Holiday Whirlwind!

Phew! Christmas and Thanksgiving are all over now...that was FAST! 

We had nice holidays - I talked to my parents, and we spent Christmas with Eric's parents and his brothers family, then on Friday we drove up to Richmond and met Matt and Shan (and their two kiddos) for lunch. After lunch  we headed back to their house to hang out, and got to play a little Guitar Hero which was totally fun (although I'm awful at it!!). From there we headed over to Scott and Jenny's, to bring then dinner and meet the new baby (and see Miss Morgan too!). 

We stayed at Eric's aunts house, and then on Saturday went over to his grandparents for Christmas with them. His parents came in late Friday and had stayed over there, so we headed over there around 11. Adam and Amy and the family made it in by 1ish and we sat down for dinner and then opened presents. We had a nice time there and headed out pretty quickly after that since Eric had to work today. 

All in all we had nice holidays but we're ready to be back to normal today. I got a Quickutz Revolution  from Eric and I'm going to Archiver's later today to price alphabets/dies.  Will also run a few errands and do general cleaning today. 

Then it's back to work tomorrow, trying to gear up for January - whoo hoo!!

Who would have thought?

Who would have thought that a day that starts with taking 2 cats to the vet would end up being a really nice day???

Long-time readers may recall a trip to the vet when we lived in Texas when Lightning put up such a fight about going to the vet that I left him at home and only took Hail. That 15 pounds of cat can put up a heck of a lot of fight if he doesn't want to do something. Yesterday was a whole different story though! Eric got BOTH kitties in their carriers without incident and it took about 2 seconds. I dubbed him the cat whisperer! 

The kitties did continue their usual yowling, but other than that they were pretty good. They're both healthy, and we were all home by 10:30 am, hooray!

I made a trip to the grocery store, started dinner in the crockpot, and then later Eric and I went to buy him some new running shoes at a nearby running store - you know, one of those places where they watch you walk and then figure out the perfect shoe for you? And they really do. Eric tried on about 6 pairs, and the very first ones they brought out were the most comfortable ones for him. 

I also met my friend Amanda (and her hubby) for coffee. It was nice to catch up with her and Rob!!

Then I came home and we had dinner and chilled out - Eric watched some Fringe on DVR and I worked on a scrapbook project. 

Today I'm headed to the gym in a few minutes, then I'll clean the house. I'm going to catch up with my friend Jen from home around 1pm my time, then I'm going to meet up with Kristen to do some shopping.

fun weekend!! 

G things I love

Playing this game from Dawn's blog...

The basic idea: leave a comment on this post requesting a letter (like i did on Dawn's), and I’ll assign you one. then you write about 10 things you love that begin with your assigned letter. post it on your blog and when people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on. Sound like fun!?! 

1. Gym (ok "love" may be a strong word but after just a few weeks I'm darn close! especially that elliptical thing!!)

2. Greys Anatomy (still lovin' this show)

3. Great food (on #3 and I had to start w/the adjectives...)

4. Going shopping

5. Gmail and my iPhone

6. Goonies (ok, I don't love this one, but Eric does, and that counts, right??)

7. Gas prices these days!!

8. Garlic 

9. Giving gifts

10. Getting email

It's tougher than it sounds but don't let that deter you!!

Random Tag!

TAG! You're it! If you're not the tagging kind, just shove off with your anti-social self. No hard feelings.

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose people to be tagged.

1. I always sleep with one very flat pillow (this is always my first random thing about me)
2. I hate small paper clips (this is always my 2nd random thing about me)
3. I might need to reconsider the meaning of the word random
4. I have been good about working out since we joined the gym
5. I am ADDICTED to podcasts (and listening to them while working on #4)
6. I am a big fan of proper grammar and spelling. Some exceptions (including IM/Sametime), but in general it needs to be right.
7. I love college football
8. My dream house is large with an open floorplan, a big deck, and either a hottub or a great spot for a hottub
9. I love sushi, but all cooked. No raw stuff for me!
10. I am an expert chopstick wielder

11. I drive a 2007 Honda Civic and really really miss my 2002 Toyota Highlander
12. I love weekends! especially 3-day ones!
13. I took 3 years of French in high school, a ton of Spanish before that, but can't speak either
14. I am a HUGE fan of to-do lists!!
15. If you couldn't already tell, I spend way too much time on Facebook
16. I'm planning to buy a Mac laptop next year!

If you're reading this, you're tagged! Hook me up in comments on Blogger or FB!!

I love weekends....

....except they go by WAY too fast!!

Can you believe it's Sunday? I'm bummed - not quite ready to go to work tomorrow!!!

Let's see - what have I been up to? Work has been consumed by a big issue (seems I get one of those per week, huh?) but other than that is good. 

I won a Wii and a Wii fit my commenting on a friend's blog - how cool is that? She is a Wii enthusiast and had a Wii and Wii fit to give away from Nintendo. I'm so excited about that!! I never win anything and am excited to have won something that I really wanted!

The gym has been awesome. We took Friday as a 'rest day' and hit it back on Saturday, and then I went by myself today. We started doing the elliptical machine for cardio and I am really liking that. Yesterday I did 15 mins and then today I did 30 mins, with a little more resistance (made it to 250 calories, 4000 strides!). 

I went to a stamping party hosted by my friend Amanda, at my friend Jill's house in Knightdale, on Saturday night. My first trip to Knightdale, and it was in the dark so I couldn't see much. 

I started doing some Christmas shopping, and order our Christmas cards from Shutterfly today too. Yay holidays!

And that's about it...I haven't been doing much else besides keeping the house clean and tidy!

have a great week!! :)

General Health Update

Nothing major going on, but I've commented on this and people have asked me about it so I thought I'd post it all here....

