Eeyore.

Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to make you happy?  Nothing is particularly wrong today.  The sun is shining, it's over 70 degrees in November for goodness sake, but I've got a major case of the Eeyore's.  I had a doctor's appointment at 11:15 this morning and my doctor was over an hour late seeing me.  She was delivering a baby for another patient.  Can you believe the nerve?  I'm watching Max this week for my mom and she was supposed to come home today, but now she can't come home until tomorrow because her new employee isn't quite comfortable by herself yet.  She's trained with her a whole TWO DAYS now, what's the deal?  So now I have to sleep with cute, sweet, snoring Max again.  The nerve of her.  I bit my husbands head off because, you know, he breathed, and then he sent me an e-mail telling me how much he supports me and asked me how the rest of my day was going.  I e-mailed him back and wrote "Crap." and then hit send.  I literally sent the word "crap" to my husband at work.  Aren't I lovely?  I literally think I am already feeling the pressure of the holidays, and the inevitible sadness that is going to go along with this year's festivities.  My grandmother passed away five months ago last Friday and this year the holidays are going to seem so empty and weird without her.  I miss her.  And some days just kind of suck. 

There is also so much money pressure around the holidays.  Do this, come to that, bring a gift, have a party, go to a party, and don't forget S-M-I-L-E!  As I begin to plan all of our festivities and travels for the remainder of the year it starts to build up like a bubble in my throat.  I love parties, I love dressing up, I love being with my friends and family, but sometimes, it's a lot. 

But I don't worry too much, because I know these feelings will pass.  As soon as I see Christmas lights being strung all over the city I will smile from ear to ear and sing Christmas Carols with all the other cheesy saps.  I will remember Blake and I's engagment on my birthday two years ago and taking a horse drawn carriage downtown.  I will remember being five years old and hearing my mom and dad tell Santa goodbye while I waited at the top of the stairs about to explode from excitement.  I will remember falling asleep in Midnight Mass as a child and my daddy carrying me out afterwards.  I will remember Christmas Eve at my grandmothers and Christmas morning hearing carols blasting and smelling homemade cinnamon rolls to lure my sister and I out of our beds.   I really do love the holidays. 

It's just an Eeyore day, that's all.

Xo-Wife of Wright

Max-A-Million!

Happy Monday everyone!  It is my pleasure to introduce you to Max.  He will make appearances here at W.O.W. from time to time.

Max is my mom and I's Maltese.  He will be 13 years old this April.  We got Max right after I graduated from high school in 1998 and although he was supposed to be "my dog" the dorms wouldn't allow pets.  "Oh no mom!  Where will he stay?"  :o)  Therefore Paula became a co-owner by default.  In fact, Max is pretty much hers now, but I take care of him as much as I can and doggy sit on a regular basis.  And here's the thing, I LOVE this dog.  I can't imagine my life with out hearing his funny noises, seeing his bow legged walk, or playing games with him.

In the past year or so his back legs have really started to give out and he now receives a steroid shot every month.  The day after he gets his shot he's like super dog!  He runs all over the place, tries to jump up on the couch again, and is generally a pain the you know what.  We joke that he has "Roid Rage" and laugh at all the attitude that comes flooding back into his 10lb body after a good dose of the "juice". 

Max has a love of his life.  His name is duck. 

Max sits with duck, grooms duck, plays tug of war with duck, and of course sleeps with duck.

Up until Blake and I got married about a year and a half ago he had lamb, but the day of our wedding there was a bridal brunch at my mother's house and because lamb looked like a piece of scrap fabric from all the grooming, he was thrown away by someone unknowingly.  For weeks Max walked around crying and looking everywhere for lamb and then one day, by some miracle he noticed duck.  Their eyes met, and the rest my dear friends is history.

Lamb who?

Xo-Wife of Wright

happy saturday!

Have you met my friend Mrs. Meyers?

