tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25210149835507243372024-03-13T12:40:58.432-05:00Jumping on the BandwagonMegshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-51977060468740370992011-03-20T18:02:00.003-05:002011-03-20T18:03:51.421-05:00Updating for the Sake of UpdatingIt's been a while, moved from the Chicago area out to the East coast. Still working in banking, taking classes, getting ready to buy my first place. Busy, busy!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-65182985214992376172010-03-05T22:19:00.002-06:002010-03-05T22:29:36.673-06:00Is No News Really Good News?Well, a lot has happened since the last time I posted. Since most of you who read this know what's been going on, I won't bore you with the details. I will say that once I find my stinking camera, I will take pictures of the house, inside and out, so that those of you reading from afar can see the new abode!<br />All I've really been doing the last few months is applying for a <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">LOT </span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>of jobs, interviewing for a few, cooking almost every night, babysitting the dogs every day, spending time with the sis and the nerph, driving the other sis to and from nyc to visit us, and working on my two courses at Penn State. I'm hoping I will have some fabulous news early next week on the job front, I'll be making phone calls and facebook status/info changes as soon as I hear, don't worry. The bright spot, other than getting to see the nerph a lot more, is the sizable tax return I got from our fantastic federal government last week. It really made me and my shrinking bank account very happy!<br />I'm doubting anyone will read this since I'm slightly less than consistent about updating, but if you happen to stumble on this post, hi, thanks, and I'll try and make sure you hear from me again soon!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-89241233091547218942009-06-08T13:07:00.001-05:002009-06-08T13:28:12.672-05:00I Want to Hold a Tony......<br />That's it, just thought you all should know, I want to hold a Tony.<br /><br /><br />No, really that's it, I have nothing else to say.<br /><br /><br />Ok, I promise there's nothing else, move along people!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-45288242268706988002009-05-04T15:38:00.003-05:002009-05-04T16:27:55.511-05:00April Showers Bring May Bloggers...So I totally skipped out on posting in April...my bad! Let's just blame it on all the rain and pollen, I really haven't been myself...<br />Any-hoo, I went to visit Sydney in March with my fab new haircut and we had a whole lot of fun mixed with a whole lot of relaxation (including sleeping past 10am!!!) which was a whole lot of awesome! She got me into Studio 8H where Saturday Night Live is taped and I had four celebrity sightings and got to walk around the set which completely rocked! It was seriously one of the coolest things ever!<br />I got to have some cake and hot chocolate from Magnolia Bakery and got to walk around on a Broadway stage. Even though the stage and house were empty when we were there, just the fact that it's a Broadway stage makes it awesome. The night we went to go see Hair, we got to go onstage and dance after curtain call. It was even cooler to look out and see the lights and all the people and hear everyone singing along and clapping their hands. I can totally see why the actors and musicians want to come back every night and perform, the show rocks!<br />We also went to see West Side Story, which, aside from my run in with Jane Fonda in the lobby, was kind of dissapointing. Between the show order being rearranged, some of the songs being sung in Spanish which I couldn't always understand, the costumes sometimes making it hard to distinguish between a Jet and a Shark, and the teenagers surrounding us talking and being generally innappropriate, it was hard to enjoy the original choreography and awesome voices that were being featured. I'm still glad we went, but I guess I had some seriously high expectations! One upside was that no one broke a leg jumping a fence...sorry Michelle, couldn't help myself!<br />After I got back from that visit, I've just been working and hanging out. Oh yeah, there was this one day when I turned 24 that I would like to forget. Thanks again Michelle for asking if I was turning 23, that did help. However, I cannot escape the fact that, as the boys at work keep reminding me, I am "almost halfway to 50"! Cheese and rice...<br />But to cheer me up (well, that's not really the reason, but it makes me feel better so I'm going to keep thinking it) Sydney, Michelle, and AJ are coming for a visit in a week and a half! Yay! Sooo excited! I can't wait to have a real conversation with my nerph, he's such a big boy now! Not such a great listener when I try to talk to him on the phone, so I'm looking forward to some face to face! The other thing I'm excited about is that Sydney and I are going to go visit Grandma who we haven't seen since September!<br />I am almost done with my financial accounting course. All I have left is the final exam due by midnight this Saturday. As long as I don't completely bomb that exam, I'll have an A. If for some reason I do bomb it (so not happening!) I'll still have a B. Next up, business mathematics and microcomputer accounting. Then I have to find some time to go and test out of a couple courses and I'll have a certificate in clerical accounting and an associates in general studies by the end of the summer. Woo hoo!<br />Don't expect another post until after all the May visits are over, I'll be too busy being excited and anticipating their arrival to post anything before then!