NaBloPoMo Prompt #9

Prompt: What season do YOU think is the most wonderful time of the year? Is it winter?

Actually, my favorite ie most wonderful time of the year is fall. While I love the warmer weather, I always feel warm and fuzzy when the temps fall down into the 60-70's, the leaves start changing, and everything becomes about pumpkin. I'll have bouts of sadness when I realize winter is next and boating season is over, but I still prefer it over the other seasons.

A Comprehensive List of Things I Love About Fall

Because everyone needs a list detailing the season that they love. Also, the photos below are NOT mine. If you'd like to know where they're from (aside from Google) just email me.

1. Pumpkin spice lattes. That includes ones made by Starbucks and those made at home by Coffeemate
   
   
   
   

1. Boots. I collect boots. Now I can wear then without looking like a freak.

   

   Yes, I want these

2. Decorating for fall. Soon my entire downstairs will be decorated with autumn colors including the mantle...especially the mantle
   
3. Pumpkin spice candles. It smells better than cat litter.
   
4. Halloween. Not so much the trick-or-treating but the decorating and the candy. I especially enjoy shopping for Halloween decorations.
   
5. Pumpkin spice Oreos. Yeah, you read that correctly.
   
6. ABC Family 13 Nights of Halloween. Don't judge, I love Hocus Pocus.
   
7. Apple Cider. Spiked or not, specially warm, it's good stuff.
   
8. Gourds. This weekend I plan on going to a local farm and buying many. And by many I mean enough that it take several trips by myself to get them from the car to the house and then several hours to decide how to arrange them.
   
9. Pumpkin-cranberry bread. It's the only seasonal thing I can bake and I didn't make any last year. WTH???
   
10. Carving pumpkins. Alister and I aren't masters at it but we can come up with some good pukey pumpkins.
    
11. Pumpkin pie. Yum.
    
12. The weather. I can wear jeans! And boots! And scarves! Oh my!
13. My dogs no longer hate going out. In other words it's cool enough for them to enjoy a walk without overeating, and lie in the sun without panting to death.
14. The leaves changing. They're more beautiful up in the mountains but any glimmers of gold and orange make me happy.
    
15. Camping/hiking. The mountains of NC are perfect for this.
    

I hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as I am!

Autumn Equinox, Fall, & Randomness

Tonight at 10:29pm (in Raleigh) the Autumn 2014 Equinox will occur. It will mark one of two days during the year when the length of day and night is almost equal. Of course, after that, the days will become shorter and the nights will become longer. I've heard many people say that they experience seasonal depression during this time (and into the winter) but I'm the absolute opposite; I LOVE fall. It's my all-time favorite season with spring coming in a close second. And what happens the day after the equinox? That's right: fall officially starts.

The weather cools down, but not so much that I have to break out my beloved down jacket. We're still able to squeeze in some more lake days, but the dogs can now run around without overheating. The leaves start to change, especially in the mountains, and the night time temperatures up there make it the perfect time for camping and hiking. You can drive with the windows rolled down and it's perfectly acceptable to wear boots or flip flops.

Also, it becomes the season for apple cider, pumpkin EVERYTHING, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I've always been a fan of Halloween, and while I don't go out to parties or have kids to take trick-or-treating, the decorations alone make me happy; Alister and I even have inflatable Halloween decorations for the yard! Thanksgiving is synonymous with family in my life, and I always look forward to stuffing my face while spending time with loved ones, whether the crowd this year grows smaller or larger. As for apples and pumpkins, I can never get enough. If I'm not eating it or drinking it, I have candles that smell like some or gourds stacked up in and around the house.

So, for those of you who are mourning the passing of summer, don't worry- it will be back. For those who love the fall like I do, I suggest a trip to the mountains while the leaves are changing, a campfire, and some fresh apple cider. If you can't do that, a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte may suffice.

