Productive Day to end 2007

So I was productive today-spent ALL DAY working on it but I was able to get all our 600 DVDs alphabitized and put in order on the shelfs. I don't have a "final product" photo, maybe get one later, but I do have a photo of all our DVDs spread out on the floor and table-makes my living room look like a disaster!



I was only missing a few DVDs from my original list that I am pretty sure are on loan to a few friends so I will be checking with them. I added all our new ones and I made an updated excel sheet AND updated our list on our website. I also set it up so it will be a little easier for me to update online and in the excel sheet so hopefully I will be able to keep up on it in 2008 and not have to re-do it all at the end of 2008, although knowing me and Ben I will still have to re-organize it then b/c during the year we will start out being good at putting them back in order but that won't last long!!

Anyway...Ben came home from work early b/c he is still sick. I went out and picked up some random food for dinner, a little of this and that and I ate way too much of it tonight :( I have been watching FRIENDS on DVD all day-I am just about done season 4. Its about 11:30pm now so I will turn it off in a few to watch some of Dick Clark's New Year's Eve and see the ball drop.

So for now....I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year's Eve and an even better 2008! Happy New Year to all!!!

Weekend in Review 12-29-07

In an effort to get myself into the habit of updating-even if its just short and sweet stuff instead of a big long cumlative post, I am going to do my weekend in review. Nothing all that exciting but still good to write:)

Friday-I met Tracy and Valeda (friends from work) at the Mall to shop although we spent most of our time in the food court just talking after we ate some lunch but it was still a lot of fun. We did hit up Macy's so I could exchange some shirts Ben got for a different size and then I wanted to look around because I had gotten a gift card at Macys and so I thought I would look and see if there is anything I would like but wouldn't normally buy. We ended up in the purses/handbag section and I saw some Kipling stuff on sale. Now I don't normally care about brands at all but I always love the Kipling stuff-the cool colorts, good material and different shapes of bags BUT it is usually over priced and not on sale so I was excited to see it on sale. I ended up buying a dark purple Kipling "Creativity" Cosmetic case that I am using for my ipod and related stuff (earphones, cords, etc) so that I can just toss the bag into my purse when we go anywhere and not worry about crunching the headphones or missing anything I might need. I LOVE it. I can't find a photo of the purple one anywhere but I did end up going back today to get one in pink too so I could use it for lots of other little odds and ends that tend to get lost in my bag! Here is a picture of the pink one:


Other than that we didn't do much at the Mall. Ben called me to tell me he was sick and I tried to find a dr that would be open on a friday night but wasn't lucky. After I took Tracy home I went to Ben's work, got gas and went with him to try and find a place he could see a dr. When we struck out we just went home and watched Rush Hour 3. I love those Rush Hour movies-both actors play off each other well and are so funny.

Saturday: Ben had to work. I had high hopes for re-organizing our DVD collection since I really hadn't organized or updated our list since last christmas and it was in serious need. So I got all the DVDs off of one shelf and started to get them alphabitized when Ben called to see if I wanted to go see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which is one of my faves. His brother was on their way up to see it at the State Theater with the kids and they had 5 extra tickets.He was still at work but I decided the DVDs could wait and I went. Of course they called me at 1:30pm and the show started at 2pm! I able to quickly get dressed-since it was a day sow I could get away with jeans and sweater which I NEVER wear to a theater show but we usually see night shows. Jumped into the car and flew into New Brunswick-thankfully I knew some good side streets to look for parking and got lucky, got my ticket from the Will Call office and got to my seat with about 5 min to spare-literally!

The show was good-it always is. The Plays in the Park people put it on and its the only time they perform in the State theater instead of the park but they have done this show every year for 13 years. Ben and I have seen it at least once or twice ourselves. I took some photos but not sure how they came out since I couldn't use the flash.
Here are a few-it was a very minimalistic set with lots of props and costumes to make the scenes. I only took photos at the end though:)




After the show we went to The Round Grill for dinner which is one of my favorite places so that made me happy. Ben was just getting done work but was able to find a place he could go see a dr so I just got him some takeout and met him at home later with the food. After we got home we watched some tv and then went to bed-he tried to fall asleep and I was organizing some photo stuff online while watching FRIENDS. I started from the first episode when I was sick and have been going through episode by espisode-I am almost done season 3!

Sunday: Got up, and went to the laudrymat. Not my favorite thing to do but I wanted to get it done early and try to avoid crowds.I got there at noon and was lucky enough to get some good washers and then dryers. I grabbed a sandwich from the delit next door then got comfy listening to my ipod (I have recently created some "old school" playlists of tons of 80s tunes I got from my friends collection of 80s CDs and suplimented it with various purchases from itunes with my christmas gift cards and such!) I also tried out my new Brain Age 2 game for my DS lite-its kind of cool and it kept me entertained til it was time to fold my clothes.It has Suduku on it too so that was fun to try-I am still in the middle of a puzzle though! Sidebar:and I just say I love my new headphones too-I couldn't hear ANYTHING other than my music while I was doing laundry-and because they had three size ear things to choose from I had originally been using medium but I tried the smaller ones and they are even better!!!

