The Centners vs. Edamame

This past week we headed out for dinner at Pei Wei.  I was in charge of ordering the food and at the last minute decided to add an order of edamame.  My mom had been telling me for weeks about how amazing it was.  I’ve learned some things over the years, one being that my mom really does know what she’s talking about sometimes, so I decided to give it a try. 

We sat down and I anxiously waited for our healthy appetizer to arrive.  After forever (ok, like 5 minutes), it arrived.  Mr. C and I looked at it and logically discussed and decided that of course it was meant to be eaten shell and all (like a snow pea).  Mr. C and I are pretty in sync sometimes; kinda like two peas in a pod!  Anyhow, this was one of those times.  We both looked at each other at the same time, with the same disgusted look on our faces, and exclaimed, “nope, not meant to be eaten with the shell.”  Since we were in public we thought we should refrain from spitting it out since we wanted to appear like civilized human beings.  The shell was stringy but we both got it down.  Now that we knew the shell was NOT meant to be eaten, I figured we could peacefully continue our dinner.  Mr. C told me to put the whole pod in my mouth and slide the peas out.  Sounded easy enough.  Except for the fact that anything involving coordination really isn’t my cup of tea.  The first one I picked up had three beans.  I slid the first two out but somehow managed to squeeze the end of the pod in such a way that the third went flying.  I looked around and hoped that no one noticed.  I tried again.  This time I was concentrating so much on not letting it fly out the end that it fell out of my mouth.  Oops.  I had a couple more without incident before I had two more that flew out of the end.  It was then that I realized the following:

1.     Food such as this should really come with directions.  The FDA needs to get on that.

2.     The edamame wasn’t really that great.

3.     Because of realization #1, the eating process was definitely not worth it.

4.     I need to work on my coordination skills so I don’t look like a cavewoman.

5.     The woman who kept looking our direction and laughing was in fact laughing AT us, not at her husband’s jokes.

6.     Although I titled this post “The Centners vs. Edamame,” I’m really the only one who lost the fight. 

I’ve since learned from a friend that apparently edamame has a sort of easy open method.  A person should be able to easily split the pod, therefore avoiding a wonderful debacle such as mine.  Oh, and just FYI, when I googled “how to eat edamame”, I only got to  “how to eat ed” before  “how to eat edamame” was suggested.  Therefore, I am not the only person in the world who needs an instruction manual for the stuff!

I do worry that after reading this post my mother-in-law may begin to fear that her son didn’t pick the brightest crayon in the box.  Don’t worry; I think your son was thinking that same thought the other night at Pei Wei!

#78 and #32

Life has been very crazy lately and I realized that my 1001 days were ticking down and I hadn’t done anything on my list yet! Amidst the busyness of this past month I’ve somehow managed to complete two items on my list!

Apparently puzzles are like magnets. They attract EVERYONE! I love crayons and I love puzzles. What’s better than both? A puzzle of a photo of crayons! Because I like to ramble you now get to hear the super exciting back-story of the crayon puzzle! Woohoo, lucky you! I had been eyeing this puzzle at the mall around Christmas time and my super smart hubby got it for me. I was pretty impressed that he remembered it AND actually went to buy it (if you remember he’s a bit of a procrastinator). The only problem was that we went back to Nebraska for Christmas and he forgot the puzzle in Arizona. He actually forgot a few items. His solution? To create clues for me and wrap those. Pretty creative actually. I tore open the first box to find tissue paper with tiny little crayon pieces/wrappers. Uh, thanks? He then proceeded to tell me it was a clue and stare at me with an excited look of anticipation. I had no idea. Um…you got me a coloring book? No. Uh….a box of real crayons that aren’t broken? No. O wait, I know this! A puzzle! Oh, and I got to keep those crayons too, as an extra bonus. Score! Anyhow, I got home, got the real puzzle, and have been looking forward to doing it for awhile. Since it was 1000 pieces it fit into my list perfectly. So, I’m hoping this still qualifies even though I had help. I didn’t ASK for help and I maintain that I did the most so, I’m going to count it. That’s one down and 100 to go!

