eloquence fails me: I did stuff
Been a while since an actual update.
This weekend we saw the Harry Potter and I was pleased with it. It was funny where it should be funny (even if in a mocking way), and serious/dark as appropriate. One change in the story I didn't agree with, and I probably would have liked more on the super potions/half-blood prince and less on the Ron/Hermione business, but overall it was acceptable. (Except that Zoe tried to wait the whole movie to go to the bathroom and when she finally decided she couldn't wait anymore - yeah, Dumbledor and Harry in the cave. Nice timing Z. Of course that's the fastest I've ever seen her use the bathroom, so we did get back in time for the last part of the lake scene - but totally missed finding the horcrux)
Other movies we watched from the Netflix this weekend: "Mongol" which was awesome - I saw it last year at the silver. I recommend it. And last night we watched Brick. The description of the movie is not entirely accurate but it was really good - totally captured the Pulp/noir theme and stuck it into a high school setting. Well, actually more like taking high school stereotypes and sticking them into the pulp noir theme, as there wasn't exactly any "school" involved. It actually reminded me of a Timothy Hunter type storyline, but without magic. Or maybe it was just cause the main character reminded me of TH.
Yesterday was also full of cooking. I remade the Cherry Almond jam with success (8 jars turned into 6.5 jars), and also made a batch of Vanilla Almond Apricot butter. I used an actual vanilla bean instead of just the extract and it is really lovely. I used the "less sugar" pectin and only added about 3/4 cup of sugar to the whole batch and it worked out quite well. But 3lbs of apricots only made 4.5 half pints. I think I may have to make more because it came out so yummy. And then V made his cheesecake as well, which I can't wait to try with some cherry topping...
BUT I'm trying not to eat all that stuff - I think making the jam is nice because it lets me get out that urge to bake, and at the end I have something that can last a long time and I don't have to stuff my face with the cookies or cupcakes or whatever else I might be tempted to make and then eat right away.
I've been working out about 5-6 days a week still, not too intense cause my ankles have been bothering me after anything more than a low-impact type workout. Been trying to give them a break by working on upper body/abs stuff, but it doesn't burn as many calories as the running/aerobics. Even walking at lunch which I've been doing for months has been hurting my ankles recently, I think I may be nursing a bit of a stress fracture situation, they feel fine after a day of rest, but I think they need a few days to heal up properly, which I haven't really given them because it puts a crimp in my routine.
The other thing of note this weekend - I bought some sample flowers to play with since I'm planning to make my own center pieces and bouquets. I got ten stems of sunrise lillies, and 10 stems of the black callas, plus a random garden bouquet from giant so I could experiment with the different fillers and whatnot. I think I am happy with my plans, but the flowers are taking over the dining room table - the lilly stems are quite large with 4-5 blooms/buds on each - it's like a jungle. Stalin's only knocked them down once so far.
And last but not least, worthy of mention, I've been studying for the PMP exam. In case you are not familiar it's a pretty hardcore project management certification exam. I've been studying since October last year (not continuously, but I took to exam prep classes and am on my second read through the book. I was accepted into the exam in June, and I'm scheduled to take it in August, which is coming up fast. The good news is that if I pass it, my company will reimburse me the $500 exam fee, plus I'll have an awesome cred. If I don't, I'm stuck with the bill, plus another $275 to retake the exam. I'm sweatin that about now, but I wanted to get it out of the way before the wedding.
This weekend we saw the Harry Potter and I was pleased with it. It was funny where it should be funny (even if in a mocking way), and serious/dark as appropriate. One change in the story I didn't agree with, and I probably would have liked more on the super potions/half-blood prince and less on the Ron/Hermione business, but overall it was acceptable. (Except that Zoe tried to wait the whole movie to go to the bathroom and when she finally decided she couldn't wait anymore - yeah, Dumbledor and Harry in the cave. Nice timing Z. Of course that's the fastest I've ever seen her use the bathroom, so we did get back in time for the last part of the lake scene - but totally missed finding the horcrux)
Other movies we watched from the Netflix this weekend: "Mongol" which was awesome - I saw it last year at the silver. I recommend it. And last night we watched Brick. The description of the movie is not entirely accurate but it was really good - totally captured the Pulp/noir theme and stuck it into a high school setting. Well, actually more like taking high school stereotypes and sticking them into the pulp noir theme, as there wasn't exactly any "school" involved. It actually reminded me of a Timothy Hunter type storyline, but without magic. Or maybe it was just cause the main character reminded me of TH.
Yesterday was also full of cooking. I remade the Cherry Almond jam with success (8 jars turned into 6.5 jars), and also made a batch of Vanilla Almond Apricot butter. I used an actual vanilla bean instead of just the extract and it is really lovely. I used the "less sugar" pectin and only added about 3/4 cup of sugar to the whole batch and it worked out quite well. But 3lbs of apricots only made 4.5 half pints. I think I may have to make more because it came out so yummy. And then V made his cheesecake as well, which I can't wait to try with some cherry topping...
BUT I'm trying not to eat all that stuff - I think making the jam is nice because it lets me get out that urge to bake, and at the end I have something that can last a long time and I don't have to stuff my face with the cookies or cupcakes or whatever else I might be tempted to make and then eat right away.
I've been working out about 5-6 days a week still, not too intense cause my ankles have been bothering me after anything more than a low-impact type workout. Been trying to give them a break by working on upper body/abs stuff, but it doesn't burn as many calories as the running/aerobics. Even walking at lunch which I've been doing for months has been hurting my ankles recently, I think I may be nursing a bit of a stress fracture situation, they feel fine after a day of rest, but I think they need a few days to heal up properly, which I haven't really given them because it puts a crimp in my routine.
The other thing of note this weekend - I bought some sample flowers to play with since I'm planning to make my own center pieces and bouquets. I got ten stems of sunrise lillies, and 10 stems of the black callas, plus a random garden bouquet from giant so I could experiment with the different fillers and whatnot. I think I am happy with my plans, but the flowers are taking over the dining room table - the lilly stems are quite large with 4-5 blooms/buds on each - it's like a jungle. Stalin's only knocked them down once so far.
And last but not least, worthy of mention, I've been studying for the PMP exam. In case you are not familiar it's a pretty hardcore project management certification exam. I've been studying since October last year (not continuously, but I took to exam prep classes and am on my second read through the book. I was accepted into the exam in June, and I'm scheduled to take it in August, which is coming up fast. The good news is that if I pass it, my company will reimburse me the $500 exam fee, plus I'll have an awesome cred. If I don't, I'm stuck with the bill, plus another $275 to retake the exam. I'm sweatin that about now, but I wanted to get it out of the way before the wedding.