Still here

I feel like I have been neglecting my blog the past week. I'm sorry. I have just been so busy at work and with sick family that I have not been able to dedicate as much time as I've wanted to writing good quality posts. For this I am terribly sorry.

I have several posts that I am working on but they require a bit more research and more editing. I have a few recipes that I am working on that my family has loved and I am trying to write them up. I'm also still working on the Wicca posts that I keep promising. They are coming. Please just give me some time.

I'm currently not working on any of my other projects either, so please take heart that they are not getting priority over you, my readers. If I can call you guys my readers.

It's mainly work that is taking up my time, busy lots of things at work in the pipeline and being manager they need my attention.

Again my apologies. I'm doing what I can.

Why I blog

I blog for my family. I blog for therapy. I blog my interests. I blog the food I like. I blog my beliefs. I blog as a diary. I blog for my friends. I blog to talk to people. I blog for me.

These are some of the reasons I blog. Why do you? 

Group 42 week 2 results,

I didn't track, much this week. My whole house has been sick. Including me. So I. Don't have any results for this.

Lazy sunday

There is nothing like a lazy Sunday. Just chilling in front of the TV. Spending time with the family. That's my day today. Hope you all have a pleasant Sunday.

Excited

So as some of you know I've been posting some of my writing on the is cool website called hitRECord.org

Well today someone actually said they liked some of my work. This made me over the moon. So excited. No one has ever said that they have liked my work before. I mean I'm loving doing this blog but no one ever comments on it, so I don't know if you guys like it or not. I know I should probably post more pictures, but I tend to post on the go so it's a little hard to post pictures all the time.

But I can't believe it someone actually liked my work. In fact two people liked my work. Two different people said that they liked my work. They both liked the same piece of work that I have posted. I've posted a few items on the site, admittedly I feel that out of it is not my best work, and they could be worked on some more but that is part of the site for you to post your work on the site and let other people either remix it by adding or doing something with it or by getting some inspiration from it.

Semi famous.

So I'm at work yesterday doing the inventory which has to be done every month and this film crew walk in my store. Which you know totally out of the normal for me.

Well turns out they are a new crew and wanted to film a couple shopping in my store who are baby shopping. I don't know all the details of the new story but, it made a change from the normal. The news story probably won't see the light of day, but it was kind of interesting to say the least.

Slow cooker chicken and dressing

This is another one of my families favorites slow cooker recipes. For this recipe you will need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt and black pepper to season the chicken
4 slices of Swiss cheese
1 can of chicken broth
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, (can use cream chicken or celery).
3 cups packaged stuffing mix.
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Place the chicken breast in the slow cooker. Season each breast with salt and pepper.

Top each chicken breast with a slice of Swiss cheese. Add the broth and the canned soup. Sprinkle the stuffing mix on top and then pour on the melted butter.

Cover and cook on LOW 6-8 hours HIGH 3-4 hours.


As is typical fashion for me. I found that 3 cups of stuffing mix is about one and a half packets of stuffing mix. So I added 2 boxes of stuffing mix and then added a second can of chicken broth.

Other writing project.

Having had some feedback about the other writing project that I'm working on, I have some ideas on how to continue, so hoping that I might be able to get over my writers block.

Now just need to sit down and work on it. I don't want to go into details of what it is I'm working one just yet as it's still to new in development. But I'm hoping it works.

I'm still cooking a ton of great food. Will share more recipes when I get a chance. And still studying a lot of Wicca. Still working a few Wiccan related posts. Want to make sure the information I give is correct. The whole Wiccan rede thing. As I'm still learning I would hate it think that any Wiccan related information I've given would give harm to anyone. So I take my time in planning all posts relating to that subject.

Otherwise things are going well for me. Hope you are all well out there in the world,

Blessed be.

Writers block

As a writer, if you can even call me that. I try my hand at writing is the best way to put it. There is nothing worse than writers block.

One of the projects that I'm working on is giving me a bit of block. I know where I want to go with the story but can't seem to get past one point in.

