Tradition

Alexandros (9 years), Jenn (10 years), Laura (26 years),

Zach (3 years), Me (13 years), Jeremy (2 years)

My friend Laura's (of Dia de la Muerta wedding fame) godparents have a Christmas Open House each year. I met them when I was in middle school when they lived in a small apartment and started going with Laura and our friend at the time Clare. I remember holing up in the little closet of a guest bedroom and reading books and playing board games with them. When they moved to Lilburn, we helped them move and set up their new home, which is where Kathleen lives today. It's where I met Alexandros, one of my closest friends, 9 years ago. It's where I learned how to crochet, and where I spent a lot of time. George passed away just over a year ago; he had a congenital heart defect and got an infection that did him in. I hadn't seen him in many years when he passed, and when I heard through FB that he had I went to the visitation. I'd seen Laura once or twice; we had a falling out in HS over something stupid and decided that since we couldn't remember what it was it wasn't worth ruining a friendship over. I saw Kathleen for the first time in years, and met Laura's now husband for the first time. I started going back to the Christmas party last year and couldn't be happier. It's been great to re-connect with old friends and have a good time before the holidays.

Our life in pictures-- what else?

Things have been busy lately, so here are a few shots from our recent escapades!

Chris and Daniel hit the pool tables at our staff party

Ben, Willow, and Jimmy chill out upstairs

Chris throws some darts-- action shot!

Hunter, Jimmy, Willow, and Stephen

Jon, Octavia, and Jillian upstairs

AOII Dinner Club with Selena, Darice, me, and Ashley

Vivi plays with Uncle Jeremy and the rain maker

What do you mean I can't throw my food on the floor?!

Lots of time with the kids, and a party for my staff-- they work so hard all year, they deserve a little fun!

Insomnia Rules!

I've got to get my melatonin back from Michael-- I haven't slept in days! I'm trying to work from home, too, until it's above freezing each day. I get the feeling it's going to be a nasty winter! 11:15a and it's only 30 degrees. Sure it's 16 in Martinsville (which does not make me excited for Christmas...) but that doesn't mean 30 isn't uncomfortable for those of us with paper thin skin! Plus, if it's going to be this cold, I feel like it should at least do us a favor and spit out some snow!

The heat in the apartment has gotten a little bit better, by about 3 degrees. Still not great, but better and it keeps us warm enough at night when it's far below freezing.

Still stressed, and it's to the point now where I don't feel like doing anything at all. I still have a bunch of stuff to mail, including Christmas for the Eiler package that needs to leave Memphis this week! I've been so awful about getting to the PO, I just hate going in there this time of year! We got a couple of small things for Ana, and I'm sending her much belated birthday present over, and this year's Christmas card.

So, as you can see, still mostly boring stuff. Hoping to have some time over the next couple weeks to keep working on EB's wedding planner (since I've got more time than I thought lol) and get another few sets of cards up on my Etsy shop! (http://www.etsy.com/shop/HockeyPanda) Stop by and check them out, I do custom orders, too!

Ciao for now, I'm going to check out the Publix ad and then straighten my hair (in an effort to avoid more than a perfunctory shower in our freezing cold bathroom!) and set course for the PO!

Let's Get Funky

I've been in a funk this week-- we're so busy with our lives that it's hard to have a night to ourselves. Every time I think it might happen, we're so exhausted it turns in to falling asleep on the couch. Right now I'm in the midst of a bout of insomnia, no doubt bolstered by accidentally sleeping for four hours this afternoon... my mind just won't turn off!

I'm also really stressed about work since the end of this year pretty much sets next year for me. Under $40k a year combined is hard to live on (that's after taxes) and we'd like to get to a place where we can be settled and be there for a while-- not a cruddy one room apartment in a duplex! I realize patience is key, that we've only been married a year, but things have been tough and it would be nice for us to get a little break.

On the upside, we're actually done with all our Christmas shopping! We're not doing a lot this year, small things for a few people, but it's always nice to realize that something you weren't even trying to get done is done!

We have two weeks left of after school, then holiday camp; somewhere in there we'll go to Indiana to see the Clark side for Christmas. We're excited to see Josh and Sarah as we haven't seen them since the wedding, and of course it's always nice to see Marc and Jan, plus a few days away will be nice for both of us.

The main problem on my plate now is assigning shifts for holiday camp; we don't have monster enrollment so I can't fill the shifts as heavily as I'd like, but I know everyone needs a little extra cash. Plus, the family from Hell (no, really, I'm fairly certain that's where they're actually from) is breathing down my neck again. This is the family that was soooooo unhappy with our program and pulled their kids out (because when the kids bully the campers and counselors, really what's happening is that THEY are being bullied by US) and swore they'd never come again and now they're acting like they own the place and want back in. I told them enrollment was closed (because I don't WANT them there, nobody does) and he blew me off and said that my boss would let them in. WHAT A JERK! The dad just loves setting a bad example for his kids, "See, son, if a woman talks back and doesn't give you what you want, just go to her boss so she can be put in her place and we get what we want." That's his general mantra.

