Week 15 & 16 Challenge: Get a New Cat

I have not always been a cat person.  In fact, when I was growing up, I was scared to death of cats!  I like dogs, particularly my teacup poodle, Nickie.  It wasn't until college, when I was living with my cousin the cat lover, that I started to appreciate how awesome having a cat can be.  As soon as I was living in an apartment on my own, I knew I wanted to get a sweet little kitty cat.  Enter my Miss Priss.  She is not sweet (except for rare moments in the early mornings or late evenings) and I'm pretty sure she has split personality disorder or something similar, but she's all mine.

Fast forward 10 years, and I am living in a condo with a small fenced yard.  This yard attracts cats of all kinds who like to stop by for a visit, pee on my grill cover, chase squirrels, or just lay in the sun on the deck.  Once lovely August morning, a mother kitty and her six tiny babies appeared on the deck, and that was the start of my kitty rescue operation that would last for the next seven months.  To make a long story short, four of those kitties now live a happy country life in my parents' backyard with my sweet mother as their caretaker.

Fast forward again to February and Snowpacalypse '11.  I notice that a small gray cat has taken up residence in my backyard.  He runs to hide when I go outside, but he will drink and eat when I put food and water out for him.  Eventually, he lets me pat him, and we become buddies.  He has obviously been a pet to someone, and I name him Niles (all my kitties are named after movie or TV show characters, of course!).  He doesn't seem to stray to far from my yard and spends most of his time sleeping under the deck or sitting on the fence playing lookout.  My condo complex does not allow pets outside, so I am not surprised when I see flyers posted and warnings written in our newsletter about letting cats run loose and feeding them outside.  I know that means I have to find someplace for Niles to go, but I just don't have time to deal with it as the last weeks of school are so busy and stressful.  However, the decision is made for me when I find an animal trap right outside my fence one morning.  I make a snap decision to bring Niles in the house after work, and that's where the adventure begins.

Day 1:  I wait for Niles to come out from under the deck where he has been napping until 9:00 p.m.  I snatch him up before he can go anywhere and install him in the guest bathroom.  I've cleared out the area under the sink and brought in his blanket and toys.  He crawls in and and stares at me with his big eyes for a while, and then eventually comes out to hang in his new favorite spot - behind the toilet.  

Day 2:  I come home from work (on a Saturday - ugh!) and clear out the guest room so Niles can have more space and see out.  He is so happy to be inside!  He is the sweetest little kitty, always wanting to be patted and never growling, hissing, or scratching.  I decide I want to make him a permanent member of my family.  His older sister still has no clue he is in the house!

The rest of the week:  I start the kitty integration process.  It does not go as well as hoped.  My Miss Prissy does not want a new baby brother, and she will chase him away and act like she's going to attack him any time he approaches.  There is much hissing and growling, and the kitties are removed back to their separate bedrooms.

I take Niles to the vet to be checked out.  It turns out he has a microchip.  He escaped his house in October (!!!), and his owners didn't really try to find him at all.  They turn him over to me, and he passes all his tests at the vet with flying colors.  I officially have a new cat!   The cat integration process is put on hold due to a Father's Day visit from Grammie and Grampie (my parents).  Niles makes fast friends with my mom and would like to be friends with my dad, but he isn't interested. ;)  My dad is not a fan of cats.

Week 2:  We have started the integration process again, very slowly.  So far, there has just been hissing and growling but no chasing or attacking.  I am still keeping them in separate rooms most of the time and only letting them out for supervised visitation in the evenings.  I'm crossing my fingers that older sissy will soften her heart just a little bit and share her space with her new baby brother.

Week 14 Challenge: The Weekend

I had to work on Saturday.  What a beatdown!  Fortunately, my staff party followed our workday, and someone came through with some fabulous jello shots.  My choice was the cherry/whipped cream vodka combination, and it was outstanding!  Although not included in the Mad Men Cocktail app, the jello shot is a classic party drink, so I feel that it's acceptable to include as part of my challenge.  I give the jello shot two thumbs up!

