Labor Day Success

We've had a great Labor Day weekend! Maw-Maw is in town and it's been nice getting to visit with her. Friday was Judy's and Uncle Bill's birthdays. We went out to dinner with Uncle Bill, Maw-Maw, Tom, Kathy, and Michael to celebrate. Judy- Happy Birthday to you! I hope you enjoyed your day! Tom and Kathy are some of Uncle Bill's long-time friends and Michael is their son. We went to this place called Jasmine Cafe and it was really good. I enjoyed it. Afterwards, we met up at Uncle Bill's where Maw-Maw had made a German Chocolate Cake.

On Saturday, Maw-Maw and I went shopping. We went to Macy's, Penney's, Nordstroms, Lady Foot Locker, Zales, and Old Navy. I got a new pair of tennis shoes, a brown pant suit at an extremely good deal, and a shirt (courtesy of MawMaw). I also turned in my rings to have them soldered together at Zales. They said it would take about two weeks to get them back. MawMaw found her a pair of comfy pants, a shirt, and a suit. We really did find some excellent deals. We had a wholesome meal of McDonalds for lunch and then went to Wal-Mart. I think I have decided to give up on Wal-Mart here. You just think it's bad in B'ham, Tuscaloosa, or anywhere else in 'bama. Not the case! This Wal-Mart is awful! 'Course, I should have known better than to go on a Saturday afternoon, Labor Day weekend, with schools starting here tomorrow. Everyone was school shopping. But--it is really disorganized here too. So that doesn't ever help. Saturday evening Daniel and I grilled a steak, had a baked potato, broccoli, and squash for dinner while watching the Bama game. Roll Tide!! That was a great game. So much for the sucker who was a Clemson fan in our complex. HeeHee...she quickly took her flags off her truck. I'd like to think that it's because we have our flags up on our cars and porch. :) We both thought the team looked better than it did last year. I don't want to jinx us though so, I'll stop.

Sunday, we picked MawMaw up and went to church. I think we've decided to join this church now. We've really grown to like it and have adjusted to the small differences. I've learned the new mass parts. The things that do bother me still but I guess are negligible, is that not everyone joins hands at the Our Father, sign of peace isn't very welcoming in that people don't seem willing to shake hands outside of their own clan (I mean they do shake hands if you stick your hand out, but otherwise...I don't know, it just seems a bit awkward. Maybe that's 'cause we don't know anyone yet.), and finally the Priest sits down before the Eucharist is back in the Tabernacle. I guess he does that because it is such a large parish and for older folks, but it does bother me. And of course as always, people leaving early. I do like that after Mass is over the whole congregation (at least what's left) claps for the musicians. That's always appreciated. Anyways, Sunday evening we went over to Tom and Kathy's for dinner with them and Uncle Bill and MawMaw. It was delicious. I had barley for the first time. I liked it probably better than rice. It was different but in a good way. I think I might try cooking it sooner or later.

Today, we cleaned in the apartment and invited MawMaw and Uncle Bill over for dinner. We fixed sweet potato casserole, marinated some chicken in Dale's, broccoli, corn, blackeye peas, and crescent rolls. For dessert, we made a strawberry cake. It turned out pretty well considering it was my first time cooking a real layer cake in a gas oven. I think I'm finally getting the hang of cooking with gas. I know it cooks faster, but I think really deep down, I'm an electric girl. I don't like having the open eyes. I know these are on electric stoves too, but I think I want a solid surface whenever that option comes available for me to utilize. We've started to really get used to our little 4 in 1 grill too. We cooked the chicken and the steak on there the other night and it really does a great job. I mean it's not got that full grill taste but it works. On a more thrilling note, our toilet over flowed this morning. That was semi exciting but luckily I heard it and got the water turned off pretty quickly. Daniel got to sleep in til like 11 or 1130. I think he really liked his sleep. I talked with Brian for a little while this afternoon and got to hear Sam talk a little bit. Mostly some ooo's and gargles...the norm but I think it won't be long. She seems to be getting some of the right sounds out. I learned that she got another tooth within the last couple of days and that she's starting to try to pull up. That's so neat and I wish I could be there to see it! Congrats Sam!

Today is Day 1 of the Health-A-Thon. I weighed...did you? In actuality, we may need to post-pone the start a few days because of Gustav and because of Labor Day. I forgot that it's Labor Day and everyone probably had big plans of good food. Plus it was a big weekend for football. I don't know. We'll see what some of the consensus is. I sent out an email with the guidelines. I do hope everyone is doing well and that all family is safe from Gustav. I hear that Mom and Dad potentially had a large crowd, but now it's just looking like it may be Mary Margaret and Keith from New Orleans pending how much damage Gustav does. I know they are in Florence or at least should be in Florence now. Aunt Therese, I understand kinda went in the Northeastern direction , but not all the way to Florence like she had originally thought she would. Hopefully, the levees will continue to hold. Our prayers are with each and everyone in the storm's path.

