Today is the day Karen's cousin (Karlene) from Lowell ruined New Year's Eve. And they claim there is a lot to love about Lowell. I'm just kidding. I like to give Karlene a hard time. Essentially for the past decade or so, a tradition has been created between Karen, Karlene, Karlene's husband (Tommy) and I as we celebrate New Year's Eve.
That tradition was interrupted this year when Karlene made the executive decision to cancel our plans today. In all fairness, Tommy was sick. So it only made sense to cancel plans. Hopefully, Tommy is okay and does not have the virus that Karen has. Karen has been sick for what seems like forever (over three weeks). Get better, Tommy!
With the cancellation in plans this year, Karen and I had nothing to do on New Year's Eve. I guess you can say that I suck at New Year's Eve. My first reaction of course, aside from the "I hope Tommy feels better" thought, was to contact my BFF (Kerry). After all, for what seems like a decade, Kerry and my friend (Jen) have always hinted at wanting to spend New Year's Eve with us. And with the cancellation, today was the chance.
Luckily for me, Kerry happened to be around today. Having spent last night at my friend's (Marc and Kelley), she ended up going to Stars in Hingham for breakfast and Red Robin in Plymouth for lunch with her family. After her family fun, she was able to stop by and hang out.
Needless to say, I had a great time hanging out with Kerry. One thing that I will remember from today is my twenty one month old daughter (Briana) playing with Kerry. Briana, while playing with Kerry, purposely tossed her Winnie the Pooh taggy blanket up, over, and behind our new couch. So when Kerry went reaching over the back of the couch to grab the taggy blanket, Briana immediately started tickling both of Kerry's feet. I found that rather comical.
I'll probably remember that for a while, much like how I will remember the time Briana went to give my friend (Joanna) a hug only to slyly reach in and grab Joanna's iPhone from within her pocket. That little sneaky pickpocket.
Incidentally, Kerry was not the only person to visit us on New Year's Eve. My favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and her BFF (Gretchen) also stopped on over. Apparently, they had some time to kill as they waited for their Chinese food order for their New Year's Eve dinner. Sadly, I did not get to hang out with Janine and Gretchen that much. In terms of timing, I was in the process of making dinner for Briana when they came on by. It was probably just as well since I would have been the only guy in the room.
As it turns out, Gretchen will not partake in my dastardly plans to play a practical joke on Kerry the next time Kerry leaves her clothes outside of her mother's place. Gretchen told Kerry that she would not take her clothes. The good news, however, is that she did not mention anything about not letting me into the condo. So theoretically, I could still take the clothes myself. For anyone curious, Gretchen lives in the same condo complex as Kerry's mom, which is where the connection is.
Anyway, it was definitely a fun and interesting day today. It was great hanging out with Kerry. I feel like I don't do that as much as I'd like to. Although if I do see her more next year, it may involve seeing her eat beans. We'll see. And it was good to see Janine and Gretchen too. Janine is usually busy a lot with her own family stuff. So it's nice when I do get to see her.
All in all, it has been fun today. In case anyone is curious, I am DVRing the infamous ball dropping countdown for when we do eventually see Karlene and Tommy. It'll be like we were still having our "tradition"... just days and days later.
Regardless, have a happy new year everyone! May the new year bring good fortune to the new hopes, dreams, and aspirations of everyone.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
I Suck At Celebrating Birthdays
December is a busy month. In addition to the holidays (and holiday parties), December happens to be the month where a some of my friends, including myself, have birthdays. Too bad I suck at celebrating birthdays. In celebration of some of those December babies though, my friends (Marc and Kelley) graciously offered to host a party last night.
Attending the party were my friends (Cass, Ellen, Garv, Leeann, and Steve), Cass and Ellens baby daughter, and my BFF (Kerry). I was hoping that my friend (Andrea) could make the shindig because scheduled for the night (in addition to the fun of hanging out) was the UFC 141 pay per view. Since the pay per view runs late (meaning Karen and my twenty one month old daughter would not last), I was hoping to catch a ride home with Andrea after the fight, but sadly she could not make it.
