Whirlwind Recap

What would Christmas be without a decorated goose?

I know I keep disappearing.  Don't take it too personally.  It seems when I first started blogging I looked at any and all opportunities to find some great "story" to share and now it's about finding the time/energy to share whatever few great "stories" happen my way.  The longer I go without blogging, the more annoyed I get with the prospect of trying to catch up on my blog.  Does that make sense?

So, with that I do a quick recap of events.

Christmas
As some of you know, for 33 years, I have spent Christmas in Chicago.  With the upcoming arrival of the first grandchild to my parents, our family opted out this year because we couldn't stomach the idea of younger sister Linda having the baby without us being around and we also couldn't stomach the idea of spending Christmas sans Linda and Craig.

We all gathered to my parent's house on Christmas Eve and ate too much food and watched Christmas movies.  Older sister Cathy, brother-in-law Jay, and I all decided to stay at my parent's house for the long weekend.

We all gathered again at my parent's house on Christmas Day and ate too much food, watched Christmas movies, and opened up presents from my parents.  Normally we would have exchanged our sibling "Secret Santa" presents, but we decided to wait until New Year's Eve so that brother Eddie and sister-in-law April would be able to join us.



I lost our competition because my door knob was disproportionate to the door and house. But I'm not bitter...oh no. 



The whole line-up - Jay's, mine, my mom's, and Cathy's.  Cathy won.  Whatever.

Linda, Craig, and Coco just a few days before Ethan's arrival.

My cute mom and dad.

Nephew time
My nephew, Ethan Edward, was born on December 28th.  He was a whopping 10 lbs, 4 oz and measured 21" in length.  Linda and Ethan remained in the hospital until New Year's Eve day.  Linda started her own blog, so for more info go here.

Sweet Ethan on his birth day.

too cute for words

It's hard work being this adorable.

New Year's
What a great way to bring in the New Year!  We got to enjoy our little Ethan and we had Eddie, April, my aunt, my uncle, and my two double cousins - Nicole and Danielle all in from out of town to share in the excitement and anticipation of a brand new year filled with wonderful opportunities!  We also had our sibling "Secret Santa" gift exchange, ate too much, watched my dad play Bejeweled, and brought in the New Year in the Spa sipping on champagne.

Freebirding
While my two double cousins, Nicole and Danielle, were in town, I made sure they experienced a burrito the right way - a la Freebirds (vs. the wrong way - a la Chipotle's which they do have at home back in Chicago).  Danielle opted for the daintier "Hybird" while Nicole and I want all hungry-hungry hippos and ordered "Monsters".  The verdict:  those cRaZy girls prefer Chipotle.  Whatever.

Nicole with her spinach Monster

Danielle with her wheat Hybird

A toast to the New Year - Freebirds style!

Wedding
What does a year look like without a family wedding?  I don't remember.  We have had one every 1 to 1.5 years in our family for the past 5 years.  This year, we all gathered in Springfield, IL for my cousin Anna's wedding to her new bride, Nicol, on Jan. 14th.  I have two words for you:  Photo Booth!  Have you ever been to an event with one of these things?  OMG - soooo fun!  My cousin Rachel and I kept going in there - sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with a group and laughed the night away. 

Chicago
I was supposed to drive back with my family to St. Louis to grab our flight back to Houston, but work duties called me to Chicago instead, so I caught a ride with double cousin Nicole and her boyfriend Justin back to Chicago.  I spent the next 3 days in meetings designed to improve the operations of our company.  Have you ever spent 3 full days in meetings?  Wow - it was really hard for this girl with A.D.D. who is used to multi-tasking the days away.

