Panda!!!!

So you must check out the pictures of the cutest fuzzy thing around. stupid reuters wont let me link to the pictures just the news story , but i like the one of him eating some grass. I want one for christmas... much better than a puppy or a kitty...

...in sadder news, Stan Berenstain co-creater of the Berenstain bears has died...

pictures of the weekend...

...for all those interested ....

This is me and my turkey. It would have been easier to make had my baster not broken.


Here is the table all dressed up for our family.


Bill's cute cousin.

Me and my kin at Marshall Fields.



Brian and his "dashing" new coat trying on a new hat at H&M.

Day after thanksgiving

So, Bill and I went to bed after 1am yesterday, and then woke up and 4:20 to go stand in the very very cold at best buy. We came out with two portable dvd players, a portable harddrive, and a 20$ jump drive. We then went to circuit city to try and get the family guy season 3 for 10 bucks but we found out that they had sold out within the first 20 min.

My mom and Brian made it safely out here. We took the to see Naperville, yet somehow the highlight for mom was visiting the krispy kreme store that had just finished making the donuts. Of course we all got a free hot one and ruined our appetites for our second turkey dinner. I am looking forward to spending tomorrow down town shopping and going to see Joseph and the amazing technocolor dream coat. Top that off with a dinner at wildfire and you have one hell of a day.

I probably wont blog till next week, so I hope you all have fun shopping and enjoy the 4 day weekend.

T day

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving...

I have been mulling over a conversation I had with Bill last night about the meaning of Christmas and giving kids gifts and what is over-doing it etc. I have come the a conclusion that part of the reason I am so attached to Christmas is it is an unspoiled holiday for me. The joy of giving and receiving is what is about and, therefore, I don't have a problem with kids getting multiple gifts from Santa parents grandparents etc... They truly believe in this magical mythical night.

Thanksgiving on the other hand, is a bit more spoiled for me. I have been thinking of all the memories I have of the holiday and I can see glimpses of setting the table in the living room (the dining room was never big enough for our family), making pies with my mom and playing pinochle after with my grandfather. The Thanksgivings that I remember in the best detail, though, are all surrounded by deep sorrow. One was the last thanksgiving with Mickey. I remember his hospital bed set up in the green room, and I remember how quiet the atmosphere was, as if every one was walking on egg shells instead of the normal loud happy family. I remember how we all stood up to say grace and we prayed around Mickey's bed, I remember us watching a move after dinner, and, mostly, I remember how he died less than 2 weeks later. Another, was the thanksgiving after finding out about my father. I was here with Bill, and no matter what he did I couldn't shake the feeling of abandonment. Not because my father betrayed everyone, not because I was having Thanksgiving at Bill's home and I didn't have any family there for me, but because I feel like I wasn't there for my mom--my poor mother whose life had just shattered around her in the a billion pieces. I remember last year, which was a wonderful Thanksgiving with every one happy and healthy, but what I remember of that is that before we had printed pictures of this holiday, I received a phone call on the 7th that my great-grandfather had pasted away overnight, not making it a year since I had lost my great-grandmother and he, his wife. So, for some reason I can't remember happy memories about this day. I hope that as Bill and I start hosting our own meals this year, I can open a new chapter in my memories, one with happy moments to be treasured forever.

Happy thanksgiving everyone. I hope you have a safe and happy day full of good food and good friends.

Sarah

I gotta get me some...

...cable! So I usually don't care about not having cable, I know that my life is already too consumed by TV what with Monday night related, Tuesday night Gilmores and SVU, Wednesday Lost, Law and Order (and soon the return of alias), Thursday Everwood, and Sunday Extreme Home Makeover and DHWs. Lately, however, I have been missing things like: the new boondocks show, having something to watch on Sunday afternoons, the travel channel, Kim Possible (I love the naked mole rat), and most of all channel surfing... surfing about 9 stations gets old fast. So on top of my TiVo I am going to ask Santa for cable, and while I am on my pipe dream I will also ask for a nice new mac with a huge flat screen monitor.

Happy happy joy joy

So this weekend gets two thumbs up from me. On Friday I saw the 4th Harry potter movie. I was very happy with it as it did a good job in condensing the tome of the book they were trying to bring to film.

On Saturday we did some shopping and some cleaning for thanksgiving... In the evening we watched layer cake.... I think I missed something while I was eating my pizza because I got about 50% of the movie. After the movie we went to kohls (yeah kohls was open until midnight yesterday and therefore we took advantage of it).

today I went to church and got the cool Indian priest and the homily was very inspiring. Then we went to 3 (yes 3) separate grocery stores (add that to the 1 we went to on Saturday and that makes 4 trips for one fricking thanksgiving meal.) but I finally gathered all the things I needed to make my own apple pie from scratch... I am proud to say that it came out of the oven in one piece (though it was leaking from one side)

the best thing about this weekend... The crappy easy listening station switched over to Christmas music. I can now listen to Christmas music in the car and bill can't complain... Well he can but he can't tell you it is way too early.

anyway, we are knee deep in our thanksgiving preparations... We have a turkey weighing in over 18lbs, 10lbs of potatoes, 6 large sweet potatoes, two bags of stuffing mix, two bags of Hawaiian sweet rolls, 1.5lbs of green beans, 2 bags of baby carrots, 3 cans of cranberry jelly sauce, makings for 2 pumpkin pies and one apple pie (which took 5 lbs of apples!). Do you think we have enough food for 7 people?