After laundry I ran over to the mall to use more of my gift card and get the pink case I showed above, then picked up some pretzels and lunch for Ben. I settled in for a nice afternoon of updating, organizing and playing online. There was a small interruption abour 5:30pm when the entire block lost power. And of course the sun is on its way down so it was really black in the house. I went out to the street to see if it was just us and it was the whole block. We lite a bunch of candles to give us enough light to see around the house and just sort of chilled out and about an hour later the power came back on-yeah! So then I got back to work on my online stuff!

I spent the first hour back online on www.webkinz.com Has anyone else ever heard of these things? They are stuffed animals you "adopt" and then you can do different things in the "Webkinz World". Tracy, Valeda and I got them for christmas so I figured I better get online and figure it out so I can help them:) My niece Julia showed me a little bit on Christmas about the site but there is a ton of stuff on the site-I couldn't believe I played on there for an hour-the site is suppossed to be geared toward kids!! I am sure it will keep us entertained though. I have a black lab but I am totally going to have to get myself the mini-penguin one of these days LOL! They are just too cute and too soft!

Oh-while I was here updating a friend of mine from college called to let me know they just found out they are having a baby in August-congrats to them. I really want to get my college photos into a good storybook or 12x12 album this year-I will have to get working on that one of these days!

Now I am here updating for you, uploading photos, moving and backing up photos to my external hard drive so I know I have it all backed up. I create such a process for myself b/c I am so paranoid of losing any photos although I am getting more relaxed since I have smugmug but I am still crazy. Here is my crazy way of doing things:

1. upload unedited photos to backup private gallery on smugmug.
2. run photos through color correction/lighting software.
3. upload edited photos to public gallery to share
4. copy original photos to external hard drive for storage.
5. if its photos I plan to use in the near future for some sort of project, I also copy them to my small external drive that I call my "working" folder although now that I have a laptop with some space on it dont always copy over to the working drive b/c I dont need it like I used too.

I am also trying to get myself into the habit of using the Creative Memories "Memory Manager" software since I want to show my grandfather how to use it for his photos (its easy as pie) and it does come in handy when I am looking for photos instead of searching through my folders all the time so slowly but surely I am pulling photos into that to use as my working area and then I can jsut grab what I need for my photo projects.

Ok-so are your eyes tired of reading yet? I know I am getting there! So I will end it here. Boy I can talk a lot for a "mini update". Thankfully most of my weekends aren't as exciting!

If I dont make it back here-Happy New Year to everyone and stay safe. We are staying home (thankfully!) and just going to chill out to bring in the new year. Ben works and so I am not sure what we are going to eat yet but I am hoping to get back to my DVD project tomorrow while he is at work.

Ta ta for now!!!

I forgot the most important thing!!

So in all my posts I forgot to mention what Ben and I got for Christmas-an irobot Roomba 530!!


********************************
As a member of our latest generation of home robots, the iRobot Roomba 530 Vacuum Cleaning Robot features the newest innovations for dramatically improved performance, reliability and durability. It systematically cleans three rooms on a single charge, gets into hard-to-reach areas like wall edges and beneath furniture while avoiding stairs and other drop-offs. Roomba automatically adjusts from carpets to hard floors and back again. Improved Virtual Wall® tells Roomba where to clean by restricting off-limit areas (2 included). When the cleaning is complete, or if the battery is running low, Roomba automatically returns to the self-charging Home Baseý to dock and recharge.

Standard Features
A smart, efficient vacuum that picks up dirt, dust, pet hair and more from carpets and hard floors
Cleans the whole floor, under and around furniture and along wall edges
Automatically adjusts from carpets to hard floors and back again
Detects dirtier areas and spends more time cleaning them
Spot Clean provides quick clean-up of spills and concentrated messes
Automatically senses and avoids stairs and other drop-offs
Simple to use! Just press the Clean button and Roomba does the rest!

Advanced Features
Automatically returns to its self-charging Home Baseý to dock and recharge between cleanings
Improved Virtual Walls (2) tell Roomba where to clean by restricting off-limit areas now with longer battery life and streamlined design
Faster counter-rotating brushes with improved design pick up more hair and debris and are easier to remove and clean
Improved filter captures more dust and allergens while a larger bin holds more debris
Improved anti-tangle technology keeps Roomba from getting stuck on cords, carpet fringe and tassels
Improved side brush makes Roomba even more efficient at cleaning edges and corners

Specifications
Package Dimensions: 20" x 17.5" x 5.5"
Package Weight: 12.5 lbs

What's in the box
1 iRobot Roomba 530
2 Virtual Walls (Require 2 D batteries each, not included)
1 Self-charging Home Base
1 Power Supply (3 hour charge time)
1 Brush Cleaning Tool
1 Rechargeable Battery
1 Extra Filter

***********************************************

Let me tell you...I had wanted a roomba when they first came out. Well, what happened was that we were at Ben's brothers house and they have an older one. While we were there they ran it and when we saw it in action Ben was hooked. We got home and he went online to pick out the one he wanted. After he decided, I looked around for the best deal and ended up ordering one from Amazon for the best price. We were still a little skeptical until we used it. Now I HATE vaccumming, its loud and hurts my ears and never really works for me, I always feel like it didn't really pick up anything. Well, we let this baby run and boy did it make a difference. Now only is my floor beautiful now, it picks up hair and dirt I can't even see! I LOVE it and recommend it to everyone. Worth every penny. I think I have vaccumed more in the last week than I have in the last 6 months! We named it R2:)

You can see it here: http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2804958

ta ta! Get yours today!

