Caro’s Ramblings

15Feb
0

Miscellaneous Updates

As per usual, it’s been a while. Life never stops being hectic I suppose. Here’s a few updates:

*My wedding dress arrived. 2 months early no less. I freaked out, so I started really getting my ass in gear. Gym, better food choices, more water – the whole 9 yards. I finally tried it on a couple of weeks ago and it doesn’t fit. I don’t know what in the hell happened, because I ordered it based on my measurements the day it was ordered. Apparently I gained weight between ordering the dress in September, and picking it up in January. And by gained weight, I mean in excess of the 5 lbs I lost in January. HOW did that happen?

*In related news, I started Jenny Craig, and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m halfway to my goal!! Hopefully by the time I reach this goal I will fit into the dress….

*I also signed up for a spin class. I don’t know if I’ve previously mentioned this or not, but it’s going pretty well. I’ve lost a little momentum due to being ill, but I’m getting better at this class. Have you ever taken a spin class? It’s hard. It looks grueling for a reason: it is. My legs are so strong though, and surprisingly my tummy is getting flatter. It doesn’t seem like a total body workout, but it kind of is. I might sign up for this again. I say might because did I mention how hard it is? Lol

*I’m officially going back to school! I applied to a couple of local programs as a supplement to the education I’ve already completed, and so far one of them likes me. I have an interview at another (albeit expensive) school next week. Really, it’s only a consideration if they’re gonna throw lots of $$ my way. Let’s face it – I’m on a budget and student loans SUCK. It’s really down to the school that has accepted me and a third school that won’t decide for a couple of months. I really hate waiting!

*People keep dying. I think the tally so far is 3. While I wish I could say it’s 3 in my lifetime (laughable!) I really mean three in the last several months. Yes, since creating our wedding guest list, 3 of the people on it are no longer living. At this rate, we will have no one left to share our special day with. Well that’s a lie. At each funeral we think of more people to invite. The take away message here is that I’d be stoked if I didn’t have anyone else close to me or my fiance die for a while. Thank you.

*Related to this, the Fiance decided he has “non-proposal regret” LOL. In his words, “If I had proposed last year all these people could have come.” While my first instinct is to say “I TOLD YOU SO JERK”, that’s just not appropriate. We’re in a better place this year, and we ended up planning our dream wedding. I can’t say that would have happened last year. And who’s to say these people who are missing out aren’t there in spirit? I’ll go with that :)

That’s all I can think of in terms of updates for now. Maybe I’ll post my “Wedding Planning Updates”. Maybe. That could be a seriously boring post LOL

Posted by Caro in Life, News, Random, School, Weddings
17Jan
2

Movie Review: The King’s Speech

I just saw The King’s Speech with my mom. It was as good as I thought it would be!! I have always had a fascination with the British Royal Family, so it was pretty cool to see a glimpse of life on the inside for one of the members. I also really enjoy Colin Firth, so this was a great combination. He definitely deserved the Golden Globe he won for this role last night!

I really have no critiques of this movie. I loved it. I definitely laughed and was moved. I highly recommend this!!

Posted by Caro in Movies, Rants and raves
14Jan
3

A Unicorn Sandwich

It has come to my attention that most people have no idea wtf I’m talking about when I reference my sister’s affinity for a “unicorn sandwich”. Don’t worry, she’s not eating the meat of a one horned mythical horse.

For some reason, my sister has always had a strange obsession with unicorns. From a young age, she played exclusively with My Little Pony, and had quite a collection of their special unicorn series. And watch out – if she was playing with a unicorn it was best not to mess with her. She’s feisty!

This obsession grew to the point that one night at dinner she seriously scared my mother. We were sitting at the table, and my then 4 year old sister exclaimed “I feel very weird. Something strange is happening!” My mother thought she was having some allergic reaction to something she was eating and was very concerned. When prompted for more information, my sister responded with, “I feel strange. I feel…like…I’m turning into a unicorn!!!”

Seriously? Yes, this absolutely happened. I can’t make this shit up.

So on to the sandwich. When we were little, my grandma would take care of us during the day on summer break. She always made us lunch, and I remember always hating what she made. I mean, I was like 7 or 8 and was picky about foods. And seriously, what kid wants to eat an apple for lunch? And a PBJ? Hell no. My dad introduced me to a concoction I still eat regularly: the peanut butter banana sandwich (also good as nutella and banana). Every day I would help my grandma in the kitchen while she made lunch. I mean, I couldn’t have this old lady messing up my food after all.

My sister got jealous. Why did I get to make special food and she didn’t? She wanted in, so we let her make her own sandwich one day. I’m not even kidding you, this is how it was made:

1. Pull out 2 slices of bread.

2. Slather peanut butter on one slice, jelly on the other.

3. On the peanut butter side, add 5 Oreo cookies, shaped together the way the number 5 appears on dice.

4.On top of the Oreos,  layer on some marshmallow spread.