Thing is I never would have thought that it would effect other writing projects of mine. I mean I'm currently finding it hard to think of some posts to write for my blog and the other writing projects I'm trying to do are just taking a back sit. I just can't seem to get over this one point and it's sort of bugging me.

So I apologize, and please bear with me on the blog posts while I try to sort out this writers block that is going on.

Update on running

So as you guys know I started running again. I'm currently trying to work my through the couch to 5k program that I use.

Well I'm currently on week 4. And I have to say this time working my through the program I'm actually finding it a little hard.  I'm struggling a bit to get through week 3 and week 4 is in a way kicking my butt. I'm finding it hard to believe I ran a half marathon in September. But as is life if you don't practice your skills you lose your ability to do them as well as you could. And my running is the same.

I'll keep at it and I will get back to half marathon status again. I'm thinking of trying to do another half this year but so many to chose from I can't decide which one to do.

Group 42 week one results

So in an earlier post I said I was thinking about starting up this group 42 fitness idea again. Well I did and I did really well, until the weekend and well, it all sort of fell apart.

My total points for the week are 36. I went over my calories Friday and Saturday due to wanting to have a few alcoholic drinks, and Sunday was a complete disaster but I hold the champion football games  and need for pizza during football and the reason. I also didn't get my water or go for a run on Sunday. I will try better his week.

Maybe one week I'll get a perfect 42

Slow cooker chicken mushroom Alfredo

Since I moved to the states I've always had a small love for the slow cooker. My problem is I've never been a big fan of soups. So finding a hit recipe for the slow cooker that is not a soup is a win for me.

Today I'm doing Chicken mushroom Alfredo in the slow cooker. It's a simple recipe and smells amazing. And tastes it to. So here is the recipe.

1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts. (I used 2 and that worked out about just right)
2 packages of cretinism mushrooms (I cut mine into long quarters)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 packages of cream cheese (8oz size)
2 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
Pasta one box of.

Spray the crock pot with non stick spray. Cut the chicken into strips and then add to the crock pot in a single layer. Place the mushrooms evenly over the chicken and then season with salt, pepper and the garlic powder.

In a medium sized saucepan place the cream cheese, butter, Parmesan cheese and milk, stir together over medium heat. Whisk the sauce continuously until smooth and heated through.

Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken and mushrooms, pushing down any mushrooms that float to the top. Cover and cook on LOW 4-5 hours.

When ready to serve cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Either spoon desired amount of sauce on top of pasta or you can add the pasta to the slow core and mix covering the pasta in sauce.

If wanted you can serve with extra Parmesan cheese.

Now my family loved this. And we can't wait to do this again. But there are some changes that I will make. For expat I will add more garlic powder at the beginning. I would also cut down the butter to maybe one stick. But I haven't tried these adjustments out yet so I don't know how different it will make.

Quick note

Today I've been really busy trying to get my house clean. Did a lot but not all of it.

I also consecrated my all the tools I have so far my Wicca altar. I'm just getting things slowly. Because the most important tool in Wicca is yourself.

I will post the ritual I did once I've written up my notes myself

I'm sorry

I need to apologize for not getting a post posted yesterday. I wanted to post about this customer that I had in the store but my husband warned against it as it's still ongoing.

So after I deleted what I written for that post I got busy with family things and just didn't find the time to get another post written.

I'm sorry. But there are some days when I post twice so that in a way i guess helps makes up for the missing post.

Running, couch to 5k.

I call myself a runner, my husband calls me a part time runner or a fair weather runner. Only because I find it hard To run in the winter. So I started trying to run in winter just to prove him wrong, well also because I was getting fed up with my weight going up and up and up.

So I started my couch to 5k program that I have used several times now. In fact it's the reason I was able to run my half marathon. If it wasn't for this program I wouldn't be what I call myself a runner.

