Must See TV

The new fall line ups are here! I'm not talking fashion line ups, but the line up of our favorite tv shows! It's nice to be out of reruns and have something new to watch! On the other hand, I watched a lot new tv throughout the summer. I watch many of the shows on Bravo, and they don't follow traditional seasons of the major networks. But, my favorite shows are still the sitcoms and dramas so I was happy for their return.

Over the last few years, many of my favorite shows have run their course (sigh, Gilmore Girls) or gotten cancelled, and I haven't replaced them. I was a diehard fan of NBC's Thursday night "Must See TV" in all its evolving formats - Cheers, Seinfeld, Mad About You, Friends, Frasier, Will & Grace, and ER- I loved them all. I suppose it's no surprise that two of my favorite shows are still on NBC Thursday nights - The Office and Community.

I have watched The Office from the beginning. I heard a lot about the BBC version, and watched a few episodes that I thought were hilarious, so I knew I had to give the American version a try. The episode from the first season entitled "Diversity Day" got me completely hooked. I used to tell people who weren't sure whether to watch The Office to watch the episode specifically. If people found that episode funny, they would become Office fans. If not, they weren't going to like it. The show has evolved quite a bit since then - I don't want to spoil it for you, but Jim and Pam are married now and they have a daughter - but I still think it's funny and one of the best shows on television. This season is going to be Steve Carell (Michael Scott)'s last, so I'm curious to see how his storyline will evolve. Next season will certainly be interesting without him.

Community is only in its second season, but I'm already hooked. I probably would've given this a shot because it's an NBC Thursday night show, but I had a special interest in it because I know someone on the show! Danny Pudi, who plays Abed, went to my alma mater and I knew him through an activity we both participated in during our college years. He is an extremely nice guy and incredibly talented so I naturally had to support his show - and good thing for him, I loved it! It's a great ensemble cast, but of course I think he's the true star of that show. This season started with a bang, having Betty White as a guest star and capping the show off with a new rap that harkens back to the original La Biblioteca rap that really highlighted Abed and Troy as comedic partners. I highly recommend this show - it's so ridiculous sometimes (see paintball episode) that it's also absolutely brilliant.


The other scripted show I watch regularly is Law and Order:SVU. I like all the Law and Orders, but there's something about SVU that has kept me watching. Honestly, I think it's that the detectives haven't changed, unlike the original Law and Order. The format has stayed the same over the years, and I expect it to get old, but somehow they've managed to keep the show compelling. Don't get me wrong - the content is incredibly disturbing and sometimes too intense for me, but I still really enjoy that show.
I also watch 30 Rock, though I don't DVR that one. If I miss it, I miss it and I'm okay with it. I think Tina Fey is a genius, and the show is brilliant, but I'm just not as into it as I am the other shows.
I'm trying to pick a new show to watch this year. So far, the front runner is Glee. I love musicals, and I love a good teen drama (see Dawson's Creek, starring Katie Holmes who went to my high school). However, the Brittany Spears episode from this week was weird, and I'm not really a fan of a show that celebrates Brittany as "influential." The verdict is still out on that.
I tried Dexter and ... no. I generally don't like shows where the main character is a serial killer. This also rules out shows about vampires. Also, I'm not interested in anything that begins with CSI.
Is there anything else on television?
Edit: Lest you think I only watch three shows, I thought I should include my list of unscripted (reality) shows to demonstrate that I really watch waaay too much television:

• Project Runway (Tim is feisty this year, isn't he?),
• Top Chef (getting lame, barely watched this season)
• Real Housewives of ___ (although not DC and probably not Atlanta or Beverly Hills)
• The Rachel Zoe Project (although probably no more since Brad left)
• Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
• Deadliest Catch (WTF is going on? First Phil, now this?)
• Giuliana & Bill
• Monday Night Football and various other sporting events

I'm sure I'm missing some but I can't think of any others at the moment.

ADHD, medication, and motherhood

This may be one of the most personal posts I'll ever write on this blog. I've been debating about whether to write it, but I feel like it's an issue that needs to be shared, and this is a forum to do it... even though my sisters will probably be the only ones who read it :) Still, it's an important issue that needs to be discussed, particularly by women.

I have ADHD. Legitimately. I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist and everything. I was prescribed medication, which was the reason I sought an official diagnosis in the first place. I really felt like I needed the medication in order to complete my doctoral studies, and I really wanted to do this, but the one hour I was in the psychiatrist's office brought up a host of issues I never considered before.

