What Are the Odds?

Jeff and I had a very low key Valentine's Day. I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day and thus said Happy VD to everyone yesterday. We did have a yummy dinner of steak, pasta and roasted asparagus. We exchanged cards and we got each other the same card. What are the odds on that? Probably the same as me and Frances getting the same Christmas stockings. That happened too. Very Twilight Zone. I'm still enjoying my iTouch and played a few VD themed games to get me in the spirit.

Scene It? Romance is so much fun and Angry Birds Seasons is way harder than the regular Angry Birds. The Valentine spirit never took hold but I did have a good day.

Can't Blame the Wind

Jeff and I went to the driving range today. We bought a 200-count bucket of golf balls and went to town. Well, not really. I haven't been to a driving range since about 2005. I used to go all the time with my grandfather. It was once one of my favorite activities. I think I hit around 50 balls today and 4 of those were good solid hits. It was windy but that really had no bearing on my sideways fly balls. My hands hurt and no doubt my back will be hurting tomorrow. Jeff fared far better.
You'll notice his mad skills from this picture. After all our balls were hit we walked the range area picking up tees to use again. Anyway, we had fun and we'll probably visit again soon.

Such Wonders

I love my iTouch! I bought one this past weekend at a PeachMac store. It took a while to get everything hooked up but I've been in heaven ever since. I love how portable it is. It fits in my pocket and any of my purses. It also gives me something to do that requires using both my hands. Therefore, I cannot eat while using this device. Bonus! I ordered some accessories from eBay for charging and traveling and a cute case. I've purchased several games and I can't wait to play them all. The Scene It movie trivia games (I kick butt on the Romance version), Angry Birds and Skee Ball are my favorites so far.

I've never been much of a video game enthusiast but those birds are so dang funny. I loaded my Florence & The Machine CD on my iTouch last night (already bought the CD before I decided to get the iTouch). If you don't know Florence yet you've probably heard the music and didn't know who it was. She (they?) sings Kiss with A Fist (which has a really horrible message if you listen to the lyrics) and You've Got the Love. I love almost all the songs on the album. I'm reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. It kind of continues the Percy Jackson story. Work is going well and I just completed a book order that includes about 100 graphic novels. So, all in all, life is good.

iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch?

I've been playing around with the idea of purchasing one of these items. Yes, I'd love to have all three but I'm not rich, famous, or a tech junkie so one should be fine. For now. At the moment, I'm leaning toward the iTouch. It has all the features of the phone without being a phone. I'd love to have an iPad but it's larger than an ideal portable device and it's way more money than I feel comfortable spending.

The iPhone would probably be the most expensive in the long run because you have a monthly payment and a contract (with your cell provider). I believe the iPad and iTouch is a one time purchase and you just buy apps as you go/please and Internet service on a month to month basis with no contract. I've still got a lot of research to do, including a review of consumer report ratings, and questions to ask. I hope I can make up my mind in the next week or two. Now, if I was shopping for an e-reader than I would get the iPad, no questions asked. I know they are way more money but you can do so much more with an iPad.

IKEA

I visited the Atlanta IKEA this past weekend with my lovely friend Barbara. It was so overwhelming. I had no idea IKEA made so much stuff. They even had a cafe where you could order Swedish meatballs (how appropriate considering the founder is Swedish) and other Swedish delicacies. The baked goods smelled wonderful but I resisted.

I did buy a few small items and so did hundreds of other people. We could barely find a parking space when we got there. I assumed everything was very Jestons-esque and cheaply made but they have wonderful things to suit everyone's taste. After working up an appetite walking around the huge showrooms (two-floors) we went for lunch at Cafe Intermezzo. It was so very yummy. We had croque monsieurs and fried potatoes and two desserts. I was in heaven. I didn't really do much else except shop and eat this weekend. Again, I was in heaven.

Still A Virgo

I'm not sure if I fully understand (or believe) the latest developments about the zodiac.

Whatever the case, I'm still a Virgo.

Snow Days!

Such excitement! Classes were cancelled yesterday and today due to massive amounts (for Georgia) of snow, sleet, and ice. It's been lovely not having to go to work but I can't really go anywhere else either. I've ventured out a little and Jeff and I drove around the neighborhood some yesterday.

Getting up at my usual time gives me a chance to workout and get some reading done but I get a little antsy after 2 hours or so. Sandi seems to love the snow but Remy is mostly undecided.


The snow is starting to melt some but it's still below 40 degrees. I've got big plans for this weekend so I hope the weather improves soon. I think we are expected to report back to work tomorrow anyway. It was nice while it lasted!

Ready for Christmas

This post is full of dog pictures (yes, again) and a little bit of Christmas decorations. This is Cody and Remy taking a nap. They stayed like this for at least two hours.