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-39795429453830206332009-03-05T09:58:00.004-06:002009-03-05T11:38:22.483-06:00I <3 my hair...<div>So after being sick for a week and having my ears plugged up even longer, I can finally hear again! It's so nice to not feel like you've got something stuffed inside your ears that you can't get out! Yay!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I got my hair cut yesterday and chopped about six inches off of the longest layers. I lurve it and it's been a while since I've really loved a haircut! Here's a pic:</div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5309744689644810050" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SbAAqbpLr0I/AAAAAAAAABs/h3ITM84ng9U/s320/hari.bmp" border="0" /></div><div>Again, I lurve it! It is pretty short, it doesn't even hit my shoulders. It was nice to wake up this morning and not have "crazy hair". It was Fabulous!</div><div> </div><div>O'Malley also got a haricut yesterday and he lost a lot of length too, but in weird places. There's a 4 inch wide stripe on his back that is about 1/2 an inch long and his sides are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. I don't really understand what this groomer was thinking so I'm glad that I only paid half price since it was his first visit. I'm going to take him to the place that he used to go to from now on. I guess it didn't hurt to try!</div><div> </div><div>I'm dog sitting for the Mezydlo's for a week so I spent the night over there with Lucy who is warming up to me pretty quickly this time. I think it's the bread smeared with peanut butter that's doing it for me. She loves her peanut butter!</div><div> </div><div>Yay for haircuts and extra income! And I get to go visit Sydney next Friday for five days! Well, three whole days and two half, so really four, but still, yay!!!</div>Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-7824374738889098542009-02-27T09:05:00.004-06:002009-02-27T09:46:40.925-06:00Let's get ready to RantI just spent 20 minutes writing a post and with the stroke of a key it's all gone. So this is my new post.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">I HATE COMPUTERS!!!!!</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"></span><br />Not nearly as informative as the original post, but I think it gets the point across, don't you?Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-57193887066795154762009-02-09T11:20:00.006-06:002009-02-09T11:55:36.931-06:00Once upon a time, there was an Enchanted Castle...Having Sydney, Michelle, and AJ visit was soo much fun. I met them after my half day of work on Thursday at Enchanted Castle. I hadn't been there in forever and it was nice to have someone with us that would actually appreciate the crappy prizes you can get with the tickets you win. AJ actually got a pretty cool car with all of our hard-won tickets though. It flips over and goes the other way when it bumps into things. Except the front of couches...then it gets it's front end stuck under the couch...but it's still cool.<br />Let's see, Friday, what did we do on Friday...<br />Oh yeah! I can't believe that I almost forgot! I had the stomach flu and laid around in and out (mostly in) of the bathroom Thursday night and all day Friday! That was uber fun! I won't go into any more detail except to inform you that I won't be eating red pasta sauce anytime soon, so yeah.<br />Saturday, we headed to a couple of stores in the coutlet mall, then went to Chili's where we ordered waay too much food (yay for leftovers!) then headed over to Dad's for a couple of hours of quality nap-less AJ time. He continued practicing for the WWF or whatever they call it these days by body slamming Grandpa and the floor. Good times.<br />We sent Michelle and AJ home on Sunday and Sydney and I made the rounds during the Super Bowl. The commercials were ok, though the E*Trade baby ad was hysterical! But in the end, who really cares about the Steelers or Cardinals anyway? Not me!<br />Sydney went back to NYC on Tuesday but we've heard a lot from her since then as she's been busy preparing her taxes! I finished filing mine last week and look forward to the larger than expected deposit that should appear in my bank account this Friday (fingers crossed!) while cursing the fact that I had to pay the state of Illinois $1. It doesn't even matter that it's only $1, I didn't want to pay them on principal. But since I figured if I didn't pay them their $1, they would fine or arrest me on principal, I paid the stinkin' $1. But I didn't enjoy it, so there!<br />I finished the third chapter in my accounting course before everyone came to visit because I didn't want to have to work on it while they were all here. It was due the day after Sydney left. I tried to hold off doing chapter 4, but I couldn't resist and finished the homework and two quizes last week (it is due this Wednesday) and went ahead and did the first of two exams for the first Unit (chapters 1-4). I have to do the second one but considering I have until next Wednesday and that I missed 3 pts out of 150 on the first one, I'm not in a hurry. I'm thinking of emailing the prof and asking if I can just work at my own pace (aka ahead of the syllabus) and finish the course work early or if that would somehow screw her up. We'll see what she says.<br />So all in all, things are going well. I'm getting ready to plan a trip to visit Sydney for a long weekend in the next couple of months, yay! I'm glad that (thanks to airline miles!) we've been able to see her so often since she moved out to NYC. That's also a benefit of her job, she has downtime between shows so she can travel without taking extra time off. It makes having less time at the holidays if she's working easier to handle.