I was diagnosed with ADHD: Combined, which is both hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive. It's the jackpot of ADHD.

Hyperactivity in adults isn't necessarily the same as in children. For me, it's a need to be busy all the time, as well as a general feeling of agitation. Other people notice that I shake my foot constantly, and it gets worse the more agitated I get (like when I'm sitting in meetings for too long). As the incomparable Allie Brosh said in her blog, Hyperbole and a Half, "Hyperactivity is like being forcibly injected with way too much crack-cocaine and then being tied down to a table and made to watch a documentary about sea snails." That pretty much sums up how I feel when I'm sitting in a meeting or in class. I feel like I'm going to explode, and yet I can't go anywhere. And so I start shaking my foot, chomping on my gum, violently biting my nails, or pulling on my hair and pretty much distracting everyone around me. Or, if the people around me are lucky, the inattentiveness kicks in and I space out.

Inattentiveness is probably what you're thinking of - the inability to pay attention, focus, and listen. If something is not interesting to me, it's difficult to learn or stay focused enough to complete a task. The flip side, however, is hyperfocus in which ADHDers can focus intently on something that does interest them. Hyperfocus is a very real part of my life, and I can become fixated, almost obsessive, over projects and topics that interest me. This has served me well in my doctoral studies because I can immerse myself in topics I find interesting. Hyperfocus often appears to be intense concentration, which is awesome when tasks need to be accomplished. However, the flip side of hyperfocus is the inattentiveness and for me, once the hyperfocus is broken, the inattentiveness takes over completely. Simple things like checking email has completely destroyed my productivity because I either become overwhelmingly distracted or I become hyperfocused on a topic in the email.

I remember trying to explain this to a professor, who was upset that I didn't respond to her email for a few days. I was experiencing some amazing hyperfocus and was cranking through my work, so I wouldn't allow myself to check email for fear of breaking this amazing productivity. I was feeling proud of myself for getting so much work done, while my professor didn't understand why I just couldn't respond to her email. I tried to explain "being in the zone" and not wanting to disrupt this productivity with other tasks. Instead of listening to what I was saying, she tried to make me promise to check my email every day which I couldn't do.

Situations like these make me angry. I tried to explain hyperfocus to this professor, and tried to explain why I couldn't always behave the way she wanted me to, but I couldn't seem to get through to her. And to be fair, it wasn't just her - it's hard to explain what it's like to live with ADHD to someone who doesn't have it. (I think a lot of this has to do with misperceptions about ADHD that focus on energetic kids - not ADHD: Hyperactive type, but kids who eat too much sugar and are forced to sit still and not talk in a classroom. But that's another rant I'll touch on sometime.) But it's incredibly frustrating to have to explain to someone why I need to do things in a certain way and for that person to reject my reasons or worse, make me feel incompetent or stupid for not being able to do things the way she prefers.

I really wanted to do well in school and I tried to do things the way that others expected me to, which is what led me to seek medication. I knew the benefits from my time as a school social worker, and I knew that I would recommend it to myself if I was my social worker, so I made the appointment and prepared for the headaches associated with obtaining ADHD medications as an adult (it's a HUGE pain, brought on college students snorting Adderrall and the fact that it's a Schedule II narcotic, in addition to the idiots who don't believe adults can have ADHD). What I hadn't considered, however, was that my psychiatrist wouldn't prescribe me my medication without some assurance that I would use birth control.

There aren't any conclusive results with respect to ADHD medications and birth defects, but research on amphetamines and research on rats has shown relationships between ADHD medications and low birth weights, impaired bone development, mental impairments, and other birth defects. So generally speaking, medication = bad for pregnancy.

Therefore, when the psychiatrist told me that I had to use birth control, I honestly panicked. One, I'm Catholic and have been taught to believe that contraceptives are bad. However, I personally believe that's a bunch of hooey created by a group of celibate men who don't truly understand or appreciate sex, women, family life, or economic stress because they don't experience it at all or experience it in the same way. Regardless, I told the psychiatrist that I am Catholic, and she essentially belittled the Catholic beliefs about contraception, which I found offensive - not as a Catholic, but as a social worker who was trained NOT to impose my beliefs on my clients. I knew in that moment that even if I did take the medication, I was not going back to that particular psychiatrist.

Catholicism aside, taking medication for my ADHD meant that I had to give up, or at least postpone, having children. That fact smacked me in the face that day, and brought my priorities to the forefront. I felt like I was being asked to choose - career or motherhood.

