It was a good day.

Things have been busy over here in the Colombini household!  We've been running, spending time outside, cleaning, and cooking.  None of it as much as I would like too though.  I'm learning to do what I want instead of waiting to do the fun stuff until after the work is done.  Not in the sense that I am being lazy, but in that I have several projects going that will lead to a cleaner house, but if I wait until everything is perfect, I'll never get to them b/c my house will never be perfect.

For example, the other day I had time to either clean/pick stuff up or sew a bag hutch.  I chose to sew the bag hutch because it was wanted I really wanted to do and it would lead to the cupboard under the sink being a lot emptier and cleaner.

When we run at night, it's wears us out sooo much that we're too tired to cook and by the time we're done it's usually 8:00, too late to clean.  I try to do one or two things, and then forget about the rest of the house.  Someday there will be time, but it would be worse to worry about it now.  I can't wait until the marathon is over and I can get my life back!  Running 2 miles is nothing...but running 6 miles takes the entire evening or day!

I'm so happy that I can say running 2 miles is nothing!  It's one of those things I never ever thought I would say and I didn't even want to be able to.

We went to East Nashville with Tamara and her friend John yesterday.  It's such a nice area to hang out in...it's the up and coming artist/hipster area of Nashville, but doesn't have the Belmont/Nashville hipster scene.  The Green Wagon was having a grand re-opening celebration.  I got a free makeover and I was prepared to spend some money on makeup, but once I was done, the makeover people completely ignored me!  I was like, Ummmmm...okay, and left because I didn't really want the makeup or have the money.  We also got to taste a new beer brewed by the Nashvillians.  It was just okay...a little hoppy for me.  The nut brown beer was pretty good though.  OH and the grilled cheese bus was there.  Josh waited in line for maybe 40 min. and got him and me the best grilled cheese of my life!  It had carmalized onions on the inside.  I was also able to stock up on local handmade soap, which we were out of, and on handmade, local, laundry detergent, which we were very close to being out of.  We bought 5 bags of the laundry detergent on Earth Day last year and it pretty much lasted until today.

We also got some handmade ice cream.  I got ginger lime flavor.  It was good but not amazing.  I'm not an ice cream connoisseur though and would have gotten vanilla if that was available, which it wasn't.  We got to sit outside in some trees on a nice whimsical table with little chairs.  I dislike the word whimsical, but that's the only way to describe it.

It was a good day.

Then Josh and I got home and took a nap.  We woke up and it was 8:30.  We tried to run 6 miles, but only got 2 done because Ackbar had scratched Josh foot from toe to heal in the morning and it was irritating him a lot.  We then had our own grilled cheese for dinner at 10:00 and left over veggies from a pork loin bake we made earlier this week.

Mardi Gras

Long time no update.


It's because I've been super busy running.  I can't wait for the marathon to be over because it's taking up all my time!  I'm going to describe my amazing Mardi Gras trip by pasting a letter I wrote to my friends back home, it perfectly captures everything I wanted to say about the trip:

"I had a lot of fun this weekend!  It was one of the best vacations I've ever been on!  AND you girls will be surprised...I did not get a hangover because I didn't get stupid drunk.  Yeah...I know...it's a clear sign I'm getting old.  I enjoyed not fooling poopy too.  I did drink...just not to excess.  We went with our friends Bob and Jacque and stayed with her parents.  I loved seeing Louisiana....which is bad, b/c now I've put another place on my list of where I want to live.  It was so freeing to go out and be with many people who didn't care what they looked like, what impressions they were making, or if they were drinking/smoking/naked and other people weren't.  I'm starting to realize Nashville is a very conservative city that places a very high importance on appearance and popularity.  I do not fit in here.

