Lifestyles of the Easily Obsessed

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 08:21 AM | Comments (3)

October 24, 2006

Freak Out Moment of the Day!

I just looked at my calendar and realized Christmas Eve is two months from today!

Yikes.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2006

I've Officially Started My Christmas Shopping!

I went to Target after work (I know, again!) basically to pick up some things I forgot to get on Wednesday because I had Connor with me and he was antsy and it's hard so shop with him. I took my time checking out all the new merchandise and checked out the fleur de lis comforter that I had been eyeing up trying to decide if I should buy it only because it has fleur de lis on it. I decided not because its brown. And thats just too drab. I have so much dark wood in my bedroom I like a brighter comforter on the bed. If it was green or red or blue it would be on my bed already!

I wandered around a bit, found some cute pajamas for Connor. One set with dogs on them and the other for Christmas- they have lobsters and what I have decided are crawfish wearing santa hats! Cute!

On a fluke I walked through the jewelry section even though I had just looked at it Wednesday and I found a fleur de lis necklace! It wasnt there on Wednesday so I was all kinds of happy that I decided to look again!

Then I found some really cute .....hmm...items.....that will make great christmas gifts for some relatives! I wont say what the items are or which relatives in case they read this but I figured I better pick them up today cause they are really cute and wont last long!

So, now a funny story. Today at school, Connor's class were talking about what they were going to be for Halloween. One of the girls asked Connor what he was going to be. He replied, "Something REALLY scary!" She asked him what? Do you know what my son said? (stacey you will be so proud)

GEORGE BUSH!

I nearly peed my pants I laughed so hard!

We are so proud.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 08:23 PM | Comments (3)

December 31, 2005

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Since Connor and I cant be at Times Square for New Years, we did a Times Square puzzle

Best wishes for a healthy, happy new year to everyone!

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2005

Holiday Hangover

I'm just starting to feel myself after the long holiday weekend. What a crazy couple of days its been! The entire Christmas weekend is a big blur, I cant beleive its all over. I tried to enjoy every moment and make it last but somehow is all slipped by anyway.

I cant even remember Friday!Oh yeah friday was gym day. I didnt hurt Mike with any weight equipment and he was even more annoyed by some of the asshats at my gym then I am! Thankfully the belly slapper wasnt there because Mike may have slapped him a few times himself. Mike also decided he wants to join my gym as he was impressed with the huge array of equipment, the pools and basketball courts. They are starting a kids fitness program in the spring on weeknights from 5-7 so we are going to sign Connor up for that so that we have 2 hours to work out daily too. The kids fitness program looks really cool. They do different fitness activities every day to expose them to a variety of exercises including spinning, weight training, yoga, pilates, aerobics and training on all the cardio equipment. Connor is excited about it and a few of his friends will probably sign up too.

After the gym, Connor went to a friends house and JImmy was at work so I took advantage of an empty house and got all my wrapping done! It took me four hours! Then when connor came home we baked two cakes and make a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. Then I cleaned the entire house and collapsed into bed.

Christmas Eve we just relaxed at home until it was time to go to church. The Junior Social Concerns Committee put on a little play during the mass...did y'all know Frosty was present at the birth of Christ? Well, according to the play he was...learn something new every day!

After mass was dinner at my parents. Turbo cooked up a storm: lobster tails, clams, lasagna, apple pie and cannoli creme pie. TOO MUCH FOOD. After cleaning up we came home and watched the first of many viewings of "A Christmas Story". Well I did. Mike was passed out on the couch after a few too many glasses of dago red.

Christmas day flew by in a flurry of relatives and food and gifts. Some gift highlights were

Connor: the Harry Potter Wand, new video games (too many to mention), DVD's (March of the Penguins, Madagascar and The Polar Express)some board games (including Scene It Harry Potter, and Davinci's Challenge) and some magnet building things...oh and an ipod nano!

Jimmy: New digital camera, some DVD's, clothes. After the digital camera, nothing else really mattered.

Mike: a bowling ball, clothes, Jackass boxed set, some gift certificates, Save NOLA hat and shirt.

Me: Katrina Relief bracelet, "Spirit of New Orleans" doll, Save NOLA hoodie
, new pots and pans,some sweaters, scarves/gloves, and this cool cell phone wallet(that I cant find a picture of, its not available anymore!!!)..its by Kathy Van Zeeland and it has this cool rhinestone fleur de lis on it!

So now my goal is to watch Season 4 of 24 before I have to go back to work next week. Otherwise I'll just be relaxing, sleeping in, staying in my pajamas until noon.......hope everyone had a great holiday......

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2005

It's A Christmas Miracle

I finished my Christmas shopping in one day! one.day.

I decided to drag myself to the mall on Saturday after Connors game and try to make a dent in my list. Amazingly enough the stores were not too crowded, I got fantastic parking and hit some great sales. I was in and out of Best Buy, Target and the mall in about 5 hours total with everything crossed off except for one thing I need to stop at Barnes and Noble for. Now I'm just waiting and praying that a few things I ordered will get here in time! I'm usually that person out on Christmas eve buying horribly lame last minute presents, but this year I cant believe I finished my shopping an entire week before christmas!