Holidays at work 2007

So I decided to do a separate post for my work holiday stuff so not to completely lose you all in the holiday mess!

Work holiday stuff started on Friday Dec 14. We had our company's holiday party in North Jersey (the place I work at is in central) so its a bit of a drive for us but we left right after morning classes. Now, this party is probably the only time we go to the main office unless they have some random ALL staff meeting which *sometimes* happens once a year. I don't mind it too much because its the one time I see some of the people I used to work with when I was stationed in the main office, and its also the time to get good office gossip:)

However, this year was a little weird for us. Mainly because we would be going without Larry and we hadn't seen anyone really since it all happened except a few at the funeral who we really didn't get to talk to anyway. So the party itself was ok. Nothing overly special, we (our table) toasted to Larry and were a bit surprised that the company didn't toast him or even mention him or his passing. Got a little office updates and talked to a few people I hadn't seen in awhile.

So....our other holiday party was a week later at the center where we are actually stationed. Of course I was still sick so I was sort of mellow but I wasn't going to miss it and I am still glad I went. We have a small gift exchange between our small close group. This year in particular we were really trying to keep it fun and upbeat b/c of the obvious hole in our celebration, Larry. We usually do just the small gift exchange and that is it but me, Valeda and Tracy all did a little bit more this year. Valeda and I got the guys some candies and I got Tracy and Valeda Webkinz (does anyone know what they are? They are small stuffed animals that come with a code to plug in online where you "adopt" them and then have to take care of them. I got myself one too so we could all do it!) Valeda got Tracy some candles and me my awesome Eagles Santa Hat. Tracy got everyone these nice Hallmark Keepsake Spiderman ornaments as her gift to us and to Larry in his memory. Spiderman was a big thing for him. I brought in some soft pretzels from the new Philly Soft Pretzel store that opened across the street from my house and everyone loved them too. It was a bit weird for all of usbut we made the best of it and I think the new year will be a easier and better for us at work. The one thing this tragedy did do was it probably made us all a lot closer than we already were and I think that has been good for everyone.

Here are some photos of our gift exchange:
Our Group:


Jay had Valeda for his secret santa and she wanted a husband so he put a bow on, printed a marriage certificate and gave it to her! Then he gave her her real gift from Bath and body works!


Valeda got Bob a gag gift of a pre-paid cell phone b/c we constantly tease him he is the only one without a cell phone!


Tracy had me and got me this awesome penguin that spins and plays a christmas song:




We took a lot more combo photos this year b/c we realized when we were looking for photos of Larry how many times we didn't do group photos when we could have so now we are making sure to take the time to get the shots:)



Basically all day while we were in the cafeteria I was just blah b/c I didn't feel well yet and I wasn't up for taking many photos. Normally I take photos of all the students and stuff in case we want/need them later but I was just not into it all so Valeda went around to take some photos-and she said "Its hard work being you!" I laughed and told her now she understands!

All in all the day was good-and despite being sick I am glad I went and was there with everyone. Plus, my friend was able to get me into a dr later so I really did get better!!!

I am finally starting to feel back to normal. Still a little tired and stuffy but at least my sore throat is all gone and I am not coughing like I was all the time, just occassionally. Tomorrow I am going to the mall for a bit with Tracy and Valeda so that will be good to get out of the house. I can't believe its already going to be Friday though-where did the time go??? Saturday my goal is to work on re-organizing our DVDs and updating our list since I really haven't updated it through the year like I should have. Sunday Ben is off so we will just chill, monday he works and its New Years Eve so I will probably just get us some good snacks and maybe see if there are any movies we want to get so we can chill out that night after he gets home from work and then Tuesday we can chill and Wed it will be back to work for me.

ta ta for now!!!

Christmas 2007 Recap

Ok, ok....I know it's been awhile. No excuses other than being busy getting ready for the holidays and then being really sick. I literally spent every free moment after dinner each night working on photo related Christmas gifts and then my last week when I thought I finally had some time, I got really sick and didn't do anything! I even had to do some of my last minute Christmas shopping the weekend before Christmas which I had vowed to be done by so not to have to worry about all the craziness at the malls!

Anyway...so here is my Holiday Recap 2007:)

Dec 16 2007: Our holiday started this day when we had our Christmas celebration with Ben's dad and step mom and our usual gift exchange. It was a fun time, kids loved their gifts and both Ben and I got things we really wanted. Ben finally got his tempurpedic pillow that he has wanted and I got "How I Met your Mother" season 2 DVD, a book I wanted, new Sony head-phones for my iPod (which I LOVE) and a VERY cool new tripod:) Here are photos of the tripod and headphones:

Sony MDR-EX71SLA Headphones (Black)

And the awesome tripod which is called the Gorilla Pod SLR:

This thing is awesome. It Grips and twists to be used in the most unusual places-love it and can't wait to play with it more outside when the weather gets better!