Random Updates:

• Indy went to the vet on Friday. He lost another 1.5 pounds. On the flip side, his kidney values had all improved and he's not considered in kidney failure anymore. We also did full body x-rays and he doesn't have any masses or blockages. On paper he looks healthy so the vet said for now keep offering him all different foods and eventually he'll eat something b/c she can't find a reason why he's not.
• I went to the urologist today. I have 5 small stones in the right (from the broken down large one) still and apparently one forming in the left. Sigh. I told him we could do the ureteroscopy over winter break.
• I worked all weekend. I love my job.
• Alex, Laird, and Kris seem to be adjusting well and now have a place to live on the AF base. She has a blog so if she's invited you and you never accepted the invitation, please email her; her pictures are very pretty.
• I have 2 exams this week, a discussion board, and a case study due. I think this school is trying to off people in the first semester.
• #100HappyDays

Chocolate torte

My parents

A hat my coworker made me

My poopers

EDITED TO ADD: Today I found out that my Groupon acct had been hacked. Someone got access to my account and tried to buy a laptop. Luckily my AmEx that I had saved on there for purchases denied it. When I attempted to logon to Groupon it kept denying me, and when I requested a new password it told me that there was no account with that email (which is bullshit). After doing some research online I discovered that Groupon hacking is not only common but that it occurs on the weekends usually when Groupon customer service is closed. Long story short, Groupon says they were unable to give me access to anything because the account with my email "wasn't traceable" once the hacker changed it so I just called my card companies (that had been used with Groupon) and had to report them stolen. I've lost any unused purchased Groupons too (grrr). While I still love the website, I HIGHLY suggest that no one store ANY cards on there for quick purchases, which may be common sense but sense which I ignored and then paid for. I will say that I'm disappointed in Groupon's lack of security. Someone can log on to an account, change all of the basic info, but use the cards without having to re-enter any specifics (card's full number, security number, etc)? Fail.

#100HAPPYDAYS and Updates

I'm slowly but surely catching up on everything I mentioned in my last (serious) post. Some things have gotten easier; other things, such as my kidney stones, have not. I went to my urologist on Tuesday, and once the xray was done he skipped the exam and led me down the hall to see the film. The good news? The litho worked and broke the stone up into 4-5 small pieces. The bad news? They're all sitting there along with a nice hematoma and continuing to cause me constant pain. The result? Drink more water and come back in two weeks. At that point, if I'm still having pain, he wants to do a ureterscopy and stent. I don't think so. Enter the inversion table.

Red face

According to my urologist AND multiple peer-reviewed articles, inversion tables have been shown to help post-lithotripsy fragments pass b/c it helps force the stones via gravity towards the top where the ureter connects. So now I'm putting myself at risk for water toxicity daily with my 4+ liters and hanging upside down with a bright red face trying to force tiny pieces of calcium oxylate out of my body. Go team!

On another note, I went to my shrink and she is taking me off of my nutty meds, and instead running a DNA test to find out which kinds of drugs my body does and doesn't respond to and which ones would be more likely to cause side effects. I never even knew genes could tell you that much already. Surprise! Needless to say, I'm already feeling better while I'm being weaned off the crazy drugs; no crying for days.

As for my #100HAPPYDAYS, here are a few of my chosen photos...

Boating

Indy-Meow

Sushi boats

Battleship

Pumpkin everything

Pen-Pen

Beer flights

Also, Alister brought me a huge bouquet of flowers to work for our 3 year anniversary. Love some pretty flowers.

Six Things Saturday

I missed Five Things Friday...for several weeks now...but I felt the urge to publish something. I know I have family members who click on this page out of habit by now, so no need to completely disappear despite my overwhelming urge to run away and never come back.

1. I've been re-thinking what I want this blog to be about. I love to read others' blogs about fitness and running, mainly because they help keep me motivated, but I've realized that I personally have no interest in writing about that stuff. I genuinely don't want to share how far I ran yesterday, or how long it took me, or what I ate that will make others roll their eyes and tell me to just eat a burger already. I run, several times a week, but I run for my own personal health and not to impress anyone else. I believe beer and cupcakes are a food group, and regardless of the fact that I slave for 12 hours over people who are diabetic, artery clogged, morbidly obese messes, I have no intention of not eating things that make me happy. I just have to run longer to make up for it; totally worth the sacrifice. With all of that said, I'm still not sure what type of blog I want this to be, but I know it won't be a fitness or food one.

2. I received my first Stitch Fix a couple of weeks ago and ended up loving two of the items, a light sweater/jacket and a loose hippie- looking shirt. I meant to take pictures of both of them on me, but I'm not a fan of selfies and asking my husband to do it just opens up a whole new can of ridiculous worms. I will say that I've already scheduled my next Fix for Sept 20th and I'm looking forward to seeing what my stylist sends then!

3. I've rediscovered Pinterest. I forgot how many awesome pumpkin recipes appear on there and how many neat tattoos and outfits I end up loving. Plus it's an excellent waste of time considering I still haven't re-opened my Facebook account (go me!).

