Moving to BraveNewKitchen.blogspot.com

There comes a time when one must face facts. Although I have loved creating this blog, I obviously have no time to run TWO blogs. Feeling that my second blog has more potential, I'll be merging this more personal blog with my second food-focused blog, Brave New Kitchen.

Please join me there! You can also follow me on Twitter @BraveNewKitchen .

Having one blog where I can complain and develop my voice, and a second blog just to teach people about cooking, while updating neither, just doesn't make sense. I had hoped BNK would grow and become a popular resource for aspiring cooks. If that happens, great! But, really, I just want to blog for fun and be creative. So, I hope if you have landed here that you will pop on over to Brave New Kitchen!

Much fun will ensue.

White Girl Problems

Lately I have found myself creatively stifled, but by my own lack of enthusiasm, I think. I want to warn you that I am about to launch into a string of complaints that I completely recognize as ‘not that bad.’ I am happy with the great opportunities I have had in my life so far and I’m pleased with where I’m at. However, I am nothing if not a complainer. 

Ever heard of “White Girl Problems”? It’s a Twitter account that posts hilarious comments meant to be quotes from women complaining about something that is obviously NOT a big deal. You would think these girls are struggling to pay their rent or have run out of food for their children by the way they groan about their problems. For example: "I swear to God, if my maid doesn't stop calling paper towels 'towel papers,' I will just..." or "My Dad only pays for my car, phone, trainer, tattoos, psychic, and tattoo removal. Financial independence feels great."

With no further ado, here are my… 

Hispanic-but-might-as-well-be-White Girl Problems!

Numero Uno!  

By the time I get home just after 5, work out a bit, make dinner and have a shot to relax, I feel like I have no time to catch up on personal stuff. (I meant “have a chance” here, but decided to leave in “have a shot” since plenty of my friends will interpret that as me taking a swig of vodka and that would be the most appropriate way to relax.)

Numero Dos! 

I miss painting. I want to paint more, but a fear of drawing stick figure cats keeps me from starting a new piece. Self-taught often equates to no-good-but-I-try.

Numero Tres! 

I have been gaining weight, but eating the same amount of food. Reason? I sit in a cubicle all day! Turns out I need to work out about an hour a day to stop myself from gaining. Problem is, working out is the last thing you want to do when you get home from work. Also, I am not a morning person ... so working out at 5 am is out of the question. In fact, I am inhuman first thing in the morning. E (husband) can attest to that. I don’t speak, merely mumble and groan and make whiny noises when E tries to playfully (read: annoyingly) keep my towel from me after a shower. I start to resemble a person around 7:30. I have been pretty good this week, but not great. I do a 10-minute fat burning workout from the Biggest Loser (It’s on YouTube and awesome) when I get home, and I try to do 20 minutes of Wii exercise every couple of days. I need to bump it all up, obviously. Just want to be lazy when I get home.

Numero Quatro!  

When I do have some time at home, I find myself staring at all the crap that needs to be cleaned up. Even if I put the effort into doing something at home, it would mostly be spent on cleaning/doing dishes. So many dishes …

Numero Cinco!  

My car sucks. E’s car sucks. We need new cars. They run (barely). They are slowly, but surely falling apart. Mine is 16 years old now. It’s a freakin’ rebellious teenager! E’s is only about 10 years old, but the lady that had it before him did zero maintenance. It had oil burned to the inside of the motor from her never adding oil to the car! Good thing is, we are finally at a place in our lives where buying a used car is within reach. I’ll probably get one first since I have the older model. (Yay!)

Numero Seis! 

I got a sewing machine for Christmas and have no clue how to use it. I want to play with it, but I would need a whole day to learn the inner workings of this thing, plus weeks of practice. It’s hard to start new projects when you only have 4 hours at home each day and no motivation. (This one is a SUPER white girl problem.)

Numero Siete!  

I have been entirely ignoring the 2 blogs I run and it makes me feel terrible! I love writing, but that takes focus, concentration, time and a topic. Ideally, I would like to update my other blog once a week and this one at least once a month. I recognize that I put way too much pressure on myself, though. It’s a BLOG. It is CASUAL. It should be for FUNSIES. A lack of updates should not make me feel like a horrible person who abandons reader(s?) like little lost puppies in the street.

Numero Ocho!  

This is a new development, but it turns out I have some kind of allergy. To what? I DON'T FREAKING KNOW. It randomly cropped up this week. Three evenings this week (not in a row and not after eating or drinking the same things) my face randomly turned bright red and grew hot. It stayed like that for about an hour. The only thing I had all three of those days was some type of alcohol. However, I've tested having alcohol since then with no adverse reactions! So I have no clue what fun and exciting new problem my body has decided to unleash upon me.
  

Now, to redeem myself. I am extremely blessed and I know it. Even with all these admittedly minor complaints, I am loving my new job as a professional writer (and pseudo event planner at the moment). I live in a great place, I am currently financially stable, my family loves me and visits frequently now that I’m not 6 hours away from them and my social life is halfway decent. I should love my life, and I do! Really, when I soak it all in, I realize that most of these complaints amount to the fact that my "to do" list has become a "things I have failed to do" list.

I’m going to need some anti-anxiety meds or something! I need a more relaxed outlook on the small things in life instead of letting everything snowball in my brain. I'll be working on that.

By the way ... if you were not entertained by my list, at the very least I taught you to count to eight in Spanish. You're welcome.