<br />Oh, best news yet is that we are officially running on our new hours at work which means NO MORE SUNDAYS!!!! We also close an hour earlier Monday - Thursday and on Saturday we close an hour earlier <strong><em>and </em></strong>open 30 minutes later!!! Woo freaking hoo dudes! Right now I'm super excited. If I start getting less hours because of it, MB's gonna have some issues. And I swear if one more customer sees the new hours and says, "Oh, you were open on Sundays?", I don't know what I'll do, but it will probably cost me my job...Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-38625279408896653032009-01-23T09:22:00.003-06:002009-02-09T13:05:02.044-06:00So the day after I got back from Orlando (which was also the day I was home sick, BOO!) my accounting course started. Let me tell you, I flew through the first Chapter! I had the homework done two days later and the two quizes were easily finished a couple of days after that. The homework and quizes for the first two chapters were due 2 weeks after the course started so I was ahead of schedule and I decided to do some extra work on chapter 1. The other night, I started reading chapter 2 and thought that I was going to throw the book at something. They throw the words "debit" and "credit" around with no actual meaning, just that debits go on the left and credits on the right. A credit doesn't always equal an increase or money in and a debit doesn't always equal a decrease or money out. Needless to say, after a year of working in a bank where debits and credits need to be matched all the time and they both have very specific meanings, I don't appreciate having to use memorization for chapter 2. I was and am slightly frustrated. I finally gave up looking for a reason and started some of the extra problems at the back of the chapter so that I could get some practice before I have to do the homework and quizes. I made myself a cheat sheet so that I don't have to keep flipping back and forth in the book. Annoying!<br />But considering that I finally got it and can do the exercises easily and that I just spent almost an hour trying to help a customer find an error in her check register, I'm thinking that I'm still in the right class!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-5199656564267012222009-01-17T09:54:00.002-06:002009-01-17T10:16:54.723-06:00It Takes a Lot of Crazy to Get a Goofy...Dad lived! And he finished the half and full marathons earning him not only the Donald duck and Mickey medals, but a Goofy medal for registering and completing both! More importantly, I reiterate, Dad lived! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Yay</span> Dad!<br />Mickey land was so much fun, it got up to 80 degrees one day! It was funny to watch <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">AJ</span> stare in awe and amazement at characters he had watched in movies or on TV shows. He always looked dumbfounded, like he didn't know how they found him or got out of the TV or something. When he met Buzz <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Lightyear</span> and Woody, he was speechless until the second we walked out of the door, then he said, "To <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">infini</span><strong>b</strong>y, and beyond!" and grinned from ear to ear. In every picture, he's either facing the character instead of the camera or just staring in amazement, no smiling ever. I take that back, when he met the toy soldier from Toy Story, he had a different reaction...he cried. I guess he isn't into war and armies like his daddy!<br />On our last night there, we went to the Magic Kingdom to watch the light parade and the fireworks, both of which everyone enjoyed. I managed to fight off a cold until the day we all left. It's a head cold and everything was stuffed up so I was not excited about getting on an airplane! Needless to say, my head felt like it was going to explode when we were making our descent into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">O'Hare</span>, so I was glad to finally get back on the ground. Before we even took off, I called in sick for the next day knowing it was only going to get worse. I was right. I spent Wednesday laying in bed watching TV, then unpacking and sorting laundry. Then I forced myself downstairs, started my laundry, made some lunch, and laid on the couch watching TV, only getting up to switch my laundry, get more water, go to the bathroom (which was my most frequent activity that day, I really did drink a lot of water!), and answer the door to tell the child whom I could barely understand that I didn't need her to shovel my driveway, but thanks.<br />Thursday and Friday, my box of tissues and I went to work, albeit reluctantly. Every day I feel slightly better, but my poor nose looks worse. It's days like these when I wish that I was on hiatus right now like Sydney and could just stay at home drinking OJ and water and laying on the couch instead of trying to get people to understand what I'm saying in my "man voice" coupled with congestion. At least my coworkers are getting a few days of entertainment from my illness. Clearly they are easily amused! I'm working for a few hours today, then I have tomorrow off. I'm hoping to use the 36 hour stretch to rest and recover with limited talking so that I can get my voice back to "normal", though I always sound congested so normal will only help so much!