I caught over 70lbs of beads from the floats!  I made friends with the little girls catching the beads next to me and tried to get them the good beads, and commiserated on the annoyances of the people on the float when we didn't get the good beads.  Then one of them caught a bag right out of my hands.  When she turned around and saw that it was me...she just laughed and kept the bag.  It makes me happy b/c I would have done the exact same thing.  When you are out there it's a free for all and you MUST GET THAT SPECIFIC BEAD thrown at you no matter the age or sex or color of the person you are fighting for it.  And then, if you don't need it after you catch it, or if you catch two sweet beads, you give it away...even if the person is a stranger.  Everyone talks to everyone else and helps them out and gives away food.  It's like there's so much of everything there that everyone has enough and is more than willing to share.  I saw one guy without a shirt buy a sweatshirt from a guy (who was wearing it) for $20.  I thought that was awesome (the shirtless guy was also very drunk).  OH, and before the parade with the little girls started, there was loud music in the street and the Cuban Shuffle came on, and the girls started dancing to it.  There was a whole group of people doing it in the street farther along, but where we were it was the 2 girls...so even though I detest the song and dancing to directed songs like that...I went out there and joined them!  We got a whole group of people dancing with us.

Jacque's Dad also took us down a bayou to a river to the big lake there.  You can't see across that lake, like Lake Michigan.  One I could tell it was smaller...and I couldn't describe why to Jacque...so I'm just going to wait until she can see Lake Michigan for herself.  I loved seeing the bayou just as much as everything else combined.  I've always wanted to go boating down one almost exactly like we did, so I was able to cross a life goal off the list.  We were even able to get off the boat and have a beer in a restaurant we passed.

The weirdest part was that we were allowed to have open drinks anywhere.  We would get out of the car, in the parking garage, and pour our beers into our cups and then leave.  That was the strangest part...it just didn't seem right.

Oh and there was King Cake.  That may have been my favorite part.  It was like a round cinnamon roll sorta with cream cheese filling and icing on top.  Good icing with sugar sprinkled thickly on it.  But it wasn't too sweet and it tasted real.  Real good!  Finally, there is also a baby in it.  A little plastic anatomically correct baby boy...possibly baby Jesus.  I'm not sure.  Whoever gets the baby has to throw the next party.

I did not flash anyone...  I didn't see a guy with beads worth it to flash for.  And there were always little kids around...Mardi Gras is actually a family event.  Who knew."

Oma

On March 21st my Oma passed away unexpectedly at home.  She was almost 90 (April 4 is her birthday) and I think had a lot of back pain, which I can understand.

I want to write about her and about my family.  It's a pretty sweet family, and she was the head of it. 

She was born in the Netherlands 90 years ago.  I believe her grandparents were Cornelia and Cornelius, but maybe it was her parents.  One of my aunts made family history calendars with old pictures and names and dates on it, which is where I am getting most of this from, and I haven't looked at that particular calendar recently.  She went to cooking school, she lived on her own in an apartment, she took the train to visit her grandparents.  That's so little to know, but so awesome!  I find it so scary now to be an independent woman, and I have had a partner (Josh) next to me since I was 20, and she was able to do it back when women's rights were so much less than they are now.  Oh and her cooking was amazing!

Then she met Opa (William Straathof) and they got married.  She had two junior bridesmaids and a beautiful wedding dress.  As far as I can tell her hair has been the same since she was born.  Short and curly.  I don't know what color it was before it was white...the pictures are in black and white, but I think it was a light to medium brown.  Maybe it was a dirty blond? 

They had 2 maybe 3 children...I can't remember the exact number...and World War II happened...maybe before the children and marriage?  The timeline is fuzzy for me.  But my dad told me once that the men had to hide in the outhouses when the soldiers came to recruit them.  I thought that was a silly hiding place when I was little, but now I think they were hiding in the hole below the outhouse...which is a better hiding place.  Opa must have had a hard time because he was really tall, and his hair was even taller.  :)  That's may favorite part about him, his super tall hair.  It was really thick and wavy and stuck straight up about 3 or 4 inches.  I think my brother could do it if he tried.  His hair was dark brown and he looks very much like my brother and my cousins Will and Eric, in my mind.

With the children they moved to New Mexico where they lived in a chicken coop.  I don't know if there were still chickens there.  They worked on a farm and with cows.  I saw the old "house", "barn"???  We went once on vacation.  It was very dry, very empty and not very welcoming.  The building looked very much like a shed that wasn't a barn or a house.  It confused me, like is the building I saw what was left and there was more? Or was that it?  If it was, they were very brave.  There they had 5 or 6 children total 8 kids.  My dad's job was to sit out with the truck and guard it from Mexicans all day.  He said it was scary, he was also very very young, probably younger than 10.  He also said once that there were Indians out there, and he was born in Indian country and that's why he likes the outdoors so much, he has the spirits of Indians in him.  Now you know where I get it from. Also, I have the spirits of Indians in me, they just don't know it yet.

