goodbye 2008 - update

I don't know where my head was in the previous blog entry--- it totally forgot to add that we were solely responsible for the injury to Tom Brady as well.

goodbye 2008

We will not miss you!!

2008 has been an emotionally exhausting year from us. There was sadness and drama at almost every turn. We cringe every time the phone rings. While bad things didn't necessarily happen to us, they happened around us and to people we care about. At one point I was convinced we were the curse to everyone we knew. Imagine the look on Mr. D.'s face when I told him I was adopting a soldier. He said "are you sure under the circumstances- that is in the soldier's best interest?" Luckily, that endeavor turned out OK. He is safe at home with his family. Whew! Adam and Erica should have thought twice about flying to Paris- but that one turned out OK too.. Whew!

This year has brought us:

1) the divorce of our friends

2) friends with broken hearts, lost loves and then new loves and more broken hearts and stress

3) tragic death of our dear friend's boyfriend

4) loss of a baby

5) cancer diagnosis, in multiple people

6) grandparents moving to assisted living situations

7) friend's with deaths in their families (I think 8 friends to be exact)

8) child's loss of his eye

9) friend's loss of job

10) friend's car being totalled

11) friend's baby born premature with multiple issues- the scariest of which was that she was allergic to breast milk and almost all formulas.

12) same baby having chronic UTI's and clogged tear ducts

13) emergency surgeries- 1 friend and 1 relatives with gallbladders removed. 1 surgery was routine and fine, the other ended up in ICU with a surgical error that could have proved fatal

14) an almost trip to the ER for Parker

15) my Mom's broken foot

16) my declining grandmother and grandfather

17) a friend's child with a seizure

18) death of a dear family friend

19) the plague of the tadpoles (this was tragic, annoying and did happen to us)

20) continued denial of medical benefits for our niece.

21) constant tornado warning and school closings

22) my crushed laptop

23) financial struggles for oh so many

So, goodbye and good riddance 2008.

I can't wait for 2009 because I just know it is going to be a wonderful year for all. Here's hoping!

papajohn.com bowl

Today, I attended the PapaJohns.com Bowl. It was fun. We went to the VIP tailgate. They has a buffet of southern food. I ate corn, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, a yummy roll, fried chicken, peach cobbler and ice cream. Then we headed up to our seats on the clubhouse level which had it' s own buffet. I didn't eat any of that- until halftime when I did eat a hot dog. I can never pass up a hot dog! We had great seats and I really enjoyed the game. Unfortunately the team I was rooting for didn't win.

hello bloggerville--

Ok- looks like I need to get you all caught up on the happenings in my life since the dinner with the Lovells.

Monday 12/22 - This is the day I really chose to begin my hardcore holiday shopping. I met my friend Erika at the very crowded shopping center. Even though the shopping center is only about 12 miles from here, it took an hour to get there and an hour and a half to get back. While there, we ate lunch at Panera Bread. I did not get very much crossed off of my list. Oh well. Monday night I made an amazing dinner. - pork tenderlion and roasted potatoes.

Tuesday 12/23- On this morning, I got up and hit the stores again. This time I went to a shopping center 6 miles from here. No crowds, no fuss- and lots of items were purchased! It was great. I was home within 2 hours. It was great!

Wednesday 12/24- My mom arrived with breakfast. We went out and did some last minute shopping and then home for a nap before our big family gathering. We went to my Aunt Patsy's for dinner with my family. When we got back, I put out the nativity set- my Christmas eve tradition. Remember before now- it was just Joseph, pregnant Mary and the Donkey.

Thursday 12/25- Christmas Day! My mom spent the night here and got up with us. I made Mr. D.'s favorite sticky buns. We opened our gifts and then my mom was on her way. We went next door and had Christmas with the Lovells. Then we came back and got ready because Mr. D. had to go into work. I went with him to help out where I could. Then we came home and I made our traditional Christmas dinner : roast beef, mashed potatoes, popovers, and gravy. It was delicious!

Friday 12/ 26- We got up on this morning (and I woke up with pink-eye) and we went to a kickoff luncheon for the Papajohns.com bowl. It was great. Then we came home and I took a long nap. Afterwards, we cleaned up a little and Meghan came over to celebrate Christmas with us. We went to dinner and to do a little shopping. We had so much fun!