Regardless, the party was fantastic. Marc and Kelley did an amazing job of hosting. As usual, I had a blast hanging out with my friends. Marc and Kelley prepared a taco dinner for everyone. The taco theme came compliments of fellow December birthday girl, Kerry. Plus, tacos made more sense since Kelley has gluten allergies.
Speaking of that cursed gluten, Kelley actually risked her intestinal health just for me, which was a very nice gesture. Knowing that I love her chocolate chip cookies, Kelley made a bunch of her famous cookies for the party. It was very nice. And might I add, the chocolate chip cookies were very delicious... just like how I remembered them being. Yum! I must have eaten half a dozen of them. Granted, a couple were used as the cookies surrounding the ice cream cake. (For anyone curious, we celebrated with a football-shaped ice cream cake because the cake was covered in chocolate sprinkles.) Everything was deliciously good!
Anyway, it was a fun time hanging out with everyone. One of the topics of discussion that I remember from the night was Kerry's resolution. Apparently, one of her many resolutions is to eat beans. Why beans? According to Kerry, they are healthy. Despite my efforts and Garv's efforts to tell her that there are many other foods that are also healthy to eat, beans it was. I'd be curious to see the bean-eating 2012 model of Kerry.
As for the UFC pay per view, I had a blast watching it. I sat next to Kelley and Garv during the pay per view and we were basically just goofing around the whole time. I was actually glad that I got to watch the Lesnar/Overeem bout. After all, shortly after his loss, Lesnar declared that he was retiring from MMA. I assume the reason for the retirement has to do with his own bout with diverticulitis. If it remains true, then it was good to see Lesnar's last MMA match.
All in all, it was a great night. Thanks Marc and Kelley! (And thank you, Marc for the ride home after the pay per view... even if you missed the exit.) And of course, I can't forget: Happy birthday Ellen! Happy birthday BFF!
Attending the party were my friends (Cass, Ellen, Garv, Leeann, and Steve), Cass and Ellens baby daughter, and my BFF (Kerry). I was hoping that my friend (Andrea) could make the shindig because scheduled for the night (in addition to the fun of hanging out) was the UFC 141 pay per view. Since the pay per view runs late (meaning Karen and my twenty one month old daughter would not last), I was hoping to catch a ride home with Andrea after the fight, but sadly she could not make it.
Regardless, the party was fantastic. Marc and Kelley did an amazing job of hosting. As usual, I had a blast hanging out with my friends. Marc and Kelley prepared a taco dinner for everyone. The taco theme came compliments of fellow December birthday girl, Kerry. Plus, tacos made more sense since Kelley has gluten allergies.
Speaking of that cursed gluten, Kelley actually risked her intestinal health just for me, which was a very nice gesture. Knowing that I love her chocolate chip cookies, Kelley made a bunch of her famous cookies for the party. It was very nice. And might I add, the chocolate chip cookies were very delicious... just like how I remembered them being. Yum! I must have eaten half a dozen of them. Granted, a couple were used as the cookies surrounding the ice cream cake. (For anyone curious, we celebrated with a football-shaped ice cream cake because the cake was covered in chocolate sprinkles.) Everything was deliciously good!
Anyway, it was a fun time hanging out with everyone. One of the topics of discussion that I remember from the night was Kerry's resolution. Apparently, one of her many resolutions is to eat beans. Why beans? According to Kerry, they are healthy. Despite my efforts and Garv's efforts to tell her that there are many other foods that are also healthy to eat, beans it was. I'd be curious to see the bean-eating 2012 model of Kerry.
As for the UFC pay per view, I had a blast watching it. I sat next to Kelley and Garv during the pay per view and we were basically just goofing around the whole time. I was actually glad that I got to watch the Lesnar/Overeem bout. After all, shortly after his loss, Lesnar declared that he was retiring from MMA. I assume the reason for the retirement has to do with his own bout with diverticulitis. If it remains true, then it was good to see Lesnar's last MMA match.
