Upcoming New Year's Eve Plans...

New Year's Eve... We have been wondering what to do for New Year's. We usually go out to the movies, at least, the last 2 years we have. We have decided to go over a friend of Kyle's for Dinner and games. We are bringing the game Taboo. This should be fun. On Saturday night we'll be going to Megan's house (Cait's friend) and also doing dinner and a game. We have also decided to go and see a movie on New Year's day. Caitlin's favorite time of the year to see movies, as all the Oscar nominated ones are released.

Another busy weekend. It should quiet down in January. Still no snow in the Northeast, but we have seen this before. In 1979, we had very little snow compared to 1978, which had the great blizzard. Who knows though, January is just beginning. The news people keep whining about the lack of snow. They do not ever acknowledge that it helps with fuel bills. Cait would be thrilled if it didn't snow at all. We hate Global Warming but the lack of snow isn't so bad if you aren't a fan of snow. As most of you know, "Wheelchairs & snow don't mix well." The lack of snow also helps the older people out. If anyone really wants to ski, some places have opened in New England. Denver did get a lot of snow recently and are expecting a lot more soon (Sorry Joie). I bet Whistler in BC also has a lot of snow. When we finally do get snow, then the TV stations will be like we never had snow before. All day coverage. Oh boy, can't wait for them to get so excited...

Well, not too much going on this week. Sad that President Ford died, but Cait gets Tuesday off as a result b/c the current President declared it "A National Day of Mourning." So, she will only have a 2 day work week next week, with the two days off and her normal day off.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

Christmas Recap and The Boyfriend Pillow

Well, Christmas has come and gone... We had a very good one this year. It was just great hearing (and seeing) from a lot of relatives. This was probably the greatest present. Life is so short and it is just great to see everyone. Time just seems to fly by. On Christmas Eve we had a leisurely morning @ home. Well, I guess it wasn't that leisurely b/c we had a lot of organizing to do with the presents (last minute wrapping, etc). Around 2pm, we headed to my MIL's house & spent a few hours w/ my MIL and Kyle's brother John. Around 5:00 we headed to Sandown, NH to celebrate Xmas Eve with Kyle's extended family. It was awesome to see Kyle's aunt, cousins and in-laws. We weren't able to make it there last year due to Kyle's crazy work schedule, so it was really great to get caught up with everyone. Kyle's cousin Chris just adopted an adorable little girl from China and we got to meet her for the first time :)

Christmas morning was fun. Kyle really spoiled me. My big present was diamond earrings! Plus, many other really special and thoughtful gifts!!! Kyle mainly got clothes, cd's and the book to study for the GMAT.

We headed to my sister Megan's house around 12:30 and stayed there until 6ish. It was a great day. Great company, delicious food and lots of fun! My sister Maura stayed @ our place on Xmas night and we watched the movie Elizabeth, which was okay. We found it hard to follow. So, I'm back to the grind today. Wishing I took today off . The big diet is supposed to begin AGAIN on the first and I'm using this week as a transition week. I'm going to try to be good or should I say better than I've been and really buckle down after New Years. Ahh, and the struggle continues. Anyway, that is about it for now. Can't wait to hear about your Holiday seasons and your thoughts and comments on the BF pillow!

RE: the picture above, my friend and Co-worker Eileen recently posted a comment here about the "Boyfriend Pillow." We can be pretty goofy and frankly immature at my work. Some days we sit around looking at cheesy catalogs and cut pictures out of the cheesiest things we can find and hang the pictures up in our supervisor's cubicle. It usually takes him several weeks to notice the pics and we all get a big chuckle out of it. Well, for a few months Eileen and I have gotten a big kick out of the boyfriend pillow, which is in the Harriett Carter catalog http://www.harrietcarter.com/ . See the description below:

"Boyfriend pillow always provides a shoulder to lean on! It's nice to have a comforting arm around you as you watch TV or read a book. Boyfriend pillow wears a polyester fleece shirt, which is great to snuggle up to. What could be cozier on a chilly night? 26" L x 14" W.
$19.98"

Anyway, when we decided to do a Yankee swap @ work I decided that the BF pillow would be the classic tacky gift. I was even secretly hoping that Eileen or I would wind up w/ it so we could keep it in the office. No such luck though. I wound up with an amazing Santa from my supervisor that I absolutely love. Our Co-worker Joanne wound up w/ the BF pillow and she got a real kick out of it. She's single too so it is perfect. Anyway, we are still in hysterics about the BF pillow and we are hoping to keep this tradition up!!! Hope you all had a great holiday!

P.S. if you are in need of any cheesy gifts then definitely check of the Harriet Carter link above :)

Six days until Santa :)

Hi All,

We haven't written in a few days and I thought I'd give a quick recap of our weekend :)
It was actually a low-key weekend for us. On Saturday, we wrapped lots of presents and spent a lot of time organizing the condo for our upcoming Shindig. Sorry, Tami that I let your invite slip! J/K. In all seriousness, it is just a family thing. My father & his wife Barbara mved to NH a little over a year ago so we are celebrating XMAS with them on the 23rd @ our condo. It was either at our place or a resturant and we figured it would be more homey & Christmasy (not a word-I know) at home.
For the past two previous years, we've had a small Xmas part 2 our condo. However, we skipped it this year b/c we desperately need to get the rugs replaced at our condo and I'm just mortified by them. Plus, we have over a $ 5,000 assessment to pay to our condo so it has been a crazy year. I told Kyle that only family & close friends can come over until we get the rugs replaced. However, if Tami or any of my out of state friends wants to visit we can overllok the rugs!! Hint, Hint!!! The thing is, it is a total pain to get new rugs b/c you have to move all the furniture and it is super expensive. I'm estimating around 4-5 K. Ugh! But, it will absolutely get done in 07. The problem is, the carpet is an off white color and my wheelchair has just totally trashed it. Needless to say, our new carpet will be a darker color with some type of tweed in it.