- I've almost 100% given up caffeine. The only exception is a small cup of coffeeeach morning, and a small amt with dinner (that will be eliminated once we're out of diet coke in the house). This was not planned (so, no, we're not TTC or anything like that), it was more of an accident. And, in the past when I've given it up, I've had 4 full days of a mild headache, then it was over. Anyway....Prior to Thanksgiving I used to drink the small cup of coffee at home in the morning, then when I got to work I'd have a giant cup of the yummy flavored coffee we have there (with, of course, a ton of sugar and cream). Then I'd have a 20 oz diet coke during the day, and then diet coke in the evening when I got home. Well, with being on vacation last Weds, Thurs, Fri, the weekend and Monday, I got out of that habit (esp the giant cup of coffee at work) and by Thursday afternoon thought I had a brain tumor. I couldn't figure out where the massive headache was from. Finally at some point on Friday it hit me, duh, caffeine withdrawal headache. My next thought was, heck, I'm over 1/2 way thru the evil headache, what's another couple of days? That turned into Friday, Saturday, Sunday Monday, Tuesday...all with a lingering, heavy-duty, evil headache. So bad that a couple of nights I woke up in the middle of the night with my head pounding. At one point one of my twitter friends (shout out to awesome sa_scully!!!), gave me some tips to wean off the caffeine, which helped a bit....and FINALLY, FINALLY!!, today I woke up headache free. A solid week it took, but I feel back to normal now, thank goodness!!

- the Gym is great. The only problem is it's next to impossible to get a decent treadmill between the hours of 5pm and 7pm. Your choices during this time period are the 10 year old machine that doesn't even have a place for a water bottle, or the machine with a display that doesn't work at all (makes it tough to know how fast/slow you are going, how long you've been on it, yada yada). I also have a calf muscle issue - they just are not ready for this walking/running and really bother me. I'm contemplating trying the elliptical machine to see if that gets me in the right heartrate range and a good workout. I really like to run, tho! The plan is to do cardio daily, and then weights on Mon/Weds/Fri. Some weeks will be more challenging than others, with holiday parties and such especially, but we'll see how it goes.

And that's about all that's going on here! :)

More nothingness...

hi all! I'm eeking out the last few hours of vacation....

Today was supposed to be a really busy day at work...my Blackberry is out of batteries and I'm not eager to log in online to see what's going on, so I'm staying blissfully work-free today. Tomorrow will be a different story....  

I chatted a bit online with my friend Jen (who I hadn't spoken with for a while, we keep up by blog and FB). Then, Eric and I went to the gym, the Asian grocery store, and to Jared this morning, and now he's upstairs playing his video game. He found a group of gamers to play online with so he's been obsessed, and he doesn't work til next Sunday (hello comp days!) so I'm imagining that's what he'll be doing all week. We ventured to the Asian grocery store to get some rice for my rice cooker (I am 1/2 Japanese and grew up with rice as a staple!) and a few other things. And, my engagement ring diamond moved (and they're not supposed to do that) so we had to get that repaired. Thankfully they were able to fix it right there.  

So, in a few minutes I'm going to clean the house, and then all the Haywoods are coming over for birthday cake to celebrate Eric's b-day. Happy Monday, Happy December, and Happy B-day to my sweetie!! :)

Thanksgiving Report In

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year. I can't believe Christmas is almost here!! 2008 has flown by!

We started the day baking an apple pie. This is Pam's recipe that her mom used to make every Thanksgiving, and I used to head up to their house (be it Candleridge, or Plano, or Frisco) after Thanksgiving dinner w/my family to partake in dessert with them. My mom can cook like a fiend, but she can't bake, so it was always nice (and became tradition) to have dessert with Pam's family. Pam usually hosts Thanksgiving w/her family and has been known to make anywhere between 4 and 8 Apple and Pumpkin pies. One year she and I discovered the Pampered Chef Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer, and that made the job much easier! So anyway, back to this years pie....Since I couldn't make it this year, the next best thing was to make the pie myself and take it to T-day at the Haywoods. I got out the Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer and it caught Eric's eye - next thing I know he's got all 5 apples peeled, cored, and sliced! Whoo hoo!  

After getting that out of the oven, sausage balls were next. We used to have these at my parents house all the time during the holidays. I can almost make them in my sleep. Easy Peasy!

I called my parents to check in and say Happy Thanksgiving before we headed to Eric's parents house. Apparently my mom put Uncle Bob in charge of cooking, and when he asked her what she wanted she said "prime rib", so he made that plus the usual turkey and stuff that goes with, plus fresh bread and pumpkin pie. Quite a spread for 4 people (Mom, Dad, Uncle Bob, and one of mom's friends) if you ask me... :)

Eric whipped up the cream to make real whipped cream (as I'd been admonished to not use any fake whipped cream on Pam's recipe!), and we were ready to roll!

 

T-day at the Haywoods was a lot of fun. The food was all yummy and we also watched "Rudy".  The sausage balls and pie went over well. We came home to veg and work off the usual T-day food coma and I watched the Texas A&M game where we got crushed by Texas. 

Friday was another good day. Started off with a quick clean of the house because Eric invited his mom, grandparents and aunt over for homemade waffles for breakfast. While he cooked, I cleaned. We had a nice time with everyone. We had a quiet day, and got a gym visit in there too. 

And today's Saturday! We made a run to the grocery store and I put Kristen's Thai Chicken in the crockpot. I made a run to the gym, and then we went to see "Madagascar 2" with Adam, Amy and the kids. Cute movie! Came home, had dinner, and now I'm settling in to root for OSU tonight!! Go Pokes!!

