Happy 2009 Everyone

The new year is upon us again and now is the time that everyone creates resolutions that probably won't last more than a week or two. I do it every year, it's always the same resolution and always the same result.

But this year will be different!!

So what are everyone's plans for tonight? Ours is a quiet night at home. In the past two years we've done something with another couple but frankly, they're no fun anymore. The last few times we've hung out together all they do is fight and they stiffed us on our holiday party and went to another one instead (even though they'd known the date for our party since LAST YEAR!) so we decided to spend the evening at home having a quiet night together.

We're cooking crab legs, eating appetizers and hanging out watching movies. We've got a new disc of NCIS from Netflix, a bunch of new movies we can watch, and there's always CSI Miami that we TIVO so we are set. I'm looking forward to hanging out in my jammies and not having to referee another couple.

Friday night we have a housewarming party to go to so I'm sure that will be fun. I used to want to do a big party for New Years but am becoming more of a homebody as I age. Although, I still want to go to Chicago or Vegas for New Years once in my life!

Happy new year everyone! I hope 2009 is a great year for all of you!

8 things

Since I have lost all originality for my blog postings this week, I've stolen this from Draw Circles :)

8 TV shows I watch:
CSI
CSI New York
CSI Miami
Bones
NCIS
Jon and Kate Plus 8
Dr Phil
Oprah

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Paisans
Red Lobster
MadCity Crab House
Cloud 9 Grille
Bellini's
Porta Bella
Roman Candle Pizza
Ian's Pizza

8 things that happened today:
I took a shower
I ate breakfast
I found my car insurance bill that's due today buried in a pile of stuff
I have to wait around for the plumber
I scooped kitty litter
I took out the garbage
I read O magazine
I emailed KK
(wow, I lead a damned boring life!)


8 Things I Look Forward To:
Going to Sundara Spa in a couple weeks
summer vacation
being more finanically stable
the weekend
Sue's wedding
Sheri's wedding
spring break
my birthday


8 things I wish for:
Paul to refinance the house
to be debt free
a new car
KK to be surgery free again this year
a vacation to Florida
my family to be healthy
the rest of the school year to go smoothly
a cruise

Christmas

Another successful family holiday down with only one major casualty.

Christmas Eve morning started out great because KK didn't have to go to work (Yay!) but the weather was a little rough so we packed up quick and headed towards Wisconsin Rapids. The normally 2 hour trip took us about 3 hours, with a couple stops thrown in for gas and breakfast. We unloaded the car and hung out with KK's family playing Wii. A slight crisis occurred around 2:30 when we realized we'd forgotten KK's dress pants at home so her planned outfit for Christmas Eve wasn't with us, but a quick trip to the ghetto Wis. Rapids mall produced a pair of black pants (on sale!) that she could wear for the evening.

After her family returned from church we set out the appetizers and started in on all the family photos. KK's mom loves to take a ton of photos so we spent alot of time arranging different family members in front of the fireplace for various poses. We then gave the nieces their gifts and rushed them off to bed in preparation for Santa's arrival. The adults then opened gifts between each other and set out the Santa gifts and stockings for the next morning.

Christmas morning started quietly until all 3 girls woke up, then it was mass chaos! Presents being opened and shrieks of pleasure when they discovered their gifts could be heard throughout the house. There were some minor meltdowns as patience grew thin waiting for the adults to open their Santa gifts.

After breakfast, KK and I began packing for our trip back to Black Earth to celebrate Christmas with my family. Travel was much better this morning so we made it to B.E. in less than 2 hours. We unloaded the car a second time and hung out with my family, playing Guitar Hero and talking smack (my nephew's favorite thing to do!). We had lunch and then hung out until my niece and her boyfriend made it to the house so we could open gifts. Everyone seemed really pleased with their gifts. We played Apples to Apples with everyone and then headed home around 8:30. We arrived home and unpacked the car and tried to prep for the next day.

Here's the one casualty...KK seems to have picked up a stomach bug somewhere. She was sick all night last night and is still a miserable camper today. It was a mad dash to find someone to cover for her at work since she had already given someone the day off but there was no way that she could go in to work. She's slowly getting food in her now and will hopefully be functional for tomorrow. And I'm keeping every limb crossed that this bug isn't contagious. The last thing I want for winter break is stomach flu!!

So....how was your Christmas?

Anyone want to wrap my presents??

