gross

I was at the dermatologist yesterday getting some stitches removed (they are still removing random troublesome moles, making me into a human pin cushion). She wanted to do another all over body check, so I showed her this annoying rash I have had for a week or so on my shoulder. I can be really allergic to things and just assumed it was allergy related. Turned out, it's shingles, that weird disease relating to chicken pox that mostly senior citizens get. Ugh.... Gross...

blah, blah, blah

I'm home on a Saturday night, doing nothing. I feel like I should blog, but I have nothing interesting to say. So this is as good a blog entry as any I suppose.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 9:00 am

2. How do you like your steak? I don't really eat steak any more. But if I did, I would say medium well.

3. What was the last movie you saw at the theater? The Muppets with Isaac and my folks. Cute!

4. What is your favorite TV show? Hoarders, Obsessed, The Biggest Loser, Project Runway, RuPaul's Drag Race

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Close to my family ...I couldn’t leave Pennsylvania.

6. What did you have for breakfast? I made myself an egg white and veggie omlet this morning.

7. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I don't, but it's probably a matter of time before I will need them!

8. What food do you despise? Oh my gosh bananas. I would die before I would eat one. I can't even open them for students at school.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Hmm. Probably Tria.

10. Favorite dressing? Zesty Italian.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Still drive Old Faithful... my Oldsmobile Alero

12. What are your favorite clothes? For warm weather: flowy dresses and sandals. For cold weather: jeans, cardigans, boots.

13. Where would you visit, this weekend, if you had the chance? Anchorage to visit my sister and brother in law. I miss her so! ..but let’s make it all next week; not just the weekend.

14. How many tattoos do you have? None - not for me.

15. Where would you want to retire? On beachfront property - near my grandbabies.

16. What is your desktop photo? My work laptop doesn't have one-- isn't that horrible? I will have to remedy that!

17. Where were you born? Provo, Utah. That's Mormon street cred right there.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball

19. How many siblings? Two brothers, one sister, all younger

20. Favorite pastime/hobby? Zumba, reading, shopping

21. Coffee Drinker? No!

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? I used to be a night person, but now that I'm freakin' old I'm just tired all the time.

24. Do you have any pets? Two cats-- one is very bad.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? The most exciting thing I can think of is all of the great thrifting finds I have found in the past week or so. Maybe I will share more about that later.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A hair stylist.

27. What is your favorite color? Black is my favorite for material items. Pink is my favorite for clothes.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Cat. I'm pretty scared of dogs.

29. Are you married? Nope.

30. Always wear your seat belt? Always. My car won’t let me do otherwise.

31. Been in a car accident? A few minor fender benders. And I have knocked off my side mirrors multiple times. And I might have hit a parked car once. And I might have kept the car in drive when I was trying to back out of the garage once when I was a teenager.

32. Any pet peeves? Being called "Mrs. Stephenson". Miss or Ms. is fine, but Mrs. Stephenson is my mother!!!

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? basil, cheese, tomatos -YUM

34. Favorite Flower? Peach colored roses.

35. Favorite ice cream? I’m really not a big ice cream eater. Although sometimes I crave a brownie with vanilla ice cream & chocolate syrup.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chick-fil-A

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None. Failed the permit test once though.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Facebook-- I have four friends with birthdays this week.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? The last thing I want to do right now is max out a credit card. But Amazon is usually where I drop significant amounts of cash.

40. Like your job? Sure.

oh boy

"Hey Isaac, want to go out for icecream tonight?" "No mommy, I don't want to get diabetes" This is what I get for subjecting him to endless hours of the Biggest Loser over Christmas break....

omg.. it's January

• I fell asleep early last night (just after nine) and woke up feeling ridiculously refreshed at 5:30 this morning. I lay there for a while and contemplated getting up to get a workout in before school, but I ended up rolling over and going back to sleep. Then I was nearly late to work. Some things never change I guess.
• I had a lowkey New Years. I played cards with some friends that live nearby. Sour Apples to Apples is pretty fun. The Friday before that I went out with my girlfriends in the city and had some El Rey... SO DELICIOUS!!! Seriously. In my book, Stephen Starr can do no wrong.
• I busted out the Wii fit tonight for the first time in 198 days. I played around with some of the yoga poses and stuff. Isaac had a fun time laughing at me. (I also went for a 12 mile bike ride before that, as Wii Fit really cannot be considered a real workout).
• On of my New Year's Resolutions is to start each school day with a healthy breakfast. I hardly ever eat breakfast and when I do, it's definitely not a healthy one! I don't drink milk (the lactose *kills* me) so cereal is out and I hardly like any healthy breakfast foods. So I'm forcing myself to try new foods. Today I tried yogurt. I wasn't 100% sold, but I did eat the whole thing and it wasn't terrible. The lactose didn't bother me either. I'm willing to try it again, and maybe mix in some granola, since it's mostly the texture that is so repulsive to me. Next up in the breakfast food challenge is oatmeal. I'm so not a fan of oatmeal but we'll see.
• Speaking of Isaac, he has been having such a rough time in school lately. He has been in trouble several times a week for the past two months or so. I really know what's going on or how to help him. Tuesday I am meeting with his teacher and the principal to try to talk about things we can do to improve his behavior. *Sigh*. I do this kind of stuff all the time as a teacher. It's hard to be on the other side of it.
• I'm ridiculously excited for Project Runway All Stars tonight. I *LOVE* me some Austin Scarlett.

so...