A Partial List of What I'm Thankful For

Just a few notes of what I'm thankful for this year...

- family & friends: a wonderful hubby, great parents, cool in-laws, and a slew of great friends across the country and a few in other countries. And reconnecting with old friends thru blogs and places like Facebook! You can bet if you are reading this that it includes you!!

- having a job: in this economy, I am thankful to be gainfully employed, working with people I like, and doing good work. 

- health: knock wood, 2008 has been a good year health-wise. And we're taking steps to make sure 2009 is a healthier one!

- technology: my iPhone, the internet, and email are huge parts of my life and I'm thankful that they are there. 

And I think that covers it! At least for now! Happy Thanksgiving all!

Hooray for Vacation!

I got so much done today - hooray!!

- Starbucks! Mmm, yummy!

- went to 3 Target stores to try and find the workout pants I like (they are on clearance). At the final store, I decided to go ahead and get the one pair I found even though they weren't marked clearance price, but found out they were on clearance at checkout. Score!

- got my eyebrows done - for FREE! I'd received a 'we miss you' email from the spa so I put that to good use, and went ahead and scheduled another appt around Christmas too

- did some birthday present shopping for the hubby at an undisclosed location

- met the hubby at the gym after he got out of work. 20 minutes on the treadmill, then we did shoulders, legs, and abs. I seriously think I broke my triceps the other day. They are still sore today!

- downloaded Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded in audiobook format for listening to at the gym

Tomorrow Eric and I are going to make sausage balls and an apple pie (with real whipped cream to go along, per Pam) to take to T-day dinner over at his parents' house. Should be a fun day. At least up until 8pm ET tomorrow night .... 

Owww.....

Dinner Saturday night at Kristen and Ed's was awesome. Kristen made this yummy chicken pasta dish, plus appetizers of french bread, toasted, with melted gorganzola cheese and honey (a great combination). We had a fun time with them plus a few other folks we hadn't seen in a while. Ed made some sangria that Eric really enjoyed, good thing I was the designated driver!!  Fun evening! 

Sunday Eric went to work and I made a run to Wal-Mart for the usual groceries plus to find workout clothes. I couldn't find all of my old ones, and needed comfy clothes to work out in. I found sports bras at WM at a good price but not bottoms, so I had to run by Target and found some in the clearance section that would work. Also got a full tank of gas ($1.76/gallon!!).  I came home and started dinner in the crockpot (Thai chicken recipe from Kristen; yum!). Norma (Cindie's mom) stopped by with our wedding present (a beautiful table runner that matches the pillows she made for me last summer); it was nice to catch up with her.

I went to the gym at 11:30 to meet with the trainer and WOW what a workout. We talked about eating more meals (5-6 small meals per day) and drinking water, and then he made me do a "fit test" on the treadmill that was a MUCH harder workout than what I'd done the day before, then we did some core exercises that kicked my butt. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house, coloring my hair, and getting ready for Mark & Kay (the in-laws) to come over for dinner. The Thai chicken came out yummy (I even made rice in the rice cooker!) and we got to visit with them (and found a new iPhone game that we were all playing, lol!).

I was uber-sore yesterday and that continues today (its the good sore tho!). I think I was sitting up straighter now that I've re-awakened my lower back muscles, and my abs were sore (leading to pain when I sneeze or cough). Yesterday was a good day at work, got a lot done leaving just a few things to get done today before a few days of vacation (hooray for vacation!).  I did get to scoot out of the office early (well, normal time) and worked out at the gym before going over to Amy's for a jewelry party. At the party I bought a Christmas present for one of Eric's aunts, plus a nice belt with a cute flower buckle; will be my motivation to wear it when I lose weight and am comfortable with a tucked in shirt again!

So, happy "Friday", all!! 

Gym Members!

So, we joined the gym today, and had our first workouts. I'm excited to be starting to workout and get in better shape. Tomorrow I have an appointment at 1130 to go thru orientation and then I'll be on my way. Today I did about 20 mins on the treadmill and then some stomach exercises (which I am sure I will feel tomorrow!).  

Last night we went to the Outback for dinner with Eric's parents. We'd planned to do that on Sunday, but it worked out for them to have dinner on Friday instead. It was really fun and good food (I still have my love for Aussie Cheese Fries!). We went back to their house and watched most of "Tropic Thunder" (ick).

Thursday night I went over to Jen's house for a yummy girls fondue night. I was very impressed with the fondue - the girls made some delicious fondue!

So, that's what I've been up to. Later today we're going to dinner at Ed & Kristen's house. Between now and then I need to make a run to Target to find some workout clothes, and to Petsmart for some cat food. Tomorrow's the gym orientation, then I've got to clean the house and do some laundry!

Happy Weekend!!

Newsflash!

There is a high probability that Eric and I will be joining a gym soon. Can you believe it? The couple who ate out all the time are finally changing our ways and going to start working out!

I've had spurts in my life when I was working out regularly and never felt better.  Those first couple of days after you start working out and are sore as heck - but it's a good sore - are a good thing, and I can't wait to experience them again!

The local Gold's gym is a good location (between his and my work) and even has a membership deal for my company. So, I called over there, and now we're meeting the sales consultant person at 10 am on Saturday. Ostensibly it's to check it out, but in all reality it'll be to sign the papers and get underway!

I'm hopeful that Eric and I can keep each other honest and motivated to go. I'll keep you posted!! 

Scrapbooking Sundays!

I have finally found a cool group of scrapbookers here in NC. Not 100% the same as the group I hung with in Texas, but darn close! I found them thru Meetup (www.meetup.com) - a very cool website!! - and have been cropping with them for a few months now. 

