The Green Diet

A Moment in Time

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0000

I just heard that an “internet friend” of mine passed away in her sleep last night. 38 years old. Seemingly healthy. Her baby turns one next week.

It’s a reminder that we should all be thankful for what we have. Whether or not we have what we want.

I Just Love this Guy!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Let’s Win This, Phillies!!!

Blog Counter Gone

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:07:00 +0000

Lovely. I just noticed that my blog counter is whacked.

Anyone have a suggestion for a nice, free, blog counter?

Thanks!

Shopping Bag Credit

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Just came from a quick trip to Whole Foods. I didn’t bring my shopping bag in with me. Told them I didn’t want a bag. I do this often, when I forget my bags. I just load up the cart and then bag the items when I get to my car.

Why don’t I get a bag refund for NOT using a bag at all?

This is Neat

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Let’s Go Phillies!

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:23:00 +0000

I grew up in Philadelphia, with a father who was a big baseball fan. I would endure going to the games with him because of this:

That’s the Phillie Phanatic for those of you that might not know. He’s the mascot of the team, and the best thing ever. I love that green guy.

I’m still jealous because he once kissed my Mom. A Phillie Phanatic kiss entails a snake-like tongue coming out of his snout.

Here’s to the World Series, and the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Last year, and this year.

I Think It’s About Time

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:16:00 +0000

That some of these things became reality:

A clothes folding machine. This can be the final cycle of my dryer, I don’t care. It’s the worst part of laundry.
A pillow or pillowcase that stays cold. I’m sick of flipping my pillow all night long.
Legs that self-shave. Or something like that. Haven’t we evolved past the need for leg hair?

Was this too much information?

Oh, and I’d like a dish fairy too. Even if she just puts the dishes away after the dishwasher is finished.

Craft Store Oddities

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:35:00 +0000

A new Hobby Lobby opened near me today. This is exciting only in that my local Michaels is not one of the fancy stores; in fact, it’s pretty bad. I went to Hobby Lobby to see if there were any opening day specials, etc. Didn’t notice anything spectacular, other than that the store was clean. And the clearance section was stocked with random things that they wanted you to buy, things that shouldn’t have been clearanced. Like the cute little chicken that will sit on my kitchen counter soon.

Here’s the weird thing about Hobby Lobby. And when I say “the” weird thing, I mean the one that bothers me the most. Why don’t they have bar code scanning cash registers? They put out a flyer every week and the cashiers have to figure out what you’re buying and whether or not it’s on sale this week. That makes perfect sense for a store that just opened its doors on October 22, 2009, right? If only that technology was available. Soon, I hope.

Now, let’s discuss a policy at Michaels that makes my head want to explode. This first came to light about two months ago when my friend Tracy was at a Michaels and a bunch of items from their clearance section rang up at .01. That is not a typo, that’s a penny. Items at Michaels rang up as a penny. Tracy thinks this is wonderful, of course. Until the cashier says “you can’t buy these things, when something rings up at a penny that means it needs to be thrown out.”

Yes, I did say “thrown out” and Tracy clarified that the term meant what it sounded like it meant. They THROW THINGS AWAY RATHER THAN SELLING THEM OR DONATING THEM. What a strange policy.

So… Tracy and I are at Michaels a few days ago, on the elusive search for a Martha Stewart punch, and something rings up as a penny. We just look at each other, we know what’s coming next. It doesn’t come. The cashier lets us buy this item, a Sizzix die. For a penny. Yahoo!

Since the Cashier seems friendly, I inquire about the “throw out the clearanced items” policy, and she does confirm that that is the official policy. Items cannot be sold, they must be thrown out. I ask why the items aren’t donated to a school, or a senior home, etc. She says it’s because people will return the items for credit or refunds. I suggest they could take the items out of the packaging, and donate them “naked”. She pretty much looks at me like I’ve grown a horn out of my forehead.

I then go on to suggest that they could donate the items out of the country, where stores don’t exist so they can’t be returned. Now it seems that my horn has changed colors. She says “it’s a weird policy, I don’t agree with it, it just is.” End of conversation.

What do you think of this policy? Wasteful, right? Poor economic choice as well. Why not just let people buy the items?

