Another Kind of Victory

I lost in both of my Fantasy Leagues this week.  The Steelers were less than stellar in their win over the Vikings (although I'm really glad they beat the Vikings because I am WAY OVER Brett Farve) and I played Antonio Gates over Vernon Davis, which left a lot of points on the table. Anyways, since my teams lost I don't feel like doing a fan email, but I will say that Wes Welker continues to impress me every week. Obviously Tom Brady is the star of that team, but Welker is just SO solid and gives 100% in every game. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the game either (local channels weren't showing it), so I don't have specifics on why Welker was so awesome this week and I basically owe him an email. Wes Welker, if by some off chance you're reading this, Tom Brady is lucky to have you on his team.

Now, on to the victory I DID have this weekend! When my mom and brother moved out of the condo in May, I remember looking at the place and seeing all the changes I wanted to make. I started watching HGTV and reading up on interior decorating to get some ideas. Sadly, all the changes I want to make cost a pretty penny so it's not happening as fast as I would want it to. I decided to tackle what I could...starting with the downstairs bathroom. All it needed was a new toilet seat cover. You're thinking, "Piece of cake!", right? I thought that too until I actually started the process and found out the bolts of the old toilet seat were SERIOUSLY RUSTED onto the toilet. Below are pictures of the nastiness:

The toilet seat and I have been battling each other ever since. The first day, I spent a good portion of the afternoon wrestling with the nuts and bolts. I ended up stripping the bolts of its grooves. I was in tears when my boyfriend came over. He gave it a try, but they wouldn't budge. I closed the door to that bathroom and basically took an out-of-sight-out-of-mind attitude toward it. In the back of my mind I knew I would have to face the toilet again, especially if I wanted people to come over. I went to Lowe's and asked how I can fix this problem. The guy I talked to suggested spraying WD-40 onto the nuts and bolts, but if that didn't work I would have to saw them off.  The WD-40 didn't work and I swear the toilet seat was actually laughing at me for being so frustrated with it. I shut the door and decided to get a hacksaw or blow it up with dynamite.

Once I got a hacksaw, I watched youtube videos and tutorials on homedepot.com on how to use a hacksaw. I was a little bit nervous because I know I'm not the most coordinated person, so there was a chance I would end up slicing off my fingers. One night last week, I made myself dinner and started to watch my usual line up of shows, when I had the sudden urge to release some frustration. I decided to channel my energy into something and it was time for a rematch with the toilet.

I probably spent a good hour sawing off the screws. The first one came off without a hitch and I was ecstatic! I was actually jumping around the house celebrating! The second one was not so easy. As it turned out, the nut was even more rusted to the bolt than the bolt was to the toilet. Unlike the first one, I would have to saw all the way through the washer under the bolt. Just in case, you have no idea about the parts I'm talking about, here's a picture:

The only difference is that the washer on my toilet was directly under the mounting bolt, instead of under where the nut is. Once I sawed through the washer and took it off, the bolt fell through the hole and I had conquered the rusted toilet seat!! Below are pictures of the "slayed dragon":

The WIN over the toilet seat couldn't have come at a better time. For some reason, I took the toilet seat to resemble all the problems that have been coming at me lately and if I was able to solve that problem, I will be able to face the challenges that lie ahead of me. All it took was a plan, patience, friends...and LOTS of antibacterial soap.

Special thanks to Albert for taking pictures of the nastiness and to Nolan for helping me get a hacksaw SO QUICKLY (you probably didn't realize it at the time, but your neighborly gesture helped me solve something that I had been struggling with for a LONG, LONG time). HOLLA!

In Brady I Trust

I've been part of a couple Fantasy Football (FF) leagues in recent years and relied only on ONE player to help me win these games. That player is Tom Brady, of course. As my appreciation for football grows with each season (thanks in great part to my fantastic boyfriend), I learn more about FF and am really getting into it!

For those of you who play FF you know there are weeks where your players just tear it up on Sunday (or Monday) and win you a TON of points, thereby helping lay a beat down on your opponent or giving you the edge in a close matchp :) For those of you who don't play fantasy, simply put, if your players are having a good game, so are you.

