Wasting time at work

Things I waste my time doing at work, Wednesday it was watching a cricket eat some lettuce.

(yeah I fell off the posting everyday for a month thing. I had nothing to say and didn't feel like bullshitting anymore. I'm sure you don't have a problem with that.)

Wimbledon

Wimbledon seems to be my least favorite slam.

Oh we are talking tennis and grand slams, which are the 4 big tournaments in the sport.

Back to what I was saying. Wimbledon is going into it's 4th day (I think) and I haven't been paying attention to any of it. For me this is unheard of, even if I don't talk about it a lot on twitter or facebook I am almost always paying attention to tennis and since the off season is December I really mean always pay attention to it. I am not out of the loop with Wimby right now, I know Tommy lost first round, I know Fer lost Wednesday and Feli won. I know Sod was tested first round, but I haven't watched any of it. It's been on my tv for about half an hour since it started but there could have been a lot more.

I was wondering if this is a new thing or just how it's always been and I think it's a combination of the two. Taking place in England and me being on the west coast of the States most of it takes place while I am asleep but that doesn't stop me with other tournaments and reading up and paying more attention. What I really think it is is that growing up it was Sampras who was winning and well sorry but I am and never was a Sampras fan in the slightest. The tournament just never had a great deal of draw for me. I don't think it being on grass helps any. The grass season is so short the surfce just doesn't do anything for me. Clay season is fun cause the surface is so fun with the sliding and it's clay it gets all over everyone. Hard courts are everywhere. Australian Open starts the tennis season and the US Open is also hard court. Grass is just this surface they play on in England for a short period of time where they have to wear white. I am well aware it is more than that and the history but that apparently doesn't have much of an appeal to me.

That being said I will probably wake up in the wee hour of the morning to watch the quarters, semis, and finals, it is tennis after all.

Crazy Cat says hello

It's hard to photograph black cats. It's even harder because I have two wiggly constantly moving cats, especially when I try and take pictures. Otsego's eyes ALWAYS glow and make her pictures look creepy and Harley just won't stay still. I was trying to take a cute, Otsego says hello picture and this is what I got.

Shirt change

I was planning of showing you how I took a mens fit t shirt and turned it into more a of fitted t shirt BUT my sewing machine keeps getting temperamental on me. I will be in the middle of a project doing exactly what I have been doing for an hour and suddenly the thread starts snapping on me. It gets very frustrating. I've changed everything I can think of and cleaned the machine. It doesn't help. I usually just let it sit for a few days and when I go back it works again. I have no idea what I am doing to cause this. So very annoying. So here I am with nothing to show you, or even if it will work out. It is the first time I am attempting to change the fit of a shirt. I figured I did a good job making skinny jeans it can't be that much harder taking in a t shirt, right? Hopefully I can update on it soon.

Refried Beans

Do you know how simple it is to make your own refried beans? Very. I will share with you how I do it.

I buy my dried beans in bulk, pinto beans, or any other type you may want to use. I put desired amount, I don't measure anything for this recipe, of dried beans in a container and cover with a good amount of water, they will absorb a lot so make sure you have enough water for them to absorb. I let them soak overnight. 

In the morning I drain and rinse beans and throw them in my crockpot. I add cloves of garlic, a good amount of garlic cause it is tasty, it's hard to over do it on the garlic, at least I think so. I probably had 3 cups of soaked beans and added about 10 medium sized cloves, no need to chop them up, just peel and toss the whole cloves in the crockpot. I add some cumin, a tablespoon probably and a teaspoon or two of coriander. If desired add a bit of salt and any other spices you may want to add. Cover it all with a good amount of water, cover them with an inch or two of water, mix and let them cook away for the day on low or half a day on high. I like to 'overcook' them a bit so they are already kinda mushy. 

