In the Life of Martha

Oscar 2012

2012-01-24T12:43:00.001-06:00

Yikes, there are a lot of additional titles added to the list with Oscar nominations coming out this morning. I can't guarantee I'll watch them all (Harry Potter, Transformers, and Real Steel, I'm looking at you...) but we'll see. There are quite a few I'm actually looking forward to.

Shortest Movie Reviews Ever

2012-01-22T18:40:00.001-06:00

Moneyball: Boring.
The Ides of March: Depressing.
Rango: Boring-er.

Hodge Podge

2012-01-15T15:24:00.004-06:00

* We watched The Help last week. It was ok, I guess. I think I was distracted by Emma Stone's southern accent. It was an interesting film, but not one I'd probably watch again. Up to 7 on the done list. I plan to watch the Golden Globes tonight and see how they turn out.

* We ate Brussels sprouts for the first time ever this week. The verdict? Pretty good! I was kind of surprised because they look like baby cabbages, but don't taste like cabbage at all.

* I passed my seven-year service anniversary at work earlier this month. That seems like such a long time. Scarier than that? I still have emails from 2005 in my Outlook personal folders. We accountants keep everything!

* I yielded to peer pressure yesterday and got an iPhone. Between cancelling our land line and the convenience of being able to check email wherever I am, the Apple sirens were calling too loudly for me to ignore them any longer. So far I've gotten addicted to Fruit Ninja and discovered that that hyped up "Words With Friends" game is really just Scrabble. Scrabble, people! Ugh. I HATE Scrabble. Although I will mention that I still won when I played Adam yesterday. :)

* I'm currently making a mixed berry crisp in the crockpot, Adam made Flat Apple Pie earlier this afternoon, and I'll be making Brookies in just a few minutes. Yay for cold-weather dessert-making!

* But boo for snow. I was so hopeful that maybe it would miss us completely this year. 'Twas not to be.

*GO PACK!

2012 Movie List

2012-01-02T19:45:00.003-06:00

So, let's talk about movies. I did terribly on watching the 2011 award nominees. Just awful.

Carly: You mean you're not going to finish your Oscar list from 2011?!?

Horrors!

Maybe I'll get back to them, but for now there's a brand new list! Golden Globe and SAG nominees are out already and Oscar noms will be out later this month. Woo!

We had a weekend full of movie watching. We saw a total of five movies (The Change Up, Midnight in Paris, Crazy, Stupid, Love, One Day, and The Beginners), three of which appear on the 2012 list. Go me!

My favorite was definitely Midnight in Paris. Perhaps I'm partial to movies that show great shots of the famous city. This was also a classic Woody Allen production where you'd need to watch it over and over to catch everything and take some art history classes in between viewings to appreciate all the homages. Just wonderful, Owen Wilson notwithstanding.

The Change Up was a stupid comedy with plenty of gross out jokes. Not much else to say about it, really.

Crazy, Stupid, Love was pretty good. Lots of intertwining plots that you didn't really see until the climax scene. And Steve Carrell managed to tone it down a bit. He's kind of like Adam Sandler - can't usually seem to escape the character hole he dug himself into to get his big break, but when he does it's amazing.

One Day was enjoyable. Once again, lots of great shots of Paris and the like. Slightly distracted by Anne's accent, although that may just be because it was made such a big deal of during the promotion of the film. Definitely not a comedy, but plenty of fun along the way.

The Beginners seemed kind of slow. Jumped around in time, used a "this is the sun, these are the stars, etc" kind of technique that I'm sure I saw before but can't quite place. It was ok, but not spectacular.

Thus far I'm six for 34. Let's hope I do better this time around.

Unanticipated Farewell

2011-11-19T08:32:00.004-06:00

Things don't always turn out the way you thought they would.

We finally decided it was the right thing to do to try and get Ted and Connor in to see the "real" vet. When we got Carly we had the mobil vet come to the house and try and see them. He ended up giving them their shots from an arm's length as they were both hiding under the couch. It worked. But it was time for JC to go in to get his shots anyway and Ted and Connor's three-year rabies was up as well. We'd had success in getting Ted into the carrier when we had the scooting/anal gland issue a few months ago. We figured we could use somewhat of the same stategy to get Connor into one. And that was pretty much the case. Trap in a corner, confuse with a towel, shove into carrier, endure wrath of evil kitty glare.

So we got all three cats to the vet and had back to back to back appointments. JC went first because he's easy. And a picture of perfect kitty health, viral blip in April notwithstanding.

Then came Connor, pretty much because his carrier was on top of Ted's. He did really well for not having been to a vet in years. We kept him under the towel for the most part, but he didn't scratch or even squirm too much. We learned that he had severe dental problems. This explains all the drooling and bad breath. I had suspected as much. We decided to leave him overnight so they could sedate him the next morning to check him out better.

Ted's exam was much the same as Connor's. Didn't struggle too much. His mouth was less severe, but still bad enough that the vet wanted to get a better look at him as well. He also needed his anal sacs expressed again, which she opted to wait to do until he was sedated.

So we went in with three cats, came out with one.

The next morning Adam called me with the vet's news. They had put Ted under first and once they were able to get a better look at the situation, it was so much worse than they had originally thought. We had gone into this thinking all he needed was a good cleaning. Turns out all his teeth were pretty much shot, hanging on by a thread. He had terrible gum disease. Would need all his teeth extracted at some point. Was probably in a lot of pain. He was also a lot older than we'd been led to believe. When we adopted him back in 2007 the shelter said he was about a year and a half old. That would make him five or six now. Try ten. Twelve. He was from New Orleans so who knows what he got into down there after the floods. The vet said he was pretty much a feral cat who'd been living in our house for four years.

So we had a few options: Take out the six worst teeth and see what transpired with the rest (estimated cost $800 now, much more as the rest of the teeth cracked or fell out.) Take out all his teeth now (didn't even bother to get this estimate.) Accept the situation for what it was, pretty much hopeless both financially and in terms of quality of life for Ted, and do what was the hardest: let him go. Even the vet agreed it didn't make sense to do nothing and surrender him to a shelter as they'd just put him down immediately anyway since no one would adopt him in his condition.

It was probably the most heart-wrenching decision we've had to make. Knowing that Connor had been initally estimated to be in much worse shape than Ted, letting Ted go meant we'd have to let Connor go as well. We didn't have a lot of time to make our decision - Ted was already under and they couldn't have more than one cat out at a time. So we had to do what we hope was best for the cats.

They put Connor under pretty much just to confirm what they had previously suspected and it was apparently about seven times as bad as Ted's had been. And his real age was more like fifteen. So that outcome kind of wrote itself.

Of course all of this was going on while I was at work. Adam called me, conferenced in the vet tech. I had to go out to my car for awhile to talk things through with Adam. While Adam called the vet back to tell them our choice about Ted I went and told my boss what was going on and that I needed to leave for the day.

We didn't go to see them. By the time I got home they were probably both gone anyway. And I didn't want to see them like that, really. We got Adam's dad to pick up our carriers and the blankets we'd left with them overnight. Neither of us could imagine going back to the vet's office yet.

It's been rough. I miss them. They might have been categorized as "feral" by the vet, but they were our cats and very much ingrained into our daily lives. I miss Ted hanging out with me in the bathroom. I miss Connor walking in front of my face while I'm trying to type on the computer. I miss Ted being my neckwarmer/pillow while I watch Molto Mario while eating breakfast. I miss seeing Connor conked out on the mouse pillow.

We were also worried about JC. He'd never been in the house without these other two around. The first night they were gone he seemed to mope a little. We jumped the gun a little and actually brought a kitten home on Thursday but neither JC nor Carly were having any of that so it went back the next morning. We felt bad about that - it was an awesome kitten, but it wasn't right for our existing cats. JC seems to be dealing with it pretty well. We're wondering if maybe we overestimated how close he really was to Ted and Connor. I know those two were best buddies, and maybe JC was just on the periphery of that. He's eating, sleeping in the bed with us, playing. So unless he starts to get bored or looks like he wants another cat around, we're going to stay with just the two.

These things keep circling in my brain:

1) Is this whole thing our fault because we didn't take them to the vet regularly? If we had gone before now could we have prevented this? This is what's really killing me... the guilt of not knowing if all this was present before we even got them.

2) I hope we made our decision for the right reasons. I'd hate to think we did this because of the money. We had no idea things were so bad - we didn't know they were in pain, though they almost certainly were. I take some comfort in the fact that the vet said she would have done the same thing if they were her cats.

3) I'm so mad at myself for not saying a proper goodbye to either of them at the vet's office. When we left them there overnight I stayed out in the lobby with JC while Adam the the vet tech took the other two back to the kennel area. It really never occured to me that I'd never see them again. They were taken there to get rabies shots for goodness sake!

4) I hope Ted and Connor were happy for the four years they were with us. Who knows what kind of life they lead before they came to us. All I can wish is that they felt loved and safe while in our house.

5) I'm kind of glad that if it had to be one, it had to be both. I don't think they'd have wanted to be apart. They were such good cuddle buddies.

A Week in the Life of Martha

2011-10-22T19:33:00.005-05:00

Monday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. Adam works at 6am these days so it’s an early start. Although I was up at 4:45 to put Carly in the cat room. Luckily I seem to be able to fall back asleep easier these days. I roll over, re-set the alarm to 5:45 and go back to sleep.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Time to get up and feed the cat – Carly gets a quarter can in the morning and a quarter at night. She knows this and gets cranky if I stall with her food in the morning. I also unload the dishwasher – I did a lot of baking yesterday so I have more dishes in the sink that I want to get going before I leave for work. Go to the office, check my email, then head to the shower.

6:35AM – clean and dressed, it’s back to the kitchen for breakfast. Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs. Yum. I channel surf while I eat, ending up on “Molto Mario”. Mmm, pasta. Ted climbs up on the couch behind my neck and tries to eat my hair. Connor jumps up to hang out right before I have to get up. Poor kitties.

7:00AM – start the dishwasher, kiss Adam goodbye, bring in the paper, and off to work. Boo for being dark out at 7am…and boo for NPR pledge drives.

7:15AM – got a decent parking spot this morning. There seems to be a 4 minute window where you either get a spot close to the doors or you have to walk a mile. My boss is on vacation this week but I’ve got a whole list of projects. I tend to get bored if I focus all my brain power on one thing so I find myself bouncing back and forth between two or three things for most of the morning. Keeps me awake.

10:00AM – mmmm, chocolate. I have been overindulging on the mini twix bars, for sure.

11:45AM – time to head home for lunch. Man, it’s windy out.

12:00PM – I’m unsurprised to walk in the door and see all the kitties lined up in the sun in the living room. What a life. Soup for lunch. But I hate how the carrots explode in the microwave. So annoying. Watch my DVRd Pop-up Videos while I eat. I’m so excited that they brought the show back!

12:30PM – a few peanut butter cups for good measure and it’s back to work.

12:45PM – I somehow managed to get a spot directly in front of the door. Score!

2:30PM – OMG. Need caffeine. Machine Hour Rates are not the most stimulating topic.

4:15PM – calling it a day. Head home to make dinner before going to bell rehearsal.

5:00PM – kitty feeding time. They have internal clocks that never fail. Also, they hear the chiming of the clock on the wall and know it’s time for food. They stalk me from the time I walk in the door until the time I set the food down in front of them. Pavlov anyone?

5:15PM – dinner time. Turkey paninis. Quick, easy, yummy.

6:00PM – off to bells. The Breezewood highway exit is open again (yay!) so it shouldn’t take so long to get there anymore.

6:30PM – as much as I enjoy the company of the ladies in the bell choir, it’s a never ending struggle to keep from sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong regarding music choice and technical performance details. We’re getting deep into Christmas music already.

7:45PM – rehearsals theoretically go until 8 but I can’t remember the last time we actually lasted that long.

8:15PM – back home. Adam’s up in Green Bay as Dave apparently got his key stuck in his door lock. This gives me time to catch up on some of my DVR shows that Adam can’t stand. I’ve been recording the new Rosie O’Donnell show and I’m still undecided. I fast forward through some of it, but I think I’ll keep it on the list for a little while longer.

9:00PM – kitty pit stop for Carly, time for PJs for me. After brushing my teeth I go back and clean out the litter boxes. Carly’s very proud of her latest addition. Didn’t even bother to bury it. *sigh* Settle into bed, even have some cuddle time with Ted before Adam gets home.

10:00PM – lights out. Nighty-nite.

Tuesday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. I get up this time and take Carly to the room and feed her. She was especially obnoxious last night – I think we were up two or three times.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Check my email, then head to the shower.

6:35AM – Breakfast - Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs again. What can I say, I’m a creature of habit. Mario’s making a pasta/cauliflower dish today that looks good. Maybe I’ll try and find the recipe…

7:00AM – Off to work. Looks like the pledge drive is over. Woo!

7:15AM – Parked right in front today! Amazing. They’ve started decorating for Halloween in the office this morning. Black netting with some fake spiders. Someone comes by and says, “oh, that’s cute!” and one of the ladies here says, “it’s supposed to be scary, not cute!” Ha.

11:45AM – time for lunch. Have successfully not killed any people from sales & marketing this morning. Sometimes it’s a challenge.

12:00PM – JC is totally wound up today. He’s chasing his own tail, Ted’s tail, and generally terrorizing Connor. Lunch today – Lean Cuisine – Honey Chicken. One of my favorites. I especially like the peas.

12:30PM – Back to work.

12:45PM – A little bit of a walk to get back today. Not way out in converting, but not right in front either.

4:15PM – Heading out. Got to make a quick stop at the bank before heading up to Darboy for IMA. We went to an online credit card payment system this year, but I still try and have some cash with me in case people show up unregistered. We also have a 50/50 raffle that operates on a cash basis.

5:00PM – Setting up my registration table. I always tend to be the first person here.

5:45PM – Dinner – chicken and fish. Simple food, but very good. I love when our meetings are at the Darboy Club. They’re so easy to work with. Got a bit of a late start because there was some confusion over the dinner start time… should have verified when I called in the headcount, although not really my responsibility. Oh well.

6:20PM – Speakers tonight are talking about servant leadership. With my position in the organization I end up at every meeting and I hear every speaker whether I’m interested in them or not. It’s both a blessing and a curse.

7:20PM – we’re trying out a new format this year with just one hour of CPE. This means the meeting is over earlier than usual. We’ll still have a board meeting after the regular chapter meeting is over, but I should still be home before 10PM!

8:30PM – Gah… board meetings always go long. Finally heading home.

8:50PM – home reached. Do some dishes, clean some cat boxes, then head to bed. Catch up on some Pop-up Video since Adam’s snoring away before I even lay down.

10:00PM – lights out.

Wednesday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. I left Carly in the room around 5 this morning so I just reset the alarm and roll over.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Put away some dishes, computer time, shower time.

6:30AM – Breakfast - Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs again. Thought about doing Special K, but the puffs won out. Watched a few segments of yesterday’s Rosie show. Fran Drescher was on.

7:00AM – Off to work.

7:15AM – I think I got the same spot this morning as I had yesterday.

9:30AM – I have such a headache I had to take my contacts out. Not sure if it’s related to the weather or hormones. Either way, it SUX. Very hard to concentrate when all you want to do is rip your eyes out.

11:45AM – time for lunch.

12:00PM – Nary a sign of the kitties – kind of reflective of the weather. Dreary and rainy. Good day to stay in bed and sleep. Good call, cats.

12:30PM – Back to work.

12:45PM – Wow, there are a lot of cars in the visitor lot. Wonder what’s going on?

2:15PM – still have that headache. Not as bad now, but even chocolate isn’t helping…

4:15PM – call it a day. Why is it so yucky out? Boo, Wisconsin weather. Boo.

4:30PM – Adam’s at the gym so I wait to start laundry until he gets home since I’m assuming he’ll have some stinky clothes to be washed. I do laundry twice a week – Wednesday and Sunday – because Adam’s got big clothes and I’d rather do a few smaller loads than a whole bunch at one time. In the meantime I watch some Pop-up Video.

5:00PM – start laundry quickly before the swarming cats get their desired food.

5:05PM – time for people food. Tonight’s menu: Greek Meatballs with gnocchi. I’m not sure what exactly makes them “Greek.” It’s just beef with onions, allspice, cinnamon, oregano, and parsley. Browned and then cooked in some tomatoes. The gnocchi are homemade – I made a huge batch a few weeks ago with my new ricer. We reheat some of the apple slump I made on Sunday for dessert. That’s a great fall recipe.