I guess that's it for now. We miss everyone so much. We are looking forward to coming home at Christmas and seeing everyone on Daniel's side at Uncle Bill's wedding. I plan on taking some pictures of the apartment in the morning and getting those up tomorrow. So no more waiting...hopefully. TTFN. Love Always!

Good Eats, Hot Treats!

Last night, Daniel and I went to Sam's. We treated ourselves to a piece of pizza each, a coke, and a coke-float---all for less than $6. Not a bad deal but not very healthy. We walked around Sam's and found some ciabatta bread. I'm gonna make some hamburgers and use those as my buns. I'm pretty excited about it. We also bought some popsicles--fresh fruit ones and they are quite yummy.

Today, I went to the farmer's market and got some squash, okra, corn, and peaches. I plan to make a peach cobbler at some point for Daniel. Later we went to this grocery store called Bloom. It was okay, but we both felt really weird there. There wasn't any music, the lights were dim, and very few people around. I mean the store was clean and everything was presented well, but something about it was just a little weird. We were glad to get outta there. It wasn't in a bad part of town or anything--I don't know, just weird. When we got home, I took a nap and Daniel watched the Cubs game. I got a special treat. Daniel decided to cook dinner for me tonight! He made homemade pasta! He made tortellini stuffed with beef and cheese boiled in beef broth with sauteed veggies--squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and onions. We opened a bottle of wine and it was quite delicious. While he was working on that, I went to Target to get a few things.

Tomorrow we will be having dinner with Uncle Bill and we can't wait to hear all about his latest trip. Uncle Bill and Janet have set a date- November 22nd. I think Steve, Susan and Elizabeth will be staying with us for the wedding so that will be pretty fun. Maw-Maw will be coming up here in a few days so we are looking forward to that. Well that'll do. TTYL

Diet-Off

Okay- so I sent out a large email about the Family-Friends Diet Off. I think it could be a huge success, but all we need is participation. What is the diet-off you ask? Basically from Sept 1st to about Christmas time we are all going to work towards becoming healthy. There will be two pots each $5. One for the most weight lost and one for the highest percentage lost. So basically, $10 a person. The more people in the more you could win. You can lose the weight anyway you choose, but the basic idea is simply to move more. We will way in probably each week to keep it regular and to keep everyone motivated so everyone knows where they stand in the rankings. We've seen the different patterns develop in our family--cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, etc and we want to prevent this from happening. Yes, this is a bit of selfish motivation for us, but at the same time, I think this could be a fun exercise for everyone. If I missed sending the email to you, please let me know and I will pass it on.

For today, I had another interview. It went well and basically they want me to start Monday. However, I don't know that it is the best fit for me. We've talked about it and I think I'm gonna keep searching. When Daniel got home, we went to exercise and then I made a fantastic meal. We had broccoli, corn, boiled potatoes, and fried chicken--a healthy meal. :P You should try the chicken- I put some flour in a bowl and then added some pepper, a little salt, and a little lawry's seasoning and then mixed it up. I floured the chicken, then dipped it in milk, and then refloured again, and fried it in a little olive oil. Yum---very delicious. I must admit the boiled "tatas" were high on the list. I've always been a sucker for potatoes though. Right now, Daniel's reading his book "Playing for Pizza" and it looks like he is getting pretty close to the end. Oh--we did some laundry too. We are exciting people. BTW, sorry we didn't post for a while. The time really slipped by. I couldn't believe how long it had been.

Oh! Question for the day. Who are the VP running mates going to be? I'm interested to hear opinions. That's it. I think I'm going to bed. TTFN.

First Signs of Fall?

Yes, that Maple is already turning out red leaves!!! I can't believe it. We may be in trouble. Last Saturday we went to the National Zoo which was really neat. We were disappointed because the Panda's never came out and the Lions and Tigers closed at 4 so we missed them. They also didn't have any penguins--so sad. But, we did get some neat pictures so we will be posting those in a bit. I heard Mom had a good birthday--she got some lovely orange roses that I'm hoping to see a picture of. She also told me that I needed to go see Mamma Mia. So I know she enjoyed that, but I'm sure she enjoyed seeing the grandbabies more--their own kids just don't count anymore I suppose. We've been pushed out. I must admit that it was a little tough calling home and knowing everyone was there and we couldn't be there to spend time with everyone. We do miss our family gatherings.

I had an interview today with a marketing group today and I have another interview tomorrow with another company. The first one went pretty well and they want me to come back to shadow someone. I expect tomorrow's interview to be somewhat similar as far as what I would be doing. I'm not sure if these two places are right for me, but I guess that's what interviews are for.

We had spaghetti for dinner and it was goooooood. We also went on a walk. The weather here is nice and cool. Daniel said early this morning that it was a bit on the cold side. We had a cold front come through last night and we will be in the low 80's this week. It's quite different from Alabama where we are used to stifling heat and shorts/t-shirt 'til November.