I have all the extended family gifts wrapped so I just have to wrap Connor and Jimmys stuff. That usually has to wait until the late hours of Christmas eve because they are always home. Mike picked up the four gallons of Dago Red today so we are set! Now I can relax and try to gather up some Christmas spirit and enjoy the holiday a bit.

Tomorrow we are hosting a party here in our building, then Wednesday is our Division party. I still cant beleive I'm finished shopping. I must have forgotten someone....

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 03:57 PM | Comments (2)

November 30, 2005

Treezilla-The Finale!

It's done. My tree is standing, decorated and lit up. Now to keep that sucker alive until Christmas. Its drinking a TON of water daily. We keep refilling the stand and an hour later its dry again. I ended up getting three separate extension cords with multiple outlets on each and dividing the lights up between the three and plugging each of them into different outlets. It seems to be working for now. Luckily with all those lights on tree we really dont need any other lighs in the living room! So, without further ado, I give you Treezilla '05!

That's just the bottom half. There is another 5 feet that extends up to our bedroom. I cant get a good shot of it. So last night after downing some Red Bull, I was on a mission to get the house straightened up. Because I am nothing if not OCD about my house being messy and the past few days I have been consumed by thoughts of my messy house. I was so tired of wading thru boxes to get from one room to another and having to move boxes to get into the bathroom, so I decided to just take all the rest of the boxes of Christmas Decorations and put them away in the cellar. If I havent put a decoration up yet, its not going up. And serioulsy, do we really need any other decorations with that friggin' tree?

So as I was packing up boxes, the smell hit me. That damn cat pissed somewhere. At first I thought it was on the tree skirt or the garland, but no, they were fine. As I started moving things around I picked up one of the fun cube things that the cats love so much and IT WAS DRIPPING WITH CAT PISS! That little bitch pissed in the cube! What is her problem! Why does she keep peeing on things! I was sooooo mad! Thankfully Mike wasn't home because he would have dumped her ass out in the street. So I tossed the cube in a garbage bag and stuck it outside and then had to scrub the floor with Clorox. I am so thankful for tile floors! It wasnt hard to clean up and the smell was soon replaced by the smell of bleach, which really smells a whole lot nicer than cat piss. A few sprays of Pine air freshner and we were set.

Then I decided to tackle vacuuming up all the pine needles. My living room floor had about an inch of pine needles all around the tree and under it. So I shop vac'ed them up until I clogged the shopvac. Have to get that unclogged today and finish up.

Here is Connor's project. He wanted to do a Mardi Gras themeed tree after seeing a purple tinsel tree in Kauffmans. I found these cute trees on ebay and he put our NOLA decorations on them. I think he did a great job!

In other news Jimmy is back to work. Yay! He got re-hired at igourmet and he worked from 9:00 am to 7:00pm yesterday. If you're looking for a different and yummy gift for someone check them out. They have some really neat gift ideas, if you like cheese,lol! Actually they dont have just cheese, they also have coffee, desserts, fruits, all kinds of gourmet foods and what not.

And what entry would be complete without a mention of New orleans. I'm glad to see the media doing some more coverage lately.

I was reading an article yesterday that there are alot of jobs in NOLA for certain trades, such as construction, demolition, hotel and restaurant, because the people who worked in those positions are still unable to return to the city, as their homes are uninhabitible. I've also read a few interesting articles about the frustration of "Northern Carpetbaggers" coming down to NOLA and taking up the good jobs and housing that SHOULD be going to real New Orleans residents. Thats so sad. Opportunists suck. NOLA needs help for sure, but the residents also need to be able to go home and get a job and find a place to live. Professional jobs and affordable housing are scarce now....

Even thought there are plenty of jobs in some blue collar areas (not so much in professional jobs however) there really is no where for workers to live. Some companies, like Mothers, are housing their employees in trailers behind the restaurant. Housing prices have skyrocketed. I was even amazed when Stacy told me what the apt. below her is going for now! Some folks are commuting 2 hours each way to get to work in the city because they cant afford to live there. Its really a bad situation. Places need employees so badly but there is no where for them to live! Most of the residential areas have been WIPED OUT!This picture just astounds me. The lighted area is Metairie , then the 17th St. Canal and the darkness is Lakeview.

Heartbreaking isnt it? That was a beautiful residentail community. Now its gone. Just one part of the 80% of New Orleans that has been destroyed.

I also watched part of the town hall meeting with Mayor Nagin yesterday. Alot of people had some very excellant points to make about how NOLA is being neglected by the Feds and the rest of the country. We can rebuild fricking Iraq but forget about one of our own cities....just so WRONG! Especially considering its the governments fault that the city was destroyed. If they had paid attention and listened for years, the wetlands would have been protected, the levees would have been built correctly in the first place. They MUST be held accountable for their role in this devastation.

Ok, thats my NOLA rant for the day.