6:00PM – Catching up on some DVR shows – Conan, NCIS. Flip the load of laundry to the dryer.

7:00PM – Adam retreats to the bedroom to watch the first game of the World Series. Too bad the Brewers didn’t make it. Would have been sweet to win the Super Bowl and World Series in the same year. Oh well… I finish up my Pop-up Videos and the Rosie from yesterday.

8:00PM – whoops, totally forgot about the laundry. Now I get to fold it on top of Adam. Time for the rest of the Wednesday night tasks: garbage collection, litter locker cleanout, fridge cleanout, dishes. I usually do my menu planning and shopping list but I didn’t get to it.

8:30PM – I watch the Rosie from today while Carly takes some time in the cat room.

9:15PM – bedtime prep, kitty retrieval.

10:00PM – lights out.

Thursday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. Get up and feed the cat.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Put away some dishes, computer time (Happy Birthday Dad!), shower time.

6:30AM – Breakfast – We tried the new Pillsbury frozen breakfast biscuits this morning. Bacon and Egg. They’re ok – I’m kind of weirded out by the square-shaped eggs. Not sure I’d get them again. Maybe if they’re on sale and I have a coupon… Mario was making some kind of braised chicken this morning. And buccatini. I like buccatini. It’s fun stuff.

7:10AM – Off to work. Running kind of late. I blame the blender. And the fact that I overfilled it. Made my knock off Starbucks Mocha frappuccino using splenda, almond milk, and sugar free chocolate syrup.

7:25AM – even though I’m late I still got a pretty good parking spot. Maybe everyone’s having problems this morning…

11:45AM – time for lunch. Ugh. It looks like it might snow. The horror!

12:00PM – Ted was on me like white on rice today. Jumped up on the couch behind me almost immediately. Lunch today was pasta and homemade sauce. I haven’t bought jarred pasta sauce in ages since Adam got a recipe from Mark that he really likes. And I can never say no to pasta…

12:30PM – Back to work

12:45PM – Ugh. Not only did I end up far, far away, but it’s raining. A cold, cruel rain.

4:25PM – calling it a day. I heard murmurings of snow around the office earlier but I sure hope they were kidding.

4:40PM – home. So dreary out, but no snow!

5:00PM – kitty feeding time. I totally hate the whiney meows…

5:15PM – people food time. Tonight’s menu: Scrambled Egg Burritos. Bacon, cheese, sour cream, scrambled eggs in a tortilla. I also added some southern hash brown potatoes and some onions. Good stuff.

5:30PM – DVR time. Harry’s Law, Law and Order: SVU

7:15PM – Adam’s making a Culver’s run – Andes Mint Avalanche. I do dishes while he’s gone.

8:00PM – Adam retreats to watch ultimate fighting or wrestling or something. I go in the office and take care of next week’s menu planning and grocery list. Adam works on Saturday morning so we’ll be doing our shopping Friday night instead.

8:45PM – Wow, that took way too long. It shouldn’t be that hard to come up with six things to make. I did end up finding the recipe I saw on Molto Mario earlier this week. We’ll see how it is. I head back to the living room to watch Project Runway.

10:00PM – Oh, come on! Eliminate Anya already! Boo! Kitty retrieval, bedtime.

Friday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. Get up and feed the cat.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Put away some dishes, computer time, shower time.

6:40AM – Breakfast – Back to the puffs. Watched the After the Runway from last night. Still annoyed that they kept all four designers for fashion week.

7:05AM – Off to work.

7:20AM – Lots of empty spots this morning. Everyone must have taken the day off…

10:30AM – I think my leg heard me last night when I said it was doing much better and I probably wouldn’t reschedule the chiropractor appointment I had to cancel a couple weeks ago when I was knocked on my butt by a cold. It’s been aching all morning.

11:45AM – time for lunch.

12:00PM – Leftover pasta today – added some peas for some veggie goodness. Oh, and lots of pepper.

12:30PM – Back to work

12:45PM – I’m in the exact same parking spot as when I left. Amazing. And I even got stuck by a train on the way back.

2:30PM – Friday afternoons are always a struggle.

3:30PM – heading home. Got a lot of stuff to accomplish tonight.

3:45PM - home - and pretty much turn right back around to go shopping. Down to Oshkosh to the outlet mall to look for new shoes for Adam (no dice.) Back up to Neenah. Dinner at Cy's Asian Bistro (so good!), grocery shopping and Piggly Wiggly and Pick and Save, then back home.

7:00PM - feed some very hungry kitties. Then catch up on some Pop up Videos before calling it a night.

9:30 - lights out a little early today. So sad...

Saturday:
5:45AM - Adam wakes me up to tell me he's going to the gym. Crazy man...

7:00AM - alarm goes off. I get up and go have breakfast. Any guesses as to what it was?

8:00AM - Adam works today 8-12 (overtime!) so I'll be doing the rest of our weekly shopping by myself. Getting a kind of slow start today. I don't get out the door until almost 9.

9:00AM - Walmart, gas, Copps, back home.

10:30AM - making chili. Adam's got ribs is in the Nesco already. It's a busy kitchen day.

12:00PM - Adam's done with work, I'm making lunch. Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. Just Fettucine minus the shrimp and alfredo for me.

12:30PM - Back out into the world - to World Market (mmmm, New Age), Menards, Vitamin Shoppe, Dicks Sporting Goods, with a stop at Culver's for good measure.

2:30PM - home. Tried to watch Paul but it was awful so we gave up after about an hour.

3:40PM - remembered I was supposed to be making a few other things today. My knockoff Hot Pockets (both sausage and bacon varieties) and a big batch of Santa Fe Turkey.

5:00PM - Kitty feeding time. Adam eats some ribs and then packs the rest up to take up to his grandma. She's wild about them.

6:00PM - totally bumming around flipping between the Cooking Channel and reruns of Friends.

8:00PM - into PJs. Adam's watching the World Series and the Badger Game. I'm zoning.

10:15PM - lights out.

Sunday:

6:00AM - Carly wants to go in the cat room. Fine. I leave her there.

7:00AM - alarm goes off. I get up, feed the cat, and find out what Adam wants for breakfast. I've got some leftover sausage from my hot pockets yesterday and some potatoes I cooked but didn't eat so I scramble some eggs and throw it all together. No sausage for me, no potatoes for him.

7:30AM - read the paper, watch some ID. I love that channel.

8:15AM - time to do the weekly cat room cleanup. Vaccuum, deoderize the boxes, clean out the water dish. Good stuff. Adam's also doing the weekly vacuuming for the rest of the house.

9:00AM - shower time.

9:30AM - there are a few things you never want to hear. "The cat pooped in the bed" is one of them. Argh. Since Adam has this severe aversion to bodily matter the cleanup falls on me. Gross.

10:00AM - Adam's on his way up to his parent's house with our comforter. They have a huge washer and dryer and it doesn't fit in ours. I've started my Sunday laundry as well.

1:00PM - Supposed to be leaving to go to Dad and Cheryl's for their "Ciao Italia" party but the dryer just finished so I'm going to fold laundry first.

2:40PM - Finally arrived at the party. Traffice was nuts and there must have been an accident just north of OO because we were at a standstill for like 10 minutes. I guess this is my definition of "fashionably late."

6:20PM - heading back home. Yummy food eaten, but I stayed away from the wine. :)

7:45PM - back home. That sucked. It was a trifecta: construction, torrential rain, and cloud to ground lightning. Woo.

And there you have it. A week in my incredibly boring life.

And now, your kitty Moment of Zen...

2011-09-18T16:06:00.002-05:00

Ohm...

IV

2011-08-17T08:00:00.002-05:00

This year we're spending our anniversary in Milwaukee - staying at a fancy hotel we got for $6.66 a night thanks to airline miles (and hoping that price isn't some kind of bad omen...), going to a Brewer game with fancy seats that have wait service, and eating at THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY.

Guess what I'm looking forward to most. ;)

For Real this time

2011-08-13T13:31:00.002-05:00

Totally complete, including the shutters:

and an Adam Paalman™ original house number plaque:

Oscar Update

2011-08-07T10:09:00.002-05:00

Finally updated the list over there. Doing terribly. Without Netflix remembering all the titles and forcing me to watch them I find that when I go to Redbox I tend to pick stupid movies instead of the "masterpieces" on the list. Case in point: the DVD sitting on the table and that will be watched when I'm done posting this? Gnomeo and Juliet. I mean, come ON! *sigh*

No One is Safe from Political Ridiculousness

2011-08-07T09:21:00.002-05:00

Even Simon's Cat has to deal with the recall campaign ads. I'll be SO GLAD on August 17th...

Move That Bus!!

2011-08-06T07:16:00.002-05:00

Not the fastest transformation ever seen,

but finally, what was blue:

is now green:

Cirque de Squirrel-é

2011-07-17T10:10:00.001-05:00

...and the crowd goes wild

Thoughts on wisdom teeth surgery, one week out:

2011-06-16T15:52:00.002-05:00

1. Sedation dentistry = awesomeness. I don’t remember a thing. I do still have quite the bruise at the IV site on my hand, but I can deal with that. Waking up wasn’t too bad. I was kind of dizzy and seeing double most the way home, but I didn’t feel nauseous at all.

2. Sorry Mr. Garrison, but drugs are good. I was given prescriptions for heavy-duty ibuprofen and Vicodin. I’ve relied mainly on the Tylenol. I’m really not too impressed with the Vicodin. It just makes me really hot…

3. Being able to eat nothing but ice cream isn’t as great as it sounds. As much as I like potatoes and ice cream, I’m over the mushy food thing. The first few days were terrible. That Ensure stuff is totally disgusting. Who even drinks it? It’s so thick and sweet. Just awful. Surprisingly Ramen noodles went pretty well over the weekend as long as I chopped them into itty bitty pieces. I attempted to eat some chicken on Sunday and that was a mistake. I’m up to overcooked pasta and soup now. And Culver’s French fries (yay for floppy fries!) My dietary restrictions have definitely made it easy to resist all the junk that’s been showing up at work this week. But man, I’d kill for a hamburger… or really anything with protein. I find it hilarious that on the paperwork they sent home with me they suggest eating macaroni and cheese on the day after surgery. Ha! And then they warn against Doritos. I won’t be eating Doritos for a long time still… Actually I don't even like Doritos...but anything Dorito-like is off the menu for a while.

4. It sucks being a side sleeper. The first couple of nights I had to sleep on my back, propped up on pillows. As much as that annoyed Carly (she kept sliding down the pillow), it annoyed me even more. I’m a dedicated side sleeper. I usually start on my left side and alternate each time I get up at night. (Hello OCD.) I haven’t been able to sleep on my right side at all since that side definitely got the worst of it and is still sore pretty much 24/7, drugs be damned.

5. Cat are cuddly. Ok, kind of a cop out “duh” bullet point here, but there’s nothing better than looking up from your drugged haze and seeing all kinds of kitties keeping you company. I spent a lot of time in bed the first two days and I usually had one, two, or three furry companions. They say cats can tell when you’re feeling lousy and they tend to hang around you more then.

6. Roads around here SUCK. Driving is still kind of painful. Every bump jostles my jaw around. It doesn’t help that the roads are full of dips and bumps and holes and dents.

7. Tea does a body good. On the day of surgery I was supposed to change the gauze in my mouth every hour and a half or so until it was light pink. I kept up with that but I just would not stop bleeding. Not too surprising really – I have a history of being a gusher. After work Adam went back up to the doctor’s office to get more gauze since we were burning through what they gave us that morning pretty quickly. He came home with some teabags which he proceeded to stick in my mouth. (Wow, does that sound DIRTY out of context or what…) Apparently there’s something in tea that’s supposed to help with clotting. It was interesting… kind of like brewing a really strong cup of tea directly in your mouth. And it seemed to work – it got the bleeding stopped enough that I could take the gauze out overnight.

So that's the main stuff.

This has been the longest week ever. I cannot wait for the day I wake up and don't have an aching face. And two in the afternoon is my new least favorite time. It seems that's the time my jaw decides it's done for the day and it just kills me until I leave work. I think there's something with the AC that bothers it.

Given the choice again, I don't know that I would have had this done. The teeth bothered me occasionally, but it was really not a big deal. The main reason I went through with it is because the teeth were all falling apart anyway and with how teeny my mouth is it made more sense to just rip the suckers out than try and fix them.

Happy House-iversary!

2011-05-29T10:41:00.009-05:00

Four years in, another year, another handful of cash gone. Or maybe four handfuls. This year we were plagued with a variety of issues. Some due to the age of the house, some due to the stupidity of the builders and former owners, some due to lapses in our luck.

I had mentioned in the recap post last year that Adam had started on a bathroom in the basement. Here's the finished product:

Nothing too fancy, but useful for sudden bathroom urges Adam may get while working in his shop. Or when we're stuck in the basement for the ten millionth time because of tornadoes.

We also got a steam cleaner this year. With four cats, accidents are a part of life. It was much easier to clean the carpets with this thing every once in a while. It works great.

We were forced to buy a new vacuum cleaner as well. For some unexplainable reason the power cord of the one we had just fell off one day. Uncool...

Toward the end of the season last year our lawn mower crapped out. The engine seized or something. Of course it was past any warranty period and to fix it would have cost almost as much as just buying a new one. So we bought a new one:

At some point our programmable thermostat died too. Not sure what happened there, but one day it just didn't work. So we had to replace that.

A trip to Door County necessitated a wine fridge purchase:

My love of buying in bulk necessitated getting a vacuum sealer:

(PS - it's awesome!)

More random electrical activity resulted in a new light fixture in the hall bathroom:

and a new ceiling fan in the dining room:

Unfortunate gravity issues resulted in a new exhaust fan (with a light!) for the master bath (the old one literally fell out of the ceiling):

and a new sump pump. Again.

We invested in a sleeper sofa to replace the guest bed that we disposed of a while back.

Adam built me a new desk since the one I had was precariously leaning:

We got new screens for the bay window and the big window in the master bedroom. Pet proof screening and hopefully bug deterrent as well.

After someone stole the top half of our mailbox on Easter Sunday we replaced it with one that's bolted down.

And that's the big stuff. We did other minor things - put a new showerhead in the hall bathroom, replaced the curtains in the living room with vertical blinds, moved the dryer vent after it blew open and exploded lint everywhere, replaced the ice maker hose, tore down part of the shop wall to waterproof a leak. It's neverending.

Coming up: Thanks to a freak hail storm in April and a particularly generous insurance adjuster, our entire roof, siding, and gutters will be replaced in the next month or so. Our blue house will soon be a green house.

Nothing else planned, but you never know what will break next.

QOTD

2011-05-28T21:01:00.002-05:00

What kind of milk do you buy?
Skim, definitely. Haven't had anything else in years. Although recently I've started buying Silk for my occasional morning Starbucks Mocha Frappucino rip-off attempts. I seem to be able to handle real milk on cereal but if I drink it straight up or in a smoothie it makes me sick. Weird. The thing with Silk though is it's got the same consistency as 2% milk - thick and slimy. Not so appetizing. I can't even imagine what whole milk is like - chewy?

Unrelated photo: JC playing peek-a-boo

QOTD

2011-05-27T20:51:00.002-05:00

What was the longest flight you’ve ever been on?
I've been transatlantic to France twice. First in 1998, second in 2003.

The 1998 flight seemed much longer than the 8 or 9 hours it was because we flew Detroit to Paris on KLM (Northwest.) This was before all the cool technology with video screens on each seat back. I was bored. And the food was scary. And we got bumped on the way back in Detroit. Hello jetlag!

The 2003 flight also seemed very long. This time it was Atlanta to Paris on Air France and while the airplane was 1000 times better, I was in a window seat in a row of three and the girl next to me must have had a yeast infection and wasn't wearing any underwear. I was thisclose to barfing by the time we finally got to the gate and into fresh air. The flight back was much better this time...except for that 12 hour layover in Atlanta where I had to try to make my brain work to get a ride to the hotel that the travel agent had set up for me...that sucked.

La Tour et moi (1998):

QOTD

2011-05-26T20:14:00.002-05:00

Do you think you could ever go by your initials rather than your first name?
One of the ladies at work does call me MP occasionally...so I guess it might work. ML? Not so much.

