Christmas goings-on

It's not like I don't have anything to say--it has been quite an eventful week--but for some reason I have not been able to form a coherent blog post in my mind. Let's see, last Thursday was my office's potluck and gift exchange, which I organized. I woke up violently ill, but I'll spare you the gory details. I had no choice but to call in sick, which, because I have such fantastic coworkers, caused much concern and sympathy. I really felt miserable, but I dragged myself in for an hour just for the gift exchange. Everyone was so surprised and happy to see me. The president even gave me a hug, despite my germy-ness. The exchange went very well. Almost all the gifts were quality. The most coveted: $50 in scratcher lottery tickets. Other popular items were liquor-related, including a bottle of wine, noise cancelling headphones with a fifth of tequila taped to the package, and some sort of pumping device. I ended up with a fancy alarm clock, the kind with nature sounds and gradually brightening lights and aromatherapy. The lottery ticket recipient ended up winning 50 bucks. So I'd say the event was a big success. Everyone brought food, none of which looked or smelled appetizing to me. Giant platters of shrimp, huge mounds of ribs, salads, a cheeseball, cookies and candy, you name it.


I went home and immediately went back to bed, and did not rise until the next morning. Of course, spending nearly 24 hours lying down (most of it on my right side to help the tummy feel better) led to quite a backache, which was my main complaint on Friday, although my stomach was still not 100%. I barely ate--I tried some chicken soup but after a few bites it was just yucky. Around dinner time, the only thing that sounded good was a Jersey Mike's turkey sub, so I schlepped down the street in the rain to pick one up. Yummy! I felt much better the next morning (Saturday) but stayed home all day and took it easy. My biggest accomplishment was wrapping all the presents I'd accumulated over a few weeks' worth of shopping.

Christmas Eve I went to my parents' house where my brother and his family had already arrived. The commotion was the usual, with three little kids in various states of obedience and cheer, and a growing shepherd-mix puppy that wants nothing more than to play with my parents' three chihuahuas, who want nothing more than to be left alone. That evening we watched Little Miss Sunshine, which I still think is a funny movie, but which both my dad and my brother thought was lame. Bah humbug. Speaking of which, we also watched Scrooged, a modern classic.


Christmas morning I think I was the first to awaken, to the sound of a whimpering puppy who I thought would surely pee on the floor if she was not let outside. But of course, once she was downstairs, the other dogs woke up, and there was clashing, which woke others up, and then before you know it we're having breakfast and getting ready to open presents. Even though we tried to be a little more judicious this year in the volume department, there were still enough presents to open that we had to take three breaks.



Of course, everyone made out. I got a new external hard drive for my computer, as well as some super plush bath towels, a proof set, a car vac, memory cards for my camera, a Paris calendar, some Bath & Body Works stuff, and a couple things for Comet. The kids got toys and clothes galore, most of which they were not allowed to open because of all the tiny pieces that could get lost before they even get home. A couple things they did enjoy were the Aquadoodle mat, and the Speed Stackers cups.




For lunch we had a yummy casserole that had eggs, hash browns, cheese, and sausage. My version was made with southwestern Egg Beaters and textured vegetable protein, and some said it tasted even better than the "real" stuff. For dinner the carnivores feasted on giant slabs of prime rib,


while I had some mighty tasty turkey breast. Even hours later, we were too full to partake of the pie!

On my way out to the car, in the pitch black darkness, I stepped off the edge of my parents' driveway and twisted my ankle. Yowzers! I couldn't elevate it or ice it becuase I was driving home, and by the time I got home, I just wanted to go to bed. The next day I ended up wearing slippers to work because all I could do was hobble. I went to the doctor and she sent me for an xray, which thankfully came back negative. She recommended ice and elevation, of course, and a pull-on Ace bandage. I followed all three orders, and the best one of all was the Ace bandage. Man, with that thing on, I felt no pain! It was so cool. Today I was almost walking normal, which is such a huge relief, because my cruise is coming up very soon and the last thing you want when you're on vacation is to be hindered in some way.

There's more to tell, but I must be off to bed for my beauty rest. More soon, I promise.