<br />So to sum up the past week and a half: Yay Dad and Mickey! :P Boo head cold! >:(Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-42858906868025757232009-01-07T10:50:00.002-06:002009-01-07T10:55:26.786-06:00A New Year, A New Blog...Thanks to Michelle for finding the cutest blog on the block website. I now have a fabulous new background and blog layout that makes me super happy, so cute! Enjoy everyone!<br /><br />p.s. That would be two posts in one day, that's right, but don't get too used to it!<br />p.p.s. I forgot to mention in my last post that while the cake decorating course was fun, I decided that I'm more of an office, desk kind of a girl. So for my next course, I'll be taking accounting with plans to complete a certificate program in clerical accounting which is a step towards an Asssociates degree and eventually a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. The course starts the day after I get back from Florida so I have my book already and I'm ready to go! Yay me!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-7816618874754469352009-01-07T08:58:00.008-06:002009-01-07T10:26:04.378-06:00A Whole Lot of Nothin' Goin' On...I thought that since my last post was not only over a month ago but last year as well, it was about time to update. Please hold your comments until the end of the post, thank you.<br /><br />Thanksgiving was fun. Mom and I had a lovely night's sleep on the way to Virginia thanks to the fabulously cushy beds at the Hampton Inn right outside of Toledo, OH. I knew that if we drove through that state often enough, I would have to find something good about it! Thankfully, I wasn't completely wrong about Ohio. Their refusal to allow I-Pass, I-Zoom, EZ Pass or whatever your state calls it added more than an hour to our return trip...but I don't want to talk about that so moving on. Thanksgiving dinner was great, it was nice to have a whole big family holiday, so thanks, Michelle, we all appreciated your hospitality (and your kitchen with its double ovens!).<br /><br />The short four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were filled with work, clearing snow off of the driveway, and a couple of last minute gift ideas and shopping. Mom and I also managed to squeeze some baking in. We made: Sugar cookies, Chocolate Kringles, some kind of Cherry log, what Mom calls Mexican wedding cookies, coffee cookies, chocolate chip cookies, reindeer head cookies, some concoction with rice krispies, tiny marshmallows, nuts, & coconut all mixed up with melted white chocolate, brownies, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. I also found time to make a batch of rice krispie treats and bake my last cake for class. Here's a pic that looks crooked but it's the only one I have right now so you'll all deal:<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288588073158238658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SWTW1Rf24cI/AAAAAAAAABk/quieb2SCqgE/s320/New+Image.JPG" border="0" /><br />On Christmas Eve, Sydney made it home for about 48 hours. We were so happy that her flight made it because we were not having good weather here in Chicago and New York wasn't great that morning either! We had a white Christmas though, so at least we got something out of it. She got to get her hair cut (super important, you know!), got to see Samantha and Mike and exchange gifts, have a ham dinner, go hang out with Dad for a few hours, and she got back to NYC in time to go to work. All in all, I'd say she had a successful trip!<br /><br />I had a quiet...no, calm...ok, I had a fun New Year's Eve with the Grandys and Karda clans. It was the first time I met all of Mike's family, so that was nice and I always love hanging out with Sam and her parents and brother. I baked (surprise, surprise!) some molten chocolate cupcakes and took a plate of cookies over and had a good time hanging out and talking to everyone. It was a good way to end 2008 and ring in 2009.<br /><br />After New Year's Eve, I had four unrequested, non-vacation days off from work which was fabulous! On Thursday, Mom and I went to see Four Chirstmases, which was great. Then I went over to Dad's and got a little hand and foot practice in. Friday, I took my car to get my Christmas gift from Dad installed (remote starter, yay!) then went home and spent the day with Mom in the basement going through all of my boxes of stuff I've accumulated from living in various dorms and apartments and moving back and forth over the last five years. Not only did we move it all from the back room of the basement into the true storage room, but we managed to fill four trash bags, carry stuff up for garbage that didn't fit into trash bags, and amassed a whole bunch of stuff to donate! Go us! That spilled over into Saturday morning which made me sore, exhausted, and a little crabby on the way to lunch, but I got over it and mom and I had a great lunch at a place called Adobo Grill out in Yorktown (mmm, churos!) then we stopped into World Market and TJ Max before calling it a day and heading home to our dawgies.<br /><br />On Sunday, I did laundry, had dinner with Dad, and sorted some clothes that I knew I was taking with me this weekend. What am I doing this weekend? I'm glad you asked! I'm going to Disney World!!! That's right, Dad is doing his crazy thing again and running a half and a full marathon down in Disney so his daughters and grandson decided to tag along and enjoy the attractions that he will be too tired and sore to enjoy until the last full day of the trip when he will be dragged out of the hotel to go ride a couple of rides with his grandson. I packed all of my clothes and the majority of my other stuff last night and haven't been able to sleep for the last two nights because I'm so excited. I overslept for work this morning because I couldn't sleep last night (thanks, Mom ;P)! We leave at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning to fly to Dulles, then we get to fly with Michelle, Pete, and AJ from there to Orlando! I'm uber excited, despite the butt-crack comment. Yay for Florida!! I'll think of everyone stuck in the cold midwest and wish you were all there with us!