Always an Anchor Girl

Today, March 5th, 2012 is International Badge Day, sponsored by the National Panhellenic Conference.

Translation -- Wear your sorority pin!

This year's theme is "Wear Your Letters On Your Heart."

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I haven't worn my pin in probably close to 20 years. (Luckily I knew where it was.) I keep it in my jewelry box pinned to this retro 90's pin pillow:

I decided to wear my pin this year for mostly one reason -- in memory of my friend and sorority sister Megan.  Megan passed away last year from cancer. She was 40 years old. She was married. She had two small daughters. She was an amazing, vibrant, funny, intelligent woman. I was lucky enough to be reunited with her via Facebook and am thankful for that.

I felt like wearing my pin was the right thing to do (as small a thing as it may have been).

(No, that's not plush purple carpeting -- it's my sweater.)

Wearing my letters on my heart helped to remind me throughout the day the power of sisterhood and how proud I am to be a part of that.

I'll always be an anchor girl!

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You Win Some and...

Yes, that's right, you lose some. Tonight's dinner was an example of the latter. I love my Cooking Light magazines and now that school's over, I've been trying a few more things that catch my eye. From the Jan/Feb issue, I saw Enchilada Pie and thought that sounded good. Ehhh...not so much.

Not sure what went awry. The only minor thing that happened was that I was supposed to buy a small can of tomato sauce, but bought tomato paste instead. So, I figured I'd improvise (which is WAY out of my comfort zone in the kitchen). I searched the cabinets for pasta sauce only to find Vodka sauce. Eh...close enough. I don't *think* that was the ingredient that failed the recipe, but you never know.

It tasted OK, but just bland. The side of beans you see in the picture (which they don't give you the recipe for online) were actually OK. Dare I say better than the Enchilada Pie.

Hopefully there will be something yummier in the March issue!

Spa / Sports Saturday

Shellac Mani! (My nails are SUPER short, so I'm getting a few manis to try to help in growing them out.)

UMASS/Merrimack Hockey game.

Um, yeah, those are turkey basters they're using. High tech operation!

The Enigma That Is the SOAP OPERA

Soap operas and I go way back.

I remember when I was in second grade, I had watched an episode of "Another World" with my Mom and there was a scene where someone came up behind someone else and put a cloth soaked in chloroform over the person's mouth. For some reason, that really stuck with me. I then proceeded to tell my second grade teacher, Miss Lively (RANDOM FACTOID: Miss Lively worked as Bill Cosby's cook.) what I had seen and that it had freaked me out. Luckily she knew my mother personally and that she wasn't some crazy nutter that forced me to watch soaps.

A few years later it was the Luke & Laura storyline on "General Hospital" that I was enamored of. My aunt, who was in her late teens at the time, had all of the soap opera magazines with photos and photos of Luke & Laura and LOVED General Hospital. I watched it whenever I could.

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When I was in junior high, this morphed into a routine:

"Days of Our Lives" from 1-2PM (whenever I stayed home sick from school or on a holiday)

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"As the World Turns" from 2-3PM (I'd rush home as fast I could to catch at least half of it).

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"General Hospital" from 3-4PM

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"As the World Turns" quickly became my favorite. The Dusty Donovan/Lily Walsh/Holden Snyder love triangle was the new soap opera love story. (Rich girl falls in love with heartthrob and then meets stable boy. You see where that's going.)

Dusty (Brian Bloom) & Lily (Martha Byrne):

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Holden (Jon Hensley) & Lily (and no...this is not from my own personal collection, although I DID subscribe back in the day!)

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I continued to watch these throughout high school and college, basically until I got a "real" job and couldn't watch them regularly anymore.

Here's where the enigma factors come in.

Ever noticed that you could not watch a soap opera for say seven years and then catch an episode and a) the characters are the same [maybe different actors or actresses] and b) the storylines are the same. Oh, look -- someone's been kidnapped and taken to an island that's its own country. Funny because that happened the LAST time I watched this. (The "country" of Alamainia is alive and well on "Days of Our Lives."

Ever noticed that kids on soaps age REALLY fast? There's even a formal name for this -- Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome (SORAS.) Yes, you read that right. One minute they're riding the pony at the fair and the next they're filling out a FAFSA for college.

I've noticed this -- I don't find soap operas as alluring as I used to. Occasionally, I flip by SOAPnet and catch "Days of  Our Lives." I find the romances cheesy. The dialogue is embarrassing (as is the acting in some cases.) The sets are hokey. The storylines are boring. Is it me? Are my TV show watching tastes more refined? Have they gone downhill over the years?

Thoughts? Questions? Comments?

40 Before 41 Check-in: 339 days left

So, let's see how I'm doing on my "40 Before 41" checklist, shall we?

1. Read 50 books in one calendar year. DONE! See here.


2. Finish my master’s degree. DONE!

3. Lose 25 lbs. Um, not so much. However, I am actively scouring Craigslist for a treadmill to aide in this effort. If you've got one and want to sell it, drop me a note!

4. Take an advanced calligraphy class. This is a tough one. I check community college offerings and adult education centers. I'll keep trying.

5. Post at least eight times per month on my blog. Good thing I left this one purposely vague. I DID in fact post MORE than eight times in January of this year. The months before and February? Not so much.

6. Complete the Couch to 5K program. When said treadmill enters this house, the training will begin again (sidelined last year due to sprained ankle.)