Taking the day off from the gym. I did a really really intense weight workout yesterday and I can barely lift my arms today. My entire upper body is so sore. But thats a good thing! I'll go tomorrow and make up for resting today.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 09:36 AM | Comments (2)

November 28, 2005

Treezilla '05-Update

So, I started putting lights on the tree Saturday night. I was exhauseted after running around all day but Connor really wanted to start decorating. I got lights on half the tree and....ran out of lights. Yep, used every strand that I used on our tree last year (and we had ALOT of lights on the tree last year) and realized there wasnt enough to light the entire tree. It was 9:00 pm and I was tired, dirty, had pine needles in my hair and sap all over my arms and hands (sounds so attractive doesnt it?) and just not in the mood to run out and buy more lights. So yesterday morning I got up and made a run to Target for more lights. Thankfully Target has really cheap lights ($1.89 for 100) so I bought 6 more sets to add to the 15-20 or so already on the tree. I lost count of how many I had put on the night before.

I finally got all the lights on the tree, did some re-arranging to try to cover some areas I missed, climbed INTO the tree to get lights on the side facing the windows and it was time to decorate. Connor and I got all the decorations out, unpacked them and started to put them on the tree. Then, I noticed a smell. Like something was melting. IT WAS THE FRICKING POWER CORD THAT ALL THE LIGHTS WERE PLUGGED INTO! AGHHHHHHH! It was red hot and starting to melt! So I quickly unplugged it and wanted to sit on the floor and cry. But I didnt. I thought about it and decided I need to get two new heavey duty power strips and split the lights up between the two. Its just too much for one measley power strip to handle. So that means I have to stop at Target AGAIN today. Can I tell you how sick and tired I am of going to Target. I normally love Target, but I've been spending way too much time and money there latley.

My tree, it is stressing me out! And because we spent so much time focusing on the tree the past 3 days, the rest of my house looks like a bomb went off! Boxes and decorations and stuff just ALL OVER THE PLACE. Oh, and I cant get to the back of the tree to put decorations on it, that is if I had any decorations left to put on! Seriously, I could use about 200 more ornaments to make this tree look decorated. And I'm not even going to attempt garland this year.

I seriously need a day at home by myself to just get all this stuff organized. And did I mention I didnt do any laundry all weekend? So I have to face that tonight too.

Next year, I think since the kids really dont want/need many things for presents, I think we shall just go away on a nice family vacation for Christmas. Skip the tree, skip the decorations, skip the shopping madness. Someplace nice and sunny and warm. Someplace where people will clean my room and bring me food and drinks with little umbrellas in them.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 09:30 AM | Comments (1)

November 26, 2005

Treezilla '05-Part 2

The tree is home. It is in the house, standing upright, in the stand, anchored to the wall in various places.Before Mike left to get the tree, I said "dont go crazy, it doesnt have to be the biggest tree on the farm, a nice 10 ft. tree, nice and full will be fine." I wanted to post a picture of the tree all pretty and decorated but since I dont have enough lights or scaffolding to reach the top of the tree, that's not going to happen right now. I'm serious...about the lights anyway. I may be able to make do with a ladder, although I hate ladders. Mike abandoned me with this monstrosity and went to watch football. So, obviously, the tree will not get completly decorated tonight. It looks really stupid from outside, only haf the tree has lights. So for the curious, here are a few photos from last night:

The tree, in the back of my dads truck.

Mike's partner, Pete, and Jimmy trying to pull the tree into the house.

Ok, it's in. Now what?

After getting it into the stand, we had to lay it down again and cut another 2 feet or so off the bottom....the trunk was too wide to be able to get any water into the stand. I called my dad over for his Macguyveresque expertise. Notice only the bottom of the tree is baled? The rest of it wouldnt fit through the baler. See that rope about halfway up? Thats where the bottom branches end.

I had to leave the room when they started cutting the ropes off. I had visions of the branches going right through my windows, Clark Griswold style. Thankfully they didn't In this pic it looks like there are some bare spots but now that the branches have settled, beleive me, there arent. There is a WHOLE LOTTA tree threre.

Can you just hear Mike saying "little full, lotta sap"

For more Christmas tree fun, the rest of the pics will be up in my gallery over the next few days as I try to decorate this. If the President should ask, we have the National Tree and are holding it hostage until he promises to re-build better levees in NEw Orlean!!

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 09:46 PM | Comments (6)

I Woke Up This Morning

And was hoping that Mike getting the White House Christmas Tree for our living room was just a bad dream. Unfortunatley, it really happened. Now today I have to somehow decorate this sucker. Anyone wanna come over with a crane?

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 07:32 AM | Comments (3)

November 25, 2005

Treezilla 05- Part 1

So, I successfully lobbied Mike to make the trek out to the woods in the time honored tradition of freezing his ass off to bring home the most cherished of christmas symbols...the christmas tree.

I had alot of ammunition to make my case this year:

He's off this weekend as opposed to next weekend when he would have to make the journey all sleep deprived. This will give us 2 whole days to decorate it as opposed to one. It usually takes us about a week to fully decorate the monster anway, but its nice to put a good dent in it.

He wont have to miss any foot ball by going today.Next week he would have to go on Saturday and miss at least an entire game. And the kicker was that it snowed. Mike feels its not appropriate to get the tree until is ass freeing cold and there is snow on the groud. It all adds to the experience. So he feels the snow yesterday was a sign from the tree gods that it is ok to get the tree this weekend.

So, based on past experience, does anyone want to start a pool to guess how big this years tree will be?