All in all, it was a great night. Thanks Marc and Kelley! (And thank you, Marc for the ride home after the pay per view... even if you missed the exit.) And of course, I can't forget: Happy birthday Ellen! Happy birthday BFF!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
I Suck At Starting A New Job
I started my new job today. Too bad I suck at starting a new job.
Starting a new job is never fun. In the past companies that I have worked for, that generally means you are the "new guy" until a new hapless victim takes your place by joining the company.
I didn't mind being the "new guy" though. I was happy to be anywhere but at my previous employer. And usually, when that feeling of dread creeps in at work, it's definitely a sign that a change is needed. So off I went to a new job.
Truth be told, my days at my previous employer were limited once my manager left. My manager recruited me to work at the previous company located in Danvers. From where I live (in Norwell), that is quite the commute. Luckily for me, my manager was quite understandable about the grind of the long commute and allowed me to work from home several days a week for the three plus years that I was there. All of that changed when he left.
Once new management took over, I was asked (and by asked I mean ordered) to commute to the office more. Even though I agreed to come in more, I was labeled as "doing just enough to keep my job" by the new management. I can only assume that label is because I came in 3 of the 5 days, and not all 5 days like management originally wanted. As an interesting side note, I was actually more productive working at home than at the office, but what can you do? I couldn't change management's opinion regardless of how productive I was. Hearing that I was doing just enough to keep my job was quite insulting, especially considering how many hours I worked above and beyond for the company over the three plus years I was there.
Like I said, what can you do? When I first joined my previous employer, the company used to believe in balancing work life with personal life. It was a family friendly company which I didn't mind going above and beyond for. All of that changed when new management came in. And with it, my dread for working there started.
Luckily, I found a new company to work for; one that is much closer than Danvers. So far, the company seems like a good place to work at. But, it's still early. It's just my first day after all. And as luck would have it, my new boss was out today so I still don't exactly have too much information on what I will be doing.
Hopefully things will go well.
Starting a new job is never fun. In the past companies that I have worked for, that generally means you are the "new guy" until a new hapless victim takes your place by joining the company.
I didn't mind being the "new guy" though. I was happy to be anywhere but at my previous employer. And usually, when that feeling of dread creeps in at work, it's definitely a sign that a change is needed. So off I went to a new job.
Truth be told, my days at my previous employer were limited once my manager left. My manager recruited me to work at the previous company located in Danvers. From where I live (in Norwell), that is quite the commute. Luckily for me, my manager was quite understandable about the grind of the long commute and allowed me to work from home several days a week for the three plus years that I was there. All of that changed when he left.
Once new management took over, I was asked (and by asked I mean ordered) to commute to the office more. Even though I agreed to come in more, I was labeled as "doing just enough to keep my job" by the new management. I can only assume that label is because I came in 3 of the 5 days, and not all 5 days like management originally wanted. As an interesting side note, I was actually more productive working at home than at the office, but what can you do? I couldn't change management's opinion regardless of how productive I was. Hearing that I was doing just enough to keep my job was quite insulting, especially considering how many hours I worked above and beyond for the company over the three plus years I was there.
Like I said, what can you do? When I first joined my previous employer, the company used to believe in balancing work life with personal life. It was a family friendly company which I didn't mind going above and beyond for. All of that changed when new management came in. And with it, my dread for working there started.
Luckily, I found a new company to work for; one that is much closer than Danvers. So far, the company seems like a good place to work at. But, it's still early. It's just my first day after all. And as luck would have it, my new boss was out today so I still don't exactly have too much information on what I will be doing.
Hopefully things will go well.
I Suck At Uno's
Last night, Karen and I (and our twenty one month old daughter, Briana) were invited to dinner. My friend (Pam) and her family were up from Bon Jovi's home state of New Jersey for the holidays. As a result, she wanted to meet up for dinner at Uno's while she was in Massachusetts.
