I asked in my last post if anyone knew what this sign was for here in the United Kingdom:
Amanda, had a good guess because it would appear that this road leads to nowhere, but alas this would be our "National Speed Limit" sign. Let me explain.
The above road would be a 60 mph zone. I dare you to drive 60 down that road.
But not all of these signs mean 60 mph. They vary based on the type of road you are on.
If you are on a single carriageway:
the national speed limit is 60 mph.
If you are on a dual carriageway:
or a motorway:
the national speed limit is 70 mph.
If it's not a national speed limit area then it's just whatever is posted.
Confusing much? Actually it's not so bad and makes sense, except when you have a road like the first picture and wonder who in their right mind would drive 60 down that road?
Today we are having a "What's that British Roadsign?" quiz.
If you currently live in the UK or used to live in the UK you are not allowed to play...sorry! But if you want to answer to throw others off I'm all about that! Those of you who can play...NO GOOGLING ALLOWED!!!! If you Google it you will be declared a British Roadsign Cheater and nobody wants that title. Trust me. Oh and Demo, no asking your British work buddy. If you do, you fail. Nuff said. :)
I know I've been gone a while...but I can't pass up this opportunity to teach you something. It might have something to do with my college major. And since I'm not using that degree right now I need an outlet. So I'm using you. Thanks!
I went to the market today. This is a very big deal where I live. There is a market on Thursdays and on Saturdays. You can find a variety of objects at the market like flowers, junk from someone's house, bacon, ostrich burgers, and fresh seafood. There is something for everybody, even one ride for the kiddies. It goes in circles so whatever they just ate, whether it be an ostrich burger, ostrich hot dog, cupcakes from Miss Gingerbread, or battered sausage, has a chance to make a reappearance in the middle of the mob of people in the town center. Perfect. But I digress.
I decided today to try a recipe I've been wanting to give a whirl at for about a month. It called for peeled, deveined jumbo shrimp. I thought that the fresh seafood man needed a visit. The price was basically 2 pounds for 100 grams of fresh prawns so I thought to myself, "Self, I have not a clue how much 100 grams is because I didn't pay attention to metrics in school so maybe I should go to the grocery store down the street and buy some backup baby prawns." So I did it. With my backup baby prawns in tow I then stopped at the fresh place to get my ginormous shrimp. When I got up there instead of asking if he had fresh, deveined, peeled prawns, this is what I said, "I need 100 grams of fresh prawns." He was happy to oblige and this is what I ended up with:
In case you were wondering, these are not peeled, nor are they deveined. I saw what he was doing, but felt dumb and didn't stop him. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing...like I wasn't from Kansas where our shrimp don't have shells, eyes, legs or gargantuan feelers. In Kansas they come in a package in a freezer.
So I got home and laid them out just like this on the cutting board and stared at them for a while. Confused. While I was staring at them, they were staring back at me:
Then I got a brilliant idea. There is this cool thing called Google, I don't know if you've heard of it, but I hear it's a pretty big thing. So I googled how to peel and devein these little suckers. Oddly, the written directions were different than the video that accompanied it so I did a little bit of both and I think it was pretty successful. So today I'm going to teach you step by step how to peel and devein prawns.
In the course of this tutorial try not to imagine this:
Imagining Pepe will make this a whole lot harder and you'll feel a lot guiltier. Trust me.
So here we go.
Step 1: Attempt to not throw up. This may be hard, as the smell is quite strong and the little critters appear like they could hop up and scamper around your kitchen at any moment. Don't worry, they're dead. They won't scamper. Also in the course of the peeling process you may see some things that will make you want to lose that ostrich burger you ate for lunch. Don't. You can do this.
Step 2: Twist the head of the prawn off. No joke. It'll pop off a lot easier than you may think.
Try not to think too much about what just oozed out of the head...if you do think about it too much refer back to Step 1.
