Best. Christmas. Gift. Ever

By Alex!

My sister in law, B, is engaged to a British guy, A. Last time he was in the states he told me that Hulk Hogan was American and he had never heard of Journey. When I got done swooning, I made him listen to the whole Journey CD!

So for Christmas, as a joke, I made him an Americanization CD. These are some of the best American tunes of all time, in my opinion and from the internet. Here are the tunes:

Born in the USA- The Boss
Don't Stop Believin'- Journey
Star Spangled Banner (acoustic)- Jimi Hendrix
Respect- Aretha Franklin
Single Ladies- Beyonce (This is a joke because last time we were out at the bar, he drunkenly said he loves this song!)
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant- Billy Joel
Livin' On a Prayer- Bon Jovi
Hotel California- The Eagles
Can't Help Falling In Love- Elvis
Live Like You Were Dying- Tim McGraw (Had to have a little country)
American Girl- Tom Petty
Empire State of Mind- Jay-Z
Party in the USA- Miley (ha ha ha)
Sweet Home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Melissa- Allman Brothers
California Girls- Beach Boys

Then I made a British version for B. This was really hard and required a lot of googling.

Yellow-Coldplay
Tiny Dancer- Elton John
Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen
London Calling- The Clash
Hello, Goodbye- The Beatles
Wonderwall- Oasis
Shout- Tear for Fears
Imagine- John Lennon
Stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin
Every breath You Take- The Police
Maggie May- Rod Stewart
Under Pressure- David Bowie and Queen
Goodbye- Spice Girls
Mercy- Duffy
You Had Me- Joss Stone

As you can see, I didn't do as good on the British Version. It was really hard to find British bands with songs on itunes. Oh well, I hope they like it!

Last Night

I feel really bad about posting about my neighbor because literally an hour after I posted, her mother called and told me she had the baby and I didn't need to come over. Sigh....

I had my two college friends, A and J, over for dinner last night. Because I am still working with the nutritionist (lost another 1/2 lb), I eat salad every night for dinner. I emailed my nutritionist and asked for a dinner suggestion for my guests and surprisingly, she gave me a Paula Deen recipe.

I served White Bean Chili and it was really good. I did make a couple of changes though. I halved the butter and I probably cooked it for another hour. The beans were still a little tough but that may just be how Navy Beans taste. I have never had them before.

Then S came home and the budding food critic thought it was a little bland, so he added salt and some more crushed red pepper. By the time he was done with it, it was so spicy I was sweating, but everyone loved it. I also made corn bread and a salad.

Here is S doctoring my chili!

This is my table, set for dinner and my shiny Christmas tree.
And Finley waiting for someone to drop food...

Taking Advantage Of...

I feel a little hurt right now. I have a neighbor that I help out constantly. I have watched her dog while she is on vacation, I have driven her to the airport, picked her up from the airport, watched her son during a work day, etc. I never say anything about the fact that I constantly help her and she has never done anything for me.

Last week she tells me that she might go into labor any day and it is a huge problem because her mom can't come up from the South yet and she has a 2 year old, who can't go to the hospital. So I offer to help. Then her mom came up last Thursday, so I thought all was good.

Fast forward to today.... She calls me this afternoon and asks me if I am doing anything. Uhh, working. Then she says that she may go into labor at any moment and would I be able to watch her son. Her mother is visiting but she really wants to be at the hospital for the birth. Seriously?

I tell her that I am having friends over for dinner and she asks if I can come over after dinner and spend the night. She says that she got a babysitter who will stay til I can come over. But it may not be the whole night, I may just have to stay til 1 or 2...

Plus, she is basically having contractions while I am on the phone with her. Peeps, how do you say no to that??? Seriously? So now, I can't drink at my dinner tonight, then I have to run over and stay up really late watching her son and I have to work tomorrow.

This situation doesn't seem fair. I would NEVER ask her to do something like this for me. I just feel like she is taking advantage of the situation. She knows that no one could say no to that. On top of that, I don't have children (obviously) and I don't really know how to care for them....

