Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Crossing Things Off

There's a list of 101 things to do with your significant other that takes up space on my fridge, a constant reminder to enjoy each other's company, to be irreverant and spontaneous and childlike when the mood strikes. We've crossed out a couple lines, things like... 
 -Perfect your guacamole making skills
 -Teach her how to build a fire (or him as the case may be)
 -Build a fort
 -Get lost on purpose
 -Have a spa day at home 
We've added some notes, crossed out others (get tattoos of each other's names?! go sky-diving?!) and I love to really look at it every few months to see how our relationship has changed.

I realized that we're tackling another line, number 25...."Go on a health kick together" 
This has been on my radar for a while and I've implemented it in smaller ways- reducing the amount of bread we buy, adding veggies to most of our meals, reducing the Nestle drumsticks...but we've rarely had the motivation to try anything drastic. Like...working out, for instance.

Well, Dan dug deep and found his motivation and now there's a goal in mind- a 2 minute physical assesment and 6 months of physical training in the Orange County Police Academy! And if there's anything more motivating to work out than the fact that your husband is trying to become a police officer, I'd like to know. Because I could use it.

So now we're really focused on what we're eating, and how often we're walking. Hiking three times a week. Walking at least 2 miles if we're not hiking. He's running on his own and the pull up bar is seeing a lot of use.

My job is sort of inherently mobile and I had the bright idea that I could use some of the 20-30lb boxes as weights if I was getting really desperate. So while everyone was on break and grabbed a box and lifted it over my head, only to hit my forehead as it came tumbling out of my hands. Unevenly distributed weight can do that when lifted abruptly.

I am not a smart woman. Though maybe I'll be a little more toned....

Monday, January 19, 2015

Protein Packed

There was already a line three people deep at the deli counter. And these people meant business- hickory smoked, cajun-style, all-American business. Mr. E, ever the carnivore, was unfazed and stood in line.

This week we're shopping at a new-for-us grocery and we found ourselves...with a lighter bill. And healthier eating habits. Eating better starts with buying better and all the tips and tricks to buying the right foods at Ralphs just didn't stick. I tried to keep to the outside aisles (meat, dairy, produce...and wine) because you get less processed foods there, right? But I was still straying into enemy territory to grab pasta sauce or toilet paper and finding myself face-to-face with cheesy crackers and boxed dinners. I throw them in because ease-over-nutrients, amirite?

Well if Mr. E was intent on eating cleaner in preparation for some upcoming physical changes, then just call me Support System. So we ditched bright lights and brightly colored packaging for the bulk bins and abbreviated aisles. Sprouts is like Trader Joes save the tiny parking lot and inflated egos. Well, maybe some of the egos are inflated...at least one third of the store is wine.

I was perusing their bread selection- rosemary sourdough, anyone?- when Mr. E dumped his packages unceremoniously into the cart.

"Do you want to know how much deli meat I got?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"I didn't know how much to order. So I ordered the same weight as the guy in front of me..." He trails off as the recent thump-sound finally clicks in my brain. I peer into our cart.

There, nestled amidst the tiny bags of veggie chips, squeezing the life out of our poor clementines, is an almost three pound weight of sliced turkey.

I look back at my husband, who shrugs.

"I've never ordered from a deli counter before."

We've eaten sandwiches at least once a day for the last week and a half.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Friends?

How are your neighbors?

Do you know?

Are you friends? Landlord-hating-buddies? Passive-aggressive door-slamming competitors?

Do you...accidentally listen to their middle of the night fights while giggling in the bathroom because their window is open?

During a lull in History Channel's Vikings, (pleasegowatchthis) we heard it....

A theme song we know by heart.
how i met your mother
This show was an integral part of our dating years. It was something we could always come back to- laughing at Barney's attempts to pick up chicks, laughing at Ted's inability to understand anything about anybody, laughing at how close Lily and Marshall's relationship was to our own...

But we have so moved past this show.

Only to have it repeated four to five times a night. Every night. On the other side of our couch wall.

Every so often Mr. E will come in as I'm getting ready for bed and shrilly whisper, "They're watching ANOTHER one."

We smile and laugh and wonder how long it will take them to please finish.

We've moved from Vikings to Planet Earth to Friends. And then late one night, we heard it....


No one told you life was gonna be this waaaaaaaaayyyy....


Dan ran into the bedroom with some serious eyebrow game: "They're watching Friends! Those BITERS."


Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Year's End

We have a cherished New Years Eve tradition of forgetting to count down the last ten seconds of the year. This year we didn't disappoint.
There's something about ringing in the New Year completely by accident- being so caught up in our conversation and our friends and our card game and our drinks that I can't possibly keep an eye on the clock. When I do check the time- usually the microwave or the oven because analog clocks are terrible timekeepers- I'm either ten minutes too early or 30 minutes too late.
So we're sitting at a dining table, sliding playing cards across the holiday tablecloth and trying to remember the rules to a game only one of us has played before. We're two or three drinks in, we've just finished home-cooking one of the best meals we've ever made (carne asada, homemade Ceasar salad, roasted rosemary and thyme potatoes and carrots in case you were wondering) and the heater has made us completely forget that it is currently 26 degrees outside and snow is on the ground. The dogs are blessedly quiet (though that's not an anomaly for Ripley) and the jazz station we've turned on is cranking out the perfect soundtrack for lulling us to sleep through the year change.

One of us chances to look up and all of a sudden we're screaming. It's 11:59 and we are going to miss it. All the carefully prepared champagne (because if not now, when?) and grapes to symbolize our good months and toasting is going to be late and at least two of the four of us are really only awake for this singular reason.

So Mr. E goes to pop the champagne and Oliver is bringing out yet another flight of glassware and I'm hiding under the counter with my back turned because I have a fear of loud noises (or fear of the anticipation of loud noises, whichever sounds cooler) and in the bustle we missed it.

But it doesn't matter.

Because this year is full of anticipation.

Because this year we have goals.

Because this year is the year we enjoy.

And we're off to a pretty good start- snow on the ground, greasy pizza in town, pre-released movies for Oscar-judging and endless card games in a year-end vacation in the mountains of Idyllwild.

My word for this year is enjoy. What's yours?