where did november go?

hello everyone, hope you had a great Thanksgiving... i've had a nice few days off and tomorrow, it's back to work and time to decorate... i'm known for making our area quite festive at this time of year and look forward to hanging more lights and putting up my little christmas tree... i figured as much time as i spend there, i may as well enjoy the sights and sounds of it all right? i finished decorating my apartment on friday - didn't get out nearly as much as usual since i'm at eric's every weekend but it's still nice to have a tree, various trinkets, and lights on my balcony... and yes, even eric has a small tree here so i think i've covered all the bases... :)

thanksgiving was great - my mom fixed dinner for everyone (my brother, his girlfriend, and my sister's family) so all 9 of us were crammed in her tiny place... the highlight is always her sweet potato & marshmallow casserole but the pumpkin cheesecake i made was pretty damn good too (sorry mom)... eric and i hung some lights on her porch after everyone left and took the much appreciated doggy-bag of turkey, rolls, cole slaw, and yes - 2 pieces of my pie... :)

i had off on friday and after going to the chiropractor (which is going well), i did a bit of shopping, finished decorating my place, and then went for an hour long walk/jog since the weather was in the low-50s... friday night, a bunch of my friends and i got together - sort of like a mini-reunion since some of us had not seen each other in years... i guess i can say that i know someone that works for someone famous - my friend mark (2nd from right) works on "diners, drive-ins, and dives" and said that guy fieri is just as he seems on the show (really nice and fun to be around)... he's even been to his house in california - how cool is that?! anyway, it was great to see them, tell stories from HS, and catch-up - hard to believe our 20th is coming up next year... i feel so old but am glad that i don't look it... ;)





as for the rest of the weekend - eric and i went truck shopping yesterday since he may have blown a head-gasket in the one he has now... we went to 3 chevy dealerships and test drove one - i know it may not seem like it but i'm a truck girl at heart (though we only drove fords!)... i grew up riding in trucks because my dad used it for work and most of the time, i rode in the back with my dog, sandy... and yes, eric already has a mini-cooper, a BMW motorcycle, and harley but a truck comes in handy for when we go to his parents farm, when we go camping, and for towing the bike so it's sort of a no brainer... he's doing his comparison thing now so maybe he'll make a decision soon and i can post a nice picture... does this make me a redneck? ;)

and as for today, besides the redskins getting their asses kicked by the giants - at least the steelers won... eric made another batch of his AWESOME chili and we just had some coffee chip ice cream with bananas, peanuts, and chocolate sauce... *sigh*... i read on someone's blog that WW may be introducing a new plan - anyone hear of such a thing? any idea what i may be?

happy sunday...

friends

last week, a friend of mine was in town for a few days so we met up for drinks on thursday night and had a chance to catch-up... i have been friends with these guys for years and still remain pretty close to them, so it's always nice to hang out when we get the chance... i've technically known mike (top-left) since the 1st grade but then he was transferred to another elementary school and we reconnected in jr. high... i've known jon (bottom-left) since the 2nd grade and am proud to say we won a 'slow-dance' contest at chuckie bonbreast's bday party in 6th grade... and i've known craig (bottom-right) since jr. high and to say he was the class-clown, is an understatement... our group, plus a few more, were pretty inseparable until graduation - i feel so VERY lucky to have met and stayed friends with such a great bunch of guys... anyhoo, mike and jon still live in the area and both have 3 kids - i'm also good friends with their wives so it's a nice little group we have going... hard to believe our 20th high school reunion is coming up next year... holy crap! :o)

my friend, craig, asked us if we were on facebook and at that point - i hadn't even considered joining but of course, gave in and am now a member (is that what you even call it?)... since then, i've reconnected with some people from HS - one even asked if i wanted to take charge of the reunion (uh, no thanks!)... i'll offer my creative services but that's about it... anyway, i'm not sure how it works but i guess if you'd like to become my friend, you can find my profile here... :o)

work has been quiet but i keep saying that i know things will change soon... i realized yesterday that i had neglected to email my boss about my camping trip in september (labor day week) even though i KNOW i had mentioned it to her... at least by then, the other designer will be here and it won't be as crazy... 38 days to go... :o)

as for everything else - i have to say it's been great not worrying about the scale... i haven't been on it since last week and think i'll do my next unofficial weigh-in around the 1-month mark... i did get 2 of my 3 books that i ordered, i just haven't had time to sit down and start reading... once this weekend is over (going to my dad's sat and another wedding sun), i will make more of an effort - plus i'm excited about pilates class starting on tues so things are good... :o)

happy thursday...

300 and counting

thought i would share a pic of my zero point soup from last night, there was enough for 4 lunches (i'm taking friday off)! since i knew soup wouldn't be enough, i also had cottage cheese and blueberries - quite the healthy lunch, if i do say so myself... and it was the easiest recipe ever - i just dumped all the ingredients into to my slow-cooker, put it on high, and let it do it's thing for 5 hours... :o)

yesterday was good - spent some time w/my girlfriend and her 3-month old baby, owen... he is adorable and she seems to be handling motherhood quite well... we used to work together and it was always me talking about getting married and having kids - she wanted no part of the 'raising children' thing... then her hubby turned 40 and she was on the verge of turning 36 so they decided to give it a try - 2 months later, bingo... anyway, it was good to see her and catch-up on things...

the rest of the day was spent shopping w/eric for his family's christmas presents since we're heading to pittsburgh this weekend for their festivus... i bought some starbucks gift cards for his nieces and tried their new 'skinny' latte, which makes it much easier for me to order my usual grande, skim, no-sugar vanilla version... eric was also trying on colognes so by the time we got to the car, he smelled like the men's fragrance dept... goof-ball...

and regards to football - both games were good but neither the skins nor the steelers could pull-through and win at the end (the skins just got creamed!)... i'm going to miss my sunday football games so it's time to find something else to do... good thing racing starts next month... ;o)

as for today, work was busy but i made it to the gym and was able to jog for 45-minutes... since the tv in front the good treadmill does not get the channel with ellen, i have to watch as the world turns - talk about amusing... nothing like watching a good, trashy soap opera to distract you while exercising... :o)

happy monday...

p.s. happy 300th post to me! incredible! :o)