Can you imagine?  No internet, no cellphones, not very many regular phones, no facebook, and she took a boat across the ocean to a land that didn't speak her language, to New Mexico of all places!  Did they take a train?  That state is apart of America, but the landscape is the opposite of most places I've seen and especially of Europe!  It's all red sand. It must have been such an adjustment and change.

Then, after 10 years, Opa moved to Hersey, Michigan and bought land and a farm.  He raised good cows and taught my dad (and his family) how to have a good strong farm.  When my Dad farmed he had registered holstiens, which I guess makes them worth more, and sold bulls to Japan for their sperms.  Once they had a barn raising party and built the barn in one day.  That night a tornado came through and destroyed the barn and they had to restart.

I know my 4 aunts were heartthrobs and attracted all the boys b/c many (at least 6) of my teachers at home went to high school with them and they always made a point to ask about my aunts and how they were doing.

Before my parents met and when Opa was 55, he passed away from a heart attack, and Oma became the sole leader of the Straathof clan.

Oma means grandma in Dutch and Opa means Grandpa.

Oma I think was the original hipster.  She lived on her own, knitted, road on an old fashion scooter!  Yes, she had a sweet scooter that she used to deliver her baked goods.  She never had a drivers license and talked in a mix of Dutch and English.  She made a soup with meatballs in it, and sandwiches that were rolls with butter and cheese cut into little squares.  That is my ultimate comfort food.  And somehow, as simple as it was, she did it better than my mom.  She also made her dutch salad, which I've made once and it always makes people nervous.  It's ground beef (cooked), green beans and mashed potatoes with dill pickles and the juice ground together in a meat grinder.  Then she mounds it up on a platter and covers it in a thick layer of mayonaise topped with slices of lettuce, tomato, pickles, and hard boiled eggs.  That's my favorite food of all time.  She also always brought me dutch cheese...my favorite is Lyden which has caraway seeds in it.  And she gave out letters of dutch chocolate at Christmas to everyone.  You got a chocolate letter that was your first initial.  I always freeze them and eat them in July.  She also introduced me to dutch bisquets which are like bread cracker things that you put butter on then top with chocolate sprinkles!  Those are the best.  And Stroopenwafels which are delicious things that sandwiche caramel.  You can get them at whole foods and Trader Joe's.  I suggest it.  Oh and she would take left over steak and slice it really thin and fry it in butter.  That is my absolute favorite way to eat steak and I do it now for me and Josh when I can.

Whenever you came over she would get you something to drink and you had to say yes, otherwise she wouldn't relax until you did.  I would tell boyfriend's to accept a drink no matter what, even if they didn't want it...they better take it!  When I say boyfriend's, I mean only two and one I married.  She always looked forward to seeing them at holiday's too and would always always ask where "my friend" was if he didn't go.

She also line danced and did the macarana, and I'm pretty sure that's where my love of dance comes from...maybe.  My Grandma (see I had it good, I had Oma and Grandma), also LOVES to dance too, so I guess I had no chance at not dancing. :)

My Oma worked very hard in her life but I'm also pretty sure she played equally as hard.  I wish I could describe more and better about her and her life.  She had 26 grandchildren (though I think the count was made before Janelle was born, so it might be 27) and in each one she was excited to see their future.  She loved her grandchildren because we were her goal and future she dreamed of when moving to America. (I don't know for sure, but that's what I think anyways).

So.  Everyone has an amazing grandma, and so was she. 

Why Can't My Mom Just Make All of My Clothes?

So just to update you on the whole shopping thing.  I did go to Target for my prescriptions and Target sucked me in.  I almost bought a headband, but I didn't feel like spending money even though the head band would totally look sweet with my "new professional look".  I held it for a few minutes.  I also almost bought my sister a present and then decided I could do better than Target.  Then I bought a frozen pizza b/c it wasn't pepperoni, we try to have frozen pizza stocked b/c frozen pizza is cheaper than going out to eat when we're too tired to cook.  I also bought a nail polish...in my defense I returned a nail polish I bought last week.  I like this color better (the last one was clear...not sure what I was thinking!).  It's a metallic silver color.  Also, all of my nail polish has gone bad b/c it's been so long since I've bought some, so it's not like I'm buying something I already have fifty of...I only have one other workable color and it's Barbie Pink.  It does NOT add to my "new professional look".