On Sunday evening, I celebrated the end of the regular school year and the start of my summer school year.  One week of sleeping a little later and getting home a little earlier followed by three weeks of summer school.  And then FOUR WEEKS OFF!!!  My celebration was in the form of another classic party celebration drink - champagne.  Although I don't care for most champagne, I have discovered a pink champagne that is sweet enough for my liking, so I had a glass (or two) to mark the end of another successful year at work.  I guess I will just use that Mad Men app to do "pretend" drinking from now on - you can actually turn up the picture of the glass like you're drinking it and it will empty!

Week 14 Challenge Update: Old Fashioned

Day 4 is the Old Fashioned.  Our trusty app says "the old fashioned may be the first drink to be called a cocktail.  It's also the drink of choice for Don Draper, who can mix the clubby cocktail without breaking a sweat."  The recipe is:
*2 oz bourbon
*2 dashes bitters

*1 splash water
*1 tsp sugar
*1 cherry
*1 orange slice
Select rocks glass and add sugar, water splash, bitters, cherry garnish, and orange slice.  Muddle, and pour bourbon.  Add ice cubes and stir.

I really, really wanted to like this and make it my new favorite cocktail like Don Draper.  Alas, I did not enjoy it any more than the other cocktails.  I realize now that I either have to drink a sweet cocktail, Moscato wine, or Bud Light, or I don't like it.  So much for trying to broaden my horizons!

Week 14 Challenge Update: A Sadness Fills the Land

Every night before mixing my cocktails, I have been riding my exercise bike six miles.  Then the cocktail is my reward.  See how I must bribe myself to exercise!  This process was going along swimmingly until tonight, when the left peddle fell off my bike right around mile four.  I can't believe my bike is already falling apart after just two months!  I spent almost an hour trying everything to get that peddle back on the bike (including duct tape - yikes!) but nothing worked.  So , instead of forcing myself to drink another possibly terrible cocktail, I instead soothed myself with my very favorite drink - Paradise in a Glass.  Also known as Malibu and Coke.  Always gets a perfect 10 from me!

Week 14 Challenge Update: Mint Julep

Day 3 is the Mint Julep.  The app declares it "a derby-day staple, the mint julep was naturally the cocktail of choice at Roger and Jane Sterling's 1963 Kentucky Derby party."  The recipe is:

*2 oz bourbon
*8 springs mint (from my own garden!)
*1 tsp sugar
Select mixing glass and add mint, sugar, water splash, shaved ice, and bourbon.  Shake and pour into rocks glass.  Garnish with mint sprig.

I was really hoping to like this since I like other bourbon drinks and love mint, but I didn't enjoy it.  Even putting on my largest brimmed hat didn't make it taste any better.  Adding more sugar made it more tolerable, but it still wasn't awesome.  Crossing my fingers for a cocktail I can enjoy next!

Week 14 Challenge: Try a New Cocktail Every Night

I have a rather extensive collection of liquor at my house.  Being the good girl that I am, Santa Claus brings me a bottle or two every Christmas.  I am not a heavy drinker, though, especially when at home alone.  When I do have a drink, it's usually my old faithful Bud Light or Malibu and Coke.  So, I have all these beautiful full or nearly full bottles just begging to be drunk, and in honor of the last week of school, I am going to test them out.  I'm going to use the super cool Mad Men Cocktail Culture app to help me create a new cocktail to drink every night this week.

First up on Day 1 is the Vodka Gimlet.  According to the app, "Betty ordered this cocktail once when out with her husband Don and another time while flirting in a New York bar."  The recipe is simple:
*1 1/2 oz vodka - Grey Goose from Santa
*3/4 oz lime juice
*3-4 lime slices
Mix vodka and lime juice, shake, and strain into glass. Garnish with lime.

The verdict:  It was just OK.  I'm not really a fan of lime flavors, but it started to grow on me toward the end.  I definitely wouldn't order it out anywhere.





Next up on Day 2 is a Tom Collins.  The app tells us that "Although somewhat complicated to make, the drink is not beyond the young Sally Draper, who has been known to mix them up for her parents' bridge night."  The complicated recipe is:

*1 oz fresh lemon juice
*1 tsp sugar
*1 1/2 oz gin - Beefeater purchased in a misguided attempt to like gin & tonic - FAIL
*Lemon slices
In a glass, add sugar, gin, lemon juice and stir. Add ice to drinking glass and strain in drink.  Splash in soda water and garnish with lemon.