Saturday 12/27 - Christmas with the Browns! This afternoon, Mr. D.'s parents came to visit and will be spending the night tonight. We went to eat at Surin 280 and exchanged our gifts. Thanks to the Browns, my nativity set is almost complete. It looks incredible. We had so much fun together and it was great to see them.

dinner and a movie

Every year there is one night like no other that I look forward to. It is our night out with the Lovells. It started as and for a few years was a night that we ate dinner and then split up and the boys go shopping and the girls go shopping. Last year, Mrs. Lovell and I were very savvy and finished our shopping early, so instead of shopping- we went to the movies. This year, we all went to the movies, and then the guys met Matt's brother and his friends while the girls took a whirl around Walmart.

We ate dinner at the most charming place. It is called Joe's Italian. Mr. D. read about it on the message board for our city, and my, are we glad he did. It is the cutest little place. Everything is authentic italian. Mama was in the kitchen whipping up this and that. The waitress would bring out something and say " Mama just made this special- try it". We were stuffed to the gills before our orders came thanks to Mama. The pasta and breads are homemade. I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup that was so incredible that I wished I was sick and eating it to feel better. For dinner I ate cannelloni, Mr. D. ate ravioli, Matt ate manicotti and Julie ate lasagna. The portions were so big that two people could have easily shared a meal. I thought I was going to cry when she asked if we were ready for dessert and I was too full for cannoli cake. Mr. D. promised to take me back for cannoli cake another time. They have an entire italian dessert bakery of anything you can imagine. As were were leaving, Joe was there and we thanked him for dinner. He said it was his pleasure having us over. I am sure that we will make it back to Joe's soon. After dinner, we went to see 4 Christmases. It was very funny and had us laughing right from the start. I would recommend seeing it.

Here is the history of Joe's.

Our History
Joe's Italian Restaurant was established in June of 1981 in Gilroy, California by Giuseppe and Elvira Bertolone, whom emigrated from Italy in 1977 with their small children Michael and Sonia.
Joe's quickly became a beloved local icon and Gilroy landmark, and has been featured in the Library of Congress and on the Food Network.
After dedicating 27 years of their lives to their successful family restaurant business, Joe and Mamma decided it was time to retire, subsequently selling their cherished restaurant in early 2007, and retired in Alabama to be closer to their daughters Mary and Sonia. Soon after, their son Michael, decided to join the rest of the family in Alabama and the adventure begins to unfold.
Michael, Mary and Sonia, have joined forces to bring Joe's to Alabaster and collectively share with you our love and passion for Italian culture and cuisine.

Our Philosophy
We believe in fresh food, prepared with ingredients of the up most quality. We believe in excellent customer service. It is our goal to provide a clean and friendly family atmosphere and to be your locally owned and operated neighborhood restaurant.
We intentionally keep our menu limited to provide our customers with quality and delicious meals. Our daily specials will reflect the seasons and availability of fresh local and regional produce.
Welcome to our family and to Joe's Italian Plaza Pasta & Caffé. It is our pleasure and honor to serve you.

we did it

So, we lasted until 9:51 tonight - when we exchanged the gifts.

His is on the left, mine if on the right.

imagine if you will....

I am lying on the black love seat in purple fuzzy pajamas. I am eating a snickerdoodle and watching the show I wait 365 days for to come on each year. It is on HGTV and is called- White House Christmas (2008). I love this show and get giddy waiting for it. I love watching how they decorate the White House each year. I want to be there in the hustle and bustle of it all. This year the theme is a red, white and blue Christmas. O.K. back to my show...

Thursday 13: back by popular demand

13 pictures from my camera phone. Enjoy!!

This is a picture of an apron my secret pal gave ( maybe even made?) me. It is so very cute. It will come in handy when I am working on those messy projects in the classroom.

Brady eating an apple- as suggested by Meredith. He totally loves it.

This is an ornament I got from one of my kids. I think it is cute. I call him the pimp daddy snowman.



This is another thing my secret pal gave me as a joke. Whom ever it is- they are hysterical. Yes, that is what they are made from.


This is my newest nutcracker. I bought him for myself on clearance last night. I love him!!
This is the Christmas tunnel near my house. I was driving Parker the other night and he made me take a detour through the tunnel.

This is a picture of Parker with a mustashe-- made of chocolate pudding.

This is a picture of Kate with a mustache-- look, a theme!

This is a picture of the snack mix I had to make for Mr. D. It is his favorite thing all year!

This is the wonderfully delicious peppermint cake that my awesome boss makes every year.

This is a pic from my seat at the rockettes. Perfect view!!

This is one of the gifts I got. The blue things on each side are earrings.

