Piano Schmiano

The kid in the upper right hand corner is me. Yep, the only adult in a sea of piano students. This was my first piano recital. Cute huh?

I Like-a-you

There are some people in this world that you just can't help but like. Chuck and Lynn were inducted into the Waldron "I Like-a-you Hall of Fame" a couple years ago. These two are awesome. In the words of Anne of Green Gables, "bosom buddies." Chuck is an amazing photographer, you can check his website by clicking the link here. Lynn is the boss... that's what wives are for, what more can I say?

As a side note, Chuck has taken our pictures for our Christmas cards for the past 2 years. What a humble guy. With all of his important work to do, he still makes time to take pics of little ol' us. :)

Giving Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving at our home this year. We, of course, had the Warr family over for a day of cooking, thanking, eating, cleaning and bonding. On the menu (too much): turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, collard greens, cranberry compote, green bean casserole, roasted garlic, rolls, antipasti... is there more? Oh yes, Monica made an amazing warm dip for pre-feast noshing. Yummy!

Cold Warr

We decided to go to the lighting of the Magnificent Mile with the Warrs. It was cool. Actually it was cold. Hence the red noses in every picture. We all did our best to be good sports about it, but the truth is that I couldn't feel my toes AT ALL by the end of the night! Chicago is such an awesome city. Why can't they move it to the Florida coastline?

Done being sick!

The weekend after Thanksgiving I caught a fun bug... food poisoning. Yuck. OK, so that's all for now. I am all good. No more bugs, no more sore throat or aching body. I have been so busy and have neglected my blog. :( So the next few posts will be catch-up from the past month. Yikes.

Better is good

Getting better is a good thing. I'm almost at the 3 week mark of my sickiness and not 100% better, but almost... still coughing. I went running for the first time in 2 1/2 weeks yesterday. It was 32 degrees outside, not the most comfy temperature, but do-able. It felt good to get in a healthy jog, therapeutic. Perhaps it was unreasonable to think so, but I thought that it would be a terrible run and that being "off" for 2 1/2 weeks would have rendered me unable to make it through a simple 30 minute jaunt. Can hard work be flushed down the tubes in just 2+ sickiness-filled weeks? Apparently not. Thank goodness. Life is good. :)

Sickiness

I'm sick... again. So, I started feeling yucky last week on Monday. Achy, tired, sore throat, then stuffy head. Why do I have to be sick? I hate getting sick. It is such an inconvenience. I finally started feeling better on Friday. Not quite 100%, but better.  Yesterday (Monday) it came back in the form of a newly sore throat, chills, etc. Now I'm at home feeling guilty for calling in sick to work. Oh well, here's hoping I get better... again. :)

PS - Guilty for calling in to work??? It's a guilt complex. I feel like I should just keep chugging along until I collapse or something. Isn't that ridiculous? If you are sick GO HOME and GO TO BED!

Skot's response to election...

A Prelude...

Christi here. I just wanted to say something quickly before you read this. I am happy that we have an African-American man elected to be our president. I feel like this is the cherry on top of the sundae for the civil rights movement that started so many years ago. Am I excited that he is a Democrat? No. I am worried about our money, our investments, our future. We are trying to move ahead in this world and I feel frustrated with the notion that making under $250'000 keeps you safe from the future tax hikes... It makes me feel like there is a new glass ceiling over my head. Oh well, he will be sworn in on Jan 20 (i think thats right) and we will just have to see what happens. Following is Skot's view.

SKOT:

Yeah, it happened. The inevitable. Who's surprised? No one. I think there are 3 main things that contributed to this win:

1. Perfect timing - he got in at a time when people were sick and tired of the Republicans and people needed something different.

2. Great branding / marketing - if Obama has one thing on his side, it's the creative industry. These people did an amazing job of branding his campaign and messaging. McCain couldn't touch him. I have to compare it to the Mac (democrats) vs PC (republicans) commercials.

3. Republican failure - no one can speak against the fact that the republicans screwed themselves in this election. It's just like a sports team that fumbled the ball way too many times, made incomplete passes, too many penalties, and not enough touch downs. They only have themselves to blame.

Whether we like it or not, we are in a global economy. The world would have been disappointed in a McCain victory. Should we care? Yes. The American brand is important, extremely important. It has been damaged these past 8 years.

