Weekend Plans

It has been a long and busy week. I am looking forward to the upcoming weekend. We have a few fun and interesting activities planned. Also, there is a nice threat of some lake-effect snow. Maybe I'll finally get to try out that new snow blower. DE the weather man has been giddy for days with the anticipation of significant accumulations.

Tomorrow night at this time we'll be whooping it up at the company Christmas... I mean Holiday Party at the Glen Loch. Ok, maybe whooping it up isn't exactly the right term. But we'll be having fun nonetheless. I'm looking forward to the party this year. Last year we didn't go because it was on a Wednesday night. There was much complaining from the masses and therefore was scheduled for a Friday night this year. It was met with much rejoicing. There will be a higher attendance this year. Especially if that open-bar thing is still a go.

Tomorrow (correction: Saturday) evening Alex and I will be attending "The Nutcracker". (Free tickets, of course.) Hopefully this time there won't be anybody behind us taking off their shoes. And if there is, you can bet I will speak up this time!

And, if we can coordinate schedules, our "lunch club" from work will do a dinner at a new restaurant that RB has discovered, Papa Gallo. They're a tex-mex place. You can be sure that if we go, there will be many photos of our meals to share and possibly a review. At least at RB's blog. She's much better at that than I am!

Oh and here's a must-listen for you: Alex's new favorite Christmas song is Dominick the Donkey. It does have a fun ring to it. We listened to it 12 times tonight. Hee haw!

Decking the Halls

My neighbor is a florist and in her spare time she likes to garden and decorate the outside of her house for each season. It's always inspiring. This is what I saw when I got home tonight. I can't believe how many other houses I saw that were already decorated. I wonder how much everybody's electric bill will be this month!

Alex Goes to College... someday

I had a brilliant idea on my way home from work today. As I was driving and realizing that my son will be going off to college in 6 1/2 years and I have little to no money to help with his educational efforts, I knew I had to do something.

My mom clued me in on these "Google Ad" revenue builders. You put the ads on your site, people click on them, you make money. That's it. So far in the last 2 days, I have made $1.43 from this on my site. My mom was probably my biggest clicker, but as more people hear about it and help out, then the more money we will make!

I decided to create a blog for Alex. And I called it "Alex Goes to College". You can find a link to the left. Or just click here to see it. What we will do, is update Alex's scholastic career as he heads towards college. We'll post highlights and grades. And we will also keep a running total of the funds raised. Eventually, as he gets older, Alex will update his blog on his own. Our intent is for all of the proceeds from his google ad clicks to go towards his college education.

Please pass the word and maybe click a few times on the Google Ads to help send a child to college. Thank you!!

The Dollar Store Christmas Tree

This will be our 5th Christmas with our "Dollar Store" Christmas Tree. I'd say we've gotten our money's worth out of it. And it's not looking any worse for wear, so I'm thinking it might have another 5 years in it. I bought the tree from the Dollar General for $20. (No, it wasn't $1.) But still, $20 for a Christmas tree is quite a bargain. Of course, it's no Martha Stewart tree. But it works for us. The first time I put it up, I thought it looked kind of like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. But after you fluff the plastic limbs, add some lights and ornaments, it doesn't look that bad. And the angel on the top finishes it off nicely. Of course, if you shut off the lights, blur the background, and add a lens flare... it helps even more.