Another one of the items on my list was to do something unusual with Mr. Centner at least once a month. By unusual I basically just mean that going to a movie doesn’t count. I’ll tell you all about our movie obsession sometime. I think I’ve rambled about enough in this post so far and I anticipate a little more before I’m done. Mr. C started back to work, began his classes, and I’ve been working extra hours and trying to catch up on stuff before I start classes so we figured we REALLY needed some quality time together. We went to "As You Wish", this wonderful pottery place. You pick your piece, paint it, and then go back a few days later to pick it up. I love doing this and lucky for me, Mr. C seems to have fun too. The only issue is that he picks super detailed pieces and I pick things like vases and bowls so typically I do 2 pieces, clean up, and stare at him for awhile until he’s completed his. I think he may take longer just so I have to clean up but I can’t quite prove that. Anyhow, we went this weekend. I’d love to show you what I made but it’s a gift and since this specific person may read this I’ll have to show you after Christmas. My pieces are pretty awesome if I do say so myself. You’ll just have to take my word on that! But, below is a photo of Mr. C’s dragon (before firing).

We both had fun and had some time to just be together without worrying about what needed to be done or other demands. We’re pretty good about taking time for each other but this month I was grateful that we had to for my wonderful 101 in 1001 list!

Ghosts and other super scary things

When I was little there was an episode on Oprah about child kidnappings. It was encouraged that parents watch the show with their children in order to educate children about strangers and what to do in the unlikely situation that the child is abducted. The show featured a super scary re-enactment of an abduction. I don’t know what Oprah was smoking that day but that was about the worst idea in the world. I think that’s when my irrational fears that drive my family and hubby crazy began. After that show I was convinced that I was going to be abducted. I do remember my father reassuring me that the kidnappers would return me because I talked too much but since he didn’t watch the show with us there was no way I was listening to him!

I would lie in my bed at night and worry about being abducted in my sleep (this was in addition to monsters in the closet and the boogeyman). I’m surprised my mother isn’t in some kind of institution right now due to the many sleepless nights I caused her (although to be honest, some of those early sleepless nights in my tot years were just because I simply wouldn’t go to bed and I had fun tormenting her. It’s amazing she kept me around all these years). Anyhow, I figured that I’d just refuse to go to bed (or more accurately, my bed) and then I’d be safe. I wasn’t about to back down because I was fighting for survival!

One night my mother had enough (well, more “enough” than normal). She sat me down and asked me how many nights I had been alive. I looked at her like she was nuts. I don’t know how old I was, maybe 7? I think I was still mastering 7 x 8 at that point (7’s and 8’s are the tricky ones you know) so there was no way I could multiply that in my head! So, she broke it down for me – 365 days in a year times 7 years = 2555 days. She proudly told me that I had been safe for approximately 2500 days! Therefore, due to her mathematically sound reason, I had no reason to be scared. Ha! Obviously she underestimated my critical thinking skills at that point. The way I figured it, I had been safe for 2555 days already which meant that I was probably more likely to be abducted soon! It only took one night of being abducted so the way I looked at it the other 2555 days didn’t mean crap.

This fear of being abducted grew into other fears. Scary stories, movies, and TV shows I knew I shouldn’t be watching introduced me to more and more terrifying matter. I learned to be afraid of ghosts, aliens, being stabbed to death, people in glow-in-the-dark scream masks, etc. Every movie/commercial/TV show became another chance for a new image to be added to my stockpile of things I’m scared of!

Over the course of many years I finally learned that perhaps I should stay away from these sorts of fear inducing mediums. I can’t even stand to watch scary movie previews now. Sometimes I’ll be on the Discovery or Syfy channel and I’ll see a preview for a ghost hunter show. When this happens I scream (to block out the commercial of course), run for the remote, and change the channel ASAP.

Haunted houses are terrible also. Going to a house with the sole purpose of having the crap scared out of me sounds completely insane. Even more insane is the fact that people PAY for that experience!

So, you can imagine my response when my friend asked me to go a tour of the haunted San Carlos Hotel. I said yes. Because, as much as I hate being scared, I like my friend. And, it was her birthday.

All week I’d been anticipating the horrors we would see. I knew that I’d be up at night, having nightmares about the ghosts and super-scary orbs. I pictured myself lying in my bed, seeing shadows on the wall. I’d be waking up Mr. C to check the doors (although everyone knows that ghosts don’t use doors) and asking if he heard the most recent noise.

