindle Fire!!

I’m writing this post on the WordPress app on it right now. It’s not easy as a computer, but it’s pretty handy. Plus I’ve already started reading a book on it over lunch, which was great. I love the portability of it. So much easier than a big book!

So I’m excited. I think this is going to be great, especially if I have downtime at the studio and over lunch. This was a good buy for me.

Even if it means the government got my money for free last year.

Weekly roundup

So last week, I…

*Ran outside for the first time in a long time to prepare for a 5K. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Except for when the jog interval on the program I used started over halfway through. And I ended up running for 50% longer than I had planned to.

*Babysat for a friend. And learned very interesting things from the oldest child.

*Saw this fantastic picture on the Facebooks and remembered that we’re all awesome in different ways.

*Gave up on online dating.

*Had great dance lessons. So much progress still being made. Did lots of dance homework too.

*Declared war on the non Gus-Gus mice in my house.

*Ran a 5K! In 36 minutes – the exact time of the last one. Except that this means I was faster than before, because we lost about 2 minutes traipsing through a snowbank to walk around a ginormous puddle.

*Did a dance group class and a lesson after the 5K. Yep, met my quota of physical activity that day.

*Had brunch with KC. (No sunshine band, though.) We tried a new restaurant that was so good. So yummy. Must go back soon.

*Made these:

Homemade peanut butter cups. SO GOOD. More on these soon!

*Realized that my body now wants a certain level of physical activity. Whoa, that’s new.

All in all…a very FANTASTIC week!

I really AM a runner

A few weeks ago, I realized that I was a runner because I was looking for 5Ks to do. And my friend and I signed up to do one tomorrow.

Luckily I don’t feel like this when I run anymore.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warm (high around 38 degrees) but rainy. In fact, it’s supposed to be so icy overnight that they might need to cancel the race. I’m disappointed that they might cancel it because I’m looking forward to running it.

Wait, what?

I am looking forward to running a 5K? Who am I?

Then I started thinking about it. How much I enjoy being active. And how many that has changed since before I started dancing. I used to just sit around A LOT when I wasn’t working. I watched a lot of TV.

Now, I feel bad if I just sit around, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Now, I do yoga most mornings. I run. I do strength training. I dance. I’m starting to crave the activity of a workout. I still hate working out, but my body wants that level of activity now. Dance keeps me moving a lot, and I really like staying busy. Some days I’m a little too busy, but overall I’d rather be busy than just sitting around like a sloth all the time.

(I have a friend who plans her life around the TV schedule. She lives alone, and TV is very important to her. I say, good for her. That’s her interest, that’s her hobby, and she loves it. I think that’s great. I just know that it’s not how I want my life to be. I think it’s totally fine if others want to do that. Just not for me.)

I don’t quite look like this either.

So, I’m writing this, hoping that they don’t have to cancel the race tomorrow. Which makes me realize how much I like running. Well, not running…more the feeling of accomplishment when I’m done running. And the endorphins.

Damn, I really AM a runner.

If you’re not Gus-Gus, get out of my house

Last fall, we had a mouse in our house.

No big deal. Often in the fall, when the weather turns cold, critters from outside (especially mice) start trying to find places inside to spend the winter. We told our landlords about it. Last year, the same thing happened, they had the exterminator out, and no mice were seen again.

But this winter is the coldest winter in 4 years, and it’s snowy. This month is the snowiest March in 6 years. So the critters are trying to get inside.

So we saw another one a few weeks after the exterminator was here. We called again, he came out, and then nothing.

For a few weeks.

Then we heard another one. And the dog was staring at the file cabinet. We moved it, and we found a half-chewed candy bar. Apparently someone had knocked it over by mistake, and it fell between the file cabinet and desk. So we threw it out, cleaned the area, and figured we were good.

We were wrong. We saw little calling cards again. And one ran into my BEDROOM when I was in bed reading one night.

The exterminator was out again and again, and we were good for a while. Then we found a few droppings in the kitchen last week. We found a package with a few slices of bread that had fallen off the counter and behind the freezer. Cleaned it up and threw it out.

And tonight, I found a few droppings in our recycling basket.

I know the landlords are doing what they can, especially since they’ve seen evidence of them in their place too. (They live below us.) But it’s getting frustrating. Luckily the mice haven’t gotten into the cupboards and into the food. Yet.

Here’s my rule: Nature can do whatever it wants outside. But once a living creature crosses the threshold into my living space, that creature gives up its right to live. This applies to bugs too.

So this weekend, it’s WAR. Consider yourselves warned, mice! I’m coming after you this weekend. I’m going to try some natural remedies to repel them. And I might get some traps too. Except then I have to dispose of the traps – ick.

The only mouse I want to see in my house is Gus from Cinderella.

If you’re not him, you’re not welcome. So get out!

I’m out of the pool

A while ago, I talked about jumping back into the dating pool. At least more proactively. I went back to online dating, just to see if I could find someone there worth meeting in person.

Short answer? No.

I think it’s me. I need that spark to date someone. And it’s hard to find that spark in an email. Very difficult. Plus I’m terrible at first dates.

But, having said that…guys online do not do themselves any favors. I mentioned this before, and apparently nothing has changed.

One guy opened a conversation with me this way: “Hey sexy princess, what’s happening?” Um, not the way to capture my attention.

“What’s up?” was another opener as was “Hi”. Dude, you have to give me something to respond to. Prove to me you’re a good conversationalist.

One guy was really good at asking questions, and we had a good conversation going. Nothing spectacular, nothing that made me want to meet him in person. But a good conversation especially compared to some of the other ones. But we never got to the point of actually meeting. It just kinda tapered out.

A lot of guys use far too many text shortcuts and emoticons. (Really? You’re in your 30s and you use “ROFL” in an email? Really??)

Most guys want kids, and I know I’m not doing that. I”m open to dating someone who already has them, but I’m not having them. And apparently many guys do not read a girl’s profile all the way through, because I know I was clear in my profile.

So I decided to stop the online thing. Out of courtesy, I messaged each of the guys I had a conversation going with and told them. To save anyone’s feelings, I told each of them that I was dating someone and therefore canceling my profile. One guy wrote me a very angry message back saying that I shouldn’t have wasted his time and I shouldn’t have let him know I was canceling my profile. Dodged a bullet there, huh?

So I’m back to enjoying the single life and leaving it up to fate and the universe. My path will cross someone’s if it’s meant to. Meanwhile, I’ll keep myself open to the possibility of it.

And if you want to follow some really great stories about online dating, check out my friend KG’s blog. They have great stories!

Don’t compare me

I generally don’t compare my life to the lives of others. Mainly because when I do, I feel like I lose. So I try not to do it. I’ve written before about this, but it’s worth repeating. A lot. Because I still fall in the trap of doing it.

Last week I saw this photo on Facebook:

And it reminded me: Don’t play the comparison game. Instead, just remember you’re awesome. And I’m awesome. And we’re awesome in different ways. And that’s fantastic.