I went over there yesterday and Jen had a full house of scrapbooking ladies - I think there were 18 of us!! We had a really fun time - lots of food, lots of craftiness, and lots of fun in between. I made a batch of sausage balls to take and share, and it seems to have gone over well. 

Eric and I finally got our photo choices submitted for our wedding album (the official one from the photographer) - hooray! And, get this, we're going with a purple album, to match the color of our wedding. I predict that 10 years from now, I'll do a huge "what was I thinking???", but for now I can't wait to see it!

Not much going on here. Work was good today, crazy busy with one big issue I'm working on, but in between I had a couple of meetings and the usual stuff that keeps me employed. And that's a good thing. 

It's SUPER cold out right now, and going to get colder this week. My friend Julie was snowed upon all day long today (she's in Akron) - can you imagine??

 Stay warm!!

whoo hoo Saturday!

Had a GREAT Saturday!! 

I had to fight with Shutterfly in the morning - maybe I'm not too savvy with them (although I've been using them for YEARS), but I could not figure out how to send pix to a Target store for printing. I think it's because I had a free print thing out there and you can't do those via sending to store...Anywho, I ended up ordering them the regular way, which means I won't have what I wanted to work on today at the crop (boooo!). 

Kristen came over at 10:30 and we headed out to shop. We started at Starbucks (had to get our fill of caffeine), and then headed to Kohl's. Kristen picked up some picture frames for Christmas gifts, and I got a nice 11 x 14 frame for our engagement picture (the one we had before was ok but not great) for less than $20! 

From there we headed over to Southpoint Mall, and both got some stuff that we needed. Clinique stuff, Bath and Body Works stuff, and did a lot of shopping for potential Christmas gifts. We ended the shopping excursion by making a BJ's run - Ed met us there and then they headed home. I came back to the house, although the power had been out for a few hours (no clue why), and Eric was over at his parents' place. Luckily the power was back so Eric came back home and we just vegged out for a while. I worked a long time on the wedding album (picking out pictures online) because we really need to get our selections to the photographer (!!!!). Then we headed over to Kristen & Ed's for a yummy dinner and a movie (Goonies; Eric's choice of course).

Eric's at work now, and I'm doing laundry (last load is in the dryer!), then I'm going to run to the grocery store to get munchies for the crop tonight, then I"m going to shower and head to Jen's!

So, what do you think?

One of my online friends (Jen) pointed me to a website with cute layouts for your blog, so after trying out several different tries, I settled on this layout.  I had a hard time finding a cute one with a decent, readable font, then stumbled up on this one!

Not much is up in my world. We had a layoff at work this week (boooo!) and someone I really enjoyed working with in my dept was impacted, plus several folks I have worked with in the past few years (including my old boss Doug). It stinks, no two ways about it! I'm cautiously optimistic (VERY cautious) that in my role I am ok, but you never really know. I'm keeping my nose to the ground and doing what is asked to the best of my ability. That's all you can do, right!?

It's the weekend, and that is a really good thing. My old blog used to be named "I Live for Weekends" which is still so very true.  Eric made me a yummy dinner (including fresh bread again!!!), and now we're just relaxing. Tomorrow I'm shopping with Kristen, and then we'll meet up with the boys for dinner. Sunday I'm scrapbooking over at Jen's house. Squeeze some cleaning and laundry in there, and that will sum up the weekend for me.

Happy weekend!!!!!

Fresh Bread!

original post date 11/9/2008:

So, we got our Kitchen Aid mixer on Thursday. We met Mark & Kay at Kohl's after work on Thursday and got that plus they picked up some Christmas gifts. 30% off coupon rocks! They came over for dinner afterwards - Eric grilled pork, and we fixed some sides to go with.

On Friday Eric made fresh French bread - YUM!! And yesterday he made waffles. All from scratch!!

I talked to my parents Friday morning. Apparently the Fidelity layoff news hit the Fort Worth paper, so they were worried. Although I'm not considering myself "safe", I read later on Friday that the press release said we are looking to "maintain resources" in our customer-service call centers, so that sounds somewhat positive to me. Plus the fact that we're still hiring.....

Not much else is up here. We met Nick, Kristen and Aidan for lunch yesterday at California Pizza Kitchen - YUM!!! Quiet night last night, and then Eric's at work today. I'm going to head to the grocery store soon to get pot roast fixins, then I'm going to clean. Supposed to meet up with Lindsey for coffee this afrernoon, before heading to Jen's house for a scrapbooking class. Then we're having Ed & Kristen over for pot roast. 

happy Sunday!

election day!

Original post date 11/4/2008:

Witnessing History

Charlie Gibson just called the election for Barack Obama. We're a part of history, y'all! Mark it. Where were you? What was your life like at the time? Because our kids will ask! What an exciting night!!

Updates!

- watching election coverage. Charlie, Diane and George are my faves!

- continuing craziness at work but it's a new month!

- Halloween party was tons of fun! I posted pix on Facebook - go check them out

- what? you don't Facebook? Please start! Its my newest (ok, maybe not so new) obsession. Hello, my name is Mary and I am a Facebook addict. 

- not much else is up! 

- more later....

we're up to 3 now!

original post date 11/1/2008:

We were over at Mark and Kay's last Sunday and Kay fell in love with a new game Eric and I have on our iPhones called "Everest". Its a game where you have to find hidden items in a picture and its pretty fun. She also mentioned that her current cell phone was dying, and that their contract was up, so Eric and I proposed that she join our cell phone plan and get an iPhone. Cost would be what she is paying now, she doesn't use many minutes (nor do we) and she'll have her own iPhone (she'd pay the $199 for it). Mark was totally in favor of it so they were going to talk it over more and get back to us. Well, her phone completely died Monday so she came by to see an old phone we had, and then decided to go with the iPhone, so we went to the Apple store on Thursday night to get her all set up. My time at the Apple store back in July? 7 hours. Eric's time when we got him set up? 2 hours. Kay's time? about 10 minutes. And now we have 3 iPhones in the family and she'll start chipping in for her phone next month. I thought she'd be calling us by now with some questions on how to use it but she seems to have figured it all out already!

