Playing with the neighbours

So I went outside to get some chives and Kitty, the neighbour's cat, was outside. I went to pet her and then Allie came out. I pushed her for a while. She wanted to go ask Elise, the other neighbour to play. I went over with her, but Elise was sick and couldn't come out to play. Allie was so sad and said "I just want to play with somebody." So a five-minute play turned into half an hour, but we had fun.

Today was good. I was lazy, but my last week and weekend was busy so I deserved it. This week will be busy, but a good one.

Random thought: A nap with my cat was awesome this afternoon.

~Nicole

My bed is calling me

Maybe it's because it's day 1 of my period or because today was a day off and I still did lots of stuff, but I am dead tired! I went out for a run, almost 6 miles. I then did a few things on my list before going out for a late breakfast/early lunch with some friends. After that I met Val downtown and we walked around a bit. We cheered on the runners during the triathalon. After that I did some grocery shopping. I decided not to make peanut butter since we still have some in the house. I called mum and dad and headed over to the block party. I talked for a bit and ended up playing volleyball for almost an hour. I came home, made pesto and made a lean pocket for dinner. My neigbours hooked up a TV outside so I watched the first half of the Packer game with them before coming home and doing the last bit of stuff. Trueblood is on soon so I'll go to bed after that.

My goal of trying new food/recipe has been working so far. I tried a new sushi roll last night. Tonight I was going to make a curried-apple-squash risotto, but I didn't since I was gone for most of the day. But while watching the game Taz (she's Japanese) made this real light noodle dish that was amazing so there was my new dish for the day.

Random thought: Do I want more ice cream?

~Nicole

Chocolate croissants are delicious

Just sayin'. Especially after eating 2 of them. Small ones. And homemade.

It's been a productive week work wise. I worked 8 1/2 hours Tuesday, 7 hours on Wednesday, a little over 6 hours yesterday (I was originally scheduled for 4!), 5 1/2 hours today and I'm scheduled for 8 hours tomorrow. I am scheduled for 30 next week - yes! Tomorrow I'm taking the bus to work. It'll be my first time doing that. Tim and some other friends said not to park in-or-near downtown if there is a Badger game at 11:00, which there is tomorrow. Next week I'll face the same issue, but I'm going to go down early and shop at the farmer's market. It'll be prime apple time so I'm excited to buy UNpasteurized apple cider. There's a taste difference between pasteurized and unpasteurized.

I have the day off on Sunday, but I already have a list of things I need to do! lol Some of those aren't bad, such as laundry and running the dishwasher. Actually most of them aren't, but it's just the fact that I have a decent list of things I need/should to do! I also have Monday off so I'll have two days in a row - woot!

The parents are on a two-week vacation so it's just me and the cat. One of my goals is to try a new recipe each day. Today I made this chicken-pumpkin lasagna. If I make it again I should tweak some of the flavours, but for the first time it wasn't bad. I literally thought of the recipe on the spot. I originally was going to make ravioli, but that takes time and I didn't want to do that tonight. We have lasagna noodles so I decided to make a lasagna. I layered the noodles, pumpkin, bechamel sauce and chicken and topped it with a bit of cheese. Tomorrow Luke, Lindsey and I are going to a Japanese restaurant so I'll be trying some new Japanese items. I'll most likely have sushi, but I'll try rolls I have not had before.

Random thought: Even though I am not a big fan of Fox News at least they showed the shuttle landing.

~Nicole

My day and a weird dream

Early this morning I woke up REALLY hungry; that rarely happens. When it does I can't fall back to sleep. I don't like eating in the middle of the night so I had a bit of milk to try and help things, but it didn't. I had a weird dream, which I'll talk about later. Today was busy at work. I was really tired and got really crabby for the last hour. It didn't help things that I overslept by about 10 minutes. I stopped at my old job after work for lunch and had a delicious sammich. Mum and dad are getting ready for their trip. We'll be going grocery shopping soon. My dream is below, with pictures to help. It's also bulleted since I couldn't remember every detail.

