Peanuty goodness

Growing up, my Grandfather always had a jar of dry roasted peanuts around. I also almost always received a jar of those dry roasted legumes as a part of my birthday present. To this day, no peanut out there holds a candle to the dry roasted peanut in my heart. Not coctail peanuts, raw, or honey roasted. Not even those new fangled flavors like heat, or sweet and crunchy.

I just bought a giant jar of dry roasted peanuts today for my flight to Sweden on Thursday. This may seem odd to most people because they serve peanuts on most flights, but they only ever serve honey roasted peanuts on airplanes, and they are just not the same. Also, you have to prepare for that all too often event where pretzles are served instead of peanuts. This pretzle phenomenon has recently become the norm, and I don't understand it. Are peanuts that much more expensive than pretzles? I guess when you are buying millions of 1 ounce bags, those pennies add up quickly.

Speaking of peanuts on planes, last year on our flight back from Sweden the crew didn't serve any peanut products during the flight because of an individual with a peanut allergy. The allergy was so severe, that they even requested that no one on the plane eat anything containing peanuts in it! I can't imagine making my way through life being that allergic to peanuts. It has to be impossible!!!

TGIF

I am oh so happy it's Friday. I have a bunch of fun stuff on the calendar this weekend, but I don't think it is so much that I will be overwhelmed. Tonight, I will hopefully be able to do something alone with B since I've barely seen him this week. Tomorrow, we have a picnic in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx with my Dad, Paula, Tauren, Jaimie, and Kori (possibly Eric and Sharon too, but I'm not sure). Sunday afternoon I go for a massage at the Swedish Institute, and Sunday night I go into the city again to do a sleep study.

A few things that B and I would love to fit into the weekend, but won't stress over if we cant: IKEA trip to buy a bookshelf, Buy a car, Grocery Shop and cook food for the week (and to freeze), and go to the gym. Of this list, the two that I'm most intersted in doing are buying a bookshelf (We can't finish unpacking until we have a place to put some of this stuff) and going to the gym (it needs to happen people!!).

Too much of a good thing

After working in a law firm for two years, I have forgotten how to relax*. It is so bad that on Saturday, B had to impose quiet time on me, and litterally had to hold me down on the couch to force me to stop for a minute (he did this very nicely by calling it "cuddling", but he still didn't let me get up).

This morning, I arrived at work at 8:00am, finished up some pending work and suddenly had some unexpected free time. Instead of just enjoying this free time, I started a second new blog: A Blog for Family Recipes!

Then, I got another assignment... finished it... and promptly wrote this entry. Yeah, I need to work on relaxing. My first instinct to tackle this relaxation issue(see, even my verbage refuses to relax) is to do yoga, accupuncture, therapy, etc... but isn't that counter intuitive? Shouldn't I be taking more OFF my plate instead of putting more on it in order to relax?




* Side bar to note: My doctor believes that is possible that one of the reasons that I lost my hearing in my left ear was due to my bodies inability to ramp down and relax. The theory is that the constant stress (even when sleeping) makes my body believe that it is constantly under attack. When attacked, the body may decide to not supply blood to certain areas of the body. Normally, the feet and the hands get shafted. Sometimes the blood vessel in your ear gets shafted, leading to hearing loss. Combine this with some possible auto-immune issues and you've got me.

I'm in love

I just bought a new bra, and I'm in love. It fits sooooo perfectly, and does everything it's supposed to do without making me bulletproof. It's called the Simone Perele Andora. It was a bit expensive, but oh.so. worth it.

Now a song:

Lovin' you is easy cause you're beautiful
Wearing you, is all i wanna do
Lovin' you is more than just a dream come true
And everything that i do you help me feel so good
La la la la la la la... do do do do do

No one else can make me feel
The support that you bring
Stay with me while we grow old

And I'll wear you each day in springtime
Cause wearin' you has made my chest so beautiful
And every day my life is filled with support from you

Wearin' you i feel support through and through
And every time that I wear you
I'm more in love with you
La la la la la la la... do do do do do

Sleepy

Because I've been working so many hours lately, and because my body has been having a lot of trouble dealing with it, B has been trying to get me to sleep as much as I can whenever I can. Last night I went to bed around 10:30. B woke up at 7:00 but had to stay in bed until after 8am. I didn't realize this, but apparently he is unable to get out of the bed without waking me up. He can lie in the bed with me for a good hour, tossing and turning and I am like that wine glass on the temperpedic bed: I do not stir. However, whenever he gets out of bed, even if he softly sneaks out without even jostling the bed, I am awake and ready to go in minutes. Turns out I have trouble sleeping unless he is there in the bed with me. I think it's romantic. I think B might find it frustrating.

Not much to update

Not much to update around here. I've been working around the clock so not much is going on with my social life.

Tomorrow I need to be on a 7:00am train to Philadelphia for work. I am going to a local company to do some due diligence. While due diligence isn't my favorite task, I always get to learn something interesting about the company I'm diligencing and the way it works.

Adventures in bathing suit shopping.