The verdict:  This is terrible!  Either the recipe is too complicated for me, or I am just not a gin drinker.  I don't seem to be enjoying the cocktails of the 60s too much!

Week 13 Challenge: Put Together an Outfit for $30 or Less

There is not much I like better than buying cute new clothes for summer. This year, though, I'm facing the reality of a pay cut for the next school year while also saving money for two short trips in July, so I need my new, cute clothes to be cheap!  I recently discovered the Penny Chic blog, one girl's effort to create entire chic outfits solely from Wal-Mart selections.  I decided to run with that idea but also include other budget-friendly favorites like Target, Old Navy, Payless, and Forever 21.  In addition, I gave myself a limit of $30 or less to get an outfit, including shoes and accessories.  The result of my day of shopping is shown below.  Do you think I was successful?

The answer:  No.  I went over my $30 limit, but I did keep it below $40, and I got some great deals!
Shirt - Ann Taylor Loft (on final sale) - $9.98
Skirt - Old Navy (clearance) - $3.97
Shoes - Payless (BOGO + 20% off coupon) - $13.40
Necklace/Earring Set - Wal-Mart (clearance) - $7.00
Bracelet - Wal-Mart (only regular price item I bought!) - $5.38
GRAND TOTAL = $39.73

Not bad for a super cute Memorial Day/Fourth of July outfit! 

Week 11 & 12 Challenge: Update

So, there was no good news to report on my week of exercising challenge.  My sickness came back even worse, and I had to give up on exercising and concentrate on not coughing up a lung.  At least I had three good days of exercising before the sickness took me down!

After being sick, I had trouble coming up with a challenge for Week 12.  As the week went on, my challenge became to not feel guilty about not having a challenge.  I just had to remind myself that there are no blog challenge police, and I am allowed a week without accomplishing anything, if I so choose, without feeling guilty.  I can say that by the end of the week, I was no longer feeling guilty about being challenge-less, but instead was looking forward to the next week's task!

Week 11 Challenge: Exercise Every Day

Now thatt I am feeling better, I'm turning my attention to getting in shape.  To kick off my exercise program, I'm going to attempt to exercise every day this week.  I'm going to try a combination of riding the exercise bike, walking, weight lifting, and dance classes.  This is going to be a challenge because: 1) I am lazy and 2) I will not be home every night this week to exercise.  I'm going to have to be creative to squeeze in exercise every day in this busy week.  I hope I have good news to report later in the week!

Week 10 Challenge: Called in Sick

I had very grand plans for week 10 of my challenge, but unfortunately, I woke up with a terrible headache on Monday morning, and

my week just went downhill from there.  It seemed like every day there was a new random symptom - sore throat, lost voice, fever, relentless coughing.  Every day I felt more and more blah, so I decided to give myself a break and rest all week.  It turns out that my real challenge was not to feel guilty about taking care of myself.  For some reason, whenever I rest and relax after work or on the weekends, I feel guilty for not doing something more productive.  I will admit that I did feel some guilt about laying around all week, but my good sense usually won out and convinced me that I needed to rest in order to feel better.  I think I need to challenge myself to never feel guilty in the future for taking care of myself!

Week 9 Challenge: No Fast Food

I admit it - I am a fast food junkie.  I work hard to stay far away from the drive-through most days, but during times of extreme stress, I fall back on my old, faithful source of comfort food.  Last week, I knew, was going to be particularly challenging, so I made it my goal to avoid all fast food for the entire week.  Here's a peek at what was going on last week:

 

*Driving home from Easter with my family

*TAKS testing

*EOC testing preparation

*Planning/preparing for a baby shower

*Royal wedding watching

*Various Mavericks games

*Making cupcakes for a birthday party

*Attending a birthday party

*Hosting and cleaning up after the baby shower

*Surprise!  Osama bin Laden has been killed and I must watch every bit of news about it

 

Normally, I would convince myself that I was too busy or too tired to cook something and just pull through Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bueno, Panera Bread, or Cane's (all my FF of choice) and eat it as fast as I could.  This week, though, I prepared by making a huge dish of broccoli mac & cheese (see picture below), stocking up on veggies and fruits, and making sure I had baked potato and sandwich fixins.  Every day as I drove home from work, I just kept repeating to myself what I was going to eat when I got home and kept on driving past those tempting fast food favorites.  Not only that, but I rode my exercise bike every night except the one with all the cupcake baking!
 