While I was in Target and in Kroger yesterday (Taco toppings), I pretended like I was excited to pick stuff out, but I wasn't.  I was annoyed.  I wanted to be home.  I had my stripper boots on and they were hurting my feet and ankles.  I couldn't decide if 4 for 5$ for wrinkly almost rotten orange and yellow peppers was a good deal or not.  I walked back and forth through the veggies like 8 times changing my mind.  Is it worth paying $4 for a 4 lb. bag of smaller more delicious looking oranges or 5$ for an 8lb bag of large slightly less delicious looking oranges?  Dilemmas.  At least I already knew what sort of sour cream I wanted...the good kind.  Only one ingredient in it...Milk Cream.  In the Publix (Pube-licks) store, the sour cream had 10 different ingredients and one of the last ones was milk whey as the diary portion of the sour cream.

So picking out the best thing and making sure I love it when I go shopping does not apply to grocery shopping or target errands. I'm pretty sure I hate shopping actually.  I have a coupon for 10$ of $50 purchase a JC Penny tomorrow.  I need new summer clothes and I want to get an outfit for mardi Gras...but I don't know where to look for them and what makes good summer clothes?  And tank tops?  What am I suppose to get?  MAYBE I'll get work blouses, short sleeve, and black work pants at JC Penny, but go to the goodwill for fun clothes.  And TJ Max for dresses.  BUT has spring fashion started yet? Should I wait to the end for the sales?  I find that when I do this, I miss it, and there are no options or product left to purchase that fits me, and so I don't buy anything.  Then I'm depressed until the fall season starts and refuse to go shopping b/c I am spending all my money on vacations.

Do you know where I secretly want to get my clothes?  The Buckle.  Once they had a crazy sweater vest there for $40 and I didn't get it and I always wish I had. I think they match my attitude.  But I don't want to get branded, so I'll stick to the Goodwill.

Catch Up of Thoughts

I just ran 3 miles and Surprise! I feel great!  That's really pretty amazing.  I ran one mile straight without stopping to walk too.  So did Josh.

I spent last week in Washington DC for a work meeting and then I visited Adair for the weekend.  She lives with this amazing professor who teaches middle eastern politics or something like that.  She had just gotten back from Iran where she was the first female speaker at one of their top high schools.  She brought back real turkish delight, only she said it wasn't that, but it was the same (only more amazing and delicious) than the box of candies I get at TJ Max that say it's turkish delight.  I tend to believe her more than I believe TJ Max.  I also got to eat some real Iranian pistachios.  She is the nicest lady.  She opens her house up to strangers constantly and is the best hostess I've ever met.  In that even though it was her house, I felt perfectly comfortable in it as if it was my house.  One morning I got up before Adair, and made some cereal like she suggested I should the night before, and Irene (the roommate) talked to me a little, but then let me do my own thing and it wasn't awkward at all.  She has a little Shitzu dog named Coda with one eye.  Coda and I took a nap on the couch at one point.  Adair is like my mom and must always be doing something.  I figured I aughta do something, and then I realized I enjoyed sitting on the couch doing nothing a whole lot, then I fell asleep and stopped worrying about everything.

It was really nice to visit Adair and catch up.  She's quite mysterious and makes me and Irene laugh.

She also inspired me to make banana apple muffins.  She made banana rasberry muffins one morning and they were the tastiest things ever!  So when I got home, I had two perfectly brown mushy bananas and one almost old apple.  I cut up the apple and put it in with the bananas in my off brand magic bullet blender thing and it wouldn't blend!  Surprise surprise.  So I added one of the eggs to it for moisture which got it to blend and whipped the egg.  It made the thickest fluffiest muffin mix I've ever had and the muffins turned out to be some of the best muffins I've ever made.

Yesterday I also did the dishes and pick up some of my stuff.  Then I painted this tie rack I got at the goodwill and hung it up on the bathroom wall and hung all my long necklaces on it.  I feel like a real hipster now.  I also used my left over paint to paint a picture in my art notebook.  I used a technique I used to watch on a painting show a lot on PBS.  I forget what it's called, but you load two colors up on your brush at once and paint flowers that way.  I actually bought this paint and the brushes to do that style of painting years and years and years and years ago and this was the first time I actually did it.  Goal accomplished.

