You can meet people ANYWHERE!

Alexia and I declared last Saturday as "Productivity Day". Our typical friday night discussion turned into an ambitious, can-do attitude, conversation about the many things we could accomplish in one day without the distractions of cable/internet/laziness. lol. We committed to waking up early and making the most of the day!!! I specifically requested that Alexia call me when she woke up....so we could start the day together...early (in our respective cities of course).

Would you believe that bi-otch actually called me at 8 something in the morning!!!! LOL. Darn!
So, we both ate oatmeal for breakfast (yuck!) and went about our days. I washed laundry, cleaned up, blah, blah, blah. AND I went to the GYM and ran 1.99 miles. Really? I should be embarrassed. Why didn't I do that extra one hudredth of a mile?! LOL. Oh well.

I felt like I needed a little more physical activity... I grabbed the rollerblades and went driving to the beach. I only live about 5 miles from the beach ...so it wasn't a bad trip at all. I couldn't find a place to rollerblade because it seemed like all the pathways on the intracoastal were cobblestone. I looked around, saw that there was a decent path following the water...and I started jogging. Why not, right?

Gosh Darn It! Did someone really have to start running next to me? Just when I was going to complain to myself about it...he passed me. He was all buff and had his shirt off...clearly a more avid runner than I.....and so I had no other choice but to keep on running. I couldn't just STOP... After all, he was running the bridge! The bridge?!?! Darn it!

Next thing I knew...I was running the bridge! Crap! Look at it...seriously...sheesh!!
I later found out that it was 1.4 miles in either direction!!! AND guess what...I ran the ENTIRE thing.....go me!! I did get help from that guy, who everytime he passed me...gave me a thumbs up and cheered me on! How nice! Long story short...I made friends with him!!! Funny thing is, he and I went to Burger King for a whopper dinner afterward!!! LMAO. Hilarious. Here's the other thing...his name is MAJOR!!! How awesome...that's the name that Jess was going to use if she had a boy! That was just two days before we found out she was having a girl...so needless to say, I was certain it was a sign from God that she was having a boy...oops...I guess I misread the sign. lol. Yay for Baby Audrey Paige Henson...[random baby shoutout...haha]

2009 isn't even ready for me!

I've never been good at New Year's resolutions. Either I make resolutions that are impossible to keep...or I set some that are so vague and generic, that at the end of the year it's easy to argue my way into believing I accomplished them.

On Dec. 31st I wrote out a list for 2009...not exactly resolutions, but simply a list of things I expected in 2009.

Some examples include:

• I will be working a job that I enjoy. (DONE as of June 09)
• I will manage my finances responsibly and well.
• I will get physical exercise regularly. (DONE)
  and my personal favorite...
• I will smile often. (DONE)

LOL...the list has about 20 things on it....and few could be considered SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-sensitive). I THOUGHT the list was good...until I heard Alexia's. Man, she really put thought into hers! And each of the goals was SMART. Go figure!

Back to the drawing board...maybe I spent too much time at the drawing board, because my list is SUPER long. The good thing is, I aimed HIGH...in some cases more than others. lol. BUT, at the end of the year, i will refer back to this list and be able to realistically determine whether or not I achieved my goals.

So here they go:

• I will run a half marathon successfully
• I will travel to the Philippines
• I will travel to Panama.
• I will go to church at least once a month
• I will put away 10% of my take-home salary into a savings account (that I do not touch)
• I will work out (or get deliberate physical activity) at least 3x/week
• DONE - I will take salsa lessons
• I will quit cursing (or making up words that are stand-ins for curse words
• DONE - I will wake up every morning and thank God for my many Blessings
• DONE - I will go to Jessica's baby shower
• DONE - I will paint/commission my friends to paint all artwork for my apartment by mid March
• I will start to keep in touch with my family in the Philippines
• DONE - (kind of) -I will keep a diary and/or blog regularly
• I will make concerted efforts toward starting my own business
• I will take the GMAT and/or LSAT test(s) (only after diligently studying!)
• I will come up with a long and short list for grad schools
• I will write letters to friends and family
• DONE - I will make a new friend every month (at least while I'm in a new place)
• DONE - I will buy a big screen TV for my living room
• I will buy a bedroom furniture set
• I will buy a quality cookware set
• DONE - I will finally order checkbooks!
• DONE, SO FAR - I will limit my red meat intake to less than 2-3 times per week
• I will incorporate a servin of fruits/veggies into every meal
• I will volunteer at least 5 hours/month
• I will sew (and wear) a complete outfit!
• I will sew pillows for my couches
• I will set up wireless printing
• I will find an outlet to speak/practice speaking Spanish regularly
• I will start to learn tagalog
• DONE - I will always have a book to read
• I will get an online subscription to the Wall Street Journal and read as much of it daily as possible
• I will spend New Year's Eve 2009/2010 in NYC with friends (Alexia!!!)
• I will go on a cruise
• I will make a post-collegiate life scrapbook!! LOL (seriously!)

