Is it 2009 yet? Or Holy Shit I'm Old, I can't stay up 'till midnight.

Since I promised to post tonight & I'm drinking with Training Buddy who reads my blog - I am posting. I have had several martinis, glasses of wine, too much food and now coffee. All I want to do is find the soft spot on the couch and fall asleep because if the ball drops in New York City and I'm not awake to see it - it's still 2009, right? We are having a pretty mellow night and that's OK but I am in serious jeopardy of staying awake another hour. I was afraid we'd run out of booze and now all I want to drink is coffee. But hey - it's 11:00 - only 1 hour left to go. I look forward to 2009 with high hopes but am content in the moment of 2008 for now. It has been a good year and I want to count my many blessings. Great friends, a supportive family, a house , a job, a couple extra bucks to do things I want and buy snobby coffee every once in awhile. Life is good now and I have no doubt it will be good if not better in 2009. So goodbye 2008 - you were good to me. I am going to toast to 2009, do a spell check on this post and hit the sack about 12:05. Happy New Year!

Ten Best Momments of the Year

Ok - notsowildaboutblue is working so hopefully I'll get this post in. I have sort of cleaned the house - more like moved piles of shit to secret hiding place so Training Buddy and family will have a place to sit down, sleep & eat breakfast. Since they are predicting 3-6 inches of snow & we have the driveway from hell - they need to be comfortable 'cuz they may be staying awhile. I have a glass of wine in hand, Hubby is snoring on the couch and the cats are all tucked in so it's just you & me, my bloggy friends.

In no particular order are my Ten on Tuesday. Of course, it is probably skewed by the most recent events but I can't help that - did I mention I'm drinking wine?



1. Mom's December visit - she was here for almost the whole month and we had a really nice time. She lives out West so I miss doing the everyday things with her - we had a nice chance to catch up & just hang out.

2. The Florida Friends #1 visit - I can't remember if I have a name for them, how about Nico's People. Nico's Dad, Mom & brother came up for a week - they hung out with my Mom for a couple of hours when we picked them up at the airport & then dropped Mom off for her return flight. We had visitors for the entire month of December last year & it was good fun...really. I think the highlight was Geocaching when it was around -10 degrees - they loved it! Or at least that's what they said when we went back to the car..where they were sitting freezing their Florida patooties off!

3. The first day of baseball - always a good day - no matter what year.

4. #2 Visit form Florida friends - Visit from the Lizard family - it was a little warmer for them in May. We had a very nice time, hanging out having the nice big bar b-que I planned inside since it rained (the house was packed but that's OK) and showing Li'l Lizard Boy the bees - he had on a pair of pj's with feet which was a nice bee suit & he showed no fear!

5. Our week in Maine - even thought it rained we managed to have a pretty relaxing time. I think we hauled up half our house - which, for those of you who know us, know we don't travel light. We even brought up our own basil plant (pesto) and mint plant (mojito's) because I don't think they have either in Maine.

6. Music on the River concerts - I am on the town Parks & Rec Committee & we sponsor these outdoor summer concerts down by the Connecticut River. They are always good fun - I'll make sure I post all about them this summer.

7. Meeting Dolan's ....main squeeze? fiance? love of her life? Finally ... we thought she was making it all up.

8. Thanksgiving with family - it was nice to get away & have an unusually low key week in Florida. However, my brother in law forced me to drink a copious amount of rum and cokes one night so I hurt myself- thanks, Cliff. Glad you hurt yourself as well : - )

9. The election results - I still get goose bumps thinking about it. Can you imagine what the inauguration will be like?

10. Getting water back - thank God. I would be the worst pioneer woman, although I do like to chop wood.



Honorable mention but I've mentioned it several times already - leaving my old job and getting my new best job ever.

Also starting my blog - it has been fun and I've met some very cool people!



Ok - time to get another glass of wine, happy New Year's Eve eve. I will post from our neighbors tomorrow and most likely will be thankful for spell check after a couple of martinis.

Catching Up...

I can't believe I haven't posted since Christmas Eve. Well - I guess I can since our notsowildaboutblue did not work all weekend (shock!). I have been busy at work and trying to stay off my little blog anyhow so guess I will have to get a little patient about posting. And with less photos for awhile. Our Christmas was quiet, mellow and that was just fine with me. After the drama of the well it was nice to not worry about too much. Except slip sliding down our driveway but that will be a constant theme over the winter. I did not get the quilt I was working on done for Training Buddy & family which was a bummer. But once I realized it wasn't going to happen and I accepted that fact, I grew a hell of a lot more peaceful. So I wrote a poem as explanation and now have until Super Bowl Sunday to finish the darn thing - I'll post a photo when it's done. I also did not finish a knitted hat I started for Hubby about 3 weeks before Christmas while I was also trying to get the quilt done - I so like to stress myself out. He didn't mind & I finished it last night. I will post a photo sometime this week. Our plans for NYE are pretty calm - we'll be walking up to the neighbors to hang with them. Training Buddy, her Hubby & their Princess will be joining us & spending the night here. So I started to frantically clean until I found a skein of yarn, some needles & the pattern for a really cool martini dishtowel (link for the pattern is saved at work - I'll have to dig it up and post it later). Guess what I did - yep stopped cleaning & folding clothes & began to knit while watching the UCONN men's basketball team get killed by Georgetown. They, UCONN, not Georgetown, really played like crap. But, hey - did ya'll see them 'Fins? What a great game! I don't know how they will do next Sunday but we'll be watching and the best part is the Patriots are OUT OF IT !!! Ok - really that's the second best part, the first best part is we beat the Jets & Brett Farve played like he should have retired. I will admit I was doubtful about Chad Pennington in the beginning but he has been amazing. I so want to get on a plane and go watch the game but we got the bill for the well repair...$1,8000 ....ouch... we'll be watching the playoff game on TV. I am trying to label this post and it won't let me type "quilting" - just "quilting drunk". Hmmmmm wonder if Blogger knows me better than I think. Those are all my random thoughts for now - oh wait - we have no snow because it all melted, it was like 60 degrees here yesterday but we should get snow on NYE - any bets on Training Buddy getting stuck on the driveway?

