We Have a Winner!

Today has been such a dreary rainy day. I just feel like curling up with a good book and some tea.....or taking a nap. I'm not sure how productive I was at work today.

But this is not what you all want to hear about is it? No. You want to know who won my Blogiversary contest, right? God you're all so pushy!
Well, I went to Random.org and entered in how many entries I had and let it pick a number for me.
And the winner is........envelope please......Robin!! !

Thank you to everyone who entered my contest. I appreciate all of my reader(s).

Robin, email me and let me know if you want a Borders or Barnes and Noble gift card and where I can send it to.

Since that's settled, I think I'll go and take that nap.

Baths....and Other Vices

Have I mentioned before how much I LOVE my tub? It's one of the main reasons Spiderman and I bought this house. In our old condo, the master bathroom had a shower only and the spare bathroom had a tub that was so small I could hardly recline at all. When we were house hunting, I knew I needed a larger tub. At the time I was working a lot of 12/16 hour shifts and I really enjoyed the soak to soothe my tired muscles.

This tub totally fits the bill. It is so deep that when I get in and lay back a little, you can only see my head. It's a jacuzzi tub, but I rarely use the jets. I just enjoy soaking. Besides....the jets ruin your bubbles!

I don't take a bath as often as I would like anymore. Sometimes, a shower is just quicker. The way I take a bath.... it's an event.
I light my lavender candle from Yankee Candle. Lavender is one of my favorite scents in the world.
In my basket of goodies, I have various scents of bubble baths, bath salts, fizz balls, and bath scrub. I told you it was an event!
Plus, I'm a sucker for products. Last weekend my mother and sister and I purchased this product.

Smooth Legs. Ever heard of it? It's Easy, Safe, and Painless! They did a demonstration on our arms and it took the hair off painlessly. Being the complete lemmings that we are, we each bought a box.
This is what the kit comes with. Pink, plastic holders that you place the black magic pads on. You rub in a circular motion, and the hair disappears. In theory. When I got home, it took twice as long to do my legs as regular shaving would have.

And see this smaller holder?

It's for doing facial hair. Now, I don't have a lot of facial hair. I have a light peach fuzz on my upper lip. It's hardly noticeable, but I had to try out my new product.
So, the black pad? It's basically a fine grade of sandpaper. On my upper lip. The peach fuzz? Hardly noticeable. The red burning rash that followed my session? VERY noticeable.
And the best part? Days later, the skin on my upper lip has started peeling. Like a sunburn. It's very attractive.

Easy? yes.
Safe? I guess.
Painless? I don't think so.....and I'm now emotionally scarred.

I may have learned my lesson.
We'll see.

***Don't forget, if you haven't entered my blogiversary contest I will announce the winner tomorrow!*****

My Lesson in Humility

This isn't going to be a long post because I'm getting ready to go to Indy for the weekend to visit my friend Angela.
I've known Angie since we were in High School and she would assist me with all my "scathingly brilliant" ideas. And there were many. She was always supportive of whatever odd and slightly crazy thing I felt like doing.
Also, she drove around with me when I had this:

Yep, that was the car I drove in High School. Well, not that one exactly....mine was an awful burgundy color....and someone stole the gas tank door off it....but you get the idea. This was my lesson in humility. I drove this puppy every day. To school. And social events. And generally in PUBLIC. I was very brave. I also drove it like it was the size of an Escort. I'd fly around corners, the metal mini-blinds swinging to and fro banging into the glass of the windows. Oh yes, it had mini-blinds. I was that awesome. And hot. Literally. In case you can't tell from the picture, this van has no front end. So where is the engine you ask? Underneath the front seat. Every time I wanted to check my oil, I had to get out of the car and flip up the front driver's seat. In the winter it was nice and snug with the heat coming off the engine. But in the summer it was sweltering. Especially since I could never get the air conditioning to work right.

But hey, the van was free. A gift from my father whose only request was that he use it when he was in town. Which wasn't often.

