Hellloooo there!

Hello!  A little about me...

I'm Mary.  I live in Northeast Ohio (by choice) with my incredibly patient husband and 4 daughters who incredibly try my patience.  I'm also one of the biggest cheerleaders for the city of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, in general.  Maybe it's because I'm not originally from here but I do appreciate and love my adopted hometown.

I work for a world-renowned nonprofit organization which I will not name in this blog... ever.  Sorry, but I don't want my blog tied in any way, shape, or form to my employment - I really like that "getting a paycheck" thingy.  I will share that I work in Finance and there are weeks where I feel like I need Peter's occupational hypnotherapist from "Office Space" to get through the week.  (Wait, do they really exist?)

I have an unhealthy obsession with Facebook and if I could find a way to get paid for playing on Pinterest, I totally would.  I don't really watch much TV, just "Sherlock" (the BBC version, not that crappy American thing with a female Dr. Watson - WTF?), "Mad Men", "Boardwalk Empire", "Doctor Who", "Warehouse 13", "Vikings" (is that still on?), and "Game of Thrones".  Occasionally I'll watch part of an episode of "Saturday Night Live" but I loathe reality TV and that's all that seems to be on nowadays.

I have a twisted sense of humor (the night I met my husband, we bonded over Monty Python) and I tend to regularly put my foot in my mouth.  I'm a fan of Kevin Smith so that should give you real insight into my humor right there.  If a movie has Alan Rickman or Sean Connery in it, I can just about guarantee I've seen it multiple times.  I regularly quote lines from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Empire Records", "Love, Actually", "Dazed and Confused", "Office Space", "Idiocracy" and every Brat Pack movie ever made.  "Dodgeball" may be the funniest movie of the last 10 years (no, I don't care if you agree with me or not.)

I come from a huge family (I'm the youngest of 8) but only speak to 2 of my siblings regularly, and both my parents and my husband's parents are deceased.  As such, I've created a lovely patchwork "surrogate family" of extended family, friends, and ex in-laws.  (Much less stressful that way.)  In fact, I'm one of the few people I know who's friends with their ex-husband's parents!

I have been battling major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADHD, etc. for more years than I care to admit.  Later this month, I will hit my 7 year "sober-versary" and I'm really proud of that.  (Yes, I'll probably share my story with you all but just not tonight.)

I spend more time at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's than any place outside of work and home.  And West Side Market is probably my favorite thing about living in Northeast Ohio.  If you live near Cleveland (or find yourself here one weekend), WSM truly is a "must see" place.  The month they were closed earlier this year because of the fire was the longest month of my adult life.  I cut down our meat consumption and used up my "stash" from the freezer, to avoid buying anything from the grocery store.  Seriously, their butchers and the quality are that good.  

And I'm a frustrated domestic goddess.  One part that I truly miss about being a stay-at-home housewife and mother (other than extra time with the husband and kiddies) is being able to spend my day cooking, organizing, and crafting.  Yeah, I'm one of those people who actually make all their own holiday cards every year and deliver baked goodies to the neighbors every winter.  I make and "can" my own jams, spaghetti sauces, vegetables, etc.  I'm hoping we'll have enough organic fruits and veggies from our garden this year to "put up" enough jars to get us through winter.  I'm trying to bring my family to a completely organic, non-GMO diet but how strictly I follow that directly correlates to our weekly grocery budget.  (If money's tight, I'm not going to forgo apples and grapes because they're not organic.)  I use reusable grocery bags and produce bags.  I even make my own pre-bagged salad mixes and store them in smaller reusable produce bags (Target sells these bags for $1 a piece - still much cheaper than spending $3 for a prepackaged salad mix at the grocery store and it's better for the environment.)

Why am I starting this blog, you say?  Well, my life is truly stranger than fiction and I need some place to record it.  Oh, and I like to share recipes, housekeeping tips, and crafting ideas.  Might as well file them all into one space, right?  And, naturally, I encourage you to try them out or share your own ideas... or just laugh at my mistakes.

Sláinte!

Mary