Day 148 & 149 - More Stripes

Yeah I am finally starting to feel better!!! The congestion is gone but I the cough is lingering. Hope that goes away in the next few days.

I got another week off from nannying. Going to get my hair cut and colored today. Excited for the gray to go away.  That's really all that's on the agenda for the day. It's big considering I have done a whole lot of nothing for a whole week.

Day 118 & 119 - White Sleep Socks and Stripes

Don't have a good excuse for missing the last few days. All the snow shoveling and cold has kinda worn me out and made me especailly lazy. Oh well...

Day 106 - Elmo

These are hand me downs from Bridget. Don't know why she had socks like this but whatever.

Spent some quality time cleaning the apartment today. I was in desperate need. It had been before Christmas. Must have spent 3 hours dusting, cleaning windows, bathroom, kitchen, and vacuuming. Cleaning is tiring that's for sure. Rewarding myself with pizza for dinner. It arrived as I was writing this. This was my first time ordering from Alfredo's. Pizza was definitely good. I ordered proscuttio,mushrooms and basil. Yummy!

Looks like it's about bed time for me. I can't stop yawning.

Day 89 & 90 - Noel & Reindeer

Got to the airport bright and early on Wednesday morning. There were an alarming number of people there. Yes, it's the holiday season, but it's the third year in a row I have traveled on December 22nd and there were by far more people than ever. Thankfully the lines moved fast. So I made it to Naples without a hitch. Had lunch with Mom and Bridget at my favoritest Chinese place. We went to Ruth's Chris to celebrate Dad and Bridget's birthdays. The steak was yummy! I seriously don't think I have had a steak since this summer. The more you don't eat something the better it tastes when you do.

Wednesday and Thursday afternoon were mostly filled with Christmas chores, collecting and making food for Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. And there was some present wrapping since I got all the family's gifts shipped here. Other than that there hasn't been much excitement. I have been going to bed ridiculously early and waking up before 8. It's like Naples has turned me into an 80 year old. Oh well!

Day 85 - Snowman

Getting to the end of my Christmas socks. Only 8 left, which means Christmas is only 8 days away!!

Staying with the Christmas theme for Friday's

My Top Five Favorite Christmas Movies

1. Elf - Who doens't like Elf? It's hysterical. And "The Best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear."

2. The Santa Clause - I love Bernard, the head Elf. And the scene where Tim Allen comes to work in sweats and eats like a pig at lunch. Plus Santa's workshop looks better than it does in most movies.

3. Home Alone - It's totally unrealistic and ridiculous, but great.

4. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - I remember watching this since I was a little kid. It's always been a tradition in my family. The Island of Misfit toys is my favorite. Feel like I belong there :) I really like Sam the Snowman and Yukon Cornealius too. Really there's so many things to love about good ole Rudolph!

5. The Santa Clause 2 - This last one was hard to pick. There are so many great movies. Actually watching Whit Christmas now. That's a classic. But the second Santa Clause movie has a plastic Santa and a overeating Comet. And we meet Curtis, the #2 elf.

You will notice "It's a Wonderful Life" isn't on my list. I don't feel like it's a good Christmas movie at all. It's depressing for like half the movie.  I also don't see the joy in "A Christmas Story". Most years I don't watch either of those. No thanks! I'd much prefer to watch something happy and funny.

Day 84 - Naughty or Nice

The text is hard to read but these socks say "Naughty or Nice?"

Two big things to report for today.

1) After over 2 months I FINALLY got my severance check from Lockheed. YEAH!!!!!!!! It's about damn time!!

2) Had my first appointment with the Occupational Therapist for my thumbs. I was given splints for both hands. My hands sorta look like they are taped up like a boxer's.  I am suppossed to wear them 23 hours a day. Ugh!! Since they have only been on for 2 hours so far I am not sure what I think, but I know they aren't the funnest thing in the world. Hopefully they get more bearable as time goes by.