I present Exhibit 1, the tree from 1999. It was about 12 feet tall. Manageable. Back in the days before Mike went crazy.

Exhibit 2, the tree from 2000, the tree that started all the madness. The tree that nearly killed my father, the tree that needed 5 men to carry into the house, the tree that collapsed our tree stand, the tree that touched the top of our 20 foot high cathedral ceiling, the tree that caused traffic jams on our street as people stopped their cars to stare, I give you Treezilla- before we cut 5 feet off the bottom of it just to be able to get it to stand upright and fit in a tree stand. It had to have weighed a ton. Literally.

Somehow a piece of garland got stuck on it. It stayed like this for quite a while until we figured out we had to chop off a few feet. I wish I had taken more pics of the size of the trunk and how far off the back of my dad's truck this tree was. It was huge. It was a Griswold tree. Here it is after all was said and done and we got her down to a more manageable size and all tied up so she doenst fall over....again. It ended up being about 15 feet tall after we cut a few feet off. It was like having two full sized trees. We would lay in our bed (our bedroom is that loft above the LR and we had a full sized tree right there in our bedroom!

In 2001, we made Mike swear to not repeat the Treeilla 2000 indicent. We really love my dad and dont want him to have a heart attack over a christmas tree. Still big, but not outrageous, about 15 feet....

2002-Mike went crazy again:

Just kidding. Thats the tree from Rockefeller Center. The year I stood outside for 10 hours for the tree lighting, but that story is for another time. Here is our real tree from that year:

A respectible 10 feet or so.

2003 Mike again showed restraint, or maybe my dad forced him to show restraint, we had this decent sized 11 footer. Kinda on the skinney side now that I look at it.

Last year, Mike went on his own. Scary eh? So we were again back to a 14 footer. One of the nicest trees Mike's ever brought home.
.

So....anyone care to play? Guess how big our '05 tree will be. If you guess correctly I will send you a fun Christmas treat!

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 08:04 AM | Comments (3)

November 24, 2005

Giving Thanks

There is so much that I am thankful for but I'm not going to write one of those long boring entries listing all that. Instead I will just wish everyone a wonderful, bountiful Thanksgiving. I'll post some pics later of our family dinner.

Dont for get to wach the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Watch for the folks from the Krewe of Orpheus!

Time to pop that turkey in the oven....

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2005

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! And Another Entry That Ends Up Being About New Orleans

I am officialy on vacation! It couldnt have come a minute too soon. This morning when the alarm went off, I just wanted to cry. I just need an extended time away from work, where I can stay home and nest and catch up on all the things Ive negelcted and spend time with my family and relax.

I feel incredibly guilty because I skipped the gym today. I was really honestly about to change and go but I decided that I needed to stay at work and finish up all my paperwork before vacation so when I go back Monday, I go back to a nice clean desk. So thats what I did. I'm regretting it right now, but come Monday, I'll be so glad I'm not faced with a mountian of advisee notes to write up and files to put away.

On Sunday I listed a crap load of CD's on Amazon Marketplace. I've sold almost 30 of them! Yay! Extra $$ for Christmas!

Sidenote: there is a special about Hurricane Katrina on PBS right now and it still hits me hard.....this really happened....and I am in shock....I still cant beleive this happened....Im glad for shows like this to remind the nation that no one came to help....and that is unacceptable. And NOLA still needs lots of help.

I'm going to watch this show....finish this entry up later....

ok, here it is nearly 12 hours later. That NOVA special-The Storm That Drowned A City on PBS was really good. Afterwards the Frontline: The Storm episode was about Katrina too, and the goverment response, or lack there of.....both were really good and make Mike and I so angry. SO ANGRY.

I read alot of blogs written by people who live/lived in NOLA. I feel so bad for the folks that want so badly to return to the city but cant, because they have no where to return to. Their homes are gone,and as I understand it, affordable housing is hard to find. There just arent enough places for the residents to return to. They need to find housing so they can return to their city and hopefully their jobs. We keep hearing about the desperate need for workers in NOLA, but someone told me most of those jobs are in the hotel/restaurant industy, alot of service positions. So people who worked in professional positions not only have no home but no job either. So even if people are able to return and find a job and a place to live temporarily while they rebuild their home...where are they going to rebuild? In the 9th Ward?

I read an article that in order for the levees to be repaired in time for the next hurricane season, crews would need to be working 24-7 (excuse my paraphrasing, I cant find the article now...I'm going on memory)...so that would mean 3 crews working 3 shifts for the next 9 months or so. Is the Federal Govt going to pay for that? They should!!! MAKE LEVEES NOT WAR! The rebuilding of the levees is crucial to the rebuilding of NOLA. No one is going to go back and rebuild in an area that will most likley flood again should another hurricane the size off Katrina comes through. Or bigger. What if a bigger, stronger hurricane hits next year? NOLA needs to be prepared for this. According to all the weather experts, we are in a period of bad hurricane action. Not only are we getting more hurricanes but they are so much stronger. What are we up to, Gamma now? I'm already nervous about next years hurriane season.

