Well, Thanksgiving was a hit! Except for the butterscotch pie. That was a fail. Thank goodness for Jello and Mommy. Turns out, after all that, that Matt's mom makes butterscotch pie with Jello pudding anyway! Yeah, I will not be attempting to make it from scratch again anytime soon. Although, I'm pretty sure I know what went wrong. Still, I consider myself a pretty good baker, and this wounded my pride. I must recover.
On Friday after Thanksgiving Mommy and I rented "Up!". Such a cute movie! It was so good. Except that Disney, as always, killed off the wife in the beginning of the movie. Disney doesn't really like mothers/wives for whatever reason. The only mother I can think of surviving a Disney movie was Nairobi (I think that's how disney spelled it). Of course, Mufasa died. I don't know why main Disney characters can't have both parents. But anyway, yes great movie. Favorite line came from the talking dog: "I hid under the porch, because I love you!" So cute!
Mommy got back home to Oregon safe and sound. So thank goodness for that! If my timing is right, she is now in Utah. Quite the traveller she is.
In recent news, I have experienced my first Illinois snow today! Okay, so they were only snow flurries, but still. It was so cool! I didn't realize it was snowing until I had to walk outside to get to the Bone Student Center for a Holiday potluck. I was soooo excited. My coworker of course was not happy to see this snow. I wasn't quite as excited as I will be when we get our first real snow though! And for those of you who are not fans of snow, don't worry, I probably won't be this excited come January. I mean, already the low tonight is 16 degrees. 16 degrees! The only temperature like that in California (aside from the mountainous areas) are people's freezers! And I used to think Stockton was cold. Ha!
Booboo is blending into the family quite well. Now that the Honeymoon Period is over, some more of his traits are coming out. He's a lot of dog in a small package. He can get quite excitable. He'll randomly start tearing through the apartment and use the hallway as a track. He's also taken to chasing the cats. Luckily I do think the cats are now at the point where they know he won't hurt them. As long as they have a safe place to jump up to they're fine. They'll even playfully bat at him from their perch. Much better than puffing up!
Tomorrow we get our Christmas tree! Yay! I was able to get a few ornaments on the cheap and my boss gave me a coupon for a Christmas tree. So we will be decorating tomorrow. Probably with some hot chocolate and Christmas music. Well, hot chocolate for me. Matt isn't so much the hot chocolate drinker. I however am a hot chocolate fiend!
Well, I think I will stop here, since I've given you plenty to read. I will post pictures of our decorated Christmas tree once its up!
Ooh, and just to solicit comments so I actually feel like you are paying attention to me (lol) post a comment telling me what the weather is like in your area!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving Prep!
What is the most significant update of the week, you might ask? Well, my mother is here to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with us. I picked her up on Sunday from O'Hare International Airport. I discovered several things on my journey to the airport. 1) The GPS cannot find the airport, thank goodness I had gotten directions from google. 2) After driving 6-7 hours from Stockton to LA and 6-7 hours back, the 2 hour drive to O'Hare is nothing. 3) I really, really want a small car; driving Matt's Mitsubishi Mirage was sooo nice! 4) O'Hare is one of the MOST confusing airports I have ever had the misfortune of attempting to navigate. But I made it through the ordeal, and brought my mother home safe and sound.
I currently type amidst Thanksgiving preparations. Mommy is taking a turn at stirring the butterscotch pie glop, which is turning out to be a bigger pain in the butt than anticipated. This better be one darn good pie! I also washed and cut the collard greens, so they are ready to be thrown in the pot tomorrow.
What is the Thanksgiving menu at the Waldrons? I'm so glad you asked!
Turkey
Ham
Tofurkey (for the vegetarian)
Collard Greens
Candied Yams
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Pilsbury Grands
Homemade Butterscotch Pie (hopefully)
Martinelli's Apple Cider
I'm really hoping the Butterscotch Pie turns out, now that we've put so much time into it. The recipe I found online did not mention this was going to be a 3 hour process! I also failed to understand that this was a custard pie. Next year, I'm getting butterscotch Jello pudding and dumping it in a pie crust!