Its a really great program and really simple. You start off by doing a combination of walking and running and gradually build up your running time till you can run for a whole 30 minutes. I love it. Also when I get my endurance back after breaks from running I use it for speed work. By running as fast as I can for the running intervals and then catching my breath back on the walking breaks.

The program is a podcast called running mate 101.  Here is a link to the site.

http://myrunningmate.com/5k101/

It's free so hop on the link and download the program. It's an 8 week course. But trust me the first time I did it it took me 20 weeks to complete. I wondered why it took me so long then remembered I do every training day with the kidlet in the stroller. But I kept at it a completed the whole thing. In fact I've done the program several times now.

HitRECord

I finally did it. I finally put myself out there. Your wondering what on earth I'm talking about. Last year was a reading year for me. This year is turning out to be a writing year for me. Not only am I working on my blog, but I'm working on a few other written projects. These projects I'm planning on posting on a little website called hitRECord.

If your wondering what hitRECord is all about, check out the following link.

www.hitrecord.org

I heard about this company a few years ago but was always worried about posting my work out there. I worried that people wouldn't like my ideas or my work. I'm not the most out going person and it's really hard for me to put myself out there. But this year for me is all about breaking out of my boundaries and pushing myself. So today I joined the site and posted my first piece of writing.

It's not my best bit of work. But it's not the worst and so what what if no one likes it, at least I'm trying right? Not every idea you have is a good one. But maybe just maybe someone will like something that I post and be able to use it, or maybe it inspires them. Who knows what might happen.

Slow cooker sesame chicken

I  love my slow cooker. I can't get around it.  Slow cookers just making the life of a working mom (ok even though I only work part time) so much easier. Just throw everything in the pot in the morning and presto dinner or in the case of my family lunch.

So here is another one of my families favorite recipes.  Slow cooker Sesame chicken.  I originally found this recipe online but can't seem to find it again, so if this happens to be your recipe please let me know so I can credit you with the glory of this greatness.

This version serves 4 about 1 cup size serving.

2 chicken breasts
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce, ( you want low sodium otherwise it comes out a little salty, I know I tried regular the first time)
4 Tbs tomato purée/paste
2 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp  cornstarch/ (cornflour in the UK)
1/4 cup water
2 packets frozen broccoli
Rice to serve.


Place the chicken in the slow cooker.

Combine the onion, garlic, honey, soy sauce, tomato pure and oil in a bowl and then pour on top of the chicken. Or if your like me I just throw the ingredients one by one on top of the chicken and let them blend while cooking, but that's just me.

Cook this on low for at least 5 hours turning from time to time to make sure the chicken gets evenly coated.  Then about 20 minutes before I want to eat I out the rice on to cook. I also take out the chicken breasts and shred them with two forks. I then add the cornstarch to the water to make a slurry and add that to the sauce in the slow cooker so that it can thicken.

Once the chicken is shredded it goes back in to the sauce thickening sauce. I personal like to boil my broccoli rather than pan fry it, but either option is good. Once the rice is cooked. I serve.

What color candle should I use?

In Wicca the color of the candle that you use for rituals and spells is important. Each color represents different qualities or properties, that you would need or use in the spell that you want to cast.

The following is a list of what each color means. By far not a complete and comprehensive list but it will give you a basic idea.

White: Peace, innocence,  the Goddess, purity and truth. Also white can be used in place of any other color.

Black: Binding, protection,repels negativity and can be used for banishment.

Brown: Special favors, to influence friendships and for earth or animal related workings. 

Silver: The Goddess, astral energy, female energy, intuition, dreams, reflection and lunar connections. 

Purple: Luck in finances, hidden knowledge, spiritual power, and ambition. 

Blue: Element of Water, wisdom, protection from evil, calm, good fortune (my understanding is that for these you can use either light blue or dark blue). 

Light Blue: Health, patience and understanding. 

Dark Blue: Depression and vulnerability.

Green: Fertlity, luck, the element of Earth, physical  healing, monetary success, Mother Earth, growth, personal goals and abundance. 

Pink: Love, affection, romance, caring, nutruing and friendship. 

