The Simple Things

We are officially in the Advent season-the season of waiting. But, it always ends up feeling like the season of rushing, doesn't it? Parties, shopping, cooking, decorating...and the list goes on. While those things can certainly feel burdensome at times, generally I really enjoy this time of year. I like participating in the season way more than some fancy gift under the tree.

On Friday, I strung the lights (all 1200 of them) on my parents' Christmas tree, and then as a family (with my Grandma there, too!), we put on all the ornaments, laughing and reminiscing as we went. My parents' tree is filled with ornaments they've collected over the years on travels or at important milestones, so it's really special to put up. It's certainly not a "decorative" tree, but it's sentimental, and those are the best kind. And yes, we could fill an entire tree with Outer Banks' ornaments!

Then, on Saturday, Steve and I went and picked out a tree for my house-my first real tree! It took me quite a while to string the lights on this one, and I was oh, slightly (read very) annoyed when we went to plug in the lights and half of one strand was completely out. Steve fiddled with the lights and even switched the fuse to no avail! But, with a fire blazing in the background, and Jingle All the Way on television (did you know there is a Christmas movie featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger? I didn't!), the ornaments were put on and now it's beautiful and smells incredible. We watched Love Actually first, but the process took so long we needed a second movie! Apparently Jingle All the Way is one of Steve's favorites.

Anyway, I was thinking yesterday that those are the things I love about Christmas. The little, simple things like putting up a Christmas tree, making Christmas cookies, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer make this season magical. And no gift under the tree, no matter how sparkly, could replace the memories that come from the simple things at Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

*I'm really glad to see dogs were welcome at the first Thanksgiving table!

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A long weekend and delicious food...what could be better?

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! I actually have work off on Friday (woohoo!) an am very excited to spend time with family and friends this weekend. Oh, and put up my first real Christmas tree! I have so much to be thankful for this year-I really have so much and am so blessed.

10 days

Wow, it's been 10 days since I've written a blog post. The two people who read have probably stopped. Last week was very busy and parts of it were kind of frustrating so I didn't really feel like blogging! 10 things that have happened since Nov. 12...

1. The Steelers lose again. Goodness. It'll be a miracle to make it to the playoffs.

2. New Moon = awesome! More awesome were the howling women when Jacob took off his shirt for the first time in the movie. Ha!

3. Christmas decorations are up...except of course for the Christmas tree. I just love this Christmasy time of year!

4. I made a delicious cranberry upside down cake. Yummy. I could've cooked it a bit longer, though. But, yum. 

5. I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. It feels great. I did most of it online, which is even better. Why are men so much harder to shop for than women? 

6. It's not Thanksgiving without a Turkey Trot in the morning. I've got a 5 miler on Thursday and I'm excited-like the 15th or 16th consecutive year of running one. The perfect excuse to pig out on Turkey day.

7. 3 day work week. Woohoo! And all casual days, too. Yay jeans.

8. My best friend from college had a baby this past week! She's about 8 weeks early, so she's a preemie, but she's doing much better now. 

9. A perfect Saturday night involves North & South on DVD, a fire in the fireplace and 11 hours of sleep! Love it.

10. I beat Steve at Jeopardy on Thursday. Don't let him tell you otherwise.

Ida

So hurricane Ida is wreaking havoc on my favorite place on the planet. Lots of rain, violent winds, and storms are hammering coastal Carolina and Virginia Beach. You know it's not good when the weather channel is broadcasting from Nags Head, NC.

Sadness. This precarious little piece of beach is so fragile being basically a strip of sand in between to bodies of water (and one being the Atlantic Ocean!). One day it will erode away (I know all about it-I did a huge project on beach erosion in the Outer Banks for my 5th grade science fair!). In fact, the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras (one of the most famous in America) has been moved back several times due to the beach eroding away. For many years you couldn't even climb it as a tourist because it was so dangerous.

I will say, though, it's always crazy to see the houses that get torn up in these storms. Some of them are literally steps away from curling waves on a calm day, so when the storms come and the waves are gigantic, these little cottages don't stand a chance. Several years ago after Hurricane Isabel, my family and I came upon a home that was missing the entire back wall! But, you could still see inside to the kitchen bedrooms, etc. Crazy.

The houses weren't originally built that close to the water, but over time, the hurricanes have brought the water that close to the houses.

This is the house from Nights in Rodanthe. Many people believe it will be one of the next ones to be demolished by storms.

I've always wanted to save up so that I could one day buy a house in the Outer Banks, but hurricane season is the reason I'll probably never be able to afford it-insurance!