Aside from cooking, I've been quite productive during my week off. Today Matt and I rearranged the living room. I also redid the art on the walls so the place looks less like a dorm room and more like a grown up living room...ignoring the lego buildings in the corner of course! I also have been working in the office and doing some major cleaning out and consolidating. I'll probably finish the process Friday. I also wanted to print up some pictures to actually fill our many picture frames, but that proved to be too ambitious for today. I also actually planned to sit down and fill out Thank You Cards from the wedding (yeah, waayyy late) but then this custard fiasco occurred, and Mommy and I have been taking turns stirring. Matt better be grateful for this! Assuming it turns out.
Well, I suppose I should take my turn to stir. Cooking starts tomorrow at 1pm for dinner to be ready by 5pm. This will officially be my first time cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner. Wish me luck!
I currently type amidst Thanksgiving preparations. Mommy is taking a turn at stirring the butterscotch pie glop, which is turning out to be a bigger pain in the butt than anticipated. This better be one darn good pie! I also washed and cut the collard greens, so they are ready to be thrown in the pot tomorrow.
What is the Thanksgiving menu at the Waldrons? I'm so glad you asked!
Turkey
Ham
Tofurkey (for the vegetarian)
Collard Greens
Candied Yams
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Pilsbury Grands
Homemade Butterscotch Pie (hopefully)
Martinelli's Apple Cider
I'm really hoping the Butterscotch Pie turns out, now that we've put so much time into it. The recipe I found online did not mention this was going to be a 3 hour process! I also failed to understand that this was a custard pie. Next year, I'm getting butterscotch Jello pudding and dumping it in a pie crust!
Aside from cooking, I've been quite productive during my week off. Today Matt and I rearranged the living room. I also redid the art on the walls so the place looks less like a dorm room and more like a grown up living room...ignoring the lego buildings in the corner of course! I also have been working in the office and doing some major cleaning out and consolidating. I'll probably finish the process Friday. I also wanted to print up some pictures to actually fill our many picture frames, but that proved to be too ambitious for today. I also actually planned to sit down and fill out Thank You Cards from the wedding (yeah, waayyy late) but then this custard fiasco occurred, and Mommy and I have been taking turns stirring. Matt better be grateful for this! Assuming it turns out.
Well, I suppose I should take my turn to stir. Cooking starts tomorrow at 1pm for dinner to be ready by 5pm. This will officially be my first time cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner. Wish me luck!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
...
So...this was supposed to serve as a more adequate means of giving information about the lives of the new Waldrons. I have failed considerably on this front. I am not terribly concerned, however, for two reasons:
1) not much has been going on
2) I'm not sure how many people are actually keeping tabs on this thing.
But for those few of you who are, the most recent news has been that we now have a dog. His name is Booboo and he is a 2-year-old puggle (Pug/Beagle) that we adopted from the humane society. He has fit right in with the family. He and the cats are now at the point where they will play and rest in the same area. Of course, everything still must be on the cats terms. The addition of the puggle has brought on some irritating behaviors from the kitties, however. It seems they like Booboo's food more than their own food, esp. Drac. So now they have to be locked in their room while Booboo eats. The other thing is despite the fact that they have their own water bowl, they insist on drinking Booboo's water. And not only that, but Jenkins has decided that a fun game to play is to dip his paw in the water and splash it all over the kitchen. And then he started bringing his toy mouse to it. Jenkins has previously had the habit of soaking this mouse in his water dish. Now he soaks it in Booboo's water dish and then hides it under the dish. Of course once he hides it he has to try--however unsuccessfully--to get it out, which splashes more water across the kitchen.