In other news, today we got up and out of the house to go to Kohl's sale. We still had gift cards to use, and were contemplating a Kitchen Aid mixer (because everyone gets one for their wedding, right?). Eric's parents have one and we were looking at the one we thought they had and it was more than we wanted to spend, so we decided not to take the plunge...While we were shopping for other stuff, we looked across the aisle, and who do we see but Mark and Kay! Too funny! Mark showed Eric the model that they have and it wasn't the one we were looking at; the one they had was more reasonably priced. AND, they have a 30% off coupon that is good later this week, so I think we're going to get one after all!

Eric starts his new schedule this week, sort of. He works his normal 9-6 schedule but on M, T, and W. He'll be off T, and F, and then start his new schedule next Sunday.

We're off to a Halloween party - promise to post pix soon! 

15 minutes late

original post date 10/28/2008:

Today was one of those days where I woke up 15 minutes late and then felt like I was running late all day long! I usually get up at 7 and am out the door by 8ish; today I was up at 7:15 and out the door around 8:15. Which isn't a huge deal, but the day seemed to drag on and keep me on my toes.

In any event, it's over now and i'm home chillin. I've been chatting on Facebook with a friend of mine from high school. We weren't BFFs or anything, but pretty good friends back in the day. It's funny to me how some things never change, and how many little things I remember, like the fact that she was an only child, and how she had the fanciest purse (a Dooney!). She's still a purse girl, too, btw!! I have lost count of the number of friends from high school (or college) that I now see on FB. Love it!!

more uneventfulness...

original post date 10/27/2008:

Hi all, happy Monday!!

Pretty uneventful day at work today - which says a lot since we were pretty busy (hey, it's Monday!). Eric and I went over to Champa for dinner - yummy Asian food! We're now watching "Baby Mama", which is not a very good movie at all. 50/50 shot if we make it to the end....

We had a good weekend here. We had way too much on the list to do yesterday (we had 3 things going on) so we flaked out on them all and spent the day at home. I cleaned and did laundry, and then we went over to the in-laws for dinner. 

Saturday Eric and I went to the mall and early voted. Conveniently, the early-voting location is right next to Archivers, and can you believe this - I didn't buy a thing! We met up with Eric's parents for lunch at El Rodeo (decent Mexican food!), and then just chilled out. I did make a quick run to M's later that day to get some glue, need to get working on my Jamaica album! Did a few other errands, too, including new food bowls for the kitties. I have an exciting life, you know!!? LO

Where did Mary go?

original post date 10/22/2008:

I'm here, I promise!

I tried a new thing this past weekend - flying without a to-do list. Just doing things as they came to me, rather than writing myself a list and checking things off. It worked out well for the most part....

Let's see, what did I do this weekend?

Saturday morning I had a Junior League thing - the Provisionals were doing their tour of community agencies so we hosted them at the Bargain Box in 4 groups. That went really well (and was kinda fun!), then Eric and I cleaned and went to the grocery store to get dinner fixins. We had Nick, Kristen, and Aidan over for chili and a movie (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Fun stuff! 

Sunday, Eric and I did the American Heart Walk here in RTP, which wasn't bad. Both our companies had booths and such, so it was fun. We picked up some food for dinner and had a relaxing evening.

Then it was back to the grind on Monday. Neat news on Monday tho (and yes, i've almost 100% adopted that wrong spelling....), Eric will start in two weeks working a 4 x 10 schedule - Sun/Mon/Tues/Weds, and he'll be off every Thurs, Fri and Sat. Poopy part is we'll only have Saturdays together, but the good part is he'll be home at normal time (just go in earlier) and have 3 days off in a row. Sundays are quiet days at his work, so hopefully this new schedule will work out for all. 

Work has been about the same. Lots of work, little time, huge market swings. C'est la vie, huh?

happy Wednesday!!

hooray for Friday!!

original post date 10/16/2008:

...because this has been a trying week. In case my job isn't challenging enough, I've (we've) got business partners on both sides of our organization that are getting on my every last nerve. I've had to come home and vent every day this week. Office politics = job security, but I'm ready for things to calm down a bit!

In other news, my obsession with Facebook and Mob Wars continues. The other night I was playing around and killed someone on the hitlist in Mob Wars, netting myself $79 million. S-WEET! Those folks on the hitlist disappear in about 2 seconds so I was happy to have good timing!! FYI, I make about $5 million an hour, so that was a nice chunk of change!

Eric and I watched the presidential debates last night. I know I cam be very, very partisan, and see the world thru blue-colored glasses, but it was nice to see that my not-so-partisan hubby and I agreed on a lot of the points and the overall performance of both candidates. 

Not much else is going on. Tomorrow night we're going to finish up the thank-you notes, Saturday I have a Junior League thing in the morning then I think we're going to see Nick and Kristen. Sunday afternoon Eric and I are doing the Heart Walk over in RTP. And that's about all we have on the agenda.

Hope you have a great Friday!

