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P h i l l y   E x p a t r i a t e






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I am an East Coast expatriate hiding out in the Midwest...

I am an urban gal living in the suburbs and occasionally hiding in the country

I am a yoga practitioner, fitness enthusiast, believer in the mind-body-spirit connection...

I am a mid-life "revert" to the Roman Catholic faith in which I was raised and which has become an enormous source of support, encouragement, inspiration, and joy in my life...

I am a mom, sister, daughter, and wife...

I am an explorer; adventurous and curious about the world and people around me...

I am educated in the formal sense but I gain insight through everyday living...

I created this blog at a time of great fear and apprehension in my life. I chose to sustain it because of the discoveries about myself and the world around me that it has revealed.



What you can expect to find here:
  • the documentation of a love-hate relationship with the greater Philadelphia area
  • reminiscing about the good-ole-days (the 80's!)
  • complaints about my various ailments and injuries, both real and imagined
  • pictures and stories of gardening, decorating, shopping, sewing
  • my love of irony
  • links to kooky news stories
  • way too much scatological musing for sane people


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    Monday, October 18, 2004
    YEAH!

    Red Sox WIN!!!!! WHAT a GAME!!!!!

    Posted at 10:09 pm by brandy101
    Comments (1)  

    Mi Hermana

    My sister called today to tell me that her gyne confirmed that she, too, was peri-menopausal...and he's putting her on The Pill to aid her symptoms that I had last year (constant bleeding, etc.)

    It is always so wierd talking to her on the phone because she and I have THE SAME VOICE. In fact, back in our younger days we used to fool people on the phone and have a good laugh about it. She is 4 years younger than me.

    Right now she is doing Weight Watchers and continuing her excellent workouts at the gym. She's not terribly overweight but gained a bit after getting married a few years ago - that other "marriage penalty!" My theory is that some women gain weight after co-habitiating with a man becuase they eat meals with their partner who can, genrally speaking, usually metabolize more calories per day (men being taller/larger than most women), especially if they have physically demanding jobs. Since her hubby is a TV news photographer, he is hoisiting a HUGE camera around each shift and he burns right through the meals he eats. Her cooking and eating style changed and in 2 years she had gained almost 20 lbs! She's halfway to taking it all off, and I am really proud of her. In fact, since I did ALL of my x-mas shopping on Friday (yes, you can hate/envy me!) I found the PERFECT gift for her. She loves quirky "boutique-style" pocketbooks/bags and I found a cute Lulu Guinness mini-tote with the fun, colorful print on it (and reduced plus an additonal 70% off!!!yeah!). Now what makes it perfect is that the print depicts little squares each of a different color featuring an illustration of a food. For example it will have text stating "Egg" , a picture of an egg, and then more text stating "200 calories" ! Its meant to be funny, not "nagging" and basically shows a variety of low/moderate calorie foods and their calorie counts. I think she'll get a kick out of it...I wonder if she'll tote it with her to Weight Watcher meetings?

    Posted at 05:24 pm by brandy101
    Comments (3)  

    Thursday, October 14, 2004
    buy one...get one free!

    Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and sentiments. I decided, after doing some research, to go ahead with a black cohosh and soy-based supplement from Natrol, which is a company that makes my fave PMS supplement (Natrol's PMS Control). Its a products called "Complete Balance" and you take one caplet in the morning and one tablet at night (nighttime pill has melatonin.). Well, I have to say I took the PM pill 30 min before my intended bedtime and I was genuinely drowsy for the first time in a while...but then I ended up waking at 6am this morning ;)

    Luckily for my budget, the Natrol products were "buy one, get one free" at my local Walgreen's so I hope it works out well for me. If nothing else, the "am formula" of the pill has a b-complex and calcium which I take normally anyway, so it won't be a total loss if the black cohosh doesn't ease symptoms.

    On another note...is anyone else out there tired of the name-dropping by our two less-than-stellar presidential candidates? Ugh! "John McCain...this..." "Ted Kennedy...that" "Cheyney's daughter so-and-so"...  It's soooooooo LAME guys! Get an ORIGINAL idea and maybe you won't have to lean on other people and their reputations for validation.