<br /><br />Happy 2009 everyone! Hope you all have a good one!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-37081079094500747072008-11-25T08:19:00.003-06:002008-11-25T08:45:43.150-06:00I would like to start off by thanking everyone for their comments on my last post. It was nice to have more than two, although I thought that some of the responses could have been a little more understanding of my lack of posts. We have all established by now that I don't have much of a life outside of work so this won't be a very exciting blog. In fact, I put that out there in my very first post: "Clearly my life isn't anywhere as exciting as moving to NYC and spotting random celebrities or seeing life through a set of two year old eyes again." There you go. I admited it early, I'm not in denial.<br /><br />Moving on. Today is Tuesday. Tomorrow is Wednesday. I know that you're all, "No sh*#, Sherlock" but maybe you don't know that tonight, Mom and I are starting the drive to Virginia. Then on Wednesday, we're finishing it and get to see Michelle and the AJ! Then of course comes Thursday and Turkey Day and Sydney flying in! So I'm kind of super excited. The only thing putting a damper on my mood is that I've been at work since before 7:45 this morning and I won't be leaving until after 7 tonight. Like I already told my coworker, Siena (pronounced seen-uh), I don't want to talk about it. So yeah.<br /><br />We're pretty much ready to go. Mom and I packed all of the random stuff that has to go with us (Syd's Christmas decorations, some random hand-me-down toys from the neighbor for AJ, and a ton of Christmas presents that we won't have to ship now) and a bunch of grocery items for Thursday's meal. I threw my bag in as I left for work this morning so all that's left is Mom's stuff and the cooler. The plan is to get to Ohio and get about 4 hours of driving in before we stop tonight. Then we'll (hopefully) get on the road early enough tomorrow morning that we can have a few quality hours of AJ time once we get to VA.<br /><br />Oh, one last thing. More of a forewarning than a thing. Anyone who will see and be in a car with a cd player with me over the next few days will be subjected, almost constantly, to Sara Bareilles' cd, Little Voice. Best. CD. EVER! Just prepare yourself.<br /><br />That is all, Happy Early Turkey Day everyone!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-30439751631323255642008-11-08T09:52:00.003-06:002008-11-08T10:32:14.434-06:00A Tale of Two Comments...So here's the thing. I seem to recall a lot of people making comments on here a couple of weeks ago about how I hadn't posted in forever and I needed to update and blah blah blah. So I update, complete with a bunch of pictures, and only two people respond (thank you Claire and Sydney, this message does not apply to you. Although it did take you awhile Syd, and I even told you that I had posted.)! Anyway, being the bigger person, I am choosing to put the lack of comments to my latest post after a barrage of comments telling me to update behind me and moving on with my life, such as it is.<br /><br />I didn't feel so hot yesterday, I called in sick to work and spent the day with the dogs at home and at the Mezydlo's because I'm dog sitting again. I wasn't great company, but the dogs didn't seem to mind. When I came home from hanging out with the girls, I went to let O'Malley and Maggie out. It was spitting ice, it looked like tiny balls of hail! O wanted nothing to do with it, but Maggie was in doggie heaven! I sat with O'Malley in front of the back door and watched Maggie run through the leaves and ice on the deck, then down in the yard. She ran inside, jumped in my lap to lick my face, then she ran back outside with the whole back half of her body wagging like crazy! O'Malley finally went out but I had to go, too. Those 10 minutes pretty much made Maggie's day! It was pretty cool to watch how excited she was...until the ground got really wet later in the day and it started getting muddy...not so much fun!<br /><br />Anyway, there's another update so no more comments from the peanut gallery, unless they have something nice to say!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-50648816145037351672008-11-02T20:31:00.009-06:002008-11-02T21:18:14.818-06:00Fondant is Fun-dant!So ignore the stupid title, I wasn't feeling extremely creative tonight. I did, however, import a couple month's worth of photos onto my computer so I thought that I would post and do a massive, Reader's Digest version of an update on my life.<br /><div><div><div><div><br /><div>Sydney came for a visit for the last couple of weeks in September during her off-time between a couple of shows. It was nice to have her around for a couple of weeks. We even got to celebrate our friend Samantha's birthday while Sydney was here. Here's the obligatory photo op in the car:</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264259298338947506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SQ5n8MsKQbI/AAAAAAAAABM/xKCAZPuGim4/s320/089.JPG" border="0" /> While Sydney was visiting, Michelle and AJ flew out and we drove down to Southern IN for a couple of days to visit with the clan down there. Since we were visiting with Grandma, swimming was a must and AJ thoroughly enjoyed himself:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264257418528039794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SQ5mOx2UI3I/AAAAAAAAAA0/ixWT4ddTTSs/s320/051.JPG" border="0" />We