New reviews coming soon

I promise! In the meanwhile, there is a new website I just found while on Myspace called Eat Whatcom and it gives people the chance to review their favorite websites in Whatcom County! Check it out!

For those of you in Whatcom County, Grant's Drive In in Ferndale is closing down, the last day of business will be March 15th. It's sad to see it go. And my husband seems to think that Boomer's in Bellingham is closing, but I don't think that's true- can anyone confirm that? I know quite a few restaurants have closed down in the past couple of years, and with the economy faltering and the high gas prices (seriously, $3.49/regular per gallon at the Shell on Sunset Drive? WOW), we might see more local businesses and restaurants close as well, sad to say.

Here's to better times, and at least Spring is on its way in, huh? (At least here in Washington State, no?)

Restaurant Review- Madison's, Ferndale, WA

Our camera is on the fritz so I have been to a few restaurants in the past month and I have not been able to get any photos. We're looking for a new digital camera for under $400, any good suggestions? (I'm looking at higher Megapixels as well, the one we have is a Canon Powershot A75 from 2004 that has only 3.2 mp, and it is on its last legs. Long story short, I dropped the camera back in August 2005 and we sent it back to Canon for fixing, and paid for it, but it hasn't been the same since then. Now it's either not taking pictures at all or it's just on its last legs.)

Anyhow, one night we were coming home from the border (Blaine, WA) and I had heard from some people that there was this restaurant just off of Portal Way in Ferndale off exit 263 that was pretty good, called Madison's. On our way home, we decided to go look for it, and found it pretty easily. If you are coming from the border, take exit 262 (Portal Way) and after you get off the freeway, take a left and just keep going down that road. That road is Portal Way. You'll see a big yellow sign that says Madison's. They have a lounge with a bar and an eating area that is separate. If you are coming from the south (Bellingham, Seattle), you will take the same exit but you'll take a right onto Portal and just go until you find it. It will be on your right side (for both directions).

It was pretty empty as it was about 8pm, so we went in and we were the only people in the eating area. The waitress was very friendly and gave us our menus. I ended up ordering the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans, and my starter was a very hearty vegetable stew (meatless). The soup was full of chunky fresh veggies and had a lot of spice in it, it was delicious, but my mouth burned a little from the spices. Still, it was very soothing on a cold night. When my meatloaf plate came out, it reminded me of the meatloaf my mom used to make. Very comforting and very delicious. I had gravy on my mashed potatoes (which were soooo good, smooth but with a bit of potato lumps in it, I like it like that) and my meatloaf. The green beans I didn't care for very much, they were tasty (had some sort of garlic butter on them) but they were a bit soggy. It also came with garlic toast which was absolutely delicious.

For a quiet little diner out in Whatcom County, it sure hit the spot on a cold drive home. Very reasonable prices too, and they serve some hearty breakfast platters as well, and offer them to go if you desire. You can ask the waitress there for a menu.

Madison's Lounge & Restaurant is located at:

6104 Portal Way
Ferndale, WA 98248
(360) 312-8975

Shameless Self Promotion

I gotta get some votes somehow!

Vote for me if you like my caption (and yes, I realize that the cards need to be a little more visible but I can't re-submit now! arghhh, pity vote?? heh!).

It will win my hubby and me a trip to Vegas! Pretty please? (I swear I am done groveling!)



More on the online Poker Cats Contest

NFB: There are never enough hours in the day

I am done with training and have been on the floor all week at work, and still trying to get the hang of the health insurance system. It's so confusing, even though I have been working in it since September. And I just love how my husband thinks that because I work in the health insurance industry that surely I must know everything, right? Oy. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone today with his health insurance to find out how much medical equipment was covered and how much our copays and deductibles were. Now, I may work in a similar field but geez! I still get confused!

I started my early shift this week and let me tell you that getting up at 3:30am every morning is really getting old really quick. I fell asleep last night at 7:30pm. It's nice to get out early, but going in so early is hard. I know I will get used to it in due time, but it still is quite hard to get up so early. I look forward to the weekends.

Winter is not quite over yet and my arthritis is getting steadily worse. It's hard to type as much as I used to and in my job I must type so it's rough. My knuckles hurt even as I type this. I am looking forward to Spring and coming out of hibernation.