Too bad I suck at Uno's. It has been a while since I have been to the Uno's in Braintree. I had not even realized that Dave and Buster's took over the old Circuit City location. Or quite possibly, I did realize it but forgot about it. Damn you my selective memory. Just kidding.
As a side note, an interesting thing actually happened on the way to Uno's in Braintree. While we were leaving, I came upon a package left at my doorstep. As neither Karen nor I were expecting a package, we were curious as to the contents. It turns out, the package was from Circle Furniture.
Last week, our new furniture arrived from Circle Furniture. We were absolutely delighted by our experience with Circle Furniture. It turns out, Karen's aunt (Denise) also has had a great experience with Circle Furniture. Anyway, the package contained some gifts from the company accompanied with a tiny little note.
According to the note, Circle Furniture had read my post about my experience with them and decided to send me a little thank you present. The company was initially cautious about reading my post because the title of my post, like all of my posts, began with "I suck at..." Upon further reading, however, they knew it was not the case that they "suck". In fact, it was quite the contrary. Because of it, they wanted to thank me with a present.
Needless to say, Circle Furniture's thoughtful gift made my day. It was just a nice gesture from the company; one I'm sure to remember for years and years. Their service is definitely amazing. If only more companies were as great when in comes to service (and yes, I'm still referring to you Alba Restaurant in Quincy).
Anyway, the gift made my night. So thank you again, Circle Furniture! I was pretty happy as a clam when we arrived to meet Pam and her family. Also joining us for the dinner were my friends (Jen and Hot Amy).
Dinner went by pretty quickly. After all, with Briana and Pam's three children, time definitely passes at a quicker rate. For anyone curious, I had the Cabot aged cheddar and sauteed mushroom burger, while Briana practically devoured my fries. The burger was good. I also enjoyed the mango lemonade. Yum!
One of the topics of discussion that I remember from the dinner involved Jen. It turns out that 2012 may be the year she finally gets her driver's license. She seems dedicated and excited, more so than in previous years. So that was nice. Yay Jen. For anyone curious, she is planning to have a party when it happens. As an interesting side note, Pam failed her first driving test.
Anyway, it was a good day all around with the Circle Furniture gift and hanging out with friends.
Too bad I suck at Uno's. It has been a while since I have been to the Uno's in Braintree. I had not even realized that Dave and Buster's took over the old Circuit City location. Or quite possibly, I did realize it but forgot about it. Damn you my selective memory. Just kidding.
As a side note, an interesting thing actually happened on the way to Uno's in Braintree. While we were leaving, I came upon a package left at my doorstep. As neither Karen nor I were expecting a package, we were curious as to the contents. It turns out, the package was from Circle Furniture.
Last week, our new furniture arrived from Circle Furniture. We were absolutely delighted by our experience with Circle Furniture. It turns out, Karen's aunt (Denise) also has had a great experience with Circle Furniture. Anyway, the package contained some gifts from the company accompanied with a tiny little note.
According to the note, Circle Furniture had read my post about my experience with them and decided to send me a little thank you present. The company was initially cautious about reading my post because the title of my post, like all of my posts, began with "I suck at..." Upon further reading, however, they knew it was not the case that they "suck". In fact, it was quite the contrary. Because of it, they wanted to thank me with a present.
Needless to say, Circle Furniture's thoughtful gift made my day. It was just a nice gesture from the company; one I'm sure to remember for years and years. Their service is definitely amazing. If only more companies were as great when in comes to service (and yes, I'm still referring to you Alba Restaurant in Quincy).
Anyway, the gift made my night. So thank you again, Circle Furniture! I was pretty happy as a clam when we arrived to meet Pam and her family. Also joining us for the dinner were my friends (Jen and Hot Amy).
Dinner went by pretty quickly. After all, with Briana and Pam's three children, time definitely passes at a quicker rate. For anyone curious, I had the Cabot aged cheddar and sauteed mushroom burger, while Briana practically devoured my fries. The burger was good. I also enjoyed the mango lemonade. Yum!