Unrelated photo: Here's the newest cat toy - a bird feeder right outside the bay window in the living room. Aaah, nature!

QOTD

2011-05-25T16:39:00.003-05:00

How much does your cat weigh?

Not sure about Connor - he's a skinny thing,

but JC is 11 pounds six ounces,

Ted is 15 pounds,

and Carly, the trouble child, tips the scales at... well, now a lady never reveals her weight.

(a lady also probably doesn't lay like that, but what can you do?)

QOTD

2011-05-23T19:58:00.003-05:00

from that's my answer!

Do you listen to the radio or your own collection of music more?

I listen to the radio when I'm in the car - usually NPR because I'm a nerd. WIXX if they seem to be stuck on boring political topics on 89.3. At work I have my iPod playing a weird mix of Britney Spears (and her pop ilk), Van Halen (and their 80s hair band ilk), and Scottish bagpipe music. At home I listen to iTunes when I'm working on something on the computer.

Totally unrelated cat photo:

atrophy

2011-05-19T15:53:00.001-05:00

In the past few weeks I’ve started posts but they always descended into something I figured I shouldn’t publish. Between work, the weather, and life in general, the past month plus has been a little rough. Things have happened, but I’m not going to bother to recap. Doesn’t really matter. If it did you would have asked what was up already.

So (un?)fortunately for you, that haiku I wrote about taking a cat’s temperature rectally will never see the light of day.

But I figured I should at least get one more entry in before the world ends on Saturday…

In a Rare Moment of Companionship...

2011-04-02T14:53:00.001-05:00

(Or perhaps sleep-induced tolerance) I give you Carly and JC, fellow loveseat nappers.

Blah (and kitties!)

2011-03-20T20:26:00.002-05:00

Adam commented that it had been a few weeks since I posted anything here. True. Lack of motivation, inspiration, subject matter.

Whatever lame excuse you want.

So, instead I'll post some cuddly kitty pictures:

Two kitties squished inside a kitty. It's mind-bending! (or not)

Kitties cuddled up in the warmest spot in the house - directly in front of the fireplace.

And our new sleeper sofa. In the time it took me to walk from the office to the kitchen and come back with the camera, Connor had already installed himself on the new sleeping surface.

Fox Cities PAC - the New Season

2011-03-03T20:02:00.003-06:00

The PAC announced their new season this morning - see their brochure here.

As current Broadway Across America season ticket holders we got priority renewal treatment and a discount for early-bird renewal. When we saw the line-up for next year it was pretty much a no brainer.

On the docket:
October: Billy Elliot
November: Les Mis
February: Million Dollar Quartet
March: Mary Poppins
April: West Side Story

We stuck with our third-tier Wednesday night box seats. Should be fun!

It's kind of funny - Jane (from bells) and I were talking about this on Monday and when we named the shows we'd most like to see come to the PAC hers was Les Mis and mine was West Side Story. What luck!

One Year Ago...

2011-02-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

For whatever reason, we lost a great person.

On the one hand, it's hard to believe it's been a year already. But on the other... let's just say it's been a long year.

I knew him for such a short time - only a handful of years. But what a wonderful person he was. So welcoming, so non-judgemental. He did his best to make me (and, I'd imagine, everyone) feel at home in a place where at times I feel like such an outsider. I can't imagine what it's like for those who knew him for so much longer, for their entire life.

I'm not particularly religious, I readily admit that I go mostly for the bell choir, and it's a testament to the kind of man Fr Mike was that he was able to affect my life so much in such a short amount of time. Fr Jim is a nice guy and seems to genuinely want to make a difference at St. Mary's. But it's just not the same.

2011 Awards Season: Toy Story 3

2011-02-21T21:14:00.002-06:00

My Comments:
So cute! I remember the first one, I vaguely recall the second. This one seemed to have a lot more layers than the first two. Oh, what ten years will do! Oh, and Mr. Pricklepants? - bwahahahaha. Lots of great new characters. There were some sad moments. There were some hilarious moments. There were some risque moments when I had to double check that yes, this movie was rated G. I'm thinking the Pixar people hoped some things went over the kids' heads. Anywho, well done again Woody and Buzz.

My Grade: A

I'm Happy With the Simple Things

2011-02-13T15:42:00.001-06:00

29 on 2-9

2011-02-09T05:00:00.001-06:00

So what is that... a bronze birthday or something? I say it should be celebrated, although I suppose a great majority of the population would never experience it...

Anyway.

Today is my birthday.

Today I get to participate in a full physical inventory - the third one we've done in the last 6 months.

Today I get to go to work early.

Today I get to bring in cookie bars for everyone. Adam made them. He's awesome.

Today I get to crawl around the warehouse trying to see tiny numbers on pallet tags.

Today I get to sit in a conference room with a laptop and five or six other people, trying to reconcile inventory counts.

Today I get to tell everyone I have to leave at 4:30 even though I'm sure we won't be done yet.

Today I get to go out to dinner, although I still haven't decided where we're going yet.

Today I get to see "Wicked" for the second time. It should be great.

Today I get to go to The Bar and drink for free. Not that I will. But I could. Ok, maybe just one.

Today I get to make my last claim that I'm not 30 yet.

Happy Birthday to Me.

2011 Awards Season: The Town

2011-02-05T16:55:00.003-06:00

My Comments:
Not the most boring plot ever, but I was still kind of bored. That and I couldn't help having Vicky Cristina Barcelona flashbacks the whole time. Sorry, but Rebecca Hall needs to work on her acting. And Ben, I'm pretty sure the people of Boston don't say "F***" so much. Really unnecessary. Overall, not a terrible movie, but not really my kind of thing. Too much gratuitous swearing and gunfighting. Oh, and the fact that Jon Hamm showed up automatically drops it half a grade. Cannot. Stand. Him!!

My Grade: C-

Caturday: Go Pack Go

2011-02-05T16:54:00.001-06:00

Even Ted's getting in on the team spirit thing.

Random Thoughts

2011-01-30T14:31:00.003-06:00

** Yes, woo, Packers going to the Super Bowl. Seriously though, I'm already tired of hearing about it. And it's still a week away. Gah. **

** Power outage at a plant with 23 blown film lines? Damn near catastrophic. Only thing worse? Fire. **

** For the first time ever we have to pay more taxes to the Federal government. State pretty much offsets, but still. Boo! **

** I heart Nicki Minaj. The best skit last night on SNL was because of her. **

** I manned up and scheduled my wisdom teeth extraction surgery. June 9 @ 8am. Double boo! **

** Wicked in T-10! **

** I'm over this winter thing. Groundhog - you better not see your shadow... **

2011 Awards Season: Inception

2011-01-30T14:16:00.003-06:00

My Comments:
It took about two and a half weeks for us to get around to watching this movie. Not only is the thing two and half hours long (grr!!), but we were both sick for awhile and my brain was having enough trouble trying to comprehend how so much snot could be in my nose. I didn't think I'd have the ability to try and understand a movie that was hyped as very confusing in that condition.

All in all, I don't know what all the fuss was about. Maybe I totally missed something, but once it actually got to the plot it wasn't that confusing. Intriguing, yes. But confusing? I don't know. Christopher Nolan always makes really great movies with lots of awesome special effects and thought-provoking plot points. But it's not like this was The Matrix or something. I STILL don't know what that one was all about...

Anywho, good movie, not sure it's the best yet since I've seen so few of them so far, but I was definitely impressed.

My Grade: A-

Oscars!

2011-01-25T09:27:00.001-06:00

Nominations this morning added a whopping 12 titles to the list:

Biutiful
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
I Am Love
The Tempest
The Way Back
The Wolfman
Tron: Legacy
Unstoppable
Salt
Hereafter
Iron Man 2
Another Year

Argh. I might start eliminating stupid categories like sound editing...

test pattern

2011-01-23T19:07:00.003-06:00

Sorry for the dead air here. I'll be back soon. Between unexpected travel and a double whammy flu/cold epidemic it's been a rough couple of weeks.

2011 Awards Season: How to Train Your Dragon

2011-01-08T17:34:00.002-06:00

My Comments:
This was a really cute movie. Not a very original story overall, but excellent presentation. Not sure it would be too good in 3D or IMAX - probably ended up making a whole lot of people sick.

Best line of the movie: "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."

And is it just me, or does Toothless look a little bit like Carly?

My Grade: A-

Passing

2011-01-07T19:07:00.003-06:00

Today an era ended. An era with grandparents.

My grandfather passed away a year ago this last December. My grandmother left us this morning.

I don't have a lot of pictures of either of them. We've always lived so far away, my grandfather almost never left the house and in the past few years my grandmother's health has prevented her from travelling as well. I can't find anything from the past few trips in that direction. The last photo after the one above from Lori's wedding is this one, from my brother's college graduation.

Holy cow, we were all so young.

But time keeps marching, and so must we. I'm sure my grandparents are happy to be back together again.

2011 Awards Season: Green Zone

2011-01-04T20:36:00.002-06:00

My Comments:
I don't think I can fairly comment on this movie since I didn't really watch it. I watched the beginning, got bored, and got my book. Kind of like what happened with The Hurt Locker. Must be a war movie thing. I looked up every once in a while when something exploded, but I really have no idea what the plot was... except for there were no WMD. Uh, duh.

My Grade: DNF

Million Word Monday: Carly Roasting on an Open Fire

2011-01-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Carly recently decided it wasn't enough to just lay near the fireplace...

Nope, she had to be right on top of the action, candle garden be damned.

Cats...

Charleston and Charlotte - a much belated recap

2011-01-02T20:52:00.001-06:00

I told you I'd get to this eventually...

Wednesday:
We left the house a little after 8:30, made a pit stop in Fond du Lac - not because of MY small bladder this time - and got to the airport in plenty of time. There was no line at all at security and the wood made it through no problem, although it did look like they backed the bags up a few times trying to figure out what it was. The plane rides were fine. Tiny seats compared to the sweet Midwest ones we had back in May though. We had a very short layover in Atlanta, and we were able to leave our things on the plane, which was nice. I was really tempted to take a picture of the "Panda Veranda" store but I didn't. Then just a hop, skip, and a jump over to Charleston. The rental car took a little longer than anticipated - the agent kept trying to upsell to a sportier car when all Adam wanted was a Sonata. We ended up with a Kia Optima. Decent. It has that annoying beeping when you lock the car that I hate.

The drive from the airport to the hotel was supposed to be 5 minutes. It ended up being half an hour. There was construction on the highway, three lanes merging into one, and then the GPS told us to go right off the exit and make some crazy loops when all we would have had to do is go left. The entrance to the hotel kind of came out of nowhere and we took a hard right, but made it. We got checked in and discovered the room they gave us had two full size beds, not the king we'd paid for. They switched us, giving us the king but not sleep number. Adam filed a complaint with Expedia and we got a $50 hotel credit.

We quickly changed and headed downtown for dinner. Adam had made advanced reservations for Coast. Parking was a little hairy, but we ended up in a garage right around the corner from the restaurant. It wasn't too unreasonable - $1/hr. Dinner - I had Monterray Chicken. Adam had paella (aka, "hello ocean on my plate!") Both were good. After we ate we went on a walk to find some dessert. Passed on gelato - they had all kind of weird flavors but no chocolate! We took a long detour to an ice cream shop that was closed, and eventually ended up at 32 - a frozen yogurt bar. They've got a very neat concept - get a cup, fill it with whatever flavor combination you want, add your toppings, and pay per ounce. I got Milky Way, vanilla, and chocolate. They were all very good, without that tangy aftertaste that most fro-yo has. We walked back to the car, went back to the hotel (no traffic this time) and called it a night after researching our routes for the next day.

Thursday:
We got up way too early for being on vacation sans cat alarms. We showered, dressed, and headed out to breakfast. Since we were staying at a Radisson there was no breakfast included in our room price. I convinced Adam to go to a Waffle House. It's just something you have to do when you're down south. I couldn't sell him on the grits though. I, of course, indulged.

Our next stop was the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only tea plantation in the US.

This was hands down my favorite stop of the whole trip. It was off season - they had just finished up their last harvest a week or two before we were there - so it was not at all busy. There was a trolley tour of the grounds, all the free tea you wanted, a neat factory tour, and all kinds of other interesting stuff.

After drinking enough raspberry sweet tea to keep afloat for a few days, we headed to our next stop, the Firefly Distillery and Irvin House Winery. This winery makes five kinds of muscadine wines. While I wouldn't say I'm a convert, I didn't mind the Magnolia. Adam especially enjoyed their decor.

"You're Hired!" (a la Donald Trump)

Just next door to the winery tasting building was the distillery tasting building. We sampled some sweet tea vodka in various flavors along with a really good bourbon. We bought some wine to bring to Evan and Jodi but didn't purchase any vodka. Stupid airline rules...

After we finished boozing it for the morning we stopped by the Angel Oak.

a humongously ginormus oak tree in a public park.

Adam showed off his strength...

and we bought some praline pecans in their gift shop.

By this time we figured we should probably think about lunch. We headed back downtown and went to A.W. Shucks. Adam got the Market Platter (once again, pretty much the ocean on a plate) and I went the highly unoriginal route and got chicken tenders.

After lunch we took a walk to The Market and perused the wares. We also hit up Alpha Dog, Omega Cat and got that cute Christmas towel and strawberry catnip toy.

That was pretty much all we could afford - that place is crazy expensive!

After determining there was nothing else we needed or wanted at The Market we made a side stop at a Belgian chocolate shop and then we hopped back in the car and went down to The Battery. It was a beautiful day so we walked along the shore for awhile. Then I hugged a palmetto or two.

On our way back to the car we encountered a bride and her attendants hoofing it through the park, so that was a little different.

A quick stop at Walmart for some wrapping supplies and we headed back to the hotel. We managed to hit the traffic at almost exactly the same time as the previous night so it took four times longer than it should have. Rather than try to get all the way back into downtown for dinner we chose to go to Fatz Cafe instead. I got ribs (I know, what?) and Adam got a chicken wrap. Role reversal anyone? They had really good rolls. So good that Adam even ordered some to go. We stopped at another ice cream place for dessert and then called it a night.

Friday:
We checked out of the hotel and went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We don't have one anywhere near us so we always try to take advantage when we're near one. Once again we had kind of a meal reversal - Adam got French toast and I got a sampler plate with biscuits and gravy, grits, sausage, hash browns.

Then it was off to North Carolina. The drive wasn't bad. Our first stop in the new state was at Tiger World.

It's a neat place that doesn't seem to mainstream. Also could have been because it was the off season. In any case, wasn't busy at all. I think there were two other groups of people there. The lions roared up a storm every 10 minutes or so.

The tiger was in a bad mood.

The monkeys were insane, shaking their cage and furiously humping a crate.

There was a localized peacock infestation.

I don't know that we'd go back again, but it was a neat place.

After we finished walking and talking with the animals we headed back into Charlotte to find the mall. We had some final gift...assemblage to take care of. After that was done we headed over to Evan and Jodi's place. After completely missing their driveway the first time, we made it on the second attempt. We visited with Evan, Gabriel, and Caroline. We had dinner with them - a delicious quinoa, butternut squash, and spinach dish. After Jodi got home we gave the kids their presents - Uno Moo for Gabriel and a cat from Build-a-Bear for Caroline. Ok, so the Uno Moo was kind of for me too... but Gabriel had a blast taking the animals out of the barn and putting them back in. After the kids were in bed we had some ice cream and wine. Dessert of champions.

Saturday:
We were up bright and early. I don't remember why... I think I must have had some memory-erasing experience. Like in Men in Black when they wave that wand. Hmm.

Anyway.

After... whatever that was... we took showers and went to watch a bunch of 4 year olds play "soccer." It was amusing. After half an hour of utter chaos, we went to an early lunch at Rooster's Wood Fire. I had a chicken sandwich, Adam had a BBQ pork sandwich and Gabriel had a mac & cheese pizza. Then it was naptime. Not just for Gabriel and Caroline. For us too. Then it was time to run some errands. We went along for the fun of it. Jodi got a new phone and I got some exercise while following an "eager to show of her newfound mobility" Caroline. Then we went to Costco. Man, I wish we had one of those around here. Blows Sam's Club out of the water. Then it was back home for dinner, wine, and cake. Oh, the cake.