Red: Element of Fire, passion, strength, fast action, career goals, lust, driving force, survival, blood of the moon, courage, sexual potency and health. 

Orange: General success, property deals, legal matters, justice, selling, career matters, attraction and encouragement. 

Copper: Professional growth, business fertlity, career maneuvers, passion and money goals. 

Gold: The God, promote winning, power of the male, happiness, financial gain, business endeavors and solar connections. 

Yellow: The element of Air, intelligence, the sun, memory, logical imagination, accelerate learning, break mental blocks, persuasion and protection. 

So there you have it. This is just a basic list, but it's a start for you all. 

Just a chili day

Today I was off work again. But we had a busy morning. I managed to get a quick well really a slow 2 miles in before we went to work to finish training the new girl. After that we went to storytime.

Kidlet really likes storytime and missed it while the holidays were on.  Other than that it's been a slow day just chilling and spending time with the family. Back to work tomorrow.  So enjoying my family time while I still can.

So there you have my boring day. I also did laundry. For all you that want to know. And managed to fit in my yearly Pap test at my obgyn's office.

Family night out, part 1

It's rare that I get a whole weekend off work. But it just so happens that this weekend is one of them. So we decided to go out and do something. Now where I live there really isn't that much to do around here, but there is this little place called the nickelcade. It's like an arcade and servers pizza and has laser tag.

We decided to tame kidlet there for the first time. He had a blast. Loved it. So many games involve throwing balls and which toddler doesn't like throwing balls around, and then there is the whole putting money in the machines. Kidlet loves putting coins into machines so was in heaven. We got a ton of tickets that you can trade in for prizes. We got kid let candy as most of the prizes were not suitable for the age of kidlet. Also with the diet that kidlet eats which is mainly fruit and vegetables a little candy once in a while I feel isn't a bad thing when in moderation.

After spending a few hours playing games we  went and had dinner out. Poor kidlet was so tired from all the fun fell asleep on the way home. It's was a great night just spending time with kidlet and watching kidlet have some much fun.

Family weekend part 2.

Like I said earlier, working retail I never tend to get weekends off. This weekend was an exception. I managed to get the whole weekend off. As I posted yesterday we went out to family fun area and had tons of fun.

Today hubby spoilt me by taking me to happy sumo. Happy sumo is this amazing sushi place and they do half price sushi on Sundays which is just as well with how much me and hubby love sushi. It didn't always used to be like that, in fact he used to have to drag me kicking and screaming (not literally, but you get the idea). His favorite food is sushi and only has it has a treat. I didn't like it. But it was more the idea of it then the actual food. Then I tired it and slowly started falling in love with it. Which is great as now I have something that me and hubby can enjoy together.

Oh how I missed thee running that is.

Sick of being down about putting weight on, I finally went for a run. Was only planning a quick one round the block without kidlet. But when kidlet insisted on coming how could I say no.

So my quick run to get me out of my funk which was only going to be a quick mile needed up being just over 2 very slow for me miles with the stroller in the ice. My legs hurt my lungs hurt (bronchitis over holidays didn't help) but it felt awesome. Now to keep it up. I forgot how amazing the feeling of running is. It's not pretty, there are some tears, lots of sweat but the feeling it gives you is so worth it.

Just need to remember. Anything is better than nothing. Just wrap up kidlet well with layers and blankets and kidlet will be totally fine.

Don Jon, Sherlock Holmes and others

Last night I finally got to watch Don Jon. I have to say it is one of funniest movies I've seen for a long time. And each character is cast so perfectly. Joseph Gordon-Levitt did an amazing job directing. And the script was witty and a great original concept, which was also written by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This is one film that I will be watching again and again.

While I'm on the subject of films and generally television. I'm looking forward to season 3 of Sherlock coming out. You know the one staring the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch. Now I like Sherlock and have watched quite a few adaptations of the book, (I still need to read the book) and so far my favorite versions have been Robert Downey Jr and Benedict Cumberbatch.  I'm actually still working my way through season 2 of the Cumberbatch version but have loved every second of what I've seen.

