Happy Friday!

What makes my Friday so happy?  You mean outside of my weekly pay day and Mike's double-bi-weekly pay day?


I have an adorable pup curled up with his head on my heart.


And we're staying in to cuddle.  By choice and much to the sadness of our friends (who are at shadowbox Live as we speak).


I have a cute and warm rice bag on my toes.


My Christmas cards are finished.


And my hubs is on his way home.


What more could a girl ask for?


Happy Friday, everyone!

Weekend Wish- Fitting 96 hours into 48

Or at least trying?  Because I'm pretty sure I have well over 96 hours worth of stuff on my to do list this weekend.

Happy Friday, everyone!  And by Happy I mean very happy, because tonight, my friends?  Tonight is a girl's night out!

I hope we can figure out a DD because I really would like to enjoy it, if you know what I mean.  Not to the point of piss-ass drunk or something, of course.  But not worrying about driving would definitely be nice.

And since it's girl's night out tonight, the boys are probably have a guy's night in (I think?).  Michael might not be attending, though, because our weekend has filled to the point of over-flowing, and he'll probably want to get some zzzz's before it starts.

Tomorrow?  Starts with a football game in what will shape up to be 1-3 inches of snow.  BOO!  I like snow, but not on my football games.  I like football, but usually with warmer weather than permitted for snow to fall.  And all in all, I don't foresee a very good game, so this whole day will kinda suck.  But I love my friends, even if we lose fingers or toes from frostbite. 

Then hopefully I will come home and Mike can go to sleep while I do some couponing, grocery list making, grocery shopping, and maybe some cleaning.  Because Mike's boss screwed up, and Sunday he works 1:30 am - 9:30 am, then 11 am to 6 pm (or something on those lines).  BOO!  He will sleep good that night!

Sunday I will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  I prep in the am for cooking day.  Then I'll probably take a break to do some laundry and clean some of the house.  Then I'll spend several chaotic a few organized hours cooking away in our kitchen.  Hopefully I will manage to finish the laundry and the cooking with enough time left to put up the Christmas decorations.  I have some excellent ideas, and if enough snow falls, Romeo and I will spend the evening outside making a snowman.  I don't think 1-3 inches will be enough, though.

And if I finish and I'm NOT ready to pass out on the spot?  I can design my Christmas cards.  That's right- we make our own around here.  I'm a modern version of Martha Stewart (only prettier, with lots less money, better trading ethics, and no stick up my butt (as I imagine...)).

How about I give you some of my awesome ideas for gifts/crafts for the holidays?  Interested?  I might just try that out.  Because I love the holidays.

Oh the Turkey

When I was little and my grandma lived within yelling distance, we would always eat Thanksgiving dinner at her house.  And all day long, while cooking this delicious turkey (it really was amazing), she would call it "turkey lurkey".

I swear, it's been in my head all freakin' week.  "Turkey Lurkey".  I think it has something to do with the chick who claimed the sky was falling.  (I'm not joking, it was this tiny little "I Can Read" book from my childhood about a chick baking bread and the sky falling)

Anyways, there I was about a week ago facing the prospect of cooking a turkey.  A 12 lbs turkey that my husband received from his previous employer for free.  A turkey that would have to travel 1 1/2 hours to it's final destination before being consumed by 4 strapping young men, a growing 9 year old (also boy), and 3 girls who could have starved wilst we were eaten out of the house.

I was nervous.

So I looked online and found an amazing recipe.

And then I prepped.  I bought the turkey (for $0.68).  I bought the supplies.  I figured out a way to get him into the fridge to wait its fate for 6 days.  Saturday rolled around and I even brined the turkey.  I had difficulties finding all the parts that I was supposed to pull out (never did find those giblets.  I don't think I even want to know what "giblets" are!).  I miraculously fit the turkey into a stock pot with the brine.  That never fit in my fridge.  Thankfully it was cold outside, so poor old turkey slept in the garage while drowning in brine.