Shopping in my Jammies

I love the internet! And since I have decided that going to the mall is just not my favorite thing to do, I love the internet even more. I accomplished so much this morning, while still wearing my pj's and sporting bead-head. I found a Zune! The 30 gb Zune. Yeah, it's brown. But who cares. It has 30 gb! That's insane. I think that's more than my computer has. It's such a neat little device. You can play videos, watch movies, listen to music, listen to the radio, do a wireless file exchange... it's so much better than an iPod. Maybe the iPod is smaller, but that's ok. I like the Zune. Microsoft has upgraded the Zune recently, so the "older" model is cheaper now, especially the brown ones. Maybe people think they're ugly. I like them. And I got one for $109.99 on buy.com. (I had a $10 off coupon.) So if you're in the market for a Zune... check out buy.com! Free shipping and no tax too. (Oh, and Eric if you're reading this... Merry Christmas!)
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My second fun purchase of the day was for Alex. He was also requesting an mp3 player. He mentioned the iPod Shuffle. But I started looking around at some other options. It's expensive for what you get. $80. You may as well get the iPod. We came across this little gadget at Radio Shack yesterday. So I showed it to Alex and he loved it. It's a Sansa Sandisk Shaker. It comes with a 1 gb sd card. And it was $38 on buy.com. It has a speaker so that you don't always have to be wearing headphones. And if you do want the headphones, there are 2 inputs so you and a friend can listen together. Plus there's that neat "shaker" function. You shake it to change songs. I think that's what sold Alex on it. It's fun and small and you can store 250 songs. (I don't think I even know 250 songs!) So it's more than enough for an 11 year old boy. In fact, it's perfect! And it's on its way... and will be here in 7 to 9 business days. Free shipping and no tax.
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Black Friday, Bowling & Bee Movie

So Black Friday is thankfully over. The drive to the mall will be a little more tolerable now. Yesterday was insane. My mom and I went out around 11am. We got back home at 12:30. We'd had enough. The traffic was horrible. The stores were full. There was nothing on my list that I needed immediately. Mom got a few things that she needed. Then we went home for leftover turkey and stuffing.

They headed back to PA later that afternoon then Alex and I headed for the bowling alley. The parking lot was full. The inside was packed. There were no empty lanes. So we left. We will try again another day.

Around 4:15, Alex was going stir-crazy. So I suggested we go to a movie. We looked online. "Bee Movie" started at 4:40. We looked at each other, grabbed our shoes and coats and ran out the door. We were in our seats, with popcorn in hand at 4:39. The movie was cute. It could certainly have waited for DVD release, but it was fun. And there were a few scenes that had Alex in stitches. After the movie, we stopped at Toys R Us to check out the Zune deals that were in the paper. The deals of course were gone. Oh well. Maybe they'll be back.

We headed home for some more turkey leftovers. And decided to put together a puzzle I had picked up at the Dollar Store that morning. We spent the rest of the evening (until 11:30pm!) working on the puzzle and watching tv. It was a very nice day, other than the Black Friday traffic. For anyone who braved the cold weather and crowds today, you are a better person than I!

My plumber dad and other things to be thankful for.

Sleepy mom.

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Thanksgiving is always a nice, relaxing day. Smelling the wonderful smells. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes... Watching the parades and football games on tv. Hanging out with family. It's just a nice day all around.

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Eric pouring drinks.

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Our Thanksgiving was not that different than every other Thanksgiving. Well, minus the huge clog I was able to achieve in the kitchen sink. I was peeling the potatoes, cutting the squash... and then I decided to shove all the peels and squash seeds down the garbage disposal. All at the same time. And turn it on. It ran, and ran, and ran... and nothing happened. So I ran it again. And again. Still nothing but churning water in the sink. Full of regurgitated potato peels and squash insides. And whatever else was left in the disposal from the last time I used it. 2 years ago I had this same problem. And had to call a plumber. $180 later, I had all new pipes. This year, I had my dad. He got the plunger, plunged away. But nothing happened. So he got under the sink, took apart the nice new pipes and discovered the gigantic clog I had managed to create. It really was quite something. One thing though, while he was under the sink with the open pipes... for some reason, he turned on the gargabe disposal again. And that open pipe acted like a cannon. That potato peel mixture shot out of that pipe at full speed. And ended up all over the insides of my cupboard. The good news was, I had been meaning to clean out under there anyway. So I did. After dad put the pipes back together.

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Plumber Dad.
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The clog. (Minus, the knife.)