Health Care Estimates

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:27:00 +0000

We had to take our dog to the doggie ER at 4am Friday. He’s fine, but it was scary. Probably more so for us than for him. Once they thought about what treatment they wanted to do, they presented us with two estimates. One was for the minimum care and the other was for the ideal care. The second included x-rays, etc.

We decided on which course of action we wanted, they had us sign the estimate, then they took our doggie away for some treatment in back.

Afterward we went to pay the bill and it was exactly the same as the estimate.

Today I opened the mail and we have an Explanation of Benefits from our (human) health insurance company, telling us that we are responsible for $171.39 for an ultrasound one of us recently received. How come we didn’t know that in advance? Why didn’t the doctor’s office tell us what the fees would be? We paid our co-pay, and I guess in some self-induced health care fantasy, I thought that would cover the day’s activities.

Why do our pets receive up-front information and we don’t?

The thing is, I had an x-ray a few months ago. You might remember my ranting about needing physical therapy, but having to have an x-ray before I could get cleared for PT. I didn’t think to ask in advance, what that x-ray would cost me, but afterward I did call and ask. And got a complete runaround. I can only imagine what would have happened had I asked at the check-in desk.

We need to make this simpler. When you sign that “financial responsibility” form at a Doctor’s office, you really have no idea what you’re agreeing to, not until the bill comes. When did we, as Americans, agree to that?

Oh, and Tucker is 98% back to normal now, thank G-d. We were very scared, but he’ll be okay.

SIGG Water Bottles. Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:29:00 +0000

SIGG has come out and said that pre-2008 bottles are NOT BPA-free. Here’s a link to the SIGG site that give you all the information you need: http://mysigg.com/liner/

Glad they are providing an easy exchange system for the old bottles.

Haunting

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:48:00 +0000

From today’s PostSecret update:

Let’s Play Catch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Yeah, yeah, I’ve not been around. Sorry. Let’s catch up, shall we?

Sprint has sent us yet ANOTHER statement telling us that they owe us .08, and not to send a payment. Okay, thanks big corporation that can’t figure out how to change their invoices to say “we won’t be sending you anything else until you owe us, okay?”.
I got a letter the other day from our health insurance company. My birthday is coming up (tomorrow) and they wanted to let me know that my birthday is a great time to go in for my annual “lady parts” examination. And that if I look at my provider directory, they “even have female physicians available”. Oh, really? You mean it’s NOT 1948 still? Welcome to 2009, Health Insurance Company of America. Female doctors. Wearing pants, probably.
Tucker turned nine last month. I don’t think anyone told him. He still acts like a two year old Golden Retriever. Just with a nine year old face.
Customer Service is a hot topic for me. I pride myself on being very customer oriented, and excelled at it in any job I ever held. Whether my customers were hotel guests, employees, or work associates. Customer Service in 2009 is worse than ever. I have been to a few local scrapbook stores lately and have inquired about a product. When they didn’t have it only one out of six stores asked if I wanted them to order it for me. What are these other stores doing for business these days? Just waiting for someone to come in and buy whatever they have on the shelves, and not have an original thought? It’s very frustrating to me. I prefer to buy local; I like to keep the money in the community and I don’t like to pay for shipping. Who wants to open a scrapbook store with me?
I’ve been on a peach cobbler craze lately. And the most shocking part is that we eat it all. I usually make a dessert, we each have a piece and the rest gets thrown away. Not so with this cobbler recipe. Delicious! Made it a few nights ago in eight ramekins, fit perfectly!

That’s it for now. Need to work on some crafty things, so I should be back in the next day or two.

Have a great long weekend. Be safe.

File this under “WTF were they thinking”?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:33:00 +0000

Do I have to bring my own memorabilia, or will they sell that to me as well?

Things that make you say “huh”.

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:07:00 +0000

I got this month’s issue of Real Simple in the mail over the weekend. Opened it last night and saw a small blurb about disposing of expired medication. It starts by stating that putting medicine down the drain, and therefore into the sewer system, is not a good idea. It damages the ecosystem and waterways. I couldn’t agree more.

Goes on to say that you should “mix most expired pills with coffee grounds, cat litter, or sawdust in a zippered plastic bag and throw it out with the garbage”. This poses a problem for me as I don’t have or use any of those items. I’m just being hypothetical here though, as I don’t have any pills to dispose of either.

