Sheesh!

TAKE ONE:

TAKE TWO:

TAKE THREE:

TAKE FOUR:

Shoulda' left well enough alone with the first pic! Jamie's head was half cut off, but at least we both had half decent smiles, etc! The next two, even though the flash never went off, I somehow managed to have my eyes closed! I was determined the last time to have my eyes wide open (note eyes wide open...LOL!!), and then to top it off, the picture got blurry! Oh well, you got the point; we were trying to show off our tattoos!

And then there's our pumpkin:

Jealous

I'm living college life through Alyssa! She, Sarah and Kristin had the opportunity to go to a Sarah Palin rally last evening. They had a great time and were quite impressed with her.

I Need A Drink.

Kurt's gone. Tonite's garbage night. Yay. NOT.

The least favorite part of garbage night for both of us is the litter boxes. I usually take the opportunity to do a major cleaning job of at least one of the boxes when Kurt is away, because that is never on his mind when he does it week in and week out. One thing usually leads to another and before I know it, I've done a major 'spring cleaning' job of the litter box corner. I hate it. Period.

So I'm already hating every moment of this and what happens??? I pick up the box of litter to pour it into the litter box and the lid proceeds to rip off the box; I have the lid in my hand and the litter goes flying everywhere....on the floor, on the area rugs, in the dish of cat food, in the basket where we put the newspapers....everywhere!



And this is always our most favorite part:


We no sooner are done freshening/changing the litter....and Sassy is in one of them!

OH, and BTW....THE PHILS JUST WON THE WORLD SERIES.....WOOO HOOOO!!!!!

Little Helper?

We got Kurt's mom a floor lamp for her birthday and delivered it to her yesterday before Kurt left for his India trip today. He put it together while we were there, and had a little guy trying to help. Other than giving me some blog ammunition, I'm not sure how much help Colm was, but gosh, he sure is cute...LOL!!




And then, there's this:

Merry Christmas?

Kurt leaves for India tomorrow for a week. We only have our old luggage from before we were married and you know how now they have that neat stuff on wheels. His most recent trips have been short ones and we do have one piece of luggage on wheels, but it's not very big. So I had this great idea to get him rolling luggage for Christmas. I had a 30% off coupon for Kohl's earlier this month that I used to purchase two pieces of Samsonite luggage. Adam helped me hide both in the basement.

Kurt came home from work on Thursday with a piece of luggage that he bought at Ollie's! I almost died! I didn't know what to do. As I spent the next day debating what I should do, he decided the piece he got at Ollie's wasn't even gonna be big enough and he would probably have to use Alyssa's. It was at that point, that I figured I should probably just give him the pieces I got him for Christmas. When I told Adam, he agreed.

So I gave him one of our picture Christmas cards from last year, and as he was opening it, Adam walked in with the luggage. He is very pleased with it and is not upset at all that he needs to return the other suitcase.


Now what the heck do I get him for Christmas?!?!?! Darn!!!

Old Friends

Several of us that worked together in the dialysis unit at Allentown Hospital/Lehigh Valley Hospital got together tonite for dinner at Paolo's in Northampton. We sat there for three hours just catching up, laughing, reminiscing, enjoying good food and friendship. For those of you who have never been to Paolo's, I highly recommend it! Their food is tremendous...and you never leave without a goodie bag with leftovers for lunch the next day!!

From left to right: Me, Maribeth, Tina & Kathy

Three of us are still in the field of nephrology. Maribeth oriented me when I joined the dialysis staff in 1987. She had a toddler then, who is now 24 and has a son of her own (which makes MB a grandma...LOL)! Maribeth is now an area administrator of five of the local dialysis outpatient clinics. Kathy is a charge nurse at one of the outpatient dialysis clinics in the area. Tina is the only one still employed in the hospital system and is one of the people who answers the hospital's customer service line.

We had a great time and have decided we need to do this more often....at least on a quarterly basis!

Ewwwww

There's three trees lining the street that I park on at work. They are beautiful trees in the spring and summer; they don't create any problems during the winter. Fall is a different story, however. These berry like things drop from the trees and splat on the car. They are sticky and open up when they land. They then dry on the car and windshield and it's extremely difficult to get them off. Yesterday it was quite windy and this is what I found when I left the office. I ended up going through the car wash on my way home, it took a lot of them off, but not all. Today I parked on the other side of the street!!

Awwwww

Flowers from Kurt on our 24th anniversary, which was on Monday, October 20th

Sunset

Homecoming 2008

Cross Stitch

Here's my latest project.

I've done so many of these, I'm running out of options as far as different kits. I have done this once twice before. I really like it, so it does make it easier to do it again....and again!

This one is for one of the gals, Rachel, I work with in the office. She had Carter on Easter morning....obviously you can tell I was not rushing to get it done...LOL!!

FACEBOOOOKKK!!!!!

OK, so I did it!! I created myself a Facebook account. Alyssa has been bugging me for eons to do it! I'm sitting here watching Penn State struggle with Michigan at their homecoming game...they are currently down three points. Michigan is 2-4 and PSU is 7-0. Michigan has won the last nine matches....I sure hope they can break that cycle today!

Kurt and I are off to dinner after the game to pre-celebrate our 24th anniversary (which is on Monday the 20th).

Watch for pics tomorrow of Adam and Erika before the Northampton Homecoming dance.....