I left the office that day with my prescription and had to do quite a bit of thinking. The first thing I did was math - if I took the medication, just to help me get through school, it would only be for a short time, and I could still have kids if I wanted. I'd be 33 or 34 and while that was older, it wasn't unheard of for having children. But then I thought some more, and I realized that if I earned my doctorate and became a faculty member, I'd probably need to continue taking medication in order to complete my research. Suddenly I was 40, and I was childless.

On the other hand, I never really saw myself as a mom. Children seemed like a lot of work, and I didn't think I was responsible enough to have them. Plus, I had a great life and a great relationship with my husband that I was afraid would change for the worse if I had children. I also watched as friends became parents and suddenly had nothing to talk about but their children and potty training, and I feared that I would become "Mommy" and cease to be "Me." I didn't want to lose Me - I liked Me.

When I first got married, I thought we'd have kids but my husband wasn't ready. In the meantime, my career and my career ambitions developed and suddenly kids didn't really have a place in my future plans. However, the idea of not having the choice to have children made me re-evaluate my priorities. Did I really not want to have kids? Would a PhD and a PhD career be enough?

I'm reaching the point where my inattention is taking over from my hyperfocus - or maybe because Harry Potter is on tv again and my hyperfocus is shifting and I have uber hyperfocus when it comes to Harry Potter - but I'm starting to lose my way on this post. I'll pick this up another time, but leave you with these final thoughts:

I'm thankful for the women who fought against discrimination in order to allow me to have this choice. I'm lucky to have all these options available to me - to have or not have a career, to have or not have kids, to take or not take birth control. But that doesn't make it easier.

Many people don't understand how truly difficult this decision is or even recognize why it is difficult. When I broached this issue with a few of the faculty, I was told that if I couldn't do school without medication and I decided not to take medication, perhaps I didn't belong in academia. When I've requested accommodations, I've been made to feel stupid. When I've talked to female faculty about the decision to have children, they often point out the other women who have had children and still been successful in the program. Of course, those women didn't have ADHD.

My experience with ADHD, and my experience of discrimination in academia as a result of my struggles with ADHD may explain why I loved my little hockey boy, and that job, so much. Maybe it's because I felt like I could help him in a way I couldn't help myself, but I think moreso it's because I wish I had someone like me in my corner as I navigated through each challenge.

Or maybe - Haha, pincers. Oh Harry...

I cook, I really do!

I had a Dream Dinners session last Friday. I really look forward to my Dream Dinners sessions, and last Friday was no exception. I love cooking, but I love that someone else is cleaning up after me even more.



I made some great dishes - Beef stew, Buffalo ranch chicken, Meatball marinara stuffed french bread, Chicken and dumplings, Arroz con pollo, and a few others - and I'm looking forward to eating each dish. However, I felt a bit guilty when I emptied my cooler full of freshly prepared meals into the freezer at home. I realized I had a lot of "frozen dinners" and felt as though I was somehow robbing my husband of a home-cooked meal.



I wondered why I felt like I was shirking my housewife responsibilities and it dawned on me - I'd convinced myself that I didn't actually cook for him because it was too easy.



Dream Dinners, and most of the meal prep places, run like this: pick the items you want to make, select a session, show up at designated time, make selected items, bring home dinners and place in freezer. (This explains it much more thoroughly.) They provide the recipe, the ingredients, and the measuring tools, and I follow the recipe, assembling the ingredients in a aluminum pan or plastic freezer bag. In some ways, it's like being on a cooking show - the ingredients are at the prep station, and all the chef has to do is put them together. It's exactly what I would do at home, except I'd be shuffling around my own kitchen, chopping and measuring and mixing and marinating (creating my own mise en place), and then putting everything directly into the skillet or baking dish. Instead, I stop short of cooking and bring it home to cook it later.



I remember my mom spending Saturdays cooking and freezing a bunch of meals, and I even did these during grad school so my husband could have a home cooked meal on nights I wouldn't be home. I did them because it was important to have a home-cooked meal and because it was a way of expressing my love and care to my husband. I usually spent all day Saturday or Sunday cooking, and the kitchen was a mess by the time I was done, but I always felt it was worth it to have dinners ready for those busy nights.



So how is it different when I go to Dream Dinners?



It's not, except I don't have to shop, it doesn't take me as long (I've never taken longer than 2 hours, and that's only when I'm preparing 12-15 meals), and somebody cleans up after me when I'm finished. It's easier for me, and somehow I equated easier as not cooking. Or maybe easier meant I didn't love my husband as much because I didn't spend hours cooking and cleaning to put food on the table.



