Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving 09

This year, we went to Danny's grandmas early in the day. It was such a beautiful day! I am so glad that it didn't snow- I hate trying to get to dinner on time in the snow- so nerve racking!
And it was so warm that I got to wear my cute new jacket, and not my puffy winter coat. All the aunts and uncles and cousins and grand kids were there- it is so fun to see everyone! And the kids just grow up so fast I hardly recognised some of them. We sat with Danny's sisters, and his dad. When Danny and Lindsay get together, they just joke and laugh and have fun. They are so much alike, it's crazy! (She is like 10 years younger, and she didn't grow up around him. So when they do stuff the same, I think it's so funny.)

Danny and Lindsay, laughing at Fail Blog on Lindsay's new phone.


Danny's other sister, Chelsea and her boyfriend Zak.



We went to my parents house for a smaller feast in the evening. (it was just our immediate family and Gramps. So many leftovers- I loved it!)


My sister Lindsay and her favorite pastime...olives on the fingers.




Yum! (she did this a few times)


And after dinner, Lindsay just had to play Wii with Danny. She just loves him, it's so cute. BTW she kept winning. I thought he was letting her win some, but nope. She really has Mario Party 8 down!


My mom and me putting all the food away.


I heart my mom!


Gramps (my mom's dad) and my mom.


Pumpkin Cheesecake. Mmmmmm.

I had so many leftovers, they fed Danny and I for 2 days! It was so wonderful! Good food and all I had to do was warm it up or put it on sandwich rolls!

I am so grateful for my families- I kinda can't wait to add a kid or 2 to them!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

i'm a little pumpkin, orange and round...

I got all my baking done early this year. Early? Jessica? No way! Believe it or not, I did.

Pumpkin Cheesecake(s)

(Egg whites for Sponge Cake, Gingerbread Sponge Cake Crust, Swirly Pumpkin Cheesecake- before baking.)

We are going to Danny's Grandma's and then to my parents house. Full day. Literally. Update with photos to follow...

Oh! And looky what I got for myself in the mail yesterday...


So much felt, I don't know where to start!

Happy Turkey Day Tomorrow!

Monday, November 23, 2009

i googled how to...

...how to treat a bruise.

That's what I was after. But when I typed in "How To..." on Google, this is what came up:

1. how to tie a tie
2. how to kiss
3. how to get pregnant

Seriously? The third most searched for "how to" is how to get pregnant? Who exactly is googling this information? So I jump to conclusions- teens that don't actually know, and why don't they know?

I think that this is proof that American kids need to have sex education in school. Telling kids to "save it for marriage" or just to "not engage in sexual activity" is just plain not working.

I do know quite a few people who did indeed "save it for marriage" or least for the right person. And I have a lot of respect for them. But not every teen has self control, or the ability to see beyond teenage years and into adulthood. (including me) We all have personally known a few teenage mothers, and have heard even more stories from friends and family, right?

I don't blame the lack of sex ed in my High School, for my "engaging in sexual activity" at an early age. I blame my boyfriend at the time for pressuring me into thinking that I had no other choice. But that is a skeleton in my closet that I won't go into just now.

(stepping off of my soapbox now, and admitting that my conclusion might totally and completely be wrong)

Wait, so what other conclusions are there? Who else would be googling "how to get pregnant?" Well, people that want to have babies. And I would guess that most people over 18 (ha!) at least know that facts of life- right? Or people that are curious about fertility...but then wouldn't they just google "fertility?"

I am thinking too much. About something that does not even matter. I really am done now, I promise.

DH just served me some dessert- Peppermint ice cream with Hot Fudge....


And, I did find some good advise on "how to treat a bruise." But I can't use any of it, it's too late. You have to do all of it either right after or in the following hours after the injury occurs.

If you are wondering just how I injured myself, here goes: (it's so embarrassing!)
On Saturday night, (so what? I like my boring non partying weekends) I was plucking my eyebrows while sitting on the bathroom counter, and when I went to get down, I fell/landed into the open drawer that I had forgotten about, and then onto the floor. So I now have a very purple, lumpy and huge bruise on the back of my right thigh about 5 inches above my knee. It still hurts.

And the drawer? Broken. Splintered wood. It is still functional, but we will need to replace it when we move out.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

i. hate. snow.

I could not get myself out of bed today. I tried 3 times between the hours of 10 and 1. I finally got out at 2:30. Granted, I did stay up till about 2:30 the previous night... but 12 hours is ridiculous!

I blame my super comfy warm snugly bed. I finally got around to putting the "winter" blanket on our bed last night- our huge down comforter. Oh it is so amazingly warm and cozy! (now I really want to go to bed instead of blog) yawn. Anyway, despite sleeping in so late, I got a lot done today.

I did all the laundry.

I cleaned up all the cat pee. (my cats have abandoned their litter box lately, I kinda hate them at the moment. No, wait. I love them again.)