Now what?
Those of you who "listen" to me FB or Twitter, know that I like My Fit Foods.  I'm just sooo not in a cooking mode right now.  I haven't been for quite a while, actually.  My Fit Foods has fresh prepared meals you can just pick-up, warm-up, and eat.  I've gained back a lot of the weight I had lost.  I'm not happy about this, but not being happy about it doesn't change the situation.  I've tried to restart South Beach time and time again and I keep failing.  My mom thinks this is because I enjoy life's challenges and I already conquered South Beach (um...before the weight gain) so now I need a new challenge.  Younger sister Linda and her hubby, Craig, have started Weight Watchers Online.  I've decided to follow in their footsteps - so basically I'm food tracking and I'm eating most of my meals via My Fit Foods.  I'm kinda squashing most of my racing for now because I've not been training and it's becoming a bit of a joke (that isn't funny).  I have plans to get back into the groove, one mile at a time.

So...please forgive me for getting behind in my blogging and blog reading.  I will make a concerted effort to stay on top of such things moving forward!

Cheers to a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Three Things (x 2) Thursday

Totally random.  No pictures.  So sorry....

#1 - If a medication warns "may cause drowsiness" or *insert side-effect here*,  my body is all up on it.  In other words, I'm the worst kind of mcwimpy.

#2 - I have never ever never in my entire life pressed the infamous "snooze" button on any alarm.  I just flat out reset it for another time if it is inconvenient for me to wake up at the time of the unwelcomed interruption of my sleep.

#3 - I REFUSE to eat clam chowder.  No, I've never tried it...or even clams all by their lonesome...but the very idea grosses me out.

#4 - With the exception of Target, Z-Gallerie, and Hobby Lobby, I prefer to avoid stores and shop on-line.

#5 - I appear to be a Groupon junkie.  In under 2 weeks, I have purchased 6 Groupons.  Um...all purchases were made with the intention of pampering myself or providing me with entertainment.  I'm selfish like that...

#6 - I have an obsession with the show Gossip Girl.  I feel like a cougar for being ridiculously intrigued by one of the actors who is *only* 10 years my junior.  In 3 weeks time, I have watched all 4 1/2 seasons.  Don't judge...

Okay, that's all I can come up with.

M.I.A.

Apparently I went missing again.  Not from the real world, but I've been relatively quiet on the social media front.  I think, as a whole, I'm not very happy with this year.  That makes me sound like a spoiled brat when you read what I've been up to in my absence, but doing things and feeling things are sometimes two VERY different things.  Does that make sense?

October 18th was the last time I blogged.  6 weeks ago.  Bad Blogger.  Here are the highlights of things that happened during my disappearing act...

Painting Class
I bought a Groupon for one of those painting classes at Merlot to Masterpiece a while ago.  It took a bit of coordination to get some friends and fellow bloggers (Kim, Amanda, Marg, and Britt) together, but we finally managed to swing it.  Here is what the "goal" was supposed to look like:

Here was my finished (and framed) product:

The group shot:

Top Row - Amanda, Me, Kim
Bottom Row - Marg, Britt

Vacation
I headed to Chicago at the end of October to hang with family and participate in The Monster Dash.  My cousin Courtney and I walked 13.1 decked out in Angry Birds gear.  It was Courtney's first (and I'm told last) half and I promised her we would stay together.  I never left her side and we finished it.

While in Chicago, I made sure to eat all my favorite foods.  I hit up Portillo's twice - the first time for Italian beef and the second time for hot dogs.  We may or may not have managed to get the car towed while on our hot dog run during rush hour traffic downtown.  =/

I managed to pick-up some of my favorite candies from Fannie May - most notably Trinidads.

The beauty of a Trinidad lies in its decadent layers of rich, creamy real dark chocolate,
covered in a golden toasted coconut shell.

Of course, the best breakfast in the world can be found at Walker Bros. Pancake House.  Carbo-loading at its finest.

Post race, Courtney and I indulged on the BEST Chicago-style pizza EVER - Lou Malnati's.

Although it's hard to beat the BBQ of the South, Famous Dave's is quite delicious especially when hanging out with some wonderful cousins!

While downtown, I got to experience Chicago from the tourist perspective instead of my usual in and out of our designated commitments routine.  It was a nice change of pace.  I saw the famous Forever Marilyn statue (26 feet tall) and the Cloud Gate.