I don't really get to watch much television these days as I'm either working or spending time with my kidlet. The little television that I do watch tends to be kids television. So when I find a program or film I love you know it's got to be good.

If I ever became an actress. Which I doubt will ever happen as I'm to fat for Hollywood, and not pretty enough. My dream role would be to play Harlequin in Batman. But thinking about it even if I did become an actress by the time they relaunch Batman in about 10 years I would be to old to play that character.

On the subject of Batman. Christopher Nolan's version is my favourite.  But I am looking forward to seeing how Ben Affleck does as the capped crusader. 

Ben Affleck can be very hit or miss but I personally feel he has gotten better over the years. And some of the best movies he has ever done have been the movies he has directed or been involved in writing.

I've tried my hand at writting as I feel ive had some ideas that would make for some interesting films but I wouldnt know where to start so haven't tried. Maybe I should try. Not that I ever expect them to go anywhere but to at least say that I followed my heart and wrote what was true to me.

Give a while and watch this space and see what happens on this if anything.

Winter

I love winter. To me it's just so romantic. There is just something about snow falling outside, and being snuggled up inside wrapped in blankets with a good book sitting in front of a log fire. But reality is completely different.

This year which is a first for me I'm so done with the the snow and ice and can't wait for it to be spring again. After wrecking my car early in December, I'm not  confident in driving in the conditions right now, but still need to get to work. So still have to drive no matter what.

Also I miss running and can't wait to get back out there. I know people run all year in all kinds of weather but I worry about kidlet stuck in the stroller, so running doesn't happen really in the winter months which does suck.

More variety

So this blog is about me and my intrests and my every day life. It's about the things that I get up to on what I feel is my boring life.

Take today for example. 11 hour shift at work. Had kidlet the whole time. Kid let did great but I'm so glad to be home. I love running and I'm studying Wicca. I count myself as Wiccan but like I've said before I'm still learning.  I plan to talk more about my Wicca when I get a chance, however right now I'm looking at how fat I am and how I need to be healthier, as is common with most New Years.

I am planning a few more Wicca related posts over the next few days. So watch this space for them.

Group 42

I used to belong to, well actually I still belong to a group on Facebook that my one of my friends started. It's called group 42 because of the possible points you can get every week. It's a weight lose group but it's more for encouragement then anything else.

The reason I'm talking about it is because I'm thinking of starting up again. As in counting my points each week and recording them on here. How it works is every day you can get a point for each of the following,  getting 8 hours of sleep each night, drinking your 8 glasses of water each day, not eating sugar ( as in not eating candy, chocolate and cakes), exercise, staying within your calorie allowance each day and lastly not eating after 7pm.

The basic idea is that if you follow each of these everyday you should in turn start to lose weight, and also be leading a healthier lifestyle.I liked doing this when the whole group was doing it and even restarted it with a couple of people after everyone had stopped after a few months.  I'm going to think about it's for the rest of the week and let you know if I decide to start this up again. This is just a simple way to motivate me. And posting my weekly totals and any weight lose on my blog might be enough to keep me going as I then have the accountably.This week I'm working with my jawbone. But this in addition to the jawbone would be a really good idea.

What do you guys think?

Fitness and diet.

If any of you know me before I had my kid I was big like huge. I was 225lb. After giving birth I lost a ton of weight and dropped down to 156lb at my smallest. However over the past year I have managed to gain half of the weight back and I'm now currently around 180lb ish depends on the day.

I never managed to reach my weight lose goal which was to be 145lb. I was nearly there. So with the new year and with hubby making some lifestyle changes I am going to get to my goal weight. Maybe not this year but I will get there. I'm going to do my best this year.

Hubby got me a jawbone up. Only had it about 24 hours right now. But so far I like it. It helps keep me active with the idle reminder and tracks to make sure I'm getting enough sleep. Also I can track my diet to make sure that stays on track. And the best thing I don't even know that I'm wearing it until it vibrates. So for me so far an all round plus.