I made 1 of the 2 pumpkin cheesecakes that I am contributing to the upcoming Thanksgiving feasts.

I went to Costco. Yes, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I went at 4, and it was crazy! I just needed a few things (vanilla beans- they are running dangerously low!) and I found a short line (can you believe it?) I was so proud of myself, going to Costco without Danny, avoiding lines.

Then I got to the door, and I saw this:

My heart sank.

I knew it was going to snow today! I KNEW it! I was going to wear my new rain boots out the door just in case, and then I thought that I would look silly tromping through Costco with squeaky rain boots if there was no rain/snow.

I found this photo on the world wide web, and it displays perfectly how the storm was at Costco. Me and my huge cart of bulk food that I had to push through that horrid wind that pelted me with big fat snowflakes. It sucked.

And I had more errands to run. So I did. I went to Michael's, Petco, and Fresh Marketplace. (I think that is what it is called now- the old Albertsons.)

3 more months of this???

I need something to look forward to! Like a tropical vacation or something. (hint, hint.)

Too bad DH doesn't read my blog.

But I do get to climb back in to that super comfy warm bed with DH.

'night.


Thursday, November 19, 2009

all cakes considered

I got this today!



I am soooooooooo excited! I may make it my New Years Resolution to make a cake from this book for every week in 2010.

Did I also mention that this resolution might beat my metabolism to a bloody pulp, and I will gain some serious weight.

And besides, with the world ending in 2012, what a way to spend a year!

(totally kidding!)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

hello, kitty!

Last night Danny and I went on an adventure. (To South Towne Mall.)

I had no idea that they had a Hello Kitty store there...I was mesmerized! I just had to look at every little thing in there!

I got a coloring book and a coin purse for Loo-loo, and a coin purse for me. When we got home, I decided to take a look at the book. It's all about kitty picking apples and making pies for all her friends. (It's very cute, I almost want to keep it for myself!) Anyway, it had this funny little thing in the back:


Hello Kitty's Profile

Birthday: Nov 1st
Birthplace: suburbs of London, England
Height: the same as a stack of 5 apples
Weight: the same as 3 apples
Distinguishing Feature: the red bow on her ear
Future Goal: to become a famous pianist or poet
Good at: baking cookies
Loves: mom's homemade apple pie
Favorite Word: friendship
Collects: anything small and cute
Best School Subjects: English, Music Art
Personality: A very energetic little girl, Hello Kitty loves to play outdoors, in the park or forest. But you can also find her at home happily, baking cookies or practicing on her piano.



Sounds like she is my kind of gal.

Friday, November 13, 2009

leaves


So my neighbor is kinda noisy lately. I have never even really seen him before, but these past few weeks that the leaves have been falling off the trees, I have heard what I thought to be a leaf blower on about once a day.

Yeah, I though it was overkill too. But there are a TON of leaves on this here street. So I didn't think twice about it.

Then I came home from work today, and as I pulled into my driveway, I noticed him in his front yard. But he was not blowing leaves. He was vacuuming them up. He has a leaf vacuum.

In these past weeks, I would look at his perfectly leafless yard, and then our messy leaf covered one, and think, "hmm. We should really rake those up. I bet his yard looks so great cause he has that fancy leaf blower."

Fancy leaf vacuum. I stand corrected.

I bet he hates us and our messy lawn, with our trees that shed on his property.

So far, he has been out there for an hour, and he is still going strong. Which leaves me to think, "How many hours a day does he spend vacuuming leaves?"

I like my frosting to be perfect, he has his lawn.

I guess.

Frosting is way more fun than lawn care.

P.S. He was out there until we left at 6:30.

*photo found on www.bluejake.com

Thursday, November 12, 2009

stay puft dessert


I am finally feeling like myself again. Yea!

You know what that means- I made/microwaved dessert for Danny and I.
(hey, ya gotta start somewhere!)

S'mores....mmmmm.

Honey maid graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate, and caramel marshmallows.


As we were eating them and watching Buffy, and I had marshmallow all over my fingers and chocolate dripping down my chin, I thought to myself, "Man these are messy! I am so glad Danny can't see my chocolaty face right now. So not hot!"

After I had licked my fingers and face clean, I turned to Danny to see if he liked them. He was looking at his dessert very disapprovingly and says...

"S'mores are poorly designed."

Give it to my wonderfully geeky and technically correct husband, to say something so hilarious!

(well, at least I thought it was hilarious, maybe you had to be there.)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

sicky sick sick.

I have been actively avoiding getting sick for the past few weeks. Zicam, early to bed, lots of hand sanitizer. Well, it failed on Friday night.

After I got home from the mall, and started blogging, my throat started to hurt. And it got worse and worse until I went to bed. I had call in sick to work, and stayed in bed almost all day on Saturday.

