Enumerated things.

1. We are house hunting! Omg. This is too adult for me. But we looked at several houses yesterday and fell in love...with the first one we looked at. Of course. Let's see what happens.
2. I ate escargot for the first time last night. The taste was spectacular, but after 2 seconds of chewing, my brain realized there was a SLUG rolling around in my mouth and couldn't let it go.
3. The last two times Schmoobs and I went out to have dinner and drinks with some friends at nice, fancy schmancy establishments, I have ordered (happy) pork chops and both times the dish came underdone. And I have had to embarrass myself by sending the dish back both times to get cooked further so I don't get pork worms or something. Is this a thing now? Rare pork? At nice restaurants? Ugh. No pork for me next time, I think.

That is all. I have prepared two presentation outlines for my seminars tomorrow, but I have also neglected the four journal article readings that are due. Whoops. Ain't nobody got time for that! Literally.

I gave up making Resolutions years ago (right about the time my aging metabolism started to slow...) but I suppose this comes close.

After journeying back here to Grad School Land and slowly readjusting to life being the only One In The House Who Cooks (i.e. I was tired a lot and hence we ate out a lot.), it didn't take long for Schmoobs and I to really start feeling like our bodies were in need of getting back to regularly eating healthy, home-cooked meals (read: we were super bloated). The multitude of vestige holiday sweets still habitating every nook and cranny of our kitchen also did not help. And then yesterday, Schmooblebottoms was in our Room of A Thousand Unpacked Boxes lifting a box (duh) when he yelped out and whimpered, "I did something to my back." At first I thought it was just a minor pull that might wear off in the next hour or so, but as he lied down on the couch throughout the afternoon, it became clear that it was pretty bad. His attempts to even sit up resulted in him collapsing back into a horizontal heap on the couch and he literally could not even stand up for one second.

(Side note: Because of this - and because of some effing weird and annoying problem we've been having with our car alarm - I was the one who had to go outside in the frozen dark shadows and disconnect our car battery for the night so the alarm wouldn't wake us and the entire neighborhood up a hundred thousand times in the middle of the night. And I did it! Without electrocuting myself! I AM WOMAN!!)

Anyway, this is all to say that Schmoobles awoke this morning (able to walk, albeit gingerly, thank Jeebus!) determined to make some lifestyle changes that would promote better health. We have gone through these health kicks many times before, some more successful and long-lasting than others. But - and this is important - this is the first time that I saw him take all the unopened beers from the refrigerator and empty them out in the sink. Like, whoa. Go Schmoobs.

Long story short, I am really enjoying getting back into cooking at home, eating more meals in, and all around avoiding more bloatation (although I did have some cheesy poofs last night - hey, I'm human!). I even started a cute foodie cooking club Facebook group with a couple of Tennessee friends. Check it out and join if you want! And today, Schmoobles and I bought a fancy schmancy new Breville juicer and our first weekly supply of produce. Also, some happy chicken, salmon, and eggs because All Veggies And No Protein Makes Ysabel A Stabby Girl. And then when we got home I totally unpacked all the groceries and organized about the first few days worth of fruit, cucumber, celery, and carrots into instantly-juiceable little orderly containers. Look at my beautiful creation. LOOK AT IT!!!

So, that's it. While Schmooliedoos snoozes away on the couch resting his achy back, I am sitting here eating a delicious bowl of leftover homemade chicken kaldereta with spinach and rice. Oh, and a little glass of vodka and (fresh squeezed!) orange juice. Being healthier doesn't have to mean sucking out all of life's joyful pleasures, doy.

Things I Wanted To Blog While Waiting In Line At The Social Security Office And DMV But Couldn't Because The Blogger App Kept Crashing.

• Somebody near me smells of spoiling milk mixed with overripe jackfruit. It better be a baby who has spit up. If it's not a baby who has spit up, then that is inexcusable and disgusting.
• The security officer here looks like Dwight Schrute. Also, I caught him picking both his nose and his ear - WITH THE SAME PINKY. Ewwww. I made sure to stay a very safe distance from that pinky when I had to go up and ask him a question.
• A fun (not really) game to play while waiting in a crammed government service administrative office is "Meth Addict or Not A Meth Addict?" (I've been really into watching past episodes of 'Intervention' on Hulu, so I'm pretty much an expert at this game.)
• After waiting over two hours - TWO HOURS!!! - at the Social Security office, I finally made my triumphant way to a service window, where the nice government worker had a really creepy (nervous?) laugh that he punctuated literally every single statement with: "Oh, yes, you're passport will do... *HEEheeheehee!*" and "Oh! This program just won't let me in for some reason... *HeeHEEEEhee!*" After sitting at the window another ten minutes while he tried to get the program to work - the program that would print out the two pages of paperwork that I needed to get my driver's license at the DMV (up next) and that I had just waited over two hours for, he started saying things like, "Well...either I'll get you your form today...or I won't. *HEEHEEheeee!*" and then I smiled politely while simultaneously stabbing him in the face metaphorically with my icy death eyeballs. Needless to say, he got the program to work and I walked away finally with the social security letter that I needed. *HEEHEEheeeEEE!*
• Two silver linings: 1) There was no fee for applying for a new Social Security card or receipt letter. Me to goverment worker at window: "There's no fee for this? Well, at least that's one piece of good news since I lost my wallet!" and 2) The DMV was super fast and I had the $20 cash in my purse that I needed to pay for the new license. Yay.
• Meanwhile, at the DMV office: There was absolutely zero point in me picking a cute colorful top and straightening my hair this morning because it pretty much GOT COMPLETELY CUT OUT of my license photo!! Go figure. Whatever. I have my new Social Security card coming in the mail (Note to self: Don't keep your card in your wallet anymore, you effing dummy.) and a new Kentucky driver's license in my purse. Mission accomplished today. The reward is Cheez-Its. The end.

My New Year's Resolution should be to get back to blogging.

Or something to do with daily lunges and squats.

30+ year old butts, you guys. It's not automatic anymore.

Anyway, 2012 in a nutshell?

Left Texas.
Moved to Kentucky to start the long-awaited Ph.D.
Gave myself bangs.
Lost my wallet.

That's about it.

I have a lot to say about this Ph.D. business. Some good. Also some not good. Hopefully I'll get to all that when I start this "New Year's Resolution" blogging thing. In the meantime, I have one week until the start of the second semester, so I am doing as much Real Housewives viewing as possible. While waiting for my good karma points to return my wallet back to me, that is.