Let's see how it goes. I need to start running again. But it snowed again today. Looking to buy a treadmill. I will get one day.

My first Wiccan ritual

So on New Year's Eve I did my first Wiccan ritual. I did a new beginnings ritual to see in the new year on a positive note. 

As this was my first ritual and I was nervous to make sure it went well I followed a basic idea from Patti Wiginton who is the wonderful author of paganwiccan.about.com. I love her articles as they are so informative and suitable for every level. I changed the ritual to work with what I wanted to do and changed the wording around but the basic structure came from Patti. I was also still sick so wasn't really able to completely write my own ritual. 

So this is what I did. For this ritual I used. Incense, a black candle, a green candle, paper, pen and a fireproof bowl or cauldron. So firstly I double checked that I had everything that I would need for the ritual. Once I knew I had everything in place I grounded myself by meditating. Once I was ready to start I lit my incense. Now this time I used vanilla incense. I only did this because I find the smell relaxing. But in the future I will try to use incense more designed for the purpose of my ritual. I may post what the different incenses are for at a later date.

I then lit the black candle and watched the flame for a while. While watching the flame I thought about all the negative things that had happened over the past year. I also thought about the negative traits that I have that I want to get rid of and any things that I felt had held me back this year. I wrote all of these down on some paper then when ready I lit the paper in fire with the flame of the black candle. I placed the paper in the fireproof bowl so that it could completely burn. While it was burning I said the following on repeat until the paper had stopped burning. " you are my past I send you away, far away from me, you will no longer hold me back, I banish you, you are banished."

Once the paper was completely burnt. I extinguished the black candle and lit the green candle.  This
time as I watched the flame I thought about all the things I want to achieve this year. All the ways I
can be a better person and tried to set some goals to work on. I wrote all these down on some paper. I then lit the paper using the flame of the green candle. As this piece of paper burnt I said " now is the time for change, time to be a better person, time to be true to myself.  I am strong secure and confident. I am asking for assistance and guidance from the universe to help this year. To help me be who I want to be to help me with my goals. I send my goals put there in this fire and smoke. I know I can be better. "

Once the paper had completely burnt in the fireproof bowl I meditated a little longer. When I was done I extinguished the green candle. I took the bowl of ashes outside and let them scatter into the wind be outside in the universe.

Things that I will would do differently next time. I will cast a circle to help keep me protected while doing ritual work. I will also consecrate my candles, to ensure they are charged with my energy. And 
I would also ask a specific god and goddess for help instead of the universe. The only reason I didn't do that this time is because I'm still researching with god and goddess I'm most connected to. 

So there you have it.

11 hour shift

I'm working on a few lengthy in detail post which I plan to post over the next few days. Today please beat with me on the small not very interesting post.

I'm stuck at work for 11 hours and I'm training so its hard to really type a post.

Yes you heard I'm training, which means I hired. Will see how it goes with the new person.

Hats hats hats

This is a very bad selfie of my wearing one of the hats that I have made.

I'm wondering what people thing about  them. Do you like them? How would you feel about receiving one as a gift? Like I've said before I can get at least 2 out of each ball of yarn and so I'm getting a little collection of ones that I won't use. I don't think I could sell them.  I'm not the best crocheter in the world. But I'm thinking of giving them as gifts what do you think. 

Bucket list.

Last new year I set up my bucket list. A list of things that I wanted to do or achieve before I died. Not that I'm planning on dying anytime soon. Some things on the list were easy and some things I don't know if I will ever achieve but I will try.

So far I have 81 things on my list. I would love to make it an even 100,  but still trying to think of last 20 or so. In the year 2013 I managed to cross off  7 items from my original 81.  I wonder how many I cross off this year. Some are on going like read all the books on my book list. Well as my book list is 5 pages long it will take some time. Same with my watch all the movies on my movie list. That again is a long list and will take some time to finish. Probably doesn't help that I keep adding to both of these lists. Others involve trips around the country and around the world. I'll travel one day. Always wanted to travel and will get to it sometime. Been a dream of mine to travel. I just haven't been able to do so yet.