Here’s where I get lost:

“Highly addictive drugs, such as Percocet and OxyContin… should be flushed, to eliminate any chance of accidental ingestion.”

Who is digging through coffee grounds, cat litter and/or sawdust to get illicit drugs? Is it wrong for me to think that if someone is going to all that effort, they should get a little “something something” for their efforts?

United Breaks Guitars

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:32:00 +0000

I like the idea behind this video. Can’t do much against a big conglomerate, so they did what they do best.

Recycled Trash Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Starting July 6th, ending July 26th, these trash bags will be available for $10.49, DELIVERED, from Costco.com. They are made out of 75% recycled plastic, including 10% post-consumer material. 150 bags, 13 gallon size, which is kitchen trash can size.

I usually buy my trash bags from Whole Foods, and they’re $6.00 for 30, so this is a great price.

When you purchase them, the item you want is at the bottom, they’re called “re-claim”.

I’m marking my calendar!

Menfolk, Stop Reading Now

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:16:00 +0000

We’ll be talking about breasts. And you wouldn’t be interested in that.

Squeezing breasts, to be more precise. I had my first mammogram today. And the part I dreaded most was the handling of my breast by a strange woman. And guess what? That was the worst part.

For those that have never had one, here’s the rundown:

Check in for procedure. I did not agree to pay $25 to have the Computer Assisted Diagnosis as I’d like to have a doctor look at the results, not a computer. And, I’m cheap.
See that every table in the waiting room has a piece of paper taped to it that says “please leave magazines here”. I do not see one magazine in the entire place. Ever.
Get taken back to a corridor that says “women only” on the door. Interesting.
Sit in another waiting room.
See a woman in a full length pink gown in the waiting room. Uh oh, I haven’t shaved my legs.
Have my name called and am told to change into a gown. The “gown” is more like a jacket and would be snug on Calista Flockhart. I’m serious. I don’t know many people that this jacket would fit. I go back into the corridor and ask if they have any in a larger size. They look at me like I am an alien and then say no. I ask if I can just wear my shirt into the room.
Get into the room and the lady is just doing paperwork, etc. Then basically tells me to take off my top. Yay. I get to undress in front of her and stand there naked from the waist up. I’m so happy.
She tells me that she has to put stickers on my nipples. What? No one has mentioned this to me. I have since learned that this is old technology, and digital mammography doesn’t require this. Now I’m wondering about that $25.
I ask the girl her name. I feel like I should know this much, since she’s essentially getting to second base with me.
Lots of breast manipulation at this point. Not enjoyable. Not the worst thing I’ve been through though.
I get to get dressed in front of her. Another pleasant experience.
She has me sit in the waiting room so she can make sure the films are clear. I’m thinking they’re going to have to bribe me to disrobe again, if they’re not.
Encounter a 65 year old woman in the waiting room, the one in the full length pink gown. She’s there for a bone scan. She’s only ever had one mammogram and will never have another. Was too painful. She was glad her cousin/best friend got one every year, but she never would. She felt that it was so painful that it would cause a problem, rather than diagnose one.
Get the all clear from my technician, which saves me from an exasperated conversation with the 65 year old.

Final thoughts? If you’re due for one, schedule it, get it done. The boob squeezing isn’t pleasant, but it’s not worth avoiding.

And here’s the 5k update: I have blisters! My soles were killing me, so I got some insoles today. They didn’t help much, and I think that the shoes are too big, so I got a blister. Back to the Running Store tomorrow. Anyone have any sock recommendations?

What Should I do with all these Blueberries?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:56:00 +0000

My sister was here this past weekend. We went to Costco. That meant we got the Costco size of the following:

Cherries (finished them yesterday)
Strawberries (finished them today)
Blackberries (just a handful left)
Plums (just two left, will eat those tonight)
Blueberries (a LOT left, how can I eat all of these?)

So… I made blueberry muffins tonight.

Delicious.

And the best part is that they freeze well. I’ll put them on a cookie sheet, freeze them overnight, and in the morning, I’ll put them in a freezer bag. That’s called flash freezing. If I were to just put them in a freezer bag and freeze them that way, they might get stuck together, which makes it difficult for thawing just one.