Sunday:
We were up by 5am by accident. We joined the rest of the family for breakfast at Amelie's Bakery. Pain au chocolat, eclairs, cream puffs, lavender lemonade. It was heavenly. While Jodi and Caroline stayed at home, Evan, Gabriel, Adam, and I went to a park and then to Earth Fare - another part of the market that hasn't gotten anywhere close to us.

Before we knew it it was time for us to leave. We drove back to Charleston, stopping for lunch at Carolina Wing & Rib House. Because of ridiculously slow service (and an unscheduled pit stop) we had to haul ass to get to the airport. We made it with about 10 minutes to spare. So much for the hour and half recommended timeframe. Luckily the security process was a breeze so we had no trouble getting to the plane. The flights back were unmemorable. We got back to Milwaukee on time, deplaned, found the car, and headed back home. We stopped for a drive-thru dinner on the way since it was too late for a formal dinner (boo... Cheesecake Factory!) We got home around 11, released a very crabby Carly from her prison, quickly unpacked, and prepared for the next day, when we both had to go back to work.

Caturday: Refined Version

2011-01-01T13:34:00.000-06:00

Excuse me, sir - do you have any Grey Poupon?

2011 Awards Season: Easy A

2011-01-01T10:50:00.002-06:00

My Comments:
Emma Stone reminds me so much of Laura Prepon and Lauren Ambrose. Maybe it's a smart-mouthed redhead thing?

Anyway, was this movie written by Kevin Williamson? Because it was like a long episode of "Dawson's Creek", full of witty dialogue that absolutely no high schooler would ever say. Outside of that, it wasn't bad. I don't know that it was award nomination good, and I really don't think Emma has much of a chance of winning, but it was a fun one to watch. Also - greatest fake sex scene ever. How's that for a selling point?

My Grade: B

Christmas Around Here

2011-01-01T10:34:00.003-06:00

The kitties were thrilled with a whole new installment of catnip filled toys courtesy of my mom. They were a new shape this year - kind of a pyramid shaped crocheted looking thing. They seem to be standing up better than the fabric pouches, which are decimated in a matter of days. JC hogged them most of the first day.

But Ted has taken to chomping noisily on the corners so we'll see.

I got a new a grill pan - dishwasher safe!

a new cat pendant that I can't get to focus at all...

Trust me, it's a cat. Not a teapot. (ahem)

and my Christmas, birthday, and next Christmas gift to myself:

I couldn't resist when Adam gave me a 10% off coupon, a $5 reward zone card, and a Best Buy gift card.

I also got a cute purple case to help me not wreck it right away.

I haven't downloaded a lot yet. The complete Anne of Green Gables series for 99 cents was too good to pass up though. So far I'm really liking it. It's a bit heavy in my purse, but much easier to cart around than an actual book.

Adam scored an orbital sander and some clamps. Or were they vices? I don't know. Let's just go with some tools for his workshop. :)

We also got a set of pasta bowls and a huge basket full of pasta and anything you could ever want to put on it from my Dad and Cheryl. Yum, carbs. Adam's mom and dad must have called my dad and Cheryl because they also gave us pasta - me in cat shapes, Adam in golf shapes.

Christmas was really low key around here. We didn't do anything specific to just us. We had the Paalman Christmas on the 24th before church and went down for some Chinese food for the Dodds Christmas on the 25th. Other than that I just enjoyed my seeming plethora of days off by doing a whole lot of nothing. It was great.

But now it's back to work. Woo for year-end!

2011 Awards Season Review: Alice in Wonderland

2010-12-25T08:56:00.002-06:00

My Comments:
Yes, I was on a Mia Wasikowska kick. And she was equally moody and pale in both movies. Being a Tim Burton creation, this movie was kind of what I expected: Dark, weird, great score. I'm guessing the same person who did the score for Edward Scissorhands did this one because I kept hearing that music instead and kind of expected Johnny Depp to whip out his leather body suit. (Spoiler: Didn't happen. Boo.)

**googling (well, "IMDB"-ing)**

Hey, look at that. Good old Danny Elfman...

Anywho.

This is not a kid's movie. Don't take your seven-year-old. They will be scared. Lots of fighting, "Off with his head"-ing. I liked the Cheshire Cat, but I think they could have used those secondary characters more. It got kind of boring to watch Alice running through the forest being chased by something. Overall, not bad, but not the best Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration ever. (See aforementioned Edward Scissorhands reference...)

My Grade: B-

2011 Awards Season Review: The Kids Are All Right

2010-12-25T08:50:00.002-06:00

My Comments:
This movie had such great reviews and was promoted as a wonderful thing so I guess I expected more. It wasn't bad - entertaining, very matter-of-fact about the whole same gender parent thing, but something was missing. Mark Ruffalo was fun, but I got tired of Annette Benning's dominant and Julianne Moore's submissive relationship thing. They played that to death. And the scene that's supposed to be so moving... I didn't feel like crying one bit. Not the worst this year I'm sure, but not as good as I had hoped it would be.

My Grade: A-

Caturday: Christmas Edition

2010-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from Crabby:

and Crabbier:

Bah humbug.

Martha's Top Ten: Christmas Movie Edition

2010-12-24T07:30:00.000-06:00

I'll readily admit that I'm not a die-hard Christmas fan. It was never much fun since both my parents worked in churches. We usually ended up celebrating at some weird time and it always seemed like a job. But I still have a place in my heart for Christmas movies. Here are my favorites:

10) White Christmas - yes, it's old, but the music is great. Reflects what Christmas should be about rather than what it's become.

9) Jingle All the Way - argue with me if you want, but I think this one falls into a "so bad it's good" category.

8) Miracle on 34th Street - the original with a young Natalie Wood. I think we all want to believe in Santa in some way.

7) Bad Santa - on the other hand... not if he's Billy Bob Thornton. This movie is more like an anti-Christmas movie but it's still great.

6) The Santa Clause - but not the twelve awful sequels it spawned (ok, so it was two.) I admit I might like this movie so much because of the hot head elf, Bernard:

5) Home Alone - aaaaaaah! Such a classic - bumbling bad guys get bested by an 8-year old. The first sequel was pretty good too. The second, notsomuch.

4) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - it wouldn't be Christmas if Clark didn't wreck something. Or a lot of things.

3) Mixed Nuts - this movie doesn't get the love it deserves. It's got a great cast and is a wonderful film.

2) Elf - Will Ferrell is kind of like Adam Sandler - most of the time he's too over the top, but every once in a while he really nails it. This movie is a perfect example of that.

1) The Muppet Christmas Carol - Love, love, love! this movie. I have been listening to the soundtrack pretty much non-stop in my car. I always watch it at least once a year. So many things to love about this one: the music, Gonzo and Rizzo, the Marley brothers... If you don't watch any other movie this Christmas, watch this one.

Now, you might notice that A Christmas Story is nowhere on my list. It was #1 on EW's list. I don't get it. It's a dumb movie. I can't stand it.

So there you go. My picks. Merry Christmas!

Some Christmas Favorites

2010-12-22T16:00:00.000-06:00

Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Canon" (won't let me embed). Now in normal circumstances I cannot STAND the Pachabel Canon. Call it the cellist's curse. But this I can deal with.

"When Love is Gone", my favorite song from The Muppet Christmas Carol

"O Holy Night", as performed by Celine Dion. The best I've found.

Close second: Celtic Woman.

"The Twelve Pains of Christmas" - kind of a creepy video, but funny if only because the same guy plays all the parts.

"Baby it's Cold Outside" a la Glee:

And the only song I can honestly say I CANNOT STAND:

"Happy Xmas" by John Lennon and that awful children's choir. They played it nonstop when I worked at Kmart and I had enough of that for a lifetime.

2011 Awards Season Review: Black Swan

2010-12-22T15:49:00.003-06:00

My Comments:
This could be the shortest movie review ever: Girl is Cah-RAZY. The end.

But no, it would be a disservice to such a good piece of work to leave it at that. While I found some of the choices the director (or perhaps cinematographer) made distracting, for the most part this was a great film. Good actors, good music, good drama. Although it did drive me nuts that I couldn't place the actress who plays Nina's mother (Barbara Hershey) until I saw her name in the credits. It bugged me every time I saw her on screen. I'm a sucker for movies that involve other forms of art - in this case ballet. Natalie Portman was amazing. And let's just all forget Wynonna Ryder was in this movie at all. Ugh. Cannot stand her. Anyway, thumbs up.

My Grade: A solid A

Million Word Monday: Wish I Were Here

2010-12-20T16:00:00.000-06:00

I'd even hug the palmettos...

2010 Year-End Review

2010-12-19T09:35:00.004-06:00

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
I went to NYC for my sister's med school graduation. I think it was pretty much what I expected. Not sure if I'd go back. I went to a tea plantation. Lots of other things. It was a busy year.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make resolutions because I'm terrible at keeping them. Why set myself up for failure?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I think Adam's cousin might have - another one of his is due any day now. My cousin Lori had another one as well.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
This was a bad year. Father Mike, Adam's grandmother and cousin Brett. It was a rough one.

5. What countries did you visit? Travel in 2010?
As previously mentioned, NYC in May, we also went to SC/NC in November and took a day trip to Door County in October.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? Less stress at work, or, more time to relax.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 22nd - the day Fr Mike passed away
July 31 - the beginning of the SAP-induced hell

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not quitting my job. Wait - did I say that last year too? It's getting better. Now if only they could get some temperature moderation in the accounting department. It's either a sauna or an igloo.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't handle the stress well this summer during GoLive and the following months. I'm sure Adam wanted to throw me out at times.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not that I can think of, aside from a random barf incident.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new nook color!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Sandra Bullock handled her life crumbling around her in a very classy manner.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Mel Gibson - WTF?

14. Where did most of your money go?
According to our MSN Money file, our mortgage ate up the largest piece of pie, followed by other household expenses (LeafGuard gutters, a new grill and lawn mower) and food.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting a couple of full nights of uninterrupted sleep during our trip to SC. Obviously it doesn't happen very often.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Nothing really followed me around this year. I played a lot of Lady Gaga on my iPod...

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? depends on the day b) thinner or fatter? about the same. Grrr. c) richer or poorer? poorer. Always poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Enjoy nature. I feel like I spent the whole year inside.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Dream about work. It was kind of freaky for a while there.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve with Adam's family and then bells at church. Christmas Day with Dad & Cheryl and her family. Nothing formal for just us.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
No

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I have so many that record on the DVR it's just nuts - I've run them all down for you before. I did watch every episode of "Pushing Daisies" and the first season of "Californication" on Netflix and they were both really good (albeit almost as different as you can get!)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No

24. What was the best book you read?
I read a ton of books. I should have been keeping track - maybe I hit the 100 mark I was after a few years ago. I've been reading mostly silly culinary crime novels so nothing particularly literary. I can't think of one that stood out from the others. I'm going to keep better track this year.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Celtic Woman. I'm way behind the curve on this one.

26. What did you want and get?
See #11.

27. What did you want and not get?
Nothing. I don't really have a lot of wants most of the time. It annoys the crap out of Adam.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
This was a terrible year for movies & me. I hardly watched any outside of my Oscar list. I think we went to the movie theater once and the drive in once. It was so sad. I'm looking at Wikipedia's list of films released in 2010 and I've seen pretty much none of them.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 28 this year. Did nothing. But did get a cookie cake. Yum.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being independently wealthy. Ha.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
I wore clothes. Because if I didn't I'd not only get arrested, but I think I'd probably cause multiple cases of self-inflicted blindness.

32. What kept you sane?
Teetered on the edge of this one this year. I have no idea how I managed to not go completely nuts. Chocolate maybe?

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I have no idea. Joseph Gordon Levitt on SNL was good and I've had a eye on him since his Angels in the Outfield days.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I was glad to hear they got the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell through.

35. Who did you miss?
No one person. I miss having a social life in general.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Hmmm. I met an auditor who didn't annoy me. That was a pleasant surprise...

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
You can't do it all by yourself.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
My mind is going blank here... all I can think of is all those children's songs that we heard over and over in the van with Evan, Jodi, Gabriel, and Caroline. I cannot tell you how long they were stuck in my head after we left, though apparently they're still there.

Caturday: Fun with cat toys

2010-12-18T13:30:00.000-06:00

Psst, Carly! I think you might want to get that thing on your back checked out.

Awards Season: SAG Update

2010-12-18T07:31:00.002-06:00

Added four titles: Conviction, Get Low, Green Zone, and True Grit. Still at 1. Boo.

A closer look: Party Food!

2010-12-15T17:00:00.000-06:00

On the Menu:

* Barbecued Meatballs
* Turkey & White Bean Chili
* Extra-Cheesy Macaroni & Cheese
* Spinach-Artichoke Dip
* Sausage Biscuit Balls
* Assorted cheeses: Gouda, Bleu, Cheddar, Brie, Pistachio-Crusted Goat
* Build-Your-Own Bruschetta
* Homemade beef jerky (original and teriyaki)
* Chex Mix (original and buffalo)
* Assorted cookies: M&M, double chocolate white chip, macadamia nut, peanut butter cup, cranberry walnut oatmeal
* White Chocolate Tiramisu Trifle

2010 Awards Season Begins

2010-12-14T19:49:00.003-06:00

The Golden Globe nominations were announced today. Excluding TV and foreign films, there are 29 titles. Of the 29, I've seen one. ONE!!! That's terrible, but an accurate reflection of how my year has gone in the leisure and entertainment department. New list is to the right. I'm looking forward to seeing some of these. I'm dreading others. I'll put it out there right away that I probably won't watch The Chronicles of Narnia sequel sequel. I'm not automatically discounting any others quite yet, although chances for The Fighter aren't looking so great either.

Million Word Monday: The Game of Life

2010-12-13T13:37:00.000-06:00

Really?!? with Martha and... ok, just Martha

2010-12-12T13:07:00.002-06:00

Really, Mother Nature?!?

This is the best you can do to ruin our Christmas party?!?

I mean, I know you have something against us inviting people to our house

But, come on, Really?!?

You even let people get to our house

and didn't start with the massive blizzard until everyone was here and not paying attention to the weather. Really?!?

and, while I think you were in collusion with Carly, who obviously disapproved of the merriment,

we were still able to make and eat a lot of good food

hang out with a lot of good people

and everyone got back to where they needed to be, despite your lack of cooperation.

So, Really?!? Mother Nature. Thanks for playing, but we won this year.

(Even so, perhaps we should consider changing to a "Christmas in July" theme... Really.)

A Not-so-Subtle Hint?

2010-12-09T21:14:00.003-06:00

And in another spectacularly well-timed display of Grinch-like attitude

mere days before our annual Christmas party, Mother Nature decides to dump the first major snowstorm on us.

It's like she doesn't want us throwing a party or something.

Adam wanted me to post this...

2010-11-27T20:35:00.000-06:00

So there, it's posted. :-)

Caturday - Christmas is Coming

2010-11-27T11:18:00.000-06:00

We picked this towel up at Alpha Dog Omega Cat in Charleston. It was pretty much the only thing in the store we could afford. Well, this towel and this totally cute strawberry catnip toy:

Anyway. Here's what's part of "A Cat's Christmas":
Twelve Tabbies Tapping
Eleven Persians Purring
Ten Toms a-Spraying
Nine Fleas Biting
Eight Kittens a-Mewing
Seven Siamese a-Sleeping
Six Legs a-Rubbing
Five Golden Abyssinians
Four Furry Footstools
Three Clawed Chairs
Two Fur Balls
and
A "Partridge" in a Pear Tree

(Looks like maybe this cat knows Simon's Cat?)

Cookie Monster, SNL Host?

2010-11-23T18:22:00.002-06:00

Really, this is so dumb I can't believe I'm posting it. But it made me laugh so hard.

He can't be worse than some of the horrible hosts they've had these past couple of years, right?

Million Word Monday: Malbec, anyone?

2010-11-22T15:30:00.000-06:00

I blame this on Door County and all the good wine they make up there:

But I blame this on my brother:

I'm a Total Slacker...

2010-11-21T20:06:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry, I'm just lacking the motivation to do the complete recap of our trip. Or this past week. Here are the pictures to tide you over until I get my butt back in gear.

Caturday with Ted

2010-11-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

Ted is enrolled in the immersion program...

Photographic Memory: In the Beginning

2010-11-16T16:00:00.000-06:00

This is the first thing I ever cooked for Adam:

Porcupine Meatballs and mashed potatoes.

