Today Is My Birthday

I have to admit my birthdays have always been a little disappointing after all the fanfare of Christmas. I guess who am I to complain since I've always had off work/school. Even when I was little my birthday party was actually held on New Year's Eve (which is why Danielle is so confused to this day about when my birthday actually is), so Dec. 30th was nothing special. Last year I didn't even get to pick where we went to eat because my dad was being a spoiled little brat and one year we were traveling and my mom forgot to bring my present.

This year I've decided that my birthday is just going to be a day where I do whatever I want. So far this morning, I've slept in, eaten a large bowl of cherries for breakfast, and watched two hours of Murder She Wrote from my bed. I'm then going with my parents to Friendly's (one of my favorite restaurants since childhood) where I'm going to have an orange soda, mozzarella sticks, and a peanut butter sundae for lunch. After that I'm going to lounge around all day in my comfiest clothes and possibly watch one of my favorite movies or play one of my favorite games and possibly drink wine coolers or martinis. My mom's making my favorite dinner and then there is some big surprise about the cake (so we'll see). I'll let you know how my plan works out.

It's Finally Done!

After many bottles of wine and pilfered corks, the board is finally done. Though, it's been discovered that there is no hanging apparatus on the back, so I'll have to work on that.

Giraffe fun foam door hanger kit: $1.99
Wrapping Paper: $2.98
Digital camera with record feature: $225

Watching Danielle and bitch and moan as she tries to put the door hanger together and recording it so that I can watch it over and over again: Priceless

Calendarial Drift

Has anyone else noticed that days in the calendar keep moving earlier? Here's my example: people are putting up Christmas decorations at Halloween, sending out Christmas cards at Thanksgiving and now stores are having after Christmas sales the week before Christmas!! I feel like I need to get some Valentine's already just to keep pace.

What the Hell am I Going to Do with This?

People in my department give each other small gifts for Christmas. Some people gave out ornaments, one lady made fudge and another person gave small candles. Then we have the woman who on the side sells stuff on E-bay and has a booth at the local flea market. She gave out envelopes with a commemorative stamp on it for scout leader's day or something. First I opened up the envelope expecting something to be in it-Nada. Then I realize it's supposed to be collectible (yeah, right.) Also notice the stamp is smudged. I was the only person with a smudged stamp...guess that let's me know where I rank on her totem pole. So my question is what do I do with this envelope. Kerri suggested pulling the stamp off of it and at least get 39 cents worth.

Gettysburg

Today I took Kerri to see Gettysburg. I had last seen Gettysburg approximately 11 years ago. After today, I'm good for another 11 years at least. Battlefields are definitely not my thing. I don't care who flanked who and who's artillery was lined up on which ridge. It's all a bunch of fields and hills with stone monuments. I know that Lee was Confederate and Meade was Union but the rest I have no idea. In the end the Union kicked Confederate ass.

Things that Annoy Me

People that bring those Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies to cookie/recipe exchanges. Come on, everyone makes those. Do something original or at least a little more Christmasy. Don't waste my time. (I don't know why there is a quarter sitting on the plate in this picture. I just found a random picture)

This Story Is Great!!

Picture a drunken camel and it will certainly make you laugh. Now picture him with a leprechaun hat on.

I Hate Airlines

Kerri was supposed to get in last night at 9:30 pm, but instead ending up arriving at 12:23 am. When we paid the parking attendant at the garage he said "Have a good morning" and I groaned. Although, my friend Amanda says its me and not the airlines. Whenever someone is coming a distance to visit me (no matter where I'm living) they seem to have some difficulty. And it's not just plane trouble, but this also includes car trouble and train trouble...go figure.

Freaking Out a Little Bit

So last week, my boss denied a coworker's vacation time for next week unless she scheduled 15 recruitments in January (a complete insane and undoable request), and she actually loses those vacation days if she doesn't get to use them. I wasn't that worried because her areas are kind of a mess. I have a vacation request in for January (when I'm going to Hawaii). I turned it in in October, but it hasn't been approved yet and now today I was told that I need more recruitments in January...it wasn't mentioned whether or not this had a direct relation to my vacation being approved or not, but it kinda sucks ass. I asked when exactly I was supposed to schedule these since I'm gone the entire third week, busy the second week and it would not be possible the first week. I was told to schedule them while I'm on vacation and have one of my coworkers cover it....they're going to love that. So if I can pull this off, it will be unbelievable and I should be considered a goddess at the office...should be, but won't.