Also as a side note...this may happen:
Yes, sometimes the legs and part of the head may not want to depart the body. If this is the case, just get a knife out and finish the job. Oh yes, and those red smears on the cutting board don't come off...
Step 3: Peel of the shell by grabbing the legs and pulling them apart.
Things are starting to look a little more like their supposed to. the world is becoming right again.
Step 4: Deveining. Apparently I was lucky because I didn't find the veins in my prawn. I think I squished it all out in the ripping the head off portion. But in case you do have a vein still in there...which yes, is their digestive tract...just use a sharp knife and slice it right down its back and pull the vein out.
Step 5: Wrap all of the heads, legs, and shells in newspaper and put it in a paper bag in your garage for the next two weeks to rot, where it will make you garage smell like flowers...
Oh wait...that's just me.
And yes, that is a man shooting peas through a blow gun in that picture. He was practicing for the pea shooting contest. That contest comes a couple months after the eel throwing contest...not lying. But that's a whole other post.
Step 6: Cook 'em up!
They only take like 3 minutes to cook. Aren't their babies cute?
Step 7: Chow down!
And pay no attention to the messy kitchen...it's a figment of your imagination.
So, there you have it how to peel and devein a prawn. You may now go about your regular activities.
Here's what we've been up to over the past 4 days:
May 12th:
Ate at Spangles with la familia.
Went to airport.
Said goodbye to la familia.
Flight got delayed for 20 minutes.
Flight got delayed for 45 minutes.
Flight got delayed for 95 minutes.
Got on airplane.
Sat on runway for 30 more minutes.
Flew to Chicago.
Doug runs to other flight on other side of airport which was leaving in 15 minutes.
I wait for baggage and then run to other flight on other side of airport which is leaving in 10 minutes.
I make it even though I was taken off the passenger list. They let me on.
Doug makes his first British friend. Or not.
Fly over ocean and watch 4 movies in the process. Don't sleep
May 13th:
Fly over ocean and watch 4 movies in the process. Don't sleep.
Go through customs.
Wait for bus at airport for 90 minutes.
Ride 2 hours.
Fight sleep while riding said bus.
Fail.
Walk 1/4 of mile with 4 suitcases, 2 laptop bags, 1 camera bag and a garment bag to room.
Let Doug carry 40-60 lb bags upstairs. It's the least I can do. It makes him feel all manly and stuff.
Take 1 1/2 hour 1 hour nap.
Attempt to get out of bed.
Succeed. Barely.
Take shower in lukewarm water. All I want is to be warm...it's so cold everywhere I go.
Almost faceplant when stepping out of shower. It's no good when your legs are short and your tub is tall.
Realize I can't plug in my straightener without blowing it up.
Mourn.
Meet our sponsor's to drive us around the area. I'm sure she's impressed with my awesome hairdo.
Ride in the left hand front seat.
Panic.
Confusion.
Scared for lives of others my life when I'm allowed out on the road behind the wheel.
Eat Indian food and drink tap water with 1 ice cube.
Go grocery shopping and buy cereal but forget milk. Need nap.
Come home.
Go to bed.
May 14th
Wake up.
Don't want to get out of bed.
Take a shower in lukewarm water again. Still cold. Didn't faceplant it.
Eat Goldfish. (Remember we forgot milk)
Follow the husband around for work stuff. Meet nice people with accents.
Try to do combination to get into mailbox. Attemps: 4
Figure out they gave us wrong combination.
Try to do new combination to get into mailbox. Attempt:1
Buy milk.
Eat a sandwich.
Attempt to not go to sleep all day long.
Go car shopping.
Success.
Walk to pub.
Order Bangers and Mash and Mushy Peas.
Sit.
Wait.
Old British man and next table who hasn't been served in 55 minutes throws fit by banging his cane on the ground and make himself heard.
Decide I need a cane...or at least a large stick.
Get food 90 minutes after ordering.
Decide food is not so good and heated in a microwave since it's cold in the middle and don't finish.
Get glared at by a nice British lady who is appalled that we didn't make happy plates.