-I had some friends over. My neighbors did too so we had one big party.
-People we didn't know from down the street came. When my friends and I left the others were still here so Laura and Jason asked if they could still use our backyard.
-Then (Luke and Ashton) went to Bluephies in their Halloween costumes and I went to join them

-All of a sudden I was at a (Champ Car) race and I was talking to (Ryan Dalziel) when (Ryan Hunter-Reay) showed up and started talking to us

-After talking to them I was walking around and ran into (Ryan Braun). We talked for a bit and I kind of flirted with him.

-Next thing I know I am in a car with (Elaine) and we stop so I can buy . Then some hottie flirted with me. The end!

Random thought: Damnit Brewers!

~Nicole

The Taste and a Craigslist personal ad?!

Saturday I was up early for work. It was pretty slow, but the day didn't drag. It helped since I was the only one out front and I was constantly finding something to clean or reorganize. After work I changed and met Lindsey, Luke, Sam and CC and we went to the Taste of Madison. It's where a bunch of local restaurants have a booth and offer smaller portions of their popular items. Most items run $2-4. I had eggplant fries with a lemon aioli, veggie-mango curry and a peach-melon soup. The eggplant fries were AWESOME; I want to try and replicate those since those were amazing. Even if I don't fry it I could probably oven-bake them. The curry was okay. The soup was decent, a nice way to end the evening. I played with my neighbors for a bit before I met Lindsey and Luke. We went grocery shopping for pizza ingredients and we bought beer. We made pizza, drank beer and enjoyed a s'more.

Sunday I was up early and went out for a walk. After the walk I got things ready for the Brewer game. Mom and I went and had a good time, but our seats were in the sun and it got really warm. The game went into extra innings so by the time the extra innings started we were in the shade. We stopped and shared an ice cream cone. I fixed myself french toast for dinner.

This morning I went out for a nice run and walk. After a shower, breakfast and doing misc. stuff Lindsey and I did some window shopping. After I got back I made lunch and watched the game. Lindsey talked me into looking into Craigslist personal ads to get myself into the game. I was a bit leary at first, but after talking to her and Jen I figured what do I have to lose? Found someone with similar interests and we'll see. It's not like I'm looking for a husband and who knows, maybe I'll end up with a friend or something more. Jeremy and I have similar interests and we talk almost daily. I had a work meeting downtown so I left early and met Lindsey and Luke for a beer. The work meeting was boring, but we got pizza. I filled up the car with gas before stopping home. I might watch a movie tonight, but I'm not sure. I work Tuesday-Saturday this week so don't expect long updates.

Random thought: I felt something crawling on me and it was a spider - gross!

Canadian Bacon

I needed some comedy before going to work. Usually I just turn on the MLB Network. I'm hitting up the Taste of Madison after work so that'll be fun. I've always wanted to go. After that...who knows.

Random thought: My tummy feels funny.

~Nicole

I totally high-schooled it last night

I was going to see Final Destination 4 (in 3D) last night with some friends, but when I found out it's bloody and somewhat gory I opted out. I do not like those kind of movies. And for those of you that say how did I not know it would be that kind of movie I have not seen the first three so I didn't know what I was getting myself into. So what did I do instead? Jolie, Erica and I drove around for a bit, browsed through various catalogues and wandered around Walgreens. Was it the most productive? No, but it sure beat paying $10+ on a movie I wouldn't have liked.

The rest of the day was okay. I worked and it was surprisingly slow since school starts back this week. After work I was really craving bagels so I stopped at the store and bought some. I made myself a sandwich before mowing the lawn. Mom and I had dinner before I went out for my fun. I was in bed by midnight. I was up a little after 7:00 this morning. I ran almost 4 miles this morning and walked about another 2. I showered and had breakfast. Dad had an appointment and since the other car is in service AGAIN I took him back to work. I stopped at the store and bought some marinated turkey that we grilled for lunch. Yum! This evening I'm trying a new recipe from my Indian cookbook. I'll also watch some of the Brewer game and Top Chef.

Random thought: That beer I had while grilling was good!