My bruise is almost gone. I have some more pictures for that. Oh look here's one. I think that was about Day 5--a nice crescent moon shape. 'Least I get to see the moon whenever I want. I'm just thankful I don't have something that vibrant on my knee now that I'm going to some interviews.

Michael, I just heard Tony Stewart got fined and put on probation. Oops! Friday is his last day at work before he starts at his new job. I know he is excited and I'm really happy that he's found something that is a better fit for him. Good luck with those tickets though. Jackie, I think you should totally fight the ticket that you got. It seems a bit ridiculous from how Mike described it. I would love to see some video of the Sam and Chloe if possible. I wanna see them movin' and grovin' now. Susan, thanks for the video and pictures- we like checking them out.

Be sure to check out our new pictures from our trip to the zoo! The red toad---amazing! He was huge! Probably at least two of my fists put together. That's a large toad.

Day Three...

It's becoming quite the color palette. I rather like have a swatch book with me anywhere I go. Daniel stayed up for the USA vs Russia basketball game. It was at 3am this morning...I went to bed. We went to 11:30 Mass where they introduced the new music director there. After that, we went to Pier 1 and then to Barnes & Noble and finally to Best Buy. Daniel bought a new John Grisham book, "Playing for Pizza" and I got a couple of magazines. Stopped into Best Buy to try and change to a different phone plan, but no cigar yet. Daniel found Season 8 of Everybody Loves Raymond on sale and now he has a complete collection. I think he's pretty excited about that. I took a nap this afternoon while he watched the Cubs game.

We had dinner with Uncle Bill--it was very good. We had grilled chicken, fresh corn, salad, rolls, and fresh purple hull peas. He also made a peach cobbler for us. Tasty-we aren't going hungry here, that's for sure. We looked at the table Uncle Bill said we could borrow and we are hoping to get that here pretty soon. Almost got things in order where we can take some pictures. Daniel's currently watching the preseason football game (Redskins vs Colts). We've also got a load of laundry going too. I'm gonna finish checking out Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants when I finish this. (I'm really excited about the new movie coming out and Daniel said that he would take me to see it!) We are both excited about the Olympics starting soon. We both enjoy watching them so I'm sure that will fill our evenings pretty soon.

What do you think of the whole Brett Favre thing? We've been kinda following it too. It's so nerve racking---will he or won't he? Will he be with the Packers or will they let him move on? It's so stressful. What will we ever do?

Well I guess that's it. I'm sorry that last night's post ended so abruptly. I thought Daniel had finished it off, but oh well. It ended and now this will end too. TTFN

The many phases of a bruise...

Yes, I have decided it might be great fun to see the progression of a bruise. So take a gander at Day Two. It's quite a pretty shade of purple and yellow and sore as well. I wouldn't be in this predicament if someone wouldn't push me down on the ice (not true!!)...

Today we went to several different stores. We went to Target to get a vaccum cleaner and found one that we did like, but I wanted to see how it compared to the one we had registered for so we didn't buy it yet. After Target, we went to Sam's, Wal-Mart, and Wegman's. We browsed around Sam's and looked at their vaccum cleaners and found one their we liked too. It turned out to be the one that we had registered for, so I will be going back to get it a little later this week. The good news is that it's $10 cheaper than Target---what a positive! Wegman's is a grocery store chain, but it has everything. It's really neat and I feel like it's got a lot of good deals when compared to some of the other grocery stores around. It's a little further out, but if you have to do quite a bit of shopping, it's worth it. The meat always looks so fresh and they have all kinds of different types there. You can have fresh meat cut for you and they will even grill stuff as well. It's kind of like a Whole Foods or Fresh Market, but better.

For dinner, we had crepes. We had pizza ones for dinner and for dessert we will have crepes with Nutella on them. It's very delicious. We did good with our recycling this week. I was quite proud of how much we had. I bought some green beans at the farmer's market this morning and we ended and snapped those tonight too. That's one little thing that I can do to have a taste of home here. At the market this morning, one of the workers gave me a "Cherokee" tomato---it's almost purple and the lady said that it would be a deep shade when you cut into it at least when it's ripe.

Ice Skating...

Today is Friday, which is usually good, but today was really busy at work. I was glad to finally get home. Once I got home, Lauren had already made dinner (chicken casserole) and said she had a surprise for me. She said we were going somewhere, but didn't tell me where. She took me to a place here in Reston that has an indoor ice skating rink. From 7:30 - 9:30, anyone can go out there and skate for $10. I was a little nervous at first since I had never been ice skating, although I have roller bladed before. Needless to say, I was a pro....kind of. I never fell, which was pretty good, I must say. The little 3 year-olds were showing both of us up, big time. Lauren decided to get a closer look at the ice (a couple of times), showing it how good she was (or not). Which is why she currently has a bag of ice on her knee and a nice bruise to go along with it. But, all in all, it was a fun experience and when people come up to visit, it would be a neat place to go. Now, we are watching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on FX.