The kids picked out some cookies special as gifts for us, one was a cookie try and one was this gigantic Santa gingerbread cookie. Here is a pic of us with the cookies:

And the giant cookie:

After gifts we all just hung around, played with the kids toys, which included this transformer star wars thing that no one could get back into the death star shape and I spent close to 45min and got it closed-but it didn't last:) Here is a group photo of us that we took:

The next day was Monday-went to work, nothing too exciting. OH, but that does remind me of the crazy Christmas stuff from the Friday before....I will make a separate post for just my work related holiday stuff after this:)

Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat but went to work b/c I knew it was a busy day but when I got there, I realized it wasn't as busy as I thought and since I didn't feel well I asked if I could go home. I went home before the day even started! I was still sick on Wed and stayed home again b/c I didn't want to be sick on Thurs for our holiday party. I did go to work on Thurs even though I still wasn't 100% and by the end of the day I felt worse again and all day my friends could tell I was sick. I tried to call a dr office but they told me "we don't have any room for you tonight or tomorrow" and I replied to that with "well a lot of good that does me" I was going to just go to a medi-merge type place so I could get something since it seemed I had what my friend had a few weeks ago. Lucky for me, my friend at work who is a local eye dr, knew a regular dr and he called them for me and got me in to see the dr if I went right over, so I did. I was SOOO grateful he got me in b/c I don't think I would have been better by Christmas if he hadn't. My boss had said I could just stay home on Friday too if I was still sick so I would be better by the holiday and so I did and I was glad I did. With the antibiotics and cough medicine the dr gave me, I slept most of Friday and by Saturday I started to actually feel better.

By Monday (Christmas Eve) I was still pretty tired and had no voice but felt better which was good. Ben and I went to south jersey to his mom's house around lunch time and spent the day there and had the regular Christmas Eve Party at his mom's house. We brought my grandfather too and it was a fun night. I started to not feel well again after we ate so I was pretty mellow and didn't take much photos but the kids got DDR for Christmas and so it was fun to sit and watch everyone try it. Here is a pick of the kids playing and then one of Ben and his cousin Josh:

After all the excitement there, we took my grandfather home and went over to Ben's brother's house where we spent the night.

Christmas Day:

It's always fun to wake up with them and the kids on Christmas morning if we aren't going to be at our own home. The kids enjoy coming up to the room we sleep in and letting us know it's time to get up because Santa was there!

After the kids opened all their gifts we all just sort of hung around and played with some of the new games. Ben's mom and step father came over too after breakfast. DDR and some 80s sing along and High School Musical sing along were the top hits of the morning. Around 1pm we got our stuff together and headed out b/c we wanted to find a place to get some lunch before heading to my dad's since we didn't' need to be there till 3pm. We were lucky enough to get to the diner before they closed for the day so we got some lunch. One thing that surprised me though was that when we left, we left a $20 tip b/c it was Christmas and the people had to work and we were glad they had so it was a little extra for a special day. Well as we were walking up to pay the bill the waitress came up to me and asked me if I meant to leave a $20 bill. I told her yes, Merry Christmas. She was so surprised and thankful but it just surprised me because I figured other people would have been generous like that on Christmas too but from her surprised reaction I guess I was wrong. Ben said he wasn't surprised b/c the tip that had been left on the table before us was only 2.50 so he imagined people didn't think of doing anything extra for the holiday. Oh well....it was just funny to me I guess.

Anyway....so we got there around 3pm. When we first got there I noticed too that my dad wasn't wearing glasses and I asked him if he went back to contacts. Turns out he had some sort of lasik surgery-not lasik but PDK or something like that that is basically the same output. It was weird b/c I am so used to seeing him with glasses!

I had set up my laptop b/c we were scheduled to meet my brother on Skype at 4:30pm to say hello and I played Christmas music through my iTunes in the mean time. And of course we were watching Luke run all over the place!

Here is cute little Luke:

At 4:30pm Shaun got online and we had about 20min to talk to him before he would have to go b/c he had to go to work. It was 6:30am Dec 26 in Japan and usually he is just in a T-shirt when we chat b/c it's really late or after he woke up on the weekend but he was all ready for work. So we talked and tried to catch up. I had some gifts for the kids and my dad that were from him too so we had my dad and the kids open the gifts so Shaun could see. Then we all took photos with him-photos of us next to him on the laptop! They actually came out ok which was good. Here is one of me with him and one of the kids with him:

After we talked to Shaun it was time to eat. It was nice that we all sat around the time together. By the time dinner was done, Tara was fading fast so Ben asked Rita if it would be ok for us to give her some gifts to keep her awake. She said it was ok so we started giving out our gifts and gave Tara, Luke, my sister and some of the presents for my grandparents out while we waited. Then when my dad and Rita joined us I gave my grandparents their "big" gift which was cell phones. I had found that Verizon has a special "senior citizen" cell phone that is perfect for them b/c it's really we want them to have one for emergencies-not general conversation. I had a discount which got me the phones for free and cases for less than $20 and I added them each as a line to share our minutes since we have more than we use-plus most of the family has Verizon so if they use them to call us it doesn't cost or use minutes anyway. They both liked the phones and seemed happy to have them. Hopefully it works out and they will be able to use them without too much trouble too!