We arrived for our tour and while I was a little jittery, I felt pretty confident that I’d be ok. As the tour began, we started in a room occupied by a male presence. The tour guide explained that the man liked women. Women with blonde hair. Women with straight, blonde hair. My eyes must have gotten huge as I realized that I fit into that category! My fears were coming true and the ghost thingie would be after me specifically just because I decided to straighten my hair that day! I had a few moments of panic but managed to keep it under control. Long story short, I survived. No crazy shutting of doors no faces appearing, and nothing to keep me up at night. We continued the tour and it remained uneventful. I actually found myself surprised at the uneventfulness and a little disappointed that nothing more happened. In the end, it was very interesting and I was glad I went. So, while I still won’t be watching any scary movies soon, I am glad that I was able to put my fears aside for at least a little bit.

P.S. I should mention that last night I had a dream that the male followed me home to stalk me in my house. I’m hoping that won’t be a re-occurring dream!

Insects, critters, and sharks

Thankfully we no longer live in an apartment. However, our neighbors are fairly close. Sometimes I wonder what they can hear and what they think about the things they hear. Not to get too graphic, but one time I yelled “I’m naked” at the top of my lungs. The back screen door was wide open. A family with young kids lives behind us. I really hope they were at the park that day! And yes, I do understand that things like “I’m naked” shouldn’t really be yelled on a normal basis. Anyhow, last night was another example of the weird crap that I yell about. I have been told a time or two that I can be dramatic. I was on the phone with my best friend (who has decided to identify himself as Max Emerald) who seemed to think the event was quite hilarious. I was yelling this whole time, however I’m using caps to accentuate the parts where I was yelling louder or more dramatically. It went a little like this:

MR. CENTNERRRRRRRR

MR. CENTNERRRRRRRR, there’s a HUGE cricket!

He’s getting away!

Mr. Centner arrives and I point out the scary gargantuan cricket. He starts walking towards it and that’s when I notice the paper towel in his hand! Paper towel = dying bugs. Well, they can be used for other things too but in this case definitely a bug murder.

WAIT! DON’T KILL HIM!

What do you want me to do?

Can’t you catch him?

He looks at me like I’m a complete lunatic.

Like with the cup on the dresser?

No, I cannot catch him. Either I kill him and he’s gone or we leave him.

Ummmmmmm……

Come on, decide!

Ok, just leave him. He’s fine…. I don’t want you to kill him.

At that moment he lunges for him. He lunges with ninja-like speed and then it’s too late.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

YOU KILLED HIM!!!!!

Sorry, I had to make a decision quick before he got away. (I should mention, he looks completely not sorry at this moment.)

WHAT ABOUT HIS FAMILY?!? MURDERER!! YOU GAVE ME A CHOICE BUT YOU DIDN’T EVEN LISTEN. I THOUGHT THIS WAS A DEMOCRACY!

By this time Max Emerald is laughing hysterically. Mr. Centner is laughing at me with the laugh that means “I think you’re slightly crazy but I love you so I put up with it”. At this point I start laughing, although I still maintain that catching him would have been soooo easy. I would have done it myself if I wasn’t terrified of insects/critters/sharks. Ok, so the shark thing doesn’t apply this time. More on that later though. Mr. C thinks it’s amazing how many times I can incorporate my fear of sharks into daily life. Anyhow, the point of my wonderful story is:
1. Think before you yell out things like “I’m naked.”
2. Bugs deserve a chance too.
(Mosquitoes, roaches, and spiders are exempt from this rule.)
3. Laughter cures everything.
4. Sharks are dangerous.

"What! You're abandoning me?"

I vividly remember the moment when I was officially on my own, physically speaking at least. I had wanted to attend ASU for years. I was ecstatic when everything eventually fell into place. I had been accepted, received a scholarship, and miraculously packed up all my stuff (the packing was thanks to my wonderful mother and friend who had to sit me down and force me to start!).

I consider myself to be a "big picture" sort of person but apparently I had failed to really grasp the whole leaving home/family/friends part of my Arizona plan. This portion of the picture finally started to sink in a couple of days before I moved. I said my good-byes throughout the week and handled most of them with dignity. I saved the hardest for last. I left my best friend’s house and cried the whole night before I left. It was so hard leaving my family, friends, and all familiarity behind. The next day we left for Arizona with a very, very full van. Two days later we made it to AZ and I settled into my dorm room. I was excited about classes, my new roommates, and my new state!