This situation is just so mind boggeling...every time I woke up during the night, these thoughts would start running through my head and I couldnt fall back to sleep. Its an impossible situation. but it doenst have to be! Dont forget about NOLA folks. When you are with your family, giving thanks for all that you have, take a few moments to remember the survivors of Katrina and what they are facing and all the difficulties yet to come.

Right now I'm waiting to hear Mayor Nagins decision regarding Mardi Gras and if its going to be limited to 6 days....I would not want to be in his shoes right now.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2005

Happy Halloween

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2005

Happy Mothers Day!

Hope all the moms out there have a fabulous day.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 07:15 AM | Comments (2)

January 09, 2005

The Days Events

My CopperTone Tan-
I use scented moisturizer everyday. I try to use ones that are seasonally appropriate. I had a fabulous Spiced Pumpkin for fall and I just finished up the last of my Pomander Orange Spice from Christmas. So after my shower I was thinking about what scent I would go with during this in between seasons time and I had a scent inspiration. I could smell Coppertone suddenly. It was like "deja scent"! In the summer I usually use Coppertone as my moisturizer to kill two birds with one stone -moisturize and protect from harmful UVA/UVB. But use my COPPETONE in the winter? In January? Is that a scent faux pas? I decided to go with the impulse since I have a nearly full bottle of the splendidly smelling sunscreen sitting on my dresser. Today I feel like I should be at the beach!

Coppertone lotion is one of my favorite scents in the universe. ......its so subtle and fresh and stimulates all kinds of memories.....its that whole "beach" smelll. This past year I aslo discovered "Beach" by Bobbi Brown and proceeded to buy every product in that scent. But I save that for special occasions like concerts and parties because it costs a hellava lot more than Coppertone. Restoration Hardware also makes a wonderful line of products in "Beach House" scent. There is lotion and sheet spray and laundry products! mmmm!!!! I cant wait for spring to start using them. And I don't see the "Beach House" products on their site anymore. There is a scent called "Shore" which I'm thinking must be similar? I'll have to check it out next time I'm in NYC.

A New Dryer and a New Vacuum!
Mike and I finally hauled ourselves out to Lowe's to look at new dryers. Cripes, who knew there were so many clothes dryers! So complicated and so many to choose from. I wanted one that said "start" and you push a button and it runs. I don't need a computer operated dryer that regulates itself and can tell when my clothes are dry. Although some of them were really cool looking, I really just need a basic dryer. I wash lots of towels and jeans and if I expect the men in this family to ever do any laundry, it MUST be a very simple procedure. So we ended up with a pretty basic Whirlpool that will be delivered on Tuesday. We also decided to get a new vacuum. I killed ours yesterday. Killed it. Dead. We go thru vacuums pretty quickly around here. So I refuse to spend alot of money on one that I will burn the motor out on in a few years. I always thought I would want a Dyson Animal Vac, but I just cant justify spending $500 on a vacuum cleaner. I have several friends with multiple pets and they said the Dyson didnt hold up any better than a regular old Hoover. One friend had hers die after a year. I dont think the Dyson company tested these machines in homes with 6 animals. If I have to replace my vac in a few years, I'm going for the $60 vac. And the other big complaint of other multiple pet owners is the "bagless vac"....no messy bags right? Well, you still have a messy container you have to empty EVERY time you vacuum and then you have to wash it out or it starts to stink! Now who wants to be bothered with that? I vacuum two sometimes 3x/day! I cant be taking extra time to empty and wash the cannister! I'll take my old bags and remove it, put it in the trash and attach a new one. Simple. Done. No Mess. No smell.

Weekly Dinner with Turbo and the Parents
Turbo made dinner tonight for Jimmy's birthday. His birthday is on Tuesday but Turbo made the big dinner tonight since he works on Tuesday and wont have time. Besides, Jimmy is probably going out with his friends on his actual birthday. Jimmy requested Chicken Franchaise. So as sides Turbo went overboard and made rice (for Connor), pasta, twice baked potatoes (a little starch anyone?), mixed steamed vegetables, salad and of course Ice Cream Cake for dessert. Jimmy always requests Ice Cream Cake for his birthday...my mom always complains, because its not really a cake you know...He still has to wait for Tuesday for his presents though, hehe. Mostly because I havent bought them yet.

In Other News
I put up my Mardi Gras Decorations today. Because I'm weird like that.  Makes me feel more festive and helps get us in the mood for our trip. As if we needed any help. A few pics of some decorations in the photo albums

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2005

Annoyances

I think one of the reasons I had problems getting into the Christmas spirit this year was because retailers everywhere have been cramming it down our throats since the minute the back to school sales ended. Actually even before that. In July I was bombarded with  invitations to the "HALLMARK ORNAMENT PREMIERES". I'm sorry but in July I just cant think about christmas. There is truth in the "too much of a good thing" theory. I like to celebrate each holiday in a timely manner. I'm really starting to resent merchants extending the holidays by weeks or months to increase their sales.
When I went to the mall 4 days after Christmas, there was Valentine stuff out already! Tonight in the drug store they had Easter stuff out! ENOUGH I say!

