Single and healthcare

There are few things scarier than living with out healthcare coverage. Anything that could happen to you physically is fixed with good healthcare. Most people with health insurance don't freak out at the idea of falling down, but if you take a tumble with out healthcare coverage and kind of hurt yourself, that not so horrible injury can turn into something bad.

There's this common misconception about people without health insurance being bad, lazy, lay-abouts, or young people being fearless and thinking they're invincible, but that's simply not the case.

As a person struggling to find employment in my desired field, I am willing to take a job with out benefits. Any job to get my foot in the door for the time being, something to build off of for later. And I'm far from being the only one. Many people, recent grads like myself or long-time pros, are willing to take a less than ideal position because it's a job, it's money, and we'll have to deal without health care, or at least without perfect healthcare.

President Obama's speech this evening outlined some of the blockades facing the uninsured, pre-existing conditions being one of the biggest roadblocks. A person with a disease needs to be treated before anyone else. Aren't there enough perfectly healthy people paying to cover the people who actually need treatment? And isn't preventative care the best way to catch these things before they get out of hand and treatment gets expensive?

I think a healthcare crisis may just be the big push we need to start taking care of ourselves. It's horrible, but if people knew they couldn't just run to the doctor and get a triple bi-pass when you eat too much pizza and red meat, they might try some fruit and veggies. I know I'm taking better care of myself than I did a couple of years ago. I used to drink Mountain Dew like it was water, now I barely drink pop, or anything other than water and beer for that matter. And what's really sick, the beers I like have less calories per 12 oz serving than a 12 oz can of Mountain Dew.

So, for the time being, I'm going to be walking a lot, and heading to they gym when it starts to get cooler, and I'm trying to cook more at home, adding veggies, fruit and yogurt to my daily diet. Hopefully nothing bad happens in the time being.

Single Girls and Pets

Pets can enrich a single life so much, especially after a break up. It doesn't matter that they can't talk, and you have to pick up their poop, it's just nice to know that there's someone waiting for you at home.

I love my cats, it's nice to have someone that will curl up on your lap and act like they love you, even if no one else does. Especially when you feel like no one will ever love you again. That cranky ball of fluff will love you.

Renter's Delight

So, I'm watching The Daily Show this evening, and the guest is Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank. The conversation turned to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the push to turn renters into home owners, because apparently renters are bad people.

I like being a renter. There's no way I could pay less per month with a mortgage and insurance and property taxes and HOA fees for a place comparable to the one I rent. And when you own, all of your places problems are yours. Like when my ceiling in my bedroom collapsed this winter during heavy rains, I would have had to pay to fix it. Your fridge breaks, you buy a new one. Your plumbing gets effed up, you have to pay the plumber.

There's nothing wrong with renting. I don't think it's throwing away money, especially in the current real estate climate. If you buy a house, you're set paying the price you bought it for, simple as that. But rent can go down, you only sign a year, possibly two year lease at a time, and if you're a good tenant you can lock in your monthly rent, or even get it lowered. Granted, refinancing a mortgage is an option, but that's just changing your interest rate, it doesn't get lowered if the "value" of your house plummets. House value is just a perceived number pulled out of someone's ass based on supply and demand. (Granted, rent is the same thing, but, like I said early, there's a little wiggle room for good behavior.)

I am a renter, and I am not a bad person.

Adult Jello

Who hasn't had a crazy night followed by a painful morning that can be credited in some way to Jello shooters?

As we grow up, we learn that Jello shooters are a little College (by Asher Roth), but how much fun is it getting trashed on Jello, that oh so innocent desert peddled by none other than Dr. Cliff Huxtable! Here's a way to make your Jello shot a little more grown up:

You will need:

• Your favorite flavor of sugar free Jello
• A corresponding or complimentary fruit
• Plain or flavored vodka (matching either the Jello and/or the fruit)
• Redi-Whip or Cool Whip or (if you're so enterprising) freshly whipped cream
• Your favorite fancy container or stemware

In four dishes or glasses, place fruit at the bottom. Prepare Jello as directed in a bowl or container with a pour spout (I like my 2-cup Pyrex liquid measuring cup), substituting 1/2 (or if your so bold, all) or the cold water with vodka.

Let chill in your fridge for the alloted time, top with whipped topping of your choice, and enjoy!

16 and Pregnant

MTV reality shows are like crack. I don't want to watch, but once I do, I'm hooked. It's happened with True Life, I Want a Famous Face, The Newlyweds, Engaged and Underage, and now 16 & Pregnant. It's strange watching these girls who are a few years younger than me go through very adult things that I know I'm not ready for.