If the way to man's heart is through his stomach I must have done something right!

Caturday with Carly

2010-11-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

Is that a smile I see there?

Photographic Memory: The Endless Winter

2010-11-09T16:00:00.000-06:00

It was sleeting the other day so I'm mentally preparing myself for winter. By looking at pictures of our first winter at the house. The one with all the snow

and ice.

Ugh.

Week in Review

2010-11-07T11:50:00.000-06:00

Let's just pretend I did a recap last week. I meant to, but time just got away from me. I blame it on trick or treating and the fact that the last day of the month fell on a Sunday. Boo (on both accounts.)

Anyway. Onward.

Monday:
We didn't have many kids trick or treat at our house this year - 39. I wonder where they all went? I brought about half of our leftover Halloween candy to work with me to get it out of the house. It goes pretty quickly at work between chocolate-loving accounting folk and the maintenance guys who pop in from time to time. They seem to come around a lot more if they know there's food. Day one went pretty well. The system wasn't as slow as I expected since we had another group of plants go live on 10/31. Hope their experience has been better than ours! Bells was a pretty low-key practice.

Tuesday:
I love my new day two. I don't have to come in early, I don't really have a lot of stress over deadlines. It's great. I went and voted after work - it was pretty busy, which was great. It was also great that I didn't have to stand in line to register. (Ha ha suckas!) I was in and out in about two minutes.

Wednesday:
Day three is where it starts to get messy. I also had an annual enrollment meeting to attend since the one next week (meant for people who would be busy at month-end) is when I'm on vacation. Skipped lunch, stayed late. Didn't really matter since Adam was golfing.

Thursday:
Day four, messiest of them all. Apparently the third month close on SAP is the worst. Guess which month this was! Processing times for WIP and variance calculations were ridiculous and settlements timed out on me and I had to have Tina run them in the background (so it doesn't allow timeouts) for me. *sigh* On the bright side, I got a lot of other things done while I was waiting for things to process. On the not bright side, I was at work late again. But luckily Adam was out and about so it didn't really matter again.

Friday:
Finally finished up my month-end stuff. Kind of. Some "misunderstandings" in some new files led to doing the same report three times. Awesome. It was a long day. I left much later than I had hoped, feeling frustrated and needing a drink. Come to think of it, I think I worked later than I wanted to every day this week. And through lunch two days. Yay for month-end.

Adam got home after an adventure (including a fender-bender incident) in Green Bay and we went down to Kodiak Jack's for dinner (see: desire for booze and bad day in previous paragraph.)

Saturday:
Shopping - and some crazy prices on leftover Halloween candy at Target. People are work are going to LOVE me! Mini nap. Church and then dinner with Adam's family.

Sunday:
Time change left us up for the day at 6am. Weekly cleaning, including cleaning out litterboxes in preparation for a few days away from home. Getting around to thinking about our Christmas party menu.

This next week should be better. We both work Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday morning we leave for Charleston. This has been Adam's trip to plan so I've been staying out of the details. What I do know is that we'll be in Charleston Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning. We then head up to Charlotte for the rest of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we head back to Charleston and back home. The weather looks good so far and hopefully things go smoothly. We're signed up for a 5k race on Saturday morning so we'll see how that goes. My only experience with races has been counting the donation money and I'm woefully behind on getting my butt back on the treadmill so it could be brutal.

Caturday

2010-11-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hey Goldilocks - I know how you feel...

Martha's Top Ten: John Irving Edition

2010-11-04T16:25:00.000-05:00

I admit I'm still working my way (albeit very slowly) through Last Night in Twisted River so this list might not be totally accurate. I also seem to remember I couldn't bring myself to read all of Setting Free the Bears so perhaps that's a little unfair as well. But oh well. This is my list.

10) A Son of the Circus

9) The Water-Method Man

8) The 158-Pound Marriage

7) Until I Find You

6) The Hotel New Hampshire

5) The Fourth Hand

4) A Prayer for Owen Meany

3) The World According to Garp

2) The Cider House Rules

1) A Widow for One Year

I don't have a lot to say about many of these individually. John Irving's style and subject matter is divisive at times and it's a matter of taste as to who likes him and who doesn't. All of his books touch on many of the same themes and I enjoy reading and re-reading them. He makes up a good percentage of my home libary.

Photographic Memory: P-I-G spells "love"

2010-11-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

On our very first camping trip to Door County we went to Washington Island and visited the petting zoo - The Double KW Ranch. While there we met the cutest pot-bellied pigs I'd ever seen:

But then we met this one on our most recent trip:

I don't know - I'm torn. Why are all pot-bellied pigs so darn adorable!

"Cat"urday

2010-10-30T17:00:00.000-05:00

JC doesn't quite grasp the concept of a cat bed...

Martha's Top Ten: John Cusack Edition

2010-10-28T17:00:00.000-05:00

10) Say Anything (1989)

Classic 80s movie or what? Beautiful girl - geeky guy. And Peter Gabriel.

9) Martian Child (2007)

A beautiful film about acceptance and how genes don't make a family a family.

8) The Sure Thing (1985)

Another 80s classic. Cross-country trek for sex when what you're really after is right beside you the whole way. Daphne Zuniga is great in this too.

7) Money for Nothing (1993)

What else are you going to do with a million dollars that you find laying in the street? I mean, come on!

6) The Ice Harvest (1995)

Creepy in a Bad Santa kind of way - I think it's a Billy Bob Thornton thing. Kind of over-the-top violent (see also: Grosse Pointe Blank), but not bad. Good ending.

5) Serendipity (2001)

Sappy, "it must be fate" plot, but it totally draws you in.

4) Must Love Dogs (2005)

Another sappy movie, but full of fun moments and a great supporting cast. Also, wins "best, most hilarious race for protection", hands down.

3) Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

Wonderfully violent plot, great soundtrack, also love Minnie Driver and Dan Aykroyd.

2) High Fidelity (2000)

Another great soundtrack (see what I mean about John Cusack choosing his films for their music?), Jack Black, some great meltdowns. Kind of like Broken Flowers, but, you know, a good movie.

1) Better Off Dead (1985)

Totally stuntperson performed skiing sequences aside, this movie is my most favorite John Cusack film for so many reasons. Classic 80s music (and a Claymation Van Halen video? yes please!):

Hilarious "suicide" attempts, bad French accents, crazy parental antics, and the best little brother character EVER. Oh, and I want my two dollars!!!

Seriously people - go watch this movie. It's wonderful.

Photographic Memory: Three's a Crowd

2010-10-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

Ghosts of pets past...

Duey, Howie, and Pigster.

We watched Marley and Me the other day and I'm still kind of weepy...

Week in Review

2010-10-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

Monday:
By commenting on how Nancy seemed to be in such a good mood lately at dinner on Sunday night I must have jinxed things. She was, well, crabby. Little patience, picked on certain people. It was a rough practice, especially after two people mentioned they'd miss practice next week. Oy!

Tuesday:
Second IMA meeting of the year. First attempt at an electronic registration system and I must say it was great. I didn't have to respond to every single RSVP. I could export and print the check-in sheet. It was so much easier. People seemed ok with it so I'm going to keep on with it going forward. We had a pretty good crowd and aside from some issues with the venue (I think they were being a little passive-agressive, but I could be wrong) things went well. A loooooooooooong board meeting full of "discussions" (read: arguments) ended the night on a kind of sour note though.

Wednesday:
First week in a long time that Adam didn't golf. Probably a good thing since it was cold and rainy outside. We went to Solea for dinner for the first time in quite a while and drank a pitcher of margaritas. What can I say, it was a long day. We've got auditors again, we had a two-hour long meeting in the afternoon that went terribly, and I seemed to accomplish nothing all day.

Thursday:
More questions from the auditors. Actually, I have to admit it hasn't been so bad this time around (yet - they're here next week too.) They haven't bothered me a lot. Spent some time out in the plant again with the inventory control ladies. I got steel toe shoes on Tuesday that I'll be trying out this coming week. Sketchers - who knew they made safety shoes?

Friday:
I had vacation, but you'd never know seeing how exhausted I was by the end of the day. I had a car appointment to have some computer thing swapped since my car fell under some Toyota recall. After that I went down to Oshkosh to get my tetanus shot. I'd been putting it off for, uh, way more than ten years, so I figured I should just bite the bullet and git 'er done. It wasn't bad. Didn't really even feel it. Until I tried to sleep on that side. It's much more uncomfortable now - a few days post-injection. My arm is sore, and the site is kind of lumpy and bruised. Hopefully it will go away. After my shot I went back home, had some lunch, and then headed back out. I went to Walgreens, picked up some Tupperware packets for Monday from one of my fellow IMA members (some of the ladies in the bell group want to get our member who lost everything in the fire some new stuff) and also went to Sam's Club. I got home right about the time Adam finished up at work for the day so we headed out to do our regular shopping. Kind of. We went to Menards and Fleet Farm, grocery shopping. Then, since I'd planned a recipe that had more prep than others thinking since I'd be on vacation I'd have time to make it, we went out for dinner. After all of that I was in bed by about 8:30.

Saturday:
Adam had to work the morning since it's quarter-end for him so I did our Walmart shopping by myself. I also stopped by Copps to pick up some shrimp for dinner since I didn't want to mess with the shrimp truck in the rain and construction. After Adam was done for the day we did some more shopping - looking for chair glides for the dining room chairs. We picked a day for our Christmas party. Watched Marley and Me.

Sunday:
I slept in today. Until 8. By accident. Then I got up, made breakfast, drank too much coffee, watched SNL. Broke the vacuum cleaner (ripped the cord right out of the base.) So we went shopping. Again. Fleet Farm, Walmart, JC Penney, Bed, Bath, & Beyond (where we ran into Rich & Julia), Target. We ended up getting a Bissel from Target. Adam likes it so far. Right now Adam's watching football and I'm catching up on my blogs.

Cat-urday Photo

2010-10-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

Peek-a-boo, Connor, I see you!

Martha's Top Ten: TV Chef Edition

2010-10-21T17:00:00.000-05:00

10)Bobby Flay

Iron Chef, Throwdown! champ, but still airs episodes of Boy Meets Grill from back in 2002 in which he's not so perfect. He's got a great sense of humor, is very successful, and just happens to be married to my favorite L&O ADA, Stephanie March.

And they're so cute together!

9) Guy Fieri

Half creative genius, half insane nutsoid. His energy is contagious, his hair is blinding, and he's got the most adorable family.

8) Giada De Laurentiis

One look at her and you're convinced she's a stuck-up food snob who can't possibly eat the stuff she makes. Watch just one episode of any of her shows and you'll know you're so wrong. She's fun to watch, makes really good stuff, and has helped the image of chefs 'round the world. Can't hurt that her wardrobe department is partial to really low-cut tops...

7) Ellie Krieger

Eating well can suck, but Ellie tries to make it as painless as possible. As a chef/nutritionist, she gives tips for logical swaps to make traditionally taboo favorites ok for those of us who are looking to lighten things up. It's a lot easier to cook healthfully when you see someone doing it and liking it so much.

6) Nigella Lawson

On the other end of the spectrum... Nigella likes her fats, her naughty foods, and isn't ashamed to flaunt it. Not so much a butter fiend as Paula Deen, Nigella still cooks real food, unapologetically. And every single episode of Nigella Feasts ends with her sneaking into the fridge for a midnight snack. My kind of gal!

5) Jamie Oliver

His first US cooking show was The Naked Chef. Who wouldn't watch that? Of course he wasn't naked (stupid false advertising) but he was still adorable. Now he's gone on a crusade to make school lunches healthier.

4) Sandra Lee

She's kind of a whack job when it comes to the color-coordinated kitchen stuff and tablescapes, but her recipes aren't bad. She came under a lot of attack because she uses so much pre-packaged food that people say are full of sodium and preservatives. Dude - her show is called SEMI HOMEMADE. It's going to use prefab stuff. You want totally home-cooked, organic stuff? Watch something else. This is the niche she's chosen to inhabit and she does a great job.

3) Rachael Ray

Another chef who has taken quite a beating from her critics. But I still have many of her cookbooks on my shelves and I use them all the time. She's not a culinary genius, but she took advantage of her ability to know what people are looking for - time-saving tips, easy recipes. She's ridiculously successful and it can't be too tough to be one of Oprah's BFFs.

2) Ina Garten

While Ina strikes me somewhat as a food snob, she creates such wonderful recipes it's easy to forgive the pretentious vibes she gives off. I love that she films in her own home, involves so many of her friends, and has her husband pop up all the time. They've been married for a long time and it's obvious he adores her. It's so cute.

1) Alton Brown

I *heart* Alton Brown. He's a dork. He's got a great sense of humor. He's a food nerd and knows all kinds of random food facts. His Spinach Artichoke dip is a staple at our parties. Good Eats is one of the best food shows on television and his commentary on Iron Chef America is witty and entertaining.

Photographic Memory: Double Digits

2010-10-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

This photo is from my 10th birthday party

Which would make it 1992, for those of you keeping score at home.

A couple questions come to mind:

Why am I wearing pink? Redheads never look good in pink.

How is it that I don't look the stupidest? I ALWAYS look the stupidest in pictures. Thanks Amanda and Renee! :^)

2010 Final Oscar Recap

2010-10-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney in "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth in "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman in "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker"

My comments: I wasn't crazy (no pun intended) about any of these guys. I don't really know who else I would have like to have seen nominated, but I guess Jeff Bridges was a good winner considering his competition.

Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon in "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"

My comments: I had never seen a Quentin Tarantino film before Inglorious Basterds and I have to admit it was kind of cool. I don't think Christoph Waltz had any real competition in the other guys.

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren in "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan in "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia"

My comments: How did Gabourey or Meryl even get nominated as Best Actress? The other three I can see. I would have been rooting for Carey Mulligan if it hadn't been completely obvious that this was to be Sandra's award.

Best Supporting Actress:
Penélope Cruz in "Nine"
Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

My comments: I can't stand Penelope Cruz or Maggie Gyllenhaal in anything so I'm glad neither of them won. Monique was the right choice here.

Best animated Film:
"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"The Secret of Kells"
"Up"

My comments: I still have no idea what The Secret of Kells is supposed to be about. I might have to Wikipedia it... I hated Fantasic Mr. Fox and thought The Princess and the Frog was kind of stupid. Up was my winner easily and by a wide margin.

Costume design:
"Bright Star"
"Coco before Chanel"
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"
"Nine"
"The Young Victoria"

My comments: Period pieces always win the costume category. The winner even said as much in her acceptance speech. That said, I think it must have been fun to work on the costumes in Coco Before Chanel and Nine.

Original Score:
"Avatar"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Sherlock Holmes"
"Up"

My Comments: The music in both Sherlock Holmes and Fantastic Mr Fox was annoying. I don't even remember the music in The Hurt Locker. Up had a definite musical theme.

Original Song:
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog"
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog"
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36"
"Take It All" from "Nine"
"The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart"

My Comments: Once again, the Disney songs were really disappointing. I've compared Crazy Heart to Walk the Line more than once, and this song made the comparison that much easier.

Visual Effects:
"Avatar"
"District 9"

"Star Trek"

My Comments: Kind of unfair, seeing as how James Cameron had, what, 10 years to do Avatar? I was more impressed with District 9 because it wasn't so obviously CGI.

Adapted Screenplay:
"District 9"
"An Education"
"In the Loop"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"Up in the Air"

My Comments: I haven't read any of the originals so I can't speak to the movie vs source material thing. Overall, An Education was my favorite of these five though.

Original screenplay:
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"The Messenger"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"

My Comments: I was bored during The Hurt Locker, but I'm sure if you're into the whole war thing it was right up your alley. Overall, Up was my favorite of these five.

Best Picture:
"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"

"District 9"

"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

"A Serious Man"

"Up"

"Up in the Air"

My Comments: It was hard, adding five additional titles this year. This is how I rank them:

10. A Serious Man
9. Up in the Air
8. The Hurt Locker
7. District 9
6. Avatar
5. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
4. The Blind Side
3. Inglourious Basterds
2. An Education
1. Up

But unfortunately(?) I'm not a member of the Academy.

Week in Review

2010-10-17T19:24:00.000-05:00

This week was so boring it doesn't really merit a whole organized entry. Nothing out of the ordinary really happened. Work, bells, another dinner with Karen, shopping. The end. Tonight Adam made ribs in the roaster and invited his grandma and parents over for dinner. That was fun.