And? I could drive around 30 of my closest friends any time I wanted.

I know, you're jealous right?

Tell me, what kind of car did you drive in High School and was it as awesome as mine?

Peeps, The Wonder Drug

With all the weather changing and hormonal changing, I have been struggling today with a migraine.
Don't worry, I took two of these and I feel better.

I truly believe in the medicinal power of Marshmallow Peeps. They're one of my favorite things about Easter. Heck, my favorite thing about Spring even! I prefer the yellow ones to any other color (maybe that makes me a Peep purist) and I prefer the bunnies to the chicks so I can eat the ears off first. I know that there are people out there (my mother) who like their Peeps stale and hard. I think that's just wrong. I love 'em nice and soft and fresh. I"m actually a little sad they're all gone now. I'll just have to buy some more.....

Speaking of medicine, I'm posting this video shown to me via Spiderman. He knows how much I hate that drugs are advertised on television. It's one of my pet peeves. I mean, why wait for your Dr. (with all their medical knowledge ) to TELL you that you need a certain medicine when you can see something on TV and DEMAND it from them?

Anyway.......here's the video. I know a few people who need this drug.

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my Blogiversary Contest!

Happy Blogiversary!

I am super excited as today my blog is one year old! I can't believe that it's been a whole year. For some reason, it feels like I've been doing this much longer. I also cannot believe that anyone other than my mother actually reads what I write! It amazes me sometimes.

To honor the occasion, I'm having a giveaway. As all my faithful readers (all six of you) know, I have a HUGE book addiction. I will be giving away a $25 gift card for books at either Barnes and Noble or Borders (whichever you prefer).

So what do you have to do to win you ask? Leave me a comment (on this post) telling me something you like about my blog, or something you would change. I'm always looking for new and fun ideas for posts, design changes, contests, features, etc.

I'll post the winner sometime next week.

I Need Your Help!!

I took the weekend to relax and regroup.
I wallowed a bit, but now I'm ready to turn my focus to something else. Something more productive than burning down the Chamber of Horrors. (the place where I work if you're new to this blog)

I'm getting ready to do the Chicago Avon Walk for Breast Cancer again this year. I walk in honor of my friend Rachelle who lost her battle with breast cancer almost 5 years ago. I cannot believe that it's been that long. She's the woman who introduced me to Spiderman and she was sure we were going to get married before I think even he or I knew it. Her presence was felt on our wedding day by the bright, sunny 70 degree weather.
Rachelle was an inspiration not in her death, but in the way she lived her life. She lived to enjoy each and every day and make her time memorable. I think we can all stand to follow her amazing lead. When things get rough, like this past Friday, and I start to lose hope, I just think of Rachelle and her resilient spirit, quick smiles and infectious laughter.

Other than all the physical training I will be doing I need to raise $1,800 by the first weekend in June. I NEED YOUR HELP!!

Please make a donation at my website.
The money not only goes to breast cancer research, but to help assist with treatment and detection.

I can't think of a better way to honor Rachelle, can you?

A Double Whammy

Not so much a good day here in the Spoonful household. Actually it's the perfect end to a really crappy week. But I'm going to try to be positive. I'm positive that I need a glass of wine.....or maybe a bottle.
So here's the general gist of my shitty day.

A. You know my new position? The one as educator? The one that has made me love my job again and rediscover what got me into Respiratory to begin with? The one that allowed me to have a normal schedule and to have some semblance of a life?
It's been eliminated. No more students after the end of this semester. Because, you know, it's all about the $$ and clinical educating isn't something you can bill for. That's really smart on their part seeing as how in the last two years we have hired 15 new employees all of which had been new graduates that had been at the Chamber of Horrors for clinicals. Students are good for recruiting. And we desperately need staff and will continue to need staff for a while.

Lest I sound bitter, here's the bright side of this news. I'm not losing my job completely. I will just go back to being a staff therapist. I kind of missed working 12 hour shifts and having extra days off. Mon-Fri can be a little tiresome. I won't be salary anymore which means I can pick up extra shifts to make a little more money to pay for all my medical bills.