When they are done I let them cool put the beans, garlic, and liquid in a bowl and put them in the fridge because it is late and I don't feel like cooking them right away. Whenever you are ready too cook them, or refry them, add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a pan and heat, I usually use a slotted spoon and scoop beans into the heated pan so I get some of the liquid with it. Once in the pan use a masher and mash and stir beans around while they are being heated, if needed add more of the cooking water so they aren't too dry. You can flavor with more salt or any other spices you may fancy at this point, maybe some chili powder if you like spice. I like to keep them rather simple, or plain I guess, so they can be used for anything sorts of foods and I can flavor/spice more for what I maybe using a serving for. Once beans are heated through you have yourself some refried beans. See simple and pretty cheap, especially if you buy your dried beans in bulk. The refry isn't even necessary, you can just mash the beans and heat for whatever you are using them for. 

The refrying of the beans

I like to make simple tostadas with my beans. Tostada, beans, and a bit of daiya cheese melted on top. 

(I swear they taste better than these pictures look, I am not the best of food photographer.)

But what about the pins

I have been sewing a lot, will show off my stuff when I get it all done, and I always need somewhere to put the pins when I am sewing. I have a pin cushion that I kept next to the machine but it's just too much coordination for me to handle, personal flaw or whatever. I use to put the tin next to the machine but I have knocked it over way too many times. So I went and got a business card magnet from the fridge and glued it to the machine and now I have a magnetic place to put my pins.

Tiny Gecko

I grew a big kitty

Me and 6 month old Otsego in 2002 and me and 9 year old Otsego today. 

Wordless Wednesday Way back When

Me and my cousin Michelle

Green changes

Do you desire to make some green or eco-conscious minded changes but have no idea where to start or perhaps how to go about them. Well then I suggest you head over to Reduce Footprints every Wednesday for their Change The World Wednesday posts. This week they are suggesting to make you tea and/or coffee at home instead of buying it out all the time. Sometimes it's small relatively easy things we can do we just need inspiration or a challenge to do it. Give it a try, what's the worst that could happen.

DIY fruit fly trap

It's summer, or suppose to be summer let's not talk about that, either way fruit flies have arrived. I always have problems with fruit flies. The easiest way to get rid of fruit flies is to not attract them in the first place. Keeping your kitchen clean, washing dishes right away, eating fruits and veggies quickly or storing them in the fridge, but really who does that. Things get left out, things get forgotten, fruit flies find their way into your home, it happens. It happens to me a lot because I have a compost pail that apparently lets flies in to it. I may also let dishes pile up and lose a apple, lemon, or lime on the back of my counter on occasion. Basically I don't have a spotless kitchen.

I do however have a really simple and basically free way of dealing with the fruit flies. I make fruit fly traps from things I already have lying around my kitchen. I have 3 traps in my home, 2 in the kitchen and one in my animal room, because animals attract flies too. I have 2 made out of 2-liter soda bottles. It's quite simple to make, take your bottle, you can even use a smaller 12-ounce size, or whatever plastic bottle you have on hand. Cut the bottle top off somewhere between a quarter and a third of the way down. It depends on the shape of your bottle, you will cut the top part off and invert it into the base you have left. You want it to not fall all the way in but you want it to be short enough to put liquid in the bottom of it to attract and then drown the flies.

Here are my traps made from 2-liter bottles. One I've had for a few years and one I made more recently.

The flies will fly into the bottle but not be able to find their way back out. As a lure for the flies put a some apple cider vinegar in the bottom, enough for them to drown in once then get in there. At first I put in a squirt of liquid soap as well to make it easier for them to drown but I've found that not necessary. The traps are easily refreshed by dumping out the dead fly vinegar and adding more. I've also found wine and soy sauce work as attractants as well but those need to be changed more often because they seem to grow mold more readily than the apple cider vinegar.

If you like Starbucks frappacinos you can make a no cut fly trap EXTREMELY easily, or any other sort of drink cup with a dome lid. Just clean the cup after you've enjoyed your drink invert the lid in the cup and a fly trap has been made.

The hole for the flies to get in is a bit bigger than a 2-liter but I this did not seem to be an issue with them finding their way out. There was a good amount of drowned flies in the apple cider vinegar. Can you see them all in there? Trust me they are in there.

Simple, cost effective, reuse, and effective at their job. Does it get better than that, oh yeah no more fruit flies everywhere!!