I'll give you a cookie :)

Despite the cold weather...

I have to go outside today :( Not for work, but for a ton of errands.

It started with just taking Bucky to the groomer for his Christmas haircut. Then Target was added because I need to return something. Now I also have to go to Best Buy, drop something off at my niece's apartment, return something else to another store, drop off books and pay my fine at the library, drop off and then later pick up drycleaning...all by 3:20 because then I need to meet KK for her doctor appointment.

All of this done in below zero weather. Brrrrrr!!!!!

Sometimes I hate Wisconsin winter. If I didn't already hate it, I will after being out in it for 4+ hours later today.

THEN, when I get home I have to finish wrapping presents and confront the HUGE pile of laundry that's been staring at me for a week. I've been putting it off in hopes that it would go away, but all it did was get larger. That's just not fair :(

Walking in a winter wonderland

I got my snow day!! We are currently sitting with 8.8 inches on the ground...we went from 5 inches at 5 am to almost 8 inches by 6 am so it was snowing hard core this morning. Schools everywhere are closed and many businesses aren't opening until noon so they have time to plow.

Not KK's dealership though :( She has to go to work. She's been waiting a little while so the roads can get somewhat cleaned off but it sounds like her drive will not be a pretty one. Luckily she has 4 wheel drive so I don't worry as much.

So my day today will consist of cleaning/reorganizing the last of the party supplies and then I'm going to become a baking fool. I started last year of attempting to make some treats for the holidays and found out I really enjoyed doing it and they didn't taste too bad either!! So I'm going to attempt to make some fudge (don't worry, it's a recipe you make with kids so it can't be too hard) snickerdoodles and some other type of mint cookie I found online. My goal is to send some with KK to work to try to brighten up her staff, and then take some to our respective family celebrations. NONE of the recipes are Weight Watchers or healthy in any way but I'm ok with that. My intention to start eating better starts NEXT WEEK!! :)

Hope you all have a great weekend! My day improved greatly once I found out winter break started a day early :)

The anticipation is killing me

Word on the street here is about the upcoming horrendous winter storm Thursday night into Friday. Word on the street says that 9-12 inches of snow are expected here in Madison with the possibility of some freezing rain and ice also.

This could mean a snow day.

On the last day before winter break!

There are many factors that will come into play to guarantee a snow day. The 9-12 inches of snow definitely will help, but it has to fall at the right time. Too early and the street crews have time to plow before morning. Too late, and it will occur while I'm driving to school and make the trip difficult, if not impossible. It has to start sometime mid-evening and continue throughout the night and into the morning. The ice will also help too because a layer of ice under the snow makes travel close to impossible.

So everyone at school is making plans for the possibility of no school on Friday. School work is all going home tomorrow in folders. Rooms are being organized and cleaned so they are all nice and ready to go for after break. Library books are being returned so that they aren't stuck inside the school for 2 weeks.

There are many reasons NOT to want a snow day. We'll more than likely have to make that missed time up, either by adding time to the end of our school day or by adding additional days to the end of the school year. But, starting winter break a day early does have it's benefits!!!

Just 3 more days

This is becoming my mantra at school this week. Just 3 more days until break. I can make it.

I swear these kids are going to drive me nuts. I know they're all feeling cooped up because we can't go outside (it's too damned cold!) so we haven't had recess for 3 days. They're all talkative and active and squirrely and just generally annoying. They're fighting with each other, arguing with me (grrr, I hate that!) and just not listening.

I'll be so glad when Friday afternoon comes.

Who knew you could burn baking chocolate!

Obviously, not me!!

We are in mad preparation for our holiday party this weekend and I had the bright idea of making cheesecake. I've made a pumpkin one in the past and it turned out pretty good so I'm making that one again. KK requested a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake (this from the woman who barely eats sweets!) so I found a fairly simple recipe online and went at it tonight. It started out great...then I remembered I needed to grease the pan before putting the crust crumbs in. So, I pull those out, grease the pan, and reassemble the crust crumbs. Then, I pop all 6 squares of baking chocolate into the microwave, push the button and go back to mixing the other ingredients.

Then came the smoke. And the smell.

I look up and smoke is pouring out of the microwave. In a mad dash I stop the microwave and grab mitts to pull the offending bowl out of the oven. There in the bottom is the charred remains of my 6 squares of chocolate. A few swear words later the "chocolate" is in the garbage and KK is off to the grocery store to buy me another batch of chocolate. While she's gone, I google how to melt chocolate and give it a second try.