Week 8 Challenge: Update

I ate some sea creatures!  They did not taste anything like the terrible taste I had imagined for them in my head.  I started first with some fried shrimp, which actually didn't have much of a taste at all.  Next up was some fried cod.  One of the reasons I have never wanted to eat fish has been the flakiness aspect of it.  The cod was flaky, but that didn't stop me from eating it this time.   I could only detect a teeny, tiny bit of a "fishy" taste to it.  Success!  I will definitely be eating more sea creatures in the future! 

 

Here's the proof that it actually happened:

 

 

 

Week 8 Challenge: Eat a Sea Creature

I can't remember a time when I ate fish or any kind of sea creature.  I know that I did because my parents have told me stories.  Apparently, I used to try to eat the fish sticks when they were still frozen!  My love affair with fish steams to have come to a screeching halt right about the time we went to visit the fish hatchery in New Mexico, other event that I don't really remember.  I'm told there was a giant fish that I definitely didn't like, and ever since then I have eaten nary a sea creature.  After many years of contemplation, I've come to the conclusion that there are really two things that bother me about eating sea creatures:
1)  They smell like sea creatures.
2)  They still look like sea creatures, for the most part.  Fish usually still looks like a fish, shrimp usually still looks like a shrimp, etc.  Unlike a burger, chicken tenders, or bacon, none of which still look like a cow, chicken, or pig when you go to eat them.

I'm not sure I will ever completely get over my sea creature issues, but I am going to make a sincere try since they are so good for you.  So, this weekend, I am going to start by eating some coconut fried shrimp cooked by chef Ole Dad (aka my father).  I'm starting with fried shrimp because I'm told it tastes less fishy.  Plus anything fried has got to be good, right?  I'll be posting pictures of the first bite and the aftermath.  Wish me luck!

Week 7 Challenge: Update

So...yeah...the garden.  It still looks pretty much like the last time I updated.  I've bought seeds, soil, and plants.  I've gotten the leaf grinder and extension cord out and set the by the door.  And that's pretty much it.  "That doesn't seem like much progress," you say.  "What the problem?" you ask.  Well, it's a combination of three different thunderstorms, excessive wind, and terminal laziness on my part.  I have no doubt the garden will eventually be finished, but I have no idea when that day will be.  I will update with pictures whenever it finally happens!

Something I have been doing is riding that exercise bicycle.  Since I put it together last week I have ridden it six times.  SIX TIMES!  I don't even know who I am right now.  Putting it right in front of the TV was a genius move on my part.  Every time I look up and see it, and it reminds me that I need to exercise.  It's like the TV is actually guilting me in to getting in shape!

Week 6 & Week 7: Update

What's that old saying about the best laid plans?

So my plan to grind up the leaves in the back yard with my awesome leaf grinder was foiled by the massive rainstorm we had early Monday morning.  I am now aiming for plant and flower shopping on Friday, leaf grinding on Saturday, and planting on Sunday.  Followed by some peaceful swinging time with a cocktail and a book.  Hopefully there will be no more rain until after all of this has happened!

Instead of working in my yard this afternoon, I picked up the piece of exercise equipment you see below, put it together, and rode five miles on it.  I will probably regret that last part in the morning, but right now I feel great!  I'm hoping I can motivate myself to ride four to five times a week and work my way up to 20 miles per ride eventually.  Let's all hope tonight wasn't the only time this bike gets used!

Week 6 & Week 7 Challenge: Clean the Yard and Plant a Garden

I have always dreamed of having a beautiful vegetable garden full of all kinds of lovely fresh vegetables I could use to make healthy, delicious dishes.  Unfortunately, despite having a wonderful garden box built in to my backyard, I can't seem to grow a single vegetable.  I know this because I've been trying to grow them for years.  The main problem seems to be a lack of sunlight.  I also have a beautiful large tree that shades my entire yard; wonderful for sitting but terrible for growing most things.  In addition to blocking the sunlight, this tree also sheds a ridiculous amount of leaves that I have to get rid of every spring.  I am determined to have some kind of garden this year, and I have a new strategy for planting.  Because I know the enormity of this task, I'm giving myself two weeks to complete it.  Here's my starting point...a giant mess of leaves, sticks, dirty swing covers, and flower pots. 