One of the topics of discussion that I remember from the dinner involved Jen. It turns out that 2012 may be the year she finally gets her driver's license. She seems dedicated and excited, more so than in previous years. So that was nice. Yay Jen. For anyone curious, she is planning to have a party when it happens. As an interesting side note, Pam failed her first driving test.
Anyway, it was a good day all around with the Circle Furniture gift and hanging out with friends.
Monday, December 26, 2011
I Suck At Not Your Average Joe's
With nothing planned for today, I treated myself to a little lunch courtesy of Not Your Average Joe's located in Norwell. Now, I suck at Not Your Average Joe's. It has been a long time since Karen and I dined there. We used to eat there quite a lot in our hey days prior to the birth of our twenty one month old daughter (Briana). Oh how times have changed.
Anyway, Not Your Average Joe's was offering a promotion that I could not pass up: free entree and dessert! The only caveat was that the offer ended today. The free entree and dessert promotion was a result of this month being my birthday month. And since I am on the mailing list for Not Your Average Joe's, I received the coupon for the promotion this month. Hence, I made sure I treated myself to lunch today.
Needless to say, it was a delicious meal as usual. I have missed the food there a lot. Interestingly enough, this lunch was a butternut squash lunch. We ordered butternut squash ravioli for an appetizer (thinking Briana would enjoy it); Karen ordered a butternut squash pizza; and I ordered Caribbean mahi which just happened to come with butternut squash and spinach. For anyone curious, of all the butternut squash options, I think Briana enjoyed the side that came with my mahi. Our waitperson must have thought we were crazy ordering so much butternut squash.
Like I said, the food was absolutely delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And as a plus, we got to take home an entire butternut squash pizza because one of the slices from the original pizza slipped off the plate when it was being served by the waitperson. So, Not Your Average Joe's made us an entirely new pizza because of it. (I must say, that is fantastic customer service especially since the manager came over to apologize for the mishap. If only more places had great customer service... Yes, I'm referring to you, Alba Restaurant in Quincy!)
And naturally, to finish off the lunch I had the peanut butter thing. Yum! Lunch was definitely great. And it was nice to treat myself to something. Yay, happy belated birthday to me.
Anyway, Not Your Average Joe's was offering a promotion that I could not pass up: free entree and dessert! The only caveat was that the offer ended today. The free entree and dessert promotion was a result of this month being my birthday month. And since I am on the mailing list for Not Your Average Joe's, I received the coupon for the promotion this month. Hence, I made sure I treated myself to lunch today.
Needless to say, it was a delicious meal as usual. I have missed the food there a lot. Interestingly enough, this lunch was a butternut squash lunch. We ordered butternut squash ravioli for an appetizer (thinking Briana would enjoy it); Karen ordered a butternut squash pizza; and I ordered Caribbean mahi which just happened to come with butternut squash and spinach. For anyone curious, of all the butternut squash options, I think Briana enjoyed the side that came with my mahi. Our waitperson must have thought we were crazy ordering so much butternut squash.
Like I said, the food was absolutely delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And as a plus, we got to take home an entire butternut squash pizza because one of the slices from the original pizza slipped off the plate when it was being served by the waitperson. So, Not Your Average Joe's made us an entirely new pizza because of it. (I must say, that is fantastic customer service especially since the manager came over to apologize for the mishap. If only more places had great customer service... Yes, I'm referring to you, Alba Restaurant in Quincy!)
And naturally, to finish off the lunch I had the peanut butter thing. Yum! Lunch was definitely great. And it was nice to treat myself to something. Yay, happy belated birthday to me.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
I Suck At Christmas
Happy birthday our lord and savior, Anna! For anyone curious, today happens to be my friend's (Anna) birthday. So happy birthday! I hope you have a great day! Coincidentally, today also happens to be Christmas. Too bad I suck at Christmas.