Happy Christmas Eve!

The good news is we have water. The well boys fixed us up yesterday and the better part is they are sending us the bill. So, since it is the American way we can pay later! Yea - because who needs a $2,000 hit to their bank account 2 days before Christmas.
I am going to work but need to start posting from home - we'll see how that goes. Our notsowildaboutblue sentence will end January 7th and I am so excited to cancel their crappy service & get dial up - our best option out in the wilds of Moodus.
So I hope we only have to work until about 2:00, then I need to wrap Hubby's gifts and we will go down to Training Buddy's house for Christmas eve.
I got the below story from a friend at work and think it is so fitting for the holiday; Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice or whatever you celebrate.

An old Rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell

when the night had ended and the day had begun.

“Could it be,” asked one of the students, “When you see

an animal in the distance and can tell whether

it’s a sheep or a dog?”

“No,” answered the Rabbi.

Another asked, “Is it when you can look at a tree in the

distance and tell whether it’s a fig tree or a peach tree?”

“No,” answered the Rabbi.

“Then what is it?” the pupils demanded.

“It is when you can look on the face of any man or

woman and see that it is your sister or brother.

Because if you cannot see this, it is still night.”

~ Tales of the Hasidim

And finally, above an ever so cute photo my friends the Lizards. Now, does anyone know any modeling agencies looking for cute kids? Cuz I think this kid has a future. I hope you were all good and get what you wished for!

Yep - we got snow!

Like 10 inches of the stuff. Normally we would have had our glass of port, enjoyed the weekend and all would be right with the world. And that is how it was - sort of. Let me give you the picture tutorial of Friday.

This is the view out of my office window on Friday - around 10:00am. Now we all knew the storm was fast approaching so this sense of calm before the storm was , well the calm before the storm. Now I have mentioned that I love my company - they really do amazing work and truly walk the talk. About 12:00 they sent an e-mail out saying we were closing for the day at 12:30 - we would get paid for the whole day! They did this, and I quote "for the safety of our employees". Now how cool is that? So I hopped in my truck at 12:31and the view looked pretty much like above until about 5 minutes into my drive. I saw a flake or two start to fall, after 20 minutes on the road it looked like this

Not a lot of snow yet but you got the sense things were going to change quickly. Another 10 minutes I was turning into downtown Moodus (by the packy) and it looked like this

I was happy that I only had about 5 minutes left of my commute. When I turned down the driveway it looked like this

You'll notice it was pretty wet stuff. I was ever so glad to be home. I went out on our back deck and took this update photo

Now - this was all the snow that fell in about 30 minutes. It was a beautiful storm. At around 5 PM I went out & took these two photos off the back deck.

And since I can't figure out how to format the photos any different - sorry there you have it.

Our neighbor came down for gift wrapping and martinis and Hubby fortunately had the good sense to drive her down and home - our driveway was a bitch..... And the cats - where were they during the storm? Safe and sound..

The view off the deck the next morning was very pretty - you couldn't even see the deck lights on the boughs anymore - eventually they "burned" thru the snow.

Eric - Dude - I am so sorry you missed this one. This was all the snow you were waiting for last year when you were here. So why don't you talk your folks into coming up again..like this week....

Ok - now the drama part - we were enjoying the view - a little nervous about the driveway but we were cool. Until I was fixing dinner and the water just stopped. Like stopped coming out of the faucet. Like none came out ...of any faucet...in the whole house. Now Hubby is very handy so I wasn't freaked out yet. Until he totally freaked out. Do you know how much you depend on running water? I thought I knew but I really didn't until this weekend and trust me, now I do. We made a run into town to get water - Hubby forgot he has low 4 wheel drive on his truck & even after I told him (he didn't listen to me) he managed to get stuck going out up our bitch of a driveway and broke a taillight when he hit a tree. We went to the local drug store and since we hadn't showered in 2 days - had just been a major fight and were stressed about the whole lack of water thing, we looked our best and I'm sure broadcasted a vibe of peace, love and harmony. Fortunately for us that is when we ran in Senator Christopher Dodd. I'm sure he was so impressed with us - I could tell by how fast he got the hell away from us & out the door. Actually he was quite cordial, shorter than I thought and buying a snow shovel. That was our brush with someone famous for the day - he does live in East Haddam so it shouldn't have been a big surprise to see him somewhere around town.

We melted snow to wash some dishes, used snow to cool down our martini glasses (that was a nice suprise - it really cools things off) and basically worried about how much it would cost us to get the damn pump/well/whateverthehellitwasthatwasn'tworking fixed. The good news is the company that originally dug the well is still in business and they returned our call. I belong to a gym at work so hurried in this morning to shower there before work. More good news is the well comapny was to be at the house this afternoon about 1:30. Hubby called me at 3:30 to tell me that yes, they showed up at 1:30 and at 3:30 they had just finished digging their truck out of the ditch off our driveway - did I mention the driveway is a bitch and over 1,500 feet long? So now I get to sit here an wait and wonder how much this repair will cost us, when they can get it done and hope the driveway isn't too iced over for my drive home. If it is, I'll park down by the mail box and walk home, in the dark. What was I saying about how much I heart snow? This is the view out of my office today - notice the ice floats in the river.

Really?? 6 - 12 inches??

Before you get all excited - that is the amount of snow they are predicting for us tomorrow and you know I am ever so excited. The bad part is it should start between 9:00Am-11:00Am and will fall quickly. So, unlike my fellow Montana or other cold parts where it snows a lot drivers, Connecticut drivers get a little freaked and tend to cause accidents when they see the white stuff.This usually translates into God awful commutes home, like 2-3 hours. My company is very cool about making sure we all get home safe so will allow us to leave early & use personal time. We'll see - I don't want to use personal time to sit in traffic.