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So with a working sink, we got dinner together and were sitting down having dinner at 4pm. It was so delicious and after about 20 minutes, we were all stuffed.

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After dinner and cleanup, we had a fun little birthday party. Eric brought a beautiful birthday cake. They sang to me and I got lots of nifty gifts. Alex gave me a Yankee candle and a book in a series I've been reading. Eric gave me a Red Sox fleece, a Kohls gift card and a subscription to Rachael Ray's magazine. Mom & dad gave me the snow blower, and had a card that mom had left at home on her desk. So my birthday will extend even further since she will mail the card once she returns home. This has already been the longest birthday ever, and it isn't even until tomorrow!
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The annual blowfish photo..

We're getting ready to go shopping. We debated about which store to go to at 4am, but decided to sleep instead. We're getting ready to go out now. Hopefully the 4am'ers have gone home to sleep. Eric and I were eyeing the Zune's in the flyers yesterday. Maybe that will be our gifts to each other this year... they were having quite the deals on them. Although since we slept in, I'm sure we missed them by now...

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I hope that everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving and good luck with your Black Friday shopping!! The Christmas (holiday) shopping season has officially begun!

The Celebrations Continue!

The birthday festivities continued into Day 2. Today was a fun little birthday lunch with some of the crew from work. Because it was right before the holiday, a lot of the crew had prior commitments and projects to finish, but the few of us who were able to get away had a great time. Our department tries to take everybody to lunch on their birthday. Which makes for about 1-2 birthday lunches a month. It's nice to get out of the building and hang out with co-workers in a non-working environment. Even our boss joins us. It's usually a nice time, and Chili's is the usual lunch destination. You gotta love the never-ending bowls of freshly made chips and salsa.
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I usually get a chicken sandwich, but today I had a craving for a quesadilla. I showed RB the quesadilla on the menu that I wanted and it was quite a surprise to me when a sizzling platter of Fajita's showed up. Apparently when I ordered my meal, I actually ordered a Fajita. I have no recollection of saying that, but RB confirmed that I had indeed said Fajita, and said that she thought I had changed my mind. It was still very good. I just had to put it together myself!

My quesadilla, I mean fajita.

I also had a nice birthday surprise from Director Jeff. He & his wife went to the Cape last week and he knew of my love of the Red Sox, so he picked up a few trinkets of the 2007 World Series Champions. He gave me the 2007 Sports Illustrated World Series Commemorative Edition. It's the best, every single page is all about the Sox. Even the advertisements. I'll have to put it away in the Time Capsule to keep it safe. Jeff also gave me a fun bumper sticker and a sign for my wall. (When I got back from lunch, the bumper sticker was missing and being held hostage.... but I was able to retrieve it fairly easily w/o having to pay a ransom. Darn jealous Yankee fans...)

Today marked the end of my work week. I am very pleased to have the next 5 days off. Other than having my parents coming to visit for Thanksgiving, I have no big plans. It's nice not to have to drive anywhere or to rush here or there. I enjoy cooking and hosting, and am looking forward to Thanksgiving. I am hoping to relax and enjoy our long weekend.

Let the celebration begin!

I had a very nice surprise waiting for me at work this morning. Sharon & Sara had a little birthday surprise for me! It was so sweet. Sharon made some of her very yummy Three Berry Crisp with Cinnamon Whipped Cream and they each got me a nice gift. I was so surprised! My birthday isn't until Saturday, but with the holiday this week and the fact that I'm off Wed-Fri, they had a little celebration for me this morning. A very nice start to my week.

Semi-homemade

I was given a cookbook the other day at work. We had featured it on our morning talk show and had an interview with the author. The producer was nice enough to let me keep the cookbook. (Another very nice perk of my job!) Well, I absolutely love this cookbook. It's called "Semi-Homemade 20-Minute Meals 2" By Sandra Lee. One of my pre-requisites for cookbooks is one that has lots (and I mean lots) of pretty colorful photographs. Being a visual person, I really like to know what things are supposed to look like. This book has a full page photo of each and every recipe. The recipes are great! Every page has something on it that I would cook and eat. The fact that they're quick and super easy makes it even better.