I think there should be a law that stores can not advertise, decorate or display holiday items until 2 weeks before said holiday. And while we're at it, lets extend that to political campaigns too. I get so tempted to not even vote because of all the advertising and signs that go on during election time. For months and months before the actual event. Give the candidates 2 weeks to campaign. If they are current office holders they should be doing their jobs and not out on the campaign trail anyway. Spare us all from the mud slinging, the lies and the barrage of "I approve of this message". Wouldnt the world be a much happier place?

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2005

Happy New Year

January 1 2005

Today begins the post holiday letdown/blues/depression time. The weeks leading up to the holidays are so filled with activity, happiness, holiday cheer that the weeks afterwards are so bleak in comparison. We go from brighly colored lights and animated santa's and reindeer on everyones lawns to dead christmas trees and mounds of post holiday garbage. Its so depressing. From days so busy there is hardly time to go to the bathroom to weeks of nothing but cold and darkness ahead. Well, except for those of us going to Mardi Gras. So much for cold and dark. Today is bright, sunny and warm here in PA. It feels more like April than January. I feel like I should be celebrating Easter, not New Years Day. I'm not complaining. I could deal with the winter being this mild. I know that wont happen but it would be nice. Ok, maybe one huge snowstorm to keep us stuck home for 2  days.

Today I woke up and starting making cole slaw for New Years Day dinner with my Dad's family. Its a tradition my grandmother started years and years ago. She knew as her children grew up and had families of their own that the holidays would become hectic and stressful trying to fit in visits to everyones family. So all she asked was that her entire family gather for dinner to start the new year. No one was exempt. Ever. No excuse was acceptable. My cousins and I suffered thru many a New Years dinner with massive hangovers thru our late teens and early 20's. But everyone was always there. After my grandmother passed away, wow, twleve years ago, the family made it a point to keep this tradition alive. Our family is much bigger now and we've moved the dinner from Nana and Pops old home to my parents, but its one tradition that we keep alive. Nana Villano was a smart woman, it a really nice way to start the new year. With family.

Wishing everyone out there a very blessed, happy and healthy new year.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 10:07 AM | Comments (1)

December 30, 2004

The Obligatory New Years Resolutions

New Years Eve. Time of reflection and looking ahead to what that new year may hold.

All in all 2004 was a pretty good year. Jimmy graduated from high school and started college. Connor started 3rd grade. Mike and I continued to trudge along in our jobs. Mike took and passed the Corporal test. On a very sad note, my Nana Betty passed away in July. She is greatly missed. Its still very surreal. I keep expecting to see her.

We didnt make it to Mardi Gras but we did take Connor to French Quarter Fest. It was nice to spend some time in New Orleans when it was less crazy than MG. And less hot than August. Saw Harry in concert 6 times. Saw Bonerama 7 times. Including being present at the recording of their new CD: Live From New York. Jimmy's band Of All Days went on a mini-tour up the east coast. Then they later broke up as they all started college.

Went to NYC a few times. Saw Wonderful Town, Reckless,Avenue Q,  The Producers, and La Cage Aux Folles and Mama Mia.

Added two new members to our family- Gumbo and VooDoo. Two adorable little kittens we found living under our porch. Seems all the strays end up under our porch. Never intended on keeping them, but they wormed their way into our hearts. So that makes three dogs (Sage, Bayely and Trooper) and 3 cats (Bingo, Gumbo and VooDoo)

So now looking ahead to the new year. A fresh clean new year. I always hate the New Years Resolutions thing. I never stick to them. But there are some things I would like to accomplish in the new year. Maybe if I write them here I will feel more accountable to them. I can look back next year at the time and see how long it took me to abandon them.

First, Mike and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year. We really wanted to go somewhere great to mark this milestone, but having an anniversary the week before Christamas complicates things and we hadn't saved any money so we decided to go to MG again in the spring. But we also said we would start saving for our 20th anniversary. The first 10 years went so quickly, so we need to start saving now because we want to go to Italy. For about 2 weeks. So many places we want to see: Rome, Sicily, Venice, Florence,Capri, Assisi, Milan,Pompei,  The Vatican, Tuscany and Naples, where my Great Grandmother was from. Maybe we better plan on three weeks. Or four?

The second resolution goes hand in hand with the first. I want to learn Italian. I took a semester years and years ago and I figure 10 years should be long enough to learn a little. I have to check around all the local colleges and see if anyone is offering Italian. Wilkes only has Spanish and French.

Of course there is the typical "lose weight, get in shape" resolution. And finish paying off the credit cards. And I resolve not to dangle my baby off a balcony or expose my breast on national tv.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 11:22 PM | Comments (2)

December 26, 2004

Merry Christmas!

Didn't even get a chance to pop in and post a quick Merry Christmas greeting yesterday. It was a very busy day full of family, food and fun times.

Christmas Eve turned out to be an amusing night. We went to mass at Sacred Heart, the church that is affiliated with Connor's school. It was billed as the "Children's Mass" so we figured it to be a good choice to take Connor to. Mass was at 4:00, we arrived shortly after 3:00 and the place was PACKED already! Most annoying was the people who had entire pews blocked off with coats, saving spots for relatives! Come on people! Either get there early and suffer along with the rest of us or sit in the back. Thats just RUDE! I can see saving one spot but not an entire pew....grrr, even in church I get aggrevated.