The items on my list that I managed to cross off were run a half marathon. I did this on September 14th. My time was 2 hours 19 minutes and 07 seconds. This is a little way off my ultimate time goal but I don't think to bad for my first half. And I only started running June 2012.

Another item crossed off the list was to crochet something to wear. Now I have been knitting fora. Few years and have made several items. I learned to crochet as well but for some reason I always had problems understanding crochet patterns. So I set myself the goal of following a pattern and making something to wear. I completed my first hat on September 24th. And haven't stopped making them since.

Being Wiccan I have a love for the earth and trying to grow plants and flowers. My problem is I don't have a green thumb at all. In the past whenever I have tried to grow something it always dies no matter how hard I try. Well with a little help from my very green fingered Mother in Law I managed to have a small vegetable patch over the summer.  It wasn't big but we had quite a good harvest. I planted some peas. A cherry tomato plant a big boy tomato plant and a bell pepper. The only pepper that I got fell off while I was out of town for a weekend over the summer. The peas where delicious. The big boy tomato plant gave a small harvest, but was drowned out by the cherry tomato plant. Which for some reason became the biggest tomato plant I had ever seen, and according to my Mother in Law the biggest she had ever seen. We got a ton of tomatoes off that one plant alone.

Some of the simple things on my bucket list are just to try different kinds of foods. One of them was eggs Benedict. Tried that liked them would eat them again.

I love food and I love great food so it's no surprise that I have want to eat at some of the worlds most famous chefs restaurants. I would love to eat at a Gordan Ramsay restaurant, a Jamie Oliver restaurant and a Bobby Flay restaurant. All of these are on my list. But I was lucky enough to eat at Bobby Flay's Meza Grill in Las Vegas.  The food was amazing. Totally have to go again. Also while on the same trip to Las Vegas I saw my first real music concert. I got to see The Who live in concert. Loved it one of the best days of my life. The whole experience was phenomenal.

Unfortunately this year with sickness in hours over all of the holiday season we were unable to go to the family thanksgiving meal. So this allowed me to cross off make an entire thanksgiving meal from scratch off my list.

So it leaves me wondering this year. What will I cross off this year???

Cleaning

The first day I get off I'm the new year is always a cleaning day. Mainly because I work so much over the holiday season that the house just seems to never quite be organized.

So today I basically just cleaned my house. Boring I know but it needs to be done. So let's see if we can make my life sound more interesting. Nope sorry can't think of anything. I really do lead a boring life. I'm still studying my Wicca when I get a chance. And work is well work. Still trying to hire someone for one of my stores. I have someone in mind but still have another person to interview. So will see how that goes.

Otherwise today was just a normal day. Vacuumed the floor, did a ton of laundry and took the bedding to the laundromat to get that cleaned, cooked some food and organized some of my cupboards,

Interviewing.

I'm currently hiring at one of the stores that I manage.  So today was the day I was conducting interviews. Hiring is always stress but more so right after the holidays.
So far its been nothing but one disaster after another with the interviews. And I haven't even started them yet. ;-).

I really am hoping to find someone good in this batch that I'm doing today. But you would really be surprised with how bad interviews go these days. Let me throw a few things out there about dress code.

Sneakers, ripped jeans and a hoody are not I repeat are not appropriate to wear to a job interview. Neither is having your headphones in your ears for the entire interview.  Also its never a good idea to sit through your interview and basically beg for the job. Its not attractive and in my opinion not needed. If you are what the employer is looking for then your skills, experience and qualifications will do the  begging for you.

Also another thing about interviews. No shows. If you say your going to attend an interview then please go. Unless a major emergency arises which sometimes happens you need to go to your interview. The employer has set time aside to see you, the least you can take the time to go. Another thing if you can't make it or decide you don't want the job, phone the person doing the interviews and tell them you are unable to make it. Common decency I feel is lacking these days.