I am also realizing that my weight is finally catching up to me. I know I am not OLD, but 30 is creeping up on me quickly and since I hit 28, I have noticed my weight is really taking a toll on my body. Like I have said before, I have been dealing with obesity for years...and now my knees are feeling it, I am more sluggish than ever, I am not sleeping well because of aches and pains in my body (we need a new bed), I get sick more easily, and I am dealing with some bouts of depression (not really weight-related, more weather related but still enough to make me realize there are problems here!). I get a free gym membership from my new employer and I'm in the process of choosing one that will work best with me. I am considering water aerobics as it is low impact on the knees. I am also in dire need of trying to straighten out our eating habits. Valentine's Day was particularly terrible. My daughter has been eating WAY too much junk food lately, and my attempts to regulate what we eat have been met with protest and because I am so exhausted, I have just given up. I am sure part of it is anemia. There's a specific type of anemia (which one, I don't know) that runs on my mom's side of the family and I was supposed to have an anemia/iron study done by my doctor, but I ended up with no insurance so I was not able to do it. I will be getting my insurance through my employer soon, so I'll be taking advantage of it.

I'm just so tired. I can't begin to tell you exactly how I feel. I stopped caring about my hair and makeup. I still dress appropriately for work, but I could present myself a bit more nicely. This exhaustion has been tough to deal with, but I'm sure I'll get through it.

Like my title says, there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything you need to done. I even feel overwhelmed on the weekends because there is never enough time then either. I don't know what changed or what happened, because I was nowhere near as tired as I am now at my previous job, but it could have something to do with how sick I was before I left my previous job. It's been a bad year in terms of sickness. I guess my body just hasn't caught up yet. Any advice?

Two thumbs up- Hawaii BBQ & Noodle House

I ran by this place on my way home on Friday, and I had heard from some co-workers that it was a good place. The prices were far better than the "Haggenese" you can buy at Haggen's grocery store here in Bellingham, and the food was a lot better. We tried: Pineapple Chicken, Sweet N Sour Pork, Mongolian Beef, and Teriyaki Chicken. I'm a bit tired of the sweet, but the Pineapple Chicken was not as overbearing with the sweetness as the Sweet N Sour Pork was...but you have to expect that. The Mongolian Beef was delicious, I couldn't really eat it because it was VERY spicy, but my husband had wanted it so I bought some for him (we shared our entrees over the course of the last two nights). The Teriyaki Chicken was my daughter's favorite.

I plan on trying their BBQ next. They have so many different dishes you can try and the prices are very affordable!

On an OT note, I am almost done with my training! We have one week left and I have been at my new job for almost a month now. I can't believe it! Everything is going well, but I am nervous about being done with training, but I am excited to begin my new journey as well!

Anyhow, you can stop by Hawaii BBQ & Noodle House at:

1212 E. Sunset Drive
Bellingham, WA
360-647-7098

Overpriced pizza

About a week ago I met up with some of my former co-workers for a get together at the Round Table Pizza in Sunset Square in Bellingham. I've been to Round Table Pizza in the past in California and never really paid attention to the price of pizza there, because it was usually with my family. Anyhow, I ended up buying two x-large pizzas (King Arthur Supreme and the UltaMeat) and I spent over $55 on two x-large pizzas! WOW! They were good, but overpriced. Another gripe we had was how long it took to get our pizzas. One of my friends waited the longest, I believe it was about a half hour, and was not pleased.

I thought it would be a fun place to go to, but they lack games and other fun stuff to do there, and the space itself is somewhat small. We might get a pizza to go from there down the road, but I highly doubt it. I still can't believe I spent over $55 on two x-large pizzas to share with everyone. At least they liked it, so I'll give them THAT. I preferred the King Arthurs more over the UltaMeat, which gave me a gut ache. Too much meat and grease.

Next time I'll go for Pipeline Pizza...I hear they are pretty good and their prices (last I saw) were not too bad.

One place I am dying to try (not just for pizza) is Pastazza in Barkley Village. Maybe that will be one of my next ventures.

Constant Craving, Part II

I have been immersed in my training at my new job and am absolutely enjoying it. However, maybe it's due to the weather, maybe it's all the knowledge I am feeding my brain at work, but for some odd reason, for the past three days, food has been a constant thought on my mind. We talked about food in class, and I'd get hungry. I started packing larger lunches too, which is not something I normally do. I'd get home and even though I had eaten lunch about five hours before, I was hungry. One of my supervisors joked, "maybe you are pregnant!" Not likely, considering all of my problems (as mentioned in the past).

