Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I finished the necklace I had started a few days ago.

I think it turned out well, and Tom even encouraged me to wear it to work tonight, it was a nice accessory to the hat.

The Next Day

My home time today was spent mostly alone. Mom, Dad, Wanda, and the kids went to the PX, so Tom and I stayed home. I watched another one of my new DVDs, "Bolt."

It was such a cute little story, and I cried. But what's new about that? While watching the movie, I worked on putting together a piece of jewelry. I think it will turn out well.

Shopping...

Today was a shopping day. Donnie, Wanda and I left early, and we made a quick trip to Macy's. Donnie got some sisterly advice on clothing choices, which I hope work out for him. Next, we headed to Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping. I had been putting off this trip for about a month, so Wanda's and Donnie's assistance was welcome. We made it home in time to watch the Ravens/Steelers game, and Donnie left for home after that. Later, I drove Wanda, Dodo, and Mom to Target, where I spent my Christmas gift card on some black pants for work, a few new Disney DVDs, and some Christmas cards for next year, among other things. After dinner, we watched one of the new DVDs, "Up."

I had heard good thing about it, and it was a very sweet story. And Wanda was so right, I bawled my brains out in the first ten or fifteen minutes of the movie.

Movie Day with Donnie

For our annual movie outing, Donnie and I saw "Up in the Air." I was not expecting to cry, but, of course, I did. It was about a man who was content with his life and where he was heading, but with a few things that happened, it looked like he was ready to change things up. The ending left me hanging as to whether or not he would still be content with his old life - but I did feel a tiny bit of hope for him.
After returning home, I found a late Birthday ATC had arrived. This one is from Anna in the UK.

Christmas

Merry Christmas! Ours was quite nice. It started out with pancakes from Stonewall Kitchen - we tried the Farmhouse and Apple Cinnamon varieties. Then came presents. I think everyone was happy with what they received.

After opening gifts, Dodo made pumpkin pies, with my instruction. He did a very good job, and they tasted great. Dad did the turkey, stuffing and gravy, while Mom worked on potatoes. After dinner, and while cleaning up the mess, I watched the newest release of "Miracle on 34th Street." It was actually okay, but I think I like the original better. Then Donnie had us watch a DVD that he'd brought along, "The Hangover." It was hilarious!

The Arrival

Guests started to arrive today for the holidays. Tammy, Chad, and Ava were the first to arrive for a short visit. Before I had to leave for work, I was able to snap a shot of the proud new grandpa with his new granddaughter.

Ava is just a cutie!

Reindeer Poop

Tonight while I was at the restaurant, I had an epiphany. Amie was giving little bags of "Reindeer Food" to some of the waitresses that had children. I misheard her, and thought that she was giving out "Reindeer Poop." My mind's gears started to grind and I came up with what I think might be a fun idea for my nephews for Christmas. While opening gifts around the tree, someone can notice a bag of "Reindeer Poop" nearby. I can ask my nephews to help me find - and clean up - the rest of the "Reindeer Poop." I can, of course, reason that there will be eight bags laying around (Dasher, Dancer, etc.), and I can leave them in places like in front of the refrigerator (where they raided the refrigerator), near the fireplace (where they entered the house), or in the bathroom (where they didn't make it in time). Maybe I can even come up with a cute rhyme for each bag, that will lead them to the next bag of poop. I was thinking of getting gifts for everyone from the "Christmas Crab," but I'm not coming up with enough ideas for Maryland-specific gifts.

What's in the Box?

So, tonight at work, Mel had one of the televisions tuned to "A Very Gilly Christmas," which turned out to be a collection of Saturday Night Live clips. I was only able to watch a little bit of the show, but this clip was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time - I just had to share it. Please do not watch it if you are easily offended.

Last Christmas Wish

A 7 year old boy named Nate Elfrink, who has a brain tumor, has a Christmas wish to receive one million Christmas cards. Today, I did my part to help that wish come true. Read about him here, and maybe you'll decide to help out as well.

Turning Tables

I finished actually reading another book early this morning. Usually I do the audiobook thing, but I picked this up while grocery shopping a few months ago. It was really cute. Being a waitress, I could feel for the characters. The romantic twist was unexpected, but also enjoyable. But, I think, most of all, it inspired me to do a better job with my waitressing, or at least see where I'm lacking.

Ravens vs. Lions

Today, I have had one of my worst game day experiences. It wasn't the game in particular, where the Ravens beat Detroit 3-48 - I actually feel kind of sorry for Detroit - it was the weather. During rehearsal, it was raining. Not a problem, we've practiced in worse weather, but I found out that there were serious cracks in the soles of my shoes, and my feet were wet. I had to sit through the entire game with soaking wet socks and shoes. It was chilly enough that I wished I was wearing my gloves, but they were soaking wet, too, and I thought maybe they'd dry up a little if I stuck them in my pocket. Boy, was I wrong. I could still wring the water out of them at the end of the game. The rain doesn't exactly treat woodwind instruments well, either. I thought that the flute I was using had plastic pads, but on closer inspection, it's got plastic where there would normally be cork. And we didn't do a halftime show because of Punt, Pass and Kick.
As for the game, it was embarrassing. Half way through the second quarter, the band members were asking if we could take the score at halftime and use it as the final score. We were so frustrated with the referees, who were making weird calls, resetting the clock several times, so at the beginning of the third quarter, someone asked if we could reset the clock to the two minute warning in the fourth quarter. The band ended up cheering for pizza toppings (on Mondays, Papa John's offers a free topping for every touchdown scored, double if the Ravens win). One of the drum majors brought up the fact that we could get ten toppings, and asked if we should go for twelve, so the band started to chant, "We want twelve." It was just a really crazy experience.

Valentine Tag Book Swap

Wanda strikes again! Not that I'm complaining, I'm actually kind of glad. She called me at work tonight to let me know about a swap that was coming up - a Valentine Tag Book Swap. I've been wanting to try my hand at tags, and Valentine's Day is far enough away, and I think I can find enough inspiration to put out a decent product. I actually missed out on the last tag swap that I would have liked to participate in, since I was overcommitted with Silver Bella swaps at the time, so I think this will be a good substitute.