The plan is to use my fabulous leaf blower/grinder to grind up all those leaves, hose down the swing cover, and plant things in my built-in box and random pots.  I started on the leaves today, but due to a rain shower earlier this week, some of them are wet and can't be grinded yet.  So I just spent some time today getting them all in the middle of the yard and organizing the pots.  See below for a slightly better version of the yard with the pots lined up and ready for planting.

Next up is leaf grinding on Tuesday.  On Friday, I'll go plant shopping.  My new strategy is to plant the built-in box with wildflowers and leave them alone.  The pots will get a selection of herbs and flowers.  I'm also going to attempt tomatoes, green peppers, and jalapenos (the one thing I have been able to grow year after year) in pots that I can move around to get the best sunlight.  I'll spend Saturday planting, and then hopefully enjoy the new look of my yard on Sunday.  Wish me luck!

Week 4 & Week Challenge: Update

I'll go ahead and confess - I failed my week 4 challenge.  It wasn't for lack of trying, though!  The reason I've put off creating this picture wall for so long is that I knew it would require a huge amount of time to go through all my pictures to pick just the right one for frames.  I was right; it took me five days to look at all the pictures on my computer, in boxes, and in albums to finally choose the ones I wanted to put on the wall.  Because of this, I extended this challenge for another week.  Additionally, I've framed some of my favorite playbills to hang in my guest room, a task I have also been putting off for several years.  The pictures below show the design I've created for the picture wall, recreated with paper instead of frames until the pictures arrive from the online photo company that I used to edit and buy them.  I've also included a picture of the framed playbills just waiting to be hung once I decide which guest room wall they will grace. 

 

 

 

Although I didn't successfully complete this challenge, even with the extended week, I accomplished more than I was able to in the previous five years.  I think that is definitely a success!

Week 4 Challenge: Create A Picture Wall In My Stairwell

I am the queen of procrastination.  One of the best examples to prove this is my stairwell.  When I bought this condo five and a half years ago, I had the intention of creating a picture wall in my stairwell.  Sooner rather than later.  I bought frames of various sizes.  I scanned in old family pictures so

that I could use them on my wall.  I made a folder on my computer called "Pictures for Wall."  And then I just stopped working on it.  I am SO TIRED of seeing that empty wall every time I walk up and down those stairs, so my challenge this week is to create that picture wall I've been dreaming of for five and a half years.  Here's the before picture of the sad, bare wall.  To complete this task I'm going to have to:
1) Get all the frames I've collected out of their various storage places (under beds and in cabinets and closets).
2) Choose the pictures to go in the frames.  This is where I seem to have gotten hung up previously.
3) Upload the pictures to a site where I can have them printed and pick them up in the next few days.
4) Put the pictures in the frames and design a pattern for hanging them.
5) Break out the nails and actually hang the pictures.

I'm going to have to complete all of this before next Monday morning.  That's quite a task in my world!  I'll post updates as the project (hopefully) progresses.

Week 3 Challenge: Ride a Scary Theme Park Ride

Note: This is being written after the riding has taken place because I couldn't post to this blog from my iPad in Florida.
I have many fears - snakes, thunderstorms, heights, things spontaneously catching on fire.  Those are just a few examples.  Tied into my fear of heights is my fear of riding scary theme park roller coasters.  I don't like the feeling I get when my body is hurtling down a large drop and then quickly jerked in another direction and then the whole process is tortuously repeated until the ride is finally over.  Before last week, the last roller coaster I rode was the Judge Roy Scream at Six Flags.  I didn't enjoy it at all, screamed through the whole ride, and haven't ridden a roller coaster in the years since.  So, when it came time to think of challenge to complete while on spring break at Walt Disney World, riding a scary theme park coaster seemed like the perfect thing to pull me out of my comfort zone.

