Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Happy Stew Year !

Dear Stew,

Today is your 30th Birthday. Don't think of yourself as another year OLDER. Think of yourself as another year BETTER.



I can't say anything more than the words to this song:

You just get better all the time
Darlin' don't you change a thing
Lately you're the only song I wanna sing
And you're my reason to try
You just get sweeter every day
The little things you do and say
If only you could see you through my eyes
You just get better all the time

Oh, and I get the feelin' we can make it baby
As long as you are by my side
You're the music in my ears
The laughter when the tears
Are fallin' down in my life

You just get better all the time
Why just today I heard you read my mind
That kinda magic is so hard to find
You just get better all the time

Always,

Suzie








Monday, March 15, 2010

Irony

I counted 46 items in the basket in front of me while waiting in the 20 ITEMS OR LESS line at Walmart.

One of those items was a calculator.

Sigh.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, March 12, 2010

SnoBloggery

In complete and total disregard of my previous post about jumping on the fitness bandwagon, it's time for my absolute favorite season of the year: SNOBALL SEASON.

If you know me (or don't, but for some reason still care), I started documenting my snoball encounters last year on my facebook page. Starting this year, I'll give each experience a little review here @ stewzie...that is of course until the Times-Picayune hires me as a professional Snoball Critic.

#1 - The inaugural snoball of 2010. Passion Fruit from Beaucoup. This place, located on Freret Street in New Orleans, is unique (snobally speaking). All of their snoballs are made from FRESH JUICE that comes from LOCAL produce. Yes, I just said that. No sickly sweet concoctions here.

It's a little know fact that I CANNOT bring myself to eat anything more than a kiddie-sized snoball. Sure, that probably lessens my snoball cred, but most syrups (even the ones I love) are just too much sugar for me to handle. That's the perk of Beaucoup. Think fresh-squeezed lemonade vs. Koolaid. No comparison. The Passion Fruit tasted like Passion Fruit. Not Bubbalicious Passion Fruit-Flavored Bubble Gum. Very refreshing.

Sidenote: That ridiculously cute pregnant chic standing next to me is my dear friend Lisa Ruffin (Hi Lisa!) She had the Watermelon (yum). Baby Ruffin enjoyed it as well.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

I'm in shape. Round is a shape.

Back in my day (which was a Wednesday, if I had to guess), I was a pretty active little Suzie. I've played nearly every sport the USA has to offer (minus, of course, those silly Canadian "sports" like hockey and ice dancing - eh?)

It all started with softball (fast pitch, not that wussy-slow-pitch stuff) at the age of 5, then progressed to softball, volleyball, soccer (as goalie for the boys' team), soccer (on the girls' team), basketball, shot put, javelin, high jump and a partridge in a pear tree. And that was BEFORE 7 a.m.

Seriously, at one point in my high school athletic career, I would get to school 2 hours early to practice javelin throwing, go to school all day, go straight from school to softball practice, then straight from softball practice to high jump practice followed by a 2-hour nightcap of club volleyball practice. Suffice to say that I was no couch potato. Unless couch potatoing involved jumping backwards over the couch while successfully juggling a 5 pound bag of potatoes and singing the school's fight song.

All of that background data to lead to the point of this post: In the 12 years since high school, I have gradually morphed from SuperAthlete to Laaaaaaaazy.

When I first started college at LSU, I lived in the dorm furthest from civilization, thus requiring me to walk an average of 17 miles a day just to get back and forth to class. Plus, back then I was still IN MY TEENS, so time was on my side. When others gained the "freshman fifteen", I lost the "walk 17 miles a day twenty-five."

After my 2-year stint in Baton Rouge, I held a few jobs that required tons of action. From hauling 50 lb. mufflers around a 1 acre warehouse, to cleaning what seemed like 652,999 tanning beds a day, my activity level was still pretty high.

About 5 years ago, I returned to school. Although my new campuses at Delgado and UNO were not nearly as expansive as the oneat my previous college, I still spent my days hauling around a 30 lb. backpack up and down stairs, back and forth to my car, to and from work, etc. Plus I played volleyball at Coconut Beach 1 or 2 days a week. And I was in my TWENTIES, so time was still reluctantly on my side.

After graduating with my bachelor's degree in (who cares, I'm not doing anything with it anyway) in December 2008, I made a concious decision to do NOTHING. I didn't plan on being permanently sedentary, but if I wanted to come home from my job (where I sit all day) and transfer to my comfy velveteen sofa (and sit some more), then you better believe that's what I was gonna do. And I did. Often.

That was over a year ago. Now I'm pushing THIRTY. Time is not on my side. In fact, time likes to laugh at the way I look in tight jeans. Time stole my high metabolism and pawned it for fifty bucks. Time is a big meanie.

So I had a brilliant idea. Sign up for a 4 week fitness boot camp. HAHA! Time will surely laugh at that too. I start on Monday. Upcoming progress updates should be a hoot.

Optimism says I'll feel great and be full of energy and my blog posts will be full of ponies, skittles and sunshine.

Realism says I hope my fingers won't be too sore to type.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Why I love Mardi Gras: Reason #313

When your dog does THIS to the free stuffed animal, you don't really mind. Because it was FREE.

Now if I could only train him to pick up all of those cotton teddy bear guts...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Transportation logic

Abbey (the 3 1/2-year-old niece): Suze, why do birds fly?

Me: Because God gave them wings.

Abbey: So that must be why he gave us hands.

Me: Why's that?

Abbey: So we can drive.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.

It's no secret that Stew and I are carnivores.


In fact, I believe that if God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat. Seriously, who doesn't love bacon? You? Well then you may want to stop reading my blog until you come to your senses and apologize to me. AND THE BACON.

So we hopped in the truck after work on Friday and took ourselves on a spontaneous road trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's Annual BBQ Cookoff. Which is really just a long, wordy title. Basically, we ate meat. And more meat. With a side of meat. And when we couldn't shovel down another bite, we fought through the meat sweats and ATE MORE DELICIOUS BARBECUED MEAT.

To all the cows who met their fates in order for this awesome culinary experience to take place, Thank You. God has a special place for you in cow heaven. And it's probably between 2 slices of bread, next to a side of baked beans. I'm just sayin'...

Here are some photos of all the barbecued awesomeness:


I imagine the gates to heaven will resemble this.





Ribs, Brisket, Tater Salad & Sauce






Cowboy flower arrangements.



Airplane meat smoker. The FAA would be proud.




Hydro-powered pig roast. Genius.






I heeded his warning.