Management Meetings
Not even 2 weeks after my Chicago vacation, I set-off for Chicago again for my company's annual Management Meetings and Award Banquet.  Every year a book serves as the theme for the meetings and the upcoming year.  This year, Ubuntu! was the chosen one.  The basic concept is that "I am because we are" and that "we are all in this together".  In short...teamwork.  I have to say that some of my disgruntlement regarding work this past year has been as a result of a lack of teamwork, so this book and theme were much needed and appreciated (and will hopefully pay off).

After arriving in Chicago on Thursday, 11/10, all the managers (traveling from 12 Service Centers located nationwide) were whisked away to check into our hotel and then managed a caravan downtown to meet up with all the management of our headquarters to the Signature Lounge at the 96th Floor of the John Hancock building for a marvelous dinner (and an open bar).

Friday was filled with various meetings and followed-up with our Award Banquet.  Upper management has been really great about giving us monthly and quarterly statistics so most of us had a basic idea of our rankings in each category, but there is always one award whose recipient is always a mystery - the Service Center (SC) of the year award.  This award originated 8 years ago.  My SC won it for the first time in 2008.  We won it for the second time in 2009 becoming the 2nd SC to manage a repeat.  Then came 2010...we had dreamed of a 3-peat just to end up in 6th place (boo!).  I had a plan to win it back.  I can honestly say I worked the hardest I ever have in all my 12 1/2 years with this same company.  It paid off!  Now the only problem with being #1 is that there is a large target on your back!  =)

On Saturday we spent half a day finishing up our meetings and then it was off to my aunt and uncle's house to hang with family for the evening.  Wouldn't you know we managed to get our happy Lou Malnati's pizza for dinner!


Thanksgiving
Apparently I like to fly every 2 weeks.  =/  I only get sick EVERY time, but no big deal.  So we decided to resume our annual Thanksgiving trip to Vegas despite the fact that younger sister Linda and brother-in-law Craig were not going to be able to join us because of the upcoming arrival of their first child.  Older sister Cathy figured out that this was our 15th Thanksgiving in Vegas.  We spent 14 of them in a row, but detoured to Orlando last year for a fun-filled week in Disney and Universal Studios.

My parents stayed at the Venetian while the "kids" resided in my grandmother's condo located a couple of miles from The Strip.  This year was a bit different, though.  Normally we manage a movie or two walking from The Venetian all the way down to the Showcase movie theater by the MGM.  This year, we didn't see a single flick.  I also normally hang out at Casino Royale, but...not this time.  I mostly gambled away at The Venetian, the Palazzo, and the Las Vegas Hilton (because it was located across the street from our condo). 

We did swing a show - taking in Sting at Caesar's Palace.  It was in the Celine Dion theater, so a more intimate setting.  I loved listening to the background story of how his songs were conceived and I have mad appreciation for his violinist who made amazing music!

The ladies swung a spa day!  My mom treated older sister Cathy, sister-in-law April, and me to a spa treatment at the Canyon Ranch Spa located in The Venetian.  I chose a European facial and experienced rejuvenation in my skin!  I literally felt my skin glowing the rest of the day.  Upon completion of our respective services, we spent over 2 hours in the wonderment that is the spa-experience...the Hot Tub, Steam Room, Sauna, Herbal Laconium, the Igloo (yes, as cold as it sounds) Salt Grotto, and Wave Room while sipping on orange-infused water and delicious herbal teas.

Though I pretty much came home a big loser, I had some really nice hits throughout my gaming that kept the days fun and entertaining.  My favorite slot machines this year were Quick Hits and Hot Shots.  I will definitely be revisiting them next year!

And that's about it in a nutshell.  Hopefully I will be posting more frequently since it is now "the most wonderful time of the year!"  I leave you with this pretty dress displayed at The Venetian:

display dress made entirely of paper and ribbons

Losing someone...

Someone near and dear to me passed away today.  Had I known death was on the table, I would have done things differently.  I would have called him.  I would have visited him.  I would have made sure he knew how much I cared.

Death really puts things in perspective.  It's sad that it comes down to that, though.  It really is.

