Monday, February 28, 2011

Refresh

So last week I felt crappy. It is really starting to get to me that I haven't heard back from any jobs. I also haven't successfully subletted my place yet, which is annoying. I am hoping March is going to bring me some good news!

In other news, I started a new blog for my diet and weight loss adventures: http://totallytypicaldiet.blogspot.com/ I have been trying to update that blog everyday, and hopefully it will keep me on track. It is weird but I find it so much easier to go to the gym if I have a routine. Right now, because I have nothing to do, I am like well if I miss the gym today I can just go tomorrow, and then one things lead to another and I become super lazy.

I went to Cape Breton this weekend to visit my friend's family. It was very nice just to get away and take a break form worrying about the jobs and the apartment and everything. I also got to pet a wolf at a wildlife park so that was pretty awesome. I got back last night and went to my first tutoring session, and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to be doing something productive and helpful, not to mention making money! I think I am going to get a waitressing job soon because like it says in my introduction to the blog..I freak out over free time. And the whole free time routine (or lack of routine) is getting old!

Luckily my little weekend break and my tutoring session got me out of feeling blah and ready to tackle the next month!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

A Few of my Favorite Things

I love how I get to Sunday and I am like "Ahh I haven't had a blog post in like a week" every single week. So much for writing every second day as I had planned. The blog would probably get very boring if I wrote every second day though, so I guess I will just continue on writing when I feel like it..which is RIGHT NOW!

I am starting to get bored. It has been a week since all things charity event related are done, and at first I enjoyed the real free time. And even then I have been applying to jobs (I am now a legit tutor huzzah) and showing my apartment, but the boredum is starting to creep in. Facebook is even getting less addictive, a sure sign I have spent too much time on it.

I will be even more bored this week because I finished reading The Secret Daughter on Friday. It is such a good book...I seriously recommend it. (If you check out the link and read the reviews, ignore the negative comment, because the chicky admits she didn't read the end of the book, which makes the comment lamesauce). I normally like books that are funny and light at chick-lit-y, think anything by Sophie Kinsella, and the Secret Daughter doesn't fit my norm, but it is still super good. Any suggestions on my next read?

I also have been spending a lot of time watching TV as per usual. This weekend Erin Brockovich was on tv.  I remember watching this movie with my parents when I was quite young and being shocked at all the swearing. It was a BFD (Big Friggin Deal). But then a few years later I watched the movie again, and realized how much I love it. I studied civil environmental engineering, so the whole groundwater contamination/seepage issue is right up my alley. I was impacted so much by the movie that in my 3rd year water treatment course I wrote a 12 page literature review about the studies done using organics to remove hexavalent Chromium from water. Super nerd. So long story not so short I love the movie, and through all that nerdy stuff, my favorite parts are luckily both in the trailer at 1:43 and 2:17.

And now I am about to go watch the season (18) premiere of my absolute favorite reality TV show, The Amazing Race. This season it is the "favorite teams" who didn't win coming back for a second chance. And that  includes the Cowboys from season 16, woot woot! I have watched every season of amazing race, and would seriously consider getting american citizenship just to be on the show. I would totally ski dive/bungy jump/eat weird food for $1,000,000. Plus it would be exactly how I would love to see the world, in non-stop-competition mode. FTW.



Monday, February 14, 2011

Update time

I have been writing this blog for about a month now, and time for a re-cap. 
In my first post I listed the following things as stuff I was going to do with my free time
1. going to the gym 5 days a week
2. cooking delicious food
3. organizing and deep cleaning my apartment
4. finding a job
5. writing this blog
6. co-chair a charity event
7. read more

1. I have made going to the gym a regular occurrence of my life. Not quite to 5 days a week, but I'm getting there. I have also noticed that it is no longer a "new" thing, because I am not talking about it to everyone I meet. I can tell when something turns into a habit when I stop talking about it all the time. It is also the longest time that I have stuck with an exercise routine, so that makes me really happy!