The Long Awaited Invitation Post

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:53:00 +0000

Every year my sister hosts a big summer barbecue. I make the invitations. Above is this year’s invitation. I absolutely love how it looks and feels. It was a lot of work, but very much worth the effort.

(You can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger.)

Here’s a picture of the inside:

How cute is that Riley? That’s BBQ Riley, from Hanna Stamps, and I just think he’s the cutest little moose ever. I have lots of Rileys and just love them. Besides how cute they are, the quality of the rubber is amazing. As you can see, I stamped him directly onto my cardstock, so it was very important to me that I get perfect images, each and every time. I made 42 invitations. And I only had to stamp him 42 times! Do you know how miraculous that is? For most other stamp companies I have to stamp multiple images just to get the perfect image. Not for Riley though. Yay!

Here’s a close up of Riley himself:

He’s colored with Copic markers, and a Sakura silver pen. I used Adirondack ink to stamp him. Kraft cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy patterned paper, my printer for the text and the Stampin’ Up! Top Note Die. For the front I used the Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain stamp, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I just love the feel of that, makes me happy! The utensils were punched with a small punch, and then I used the Stampin’ Up! curly label punch to finish the design.

And… last but not least, I’m submitting this card as my application to Hanna Stamps to be part of their design team! How exciting is that? Wish me luck!

Please let me know what you think, and email me if you have any questions.

Are you a Taster or a Gambler?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:00:00 +0000

I just got home from our local “farmer’s market” where I’ve lately been buying my produce for the week. I get a bag of cherries, then proceed to the bulk aisle. While I’m scooping some sushi style rice into my bag, I notice a woman carrying a bag of cherries back to the cherry section. And she takes a pit out of her mouth. Huh.

She puts the bag of cherries back onto the display, then takes another bag and places it into her cart. I think to myself “Oh, she must have tasted one, it met with her approval, and now she’s getting a different bag to buy because she wouldn’t want to buy the one that was opened.”

A few moments later she comes back to the cherry display, and puts her bag BACK on the display. Walks away empty handed. What does that mean?

When I first saw her I almost, jokingly, asked her how the cherries were, since I had just put a bag in my cart. And now, I was concerned that the cherries were so unpalatable that she couldn’t even fathom buying a bag, even though she’d tested at least two different bags.

What do you do? Do you sneak a taste in the store, or take the risk?

I’m a gambler. I buy the produce. If it’s bad, I either throw it out, in the case of a plum or peach; a single item product. If it’s a multiple item product, like strawberries, or let’s say, cherries, and they’re bad, I return them to the store.

That’s another reason to love Whole Foods. They usually have lots of samples out, and they are more than happy to provide a sample to you if you ask.

And, in case you’re wondering, my strawberry container this week has about one more strawberry than last week.

Edited to add: I have to return my cherries. They’re all soft and not edible. Irony isn’t a strong enough word.

Fredrik The Great

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Last week I made invitations for my sister’s annual barbecue (invitation post to come later). Which I do every year. It’s always fun to make them, but since I’m a bit OCD, the perfectionist in me goes a little cuckoo.

Then I found Fredrik. Would you like to meet him?

Fredrik comes from IKEA and is only $7.99. It’s a plastic drafting desk. I used him (and yes, I DO personify my crafting tools) when I was coloring the stamped image. It was wonderful. Mostly because I didn’t get nearly as sore between my shoulders as I normally do while coloring. Was a great angle to use, no more hunching over my desk.

Might just be my favorite crafting tool.

He’s not available for purchase online, but, if you’d really like one, and don’t have an IKEA nearby, I’m willing to go get him and ship him to you. Yes, he’s THAT wonderful. I’d have to find a box for him, but if someone’s interested, I’ll figure that all out and report back here.

Why did I need a Referral?

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:32:00 +0000

We have a lovely HMO health insurance plan. We’re pretty healthy, so it’s fine. We pay a co-pay for the doctor and we get cheaper prescriptions. As long as it’s a prescription for a drug invented before 1970.