Either way, I'm over it. I no longer consider myself a bad housewife because I use Dream Dinners. My husband and I eat a variety of food I'd never think to prepare otherwise- next month we're getting chicken vesuvio which I LOVE from restaurants but have never attempted at home - and I make sure we have a home cooked dinner every night. I'm saving us money by not resorting to take out on the busy nights, and I'm feeding him healthier food overall. I cook, I just don't have to clean up as much. And since I hate cleaning anyway, I think it's a win-win.



If you're in the Charlotte/Fort Mill area and would like to try Dream Dinners, please let me know - I have a coupon for $50 off your first session at the Fort Mill store!

Cravings

One of my favorite desserts is key lime pie. If I'm getting dessert and key lime pie is available, that's what I'm ordering. I have no idea why.

For as much as I love it, I never make it. Maybe it's because I think of it as being a special treat when I go out to dinner or maybe it's because I would probably eat the whole thing by myself at home. Either way, I don't ever make it and I don't ever think of making it.

Until yesterday.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, A Year of Slowcooking, and came across a post for cooking sweetened condensed milk in the crockpot to make dulce de leche. I started thinking of all of the awesome things that could be made with sweetened condensed milk and key lime pie was the first thing that popped in my head. Once it was there, I fixated on the tart and tangy flavor and I had to have it.

When I get a craving for something, I try not to indulge myself immediately. I wait and usually the craving subsides, and I'm proud of myself for not giving into whatever fattening or sweet treat I wanted. Or I develop a craving for something else. However, I dreamt about key lime pie last night, so I was positive this craving wasn't going anywhere until I had some.

I seriously have no idea why I don't make this more often. It took 5 minutes to make and now it's chilling in the fridge, waiting for me to have a slice after dinner. My husband will be pleased because we rarely have desserts in our house, unless you count popsicles and I don't.

Of course, now that it's made, I'm no longer craving key lime pie. I really want a Chicago-style stuffed pizza. I don't think I can make that with sweetened condensed milk.

Grocery store musings

I've been mulling over this idea since my trip to the grocery store a few weeks ago to buy organic spinach leaves.

I had a very specific purpose for the spinach leaves - spinach pesto. I love pesto and don't mind buying the prepared stuff, but I like to customize mine when possible to boost the nutritional value. A few years ago, I made a spinach, parmesan cheese, and garlic bread for Halloween, a recipe I got from an episode of 30 Minute Meals, and the color and flavor reminded me of pesto. Then, I read about adding kale to pesto to boost the nutritional value, and I was reminded of the spinach mixture I spread on the bread. Thus, spinach pesto was born. I made a batch and made some sandwiches and tossed it with two different pasta dishes, then froze the rest in ice cube trays so I can defrost and use it whenever I'm in a pesto mood.

(I'd post a recipe, but I don't really have one - it was a container of spinach, 2 cloves of garlic [too much], a lot of basil, a handful of parmesan, zest and juice from one lemon, and olive oil blended in the food processor. No pine nuts - I have a fear that my husband, who is allergic to some nuts but has never had a reaction to prepared pesto, will die if I put them in and I'll get arrested for murdering my husband - but technically they should be in the recipe too. You figure it out.).

As I shopped for my organic spinach leaves, I found myself questioning why I had to buy organic spinach leaves. I knew from experience that the frozen spinach didn't work as well in the pesto (too much water, even if it's squeezed out really well). And because the spinach would remain raw, I knew I needed to be especially aware of the chemicals and pesticides. So I shelled out an extra two bucks for the organic spinach.

It struck me as silly that I was buying spinach leaves, let alone organic spinach leaves, to make pesto when I could so easily buy a container of pesto that would probably be cheaper. Sure, it may not be as nutritious, but I could easily cook some extra vegetables to go with my meal and still come out ahead money-wise. I was also bothered by the price of the organic spinach compared to the pesticide-laden variety. If the chemicals and pesticides are really as bad as we're told, shouldn't they be banned?

As I tooled around the grocery store picking up a few other items, I felt like I was being ripped off. Organic milk costs twice as much as regular? Whole wheat bread is 50 cents more? Generic cereal is a dollar less but has more sugar in it?

I hear and read news reports about how American, and children in particular, are injesting too many chemicals, eating too many empty calories, and not eating enough greens or whole grains. In those same articles, I hear calls for the end of convenience foods, the end of hormone injections, the end of processed sugars! We must save the children!!!