Obama is not a moron. He will not (hopefully) swing all the way to the left. The majority of voters in this nation are in the middle. If he does that, he'll lose the trust of a lot of people that voted for him. If he's smart, he'll pull in some Republicans to his cabinet, maybe even John McCain. That would be a smart move. Talk about bipartisanship. With a majority in both the house and the senate, Obama will have to be the bipartisan one. He's been ramming "bipartisanship" down our throats, let's see if he actually acts that way.

He's also appealing to the upcoming generations of this country that are or will be running it. The moral of this generation is important. If nothing else, these people are happy and excited. That is good.

I'm sick of all the negativity associated with both parties. Now that the Dems have control, shut up and do something. They've been complaining and crying for 8 years in every way possible. They have no room to talk now. They've been talking a lot, let's see if they can do anything. We definitely won't have any brothas complaining about being oppressed by "the man" because, hey, "the man" is a brotha! (Actually he's only half a brotha).

I'm happy to see a change of pace and an energy around the country that we haven't had for a long time. I'm not that excited to see the things that may come about as a result of Obama winning, but I don't think I would have been that happy about McCain either.

I voted for Bob Barr. Yes, he supports the Fair Tax, and he's a Georgia boy. Did I throw my vote away? NO. Can someone tell me again why we are one of the last countries in the world with a 2 party system? I guess it's better than a 1 party system. Why do I have to vote for a Republican or Democrat to feel validated? I shouldn't have to. My only two choices of something to eat are brussels sprouts or radishes. They both leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Whatever the occasion, it's historical. Cheer up. It can't be worse than it is. Well, I hope not.

Halleluah!

Today we hit the 70 degree mark in the Chicago area. Halleluah!!! I am so happy. All the windows are open. The little bugs and birds outside are busy like it was spring. Life is wonderful, gorgeous and exhilarating today. I love warm weather.

Pumpkin Eater

It's that time of the year. Time for cooler weather, excessive amounts of candy, fun costumes, ghost stories, and pumpkin carving. We finally got around to carving our pumpkins last night. We are trying to make a habit of having family night, so this was our activity!

Skot's carving process looks painful and difficult.
Way to impress your wife pal! Skot is not typically one to read directions.
Here I am trying to do some intricate carving on my pumpkin. I decided that I wanted to carve an ancient Aztec god on my pumpkin, but quickly ditched that idea when I realized what I was about to do to myself. What I mean is that I tend to make big plans when it comes to decorative stuff without realizing or comprehending the amount of work it will require to accomplish. I might have gone ahead with my idea if I had the proper tools, though. 
Skot is finished way before me, of course. :) That's alright, it gave him time to take some more pictures.

Sewing Allowed, but Only with Bright Colors

I am sewing and enjoying it very much. I have had this project on the back burner for a couple of years. How sad that it has taken me this long, but at least I am finally at it. I have needed something to protect and store my good silverware, well, since I received some when Skot and I were first married. If you look close you will see the stitching is not exactly straight, but this was my first. Practice makes perfect.

Spoon holder.

The good 'ole sewing machine. I inherited this from Skot's mom, EJ, who inherited it from Skot's paternal grandmother. It's nice to have an "heirloom" that you can use on a regular basis.

Finished product, all wrapped up.

Pilates Studio, a New Frontier

I decided months ago that I wanted to try pilates again, and not with the old video I purchased from an infommercial some 5 years ago. So, after discussing this with some friends at work (once again some months ago) we decided we would get a group of four together and proceeded to procrastinate our master plan.  So, to my great surprise, they purchased a gift certificate for my birthday for a private training session. I went to Inner Peace Pilates studio on Friday past and enjoyed my first training session on the "Cadillac" and "Reformer" machines. Loved it, my abs are sore, my body feels limber. That's all I have to say for now. :)

The studio floor. No shoes allowed. I love "no shoes allowed" type places. It seems cleaner.
The Cadillac is on the left, the reformer machines to the right. The stuff hanging down from the bars on the cadillac (aka trapeze machine) are spring loaded, so you lay down and pull with arms or legs depending on what exercise you are doing.