It's "Cat"urday

2010-10-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

Yes, that's Carly.

Yes, she's on the cat tree.

It's a miracle!

Want to guess how long she stayed up there after we let the other cats out after dinner?

Martha's Top Ten: U2 Version

2010-10-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

I love U2. (Although, what the hell was Discotheque?) It was really hard to choose my ten favorite songs. So hard in fact that I've listed some "just missed it"s at the end.

10) New Year's Day

Political, yes, but not obnoxiously so. And Bono's hair in the video? Classic.

9) Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of

Great lyrics.

8) Pride

Great lyrics with a timeless message. Good guitar playing too! (And Bono's hair is just out of control in this video!)

7) When Love Comes to Town

This song is so catchy and sing-a-long-able. Not your typical U2 sound, but it totally works.

6) Dancing Barefoot

Aah, how I love the movie Threesome. (Although you may notice it was not on my top ten last week - just barely got beaten out on that list.) This song was in that movie and I instantly loved it.

5) Elevation

Classic U2 sound with some oddly catchy rhyming.

4) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me

Aside from the awesome music video and the fact that this was the last decent Batman movie until the whole franchise was revamped by Christopher Nolan... I just love this song. Great chorus, great overall sound. I had this song on a cassette single that I'm pretty sure was my first U2 purchase!

3) Mysterious Ways

This song sounded totally awesome in the Celica with the big bass speakers in the back. Video's kind of trippy, but the song itself is pretty good.

2) With or Without You

The Joshua Tree has been my favorite album for a long time. This song epitomizes the U2 sound.

1) Electrical Storm

The original, not the remix which is what all the videos seem to be. Love the beginning, love the bridge and all the key changes. All around my favorite U2 song. To date. :-)

And now, the "Missed it by a nose" entries:

Photographic Memory: Class Picture 1988

2010-10-12T16:00:00.000-05:00

This is my first grade class picture. See me there, second from the right in the top row?

Guess how many of these people I have kept in touch with.

Big Fat Zero.

Although I'm Facebook friends once removed with two of them. Does that count?

Ah, memories.

An October Trip to Door County

2010-10-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

Since the weather was supposed to be gorgeous and we hadn't managed to make it up at all this summer, we decided to take a day trip up to Door County yesterday. Apparently we weren't the only ones with this idea - it was packed!

Anyway, after our breakfast we hit the highway and made pretty good time. We stopped at our friendly Sturgeon Bay neighborhood Walgreens for a pit stop as we usually do. We picked up the cutest cat bed while we were there:

Carly hates it (as in she hisses at it when we show it to her. We guess she thinks it's another cat...) but the other guys have shown decent interest (after they figured out how to lay in it - they all had issues getting their whole body inside of it...):

Our next stop was the Hands On Art Studio in Fish Creek where they were having a fund raiser for the DC Humane Society.

We met Hazel, the cutest pot-bellied pig ever. She seriously made me consider replacing all the cats with pigs. Hey, pigs don't shed!

We fed her some cheerios and she snorted with glee. So adorable!

They had a petting/feeding zoo area that was by far my favorite part.

This alpaca had a serious attitude problem. It wouldn't come by the fence even when you had food in your hand.

The llama was a little friendlier.

And the goats, of course, were all over this feeding thing.

There were quite a few roosters, crowing and generally making a cacophony

I got slobbered on by a horse

And a goat

And Adam spooked the alpaca

Hmm, maybe this is why it avoided us...

Anyway, after checking the place out we decided we'd definitely try to come back next year sometime. There are all kind of neat projects but most of them required overnight processing and we weren't going to be coming back.

We made stops at the Door County Confectionery and Charlie's Smokehouse - two staples of any trip to Door County. We did not go to Washington Island this time and we avoided Egg Harbor altogether since both towns were having festivals of some kind that we wanted to stay clear of. We had lunch at the DC deli (very good!), stopped by Lautenbach's for some wine sampling and purchasing, got some apples and very cute gourds at a country farm market. Other than that we just spent some time enjoying the beautiful day and fall colors:

Yum!

2010-10-10T19:52:00.002-05:00

Chocolate Chip Tiramisu Cheesecake

Made with Neufchatel cheese so I'd feel slightly less guilty about it.

Week in Review

2010-10-10T13:47:00.003-05:00

Monday:
This week started off much better than last week did. No barfing!

Month-end at work was going well. I still can't even tell you how much easier it is for me!

We were back at it with bell practice. We learned that one of the ladies had her house burn down over the weekend. Horrible. She was there, but in bad shape. Luckily she has insurance and seems to be surviving. It was decided that we'd cancel the ringing for the weekend because so many people were iffy on their availability.

Tuesday:
More month-end. Seems we got behind at some point so I was on a holding pattern. This did free me up to start on quarterly reports and some corporate stuff. And close New London in three days. Awesome.

I seem to recall we did something on Tuesday night, but I can't remember what it was. Huh. I do know we watched Glee...

Wednesday:
Wednesday was a day full of technologically-induced frustration. The system was running really slowly and since the allocation cycles and other calculations I'm responsible are massive in the first place this meant it took even longer than it should. Finally around 4:30 Tina told me to stop my current transaction, take my computer home and run it there since the ETA for report completion was three hours. So that's what I did. The report actually completed in a little over two hours in which time I had made dinner, done laundry, collected garbage, and watched two DVR shows. Go me.

Thursday:
Finished up MON's month-end checklist and got pulled into a Lancaster meeting. Sometimes I think they forget that I'm a MON employee. Eh. Apparently their plans are to make me the expert on all things inventory so I'm spending most of this month with Dana, our resident (kind of literally - she's been here almost non-stop since the end of July) Focus CO person, in the hopes that I'll absorb all of her knowledge. Fun stuff. First stop - cycle counting! I haven't done enough of that you know... But I guess anything to get management comfortable with our numbers.

I had a dinner "date" with three of the ladies from bells - the one I mentioned earlier whose house burned down and the other two who share the same table at practice. We thought it would be a good idea to get her out and away from the disaster her life had potentially become. We met at Perkins and had a good time. Adam can't believe it took two + hours to have dinner, but you know how ladies are - we talk, talk, talk. It was fun and we all agreed we needed to bring some more social aspects into our bell choir. And some more challenging pieces.

Friday:
Some more Lancaster analysis. Meetings on cycle counting. Boss left at 1 - but I still somehow ended up there until after 3:30. Stupid dedication to my job...

We did our weekly shopping since we planned to head to Door County on Saturday.

Saturday:
We stopped for breakfast at the 41 Diner. I had the most enormous omelet ever and ended up taking over half of it with us since we had a cooler along. We headed up to Door County and spent the better part of the day enjoying the beautiful weather and lovely colors. Separate post on that to come.

We got back home pretty close to kitty feeding time. Then Adam roped me into leaf collection before dinner.

Sunday:
This morning I made a chocolate chip tiramisu cheesecake. I'll let you know how it is when I try it - it has to chill for a few hours before I can finish it up.

We made a trip to Lowe's for a wine fridge - we figured it was worth it since we kept accumulating all different kinds of wine and our refrigerator wasn't getting any bigger. It looks pretty slick next to the bar.

Now Adam's watching the game, I'm in here with a huge backlog of posting to catch up on. Not much else on the to-do list. I've got The Secret of Kells on the end table to watch and then I can do my end of list Oscar recap.

Martha's Top Ten: Movie Edition

2010-10-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

It's hard to narrow the massive field of film down to ten and these choices change constantly, but this is what I'm feeling like today...

10) A Simple Twist of Fate
Year: 1994
Starring: Steve Martin, Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Stephen Baldwin
Why I Love It: This is one of the few movies featuring Steve Martin that I can stand him in. He's a lot like Adam Sandler. Most of the time I find both of these men completely obnoxious. But every once in a while they make a film that's wonderful. This movie is one of them for Steve Martin. Great plot, right balance of humor and heartbreak. Good music too.

9) William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
Year: 1996
Starring: Clare Danes, Leonardo DiCaprio
Why I Love It: Unlike his most recent release, this is one of Baz Luhrman's movies I like. (Australia, *shudder*...) Great semi-modernization of the classic story with some interesting music choices and camera work.

8) Benny & Joon
Year: 1993
Starring: Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aiden Quinn
Why I Love It: Well, aside from the obvious Johnny Depp thing... His character in this movie is such a great one. From the Charlie Chaplin moves to his interaction with both Joon and Benny. Great music again. Seems to be a theme...

7) How to Make an American Quilt and The Joy Luck Club
Year: 1995/1993
Starring: Winona Ryder/Ming-Na
Why I Love It: I'm counting these two films as one choice here because the similarity between them is so strong. They're both about young women facing an important choice and how women from the older generation impart the knowledge they've gained through their life experiences to help them with their decision. Both are wonderfully made, and while I don't really like Winona Ryder much, the other actresses in her film are so strong (it's really an impressive cast) it makes up for her inability to be anyone other than herself.

6) Clueless
Year: 1995
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd
Why I Love It: This is a movie I could watch over and over again and never get tired of it. It's a silly movie, full of cliches and catch phrases (as if!) but it makes me smile.

5) To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
Year: 1995
Starring: Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes
Why I Love It: Three very masculine guys in drag - what's not to like? They're all very convincing as ladies and the underlying message of acceptance is uplifting. Bit parts for Robin Williams and RuPaul are great too.

4) A Beautiful Mind
Year: 2001
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly
Why I Love It: It took me awhile to watch this movie, but once I did I loved it. Interesting plot, good acting, great score. And while it's not exactly true to life (as in, lots of creative liberties were taken in the character of John Nash since the real man is apparently quite a piece of work) it's still one of my favorites.

3) Thelma & Louise
Year: 1991
Starring: Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon
Why I Love It: Girl Power! I always identified with Geena Davis' character. It would have been fun to have a best friend to run away and drive off a cliff with. Of course, this is a movie, so real life isn't that...glamorous? In any case, a wonderful journey through a friendship with some hot, young, Brad Pitt thrown in for fun.

2) Sliding Doors
Year: 1998
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah
Why I Love It: Bad English accents aside, this is an all-around winner. What a great plot - who wouldn't want to be able to see what might have happened if one thing in your life had changed? And I do love John Hannah and his cute (and REAL, ahem) accent.

1) When Harry Met Sally...
Year: 1989
Starring: Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan
Why I Love It: This movie has consistently been at the top of my list for years now. There's nothing I can find to not like. The actors are great, it's fun, it's serious, it's so true. It's a perfectly made romantic comedy with great supporting cast members and many quotable lines. My favorite?

"Had my dream again where I'm making love, and the Olympic judges are watching. I'd nailed the compulsories, so this is it, the finals. I got a 9.8 from the Canadians, a perfect 10 from the Americans, and my mother, disguised as an East German judge, gave me a 5.6. Must have been the dismount. "

Photographic Memory: MarineLand Animals

2010-10-04T16:00:00.001-05:00

Back in September of 2005 we made our first road trip together out to New York to visit my mom. Along the way we ended up in Canada and saw MarineLand. We stopped and spent a good portion of the day there. We tried to go back on our next trip in 2009, but it didn't happen - they were way too busy to even attempt it. We'll go back some day though!

(all photos taken by Adam - he has a knack for capturing great animal moments...)

Week in Review

2010-10-03T16:30:00.000-05:00

Monday:
Monday sucked. A lot. The day was going fine except that I had a headache. Then, around 11, it got a lot worse and I started getting nauseous. I left for lunch a little early so I could lie down for a little while in the hopes that I'd feel better. I almost didn't make it home. I spent the rest of the afternoon and late into the evening alternating bathroom time and lying down. Thank goodness we didn't have bell practice because I wouldn't have made it anyway. I finally stopped throwing up around 11 and managed to keep a small can of peaches in my stomach overnight.

Tuesday:
Still felt like crap, but went to work anyway. Month-end approacheth and all you know. Honestly, I don't remember specifics for the earlier part of this week. I was concentrating on not barfing at work. (I'm happy to say I was successful!)

Anyway.

After work Adam had decided he needed new pants so we made a combined Olive Garden/Fleet Farm trip, finally using some of the gift cards we had after two failed attempts. I still wasn't at 100% so I stuck with some soup and a few breadsticks. They were still on with their endless pasta bowls so I got some penne with meat sauce to bring home. I don't understand endless anything. Who can eat more than one bowl? You already get a huge bowl of soup and all the breadsticks you want. Who even needs an entree? But you have to order one to get the soup and breadsticks...so there you go. I always end up taking most, if not all of my entree home in a box.

Wednesday:
Wednesday I was almost feeling better. I still had to force myself to eat breakfast knowing I'd feel worse if I didn't even though I wasn't feeling hungry. Another unmemorable day at work apparently. We did have the annual employee cookout and I made the same mistake I made last year in choosing the chicken that they must marinate in Italian dressing. Gross. This years' salad also had red onions in it so that also made it pretty easy to not over-eat. Well, that and still feeling ooky.

I do remember not getting home until about 5:15. Not sure what happened there, but something must have come up that hindered my escape. Adam was out golfing like usual so it wasn't a big deal. The only reason I remember that is because it threw my whole nightly routine off. Wednesday is a finely coordinated effort because I have a lot to get done. Laundry, garbage, menu planning for the next week, dishes, catch-up on the plethora of shows that record on Tuesday. Luckily I fit everything into one load of laundry so I was done at a reasonable hour despite my tardy start.

Thursday:
Ah, the wonders of our new month-end process. I didn't have to get up early! I didn't have to get donuts! I didn't have to try and figure out what the hell people were talking about on their cycle count sheets! Really, I didn't have to do much of anything since the intern got New London access and closed all my jobs for me in a day and a half. (Have I mentioned how much I like this intern? She knew what a vlookup was without me telling her! Heaven!)

Wow, that's a lot of exclamation points in one paragraph. But really, it's so different and makes me happy. Most of the time.

My main mission for Thursday was to get our standard costs cleaned up so we didn't have any ridiculous inventory valuation issues like we did last month. ($26 million dollars for offsite converting anyone?) I had a couple of meetings, sent a bevy of emails, a barrage of IMs, and I think I got them taken care of. At least at first glance things look reasonable.

We had a meeting as a department to figure out who would be doing what this month since last month the Focus team kind of steamrolled us through the process. I ended up with my name next to a lot of things. But that's ok. I even get to run our really important time-sensative reports on the last day of the month at midnight GMT (currently 7pm.) Woo. So home with me came my laptop. At least they ran a lot faster this month than they did last month...

Friday:
I continue to sing the praises of month-end on SAP. Only half-sarcastically right now. I just can't believe how much easier it is for me. Day one for me consists mostly of reserve calculations. And with the crap reports they have, it takes pretty much all day. I did get them all done (minus some adjustments for costing changes done post-midnight) and even managed to get all of New London's day one items done as well. I rock. I did not manage to leave early like I'd hoped. Oh well, can't have it all...

Since Adam planned to do some yard work with his dad on Saturday morning we did our grocery shopping on Friday night. That kind of sucked. Walmart and the grocery store are so much more busy on Friday night than Saturday morning.

We contemplated going out but decided to stay home and be lazy. Plus, we had both Project Runway and The Apprentice to watch. (Boo, James. Now I have to find someone else to root for!)

Saturday:
I started my day by making a big pot of chili and throwing it in the slow cooker all day. I've put it all the freezer for later consumption. Appropriately, the weather has turned all cold and dreary. Since we didn't have our shopping to do, I spent the morning reading while Adam and his dad cut down and hauled away one of the trees in the backyard. Don't ask me which one - I wasn't paying attention and don't notice one missing. Landscaping is not my thing.

After that was done we made a trip to Simon's for cheese and Manderfields to check out their new location (oh, and have a donut since, you know, we were there...) We got a dog cookie at Simon's that we then took to Adam's parents' house since they're currently dog-sitting Lulu (our canine niece) while Katie and Chris are on their anniversary cruise. She devoured the biscuit in about ten seconds. It was kind of scary. We then made a stop at the Bulk Food store and then came home.