I'm very fortunate to be married to someone who makes a good salary, but I don't have amnesia. That is to say, I remember 10 years ago when I was in grad school and I had to buy books at the beginning of each semester, so I ate ramen noodles for three weeks because they were 10/$1. I'm thankful I'm not in that position at this point in my life, but I'll also never forget those days either. Some might call that experience "character-building." I call it being broke and doing what it took to get by.

The thing about that time in my life is that I was extraordinarily busy. I was taking 14 credits each semester, which is full time for an undergrad and super full time for a grad student, and working 20 hours at a graduate assistantship that covered 9 credits of tuition each semester. I also had an unpaid internship as part of my schooling that was supposed to be 16 hours each week (it was always more). I left my apartment at 7:30am and arrived home around 9pm Monday-Thursday, studied into the wee hours, and worked all day Friday as well.

Ramen not only fit my budget, it fit my lifestyle. I was busy, I was broke, and I didn't have time to grocery shop or cook. In retrospect, I was pretty much eating salt and getting no nutrition except the calories I needed to function on a daily basis. But, bad for me food was better than no food at all and that was a decision I had to make. I got by.

I made my schedule like that out of necessity. I had to work, I had to take my classes, and I had to pay for it. I empathize with people who have to live and work this way. In this economy, it seems more people are working just to make ends meet and everyone seems to be looking for ways to save money. At the same time, everyone is looking for something quick and convenient because they just don't have time to cook. Everybody is working more, running from one commitment to the next, and doing more with less.

And as I wandered around the grocery store with my organic spinach, something just clicked in my head.

We eat based on our lifestyle. We buy foods we can afford, and we buy foods we can prepare in our given schedule. We don't eat organically because it is expensive. We don't buy fresh fruit and vegetables because they go bad. We buy prepackaged food that is loaded with sodium and fat and preservatives because we only have ten minutes to make and eat dinner. We live in urban and suburban areas where houses are built on top of each otherwith no room to grown our own gardens, and where farmers markets are run on Wednesday mornings while we're at work or Saturdays when we're running kids to soccer games (and don't forget about the lack of parking!). We get fast food because it's all of the things we need - fast, convenient, and (usually) cheap.

I've read all sorts of articles, blogs, and comments about how we need to change our behaviors and change our mindsets in order to be healthy Americans. But as I think about how I ended up as a real housewife of Charlotte - essentially out of economic necessity- I wonder if we really can change. Sure, I'm a housewife who has the luxury to buy organic spinach so I can spend the time to make spinach pesto - but could my friends? Could I do this if I was a single girl, living on a social worker or teacher salary?

And frankly, if I was a single girl, living on a social worker or teacher salary, would making organic spinach pesto even be a concern of mine?

Happy Anniversary, Charlotte!

Today marks our one year anniversary of living in Charlotte. When I think about where I was in my life a year ago compared to where I am now, I marvel at how much life has changed and how much I've personally changed.

There are geographic adjustments, of course, between Michigan and North Carolina. I fly a lot more now than I have in the past, simply because flying is necessary to visit most family and friends. I've visited places I'd never thought of visiting before, like Charleston, SC simply because it's convenient now. I find myself more concerned about hurricanes (though Charlotte is far from the ocean and hasn't been hit in more than 20 years) than snowstorms, and I've had to adjust my time line for seasonality of produce. When I shop for clothes, I invest in lightweight pants and short-sleeved shirts rather than heavy sweaters and sweatshirts. I found it necessary to invest in prescription sunglasses because I need to wear them year-round. These have been slight adjustments, but adjustments nonetheless.

Then there are actual changes I've made in my life. I exercise four to five times each week, and this is a major change for me. I exercised when I lived in Michigan, but it was inconsistent and always at the bottom of my priority list even though I wanted to do it more often. Here, I fit it into my day naturally. I started tennis lessons because it's fun, and because it's what the women do around here. I cook more often, though I admittedly use Dream Dinners to help me (I'm completely okay with that, and my husband does not care), and have greatly reduced the amount of junk that I eat. I've lost 30 pounds since moving to Charlotte which is the product of
the exercise and cooking, rather than a conscious effort to lose weight. My hair is lighter and my skin is darker from the sun, which is again natural and a product of being outside more often, and I generally look healthier than I did when I lived in Michigan.