And then Sunday came along (I ate thanksgiving twice.  Sunday was my day with my brothers and mom).  I got up, I reviewed the recipe.  I pulled the turkey out of the brine and cleaned it up.  I proceeded to force myself NOT to cry when I noticed I had broken the poor thing's wing.  I scratched my head about where those stupid giblets were.  I texted my mom.  I called my mom.  I gave up.  I chopped vegetables and stuffed the turkey in ways that'll give me nightmares.  I again forced myself NOT to cry at the mere thought.  I placed the turkey in the pan and shoved it in the oven.  At this point I have drowned the bird, tortured the bird, attempted to give it hypothermia (hyper?  hypo?), and then shoved it into a burning hell.  I drank a glass of wine.  At 10:30 am.

The veggies inside burned.  I don't know why.  I had to keep shoveling them out because they were black and I didn't want my turkey tasting like burnt.  I'm worried at this point.

At 3/4 the way through cooking I flip it over.  Do you know how to flip a 12 lbs dead bird that's too hot to touch in a PAN that's too hot to touch?  Neither do I.  But I had those turkey turner thingies.  So I did my best and eventually succeeded. 

And then 4 hours into cooking, we should have left 30 minutes ago, and this damn bird is still not done.  I really want to cry.  What the hell, bird?  I'm calling my mom.  I'm stewing and scratching and pacing.  I realize "Oh... I should have put it in a bag.  Maybe the one I bought specifically for this occasion."  Oh well.  I cover it with foil. 

And finally it finishes.  That popper thingy pops out.  I do a happy dance.  I'm still worried, though, because before we wrap it to leave I pull out MORE burnt vegetables.

But no turning back at this point- 1 1/2 hours to drive and we're running very late.  Off we go.

We were starving, and driving for 1 1/2 hours with a cooked turkey is absolute torture.  TORTURE.

Finally we get there, and my brother takes another 30 minutes to arrive, and eventually we can eat.  My brother goes to carve the turkey.  And finds the giblets (in a bag, thankfully).  Good grief.  I looked everywhere in that damn bird, and he finds them in minutes.  Who puts them in the neck????

So we eat.  And it tastes delicious!!!!  I wanted to dance it was so good.  In your face, father! (No, he wasn't there, but he's always said I couldn't cook... I would love to shove my turkey in his face and then rub in some salt with "didn't your wife burn her sweet potatoes this year???")  I'm so mean.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We really had a great time.  We played games and Mike had fun with Dallas, and Romeo was as happy as a clam (my brother snuck him turkey).  It really was something to treasure.

And then we came home to dishes.  A pile so high we didn't even have clean silverware.  It was bad.

But in all the mess, while washing the turkey turner thingies, I noticed... One had lost it's rubber prong cover.  Hmmm.... It was there when I turned the turkey... I sure hope no one ate it!!!!!

And THAT my friends, is how you cook a turkey.  Can't wait to do it again next year.

This year I am thankful for...

1.  Family- I have the most wonderful support system I've ever seen!  A lot of people think we're a little weird, though.  We have a lot of different relationships.  Oh, and the hubs.  He's just amazing.  Of course the pets count too.  This list is too big to go into detail, but there's my mom, my two brothers, my husband, the cat and dog, my 4 uncles and 4 aunts, my 5 grandmothers, my 7 cousins... I don't believe any of them have ever NOT been there for me.  Also, for the sake of keeping you sane and because technical titles never matter anyways, I simplified several titles.  Oh, and this isn't even counting all the in-laws.  There are tons, and they are just as special.


2.  Friends- My phone was ringing off the hook with all the love.  Although there were a few interesting tweets as well "I'm supposed to do WHAT to the turkey???"


3.  My house- I had abundant room for house guests, and while not all ended up staying, we were very comfortable.  We had ample space for cooking (kind of) with nice new appliances (pretty new at least).  The house isn't always as warm as we'd like, but it'll do.  And it's full of our lives- our things with our memories.