But Booboo is not entirely innocent. He seems to think that all toys are his toys. He has started playing with the cats big mouse, and has now taken to playing with the small mouse--Jenkins' favorite. It's not very often that I catch Booboo with the small mouse because Jenkins usually hides it somewhere (something he did before Booboo came into the picture). But when Booboo does find it, I just don't want him to swallow it. And I want the kitties to be able to have their own toys!
With the addition of Booboo life is never dull! I actually don't mind having to wake up and take him out to potty, or take him out before bed. The weather's been pretty crappy, so on the few dry days we have I try to make sure he gets his walk in. With the addition of Booboo I feel like our family is complete. And now everybody is on a schedule, which makes my life easier. I am also never bored. which may also be why I barely have the time or energy to blog!
Work is going great! I have finally gotten the hang of my job and absolutely love working with the students. I have made a real friend in the office assistant (i'm not sure what her actual title is) and it's nice to have that outlet for my extroverted self (most of the people in my division are rather introverted, which is unusual for student affairs). The only thing I have to be nervous about is winter! Frost has already started forming in the morning, and we're supposed to have our first taste of snow on November 30! I'm not ready for it! Thank goodness for a spot in the parking garage!
I will leave you all with this wonderful link http://picasaweb.google.com/swaldo2009 to my photo album site. I'm not sure if you have to have a google log in to access it, so someone let me know and I'll figure something out. I have pictures of Booboo and more recent pics of the kitties on facebook. I will try to figure out how to transfer those to Picasa for you non-facebookers. I'd really rather not have to upload them all again!
Peace and Blessings!
1) not much has been going on
2) I'm not sure how many people are actually keeping tabs on this thing.
But for those few of you who are, the most recent news has been that we now have a dog. His name is Booboo and he is a 2-year-old puggle (Pug/Beagle) that we adopted from the humane society. He has fit right in with the family. He and the cats are now at the point where they will play and rest in the same area. Of course, everything still must be on the cats terms. The addition of the puggle has brought on some irritating behaviors from the kitties, however. It seems they like Booboo's food more than their own food, esp. Drac. So now they have to be locked in their room while Booboo eats. The other thing is despite the fact that they have their own water bowl, they insist on drinking Booboo's water. And not only that, but Jenkins has decided that a fun game to play is to dip his paw in the water and splash it all over the kitchen. And then he started bringing his toy mouse to it. Jenkins has previously had the habit of soaking this mouse in his water dish. Now he soaks it in Booboo's water dish and then hides it under the dish. Of course once he hides it he has to try--however unsuccessfully--to get it out, which splashes more water across the kitchen.
But Booboo is not entirely innocent. He seems to think that all toys are his toys. He has started playing with the cats big mouse, and has now taken to playing with the small mouse--Jenkins' favorite. It's not very often that I catch Booboo with the small mouse because Jenkins usually hides it somewhere (something he did before Booboo came into the picture). But when Booboo does find it, I just don't want him to swallow it. And I want the kitties to be able to have their own toys!
With the addition of Booboo life is never dull! I actually don't mind having to wake up and take him out to potty, or take him out before bed. The weather's been pretty crappy, so on the few dry days we have I try to make sure he gets his walk in. With the addition of Booboo I feel like our family is complete. And now everybody is on a schedule, which makes my life easier. I am also never bored. which may also be why I barely have the time or energy to blog!
Work is going great! I have finally gotten the hang of my job and absolutely love working with the students. I have made a real friend in the office assistant (i'm not sure what her actual title is) and it's nice to have that outlet for my extroverted self (most of the people in my division are rather introverted, which is unusual for student affairs). The only thing I have to be nervous about is winter! Frost has already started forming in the morning, and we're supposed to have our first taste of snow on November 30! I'm not ready for it! Thank goodness for a spot in the parking garage!
I will leave you all with this wonderful link http://picasaweb.google.com/swaldo2009 to my photo album site. I'm not sure if you have to have a google log in to access it, so someone let me know and I'll figure something out. I have pictures of Booboo and more recent pics of the kitties on facebook. I will try to figure out how to transfer those to Picasa for you non-facebookers. I'd really rather not have to upload them all again!