Day 81 - Skiing Santa

It totally feels like a Monday. I am more tired than I should be today. Didn't get a good night's sleep last night. I just couldn't get comfortable for some reason. Simon's 4am outbreak didn't help either.

I have been doing laundry all day. I must have like 4 loads. It's ridiculous. Also trying to get my DVR down to below 70%. Not so hard to do since the last 3 Hallmark Christmas movies I tried to watch were so bad I only made it a few minutes in.

Think I need a nap. I can't stop yawning.

Day 80 - Presents

Today was the first day of bowling this season. I did pretty well. Scored a 119 the first game and a 132 the second. Surprised I did better the second time around cause it was getting harder to hold the ball with my gimp thumb.  Sure bowling isn't good for it but whatever. It's fun.

Went out for lunch at Beer Works afterwards. It was so good. I don't think I have eaten a meal out since I was in Florida for Thanksgiving. Had a chicken BBQ sandwich and fries. OMG the fries were so delicious!!! I cannot remember the last time I ate french fries. I really like not eating stuff like that for a while cause when you  finally do they taste so great! I have the same reaction every time I have a doughnut or eat a real hot dog. I don't get either of those but once or twice a year. People who eat them often I'm sure don't get as much enjoyment out of them as I do.

Tonight's the Amazing Race finale. I am so looking forward to watching one of my teams win.  Technically I have already won since all Bridget's teams are out. We have been beating on the Race for a few years now, but this is the first year it's been a landslide. She picked some awful teams this year. I wonder if a two woman team will actually win this year. Seems like the tried to stack the deck cause there were like 4 woman teams to start out. Definitely looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

Day 78 - Ho Ho Ho

In case you can't make it out in the picture all the O's are little Christmas ornament balls. Those ornaments helped me come up with the topic of today Top Five Friday list.

My Five Favorite Ornaments on my tree.

1. Have a few of these. The white part is all sparkly. They are very reflective and eye catching.



2. I used to have a lot of these Disney bells, but this is one of the only ones left after the cats knocked over my tree in 2009 and broke the tree and a lot of the ornaments. It rings every time the tree shakes.

 

3. I bought these icicles the first year I had my own Christmas tree. They are super fragile but I really like them. Down to only 3 after the cat tree disaster of 2009.

4. I like these icicles too. They have sparkly green and some red at the top of them. And the forsted glass makes them look different than most everything else I have. Down to only 2 now.

5. The ornament itself was one of the gifts my Mom got from a student. She wasn't gonna use it so I took it and found a perfect little JASS picture to put in it from Hawaii 2007. It's only of the only pictures on my tree so it stands out.

Day 74 - Reindeers

Wow it's been cold today!! Thinking about making a fire tonight.

Don't have much new to report for the day. Spent some time applying for jobs on Monster. They aren't really jobs I want, but it's something I need to do. Also ran out for a few errands. Had to drop off a book at the library. Down to only 8 checked out now. Still seems like a lot to read. Hoping to finish the last 200 pages of the "History of World War II" in the next few days. Big exciting I know.

Hope to be more interesting tomorrow.

Day 65 - Snowmen

These were the only socks I wore on my trip to FL. It was almost too hot for sock there.

Back from my trip to Florida. Had a good time. Got in on Tuesday afternoon, went right to shopping. Had dinner at a BBQ place we haven't been to since the 80's. It was an early night for me. Think I was in bed by 9. Wednesday morning I went with my mom to the gym. There were a lot more machines than I am used to. Climbed 63 flights of stairs on the stairmaster and tried out some speed skating like machine, which I thought I was gonna fall off of. After the gym we did some more Christimas shopping, had some yummy Crispers lunch and headed off to West Palm Beach for our mini vacation. Went out for some Latin food for dinner. Bridget and I had some super hot delicious Paella. Thursday we had diner breakfast, played cards and ate a Thanksgiving buffet. Friday we went to a Science Musuem, played mini golf, ate sushi and played another game of Phase 15. Saturday I was off to the airport/

Overall I came home a $9 winner. Paid up my Amazing Race bet by drinking a cup of coffee. ( Eww!) While there Bridget and I made "Should Do" lists for each other so I have 10 things to do.  You wanna hear them?