It seems that everytime I do interviews these days I have at least one no show, and always always have  at lesst one person dress inappropriately. So I'm thinking of my top five tips for interviewers.

1. Attire : I work in retail, so it's not required for you to wear the whole business outfit you know the shirt and tie or nice skirt and blouse if your a girl. But looking smart and as if you want the job does make an impression. Black pants works well as well as a smart looking top.

Things that shouldn't be worn. Jeans especially if they have holes, bleach marks and frayed edges. Hooded sweaters, sneakers, flip flops, t-shirts with cartoon characters, and mini skirts. Also please note it's also a good idea to make sure that you don't have plunging necklines, midriffs on show or to much leg from skirts being to short. These looks are great for everyday or for going out clubbing but not really the look you want for a job interview.

2: Pay Attention. During the interview it is always a good idea to pay attention to the questions that are being asked of you, if only so you can answer the question. There is nothing worse than having to repeat questions or having to explain a very simple question to someone in order for them to answer it. For example I often ask what are your strengths? To me this seems like an easy to understand question. But more often then not I have to explain what I mean by this question. "What are you good at", or " what do you enjoying doing" have been other ways I've had to explain this question.

3: Speak in whole sentences. Most answers to interview questions are not one word answers. The interviewer is after as much information as they can get to find out if you really are the best person for the job. Answering every question with a yes or no doesn't help the employer and in the long run it doesn't help you. How can you sell yourself if all your answers are one word.

4: Bring your resume. It's always good to hand in a copy of  your resume with any application that you submit. Application forms are very limited in regards to allowing someone to write down all of the work history, experience, and references a person may have. The more information you can give a potential employer the better it looks for you. It's also a good idea to bring a spare copy of your resume to the interview just in case they either didn't get it with the application or on the rare occasion paperwork can go missing. I personally think this is smart as it shows you want to sell yourself and you are keen to make a good impression. However saying this most people don't know how to write an effective resume. A resume is used to sell you. Make it look professional and impressive. But don't use pink paper like some people have. Just normal white stock is fine. Research how to write a great resume before printing one.

5: Stay calm. Its hard I know ypur nervous you want the job and worried about making a good impression.  The person doing the interview is probably just as nervous as you are. 

Feedback.

If anyone has any feedback on how to improve this little blog please let me know. Is there some content you want to see? Do you want more pictures? More information about certain things let me know. Thanks.

New Years Day 2014.

So new goal for the year. Update blog on daily. Use it kinda like a diary.

Today was really a chill type of day. Just spent time with my family till I had to go to work. I'm enjoying my last day of junk food. Back on the diet for me. Having lost 60lbs back in 2012. I'm sad to say that almost 30 lbs of that has found its way back.

I know my weaknesses, I got lazy with my diet and thought I could eat what I wanted when I wanted and everything would be fine. The weight would just stay off. No I was wrong.  But here's to new chances.  I am still aiming for my original weight goal. I'm hoping to get there this year and stay there.

I'm also planning to increase my running miles and have set the goal to run at least 500 miles this year.

That just leaves Wicca. I will continue my studies in this area and practice more

I went to work today for a few hours. I was busy with customers, but managed to start a craft project. Right now I'm really into hats. I love them it means I don't need to worry about my hair so much. I've been trying to make a hat in every color to go with as many clothes as I can. I can make 2 hats out of one ball of yarn. This means I use a whole ball of yarn and have gifts on hand when I need them. Pretty neat idea. At least that's what I think. 

New beginnings

Yesterday I did a new beginnings ritual as part of my Wiccan New Years celebrations. It was one of the first rituals that I've ever done. I'm feeling positive about it and the new year.

This is one of the first years that I haven't really dwelt in the past about all the chances I've had  and blown. 2013 wasn't the best year for me. Looking forward to 2014 trust me. 

Happy new year everyone.