Antietam

Tuesday I flew up to Maryland for a training and afterwards visited Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg. It was the first Civil War battlefield I'd ever been to, so I was very excited. I didn't get there until a little before 4:00, and it only stays open until dark, so I had to rush through the driving tour. But it was amazing. You walk in to the Visitors' Center and the first thing you see is a giant photo of dead soldiers lying on the ground, and the caption says it was taken less than 100 yards from where you are standing. Wow. It really puts you in the right frame of mind for what you're about to see. I mean, it's a bunch of rolling hills with trees and fences and statues and monuments,



but when you think about what actually happened there all those years ago, it is quite chilling. On a single day in the fall of 1862, almost 23,000 soldiers were either killed, wounded, or missing. Here are a couple of the photos I took (along with some comparable views of what it looked like back then):

Burnside's Bridge:



Dunker Church:



Bloody Lane:



This is my favorite one:


I was racing against sunset as it was, but could not bear to pull myself away. I kept looking at the clock, thinking about how far away the airport was, and then looking out at where I was, and, well, I ended up missing my flight. That's a first for me. It turned out fine, though, because I just got on the next one. Gotta love Southwest.

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "P"

I love the randomness of this meme. I asked Heather for a letter, and now my task is to name 10 things I love that start with the letter "P." Here goes!

1. Planning vacations
2. Popping my gum
3. Picture taking (er...photography)
4. Petting Comet
5. Picking out yarn for a new knitting project
6. Pillows
7. Peeling the wrapper off a piece of chocolate
8. Phoning friends and family
9. Playing Natalie Merchant songs
10. Posting on my blog!

If you’d like to play, leave a comment and I’ll assign you a letter. :)

Carolina Hurricanes

Last night I got to go to my first ever hockey game. It was the Carolina Hurricanes vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs (do not get me started on Canada's blatantly unorthodox grammar). Alas, we lost, 4 to 3. I went with my brother, Matthew--I took him for his birthday. My company has season tickets in the fancy-schmancy "Championship Club," and I was lucky enough to snag a pair for this game.

We had quite a time getting to the RBC Center. My boss drew me a map of a back way to get there in order to avoid traffic, but I left it on my desk at work. Duh. I had redrawn it right after he drew it (because his handwriting is worse than a doctor's) so I actually was able remember most of it. But "most" was not good enough. We made it all the way to the arena. It was right there. But I made a left-hand turn too soon, when I should have gone through the light and turned left at the first driveway. Needless to say, this resulted in about a 30-minute delay, because I couldn't just "whip a U-y" with cops everywhere directing traffic, not to mention solid lines of cars coming from the other direction. So we got back on the freeway, but going the wrong way (Garmins don't come in handy when you're trying to go a back way and not the most direct way) and backtracking on the freeway was not an option since that was exactly the traffic we had wanted to avoid in the first place

Anyway, we finally got there and turned at the right place, and were directed to awesome parking spots right by the door. We asked someone where the VIP entrance was and got to avoid the long lines at the metal detectors. After asking yet another RBC employee how to get to our section, we finally found it. It was like entering a restaurant, with a maitre'd at a podium, except this guy hands out wristbands and drink tickets. Once we entered the Championship Club area, Matthew said, "You gotta get more tickets so we can come back!" Not only did we have posh leather seats, but there was a big buffet and plenty of chairs and tables where you can eat and watch the game on giant plasma TV's. I had some pizza, salad, half a panini, and some macaroni and cheese. Fountain drinks are unlimited. Matthew enjoyed a burger, pulled pork, and pasta salad with huge chunks of salami.

After we ate, we went to our seats and started to watch the game. From what I hear, 4-3 is a high scoring game for hockey. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to watch a game that is 1-0. The Canes were playing awfully. This was the fifth game in a row that they've lost, and it was obvious why. They can't keep the puck, and when they do get it, they can't hit it. Seriously, it was like (as my brother said) they allowed the first six spectators who arrived to suit up and hop into the rink. It was still exciting, though, when they did score, and they played that ridiculously loud horn thing that could wake the dead. I was surprised that I could actually follow where the puck was without having the benefit of a camera panning its course.

Speaking of cameras, I got to test mine out a little bit. The zoom rocks!!!



Unfortunately, since I'm still limited by the 32 MB card that came with the camera, I had to take pix at lower resolution with a higher compression rate. But I was very pleased with the speed--hardly any shutter lag. And I think the image stabilization is fantastic.

Naturally, the zambonis were of interest, providing something new to photograph.