Karen and I started the day watching my twenty one month old daughter (Briana) open her presents from Santa. I don't think Briana has quite gotten the whole Santa concept just yet. She has, however, seemed to figure out that she gets presents and very much likes to open presents. And truthfully, who doesn't like getting presents? It was definitely fun being able to see Briana open her gifts.
Shortly afterwards, my parents came over for breakfast. Because I have a small family and Christmas day is usually spent at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine), my parents come over in the morning for breakfast. And on the menu for breakfast: waffles! Someday, I'll have to experiment and make different types of waffles. The waffles I make are just too plain in my opinion. Maybe chocolate chip waffles next year? That sounds good. Although anything with chocolate sounds good.
Anyway, my parents enjoyed watching Briana open her presents from them. We even did the family thing by contacting my brother who lives in Texas to wish him a Merry Christmas (or Happy Annamas). My brother, who recently met Briana back in October, seemed to enjoy the fact that she said "Hi" and "Bye" to him. All in all, it was a good time with my family.
From there, I made some roasted potatoes to bring to Janine's. I don't know whether I should be offended or not because Janine was hesitant to ask me to make roasted potatoes. She did not want Karen to exert herself by making the potatoes. At the same time, she was afraid to ask me to make them because she was not sure if I knew how to.
Funny thing about being married to a dietitian: people seem to think that the dietitian does all the cooking. Oh how wrong that is. I can't remember the last time Karen made a meal. Part of that is because I have been home before Karen returns from her own job. And with Briana, I don't really have much of a choice but to figure out how to make something when it's time for her to eat.
Now granted, by no means am I chef. I can do some things. Roasting potatoes happen to be one the things I (and probably a lot of other people) can do. And really, if I did not know how to do it, I'd consult my trusty friend, Google. So I thought it was a little bizarre that Janine was hesitant to ask. Little does my favorite sister-in-law with the gluten allergy know, I put gluten in the roasted potatoes. I'm just kidding. The potatoes were gluten free.
Potatoes aside, Christmas at Janine's was great. My niece (Kaleigh) and nephew (PJ) had a great time. This year, I had the dubious distinction of saving Christmas for PJ. Apparently, we accidentally forgot to bring PJ's present. Stressed, Karen wanted to go home to get the present. Naturally, I volunteered. So Karen told me to get the present wrapped in silver. And by silver, she apparently meant blue. Luckily for me, I knew what we had gotten PJ because I probably would not have found the present based on Karen's description.
For me, one of the other more memorable parts of the night involved my dance off with Kaleigh. My favorite niece challenged me to a duel in Dance Party 3, which is a dancing video game if you could not tell by the name. Always up for a challenge, I accepted. After all, I bested the best. My friend (Hot Amy) who used to play tennis... beaten in a tennis match by yours truly who never played tennis. Hot Amy in anything... beaten. Okay, so maybe Hot Amy and her propensity for losing was not the "best".
So how hard could it be to take on a second grader in a video game? Well, I should have stopped after one dance off. After all, the first dance off challenge between Kaleigh and I went to me. And like any good uncle, I did some trash talking. From there, I just went downhill losing the next three. Despite the mounting losses, it was a riot playing against Kaleigh. She was just so serious and determined to win. It was fun... and quite the workout.
All in all, it was a great Christmas. I enjoyed the time with my family. I enjoyed the time with Karen's family. Since the passing of my son (Braden) over three years ago, I have come to cherish the time spent with family and friends because that time is so limited. So for me, today was quite rewarding.
Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!
Karen and I started the day watching my twenty one month old daughter (Briana) open her presents from Santa. I don't think Briana has quite gotten the whole Santa concept just yet. She has, however, seemed to figure out that she gets presents and very much likes to open presents. And truthfully, who doesn't like getting presents? It was definitely fun being able to see Briana open her gifts.
Shortly afterwards, my parents came over for breakfast. Because I have a small family and Christmas day is usually spent at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine), my parents come over in the morning for breakfast. And on the menu for breakfast: waffles! Someday, I'll have to experiment and make different types of waffles. The waffles I make are just too plain in my opinion. Maybe chocolate chip waffles next year? That sounds good. Although anything with chocolate sounds good.