I need a new bathing suit. My old one was moldy, so I threw it away (I forgot to unpack it from a plastic bag after a vacation last year). I ordered one online, but when it arrived it looked like an old ladies bathing suit. Online it looked very pretty: black body, with a white and black pattern top. When it arrived, it was crazy animal print with beading. I am NOT wearing that in public.

Back to the drawing board...

Packed Sunday

It's Sunday, and my plate is full. On the agenda for today is a haircut (if I can get an appointment), a massage at the Swedish Institute Massage Clinic, laundry, a trip to the gym, return my old lady bathing suit, and lots and lots of homework. I hope I can get everything done. I tend to schedule more than I can fit into a day.

I wonder what B will do while I'm running around all day...

Gaming

B and I went a little gaming console crazy recently... He bought a PS3, I bought a Wii. They both arrived on Friday. It was awesome.

We've been driving on PS3 and playing wii sports all day (well, all day after we got home from attempting to hike (it started to rain on our way up to the hiking spot) and hitting up Friendly's). I can't wait to get Wii active and either guitar hero or some rock band game. I think lots of good times will be had with our new gaming systems.

Saturday hiking and house party

Today, B and I are going hiking with two friends, Jacob & Marianne who live across the street. We're going up to Cold Springs for a 5 mile hike. I'd say that's just about perfect for a Saturday morning. Hopefully it won't rain, but even if it does it I'm sure it will still be fun (I like being outside in the rain).

Tonight, we're going to a friends (Angelica and Dave) apartment for their house party. It's amazing, B and Angelica used to go to junior high together in Sweden. Years and years later, she moves in to an apartment a block and a half away from our old apartment in Brooklyn Heights. It truly is a small world.

Mrs. B.P.

B and I have been together for about 10 years, and have been married for a little over 7 years now. When we first got married, we decided that the time wasn't right for me to change my name. With all the paperwork for B's greencard and for our new apartment, etc... I just couldn't stomach the idea of another set of paperwork to officially change my last name to his. Plus, I was attached to my name. It has a ring to it. It just sounds good. However, I've decided that I'm ready to change my last name so that we are now B&B P instead of BGH and BP. I'm glad that I waited all these years until I felt ready. Now feels good, it feels right.

Salad crush

I love the signature salad that they make at Cosi's. I love it so much that I am a regular there (2-5 times a week). One of the guys that works the night shift mans the bread station, but fills in on the salad lines has a little bit of a crush on me (I swear, I'm not being vain - he really does). This means that he tries to be super nice when ever I come in and is always trying to add all sorts of extras onto my salad, even when I ask him not too. Extra cheese, extra dressing, extra extra extra. It is a really nice gesture, but doesn't he know that those of us who are eating a salad for dinner are probably working really hard to not gain weight.

Book heaven

My bestfriend Ducky has been writing a book for quite some time now. As a surprise for my 31st book, she completed it and gave me an electronic copy to read on my e-reader. Let me just say that I am in book heaven. I wish I didn't have real life obligations so I could just read and read and read. I am enjoying myself so much, and I know I'll enjoy it that all over again when it is published and I can read the bound version again.

As an additional surprise, she named one of the minor walk on characters after me. I can't wait to find out if my namesake is a good guy or a bad guy. B. Badillo, it will be great!

I am so proud of Ducky, and thoroughly impressed by her writing and editing abilities. Congrats Duck! I can't wait for the next step!

Vegas bound

Our two friends S & K are going to Vegas on July 31st and they have asked us to join them. B took me to Vegas last year for my birthday, we had a great time. I didn't love the time spent in the casinos, but the out door activities and the pool were pretty cool. If we join our friends (which I hope we can), I hope to do a spa treatment and an outdoor activity like RVing in the mountains. Yeah, that would be cool.

Maybe we can convince them to go to club getaway with us instead...

Rain rain go away

Last night B and I were woken at 3am by a rather violent thunder storm. B informed me this morning that I was very protective of him when I was roused by the thunder and lightening, almost like when Joey tries to save Ross (or the sandwich) in an episode of friends. I do recall rubbing his back to make sure he was alright, but I don't recall sacrificing my body to keep him from being struck by lightning.

It's been raining all day and while I would like for it stop or at least slow down to a sprinkle, better it rain during the work week than on the weekend. My new bathingsuit should arrive in the mail this week, and B and I will order chairs for our balcony for delivery this weekend, so I am hoping for good weekend weather. Ahhh, thoughts of the weekend on the balcony and poolside will carry me through this work week.

New Jersey!

B and I just moved to NJ, Jersey City to be specific. We love our new apartment and are happy with the laid back vibe of our new neighborhood. Hopefully we are ending a cycle of moving every 12 months. I think we are ready to settle down.

That being said, we are looking forward to the advantages that come with no longer living in one of NYC's boroughs. B and I plan on buying a car in the near future so that we can escape on the weekends to go hiking, camping, etc... It will be good. I never thought I'd live in New Jersey, or god forbid, that I'd be excited about living in NJ, but here it is, 2009 and I am.