Walk to Burger King and get a cheeseburger.
Husband is in a better mood now that he has decent food in his stomach.
Come back to the room and watch a movie.
Discover there are no subtitles for Arabic parts, but decide to try to figure it out on our own.
Too tired to finish movie.
Discover heater doesn't work anymore.
Go to bed.
May 15th
Wake up at 4:30 a.m.
Try to decide if lack of sleep is due to jet lag, stupid crow outside our window, pigeon with something stuck in his throat outside our window responding to stupid crow, or buckwheat-like pillow.
Get up and talk to the fam and Amanda on Skype since they haven't gone to bed yet.
Eat cereal with milk.
Go back to bed and sleep for 2 1/2 hours.
Wake up again.
Take a shower with hot water!
Eat a sandwich. Pray that I start liking sandwiches.
Cry about prospect of test driving a car on the left-hand side of the road. Yes, there were tears.
Go car shopping again.
Make Doug test drive Lexus and BMW.
Decide on Lexus.
Walk home.
Finish movie without subtitles.
Internet goes out.
Sponsor's wife picks us up for dinner at their house.
Stop and purchase a straightener. And the people rejoiced.
I had a hairy spider on the outside of my driver's side door all the way home from work today. On a highway that is 70 mph. He was acting like he was trying to dig through my window to get me. My heart rate was sky high because I believe he could've done it. I prayed he would blow off of the window, but he nestled him self in a little shelter from the 70 mph wind. Smart spider. He crawled into a crack on window/door when I pulled into my parking lot. The maintenance lady was probably wondering why I bolted out of my car and made a run for my building. It's because he appeared to be a jumping spider. Who am I kidding? Ever spider is a jumping spider.
I got to go to the eye doctor today. Notice I say "got". I'm trying to think positively. I hate going to the eye doctor. I probably hate it more than any other doctor out there. So far. I even had a skin biopsy this week which involved sharp objects and stitches. I was dreading the eye doctor more than the sharp objects and stitches.
I have very bad eyes. I don't remember what it is like to wake up in the morning and be able to see stuff besides blurred images. I don't know what my husband looks like when he wakes up. I'm sure he looks totally hot though. Don't we all when we wake up? He probably wishes he had my eyesight when he wakes up in the morning and sees me.
Anyway, I asked my eye doctor (who was a stand-in for my doctor who is currently on maternity leave) what my vision was. Like, I know it's not 20/20. He couldn't tell me. I had my contacts out when I asked him this question so I was talking to a blurred object that was moving around in front of me...about 5 feet in front of me...okay, more like 3 feet. I had a Mary Ingalls moment, except my eyes aren't that pretty blue and I wasn't wearing a prairie girl dress, but I did want to reach out in front of me and touch his face. Not in a weird way though. In a blind way.
The blurry, moving object, with a man voice also told me I would probably be a good candidate for LASIK eye surgery as long as my cornea is thick enough and my pupils aren't as big as baseballs when the lights are out. So, if you would like to donate to the cause it costs a mere $2500 an eye. You can make the check out to me. Or I'd take $300 an eye and go to Mexico if need be. Maybe that would be a bad life choice though.
Anyway, on with my story, the blurry object, with a man voice told me he was going to tell his assistant to get me some new contacts (for free!) and she was going to explain about my new contact solution. It's fancier than my old stuff and has less preservatives apparently. So, blurry object with a man voice was soon replaced with a shorter blurry object, with a woman voice. She handed me two new contacts. Thankfully I aimed my hand right and grabbed them without missing.
Now my prescription for contacts is -6.5. For those of you peculiar lucky people out there with perfect 20/20 eyes this means I can't see squat pretty much without contacts or glasses. Everything is completely blurry like I've mentioned before. The blurry object with a woman voice had gotten the contacts for me so surely she comprehends that I have no idea what she looks like let alone what the blurry stuff in her hand is (at least I think that's her hand). The blurry object with a woman voice starts explaining how to use the new contact solution saying things and pointing to things.