1. Whiten Teeth

2. Buy/ Pick out for Xmas a pair of non-sneakers

3. Buy/Pick out an interview outfit.

4. Send a Christmas card to someone new

5. Eat a new food

6. Kiss the cats

7. Apply for at least 1 new job a week ( I added the a week part)

8. Try to be more patient

9. Listen to current music

10. Bake Cupcakes

I did listen to some new music on the plane home. I am not sure it will ever be for me, but it could have been worse. Gonna keep working on that one.

Day 57, 58, and 59 - Eeyore, Stars and Rainbow

Have slacked the last few days. Got back form New Jersey on Sunday night and have just been trying to get back into the swing of things. Thankfully there's not too much that makes up the swing of things :) Mostly the gym and errands. Spend some quality time at the library yesterday. Have 7 books checked out now.  Been doing a lot of reading. It's fantastic!

I have really only been checking out books about two things. Think you can guess?  Both are relatively new obsessions. The first is one of my most favorite things ever. I already know a lot about it, but there's always more to learn. I can read the info and see the results, evidence, facts, similarities here in my own house in one of 3 ways. Can you guess what I like to read about yet? They have 4 little paws and go "Meow". And most importantly they make every day better. I have read all kinds of things about cats. Why they behave the way they do, their physical makeup, what they do for people around them, how they impact people's lives, and so much more.

There are a lot more books on my second library topic. An HBO miniseries from 2001 got me interested in this particular topic. It's pretty much the only historical event that I know anything about, and at this point I know quite a bit. Been checking out coffee table books with lots of pictures and drawings. The one I have now is over 600 pages of historical events, pictures, personal accounts, and maps. It's really informative. Also re-reading a related book I read in like the 8th grade. After knowing the history it's a much better read this time around. It's one of the most famous diaries printed. Definitely an easy read since a 13 year old wrote it. Any ideas?.....It's the Diary of Anne Frank. I am intrigued by that perspective on WWII, which if you haven't guessed is my other favorite library topic.

Oh I love the library!!! So many books and you can read them all for FREE!!! There's so much to learn, so much to look at. And I can reserve books from other libraries to pick up at my library. That's so awesome. The only bad thing about the library is having to be quiet, which I am so not good at. But the books make it worth it!!

Day 49, 50, and 51 - NYC Trip

Friday - Left super early for NYC. Took the bus to the subway to the bus terminal. The Bolt Bus to NYC wasn't bad. Meet up with Bridget and Meghan at the Palace hotel. We went out for lunch then did some sightseeing. Went to Rockefeller Center, and Central Park.  Went to two different sushi places for dinner. Had appetizers at one and then dinner at another in Times Square. Bridget got to see all the craziness that was. The entire day was a TON of fun. A lot of laughs for sure!!

Saturday - Even got the view from the hotel in the background :)  Had another great day in the city. Went to the Empire State Building. And a random street fair where we had deep fried Oreo's and bought WAY too many scarves. Then headed to Madam Toussaud's Wax Museum, which was an obscene amount of fun. Left Bridget and Meghan at 4. They met up with a friend from FL and I moved to a new hotel with Elyse. Went out for some Italian food with her friends, and then to a bar for the night. Somehow managed to stay up til the wee hours.



Sunday - Elyse and I did some marathon watching from the TV in the hotel lobby as we tried to stay awake. Headed out to 88th and 1st. Watched the marathon for like 3 hours from there. Saw her cousins and Ian. Still don't get why anyone would want to run a marathon. It's one hell of an accomplishment though. After the race we met Elyse's brother for dinner. On the way we found a sock store!!! Yes I said Sock Store!! There were like a million socks in the store!! Of course I bought some. The weird thing about the store was that all the socks were mismatched and in sets of three. Totally bizzaro but cool. After dinner, Elyse and I headed back to Boston.  