I spent many hours researching the trip, and I did some reading about all of the potential scary rides I would be facing.  My guidebook listed some of them as not to be ridden by people who were afraid of heights, and from a previous trip to the Magic Kingdom I was already scared of Space Mountain because it's inside, in the dark, and you can't see what's coming.  After weighing all the options, I decided to attempt all the "afraid of heights" rides and Space Mountain for my vacation challenge. 

Scary Ride #1 - Soarin' at Epcot

The description of Soarin' that caused my fear is below.
Fasten your seat belt on the multi-passenger glider and be lifted 40 feet into the air. Swoop up and soar towards the clouds and spectacular California panoramas. An IMAX projection dome wraps 180 degrees around you, so you're engulfed by the impressive scenery. Special cameras on airplanes and helicopters captured many of the shots and the glider moves the same way the aircraft did, so you really feel like you're flying as you glide over awe-inspiring vistas and landmarks. Feel the wind in your hair. The air fills with the scent of orange groves, evergreens and the sea breeze. Your feet dangle free. Dip down so close to the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean, you think your toes will get wet. Then return to the sky and continue on Soarin' to a fantastic finale where fireworks burst into sensational colors around you.
So many scary things for a person who is afraid of heights!  I was a little nervous as the glider started lifting in the air, but I shouldn't have been.  Soarin' was awesome!  Probably one of my favorite rides in all the parks now.  You actually can feel the breeze and smell the orange groves, and the scenery is just amazing.  The final verdict: Not at all scary!


Scary Ride #2 - Mission: SPACE at Epcot

The description of Mission: SPACE that made me nervous is below.

Mission: SPACE, a motion simulator ride, is as close as you can get to blasting off into space without leaving Earth. This attraction realistically mimics what an astronaut might experience during a space flight to Mars. Mission: SPACE utilizes a multiple-arm centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate the illusion of speed and gravitational forces. Realistic sounds from overhead and vivid video images only add to the experience of the simulation.
This ride also had a warning about motion sickness, but since I've never suffered from it before I didn't have any worries even when I saw the little white sickness bags built right into the ride.  The blast off and flight through space were super cool, but the trouble started when we crash landed on Mars and then started flying erratically all over the planet.  I was thinking I was going to have a serious need for the little white bag as my stomach was doing serious flips, but we landed and disembarked just in time.  Overall, the ride was really fun (and we even chose the LESS INTENSE version), but maybe next time I need some anti-nausea medicine before riding.  The final verdict: Not scary but definitely nausea inducing.


Scary Ride #3 - Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom

The scary Space Mountain description is below.

Blast off on a journey into outer space on this classic attraction. Board a sleek, rocket-shaped vehicle in the glow-in-the-dark Space Port and begin a steady climb up the 180-foot high mountain, passing the Mission Control booth and myriad pulsating lights along the way. Once at the top, feel the wind race across your face as you are propelled through the remote blackness of the dark universe—illuminated only by shooting stars, celestial satellites, spinning black holes and shimmering constellations—during a rip-roaring rocket ride through the farthest reaches of time and space.


Yikes!  I was super nervous about riding this one since I had actually witnessed people getting off of the ride when I first visited Disney World in the early 90s.  The plan was to ride it first thing once we got inside the park, but the line was already super long, so we got a FASTPASS to return and ride just before our breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table.  That just left me an extra hour and a half to be nervous!  I needn't have been, though, since it wasn't scary so much as fast and jerky.  I think not being able to see what was coming was actually helpful since I couldn't see what was ahead.  However, my newly discovered motion sickness issue did raise it's head right at the end of the ride.  The final verdict:  Not scary but just slightly nausea inducing.


Scary Ride #4 - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal's Islands of Adventure

The description for this doesn't sound at all scary, but from what I'd seen and heard, I was a little wary about something that was supposed to be similar to Soarin' but on a much larger scale.  Of course, being a huge Harry Potter fan, I was not about to miss this, and it was unbelievably awesome!  It was as if you were flying on a broomstick with Harry and Ron, escaping dragons and the Whomping Willow and playing Quidditch.  You are spun and flipped on your back, and I had to push my nausea to the side to enjoy the last parts of the ride.  I just wish the line wasn't so long so we could have ridden it again!  There were so many details that I'm sure I missed something.  The final verdict:  Awesome but nausea inducing.  I think my next visit will have to include dramamine.