got back from visiting the family and Dad took us to the Purdue v Notre Dame game in South Bend. So here's touchdown Jesus:<br /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264258394127690018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SQ5nHkPZaSI/AAAAAAAAAA8/sVpWiJngFqE/s320/061.JPG" border="0" />And Sydney and I getting bored with losing and taking a photo op break:<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264258920312408546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SQ5nmMbnCeI/AAAAAAAAABE/Jf8u5M4wRbI/s320/070.JPG" border="0" /> But alas, Sydney, Michelle, and AJ left me. So I had to go back to the normal life of work and no one to entertain me when I wasn't at work. Cue sad face. Anyway, I have been taking a cake decorating class since the beginning of September. The only down side is that it's on Thursday nights so I don't get to watch my Ugly Betty and Grey's until Friday or sometime on the weekend. That's what they invented DVR for! We've worked a lot with buttercream. I've gotten much better at torting cakes and they're pretty level when I finish filling and stacking them now. We made homemade fondant and chocolate ganache. There's been a lot of baking, piping, spreading, rolling, cutting, chilling, and decorating going on the last couple of months. I have a couple of pictures of the two fondant cakes I've done. I'll post pictures of the other cakes I've done when I have those photos uploaded. For now, here's the two fondant cakes:</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264263057530303682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SQ5rXAxONMI/AAAAAAAAABU/WeoUeaMyZJo/s320/100.JPG" border="0" /><br /></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264263253711528162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SQ5ribmeIOI/AAAAAAAAABc/jRqzSWv6ntI/s320/103.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div><br /><p>That's basically been my life the last couple of months. Last night I went out with a bunch of work people. One of them is a friend Sydney and I have from high school who just got engaged. She asked Sydney to be her maid of honor and last night she asked me to be one of her other bridesmaids! Yay for weddings and for having three years to plan showers and bachlorette parties! Congrats to Mike and Sam, we love you guys!</p><p>So there you go. Family, friends, football, and fondant...fun, fun, fun!</p>Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-39043753703089459742008-10-14T14:26:00.000-05:002008-10-14T14:27:26.234-05:00It's been awhile...So I realized that I haven't posted in more than a month.<br /><br />I'm going to work on that...Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-88019467297806419542008-09-12T14:26:00.004-05:002008-09-12T14:46:47.141-05:00Can you have your cake and eat it, too?Yesterday was my day off so naturally I enjoyed it just for that reason alone. I got to sleep in (well, I was sleeping on and off between 7:30 and 8:45, but I didn't get out of bed until almost 9, so woo <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">hoo</span> for me!), then I supervised the dogs and watched some shows on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">DVR</span> while Mom went grocery shopping. I also started my laundry while she was gone. She got back and we put the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">groceries</span> away. Then I took the staple gun outside to try and fix some of the holes in the lattice work that is up around the bottom of the deck to block the animals from getting underneath. The holes kind of defeat the purpose! That wasn't working so well. After going inside again to grab a hammer and a pair of wire clippers to remove the old staples, I managed to fix one part before the next section got me so frustrated that I went <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">back</span> inside. I washed the dirt and mulch off of my feet and legs, then Mom and I went to pick up my license plates! I haven't put them on yet, but they are in my car and I have until November before the temp plate expires, so I figure I'm good for a while. We had lunch and Coldstone (they have Nutter Butter ice cream, omg!!!) then went home.<br /><br />The most exciting part of my day was that I started my cake decorating class last night. It's every Thursday night from 6-10pm and we're going to work with different kinds of frostings and learn how to use different pastry bag tips to make flowers, leaves, basket weave, and to write on cakes. All we did last night was see the classroom, the baking area, talk about all of the things we would be doing and what supplies we need or might want to have for class. I'm super excited to get everything I need this weekend and to get started with the actual baking, filling, and decorating next week. I mean, like, soooooo excited!!! I'll be taking my camera with me to class once we start producing cakes and I'll post so that you can see all of the prettiness that will be my cakes. And if mine don't look pretty, I'll be taking pictures of other people's cakes and passing them off as my own, so yeah.Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-54259773731134291922008-09-09T09:27:00.003-05:002008-09-09T10:01:32.236-05:00Just a little FYI...Let's see, what has been going on with me this past week? I set up insurance on my new car. Definately more expensive than what I've been paying as a sometimes driver on the Jetta, but when you hit 23, it's kind of hard to not be the principal driver on a car, especially when you're the one on the <u>title</u> and the <u>loan</u>. We got a letter from <span style="color:#ff0000;">Toyota Financial Services</span> letting us know that the car is officially <strong>paid off</strong>, woo hoo! I signed release papers so that <span style="color:#ff0000;">State Farm</span> could gain access to my medical records from the emergency room visit I made the day of my wreck. The check I deposited from <span style="color:#ff0000;">State Farm</span> cleared so now I'm just waiting for the check I wrote to the dealer to come out of my account.