So I've been meaning to write this post since the middle of February, but vacation and now a full time job have greatly diminished my "free" time. Better late than never. These are just a couple things I have "learned" lately.
Lesson #1
Have you ever driven around a parking lot only to find the row you selected does not in fact lead out? I find myself doing this often - especially in larger parking areas, where there may only be one or two entrances/exits to the street. I was driving in such a lot the other day (ahem...in mid-February) when I had a genius! realization [of which I am sure most people are already aware]...drum roll please...Follow the Fire Lane. Every parking lot has red fire lanes throughout - and they always lead to the street!!! Genius I tell you. Long gone are the days of guessing which "aisle" I should use to get out. Granted, there's always the other genius idea of going out the same way you come in...whatever.
Lesson #2
I'm constantly amazed at the vast experiential knowledge that Brad has - I guess that comes with the extra 20 years he has on me. Anyway, the other night (ahem...in mid-February) we were sitting around watching the Discovery Channel - a typical night in the Reid house. We were watching one of many shows about pawn shops and the interesting things they collect. So a man brings in a lottery ticket signed by George Washington and the employee says "Would you like to pawn it or sell it?" At which point I asked Brad "What's the difference? I thought pawn shops were just like resale shops?" Well, needless to say, that was an incorrect assessment on my part. So Brad explains to me the wide/wild world of pawning. You give a pawn shop an item (jewelry, etc.) as collateral for a small cash loan, the value determined by the item. So if I had a watch worth $100, most likely the pawn shop would give me about $50 for it. I would then be required to pay back that loan, plus interest (at varied rates) to "buyback" my watch. If I default on the loan, the watch becomes the property of the shop and can be sold. Amazing - I thought if you took something to a pawn shop it was gone forever. With a little internet research, I also learned that the majority of pawn shop business is repeat customers who borrow against the same item. Fascinating. I guess that's why they make TV shows about it! Again, I'm sure every other person already knew that pawn shops worked that way, but I guess I was just a little slow on the uptake.
Good thing I have Brad around. I'm constantly learning from him and he's constantly teasing me for learning "new" things - like when I realized that pickles are just cucumbers that have pickled! I know, believe it or not, it's true. Yeah, I just got that one a few years ago. At least I'm learning!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
New Year Resolutions
Obviously the year is no longer new, although it is hard to believe it is already February. I made it through an entire month without doing anything related to my New Year Resolutions. I'm not necessarily a big resolution maker - mainly because a year is a long time to do anything. I have a hard time doing certain things for a week, sometimes even a day (depending on what it is), much less a whole year. Hence my New Week Resolution idea of 2009 (that I'm sure lasted only a couple of weeks and not at all close to an entire year).
Anyway, I did make some resolutions, but I wouldn't really call them resolutions. The way I see it, they're goals (kind of?), things I've wanted to do for a long time, but was apparently too lazy or preoccupied to put forth the effort. Posted on the wall at Potbelly Sandwich Shop in College Station, TX is the following quote:
Without further ado, here are (some of) my written-down resolutions, in no particular order:
Anyway, I did make some resolutions, but I wouldn't really call them resolutions. The way I see it, they're goals (kind of?), things I've wanted to do for a long time, but was apparently too lazy or preoccupied to put forth the effort. Posted on the wall at Potbelly Sandwich Shop in College Station, TX is the following quote:
I guess the first(-ish) of the year is the time to do that! My resolutions are about becoming the kind of person that I want to be. In a Workplace Health course I took at A&M, our professor told us that writing goals down increases the chance for success in obtaining them. I have never been able to find the statistic she provided, but a quick search on the internet gave me the following "some studies have shown that people who write down their goals are up to 10 times more likely to reach their goals than those who never wrote their goals down" - although the obscure webpage didn't cite the "studies" they reference, they did end their statement with a big ! so it's got to be true...If nothing else, writing them down and sharing them will help keep me accountable."At some point you've got to stop talking about the person you want to become and start becoming that person."
Without further ado, here are (some of) my written-down resolutions, in no particular order:
- No texting and driving. Very bad, yet also very hard to do. I know there is nothing important enough to endanger myself and others, yet I'm so accustomed to the instantaneous communication that it has proven to be a difficult habit to break.
- Read. My goal for the year is a book a week (52 books), which should be manageable considering I have some free time during the day. I'm already 2 down! Although that does mean I'm 3 behind. I'll get there. I've joined goodreads to track my progress and keep the list of books I've read, currently reading, and want to read, etc. Great website.
- Be a gardener. This will occur under direction of my mother, who has in fact had many successful gardens in the past and knows what the heck she is doing, since I do not.
- Play the piano. Once upon a time I could play the piano and now I live in a house with a beautiful piano that I paid to have tuned a couple months ago. Can't let that go to waste.
- Cook. I've recently added foodgawker to the FlipBoard on my iPad, which brings recipes from a bunch of different foodie blogs into one simple place for me to see. I can flip through all the pretty pictures, drool over the food, and star the ones I like. I've only made one dish (15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta) but it did not disappoint.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Au Revoir à 2010
I promised Lisa I would blog about my last day of 2010, because it was just so great! Thursday I was in Brenham for a shower celebrating Amy and Jonathan. It was great to see some old friends and catch up on life events. I woke up early to get on the road, so I could get back in time to get ready for a NYE party we were hosting for Marshal and his friends.