Here's a little secret.  I love smell good hand soap and lotion.  It's something I don't mind splurging on.  In fact I'm pretty sure many of our paint brushes were washed with my lovely soap when in the process of re-modeling our home.  When Blake and I got married last year I registered for a trio of soaps from Williams-Sonoma that included hand soap, hand lotion, and dish soap.  All in a triangle shaped holder that keeps them neat and tidy.  It sits right next to my kitchen sink and I use it multiple times daily.  My favorite scent is olive oil, although there are many wonderful choices.  About a month ago I ran out of both my hand soap and dish soap at the same time.  I made a mental note to run into Williams-Sonoma soon and replace my empties.  Before I had the chance Blake and I made a trip to Dallas to do some home shopping.  We stopped in to World Market to pick up a few things and I found an entire wall of Mrs. Meyer's products.  I had of course heard of Mrs. Meyer's before, but had never given her a chance in my home.  I immediately saw that she also has an olive oil scented line and when I smelled them OH MY.  It's even better than my old go to.  I know, I'm such a traitor.  On top of the smell good factor Mrs. Meyer's is also environmentally conscious.  Here is a statement from the lady herself.

"Mrs. Meyers Clean Day is a company dedicated to making natural and hardworking products that clean well and smell wonderful. Household cleaners, laundry room formulas, and baby products are Mrs. Meyer's specialty. All products are made from at least 97% natural ingredients. These products will not only leave your home sparkling clean and bacteria-free, but they are also gentle on the environment. Mrs. Meyer's formulas are biodegradable and completely non-toxic, so you can be sure you are not harming mother earth."

Bonus!  Do any of you have go to cleaning products?  Are they enviromentally friendly?  Is that important to you?  Mrs. Meyer's has everything you can think of to clean your home.  Give her a try next time you run out of your go-to cleaner.  Who knows, you might never go back!

 Xo-Wife of Wright

Note:  Wife of Wright was not paid or given any perks for this post.  W.O.W. just happens to love the product and enjoys paying it forward!

Diary of an out of shape woman.

Dear Diary,

It's 5:10 a.m. and I'm up!  I'm feeling pretty good.  I went to bed early and slept well.  I think this workout is going to be great for me, I can't wait to get there.  Clothes on, face washed, teeth brushed, dog has been out to pottie, Barre3 here I come!

xo-Gena

Dear Diary,

It's 6:00 a.m.  I am at Barre3 and I have signed in.  A nice woman has shown me where to put my things and introduced me to my fantastically fit instructor Wendy.  Wow.  Wendy looks good.  This stuff must really work.  I'm excited, I hope Jacqui saved me a spot next to her so I don't have to grunt next to a stranger.  There she is!  Yea!  Ok, here we go.  I'll check back in at the end of my workout.

xo-Gena

Dear Diary,

It's 6:10 a.m.  WHAT??  That kind of hurts.  I don't remember ballet hurting?  Okay, I was six the last time I took ballet.  Shouldn't we have started with positions or something?  Why didn't I drink any water before I came here?  Is Jacqui breathing hard?  The girl next to me is.  Ugh, why did I switch to natural deoderant this week? 

xo-Gena

Dear Diary,

It is 6:30 a.m.  Dear God take me from this place!  Why are my legs shaking like that?  I can't make them stop.  I'm using all of my brain power to send a message to my legs to stop convulsing, yet there they go.  Is this going to end soon?  Why did I sign up for this?  I am obviously not fit for this type of workout.  I am NOT coming back here.  I am cancelling the class I'm scheduled for tomorrow night.  I hope Carrie doesn't mind, but I just can't do it, this is too much.  I'm so embarrassed.  I think they're all staring at me.  Why does WENDY look so happy doing this?  She's acting like this isn't hard.  PUH-LEESE.  Ugh, get me out of here!

xo-Gena

Dear Diary,

It is 6:50 a.m.  Wow my muscles feel really loose.  In fact they feel like spaghetti.  Ha-I'm a Spaghetti Eddie. ( http://www.thespaghettieddie.com/  tell Brendan I sent ya!)  I think we're starting to cool down.  I'm not so bad.  I totally stopped way less than a lot of girls in here.  Wendy told me good job when I was holding that one pose.  I could do this again.  I SHOULD come with Carrie tomorrow night.  This will be good for me.  It will be better next time.  I can barely even remember 6:30 now.  Jacqui what do you think?  Yeah, I think we should drink water before next time too. 