4. Our youngest cat is very photogenic and she has no problem posing for the camera. Enough said.

5. I started decorating for fall. I love fall. I especially love fall because the horrible humid heat starts to go away AND because it means everything pumpkin. For those who don't know, I LOVE pumpkin. Once I get back from vacation (which will be in a different post), I will begin my annual collection of pumpkins and gourds.

6. I did yard work today. That's right- I haven't mowed the lawn since I was a kid living on Harvey St but, while sitting outside enjoying a Dogfish Head beer, I made the snap decision to get sweaty and grassy. I also walked through a whole bunch of dog poop but at least the backyard looks good. I think even AB was impressed. Next time I get the urge I will wear gloves.

Five Things Friday

1. I am absolutely in love with Sudocrem. My sister first introduced me to it about a year ago as a possible treatment for my cystic acne, for which I've pretty much tried everything. I briefly gave it a shot (so I'm a little impatient) before finally going to a dermatologist and getting put on Spironolactone (miracle acne drug for me). My little jar of Sudocrem was then vanquished to the back of my bathroom cabinet until recently, when AB asked if he could try it for some chaffing. While it didn't make a huge difference for my acne, apparently it is a miracle cure for chaffing! Since then both AB and I have tried using it for various things and this is what it works wonderfully for (so far):

• Chaffing (for the third time0
• Razor burn
• Rashes of unknown origin
• Blisters
• Hot spots on my dog*
• Calluses on my dog's bony joints*
• My dog's ever-inflamed butt*
• Self-contained staph infections...on my dog*

*My vet was questionable about using Sudocrem on Stetson at first, but once she looked it up and read more about it, she jumped on the train with us- surprisingly Stetson doesn't lick it off; if it feels as good to him as it does to me on my post-running flabby underarm chaffing then I'm not surprised!

2. I'm giving Stitch Fix a try. I read a lot of blogs, and since it kept popping up over and over again I figured, why not? The worst that could happen is that I'd be out $20. Stitch Fix is like an online personal shopper; you fill out a [very] detailed profile, pay $20, and you are sent 5 pieces of clothing/accessories to try. You can choose to buy any, all, or none and mail back the rest within 3 days in a postage paid box. Whatever you do decide to buy you can apply the $20 towards, and if you keep all 5 items you get 25% off the entire box. You can do monthly "fixes" or just order one when you feel like something new. If you're a Pinner, you can give the company the link to your pinned clothing so they can get an idea of what you like. When you mail something back you have the option to let them know what you didn't like about it. I may end up not liking any of it at all, but I'll update once I receive my first box the week of August 30th. If anyone decides to try it, please use this link so that I can get a referral credit!

3. Canned pumpkin is the insanely cheap and easy solution to my dog's whacky bowel habits. Stetson has always had issues with his digestive tract, and since the cancer and chemo it's been even more off-kilter. We're constantly battling diarrhea and colitis so I finally took my vet's advice and started mixing a tablespoon of pumpkin into Stetson's wet food two times a day. Problem solved; the poor dog has regular bowel movements and no diarrhea! Amazing.

4. I have finally made it to Week 12 of the Couch to 10K. Running 30 minutes straight sucks; running for 54 minutes straight is miserable...but I can do it! Shockingly, my eating habits haven't changed a bit and yet I haven't even managed to drop another pound. Maybe it's the beer...

5. I haven't had a cupcake in 6 weeks. That's right, the self-diagnosed cupcake addict has managed to avoid those little handheld servings of yummy, sugary, calorie-packed, waist-widening, addictive goodness. Until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be having one of each from my beloved Gigi's:

Italian Cream

Kentucky Bourbon Pie

Paula Deen Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

I was craving pumpkin the other day (okay, I crave pumpkin all the time in the fall) and found a recipe online for Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. As the name suggests, it's super buttery and guaranteed to give you diabetes if you eat enough of it. However, it was AMAZING. I took it to the in laws house for dinner and it was a hit; I will be making this instead of my annual pie for Thanksgiving this year.

Recipe:

Cake:

• 1 18 1/4-ounce package yellow cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened  
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 16-ounce box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the cake, combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Pat the mixture into a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking pan. Do NOT use the directions on the cake box. Mixture will be very dry.

Prepare filling:

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together.

Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well.

Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey. When testing the center, it is okay if it's still slightly "wet". The cake will firm up as it cools.

I don't have a picture of the final product; it was eaten too quickly.