This will be a work in progress...so as I accomplish things, I will edit this...and as I add things, I'll also modify the list...

Let me know if you have any suggestions!!

It's the vaulted ceilings that make my tv look small...

Okay, okay...so my television is small. Whatever. Shouldn't I be praised for not worshipping that stupid thing?! C'mon! The story of the little tv is as follows: When I moved to Fort Pierce back in July, I didn't have a tv. I've never had a tv in my room...because quite frankly, I've never really watched a whole lot of television. Plus, I've always been a follower of the Bedrooms are for Sleeping philosophy. And, unfortunately, when I have a tv in my room, I don't have the self-discipline to turn it off...and I'll spend HOURS awake, watching one infomercial after the next. [sigh]

So, when I moved here, I needed to buy a tv. My funds were limited, but I was in desperate need. What's a girl to do with no friends, zero furniture, and 'borrowed' internet.....buy a tv! So, I went to Best Buy and purchased a 19" tv for about $300.00. Yes, $300...the same price that WM sold 32" tvs the day after Thanksgiving. UGH. I later had to invest a solid $15 in rabbit ear antenna...because I didn't have cable yet :(

Long story short - I never bought a big screen TV. I was going to buy one the day after Thanksgiving, but I spent quite a considerable amount more on a much better investment...a bed!!! The bed normally costs nearly $1,000, plus delivery costs, etc. But, I was able to snag it for the special Black Friday price of less than $500 for the mattress, box spring, AND delivery!!!! Woo Hoo!

Furthermore, I don't intend on KEEPING the 19" in the living room...but it IS serving its purpose right now. So why spend nearly a grand for a bigger tv?!?! Um NO.

For those of you who are unaware, i slept on an AIR MATTRESS every night for nearly FIVE months!!! NOBODY told me this is what post-collegiate life looked life! LOL
It may not seem so bad...until you learn that the last month was made miserable due to a myserious HOLE somewhere in the bed. I would start the evening off on a fully inflated bed...and wake up merely inches from the floor! And that's pretty ridiculous considering it was one of those high-end, super expensive air mattresses that sits as high as a real bed! lol.

I've never slept so well in my entire life! I'd prefer that bed over a big screen tv anyday!!!

Even though the bed is amazing...that doesn't detract from the "sting" when people have comments about my tiny TV! Hey, hey, hey....as far as I'm concerned...it's the VAULTED ceilings that make my tv look small!!!

Canned salmon never tasted so good!

I'm starving. Okay, maybe I'm not exactly "starving"...but I sure am hungry!!
Ever since I had to throw away 2.5 garbage bags full of groceries from the fridge...I've been relying on the food in my pantry to keep me going. I never knew I'd be so thankful for canned salmon.

I've learned a lot at Rock Bottom. For example, when you have money...buy food, buy food, and buy more food! And by "buy food", I mean buy non-perishable food that will survive when your electricity goes out. I now understand why we tend to buy groceries we REALLY like when we go grocery shopping, and then also those groceries that we kind of like...you know, like the can of sliced new potatoes, the chef boyardee ravioli, and the french style green beans. Well, now I get it! We buy those groceries because when we're down and out...they'll still be there, waiting for our desperate appetites...in the depths of the pantry :)

So there I was - last night- trying to figure out what to eat on Day 4 of the Great Blackout Depression. Yes, THAT is exactly what I'll call it...The Great Blackout Depression, which will, from here on out, be referred to as TGBD.

Here are the basic contents of the pantry:

On the right, dont be fooled by the canned foods. I have a box under the cans because I'm too short to see them all without it. lol.