Last night I made the "Black Bean & Spinach Couscous". I probably would not have made this dish if it weren't for the very pretty photograph of the finished product. Not only was it delicious, it was very healthy as well. And it made for my entire meal. For dinner last night and lunch today. And I still have more for later that I will set out as a side dish for our Sunday dinner. Sandra Lee claims that it takes 10 minutes to make from start to finish. And she was right on. And that included time to do the dishes.


I have just now decided that as I make some of the recipes, I will post my opinions here on my blog. As well as posting the recipes and photos too. Enjoy!



Black Bean & Spinach Couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup couscous, Near East
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach
3/4 cup black beans, drained
2 tsp lemon juice
Salt & pepper

1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring chicken broth to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in couscous. Cover and let sit for 5 min.

2. Squeeze excess water out of thawed spinach. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine spinach and black beans. Heat in microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir spinach and black beans mixture into couscous. Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt & pepper.

I am a germophobe.

I am a germophobe. There. I said it. I am a germophobe. I went to 2 different shopping malls today. And it was a Saturday during the Christmas shopping season. Did I also mention that I'm not very bright sometimes? That's another blog for another day though. For now, I'm just going to discuss my fear of germs.

I wasn't always this way. I think it started after I had my son. Not immediately, but soon after. I don't like touching things in public. Especially escalators or door handles. I don't like using public restrooms. I don't like when people sneeze or cough near me. I keep antibacterial hand gel in my car. And on my desk at work. And I use it often.

Today when I was at Mall #1, Eric & I had lunch at the food court. Eric got chinese and I opted for a nice sub at Quiznos. A woman put my turkey and cheese sub together, then placed it on the heater. It came out the other side to a gentleman wearing rubber type gloves. I thought that was very good that he wore gloves when handling food items. Especially my food items. After he retrieved my sub and placed it with his gloved fingers onto the paper, he then took one of his gloved hands and grabbed a fist of shredded lettuce and placed it on my sandwich. Then he wrapped up my sandwich and put it on a tray. Immediately after that, he told me how much my order was, and I handed him the money. With his gloved hand, he took my dirty money, and made change for me from the cash register. A few pennies, a nickel, a quarter and a few dollar bills. Then the phone rang. He picked up the phone with his other gloved hand and began speaking. Then with his other gloved hand, he handed me an empty cup for my soda that I was to fill myself. At this point I was pretty grossed out. I'm not sure how long he had been wearing the rubber gloves, but I could only imagine what all he had done while they were on his hands. And it made me a little queasy. I ate my sandwich anyway. I was hungry.

After lunch, I had to use the restroom. Which was the typical Christmas-shopping- season-public-mall-restroom disaster area. I found an empty stall, did my usual cleaning routine of the seat, and didn't sit on it anyway. Finished my business and as I was washing my hands with the hottest water I could stand, I saw a woman with 2 young children exit a stall and depart the bathroom. Bypassing the sink area completely. I walked out behind them as they went on to stand in line at Burger King. With their filthy hands. I met back up with Eric and we went to pick up Alex, who was attending a birthday party at the Laser Tag facility in the Mall. The one with the hundreds of germ ridden kids running around playing video games and touching everything in site.

We left Mall #1. I went to Mall #2 on my own later in the evening. It was much the same as mall #1, only bigger. Much bigger. And much more crowded. Which meant many more germs. After I quickly did all that was on my list, I vowed not to return there again. At least not until well after the holidays. And well after cold & flu season.

Yellow Snow

What is this white stuff in my bathroom??

A Boy & His Dog and Other Random Stuff

Alex & Jenny posed for a nice photo this evening. It was a nice (rare) quiet moment for them. Usually they're chasing each other around the house. Jenny originally had evil green eyes, but I fixed them in post. I love Photoshop.




