We do not usually celebrate Valentine's Day. Not because we are opposed. Simply because we're pretty good at showing our love the other 99.9% of the year; we don't really need to go out of our way just because Hallmark says so. Not to mention, I'm not much of a romantic. And only recently have I started liking chocolate (see post about my personal culinary evolution). However, we were out for a sit at a coffee shop one afternoon, and they were advertising a special for the following weekend - Valentine's weekend, so we thought, why not?

It exceeded our expectations on all accounts. The price was right, definitely not overrated. The food was amazing, and the time we spent there was quite enjoyable.

In total we had champagne, salads, a cheese tray, chicken alfredo flatbread, chocolate covered strawberries, carrot cake, and two coffees. I'd go into detail about each course, but why do that when I can just show you?

Hopped up on caffeine and sugar, we didn't sleep much that night. However, it was completely worth it. It made us realize that perhaps we could be down with the whole Valentine's thing.

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I've missed three days of work this week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Unfortunately, we have just begun our brand new training class for our new hires (5), so they have been calling me each morning to check on the status of the schedule and try to make it in where possible. Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn't even try to get out. There was clearly too much ice on the road to make it out safely. Thursday I went, and the roads were icy in places but manageable overall. This morning, I gave it a good college effort.


Knowing that there was snow (I had to brush it off to be able to see through the windshield, I had already walked Renn, etc), I left even earlier than usual. I'm not fearful of driving on snow. There's plenty of traction, and I did it in Connecticut two winters in a row with no problem. I got out of my neighborhood easily (wondering how to drive in snow? Just repeat the mantra, "just keep moving - just keep moving - slowly -slowly - just keep moving." Do that, and you'll make it just fine.) I got to the highway just fine as well. Then I got on the highway and that is where I began to wonder about the wisdom in trying to make it to work.

The highways looked as though no road crews had been out at all during the week, which is just not true. I was driving, thankfully, over packed snow. However, under the snow was a sheet of ice. I know this because I drove home on it the day before. Driving down the highway might as well have been going through a school zone. Larger trucks regularly passed me on the left. That was ok with me, if I drove a heavier vehicle, I might have considered going a little faster too. As it was, my car was already bouncing along rather roughly over the unclean road at 20 miles an hour.

A mid-size truck (somewhere between a moving van and a semi) passed me on the left. For whatever reason, I couldn't see his tail lights. He was just a big dark spot on the left. Then he got ahead of me a little further, and started kicking up all the snow ahead. I couldn't see him, and I couldn't see two feet in front of me due to the artificial gale created in his wake. I kept going at my steady speed and just kept the wheel straight. After about 45 seconds (felt like longer), he got far enough ahead of me that I could see again and the snow/wake died back down.

That's about when I decided I probably shouldn't keep going. The condition of the road just seemed to be getting worse as I drove towards Lewisville to make my way to Plano. Without much other choice, I had to call my partner at work to let him know as well as my boss. I don't like to talk and drive under normal circumstances, but this was a bit harry. My boss sounded frustrated (not at me, but at the weather). Her shift doesn't start until a couple hours after mine, so I had to wake her up to tell her that I wasn't coming in. My partner sounded happy. He has two sons that he was going to be able to entertain at home. Then I called (I was annoyed by all the calling) my new hires and let them know training was postponed.

Finally, I got off the highway and turned around. To my surprise, going the other direction was even worse. It was a bit of a free for all. We had about 25 feet of highway with no discernible lanes, so I just made what seemed like the best path for myself. There were much fewer cars on the road going north than there were going south. I got back home at almost exactly 7am, when my shift starts. Right on time, wrong location.

I thought I'd get on blogspot and post about something other than the weather. Afterall, Facebook is blowing up with winter weather photos, complaints, and comments. But then I thought to myself, "I guess my one-hour round trip this morning is worthy enough for a quick read." Sorry if you're already tired of hearing about snow!

Here's yet another cute picture (he doesn't know any other kind) of Renn in snow. He loves it!

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Hahaha. Hahahaha. Seriously, I realize that this may be what one would consider "low" humor or idiotic. But, I can't help it. Since watching this skit (because I don't know what else to call it), I regularly sing this song to Christopher, Kim, and Nathan (a co-worker). Ok, well I have to amend that. I've never actually sung the song to Kim in person, but I sing it to her every time I poke her on FB from behind my laptop screen. Kim, if you didn't know that, now you do! It makes me smile, and the song is just so darn catchy.