<br />The new fridge was delivered on Friday and it was ever so slightly too tall. So on Sunday, we took the cabinet above it down and shaved about a 1/2 inch off the bottom and ta-da! So the fridge is in its rightful place again after spending five days hanging out in the middle of the kitchen.<br />I worked on Saturday so I didn't get to watch <span style="color:#cc9933;"><span style="color:#000000;">P</span>u<span style="color:#000000;">r</span>d<span style="color:#000000;">u</span>e</span> win (G<span style="color:#cc9933;">O</span> B<span style="color:#cc9933;">O</span>I<span style="color:#cc9933;">L</span>E<span style="color:#cc9933;">R</span>S<span style="color:#cc9933;">!</span>!<span style="color:#cc9933;">!</span>) even though we <strong>finally</strong> have the <span style="color:#3366ff;">Big Ten</span> Network! The upside was that we snuck in a DVD player and had a movie day at work. It took us over four hours to watch one movie because we had to keep turning the TV off when customers came in, but at least it was more entertaining than staring at a computer screen all day! The two highlights of my weekend were on Sunday: a <u>giant</u> Coke Slurpee and the <span style="color:#6633ff;">B</span><span style="color:#ff9900;">e</span><span style="color:#6633ff;">a</span><span style="color:#ff9900;">r</span><span style="color:#6633ff;">s</span> winning their season opener at Indianapolis with Kyle Orton as starting quarterback!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-85183338389390841062008-09-04T08:28:00.003-05:002008-09-04T08:40:44.231-05:00Can refrigerators explode?We've had a few issues with the fridge, mostly with the ice maker and dispenser. So when we had to call a repair man to come and figure out why we had hollow ice cubes and a giant puddle of water in the bottom of the fridge that seemed to be coming from the back of the freezer, I was (not) hoping for good news. (I don't think that it's any secret that I think the fridge should be replaced) When Dean (the repair man) told us it would be a few hundred in parts and labor and he wasn't even sure that all of the problems would be fixed after that, Mom and Dad decided it was time to bite the bullet and replace the (18 year old!) fridge.<br />Mom had sensed this was coming and had checked out Best Buy on Tuesday so that's where we stopped by first so she could show me what she had found. We found another, better one while we were there. It's a black side by side with an ice and water dispenser and it will be delivered on Friday.<br />Our other excitement yesterday (other than me wanting to muzzle my stupid dog because he wouldn't stop barking!) came around 7pm while we were eating dinner. The phone rang, I answered it, and we spent the next hour or so in a giant cleaning frenzy so that someone could come and see the house. Mom's happy because now the house is clean and picked up. They stayed for more than twenty minutes and were still standing outside talking when we got back. It was a couple that just had a baby and are trying to find something quickly. Everybody keep your fingers crossed!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-53759657785817024782008-09-02T08:16:00.005-05:002008-09-02T08:54:21.278-05:00It is called LABOR Day...So as you know (or at least you know now), Michelle and AJ are coming for a visit later this month, yay! AJ sleeps in a port-a-crib, pack-n-play thing when he visits Chicago, but we noticed that last time he was here, he was getting a little big for it (I think the thing shrank, but that could just be me in denial of him growing up!). We heard that he got to sleep in a big boy bed on the way down to South Carolina for vacation last week. Gramma decided it was time to buy AJ a new place to sleep when he visits. Where do you go when you want to find inexpensive furniture that doesn't have to be delivered and that you can put together yourself with nothing more than a hammer, screwdriver, and the little hex key? Come on, I know you know! IKEA!!!!! <div> </div><div>So that's where we went on Sunday, and let me tell you, we were soooo not the only ones with the "Let's go buy furniture and put it together because it's a long weekend and we actually have time!" idea. Let's just say that it was a madhouse, people were cutting each other off, blocking intersections, running out in front of people, and all that was just the parking lot!<br /></div><div>Eventually we got inside and here's how the trip went. We looked at the beds, looked at the children's beds, found a new hall table lamp and got lost in the lighting section trying to find a bathroom. Then we found a couple more random things, got a blanket for the new bed, saw a cute table, found me a new headboard/footboard set, sat/laid on some matresses, looked at sheets, tried to remember where previously mentioned cute table was making a complete circle in the process, went back to children's beds to look at more sheets, and then nixed the sheets. We found the elevator down to the first floor where you pick up all of the furniture you find, waited for someone to come and get the flatbed carts unstuck, set out on our mission to find everything, couldn't find everything, found out that one of the things we couldn't find had to be pulled from a seperate area and picked up after we paid. Then we paid, Mom waited for the thing we couldn't get ourselves, I pulled the car around, tried to fit my bed in, and called Dad to bring the van because I couldn't fit my bed in. Then I waited for Mom, went back in to find her and help bring the rest of the stuff out, finished loading my car, waited for Dad with the van, loaded my bed in the van, went home, unloaded everything, and Mom and I put it all together.