That's when the terrifying part happened. A day or two later, after dinner with my parents they dropped me back at the dorms. My mom casually mentioned that they were leaving the next day to drive back home. My response: “What! You’re leaving? You’re abandoning me?” (And yes, that is verbatim. My mom always reminds me of how terrible I made her feel when I told her she was "abandoning" me, especially when it had been my choice, my dream!) Of course I didn’t expect my parents to stay forever but I was suddenly overwhelmed with all the huge changes taking place. I was starting to realize that soon it would just be me in a state with no friends and no family. I've always considered myself a very independent person but at that moment I wanted to just pack my stuff up, move back home, and stay there until I turned 40. Either I realized that wasn't a seriously viable option or I figured my dad would kill me. Either way, I somehow willed myself to walk back to my room like a big girl and suck it up.

Of course things worked out – I adjusted to college life, made some amazing friends, and of course met my amazing husband.


While hugging my parents good-bye this morning after a weekend visit, I thought of this story - my first good-bye in Arizona. I've come so far since that day. For one, I'm not such a wuss! While good-byes have become much easier, it still breaks my heart to have to say good-bye to the wonderful family and friends who visit us. So, my sappy post today is dedicated to all the family and friends who are now far away but always close in my heart. I suppose there is something to be said about really appreciating what you have more when it's gone (or far away) but sometimes a girl just wants to be among far-away family, old friends, and familiarity.

Hey, I said it was sappy!

Days of Summer

I am not a procrastinator. I complete my homework early, return work calls right away, and am ready days before our parties. While Mr. C waits until the last minute to do things, I am done, reveling in my sense of accomplishment. I am not a prostinator. Well, at least I thought I wasn't.

With school starting next week I feel like we're at the end of summer (although we'll of course continue with the ridiculous 115 degree weather) I decided I could write about all the things I accomplished this summer. So, I started to think about what I did.

And I kept thinking....


thinking.....

hmmmm......

This is hard......

Ok, lets go through my plans/goals.

Making my wedding and honeymoon album. I drug out all my stuff, looked at some pics, decided I needed to order more pics, and left the mess on my desk for the remainder of the summer. Ok, so that didn't go so well.

Ok next.

Making things to sell on Etsy. Well, I also drug out those supplies, sorted through them on the floor, and left them there the remainder of the summer.

Ok, I've got one!

Last week I did some major cleaning and organizing. This consisted of cleaning up the scrapbook supplies mentioned earlier for the wedding and honeymoon album and then cleaning up the supplies I drug out for Etsy.

So....I guess I still don't know what I did this summer.

On the up side, I did add the albums and Etsy thing to my 101 in 1001 list. I'm super excited that I now have another 1001 days to complete these! Score for me!

Ok honestly I did have a great summer, even if it wasn't as productive as expected. I lost some weight, tried some new recipies, went to a family reunion, spent a week at home (Nebraska home), watched fireworks with my family on the 4th of July, stood up in a friend's wedding, caught up with friends, watched lots of TV, improved my rockband skills, spent time with husband, enjoyed three months with no master's homework, and started a blog. While it wasn't exactly the summer I envisioned, it was pretty great. It's nice to have some down time and just be. I'm sure within the next 1001 days I'll get my goals done. If not, there's always another 101 in 1001 list after that!

101 in 1001

I love lists. LOVE them! I make grocery lists, to-do lists, honey-do lists, and the list goes on and on. I have about a million post-it pads around the house for the moment I decide to create another list. Lists = organization which is also in the category of things I love! My grandmother is even more serious than I am - with pencils, post-its, and sharpies (don't even get me started on sharpies!) stashed around the house, leading me to believe that this listing/organization obsession is hereditary! When I say obsession I really mean awesomeness because seriously, who doesn't love an organized space! Or, an organized space full of lists! Anyhow, the point of my ramblings is that lists are awesome. This brings me to my next point.


I recently read about the Day Zero Project and loved it! The general idea of the project is to create a list of 101 goals to be accomplished over the next 1001 days. Did you read that - 101 goals on a LIST! It's like a normal list on steroids! My fav!


The guidelines from the project per the Day Zero Project website include a specific goal (ie: no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is easily measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must be realistic but involve work by the participant. The 101 in 1001 is somewhere between a “bucket list” and New Year’s resolutions.


After containing my excitement I set out to create my own 101 in 1001. It was actually harder than I thought to come up with 101 goals, especially keeping the timeline in mind. I wanted to travel to every continent but decided that may not be attainable in three years, unless of course I win the lottery. If I win the lottery I'm so re-doing this list! Anyhow, I finally finished my list and I'm so excited to begin. The challenge starts today! I'll blog about every accomplished goal (this is actually one of my 101's) and update the list as I go.

Check out my 101 in 1001 list.