Anyways, when certain players have an INSANE game, I always wish I could find some way to thank them...you know, give 'em an electronic pat on the back or, "Hey, good job!" or, "Dude...thanks so much for helping me win this week in Fantasy!" Well, since there isn't really a way to shoot a quick email to players that they'll actually receive, I figured I can take care of that on this blog! I usually post these "fantasy" emails on the Smack Talk portion of the page, so I've written to Antonio Gates prior to having this blog. But now that I have the blog, I'll be putting the emails here. So the "first" email goes to.......who else......Mr. Brady.

To: TomBrady@gmail.com

Fr: OCWordslinger

Subject: The Awesomeness that is Tom Brady

Dear Tom Brady- I think you're awesome. I've been a fan of yours since 2007 which, as you know, was a record-breaking year for you in many ways. Yes, I teared up when the Pats lost the Super Bowl to the Giants that year. And, the season-ending injury in 2008 was a heartbreaker. I was a bit nervous as the 2009 season started, but had faith that you would get back into the groove of things and it looks like you have! I just wanted to say congratulations on a fantastic game yesterday and thanks for helping me get the lead in my matchups this week (I still have to wait and see how Antonio Gates does against Brandon Marshall before I can celebrate). Have a great week...BEAT TAMPA BAY! -Michelle

P.S. I think you are insanely hot and my boyfriend has approved you being on "The List" of people it would be okay to...well, you know. The chances of this actually happening are absolutely zip, nada, zero (especially since you're married to one of the hottest women EVER). But if you're ever in Orange County and some speechless female fan is able to utter a request for a picture together...try not to say no because that might be me. Thanks!

Cooking Adventures

I recently started living on my own for the first time in my life. Among other things, I've learned that it is difficult to cook for just one person. I don't put much effort into the meals I have by myself. In fact, thanks to the new health/fitness program my boyfriend introduced me to, many of my solo meals during the week are one of the following: a) grilled chicken with veggies or pasta or rice and 2) eggs, tomatoes, and rice. It's simple and healthy. If I'm late getting home or I feel like changing things up, I'll have El Pollo Loco or Flame Broiler. However, given my current budget constraints, I can't indulge in the fast healthy food too much.


Luckily, my boyfriend spends weekends at my place. 


When he's there I feel motivated to cook something nice, but we'll also cook things together which is even better! He and I have been pretty spoiled by our parents who are all wonderful cooks. So now, in our late-twenties, we're just starting to learn the basics and have decided to go with pasta dishes for now. How bad can you mess up a pasta dish, right?? Below are our first two meals that we made together


Chicken Parmesan

and Lasagna Roll-Ups

Both turned out pretty good, but I really like the Lasagna Roll-Ups A LOT! In fact, we brought some to his family the same night and they actually liked it :) While I love this dish a lot and crave it all the time, it takes about an hour to prep and another 30 minutes to bake. No wonder lasagna always takes so long at restaurants!


If you're interested in the recipes for either, email me!

For The Love of Scrabble!

Playing Scrabble all day is tiring...let's start a blog! This was supposed to be a blog about all the things that I am doing to live a "greener" life. However, I've been trying all sorts of things to change my lifestyle that I decided to do away with that blog and start anew. I think opening the blog to broader experiences will allow me to have more things to want to blog about. So far, I have stories about using public transportation in Orange County, trying out new recipes, being part of the "working poor," and just stuff I've been up to that people might be interested in. I've inherited a condo (no one died, my mom and younger brother just moved on to a bigger and better house), so you can expect to see entries about my ventures in home improvement and decor in the future.

As for the whole "Word Slinger", "Love of Scrabble" thing...well, I play A LOT of Scrabble...A LOT (even at work...shhh!). It's become so bad, that I've stayed late at work just to finish a game (I'm salaried, so it's not like it matters- well, other than the whole corporate time robbing problem) and I randomly calculate how much words are worth when I'm out and about. That's pretty bad. So yes, I consider myself some what of a "Word Slinger" and now that I have this blog I can sling words on the scrabble board on on this blog...HOLLA!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Stay tuned!