This is Brady and his bone. He love it!!

why we are last minute shoppers

Tonight is a fine example of why Mr. D. and I are last minute shoppers. I got a text from Mr. D. today while I am at work that states he has bought me my first gift. Later this afternoon, I went to get him a gift that I had been planning for weeks to stop and get today since I had time between school and a fundraiser I was working. I texted him that I got him a gift too. I get home around 8:30ish and it starts...
Mr. D. and I have spent the last hour discussing off and on if we should just trade that one gift tonight. We have even called and solicited the opinions of others. We have no will power in this house and that is why gifts must only be brought in at the last minute! Of course, if we do- then we are back to having nothing for each other again.
Here is what we know about the gifts.
1) They both cost $16.
2) They both came from the same small little town in our city.
3) They are not the same things- as confirmed by Meghan who is in the know on both items.
4) They can both either by really cool - or really sucky.
5) They were both bought with friends and none of the friends had an opinion either way of the gift.
6) They both came from stores in which we do not normally shop.
7) Mr. D. would use his immediately, and I would use mine between now and the end of the week.
8) My gift has packaging the size of a football and his gift has packaging the size of a Lean Cuisine.
9) Neither of us knew about or thought about the gift we bought each other until we heard about it from some one else.

So-- as of right now there is no exchange in sight-- but I will keep you posted.

guess what??? --- updated

... nevermind

guess what???

We have a present under the tree.

salad

Last night was the Christmas party for where I work. I had to make a salad. Mr. D. likes Greek salad, so I decided to make a Greek salad. We were at the store when I decided this and couldn't find a bottle Greek dressing so I got out the trusty BlackBerry and googled a recipe for dressing. We got the ingredients I thought I didn't have a home. Once I was home, I was very excited because I remembered that I had bought a Pampered Chef trifle bowl I could put the salad in. I also used my Pampered Chef Slicer ( which has injured many of my friends). I layered Romaine lettuce, sliced Roma tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, sliced red onions, green olives and feta cheese. I had 5 layers of this pattern. It looked so pretty and I am not sure why I didn't take a picture of it.

Then a light bulb went off and I remembered the most perfect salad tongs. I got so many compliments on these beautiful tongs.
I made the dressing and we went to the party. After a while, I was hearing a little buzz about how wonderful the dressing was. I tasted it and it really was good. I was impressed. You can find the recipe here. I scaled it down to 40 serving and it was enough to fill this carafe. I will definitely make this again. One person told me it was even better than Zoes- which was a HUGE compliment.

that &%##$% fish tank

So, as many of you know- this tank is a pain to me. I have had very few days when I am 100% happy with it. I will admit I was much happier before the baby fish were eaten. I still haven't figured out who the killer in the tank is. We lost the Fab-U-Lous Elton yesterday. So, anyway, lately the tank has looked cloudy. I bought a product that was supposed to clear the tank instantly. Now it is even more cloudy. Here is a pic.
Just venting-- thanks for listening.

Tonight I...

went here followed by here.

something I am thinking about

So tonight, I wanted to get my 13 published and get all of my "stuff" done at the same time. I decided to set the laptop up at the kitchen table- a rarely (if ever) used piece of furniture in my house. I was sitting here and realized 4 things.

1) I do not really have a nice quiet space where I can work without disruption.

2) This plug had never been used the entire time this house has been in existance.

3) I think I would like to get a few tall bar stools to put over in this bar area.

4) What a pretty sweet guy I have.

Thursday 13: Thirteen things I am 'fixin' to do

1) I am fixin' to clean out the back of my car. I am not sure at what point this week it started looking like I could possibly be homeless and living in there. 2) I am fixin' to start my Christmas shopping and put a present under this tree.

3) I am fixin' to start thinking about the possibility of this, but I am not 100% sold on the hippos or the pattern I have drawn. 4) I am fixin' to try this outfit on and see if it is cute or not. I have a big to-do tomorrow.
5) I am fixin' to start my holiday baking-- and day now.

6) I am fixing to do some laundry (confession- I arranged it to make it look like more than it is... hee hee).

7) I am fixin' to start making dinner. Oh- and yes, I was able to find the 16 ounce roll of Jimmy Dean sausage.

8) I am fixin' to change the awful spare sheets for our 1000 thread count sheets fresh from the dryer!

9) I am fixin' to take a bubble bath.

10) I am fixin' to trip over this dog- who is in the middle of my work triangle.11) I am fixin' to take my cough medicine before Mr. D. gets home and asks "have you taken your medicine"?

12) I am fixin' to make a list-- (checking it twice is optional).

13) I am fixin' to return phone calls and emails I have put off this week. Hopefully I will have a few friends left.

baking up some yum!