So, some background (because Mom, I know you have no idea what I'm talking about yet! ;) ). College Humor is a comedy site that does skits and webisodes. Some of it is not Sunday school appropriate, so watch at your own risk. However, most of it is mild silly humor. You can compare them to SNL or Mad TV - ish. Christopher watches it more regularly than I do, but he's pretty good at making sure I don't miss any of the really funny stuff.

"Jake and Amir" is one of their regular sketches. Jake and Amir work together. Amir is a very annoying co-worker who constantly tries to act as though Jake is his best friend. Ok, so that's really all the background you need regarding College Humor.

Auto-Tune the News is another humor website. But, why am I explaining this to you? You (this time not talking to mom) already know and love T-Pain-style broadcasters and politicians. In fact, you actually get your news (sad) from BarelyPolitical.com.

So, the Poke Me song comes from the character Amir trying to get Jake to display his BFF-ness via FB poke. I know, I know - this is too much explanation for something you probably won't think is funny. But I've been laughing for months. So, just give it a shot.

Poke Me Video

Kim...Christopher... Accept the poke. That's it.

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What is it about moving that I enjoy so much? I know that all my friends and family come close to abhorring it. It's not the packing that I love so much, and definitely not the unpacking. But all the parts that surround those events make me happy.

Getting ready for a move. This part is fun because it usually involves apartment and/or house hunting. Even if you know where you are moving to, just looking is a good weekend activity to keep an eye on what's out there on the market. It is family time without spending any money (other than the gas it takes to get you to the various places). It's turning up the radio and singing along. And it's getting to take tours of places that you're curious about.

Then there is the packing. Some might describe this as a chore. I don't disagree, but it's not so bad if you make it fun. This time around, we popped in Christopher's newest CD, Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons and worked on getting everything in the appropriate pile to be donated, tossed, stored, or kept for use. Oh man, did we get some use out of that CD between Christmas day and moving day.

Next step is the moving. We are lucky to always have helping hands willing to spend a day moving stuff around in exchange for some pizza and good company. The physical activity is fun to me; so I would not call this part a chore. In fact, I offer my services as box lackey as often as I can to nomadic friends. No one seems to be as nomadic as we are. But maybe they just can't see the appeal. ;) By the way, our excellent planning and rock star friends had us moved in a matter of a few hours. We picked up the U-Haul at 10am and were completely done with cleaning before 3:30pm. We had the bed made in the new place by 6pm, and had the room laid out the way we wanted by the following evening.

Then comes the unpacking. I would have to say this is my least favorite part. Similarly, I've never minded doing the dishes and putting them in the washing machine. However, I've always hated putting the clean dishes away.

Overall, I'd have to say the best feeling is the consolidation and purging of stuff. I'm not a big "stuff" person, and I don't like to hang on to things. Just ask Christopher, things lay around too long and I'll likely take them to Goodwill or give them to a friend/neighbor. That doesn't mean I treat my stuff poorly or don't appreciate knick-knacks, antiques, and the like. I just like for the stuff I have to be useful in some way. If it's hanging on the wall making us happy, then it's useful. If it's sitting on the end table because there is no better place for it collecting dust, then it's not useful. If it's in the closet for 4 seasons having not been worn, it's not useful.

Overall, this move was a successful one. And I'm appreciative of the good music, good friends, and good planning that made it so.

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As adult humans, most of us feel a drive to improve ourselves in some way. Many people want to improve their bank accounts, or waist line, or knowledge. This year... maybe two or three months ago... I realized what I want to improve. Well, ok, there are many things I am working on improving, but one thing in particular is a recent change. I am working to improve my palette. I want to be a cultured culinary connoisseur.

Christopher is on this kick with me as well. Previously he didn't like the following: tomatoes, bell peppers, asparagus, amongst other things I can't remember right now. With the exception of tomatoes, all those things are now on the I-like-it list. His willingness to be more open to foods he previously didn't like encouraged me to recognize what I didn't like and try to change it.

One food item that I never liked growing up was mushrooms. I liked mushroom flavored things, just not the fungus itself. With consistent effort to try different types of mushrooms, I can finally say that I like 'em. The first type to make it onto the list was Enokitake; that was followed by Portobello. More recently, I've added White Buttons and Oyster mushrooms. The final mushroom to make it onto the list was Shiitake. I admit, I'm still not in love with Shiitake, mostly because the flavor is so powerful that it's a bit overwhelming. However, I'll never refuse a dish just because mushrooms are in it. And I don't order things sans mushrooms. I even voluntarily put them in my stir fry at home.