I was at A.C. Moore today buying some picture frames and I came across this fun display. I thought it was picture worthy. Alex got a kick out if it too.

Oh and the 2008 Boston Red Sox schedule came out today. The week we're going to be at the Cape, the Sox are in town every day. They're even playing the Yankees for a few games. Maybe we'll be able to get to a game that week... We're looking at other possibilities too. Maybe Baltimore in May? Toronto in September? We're determined to see a game next season!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is a week from tomorrow. Where did the year go??

Big Foot

I was gently encouraged to buy new shoes this weekend. I know my tastes aren't as "hip" as they could be in some areas. Ok, in many areas. I've always had issues with shoes. I appreciate Eric's input and his style, so I took his advice and bought these shoes. For the last few days, I have been wearing them, trying to break them in. They're the first Skechers I have ever owned. The biggest thing I have noticed with the shoes is that they are very big. VERY big. Much bigger than I am used to. I'm sure that's normal to other people, but to me they just seem very big. I've been tripping over invisible things a lot more. And today while I was using the bathroom at work, I lifted one of my big feet to flush the toilet, the big shoe slipped off the flusher thingy, I lost my balance and I ended up falling onto the stall divider.

I'll keep wearing them. They're comfortable at least, in a big roomy sort of way.

Pizza and Snowmobile Cake

Today we went to Eric's niece Laura's 5th Birthday party at Pizza Hut. Her grandma made her a very yummy and very fun snowmobile cake at Laura's request. It was REALLY good. I could have eaten a few more pieces. But after all the pizza, breadsticks and soda I indulged in, that probably wouldn't have been a very good idea. Happy Birthday, Laura!

Christmas Shopping Chaos

There are 45 more days until Christmas. You'd think it was tomorrow. Eric and I did some holiday shopping yesterday. And by the looks of the crowds, sales and activity, you wouldn't have thought it was only November 10th. One store in particular was a mess. This photo is from the shoe department of Kohl's. I couldn't believe it! Who just dumps the box and shoes on the floor, not caring about where it goes after trying it on? Well, apparently there were quite a lot of people who didn't care yesterday at Kohl's. This is the only photo I took, but the whole store looked like this. It was a mess. When I tried on a few pairs of pants, the dressing rooms had clothes turned inside out strewn all over the floors. People would put shirts back on hangers, but they would be inside out. It was a disaster everywhere. The poor employees that had to clean up that mess surely don't get paid enough.

7-Year Itch

The first week of December marks the end of my 7th full year in CNY. I remembered that little fact at a "Friendly" (or was that Wendy's) lunch with RB & JB yesterday. It got me thinking. 7 years. Wow. That is almost my record for longest amount of time spent in one state during consecutive years. I believe Maine is the record. And that was about 9 years. I went to MA for college for 4 years, I lived in NH for 7 years, but during two different time periods. 3 years the first time, 4 years the second. With a 2-year break to live in Kentucky. (Confused yet?) I won't go into specifics for the other years... (Let's just say I grew up in the military so I moved a few times!)

The thing that really got me thinking about living here for 7 years, was the snowfall. The first year we moved here was the second snowiest in CNY history. Wasn't that a fun record to be a part of? Especially when a shovel was my only method of snow removal! 191.9 inches is a LOT of snow to move with a shovel.

Here is a breakdown of snowfall since I have lived here:

2000-01 - 191.9"
2001-02 - 59.4"
2002-03 - 153.2"
2003-04 - 181.3"
2004-05 - 136.2"
2005-06 - 124.6"
2006-07 - 140.2"

Total: 986.8" (That's 82.2 feet.)

6 out of the 7 winters I have lived in the Syracuse area, we have "won" the Golden Snowball award for most snowfall. Is that really such a good thing?

