wyhr.orgWendy’s World

Yesterday I posted about an excellent idea I found on another blog site – to go one week without plastic and to document the ups and downs associated with such a journey. As I approach the end of Day 1, I’m still excited to try and be plastic-less, but hesitant about what difficulty I will find as I attend a wedding this afternoon. But let’s not put the cart before the horse. Here’s my record of Day 1’s triumphs and failures:

I work in the Research & Development (R&D) department of a food company. My company is super safety-minded and so I’m not allowed to have or use any sort of glass objects near the food we make for you. Why? Because we can’t detect glass in food. So if, by chance, a glass container breaks near the food I’m making for you and a piece happens to get in there, there’s no way for us to know. You’ll eat it and then scratch your throat up . We care about you and so I cannot have glass lunch containers. That’s right, lunch containers. Do I eat lunch near the food I’m making for you? Nope. This way I don’t spit on your food or, more importantly, contaminate the candy I’m making with fish, peanuts, etc. (lumped in to a group we dub allergens). I’m all about keeping you guys safe from my germs or allergens but even if I eat at my desk, it’s in a completely separate area from the food I’m making for you.

Not the point.

Basically, prior to committing to a plastic-less week, I brought in all plastic as a result of me wanting my lunch bag (aka feed bag) at my desk. So let’s just say lunch was a BIG failure in terms of plastic-free. The good news – I can change the situation and store my feed bag in the designated refrigerators in the cafeteria (about 90 miles* away from the food we make for you). Or I can make an investment in a stainless steel lunch container (yup, they exist). I’ll let you know how that works out.

Another result of me not being allowed to have glass in R&D is I didn’t bring in my dressing from home. Since we have a full-service lunch in our cafeteria I had planned on using the cafeteria’s dressing. So I was forced, or at least saw it as the only option at the time, to portion out the dressing I wanted in to a small #1 plastic tub. I thought I could re-use the tub several times thus nullifying the “badness” of it being plastic. Thought being the key word. At the end of the work day, as I walked the 90 miles* to the exit, I had a sneaking suspicion all was not well in my lunch bag. I was right. I looked down and the tub’s plastic lid had come off and dressing was all over my lunch bag. Terrific.I suppose the lid was getting back at me for even thinking I could go a day without plastic. Well plastic lid you just confirmed why I shouldn’t use you – so there!

The triumphs of Day 1? Well I wouldn’t call it a triumph but I would say that the impulsive decision to go without plastic mid-day made me realize how much I have to cut out. I don’t think this will be a convenient journey but it’s certainly do-able. With that, I’ll end this post. Stay tuned for Day 2.

* I hope everyone realizes this is an exaggeration.

I just read this article and decided to give it a go myself – a week without ANY plastic. The blogger over at Ready Made is going to chronicle her efforts – progress and “slip-ups” – to go without plastic for one week. I’m totally with her. Stay tuned for my chronicle of Wendy’s Week Without Plastic!

My former boss was Scottish. I introduced him to the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer. In this flick, Mike Myers plays the Scottish father and really lays on the Scottish accent. There was one scene where Mike Myers is at a wedding singing the song “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” to bagpipes. Quite a funny scene especially when the piper collapses and Mike Myers screams “Piper Down!” My boss and I played it on Youtube several times over the years and had quite a few laughs. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when he began to sing it at our karaoke farewell dinner.

The thing is – he declared a dedication prior to singing the song…to me. Remember the song title? It was Do Ya Think I’m Sexy. Oh and people, not everyone has seen this movie nor did we pass the Youtube video around the office (because we were supposed to be working). Like 3 people knew it was from that movie and got the reference of the dedication. The rest of the group probably thinks we had an affair. Geesh, talk about making a farewell memory!

Did you ever hear a sermon or read a passage of the Bible and then look over your shoulder because it was totally what you were going through?

That happened to me on the last day before my division closed (July 31). That morning I read this entry in the Streams in the Desert devotional.

As moves my fragile boat across the storm-swept sea,
Great waves beat o’er her side, as north wind blows;
Deep in the darkness hid lie threat’ning rocks and reefs;
But all of those, and more, my Pilot knows.

Sometimes when darkness falls, and every light’s gone out,
I wonder to what port my frail ship goes;
Although the night be long, and restless all my hours,
My distant goal, I’m sure, my Pilot knows.
~Thomas Curtis Clark

Last night in my Life Group, we were discussing Habakkuk 1. The first question in the study asked about Habakkuk’s attitude in verses 2-4. As the group discussed his attitude, I used my recent job situation as an example. Here God had provided me with a job, at my current company NOT in process engineering and I was unhappy. Why?

Because I didn’t get exactly what I wanted. Because it didn’t work out the way I would have planned it.

Right, I was definitely acting like a 2-year old throwing a temper tantrum.