Not-So-Scary Ride That Turned Scary #5 - Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom

I wasn't really scared of this ride until I walked past that giant drop several times.  I had myself so worked up over that drop that every time our log went up just a little bit I was sure it was the big one and ducked and screamed. I think everyone on that log was laughing at me!  The final verdict:  Scary only if you work yourself up over a three second drop.










Not-So-Scary Ride That Turned Scary #6 - Test Track at Epcot

This ride didn't really seem scary to me from the description.  I thought it was just an amped up version of a go cart ride.  Boy, was I wrong!  The beginning is a series of replications of tests done on cars for safety, but the last part is a fast and scary ride around the outdoor track in which you go up the side of the wall, practically.  That was definitely scary for me, and I screamed bloody murder to the amusement of others on the ride with me.  The final verdict:  Scary for me, but probably not for regular people.





Now that I have successfully conquered some of my scary theme park ride fears, I think next time I might try this one:

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios








A full account of the fabulous Walt Disney World/Harry Potter World adventure coming in a future post!

Week 2 Challenge: Update

I picked a really challenging week to give up my #1 vice of desserts, but I'm happy to report that I was successful in my attempt.  Despite a hectic week at work and preparing my house, my cat, and myself for my spring break trip, I didn't cave and have a dessert of any kind.  But oh, I wanted to!  I was tempted right out of the gate with cinnamon rolls and cookies at a meeting on Monday and the rest of the week was no easier.  I stood strong with my bag of unsalted, unflavored almonds.  Those almonds became my best friend as I ate a handful every time I wanted a cookie, piece of chocolate, or giant cupcake.  The lack of enormous amounts of sugar paid off by allowing me to complete all my many tasks without suffering any sugar crashes and helping me be able to button all the shorts and capris I needed to take on my trip.  However, I celebrated my success by taking a big ole jump off the wagon and having dessert with almost every meal on my trip.  I guess this is a challenge I need to repeat again! 

Here's the fabulous Walt Disney World cupcake I used to reward myself.  Don't you just love the Mickey sprinkles!

Week 2 Challenge: No Desserts

I love sweets.  If it's got sugar in, I'll usually eat it.  Unless it's got banana in it, but that's a story for a different challenge.  Since last week was my birthday, I ate so many sweets (see pictures below) that I have a sugar hangover going on today.  So this week's challenge is to go without desserts.  That means no secret candy from my work candy bowl, no emergency cookie from the Girl Scout cookie stash in the freezer, no hand full of M&Ms after dinner, and definitely no cupcakes.  This challenge is going to be really difficult for me as I am a stress eater and this week is going to be extremely busy at work and at home.  I'm all stocked up with yogurt and fruit, so I'm hoping that will hold the sugar cravings at bay.  My next dessert will be on my spring break trip to Walt Disney World!

The Princess Is....37!?

I love birthdays.  It doesn't matter if it's a friend's birthday, a stranger's birthday, or my own birthday - I love them all because I enjoy celebrating someone's special day.  The only thing I don't like about birthdays is seeing my own age increase.  I know, I know, you're only as old as you feel, and most days, I feel like a teenager mistakenly allowed to live an adult's life.  It's only when I actually see my age written down that I start to feel old, wonder where the time went, and start thinking about all the things I still want to accomplish but either haven't gotten around to doing yet or have been too afraid to try doing them.  In an effort to combat feeling the exact same way next year, I have come up with a plan to help me overcome my fears and actually do some of those things that have been on my "to do" list for years.  And so, I present to you, the Princess and the Challenge.  Each week this year I'm going to challenge myself to accomplish some task, either something I've always wanted to do (learn to crochet), something I've always been afraid to do (go rock climbing), or something that I've just been needing to do for a while (paint my guest room).  I'm also going to blog about my challenges each week, and I'm sharing this blog with you so that you can help hold me accountable.  You see, I am a huge procrastinator, which is evident in the fact that I'm completing my week 1 challenge (start this blog and share it) at the very last minute before the week 2 challenge starts.  I also need your suggestions for challenges to complete; fifty-two challenges is quite a lot, and I've only got a list of about twenty right now.  If you think of something you'd like to see me try, leave a comment on this or any future posts, and I'll add your suggestion to my list of possibilities.  Wish me luck!

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