Thursday, December 26, 2002

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

And it was! The first that I can remember in a long long time.

Hope you all had a lovely one!

Tuesday, December 24, 2002

Merry Christmas!

And Happy New Year!

Monday, December 23, 2002

Dead things Mikey

We went to see The Two Towers this weekend with some friends. As awesome as the first one and I can't wait for the extended DVD to hit the stores for purchase.

My favorite part though, I have to admit is when Frodo and Sam were travelling through the bog and Sam looked down at the water and said "There are dead things! There are dead things in there!"

For those who aren't part of my generation or have simply forgotten, the actor who plays Sam, Sean Astin, was also Mikey in Goonies. Bringing to mind the scene in the attic, and the line "Dead things Mikey! Dead things!"

I love writers with a sense of humour.

Friday, December 20, 2002

Car design

First let me start with a funny story about my grandmother. She got a new car a little over a year ago and it had those new levers to open and close the windows. You know, the kind where you push down like a button but then actually pull the little lever up to close them? Well she went to the post box on her way to work and put the window down just fine. Then couldn't figure out how to close it. She started driving towards work and decided the other button on the panel, next to the first button, must be the one you push to close the window. So now both front windows are open. Through process of elimination she pushes the other two buttons and winds up driving to work, on the parkway, with all four car windows open.

Hysterically funny, right?

This morning I got to drive the new car to work. It was raining, well, more misty than anything, when I started anyway. I didn't know how to turn the windshield wipers on. I managed to turn on the rear windshield wipers. I found out how to spray the windshield with wiper fluid. And that was it. The whole way in I held the wiper bar down because that was the only way I could see how to drive. Once I got in, I broke out the manual to see what I was doing wrong or if it was really my car that was broken.

I had turned the right knob at one point, just clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. D'OH!

I'll never laugh at my grandmother and her window incident again.

Thursday, December 19, 2002

Ahhh....that new car smell

We picked up the Vue last night. VERY nice. It's been so long since I've had a new car, almost 11 years to be exact.

It was beautiful. Green with tan interior. That lovely smell of fresh everything...they put in the wrong CD player but Andy's swapping that for me today, so tomorrow I get to hit the road!!!

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

It's the most wonderful man in the world...

We went out last night to run some errands. Andy says "We should stop by the Saturn dealer and see if they got any green Vues to see if you like that color."

To preface we've been talking about getting a Vue for about 3 years.

So we get to the dealer, there's a green one. It's much nicer than it looks on the website, and I decide, that's a good color for me. We take it out on a test drive because I hadn't tried out the V4 the last time we took a test drive. It was lovely. We get back to the dealer and go inside. The salesman asks "So do you want me to try and find a green one for you?" Andy turns to me and says "Do you want it?" Of course I do! I've wanted one for years, don't mess with me. Then to my surprise we actually sit down and get one!!! He was going to surprise me with one for Christmas, but didn't want to get me a green one if I didn't like that color, and he wasn't sure what other little things I wanted with it.

We're picking up my new baby tomorrow.

What a wonderful man.

Friday, December 13, 2002

Congrats!!

To Pat and Kelly on their brand new baby boy Jack!
The new job

It's been going well. Aside from adjusting back from vacation thinking. That first day of getting up at 6 AM again was a little rough on the system. But I'm adjusting. New jobs are always a little hairy the first week.

The folks here are terrific. Lots of fun, lots people to talk to etc. The hardest part is going to be adjusting to the new systems. Like using Lotus Notes. I've been an Outlook girl for years. Not that one's harder than the other, just what I'm used to.

More excitement to come. I'll fill you in on more after our holiday lunch next week!

Monday, December 09, 2002

A lot of stuff

A lot has been going on lately. Between the snow, and the new job, and the 'rents being home.

And suddenly everything seems to be on hyper speed. My folks can't possibly be leaving at the end of this week can they? They just got here. Christmas can't possibly only be two weeks away can it? I haven't bought hardly anything yet. The new job can't possibly have started today could it? I just gave my notice a little bit ago, right?

It's almost unreal. I guess it's just nature's way of helping you deal with major shocks. Sort of like how most of what I remember of our wedding day somehow seems to have compressed down into about 20 key minutes worth of events. Not that our wedding day was a shock!!! Just a lot of activity in a 24 hour period.

Somehow this year is almost over and I can't remember how I got here. This is not my beautiful house...

Thursday, December 05, 2002

Creepy Crawlies

There's a wolf spider in our laundry room sink. It's been there about a month. It's about and inch or so big. I'm not a spider fan. But since it's been there so long and has been happily eating up our camel crickets and silverfish, I've decided it could make a decent pet. I've named it Aragog.

And yes I know that makes me the ultimate Harry Potter geek.
Ah...the smell of fresh puke in the morning

Andy had to be at Hopkins early this morning for a spinal tap. Although not as early as he was up for Black Friday at Best Buy. And to help, it snowed. We don't get much snow in Maryland, so when we do everyone seems to panic. Thankfully, Andy's mother came with us. Or I should say, drove us. I can't say how grateful I am for that. I HATE driving in the snow. And once we got there I had even more to be grateful to her for (aside from the company, and comfort of knowing we weren't alone there).