We ate lunch while watching Hot Tub Time Machine, which is easily the stupidest movie I've seen in quite some time. I think John Cusack agreed to be in it because the soundtrack would be cool. I've notice that a lot of his movies have kickass soundtracks and I'm thinking there might be a connection there... The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some more reading, and some updating on my cooking blog. I made the very labor intensive French Onion Soup Mac & Cheese for dinner and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Sunday:
Today has consisted of cleaning litter boxes, rearranging the living room, making a big batch of spaghetti sauce which will then be canned, some reading, a lot of blog work, some IMA prep for October, a mini-nap. Who knows what tonight will hold? Hopefully a better night's sleep than these last couple. Carly is not appreciating her diet and she's making it crystal clear.

2010 Kitty Olympics

2010-10-02T13:53:00.003-05:00

Connor and Ted are competing in the synchronized sleeping event:

Carly's the frontrunner in the righteous indignation & glaring categories:

And JC's got the superclose television-viewing gold medal in the bag:

Theyr're all winners in my book!

Week in Review

2010-09-26T09:03:00.002-05:00

Monday:
Calm before the storm, so to speak. I had meetings for most of the afternoon which made it difficult to respond to all the last minute IMA requests. But it all worked out. We had a full crew at bells and ended up shifting the tables down to make more room for the ladies manning the big bells. This put me around the corner from where I have been so I have a new view on things. I also end up shaking my bell right in Jane's ear for about 10 measures at the end of Sine Nomine, but so be it. :-)

Tuesday:
OMG. Tuesday was the beginning of the next wave of cycle counts. We had divided WIP into three sections we thought would be manageable to count and reconcile in one day. Boy, were we wrong. We got through the first section on Tuesday and called it a day since we were already almost an hour and a half over our alloted time. I spent my afternoon out in the receiving office moving materials in the system. Then I hightailed it out of there to get over to Robbins for IMA. For the massive crowd we had coming, we were all pretty organized so things went surprisingly well. No one showed up without a reservation. We did have a few no-shows, but that's fine as most of them had prepaid. The panel was interesting, things kept moving at a good pace, and even with a board meeting I managed to get home at a reasonable hour - albeit still almost 15 hours after I had left in the morning. But whatever. Who's counting?

Wednesday:
Day two of the cycle count. Not quite as bad as day one, but still, not the greatest. Once again, we majorly overestimated the amount of area that four counters can cover in four hours. Add to that a mini uprising among the material handlers and it was a teensy bit stressful. Not to mention the tension that continued to build in the receiving office. I know the accounting department has been perpetually ticked off at everyone for the past two months, but I think the receiving department might have us beat. Whew.

I got home a little after 5, fed some hungry kitties, and set about cleaning up the house a bit. Also caught up on some DVR shows. Weeks with IMA always tend to get behind.

Thursday:
Last day of cycle counting! This day went so well compared to Tuesday and Wednesday. We had an extra team of counters and they breezed through the main part of the warehouse. This even left us with time to circle back to a section that had been scrapped on Tuesday. Reconciliation is still somewhat of a problem, but I think we will be able to get it all done before next week's deadline.

While the counting went well, there was almost an all out drop 'em fight in the receiving office. It's not good. The inventory control group recently got incorporated into the accounting department instead of the logistics department and with no guidance thus far, everyone's kind of treading water. And some people are apparently close to drowning. Hopefully we get a chance to meet as a big group this coming week before they start to draw blood.

After work it was more catch-up. Thank goodness The Apprentice is back to a manageable hour-long format.

Friday:
Vacation! Woo!

I spent my day off taking Carly to the vet and bumming around. This is the first time I've taken Carly as Adam usually takes the morning off and brings her in. I determined that she hates car rides, but will tolerate them better if there's music on. But not all music. Miss Kitty has a discerning ear. She appears to like Mozart, but not Dvorak. Hmm. Anyway, she yowled the whole trip there. Continued to yowl as we sat in the waiting room. When we got into the exam room she hopped out of the carrier and wandered around. She loves the attention the nurses and vet give her, of course. She didn't seem to mind anything they did to her except for the major q-tips in the ears. Even the shots didn't faze her. But then it was back in the carrier. She yowled a lot less on the way back home - I credit The Magic Flute for that.

Overall, she's in good health. But she managed to pack on almost 1 1/2 pounds in the last year. Whoops. So, the plan of attack is to limit her dry food (hello carbs) and increase her wet. Also, we are supposed to try to get her to move around more. This entails shutting the other cats up for a few hours each day so she'll get her butt off the refrigerator more. So far she hates me for her limited food, but she did spend a good chunk of time by the patio door and other areas in the living room Saturday night.

After Adam was done with work we did our weekly shopping and stopped at Erbert and Gerbert's for dinner.

Saturday:
Since we did our shopping Friday evening, we spent Saturday morning watching Invictus. My reaction? Too much rugby. Adam pointed out that it's a movie about rugby. True, but so boring! Just one movie left on the list - The Secret of Kells, which looks to come out on 10/5. After getting ready to face the day, we headed up to Green Bay. Adam wanted a throwback jersey so we made a stop at the Packer Pro Shop. (It's a Monday night away game so that wasn't as crazy an endeavor as it might have been.) Then we went to lunch. We had planned to go to Olive Garden since we had a gift card but it was mucho busy so we went to Golden Corral instead. I don't know why. I admit it was my idea, but I don't know what possessed me. Buffets scare me, but I've been craving Golden Corral for awhile now so I just indulged myself. It was not good. Live and learn. I'll stick to Chinese buffets again.

After lunch we stopped at Adam's grandma's for a while. A quick stop at Seroogy's, Breadsmith, and then back home. We opted to skip dinner and just snack since we'd had kind of a late lunch and then too much chocolate at Seroogy's.

Sunday:
Adam's gone all day at a golf tournament. We watched Project Runway this morning as it had failed to record on Thursday so I had to catch the first re-run which was 10pm last night. DVRs are wonderful, but only when the information on the TV is right so it records! Grrr. Anywho, now I'm working through my to-do list: some cleaning, some baking, and some work. Boo for work. But this week is going to be nuts and I've got to get New London under control!

So far this morning I've got a load going in the dishwasher, laundry is started, and the cat room is cleaned up. Left to do? Cleaning my bathroom, washing our sheets, making the weekly dessert - Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies, purging the file cabinet in the office (one of the metal bars fell off because there's so much crap in the drawer!), making the dinner from last night (have to use up the turkey since it's defrosted), a few more blog posts in the works, and work stuff. Boo for work (again.) What I wouldn't do for a boring week...

Photographic Memory: Nerd Alert!

2010-09-21T19:30:00.000-05:00

In an Austin Power voice, of course...

Who else but a nerd would be caught dead in these pants?

Or wearing this outfit?

Posing for a "student of the month" photo in 7th grade?

And not once...

But TWICE in 1998?

And, really, who else but a major nerd would go to school with her hair in pigtails during March of her senior year?

What a nerd.

Martha's Top Ten: Kitty Edition

2010-09-20T16:00:00.000-05:00

Having four cats makes you aware of all the crap out there for pets. Here are my top ten kitty-related things:

10) Infinity Vacuum with pet care system:

Four cats means a ton of cat hair. Everywhere. This vacuum has good suction and comes with a bunch of tools to clean hair off of various surfaces. I'd guess. I don't vacuum any more than I have to, but Adam seems to like this one.

9) Feather teaser wand:

This toy is good for getting kitties out from under the bed. Also hilarious when Adam attached it to a fishing pole and flung it across the living room. You should have seen JC fly!

8) Dead Mouse Pillow from IKEA (I don't see it on their website):

The cats love this pillow. They sleep on it, they lounge on it. It's also good for propping open the patio door:

7) Sachets of catnip from my mom:

The cats go nuts for these little pouches of catnip.

The rub their heads all over it and get them good and slobbery. And then leave them in the hallway so I step on them in the middle of the night and freak out.

6) Lysol Neutra Air Freshmatic:

Cats are stinky. We used to use Glade plug-ins in the cat room, but they were no match for four cats worth of stink. This Lysol automatic air freshener sprays occasionally and helps keep the smell under control.

5) Petco Litter Deoderizer:

There are so many of this kind of product out there but the one I like the best is the PetCo brand. The Arm & Hammer brand creates all kinds of dust and the PetSmart brand smells disgusting. The PetCo brand smells less terrible and spreads out evenly with little fuss or mess.

4) Nature's Miracle Stain Remover:

Unfortunately sometimes there are accidents. Or on purposeses in Carly's case. This cleaner is pretty good at getting the stain and smell out of the carpet. It doesn't have harsh fumes itself. We have two or three spray bottles of it in various rooms of the house.

3) Cat Tree:

We were lucky enough to get this from one of Adam' co-workers. The cats love it. They sleep on the top level, play in the teepee, scratch on the base, and chase each other up and down on it.

2) Le Bistro waterer:

Four cats require a lot of food and a lot of water. This thing holds a gallon of water at a time and refills the bowl as they drink. It can go about a week before it has to be refilled, which is a process that JC enjoys a little too much:

Of course it can get messy if they tip it over, but that's only happened a few times.

1) Litter Locker:

It's a diaper genie for cats. It holds the scoopings from the litter boxes in a relatively stink-free container. I get a week out it with four cats' poo and each bag cartridge lasts about a month. It's very convenient, and while the refills can get expensive, we order in bulk from Petguys.com and it's pretty reasonable.

Of course, the cats generally find happiness in un-pet-specific things.

Like laundry baskets

or ice melting

or a comfy chair

or an empty lunchbox

I'll have what they're having...

2010-09-19T10:34:00.002-05:00

I'd like to be motivated to do great things,

but the cats aren't the best inspiration.

Flash Back – Week in Review:

2010-09-19T07:19:00.002-05:00

Monday: You know that children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Well this was the first day in about 3 months that I came home from work NOT feeling that was how my day had gone. We somehow survived our first SAP month-end process. It’s very different than how we did things in our legacy system, and, at least in my eyes, was a whole lot easier. Or at least it will be once we get the system to give us data that’s not complete crap.

I had dinner waiting in the slow cooker when I got home so I could eat quickly before heading back out for the evening. Yay for planning ahead. I stopped at both the Neenah and Appleton libraries before going to church for bell practice and I still somehow got there ridiculously early. So I sat in the car and took a mini-nap until some of the other ladies showed up. Apparently at some point between the mailing of the schedule and the first practice another ringer was recruited so we’re at full crew now. Except we were missing one person already on this first night of practices. Figures. No shake-ups in ringing positions. One new piece – but it’s a two-octave joke of an adaptation of the middle part of “Jupiter” by Holst. Why would she even be pulling two-octave stuff when she knows we have full three-octave staffing? Anyway. First ringing date is still up in the air – either Oct 10 or later in the month.

Tuesday: Had to fast overnight since both Adam and I had biometric testing bright and early in the morning. Nothing like a good stab with a needle to get your day off on the right foot. My blood pressure behaved itself and I didn’t gush blood this year, so that was good. Our new intern started, although it sounds like I’ll have little to do with what she does. I’ve been appointed the go-to “project girl” and while that gets the mundane daily tasks off my plate for the most part, it also makes me vulnerable to the “I need this yesterday and it’s really important” calls from multiple sources. Good thing I thrive under pressure… I got home after work and was informed that one of Adam’s brake rotors was cracked so he was going to replace it. I mostly stayed out of that, but had to be tool girl for a little while.

Wednesday: Another day that started with poking and prodding - I had my annual doctor visit necessitated by the stupid need for a prescription for birth control pills. But we won’t get into that again. I had originally had an appointment way back in August but they re-scheduled me twice due to “changing schedules.” Ok then. So instead of my awesome 7:15am, I was stuck with 8am. My doctor had recently moved across town to the big Aurora complex so I had no idea where I was going when I got there. I just went in the front entrance, walked to the first desk I saw and said “I have no idea where I’m going, but I’m pretty sure I’m in the wrong place.” Turns out I just had to go down the hall, take an elevator up a few floors, and I’d be in the right place. So that was good. I signed in about 7:45 and was called back about 5 minutes later. You hear that? EARLY!!!

Standard procedure for the most part. My blood pressure was pretty good for the nurse too – no lecture or tracking card this time. We got to talking about supplements and she told me to take additional Vitamin D and Fish Oil. I got lectured about my tetanus shot again…so maybe I’ll go back and get it this time. Then the nurse left and I got ready to settle in to wait for the doctor. I had barely gotten undressed, gowned, and hopped onto the table before she was knocking on the door. I was shocked! Yet more evidence that NPs are the way to go. Breezed through the rest of it (as much as it can be breezed through.) But there are some creepy medical tools out there people. This time she whipped out some fake breast that demonstrates what a lump would feel like. Disturbing. But educational, I suppose. Picked up some information on controlling cholesterol and supplements and called it a day. I was out the door by 8:30. Just amazing.

Then, of course I got to work and had to park in Timbuktu. They really need to work on the parking lot situation. It’s kind of ridiculous.

Wednesday evening we had our first Broadway show at the PAC - South Pacific. We had dinner at Anduzzi's across the street before the show. We also purchased our annual PAC reusable mug. Our seats are third-level right box seats and it sounds as though the other couple in our section are also season-ticket holders so we'll probably get to know them pretty well. They're an older couple and I swear I heard the woman moan every time they had plane and bomb sound effects. In any case, a well done performance. Adam and I disagree about the operatic voice on Emile (I maintain it was spot-on, he thinks it was too much. Although I will admit that every once in a while I was hearing Don Giovanni instead of "Some Enchanted Evening".) We'll miss the next show in November but I think getting season tickets was a good idea still.

Thursday: After all the excitement of the beginning of the week, it was back to boring normal on Thursday. Nothing much to report at work, and the evening was spent trying to catch up on DVR shows and a strange Wednesday schedule.

Friday: It was a rough day at work. Both of my backups were gone, I was pulled into multiple meetings I hadn't anticipated on going to, I was informed that pretty much everyone will be gone to management meetings all next week and they want me to spearhead the second full cycle count in as many weeks. Argh. Add in the usual five jillion emails and Master Data requests and the fact that the IMA meeting next week has become somewhat of a monster and I'm apparently responsible for controlling it and it makes for a stressful day. But I survived.

I got home, made dinner, and we settled in to watch our Thursday shows. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell NBC that they should can the two-hour Apprentice. Too much. Especially since Project Runway is an hour and a half this year. That's 3 1/2 hours right there. Ack! We somehow made it through and then pretty much called it a night.

Saturday: Shopping. Shopping. Every week it seems like our shopping takes more time than it should. This week we stopped at Jersey Bagel though (best bagels I've had yet) so it was slightly less painful. When we got home I spent a good chunk of time prepping IMA stuff. I kid you not when I say it took three hours to print nametags. And it took both Adam and I to get it done. The template was wrong, the printer was pulling the label paper differently than the test page. It was frustrating. But eventually it got done and I'm so over it. Spent the evening watching The White Ribbon so I'm down to two left to watch on my awards list.

Sunday: Today I have a whole list of things to get done before Adam brings Mark and Pat back with him for dinner after golfing. Most of the list is cleaning. I also hope to spend some time on a spreadsheet for work, but I admit that's going to take last priority.

Photographic Memory: ...Worth a Thousand Words

2010-09-14T19:30:00.001-05:00

Martha's Top Ten: In the Kitchen

2010-09-12T08:37:00.002-05:00

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Not as much as I should lately, but still a good portion of my life has been spent cooking. Here are my top ten things in my current kitchen:

10) IKEA 365+ Dinnerware - especially the side plate:

Just deep enough for all kinds of things. It's perfect for a salad, soup, or pasta. We have the whole set though - dinner plate, salad plate, soup bowl. They're durable and match everything since they're white.

9) Le Gourmet Chef 12 qt stainless steel pot with pasta and steamer inserts:

Good for sealing jars when Adam makes applesauce or pickles, steaming crab legs, cooking pasta or mass amounts of sweet corn.

8) Presto Electric Griddle:

Good for pancakes, bacon, grilled cheese...

7) Cuisinart Toaster Oven Broiler:

Good for garlic bread, quick sandwiches, cinnamon toast in the morning.

6) Cuisinart Panini and Sandwich Press:

We use this a lot for easy paninis. It's quick and pretty much foolproof.

5) George Foreman Grill:

I had one of these in college (but don't tell anyone because those kind of things were banned in the dorms.) It can cook a frozen solid chicken breast in about 10 minutes. It's a wonderful appliance to have around and our go-to housewarming gift.

