to be jolly

the rough snow days have ceased for the time being.  (yay!)  done some baking; frosted gingerbread cookies, chocolate chip butterscotch cookies.  Chocolate chip and sugar cookies on the agenda too.  Going out to dinner tonight then traveling the neighborhoods around the city checking out the christmas lights.  Then out for some salted caramel hot chocolate.  (yum!) 

'tis the season

snow.  not very fond of it, that's for sure.  seems like it's been snowing for days.  oh, wait, it has.  right now it is lake effect.  the main storm came through Sunday, not much of one, about four inches.  Monday it was mostly clear, snow in the morning, enough to shovel.  I was out shoveling this morning, about two inches fell overnight.  I'm noticing that the sidewalk and driveway are covered again.  even though it is snowing, I do see patches of blue sky.  one of the nice things about the neighborhood, a guy two houses over has a tractor with a plow, so he clears off the sidewalk on one side of the house regularly.  the sidewalk on the cul-de-sac abuts the street and the city plows that side nicely, leaving only the front walk and driveway for me. not too bad.  except when it snows.  and snows.  and snows.

garbaging

matt's trash.  based on the recipe I found online for texas trash.  changed up a bit with things I like to munch on.  nibble on.  snack on.  Shane makes his own mix, scramble, which I love munching, nibbling, snacking.  it gave me the idea to create my own.  dare I share the recipe?  well, it has butter, chili powder, garlic salt, worcestershire, a-1, fritos, pretzels, bugles, life, cashews, sesame sticks.  oh yeah, and a secret ingredient added.  next I'll be baking gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, banana bread, and chocolate chip cookies.

flurry of activity

Friday.  Shane, his dad John, Bill and I celebrated the son and the father's birthdays.  Fine dining.  Filet, Sweet Potato, Green Beans, Creme Brulee.  Delicious.  Saturday.  After a slow start, some laundry, bench assembly completed.  Despite the weather, a drive into Chicago for dinner and a concert.  Starbucks close early in Chicago by the way.  The drive back started out fine, got windy, rainy, snowy, fine again.  Sunday.  Blueberry muffins.  Shopping.  New ornaments.  New pants.  New hangers.  Some snow.  Some shoveling.  More shopping.  Nothing new.  Monday.  Job search.  Laundry done.  More snow.  More shoveling.  More snow.  More shoveling.  More snow.

procrastination in full effect

it has been snowing lightly through out the day today.  woke up to ground cover.  actually braved the roads, went to the mall, bookstore, coffee, Disney etc.  the house is decorated for the holidays now.  the day after Thanksgiving, I dragged things out of the rafters and put the tree up, lighted.  it was a nice day of thanks and turkey with Mom and Dad, Pat, Toni, Chris and Shane.  been keeping myself busy doing things the last few weeks, some painting, still got more to do, later this week (procrastination in full effect).  yesterday the entryway bench got delivered.  in a flat box.  guess that means some assembly required actually mean complete assembly required.  later this week. (remember, procrastination is is full effect).  not much to report on the job front, still applying for available positions, hanging out, waiting for that one phone call that will start me on the path towards a new career.  been debating about getting a gaming system, especially since there's a new game on the market featuring Mickey.  Played Rock Band with Shane, Beth and Ken (I rocked the mic, dabbled on keyboards), gorged on pizza, fun!  pretty much covers all that's been going on 'round here for now.  cats are good, crazy, cute, entertaining.  think the new show on AMC, The Walking Dead is incredible, glad Ann is in the final two for ANTM, Survivor is getting good now that the tribe got rid of the power player, hopefully they will now get rid of the troublemaker.  I need to pick a book off my shelf, plenty to choose from.  Yay, it's Christmas time!!!

not ready for the cold and snow

Days have been pretty warm as of late, 60s, close to 70.  Cools down at night.  That all changed.  Rain pushed through this weekend, temperatures dropped.  There's snow in the forecast.  You'd think I would be used to this by now, but no, I am not.

Saturday the Apple store opened, so a number of us went to the mall to witness it.  It was busy, hectic, noisy (Apple!, Apple!, Apple!), chaotic.  It's only a store.  I could understand if it was the Disney store, but even then . . .  Apple! Apple! Apple!  (I think I'm still traumatized by the whole hiring event.) While at the mall I got books (one fiction, one recipe), CDs (rock and pop).  Then browsed electronics at Best Buy, snacked on doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, stocked up the freezer at Sam's Club.

I am going to start painting the Disney room!  It's really a reading room/guest room that will have all of the Disney stuff on display.  Fun color choices, interesting design.  It's going to be a lot of work to get it done, but I'm looking forward to the adventure (and more forward to it being completed!).

halls and hallways and other things thrown in

I've been meaning to post for a few days now but have let the days get away from me.  Since Trick or Treat (which I completely enjoyed, even though there were only 11 kids, my favorite a little girl dressed as Red Riding Hood) Shane and I have been working on the house.  More rooms painted.  Now there's evening twilight, sachet (guest room), honey beige, useful brown, brickhouse (kitchen, dining room), sage (foyer, hallway) on the walls.

Yesterday (that being Friday) we travelled to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland with Beth, met up with her sisters, brother-in-law, and niece.  What a great place.  I found myself caught up in all the displays of memorabilia, loved the scraps of paper with song lyrics, outfits worn on stage and in video, the instruments that artists forged their craft on.  There was so much to look at.  I had a blast.

The day started out bright and sunny, cold and rainy in Cleveland.  Snow too.  Once back closer to town noticed snow on the ground. Got home, settled in, lounged on the couch, surfed the Internet.  Read how bad the roads were around the area, numerous accidents, road closures.  Crazy.

Lounging today, laundry, lazy.  Tonight dinner and a chorus line.