</div><div><br /><br /></div><div>It was a lot of lifting, pushing, pulling, directions, and hard labor, but eventually we got both beds done. Here's AJ's new bed at Gramma's house:</div><div><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SL1Chb0L0HI/AAAAAAAAAAk/01ub2quTABM/s1600-h/spare+bed.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241418683498877042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SL1Chb0L0HI/AAAAAAAAAAk/01ub2quTABM/s320/spare+bed.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SL1BOeTaSqI/AAAAAAAAAAU/QOFbnlBPTwg/s1600-h/spare+bed.jpg"></a></div><div><br /><br /></div><p align="center"></p><div><br /><br /></div><p align="center"></p><div>This bed is nice because it has three length settings. This is the longest, making it a twin sized bed but you can push the two ends together until the curlicues on the side almost meet, making a good little toddler sized bed.<br /><br /></div><p align="center"></p><div><br /><br /></div><p align="center"></p><div><br /><br /></div><p align="center"></p><div><br /><br /></div><p align="center"></p><div>And this one is my new set:</div><p align="left"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SL1CX_iB_PI/AAAAAAAAAAc/lxmXCqBQaGA/s1600-h/my+bed.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241418521287720178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SL1CX_iB_PI/AAAAAAAAAAc/lxmXCqBQaGA/s320/my+bed.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p align="left"> </p><p align="left"> </p><br /><br /><br /><p align="left">Isn't it prettiful?! I lurve it!</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Monday was less eventful with a trip to Best Buy to find a couple of cords and chargers I needed and then on to Trader Joe's which was slightly less insane than it was the first time we went. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing absolutely nothing, my favorite way to spend time!<br /><br />Hope everyone else had a relaxing Labor Day weekend!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-59593059724411441522008-08-30T09:34:00.007-05:002008-08-30T10:17:11.556-05:00Get in the car, and just go...I bought my new car last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sidenote: I'm pretty stinking excited about it!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SLlbwlwfYSI/AAAAAAAAAAM/V7wI4UK8hnA/s1600-h/SI_ex4wd_34FRONT.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240320531749626146" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CYA0llJ5z3c/SLlbwlwfYSI/AAAAAAAAAAM/V7wI4UK8hnA/s320/SI_ex4wd_34FRONT.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />This is it, a 2008 Honda CR-V, Whistler Silver with a black interior! I drove it home from the dealer last night and to work this morning and I had the moonroof open both times. I love all of the controls and the backlights and the stereo system and the colors and the steering wheel and the displays and the moonroof and all of the airbags and other safety features and the fact that I own the title alone and that I got a good rate on a loan without having anyone co-sign and I pretty much just love <strong><u>everything</u></strong> about this car!<br /><br />Right after the accident, everyone kept talking about my car being totaled and I thought that it was the worst thing that could happen. Now I'm glad that I have a new car that has never been through an accident like that. Even though it stressed me out all week trying to research every car I thought I might possibly like, I'm glad I did all the research and drove a few different kinds of cars because now I'm sure that I made a great choice for myself.<br /><br />Thanks Mom for driving me to dealers, sitting in the backseat while I test drove cars, and listening to me talk about different cars for the last week; thanks Dad for going down to Lisle, helping me negotiate, and being willing to co-sign a loan with me if it would get me a lower rate; and thank you to both of you for telling me to stop second guessing myself. Thanks to everyone else for all the suggestions on what to look at and what to ignore.<br /><br />I bought my new car last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Seriously, I'm really excited!)Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2521014983550724337.post-60644858956760311702008-08-30T08:49:00.000-05:002008-08-30T09:01:03.622-05:00If you can't beat 'em...You know that old stand-by you use when you're trying to convince the parentals to let you do something that they clearly aren't going to let you do? "But Mom/Dad, EVERYONE'S doing it!!!" Well, it kind of seems like <strong>everyone</strong> is blogging these days, so I figured I'd just bite the bullet and do it.<br /><br />Clearly my life isn't anywhere as exciting as moving to NYC and spotting random celebrities or seeing life through a set of two year old eyes again, but I've had some pretty exciting things going on lately, good and bad. Plus, some of you don't get to listen to me vent nearly enough these days so I'm re-subscribing to the ever popular Kindergarten mantra: sharing is caring!Megshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06753865864621614807noreply@blogger.com3