5. On the jelly side, add a generous portion of goldfish crackers. Don’t be shy. Seriously. Add more.

6. On top of the goldfish, add a few potato chips, but not too many. Maybe some regular Lays, maybe some Nacho Cheese Doritos. It doesn’t matter.

7. Ever so carefully put the 2 sides together. This is going to be a challenge. Goldfish will spill, jelly might drip. Don’t worry about it. You’re 4 and it’s OK to make a mess.

I believe the first time my sister made this our grandmother and I halted our own lunch making and just stared at her. Was this really happening? Yep. When she was done, we asked her, “What in God’s name is that?”

Of course, this masterpiece could only be called one thing. A Unicorn Sandwich.

And without a doubt, my sister consumed the entire thing.

Posted by Caro in Family, Life, Random
14Jan
0

Republicans In Action

It’s no secret that I love Jon Stewart. Regardless of who he’s making fun of, he always makes his point and makes me laugh. In this instance, there’s not really much that had to be said.

Check this out: RNC chairman candidates must name their political hero, aside from Ronald Reagan, defend marriage, and reveal how many guns they own.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Top of the GOPs
www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook
Posted by Caro in Hilarious, News, Politics, Videos
14Jan
0

It’s Been A While: Christmas Catchup

OK it’s been a while. Let’s talk about Chrismas!

As usual, this was a fun filled holiday break with family and lots of food. I got some time off work, and as per usual it flew by way too quickly. For Christmas Eve we went to a family friend’s and had some of the most amazing lasagna I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. On Christmas, we headed to my parents and enjoyed a nice relaxing day of football, food and presents.

My niece hit the jackpot. Santa came to both her house AND my parents house, and something about being 4 always means that your stack of presents from family is at least 7 times larger than anyone else’s. I really wish I had a picture of the MOUNTAIN of gifts she received. And each one was better than the last. I love that she is 4 but still appreciates receiving anything, clothes included.

I got some pretty awesome stuff, but my favorite has to be my new Keurig Elite Brewing System. Single serving coffee with an assortment of flavors….it truly doesn’t get better than this! The fiance knows me well ;)

After Christmas my sister-in-law-to-be flew up for a few days. We did some of the touristy things and took her to a museum with penguins and reindeer. Real ones. God I love California! I also received some of the items on my wedding registry for entertaining. Feeling in the Christmas spirit, I threw a small gathering. Cheese spreader? Check. Serving platters? Check. Fancy new wine glasses. Clearly!

After the SIL left, one of J’s friends came up. Two house guests in one week was a bit stressful, but it was holiday break so I didn’t mind. J and his friend played a lot of video games while I did some more things to get ready for the wedding. (The makeup trial didn’t go so well, but that’s for another post.)

All in all, I’d say this was a great holiday.  I got to spend time with people I don’t see nearly enough, I got to play hostess, and I got to relax, even if only a little bit. Can’t wait to do it again next year lol!

Posted by Caro in Life
17Dec
0

Italy Chronicles: Rome part 2

Hi my name is Caro, and I’m a camel. Seriously. My target to combat the heat was to drink 15 8-oz glasses of water per day. This is a totally arbitrary amount that I pulled out of my ass. And on this particular day? Yeah I had almost 20.  That’s 160 ounces of water and I was still somewhat parched.

To put things in perspective, this happened on the day I did the “Caesar Shuffle”. We started at the Colosseum then headed to the Forum in the peak of the sun. Shade in ancient ruins is few and far between. Then we did Palentine Hill (ruins of the emperors homes). In case there was some question, it should be known that ruins are my favorite!!

inside the colosseum

no shade + 110 degrees. OMG

things i'm obsessed with: ruins and mosaics

some ruins at palatine hill

Being a day ahead of “schedule” we took a leisurely lunch at the top of the capitol building. After lunch we headed to the Catacombs of San Callisto. SO INTERESTING. a couple of former popes, some saints, and martyrs were buried there at one point, although the catacombs have since been looted and almost nothing remains. There’s about 20km of hallways of mass burials so MILLIONS of people were buried down in there. As an added bonus: it was so nice and cool in the catacombs and our tour guide was a priest from Australia. Sweet!

exit out of the catacombs of san callisto

We spent another day or two wandering the Crypts of the Capuchin Monks, the Pantheon, and some other miscellaneous sites and museums. Our final day in the city was meant to be spent taking full advantage of the spa at the hotel. However, this turned into “lets go to the hospital for pink eye then take a nap” day. I should mention that our hotel was on the outskirts of the city. There was not one English or Spanish speaker at the hospital. Somehow I managed to give them my name, tell them I had conjunctivitis, express my allergies, and gave a list of my current medications. Oh and the health care system in Italy ROCKS. I got in and out in an hour and the total bill (since im foreign) was €25. Seriously less than 40 bucks for a hospital visit including medicine is awesome.

the pantheon: under construction

the trevi fountain lights up nice at night!

but there are SO MANY PEOPLE there!