For some reason, I came home today and baked cupcakes-- just because. I even made homemade frosting. I said to Mr. D. - "these are not going to be as good as Mrs. Rogers- but eat them anyway." He said "Mrs. Rogers has never made me cupcakes." Now- if I could only get her cake and frosting recipe and duplicate his favorite cake in the world. We have all tried to replicate it - but nothing taste the same.

Christmas at the (icy) Castle

Saturday night was the much anticipated Christmas party that I am fortunate enough to be invited to each year. It is a fun party for people watching. We had so much fun last year- and this year was fun fun fun. The only thing I would have changed was that it was C-O-L-D!! While you could go into the house- the main event of the party was outside and I think it was 28 degrees that night. BRRR!! It didn't matter what I wore because my coat never came off. For those who may wonder, I have a very cute sequined twinset and black pants. Mr. D. and I picked up Tiffani on the way there. We met Adam and Erica at the party. Since the party is at their neighbor's house, I walked over and saw the girls-- pics of them are in a previous post. Here is a picture of me at the party. Look closely and you may see the cute twinset.

OK- so the main event at this party is an outdoor cabaret of drag queens. The night was a night of famous faces. We saw Cyndi Lauper, Cher, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, and more. It was fun watching the show- and even more fun people watching. After the show we went to Adam and Erica's where with in no time my frozen toes thawed out. Jonathan was the usual awesome host paying attention to every detail. Here is a video I made of one of the many birds at the house. He makes siren notices and says "I'm a redneck". Funny stuff- especially coming from a home that is way too Fab-U-lous to be considered redneck!
Another funny thing about the video is that every time I play it Brady goes crazy barking. It must be like nails on a chalk board to him.

welcome

I just found out I have a new reader! Welcome to the blog Ellen-- enjoy your stay!!

back blogging

I can not believe that I forgot to blog about this on Friday. It must have been all of the holly jolly of the decorating of the tree fogging my mind. Friday night- we went to dinner with the neighbors and their sweet little girls.
Mr. D. was shocked to know that the entire family had never had the Cozumel experience. We hoped they enjoyed it as much as we did!

This weekend---

I saw this Christmas cutie--
and her CRAZY sister!

voila!

For those of you who didn't believe... I put the decorations on the tree tonight.

the carrot situation

Today, Kate was telling me about how her dog Romeo goes crazy over carrots. She said that if the crisper drawer opens that Romeo goes nuts. She was eating carrots at the time, so she gave me a few to take home and see if Brady liked them. Brady took the first baby carrot, rolled it around in his mouth and spit it out. I gave him another and the same result happened. We repeated this game until he had sampled all five carrots. I called Kate that it was a no-go. Brady and I have another thing in common- we both hate carrots. I had left the carrots in the floor to take a phone call and when I got back- this is the chewed up mess I found in the floor.

I cleaned it up and now we know- Mr. D. is the only one in the house who will consider eating a carrot. As for Brady, he said he would stick to his regular treats.

Thursday 13: thirteen things I am thrilled about

Tis the season to be Jolly- and here are 13 things I am simply thrilled about.
1) The Freckled Nest is featuring a different crafty thing each day this month. Lots of buttons! I Love it!
2) Eleven school days until Christmas break!!!
3) 5 words, Little Debbie's Christmas Tree Cakes
4) I am getting a new niece or nephew in July.
5) I am also getting a new cousin a few weeks before.
6) My Daisy Scouts troop is having their Investiture Ceremony next week. They are so excited and so very cute! Of course, I will be ironing on a lot of patches between now and then.
7) Any day now, my awesome boss will be bringing in her world famous peppermint cake. MMM!
8) Every day is one day closer to the season premier of LOST!
9) My new love and appreciation of BlackBerry Messenger. PING!
10) My adopted soldier's tour is over and he is currently traveling home.
11) Mr. D. surprised me with tickets to Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular in our city next week.
12) Rock Band!!
13) I am going to an AWESOME party on Saturday-- and as a bonus, I get to see 2 of my favorite girls-- Alice and Eden. I can't wait!!

The Scarf-ettes

Tiffani came over last night to play Rock Band. We played for about 4 hours total- pausing for a yummy Mexican dinner. We had so much fun. She had on her scarf/sweater set- so I went and put on one I had that was similar- so we could look more band like. We took our pic in front of the (undecorated) tree-- because after all- it could be the cover of our Christmas album. While Tiffani was here- I was able to pull out this little gem- and yes folks - it does read "flawless".