Ok - I missed Ten On Tuesday - way too busy with holiday things but basically I can cover it in one or two sentences. The list was the Ten Best Gifts You Have Ever Gave . Very easy for me - the quilts I have made for wedding, Christmas, baby events. And the trip Hubby & I gave Mom to Ireland - that was hands down the best gift I ever gave. I'll take some photos of some the quilts that I have access to & post them some day. Same with Ireland photos..


Ok - off to the paky (affectionate name for the package store) to get my bottle of port - its' going to snow!! YEA!!!!

*The photo is of our other cat, Casey. She hates the snow & cold because she is a Florida kitty . This is a random kitty photo post.

Can I answer with only one word?

I'm really tired from watching the 'Fins win a rather ugly game - but hey they won! I looked for you Sherri but didn't find you in the crowd. I'm sure you had fun!

You know I heart a challenge So I was cruising over to one of my favorite blogs - So No Zen and decided to take on the challenge - answering this meme with one word answers. And those of you who know me know I can be rather verbose and have a story for everything - so here it goes.

Where is your cell phone? purse
Where is your significant other? work
Your hair color? brown
Your mother? awesome
Your father? alive
Your favorite thing? home
Your dream last night? none
Your goal? contentment
The room you're in? office
Your hobby? quilting
Your fear? dark
Where do you want to be in six years? home
Where were you last night? parade
What you're not? unhappy
One of your wish-list items? wealth
Where you grew up? Montana
The last thing you did? ate
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? plasma
Your pet? cats
Your computer? on
Your mood? tired
Missing someone? yep
Your car? truck
Something you're not wearing? Birkenstocks
Favorite store? bookstore
Your summer? happy
Love someone? yes
Your favorite color? purple
When is the last time you laughed? today
Last time you cried? weekly

Fillin Friday

Another Friday - I need about 3 extra Fridays this month to finish some Christmas projects I got going. And to think I promised myself less stress this year - HA!



1. Friends are the best thing ever - I've got great ones!

2. Good health; it's nothing to take for granted.

3. I'm ready for going out to dinner tonight & enjoy the company of an old friend and a new friend.

4. Old Spice (my Dad used to wear it) is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.

5. The oldest ornament I have is , since my brother doesn't read this - I have the blue Silent Night ball!!! A very big deal in our family and it was wanted by both of us - Mom likes me best, she gave it to me!

6. Take some hot tea, honey, lemon & whiskey, mix it all together and you have an awesome hot toddy.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner then working on Christmas gifts, tomorrow my plans include running....gulp.... 8 miles and packing up gifts to mail and Sunday, I want to work on Christmas gifts, watch the 'Fins win & enjoy the Niantic Christmas parade!

My Ten Favorite Christmas Songs

This week's Ten on Tuesday should be pretty easy, my fav Christmas songs. Most of mine are traditional but I have a couple that I only hear on my favorite radio station WWUH. I've tried to link to You Tube videos where I can so you can check them out for yourself. I really wish my brother read this blog - I'm sure he'd have a few comments.

In no particular order... ( And yes I remember the Karen Carpenter special)

1. Christmas in the Trenches 1914 - John McCutcheon

2. The Christians & the Pagans - Dar Williams ( thanks Chris at Stumbling Over Chaos)

3. Merry Christmas from the Family - Robert Earle Keene

4. Christmas in Washington - Steve Earle & Joan Baez

5. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Karen Carpenter

6. Carol of the Bells - sung by a choir - just like the Teen Tones when I was in high school

7. I'll Be Home for Christmas - Elvis Presley

8. The Nutcracker Ballet - all of the music

9. The 12 Days of Christmas - John Denver & The Muppets

10. December - George Winston, the entire album

ENJOY!!!

The port is gone....

Ok - it FINALLY snowed Sunday, we woke up and there was snow on the ground but we must SEE it snowing before we can drink the port. So around 11:00 Hubby yells rather happily - "It's snowing - can we drink the port?!!" And even thought it was 11:00 AM we had a couple of nice glasses of port ( thanks again Lizard family!) and then we went out for a walk while it was snowing. It was beautiful! And on Saturday - I met Training Buddy and we ran our 7 mile training run and I didn't die. I couldn't believe how good I felt afterwards but admit I am so sore now. I really think running up to 8 miles is more mental than fitness as long as you have a baseline of ability. So now I'm screwed....

I saw this meme on Carole's blog and really like it. It gives me a lot to write about without thinking too much and that's good - we had Reiki Buddy and her husband over for dinner last night - it was really nice, we had a great time, lots of good food, conversation and wine. They left at a reasonable hour but I was all wound up and had to watch football/Sports Center/'Fins highlights until midnight.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? It depends, I use both.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real! It's not Christmas with an artificial tree - we cut ours down this weekend at Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree Farm.

3. When do you put up the tree? This year we put it up early, usually we don't get our act together until a couple of weeks before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down? The Saturday after New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog? Love it! Love the Starbucks Egg Nog Latte ( Venti with an extra shot, please) Love it with dark rum.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? No special gift really stands out - I always got good stuff from Santa.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Our friend Nose Dive - I usually shop all year and I see things all the time she'd like.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but it's glass so I didn't put it up this year - Nelson would have it in pieces.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail - I didn't send any out last year as we had company for the entire month of December. If I get my act together we mail them from the Christmas Festival in Bethlehem, CT so they have a special cancellation seal. I wasn't that organized this year but maybe we'll head over this weekend - we love to go to GW Tavern.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Probably a London Fog rain coat from my ex-monster-in-law. She bought all her kids expensive gifts, like paying off their car, big screen Tv, diamonds, etc. ( Her husband died and I think she spent all his life insurance money on the gifts). Anyway - my marriage was on the rocks and when I opened that gift I knew it was over. The next week the ex asked me for a divorce - on the phone while I was in Montana - and he was in Florida. I think the monster-in-law had a borderline personality disorder anyway... And the divorce was the best gift the ex ever gave me.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim, we also like Scrooged with Bill Murray - it is 80's fabulous...