Garden

I don't plan on planting much of anything this year. I was so full of fail last year it really doesn't seem worth it. I got plants to grow but they never fruited and I wasn't able to harvest much of anything. Even my sage and rosemary died last year, I believe I had had those two plants for a few years and then just dead.

I might dig out (of the storage closet) my little box of seed packets and see what herb seeds I have left and maybe plant some basil and thyme but I don't use those herbs really so they would just be for pretty. I think I have some cinnamon basil left and they have really pretty flowers. I actually had a very nice lady from India that lives in the apartments knock on my door last year and ask if she could have the flowers. She wanted to use them in some ceremony which she does every year and usually doesn't have access to the flowers she wants to use which just happened to be my cinnamon basil flowers I guess, or something similar. I told her to take as much as she wanted, it was really nice to have someone be able to use something I grew.

I wish I had a more appropriate place to grow plants but my tiny little patio just doesn't cut it. I would guess the main problem of the fruiting is pollination, there is just nothing around to pollinate any of the plants because the complex is so afraid of everything. They have an exterminator visit at least weekly and it seems they just kill everything. I really wish I had a hose with even a small yard I could just cover in plants and grow a lot of delicious veggies, because I do love veggies, especially delicious home grown veggies.

Bright colors

Want a look inside my colorful closet?
Here you go.

Not as dark as I thought it would look but I definitely wouldn't say it is colorful, I mostly wear dark colors, mostly black and browns really. I own way too many tshirts, thanks Teefury and you're awesomely geektastic shirts. As for the rest of my clothes, a handful of pants, mostly jeans, and a few skirts I rarely every where. My work clothes consist of tshirts, my non awesomely geektastic Teefury ones, and yoga pants or sweat pants depending on the weather. So that's my closet. 

Do you like hot air?

I decided to take part in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) because I have been ignoring my blog and I don't actually like doing that. I like writing on my blog and sharing things with people. BUT what is the point of 'forcing' myself to do it everyday? I am not a writer, I don't do this as an exercise for something job or hobby related, meaning it doesn't benefit anything specifically in my life like blogging might for some. I don't have a blog that is specifically for informing people on a certain subject. I might be a little eco-conscious hippie girl and that may be the main theme of my posts (I don't know if that is true but I would guess it is). 

So what am I doing right now, blowing hot air up your asses, metaphorically of course. It almost feels like a cry for attention, look at me I am blabbering about non-sense again. But here I find myself writing again, why? Because I want to, yes that is enough reason for me but what good does it do? I don't need validation of what I blog about but really what did anyone take out of yesterdays post for example. Again not that I need anyone to take anything away from my posts, specifically something like that post, but really what is the point. More blabbering non-sense on the interwebs. 

All that being said I don't plan on stopping with the posting everyday. I started this post everyday for a month thing and at first I was thinking of trying to make it a normal thing but now I don't think so. After June I will probably try and post 2 times a week at least because I do have things I want to share and I think if tell myself I need blog twice a week at least I can come up with some good/interesting things to share. 

I watch a lot of tv

If by chance you don't know I am a HUGE fan of Star Trek. I am currently going through and rewatching The Next Generation. I am about half way through season 2 right now. It will take me a while, there were 7 seasons and with the Stanley Cup playoffs happening right now it will take me even longer. Also more cable networks are starting their seasons so I will be watching more actual tv too. What do I have to say about all of this...I watch WAY too much tv. No really I do. My tv is almost ALWAYS on. I am trying to make it more productive, ha as if watching tv the way I do is ever productive, by not watching as much random repeats and having a point to my tv watching. What I mean is watching new episodes or working my way through Star Trek. I have tried in the past to limit my tv watching but it didn't last long. I could do it but I didn't find myself being more productive or doing other productive things. I would just sit on my computer and entertain myself other just as non-productive ways. I love tv and that won't change so I have decided to just deal with it.

