Humor

Durian 1

When Jeebus and Fanny came to visit us a couple weeks ago we took them to the local mega Asian grocery store (Super H Mart in Carrollton, Texas). I had forgotten my camera and so I dropped my husband and his family off at the store and drove back home to retrieve it. Apparently while I was on the road getting my camera Fanny discovered the oddly shaped, thorny fruits sitting in the freezer as you walk in the store: Durian.

Now my husband and I have passed that freezer many times wondering what the funky looking fruits inside were. Never once had we gotten the courage to actually purchase one. Fanny on the other hand couldn’t contain her excitement over finding the fruit and apparently it’s really good price. So she bought one and made us late getting home to pick the kids up from school.

Then we set it on the kitchen counter and curiously watched it for several hours until it thawed out.

The next day, Fanny took a sharp kitchen knife to the durian and carefully began slicing it along invisible seams like a surgeon. The Mother Trucker and I watched in utter disgust as she opened it and began removing the creamy yellow flesh sitting inside pockets as if she were performing surgery.

Durian 2
Durian 3

I mean seriously the fruit looks like and has the texture of raw chicken fat!

Durian 4

And the smell wasn’t much better–like a cross between Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum and rotten onions. So I mean if you like onion flavored chewing gum, then this is the fruit for you. Apparently, the smell is so bad that in some Asian countries Durian is banned from public transportation.

Durian 5

How in the world she wanted to go back for MORE is beyond me. But she thinks it’s the best.fruit.ever.

Fried chicken will never look the same way to me again.

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Letters from an Anonymous Friend are written by my old college roommate who’d rather keep her identity hidden. She recently joined a boot camp in her town. Also, my cousin who is a certified personal trainer in Mississippi has recently started up a boot camp blog that I’m helping her with called Angie’s Fitness Boot Camp–go check it out!

So, there’s this thing called “Boot Camp” that’s been going around town lately. Basically, you meet a trainer at a park or something and get a serious workout for an hour and feel incredibly sore the next day. One of my co-workers has been going since last May and has enjoyed getting her butt kicked a few times weekly; she’s lost weight, has firmed up (according to her, I certainly haven’t checked) and her endurance has slowly stretched longer and longer.

And she’s been trying to get me to join her.

So, I finally said yes.

Since September-ish I’ve been going on a jog a few times a week, pumping some semi-serious iron at the gym and taking a swim. And what-with my aim to lose the “few” pounds that have been with me since… well, since I can remember, the results have favorable. No lie–it feels nice after a good work-out, like I’ve done my body a favor by taking care of it (imagine that).

Hehehe…

Boot Camp blows all that pansy crap out of the water: bear crawls, crab crawling, back peddling, side shuffling, skipping (yes, skipping; okay, so that sounds pansy-ish, buy you try it hard core for four minutes straight and you tell me how pansy it seems), sprints, laps, various types of push-ups that make me want to cry, ab workouts that make me groan every time I merely laugh the next day, mountain climbers (ahhh!), etc.

There’s nothing pansy about it (except the word skipping).

I love it!

Since leaving Karate last year (mostly for financial reasons), my body has yearned for the tough overhaul that pushes the limits and actually aches for the butt kicking on a regular basis. Boot Camp satisfies that need… for now. And it has pushed me to toughen my work outs on the days I don’t go. Not to mention the cool 2lb medicine balls that I toss around when I watch TV. So, really, there’s not a lot of pure inactive time, which is great.

The best thing about Boot Camp, though, is how good I feel afterwards. Have you ever had one of those days where you feel on fire? Physically, mentally, emotionally? Like you can just take on the world? That’s what Boot Camp does for me, and if you don’t mind a little @$$ kicking it can do that for you, too.

PS from Screwed Up Texan: After reading this post I just couldn’t help thinking about an exercise Youtube video. Please my dear Anonymous Friend, make sure you don’t eat too many beans before those boot camp classes.

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Straight Guys Can’t Get All Picky About Their Valentine’s Gifts

15 February 2012
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Unless they want to be called a princess. My husband’s and my first date together was February 2, 2001. We hit it off from the start and began spending more and more time with each other each day. So much time that I even got fired from a temp job because I kept showing up [...]

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Letters from an Anonymous Friend: Mr. Heart Throb!!!

13 February 2012
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Letters from an Anonymous Friend are written by my really good friend and former college roommate who’d rather keep her identity secret. Today she writes about one of her recent online dating encounters, you know, just in time for Valentine’s Day! (Names have been changed to protect Mr. Heart Throb. Lucky him.) In August I [...]

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