So, in place of the homily, the students from the CCD class were going to re-enact the birth of Jesus. So these kids start coming out dressed as biblical figures-Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, Shepherds, etc.......we are just sitting there watching, when Jimmy and I spot them at the same time. 3 kids with sheep masks on! OH.MY.GOD. We looked at each other and lost it! Laughing hysterically! I've been looking online to try to find a picture of these demonic looking sheep masks, but none that I find are even close! These were SCARY sheep! We just could NOT STOP LAUGHING! Jimmy and I finally manage to calm ourselves down, when I feel the pew shaking and look over nad Mike is just in hysterics, well, that set us off again! It was bad. Or should I say baaaaaa-aaaad?

Then at the end of Mass, here somes Santa Claus carrying in a birthday cake for Jesus and the entire congregation sings Happy Birthday.   Now I see why they call it the childrens mass.....

After mass we headed over to my parents. Turbo's big thing is cooking Christmas Eve dinner. He starts planning months in advance. Its a very big dea. This year he made:

Seafood Gumbo
Lobster Fra Diablo over home made pasta
Chicken Sciampi
Rice
Beans
Cherry Pie

I should have taken some pictures of this dinner. It was fabulous. Now, Mike and Turbo are the only ones who eat seafood in the family. So they really made out on this dinner. Only problem is, Mike STILL reeks of seafood! Holy cripes! Its just emnating from his pores! UGH! Making the rest of us ill! He just laughs. ANd he'll be eating that Gumbo for a week, Turbo made so much of it!

After diner it was time to head home. Finally got Connor into bed and Mike and I finished up all the wrapping, put all the gifts under the tree and called it a night ourselves.

Connor let us sleep until nearly 7:00 am! Wow! A Christmas Miracle! Normally he has us up about an hour after we get to bed. I think the kids were both thrilled with thier gifts. The look on Connor's face when he opened up his DS was nothing short of priceless.  He has barely looked at any of his other gifts so it makes it so worth the extra $$ I spent on it. Jimmy got just about every DVD he wanted and he liked all the clothes I picked out. Jimmy surprised me as well. He went on his very own and with his own money and bought me a gift! Normally Mike and I just pick out a few things for each other from the kids. But Jimmy got me a beautiful gold pendant in the shape of a music note. I was so touched! I have a great kid there. Mike was thrilled with his indoor fountian and his Atari and DVD's. They also got me Buffy Season 7 and Silk Stalkings Season 1! Yay! I'll be watching DVD's all week!

My parents stopped over and we exchanged gifts as well. Then we went over their house for dinner. After dinner we went down to my aunt and uncles to exchange gifts with the rest of the family. Lots of laughter and tears. My uncle brough out the photo albums my grandmother kept. She passed away this past summer and its been a difficult holiday season. Nana Betty was the queen of the candid photo. Some of these pics were just awful! But so funny to look back. Lots of reminiscing and story telling. Today we are expecting Mikes dad to stop over. I plan on sitting on my butt all day and relaxing. I have a few pictures to download from yesterday. I should have taken more, but I kept forgetting.

We are looking at buying a new computer pretty soon so I'm off to do some pricing. I already know it will be a Dell, just debating between a desktop vrs. laptop. I can get a much nicer desktop for less than a laptop......hmmmmm

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 11:06 AM | Comments (1)

December 23, 2004

Wrapping Things Up

Quite literally, I'm wrapping things up. I spent about 4 hours wrapping last night and I'm about halfway thru. I just can't motivate myself to finish now. I'm so beat. Maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight.

This week has been absolutely insane. The University where I work, is hiring for two new positions in my department. I was asked to serve on the search committee for these positions. This is normally something I enjoy doing as its a little reprieve from my normal duties. The head of the search committee, who is a wonderful woman and I admire and respect her a great deal, wanted to get the interviews completed before we left for Christmas break. Working for a University, we are off from now until January 3rd. One of those nice benefits. So we've been reviewing resumes, interviewing and meeting to discuss candidates all week. We've been very lucky in that we had a large pool of applicants and so far all of the ones we chose to interview have been outstanding. Its going to be a difficult choice. I know who my top runner is right now and I think that my colleagues on the search committee are leaning in the same direction. Unfortunately due to circumstances and time constraints, we were unable to get all the candidates in so we still have 2 more interviews to conduct when we return next year.

I think I have all my shopping done. Well, anything that's not bought by now, its not going to get bought. I met Mike in Hell after work and we picked up the last few items we needed and then stopped by Verizon to get our new phones! Very cool. Took me a bit to figure it out but  think I have it down now. Then I had to teach Mike how to use it. Hes not really technologically savvy. But he got it....

I have a ton of cleaning to do tomorrow and we are planning on going to church at 3:30. The church associated with Connors school is very child oriented so they have a Children's Mass on Christmas Eve complete with a birthday party for Jesus. Its cute. Then dinner at my parents. Turbo is cooking up a storm! I don't know what exactly all he is making, but hes been planning this dinner since Halloween so I'm sure it will be good.

I think I am going to hit the 1400 sack and try to catch up on some sleep. Cant stress over anything at this point...just sit back, relax and enjoy the holiday!

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2004

3 Days Until Christmas

Well, the good news I made it out of Hell (aka the mall) alive. The bad news is I didnt get everything I need to get. I did make a sizeable dent in my list however!