My new way of watching tv seems to work well for me. I have gotten a lot of sewing projects done recently and haven't been as obsessed with needing the tv on if there isn't something for me to watch. The dvr definitely helps with this, which isn't something new I have but something I am using more than I did previously. Much to the disappointment of the tv industry I don't watch things when they are on, I watch when it is more convenient to me. I'm sorry tv industry I do love you and some of your programming BUT I gotta do things on my own time. Please don't hold it against me.

I do see myself watching less and less tv, especially at night, because I haven't been reading as much lately and I miss that too. Most of the problem is I am not sure what I am in the mood to read. There is a few Dresden Files book I can read, well one and another that is coming out this summer, and the same with Preston & Childs Pendergast series. I have their latest, a signed limited edition copy, which is why I haven't read it yet, I feel like this copy should not be read but I don't really want to have the library limit on me and I am not going to buy another copy just so I can read a book I already own.

For now I will watch tv and find other things to entertain myself and see what happens and maybe I will decide I need to limit myself in certain areas so I don't become a giant couch potato again. If for whatever reason you are interested in what I watch, and don't follow me on twitter and/or facebook you can peek over at me on gomiso.com which is like a foursquare for tv watching. I don't check into the random repeats I find the tv left on but do check in to almost everything else I watch when I watch it. Mudnessa on gomiso.com

Wordless Wednesday

Some of my recent animal videos

Favorite vegan cook book

For dinner tonight I made a roasted garlic and tomato soup with lentils. I left the lentils out in a serving for Rich cause he doesn't like lentils much. It is rather simple and quite tasty. 

 The recipe comes from my favorite vegan cook book, The Vegan Cook's Bible by Pat Crocker.
About a third of the book is information on foods. It is very informative and nice to have an idea what all the ingredients are especially ones that you may not be familiar with. I have only tried a handful of recipes in the book but each one I have tried has become something I will make again and again. A lot of the recipes have tips in the sidebar which are helpful and/or informative. If you are interesting in vegan cooking I recommend this cookbook.

*any mention of specific products and my opinions on them are all my own and not influenced by anything other than my personal experiences

Back update

I got my stitches removed today and she said it looked really good and looks like I won't have much of a scar either. She sounded very very very pleased with the way it looked. I won't lie, I was beyond nervous about getting the stitches out, why? No idea I just was, fortunately I knew I was being completely irrational. Now that I had it done I say, can you do it again? Not put the stitches back in and then take them out but that sensation I got when she was taking them out, it was like a good scratch hitting the spot perfectly. I really had to suppress a pleasurable moan, it felt so fucking good. I had to suppress a few moans, after she took them out when she cleaned the area and when she applied something to make the steri-strips stick well. So I am all stitches and *almsot* tape free, I can barely feel the steri-strips and they aren't anywhere near where the tape from the bandage had been. I guess I won't know if I they bother me like tape does for a few day. I would assume not as much because I won't be applying and removing them everyday. Here's what I have right now. The discoloration is what was applied to help the strips adhere better.

Showering

I usually shower two or three times a week and wash my hair twice a week, if that. One thing I have had to do because of my mole and all that stuff is to shower daily. I absolutely hate it. Hate it. HATE IT, but the differences I have noticed will amaze you. So I will discuss them here:

NOT A THING!!!

To be fair Rich might try and argue that I smell better, which to be fair I probably do, but I never really smelled all that bad on a regular basis and you know he is the only person that gets *that* close to me. I haven't been washing my hair more often, probably less often actually. No change there. Oh wait I am wrong there is one big difference, I am spending a hell of a lot more money on soaps and lotions! I've gone through a whole bar of soap, it usually takes me MONTHS to go through a bar of soap. I have also gone through a whole bottle of lotion, which also usually only needs replacing after a few months. Usually I only wash my face every day or two or when I wear make-up and even though I have been washing it daily there isn't a difference. I don't have less or more breakouts or dryness issues or anything. Seriously I haven't noticed a thing that would make me want to keep up with daily showering when I don't have a wound that necessitates daily cleaning. That's good news and I don't have to change my name from mudnessa!