Anyway, I’m having a leg issue. My right leg sometimes goes numb on me, and I’ve lost some mobility in my right foot. The doctor suggests some things for me to take/do to make sure it’s muscular, not neurological. I do them, and it’s muscular. Yeah! That means I get to go to physical therapy, rather than a neurologist. Perfect.

I wait a few days for the required referral to the physical therapy (“PT”) place. I finally get it and I’m allowed 24 visits. The day after the nurse calls me with the information, the PT place actually leaves me a message, to book an appointment. I thought they were on the ball (no pun intended) and was excited.

I called them today to find out the fees. I’m thinking it’s a co-pay situation. After giving her every single piece of identifying data about myself and my insurance she quickly says “Does tomorrow work for you"?” I say that I’d like to know how much this is going to cost me first, ha ha. She says she’ll have to get back to me.

She left me the following voice mail:

“Hi, it’s so and so from PT, I called your insurance company, and here are your benefits: You pay for PT until your deductible has been met. You have a $2,000 deductible of which you’ve met $49.47. After your deductible is met, your insurance pays 10%. Or… we can offer you our cash payment plan. That would be $100 for the first visit, and $80 each subsequent visit. Call me tomorrow to schedule your appointment.”

Really? You can “offer” me your cash plan? Do I sound like someone who can’t use a calculator? Because if I add up your offer, I’d be spending $1,940 (for suggested 24 visits). Why wouldn’t I just do that through insurance so at least I can meet my deductible? Oh, wait. As I type this I realize that those are “special cash” rates, so I’d probably meet my deductible sooner if I went with the insurance rates vs. the cash rates.

I needed to wait for a referral for this? Is that so that my health insurance company gets a kickback in case I happen to be stupid enough to pay for this?

So… if any of you out there are physical therapists, please drop me a line. I’d love to get some tips for fixing my legs with exercise. In the meantime, I’m walking on the treadmill, hoping regular exercise and hopefully some weight loss, will help my leg get back to normal.

Oh, and as an aside, our insurer is raising rates for our next year. By 34%.

Almost a Quart of Strawberries

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:27:00 +0000

I bought this “quart” of strawberries yesterday.

It’s been a while since I’ve purchased a quart of strawberries. We’ve been getting the “bushel” from Costco. Since Robert’s away, I got a few less strawberries this time.

I think I got shorted though. This quart is far from full. And it doesn’t have a “sold by weight, not by volume” disclaimer on the container (which is a good thing, since a quart of fruit IS a volume metric). When did we start getting shorted on our fruits and vegetables?

My father would be enraged by this.

Update: They were delicious.

Neat Application

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:40:00 +0000

How do you save webpages that you want to read, but can’t read right now? Not a website that you bookmark, but a particular article or idea. Well I email them to myself. Then I have an unmanageable number of “unread” emails in my inbox, which drives me crazy. This is the “system” I’ve used for years.

Well, I ran across a super cool website today that allows you to save web pages for reading later. It’s called Instapaper and it’s so easy to use. You sign up, which means a user name or email. That’s it! Tada, you’re registered. Then drag an icon to your bookmarks bar on your web browser.

When you come across an article that you want to read, but can’t read right now, you click on the icon in your toolbar and it saves it to your Instapaper account for you. No more emailing myself. No more saving an article to a bookmark and never remembering to go back to read it at a later date.

This site rocks! I’m so excited.

This also works with an iPhone or iPod touch and the Kindle. You’ll pay a download charge for the Kindle. And you can even add an RSS feed of your unread articles to your reader.

Couch to 5k, ha ha ha ha ha

noreply@blogger.com (Lisa) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Last week I decided I would start the Couch to 5k program while Robert was away at the World Series of Poker.

It ends up I need a program just to get me to the first week of this Couch to 5k program. I’m serious! I can’t run 60 seconds every 90 seconds. Shoot, I can barely run for 60 seconds. I have been walking for at least 40 minutes on the treadmill, every other day. The only reason I’m taking the day off is because the “program” says to, and because my shins are killing me.

I got some new sneakers yesterday, so hopefully my shins will hurt less. When I was walking/running today they seemed to hurt less, but who knows. I’ll have to give it a few days to see if the pain completely goes away.

This program is supposed to get you running a 5k in six weeks. I’m hoping to get to the first week of this program in six weeks. Not joking!

Wish me luck!