Not so secret confession: I'm really tired of being alone.

I really want to find someone that I can date seriously.

It's hard to even admit it, because I really love my life and overall, I'm quite happy. I don't want to dismiss all of the great things that are in my life, because I am so focused on the one thing I don't have. I'm not depressed. I'm not desperate. But I'm lonely.

Old college boyfriend (WJM) and I occasionally frequently probably way more often than is healthy, find ourselves commiserating on a Saturday night over the bleak reality of the dating scene in your 30s. Anyways, he has suggested over and over that I need to have a hobby that is not related to work to meet more people organically (as opposed to something totally contrived, like an online dating site). WJM has tons of hobbies and is involved in so many different things. I know in his eyes I am a super boring homebody with nothing exciting in my life at all, which isn't a totally fair assessment. However, I've considered his advice a bit. I think I do have hobbies but the problem is they are all solitary ones, or girly ones. I like crafting, cardmaking and sewing.

I do social things: I like to go out dancing (with my married girlfriends to dance clubs in the Gayborhood... hmmm..), I'm in a book club (with coworkers), I spend a lot of time with friends (who are literally all married and engaged except for 2... seriously... I have *2* single girlfriends). I have friends in the city I see once or twice a month and local friends that I see frequently too, but I don't really have many opportunities to meet people beyond my existing circle of friends. I'm not the kind of person that can just approach a stranger in public. And don't suggest church activities. There is no one to meet at church. No exaggeration. For over a year I was in charge of the activities for local single people. There were only 3 guys that came regularly: one was 9 years younger than me and the other two had intellectual disabilities. The LDS social scene for a woman over 25 in the western Philadelphia suburbs is a barren wasteland.

Plus, when you are a mom, you're kids become your hobby. I love soccer, swim lessons, and spending time in the park, but those activities are hardly ideal for mixing and mingling with single men. And I don't even want to come off like I am complaining about that. For a mom, I think I get a considerable amount of "me time", especially compared to married moms with multiple kids. Isaac spends at least every other weekend with his dad. My mom comes in frequently to spend time with Isaac. If there is something I am desperate to do, I can usually arrange for a sitter without too much trouble. I make it to my book club most months, I can usually stop into after work happy hours/get togethers at least for a little to socialize with coworkers, I'm doing grad classes. Although Isaac isn't crazy about the kid's room at the gym, I can more often than not I can persuade him to go so I can squeeze in Zumba or a quick workout.

I am not going to pretend to be something I'm not. I'm not going to join some motorcycle club or something just to try to meet people. I don't know. I guess the bottom line is, I am willing to push out of my comfort zone and try new things, but I don't think that should have to reinvent myself to find someone that I have things in common with. Is that asking too much? The past few guys I have gone on dates with have all concluded that I'm a great girl who deserves someone nice.... so where is he?! I'm not getting any younger

Anyways, I'm not trying to whine or complain. I'm not desperate, but I don't know what else to do. Anyone with serious suggestions, I am open to them.

11 in 11

11. Favorite movie you watched: I've seen some good ones. Recently I've enjoyed The Station Agent. Exit Through the Gift Shop. I like Bridesmaids too. And Black Swan. Did that one come out this year? I think so.

10. Favorite TV series: I've been watching The Biggest Loser (via Netflix) non-stop lately. It's so inspirational! Isaac and I love The Big Bang Theory too.

9. Favorite restaurant: I recently tried the Sunflower Cafe in Pottsgroveish area. Loved that. And I continue to love Tria and anything Stephen Starr.

8. Favorite new thing you tried: Twitter. I like it! Also Spotify which is also two thumbs up.

7. Favorite gift you got: I had a fabulous 30th birthday party with friends in the city. That was the perfect night.

6. Favorite thing you pinned: I don't pin. I know, I can't be a TBM.

5. Favorite blog post: I like Advice for New Teachers.

4. Best accomplishment: Finally getting on track to get my second certification.

3. Favorite picture: Oh I don't know. All of my got deleted in the Great Google Plus picture fiasco of 2011. This one makes me smile:

2. Favorite memory: 2011 had a lot of great memories. Running around the city with my sister was a great memory. You can read about that here.

1. Goal for 2012: Not go crazy. Seriously.

quick Christmas update

Our Christmas was lovely. It started out like this: and ended up like this:

Isaac got lots of great presents. This racecar track was a big hit with kids of all ages.

We had lots of fun with the dogs this year too. Especially Tom's puppy Giselle.

Better size comparision:

I look like a creeper in pictures I am in by myself, but I love that this puppy likes to be held like a baby.

Isaac's dad and grandfather drove out to join us for a few hours. We haven't taken a picture of the three of us in several years.

So... which side of the family do you think Isaac resembles?

Isaac with his two grandfathers:

Hope your day was Merry and Bright!