Shopping!

original post date 10/12/2008:

Work has been like Groundhog day every day. The market goes nutty, we run in circles, lather, rinse, repeat. We had a nationwide meeting by teleconference so we had all the managers from my site in a conference room and we were all peeking at our Blackberrys and watching the market go down -- minus 350, minus 500, up to minus 200....it was crazy. I heard today that in October, 1987 the market went down 40+%,  so i know this is survivable, but I am really ready to hitbottom, you know?

In other news....

Yesterday I met up with 6 other girls from Meetup and we piled into a minivan and checked out 3 scrapbook stores - 2 in Winston-Salem and one in Greensboro. It was a really fun trip - got to see the variety of stores (and it was nice to be in a non-chain scrapbook store again!) and found some cute stuff to start my Jamaica mini-album. I had a mental budget of $100 and didn't go too far over that. :) We had a yummy lunch at Cracker Barrel too. Fun day!

I made a run to the grocery store last night and talked to my parents and Uncle Bob on the way there. I had to let them know our trip to TX had been cancelled, and found out that my mother is a Texas fan (this is Texas/OU weekend at home) - what is up with that? I had to remind her that her daughter and her money went to A&M so she should not be rooting for Texas!! 

I cleaned the house and started on laundry today. Eric and I just got in from a BJs run - we got a ton of meat that should keep us rolling for a few months. We're heading over to Ed & Kristen's in a little while, too.

Happy weekend!

catching up, and moving forward

original post date 10/09/2008:

Friday can't come fast enough. The market is nutty, our client is nutty, all kinds of craziness at work. Thankfully home life is all good (you kow, wedded bliss and all of that) so it balances out. 

Let's see - we last left of Sunday, right?

Sunday I got a TON done. Went to pick up Kay's b-day present (a dog scrapbook kit at Archivers for her to do a scrapbook of Bugsy), then to Kohls (new work pants that fit - yay!), then got some work done at the office. 

Monday - nothing exciting.

Tuesday - we had dessert with the in-laws for Kay and Chase's b-days. Fun fun! I got home and around 10 I was heading upstairs and realized that I'd been wearing 2 different shoes ALL DAY LONG. And no one noticed. Funny!!

Yesterday - nothing exciting except fighting my way thru fixing upset customers' problems!!

Today - more of yesterday, plus finalizing plan for a trip to Winston-Salem this coming Saturday with the girls from Meetup  to check out the local scrapbook stores there. Should be fun!! Then on Sunday we're going to Ed & Kristen's for dinner. We haven't seen them since the wedding - well, I see Ed at work every day, but you know what I mean! - so it will be a lot of fun catching up with them!

Happy Almost-Friday!! 

Bella Pictures - they ROCK!

original post date 10/5/2008:

here are a sampling (the best of the best, they say) of our professional wedding photos...

Mary & Eric's wedding photos 

Bella did a great job - they have photographers in most major cities and will match you up based on your tastes. They actually flew a photographer in from Miami for our wedding, and we had a 2nd photographer who was local. The best part? They sent all the digital negatives (there must be 2000 photos) on CD to us, with a letter giving us full rights to the photos. 

now to choose on which of the 2000 images will go in our 50-page album! 

Saturday report in!

original post date 10/5/2008:

hi all! 

Great Saturday here...We went to Goodwill and dropped off some stuff at Goodwill and the dry cleaners, then we headed to Southpoint to get some stuff at Williams-Sonoma. We'd had a bunch of knives on our registry there that we wanted to get with the many, many gift certificates we got for WS. We received one wonderful one for Rachel (Thank you note is coming, I promise, but Rachel, wow!! WE LOVE that knife!!!) and wanted to add a few more to our block. We found a great set that had a sharpener and a steel (not sure how those differ but we have both) so we got that plus a few other things there. Next, we headed to the Super Target for a few things, then we realized my car had very little gas. We had to go to 3 stations to find one with gas. Apparently the gas shortage continues in NC, but we finally found that the Sheetz had gas, thank goodness!! We came home, got the house cleaned up, and then went over to get Joann (Eric's aunt) who was going to spend the evening with us. She was in town for Kay's b-day but Mark and Kay had dinner plans that had been on the books for months and that they couldn't get out of. Anywho, Eric made a yummy dinner and we watched Iron Man and 1/2 of Sex and the City. 

Today I am going to color my hair, go to Archivers to get Kay's b-day present, go to Kohls to get a new pair or two of pants, and go to work for a little while to get some of those online trainings done.

happy Sunday!! 

Whirlwind Week!

original post date 10/4/2008:

happy Saturday!

It's been a crazy week in my world. The topsy-turvy market has accelerated the pace at work (which was already fast). I came back to work to 4 online training sessions, an HR issue, 768 emails, and LOTS of work to do!! 

Emails are tackled, HR issue is resolved. Unfortunately, 100s of emails and multiple issues have taken their place. Job security, right?

It's been a busy week Junior League week too - Sunday was a marking party at the Bargain Box, Wednesday was the JLR Shopping Spree Preview Gala (shopping!), and last night was my volunteer shift at the JLR Shopping Spree. I worked the live auction so it wasn't too taxing, although my little legs are tired!

I found the cutest ornament at Spree last night too. I'd wanted one for Eric's and my first Christmas as married folks...found a cute hand-painted one with a snowman bride and snowman groom and she personalized it w/our names and the year. And, it was $15! so cute! 

Lots of things on the to-do list. Will probably head into the office to get one of those online trainings done (2 are done, 2 are left and one of those is L-O-N-G!). Need to get b-day gifts for Kay and Chase. Lots of other little things, plus the usual clean and laundry to do! 

Happy weekend!

It's Official!!

original post date 9/27/2008:

New name is now official at SSA and the NC DMV. Whoo hoo!! I got my new driver's license yesterday and (get this!) the picture is a nice one!