We spent out last night in Rome enjoying the night view from our balcony, then a man started yelling from over his balcony to down below. I initially assumed he was either crazy, drunk, or both. “Hello!! Hello!!” Then he started with “Can you send somebody up?” Um what? then he elaborated. “The door is closed” = dude locked himself out on the balcony. It was hilarious.

Posted by Caro in Travel and tagged with ,
17Dec
0

This Makes Me Super Angry

It’s definitely not news that the Catholic Church has some issues. Why they continue to cover up pedophile priests instead of defrocking them is something I will never understand. Here’s a great case in point:

Vatican tried to keep Irish child rapist as priest

I consider myself lucky. I went to Catholic school from K-12. My K-8 was located on a property with a church that had 10 or more priests. Priests constantly came and went. Thankfully nothing happened to me. Unfortunately, a boy at a nearby Catholic school was molested. This is just not OK.

I was at my old K-8 last month with my family and fiance. It was their annual carnival and priests were wandering around. Keep in mind my fiance attended public school and is not Christian. His ignorance about why things were done the way they were really opened my eyes. This conversation in particular really woke me up:

Fiance: What grades did the priests teach?
Me: They didn’t teach. We had all female teachers, and they had nothing to do with the church
Fiance: Then what did the priests do?
Me: They just wandered around campus at recess and lunch
Fiance: Wait a minute. You had Catholic priests wandering school for no purpose other than to spend time with little boys and girls?
Me: Well they played with us at recess. Showed us magic tricks.
Fiance: Um you’re proving my point….and did they give you Jesus Juice? That generally sounds like a bad idea

Again, thankfully nothing happened to me, or to anyone else at my school that I’m aware of. But seriously – with this kind of a set up you’re just inviting bad things to happen. It really makes me angry that not only is the coverup continuing, but there has been no change in the structure of the organization. Why are priests wandering elementary schools? Seriously. I am outraged.

On a happier note, this makes me laugh. Pope Benedict recently watched a show of half naked male acrobats (they were half naked cuz they stripped down in front of him…). There are way too many comments I could make, so I’ll just let you enjoy ;)

Posted by Caro in Fears, News, Rants and raves, Videos
09Dec
0

Safe-Sex PSA

This is so hilarious that it made its way to someecards. So much for a realistic/informative ad campaign!

Posted by Caro in Health, Hilarious, Random
07Dec
0

Italy Chronicles: Rome Part 1 and Vatican City

Every adventure has to start somewhere, and mine started in California, at the airport. I got sick 2 days before the big trip. Fever and all. To top it off, the vent wasn’t working in the back of the airplane. I strongly feel that just because I paid less than everyone else doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be entitled to basic necessities like air. Anyway, long story short, I almost fainted on the plane. They made me lay down on the filty cabin floor and put my feet up on the emergency slide. EW. This was seriously the longest plane ride ever, but we finally made it. And boy was it worth the wait!
Our hotel was beyond words. We stayed at the Rome Cavalieri and our room has a breathtaking view of the city.
inside our hotel room

View from our room

Pool view at night

Posted by Caro in Travel and tagged with , ,
03Dec
3

Conundrum

Fact: I’m addicted to going to school. When I’m in school, I hate writing papers, I don’t necessarily like all the reading that’s assigned, and tests can certainly kiss my ass, but I’ve learned to be quite good at all of it. I just like learning new things so it’s all worth it. And my problem is that I just can’t seem to stop.

Case in point: I’m applying to go back to school. Again. Let’s see – I did my 4 years of college. Took some time off. Got bored and started taking classes at the local community college. Then I decided to change careers and went back for a master’s degree. I’ve been out of school less than 2 years, and here I am, applying to back to school. Again.

Why? Cuz I’m a masochist. Seriously.

My first degree was useless. No joke – don’t get an undergrad degree in Psychology. There is not one damn thing you can do it. I then got a master’s in something a little more useful. And now to get the job I want I need a little more training. So I’m going back to school.

So on to my conundrum.

One of the schools I’m applying to requires 3 letters of recommendation. I have 2 solid letters from recent supervisors. However, I’m at a loss for my third letter writer. Here are the choices:

A) My current supervisor in my field. However, I’ve only known her a little over a month.
B) My current supervisor not in my field. I’ve known him almost 4 years and he’ll write a great letter, but it’s not quite related to what I want to do
C) A former teacher who knew me pretty well, but with whom I’ve had no contact for a year and a half
D) A former supervisor who knew me relatively well, but with whom I’ve had no contact for 2 years

Help me choose!! I need to get accepted to this program!

Posted by Caro in Life, School, Work
Next Page »
« Previous Page