I could rant about that family for a while, so I'll leave it at that, but if they don't take no from my boss (who will, as I told them, just tell the dad to talk to me) and disappear like good little jerks then I'm going to have to give them a big long talk about how they are poisonous and I don't want or need them in our camp. Not to mention he's already hounding me about summer and I'm sorry, but I haven't even thought about that yet. But I am going to stop now...

Anyway, I'm going to go watch some more Psych and try some breathing exercises. And consider the fact that, in spite of my excellent grammar and superb spelling, I still have to use spell check for the word "exercise" because I just can't spell it!

Ciao for now, a cheerier post and some pictures soon!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner was a hit this year and, as always, went off without a hitch! I know everyone has some exciting story about Thanksgiving, and I guess I do have one but it always slips my mind-- I'll throw that in after the pictures.

In addition to us, mom, David, and Casey, mom's friend Sharon and her son Alex came, as well as Michael and the kids and Emmy-- a fantastic crowd! We spent the day cleaning, cooking, and watching what ended up being a mini-Rourke marathon with Iron Man 2 and The Expendables. I cooked a sweet potato casserole (which everyone said was the best they'd ever had!), and did the turkey and stuffing/dressing, plus the cranberry sauce-- all of these were first time experiences for me and they all came out amazing!

Pictures, of course, for your viewing pleasure:

Belle perked up when she saw mom with ham

So we treated her-- it's Thanksgiving after all!

The tongs from the ham fell on the floor-- guilty much?

mom's pretty mantle. Even if the teensy lightshade is tippled...

Jeremy and Sharon work the logistics of getting the bird to the carving plate

VICTORY!

I carve the turkey!

Everyone waiting for dinner

Violet used my old records as weapons of mass distraction

"I can have some, yeeeeeesssss?"

FOOD! (without the sweet potato casserole, that was warming in the oven)

Pretty table

Violet instructs Uncle Jeremy on the finer points of what will eventually go in her belly

Michael's been beaten and Violet realizes that there's food on Aunt Meg's plate to steal now!

We shall see this mischievous look more than once in her life!

It was a great meal and great company, I'm so glad we all got to come together!

My fun Thanksgiving story, for posterity:

It was my first year at the airline and I was living in Memphis. I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so I'd flown in to Atlanta a couple of days before and flew back on Thanksgiving day (fantastic day to travel, btw, business class was just me and another FA!). As the plane was taking off in Atlanta, I realized that I had not bought a turkey or even turkey breasts! When I landed, I called Amy to see if she knew of anywhere that would still be open and the only place we could think of was the Middle Eastern market so I went and got chicken breasts. We were having Jeremy and Ashley over for dinner, and I think Zac as well, and we'd been cooking up a storm when Ashley called to say she was there-- I went out to meet her and then Jeremy got there and I completely forgot about the chicken in the oven! It was sooo dried out it was nearly inedible, and we dug through the fridge and covered them with BBQ Sauce and Ashley opted for ketchup. It was still a great Thanksgiving, though!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's your list of things I'm thankful for this year-- how about you?

* My wonderful husband-- for doing the dishes and putting out a lot of heat since our heat is broken!

* A home-- it may not be a great apartment, but we do have our own place this year which is infinitely better than where we were a year ago!

* Wonderful neighbors-- John and Paige are so much fun and so nice to us, definitely an improvement over Jimmy... they even took us bouldering last weekend!

* A team worth rooting for-- keep up the good work, Thrashers!

* My staff-- they really do make my job easy. Yes, sometimes they're not perfect, but if they weren't so great then my stressful job would be even worse!

* A job-- I may hate my job, but I have one and that's worth a lot these days!

* Our godchildren-- Julian and Violet are crazy off the wall, but they're wonderful children who love us dearly and we love them, too!

* All of our amazing friends and family who have made our (almost) first year of marriage so fantastic.

Until later this week when I pull the pictures off the camera, I wish you all a wonderful rest of Thanksgiving and a joyous start to the holiday season!

Wonderful day

Our weather here was perfect today and I couldn't have been happier-- we had our first "people over" party today and it ROCKED.

Menu:

Chicken (Drumsticks)

Pomegranate Syrup Glazed Leg of Lamb

Hot Rub Ribs (a la Central BBQ)

Garlic Honey Hamburgers

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Chips and Salsa

Ciabatta Bread with Olive Oil

Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

Green Bean Casserole (Paige)

Mediterranean Salad (Michael)

Brownies

Apple Crisp

Sangria

Pinot Grigio

And more beer than you can shake a stick at

It was pretty great, even if it DID almost start by me being stupid and burning the tips of my fingers off with the meat thermometer probe... I have to get the pictures converted on Jeremy's computer since the camera was being ridiculous, but it was a great day filled with friends and food and great weather.