By the way if you are in the Chicago area on Thursday feel free to come on by for dessert... It will start around 7ish... Just shoot me an email if you are coming.

Hello goodbye...

So I got to see my dear friend Carolyn for a few hours yesterday. She has decided (due to some recent experience) that Indiana should move up a notch or two. We had remember (wrongly) that IN was in the number 5 spot, of course we had underestimated the suicidal tendencies of those Georgian deer (they make those?!?!)

Anyway, we had some good dim sum and saw tumble week blow though the middle of china town. And then we dropped off Carolyn at the airport and had a very boring Sunday evening full of housewives and the like.

Also, please say hello to Alana a good friend from high school who I have discovered is in the blogging world. (you can visit her on your next trip to Vegas boys)

My hair is gone

Have you seen it... I hope it will be next seen on a wig of a child with cancer. I made the decision when I was growing out my hair for the wedding that when it was all over I would donate it here. I knew I certainly didn't want to keep it so long, so it minds well go to a good cause. Now that I find myself with out all that hair, however, I miss it... and so does all the shampoo I keep using.

Here are some recent pictures of me with my long hair:







now here is me with more than 10" of hair cut off and donated:





Anyway I hope this satisfies all those who are curious about my hair.

I also found these pics for Mary and me when she was in town. (We haven't downloaded pictures off our camera in a while.)

TWoP - Apprentice

"Flash Quiz! Two trains going 185 kph and 236 kph are headed toward you from opposite directions. One of them freaks you out on a contact high resulting from his complete inability to verbalize or even think about sex in any way, to the degree that even hearing the word seems to hurt him physically. The other freaks you out due to his extreme and immature boundary-less ability to talk about sex in a very personal and evocative way, in an inappropriate forum.

Okay, now you're dead. Who do you blame?

A) The tight-ass Jew train.

B) The ass-obsessed gay train.

C) The guy who willfully and pissily obstructed and sabotaged the railroad-building team throughout, from drafting the railroad, to cutting the timber, to carting the timber, to laying the tracks, to wiring the warning system, and brought this situation about where there was no real plan, and all the other trains spend the entire time trying to think of what they're going to do next, because there's no agenda whatsoever, because that part got short shrift due to somebody having to change his diaper and burp him every three hours?

You're right, it's a wash. That was a trick question."

*Update*

We can all once again post comments to Jimmy's blog.

Approve this!

So RJ has turned on comment approvals or some silly thing. I say approve this:

Jimmy you have too much time on your hands if you are making turkeys out of them. And working is no excuse for not going to the gym. I was there last night and I worked a full day. In fact, not only did I work a full day but I have no vacation time left for the year. So unless it is a national holiday I will be at work.

chickens

the chickens were pretty good last friday by the way.

The weekend is gone.

I don't know how it happened so quickly, one moment I am riding the train home and it is Friday night. I am looking forward to Zorro and TGIFridays. The next moment, I am on the train again reading my book and trying not to think about the work I have awaiting me.

Anyway, everyone say "hi" to Mary as she is starting her blog. And wish her good luck as she is teaching at some high school in IN.

Then everyone go back to you desk and continue to count down to Friday again. 17 days until I get a vacation (if cleaning and cooking a turkey is considered a vacation) 18 days until Bill will let me freely listen to Christmas music 43 days until Bobby comes to visit me and 48 days until Christmas. Oh and for those counting 55 days until my vacation time resets and I can once again think about taking a vacation day that isn't wedding related.

time to get away

i want to be here with my cousins.



don't they look happy? I wish I was living closer to them, as they grow up way too fast. People use to say that about me, but now I think my life as stalled a bit and i am stuck in the rut of get up got to work go home make dinner pick up bill eat dinner go to bed. repeat.

I am currently reading A horse and his boy book 3 in the narnia series. This one hasn't taken a hold of me like the others. but I am only a 3rd the way through. I really should start studying for the CFA, but honestly I just can't bring myself to study... i would rather read Kant than these CFA books.

anyway, Things are going ok right now, my life for the most part is good, and the things that are not good I have no control over, so I need to live and let with those things. It sounds like we will have visitors the weekend of Thanksgiving and for Christmas so that will be nice.

I leave you with my favorite picture of the week. This baby squirrel was taken in by the mother dog when she gave birth to her own pups. the squirrel now thinks he is just another pup.