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!!


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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:)