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? All year - I try to pick up things when I am on trips or at craft fairs. I usually get about 75% of it done before the fall.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so - I did give gifts my ex- boss gave me to the Goodwill store. They were too ugly to re-gift.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything - I love pot lucks at work.

16. Lights on the tree? Yep - white & colored.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol the Bells although the Garmin commercials are trying to ruin it for me. I'll Be Home for Christmas always makes me cry so I like that one too.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I prefer home but when we've traveled it's always been interesting. Like when we were at my brother's and they "forgot" to shop for Christmas dinner stuff ( although his mother-in-law made the turkey - Thank God) and we had to dig in their bare cupboards (because they really don't cook much) and had Rice A Roni and Jello made with tonic water as side dishes. That was memorable..

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Sure, but I’d have to sing to do it. ( I liked your answer, Carole!)

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning!

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? My brother NEVER gets our gifts to us in time for Christmas. For some reason it bugs the hell out fo me every year. I don't even care what we get - just get them to us by Christmas!

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? No real theme, my Mom gives us homemade Santas ever year so we have those all over the house. My favorite ornament is a homemade ornament from my quilting buddy, Emily. She made it when she was in her 80's. I loved her like a Grandma and every year that is the first ornament I put on the tree and the last one I take off.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? A sewing machine I can use to machine quilt - I believe it is under the tree already.

24. Angel on the tree top or a star? Tree topper - no angel or star.

25. Favorite Christmas dinner? Prime Rib, Crown Pork Roast or Turkey. This year it's turkey since we didn't get any leftover from Thanksgiving.

It's Begining to Look Alot Like Christmas...but where's the SNOW???

I wish it was snowing.... I admit I do heart snow but I'm also looking forward to having a glass of this amazing port from Priam Vineyards - a local vineyard. This was given to us a gift from some close friends who were visiting from Florida and since I don't have their permission to use their names I'll make something up... from the Lizard family, Scaley, Mrs. Scaley & Little Scaley. Anyhow - they gave us this wine in May. Hubby and I have a little custom - we drink a glass (or two) of port by the fire when it snows. And for gosh sake it's December......and it hasn't snowed yet and did I mention we have had the bottle.....in our house.....SINCE MAY!!! Most alcohol has a much shorter shelf life in our house. So, a chance of flurries is predicted for Sunday and I am thinking this may have to count as snow.
I was over at one of my favorite knitting blogs, bag n' trash home of monster yarn and watched this video - I was a wild child of the 80's but do not remember this video but of course know the song. I am linking to her blog, but Maryse, I had to link the You Tube video on my blog as well - thanks for the great idea!Ok - I tried to link the You Tube vidoe but can't figure it out so check out the link - really and have a great weekend!

Catching Up and Ten on Tuesday

I'm baaack! We had an uneventful but pleasant vaca in Florida. The cats survived with their very capable house/cat sitter and now life is back to normal - whatever that means. I thought I'd share some old photos from the Thunder in the Valley event we went to. (I didn't take any photos on vacation and we only saw the beach from the bar stool at Lou's Blues.)

Aren't those ladies cute with their Moodus #1 sign? I was cracking up. We had a tailgate party across from the cemetery. And not just any old cemetery - this is the First Church Cemetery - go and read about Venture Smith, a former slave from Africa who bought his freedom and was buried here. The second photo is of the Essex Sailing Masters. I love those boys with their tall hats and boots! They just look like they have money.

Ok - the topic today is 10 Ways to Save Money - something I am not that great at but I think it's pretty common sense.

1. Take your own lunch to work.

2. Don't go out to eat very much.

3. Use your local library - seriously I read a lot and this is the best thing ever.

4. Watch your fav pro sports team on TV - not hard for me to do as the 'Fins only play up here 1-2 times a year.

5. Buy stuff on sale.

6. Stay away from tempting stores.

7.Get TiVo and record lost of shows - you'll never need to go to the movies.

8. Use Netflix.

9. Make your own homebrew.

10. Go for a hike in a state forest off season - free parking!

Ok - now I have to try and catch up on all my blog reading - it's good to be back!

Friday Fillins & Happy Turkey Day

Well - we are getting ready to go south for forced family fun - errr I mean Thanksgiving holiday. It should be nice, it will be warm although I am looking out the window waiting for the first snow flake to drop. This weekend will be crazy getting packed, getting the house ready for the house/cat sitter and maybe finishing a scarf I started knitting with monster size 19 needles. I'm looking forward to running in warm weather, although I do like it on the cold side - guess I am looking forward running somewhere that is FLAT. Also hanging out by the ocean will be nice. And visiting with the family will be nice, we are helping cook dinner for 13 - YIKES!

I doubt I'll have Internet access so I won't be able to update this for possibly a week unless my brother in law lets us use his computer or there is an Internet cafe somewhere. So I wish all my loyal readers a very Happy Turkey Day - here are the fillins!

1. The last band I saw live was Fred Eaglesmith.

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is stuffing - I heart me the stuffing.

3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is about 3/4 of the way complete!

4. Thoughts of martinis fill my head.

5. I wish I could wear my Birkenstocks to work on casual Friday.

6. Bagpipes remind me of men who wear kilts & no underwear.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to making ( and drinking) a birthday martini for my neighbor, tomorrow my plans include a long run I guess and Sunday, I want to sleep in and finish my laundry!

"Dude - don't pack the quilt - you won't need it in Florida." - Nelson

Wanna have a cookie exchange?

First of all - I must admit - I heart a good cookie exchange. I like all the variety without having to do all the damn work of making 20 million different cookies. Especially since it's just me & Hubby and neither one of us really needs any cookies - but 'tis the season and I have a half marathon I'm training for.