BOWAWV: Now, you're going to put your contacts in this little contraption.
*holds contraption in air...I think*
Me: *thinking* Can't see. *saying* Okay
*fumbling to open the new contacts in my lap*
BOWAWV: Then you're going to squirt the solution up to this line.
*point to alleged line...I assume*
Me: *still thinking* Still can't see, lady! *saying* MmmHmm
*struggling with new contacts that I'm currently feeling for in the package*
BOWAWV: You can see how the lid with the contacts will then fit into container with the contact solution.
*puts lid on...maybe."
Me: *thinking* Has she worked with people who are blind before?! *saying* Ahhh, I see!
*finally wrangle a contact and slip it into my right eye*
BOWAWV: Now, I'll put it all back in the box for you and you're good to go!
*puts it in box...I know cuz I'm looking at her with one eye open and one eye shut*
Me: *thinking* Dang it, I missed the show. Hope I can figure out how to soak my contacts tonight correctly. *saying* Thanks!
*attempts to start on the next contact*
Good thing there are directions on the back of the box just in case I couldn't see anything that she was doing.
On Sunday we took "an adventure", as Doug would say.
The Adventurers: Phil, Janel, Doug, Me
The Adventure Location: Abilene, KS -- more specifically The Eisenhower Library and Museum
I know you all are thinking we are wild people. We know excitement when we see it. And this was it. This was a trip that both Doug and Phil were sooooo very excited about. Doug brought it up and it happened to be on Phil's list of places to visit. So it was a done deal.
I discovered on this trip what an absolutely horrible Kansan I truly am. Not lyin'. I've been a Kansan for 27 1/2 years and never been to this place and I didn't realize all the things that Eisenhower did. I think I felt a bit prouder of my state after I got done here.
Anyway, here's a little rundown of the funny things of this trip. Not tons, but there were definitely some giggles.
We first stopped at the Russell Stover Chocolate Factory...seriously can't pass up buying 3 lbs of chocolate for $10 and testing out some of that gloriousness. We had an idea of where to eat for lunch since I had done some research before. The only problem is I couldn't remember the name of it. All I knew is that it was in an old farmhouse and it was good country cookin' (AKA fried). The iPhone wasn't working out so well being in the Middle of Nowhere, KS (apparently "more bars in more places" doesn't include Abilene, KS). Doug decided to ask the lady at the cash register where to eat since she appeared to be a native and surely she would recommend this place since it had awesome reviews online. So, Doug asks...the lady responds, "I would highly recommend the bowling alley."
We all kind of looked at each other like, "Is this a town inside joke?" But no she was serious. It's the bowling alley behind the Super 8. Thankfully around that time I got a bar of service on Doug's phone and found the name of the place we wanted. We sadly decided to not eat at the bowling alley and went with Mr. K's Farmhouse where we got a salad a full fledged fried meal, dessert and a drink for 8.95.
As you can imagine with two couples on a trip there is bound to be some hand holding going on. What more romantic place to hold hands than in a presidential museum that also focuses a lot on WWII? I mean really. Janel and I were standing together admiring some type of memorabilia. Doug and Phil were standing behind us looking at something else. Apparently Phil didn't get the memo that Janel was over by me and Doug was actually by Phil. I guess something about the war or the bust of Dwight D. Eisenhower made Phil have that fuzzy feeling inside so he reached out to hold "Janel's" hand. He waited and waited for her to take it. When he turned around to find out why she hadn't had the same feelings as him about Eisenhower's bust he found Doug just staring at him funny. At this point Janel and I turned around and caught the "Awkward Moose Moment", Phil turning bright red, denying it up and down, and Doug laughing at him hysterically. I think people thought we were weird. Sorry we couldn't get them to reenact this so no pics.
The boys like to read...everything. Janel and I like to look at pretty dresses and jewelry. There was a lot more reading than pretty dresses and jewelry. The boys are going to take us shopping where there isn't much reading...they just don't know it yet.