The funny thing is that yesterday as I sat down to write my objectives, I was kind of excited. It’s sorta what I wanted to do and since it’s never been done before I have a lot of freedom to make it what I want.

*sigh* I guess God was right after all.

God knew better than I did. He still does. He has a plan for me and although it doesn’t go exactly how I want or plan it, I should trust Him to take care of me.

It’s just all too easy for me to forget…and think I have to do it all on my own.

Last Monday I had one of the worst stomachaches of all time. I’m not exaggerating. It equalled a gallbladder attack*.

Some people are scared to puke, the flu isn’t a picnic and who isn’t embarassed to admit they have diarrhea. But since I wasn’t purging anything from my body, I just sat there and got worse. Two hours later, I crawled upstairs to the bedroom and started to cry. I cried and, as a last resort, asked God to take it away.

And then it was gone.

No lie, the pain was gone in minutes. I still felt a bit achy, but the pain I was crying over stopped. Could it really be that easy? Could God just take it away? The answer to both questions is yes.

So why did I wait so long to ask God?

* And, yes, I know what that’s like seeing as I had my gallbladder removed in February 2007.

As a young, married female I get asked this question a lot (for those of you reading this, feel free to stop asking). But I wanted to share with you THE most absurd moment when I was asked this question.

Background:
It’s taken a few doctors to figure out that my gallbladder needs to be removed. It’s February 2007. Since November-December, I haven’t been able to eat much food and have been surviving on bread. Since it’s the morning of my operation, I haven’t even been allowed to eat bread or drink water for the past 8-12 hours. So there I sit in the pre-op room getting hooked up to IVs and waiting to get operated on, in walks a nurse. This nurse is holding a urine collection container and then explains she needs to do a pregnancy test.

Really?
Lady, I haven’t eaten for 8-12 hours. I gave blood a week ago – shouldn’t we have confirmed that I was/wasn’t pregnant then?

Really?
Pee in this cup after no food or water for 8-12 hours.

Really?
Your going to wait until the morning of of the operation to determine if my urine, slightly less accurate than the blood test done a week earlier, will show that I’m pregnant so that I can’t have my gallbladder removed. Did I mention I that I haven’t been eating and am in extreme pain, hence the operation?

Really?
Thanks but no thanks. Someone pass me the yellow food coloring and some water.

I’ve come to realize I have a speech problem. It’s not a certain letter or anything. It’s just that there are words that I cannot say. Sometimes, if I try real hard, I can spit them out correctly but most of the time I’m met with Dave giggling and re-pronouncing the word for me. Here are some of those words:

• nuclear -I like to say nuke-ya-ler. Apparently so does my mom so I’m going to blame this one on her.
• naivete – I say nie-ev-it-tee but apparently you pronounce it nie-eve-tay
• poignant – My version: poig-nant. Official pronunciation: poin-nant

The Urban Dictionary defines hangry as, “When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both. An amalgum of hungry and angry…”

If you know me, know the word.

I think I’m funny.

And now for the background to this statement:
After most of our vacations, we send out a recap. Since Dave is timely and remembers these kinds of things, he usually posts it on his blog. I then forward it on to those whom I think would enjoy to hear about our vacation or were wondering why we hadn’t responded to their emails in a week. The thing is, when Dave publishes a recap I often feel like there are some stories left untold. For our most recent trip to Bermuda, I decided to make a “she-said” version and sent both recaps along to our friends. Here’s the he-said-she-said-Bermuda edition:

He-said:
I spent last week in beautiful, sunny, tropical Bermuda, riding a scooter around and snorkeling at several of the island’s gorgeous beaches. It was excellent. I know what you’re thinking. “Dave, what are you, like a bazillionaire? Didn’t you already go to Germany and Arizona this summer?” Yes, I did. But if you’ll remember, we slept in a tent and ate crappy food in Arizona, and Germany was unexpected, but still a large portion of it was covered by Wendy’s employer. So no, I’m not a bazillionaire. I just know how to travel cheap and often. Case in point: In traveling to Bermuda, we used credit card points to get airline tickets, then stayed in a bed and breakfast (and dinner) because hotels cost $200-$300 per night. It wasn’t a cheap trip per se, but it was cheaper than it could’ve been, which makes me happy. Anyway, here’s what we did:

Day 1 – Arrived via plane; checked into the bed and breakfast; walked around the rocks at Devonshire Bay

Day 2 – Took a bus to Hamilton; rented a scooter; walked around to City Hall and Fort Hamilton; ate lunch and watched some opening week football; drove to John Smith’s Bay for a swim

Day 3 – Drove to Hamilton; took a ferry to the Royal Naval Dockyard; snorkeled in Snorkel Park; took a ferry to St. George’s; walked around Ordnance Island and Town Hall; walked further to the Unfinished Church and Fort St. Catherine; snorkeled in Tobacco Bay; took a ferry back to Hamilton; watched Monday Night Football

Day 4 – Drove to Horseshoe Bay (and left because it was crowded); snorkeled in Church Bay; climbed the Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse; swam at Elbow Beach

Day 5 – Hiked in Spittal Pond Nature Reserve to Spanish Rock; stopped at Blue Hole Park and saw a blue hole and some caves; climbed up St. David’s Lighthouse; snorkeled in Turtle Bay; snorkeled in a downpour in Tobacco Bay; watched the sunset

Day 6 – Walked through Paget Marsh; snorkeled at West Whale Bay; snorkeled and rode some waves at Warwick Long Bay

Day 7 – Snorkeled at Tobacco Bay; flew home

Pictures are here. More information will follow (He later posted this review of the trip).