It is just really uncomfortable.

Snapshot Saturday

I am taking my mom on the Holiday Home tours of historic Philadelphia today. In the holiday spirit, here is a picture of one of Elvis's Christmas Trees (he had about 7 in his house!).

Stationary

My favorite stationary is from English Tea Paperie. My girl Cloggsy does amazing things with note cards ladies. Seriously!! Right now her whole site is 40% off. You should head over and pur-chaz some lovely cards and then you can send me a letter. That way we all win!!

Psyching Myself Out

This is something I am awful about. I am constantly psyching myself out or mind fucks as I like to call them.

Before every big race (marathons or 1/2 marathons), some mysterious injury shows up. Either my knee is killing me and my ankle hurts, etc. It is always so bad that I don't know if I will be able to race. Before the Delaware race in May, my knee hurt so bad that I considered dropping out of the race (yeah right!). But then the day of the race comes and I am absolutely fine. I am able to run with no pain at all and I feel fantastic.

This is happening a lot right now with my leg. When I first got injured the pain would come and go. I would barely be able to walk and then I would go to the doctor's office and he would jab at my leg and I would have no pain. It was incredibly frustrating.

The last two days have been the same way. I felt really good in Memphis. I even went for some long walks with my friends. I had some pain but it was more muscle tiredness than actually pain. I had physical therapy on Tuesday morning and she really worked me. I was sweaty and exhausted when I left. She also told me that I was healing really well and I may be able to try running in another week or so. I was so excited. I decided to take Wednesday off because I didn't want to push it too much.

Then I went again last night. My usual girl wasn't there and I explained how I felt to the new girl. She alluded to the fact that I may not have healed enough and I started to freak out. She kept saying "Did the doctor do another MRI?" and "Does this pain feel the same as before you were in the boo?" I came home last night and I was really upset. I was explaining it to my husband and he kept telling me I was being negative. When I woke up this morning, my leg was still sore, so I skipped the gym.

Now I don't know what to do. I am not sure if I am really sore or if my mind is just screwing with me. I don't think I am pushing it to hard but I have no idea because I have never been injured before. I think I will try and bike at lunch time because I am starting to feel like a lazy slob. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would love your opinions. My husband says I am fine but I am still unsure.....

See Ass, Insert Foot

That is how I feel today. Like I am being kicked in the ass or that I am slamming my head into a wall. Either way it is not a good feeling. S and I had the horrible "finances" discussion this morning. Our credit card bills were much higher than expected and he wanted to go through every penny of our spending. Which is absolutely awful, because then I have to own up to all of my stupid purchases. Then I had to deal with some stupidity from a co-worker. No matter how many times you repeat a statement, you are still WRONG!! ahhhh

Okay, now that that is off my chest... I have physical therapy again tonight. My usual pt person won't be there and I am a little excited to try someone new. I really like my girl but she has a tendency to wander away during my session, so there is a lot of down time. I don't do well with that. Either way, they are totally kicking my ass. I had my last session on Tuesday morning and yesterday my legs and arms were aching.

She also told me that I was recovering really well and I may be able to try running again soon. I am dying to go running. Even if it is only for 10 minutes, I swear it will make me happy. I MISS RUNNING SO MUCH!!!!! I even miss the chafing.... ha ha

In other fantastic Alex news, I lost another 1.5 pounds, with means a total of 3.5 pounds since I started with the nutritionist. This is really excited because I was really, really bad in Memphis. Our hotel had fresh cookies everyday and chocolates on our pillows each night. Yummmmmmm

I have been working with the nutritionist for three weeks now. I am a little bored with the menu, as it never changes, but I feel really healthy with my huge veggie intake. I think my skin is starting to have a greenish tint to it too! I almost feel lighter, if that makes any sense. Plus I am not having as many tummy "issues" as I used to have. BONUS!