A new level of crazy.

I've always known that I can be a bit abnormal. Growing up in a house with two very, very clean-freakish parents (some may call them OCD), I have learned to truly enjoy cleaning. This is not to say that my house is spotless, even I have my limits (though I do like to have the vacuum trails on the carpet...NO footprints!). I love going to the grocery store and picking out cleaning products (oh, Kaboom, how I love thee), and I love the smell of a clean house. When I am done cleaning a room, I like to admire my work and enjoy the clean. I have grown attached to 409 since Jonathan and I moved to England. Maybe its the nesting instinct that comes with being newly married and living in a foreign country, or maybe its just me, but I love to use 409-daily.

Today, I was baking cookies to send to Jonathan and I wanted to spot clean the counter in-between batches. I reached down into the cabinet and grasped the 409 bottle. As I lifted the bottle, the top detached from the bottom half of the bottle, and lots of 409 spilled out on the floor. No joke, the first thought in my head was "my liquid gold, wasted!". I very rarely scare myself with my cleaning addiction, but today I begin the first step in my healing process. I admit the problem.

This isn't the first incident of crazy since my addiction has begun. A few months back I wanted to deep clean the master bathroom. The water in England is very hard and full of minerals, so the glass door on the shower is always a disaster. I always use Kaboom in the shower, but this time I thought I would attack the shower two-fold: a little Kaboom and a little Tilex (with bleach). I'm not a detail person, so reading the "warning" label on the back of the bottles seemed pointless to me. About 5 minutes into my cleaning, I noticed that I was getting light headed and felt "tingly". I turned the fan on and continued cleaning. I jumped in the shower after cleaning and became increasingly lightheaded. I quickly left the bathroom and read the back of the bottles. Turns out you shouldn't mix bathroom cleaning chemicals...especially when bleach is involved. Luckily, I didn't pass out, though I am pretty sure I lost some precious brain cells (and I don't have many to spare!). All I could think about after that event (other than the fact that I am an idiot) was that Jonathan could have come home from work to find me passed out on the bathroom floor with a bottle of bleach in one hand and Kaboom in the other...I would NEVER live that down.

Lesson of the day: Do NOT mix cleaning supplies...even if the end result is an amazing sparkly and clean shower door, its just not worth the loss of brain cells.

Bon Jour. Good Day. That's too expensive.

I recently returned home from a four day trip to Provence, France. This was the first trip of (hopefully) many to come while I have lots of girl bonding time. Provence was charming, beautiful and full of wine. The countryside is more barren than I expected, but considering that Provence is in the south of France on the coast of the Mediterranean, I guess it makes sense. All along the road were Cyprus trees, olive trees and, of course, vineyards. Despite very bad experiences in the past with the French people, more specifically with Parisians, I was very pleasantly surprised at the friendliness and overall demeanor of the residents that we met in the Provence region. While I hold steady to my opinion that French people (in general) are a little bit snotty, a little bit condescending and just a little too stuffy for my taste; I was amazed at how many town dwellers helped us to navigate our car (a large Sedan) through the tiny, twisting streets of the Town of Arles. Holly was a champion and did all of the town driving (mostly because I was a big baby and too scared to try). Despite dozens of turns that required Austin-Power turning skills, Holly did a fantastic job and even had some French "ground guides" show her the way.

The food in Provence was disappointing (for me at least). I am a moderately picky eater, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Many menus that we encountered were solely in French. 0 out of the 5 girls on the trip took French in high school, so ordering food was a "close your eyes and point" process. Some nights we were pleasantly surprised, and some nights we got jelly-fied eggplant appetizers, and sour cream with bitter chocolate for dessert. Lunches were great (we ate at little sandwich cafes) and snacks were amazing (chocolate croissants and nutella filled crepes made before your eyes by street vendors). The wine was also phenomenal. We found an old monastery called Chartreuse de Bonpas that featured a tour of its grounds and wine tasting for free if you bought a bottle. Buying a bottle was no problem, for any of us! At Bonpas we met a friendly French-man named Bruce who let us taste more wines than normal and also pointed out some cute towns in the area that we might want to check out. Chartreuse de Bonpas is definitely recommended for anyone in the Avignon (Provence) region.

Here's everywhere that we checked out on our trip:
-Les Baux (a charming medieval town on a hill)
-Arles
-La Isle sur la Sorgue ( a town known for selling Antiquities)
-Aix de Provence (a more modern city, with very charming streets filled with shops)
-Cassis (a beach town)
-Avignon
-Marseille (we only saw Marseille because we were lost trying to find the airport)

Jonathan was excited to hear about the trip, and was happy that my first trip was to a country that he feels no need to visit since he has already been. Thanks for serving J!

Au Revoir!

Two-wheeled bikes are for sissies.

Today was a day of firsts for me:

This morning, I road a one-wheeled bike that didn't move. No, not a unicycle-those are for scary clowns at carnival themed first-saturdays. I attended and somehow completed my first spinning class at the gym. I have successfully avoided this class for many, many years but was somehow persuaded to test it out today by a friend who will remain nameless (my quads will never forgive you, Shanna). The class was probably worse than I anticipated, but being the endorphin junkie that I am, I think I might just learn to like this masochistic aerobic experience. But, I am going to wait to make a final verdict once DOMS has set in (thats medical speak for painful, angry muscles after a workout).

This morning, prior to spnning class, I also volunteered to try out a "sport" yoga class. Now, when I am trying something new, I normally try to keep an open mind but yoga is one of those things that I have been judging for years. Yes, it seems to work for the celebrities that swear by it; but then again most of them think that carbs are theoretical food items that don't really exist. Yoga, to me, has always seemed like a touchy-feely wanna be work out. I like workouts that leave me drenched in sweat and exhausted. My opinions aside, I tried yoga with a semi-open mind. I figured that at best I would get a bit of a core workout, and at worst I would at least get a good stretch in. What I forgot is that I am about as flexible as a brick. Sit and reach always killed my dream in elementary and high school of getting the Presidential fitness award. The instructor was pretty nice and luckily didnt make us picture running through meadows with butterflies (which is what the instructor in my first yoga experience a year ago did). She led us through some positions and I have to admit that I couldnt handle some of the things she wanted us to do. I did get a nice little ab workout, but I didn't leave the class feeling "worked out". I did feel a little more limber after class, so all in all it was a good experience but one I am not sure I will repeat.

So, today was a pretty good day. While I may not have found my "chi" in yoga (is that something you can find?), I did get in a well rounded workout.

Ohm.