Me and Remy enjoying the fire. I'm not sure how to explain the face I'm making but it's funny. The fire has been especially nice this year.
Remy on the recliner. He looks like he's been using the spice in Dune. When you see his eyes in person they're black. The camera flash must make them blue.
Sandi and her new coat. She loves this thing. Remy has one too (it's a kind of purple/blue color) but he doesn't like it.
Sandi and Remy watching Jeff outside. We try to keep this window open as often as possible.
Remy at his favorite spot in the house.
Sandi enjoying a rare Remy-free-fireplace moment.
On the couch, kind of together.
Our Christmas tree and presents. The tree is a tiny one that we keep on top of the kitchen table. Remy will just chew the snot out of a tree and ornaments on the floor so we're playing it safe.
This is the first wreath I've ever had. I love it. I've also never had a fireplace to decorate for Christmas and I love it. I ordered stockings for me and Jeff and Sandi and Remy. I have a few stocking stuffers ready but not many.

I'm pretty much done Christmas shopping and I'm so excited to give everyone their gifts. I'm also super excited about Christmas breakfast and dinner. I've done a lot of baking the past several days. I've made heavenly bits, rice crispy treats, peanut butter balls, orange cranberry bread, sugar cookies and 4 loaves of zucchini bread. Yummy!

Elbow to Elbow

Well, the Savannah Bridge Race was this past Saturday. I left work early to head to Savannah before dark. My sister and her friend (Maya) and I went to dinner at the Driftaway Cafe. I had a wonderful parmesan and crab encrusted grouper, very tasty. For dessert we stopped by Lovin' Spoonfull. A frozen yogurt place similar to Yogli Mogli. Trix and Cake Batter, yummy! Then we headed back to my sister's house to work on our race costumes. We decided to call ourselves the Merry Misfits. We had Santa, Rudolph and 3 elves. My costume didn't take much work so most of the night was spent sewing and gluing items for the elf outfits. We woke at 5:30am and left at 6:30am (we had last minute costume things to do) and picked up another friend (Dawn) and headed to park the car. Santa (Yvette) met us and we got in line to for the trolley that would take us to the start of the race.

That's right people, we had to wait in line to get to the start line. This took a rather long time and the race was supposed to start at 8:15. By the time we loaded off the trolley we all had to use the facilities. A row of about 10 porta potties awaited us. It was a long line and let me just tell you, the horror stories surrounding porta potties are based on fact! I'm still scarred by what I saw. Anyway, we all walked to the end of the line and waited for the race to start. There were so many people there. I was completely shocked and overwhelmed. There were at least 3 thousand people ready to race.

I decided not to run for a few reasons: 1) running elbow to elbow with strangers is not something I'm used to, 2) my excitement about running stopped about 10 minutes into waiting in line for the trolley, 3) we were staying for the after party and I don't like to stand around in my sweaty clothes for hours, this is for the benefit of others as well as myself (yuck!). There were lots of people in costumes. I was under the impression that it was group costumes only but there were several individual costumes.

Yvette (Santa), Michanne (Elf), Me (Rudolph), Maya (Elf), and Dawn (Elf)

We saw eight cute/slutty reindeer, a few Santas, two sets of tortoise and hare, beaker from the Muppets, Mrs. Pacman, a Christmas tree, a girl dressed up as an Avatar (from the movie Avatar), bacon and eggs, and a political group that included Bush, Palin, Obama and 3 secret service agents, to name a few. We did not win. The political group won. $400. They were indeed hilarious but they didn't put much effort into their costumes. No late night sewing for them. It was fun and all the Merry Misfits finished in under an hour. The after party was a nice idea for people to mix and mingle and a lot of people took our pictures. The band was pretty terrible but everyone seemed to enjoy the free beer.

This is me and Maya listening to the The Trainwrecks (and boy were they ever) and me scratching my forehead. I think my skin was allergic to those antlers and I rubbed my forehead raw. I have a very thin scab now. I enjoyed a greasy and delicious chili cheese hot dog and french fries after the race. I headed home around 2:30pm and was dead tired before I even got to the house. Would I do this again? Ask me again in a year. That might be enough time for me to adjust to the difference between a Milledgeville 5K and a Savannah 5K.

Christmas is Coming!

I'm super excited about Christmas this year. I just ordered my very first Christmas wreath and I can't wait to hang it above the fireplace. I also have my three weeks off from work to look forward to. I'm already trying to get my books to read list in order. I would really like to read as much as possible over the break and not just watch TV. Oh, speaking of TV...

I was thinking about this clip the other day and I just had to share. So funny! Speaking of (sorry, I'm out of phrases today) funny, I was browsing MSN.com today under the food tab. They usually have great holiday recipes and I love the idea of homemade and edible gifts. I was about to look at the recipe suggestions when I saw this...
What are lamp chops?