After, I gave my dad and Rita their gifts. When we were talking to Shaun we gave my dad his big gift which was Sirius radio and gift cards for the subscription but I also gave my dad a boom box to use it with and then I made them some photo gifts they really liked and Rita seemed to really appreciate which made me happy. I was worried they wouldn't like them as much as I thought and I put so much time into them that I was afraid if they didn't like them it would make me upset but it all worked out. I made 12x12 pages of photos of them and some of their wedding and put them in a picfolio Max album-they looked beautiful and I can't wait to do some for myself. So far I have only done them for people. I also gave my sister a 12x12 picfolio max album and put a few pages in hers to get started too. This way with both of them, I can make pages for special occasions and just give them the pages to slide in later!

Back to Christmas....so we continued with gifts all around. Ben got some movies and an Xbox game, I got some movies, a DS lite game, a CD, and some wizard of Oz ornaments. I also got an eagles dog tag engraved "To Aunt Colleen, Love Tara Go Eagles Go" from my niece for Christmas which I love. I can't decide if I want to put it on my keys, wear it occasionally or just keep it safe so not to lose it!

Desserts were out when we were done gifts! We had a few bites of this and that but then we had to leave b/c Ben had to work the next day and it was already 8pm so we packed up, said our good byes and we were on our way!

Here are some photo highlights from the evening:

Luke was really into opening gifts this year-he wanted to help everyone and enjoyed it himself:

And THAT is my Christmas 2007!

I will do another general update and one for my work stuff too!

ta ta for now!!

What should I get?

I know I am due for a huge update but in the meantime...I need some help deciding on something.
I have a credit at http://www.thesak.com/ b/c I had bought a purse and returned it b/c it started to rip and they guarentee it. Anyway...I want to order a purse and I have pretty much got myself down to two that I like the best, so I thought who else to ask for opinions but my friends!
The price is not the issue b/c of my credit:) Here is what I like and why:
Rider Cross Body http://www.thesak.com/product-exec/product_id/1225/category_id/4889/last_cat/4889
A girl’s handbag collection may get a bit jealous when the new Rider Leather Crossbody comes a callin’. This scene stealer is blessed with killer DNA, thanks to her cool styling and supple leathers. Our new washed grain leather in Black and Chcolate is buttery soft and just the right amount of distressed. And lets not forget one of this seasons' hottest trends, shiny metallic foil leather in Graphite and Bronze. Zippered front pocket. Graphite satin lining features 2 open pockets and back wall zippered pocket. Washed Grain Black and Graphite Metallic have Gunmetal hardware, Bronze and Washed Grain Chocolate have Antique Brass hardware. Dimensions: 13.00" long, 2.50" wide, 10.50" high. 23.00" strap drop.
Its flash so I can't post the pic but you can click the link to see it. I want it in Chocolate.
Reasons I like this one The long strap for cross body wear is handy all year, it is not too large so hopefully I won't over stuff it but it seems large enough to hold all the basics (I do keep a LOT in my purse-for me I want the purse to have anything I might need!)
Here is contender #2:SIGNATURE LEATHER SLOUCHY SATCHELhttp://www.thesak.com/product-exec/product_id/1126/category_id/4885/last_cat/4885
All shoulders are fond of classics. But new-and-improved classics inspire true love. Hence the universal crush on our new Signature Leather Slouchy Satchel. The richly colored leather is soft and supple, the hardware is modern, and the signature woven detailing is fresh and fashionable. Signature logo plate and luggage tag. Twill lining features 2 open pockets and back wall zippered pocket. Pebble Leather and Suede bags have Wine lining and Brushed Nickel hardware. Metallic and Patent Leather bags have Graphite lining and Shiny Light Gold hardware. Dimensions: 12.00" long, 2.50" wide, 11.00" high. 9.50" strap drop.
Also in Chocolate (Can you tell I like a brown purse!)
Reasons I like this:The size. I have many small bags for a quick run to the store or night out and I think I a nice strong BAG type would be good for holding all my goodies in a quick easy to grab bag. The two bags are actually pretty close to the same size in dimensions, its more that the cross body has a longer strap but I wonder if I would ever really want that long of a strap. This one is more of a shoulder strap type bag and I like it b/c it is two straps - I have a similar sized bag but its only one strap and gets annoying sometimes.
So what does everyone else think????:)

I really like soft leather-not formed stiff. I like it to be able to hold a lot but when its only holding a little slouch to that size. Did that make sense??

My goal is a sturdy bag I can use for a lot and for a little:)

Elf Yourself

My friend told me about this and its hysterical. So I did a little of me and ben. Check LJ to see ones of my co-workers if you know me:)

Me and Benhttp://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9561392177

Happy Dance Time

I just had to say that I am doing the happy dance tonight because I got my car back!!! I Love having my car!!!!

In other news....not really anything going on here. Work is work. There was a bit of a personal announcement this morning but I cant talk about it here right now-will when I can! Nothing bad to me just surprising. I am so looking forward to next week when I don't have to work for a week-yeah! I have some ambitious things I want to do but I am sure I will only get a fraction of them done!

I can't believe its almost the end of October and I REALLY need to get a start on my holiday photo gifts or I will never get them done. I am hoping to get started next week and that should motivate me to get moving!

