Glee and The Office

Fall TV is here! Tonight marks the third episode of Glee on Fox (Wednesdays at 9:00). Glee Club is one of the most awesome tv shows this fall. I watched the preview from May, as well as first episode of the season last week, and I'm so excited to see where this show goes this season. It is seriously one of the most uplifting and happy shows I've seen in a long time. Seriously, go watch it. I'll wait...

Also, I'm super duper excited about the premier of season 6 of The Office. Hi-larious show and I'm really excited about the JAM baby.
Yayyyy! I'm also looking forward to the season premieres of Private Practice, Bones, Big Bang Theory, and NCIS.

Sleep...

oh how I miss thee. To everyone else I know, sleep is just something you do. You don't have to think about it, for the most part. Sure, people have their nights when they can't sleep, but for the most part, you wash your face, brush your teeth, and go to bed. Simple, isn't it?

Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, I have had insomnia problems since I was a kid. I remember being sent to bed at 8:00 and still being awake when my parents went to bed at 11:30 on more than one occasion as a child. I wish I knew why. Many people say that insomnia plagues those who are stressed, but I have no idea what could have distraught my nine year old self. Instead it has become a normal pattern for me throughout my life.

In high school when I was juggling early bird and honors classes, an after school job and a lot of homework I would usually get up at 6am and not turn my light out til 1 am. But lights out doesn't necessarily mean sleep for me. I could spend hours tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable or put my mind at rest. I remember looking over at the clock as the minutes ticked by, counting down the amount of time I would actually get to sleep that night.

1:30 am -- 4-1/2 hours of sleep

2:15 am -- 3-3/4 hours of sleep

2:30 am -- 3-1/2 hours of sleep

And so my sleep dwindled. Through high school I was able to manage though. I slept in on Saturdays and developed a need for coffee in the morning. College was a different story though. My schedule with work and school varied so much that sometimes I got to sleep in during the week! This messed up my sleep schedule even more and often I cannot even THINK of sleep until after 1:30.

My biggest frustration, is not with my lack of sleep, amazingly. Rather, it is with those around me. Because my chronic insomnia is not something that most people suffer from they have trouble grasping the idea. My parents are constantly giving me "pointers" on how I could sleep better. "Maybe if you walked in the evening" or "have you tried a glass of warm milk before bed?" And on and on. Yes, I've tried everything and, no none of it always works.

So here I am, at 5 in the am. Not able to sleep. Frustrated and wide, wide awake.

Vacation

So, I'm on a short vacation with family today down in Sacramento. My (future) sister-in-law, Stacy, has a birthday this Saturday so we came down for the weekend. Unfortunately, my sister's birthday party is this Saturday, so I will be missing that. Bummer!

I'm a retard, and forgot to schedule some posts while I'm away. . .and of course now, here I am writing about who knows what.

Back in the beginning of July, I got a free pint of paint from Glidden during their free paint giveaway. I picked

and decided I would paint an old chair from my childhood. I plan on finding 3 more mismatched wooden chairs and painting them all Spanish Olive to make a set. Here's my before & after:
Did you get any projects done over the summer?

Curbing the Cravings

Lately I've been trying to reform my eating habits. Soon, I hope to acquire a bike so I can start riding in the mornings and get in some cardio. But for now, I'm concentrating on cutting out junk food. It's sooo hard. Especially at night, when I'm really craving some chocolate or ice cream (Umpqua's Espresso Madness, anyone?) but I've been trying to replace artificial sweet with fruit sweet. I've been making fruit smooties lately and they really help with the cravings. Mandy's Easy Peasy Fruit Smoothie
(makes about 20 oz., or enough for 2 good sized smoothies)
1 to 1.5 cups (no sugar added) frozen berries (strawberries, blackberries, whatever you have on hand)
1 slightly over-ripe banana
1 cup natural orange juice

Blend for about 30 seconds, or until the berries are completely broken up. Yummmm. You can also experiment with other juices (grape is pretty good as well) or other berries (blueberries or huckleberries maybe?) The possibilites are endless!

What do you eat to kick your cravings to the curb?

I want these

Martha Stewart has done it again. Amazing! (I seriously hate the woman for her takeover of the craft industry, but it's hard to hate her amazing inventions.) I have no idea what I would use it for, specifically, but I know I WANT one. For a limited time, you can get 20% off Punch Around The Page punches at MarthaStewartCrafts.Com. Just enter code PUNCH20 upon checkout! (via DIY Bride )

Inconsistencies of the Book Variety

(What? It's been 2 months since my last post, you say? I hadn't realized. I'm just going to post, and pretend like I last posted yesterday, if that's ok....OK?)

I'm an avid reader. Sometimes more than others, and I'll tell you right now, I don't just read amazing non-fiction novels about despair and wars and biographies about famous people (though those do strike my fancy every once in a great while) or the classics. At any rate, I have a big gripe when writers change publishers to make more money. Not because they are making more money, but because of the lack of consistency in sizing of books. When they switch publishers all of the old books are re-released in the new publishers' size as well as future books. Apparently James Patterson has changed publishers more than once during the writing of the Women' Murder Club series. Behold, my collection of books one through six:And, just in case you were wondering, this drives me crazy when I have them all lined up on the bookshelf.

What's one of your (everyday) type gripes?

I....

Idea stolen from Brooke


I can't handle the way hospitals smell. It will always make me sick.
I can't fall asleep on my back.
I can't handle having my hair in my face.
I can't stand people who chew their gum with their mouth open.
I can't whistle. I know, that makes me pretty pathetic.
I can't drive a stick shift. Even though Zach promised to teach me 2 years ago.

I can write with both of my hands.
I can remember the phone number of my best friend in the first grade.
I can bake great cakes, which is unappreciated in my house because calories matter to my mom & dad.
I can give myself a french manicure without guides.
I can bargain hunt when I need to.
I can french braid my own hair, but am bad at french braiding other people's hair.

I won't ever cut my own bangs again.
I won't give up on my dream of having a stationary business.
I won't quit college.
I won't ever hate living in the valley.
I won't ever do all the reading required for my classes.
I won't buy tabloid magazines.

I will devote more time to designing.
I will get a job again. Someday...SOON, (I hope).
I will pay every last cent back to my parents.
I will always, always freak out at the sight of a yellow jacket, wasp, or other flying, stinging thing.
I will always be afraid of black widows.
I will buy a Mac.

I shouldn't bite my nails.
I shouldn't worry so much about the guest list for the wedding.
I shouldn't pop my neck.
I shouldn't drink so much soda.
I shouldn't eat fast food.
I shouldn't pull at my hang nails.

I should wash my face every night before I go to bed.
I should save more of my money.
I should stop being so stressed.
I should learn Spanish.
I should make an effort to be more friendly to strangers.
I should be a better student.