I woke up this morning and thought I better call this person.

I grew more and more frustrated as the day progressed and I kept coming up empty-eared as I tried to contact him.  At first, I called his hospital room directly just for another man to answer the phone telling me he must have been moved.  Then I called the hospital to reach him, growing more anxious as the seconds ticked by before my call was transferred.  I was then told his line was busy and asked if I wanted to speak to the nurse's station or if I wanted to call back.  I opted to call back.  This was the routine for 3 additional calls placed today.  I finally gave up at the end of my work day, vowing to reach him tomorrow.

Only problem is that there is no tomorrow.  As soon as I drove into my garage this evening, I received a phone call that he had passed away this afternoon.

Had I known?  Maybe, in the back of my mind.  Was it still shocking to me?  Yes, yes it was.

Who was this man?  He was one of my employees, a team member.  He always managed to put a smile on my face.  I knew him long before I became his "boss lady" (as he liked to call me) because my father hired him about 8 years before I joined that very same team.  He helped move me into my dorm room in college.  Then he helped move me out.  He always asked me how my monsters were doing and how my training and races were going.  He came to me when I was doing well with my weight loss so that I could help him do the same.  He called me while on the road just to check in and see how everything was going.  Many a tall tales this man spun, much to my delight.  He had a booming voice that would announce his presence long before he was seen.  He had a way with words that was both funny and endearing.  He had great respect for my family and a genuine love for our company, always taking pride in his work.

We may not like all of our employees or co-workers, in fact we probably just tolerate the vast majority of them.  That was not the case for me with this guy.  I loved him and will miss him terribly.  He may no longer be on this earth, but he will never be forgotten.  RIP Big Papa.

Baby Shower!!!

Saturday evening was the baby shower for Linda and Craig!  Isn't Linda a cute preggo?

Linda at almost 30 weeks

Our mom put a lot of thought into the decorations. Here are just some of them:



front view of the "diaper cake" motorcyle my mom made



side view

rear view

other side view

Linda and Craig's "baby" board



Baby Craig - couldn't get the pic to rotate.  =/

Baby Linda

pouting Linda?  nah...it's a pouting Kimpossible that was put up on the board in error.  no worries, it was later removed.



Games were played, but not your typical baby shower fare.  Ever seen the show Minute to Win it?  5 games were chosen from the tv show, but instead of having 1 minute to complete the task, the guests were competing against each other.

We played "Hanky Panky" which had the players empting Kleenex boxes one tissue at a time as fast as they could go. 

We played "Baby Blockin'" which had the players stacking 5 baby blocks on top of each other upon a paper plate placed on their respective heads.

We played "Baby Bottles" which had the players drinking 4 oz. of beer or soda (their choice) out of a baby bottle.

Hey lookie there...it's Melissa from beerrunner - she represented the girls!

We played "Separation Anxiety" which had the players sorting M&Ms by color in a specific order one by one.

And...last, but not least, we played "Jingle in the Trunk" which had the players wiggling their bodies to displace 5 jingle bells from inside a Kleenex box tied to their wastes.

It was fun to see so much participation - from both the guys and the girls!!!

We had appetizers of jalapeno poppers, taquitos, fruit salsa with pita chips, chips & queso, and of course a fruit salad.

carved with love by Kimpossible!

My parents ordered fajitas and all the fixins' from Rico's Grill for dinner.

Of course it wouldn't be a party without cake.  We had a caramel tres leches cake and a chocolate tres leches cake courtesy of Rao's Bakery.

And...let us not forget the party favors:

candy "bar" party favors

Oh and Linda told me she had it all figured out what presents our other siblings and I bought for them for the shower because of my anti-BabiesRUs post a few days ago.  Turns out she was wrong!  That will show her that there is only one true Nancy Drew in this family (yours truly)! 

Here is what they received courtesy of me, Cathy, Jay, Eddie and April:

Beaba Babycook

Graco Lovin' Hug Swing

All and all, it was a wonderful baby shower!  Congrats to Linda and Craig on the upcoming arrival of their baby boy!