Soothing purchase

What the heck is wrong with blogger? I am trying to post some stuff and it is making me crazy. My pictures are going in the wrong order, despite the fact that I am putting them in proper order. This is craziness and frustration.

This picture was supposed to go on my last post, whatever. I went to my favorite flower shop in the whole world, called MUM, and purchased these lovely bits of nature. I have fresh-cut flowers in my house pretty much every day. I buy on Wednesday or Friday typically. I'll put a link to their website on here today... if the computer and blog site will cooperate. :(

...just a quick addition... now I can't even get the type face to adjust to the right size! Ahhh!!!

The Plant Lady Mourns

The lovely amaryllis has finished blooming. We'll have to wait another year...

Ohh... Blah.

I want a new camera. I am currently looking. I am frustrated with the basic cam. we have right now because I can't get a decent shot unless the surrounding lighting is absolutely perfect. So, I suppose that means I want something with a better flash. Maybe even a camera with changeable flashes? That automatically puts me into a higher price range - to purchase the flash attachments I mean.

So here are my wants: digital, good flash, big working screen, easy buttons, middle price range. Any suggestions? 

Beet Red Continued

I almost forgot... I have two more beets left. What do I do with them besides eat on salads?

Plant Lady is back

The Warr's bought me a lovely amaryllis for my birthday and this is what it looks like 2 weeks later.

Purple carnation.
Yellow carnation with purple tips.

Spring, please come back!

We have a looming winter at hand and preparing these spring rolls makes my heart whimper a little.

How lovely! How gorgeous! SO HEALTHY!
Amalea helped Skot and her daddy (Jason) soak the sheets of rice paper. She was very good at knowing when they were ready to roll.
Monica and little Isabel watched and taste-tested.

Beet Red

It's a little embarrassing... I love to experiment with food, but I suppose that the word "experiment" is deceiving. I really only try out new food/recipes after I try it in a restaurant first. That does not make me a proper kitchen connoisseur.  I have tried a couple of recipes without actually tasting the stuff first, but never had the outcome I was hoping for. Oh well, maybe one day I will become a little more brave again. For now I will just be the "Copy Cat Connoisseur."

Aren't these beets lovely? I had some amazing spring rolls when we were poolside in Las Vegas. So, of course, I felt compelled to make my own at home. There was quite a bit of preparation. I chose numerous veggies and had to julienne them all by hand because I don't have a food processor. This beet was one of those vegetables. I was so taken aback by the beauty of this red beet I had to stop everything and take a picture. The spring rolls will be posted soon.

Apple Pickin'

Last Saturday we went apple pickin' at the Prairie Sky Orchard in Woodstock. We had fun, reconnected slightly with nature, bought pumpkins, and also picked some raspberries.

This is what happens when I ask Skot to smile for me. I get cheese face. 

Conference and Blood Sucking

We watched General Conference on the 4th and 5th. I love Conference. I learn so much. It is a time for reflection and personal inventory and I appreciate the effort the speakers put in to their messages. This is also the time of year that Skot and I give blood. There is a blood drive set up at our church building every April and October. I haven't been able to give blood for a while, but decided to try to jump back on the wagon. Skot, as usual, a real trooper.

Happy Birthday?

My B-Day was Friday Oct 3rd.  We had just finished our quick vacation to Las Vegas on Monday, so when Skot asked what I wanted for my birthday I said "I just want a normal day." In other words, come home on time, stay home for dinner and just hang out. So, I was out running errands and decided to meet up with Skot for lunch at good ol' Olive Garden. I was slightly mistreated.....

Skot squashed my head.
And poked out my eyes. I got him back. :)
I picked his nose.
And then... well you can see for yourself. Ha HA

Hold Your Horses

I have new pictures... no time to post now. I will do it tomorrow afternoon! :) Just hold your horses.

What Happens in Vegas... Part III

We stopped by UNLV's dental school. This is the one Uncle Steve started and was the Dean of.

The fountains at Bellagio.
Our yummy dinner at Yellowtail. Outside our window were the Bellagio fountains, great view.
Our gondolier at the Venetian.
Skot was just dying to get a picture with Donnie and Marie... :)

What Happens in Vegas... Part II

Friday night, running around.

Saturday night, getting ready.
Out and about.
Dinner at the Wynn Hotel.