    We now return you to our regularly scheduled chick-complaining-about-her-aches-and-pains blog entry! ;)

    Posted at 08:23 am by brandy101
    Comments (2)  

    Tuesday, October 12, 2004
    The change?!?!

    I may have blogged about this before but...

    ...it seems that I am going through menopause - at the ripe old age of 35!

    And apparently my sister is going through the first stages that I had last year (21-days-a-month of bleeding, etc. etc.)

    But it seems like the symptoms are getting more intense and more bothersome. Yesterday I had hot flash after hot flash - it became nauseating. Actually I was nauseated and felt terribly bloated and uncomfortable. I asked my husband when he got home if I looked green in the gills. He noted, "No, but you look kind of puffy". Aha! so I WAS bloated. Grrrrr....

    My last period was 4 days late and pretty scanty. And today I was spotting. My tummy is still quite bloated and my appetite is bizarre and is presenting quite a challenge to calorie-and-carb-conscious-me.  (No, I'm not pregnant, in case you are wondering. )I have ZERO sex-drive, and my skin looks like a domino's pizza. Grrr....this is really a pain in the arse! What a friggin' JOY it is to be a woman! Ha!

    Hubby gets paid on Friday  and after I drop them off at the airport, I am heading right to to Vitamin Shoppe to see what supplements might work to ease my symptoms. I was having really good results with their store brand of HGH but its just so expensive. It seemed to ease my skin beakouts and sleep disruptions; maybe I'll try to coax hubby into letting me buy some more for this month. My sleep  patterns have been just awful.

    Reason I am taking them to the airport is he's taking the little one to visit his brother in Kansas. Its fun for her because he lives on a quasi-farm - meaning he leases his land to a neighbor who farms hay on it and has horses, etc. So she gets to feed the ponies and run around with his dogs in a HUGE "yard".

    I wonder if any fellow bloggers have any suggestions for supplements, workout regimens (I already do yoga a few days a week, pilates occasionally and cardio/weight training 3-4 days a week as well) or other information to share?

    Posted at 04:49 pm by brandy101
    Comments (10)  

    Monday, October 11, 2004
    Non-partisan Pet Peeve

    my post-debate pet-peeve:

    Uhhh, will someone PLEASE inform W that the word is NUCLEAR: New-clee-ar. If Herman Munster can get it right why can't you?!?!?!

    Sheesh!!!!!

    Posted at 12:03 am by brandy101
    Comments (4)  

    Friday, October 08, 2004
    Success at the Feeding Station

    A few weeks ago, I decided to setup a feeding station for my backyard birds that would be visible from my daughter's bedroom window. I located a 4-hook shepherd's crook and hung up a "tradtional" house-style 2-sided birdfeeder with seed and sunflower, a suet feeder and a finch "sock" with nyjer and millet.

    At first, the only visitor was a lone chickadee who would steal a few sunflower seeds and flit away. Then the sparrows took note, leading the grackles, blue jays, and cardinals to the seed feeder with all of their activity. The goldfinches have been very regular and somewhat "tenacious" visitors to the finch sock, and are the least afraid when I go outside to the car or out into the yard, passing the station on the way. Then on Wednesday I was thrilled to note that  male and female downy woodpeckers "discovered" the suet and have been making multiple trips to it each day. 

    Yesterday I looked out the window and it was a virtual "Old Country Buffet" for birds: 6 sparrows, mourning doves on the ground, a grackle, two goldfinches and a male woodpecker - all on the various feeding devices at once!

    Of course I defeated the 8 or so squirrels that visit by installing a highly effective squrrel baffle on the post, but there is enough "litter" from all of the avian activity that there is plenty for the furry critters to munch on the ground.

    My husband noted that yesterday when he went out to his car on the way to work, about 6 squirrels a few rabbits, and likely 50 birds of various species dashed away when they heard him approach. He was a *little bit* freaked out - probably more than they were!