I forget what I did yesterday morning but yesterday afternoon we went to get lunch (Quiznos), the grocery store (we needed the staples, our fridge was bare), and did the final return at Kohls. We went to the DMV for me to change my name and for Eric to change his address (finally). The line was out the door there, but it moved quickly - we were in and out in about 45 minutes. 

We went over to Eric's parents after that. His dad had gotten a gift of some nice ale (Trapist Monk Chimay) that he wanted to give to Ed, so we picked that up and got to visit with them for a bit. Eric's dad joked that we won't let them watch the cats anymore (since Tiki passed away while they were watching him), and he promised that they do better with grandchildren (LOL!). 

Last night I watched the Presidential Debate. I'm biased so my take on it probably is too, and I'm eager to see the next one!

On the agenda for today - a run to the dry cleaners and Kohl's. We got a set of sheets from Kohls for the wedding and they are awesome so I want to buy a second set (they are on sale). Speaking of wedding gifts, my kitchen is now bursting due to the generosity of our friends and family, so we have a ton of stuff to get  rid of (pots/pans, glasses, plates). Eric's parents are coming over tonight for dinner, to see pix from Jamaica, and to take as much of the 'old stuff' that they want. 

happy Saturday!

...and now back to the mundane...

original post date 9/26/2008:

So after all the fun and excitement of the wedding and honeymoon, we're back home and winding down the 2.5 weeks of vacation...hard to believe it's come to an end!

We had a slight delay in getting our official copies of the marriage license. I went downtown on Wednesday to pick up a copy and it wasn't in yet, but the lady there said I could call the next day to see if they'd received it. I did that yesterday and it was in, so I was able to pick it up. Went to Social Security and got my name changed there with no issues (except for the militant security guard who won't let you listen to your iPod in the waiting area. WTF??). 

In between all that excitement, Eric and I have been having fun playing Mob Wars over at Facebook. I also posted some pix from the honeymoon there so if we're not already Friends over there then let's make that happen!! 

Happy Weekend, all! 

Candids from the wedding!

Original post date 9/25/2008:

courtesy of Julie and Brian...

Shutterfly Share Site 

Honeymoon & Feline Report

Original post date 9/24/2008:

We're home from Jamaica and had a wonderful time. 

It seems like we were gone forever - we left on Monday morning and returned 8 days later (late Tuesday night). It sounds wrong to say this after spending 8 days in paradise, but Eric and I both agreed that 8 days might have been a wee bit too long. By the time we were packing up our stuff on Tuesday morning we were ready to be back in the US, where our iPhones worked (and didn't cost a ton), Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi tasted right, and we could have some good ol' American food. 

Here are the highlights....

* We used the last bit of my AA Miles to buy upgraded tickets, so we flew thru LGA on the way there, and the flight was pretty uneventful. The flight home was thru MIA and we both agreed that airport is a horrible, no fun place. No good food, messy/dirty, complicated, not organized, and just a mess. We had a 4 hour layover there, and between having to go thru customs, immigration, checking our bags back in, and  finding food, we ended up with about 60 minutes to spare, which I guess is not a bad thing. Anywho, will try and avoid that airport in the future.... :)

* Couples Swept Away is a wonderful resort and our room could not have been better. We'd signed up for the basic room (which was sans TV) but got upgraded thru our travel agent (not quite sure how that happened but we didn't argue) to a beachfront. Turns out that has a TV, and our patio door went straight out onto the beach. We were also almost equidistant from the two main areas in the resort - restaurants/pools/etc. Perfect! 

*  The TV came in handy for afternoon lounging as it seemed to rain each afternoon for between 30 minutes and 2 hours. And, Eric got sunburned pretty good on Wednesday so he stayed out of the sun for most of the day Thursday and part of Friday. I hung out on the patio and read a book, soaking in the Caribbean air!

* Finished New Moon and Breaking Dawn so I'm all caught up on the Stephenie Meyer series.

* We spent equal amounts of time in the Caribbean and in the pool (with a swim up bar!!).

* They had an internet cafe, and since we were an hour early (the island is on Eastern Time but doesn't adjust for daylight savings so we were effectively in Central Time) we popped in there each morning after breakfast. AND, the internet cafe was hyper air-conditioned.

* The food was AMAZING. There were two restaurants that you had to have reservations for - Lemongrass (Caribbean Thai, YUM!!), and Feathers (upscale dining). If I had to pick, I'd rate our two Feathers dinners (Lobster night and Surf & Turf) at the top but Lemongrass was a very close second. FABULOUS. And the other restaurants (buffet or restaurant/limited menu) were pretty good too. 

* My new favorite drink is a BBC - Bailey's, Banana (banana liquor?), and cocunut creme. YUMMY!!

* The service was even better than the food - amazing and felt odd to not tip

* We were given a free Couples Massage, and Eric had a straight-edge shave, I got a full-body exfoliation scrub, and got my hair french braided. 

* Our room was right next to where they held the beach weddings so we got a great view of each of the 10+ weddings held while we were there. I really enjoyed this! There were several weddings each day (except Sunday; the minister had to be at his own church that day) that varied in size from just the couple to one wedding of 30+ people. Eric ended up being the unofficial photographer for one of them as he started snapping pix with the big camera and then realized the couple had no photographer (just video). He took a ton of great shots that we'll be emailing to them and they were so appreciative!

* They drive like maniacs in Jamaica. It's disconcerting enough that they drive on the "wrong" side of the road, but they drive like crazy - passing people on the right, tailgating (I know I can be bad about this but NOTHING like Jamaican drivers), buzzing within inches of people/bicyclers on the side of the road...insane!