Veterans Day

I remember one summer when my parents took my sister and I on a tour of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania on our way to the beach. I was absolutely mesmerized. I couldn't fathom how frightening it would be to engage in head-on combat, knowing odds are pretty good you might die. Of course, I've always been interested in history, but I couldn't believe so many men had died there-right in the field where I stood. I still would love to visit other Civil War battlefields, mostly because I am a huge dork.

As the saying goes "one death is a tragedy, one thousand deaths is a statistic," it's hard to grasp the real cost of our freedom in America. I rarely consider what a huge sacrifice veterans have made, whether or not they were injured or killed in a war. So, it's fitting to have a day to commemorate just that.

Though, I must say, it'd be much nicer to do this from the comfort of my home and not at work!

I guess I will be wearing a pants suit to court Friday.

I was nearly done with my 5 mile run this morning. Six houses away from my own where I could finally stop and stretch when BAM, I was on the ground. Ankle twisted. Knee and hip throbbing. Shorts torn at the hip (fabulous!). And of course, a gentleman was getting into his car for work and witnessed the entire thing.

Usually, I trip because I am clumsy. This morning, though, I tripped because of a huge pot hole. They cover my street. And the man who witnessed my fall said he has tripped over the exact same pot hole several times.

I realize the city of Cincinnati has some budgetary problems. But, fixing streets inundated with pot holes should be a priority. It's dangerous. I'm willing to bet the flat tire I had earlier this year is a result of the condition of my street.

You better believe I'm sending a letter. It's already drafted. :) (I did not take pictures of my hip bruise/cut as it would be highly inappropriate for the public. But, I assure you, it is worse than my knee.

At least the Steelers won last night.

Easy Peasy

This has just been "one of those weeks" where I find it hard to muster up the energy to cook dinner for myself. I bought all the ingredients to make this italian sausage soup I have made previously, but when I got home last night after 3 very long work days, the thought of chopping onions, garlic, carrots, celery, etc. was not too appetizing (no pun intended).

I will blame it on Daylight Savings Time because now when I leave work it's nearly dark, and completely dark by the time I pull in my driveway. Heck, I'm ready for bed!

Anyway, instead of picking up a frozen pizza or fast food, I decided to make something quicker than soup with the ingredients I had...and it was DELICIOUS. I must also add that I find something very de-stressing about cooking after work. So here's what I made, and I'm guessing you already have the ingredients on hand!

Easy Pasta Supper

2 Cups dried rotini (this is about half a regular box of pasta)
1 can cannelini beans (I always keep these on hand, delicious in soups, italian dishes and great for making hummus too!)-drained and rinsed
1 can diced italian style tomatoes
Some sweet italian sausage (I used 2 sweet italian turkey sausages from jennie-o I had leftover, just removed the casing)
1 tablespoon or so dried basil (if you have fresh, I'd use about 1/4 Cup)
Parmesan cheese

In medium pot, boil water and cook pasta according to directions on box. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, brown sausage, breaking into crumbles. Once browned, add in beans, basil and tomatoes, and heat over medium low heat until heated through. Drain pasta and add pasta in with sauce. Toss to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

YUM.

Signs I am rapidly aging.

1. I am working on an appendix for a brief I need to file. I have to alphabetize the list of cases I used in the brief. Throughout the afternoon I've been repeating "a, b, c, d, e, f, g..." in a sing-song voice. Because sometimes I can't remember whether g comes before or after h.

2. I am 99% sure I spotted a gray hair today. I yanked it out and attempted to investigate it, but simultaneously I triggered the hand dryer and it blew away. I am crossing my fingers it was a fluke.

Yikes.

Happy Halloween!

I am looking forward to passing out candy and having a relaxing weekend with nothing really planned. Those are the best, right? I'm going to try really hard not to eat half of the candy that I pass out. I remember being a kid and trying to sneak candy out of the Halloween stash my parents would get for the trick-or-treaters...I always got caught!

My favorite Halloween costume growing up had to be the year I went as this space woman. I had this fantastic silver suit with a sparkly sequined belt and headband, plus glittery face powder. It was fabulous.

My least favorite Halloween costume had to be the year my mom dressed my sister and I as mimes when we were in kindergarten. I wanted to be a princess. My mom was quite the feminist...a princess costume would've gone against all that! :) My mom was in charge of the theater department where she taught school, and she just thought mimes were so cute and original. At our school Halloween Party, we had to tell everyone what our costumes were and I lied and said I was a princess. Ummmmmmmm... a princess with white face paint and black teardrops on her face. I still can't live that one down with my family.