What's been on me

As you've probably noticed prior to this week I haven't been posting much. At first I was just kinda burnt out and not doing anything and then the last few weeks I've been dealing with a pesky mole. I am so done with medical tape, SO DONE WITH IT. I hate it. I've had this mole for at least 15 years I'd say. It was always one that doctors told me, oh yeah don't worry about it. I am a moley person and I haven't had any issues really, did have a mole removed when I was somewhere around 16 I think. No issues with that, it was cored out and I don't really remember having any issues. The tests came back on it and the cells were atypical but that was just a fact and nothing to worry about apparently they took enough out.

I went to the dermatologist on April 21st after been referred there by my primary doctor who I saw in late March. The dermatologist said the mole I was having issues with was not a big deal but we can remove it because it was a raised mole and in the center of my back and was bothering me. My hair had been getting caught on it for a few years and my previous doctor said he could remove it if it really bothered me but at that point it wasn't but I had finally gotten sick of it. So she sliced it off, no big deal at all. She had looked at my skin before hand and saw all my tattoos, except the two on my legs because my moles are pretty much only on my torso but when she injected the numbing stuff and I didn't flinch she said, oh you are a tough one, oh really? you just saw my tattoos you really think a single needle and a bit of burning is going to bother me. I almost laughed out loud at her. The mole was just simply sliced off, I was left with a dime size wound which, I am told by my husband, was a bit of a hole in my back as well, I guess it was more scooped out than just sliced off, I couldn't see any of her tools but I'm imagining something like a super sharp melon baller, but I am a bit of a sadistic person. It is just to the left of my spine next to my left shoulder blade, you know right in the spot you can't

really reach or even see. She said they'd send it to the lab to be tested just to be safe.

If it wasn't for my husband I probably would have ended up with a gross infected wound but he washed it for me every day and applied the bandage and really took care of everything, especially me. The wound healed in about 2 and a half weeks and was finally able to not be bandaged at all. I think a week and a half into it I got the test results back. Apparently the results came back atypical and they wanted to remove more skin from the area. This procedure was scheduled for a few weeks later. I was so upset about it, because of the more bandaging. I did not deal well with the adhesive. I was given bandaids to use and they were the ones sold as finger bandaids the ones the look like two triangles point to point. You know kinda like this:

>< After 5 days I couldn't take it anymore. I was dying. I kept getting this sharp stabbing pains and other pains. Three days after the removal I realized it wasn't the actual wound it was the skin under the bandaids adhesive part. I went to the store and bought non stick pads and some paper tape and started using that. Five days after I switched to tape and was putting it on vertically versus horizontally like the bandaid was, you could see exactly where the original bandaid was because the skin was still bright red. My skin was still painful and it was starting to peel and was so itchy. It was horrible. The idea of having to do it all over again was not something I was looking forward to.

Here's what I was left with, that large dark dot on the right side (mirror picture), I don't have pictures of the wound before it was healed, you're welcome, I had a few people say, EW!! when they saw it. Rich liked to make gag noises when he washed my back and put ointment on it every night, made me laugh a lot which was very welcome actually. I don't have a picture of the mole either because I never liked the thing, it's pretty much the only mole I have that I actually didn't like, the others I don't care about at all, they are just part of me.

I had a week without a bandage on and I went back to the dermatologist for the second procedure on May 26th and really had no idea what I was getting done, specifically. I wasn't worried about any of that I was worried about the bandaging process. So I'm lying there draped in a lot of clothes and being injected with a lot of numbing stuff, which was a lot more painful this time, apparently I was flinching a bit this time because we had to do a second does on one side cause I could still feel the pricking. I'm lying there feeling all this tugging and pulling and it took a lot longer than I thought it would. He then explains what he is doing and how I am getting dis-solvable stitches inside to do most of the healing work and ones on the outside to hold it all closed and let the inner ones do the hard work. From what I could feel, which was just tugging etc I thought I had somewhere between 3 and 5 stitches. I was a bit shocked at how much flesh was taken out. When I was all stitched up and the nurse was cleaning and bandaging me I watched the NP put a stitch in the top part of the removed flesh so when they did more testing they would know how it was situated when it was still part of me. I was shocked at how big it was, I could have made a good sized extra thumb with it. Very thick piece of flesh, no wonder why it took a while and I felt quite a bit of tugging. The nurse told me to keep the bandage on for 3 days and then gave me more bandaids, I said I didn't react well to the bandaid last time and she gave me some other things to use so I was hopeful.