Peace and Blessings!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Autumn
Fall has hit Normal, IL.
The leaves are beginning to turn and some are already falling. Pumpkin patches and corn mazes are cropping up all over the place! In fact, I'm supposed to attend a "staff fun day" at a corn maze in town in a couple of weeks.
Oh, and did I mention it's COLD! I now begin to doubt my survival of the winter. It's already dipping down to the high 50's during the day and the high 30's at night. That's Stockton winter! I don't know about this cold weather... Matt of course is loving it. His main complaint about California was that it was too warm. Right now is his ideal weather. Although it has been raining a lot. We're still getting a few thunderstorms, which I thought only occurred in warm weather.
Matt has finally agreed to keep the air conditioning off at night and now we just leave the bedroom window open. (We're on the second floor, so I'm not worried about someone climbing in).
I've started making friends at work. We hang out some Fridays now after work. It's really nice. It really changes the environment at work that I now have people to talk to. I can't sit behind a desk all day and not talk to my coworkers. That's no fun! I am still trying to figure out the work scheduling balance, since I work so many weekends and nights. The problem is that student affairs hours aren't really tit for tat, so the balance is never really fully achieved. I have been battling a cold though, so some days it's up in the air whether or not I should go in.
Matt wondered the other day if we will get trick-or-treaters on Halloween. I'm not sure. There are quite a few families with kids, but I don't know if people trick-or-treat at apartments. We don't really have any plans for that day. Maybe sit home and watch scary movies (but not too scary!) Hopefully Matt won't have to work.
Matt is still looking for jobs in higher ed. Bed, Bath, and Beyond is not his ideal job. Although he does get excited about the employee discounts. He got a video game chair that's normally $30 for $3.
Well, I guess it's my turn to make dinner tonight so I suppose I should start cooking.
Until next time.
The leaves are beginning to turn and some are already falling. Pumpkin patches and corn mazes are cropping up all over the place! In fact, I'm supposed to attend a "staff fun day" at a corn maze in town in a couple of weeks.
Oh, and did I mention it's COLD! I now begin to doubt my survival of the winter. It's already dipping down to the high 50's during the day and the high 30's at night. That's Stockton winter! I don't know about this cold weather... Matt of course is loving it. His main complaint about California was that it was too warm. Right now is his ideal weather. Although it has been raining a lot. We're still getting a few thunderstorms, which I thought only occurred in warm weather.
Matt has finally agreed to keep the air conditioning off at night and now we just leave the bedroom window open. (We're on the second floor, so I'm not worried about someone climbing in).
I've started making friends at work. We hang out some Fridays now after work. It's really nice. It really changes the environment at work that I now have people to talk to. I can't sit behind a desk all day and not talk to my coworkers. That's no fun! I am still trying to figure out the work scheduling balance, since I work so many weekends and nights. The problem is that student affairs hours aren't really tit for tat, so the balance is never really fully achieved. I have been battling a cold though, so some days it's up in the air whether or not I should go in.
Matt wondered the other day if we will get trick-or-treaters on Halloween. I'm not sure. There are quite a few families with kids, but I don't know if people trick-or-treat at apartments. We don't really have any plans for that day. Maybe sit home and watch scary movies (but not too scary!) Hopefully Matt won't have to work.
Matt is still looking for jobs in higher ed. Bed, Bath, and Beyond is not his ideal job. Although he does get excited about the employee discounts. He got a video game chair that's normally $30 for $3.
Well, I guess it's my turn to make dinner tonight so I suppose I should start cooking.
Until next time.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Kitty Chat
The number one rule that people give new cat owners before obtaining a cat is this: Kitty-proof your home.
Of course any veteran cat owner knows that there is no such thing as kitty-proofing your home. No matter how far away you put something, they will get to it. No matter how high you place something, they will get to it. No matter how many toys they have, they will find something they are not supposed to play with.