I think the highlight of the boys' day was looking at the solar panels for the water tanks.
Must be an engineer thing. Notice Janel and I didn't venture over there. We don't understand their language when they go into engineer mode.
There weren't very many people there, especially around closing time so we didn't have any pics of the four of us together. We had me and Doug:
And we had Phil and Janel:
We finally found a rather elderly security guard who was kind enough to attempt my camera. I handed it to him and showed him how to use it and he said, "Ooooo is this one of those digital cameras? My grandkids play with these things!" He struggled for a while and didn't really use the zoom to help frame the picture or he just moved from right to left to front to back. The first pic didn't turn out so well.
Poor President Eisenhower's head. So Doug had him try again and it was a success.
We were so excited to be able to spend this day with our friends!
At first I didn't think there was much to this workout...arms and back...until I was doing more push ups than I've ever done in my life and doing them in more ways than I've ever known. I tried doing them on my toes, but faceplanted it. Thank goodness for carpet. Don't mind the rug burn on my forehead.
There were several times during the hour in a half that I was either laying flat on my face unable to move or rolling on the floor laughing...then I almost cried when I got so frustrated and then I threw my resistance band because it wasn't doing what I was telling it. Disobedient resistance band.
Basically I was no good at it...no good at all. Maybe next time. Which is tonight.
Tonight we do Plyometrics...look it up. It'll be the scariest read you've ever had in your life. I'm pretty sure our downstairs neighbors are really gonna wonder what is going on up here.
Well, it's official, Doug and I are not starting P90x until Monday in the wee hours of the morning.
We opened the P90x box only to discover 2 decent sized booklets and a whole bunch of DVD's. We went through the booklets and decided that starting on a Monday would fit us best since we want to take Sundays off. So, we decided to just sit on the couch and enjoy watching a workout. Yes, watch it. We didn't really exert ourselves except that Doug pushed the forward button to make the workout go faster and I sat in a corner in the fetal position, crying. It was one of the scariest things I've ever seen.
In the mean time I have half of a Pioneer Woman chocolate sheet cake to take care of.
Basically this means that I lost nothing, but I gained nothing as well...which is good. I was worried about today's weigh in because I had a bit of a weird week/weekend. I was out at the Colliseum packing meals for Haiti most of the weekend so this kinda through off my normal eating habits and involved quite a bit of eating out. So gaining nothing was more of a goal than anything else! I hit the gym pretty hard today and hopefully will be able to make it again tomorrow. Doug and I are going to start P90x when he gets back...I sure hope I see results after that considering the pain that I have a feeling I will be in.
First of all, sorry about my template change. I'm having some issues and am about ready to throw my computer out the window...or write Blogger and really nasty hate note. Hopefully I'll get it changed soon.
I went to the mall today to burn some time since I'm not getting any sub jobs and I have some gift cards to use. What better way to spend money than when you don't have to spend your own?!? I made some observations while I was there.
1. Why is it when I observe two women kissing I'm completely repulsed yet feel like I have to look again? Gross.
2. Eighty-plus-year-old married couples are way cute...especially when they are curiously trying to figure out what a spray tan is that you can buy at Dillards.
Husband: I think it's a tan in a box, dear.
Wife: How can you get a tan if there is no sun?
3. How come every time I see a 50% off sign at Dillards I get all excited? I know that 50% still means, "I'm marked down to $100! You still can't have me!!!"
4. Little Chinese ladies that wear shorts with compromising tights, pastel pink and purple leg warmers, paired with old lady shoes are also oddly cute. Especially when they walk really fast. It's like a blurry rainbow.
5. Why is when I walk into Express I automatically start my runway model walk?
6. While we're on the subject of Express why do all of their mannequins stand with their pelvises jutted out and hands on their wanna be hips? Does anyone really stand like that? And if they do, do they think it's attractive? Cuz it's not. Trust me I tested it in the mirror when I got home. Not. Attractive. At. All.