So why is this important to me? Well, mostly, I find that picky eating is a quality that I don't care for, and I'd like to rid myself of it as much as I can. The happier I become, the less I talk about things that I don't like and focus on the things that I do like. Therefore, why not like more things in turn?

There is one food that I have never liked and is a serious damper on this phase of culinary growth. Those of you who know me even the slightest bit know what I'm talking about. It's chocolate. Yes, the food that the majority of the rest of the world adores has always made me scrunch my nose in disgust. I used to like Butterfingers, but even those, I found, have lost 100% of their luster, and I can't really see myself eating one ever again. So, what to do about this? Well, I don't want to leave any stone unturned; therefore, chocolate is included in my quest.

Believe it or not, I have actually found two food stuffs that I enjoy that contain chocolate... oooh.. make that three, I just remembered. The first item I tried and liked was Strawberry Soyjoy Bars. Delicious. The second, Hazelnut Quadratini Wafer Cookies. Delicious. And finally, Quaker Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips Granola Bars. ... not "wow! delicious", but edible if I'm hungry.

I consider these three items to be three baby steps for the grocery store and three giant leaps for me. I don't think I'll like Triple German Chocolate Cake anytime soon, but who knows maybe I'll like it at some future unknown date.

As a random side note, the guy at the table next to me at the coffee shop seems to be sermon writing. FYI.

It might take some time before I conquer the mountain that is the availability of chocolate and chocolate products. In the meantime, I'll still be trying more and more mushrooms and liking the heck out of my meals.

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I wouldn't be doing this past week justice if I didn't talk about the food. Such wonderful specialties and old time favorites were eaten in the name of the holidays. You ask, but aren't you on a diet? I reply, no we aren't. We are eating healthy and exercising. In doing so, we've both lost weight and gotten in better shape. However, we are simply leading a healthy lifestyle which includes occasional splurging on tasty treats guilt free. Since we aren't on a diet plan, there is no cheating. All the better for us, because Thanksgiving included some can't-miss delights. The first noteworthy meal was not a traditional American Thanksgiving meal, but a lunch out for Japanese food. Christopher ordered maguro nigiri and tekkamaki, and I ordered a lunch bento that included teriyaki salmon, edamame, steamed veggies, rice, and miso soup.

As you can see, delicious! The fish was very fresh, well cut, and constructed beautifully. I didn't take a photo, but my bento was equally stunning in a pretty bento box-style dish. Bringing the cuisine back stateside, the next meal stayed in the realm of seafood. We were beckoned by the host of a restaurant to try crab as it was the first week of harvest. Oh man, so good. Normally, I would not go for crab at a restaurant because of the price and the work involved. I generally don't like my meals messy. However, the price was right due to the harvest specials and the mess was more than worth it. The meal was started with a savory yet creamy cup of clam chowder. This was accompanied by the best sourdough I've ever tasted. And of course, the crab was the star of the show. What's Thanksgiving without a casserole or two? The last food-foto I took was of my mom's stellar breakfast casserole. This year she really knocked it out of the park. It's always good, but something about this one was a chart-topper. The casserole includes eggs, cheese, bread, and sausage with a few other ingredients rounding it out. I took the photo while the casserole was still bubbling immediately out of the oven. It rested a little bit before we enjoyed its offerings with our morning coffee. And of course, what I'm remembering now are numerous other candid food moments that I neglected to catch on "film" to record in our Thanksgiving memories. There was the breakfast burrito, the Happy Chopped Salad, the baked sweet potatoes, the pumpkin spice lattés, the crèpes, and oh the cake! We were lucky to have a week to cover all that ground and not only one day.

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I had my follow up appointment with the specialist after having had the NCS on my wrist. My appointment was at 3:30pm. I arrived at about 3:20pm. They didn't call me until 4:05pm, so I spent a good amount of time with a book in the waiting room ignoring the chatter of small children (2) who were there with their parents. Luckily, I remembered to bring the book; otherwise, I might have been bored for my 45 minute wait.

The nurse took me back and took my blood pressure. He asked if I had low blood pressure. I told him it was usually the low side of normal. I said that's I'd just spent a relaxing 45 minutes reading a book and that could explain the low blood pressure. He seemed to think that was funny.

