Meg{Moir}

Do cute puppies make up for my lack of blogging this week?  Because there are plenty more where that came from.

Not much computer time this week translates into a pitiful lack of communication.  Trying not to only blog on Mondays and Fridays because seriously, how boring is that, and who would even bother checking in, but this week it just didn’t happen.

Patrick and I are headed to Charleston this weekend to hang out with the lovely Brittany and Kyle.  Kyle will be thrilled that I called him lovely.  Back Tuesday, rested and ready to go! 

Have a great weekend everyone.

Photo credit.

(P.S. Extra big picture so you can soak up the cuteness)

We had a great weekend in the snow.  Here in (the non-mountain part of) North Carolina, it is almost unheard of for snow to stick around for more than a day, but it’s Tuesday and the snow from Friday night is still hanging out.  Love it!

Friday night Patrick and I watched the snow fall outside the windows and watched Dazed and Confused on tv.  First time ever seeing the movie for me, can you believe that?

Early to bed and early to rise, we opened all the blinds so we could enjoy the snow, made a huge pot of coffee and played more Lego Indiana Jones (we’ve almost beat all the levels in free play mode, so you almost don’t have to hear about that anymore).  After a long guitar playing session by Patrick and I long work out session by yours truly we took the dogs out to play in the snow.  After a long walk around the neighborhood we took them over to the playground at the community center and my scardey-cat dog actually went down the slide.  On his own.  Unbelievable.

Back home we made hot chocolate, changed out of wet socks and settled in for general laziness.

Up early again on Sunday, still snowed in.  Toast and coffee for breakfast, followed by more (say it all together now) Lego Indiana Jones.  I mean, seriously, its a sickness.

By late Sunday afternoon, Patrick was going crazy stuck in the house, so we walked the dogs again and then went for a ride down to REI.  After checking out their bikes and Camelbacks and yoga pants we got a couple of Carmel Macchiotos and were on our way back home.  Lobster Bisque soup and Desperate Housewives finished off the weekend.

A month or so ago, I got a facebook message from high school friend Stefanie, asking me if I wanted to play in a volleyball league with her.  It took me about 3 seconds to reply “heck yes!”  Since then, I have been playing in a Tuesday night co-ed league and have enjoyed getting back into the volleyball groove.  The last time I played for real was (gulp) 2003 when I was a high school senior.  Where did the time go?  I still feel a little rusty, but the muscle memory is starting to kick back in and I hope I’m improving every week.

What’s our team name?  Judy Chop, of course.  Not sure what the heck that is?  Let me educate you…

You got your Judy Cop, you got your ninjy chop….

This weekend my parents came to visit and to celebrate my mom’s 50th birthday.  We had a great time shopping and sewing, and eating.  There was lots of eating.  Here’s the rundown:

Friday night: Bonefish Grill with Courtney and Jeremy

Saturday morning: Good sales at Triangle Town Center

Saturday afternoon: sewing machine calibration and Trader Joe’s

Saturday night: dinner at Second Empire.  Oh my goodness.

Sunday morning: Church

Sunday afternoon: Beef soup, cheddar biscuits and yes, more Lego Indiana Jones

Sunday night in Raleigh: Margaritas and nachos at Brian and Kristen’s house

Sunday night in Hertford: Surprise get together at mom and dad’s house.  We’re bumed that we missed it!

Oh, and my camera is still waiting to be charged.  D’oh!

P.S. Patrick tells me that my weekend in reviews suck now and they need more commentary.  Maybe next week.  Maybe there will be pictures too, if I’m feeling fiesty.

Well kids, its the end of an era.  Jersey Shore ended last night, more with a whimper than a bang (unless you could the Snooki/Situation hot tub scene, which I just found kinda gross).  I will miss those crazy kids, luckily Patrick does the best Sammi impression…so he will keep me laughing about that for a long time. 

Anyway, we shouldn’t dwell in the past, so while I’m waiting for “Snookin’ for Love” to be given a time slot somewhere on VH1, here are some of my favorite things from the week:

Want:

An Indoor Herb Garden - Centsational Girl

A Transparent Toaster - Apartment Therapy

A Tufted Headboard – Centsational Girl (loving her this week!)

A Rock that Looks Like Something Else – Flickr blog

A Bowl of Chicken Tortilla Soup - Centsational Girl (told ya)

And other things worth mentioning:

Women and Retirement – Get Rich Slowly

Ditching Your Job: A Reality Check - FreelanceSwitch

There’s Not Much Football In Your Football – Deadspin

Food for Thought – Ice Cream & Peonies

Quote of the Day – Carpe Diem

The Miseducation of A Woman – Modite

Why Zippers have YKK on Them - Today I Found Out

Sushi Etiquette – SwissMiss

Why It’s Worth Your Time to Meet Your Financial Advisors – The Simple Dollar

Ahem.  No I have not.  Moving along…nothing to see here…

Let’s instead talk about all the fun things that took place over the past three (3!!) wonderful days.  And let’s make a motion to set all weekends to three days.  Please.

1) More Lego Indiana Jones.  Free play is fun.

2)Dress for Success volunteer orientation.  Super pumped about this one.

3) Finally, a long walk for the dogs.

4) Placemat sewing. 

5) A clean house.

6)Shirmp piri piri.

7) Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

8 ) Gallons of coffee.

and most importantly….

9) Celebrating with Patrick and other vet school friends, because they passed their boards!  Wahoo!

Oh my goodness, I am so late updating this. Let’s get right to it:

• Sherlock Holmes. Loved it.

• Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Also loved it.

