5 Years

I 'celebrated' my 5 year anniversary at General Mills last month. Now, when one passes a milestone year at The General, one gets to select a gift from a variety of offerings...and nothings says thank-you for sweat, blood and tears like a......

SHOP-VAC!

Yup. I decided to forego the "GMI-logo'd cuff links and earrings" for something more practical. Or at least seemingly more practical and I must admit I have ZERO clue what one uses a shop-vac for, but it at least seemed to provide some actual utility. It came in the mail yesterday and Nate just shook his head as Target's idea of a thank-you gift is a stuffed dog or Target pen.

So if any of you can shed some light on what one uses this contraption for, I would appreciate it. As for me, I'll keep on keeping on at work and look forward to my 10-year gift...maybe it will be a drill set, or something really fancy like a waffle machine.

A First Time For Everything

For the first time in almost 4 years of being in school, I did something AFTER class last night. This is quite the task....because when you are up and at 'em on a Spin bike by 6AM and go through an entire day's work, followed by sitting in class until 9PM, nothing calls your name stronger than pajama pants and a remote control.

BUT, it was my friend and book club co-hort, Rachel's, birthday and she is quite a rock star at Karaoke and so her part was aptly located at the local karaoking hole. And rock the mic she did along with her other party guests.

I felt like I was living on the edge...going out after class on a WORK NIGHT. Live. It. Up. Nate had a beer. I got my hand kissed by the 'everyday resident' of this bar: Stoner, and a merry time was had by all. And I didn't die at work of over-tiredness. Sure I couldn't quite pull my ass out of bed to work out this morning (or Nate's for that matter), but fun > workout.

So life lesson learned: you can have fun on a week-night after 9PM and still function like an adult. Whoopee! Look out Minneapolis....here I come!

Order has been restored...

We headed home this weekend to spend some time with the fam...which of course was dominated by cuteness from one Mr. Finnegan. I love that he is saying "What are you talking about Greta...", that he quickly learned that Thailand chocolates are called "Twinkles," and that this conversation actually happened:

Finn: Saying a bunch of stuff that Nate can't quite decipher
Nate: (silence)
Finn: "Why aren't you saying anything Nate?"
Nate: "What do you want me to say?"
Finn: (puzzled silence followed by extreme concentration) "Why don't you say something like a cow."
Nate: Mooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hilarious.

Also on the docket for the weekend was bringing Lucy back to the great state of MN. Now Mom and Dad swear that she didn't do any death growling the entire month she was in Viroqua.

But sure as the sun rises every morning...there was Lucy at the side of our bed death growling in the middle of the night. This time with force. Like--hey you who abondoned me for a month, you are really going to get it now.. And so it goes that Lucy has taken back control of the house, and restored order to who is the boss. Nate and I don't have to argue about that anymore because Lucy cleared that up pretty quick last night.

P.S. Totally unrelated but important, I haven't forgotten about all of you chicken recipe inquirers. I'll post it soon!

Badger Bummer

Nate and I had the honor of accompanying Ms. Fiterman and Mr. Arbit, whom I have just decided to call the Fiterbit's because it is snappy and I kind of like it just like the Wongske's, to the Badger/Gopher game last night. Debra is always so kind to invite us as fellow Badger friends and fans.

This year she got us extra excited to a special "VIP" room. I was picturing gold banisters, champagne fountains, and decadent chocolate desserts spread all over the room. Now for some, what actually transpired would have seem like a let down compared to those expectations but for ME...this little VIP room was a beacon of happiness because:

1) The Badgers were playing horribly
2) Free-flowing Root Beer...

Seriously...who doesn't love Root Beer. And I am pretty sure it is way more refreshing than some stupid champagne. And let's not forget the chocolate cake-pie that had pudding in the middle. Weird yes. But kind of tasty too..and technically qualified for a decadent choclate dessert.

Does it seem like I am a little too focused on said VIP room? Well...that is because it was probably the highlight of the night given that the Badgers played like a tier 2 High School team last night and it was painful to watch. How painful you ask...I really don't think you can describe it any better than this:

Cooking Light: Episode 4

As we slowly fade back to real life, the realiziation that we need food...in our cupboards...so we don't starve came into focus. And since we are both trying to pack lunches and dinners for the nights we have class...a dinner that delivered leftovers was a must.

And if we must have leftovers...I am REALLY happy it is this: Chicken with Bacon and Cider Sauce.

You basically fry up 3 slices of bacon, take the bacon out and saute the chicken in the oil from the 3 slices of bacon. Once you cook the chicken you put the bacon back in the pan, add some chicken broth and apple cider vinegar, and reduce it down to an amazingly delicious sauce.

It was super easy--done in a flash (like 20 minutes) and has been feeding us (ok...Nate) for the entire week.

Any recipe that can make frozen chicken super juicy gets an A+ in my book.Message me if you are looking for the recipe and I'll send it to you!

Listmania: The Greatest Hits...Lost in Tranlsation

Ok, so I am sure you are all getting REALLY sick of hearing about Thailand, but you will have to bear with me through one more post...BUT it isn't about all of the fun things we did, but rather the most hilarious things we saw in Thailand that were a combination of signs lost in translation and one funny little man.

1) Overly literal restaurant names:

2) Overly DESCRIPTIVE Bar Names 

 

  

3) Pringle flavors only true Thai's would enjoy

 

 

4) Japanese candy that entices you with images of hamburgers and naming similar to that of a body part which will later be working to excrete it.

 

5) Interesting use of imagery to substitute for a letter:

 

6) Childish Humor at every turn

 

7) Some spelling errors lead to GROSS errors in interpretation:

 

8) Hidden surprises are never usually a good thing in your meal...but maybe a "Super Surprise" is different.

  

9) Subliminal messaging? Eat Caramel Corn--will have positive life style? Hmm...

10) The Pancake Man--ok..so this isn't a hilarious lost in translation type deal, but I couldn't NOT mention this guy as we went to visit him every night we were in Koh Samui to get his delicious crepes that were $.75. He was hilarious....he had quite the routine/performance that went into every single little crepe. It included extremely precise movements to slather butter, flip the crepes, cut the crepes and present the crepes. I had a video but it didn't turn out very well so this picture will have to suffice:

 

And with that...it's back to your regularly scheduled program....

Messed Up

It's official. I am seriously messed up with jet lag.

I wasn't really expecting it since we adjusted to well on the way over to Thailand, but holy smokes has it been a rough go of it this week.

I have YET to function after 8PM, even though I am literally falling asleep every night at 8 or 9 (when Nate forces me to try to stay up). Which means of course I am up at the butt crack of dawn every morning. And even when I manage to sleep in to a normal time I am STILL tired at 8PM.

And this isn't the oh I feel tired but can stay up sort of tired. This is the eyelids close immediately, drifting off to sleep only to be woken up by a freight train type of tired.

So this whole week has been work and sleep, with very little else cool going on, or getting done. Period. Except of course school, which goes until 9PM which therefore comes DANGEROUSLY close to overlapping with sleep.

Anyway, the point is this weekend is all about sleeping in short bursts in the middle of the day so I have a fighting chance of actually starting to stay awake long enough to do something enjoyable at night like watch TV, read a book, work-out, eat food...pretty much anything.