This weekend will be busy. Saturday is the Philadelphia Eagles Kid Club Halloween party. Its a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it. Sunday it sounds like we are going to some Halloween thing with Ben's dad too which will be fun b/c we havent' seen them in a few months as well as with Ben's brother , SIL and kids so it should be a fun filled-photo packed-weekend! Part of why I have been putting things off with my gifts getting started is because I know I will have some photo ops this weekend and this is the last big weekend before the holidays that I can take and use photos for the gifts.

I guess that is about it for now. I realized I haven't blogged about my TV thoughts in a while but I will try to get on that! Hope all is well!

Ta ta for now!!

Update on my car (and life!)

Hi All! I just wanted to update on the car situation. The dealer people called back yesterday and told us that they got the approval from the Honda Customer Service Rep guy and they will be replacing my transmission at their expense! All I have to pay for is the labor!!! I am SOOOO happy about this b/c even though I will be without a car for about another week, I will be saving $$$$! So Honda has come through for us on this-and kept to their word on wanting to provide a good product and good customer service. I understand what happened to my car was a bit of a fluke and the fact that they took responsibility and made good on it, it shows me the kind of company they are and I am happy to support them!

Lesson learned....it never hurts to try!!

Other than that not too much exciting going on this week. Health wise things have been pretty good. My BP numbers are back to just a little above where I consider "normal for me" and I can honestly say I feel great. I had one bad day this week where my BP spiked for some reason on Thursday and I ended up taking the "as needed pill" he recommeneded and it helped but I still had a lingering headache and took some excedrine but that was the first time I had to take anything OTC since sunday. It might not sound like a lot but for me its great. I could even say I truly FELT better since I started this BP meds. I am not feeling as sluggish and have had virtually no headaches. I dont think I really knew til now how bad I was feeling. The only side effects I have noticed from the BP meds are a little dry mouth (which he said to expect-just means more water for me!) and a little fatigue about halfway through the day but its not so bad I feel I need to go to sleep and evne with the fatigue I feel better than I have. It has helped me to sleep better at night too. I have probably had the best nights sleep this past week than I have had in I don't know how long. Like I said, Thursday was the only bad day and I can say that when I took the "as needed" med, that one made me EXHAUSTED that I thought I was going to fall asleep at work so I was thankfully the end of the day students I had were out so I didn't have to concetrate! And by the time the Rutgers game was on I was functional.

Speaking of the Rutgers game-YEAH, WE WON!!! It was a great game with some awesome plays and it was good for our record and our conference record most importantly. We also beat the #2 team in the nation (this week-there are SO many upsets this year the numbers don't mean as much to me as they did last year!) but it was a huge win and now we have to gear up for our game against WV next week. Go RU!!!!

This weekend is all about me working on my photos and getting some christmas gifts started and getting my christmas card made. I have been organizing photos on my external hard drives to eliminate duplicates and get what I need handy for the photo gifts and I plan to continue with it tomorrow and monday! I am off of work on monday (yeah!) so part of that will be photos and part will be cleaning the apt since I have slacked this week. Tomorrow I have to get ben to take me over to the laundry mat for a bit but I may take my laptop with me to work on stuff there, or I might just bring paper to plot things out which is more likely. I also have to finished cleaning off our porch tomorrow but that shouldn't take more than a half hour or so.

Next week will be busy at work as usual.I should hopefully have my car back by friday at the latest or I will have to take a train to south jersey for the eagles thing and get ben's cousin to drive but I am not worried yet. We have the Eagles Kid Club Halloween Party next weekend so that will be big excitement but then I am off of work for a week the end of the month (yeah!). We are going to Washington DC for the day on Oct 30 which I am looking forward to. We are going to take the train down and meet my friend and spend the day doing tourist stuff! I can't wait. Then on Halloween ben is off on Wed too so we will have all day to really set up for trick or treaters! Then that week I have a follow up with the dr for BP stuff so it looks like my week off will be busy but hopefully productive.

Anyway...I am done rambling for now. Have a great weekend all!
Ta ta for now!

Weekend in Review-not what I expected!

Hello All! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was not at all like I had expected. Friday was nothing fancy, just work and home trying to prepare for the weekend and doing my first creative memories "party". In preparation I made I made these 3 4x6 cards in the Storybook Plus software on friday night in less than an hour! I LOVE it!

Here is what I made:

I am SOOOO making my own christmas card this year-it will save on buying cards and allI will need is envelopes which I think I have plenty of (and stamps of course!).

Anyway....so on Saturday I headed down to delaware to my friend Jai's house..its about a 2 hour drive give or take on traffic of course. I was enjoying my drive, started off listening to the training cds that creative memories has for the "parties" since I hadn't listend yet! And then I listened to some of Harry Potter 3 since I have them all on my ipod and started listening from the begining. And then I reach the Delaware Memorial Bridge, and that is where my weekend "excitement" started off.So as I start to drive UP the hill of the bridge...my car stopped excelarating, the check engine light came on and my odometer started to DECLINE!

I was in the middle lane on the bridge so I tried my best to get over to the far right lane while I was flipping out with fear the car would stop ON the bridge. I got to the top of the hill and then I was able to coast down the hill towards the toll booth. I stopped at a toll booth behind two cars, meanwhile I had called ben and told him what was happening, started sobbing insanely b/c I was all freaked out about the idea of my car stopping on the bridge where there really is no shoulder or anything and so once my car stopped I knew I wasn't going to move again. I got out of my car and asked the man in the truck in front of me to help move me to the shoulder so he did that.Then I called my friend's husband and told him what had happened so he said he was on his way over to help me.