• lots of spices, baking stuff, and noodles, noodles, noodles
• 2 cans of tunafish
• 3 cans of sliced new potatoes
• 2 cans of Ravioli
• 2 cans of corned beef and hash
• 2 cans of tomato soup
• 2 cans of french style green beans
• 1 remaining can of pinapple chunks (i ate the other can...
• 8 remaining bags of ramen noodles (i ate 2 before this picture)
• 1.5 boxes of macaroni (.5 because I used the cheese pack from one box to correct a horrible overusage of milk in a past macaroni cooking instance)
• 1 can of canned salmon [not pictured]
• 1 bag long-grain rice :) Thank GOD for rice!!!

Canned Salmon - the story you've all been waiting for. There's really no story about it whatsoever. I called my mom, shared my circumstances with her...and told her the contents of my pantry. Here's what she came up with. Cook the canned salmon...with a little garlic, onions, and spices...yummy....then boil some noodles (luckily, I had plenty of those!). Then, I put it all together in the oven...and sprinkled a few bread crumbs over the top. Delicious! And believe it or not...it really was! There's a chance that the pseudo-starvation contributed to my taste pallet satisfaction...but I'll take whatever i can get at this point.

Here's a picture of the salmon/rice combo I made with the other half can of salmon...yummy!

I never knew Canned Salmon could taste so good!

Just 7 more days...21 more meals...until TGBD ends and I am "ready" to purchase food that requires refrigeration. I'm almost there.

How I charged my phone when the lights were out...

So, this weekend I returned to good old Fort Pierce after 12 days in Jacksonville with family. Where do I start? I left Jax at about midnight Saturday night and got into FP at about 3am early Sunday morning. I arrived to find out my electricity had been turned off! Really?! C'mon!

Here's the irony of the situation - I left so late Saturday night because I was determined to be productive on Sunday and get a lot accomplished for my first week back at work. Ugh. I woke up super early....called the Fort Pierce Utility Authority...and found out that it was turned off due to non payment! Um, are you kidding me?!

Long story short - I found out Monday afternoon that they tried turning off my neighbor's electricity - but got mine instead. Lucky Me....I really enjoyed throwing away two and a half garbage bags FULL of food from the refrigerator and freezer. Awesome. Including two packs of bacon...which is NOT cheap! lol. [moment of silence please for the bacon and two packs of butter].

So I had to find some way to soak up electricity...so I went to the fort pierce library...believe it or not, there were 22 people waiting outside to get in!! Are you kidding me?! It MUST be the place to be! Probably because of all the computers, or the 2,000 square feet of books, the wide selection of large print books...or WAIT, maybe it's the free wi-fi. OH...that's right...they don't have wi-fi! Can you believe it...NONE of the libraries in this county have wi-fi. umm...ridiculous!

I did make a friend at the library though!! Yes...add ONE to the FP/PSL friends tally!!

But I digress.

So late Sunday night, I realize my phone is barely holding a charge...but I need my phone to act as an alarm clock for Monday morning's return to work. One would think that I would recognize the importance of preserving my battery....but, no. I decide to keep Alexia and Jessica posted on every aspect of my life....and spend the last of my battery calling them. Ohhh, I never learn.

I jumped in my car, determined to find a place to charge my phone. But before I drove too far, I made sure my apartment complex didn't have any spare outlets, just calling my name. Nope. None. I drove toward the "truckstop" area...the half mile stretch between I-95 and the Florida Turnpike....just searching for some place to charge my phone. No luck. Eventually, I decided to "man up" and go to all lengths necessary in order to charge my darn phone.

And it HIT Me...just as i passed a ton of hotels, I stopped and pulled into the Hampton Inn parking lot. I stuffed my phone charger in my jacket pocket, and began the "inconspicous" walk into the lobby. Darn!!! No outlets in the lobby...hmm...what to do? what to do??? Then, as I looked up, a bright, beautiful light shone on my saving grace: The Business Center!!! Ta-Daahhh!

And, thank goodness...a small box filled with expired hotel flyers, propped the door open...giving me an "in" to the business center! ya-hoo!!! Back in Business [center]!! I plugged my phone in, took my jacket off to get comfortable, and logged into FACEBOOK!! Oh, FB, how I missed you so!!

I hung out long enough in the business center to charge my phone, check facebook, myspace, and spend time on the website: http://www.randomhouse.com/broadway/breakup/

So - there ya go - how to check facebook when you don't have electricity....and other tales from rock bottom...