What were your favorite/least favorite costumes growing up? Katy, I hope you share the story about the year you were a cave woman...just saying. ;)

Early bird gets the worm.

I heard Christmas music on the radio this morning. 93.3 FM. A little early, I'd say.

But, yes, I listened to it the entire drive to work.

Just like tv.

My favorite commercial as of late is the one with the terrier-looking dog who searches and searches for a place to safely keep his bone, finally getting insurance to keep it safe. I love that commercial.

My dog has always been quite the hoarder of bones. She will roam around the house with the bone in her mouth searching for that perfect spot to hide it. While she's searching, she usually whines a little, like she's all perplexed and concerned. The bone usually ends up some fantastic place-like in a basket of clean laundry, or wedged in the couch cushions.

Well, last night Fi was chewing for hours on this one bone. She carried it (unbeknownst to me) on our walk and finally up to bed. I wouldn't let her have it in the bed, so there it remained on the floor.

About 1 a.m., she grew restless in bed jumped down, and I heard her whining. I turned on the light and saw her searching for a place to hide that bone! Just like the commercial! Fi was dreaming of her bone being lost- he he. I opened my door and went back to bed. I have no idea where she hid it, but I'm sure I'll find it somewhere when I least expect it.

Funny stuff. :)

The Half Marathon

Well, it went great! I am still very sore, though, and my attempt to run this morning was very dumb. I ran for 12 minutes and my muscles felt terrible-bad idea! Hopefully the eliptical and/or stationary bike will help that lactic acid out of my muscles, I'm hobbling around like an old person. I love the 13.1 mile distance. I finished averaging a 8:45 minute/mile pace, which I was pleased with. It's long enough to feel hard, but short enough that you aren't literally crawling to the finish. I definitely anticipate many more of those races in my future.

Here we are starting off in the car. We had to wake up at 4:40 a.m.! Katy was very excited.

I look a little sleepy. And yes, I realize pink and red don't match.

Yay the starting line! More like starting bunch. There were approximately 20,000 people running the 1/2 and full marathon. It was a giant mass of people waiting to start. Took me 3 minutes just to get to the actual starting line once the gun went off! It was also very cold...32 degrees at the start!

Wow, me at the finish. So fast I just wizzed by Katy and the camera. He he.

Nothing better than a picture from behind while running. Oh wait.

I ran into a girl I ran cross-country with at Wooster at the finish line! How crazy is that?

Yay, I'm done! And really looking good. Yikes. And Fi was waiting the whole time, sporting her Bearcats' bandana and excited about that OSU loss.

I thought I lost my shoes.

I was wondering where all my shoes went this morning-oh, they are all under my desk at work! This is the problem when you wear black flats into work and switch to heels once in the office. The heels just sort of stay there and never make it home. That's 4 pair of shoes plus the flats I wore into the office and the black heels I carried with me today to wear.

Clearly I do not need more work shoes.

Did you hear that Massachusetts is planning to dole out the H1N1 vaccine to prisoners first? Interesting. I guess it's one less thing to worry about if you get attacked by a repeat offender when visiting Boston.

Things I don't like to hear.

I go into the kitchen at my work to fill up my water from the proverbial water cooler and in walks an unnamed individual who commences to hack up something nasty. I simultaneously commence holding my breath (hello H1N1!) while she tries to strike up a conversation with me, beginning with the words:

"I feel awful, just terrible. I'm really hoping this isn't H1N1, but it definitely is the flu."

Ummmm, me too. And, sorry I can't respond because I'd have to breath to do that and I am not going to inhale your flu germs. And thank you for infecting the rest of us!

So I just nodded my head and returned to my office and bathed my hands in sanitizer. I am trying not to touch my face until I can actually wash them with soap and hot water.

Maybe I'm being a tad paranoid. ;)

A Miracle.

Somehow all of my fantasy players had a great week. I not only scored a whole lot of points, but I also won my game. I was in last place before this week and today I am in second to last. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS.


Clearly that $30 was a great investment. ;)

Suggestions, please.

I've been washing my hands 14,000 times per day and slathering them with anti-bacterial gel between washings in order to avoid catching that nasty swine flu (or any other kind of flu!). But, all that hand-washing is making my hands sooo dry. I looked down at them yesterday and they looked like the hands of a 100 year old woman!

Ok, maybe it's not that bad. But, can anyone recommend a good hand cream that is NOT greasy? I have one now from Aveda and even 30 mins after I put it on my hands are still greasy-as are my keyboard, mouse and anything else I touch.

Hopefully the three of you who read this blog can suggest something fabulous.

Seriously.