So, back to our weekend, on Saturday night after we got back from grocery shopping, we made a lasagna. Yes, we went w/ the lasagna b/c that is what Kyle wanted. Kyle helped and boy did it go so much quicker with his help. I have a lot of leftover ricotta, so I will use it to make stuffed shells. I think I am going to go meatless and have spinach, mushrooms and onions in them. Tami-thanks for the tips. I'm glad you gave me your advise on it b/c I probably would of gone w/ 2 eggs as opposed to one. I do want to make it as low-fat as possible!

I also did some baking for family & co-workers this weekend. On Sunday, we did some more cleaning, wrapping and Kyle got his hair cut. It looks great :) We visited my mom for about an hour and then came home and I baked some more. I made Cranberry Orange Nut bread, Banana Nut bread and Almond Squares. My co-worker gave me the almond square recipe and they were so easy to make and super yummy. I delivered some of the breads to co-workers today and my friends @ work were very appreciative. I went with the mini-loves b/c I can get 4 small loaves out of one recipe.
For those of you that don't know, I don't work Mondays! I love having my long weekends but boy do they fly. Anyway, I had an MRI on my left knee b/c I've been having some issues w/ my left side. At night when I sleep, my left leg spasms all night and I sweat profusely, just on my left side. I don't have feeling in my legs, so I can't tell what is wrong. It is so frustrating!!! I just hate not knowing what is wrong. Since I can't feel, it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Oh well, deal with the cards you are dealt, right?

Anyway, this will be a short week for me b/c I'm off on Friday. I'm supposed to go out to lunch w/ My mom and sister Megan and get organized for the family party on Saturday. Dad and Barbara are staying over our place on Friday night and my sister Maura is coming home from NYC on Friday also. I Can't wait to see Maura!!!! Well, that is about it for now.
We hope everyone is having a Happy Holiday Season. Ho-HO -HO!!!

P.S. Thanks so much for the comments. Kyle and I really enjoy reading them :)

One last little thing(from Kyle) I got a kick out of this article I found on Boston.com, which is the Boston globe online... I loved Seinfeld. This is for anyone out there also enjoyed it as much as I did.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/12/18/yes_virginia_there_is_a_festivus?mode=PF

Got a kick out of this picture

Hi All,

Thought this picture was really funny & figured I'd post it! No big plans for the weekend. We need to clean the condo, wrap presents and make either stuffed shells or lasagna. Kyle wants lasagna but I'm leaning more toward the stuffed shells! Anyone know any good stuffed shell recipes that aren't super fattening? I think I like them better with meat in them as opposed to just cheese. I've never made them b4 and I like trying new recipes. I think they will be yummy! Happy Friday all :)

Our Christmas tree...

Well, the Christmas tree pic was uploaded. Here she is. Isn't she beautiful??? Aren't we a cute family? Gotta love the festive headgear!!! This may be next years Xmas pic, so please act surprised :)

Last night Kyle and I went to an informational seminar @ Northeastern University, located in Boston, MA. Kyle is interested in going back to school for Accounting & they have a 15 month program. It is a duel degree program and he would get his MSA and MBA. We are shooting for 2008. Keep your fingers crossed that it all works out b/c WE are excited about it. As some of you know, Kyle has been in the Telecommunication field for the last 10 years and he really wants a career change. That is the biggest news here!

We are hosting a small Xmas get together on 12/23 with my father and his wife. My two sisters and their kids will come over and we will celebrate Xmas with my Dad & Barbara. This will allow us to showcase some of our great Xmas decorations. Including my new elf that I just bought @ TJMax for $7.99. I loves elves!!In fact, my Xmas tree growing up had a few elf decorations and I loved them as a kid. So, what do you think???

The last Photo is of our mantel. We need to get a stocking holder for Rose Girls... We also need to get some small greens to go on the mantel. It is a thin mantel so there is not a lot of room so it is a little tricky finding the right pieces. Oh well... Hope everyone is enjoying the season... It is the Holiday season so whoop De do, don't forget to hang up your sock!

It's the Holiday Season so....

Hello All,

Kyle & I decided to create this blog because we both really enjoy reading my friend Tami's blog http://www.crochetami.blogspot.com/. As some of you know, my job can be boring @ times, so I'm hoping this can keep me busy during the extremely boring periods.

Well, it is 13 days until Xmas and I am 99% done w/ my/our shopping. I was totally done until we decided to do a secret Santa at lunch, actually a Yankee Swap. I think I'm just going to buy a gift certificate to D&D or one of the local restaurants near work.

We've had our tree up for about two weeks and it is absolutely gorgeous! I think it is the prettiest tree we've ever had :) We have so many great ornaments and we really enjoy decorating it and getting our home all decked out! I believe every ornament tells a story and it is fun to reminisce :) We have some pics sitting on our digital camera that I keep nagging Kyle to upload of our tree. Hopefully this weekend he will upload them and we can post them. Stay tuned!!!