OK....game's tied now....woo hoo....17-17!! Keep your fingers crossed!!

UPDATE: FINAL SCORE PENN STATE 46-MICHIGAN 17 WOO HOO!!

Why DID the Chicken Cross the Road??

BARACK OBAMA*: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a
change! The chicken wanted change!*

JOHN MC CAIN*: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he
recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialog with all the
chickens on the other side of the road.*

HILLARY CLINTON*: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little
chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified
to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the
chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about
me.*

GEORGE W. BUSH*: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the
road.We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or
not.The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no
middle
ground here.*

DICK CHENEY*: Where's my gun?


*SARAH PALIN:* Where's MY gun*?


COLIN POWELL*: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the
satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.*


BILL CLINTON*: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your
definition of crossing?*


AL GORE*: I invented the chicken.*


JOHN KERRY*: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am
now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about
the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.*


AL SHARPTON*: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.*


DR. PHIL*: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize
that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before
it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to
do is help him realize how
stupid he's acting by not taking on his
current problems before adding new problems.*


OPRAH*: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is
why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken
learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm
going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the
road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.*


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN*: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.*


PAT BUCHANAN*: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.*


MARTHA STEWART*: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was
going. I had a standing order at the Farmers Market to sell my eggs when
the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider
information.*


DR SEUSS*: Did
the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.*


ERNEST HEMINGWAY*: To die in the rain, alone.*


JERRY FALWELL*: Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the
plain truth? That's why they call it the "other side." Yes, my
friends,that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will
become gay, too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this
abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless
phrases like the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the
road. It's as plain and as simple as that.*


BARBARA WALTERS*: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be
listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heartwarming
story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to
accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the
road.*


ARISTOTLE*: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.*


JOHN LENNON*: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads
together, in peace.*


BILL GATES*: I have just released Chicken 2008, which will not only
cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and
balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of
eChicken2008.This new platform is much more stable and will never reboot.*


ALBERT EINSTEIN*: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road
move beneath the chicken?*_


GRANDPA_*: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road.
Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

(Thanks to Sheri for sending me this; I found it hysterical and decided to share it with all!!)

YUMMY

I got green beans last week when Martha and I went to Lancaster. I had a huge piece of ham in the freezer that I cooked for hours yesterday; then added the green beans after I cleaned the ham off the bone. I peeled the potatoes this morning before I left for work, then added them tonite. As you can see, I had a huge pot filled with ham, string beans and potatoes. Til we were done eating supper tonite (four of us...us plus Erika), and I doled out the following, there's enough left for Kurt for supper on Wednesday when I eat at the Blue:

One small container for me for lunch tomorrow
One small container for Jamie for lunch tomorrow
One small container for Mom for supper some evening this week
One bigger container for Alyssa
One bigger container for Sarah (Alyssa's roommate)

I talked to Alyssa and told her that I had saved two containers for her; she asked me if I planned on mailing it to her. I told her that, yes, that was my plan. I think she realized I was joking!! Mom is going to be seeing her on Sunday for a few hours, she will take them to her.

We Are.....PENN STATE!

I have been looking forward to our trip to Penn State since we planned it back in the beginning of September...and man...it went way tooooo fast!! It was a good weekend to be there, as Alyssa's roommate and other friend that she hangs out with were gone for the weekend, so she was by herself. Adam stayed with Alyssa in her room on Friday night and Kurt and I spent the night at a Super 8 motel. We got there about 6:15 on Friday night and got to say hi and goodbye to Sarah who was just leaving. I found this pic on Alyssa's wall quite amusing:


Look how big Jack has gotten:


We went to Texas Roadhouse for Adam's belated birthday dinner:



On Saturday morning we met at the hotel, had some breakfast, then decided to take a drive south. We started out driving to a local dam that is near State College. It has a nice beach to swim at, but isn't very big. We looked at the map and saw that there was a much bigger lake about thirty miles south of PSU. On our way down to the lake (see below), we came across a sign for Juniata College, which we've all heard about, but none of us had ever been there. It seemed like a no-brainer to go five miles out of our way to drive through campus. It's quite a small campus compared to the one we're used to now...LOL!



As we were leaving Huntingdon, which is where the college is, we came across this cool wall:


These are pics of Raystown Lake. We really had no idea where we were going and where the best spot was to see the lake from afar. We ended up at a private boat launch area where a nice gentleman gave us directions to the Ridenour Outlook, which provided lots of beautiful pictures. You may notice that we were probably a week too early as far as the foliage goes...there were still many green trees out there!

These are just some random shots I got over the course of our drive that I thought were neat:

We took pics with JoePa (or a reasonable facsimile...LOL!!) I'm not posting all the pics, as one will be on the 2008 Christmas card.






We stopped at Matt and Karlyn's towards the end of the day and ended up having a picnic with them. We had pizza for supper, and Karlyn made fresh homemade cookies. They were yummy! Thanks!

Tate and Lydia with Alyssa and Adam

Gabe with Alyssa

After we left Matt and Karlyn's we dropped the guys off at Alyssa's room so they could see the beginning of the Penn State-Wisconsin game (Did I mention they blew Wisconsin away?!?!!?), while Alyssa and I ran to Walmart to get her a case of water and a few other things she needed. We pulled away from Atherton Hall at 9:08 p.m., and arrived home at 11:40 p.m. It was a perfect day!