As God as my Witness- I'll Never Chop Onions Again!

In 1992, second grade, I was in Girl Scouts. We were living in Germany at the time and I think it helped the American parents think they were keeping their kids American by having their children in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. I only did Girl Scouts for 2 years and I never made it past "Brownie". Come to think of it- I had a couple bad experiences as a Brownie which I'm sure deterred me from signing up the following year. One was being forced to go on a horrific kiddie ride at a German amusement park during our "Browning Outting". (I was afraid of EVERYTHING when I was little). I screamed and cried and made a huge scene on this tiny rollercoaster that didnt get more than 3 feet off the ground. I think I embarassed everyone because all the German people were staring at us.
But the most memorable experience in Brownies was the time we earned our cooking patch. Our troop leader, Mrs. Biamonte, decided we were going to make soup (A bold decision on her part.) As she was assigning each of us 8 year old girls our part I eagerly awaited my duties. I hoped to get something fun and important to do like "add the chicken" or "stirring".
"Kelsey Primus- you'll be chopping onions!"
Okay! Cutting stuff could be fun! We made our way from Mrs. Biamonte's basement den to the kitchen where we all got aprons and were put to work. I was given an onion, a knife and very explicit directions on how not to cut myself (which obviously fell short of being a life long lesson: see- the pot roast)
I went to town on the onions. Peeling off the outer layers, then chopping and dicing. It was fun for a while. With all of us girls in the kitchen it was crowded but cozy, lively and bustling with actvity. Shortly into my duties however, I began squinting and squeezing my eyes shut. Soon the waterworks came. My eyes were tearing up making it hard to see. My eyes were stinging! And it just kept getting worse and worse. It felt like how lemons taste- sour and bitter, but juicy. I had no idea what was happening or why. I went to tell Mrs. Biamonte that something was wrong with me and she said that this is what happens when you chop onions. And that I just had to close my eyes until it passed and keep going. I am sure at some point I tried to wipe my eyes and got onion juice in them. I've since then learned my lesson about that one. YEOWZA! Somehow I managed to earn my cooking patch. I think I should have earned two. None of the other girls cried while making soup.
This story leads me to yesterday's Thanksgiving cooking adventure. Since I am a married adult now I feel inclined to contribute to the dinner like an adult (maybe not so adult that I help out with the dishes yet though). And, I like to cook. So I made a cornbread, apple, sausage stuffing. It's basically a sweet stuffing, almost like bread pudding. Instead of chicken broth I used apple juice. Oh yea, it had onions in it too.
So I embarked on chopping the onions. I braced myself- knowing what was in store. I had 2 dear friends of mine over a few weeks ago for cooking, dinner and a movie. Sarah bravely volunteered to chop the onions. She was tearing up of course and I was struggling to keep my eyes open just being in the same room.
So I dove right in.

and of course- the water works came.

and came...

and then I had a stroke of genius. I put on my sunglasses! I knew their hugeness was good for something practical!

it worked for a little bit. But in the end. I only chopped half an onion. I found in the frozen food section in the grocery store that you can buy pre chopped onions....why everyone doesnt use these, i'll never know.
The stuffing was excellent though! Onions. Who needs em?

Zumba

Some people love to sweat, love the burn, love the way they feel after a run. I don't like any of those things. I love to sleep, love to eat and love the way I feel when I lay down. And even though I don't really look like that is the case- it's true. I completely and utterly take my body, its metabolism and genetics, for granted. I am 100% unmotivated to work out because, in all honesty, I look the same whether I do or not. Some people argue "but you just feel so much better when you exercise regularly......" but I just say to myself "yea. sure. whatever you need to tell yourself to get you to the gym"
I know that being physically fit is more than just about looking good, its about being heart healthy, strong and robust for life. But, for some reason, that just hasn't been much of a priority to me, it still isn't. Why do I need to be able to run far? In case someone is chasing me? Why do I need to be able to lift 50 lbs? In case I'm trapped under something heavy? Why do I need to be able to touch my toes? Is there a special treat down there for me? No. I've tried just about everything to make exercising fun or at least important to me so I stay motivated. But in the end, its slippers over sneakers.
The funny thing is though, when I go out dancing with my friends I get really sweaty and I have an awesome time. And it's not because of the a-a-a-a-alcohol (that was for you Mr. Tim), it's because I love dancing and I'm not embarrassed to throw myself around on the dance floor. I am jumping and shaking and flailing and kicking and bouncing and pumping all night long. The next day I am sore all over and laugh about how fun it was.
Almost a year ago I heard of this thing called Zumba. A friend of mine brought her Zumba DVDs to our annual new year's eve weekend but the cabin's DVD player was broken so we didn't do it. She kept going on about how its a fun Latin dance workout. Now, I LOVE all things Latino (more on that in a future blog post I'm sure). Then, for some reason within the last month it's crept back into my mind. On Thursday I looked up where there might be a class nearby just to try out. On Friday, I was in a class.
The hour went by in a flash (I even stayed an extra 15 minutes just because I WANTED to work out LONGER!). The music was loud and fun (M.I.A) and the moves were easy but cool. But above all it was enjoyable, I was sweaty after class, sore the next day AND I want to do it again! Ladies and gentlemen, I think I've found a winner!
Zumba is a Latin-fusion-cardio-dance workout. It's fun, fast, and freakin' awesome. Cant wait for next week's class where we are learning the Paso Doble...I think that's what the Brazillian instructor said, she's a little hard to understand.

Nesting

I bounce back and forth between two moods of shopping 1) clothes 2) home. I remember when I was young and my mom would take me to the store and we'd inevitably end up looking at curtains- I hated it and could care less. But my mom always said "you just wait until you have your own home missy, you'll be looking at all this stuff". Dear Mom, lets go curtain shopping; and furniture and wall hanging and area rug and patio and...... do all those things that Mike likes to refer to as "nesting".
This weekend I have some lofty nesting goals. There is a piece of furniture in Mike's old bedroom I want to bring over to the apartment. It's a little dresser made by his grandfather. I'll post pictures when it's all set up. I also want to frame some family heirloom pillowcases that are embroidered and put more things up on the walls. I've got some ideas brewing thanks to inspiration from realsimple.com and marthastewart.com
Hopefully I'll have some fun photos for my two followers to look at after the weekend! Hey guys!
ps- check out this bed. isn't it neat!?