When I got home I looked at my back and my bandage was HUGE, ok not that big but a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and it was quite bloody. I wasn't impressed and wanted it off but was told to leave it on so I did. Lovely no?

I took it off finally on Saturday night and took a shower. I had Rich take a picture of it for me and my response was HOLY FUCK! I had 8 stitches and it was a lot longer than I thought it would be.

That's going to be a nice scar, no? Good thing I don't care about scars. I would much rather have a scar to tell a story than a mole that annoys me and could cause issues. I was bruised and sore for a few days and going to work on Friday, the day after getting it done, was probably one of the worst decisions I could have made. All the bandaids, bandages I was given were WAY too small for my wound so I went straight to the non-stick pads and paper tape I had. It still isn't great but it's better, not too much pain but my skin is still 'tape burnt' and it still itches and it seems to be sticking a lot more because taking it off every night is my least favorite part. I am a big giant baby when it comes to bandaids/tape though, I can't even take regular bandaids off myself, I always have to have Rich rip them off for me.

I get the stitches taken out on Monday, 11 days after it was done. Rich says it looks really good and is healing well. It's hard to sleep because I can't/don't want to sleep on my back but other than that I don't have many complaints. I just can't wait until this is all over with. Still waiting on the most recent test results, the NP did say that the previous ones weren't too 'screwy' they just wanted to be pro-active on the issue. Better safe than sorry. I'm not positive what atypical means but from what I remember from my first mole removal they aren't cancerous but the doctors want to take all of it out in case the cells 'decide' to go that way or something like that. I've been told it's nothing to worry about and I refuse to worry too much about it because I have 2 giant fear in my life, wild/brush fires, which happen ALL the time in my area, and skin cancer. I have to stay with calm or I will totally freak out. If the doctors are fine with what I have and are fine with what they've done with this one then I will be to, I do NOT want to unnecessarily go through this again just because I am scared or something.

So this is what I have until Monday, 8 lovely stitches right in the area I can't easily see or reach or anything and not so much any more but at first I could feel every move I made, even deep breaths, it didn't hurt exactly but I could feel it. Go get a bandaid or something sticky and put it on your back between your shoulder blades and move your arms around, you will feel every move you make, so annoying. In this picture (another mirror one, it's actually on my left side) you can see the redness a bit on both sides from the tape. I think I had the bandage off for a few hours at this point while I was sitting watching tv at home, I just have to give my skin a rest from the tape.

So that's what has been on my mind mostly these days in case you were wondering.

I'm a reader

*Which author made you want to be a writer (or blogger)?*

I know what reader made me a reader and love books. That would be my mom. I remember spending a lot of time in the library at elementary school looking at books. The first *real* (as in a more grown up) book I remember reading was The Hobbit when I was ten. A few years later my mom had me read Interview with a Vampire before she took me to see the movie. I've always been a reader because my mom is a reader.

My blog just came out of my interest in other peoples lives and wanting to let people get to know me and my interests. I started with a LiveJournal so many many years ago. I liked to see what other people thought and felt and felt weird not repaying the favor. At some point I wanted to change from journal like entries and made this blog. I had read a few and I can't remember all of them but I know Allie's Answers, now The Greenists and Ashley's Our Little Apartment were definitely two that lead me to blogging. I am pretty sure those are 2 I have been following the longest and I still enjoy every single post. I love how both have progressed into something more and both so inspiring. I think the real turning point of me and this endevour into blogging sprouted from me becoming more eco-aware and I didn't feel like LiveJournal really gave me an outlet for what I wanted share and I was getting most of my inspiration from. So here I am today writing in this blog.

BFI

*Tell us about your favourite band/musician.*

Favorite...I am so bad at favorites. I can't narrow things down, I can't tell you what is top.