The cheesecake is now in the oven and fingers are crossed that it doesn't taste horrendous. I'm thinking next time it will be easier to buy one from the store!

Happy birthday KK!!

Today is KK's 45th birthday. She's all pouty because she feels she's getting old. This is one of the times that our age difference really kicks in...she always feels like she's so much older than me. It's only a 13 year difference but on her birthday she always starts feeling old.

I took her out for a "fancy" dinner at Taco Bell while she was at work today. We have plans for a nicer dinner on Friday when we're both off from work. She already opened her gifts earlier in the week because the girl can't delay gratification when it comes to presents. I bought her a new watch and a couple Ralph Lauren turtlenecks that she likes to wear to work. I also gave her a bunch of coupons for pampering things like massages or pedicures. We're cutting back on our spending so we won't be paying for massages like we used to so I thought this would be a great way to help her get through her long work hours.

Happy birthday babe!!

Snow Day for Me!!

This makes Wisconsin winter totally worth it...turning that tv on at 5:45 am and watching the School Watch scroll across the screen with the anticipation of seeing Madison Public Schools scroll across the top. The first two times the list scrolled through there was no Madison listed so I immediately started pouting in anticipation of the crappy drive ahead of me. But finally, I started seeing the telltale signs...Edgewood Schools closed, which is a private high school here in Madison. They don't close unless Madison closes. I waited while the list went through to the M's and then jumped each time they listed the Catholic schools that start with Madsion. FINALLY, the words I longed to see, Madison Schools, appeared with the fabulous word CLOSED underneath!

Off went the tv, off went the lights and off I went back to bed.

I love snow days.

My butt is currently making a comfy groove in the chair as I watch WINTER WEATHER WATCH on tv and watch the snow blow by all the windows.

If only KK didn't have to go to work. Luckily she has a good 4 wheel drive car to drive in this junk.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

It's official...winter is hitting Wisconsin again. Every year I hope it misses us but each year it seems to find us again. We're in for a long night of freezing rain, sleet and snow. It's just raining here now, but that is quickly freezing and creating a skating rink on all the roads. Once the rain stops it will switch to snow and we're expected to get anywhere from 4-10 inches depending on where the moisture line hits.

I'm hoping for closer to 10 inches because 4 won't get me out of school, unless the ice stays bad all through the night. We have a new superintendent this year so I'm hoping he's a little more lenient on snow days. Our previous superintendent hardly ever gave snow days except for last year when we had the winter from hell.

For tonight I'm snuggled inside the house, eating frozen pizza and settling in to watch tv for the night. Starting tomorrow morning I'll be up before light with my fingers crossed, hoping for a snow day.

It's official...I'm old

Time to break out the Hoverround and drink Metamucil. My body is falling apart.

First, I can't manage to stay awake past 10:30 anymore! I attempt to do it but am yawning my head off or passing out on the couch.

Then, there's the aches and pains. Remember that weird foot issue I was having this summer that was blamed on flip flops? Well, that's back. Every time I stand up my ankles and arches hurt. My knees crack once in a while or lock when I try to do stairs. And the topper is my sciatica. I've got shooting pain going from my left butt cheek down to my knee. I've been going to bed hyped up on Aleve and snuggling with a heating pad.

Now, where are those adult diapers? I'm sure that's the next thing to go!

Thanksgiving, take 2

We pulled off our second Thanksgiving dinner this weekend, and this time we cooked :) And the turkey was fabulous, no one got sick and everyone got along. That has to be a record! We managed to cook a Martha Stewart turkey that was tasty and we made all the extra fixins and had it all on the table by 2:00. My sister was in charge of the pumpkin pies so thankfully there were pies to be enjoyed!

The one bad thing was KK and I got busted in the shower!!! We were scrambling to get stuff ready and jumped in the shower around 11:00. We'd been in there about 5 minutes when alot of banging started happening. A quick peek out the (thankfully!) frosted window showed 3 bodies standing outside the front door. My brother and his kids left earlier than everyone else and showed up 2 hours early!! I scrambled to pull on a robe and wrap my hair in a towel and greet them. Cripes!!

So now we push on to next weekend when KK's mom and dad come on Saturday to celebrate KK's birthday and bring us our Christmas trees. They'll be spending the night and helping us decorate for the holidays. Should be a fun weekend.