This morning I learned of a new wedding trend apparently sweeping the wedding-photography-nation: "Trash the Dress" pictures. The idea is that you take a wedding picture of yourself trashing your wedding dress-be it under water, in a swamp (shudder), setting it on fire while wearing it, your choice!

So weird. But, for your amusement...some Trash the Dress photos. All were taken from google images.

I'm sorry, but what the heck. Why would you want to do that? For a weird looking picture? Did someone one day say "hmm, that was silly that I just spent $2000 on a wedding dress, why not trash it and take photos-great idea!"? I mean, don't get me wrong, people take weddings too seriously sometimes and it's great to have fun. But I think it'd be more fun just to not spend a small fortune on a dress you will wear for several hours on one day of your life.

What do you think? Maybe I am the crazy one.

Weekend Recap

Since I'm super groggy from staying up until midnight watching football, this will be a list:

1. Frost/Nixon is really really good. I watched it Friday night with mediocre expectations and was blown away. Plus, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice is in it! (Though with nasty blonde, long hair-you'll hardly recognize him...until he speaks, that is.)

2. I ran 11.5 miles on Saturday morning-6 of those miles before dawn-and it was great! I mapped out my run and did two loops. I ran the second loop 2 minutes faster. I know that doesn't seem like much, but I tend to run fast in the beginning of a run and try not to die by the end. Things are looking good for the race on the 18th in Columbus.

3. I made pumpkin bars for a block party on our street on Saturday. They were delish. I really need to stop baking so that I don't have sweets just lying around begging me to eat them. I also think it's generally awkward to mingle with people you don't know. I am shy by nature and once I've conversed regarding where we grew up, which house we live in on the street and what our careers are, I am left standing there awkwardly trying to make conversation. Luckily, I can always resort to talking about my DOG! What a great reason to have children. he he. Kidding.

4. The Steelers continue to torture me with their 4th quarter antics. I'm glad we won, but my goodness. I can't take an entire season of that. I do love those throwback jerseys. And Mendenhall-you were my hero last night.

5. The Bengals' game was even more wacky. That overtime was pathetic on both sides (sorry!). And watching it with Steve was, well, something.

Ok, recipe for pumpkin bars follows. They are soo tasty. And (at my sister's suggestion), I top each bar with a candy corn pumpkin. I did half with candy corn pumpkins and the other half with chopped walnuts because some people don't like candy corn-CRAZY!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe by Paula Deen

Bars
4 eggs
1 and 2/3 Cups White Sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1-15 ounce can pumpkin puree
2 Cups All-purpose flour, sifted (um I never sift)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting
8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 Cup butter, softened (1 stick)
2 Cups sifted confectioners' sugar (again, I do not sift)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10 inch baking pan. (I used a 15 by 10 by 1 inch pan to get a more "bar" height rather than "cake" height). Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars. (I frosted mine after I cut them into bars, frosting each bar individually.)

For icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl with an electric mixture until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Question

So, I have light bulbs that go across the top of my bathroom mirror. Yesterday, one of the bulbs fell off (and miraculously landed in a cup on my counter and did not shatter!), but left the actual bulb in the socket. Does that makes sense? Like the part you screw in plus the actual fuse or light or whatever it is are still screwed in, just the glass covering fell off. So bizarre.

Anyway, I have no idea how to get that light out now without electrocuting myself. But, obviously it needs replaced. Any handymen or handywomen out there know how to fix this? I was going to take a picture, but time got away from me.

Thank you!

The Weekend

Well, this little recap is overdue, but forgive me for being a bit behind after having witnessed in person the sad, second loss in a row by my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite the loss, attending the game was really one of the best experiences I've ever had! And it was fun being there with my Dad and siblings, despite the fact that my brother wore a repulsive Bengals' shirt. There is nothing like watching a game that close-so exciting! Now I just need to experience a game in Heinz field and I'll be all set!

Anywho-here are some photos of all the fun. I took a ton, but these were the only ones I could upload in time before work!

Yum. I love stadium hot dogs. Check out those fantastic earrings (thanks Dad!)! That little Bengals' truck was cute. I liked the cute Tiger mascot, too when he came out to dance with the Ben-gals. However, that song you all play when the Bengals score a touchdown? Lame. Really lame.
Obligatory picture in front of the stadium. That shirt is BAD luck. Back to 2005 tacky AFC Champs shirt next weekend.
Ahhh Princess Fiona and her subject Dingo finally get along! Thanks to the Dog Whisperer aka Steve.
Dingo needs to learn how to beg for treats like Fi. She is a pro.