So Training Buddy sent me a great link for a posting from the Accidental Housewife, her Christmas Cookie Manifesto. It made me re-think my cookie exchange efforts. Last year, I was invited (OK invited myself) to participate in a wonderful cookie exchange that included about 12 Girl Scout Moms. I should have known I was out of my league but I wanted those damn cookies. I found some very pretty, fussy, never tried to make them before recipe and off I went. I broke almost every rule in the manifesto. Decorated? Check - did that with red sugar because I went to 6 different stores & couldn't find anymore green sugar. Stressed out? Check - my Mom who was visiting had to help me get the damn things done about 20 minutes before we left for the damn cookie exchange. Plastic plates? Check - did that and I think used festive colored Saran Wrap to cover them. Recipe? Shit! I was supposed to bring a recipe for these damn cookies? All in all those Girl Scout Moms were very nice & generous and took all of my cookies, whether they ended up in the trash or not I do not know. So.... if you live close by and want to invite me to participate, I promise I won't try to be Martha this year.

Whatever I Want Wednesday

I'm borrowing an idea from another blog I read, bag n' trash. You really must go check out her beautiful photos of New England fall that she posted yesterday. I just finished knitting a scarf using her gathered scarf pattern and love it! I used Ct Yarn and Wool Farmhouse Silk in Autumn, although it looks more Christmasy to me. I loved working the pattern, fast & easy and the scarf is oh so warm. I bought an extra skein of yarn so I can make a pair of socks! Thanks Maryse, for sharing your wonderful pattern!

Now for my Ten on Tuesday - I was going to blow it off but I like the topic - Ten Things I'm Thankful For. I never want to pass up a chance to remember that - even though I do my fair share of bitching & moaning.

1. My health

2. My husband ( most of the time)

3. My family

4. My friends

5. My great new job

6. Lessons learned from my not so great old job.

7. That I have a house to go home to.

8. That I chopped enough damn wood I'll have a nice fire tonight.

9. My cats, except at 4:00AM when they are chasing a mouse around our bedroom - like last night.

10. I live someplace where there is a change of seasons - appreciating the end of fall but looking forward to the first snowfall.

I'll end with a picture I took from our neighborhood. I thought it was really cool, a Halloween decoration for adults. I was thinking it was sort of a Burning Man deal but Hubby thought it was more Blair Witchy - which I won't even go to their web site to check out because the thought freaks me out too much. So let me know what you think!

Ten on Tuesday - we'll be doing that on Wednesday

Yoowwza - it's already Tuesday. Well - ya got to know I'm happy about the 'Fins game on Sunday. And Shana, I was a loser and did not complete my long (5 mile) run on Sunday because I am a loser & started to watch the football game with a glass of wine in my hand. But I ran yesterday and actually am going to hold all my thoughts for this post until tomorrow so I can go and run now (on a treadmill which is boring but it's dark so there you have it).

Yea - it's FRIDAY!!!

A gray, rainy day here in Connect- the -Dots but next week they are predicting snow. Yippee! First snow of the season means we get to drink port ( a tradition we started when we moved up here) and go to the Bidwell Tavern for wings. Another weird tradition we have but they have amazing wings and awesome beer on top and are a higher elevation than us so it usually snows there earlier in the year.



If you need to try and stay warm - go here to try and win a quilt. They are really nice, thanks to Chris at stumblingoverchaos for pointing me to this really cool contest. Good luck but I hope I win at least one of them - especially since I didn't win the snow blower - bummer....



Ok - on with the show - have a great weekend!





1. Please feel free to leave a comment so I know you care.

2. When I ride in a new car I can't help sniffing it occasionally.

3. My favorite thing to cook is a meal for friends.

4. Good energy is something I can't get enough of.

5. That's the thing I love most about hanging out with positive people.

6. Montana always makes me think to myself, what the heck?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a glass (bottle?) of wine and changing from my dress and high heels - YUK!, tomorrow my plans include the training run and dinner with good friend my training buddy and Sunday, I want to sleep in then watch the 'Fins beat Oakland !

I've been a bad blogger...

I hate it when my favorite blogs don't get updated. I forget these people most likely have lives outside of entertaining me. So for all my dear readers I apologize - usually Ten on Tuesday wakes me up and gets my arse motivated to post something. Or when the 'Fins manage to squeek out another win.But I've been busy and then tired. Hubby & I have been car pooling since my truck stopped running so I've been hanging with him (unless I'm at work). And now , on our 3rd year anniversary, my truck will be ready for me to take home and there will be no more "forced togetherness" on our drive in to work or home after work. We are going to go out for a hamburger tonight to celebrate the 3 year anniversary thing, however.

I have included a photo of our favorite hot dog stand in CT. When we moved up here from FLA we were surprised at the New England obsession with hot dogs. People are very loyal to "their hot dog joints". We drove by this place for almost 2 years while we were working on our house before I finally couldn't stand it one day & stopped. And let me tell you - these dogs are great! They park this trailer in a parking lot on the side of the road ( next to a Subway shop which is sort of funny) so if you are really lucky sometimes you get to see them driving down the road and it does make you feel extra special - I don't know why, to see the hot dog going down the road on their way to the parking lot (open at 10) or on their way home (close at 2). They are also open seasonal so when you see them in the spring it is hopeful and when they tell you they will only be open for another week ( like they did Saturday) it's a little sad that another hot dog season is over. They have been doing this for 23 years - WOW! So thank you Hot Dog Lady for another great season and for giving me extra incentive to keep running so I can burn the calories from two cheese hot dogs with relish, ketchup and horse radish mustard!

Can the weekend be any better than this week?

I don't have any exciting plans for the weekend, oh wait - since half marathon training buddy reads this I am excited to run my training run! I haven't run much this week (translate: at all since my truck blew up) so the training run will be that much more special. But it's only 4 miles, a mantra I am sure I will be repeating in my head as I slog my notwatchingmyweightverywell body down the road. So I will send reiki to my run and keep a positive mood and all will be well with the world.