7. I think I remember liking Claire's at one point in my life because they had lots of cute, cheap jewelry. Is this true or has it always been a store full of Hannah Montanaesque stuff for 10-year-olds? It was awkward in there...like I should have been shopping for my non-existent prepubescent daughter.
8. Having conversations on the escalator in Von Maur can also be awkward.
Girl in Front of Me: Do he be sittin' there all day?
Me: Excuse me?
GIFOM: Do he be sittin' at that piano all day?
Me: Oh...yes, I think so.
GIFOM: I wanna be sittin' there all day.
Me: That would be nice if I could play the piano. (Dear Jesus, make this escalator go faster!)
GIFOM: I can't believe he be sittin' there all day.
9. In Maurice's, if you are the only customer there, the workers (all of them) will run to you like mosquitoes to a bug zapper. You will then want to run away crying and rock in the corner.
And I fit perfectly into that there dress. I'm not so sure that dress would fit anymore if I even tried to squeeze into it. Since this picture was taken I have gained a lovely 10 lbs...I'm sure it isn't because I'm cooking things like this for my fantastic husband:
And it definitely couldn't be because of this gloriousness:
Or who could ever forget this:
I prefer to forget this:
I only made that stuff once...that just might be the culprit...as a matter of fact I bet it is. Curses to you, SPAM.
A culmination of all of this food plus trying to figure out how to find the time to cook this food and go to the gym has resulted in a slight bit of the weight gain. I thought it would stay away if I just willed it to do so...this method does not work in case you were all wondering. Because it doesn't work I'm gonna have to go about it the old fashioned way.
All of this rambling is bringing me to this point. I will be reporting in every Monday to all 4 of my readers as to my progress starting next Monday. We shall forevermore refer to Mondays as Meltaway and/or Meltdown Mondays...depending upon the results...Okay, we'll be positive and just stick with Meltaway Mondays. I'm not quite sure how it will turn out, but we're gonna give it a shot. My goal is 10 lbs and I'm not so sure on a timeframe at this point. Ideally by May would be great, but I'd be happy to have it off by October. We shall see.
So, here's to a week (or half week at this point) of working out and eating foods of small portion!
This was the last day of our vacation. I really struggled with remembering what we did on this day, but after much grunting and thinking (I don't usually grunt when I think...just when I try to think of detailed things I did 6 months ago) I think I remembered...either that or I dreamed it.
We moved yet again to another hotel...this time back to the one we started at. Let me refresh your memory...and by your memory I mean my memory. This room will be my inspiration for our next bedroom. I love me some pink walls, rugs and 90's floral print comforters. Don't tell Doug...it's gonna be a special surprise from me to him. He's gonna be so excited! There may be a happy dance involved.
Anyway, back to our last day of vacation. I'm sad to report that there were no microbears involved at this hotel.
So, at some point on this leg of the trip we took a little boat road across a lake. The lady told us lots of cool stories about this lake, but I don't remember them. I do remember thinking, "This is awesome! I need to remember these stories for my blog!" Fail.
I do remember I took some pictures.
We got off the boat on the other side of the lake and took a short hike to this waterfall.
After a boat ride back to where we started, and more stories that I can't remember, we took another hike...our last of the trip. It was amazing and we got to see the most amazing waterfall ever...it's a good thing I forgot my camera in the car. So, because I forgot my camera in the car I will now steal a picture from the internet:
Seriously, this picture does no justice to the color of these falls...never seen anything like it.
We spent quite a bit of time here and watched crazy high school girls take pics of themselves hanging over the edge of the rocks precariously...I kinda felt bad that I wasn't gonna jump in after them if they plunged. Good thing they didn't.
Well, we went back to the hotel and left the next day for the airport. There won't be a story for the next day of our trip because for once in our married lives we actually made every flight we were supposed to catch. Miracles do happen.
Thanks for coming on our Glacier National Park trip with us. It was a great 6 months.