She-said:
Why Bermuda? Well, it’s two-fold: (1) it’s the closest island to us in NJ and (2) in order to fulfill Dave’s master plan to hit every place in the Beach Boys song Kokomo. For the record, we’ve already traveled to Jamaica and the Bahamas (and technically Key Largo [Key West is close enough] and Montego [which is in Jamaica]). Dave’s goal in life is to travel to all destinations mentioned in the song. Aruba might be next. Now on to the details…

Day 1 – Arrived after our 2 hour flight which was free courtesy of our credit card points!. Then we checked into our bed and breakfast in Smith’s Paris which was WAY cheaper than $300/night hotels on the island. After settling down, we walked around the rocks at Devonshire Bay.

Day 2 – Took a bus to Hamilton where we rented a scooter (tourists cannot rent cars on the island so your left with mass transit or renting a scooter). Once equipped with a scooter, we parked it to explore the city of Hamilton. We took a picture of Dave’s fort, Fort Hamilton (Dave’s middle name is Hamilton). We ate lunch and watched some opening week football at the Docksider (after Dave said “the Dark sider” in a Darth Vader voice I couldn’t stop thinking that each time we passed the bar). Then we drove to John Smith’s Bay for a swim (notice the swim-beach pattern?).

Day 3 – Drove to Hamilton where we took a ferry to the Royal Naval Dockyard (#1 tourist site on the island because that’s where the cruise ships dock). We snorkeled in Snorkel Park. We saw an octopus! It was small, but an ocopus nonetheless. We also saw a deflated puffer fish and many other Caribbean fish. Oh and Dave got stung by a jellyfish. This wasn’t your average NJ jellyfish. He (Mr. Jellyfish) actually wrapped a tentacle around Dave’s arm. We were worried about it being a Portugese man-of-war, but it turns out the arm sting didn’t even hurt so we quickly dismissed our worrying…until his foreheard hurt and we saw little purple jellyfish floating on the surface. You’re thinking why didn’t we just swim around? Well, when you’re snorkeling you’re looking down so you rarely look to the surface. Turns out we should periodically check for jellyfish on the surface After our snorkeling, we took a ferry to St. George’s to walk around. Some highlights from St. George’s = the Unfinished Church and Fort St. Catherine. We also found our favorite snorkeling spot at Tobacco Bay. After a long day we took the ferry back to Hamilton and watched Monday Night Football at the Docksider (they had a good salad that was cheap).

Day 4 – Drove to Horseshoe Bay and left because it was crowded. Snorkeled in Church Bay. We actually got to hang out at some cool reefs and see some great fish, but the swells made snorkeling a workout so this was ranked #1 by the Hosiers. After snorkeling, we climbed the Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse (TERRIFIC view of the island) and swam at Elbow Beach.

Day 5 – Hiked in Spittal Pond Nature Reserve to Spanish Rock (1st visitors to the island). We stopped at Blue Hole Park and saw a blue hole and some caves. Great fish again. Then, we climbed up St. David’s Lighthouse (another namesake) and snorkeled in Turtle Bay. Decided we liked Tobacco bay snorkeling better so we scootered on over there and snorkeled in a downpour. This was the evening where we took our Bermuda sunset pictures.

Day 6 – Walked through Paget Marsh (not that cool). Snorkeled at West Whale Bay (we were the only ones around so it was like our own private beach – I wish!) Then we went to Warwick Long Bay where Dave snorkeled. The long swim out to the reefs and the big swells ldiscouraged me from snorkeling plus I totally had to finish In Her Shoes! After heating up in the sun and finishing my book, Dave & I rode waves like little kids – SO much fun!

Day 7 – We got up at 7am to scooter over to St. George’s and get our last snorkeling in before leaving. It was the only day we set our alarm! After GREAT snorkeling we got some grub and went to the airport to fly home.

And now for why I think I’m funny? Well, I just do but my friends encourage me. Here’s Lisa’s response after reading the he-said-she-said-Bermuda edition:

Ok so I ready your recap and laughed out loud periodically due to your
funny antic dotes (sp?). Then I read Dave’s version and it was even
funnier to hear his side of the story!! Sounds like a blast, see you
soon

Xoxo
Lisa