Monday, April 25, 2011

Yes, it's late...but I had an excuse, kinda.

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you all had a nice relaxing Easter weekend.  I know I did....apart from the two hours I was trying to get the dessert I was trying to make to cooperate. Grrrr...it was delicious, but grrrrrr. We had some friends over for dinner, sent the kids on an egg treasure hunt, played Wii, ate Turkey and potatoes and various salads, and had my dessert.

The dessert I made has been taunting me for about the last ten (and a half) years. I made it once - I think for my Dad's 65th birthday, fell in love with it, and then promptly lost the recipe. Over the next few years, I would remember the recipe fondly and if I was back at my parents' house I would search for the recipe again...to no avail. I would check the internet off and on - couldn't find it. Luckily, I remembered the name and the basic procedure - if not the exact ingredients. Layer of crust, layer of apples, layer of crust, layer of apples, layer of crust, layer of apples, layer of crust, make some cuts through all the layers, pour sauce. Finally, a few months ago I typed Apple Dumpling Dessert into Google et voila!!!

 The dessert was a lot harder to make than I remembered - I probably blocked the actual baking of it from my memory. The crust was quite hard to roll out - it would crumble so much I could hardly do anything with it, or I would get it to the right size okay but now it's stuck to the counter so when I try to pick it up it falls apart. Eventually, I just rolled it between two sheets of wax papers so it wouldn't stick to the counter or the rolling pin and would actually stay together. By eventually, I mean after trying to roll the first layer of crust out for an hour (Come to think of it, I ended up rolling the first layer out in the bottom of the pan). But all in all, it was quite tasty, and now that I know the wax paper trick, it'll be easier if I try to make it again.

So, how did I do this week with my resolutions? Let's see....

  1. Updating. Even though I am late, here I am. 17 for 17.
  2. Getting a new job. Not much is new on that front. I did teach myself (AKA asked someone show me) how to filter the vats at work. I also cleaned the grills for the first time. I figure learning new skills at my current job can only help me. I also expressed interest in moving up in the company when one of the managers asked.
  3. Room cleaning. I didn't get to my room, but I did vacuum the hall downstairs and cleaned my bathroom. I really need to work on my room now though.
  4. Lose weight. I think I am still hovering around the same weight, although I haven't checked since the feast yesterday. Scared to. I was about the same before the feast.
  5. Going to the gym. I made it to the gym twice after work and then to Zumba on Saturday. I am going to try for the same (or more) this week. I was going to go a third time but I burnt my finger on Thursday, and Friday the gym was closed.
  6. Old clothes and books. Not so much.
  7. Swearing. I think I am swearing less. Man, this resolution is kinda arbitrary.
  8. Dancing. I did a little bit of dance practice this week. I think I am starting classes again this week (learning a new choreography) so I will have something to practice at home.
Not a bad week, overall.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Slightly better.

I have to say that my motivation and interest is flagging. I do have a bunch of cleaning to do before next weekend. So, how did I do?

  1. Updating. Here I am. 16 for 16.
  2. New job. I don't think that other job is going to pan out. I've been checking jobs out online but nothing is really popping out at me. 
  3. Room cleaning. Not so much. I do have less dirty clothes on the floor than usual - so I guess that's good. I need to clean the bathroom, vacuum the hall, and clean up my floor this week.
  4. Lose weight. I think I lost a couple pounds this week. So yay.
  5. Going to the gym. I made it to the gym after work twice this week and went to Zumba yesterday. Much better than last week.
  6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
  7. Swearing. I think I did better.
  8. Dancing. Other than casually dancing a couple times and Zumba, not much on that front this week.
So better than last week, but not by much.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Massive fail...

Nothing much happened this week with any of my goals. There were a bunch of false starts and almost progress. But actual progress....not so much.

So, how did I do?

  1. Updating the blog. Here we are - 15 for 15.
  2. New job. I haven't heard anything about the job I was hoping for yet. So that's disappointing. I did apply for a job this week. 
  3. Room cleaning. Not so much.
  4. Losing weight. Holding steady.
  5. Going to the gym. Massive fail this week. I went TO the gym three times this week but only worked out once. On Tuesday, I got to the gym and realized that I forgot my shoes at home. I didn't go Wednesday morning because I was planning on Zumba Wednesday night. I went to go to Zumba Wednesday night but the line for it was so long I had no hope of getting in to the class and the thought of being so squished into the room I could hardly move wasn't appealing. I did work out Thursday morning, I was going to go Friday as well but I fell down the stair Thursday night and was so sore that going to the gym just didn't appeal. This week, I plan to do better (I can't do much worse).
  6. Old books and clothes. Not so much.
  7. Swear less. I don't think I swore excessively much this week.
  8. Dance practice. No official dance practice this week. 
So not as productive as one would hope. Next week, should be better.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Running out of ideas for titles.

Not a bad week. Last night though, I thought I would relax on the couch with a glass of wine and watch my 'Greek' DVDs. The wine was quite good - It was very fruity. It didn't even taste like wine - which explains why by the time the last episode of the disc came on, the bottle was empty. It was sad...but tasty. I also had to deal with Colette mocking me mercilessly when she came home.

So, here's how I did this week....

  1. Updating the blog. Here we are - 14 for 14.
  2. Get a new job. I had a phone interview for the job from last week on Thursday. I also know that they checked at least one of my references. So, my fingers are crossed.
  3. Room cleaning. Still not great. I tidied my desk a bit and shredded some papers - mostly crazy old credit card bills.
  4. Lose weight. I appear to have lost a pound or two--yay!! I originally thought I had lost three or four pounds....then I let go of the wall.
  5. Go to the gym. So this week, I went to the gym 3 times after work and I went to Zumba yesterday. I am going to try to do the same this coming week, except I'll probably go to Zumba on Wednesday instead of on Saturday.
  6. Old books and clothes. Not much happening there this week.
  7. Swear less. Not so much this week. 
  8. Dance practice. I went to dance class on Tuesday - the last one for a while. I also put on music a couple time and just fooled around with it.
So, not a bad week, not as productive as it could have been though.