I got my dad a new belt and wallet (yeah, hes so practical) and will get him some chocolte covered cherries and fudge too. Got a *gasp* gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for my MIL's boyfriend. I'm very anti-gift certificate (shows no thought at all) but he loves books and I see him every time I go there so it seemed like a good idea. Picked up a few more things for Mike and the kids, a really nice swearter for Turbo's girlfriend, some Peek A Blocks for Mikes godson Sam, more wrapping paper and ribbon and bows than I''ll ever use, and the best news of all, I found something for Uncle Al!!!

I actually found it online last night and called B&N and they are holding a copy for me so I need to go back and pick it up. The remainder of my list of things to do before Christmas includes:

1. Get a nice candle for an Aunt
2. Get one of those kitty condo's for the cats
3. Find something for Connors godmother...cheese???
4. Pick up Al's book
5. Candy for Dad
6. Finish baking cookies
7. Wrap everything
8. Sleep

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 08:34 AM | Comments (1)

December 21, 2004

On My Way to Hell

I've decided to just get it all over with and go to the mall after work and finish my christmas shopping TODAY. I just have to brave the crowds, the lines and the traffic and get it done if I expect to get any sleep this week. I have my list ready. I ate an energy bar.  I have my checkbook and my Visa. Time to just do it. I think at this point I'd rather have root canal. Well, maybe not but at least that option involves good drugs and laying down for about an hour.

Wish me luck. If you dont hear from me for a few days I'm either in jail or the looney bin.

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2004

Christmas Shopping

I'm still not finished with my Christmas shopping, even thought I started it back in October. I swore I would be finished and have everything wrapped well before Christmas week. But here we are with 4 shopping days until Christmas and I still have a few gifts to buy and NOTHING wrapped. Not one thing. I'm down to the difficult people: my dad, my wealthy uncle, the kids godmothers, my MIL's boyfriend. What do you get people who don't need anything? I hate buying something for the sake of buying something and I really hate giving gift certificates. Everyone else on my list has a wonderful, thoughtful, meaningful gift.

You would think my dad would be easy, but no. He has to be one of the hardest people to buy for ever. What makes it even more difficult is his birthday was the 8th so anything we could think of to get for him, we bought for his birthday.

My son Jimmy just got a job at igourmet.com so maybe I'll just get cheese for everyone thats left. He gets a nice discount so I think a big ole wheel of  Gouda will suffice. They have over 500 different kinds of international cheeses! Who knew there were that many cheeses!?!? Jimmy said there are even smellier cheeses than Limburger. Its true, you can search the site for  Stinky Cheeses! Jimmy has been working alot of hours and I'm hoping that this lesson in manual labor will inspire him to stay in school and get a degree in SOMETHING!

Back to Christmas......I guess I'll have to wr 1400 ap Connors teachers gifts soon, since his party at school is on Wednesday. I just know I'll be up all night Christmas Eve wrapping the kids presents. I cant do it when they are home, Connor still believes in Santa and as this will probably be the last year, I'm milking it for all its worth.  Of course I went way overboard with presents for them again this year. I cant help it. I love to spoil my kids. If that makes me a bad mother so be it.

Jimmy has been getting more and more difficult to buy for. Hes almost 19 so its not like he wants any toys. We bought him a new computer 2 years ago, an iPod for graduation. He has a car.He has a really nice 35mm and digital camera  He gave me a list of DVD's and I got most of them. He's finally starting to like clothes too, but unfortunately has inherited my taste in expensive clothes. But we did compromise on some nice stuff from The Gap and Bon Ton. And some lenses for his camera. And a combo printer/scanner/copier.  And I got him a few silly surprises too, like a Giant Homer Simpson Pez Dispenser, some books on photography.

Connor decides to tell me two weeks ago that he wanted the Nintendo DS. I was about ready to throttle him. WHY SO LATE! I was out Black Friday and they were everywhere! On Sale! By the time he decided to let me know, these things were practically non existent. Its all hes talking about . He's so nervous that he didn't tell Santa in enough time. Well, I'm so excited to see his little face on Christmas morning when he opens up his own Nintendo DS! See, Mommy is a miracle worker and managed to secure one of these hot little items.  Just don't tell daddy how much I paid for it! The rest of his stuff consists of a slew of  video games, some books, Garbage Pail Kids Cards, (anyone remember those??), a skateboard,some games and some DVD's. And pajamas.

I also have to make more Christmas cookies, since the family managed to eat every crumb of the ones I made last week. And believe it or not, I still have to clean. I slacked yesterday and didn't do too much. I need one day off to veg, right?

I dread going to the mall this week. Its going to be a zoo. But there is one bright spot. Our contract with T-Mobile expires this week and we can finally switch to Verizon! Hooray! T-Mobile has been a nightmare of missed calls, no reception, excessive fees, etc. Just about everyone I call is on Verizon so it will be saving me a bundle! And we can finally get rid of these crap-ass phones and get some cool flip phones! I think we are the only people on the planet at this point without flip phones. And I want a camera/video phone...that will come in handy at Mardi Gras!

Posted by dolphnlvr6 at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)