I was watching an episode today, and got curious to see what others thought of the show. Specifically when the knocker-upper bought a $20 engagement ring from Wal-Mart after returning a $500 PS3. There were a few comments about that, but most of the threads were concerned about the girls parenting ability, tax implications on the married and working, and the girls decision to have sex in the first place.

You'll always get that right-wing nut-job who doesn't say anything except wait until you're married to have sex, which is easier said than done. People give this advice to teens all the time, but what happens when that teen doesn't get married young?

When you tell a 16 year old to wait until marriage, you're asking her to wait years to have sex. In 2007 the average marriage age for women was 25.6. If you were hungry but were told to wait 9 years to eat, could you do that? Not that sexual appetite is the same as the need for nutrition, it is hard to ask someone to wait that long for something that seems so urgent.

I'm not saying be an enabler, but I think we need to cut this "wait until marriage" crap once and for all. Young girls will never grow up to be strong, independent women if they have hang-ups about the moral implications about sex.

Telling girls that they're whores because they have sex before marriage will turn them into whores. Giving them proper birth control information and reasons to wait until they are legal adults (aka at least 18) with honest answers to any questions they may have has been proven again and again to be the best option.

As painful as it can be for people to admit, sex and love do not always go hand-in-hand. This is another one of those horrible facts that make being a productive member of society so much easier after a break-up. I'm not saying Sex and the City's Samantha Jones is the best role model, but she does have some good points. Separating those amazing bodily feelings with those amazing feelings in your heart will help save a lot of pain down the line.

I guess the most important advice to give a young girl about sex and relationships is that you can live with out them. No one ever told me that, not explicitly. Most of the people in my family got married to their high school sweethearts, and the group of couples I hung out with in high school all got married, except me. No one told me that it was okay.

But I learned on my own. I've survived, in fact, I would say I've prospered.

Jello!

Here's a great money and calorie saving tip:

You love Jello, right? And I bet you love those individually sized portions of Jello that make a great desert for your lunch, right? But, those pre-packaged cups aren't exactly cheep compared to a box of Jello. So here's what I do.

I buy individually portioned yogurt in cups with lids. Personally, I prefer Yoplait, but I'll suck it up for a week and eat the stuff with lids. Save the cups and wash them out with your dishes. You'll want 5 cups, so a week's worth of yogurt is all you'll have to suffer through. If you really don't like yogurt and don't live with someone who does, you can buy little reusable plastic containers about this size of 6oz yogurt cups.

One box of Jello will fill 2.5 6oz yogurt cups, so use two boxes of (sugar free) Jello. If you want them to be all one flavor, double the water quantities and follow the directions on the package. I use a 2-cup liquid measuring cup to mix Jello, I boil the first cup of water in the microwave, mix in the Jello and then run the tap until the water is cool enough for the second cup of water. Use a bigger measuring cup or a bowl with a pour lip to pour the Jello into the yogurt cups if you're doing one flavor.

To do two flavors, mix one packet of Jello as directed, fill each yogurt cup half-way, and set as directed. Once the cups are set, mix up your second flavor, pour on to the top-half of the cup. The flavors will blend gently, but not mix. The hot Jello will just melt the top layer of the original flavor.

For a fraction of the cost of the store-bought stuff, especially if you catch the Jello and yogurt on a super sale, you have great, custom made Jello for your lunch all summer. I tend to use my yogurt cups for a summer, and throw them out at the end of my Jello season, starting over again next summer.

Beat the summer heat

It's pushing 90˚F in the Windy City today. That's pretty dang hot, and I don't want to be cooped up in my (slightly) air-conditioned apartment all day.

There's nothing like a frozen treat on a hot day, but ice cream is not friendly to the calorie minded. (My personal favorites are Cold Stone [yummy but has enough calories for a few days worth of food] and Bobtail Ice Cream [local favorite, and another big calorie count])

So what's a girl to do on these sweltering summer days? Popsicles! Sugar free Popsicles have 15 calories per pop. 15!!!! You (probably) burn that walking to the freezer to get yourself a Popsicle! And if you're not into the artificial sweetener thing, regular Popsicles have 45 calories per pop, which still isn't breaking the calorie bank. I bought the red white and blue Firecracker variety, and they only have 35 calories per pop.

And it doesn't stop there. If you want a creamy, chocolately treat, no-sugar-added Fudgsicles only have 40 calories. They also have a low-fat version with 60 calories per pop, and a super-sized 100 calorie bar if the smaller version just doesn't fill your cold chocolate craving.

So fear not my sweaty and calorie-counting single girls, Popsicles are the perfect treat for any summer day. Plus, there's just something hot to a guy about a girl eating a Popsicle ;)