4) KitchenAid 5-qt stand mixer:

This mixer is amazing and I can't imagine making cookies or cakes without it. It can beat eggs like nobody's business and it works great on doughs as well.

3) This one's a two-fer: Rival 5-qt SmartPot Slow Cooker:

and
Cuisinart 4-qt Programmable Slow Cooker:

With just two of us I found the 5-qt was too big sometimes (I still use it for big pots of chili or spaghetti sauce and at our parties) so Adam got me the smaller 4-qt which is just perfect sized for us. Both have high/low settings, a timer, and an auto-warm function which is absolutely necessary on CrockPot Monday's since I start it before I go to work and it's usually done before I get home.

2) Tramontina Professional Series Santoku Knife :

This knife can cut anything. It's seriously awesome.

1) Analon Ovation 12" Covered Skillet:

Of course, it looks like they no longer make this item. Go figure. Every time I find something I absolutely love, the manufacturer discontinues it. Boo.

Anyway. This pan is fabulous. Deep enough for sauces, good for searing and cooking chicken breasts, oven-safe, non-stick, heats evenly. My favorite pan for sure.

A Closer Look: Martha's DVR

2010-09-11T19:24:00.002-05:00

According to our DVR, these are the shows I currently have set up to record. Make your own judgements about what they say about me:

19 Kids and Counting (TLC): I always enjoyed the specials about the Duggars so when they got a regular show I was excited. It's gotten a bit stale this last season with their struggles with a preemie, but it's still fascinating to see how their family works.

Bethenney Getting Married (Bravo): Bethenney was always my favorite housewife on the Real Housewives: NYC so it was fun to see her get her own show chronicling her pregnancy and wedding. Not sure where it's going to go from here, but I'd watch it if they continued filming. She's hilarious.

Community (NBC): I admit it - I have a crush on Joel McHale. But the whole cast of this show is great together. Abed is a great character and his scenes with Troy are the best. Now if only Britta and Pierce were less annoying it would be perfect!

Four Weddings (TLC): This is kind of a self-indulgent series. Four brides attend each others weddings and judge each other. The one judged "the best" gets a fantastic honeymoon. It's fun to watch what other people think of someone else's wedding. We won't go into me judging weddings because we all know how that can turn ugly. (eh, AFM?)

Glee (FOX): I'm a little worried about Season Two for this show. I think they might have gotten a big head with all the awards and great reception it got for the first season. Hopefully they can keep going strong. At least I know there'll be some new songs to download to the iPod!

Hannah Montana (Disney): Laugh if you want, but I like this show. It's winding down and the last episode should be out soon. It reminds me a lot of Lizzie McGuire, and I liked that show too. Helps me feel young...

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List (Bravo): Yes, she makes dick jokes and is generally offensive, but this past season she really showed she has a desire to make a difference - cervical cancer, gays in the military - she knows how to get people to pay attention. Plus she's hilarious. She's one person I might consider trying to see live if she were to come to the area.

Kendra (E!): When Holly, Bridget, and Kendra left The Girls Next Door I kind of stopped watching that show so I was glad to see that Kendra got a different show. I watched Bridget's beach show on the Travel Channel for a bit, but didn't really get into it or Holly's new show either. But Kendra I can watch. She's become such a different person from who she was on GND. Indulging my voyeuristic side I guess.

Law & Order: SVU (NBC): Still my favorite iteration of the franchise. I'm a little worried though with Benson guesting on the new LA version. Please don't get rid of SVU!!

NCIS (CBS): I still can't believe it took 5 seasons for me to discover this show. I didn't dig the LA version and stopped watching after two or three episodes. Give me Gibbs, Ziva, Tony, Abby, and McGee any day.

Project Runway (Lifetime): I miss the Models of the Runway this year, but so far, so good. Was a little disappointed with some of the "auf-ing"s so far, but my vote lies with pretty much anyone but Gretchen. Ha. Ok, let's go with Mondo. He's a little strange, but I still like him.

Rizzoli & Isles (TNT): It's like L&O meets NCIS. There was even an episode where it was like an former NCIS cast mate reunion. Anyway, overall, it's a good show - just way too predictable. I've been able to call the murderer almost every week about halfway through the show.

Run My Renovation (DIY): Showing my support for cousin Joanie. It's an interesting show and I was totally jealous of the bathroom on this week's episode. Major bathroom envy, seeing how mine is the size of a (small) closet.

RuPaul's Drag U (Logo): A spin-off of Drag Race, this show has real women being "dragulated" by some previous Drag Race contestants to increase self-esteem or solve some other problem in their lives. Intervention through drag! It's a real feel-good show and there's nothing like seeing Pandora Boxx or Shannel get all dragged up.

SNL (NBC): Oh Lord, anything has to be better than last season. Worst episode ever, eh January Jones? I'll stick around until they have Jon Hamm host again. Can't stand him.

Teen Mom (MTV): Another guilty pleasure. Living vicariously through others, I guess, since there's no way this would have ever been me. I'm kind of disturbed by all of these girls' relationships, but I suppose having everything recorded, edited, and played back might blow things out of proportion.

The Apprentice (NBC): As much as I enjoyed the Celebrity version of this show, I'm glad to see it get back to its original roots. You're fired!

The Good Wife (CBS): This show is so well written it's a joy to watch each week. I especially enjoy the enigma that is Kalinda. Oh, and Josh Charles. Heh.

Real Housewives of New York City (Bravo): This last season was tough. I liked the addition of Sonja, but I'll have to see who sticks around for the next season and decide if I want to keep watching it. Cannot stand Kelly. Got tired of "The Countess."

The Whole Truth (ABC): This is a brand new series, starting Sept 22. We'll see what it's like. From it's promo description it sounds kind of like what L&O: Trial by Jury was supposed to be (you know, before it got cancelled.)

So there you go - all the shows I have recorded for me by our DVR. Judge away.

Arts Appreciation

2010-09-10T20:11:00.003-05:00

We have our first PAC show of the year this coming week. For the second year in a row, we couldn't find enough shows in their Arts Alive! program for season tickets. But for the first time, we did see the value in getting season tickets for their Broadway Across America program. Shows this year are:

* South Pacific
* A Chorus Line (we're not actually going to this one - it's when we'll be in the the Carolinas, so we gave the tickets to Adam's parents.)
* Wicked (woo! Viewing #2! On my birthday!)
* Beauty and the Beast
* Jersey Boys (we won't be going to this one either - Cheryl had mentioned she wanted to see this one so we'll be giving them our tickets.)

It worked out well with the shows I wanted to see and the shows others were interested in.

I'm keeping my eyes out for other local theater performances. We went to the Attic Theatre's performance of Carousel last month. I think I might have gotten a little spoiled with the great performances put on by the SATC (or whatever it's called now.) The Attic Theatre's show was by no means terrible. It was quite good and the theater itself is pretty new and well set up. I just tend to notice when things go wrong, having grown up surrounded by music and theater. I'm sure no one else notices all the things I notice. It can be kind of distracting. The same thing happens for Adam since he's got such a background in set construction and lighting.

But, all the same, I'd still like to try and support local theater more. Every year I intend to go to UWO's Opera Theatre performance but I always forget and remember about a week after it happened.

One thing I'm not appreciating so much? The clarinet one of the neighbor kids just got. Duck being murdered, anyone? Ugh.

Faaaaaaaaaaaall----ing

2010-09-06T15:23:00.003-05:00

So, holy crap it's September.

I absolutely feel I got robbed of my summer. Oh well, what can you do? Part of being a responsibly employed adult I guess.

In any case, things will be getting back to "normal" pretty soon around here. Bell practices start next Monday (and along with it, crockpot Mondays! Woo!) No new members on the list that I can see so I think we'll still be one short. I'm also not holding my breath that there will be any shake-ups in positions either. I am ever hopeful that Nancy will pull out some new music though. I know I'm not alone in this sentiment but I remain convinced that it's not my place to rock the boat.

The first IMA meeting of the program year is the 21st. It's a special collaborative effort that's been organized by a sub-committee of our chapter. It's a panel discussion about how accountants from different industries and subsets of the profession really ought to get together and talk about things every once in a while. It should be an interesting evening, but it's getting to be a logistical nightmare for my "Director of Meetings" hat to handle. RSVP deadline communication problems, newsletter mishaps. It has the potential to be a great opportunity, but right now it looks like it might also have the potential to be a ginormous disaster. Luckily the rest of the meetings should be back to business as usual.

Our refrigerator is full of appointment notices. I've got my annual poke and prod the week after next. It's already been rescheduled twice so I'm hoping they really mean it this time. Kersch biometric testing is the following day and Adam has agreed to come along this time in the off chance that we want to consolidate to my insurance plan. Carly has a vet appointment on the 24th. But shh, don't tell her.

Uh oh, I think she heard me. This time I'm taking her so it should be a fun time for all involved.

Dentist is a little further down the road. I'm in the process of trying to figure out my flex spending for next year and between the contacts and wisdom teeth surgery, it's getting kind of ridiculous.

I've got a few random days off and some extended holiday time off to burn my vacation for the year. Kind of helped that half the year was blacked out. We've also got a few days down in NC/SC in mid-November. We'll get to check out Evan and Jodi's new digs and hopefully get to interact with Caroline. She'll be past her "I hate everyone" phase, right? Nothing much else in the works.

And as a random conclusion to this post, I give you Ted, in various strange positions:

Conked out in the sun. He actually does sleep like this on a regular basis. In fact, so does JC.

Squished up on the side of the chair next to the mouse. I'm not sure why he did this - it's not like he doesn't lay on the mouse all the time anyway.

What I did on my Summer Vacation...

2010-09-04T11:17:00.002-05:00

1) Celebrated Three
Years, that is:

It just so happened that our anniversay fell smack dab in the middle of SAP GoLive so we couldn't really go anywhere or whoop it up. We went out to dinner, swapped cards (and golf balls, and jewelry.) We met up with my dad and Cheryl a week or so later and that's about the extent of our celebration.

2) Worked. A lot.
I had some crazy hours these past few months. Most notably one 2pm to 2am and one 5pm to 7:15am. Those sucked big time. Everything else was pretty ok. Some later nights, some skipped lunches. Ok, a lot of skipped lunches. The end of July and beginning of August were awful. Then it calmed down a little. The last week of August and right up to yesterday were also awful. This past Thursday was especially hellish. Things probably won't get better until the end of this coming week. Or ever. But I'm keeping the faith.

I understand that the implementation of a new ERP system is not supposed to be fun. But after four tries, you'd think they'd have worked some of the bugs out. I'm not going to go into it or complain here since it doesn't do anyone any good. Let's just say it could have gone better.

I traded in my desktop for a laptop about a month ago and they gave me VPN access so I can work from home. Of course, this is both a positive and a negative, me being the workaholic I am. I mean, I'm already thinking about work all the time. A vast majority of my dreams for the past two months have been about SAP. It can't be healthy, but I do what I can to avoid checking my email at night or on weekends. I've only brought the computer home three or four times so far. It was really nice this past Monday to have the option of working from home though.

3) Lost too many people.
Granted, even one death is too many. Unfortunately Adam's family lost two members this summer. His grandmother passed away in May and then, more recently, his cousin, Brett. I didn't write anything about it because I was tired and busy, but it also didn't seem to be my place to discuss it. I'm still going to leave it mostly alone. It's a delicate situation and I think the best thing is to let time heal.

4) Spent too much time at the hospital
Once again, any time at the hospital is too much, in my opinion. I don't know that I wrote about this at all on this blog, but it was a rough summer. Adam's mother spent quite a bit of time in the hospital when they discovered a tumor in her brain. She's doing great now, but it was really scary for a while. Once again, I didn't think it was my place to put it all out there at the time. I'm incredibly grateful that everything seems to have worked out.

5) Discovered some fabulous new restaurants
One side benefit of coming home completely exhausted every day was that we went out to eat a lot more than we usually do. We found out that the Old 41 Diner here in Neenah is an excellent place for breakfast. It's small, classic diner-looking, and the food is fabulous. We also went out to Oink's for breakfast once. Not as good as Old 41, but just the decor won me over. The entire place is full of pig figurines and kitchsy pig stuff. Kind of embarassing to admit, but I saw more than a few things that I used to have in my apartment. What can I say, I'm a fan of pigs and cows... Our most recently discovery was a bar and grill in downtown Neenah called 5 Generations. Great food, good drink specials, nice people. We'll definitely be going back there again.

6) Did absolutely nothing educationally redeeming
Time not spent at work or thinking about work was mostly spent vegging out in front of the TV or with my nose in a book. I've made some headway on my Oscar list - almost done at this point. Made it out to the Drive-In once this season. Haven't been to the movie theater in ages. TV-wise, I enjoyed Bethanny Getting Married and am currently wrapped up in the current season of Project Runway. I'm also four episodes into Season One of Pushing Daisies thanks to Netflix. I'd found a new series of mysteries that I'm working through - currently on the third book. I'm also knocking off the Den of Antiquity series and am almost through all the Pennsylvania Dutch series from Tamar Myers.

7) Went to two baseball games. No really.
I still maintain that baseball is a totally boring game.

We went to a Timber Rattlers game with the IMA back in July and Adam took me to my first Brewers game last Sunday. From the perspective of a non-baseball fan, the Timber Rattlers were much more entertaining. They have all kinds of stuff going on between innings. Too much blantant advertising for my liking though. The Brewer game was ok, but it was HOTT. Yes, so hot it needed two "t"s. It was 94 degrees out and even though we were in the shade, it was brutal. I don't know that I'd go back to a Brewers game, but I wouldn't be averse to going to another Timber Rattlers one. The main thing I don't get is that Adam always leaves before the game is over to beat traffic. I mean, ok, so the score is 8-4 and there's an inning left. They'll probably win. But it's like going to see Hamlet and leaving after Act 4, because, hey, everyone's going to die anyway. But whatever.

Next up - looking forward to fall. But first, this excellently bad action shot of JC and Ted:

In the Life of Martha

Oscar 2012

Shortest Movie Reviews Ever

Hodge Podge

2012 Movie List

Unanticipated Farewell

A Week in the Life of Martha

And now, your kitty Moment of Zen...

IV

For Real this time

Oscar Update

No One is Safe from Political Ridiculousness

Move That Bus!!

Cirque de Squirrel-é

Thoughts on wisdom teeth surgery, one week out:

Happy House-iversary!

QOTD

QOTD

QOTD

QOTD

QOTD

atrophy

In a Rare Moment of Companionship...

Blah (and kitties!)

Fox Cities PAC - the New Season

One Year Ago...

2011 Awards Season: Toy Story 3

I'm Happy With the Simple Things

29 on 2-9

2011 Awards Season: The Town

Caturday: Go Pack Go

** Random Thoughts **

2011 Awards Season: Inception

Oscars!

*test pattern*

2011 Awards Season: How to Train Your Dragon

Passing

2011 Awards Season: Green Zone

Million Word Monday: Carly Roasting on an Open Fire

Charleston and Charlotte - a much belated recap

Caturday: Refined Version

2011 Awards Season: Easy A

Christmas Around Here

2011 Awards Season Review: Alice in Wonderland

2011 Awards Season Review: The Kids Are All Right

Caturday: Christmas Edition

Martha's Top Ten: Christmas Movie Edition

Some Christmas Favorites

2011 Awards Season Review: Black Swan

Million Word Monday: Wish I Were Here

2010 Year-End Review

Caturday: Fun with cat toys

Awards Season: SAG Update

A closer look: Party Food!

2010 Awards Season Begins

Million Word Monday: The Game of Life

Really?!? with Martha and... ok, just Martha

A Not-so-Subtle Hint?

Adam wanted me to post this...

Caturday - Christmas is Coming

Cookie Monster, SNL Host?

Million Word Monday: Malbec, anyone?

I'm a Total Slacker...

Caturday with Ted

Photographic Memory: In the Beginning

Caturday with Carly

Photographic Memory: The Endless Winter

Week in Review

Caturday

Martha's Top Ten: John Irving Edition

Photographic Memory: P-I-G spells "love"

"Cat"urday

Martha's Top Ten: John Cusack Edition

Photographic Memory: Three's a Crowd

Week in Review

Cat-urday Photo

Martha's Top Ten: TV Chef Edition

Photographic Memory: Double Digits

2010 Final Oscar Recap

Week in Review

Random Thoughts

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