The last day of 2010 started with a ticket in Palmer, Texas. I knew better - I'd been following a couple cars from Madisonville, had my cruise control set just below 80. From experience (countless drives up/down 45 to and from College Station) I slowed down around Ennis because there are ALWAYS cops in the Ennis/Ferris area. Well then I started talking on the phone and stopped paying attention. 3 cops perched in front of an overpass and I got tagged. 77 in a 65....sweeeet. Love getting tickets before 10:00 AM. I also didn't have current insurance, but luckily the officer was able to look that up. The good news is that Brad's pistol was not in the console and I didn't have to deal with that.
Got over that - moved on with the day. Cleaned the house. Ran a million errands. Lisa, Marshal and I went to Target to exchange a game for Kinect and get some sweets for the party. We ended up with a million things in our cart, including 5 large 18-gallon tubs for Christmas storage. Checking out: I look in the tubs and say "Are we stealing anything? No, great." We got out to the car, pull the tubs out of the cart and underneath them (not inside, where I had looked) were 2 boxes of brownies. THIEVES!! Oh no! Well, we took them. Don't worry, I fully intend to pay for 2 boxes of brownies that I will not take home next time I am at Target.
Fast forward two hours. I'm taking Lisa home and we stop by Tom Thumb to pick up a few more things. (The errands are never ending, for real.) We run into Kelsey Jane, grocery shop together, then hurry out. I forget to pay for a bag of ice at check out (like always) and so I stop at the express check out and charge $2.15 to my credit card for ice. As we're leaving the store Lisa says something about the ice being in a place where people could grab it even if they didn't pay for it and I respond out loud "Yeah, but I've already shoplifted once today." Silence. Stares. Keep walking. "I mean, not really, but you know....." Right...anyway. Enough attention. Clicked the trunk open with my key fob (we're still 10 feet from the car) and a glass soda bottle rolls out the back and shatters on the ground leaving glass and strawberry Jarritos all over the parking lot. Sweet. More stares. Hysterical laughter from me and Lisa. Rush to pick up the big glass pieces while we continue to face more stares. Pack our groceries. Exit as quickly as possible.
Whew.
2010 as year was a great one (Masters degree - check, Marriage - check), but December 31st? Not so much. Actually the party turned out pretty well and Brad and I celebrated our first New Years as a married couple. Wahoo. Truth be told, if we had not been hosting a party and had a bunch of 14 year old kids at our house wreaking havoc (silly string cans in the fire, party poppers, Dance Central on Kinect, tons of food, red bull, etc.) I don't know that we would have even made it to midnight.
Here's to 2011! Should be another exciting year!
Post Script Confession: I may or may not have also told a minor white lie to get a new cell phone. I would say don't judge me, but I deserve it. Just like I deserved that speeding ticket. Blast.
The last day of 2010 started with a ticket in Palmer, Texas. I knew better - I'd been following a couple cars from Madisonville, had my cruise control set just below 80. From experience (countless drives up/down 45 to and from College Station) I slowed down around Ennis because there are ALWAYS cops in the Ennis/Ferris area. Well then I started talking on the phone and stopped paying attention. 3 cops perched in front of an overpass and I got tagged. 77 in a 65....sweeeet. Love getting tickets before 10:00 AM. I also didn't have current insurance, but luckily the officer was able to look that up. The good news is that Brad's pistol was not in the console and I didn't have to deal with that.
Got over that - moved on with the day. Cleaned the house. Ran a million errands. Lisa, Marshal and I went to Target to exchange a game for Kinect and get some sweets for the party. We ended up with a million things in our cart, including 5 large 18-gallon tubs for Christmas storage. Checking out: I look in the tubs and say "Are we stealing anything? No, great." We got out to the car, pull the tubs out of the cart and underneath them (not inside, where I had looked) were 2 boxes of brownies. THIEVES!! Oh no! Well, we took them. Don't worry, I fully intend to pay for 2 boxes of brownies that I will not take home next time I am at Target.
Fast forward two hours. I'm taking Lisa home and we stop by Tom Thumb to pick up a few more things. (The errands are never ending, for real.) We run into Kelsey Jane, grocery shop together, then hurry out. I forget to pay for a bag of ice at check out (like always) and so I stop at the express check out and charge $2.15 to my credit card for ice. As we're leaving the store Lisa says something about the ice being in a place where people could grab it even if they didn't pay for it and I respond out loud "Yeah, but I've already shoplifted once today." Silence. Stares. Keep walking. "I mean, not really, but you know....." Right...anyway. Enough attention. Clicked the trunk open with my key fob (we're still 10 feet from the car) and a glass soda bottle rolls out the back and shatters on the ground leaving glass and strawberry Jarritos all over the parking lot. Sweet. More stares. Hysterical laughter from me and Lisa. Rush to pick up the big glass pieces while we continue to face more stares. Pack our groceries. Exit as quickly as possible.
Whew.
2010 as year was a great one (Masters degree - check, Marriage - check), but December 31st? Not so much. Actually the party turned out pretty well and Brad and I celebrated our first New Years as a married couple. Wahoo. Truth be told, if we had not been hosting a party and had a bunch of 14 year old kids at our house wreaking havoc (silly string cans in the fire, party poppers, Dance Central on Kinect, tons of food, red bull, etc.) I don't know that we would have even made it to midnight.
Here's to 2011! Should be another exciting year!
Post Script Confession: I may or may not have also told a minor white lie to get a new cell phone. I would say don't judge me, but I deserve it. Just like I deserved that speeding ticket. Blast.
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