Here's one of me and my brother (taken by the owner of my company, who was sitting in the other two company seats with his wife).


When the game ended, we thanked my boss for sharing his tickets with us, and left. I was anticipating gridlock getting out, but apparently the VIP's also have their own exit lane, which made things super easy. It had been a relatively quick game and it was only about quarter after 10, so my brother and I decided to catch a showing of Borat. It is definitely not for the thin-skinned, but it was hilarious with a capital H. I nearly peed my pants during the scene where he's just learned how to talk like a gangsta and he's trying to get a hotel room. On the way home, my brother and I kept doing "remember whens" (the bear!, the family photos!) and we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. Good times.

Ponder

These stood out to me this evening and I thought I'd share them for your ponderiffic (yes, I made that up) enjoyment.

Never cut what you can untie.
--Joseph Joubert

What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
--John Lubbock

If you haven't read my spiel on quotes before, please do so here.

Comment roundup

Although I get an email every time someone comments on my blog, sometimes it's hard to tell where that comment was posted if it wasn't in response to the most recent post. So instead of digging through old posts and responding in the comments there, I'll just respond here.

Anonymous said,

I am a one of those people that read your blog and love the insight you have on living in North Carolina. I live in socal and plan on moving to nc next year.

Thanks for letting me know! I set out writing this blog for people just like you, so I'm glad it's reaching its intended audience!

And my "fan," the one who recognized me at Qdoba, said,

It's Kim from MA. It was so much fun meeting you! North Carolina is definitely a friendlier place. I don't think I would have surprised someone like that back home.

I hear you, Kim! If I'd been in L.A., I probably would have not walked up to some strangers who were calling my name. I would have run the other way! But it really was such a delightful surprise to meet a blog reader in that way. It's one of those stories you never forget.

Like the time my boyfriend discovered that our house keys matched. He lived in Lancaster; I was living in Canyon Country (these are suburbs of L.A. about 45 minutes apart). A spare house key of mine was sitting on my mantel. He happened to see it and said it looked just like his. Now, I think all keys look alike (well, you know what I mean) but somehow he recognized the actual shape of the grooves and when we held up mine next to his, sure enough, they were the same! We immediately went to the front door, and he used his house key to unlock my door. That was a Twilight Zone moment if there ever was one! I understand the odds are not all that phenomenal, because when you're talking about common doorknobs, there are only so many groove combinations. BUT, this was still mind boggling to me, that of all the keys to match, it would be mine and his. Of course I wanted to see this as some sort of sign that we were meant to be together--ha!--we're not--but it is still "one of those stories."

I'm becoming somewhat of a story enthusiast. I got back from a trip to South Carolina this afternoon, and one thing I've found that makes the driving go by more quickly is listening to podcasts. My favorites are from NPR, especially "Driveway Moment," "Story of the Day," and "Morning Stories." There is something so precious about a well-told story. If you have iTunes (and if you don't, go download it now!), you should check them out. They're free and usually pretty short, and leave you feeling just a tad bit enriched.

I'll leave you with a lovely cloud formation captured yesterday on my way to South Carolina.

My new camera!

So I finally just took the plunge and bought the Canon G7. It arrived today and so far I am very happy and relieved. It is not too big, and the photo quality is fantastic. Of course, all I've tested with is household items, so I haven't "stretched her legs," so to speak, but I am confident she will continue to impress. What follows will be of little interest to most people who read this blog regularly, but for anyone out there who lands here via a search on the G7, they might find this info worthwhile.

Photo comparisons
Both set on auto, no flash.

Me (Sony T1)


Me (Canon G7)


Flower (Sony T1)


Flower (Canon G7)


Both set on macro.
Quarter (Sony T1)



Quarter (Canon G7)

Let it snow!

Remember making paper snowflakes as a kid? A simple sheet of white paper, a pair of scissors, and even the least artistic could produce a thing of beauty.

Relive your childhood without having to clean up the floor. But only click if you have at least ten minutes to play, because you won't be able to drag yourself away.

Thanks to Ali for sharing where to find this fun web page!

Holiday Time Meme

from Nicole's blog

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate. Preferably minty.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Wrapped, of course.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White lights on both.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope.