Talking with the doctor, it seems I have nueropraxia. There was latency in the amount of time it took the electric signal to reach the nodes in my finger tips, and this is what confirms the diagnosis. Basically, the nerve has been smushed. It can be done through athletics, which I did a lot of growing up. Also, the icing on the cake would be when I fell directly onto the outer part of my wrist. I did this while running and on concrete. Definitely enough to smush my nerve.

I had gotten a wrist brace to wear to as not to agitate the situation, thinking it might be carpal tunnel (see previous post). However, per the doctor's orders, I'm not to wear it at all, and I should do my activities as normal. Instead, I am supposed to massage the site with vitamin E (I bought d-alpha vitamin E softgels), and use a stress ball to strengthen the muscles around the nerve. Doing so will help the nerve regrow/heal as much as it can.

So, there you have it. The case of the tingling hand solved.

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First, my dog just ate something off the side of my ottoman. What is was or why it was there, I have no idea. I'm actually hoping it was a crumb of some kind that had managed to stick in that particular spot, because at least then it would be food. However, this is not the point of this post. A while back I posted that I thought I may be seeing some early signs of Carpal Tunnel. I went to the specialist for an appointment and was referred out to a testing center where they could perform a Nerve Conduction Study (NCS).

When the doctor told me he was sending me out for this, I replied, "Is that with electrodes?" He said it was. Me, "Oh, that sounds cool." Him, "Actually it's painful." So, I went expecting pain. The first thing the technician said was not to worry about pain, because it wasn't anything other than a little zap. He thought it was strange my doc told me it was painful. There is a more painful test that involves sticking needles in your arm (an EMG), but I didn't have to have that done.

The technician started by drawing little dots on my arm with Sharpie and putting some goo on the end of the zapper. I'm absolutely positive there are technical names for these things, but why use them when there are awesome words like "goo" and "zapper" that work just as well?

He then proceeded to zap my arm multiple times. In some cases it was just one zap, and in others it was 10 zaps in a row. In every case, my hand spasmed uncontrollably. As this was happening, a graph appeared on the computer screen that was the product of the zaps. Apparently, the doctors will look for variation in the amount of time it takes the electrical current to reach the receiving pads that are stuck on the fingers/palm from the point of entry (marked in Sharpie on my arm). Also as this was happening, my reaction of choice was to laugh. I really couldn't help it, since my hand was moving without my commanding it to do so; it seemed funny. I think the technician preferred this reaction to patients who are completely anxious and make the testing difficult. It definitely didn't tickle, it was in fact painful - just not enough to worry about. It was maybe a 1 or a 2 in some cases on a pain scale of 10. And, the zaps were so short, they were over by the time the pain registered anyway.

I have no idea if I passed or failed this test. I'll find out when I go back to the doctor and hear his interpretation of the results.

In other news, Renn's dental appointment went well. The poor thing came home and literally grumbled for the rest of the day. I'm talking the full day from the time he got home until the time we went to bed. He had pain killer and antibiotics for the scaling that had been done. The pain killer really seemed to sedate him and pretty much knock him out. He's finally completed all that medication, and he only has two more doses of antibiotic left. He has a little shaved patch of hair on his arm from where they put the IV. He wasn't his usual attractive and charming self at Barktober Fest the next day. But I ran that event by the vet before taking him. She didn't have a problem with it.

Barktober Fest was lots of fun :) Renn got to see Paisley and hang out. We walked around the booths and participated in the walk around the lake. It wasn't all that cold, but it was rainy off and on. We arrived just before noon. At 1:18pm, the emcee came over the loud speaker and let everyone know there was a tornado warning. That pretty much ended the show. All people and doggies headed for their cars. As I was sitting in line to get out of the parking lot, the downpour came. An hour and 15 minutes was not a bad amount of time to spend there, so I'm glad I went. It was just somewhat of an abrupt ending. Also, while we were there, we saw a little doggie for adoption. (There were lots of little doggies for adoption, but this one called out to me). He'd been in an accident but was saved by the Frisco Humane Society. He had pretty bad road rash, but was in the latter stages of recovery. Such a cutie, medium sized mix with grey/white hair, face of a terrier. We're ok being a one dog family for now, but he'll make some family very happy.

As for Halloween, I have no plans for the day of. However, I will be dressing up for work tomorrow. I'm going as the bride from Kill Bill. I'm really only half-dressing up though, because the pants of the costume that I have are tight and would make me feel uncomfortable at work. So, on bottom I'll be wearing jeans, but on top I'll be wearing a bright yellow jacket with black stripes down each arm. I'll also carry a staff, because swords are HR inappropriate. Happy Halloween!

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