* we went over to Rick's Cafe for the evening on Saturday. Eric dove off a 50 foot cliff into the water, and after that we watched the 'professionals' who did the same from 100 feet or more up. We hung out there for sunset and it was pretty fun!

* we did the resort's Catamaran Cruise (also known as the booze cruise) and that was totally fun too. We weren't much into the booze aspect of it since we were headed home the next day, but seeing the island from that perspective was fun. 

* Met several fun couples who we visited with while we were there - tons of honeymooners!!

On a sad note, when we got home last night we found Tiki had passed away sometime between Monday night and when we got home (midnight Tuesday). He was 15 years old and had been moving very slow for the last 8 months or so, but was eating and drinking just fine. Well, when we talked to Eric's parents Tuesday night from the Miami airport they said he was looking bad but we weren't sure if that was just 'normal' or he had deteriorated. We came home to find him gone so Eric took care of that today. We're both a bit sad about it, but he had a long and wonderful life. Lightning and Hail were a bit wigged out by it but are calmed down now. 

Hitched, without a hitch!

Original post date 9/14/08

The short version: 

Everything went swimmingly well, no hiccups, no issues, and Eric and I are now married!!

The long version: 

I didn't sleep badly on Friday night, but didn't sleep well either. I guess I was restless and a little nervous. Got up early and got my big LL Bean boat bag packed up with everything I'd need for the day - shoes, undergarments, makeup, another pair of shoes, all that good stuff. I made a run to Jared's to get the rings all cleaned up - was there when they opened at 10am (after a quick trip to Starbucks next door) and out the door by 10:10 am and home in time for Pam, John and Kathryn to pick me up at 10:30. 

John dropped us girls off at Amy's house and we pointed him in the direction of Mark and Kay's house (less than a mile away) where the guys were spending the day.  Amy was hosting all the girls over at her place for "Makeup and Hairdos before the 'I-dos'" at her place for the girls to gather (and have munchies) while the bridal party had our hair and makeup done. We had nice fruits, veggies, dip, cupcakes, chicken salad, and other yumminess and the guys had beer, nachos, and other guy food. All the girls started gathering around 11 and we started hair/makeup for the bridesmaids around 11:45. In addition to the bridesmaids, my mom, aunt, Kay, Jan, Joann, Janet, Karen, Rachel, Jeanne, and I'm probably forgetting someone, were all there for most of the day. Casey, the hair/makeup person, did a GREAT job on all of us and getting us done on time. We ate and chatted and just generally hung out all day. The 2nd photographer got there around 3 and took some fun pix of us getting ready. 

My mom seemed to enjoy meeting everyone - and I guess that was really true all around - several different 'groups' of friends plus family were all smushed together all day and got along well. I think the same went on with the guys over at Mark & Kay's too.   

Kristen, Kristen and I rode over to the Woman's Club together around 3:45 and got there a little after 4. We took over one of the big rooms in the back (so that we'd have little chance of Eric seeing me - he was really insistent on this all along!), and got to the business of getting dressed. Both photographers were there w/us most of the time, and got tons of great pictures (I hope!). Having everyone together in their purple dresses was so cool - the girls looked beautiful! Once they got what seemed like a ton of pictures of us, we just hung out while they took pix of the guys. The day seemed to fly by...the 2.5 hours we were there before the ceremony started went by lickety split!

And then it was time to go! We started the wedding right at 6:30 and being the last one in, I couldn't see how full the room was until I got in there. It was darn near full and I couldn't quite take in everyone that was there while walking w/my floor-length dress, trying not to trip down the 3 steps, walking in the uncomfortable shoes, and trying not to walk too fast! 

The ceremony itself went by quickly - later John told us it was 18 minutes - and then we were all headed back to gather for family pictures.  We did Puhgers, Haywoods, Grays, and then me and Eric. I can't *wait* to see all the pictures folks took, plus the professional shots!

Next we were introduced and had the first dance, we danced to Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton. From there the evening was a lot of mingling and saying hi to everyone, meeting folks I didn't know, a little eating, lots of hugs, cake (no cake-in-the-face!), and by the end a lot of dancing. 

The kids (Noah - junior groomsman, Rachel - flower girl, and Chase - ringbearer) all did a great job and had fun at the reception, tearing up the dance floor and having fun. The band was awesome - several folks said on how good they were. Food (and all the little touches) by Sisters was fabulous, and Nick (best man) gave the world's best toast. No, seriously - several folks commented on what a great job he did on that. 

The limo took us home at 11 or so, and we found a great basket of goodies waiting for us in the car - champagne, plastic flutes and plastic silverware, and platefuls of the reception food. Hooray!! We were asleep by midnight after quite a whirlwind of a day!

Today we saw Jan and Jim who were busy rearranging their travel plans (they were to go thru IAH but it was closed due to Ike), picked up the wedding gifts, and had a quick lunch and visit w/them plus Mark, Kay, Adam, Amy and the kids. 

Phew - they say planning a wedding is uber-stressful, but we didn't find it too bad at all. make a to-do list and then check things off. After all the planning and such, I can't believe it's over now. At the same time, I'm appreciative that nothing went wrong. The  weather was beautiful (even given Hurricane Ike), it sounds like everyone has made, or is making, their way home safely (knock wood), and we're off to Jamaica tomorrow!

I'm cross-posting this all over the place, so apologies that I didn't write a new post for everyone, and when we get back from the honeymoon, I'll be over here at Typepad all the time. More to come!!

testing

Original post date 8/10/08:

Testing, testing, 1-2-3

Testing blogging from the iPhone

Starting a New Blog!

With the upcoming wedding, I am going to be switching over from Blogger to Typepad - sort of a fresh starting point for me! More to come....