Overall it was a fun trip. I loved spending time with Bridget and Meghan. We had so much fun. Came home with a new hat, scarves, and some mismatched socks. What more could I ask for :)

Day 47 - Blue Flowers

I could have sworn I posted earlier today, but apparently not.

Don't have much to report today. Finally starting to feel somewhat better. Thankfully! Spent some quality time cleaning. FYI, for anyone who hasn't tried the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Sprayer thing you totally should. Works pretty awesome. So now I have a sparkling clean bathroom :)

Thinking I wanna start having some special features on the blog. Not sure what exactly. I was thinking maybe a Top Five list once a week. Or some more pictures.  Not sold on anything yet. Definitley open to suggestions.

Day 40 - Mickey

Have big plans to play Nintendo with Scrappy this afternoon. I am so ready for some Mario Party!!!

Some more Halloween costumes from my younger years. Don't be too jealous of my cuteness. :)

Bunny Time

Hula Hula

Pretty sure the Hula girl costume was probably the last time I was in public with my belly exposed. Then it was cute. Now not so much. Oh well.

Day 36 - Stripes

Simon convinced me to wear these socks today. I don't know how he did it but they were laying on my floor this morning. The sock drawers were all closed and taped shut. It's like he willed them out. I am still in shock.

Today is another late posting day I know. I was helping Gimpy Scrappy all morning. This week my schedule has been wake up , gym, bring Scrappy lunch and keep him company til his roommate comes home. Today I had to pull a localizing pain tube out of his knee. That was intersting. We also had to rewrap his all whole knee. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable he is with his knee locked in place all day. Makes me think my foot injury this summer wasn't so bad.

Day 35 - Purple Flowers

Sorry I am so late posting. I have been helping my friend Scrappy the last two days. He had ACL surgery yesterday and is pretty immobile. Since I don't have anywhere to be during the day I took him for the surgery yesterday and hung out with him this afternoon. Have the same thing planned for tomorrow.  After this summer, I know how boring being helpless at home alone can be.

Well I am sure you are all waiting to hear about our JASS adventure. The cruise was such a great time. We ate, drank, played bingo, went to a wine tasting, made fun of other people on the ship, ordered room service, saw the cheesy show, made friends with a 13year old, made the crew laugh, and just generally had a great time. Stacey and John even made it on the on board TV with their dancing. Some of the most fun times were posing for the pictures with the photographers on the ship. We cracked up so much during the photo shoot below. You can probably tell that from our smiles.

JASS 2010 - 3 day Bahama Cruise

Day 22 - Hello Kitty

Don't know if you can tell from this picture but Hello Kitty has some sparkle around her. I know these socks have been part of my collection for quite some time. Prolly not as far back as high school but college.

Wow I'm tired today. My action packed visit with Christine wore me out. Good news is today is my only day in the office this week. My parents and sister get into town tomorrow afternoon for my cousin's wedding. So this is gonna be an action packed week as well. I know I will be excited once I get over the sleepyness. 

Is it nap time yet?

Day 18 - Purple Paw Print

Food Festival Day has finally arrived!!! This is one of my most favorite days all year. Christine and I are prepping to go get 10am chicken wings and beer before the fest starts. Breakfast of Champions!!! Wahoo!!

This is my first Food Fest without Bridget and Christina. It's gonna be very sad. I have faith Christine will be a good eater and pull through for the team, but my team will be missed. No excuses you will both be at next year's Phantom Gourmen Food Festival with me!!!

Day 16 - White + Miles

Since these socks aren't all that exciting I decided to add something exciting to the picture. What better than Mr. Miles!! This is him "helping" me change the sheets on the bed.

Not feeling so hot today. My head is pounding and I am exhausted. Gotta rally through it cause Christine is coming tomorrow!! We have all kinds of good stuff on the agenda, Food Festival, Apple Picking, Pasta Eating, Zoo visiting, Mexican Food Munching, Boat Riding, and some kind of road trip. I CANNOT wait!!!! Almost 24 hours til she lands in Boston.......