I Need Another Weekend...Now

Did you ever feel like you could use another weekend after your weekend? That's how I feel right now. This weekend was my prepare for Kerri's visit/Christmas weekend. It was filled with cleaning and baking, but I got most everything that I had planned to do done. My bedroom still looks like a train wreck, but hopefully I'll get to that before Kerri gets here, but if not...well, that's one of the reasons I have a door on my bedroom. I'm exhausted!! How am I ever going to make it through work this week??

Birthday Ideas?

My birthday is coming up right after Christmas, and I am looking for something fun that I can do with my friends for my birthday. I'm not much of a bar/club person, so obviously for my birthday that is not what I would pick to do. Anyone have any fun ideas?

The Gift Exchange

Tonight for a Christmas party, I had to bring a gift for a gift exchange. You know the type. Bring a $5-$7 gift for a gift exchange game. Except this time there was a catch...it had to be outdoor/nature themed. Great ::said sarcastically:: So I brought a solid chocolate tree because who doesn't like chocolate. I get back...a compass. Don't get me wrong, it's a really nice compass. It has a carabineer that you can attach it to stuff and a pocket knife in the end of it, but when the hell am I going to use a compass?

Three Down, Three to Go

Well, I'm halfway through my Christmas party marathon and it really hasn't been that bad. Except for when I hit my low point when my sugar cookie dough kept sticking to my counter. Here's a run down of my culinary creations:

Last Saturday's Tree Trim: a dozen peanut butter cookies (it's was just for kids, so I didn't really need to make anything too exciting)

Last Sunday's Party: six dozen sugar cookies (never again) and spinach artichoke dip

This evening's party: Crab Rangoons (see picture...thanks kraftfoods.com)

Thursday's party: Lime Bavarian

Saturday's party: food item yet to be assigned

Next Thursday's party: 3 dozen half moon cookies and another dessert (possibly a jello cake)

I think I've cooked more in this past week than I have the entire year.

Things that Annoy Me

Doctors who go to the gym and talk on their cell phones while riding the bikes. As if that wasn't bad enough, he also referred to how "knocking off" an infant was worse than "knocking off" an 85 year old geezer. There's was also some discussion about how bad non-US born doctors are, but I didn't get that whole conversation. Can we be a little more unprofessional?

Kerri is coming!!

My friend Kerri is coming to visit me in two weeks. I'm really excited. Kerri was a cashier at the Hall of Fame. Last weekend she called me and said "hey what are you doing the weekend before Christmas? I want to come visit." I'm like "sure, sounds great"...because realistically everyone says they're coming to visit and no one does and since Kerri is in South Bend, there was no shot of her coming. Right?

Yesterday, she called and said "I have my plane tickets and will be in Harrisburg on Dec. 14th" Now I'm really stressed out about it because if you haven't heard yet I have 6 Christmas parties to attend in the next two weeks and am supposed to bring something to every one of them (like the party on Sunday that I need to bring 6 dozen cookies and an appetizer to). Because of this my apartment is a disaster. I have groceries in different piles by what recipe I'm using them for all over my living room. Not to mention when am I going to have time to buy/make/wrap the presents I bought for Christmas. AND when am I going to research all the cool places that Kerri and I are going to go. AND laundry/dishes/cleaning/eating/sleeping/watching Prison Break/annoying Danielle/working. Luckily I am not decorating this year. The old people in the neighborhood do enough of that for all of us.

ok, deep breath, I'm ok now...did I mention since I got off the hook for cooking Thanksgiving, I've now been assigned New Years.

YAY, Global Warming!!

It's December 1st and I wore a short sleeved shirt and no coat to work this morning in Pennsylvania. WOOHOO!!