I would love to blame it on winter and feeling ready to hibernate, but I am not sure what is going on. Maybe a fluctuation in my body of some sort? Hormonal shift/change? I don't know but I'm eating like I'm eating for two again, which is wrong. I am not pregnant. Trust me, there's no way. Well, there is but it's an extremely small chance. I don't know but I wish it would go away. Another thing that happened was I had lost a pants size and noticed about a week or so ago, and all of a sudden, I've gained the weight back in the last week! What is up with that? Ugh, it sucks being a woman sometimes.

My husband is going grocery shopping tomorrow and letting me stay home (I slipped and fell in the parking lot on Wednesday and I'm sore all over- more on that in a minute), and all I can think of is, FOOD! Glorious food! I mean, I even cooked last week for cripe's sake- something I have done on a regular basis in months (I am not kidding you- as you can tell from my lack of posting I have been busy with life and work, and I don't care to cook anymore). I cooked. Good food too. Nothing spectacular but nothing that was packaged and processed either. I'm trying here...please forgive me, fellow foodies, for I have strayed. I'm trying to get back on the cooking bandwagon, and my increased appetite gave me a boost and I cooked finally. Imagine my husband's surprise- "you cooked? Are you serious? you didn't buy this?" No, I did not. I swear. We are working on frugality and working on saving money and I am trying my hardest. But I'm so hungry, and I can't stop my appetite!

While I contemplate Slim-Fasting my way to curbing my appetite, I am faced with another dilemma- the desire to eat more healthy foods on a frugal budget. Is it possible? I haven't been necessarily eating bad (okay, except for tonight, we went out to dinner with a former co-worker of mine), but I have been eating too much and have been desiring certain foods, such as healthier foods, crunchy veggies, fruits, fish, and even unhealthy foods (for example, right now I am really craving donuts). I honestly cannot remember a time when I had such a huge appetite. I may be a big girl, but that doesn't mean I shovel the food in! I do have some restraint! (Well not lately, but I normally do.)

And yes, we had snow here on Tuesday, enough to cancel school and make it impossible for me to drive to work. So on Wednesday, I went back, and on my way down the hill by my house, I started sliding despite the fact that 1, I was only doing 5-10 mph, and 2, I have studded snow tires. I could not get my truck to stop, and I saw myself headed towards cars in front of me and cars to the left and right of me. On my left I saw a vehicle that spun out and was banged up pretty badly. Down the road were two police cars that had their lights going and another vehicle that was spun out and banged up as well. I thought I was next, and seeing as I could not stop, I screamed, and then started pumping the brakes slowly and finally I came to a halt and spun into the lane of oncoming traffic. Luckily, the people in that lane were able to avoid me and I was able to correct myself and get myself back in driving mode. I'll be honest, this was my first time driving on the snow/ice and it scared the hell out of me. I had no choice, and all I did was take my time to get to work slowly and safe. So, I finally arrived to work, and the parking lot looks deceiving. I ended up slipping and regained my footing while walking to the entrance. The next thing I saw were my feet flying up in the air and *thud*, I landed on my butt and left leg. Trying to break the fall I instinctively put my left arm down, but it did me no good. A good samaritan helped me up and helped me get to the entrance. I did have to file an accident report at work, but my ego was more bruised at the time because I had about 3-4 witnesses. It's so embarrassing. The next day I was extremely sore, and I'm still sore, but it's nothing I can't handle, luckily. My advice for noobs on the snowy and icy roads? SLOW DOWN. Don't drive like a maniac (yeah, I'm talking to the moron in the jacked up truck on the I-5 going North who was doing 70 mph while snow was falling pretty hard and the roads were iced up!). If you can, stay home and do not drive. However, if you're a working stiff like me who has to work for a living, just leave about 45 minutes earlier and plan on going very slowly. There are reasons why I prefer a stick shift (manual transmission) and the ice/snow is one of them. Now let's hope we are not hit with anymore ice for a while. I won't lie, after what I went through on Wednesday I'm scared to drive and walk on the ice.