2. I have been cooking delicious food, and trying to be healthy. I have done 3 meal plans, and have barely had any takeout/restaurant food or junky stuff since January! I hopefully will continue this! (Side note, I had Chinese food tonight as a little v-day tradition with the bf..completely ruined the healthy eating plan :P)

3. I did the kitchen, and some of my room, but number 6 distracted me from this one!

4. I have applied for 17ish jobs and haven't heard anything back yet..boo. The only job that has any potential is a tutoring position for grades 9-12. I have a "phone interview" tomorrow. Apparently a engineering degree means I am qualified to tutor math to high school students. 

5. Obviously I have written the blog..see archives for deats. 

6. Charity event is done and done. 

7. I am reading the Secret Daughter and it is really good, but for some reason I haven't gotten vary far in the book. It could be because I only read right before bed, and then I end up falling asleep. 

So now I am on to month two. This month I plan to find a job, and find a sublet for my apartment, and finally organize my room. And once and for all go to the gym 5 times a week!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Online TV

The charity event I was planning is over! On Saturday we raised over $5000 for the Halifax Region Children's Aid Foundation by pulling a car around a track. We are still working on a silent auction, bar night, and a raffle, but the majority of the work is done!

I woke up on Sunday and the first thought that crossed my mind was "what next?". I haven't heard back from any jobs yet (fingers and toes crossed, I should be hearing back soon), and once again on Thursday I will actually have free time.  I will probably look into getting a part time job, either babysitting or waitressing...both I have experience with from back in the day, and actually enjoyed.

However, I could easily slip into really doing nothing and become addicted to TV shows. Who am I kidding I am already taking watching whole series at a time as a serious hobby. I started with Dexter. Got through 4 seasons in 3 weeks, and then hit the end of season 4 and for some reason didn't want to keep watching. Dexter is a very dark show to watch consistently for 3 weeks. So my next show was Community, which is the complete opposite end of the spectrum. It is a hilarious show, and conveniently my roommate has the entire 2 seasons on our apartment network. When I first started watching, I was watching it online, on the sketchy "Free TV" websites.

As I was watching the show the ads on the sides kept flashing in my face "You have 2 crush requests" "Hot girls in Halifax want to meet you" (IP tracking creeps me out sometimes). I have got to wonder, how gullible/stupid are the people who click on these links..and what happens when you do? Also, I noticed that most of these ads are directed at guys. So apparently either guys are the only ones watching tv online, or they are the only ones stupid to fall for "Hotgurl 21" sending them a "message".

Ahh the interwebs, such a fun and exciting place :).

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The 3:00am casserole

Last Saturday I was up until 3:00am making a casserole. Seriously.

From my meal plan last week I had one dish I didn't prepare and ingredients that were lurking in my fridge, just waiting to go bad. It was a layered vegetable melange which included cooked squash, mashed potatoes, and cooked spinach. This involved cooking the squash and mashing the potatoes and all sorts of time consuming steps. So the only time I could fit it in was on Saturday. (Yes I have no work, and yes I have "free time" I know I know!) Saturday afternoon I went shopping, and Saturday around supper I went to a charity dinner, and then only got home at 11. It was decided-I was going to make the casserole.

At the same time I cleaned my room, did 3 loads of laundry, and had a dance party. The casserole was finally finished around 3:00am. Why it took 4 hours I am not sure, but regardless it was done. This late night preparation was to prepare for supper on Sunday..and the minute that I finished the casserole, I realized I had a meeting for le charity on Sunday, and there was going to be supper provided. Facepalm.

The casserole was quite good however I recommend getting 1. Frozen Squash 2. Frozen potatos and 3. Frozen spinach. This make the casserole take less than 4 hours to put together!

So after two weeks+ of making Chatelaine meal plans, I have a general review. Yes the recipies are delicious, and I am sure very healthy, however I don't like the fact that there is way to much food included in the meal plan, and that most of the meals take probably an hour to cook. It's not cheap either.

For the next two weeks I am doing another meal plan dealy from a magazine called clean eating. Once again doing groceries was an expensive ordeal (there is such a thing called chocolate almond milk, it may or may not be delicious, I have yet to find out). These recipes however are made for 1 or 2 people which I appreciate, and they are easy! Last night's supper took 10 minutes to prepare it was fantab!