Anyway, my parents enjoyed watching Briana open her presents from them. We even did the family thing by contacting my brother who lives in Texas to wish him a Merry Christmas (or Happy Annamas). My brother, who recently met Briana back in October, seemed to enjoy the fact that she said "Hi" and "Bye" to him. All in all, it was a good time with my family.
From there, I made some roasted potatoes to bring to Janine's. I don't know whether I should be offended or not because Janine was hesitant to ask me to make roasted potatoes. She did not want Karen to exert herself by making the potatoes. At the same time, she was afraid to ask me to make them because she was not sure if I knew how to.
Funny thing about being married to a dietitian: people seem to think that the dietitian does all the cooking. Oh how wrong that is. I can't remember the last time Karen made a meal. Part of that is because I have been home before Karen returns from her own job. And with Briana, I don't really have much of a choice but to figure out how to make something when it's time for her to eat.
Now granted, by no means am I chef. I can do some things. Roasting potatoes happen to be one the things I (and probably a lot of other people) can do. And really, if I did not know how to do it, I'd consult my trusty friend, Google. So I thought it was a little bizarre that Janine was hesitant to ask. Little does my favorite sister-in-law with the gluten allergy know, I put gluten in the roasted potatoes. I'm just kidding. The potatoes were gluten free.
Potatoes aside, Christmas at Janine's was great. My niece (Kaleigh) and nephew (PJ) had a great time. This year, I had the dubious distinction of saving Christmas for PJ. Apparently, we accidentally forgot to bring PJ's present. Stressed, Karen wanted to go home to get the present. Naturally, I volunteered. So Karen told me to get the present wrapped in silver. And by silver, she apparently meant blue. Luckily for me, I knew what we had gotten PJ because I probably would not have found the present based on Karen's description.
For me, one of the other more memorable parts of the night involved my dance off with Kaleigh. My favorite niece challenged me to a duel in Dance Party 3, which is a dancing video game if you could not tell by the name. Always up for a challenge, I accepted. After all, I bested the best. My friend (Hot Amy) who used to play tennis... beaten in a tennis match by yours truly who never played tennis. Hot Amy in anything... beaten. Okay, so maybe Hot Amy and her propensity for losing was not the "best".
So how hard could it be to take on a second grader in a video game? Well, I should have stopped after one dance off. After all, the first dance off challenge between Kaleigh and I went to me. And like any good uncle, I did some trash talking. From there, I just went downhill losing the next three. Despite the mounting losses, it was a riot playing against Kaleigh. She was just so serious and determined to win. It was fun... and quite the workout.
All in all, it was a great Christmas. I enjoyed the time with my family. I enjoyed the time with Karen's family. Since the passing of my son (Braden) over three years ago, I have come to cherish the time spent with family and friends because that time is so limited. So for me, today was quite rewarding.
Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!
I Suck At Christmas Eve
I suck at Christmas Eve. For a while, Karen and I have been hosting Christmas Eve dinner. Our family is pretty small. So the guests that usually attend are my parents and Karen's parents. My friends (Marc and Kelley) generally stop by later after dinner. And as a running joke, my BFF (Kerry) always says she will try to stop on by but never does. This year, she did not even bother saying she will try to stop on by.
Anyway, this year I had the enviable task of cooking the entire dinner. In addition to being pregnant, Karen has been sick for what seems like forever with this awful sounding cough. I think it has been over two weeks now, and she is still coughing like crazy. So rather than have her stress about Christmas Eve dinner, I decided to have her stress over my cooking of Christmas Eve dinner all by myself.
On the menu for the night was ham, green beans, rice pilaf, and rolls. Karen's parents were bringing meatballs. Truth be told, the menu was nothing fancy. I was particularly excited to cook the ham because I wanted to try a new mustard glaze. (For anyone curious, the glaze was okay. I thought it tasted okay.) That reminds me, I now have to figure out what to do with the glaze packet that actually came with the ham. Can the glaze be used for something else?