The toll booth guy came over to check and see if I was ok. He told me next time that happens I don't need to move my car that I can just stop there and they will help me b/c he watched me get moved over to the side and he was worried I might get hit or something. He was really nice. He said he called the police too to help me and I told him I called AAA and that my friend was coming to help me. He said I was ok on the shoulder and if I needed to move forward I could.I called AAA and they asked if I was in NJ or DE and I told them "where do you want me?I am literally AT the toll booth!" They said if I could get through to the other side it would be easier to get someone b/c it gets complicated if you haven't passed through the toll so I told them I would get through! I asked the toll guy if I could pay him for my toll and then when my friend gets there he could help me push past the toll. The guy told me not to worry about paying the toll and that I had had "enough grief to deal with today" so then he and another toll guy actually helped to push me through the toll on the shoulder where I could wait a little more out of the way and the tow could get me easily.At this point Ben was on his way, AAA was on its way and my friend was on his way. The police showed up and I told him what was going on and he said ok and that he would check back later to see if I was still ok and was on his way.

My friend got there next and waited with me for the tow truck. I moved all my stuff to his car and was able to get some trash out of it too!I have AAA plus so I get towing the first 100miles free. According to my milage I was 98 miles away so should have no problems. When the guy came I told him that and asked if I had to go with him and he said no. I gave him money for tolls and told him if it was over a 100 miles the shell station it was going to would take care of him there (its where ben works so they were happy to help to get the car there). So he took my car and off to my friends house we went. Here is my car on the flatbed:

So Ben met us at Jai and John's house. He hung out for a while then went to try and find a place to watch the Rutgers game when the other women started to arrive for the party. The party itsself was not bad. Ben had "pre-approved" things in the catalogs before he left and I ended up getting them. I got 2 ceral storage containers from tupperware and 1 small and 1 medium bar roll pan and the apple core remover from Pampered Chef. When it was my turn I think the spchpeal went ok. I sold a few items and some people took the catalogs to *hopefully* order directly on my website later. I left the party "open" to give my friend a chance to get some extra orders to count towards her party so she can get some goodies.

Just as an FYI-if anyone ever wants to have a "catalog party" I could mail you some catalogs or you could have people look online at my site (www.mycmsite.com/colleenf ) and then orders from that can be put into a "party" to be used toward host credits and stuff like you would if you hosted in house but without the hassle of an actual in house party-did that make sense? Anyway, if anyone is ever interested just email me or leave me a comment!

So after all the parties were over we cleaned up, Ben came back and we left. I had planned to stop at my dad's to get the BP monitor he had for me so we did that. That worked out well too b/c the one they gave me is the brand/model the dr recommended, just a slightly older model than what is out currently, but it works! We eventually got home and I sacked out-went right to bed and it was barely 9pm! The whole day took a lot out of me!

Today was pretty mellow. Spent most of it uploading some photos and things and took a nap in the afternoon. Tried to catch up on some tivo but I am still behind. I am off tomorrow b/c I had taken a vacation day every monday this month so that worked out well for me because I will be able to make an early call to Honda to inquire about the fact that my transmission below with no warning, barely over 100,000 miles/5 years when one would expect it to last twice as long. I did a lot of looking online today and it seems to be a problem they are aware of and in some cases it looks like they help a bit even if you are slightly out of warranty b/c they know it is a problem so please cross your fingers. I would be happy if they just offer to cover the transmission cost. I don't mind paying the labor if they cover the cost of the trans but I am not expecting anything, just crossing my fingers. So at this point I don't know when I will have my car back. Looks like the week is shaping up to being a long one.

Oh, and while at the party, I broke my watch band too! What a day!!!So that is what has been going on in my world. Hope everyone else had a better weekend! ta ta for now!!!

Ipod update....

Just wanted to post really fast that my experience at the Apple store was much more pleasant than the last time. My appointment was for 5:15 and I arrived at 5pm and started hanging around the Genius Bar to wait my turn. One guy talked to me, asked me the problem and I explained to him how I had my original Ipod for a year and a half before I had any problems and that I brought it in in June and the guy replaced it b/c he said it seemed like the hard drive was failing. I had been ok with that and went on my merri way and then a few weeks later i started to have problems again so I came in and that was when I had the worst experience of my life with the Genius Bar rep and how I left with nothing having been done, I went home and restored it and now 2 months later I am having trouble again. I told him how I had even been nervous about going to the store today because I was afraid of seeing the same guy as last time. So I explained the problems and told him how now it seemed to be working. I had made the appt when it was still frozen but later I had been able to reset it and it seemed ok but I wanted to come in anyway since my warranty expires next month and I didn't want to wait for it to happen again AFTER it expired. He was very nice and said that since it seemed to be a problem and its not something they can just re-create to test, he would recommend to the tech who will be out in a few to just replace my ipod. This made me very happy.So I had to wait about another 15-20 min or so but when the tech guy came out he was very nice and started the process of swapping it for another one. He said I was lucky b/c there was only one in the store! I told him also of my previous experience woes and he was asking me if I remembered his name or what he looked like. Sounded to me like they might have had other complaints and he was trying to see if it was the same person from the questions he was asking. I told him I didn't remember much b/c I tried to block him out of my memory it was that bad! So he gave me a fresh ipod, I thanked him for his help and a much better experience. He told me I had til Dec 31 for this ipod in case anything happens b/c even though my original warranty expires next month, the "part" aka the ipod he gave me today is covered for 90 days. I told him I hope and think that the one I was exchanging was problably just a dud and that this one will work as well as my original! At least that is what I hope!So...tonight I will be importing all my music, videos, etc back onto my new ipod!!!