I wonder if you put joy into making purchases and choosing things to buy if you would buy more or less stuff?  I'll see if I can try that and let you know what happens.  It might take a while though because I'm not sure when the next time I go shopping will be.  Probably next Monday really.  We have enough food to last until then.

Is it cheaper to make my own bread or to buy the healthy $3.50 loaf of bread at the store?  To make my bread as healthy I would have to purchase wheat flour and other bread health fillings.  Not sure what yet.  I'd have to research it.  It would also involve time.  On the other hand I think I would really enjoy getting into bread making.  I have tons and tons of books on it.

None Too Happy

Stress was high today at work.  Everyone else's stress anyways.  I was completely calm yet annoyed.  Stress and pressure causes adults to act like big babies, and I feel like they should just get over it.  Completely hypocritical on my part, I'm the biggest baby of them all.  BUT one person did cancel one of my print jobs, while I was standing right there waiting for the copier to finish printing, because he wanted to make a copy.  Then when I was trying to print it again, it jammed up the copier 3 times, and I had to fix it because people don't know how to follow the instructions on the little screen and do an incomplete job because, again, they are impatient.

Oh, and one person implied that since I'm married I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and he can't wait to try my food.  I don't know if he was joking to watch me get mad or not, but either way, I don't like it!

One lady did bring in delicious bagels though.

I also got a bunch of bags from a woman who was going to bring them to the goodwill!  Two are heavy carhart material and are big enough to be carry-ons on the plane.  Just what I needed!  They were both old USET bags from past meetings.  Then she had one she was getting rid of that is Rasberry Pink and leather, and full of lots of pockets!!!!  It's exactly what I was picturing when I imagined myself buying a new bag, which I've been imagining a lot lately!  Actually I was gearing up to purchase one in the next few weeks, and now I don't have to!!  It's definitely going to help my professional look.

I have this goal, that's been in my mind for a while now,  to not buy anything new.  Instead only find it at the goodwill, make it myself, or find something I already own that will substitute in its place for what I need.  It's pretty much working, except for makeup and face supplies, etc.  This basically only counts for household items, and maybe clothes/accessories.  If I do buy something new, it better NOT come from Target!  That's all I have to say on that.

Resolution Recap

Today I'm going to review my resolutions so far.

 

Resolutions

• Budget - Fail.  I have done nothing towards this.  Josh and I did set a limit to going out to eat only once a month and we buy frozen pizzas and Trader Joe's Indian Food for the nights we don't feel like cooking. A frozen pizza may be expensive, but it's tons cheaper than delivery!  We also make an active effort at using coupons and making wise purchasing decisions.  I need to work harder on the decisions!
• Be organized - this is on its way to success.  I'm working diligently, but slowly, on revamping my personal planner, as well as cleaning regularly.  I also put together, decorated, and hung up our newest spice shelf that we bought at Ikea in the summer.
• Not to be ashamed to shop at Publix - we shopped there once.  It was good and bad.  Bad  because it was more expensive and bad because we bought the Publix brand of sour cream.  BLEH!  It tasted terrible and when I looked at the ingredients I realized it wasn't really sour cream, but stuff that looks like it and is reminiscent of the taste of sour cream.  From now on we will spend the extra money to get the good stuff, it was so bad.  Publix was good because they only have expensive sandwich meat choices, so we get tasty meat.
• Live the life I imagined I would be living - this ties into the whole clean house thing.  I'm also working on doing my projects, and I drink tea sometimes.  I'm getting a haircut regularly, I wear makeup, and I blow dry my hair often.  It's a definite success so far.  Next I would like to reorganize the family room and the bedroom even more as well as have even more fires in the fireplace...though I think we are still doing a good job at that.  I have to get better at folding the laundry right away, not a week later.
• Run Country Music Half Marathon - Success...we're training. I can do three miles.
• Keep the house clean - half success, half fail.  This goes in spurts...sometimes I do a lot, sometimes I do nothing.
• Floss daily - Utter fail.  My only grace is that this is my resolution every year and I fail every year.