Friday, May 30, 2008

Friday Five

1. A. and I are not going to the wedding. We just don’t have any fiddle room in the budget right now and A. found out on Wednesday that he has to work tomorrow anyway. The stars just wouldn’t align in such a way that we could make this trip.

I called J.R. to let him know and feel like a giant pile-o-crap. He really understood but I still feel like a big jerk.

2. I am starting to reconsider. I should just go! Who cares if we can’t justify the money right now? Except, have you ever gone to a wedding by yourself? It is not the most fun, trust me. Ugh, I feel like such a heel.

[Updated: This sounds like I feel like his wedding is all about me. Hmm. I don't, I swear. I just know I'd be really dissapointed if A. and I got married and he and his (26 hours and counting!) almost-wife weren't able to join us.]


3. So – I’d like to be sure to send a really thoughtful gift. I’ll check out their registries, because I know most people appreciate getting what they’ve asked for. However, just in case, for those of you who are married: What was your favorite wedding gift? What was your least favorite? For the single ones out there, what was your favorite gift to give? Hell, what was your favorite gift to receive, for whatever occasion? Whatever I send, I think I throw in a batch of homemade cookies, too, for good measure.

4. On the way home from the gym last night, I stopped to pick up the mail. I tend to check the mail daily at the beginning of the month when I am expecting the power bill, but then really let it slide for days on end. (The power bill is the only bill we still get through the mail. The little rural co-op hasn’t discovered the internet, yet.) Anyhoo, I’d let the mail pile up for a couple of days. I was surprised to find a package box key in with the giant armload of mail. (There are four larger post boxes for small packages.) I hadn’t ordered anything and I didn’t think A. had, either.

To my utter delight, I had a small package in there from Lisa. Her copy of the book, Plenty, was waiting for me. I greeted it with squeals of delight and gratitude.

Lisa had mentioned on her blog that she was reading it and I commented that I was jealous because I’ve been trying to get my hands on that book for over a year to no avail. With everything else on her mind and a to-do list that wouldn’t fit on an oversized piece of paper, Lisa made a note to herself.

That she had placed this book in the mail for me would be a generous and thoughtful gesture at any time, but it is especially sweet as she just flew off to Malawi earlier this week for 10 weeks of research. She had plenty of other details to attend to.

So very sweet. (Thanks, Lisa!!!)

5. I love when I get my act in gear and have good, yummy food available all week. Having decent meals throughout the week makes such a difference in how I function and feel. I thought I’d share a couple of my favorites:

For breakfast all week I’ve had Swiss Oatmeal (cold oatmeal, a recipe I’ve blatantly ripped off from the Corner Bakery):

½ cup rolled oats (I’ve been using the quick-cooking kind), uncooked
1 C. (approx) plain or vanilla yogurt
1 Tablespoon dried currants
1 Tablespoon dried cranberries
½ banana, sliced and diced
1/8 granny apple, sliced and diced
Sometimes I throw in a little dried coconut, if I am in the mood.

Combine and mix it up good. I use enough yogurt to get the consistency I want. This also travels well (if you keep it cool). I’ve eaten it at my desk three of the four work days so far. Yummy and filling.

I eat the remaining half of the banana while puttering around the house in the morning, and eat the rest of the apple with some protein in the afternoon, about an hour before hitting the gym. Usually, I just bring some nuts to eat, but today I decided to make peanut butter yogurt dip for the apples.

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

¾ C creamy peanut butter
1 C plain or vanilla yogurt (if plain, you can add ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract if you want. I kind of like the taste of just the plain yogurt.)

Mix and dip your apples, pretzels, crackers, pears, whatever in it.

I love this because it is a perfect energy combo late in the day. I always feel like I have enough energy to hit the gym when I remember to bring a snack like this. Plus, it feels kind of luxurious, in a way, to have something to dip my food into. It is like Ranch dressing, but not as evil.

Enjoy!

6 comments:

  1. I too love when I actually plan out meals and MAKE the meals and we have healthy food ready and there's no last minute scrambling ending in poor food choices (pizza AGAIN) due to impending starvation.
    Wow. That was a run-on sentence if I ever read one. Ah well.

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  2. Hmmm... wedding gifts... definitely not my strong point. I remember and regret almost all of the wedding gifts I have given to my friends who got married... so I have no good tips... other than that I also remember who gave us what, even though I don't try to. I know exactly which cutting board came from an old girlfriend of Jake's and so on...
    I think getting something off the registry and then adding a personal touch would be the best thing (maybe I'll take my own advice for future weddings)
    PS do either of your sisters have blogs? I think Teri would think it was fun to see what Angela was up to these days.

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  3. I'm sorry that you won't be able to make it to the wedding. It may be too late to answer your question, but I'd say that you really can't go wrong with anything off the registry--couples usually spend a very long time on their registries and give a lot of thought to what they'd like to put on there, so anything they receive from there is usually greatly appreciated. And the batch of homemade cookies is an adorable and very sweet personal touch.

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  4. That peanut butter/yogurt thingy = GENIUS. (God, I had to think long and hard how to spell genius - hello, irony!)

    That is too bad about the wedding, but I'm sure your friend understands. And your homemade cookies will help too. :)

    For gifts, the best gift we got was a new vacuum. Otherwise, gift cards to places we registered were also nice. We used those to buy the bigger-ticket items we didn't receive.

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  5. doh. i just bought a 3 musketeers from the vending machine, and now i feel HELLA guilty.

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  6. Weddings are damn expensive for everyone involved. It's a time of celebration, yes, but there have been times I wish I could hold off on the celebrating sometimes too.

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