4.  My car- you know, the one that had a water bottle get crushed under the back seat, and this morning had a HUGE WATER PUDDLE all across the back?  Yeah.  That car.


5.  My job (and Mike's)- Even though we both had to work today (he's still there) I will say we are rather lucky to have our jobs.  And I did get to leave early, after all.


6.  My new school!  I am so thankful that I got into grad school (and I got the loans needed as well!).  I just hope I can be registered for classes ASAP.  I've already emailed the advisor AND financial aid AND put myself on a few waitlists.


7.  The food we ate- it was delicious.  My mashed potatoes are by far one of my favorites.  And mom's dumplings.  yum!  And turkey, of course.  Too bad there weren't any leftovers (of the turkey).  We devoured a 23 lbs turkey.  Can you believe it?


8.  My health- I managed well yesterday, and I still feel healthy.  I didn't overeat, and I want to exercise.  I see way too many people who just don't care, and it's sad.


9.  My ambidexterity- I think it's a big help with my knitting.  This means I can make some pretty awesome gifts for some pretty awesome people!


10. My time- I'm considering doing some volunteer work this winter, but I haven't decided where.  Gotta do some research!


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  I hope yours was as amazing as mine!

A Dream Come True- Fast Flats Review

**This post is not sponsored, but if you (*cough*Dr. Scholl's*cough*) wanna change that, by all means, give me a call, email, letter, personal visit, whatever!**

So, ladies... How many of you enjoy going out?  ME TOO!!!!  It's a ton of fun, and it's so worth the hangover headache, tired legs, aches and pains of staying up too long the next day.  I love it.  :)  It certainly helps that I have some majorly awesome friends to go out with though.  If you wanna borrow them, you can come join us in Cincy sometime.

Leaving the tangent world now.

So, if you're like me and like to look great when you go out, you probably wear heals, right???  Am I right???  But then if you're going dancing, or anywhere that you have to walk a lot, or you're just standing a lot, it can hurt like crazy be slightly uncomfortable.

Dr. Scholl's just introduced this awesome new concept called Fast Flats.  They are foldable shoes that come in a cute little wristlet.  AND THEY'RE ONLY $10* in Cincy... Not sure about elsewhere.

Ok, come on.  Foldable shoes?  They can't possibly be that great.

But for only $10, I decided it was worth a shot.  So literally 15 minutes before I had to leave the house I was out buying those suckers.  Perk- they have a variety of sizes, including the infamous 5/6 that I can never find and desperately need.  I really expected a cheap plastic wristlet that would fall apart in minutes, but surprisingly, it was actually really nice!  And, as a bonus, it was actually big enough to carry more than just the shoes.  I actually used it for a purse for the evening.  I even remember thinking "Wow... This solves a lot of my dressy occasion purse dilemmas."

So out I go for the evening in my awesome high heals.  We went to dinner, then to Shadowbox Live, then out to a bar for some dancin' fun.  It was a relatively easy night on my feet- dinner had a mild walk to the car, we sat for Shadowbox, and because of timing, we were only at the bar for about an hour at most.  BUT by the time we got to the bar, my feet were actually sore enough that I figured I'd try the new shoes.  And my feelings are.....

They are amazing.  True, I had a few drinks by that point.  BUT! I was comfortable.  I was able to dance.  The soles were pretty thin, but they were solid enough I felt comfortable that my feet were safe.  They are black, and if you look closely they aren't gorgeous, but for a night on your feet in dim lighting, no one could tell.  They are pretty much a pair of ballet flats.  The only down side is you have to carry your heals afterwards, but that was just a minor inconvenience.  Very much worth the comfort for my feet!  And the next day (I stayed with a friend) I wore them home.  Still comfy enough. 

I definitely recommend them.  They are a cheap way to fix a big problem for a lot of women.  Hats off to you, Dr. Scholl's.  Seriously, this is a huge problem for women, and I think some woman genius finally figured out a solution.  YAY!

Tis the Season....

FOR FOOTBALL!!!!! 

And when I say football, I clearly mean MARCHING BAND!!!

