ZUMBA!



Tonight was my second night of Zumba.  Did you know that Zumba spelled backwards spells abmuz.   What does that mean? "Abmuz a loss my mine", when I let my friend talk me into taking the classes.  Don't get me wrong, (Why do people say that?  You automatically want to get them wrong when they say that.) it is a very good workout and is actually very fun, but it is a hard workout and most of my body parts are protesting.  I think some of my muscles have risen from the dead and my knees in particular are going "WTH?".  The good news is that the class is made up of mostly middle-age to my-age ladies and most of us don't know what the heck we are doing and better yet, no one is dressed in those skimpy little exercise outfits.  We are working our big ole baggy T-Shirts and stretchy pants.  If I can't keep up, I just start making up stuff to keep the rhythm going.  Rhythm.  That's another thing I ain't got much of.  There are a couple of routines where we have to do the hip swivel/thrust thing and I'm certain I look like I've got both feet stuck in a tar bucket trying to dodge a dog about to bite me on the ass!  It can't be a pretty sight.  There are lots of routines where we have to move our hands and feet at the same time but in different directions, and Lord knows what I look like doing that. I imagine it is something very similar to a seizure.  Never-the-less, I will trudge on and hopefully report back at a (much) later date to report that I have lost many pounds and much of my dignity, but gained lots of muscle mass and the rhythm of Michael Jackson.

Oh, and tonight our instructor let us know it is Heart Awareness Month and gave each of us a Zumba Party Hearty bracelet.  Trust me, I was very aware of my heart during the workout!



Happy Valentine's Day!



I don't really have much to say about Valentine's Day, so I am just going to post this picture of shells I have collected that Mother Nature shaped into or carved into a heart.  Some you can clearly see the heart and others you have to use your imagination a little, but hey, no heart is perfect, right?  Some are small, some are big, some are abnormal and some are broken. 

Karaoke

Was alcohol created for Karaoke or Karaoke for alcohol?  Why is it when people drink, they think they can suddenly sing?  We went to a local restaurant/bar tonight and it happened to be karaoke night.  When we arrived, we placed our order and while waiting we listened to a bartender turn karaoke singer sing along to numerous songs.  She actually had a very nice voice so it is not a bad experience all all.  We've actually heard her before and as karaoke singers goes, she's pretty good.  Gary asked if I wanted to sing and I promptly told him "no".  He said he had a song picked out for us and so of course, I asked him what song to which he replied "Rivers".  I said "Rivers?" and he said yes, the song by Dollie Parton.  To which I replied " You mean Islands in the Stream?" and he said yeah.  Anyway,  a friend/co-worker decided she would take the liberty of putting our names in the pot to sing.  And a few drinks later, sing we did.  It wasn't really bad like a root canal, but it wasn't at all good either.  We didn't know most of the words, even though they were right in front of us on the screen.  My dear friend/co-worker made a video of us on her phone and will likely use it as blackmail material at a later date.  She left shortly thereafter, so I feel sure we are on facebook by now.  We were awful at best, but that did not deter us from "singing", and I use the term loosely, several other tunes.  I think Gary sang a Jimmy Buffet song and I sang along with the bar tender/karaoke singer for several more songs by the Judds, Patsy Cline, Keith Urban and Trisha Yearwood.  Thankfully, by this time, most everyone other than us had left the building, so no one, or at least not many, suffered through our attempts.  Is karaoke really a good idea for a business to try to drum up more business?  Probably not, but I can definitely see it being used as a technique to get folks to leave when they are trying to close down. Come to think of it, they were nearing closing time when we were singing........Hum? 

Box Wine and Vienna Sausages

Nothing says culture like a good box of wine, a can of Vienna Sausages and saltine crackers.  Can I get an amen?  I have been on the South Beach diet (great diet by the way) since June of 2010, so consequently, the half-dozen or so cans of Viennas on the pantry shelf have been sitting there for a while now right next to the sugar, syrup, white rice, etc.  I have gazed upon, and even lusted for them on numerous occasions, but up until tonight, have not given in to the temptation to bust one of them open and chow down!  I guess it was a moment of weakness, combined with a frazzled day at work, piled on top of the fact that my husband was once again "under the house" with his buddies having happy hour.  Happy "hour" more often than not turns into several hours and often pushes dinner into the "Christie and Joey Zone" (my daughter and son-in-law who rarely EVER eat before 9:00 p.m.). Well when I arrived home tonight, my stomach was already thinking my throat had been cut and I was H-U-N-G-R-Y, so I headed straight to the almost bare pantry and there they were - my precious little fat filled morsels.  Yep, I am talking about Armour Vienna Sausages ya'll!  They were taunting me and this time I could not resist!  I popped that top quicker than, as my grandma used to say, you can shake a stick.  I'm not quite sure what that means, but it must be pretty quick or else she wouldn't have said it right?  The next step was to douse them with Frank's hot sauce.  Typically, it would be Crystal, but we were out.  I know, I know, a true Southern girl should never, ever run out of Crystal hot sauce, but I did, so shoot me.  When you have hot sauce, you need something to drink and I had this half-full (or is it half-empty?) single-serving (okay, 3 servings according to the label) box of Vendange Pinot Grigio in the fridge that Santa so kindly left in my stocking.  (Just to clarify the previous statement, Santa left me a FULL box of wine in my stocking, but it was half-empty/full tonight when I took it from the fridge.  Didn't want you to think Santa left me a half-full/empty box of wine.)  I felt certain it would pair perfectly with the Viennas and I was absolutely right!  I thought I had died and gone to canned mystery meat heaven!  I am still reeling as I type.  If you had offered me a T-Bone or the sausages, I would have taken the sausages.  The only thing I can think of that might have been better is hog head cheese, aka souse.  That stuff will make your tongue jump out and slap your brain! 

Well lo and behold!  My husband just came upstairs and it's only 6:22 p.m. and said "Let's go to get something to eat."  WTH?  Okay, so now I have to pretend that I am hungry and  FORCE myself to eat again.  It's gonna be tough, but I'll score one for the team I guess.