• Expensive trips to the grocery store. Don’t love it so much.

• Lego Indiana Jones. Completed.

• Happy New Year cards. Mailed.

• All over lazy weekend. Awesome.

In way bigger and more exciting news, updated versions of The Baby-sitters Club are hitting book stores this Spring. If you saw my Facebook update yesterday then you already know that I am pumped about this, but if you didn’t, let me tell you. I am pumped about this. The Baby-sitters Club books were so important to me growing up, falling just behind Misty’s Twilight as most favorite thing to read. I remember reading them when I was a few years younger than the main characters (probably between 9 and 11) and had grand plans to read through the whole series once I turned 13, the age of the 4 main girls.  (Of course, by the time I was 13 I was “way to cool” to be caught with a “kids book.”  Curse you, 13 year old self!)

Kristy was my favorite, because she played softball. I played softball, clearly we would be best friends if I could just move to Stoneybrook and show her I was way cooler then that Mary Anne Spier. Clearly. I mean, Kristy bit her fingernails, so I biting mine. 15 years later, that Kristy habit lingers. Kristy wore turtlenecks and jeans and always had her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Any photos of me from 3rd to 5th grade would confirm that I was indeed a Kristy in training.

Now, if only the Super Specials could also get an update, I would turn cartwheels all the way to the kids section of the library. If you’re not in the know, Super Specials involve things like trips to Disney World, Peter Pan plays, winning the lottery and ski vacation school trips. Each chapter is narrated by a different BSC member and each story made me deliciously jealous of the girls and their fab-u-lous lives.

Is it completely inappropriate for me to add these to my Amazon wish list?

Lots of things to share today.  I’ve been a bit under the weather (stuck in between that not feeling great but not exactly sick place where there is nothing you can do but sleep a lot) so I apologize for the lack of commentary.  Happy 1st week of 2010!

1. We Mourn Jubilantly as Original Jersey Shore Cast Is Said to Return for Second Season – Gawker

2. For The Record - The Daily Dish

3. What Should I Drink?  Soda Pop Edition (Flow Chart) – Top Cultured  (I can verify that Inca Cola really does taste like drinking bubble gum)

4. America: Too Stupid to Cook – Michael Ruhlam

5. ‘Avatar’ = ‘Pocahontas’ In Space - The Huggington Post

6. Charity: Who cares?  A visual Guide to giving - Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog

7. Hacked STOP Signs – URLesque

8. When It Rains, We Pour! – Centsational Girl (This was one of our favorite spots on our honeymoon)

9. There are some questions that can’t be answered by Google – I.Imgur

10. Food for Thought - Foreign Policy Blog

11. Seven Years Gone - Seth Godin’s Blog

12. The Grandiose Decay of Abandoned Detroit - io9

13. Proof That Anything Can Be Deep Fried – Top Cultured

14. Mario’s Closet - GamOvr

15. A Pictorial Guide to Avoiding Camera Loss - Andrew McDonald

Morning lovelies.  I realize that I am almost a week late in updating my goals from December and revealing those for January, and I hope we can just let it slide this time.  January so far has been bitterly cold, cold like us Southerners are not used to, so I hope that everyone is staying warm and toasty, or playing in the snow if you have it.  We do not, we only have cold.

Let’s review my goals for December, shall we?

1.  Continue to clean the sink nightly and wipe down the counters while I’m there.  Done, largely.  I say that only because Patrick and I alternate who cleans the kitchen based off who cooked the dinner.  On nights where Patrick cooked, I did indeed make a concerted effort to clean the sinks and wipe down the counters.  On nights when I cooked, Patrick graciously cleaned the sinks to accommodate my neurosis goal, but his counter wiping was lacking (love you bunches!).
2.  Read 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction book.  Finish current fiction book and review it here.  Well ladies and gents, I finally did finish that fiction book I kept talking about…but I didn’t review it.  Here’s the deal, the book is The Monsters of Templeton by Laura Groff.  The story is told alternately between present day Willie Upton and her ancestors dating back over 200 years.  It’s a great narrative and you should read it.  Review done.  Whew, I feel better.

3.  Make Oreo truffles and Haystacks and take to work.  I did this on the first day in our new office, my huge platter lasted about 3 days.  Success.

4.  Find a good cause for a end of year donation.  Something that makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  Patrick and I made a donation to Fighting Epilepsy Together, a foundation that raises money for Seizure Alert dogs for people with severe epilepsy.  Helping people with dogs, count us in!

5.  Find fabric/art for large frame we bought this weekend.  Hang it.  Done!  We got a pretty yard of fabric from a store right down the road from me.  I realize now that this update is pretty worthless without pictures.  Oops.

6. Organize the office to a point that is useable.  Half credit.  The office is somewhat more organized, but this has been one heck of a process.  It is technically useable, but no where near pretty.

7.  Delight in our little family’s first Christmas together.  Super done!  Patrick and I had the best time at Christmas.  We were home with my family, and it was wonderful.  He also did exceptionally well on the gift giving this year.

So what is new for this new month of 2010?  I’m so glad you asked…

January Goals

1.  Read new devotional book daily.

2.  Squeeze in yoga session 1x and strength training 1x weekly (baby steps).

3.  Attend Dress for Success orientation meeting on 1/16 to access fit for the Foundation at work as well as personal volunteering.

4.  Floss. 

5.  Break out the sewing machine and complete 1 simple project (placemats?)

Anyone else want to play along?  Leave your personal goals in the comments!

…you might get interviewed for the New York Times!

In Recessions, Doing More, Buying Less