And by that I am dead serious, because, folks, this house is chuck full of band nerds.  I mean it, 100% of the three adults living under our roof are born and bred true band geeks.  History lesson?  Michael plays sax- alto sax, bari sax, and even tenor sax on occasion.  In high school he was drum major for 3 years (although they were called field commanders.  To me this is just weird).  He lived for his KK Psi brothers (the band honorary fraternity) at UC.  He worked hard with equipment crews and band room duties and fundraising activities.  We were at every event from dawn til dusk (exaggeration, but seriously- we were usually one of the first there and last to leave).

Me?  I was a pianist before I could say my name.  I later learned flute and piccolo, and then joined the colorguard.  I wasn't quite as devoted as Michael, but I still worked hard.  I was section leader.  I was voted best musician.  I played a solo at state merely days after knee surgery while I was hyped up on vicadin and STILL was only 1 point away from an excellent rating!

Ahem... Anyways.  Yes, even now, years after graduating and leaving the college world for adulthood, we are still band geeks at heart.  We show up 2 hours before the game (usually earlier).  We haul equipment, wear uniforms and bright shiny field passes, push prod and haul band kids into formation, and then watch a football game from the sideline (where you can see approximately nothing).  We listen to really loud music right next to us while shouting at refs and cheering with the squads.  At half time Michael takes his camera to record while I haul equipment.  We watch the band do their thing while most are getting pizza.  We haul everything back and then feed them all like toddlers, because they always need a sugar rush to survive the third quarter lull.  We lose our voices.  At the end we haul everything back, shake hands, watch the band kids dance, comment on the game, then go grab a beer with the other alumni (who are incidentally doing the same thing as you are).  However, before we can leave the field we always pay tribute to the Alma Mater- heads held high, arms linked together.  

This is our football season.  We root our BEARCATS on every game.  We're there in the rain, or with serious colds (possibly the flu).  Sometimes both (see: this weekend).  We love our team, even when they lose (or lose their coach- see: Notre Dame lost and I want to gloat).  Hell, we even make our holiday plans around our team's schedule.  Last year Mike and I celebrated 4 years in New Orleans, band style, cuz that's just how we roll.  This is what we do.


I wouldn't change it for all the money in the world.

Just Your Average Weekend

So we have a baby bunny living near our house.

And he's been getting bigger.  And braver.

And sometimes he plays out back with the birds and chipmunks.  Orion likes to watch.

He can stare ALL DAY

We travelled to Indiana to welcome a friend home from Afghanistan.  We braved all sorts of weather.

But it was nice enough for the picnic.  We played and ate and saw the ducks!

Long Time No See

So, here's a funny thing.  My boring life just got busy!  And I've been MIA on here for 8 days a while.  But here's a thought- I'll post a few blogs every day for a few days to tell you all about it!!!!


So the first big thing on the list this weekend was a going away party for a few friends of ours.  One is moving to Washington DC for a 9 month internship and the other is spending a month in Jordan before starting grad school at the University of Colorado.


It was actually highly entertaining.  We had a Cincinnati themed party DUH!!! So we all ate things like skyline chili, black raspberry chip ice cream from Graeter's, and we all wore our favorite Cincy clothing, such as my totally awesome UC shirt that I completely made out of a huge free tshirt you know, the free ones they shoot into the crowd at sporting events.  I'll try to remember to post a pic sometime.


To top it all off- it was, of course, a surprise.  We caught them completely off guard.  Pics to come


It was a great night, and it was so much fun to go back to that world called "social life".  I have been SO out of the loop lately.  If it weren't for facebook, I'd never know anything going on in my buddies' lives.  So maybe Mike and I need to plan to get together with them more?  I would agree.


Unfortunately, the night ended around 9 when everyone else started to do the usual partying thing.  Mike had to work at 1:30 am, so... ya know... had to get home and get some sleep.


But point being- life is starting up again!  Maybe it has to do more with the fact that summer is back.  I can't tell.  Either way, it makes me happy.