Seven Random Things

I received a nomination for a blogger award!  This makes me happy!  =)

Heidi from The Sweet Life was so thoughtful to include me in her post.  Thanks,  Heidi!!! 

Here's how it works...in order to "claim" the award, I have to handle some business.

The rules of this nomination are:


I get to tell you seven random things about myself as well as pass on the award to seven other great bloggers (see below).

Nominees, in order to accept this award you must:

-Thank and link back to the person who awarded you


-Write seven random things about yourself.


-Award seven other awesome and inspiring bloggers.

My Random Facts:

1.  More often than not, while watching a television program I recorded on my DVR I don't actually forward through the commercials.  I use that time to do "other things".

2.  I use the NeilMed Sinus Rinse twice a day, every day.  The neti pot scares me.

3.  While at a movie with younger sister Linda, I constantly turn to look at her reaction to whatever is going on.  I know this seems weird, but weirder still is her lack of reaction to things.  She doesn't laugh at hilarious happenings.  She doesn't jump at the sight of spooky stuff.  She doesn't cry during catastrophic events.  She has forbidden me from sitting next to her, but sometimes I plot to make it happen anyway.

4.  I get really annoyed when anyone interrupts calls me while I'm driving in my car listening to an audio book.

5.  I am a "crack" addict.  Not in the way you are thinking.  I just like to crack things on my body - my knuckles, my back, my neck, my feet, my toes, etc.  Yes, I am aware this is not a good thing.

6.  I never reapply my make-up during the day UNLESS I have some specific event I'm going to that evening - a date (haha...rarely that happens), a celebration of sorts, a business thingy, etc...

7.  Who rides on her exercise bike without wearing shoes?  This girl.


And the Nominees are (In no particular order):
 
1.  That Pink Girl
2.  Click.  The Good News
3.  (Just) Trying is for Little Girls
4.  Everyday Ramblings from an Everyday Girl
5.  Ginger's Junket
6.  See Anna Run
7.  Tales From the Back of the Pack

Venting...

My sister's baby shower is this weekend.  It's gonna be so fun (even though it's a couples shower and I'm not part of a couple).  I had to throw that in there - ha!

My siblings and I like to group our money together to buy presents for whatever gift bearing occassion is coming our way - it's just how we roll.  The baby shower is no different.  We decided how much we were wanting to spend so that I could pick out the gifts accordingly.

Strategically I stalked the registry to determine the best use of our combined money.  I settled on 3 things, but I can't tell you which 3 things in the off-chance younger sister Linda is reading this (sometimes she gets bored, you see). 

I headed on over to BabiesRUs during my lunch break to purchase the items.  Well, wouldn't you know that first and foremost the store didn't even have one of the items despite the registry claiming it did.  Second hit was that if they did have it, they were selling it for $23 (plus tax) more in-store than on-line.  WHAT?!  WHY?!  Obnoxious.  I then went to the second item I planned on purchasing and discovered it, too, was more expensive in-store than on-line - by $14 (plus tax) this time.  I asked an employee what the deal was and she said that sometimes there are sales on-line.  Oh, okay.  Obnoxious.

My strategerie was for the purchase of those three items because of their combined cost.  I like to maximize the funds.  So, I felt compelled to stick with those items in lieu of switching up the gifts to meet the money-goal, if that makes sense.  I have no doubt I would have encountered similar issues with other products anyway.

I then went back to my office...and purchased those 2 items on-line for a savings of $40 (this time including tax).  One of them I can even pick up at the very same store I visited during lunch.  What's the point of any of this other than just to annoy your customers?

Oh and in case you are so very worried about the 3rd item, I bought that through other means altogether.  Don't ask.  Just trust me...it was the right way to go.  And...no, there is no danger of someone buying it off the registry, so we are cool.  Promise.

UGH...and now they sent me an automatic email with the shipping address for the one item directly to my sister.  I don't want it sent to her house - I specified my work address for shipping.  I've had it with BabiesRUs!!!

I will post pics and all that jazz from the baby shower on Monday!