Walk, Don't Run

Alex is very excited this year because he is able to be part of the "School Safety Patrol". It's a 10 week commitment and part of his responsibilities include making sure the kids are orderly in the hallways getting to their buses in the afternoon. It is unclear what type of punishment he is allowed to instill for disorderly Kindergarteners however. I believe the biggest reason for him joining the Safety Patrol is because he gets dismissed early.

The Fall Minefield

The first snow flakes of the season. And a backyard full of leaves that need raking. Jenny attempts to find a safe spot to leave a present. I can't wait to rake this year -- I may need to wear disposable shoes & gloves... it's a minefield out there!

Signing Schilling

From Curt's blog:

"Talks with the Red Sox are moving. Theo and I have spoken multiple times daily over the past week and given the current situation I am feeling very confident that we will be able to finalize a 1 year contract to allow us a chance to finish our career as members of the Red Sox organization.

There are some things to iron out and details that must be finalized for both sides but barring something unforseen or outrageously odd happening I feel very comfortable that I will finish my career here."

Yay!

Flea Market Fun

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This morning we got up early... which was really late since we lost an hour or was it gain an hour. Something like that... I'm still not sure what time it is! Anyway, my dad & I headed for the Regional Market Flea Market early this morning. There's a weekly indoor/outdoor flea market in Syracuse every Sunday morning, all year round. I try to get there a few times a year, when I think of it. The summer is better of course since there are more outdoor vendors. But you're always bound to find something you "need" no matter what time of year it is. I really enjoy going to the flea market with my dad. He's a "professional" and it's fun learning tips and secrets from the best. He can out-haggle anyone.
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We found some interesting items today. I saw a neat wooden box that caught my eye. It had a tag that said $25 on it. I walked away. My dad was looking at some other items and was starting to discuss prices with the vendor and deciding whether he wanted them or not. I told him about the box. I went back to look at it again, and the guy said I could have it for $10. I would have done it, but then my dad had his items (old silverware for re-sale), and the guy initially told him they would be $10 for the lot. So my dad asked the vendor what he could do for him if he bought both items. The guy said $15. Sold! So my $25 box ended up being $7.50. Here's a photo of it, already in its new home. I'm not sure what to put in it yet, but it's so neat!
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We wandered around, dad found a few more "deals". I bought a bag of home-made sugared donuts that we ate for breakfast and I got a couple of other things. Here's a photo of dad with a new sign he got for $1. "The Hurrier I Go, the Behinder I Get". That would be a good sign for my office at work...

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So the weekend was a huge success! Last night was fun with our dinner and all our guests. I got my first Snow Blower lesson. I hear there's snow in the forecast this week. I wonder if I will need the Blower...
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Oh and one more thing: A BIIIGGGG thank you to "ALR Shipping" for sending Red Sox World Series Champion shirts in 3 days. She beat DHL by 4 days, had a personal note inside and an extra gift to boot! Amy, you're the best!! We will try them on and send a photo soon...
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Let it snow...

I just realized I haven't posted anything since Oct. 31st. The last couple of days have been busy with work and life. Nothing terribly exciting to talk about I guess! I am still coming down from the big Red Sox win and trying to find something new to obsess about. The Patriots are playing the Colts tomorrow afternoon, that should be quite a game!

My parents are visiting this weekend. They should be here shortly. I just pre-made a big lasagna that I can just throw in the oven for dinner tonight. And Eric & Kelsey will be joining us as well.

The reason for my parents visit, other than to visit their favorite daughter, is to deliver a very exciting item! This is going to be a good winter for me... They are bringing a Snow Blower!! Woohoo!! I think last winter was all I could take with the shoveling. We live in the Snow Belt and I have shoveled for the last 3 winters in this house. And it's not fun!! Especially last year. We got over 100" in a month. I ran out of places to put it. It was horrible. Although I will admit, my upper body strength was at an all time high. But I would much rather have a nice Snow Blower to do the job. I'm sure I will still shovel some, but the majority of my snow clearing will be via the Snow Blower. I almost can't wait for it to snow!