My brother and I have been having a very spirited e-mail conversation this week. He happens to think W has done a fine job and is horrified by the events of Tuesday. It all started when I sent him the link to this very awesome letter by Alice Walker. So, I do get that not anyone had a great week but baby bro - your guy had his 8 years and now mine has 4. And since I doubt you read this, I do think W did a crappy job.

If you are in need of a good laugh - go check out one of my favorite blogs - Bye Bye Pie. I always enjoy me a June post. The best one ( I think) is when she had gas at work. It's sort of sad that I know that is her post for May 16th but I have read it more than once when I needed a little cheer.

Since it's Friday - here are my fill ins- oh ya, in case you were wondering if I won the snow blower - they have post-poned the announcement until tomorrow - so keep thinking good thoughts! Hubby asked me what I was going to do with it when I win & I just smiled.... Have a great weekend!

1. My blueprint for success includes keeping a positive attitude.

2. Goetze's carmel cremes (link to an awesome candy blog) was the last candy I ate.

3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is who cares, whatever is on sale.

4. Knitting, unless you keep buying shitloads of yarn like I do can be good therapy.

5. I'd like to tell you about more house building stories - it was soooo fun.

6. Being a loyal friend is my strongest characteristic.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to chilling at home, tomorrow my plans include having a glass or two of wine and oh ya - a long run and Sunday, I want to go for a hike with hubby!

A good blizzard story..

My half marathon training buddy sent me a link to this web site, Garden Rant that is having a snow blower give away contest. Instead of randomly choosing a number, they are looking for the best blizzard/heavy snow storm story. And hell ya - I got one of those! But I'm not going to tell it here - it really is too long to re-type so you'll have to go here and read it in the comments section. I will add the end of the story on my blog so go ahead and read the first part, then come back to my blog.

Funny , huh? Ya that night was a laugh a minute. Somewhere I have a disposable camera with a picture of hubby trying to dig the ditch which I remember fondly taking just so "I can show people how stupid you are trying to dig this damn ditch!". I believe those were my exact words too. So fast forward to our arrival at our apartment after the long, death defying drive home in which we did not speak to each other for over an hour. I came in the apt. and immediately called my Mom to tell her I was over it, I was going to leave my then fiance, I'd had it. I wanted a drink but in CT the liquor stores close at 8:00 and we just missed the deadline. I was so stressed. I was in our bedroom trying to decide the best way to leave and crying to my Mom, who was concerned as she was over 3,000 miles away and really could do nothing. ( I tend to do that to my poor Mom, I called her when I thought our house was burning down too but that's another story). Anyhow - the last person I wanted to see knocked on the bedroom door - but he had an apple martini in his hand. So I thought, OK maybe this will work out. I grudgingly took the drink & noticed little clouds of something floating in the drink - I tried to pick one out to discover it was..... BACON GREASE! He had washed the glasses in the dishwasher with a pan we used to fry bacon ( even though I told him a BAZILLION times not to) !!!!!!! I then started to ball, like with snorts and everything and my poor Mom was going "What's wrong?? WHAT"S WRONG??" I managed to choke out I .....have.....snort ...sniff .. snort...BACON GREASE IN MY MARTINIIIIIIIIIII !!!!!!!!! And her wonderful reply, comforting from 3,000 miles away was "Good God, drink it anyway it's not going to kill you". So I did and it didn't. And me and that wonderful martini maker got married a couple of years later because we survived that so why not try marriage.

Yea for America !!

What a night!! I was cautiously optimistic and was quite surprised by my reaction when they finally called the results at 11. Up until then it still seemed like the rug could be pulled out from under the American voters, again. But that didn't happen and I actually cried when they announced the results - holy crap!

To my friends in West Palm - what is the deal with your county election office?? Why can't those people get their shit together?!? At least this year it didn't affect the national election - but I would be holding some people accountable down there if they tried to suppress my right to vote by totally creating a screwy system that no one can follow or machines that don't work. But I digress.....

How can you not help but feel optimistic, and hopeful and think that ya, maybe this is the time we've been waiting for? I so respected John McCain's speech last night. He spoke from the heart - it was like the old John McCain showed up, not the KarlRoveRepublican party robot. He is a great man and I believe he will keep his promise and work with the new administration.

I went to bed excited and hopeful and I woke up excited and hopeful. I want to be part of the change, not sure how that will happen but I'm tired of watching from the sidelines and watching America become a shadow of herself. The rest of the world was as excited as any of us with the results - how can that not be a good thing ?? And I know it's easy to talk about change - but it's up to us as Americans to hold all of our politicians accountable and to get involved, don't just bitch because as we are sitting on our ass with our remote the world happens around us and we don't like what is happening. I think that was the best thing about the high voter turn out, people are giving a shit. Have we woken up? Did it take the financial crisis to make us sit up and take notice?

Here is a link to some pretty cool election songs for Obama from ALL OVER THE WORLD. Who says the world wasn't ready for a change??

OMG - too good to pass up!

I should have gone to the Daily Show blog before I posted - this story is waaayy too funny, about Terry the Shit Dumper. And I've been to Whitehall, MT a lot, ok I've driven through it a lot - it is a little podunk but that's OK! I'm proud to have grown up in Montana and although I voted for Obama - I do think this is a pretty funny display of ... civil disobedience?? Maybe I'm giving him too much credit - what do you think?

Have you voted yet??

Wow - I have so much to write about today - the first being the election, of course. I woke up early this morning, and was really, really excited to go vote. Hubby & I went to the polling place in town and were shocked to see traffic jams and lines out past the street! All of this at 6:20 AM. It was a festive atmosphere and I really did feel like I was part of history - WOW! We live in such a great country.

It was a good thing my day started out so amazing because on my drive to work, something very funky happened to my truck and the engine died about 10 minutes from work. I don't know what happened but it felt big..... and expensive. My most amazing Hubby came and picked me up, AAA picked up the truck and I arrived at work by 10. So, dear readers, cross your fingers that my truck only had a "minor" issue.