Weekend in Review

Hi all! (I hope I am not talking to myself but you never know... Hi me!!)LOL

Anyway-I am just being a little silly so back to normal now!

This past weekend we went to Long Beach Island to see Ben's mom and stepdad. We went to Barnegate Lighthouse. I walked to the top of the lighthouse with ben's stepdad, 217 steps up! It was not easy and boy was I feeling it yesterday! I was able to get some nice shots from the top of the lighthouse and some from the rocks looking at the lighthouse. After the lighthouse we stopped for a drink and snacks and I caught a butterfly with my camera too! Here are few highlights:

Going up!

From outside looking up!
A view of the Lighthouse from the top:
Views from the top of the surrounding area:


Ben and his mom standing at the end of the walkway on the rocks. I took this photo from the top of the lighthouse. Ben is in the bright red shirt.
This is the lighthouse from where Ben and his mom were standing. After we finished we walked to them and I took pics from that point looking at the lighthouse.

US with the Lighthouse in the background
Ben's mom and stepdad Bill
A friend of mine does this shadow photo with all her vacations and I always think its a cute idea so I used it! Here we are looking at the ocean!
The Butterfly

And if anyone wants to see the rest of the photos (pretty much just the same stuff I posted with a few odds and ends) You can see them here: http://cb-morningglory.smugmug.com/gallery/3575233/11/202950866 no password is needed. After we got back to the house we watched a little football in the background and played Tri-Ominoes. It turned out I was pretty good at the game. I won both times! I liked that game! In between we had some dinner and then left right before the Eagles-Giants game started. We were able to hear the first quarter but by the time it was over we were out of range for the Philly sports radio channel and apparently NY does not have a radio channel that they broadcast the games on. And by the time we got home it was the second half and well, you all know how well THAT went! Philadelphia really disappointed this week but I guess it was to be expected with half they decent players out on injuries! Of course in other sports news, the PHILLIES did pull it out for the fans and win the division which hasn't happened since I was a senior in high school! Oh course it was also a rough weekend for our Rutgers football but hopefully they will pick it back up this weekend and get a win!Speaking of sports, I didn't win the football pool this week at work. Ben came down to the finals, but lost it in points on the monday night game but it was a rough week for everyone. A lot of games didn't go as people planned. I did stay alive in the survival football pool so that is good and I still need to check how I did in my fantasy football that I am starting to understand I think!In other TV news I did enjoy Heroes again last night! And I still like Chuck! We also watched Journeyman and that still has my interest for now. I was also able to catch up on Tim Gunn's Guide to style last night on my Tivo-I really do like that show! Its like a "queer eye" for girls since their real "queer eye for the straight girl" didn't work out! I did watch Desparate Housewives and it looks to me like its shaping up to be an interesting season-at least that is what I hope! Tonight we watched LIFE because we had it saved on the Tivo and I really like it. It has some of the same humor you see in House MD but with a cop not a doctor. Its an NBC show but also airing on USA I think so if you get a shot to watch-check it out. I have only seen the pilot so far but I am looking forward to seeing what happens next! ight now we are watching Reaper (on the CW) and then we will watch House MD. So far the seasons shows are shaping up pretty good and and keeping our Tivo nice and active. Thank god we have the dual tuner in the living room so we can get some of these shows that are on at the same time.I am also loving all the free pilots and premieres on itunes this week and last week so I can even catch some of the other shows I didn't think to tape. I did watch the pilot for Kitchen Nightmares and seriously got a kick out of that one! I think we need Gordan Ramsey to come to my work and put people in line, even if it has nothing to do with cooking! Oh And Thursday will be good....Survivor (of course) then Supernatural is back and then ER!! I LOVE my Thursdays again. Of course I still have Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy on the tivo to watch but I might just wait til this weekend and watch last week's and this week's episodes together!

Work is the same. This week is a little more hectic because one co-worker is on vacation and then my supervisor got sick today and tomorrow and we have the most people we have had in almost a year, plus we got two new clients this week so its been pretty busy. This coming weekend shouldn't be too bad I hope. I am planning to go to see my grandfather on saturday, do some laundry and some more computer lessons. Sunday I can relax and since monday is a holiday (Columbus Day) I am going to the pumpkin farm with my cousin and her kids. Its a tradition we started a few years ago and I can't wait to go. Both the kids are big enough to enjoy it (and make great photos!) so I am sure it will be a great day.

My ipod is acting goofy again too so I am going to take it over to the apple store tomorrow after work and see if they have anything they can do for me. I got it working fine again but since my warranty expires next month, I am not taking any chances and going to get the most from the ability to use the warranty while I still have it! Hope it goes better than the last time I had to deal with them!

Ok, I have rambled on enough for one post! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!!!