    Update: right after I posted this I went outside and hid behind my car in the rain hoping to just get a shot of a "common" bird on the feeder; sure enough a downy woodpecker(female) flew right over my head and landed on the finch feeder (see pic). She leaned over and picked at the suet from that spot. She has now become a very regular (and noisy!) visitor.

    Posted at 03:49 pm by brandy101
    Comments (5)  

    Wednesday, October 06, 2004
    The Aftermath

    Chili, fermenting
    Rattling throughout my gut
    A warm bed tonight

    yeah it was delicious but oooh! "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"

    Posted at 11:35 pm by brandy101
    Comments (5)  

    Produce Poem

    I was just at the supermarket picking up some ingredients for dinner tonight (white chili - yum!)

    My inspiration for some silly haiku:

    Vociferous, me
    Screaming with pungent odor
    I am an onion


    I suppose the same could be said AFTER eating the chili...but I won't go down THAT road!

    Posted at 02:46 pm by brandy101
    Comments (2)  

    Monday, October 04, 2004
    Michael J. Fox

    Last night I had a very vivid dream with a familiar voice and face...and I awoke and realized that I was influenced by the movie I watched before bed. I watched "Confidence" - and I'd recommend it - great crime/con game movie with Dustin Hoffman and starring Edward Burns. If you are not familiar with him (EB), he is a New Yorker with typical Hollywood pretty-boy features (doesn't do much for me) but he DOES have the most wonderful raspy quailty to his voice. It has always seemed eerily familiar to me and I could never put my finger on just why.

    After dreaming about that voice on the face/body of a bizzarre merging of Jason Bateman and Michael J. Fox...I knew who it was. 

    Years ago in my "Android" years, I worked with a guy in the IT department who, although a Chicago native, had that EXACT raspy Irish-wise-guy vocal quality. Plus, he was short and was actually nicknamed "Michael J. Fox" by a number of folks.  He was about my age and used to flirt shamelessly with me - which didn't go unnoticed by my female boss who actually encouaged me point-blank to "work it". He (I'll call him "S.") supervised a team of network techs and we frequently needed their asssitance in managing our projects, but sometimes getting their cooperation in a timely manner was like pulling teeth.  I think the conversation in her office went something like this:

    BossLady (paraphased): "You know, I think S. likes you. You should play on that so that we can get what we need out of his team."

    Me: (somewhat taken aback but also laughing internally) "Ok. I'll try." (or some similarly dumbfounded response).

    I had experience in the past of being sexually harassed by a male supervisor - not that he came on to me per se, but rather used his gender to make me uncomfortable in my job and thus assert his position. It was inane and he was reprimanded for it when it creeped me out and I complained to the manager.

    But this time, I thought it was genuinely COOL that my boss encouraged me to sort of turn the tables on the flirty-bordering-on-harasssment guy and use it to my advantage. In other words, to empower myself. It worked! I led a team, with him and his staff included on it, and we put toghether a few well-received research reports.

    Posted at 10:59 am by brandy101
    Comments (8)  

    Friday, October 01, 2004
    Go-Go boots save a life!

    I credit this blog entry to my friend and former drinking buddy, Mary.  Back in our early 20's, Mary and I moved from our cushy campus locations in the 'burbs to "the big city". As we were both music mavens, we tended to nurse our cheap beers at small smoky "hipster" bars - those off the beaten track, and usally in seedier neighborhoods, but graced by the likes of local musicians whose names I will not drop on this enty.

    Our favorite haunt was, at the time, in a rather dangerous 'hood for two gals in miniskirts to be strutting around. We would park as close to the bar as possible and litterally dash down Damen Avenue and into the confines of our favorite hideaway.

    Needless to say, that neighborhood is now uber-gentrified...and recently had a cheezy hollywood movie named for it.

    But we will always remember feeling invincible in our knee-high thrift-store go-go boots as we dodged the gangbangers!

    Apparently, this guy will have a soft spot in his heart for boots, as well!

    http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3049124#

    Posted at 10:58 am by brandy101
    Comments (5)  

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