In the event anyone is curious as to why I just did not use the glaze packet that came with the ham, I like to experiment with things... and I like to control the ingredients of what I eat when I can. In particular, I like limiting the amount of high fructose corn syrup that I eat (and the glaze had high fructose corn syrup). I'm not totally against high fructose corn syrup. I try to avoid ingredients that I think are synthetic when I can.
After all, I believe that some of our current health issues are a result of what we have done to our own food supply. You read about girls getting their menstrual cycle at very earlier ages now. As well, there seems to be a lot of people that I know who have developed gluten allergies, something that seemed so uncommon in the past. While I can't prove that some of these things are due to the hormones and other synthetic things we have developed to improve food, I like to think that there may at least be some correlation. Hence, I like to limit the amount of things like high fructose corn syrup.
Regardless, I think Christmas Eve dinner went well. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. My parents, in particular, definitely enjoyed seeing our twenty one month old daughter (Briana). Briana was simply wound up. She ran around the house, laughing of course, like there was no tomorrow.
When she eventually crashed and went to bed, my parents and Karen's parents left... in like a span of minutes. It was funny because it was pretty much like our parents only came to see Briana (and not Karen and I). Once that entertainment was over, it was time to go. I guess that's the life of a parent these days.
But that was okay. It gave Karen and I some time to relax a little. And if anyone is curious, when Marc and Kelley arrived we just hung out and unfortunately ended up watching an episode of "Swamp People" because nothing else was on television. "Swamp People" is one bizarre show. The show aside, it was just good to just hang out with Marc and Kelley.
All in all, it was a good night.
Anyway, this year I had the enviable task of cooking the entire dinner. In addition to being pregnant, Karen has been sick for what seems like forever with this awful sounding cough. I think it has been over two weeks now, and she is still coughing like crazy. So rather than have her stress about Christmas Eve dinner, I decided to have her stress over my cooking of Christmas Eve dinner all by myself.
On the menu for the night was ham, green beans, rice pilaf, and rolls. Karen's parents were bringing meatballs. Truth be told, the menu was nothing fancy. I was particularly excited to cook the ham because I wanted to try a new mustard glaze. (For anyone curious, the glaze was okay. I thought it tasted okay.) That reminds me, I now have to figure out what to do with the glaze packet that actually came with the ham. Can the glaze be used for something else?
In the event anyone is curious as to why I just did not use the glaze packet that came with the ham, I like to experiment with things... and I like to control the ingredients of what I eat when I can. In particular, I like limiting the amount of high fructose corn syrup that I eat (and the glaze had high fructose corn syrup). I'm not totally against high fructose corn syrup. I try to avoid ingredients that I think are synthetic when I can.
After all, I believe that some of our current health issues are a result of what we have done to our own food supply. You read about girls getting their menstrual cycle at very earlier ages now. As well, there seems to be a lot of people that I know who have developed gluten allergies, something that seemed so uncommon in the past. While I can't prove that some of these things are due to the hormones and other synthetic things we have developed to improve food, I like to think that there may at least be some correlation. Hence, I like to limit the amount of things like high fructose corn syrup.
Regardless, I think Christmas Eve dinner went well. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. My parents, in particular, definitely enjoyed seeing our twenty one month old daughter (Briana). Briana was simply wound up. She ran around the house, laughing of course, like there was no tomorrow.
When she eventually crashed and went to bed, my parents and Karen's parents left... in like a span of minutes. It was funny because it was pretty much like our parents only came to see Briana (and not Karen and I). Once that entertainment was over, it was time to go. I guess that's the life of a parent these days.
But that was okay. It gave Karen and I some time to relax a little. And if anyone is curious, when Marc and Kelley arrived we just hung out and unfortunately ended up watching an episode of "Swamp People" because nothing else was on television. "Swamp People" is one bizarre show. The show aside, it was just good to just hang out with Marc and Kelley.
All in all, it was a good night.
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