xo-Gena

Dear Diary,

It is 7:10 a.m.  I am driving home from Barre3.  This is the best free cup of water I have ever drank.  I like how they put apple slices in it.  I just had a great workout and feel so ready for the day.  I don't know why people don't want to work out, it's not so bad. 

xo-Gena

So have any of you started a new work out program lately?  Did you want to die the first day?  Are you much stronger than I am? What is motivating you to keep going?  All in all I'm so happy I made the sacrifice to get up early and work this old bod out.  At 30 I'm just not ready for all this jelly.  (Virtual high five for whomever names the song in the comments first!) 

Xo-Wife of Wright

I say tomato, you say toe-mato.

Hey everyone!  I thought I would post a quick recipe this afternoon.  Blake and I love sun-dried tomatoes, but those little suckers can get quite expensive and come about 3 per jar.  Sooooo, in order to satisfy our constant craving (hum a little tune here if you wish) I came up with an easy and very yummy alternative.

Oven Roasted Grape Tomatoes with Basalmic Vinegar

1-2 pints of fresh grape tomatoes( I buy the Cherubs at Sam's, more bang for your buck)
1/8 of a cup of extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs. of basalmic vinegar
1/2 t.s. sea salt
1/2 t.s. ground black pepper
3/4 cloves of minced garlic
1 large ziplock bag

Start by pre-heating your oven to about 275 degrees.  The key is low and slow here.  Next slice all of your tomatoes in half and put them in the ziplock.  Add your olive oil, basalmic vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic to the bag.  Seal the bag, roll the bag all around and let them sit out flat for about 20 minutes for the flavors to combine.  Line your baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray.  Spread out the tomatoes evenly.  Sprinkle a little extra S&P over the top for good measure and pop them in the oven.

Grape tomatoes sliced before the other ingredients have been added.

I let the tomatoes go for about an hour.  However if the grape tomatoes are especially smaller or larger than normal they might need 10-15 minutes in either direction.  After the time is up you are left with shrivled little bites of heaven!  They are sweet, salty, and rich.  The roasted tomatoes are perfect for topping salads, pizzas, sandwiches (just made a grilled cheese with mozzarella, basil and these bad boys last night) or tossed into hot pasta.  I have dreams about tossing them into the next loaf of bread I make with some rosemary.  The possibilities are endless!  I store them in a new clean ziplock in the fridge and pull them out whenever the mood hits. 

Happy Roasting!

Xo-Wife of Wright

The cold is here...and I mean that in more ways than one.

That's right, it's November 1st and it is cooooooool outside.  It was 51 degrees outside over lunch, burrrr.  Unfortunately I am also feeling a different kind of cold starting in my nose.  Blake and I both started sneezing about mid-day yesterday and it hasn't stopped since.  Blake thought it might be the pollen count, or something else due to allergies, but he checked and all the counts are low and have been low for the past few days.

I HATE being sick.  Inevitably it happens every year about this time.  I have bad allergies and sinuses and when the Oklahoma weather starts trying to change from warm to cool and back and forth 10 times over in October and early November my body goes crazy.  It holds a protest, it's pickets, it even riots towards the end and then it waves a white flag and surrenders.  I usually end up with a severe case of sinusitus and bronchitis.  Run a fever, lose my voice, the works.  So today when I get off work I will go to Walgreens and buy Airborne.  I will go home and take some and then do a steam treatment with the machine Blake and I bought last year around this time.

Then I will go to the couch, cross all of my fingers, toes, legs, and arms and pray for a miracle.  I'll make sure to bring my box of kleenex.

On a lighter note, Blake had, ehem I mean GOT to dress up with his department at work last Friday.  They were a box of Crayons.  A few women in his department made the costumes and he made the box.  Here is my dear husband, doesn't he look happy?

I'll give the first person to notice what is "wrong" with his costume a virtual high five.  GO!

Xo-Wife of Wright