And today, I spent most of the day in bed- followed by the rest of the day parked in front of the tv in the lovesac, bored out of my mind. Now it's time for bed, and I am crossing my fingers that tomorrow will bring sunshine, rainbows, and non-sickness so that I can go to work.

Remember when you were little and it was so cool to be sick? Cool cause you got to stay home with mom, and got to watch tv and eat whatever you could convince your mom would make you feel better? Now I would do anything not to be sick, and to go to work.

sniffle.

P.S. They took my favorite Zicam product off the market! I am so mad! The nasal gel & the nasal swabs. Apparently people were losing their sense of smell after using the said product! I had used it for years, and never once had an issue.
Gosh dang it. I really felt like it helped me.


Saturday, November 7, 2009

the best trip to the mall...ever.

Last night, I found this jacket. (I tried to post the photo but it wouldn't let me)

I fell in love with it and had to have it! So, I put the only one I could find on hold, then I went to find these skinny jeans while pondering if I should buy the jacket.

When I went back to get the jacket, (I had decided YES!) I found a whole rack of them that somehow I had missed. I found one of them for 50% off- it was missing a button. Seriously? I can definitely replace missing buttons, especially for half off!

So I proudly took it to the register, and the girl ringing me up says, "This is not returnable, and the button is in the pocket." Sure enough, when I got to my car, I checked the pockets for the magical money saving button, and there it was.

$24 for the jacket, $9.50 for the jeans.

Sweet.

Friday, November 6, 2009

a story about my Dad...


...he once saved a strangers life.

I was young, maybe 5. We were driving on the freeway, it might have been raining. I remember that it was dark, and I think there was a promise of ice cream from the parents at the end of the long ride home.

We were in the right hand lane, and my Dad saw the car in front of us go off the road, and into a large ditch. He pulled us over, and ran down to see if he was okay.

My Mom was nervous, (I assume) and we (Nick & I) were restless. We wanted to be out of that car, and now! A little while later, my Dad came up and told my Mom that there was a lot of water in the ditch, the car was unmovable and the driver was badly injured- I think the steering column had mashed his ribcage. I don't know how gory it was, but my imagination ran wild in that moment and in the years after when I would remember that night.

Somehow, my Dad got a hold of an ambulance, and they got the man safely out of his wrecked car and to the hospital. This was way before cell phones, so I don't know what my dad had to do to make that happen- I just remember that we waited for what seemed like forever.

I also recall a night a while later when I couldn't sleep, and I saw the glow of the T.V. coming from my parents room (meaning that they were still awake too), so I went to say goodnight or ask a question, or whatever kids do when they are curious and can't fall asleep. As I peeked into their room, the phone rang. My Mom answered, and said "Who is this? Oh. Okay, hold on a sec." I don't remember what was said, but I think it was the wife of the man that my Dad helped. She was calling so late at night, to thank my Dad for saving her husbands life.

The other night, I went to my parents house to pick something up. I was talking to my Mom in the kitchen when my Dad came downstairs and wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the cheek.

I was as shocked as I was touched. Me and my Dad have had a rocky relationship in the past, but after I got out of rehab, and stopped acting like an ass, we have gotten a lot closer. Now we hug occasionally, but I can't remember the last time he kissed me on the cheek!

On my drive home, I got a little emotional. My tears were dry but the time I got home, but I think I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.

My Dad is the go-to guy for just about everything. He is trustworthy and loyal, helpful and kind, funny and sweet. He is always fixing and problem solving through our neighbors, families, and friends car troubles. He recently just fixed the leaking roof at his work by spending $30 at Lowe's and having one of his guys help him. The roofing company that had come to make a bid for the repair wanted $30,000. "Job security" he said after he finished the story.

My Dad is a planner. I think he has the rest of his, my Mom's, and Loo-loo's lives planned out in case of any kind of emergency. I am also a planner, but not nearly as smart or as experienced as he is. So in pretty much in any given situation, tight spot, or problem, I have a very valuable resource to go to for help.

I am so grateful for my Dad- he has always given us everything we needed (and a lot of the things we wanted.) He had stood by me even when I was so mean to him. (and I was mean to him for a long time- so not proud of that.)

It's my Dad's birthday this month, and I really want to give him something that speaks to all of the wonderful characteristics that define him as a Father, Husband, and Son.

Any ideas?

Sunday, November 1, 2009

happy halloween!

This year for Halloween, I made myself a ladybug costume.



And I made some delicious Creepcakes for everyone else. (I got the idea from Martha) Lindsay and Danny helped me decorate them.



Creepcakes!


I also carved another pumpkin- Sandy Gauze.


We had a crazy amount of kids and parents during the trick-or-treating where I work...it was so much fun! My mom brought Lindsay during the last hour and she helped hand out the candy.

Here is Brandon and Lindsay-

Brandon the cat, and Lindsay the Good Witch.


Lauren the Peacock.


Kim the Hippie.

I didn't get a photo of Kelly- she was Juno!