5. When do you put up your decorations?
It’s different every year. I don’t put much up, ever since the Tree Incident of ’99. But the office is done, and my parents’ house is mostly done.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)
Mashed potatoes.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
My mom loved the Dr. Seuss cartoon “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, and it was a tradition to watch it every year. And of course, there’s a whole “roast beast” story that we won’t go into right now.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I have no idea.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We never did growing up, but I think we have the past few Christmases.

10. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas tree?
I don’t have one, so I’ll describe my parents’ tree (I did help decorate it, after all). It’s got white lights, some of which twinkle, and it has a ton of Hallmark ornaments collected over the years. It has a few that my brother and I made as children, and a few that I received as gifts over the years. My favorites are the Lion King ornaments and the embroidered ornament that my third grade teacher made for me. She made one for everyone with their initials on it.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
Pretty to look at, but what a mess. And this is coming from someone who’s never shoveled a driveway in her life.

12. Can you ice skate?
I did go ice skating once or twice, but who knows if I could do it now.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I get great stuff every year, but for some reason my first thought when reading this question was the year I got a Cabbage Patch Kid AND a giant teddy bear (both of which I still have, by the way). I was on Cloud 9. I have a Polaroid of me posing with those two toys and I just went to go find it. Yeah, right. I really need to organize all my photos (I’m talking physical photos, here.) New Year’s Resolution?

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
How can I answer this without sounding trite? See “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Well, it’s not a dessert per se, but my favorite treat is the mint chocolate M&M’s and the mint chocolate Hershey’s Kisses.

16 What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Well, in addition to the Grinch, I always liked going to pick out the Christmas tree. Alas, we’ve gone artificial now. But they ARE much easier to decorate!

17. What tops your tree?
There’s an angel on top of my parents’ tree.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
I love giving, when I have a good gift idea. But when I don’t, it’s not as fun.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
For some reason, I always liked “What Child is This?” And I remember learning “Do You Hear What I Hear?” in third grade; I was shocked that there was a Christmas carol I’d never heard before! My favorite Christmas CD is Amy Grant’s “Home for Christmas.”

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or yummy?
They’re tasty, but I’d rather spend my calories on M&M’s, thanks.

Deck the halls (literally)

When I worked at La Mesa Junior High, my dear friend Nicole ran something called the Sunshine Club for the staff. Basically, anyone who wanted to could contribute a $10 donation, and then whenever someone on the staff had a baby, got married, or experienced some other major life event, the Sunshine Club would bestow a thoughtful gift to that person, on behalf of the entire staff. Nicole did lots of other things that weren't officially Sunshine Club duties, like put out refreshments for faculty meetings, organize a monthly Lunch Bunch, and so much more. She was (and still is!) basically the social glue of that school.

I've appointed myself to be the Sunshine Club for my office (minus the donations). I put a list together of everyone's birthdays, and I bring in cupcakes to celebrate those special days. Also, I'm going to coordinate the holiday gift exchange. And I decided we should have some wintry decorations to make our surroundings a little more festive. I wasn't given much of a budget ($20) but thanks to Walmart and the Dollar Store, I was able to pull together some pretty decent stuff. I ultimately kicked in $20 of my own, and brought some stuff from home to round it all out. Monday night I stayed late to deck the halls. Here are the fruits of my labor:




Before I left, I had to unplug everything, and since I don't get in until after everyone else in the morning, I was wondering if anyone would plug the lights in before I got there. They did!! That made me so happy. Everyone said that everything looked great, and was very happy about it. I kind of just did it, and didn't tell anyone about it beforehand, so I wasn't sure how people would react. But it was very positive.

One thing that bummed me out was I had bought a string of garland with lights already in it, and after I hung it iup and put on the red bows, I went to plug it in and it didn't work. So disappointing.


So it really warmed my heart when when my boss went through the strand, bulb by bulb, to find the one that was loose. He found it, and now it lights up, and it is just lovely! I also got a rush when the owner of the company came in later that morning and asked, "Who put up all these fantastic decorations?!" and I got to raise my hand with a big grin and say, "I did!" He was really, really pleased with it, which made my day.

At the end of the day, my boss handed me $20 to pay me back for the decorations I had bought out of my own pocket. He said thanks for doing it, it looks great, no one else would have done it, but he's glad I did. This was a big deal, because he'd been kind of Scroogey when I'd asked him for some decoration money.

I really love the people I work with; they are all so great, and I feel so fortunate to have found this job. Happy December everyone!!