Quality Time With Julo

I'm taking a page out of Kelly's book blog. For her hundredth post, she came out from behind the camera/computer and told us all about her. I liked the idea, so I'll spend a post talking a bit about me. Hey! Where are you going? Come on, this will be fun!

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Oh wait, I forgot I'm incredibly boring. Ummm....

Did you know I have a food blog? Well ok, it's called Hell on Needles because it was originally going to be a blog about my crafting (knitting and crocheting, mostly), with occasional posts about my adventures in the kitchen. And then I kind of had a lifestyle change. I brought home Theo, for one. As a puppy he demanded so much attention (ok, he still demands just as much attention, I've just learned to say no from time to time ;p), I never got very far in any of my projects. And then I started exercising and losing weight, and cooking and losing weight, and baking, and, well that didn't help the weight loss so much. I've lost 65 pounds since the start of the year from just boring old diet and exercise. And that's diet as in watching what I eat, not a fad diet. No, sir, those don't work for me. It was a lot of hard work, and it took a lot of time. All of my free time in fact. And as a result, I've become a bit food-obsessed. In a good way, I think! I started off a terrible cook, and now I think I've gotten pretty good! I eat all kinds of foods I never did before. And I only eat out once or twice a week, whereas before it was once or twice a day! I wanted a way to capture all the food I make because my memory is terrible and I fall into ruts quite easily. I try to post every week the food I've made (I spend pretty much all day Sunday cooking and baking food for the entire week. That's just what works for me. I've never minded leftovers.), and what I thought of each recipe. That way I can go back 6 months from now and dust off some of the older favorites. That kind of thing. Sometimes I even post my own recipes! It's rare, but I'm starting to break out of my mold and do it more and more. If you're interested, follow me!

I run. A lot. I used to do it 6 days a week, which was fine when I was only running 1-2 miles. But now I run 3.5-4 miles, and my legs just can't take that every day. So I've been cross training with some swimming and the elliptical machine. I used to hate running. I was that kid in high school who only ran the straight parts of the track during our once/year physical fitness test. I think my time was like 14:something minutes. 3 weeks ago I ran 5 miles in 40:44. To the people who say "I'm just not a runner", I say "That's a cop out!" If I can do it, so can everyone else, because I was the lamest of the lame less than a year ago. Also, I'm currently on the lookout for a good "skin-firming" lotion because my loose skin is grossing me out.

You know if there's a TMI in sight, I'm going for it, right?

I'm an engineer. This job, this industry, like so many things in my life, just kind of fell into my lap when I was at the right place at the right time. It's a bit of a struggle, but right now I'm just glad to have a job. I was un-laid off a few weeks ago, so I'll be employed for a little while longer yet. It will most likely be a temporary save, so I'm still looking for other opportunities. It's a terrible time to be looking for the type of job I'm looking for in my area. Voluntary unemployment is my ultimate dream, while involuntary unemployment is my greatest fear. That and spiders. I am constantly fighting the urge to bury my head in the sand and wait for it to all go away. Also, engineers are such a pain in the butt! A bunch of type-A socially inept good ol' boys. It can be very trying at times.

Like Kelly, I also enjoy wine. And even though I really don't know much about it, it's my drink of choice. When I drink it, I either say "Mmmm, this is delicious. I love wine! Winey, wine, wine!", or "Ew, this is undrinkable swill! Time to braise some potatoes!" I get totally overwhelmed by the options out there, and usually chicken out and just stick to the wines I know. But Husband and I have been trying to branch out and try something new now and then. My current go-to wine is the Root:1 Cabernet. It's less than $10 at Costco, and I think it's just fantastic wine for everyday. I should try more Chilean wines. Anyone have any suggestions for wines they like?

Also, good wine, good cheese, and fresh bread. 'Nuff said. This kind of happiness really can pull me out of any funk. Husband has used to before, very successfully.

I'm going to be an aunt any day now! My sister is ready to pop her little Bagel bun out of the oven hopefully in another week or two. She's my only sibling and this is her first child, so the whole family is extremely excited. She's having a boy, and we call him Bagel (it's a long story that would reveal all to clearly how insane we all are, so we just won't go there), though when he comes out I hear we'll be calling him Nate. Awww. I can't wait to spoil him rotten, and I'm already thinking about how many trips cross country (she lives on the East Coast) I'll be able to make without breaking the bank.

Is it weird that when typing up my steam of consciousness I went with "comes out" instead of "born"?

It's my dream to live in the Pacific Northwest. I dream of the lush greenery of Oregon and the homey feel I get when I read blogs from people who live there. It's my kinda place. I loved Seattle the last few times I briefly visited, which is saying something because I usually hate big cities. They're ugly and dirty. Seattle is gorgeous. But I must admit sometimes I'm afraid of how I would do there. I live in the most temperate climate in the US, and I still run my space heater at work (what? They over-AC!). Though I think as long as we could afford to heat/cool our house and proper outerwear, we would be fine. Unfortunately, both Husband and I seem to be far too chicken to make the leap.

We remodeled our kitchen last year. It was the second most stressful thing I've ever done, I think. It wasn't a good experience. We haven't been in a rush to hire anyone to work on the house since.

Before

After

Though I do like the way it turned out. Much more me. I wanted a darker, earthier green on the walls, but Husband was afraid of it "darkening the room". *Snort* I wish I knew how to do more myself, but I am decidedly not handy.

I love Family Guy. Sure, the new episodes are a bit preachy, but who watches that show for the plot? I have been known to laugh so hard I cried while recalling a particular quote from that show. We all need a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously sometimes.

When my mom, my sister and I get together, sometimes hysterical laughter over something completely inane ensues. Usually there's crying and wheezing involved. Sometimes both. We're a crazy family, but we have fun. Sometimes I think it could make a good book, but then I remember I can't write, or even remember most things. Ah well.

Wow, are you still reading this? You didn't fall asleep? Most people agree that I'm a terribly boring person. A homebody with no real hobbies. It often makes for forced small talk and awkward conversation (thus further encouraging my homebody status). I don't really care if other people think I'm boring, since I don't think that. I like my life. I enjoy the things I do. I'm simple. Nothing wrong with that. So thanks for reading. I hope I didn't bore you too much, and now you know more about the woman behind the blog.

And because I can't just let it go without mentioning the little goober, I'll also mention that it looks like Theo will be dressing up as a disgruntled Petco customer for Halloween. I went there last weekend (that would be two whole weeks before Halloween) looking for a Halloween costume for Theo. And you know what? They were out! Sold out. The chick at the register was completely rude, and acted like I was daft for even asking if they would be getting more in stock. I didn't realize it was something I needed to get a mad rush on. So Theo will just be Theo, unless I can find something at Target this weekend (assuming I have time to get to Target, which I don't have high hopes for). Neither Husband nor Theo were particularly broken up about this fact. Also, my mom will be glad I'm not practicing animal cruelty.

And we still have firm poops on the booty front.