My priorities have shifted. I've always considered my husband the primary breadwinner in our family, but I've also always considered myself a contributor to household income. I felt that because I also made money, my career was just as important as his. In the past, we've made moves in order to benefit my career and we've made moves to benefit my husband's career. After this move to Charlotte, I don't think I'd consider moving to another city to benefit my own career unless I was absolutely certain my husband was going to benefit too - as in, he also had a job opportunity that ensured greater professional and financial benefits in hand. I've always known he was smart and good at his job, but this year has shown me that he is truly remarkable at what he does, and he deserves every opportunity to develop professionally. I know, I know, I deserve the same opportunity. Except I don't. I'm good at what I do, but he is truly extraordinary. And frankly, I'll never make close to what he will and in these tough economic times, that is a very real and important factor.

Because of the realization, I've accepted more responsibility for the household tasks. I cook, I clean, and I launder (is that I word? If not, it should be and that should be the correct use for it). I'm not great at these tasks, and I doubt I ever will be. I still grumble as I do them, but I also never think "it's [husband]'s turn to do the dishes" as I unload the dishwasher. These jobs are just ways that I can contribute, and even though I feel like I'm not doing enough sometimes, I know my husband appreciates that he doesn't have to worry about them when he gets home from work.

And as I already learned, I'm happy. A year ago, if I had a crystal ball and saw what my life would be on September 15, 2010, I would've predicted I would be miserable because smart, independent, and career-driven women aren't supposed to be satisfied with life as a housewife. But I am, and it doesn't make me a less smart, independent, or career-driven woman - but perhaps now I'm a bit less selfish. I'm still trying to figure that out.

I sometimes wonder if I would've gotten to this point if we hadn't moved, and I really don't think I would have. My life would be different than it was a year ago regardless, but I'm not sure about how my priorities or my feelings or my body or my relationship with my husband would've changed, if at all. I've moved many times in my life, and I've always learned and changed as a result, but I think this is the first move in which I can say it's been nothing like I'd hoped but I wouldn't change a thing.

Happy Anniversary, Charlotte! Here's to many more!

So many things to write about...

... and not enough patience to do it. Here's a few random thoughts:

We've done quite a bit of traveling the last couple weekends- Columbus, OH and Raleigh, NC- and we have another trip coming up this weekend- Nantucket, MA. We visited my cousin and my friend respectively, but this weekend is another cousin's wedding. I'll also see my parents on this trip, so that's a nice benefit. I haven't seen them since Christmas... or maybe I have and I just don't remember.

I saw my first (live) MLS game - #1 Columbus Crew v FC Dallas - and my first (live) ACC soccer game - #3Wake Forest v. #1 Akron. I hate to admit it, but the college soccer game was so much better than the professional game. I don't mean that in terms of a preference for college sports over professional sports; I mean, I think the college players were more talented than the professional players and the game quality was that much higher. Granted, Akron is the #1 team, but I'd never pick #1 Alabama to beat the Superbowl Champion Saints in football, you know what I'm saying?

I don't understand why Southerners think their tailgates are so much better than Northern tailgates, or why Southerns think there's a difference between ACC and SEC tailgating. They're the same, except the food might be different. Might. I've certainly had pulled pork sandwiches at Northern tailgates, though I prefer brats and burgers for sure. I dunno, there's something about having the guts to stand outside in the freezing cold with nothing but a grill and alcohol to keep you warm that makes me think Northern tailgaters could kick some Southern tailgating butt.

The pool is officially closed for the season. This makes me very, very sad. However, I went to the pool the last day it was open and it was cold so I suppose it makes sense to close the pool. It doesn't have a heater, and overnight temperatures have gotten into the 60s so it definitely cools off overnight. However, it's still 90+ degrees during the day and a refreshing dip in the pool would be nice.

Our air conditioning broke. My northern friends turned off their air conditioning in the last week, but as I said, it's still 90+ degrees so we need our AC a few more weeks. We had a couple of miserable nights, but thankfully it got fixed this morning and I can sufficiently freeze myself tonight.

I voluntarily cleaned yesterday. I cleaned the bathtub, vacuumed, and washed the floor in the kitchen and bathrooms. And I cleaned the oven AGAIN. I have barely used the oven since the last time I cleaned it, but somehow it got disgusting again. I think it's a conspiracy of some sort. Today my back hurts. I blame the cleaning, especially the oven. However, I think it's a sign that I have earned a visit from a housekeeper.

Ahh. My brain feels less overwhelmed. Hopefully I didn't overwhelm yours with my randomness.