7. Hang out with my friends more often (or talk more often to those I can’t hang out with more due to geography.) I'm only half crossing this one out. I've been doing A LOT more with my friends since the start of 2012 and I'm really happy about that. I need to work on calling those I can't see that often.

8. Have one room in our basement finished. Once John finishes his big conference at work in a few weeks, we will begin the process. We will have our attic checked to make sure there's no mold and then all of the non-crap in the basement can be moved up there and the fun can begin.

9. Revisit horseback riding (which I haven’t done some since summer camp in elementary school). I've found two places in my town that offer lessons. I'm making a promise to myself to email them over the next week to get prices.

10. Go on vacation again to Rehoboth Beach, DE. DONE! (And going again this year!)

11. Buy a houseplant and nurture it so that it will live for at least one month. (I’m setting my sights low.) Getting this out of the library this weekend. I love the subtitle: Essential Gardening Know-How for Keeping (Not Killing) More Than 160 Indoor Plants

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12. Watch Netflix movies within two weeks. Hmm. I stopped the whole "get a movie by mail" from Netflix after they raised their prices. Is it worth another $8/month?

13. Have a gathering of friends at our house. Um, no. This summer?

14. Drink only one soda per day. I'm on and off with this. I rarely drink more than one per day, but I'm going to try to go a month with only one per day.

15. Go on a vacation with my mom. Someday. She and my Dad are moving, so maybe after that.

16. Play tennis with my husband at least twice. This summer.

17. Go parasailing. Hopefully next summer (yes, which will be after I turn 41) in Aruba.

18. Join the technology revolution and get an iPhone. Check!

19. Go through the plastic tubs of photos from my grandparents’ house and scan the ones I want to have copies of. Sort of did this when my Granddad passed away, but didn't do a thorough job.

20. Create a photo wall of family pics in the front entryway. I've been collecting ideas for this on Pinterest.

21. Take a cooking class. Again, checking community colleges and adult ed.

22. Finish an entire game of Monopoly. Maybe when my stepson comes home. He likes that game and is very competitive, which will force me to finish.

23. Get up early on Black Friday and go shopping. Went last year, but did not get up early.

24. Go to a Bon Jovi concert. This WILL happen (if Bon Jovi cooperates with me.)

25. Follow through with my cleaning schedule for an entire month. Um, not yet.

26. If #3 is not accomplished, at least go down one pant size. See comment after #3.

27. Exercise enough so that I do not have to take pills for high cholesterol anymore. See comment after #3.
28. Go to a professional development event, i.e., ALA. Hmmm...Seattle or Anaheim? Probably not. However, in 2016, ALA will be back in Boston.

29. Turn in a school assignment a whole day before it’s due. DONE!

30. Try downhill skiing. Thinking about it.

31. Go out for tapas. Hopefully when I go to D.C. this summer I can go back to the yummy restaurant we went to, the name of which is escaping me.

32. Put money into savings each month. Working on.

33. Get the entire “Bones” series from Netflix and watch them all! Very confusing. Netflix says it's not available to watch instantly, but then you can click on each episode and it looks like they play. Hmm....

34. Join a book club. Help me out peeps! Anyone know of one near me???

35. Do SOMETHING with my wedding dress. Help me out again peeps! Anyone know of a talented seamstress near me??? I have an idea in mind.

36. Revisit crocheting. This might change to knitting. I've had an offer to teach me!

37. Try 5 new restaurants. DONE! #1: Agave Mexican Bistro. See review here. #2: Wang's Table: Local yocal Chinese restaurant that's actually pretty good. #3: FINS Fish House & Raw Bar: A to-die-for Pear Pomegranate Martini and delectable Swordfish. #4: Birches Bar & Grill at Mohegan Sun. Had a lovely Pomegranate Martini there. #5: Margaritas: OK chain Mexican.

38. Try yoga. One thing at a time, people!

39. Pay off at least one credit card. DONE!

40. A wild card item—my choice. Still mulling over.

Not bad. Could be better, but not bad.

Doppelgangers That Drive Me Batty!

I just happened to flip by the SOAP Network one night and saw that "Days of Our Lives" was on. Recognizing some of the same old characters, I decided to watch. The character of Austin came into the episode and I thought to myself, "Self -- That's guy from "Will & Grace." Wow-- his career's really gone down the tubes." I couldn't help thinking that he'd gone from hit sitcom to the last of the dying soap operas. So, I Googled Austin Days of Our Lives. Um, what? It's NOT Eric McCormack from "Will & Grace?" No, apparently it's Patrick Muldoon, his doppelganger.

Muldoon is bottom right:

The next pair may not be considered "legit" doppelgangers. Again, flipping through the channels when home sick one day and come across the TV show, "The Talk." (Rip off of "The View.") The hosts come in and I think, "Hmmm...Dr. Saroyan from "Bones" is hosting this show, too? Wow, she's busy." Except, that wasn't Dr. Saroyan. Aisha Taylor is one of the hosts of "The Talk" and Tamara Taylor is on "Bones." Yes, they have the same last name and yes, come to find out they're sisters. You learn something new every day.

What doppelgangers get you?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for my friends and the beautiful lavender roses they gave me for my birthday. In my mind, there's not a more beautiful flower than a lavender rose.

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband. He gave me this beautiful card and yummy box of chocolates for Valentine's Day -- our 15th together.

Sometimes after a craptastic day, it's good to remember the things in life I'm thankful for. They make the craptastic-ness go away a lot faster.