Medical Bills?

B. Oh yeah, I also found out that I'm not pregnant today. That the painful, expensive procedure that required me taking time off work for didn't work. That all the crazy hormones, and shots, and tests were for nothing. Awesome!

The bright side of this? I know, it's hard to find, but I knew what I was getting into with this one. I knew that it might not work. I was even prepared for it to take a couple of trys. The doctor told me it probably would.
So we'll try again. It may take one or two more attempts for this to work. I can do that.
I just wish I hadn't received this information all in the same day, within a couple of hours of each other.
It really sucks.

The good news about not being pregnant?

At least I can drink.

You Capture: Shadow

Week four of Beth's You Capture challenge is shadow
Luckily we had several sunny days lately and I took several pictures of shadows. This one, however is my favorite.

This one is with the flash on. The next one is with the flash off.

I'm not sure which one I like better.
What do you think?

Do I Have To Stay Inside?

How am I supposed to blog when it's in the 60's, sunny, and gorgeous outside?

I'm not.

Catch ya later!

You Capture: Texture

This week's You Capture challenge was texture. I was excited about this one as I knew exactly what to take a picture of.
Here's my entry:What the heck is that a picture of you ask?

The almost finished sweater I've been working on since January. Isn't it coming out nicely? I thought I'd NEVER be finished, but I'm pretty proud of it. It took me long enough.

In Case Anyone Was Wondering....

Insemination hurts.
A lot.

But, Will My Luck Hold?

Yesterday my mother and sister and I went to the outlet mall. We found so many good deals and bought so many things you'd think we'd never seen clothes before. I purchased two Liz Claiborne purses for $16. TWO! For $16 total! They're gorgeous and I love them. The green one was originally $60 and I got it for $9 and the black one was originally $75 that I got for a bargain price of $6! How awesome is that!

Also, today I went to my fertility doctor. With all the pills, shots, ultrasounds etc, I kind of feel like I'm performing a science project. I feel as though I should be making a trifold out of poster board or something. Let's hope that my luck from this weekend holds and I'll be done with this fertility mess. It's stressful, painful, and tiresome.

Wish me luck....

You Capture

As part of Beth's You Capture Challenge, I was playing around with my camera and took this picture of my cat Tim. This week's challenge is perspective.
Tim loves to sit on the counter and stare at himself in the mirror for hours. I imagine he's thinking You're a handsome devil aren't you?Also, he hopes someone will turn on the faucet for him. Even though I bought one of those cool motorized water dishes so that the water is continually running. Ungrateful, vain, kitty.

And in case you ever wondered what it would look like if you were trying to take a picture of your other kitty and he suddenly zoomed his face toward the camera, here it is.

Kind of looks like an alien doesn't he? A little creepy.

Some Assembly Required

Monday afternoon my sideboard arrived. Here it is in all its beauteousness. It is currently empty as I haven't had a chance to sort through the stuff in my crawlspace.
Isn't it lovely?

It did not come looking this lovely. It came in a million pieces that required assembling.

And the assembling? It required two people. I put together most of it myself, but when it came time to put on the back and the front doors, I required some assistance. My mother saved the day when she stopped by on her way home from work to help me. I held things in place while she screwed them in. My mother loves to screw. Her words, not mine. She also loves a good pun. mental eye roll All she required in return for this help? 3 hard boiled eggs to take home in a baggy. I'd say that's pretty cheap labor wouldn't you?

Is it a Sideboard or Buffet?

I have been wanting a sideboard for my dining room ever since we moved into this house two years ago. I could never find exactly what I wanted in my price range. (However, I found tons of stuff that I couldn't afford!) About two weeks ago I finally found it, with the help of my mother. I'm getting it in black, but I did seriously consider the red one. It was on back order, but I was told TODAY IT SHIPPED! I'm so excited!! I'm happy to have the extra storage.
I'll post pics when it gets here.
You can help me decide where to put it.