We got up to Baltimore right on time for Andy's appointment. We waited for a little while and Andy was called back. We had some stuff with us so I went back with him while Mom hung out up front. I had brought a backpack with books; Christmas cards to write; and a spare shirt, hat, and gloves in case we got caught in the snow somewhere.

Once Andy was settled in and his temperature had been taken, it looked like we'd be allowed to stay in the room while they did the procedure. I ran back out front and grabbed Mom, my bag, and back we went. The doctor came in after a little bit and got Andy situated on his side on the table, and asked Mom and me if either of us were the fainting/getting sick types. We assured him no and off we went.

When things got rolling I started feeling queasy. I still haven't figured out why. I'm not the type to get sick. It must have been the combination of the early morning, no breakfast, and big dose of nerves for Andy. Folks started noticing I was looking green and pulled the curtain partway around the bed. Not that I had seen anything in the first place. Except the size of the needle that is. Maybe that was what set me off. Mom rubbed my back until I felt better and everything was OK until the doctor hit something. Apparently a nerve from Andy's description afterwards.

That was the end of the water I had had a few minutes ago. Everything came up. On me. On Mom. Some made the trashcan. Most made my lap. I was very happy I had a spare shirt, and only slightly upset that my snow paranoia hadn't extended to a spare pair of pants. After that I stayed out of the room until everything was over. Andy made it through fine, and is busy reading his "So you've just had a Lumbar Puncture" booklet.

Monday, December 02, 2002

Painfully behind

I've not been keeping up lately, I've been incredibly, happily busy.

Sunday I went to a baby shower, my first where it was actually a surprise to the guest of honor. She thought it was a Pampered Chef get together and so brought deviled eggs for the feast. Probably one of the few mothers to be who brought food to her own shower! But Jenn was delightfully surprised and I really enjoyed being there with her and all of her friends. Hearing about how long they've known each other and being let in on some of the inside story of their lives. I got to visit with Tina too. A nice surprise, I haven't had a chance to catch up with her in quite a while.

Monday was the beginning of the cooking week. I went over to my grandmother's house in the morning, and she my dad and I, spent a lovely day destroying food. We always make a homemade candy that includes dates, nuts, and rice crispies. My grandmother's happily stirring the concoction while my dad chops nuts. All's well, until the annoucement comes from the stove "Candy's done." My dad looks up from chopping. "How can it be done? I'm still chopping the nuts to go in it? And we haven't added the Karo syrup, or the rice crispies, or the extract??" I'd like to point out that this candy is a bit fussy and you have to get it to the right consistency on the stove before pouring it out and shaping it into little balls, otherwise it could wind up anywhere from ooey gooey taffy, or dry as a bone crunch balls. My dad frantically added ingredients into the already correct consistency mixture, and I think added just a little too many rice crispies. What we got was pecan date breakfast cereal. The candy didn't candy. It didn't hold together at all. Not that it didn't taste as wonderful as it always does. In fact it tasted great in a bowl with some milk. After that I made an apple cake. Worked out well until I turned it out of the pan. Half came out, the other didn't. Tasted good. Didn't look pretty. We sort of gave up baking after that, and went on to cooking. We had a recipe for cornbread stuffing that we'd never tried before. And we fudged a few things, we had no sage in the house for one, and it actually turned out incredibly well. I was a little worried after the morning we'd had. We also got the tree up and decorated while we were in the holiday spirit.

Tuesday we went shopping. We drove up to Hagerstown and hit the outlets. Such fun! I love shopping anyway, and outlet shopping is one of my favorites. Of course it was cold. In fact it snowed before we left. But that was fun too. Put us in the holiday mood. After that we had movie night at my place. O Brother Where Art Thou. One of my all time favorites.

Wednesday, back to cooking. A much larger success this time.

Thursday, Turkey Day. Still full.

Friday. Black Friday. I woke Andy up at 3:30 AM so he could get over to Best Buy for the best buys. He succeeded. A whole passle of stuff for only $200 after rebate. Not a bad deal. After he got back we had a little breakfast and headed back out again, this time to the mall to meet up with my folks and grandmother. The mall really wasn't that bad. Busier than usual, but not insane yet. After a few Christmas present purchases, we headed over to the theatre in hopes of catching the 12:15 showing of Harry Potter. No way. Sold out. So I stood in line to buy tickets for the 3:40, and then we toodled off to lunch. Came back, stood in line, and got some damn fine seats. Good movie. Not as good as the first I thought, and no where as good as the book. But movies never are so not surprising.

Saturday I headed out to the malls again to get a few last minute Christmas purchases done (we did Christmas with my folks on Sunday) then came back home and went to Andy's folks house to help decorate their tree. After that I was completely in the holidy mood, so I did up our porch with a wreath and pine roping. Lights to come later.

Sunday, Christmas! We all went to see Les Miserables at the National Theatre after church. Great show, great cast, great that my sister finally got to see it after waiting 14 years. Then back to my grandmother's for Christmas presents. Hurrah!!! Goodies!