November 1 was the start of the Freeze yer Buns Challenge which we will be trying. Especially after we got out first gas bill since June - over $3.50 a gallon, so over $400 - OUCH! The goals of the program are on the above link at Crunchy Chicken's blog - go check it out! We do have the advantage of having a ton of firewood to supplement our fuel use but don't burn the fire 24/7 since I don't work from home anymore. We'll see how we do when it starts to get real cold - it was 60 degrees today.

And finally, Ten on Tuesday - here's my list (in no particular order) of Ten Things I Love to Talk About!

1. The 'Fins - here's your victory song, they beat Denver Sunday - YEA!

2. The Red Sox - not so much in the off season but only 100 days until catchers & pitchers report to spring training!

3. My awesome friends - love you all!

4. My wonderful family - especially when you drive me nuts, baby bro!

5. My kitty kids - guess I need to post photos some day.

6. Reiki - it really is a cool thing & I believe it helps people

7. Good books I've read

8. The fun blogs I follow - see most listed to the left

9. Good music - especially performers I haven't heard

10. Adventures I've had while traveling

Ok, if you haven't done it - do what half of the world only dreams of doing

GO VOTE!!!

Happy Samhain Eve !

Ok - for those of you who don't know what I am talking about - you can go to this web site to learn all about today, an ancient holy day. And for those of you who think, oh gosh - here she goes down the non-Christian road; that's not where I'm taking you. Even today's trick or treating has it's roots in pagan rituals.I've never really cared for Halloween, except when I was a kid, of course and got lots of candy. But even those days are distant memories to what kids today experience, group parties instead of all of the neighborhood trick or treating or trunk or treat, which to me seems like the laziest way to get candy, even though I suppose it's safe. ( and for you who again are freaked about the pagan vs. Christian thing? Many trunk & treats are sponsored by churches - so there!)

Whatever - with no kids I get to do what I dang well please so Hubby & I are going to a friend's house, my reiki buddy where we will no doubt have a marvelous time, practice some reiki healing like good witches and remember fondly those friends and family who are no longer with us.

Here is my Friday Fill In - hope you all have a great weekend!

1. My favorite food seasoning is salt.

2. Fred Eaglesmith(playing on the radio now) is music to my ears.

3. Lucky is something I feel every day, and blessed.

4. My relationship with friends and family is something I take very seriously.

5. Many people forget what's really important; see number 4.

6. My brand new Birkenstocks was the last thing I bought at the store.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dinner with friends, tomorrow my plans include my first "long" training run for a half marathon and dinner with some more friends and Sunday, I want to sleep in then watch the 'Fins win!

Oui, On Peut!

I flunked french, I think 2 times, in college but even I understand this great video. So grab your self some gumbo or a po' boy and don't forget to vote on Tuesday! Our future depends on it.

Ten Favorite Horror Movies

Have I told you how much I hate commercials for horror movies? Well you gotta know I hate the dang movies too. So ... I will try my hand at 10 I can even think of, because really? I'd rather not think about them at all. In no particular order as I doubt I'd watch any of these again (unless so noted)

1. The Shining - I might watch it again. I did go to the hotel in Estes Park, Colorado where it was filmed. I really wanted to see a ghost but didn't. Good martinis, tho!

2. The Stand - Loved the book - I've read it at least 3 times. The TV movie was pretty good.

3. The Omen - read the book, the movie, hell the movie poster still freaks me out!

4. Halloween - the first one. I watched it in high school English class - the teacher would probably get fired for that today. At one point - I screamed so loud the principle's office called up to the classroom to make sure we were OK.

5. The Amityville Horror - when we were looking for house to buy in CT I wouldn't even go in and look at a gambro construction style house.

6. Carrie - good flick, I'd watch it again but sure as hell don't want to be 16 again.

7. Jaws - who didn't jump a mile when the head rolled out of that hole in the boat?

8. Blair Witch Project - this still freaks me out & I won't even go find a link out there on the Internet - I live in the woods for Dog's sake!

9. The Exorcist - I still switch the radio station if Tubular Bells comes on. And it just scared the crap out of me to even listen to that link - so I hope you fine readers appreciate it! : - )

10. Rosemary's Baby - I am too freaked to watch all of it - even it's abridged as hell version on TV.

On to a happier subject - did any of you catch that fabulous 'Fins game on Sunday? I love it when they beat Buffalo! Happy spooky day - tell me what your fav scary movies are!

Friday Fillins...

I'm tired (translate lazy) today so will use this great blog idea for my post today - thanks Shana!

1. Right now, I'm feeling tired, not sure why.
2. Home working on a quilt or knitting or drinking a nice glass of wine is where I want to be.
3. How does one stay motivated to run once one has signed up for a half marathon?
4. Fear of not finishing keeps me on track.
5. Please don't forget to leave a comment.
6. My friends and family and cats fill me with joy.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to quilting, tomorrow my plans include running and Sunday, I want to meet my friend for a chick flick!

Have a great weekend ya'll!!

Happy Birthday to me! Well - it was yesterday...

I had a nice day, a work mate bought me lunch and then Hubby & I went out to dinner here. I really liked it alot. The food was great, service was very nice but not over the top obnoxious and for all the food we ordered, the price was great. I don't know why we never went there before but we will be going back. They also have a bakery next door that I can not wait to try. Tonight I'm continuing the birthday celebration and meeting friends for dinner at the Sons of Italy club in town. Told you I love good food!

Ten Best Meals

This one was hard. I love love LOVE good food. And it doesn't have to be fancy or snobby - just taste good. I also enjoy the company I keep for those good meals - good friends & good companionship are more important than food. So here is my crack at my 10 Best Meals - after number one and two, in no particular order.