Although the cat language is secretly coded so that no human or dog can understand it, I believe I have discovered ten rules that Jenkins and Drac abide by. They are as follows:
1. Feeding time is all the time. Even if there is food in the bowl, Drac must cry until more is put in. If the humans are unfazed by Drac's crying, Jenkins will direct them by racing in front of them toward the cat dish.
2. Toilet paper is to be shredded. If it is on the roll, turn the roll. Once toilet paper is hanging from the roll, tear it. Once your chosen piece of toilet paper is off the roll, play with it. If the humans discover your new toy, repeat these directions.
3. It is okay to be on the table, counter, stove, sink, and dresser, as long as you can make it off said object before the humans grab the spray bottle.
4. All little mice belong under objects, in closets, and in nooks and crannies. If the humans discover them, it is the cat's job to find a new hiding spot.
5. No matter what humans say, water glasses are for kitties. If your head doesn't fit, force it.
6. Laundry is for sleeping on. It doesn't matter if it is in the hamper, the laundry basket, or the dryer.
7. It is necessary to sit in front of the bathroom door while the human is in there. When the human emerges from the bathroom, it is necessary to walk right between their legs.
8. Feet are for attacking.
9. The trash can is a great place to snoop for human food the humans won't let kitties eat.
10. If food or drink is left unattended, it is fair game. Never mind that it is in a pot, on the stove, with the heat under it.
For that last one, I was cooking chicken noodle soup one day. I figured, hot stove, kitties won't bother it. I come back to stir the soup and Jenkins is licking it out of the pot! I now cover anything on the stove I walk away from.
More kitty adventures to come!
Of course any veteran cat owner knows that there is no such thing as kitty-proofing your home. No matter how far away you put something, they will get to it. No matter how high you place something, they will get to it. No matter how many toys they have, they will find something they are not supposed to play with.
Although the cat language is secretly coded so that no human or dog can understand it, I believe I have discovered ten rules that Jenkins and Drac abide by. They are as follows:
1. Feeding time is all the time. Even if there is food in the bowl, Drac must cry until more is put in. If the humans are unfazed by Drac's crying, Jenkins will direct them by racing in front of them toward the cat dish.
2. Toilet paper is to be shredded. If it is on the roll, turn the roll. Once toilet paper is hanging from the roll, tear it. Once your chosen piece of toilet paper is off the roll, play with it. If the humans discover your new toy, repeat these directions.
3. It is okay to be on the table, counter, stove, sink, and dresser, as long as you can make it off said object before the humans grab the spray bottle.
4. All little mice belong under objects, in closets, and in nooks and crannies. If the humans discover them, it is the cat's job to find a new hiding spot.
5. No matter what humans say, water glasses are for kitties. If your head doesn't fit, force it.
6. Laundry is for sleeping on. It doesn't matter if it is in the hamper, the laundry basket, or the dryer.
7. It is necessary to sit in front of the bathroom door while the human is in there. When the human emerges from the bathroom, it is necessary to walk right between their legs.
8. Feet are for attacking.
9. The trash can is a great place to snoop for human food the humans won't let kitties eat.
10. If food or drink is left unattended, it is fair game. Never mind that it is in a pot, on the stove, with the heat under it.
For that last one, I was cooking chicken noodle soup one day. I figured, hot stove, kitties won't bother it. I come back to stir the soup and Jenkins is licking it out of the pot! I now cover anything on the stove I walk away from.
More kitty adventures to come!
Welcome Friends and Family
I decided that since I'm not so great with keeping in touch, a great way for friends and family to keep up with me and Matt would be by keeping a blog. I actually don't mind blogging where as it can be difficult to get the drive to write an email. Don't ask me why.
You can choose to check this blog daily, read it every once in a while when you're bored, or completely ignore it. I just thought this would be a great way to stay connected.
Much love!
You can choose to check this blog daily, read it every once in a while when you're bored, or completely ignore it. I just thought this would be a great way to stay connected.
Much love!
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