I remember being very young and listening to Billy Idol. You know Rebel Yell, White Wedding, those great great songs. I still love Billy Idol. I go to his concerts when he is town, most often with my mom.

I could go on and tell you about Billy Idol, but if you don't know Billy Idol then you need to remedy that and I could never do him justice telling you about him. I will tell you he is still a lot of fun to see and is not showing his age. No really, go google Billy Idol and look at his recent photos, you won't be disappointed. In concert he just has fun and does not take himself seriously. I've never seen a bad concert by him and I doubt I will, he does it cause he loves it and it shows.

Most of my other music taste runs a bit darker, of the metal variety. The staples like Pantera, Slayer, and Megadeth. The obscene like Cannibal Corpse, Cephalic Carnage, and Napalm Death. Just to name a few of the bands that dominate what I listen to these days. I don't like much of today's popular music, I don't listen to the radio because I don't like 99.9% of what they play. I can listen to classic rock stations, can't really go wrong there, except when they play things like Nirvana and then I feel really old.

Sports girl through and through

The theme for June's NaBloPoMo is fan. So let's get this started shall we.

"Are you a fan of a sports team? When did you become a fan?"

I am a fan of a few sports teams, a lot actually, typical me, fingers in almost every pie. Let's start with baseball, the team sport I've been a fan of for the longest. Here have some picture proof:

Me and my brother in our 1986 Mets champion shirts! Grew up in San Diego so the Padres were the team we went to the most, we had season tickets for a lot of the 90's. I somehow became a fan of the Dodgers as well. When I was around 12 I got a Brooklyn Dodgers throwback jacket for having perfect attendance in school! WOO!! My parents grew up in New York, I wasn't just a So Cal girl who somehow became interested in NY teams. I'd say those are the 3 baseball teams I keep and eye on the most. In recent years I haven't followed baseball as much, the steroids issues coming out really got to me, all the guys me and/or my brother idolized were roiding, kinda took the fun out of the game. Have been watching it more this season and am really enjoying it. Baseball fandom here I come again.

Not sure when it happened but I am also a hockey fan. First team would be the minor minor (or something like that) league team the San Diego Gulls. The first NHL team I became a fan of were the San Jose Sharks when they formed in 1991. In college my best friends boyfriend (now husband) was a Red Wings fan so I spent a lot of those years rooting for them. I like a lot of other teams as well, might be easier to list the teams I don't like in truth. Since the finals start today I will say I do like the Canucks, would love to see them hoist the cup, hockey and Canada does it get better than that (in North America, cause those Russians and Europeans and all those other geographical areas I could butcher love their hockey too). To be honest I totally fangirl hockey goalies. It is totally their bendy/stretchyness and their obvious head issues, I mean who in their right mind would willingly put themselves in front of a net where guys shoot frozen rubber pucks at them! I am drawn to craziness just a fact of my life! Hey I am just a ball of female hormones, I will fangirl to my hearts content, call me on it all you want, I admit it! Hehe. Doesn't make me any less of a fan, just a fan with some ~other interests while watching the sport.

Speaking of fangirling...soccer. I never really followed a team or the sport really, I would read articles here and there, have known about it and all that good stuff for years. Ignited a bit more by David Beckham of course, have you seen him, finer with age if you ask me?! World Cup 2010 though immersed me into the lovely world of soccer (football for almost everyone else). I became a fan of the Spanish National Team, good choice I'd say as they won and all. I chose them because I am a big fan of quite a few Spanish tennis players and naturally they were rooting for their countries team so I joined the bandwagon, got to get your start somewhere, no? Once the seasons started I watched for a few months and chose some teams, Real Madrid and Arsenal. With soft spots for Liverpool and Chelsea, I know I know...hey I said fangirling...haha. They are quite fit men and again just a ball of female hormones here, what am I suppose to do pretend I watch it only for the love of the sport, nope, don't get me wrong I love the sport but I can't help but love the men who play it.

I've always been a sports girl, just part of who I have always been and that won't be changing anytime soon.