1. My Mom's chicken and noodles - my absolute favorite meal, hands down.

2. The first pizza hubby made me while we were dating - home made crust, home made sauce - nummm

3. Rare prime rib so soft you can cut it with a butter knife - best has been found out West

4. Good sushi

5. Most of the food we ate on our trip in Vietnam - it was fab!

6. Stone Crabs anywhere, but Joe's was pretty damn good

7. L'Anjou in Lake Worth, FLA - always great food and service

8. The meal we had at the Bee and Thistle in CT - it lived up to all the hype

9. Appetizers at Rays Boat House in Seattle - the view, the food, the company

10. Any meal with Good friends

What are your favorites? Let me know!

My Oh My....

Wow - I must admit I was a doubter. For all my talk & postings, I was one of the 50% that got disgusted and went to bed. (I think about half those who said they didn't are lying). So, tonight Hubby & I will watch the game from the 7th inning on, when we got PO & went to bed but thank goodness, kept TiVo'ing the game. Can the Sox pull it off? I'll be staying up for the whole game Saturday night! (Above photo from the Boston Globe)

Big plans for the weekend to join friends at Thunder In The Valley, we are going to tail gate which should be interesting. I'll post photos next week.

On a serious note - I did watch all of the debate the other night. Something happened that I didn't quite notice until I read this blog. Fair warning - I am pro-choice so it is doubtful McCain could have said anything to sway my vote. What he said about a woman's right to choose has given me serious pause... and very serious concern. How can he ( and his running mate) profess to be someone who wants government out of everything - except for my uterus? So if you are a woman or love a woman, I invite you to think about how he addresses this in the debate. They don't have to agree with my decision on what I might do if I became pregnant or if I might lose my life if I stayed pregnant, but I ask them to respect my right to choose.

It's beautiful today and you can just start to see it's really fall from my office. So I'll end this post on a nice meditative shot...

Don't Stop Believin'...

Sort of a tie in to my earlier blog entry from today. Since I did not mention the Red Sox - I will post twice in 1 day. My office mates remind me to think positive so I will try. I'll also post two pics from our trip to Fenway, one of the view from our awesome seats & the other of the retired numbers. They had retired Johnny Peky's number 6 the day before. So cross your fingers & toes and LET'S GO RED SOX!!!

Ten Artists/Groups that Remind Me of High School....

Yikes - like I didn't feel old enough as it is! But this was kind of fun. I must admit for someone who has grown up to be what I like to consider a sophisticated (and somewhat snobby) lover of good music; folk, Indie, classical, blues, world music. My list is pretty narrow, mid-Western typical early 80's stuff. And yes - I believe I had at least one 8 track tape of every band listed below. Which is why I remember them - listening to a tape while we cruised the drag in good ol' Dillon.

Hell - I don't even listen to 80's music now! Ok - I do have one CD from a band in this group - why don't you try to guess which one?

1. Foreigner

2. AC/DC ( old stuff with Bon Scott)

3. Molly Hatchett

4. Journey

5. Kansas

6. Cheap Trick

7. The Cars

8. Van Halen

9. Asia

10. Divo

Monday Monday...

Like that title hasn't been used before! The weekend here in New England was beautiful - but we had a little drama. All my favorite sports teams? Well they didn't do so well. Dice K pitched a great game on Friday, Josh didn't do so well Saturday but the rest of team didn't help him either. I was so dang tired from staying up and watching them lose Saturday nite/Sunday morning I slept until noon on Sunday. And the 'Fins barely lost (no victory song this week) and Tony finished 11th so is 7th in the Points standings.

I was trying to sew a quilt top after a couple of martinis and got a really bad thread lock ( very bad - your machine freezes up ) and had to take it to a repair shop. There is danger in quilting when drunk!

The bees were looking for food and found all the old hives we have in the garage so when the door was open, in they came. We probably had a couple thousand bees spend the night in our garage last night so I couldn't get to the laundry room to do laundry (yea!)



But we did go to Gouveia Vineyards and enjoyed a nice bottle of rose and a beautiful view of fall. And really - if those are the only problems I have - I'm pretty damn lucky...

I say "Boston" You say "Red Sox" !

It's finally here.. Game One of the ALCS. I can not wait! I love love love October baseball. All bets are off based on season performance. I really hope that's true for us in Tampa. Someday I'll post our pics from Fenway. We had to go twice since the regularly scheduled game got rained out but I can not complain - Boston is too fun!

Fall is arriving in New England but this weekend is supposed to be nice so we might head over to a local fair to see all the four legged & two legged friends. We are so dang exciting, aren't we? Maybe that's why no one reads my blog. Ha ha!

So - go Red Sox and if the Dodgers continue to lose, that would be a good thing too!

I'm Yellow?? Really??

I'll let those of you who know me decide. That way you can reply in the comments section! Go here to find out what color you are.

You are most like:

You are Yellow
The clouds part and the smell of daffodils and daisies fill the air when you are around. Your sunny disposition cheers most, and makes others (the jealous and bitter ones) wish you'd never gotten out of bed.

Ten great/awful things about TV today

1. NESN - Love it! The best sports network - period. Although I'm not a Patriots fan, I love their baseball coverage. Jerry Remy & Don Orsillo are smart announcers & seem to have a great time calling the game.

2. TiVo - I could never watch all the sports I do without it. Love it!

3. News - hate it! I try not to start my day watching TV - it is so negative and when I only have 45 minutes in the morning to listen to something, I prefer that it not be negative stories.

4. NASCAR coverage - all the networks. The coverage is getting awful - each network picks their favorite drivers and to hell with the rest of the field. Don't they realize that is a good way to lose car sponsors? Really - they should consult me on these things.

5. Reality TV - getting bored with it although I have never been a big fan. I do watch Extreme Makeover although it does seem to exploit the folks who eventually get the house...

6. Direct TV - love it! The NFL package, XM satellite radio channels, what's not to love?

7. Series going out on DVD's - great idea! I would probably have never got hooked on Arrested Development otherwise. Great show!

8. Food Channel - used to like it but now, not so much. Where are the chefs - not just people who cook?

9. Network TV - don't watch it.

10. The Daily Show & The Colbert Report - best 2 shows on TV without a doubt.



Whew - that was hard. Anyone have any thoughts?