New Jersey - Day One

Got arbuup at 2:30 this morning to head to NJ!  Bill took me to the airport at 4:00 am.  Had the best Starbucks coffee at the airport.  Boarded the plane and while in flight took a nap and when arriving in NJ it was snowing!  Mom and Irene were there to meet me and is a great thrill to see them.

Got to mom and dad's house and had lunch.  Heidi, Louis, Sarah and Christopher came, along with my brother, Fred.  We had a great time getting together to get caught up.

I am now and my sister's Heidi's house to celebrate New Years.  Had her meatballs and a bunch of other junk food.  We played a category game with the family and Nick's sister and her family are also here.  It was great to laugh and get together.

Now as the old year ends and the new year begins, I look forward to new and exciting things for the new year.

Miss you Bill!

New Jersey Bound

I am headed to New Jersey to celebrate the birthday weekend - my mom's is January 1 and my dad's is January 3.  It is a milestone birthday for my dad.  It will be a "great-ee" day!

It will be glad to see my sisters and brother and their families.  I have missed them.  It is hard living far away and not being part of the day-to-day activities.  It makes it extra special when I can get there!

My flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning.  I am off to bed in the next few minutes and getting up at 2:30 to have my coffee and last minute packing.  Bless Bill for taking me at 4:00 am.  I like to get to the airport early and relax  before the flight.  Have another cup of coffee and a muffin.  I wonder what it will be like going through security with everything that has happened in the past few days.  We'll see!

Good night!

Up!

My husband and I just saw one of the best movies - Pixar's "Up".  It is a wonderful story of adventure, remembering the past and moving on toward the future.

I do not like to give out plot lines for movies, so you need to see it!

Vacation - Day Twelve

1.  Slept in for the last day of my vacation (8:00 am)
2.  Bill and I went out to (where else) Starbucks, 1/2 Price Books and Barnes and Noble.
3.  We purchased our first Blue-Ray DVD "The Adventures of Robin Hood" made in 1938.  What a difference!  The colors are absolutely beautiful and the detail is exceptional.
4.  Getting ready to get in the groove to get ready to go back to work.
5.  Bill and I played Scrabble and he finally won!

Looking forward to about work:
1.  I moved into a new office right before my vacation and getting it set up
2.  The quietness of the three days between Christmas and New Years.  Can get alot of work done in those three days.  It will be me and Christina "minding the fort".

Not looking forward about work:
1.  Wearing a dress/skirt.
2.  Wearing make-up.
3.  Not being able to wake up whenever I want to.
4.  Finishing the few projects left at home.

All in all, I am blessed to have a job I can go to!

Vacation - Day Eleven (the end is near)

1.  We went to Costco today to return the DVD/VCR combo.
2.  Purchased a new Blue Ray DVD player
3.  Bill worked on getting it all hooked up and experimenting with it.  Long story, not worth telling!
4.  Went to Costco again to buy another new Blue Ray DVD player.
5.  Went to 1/2 Price Books - found a biography of Charles Laughton.
6.  Came home and watched "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince".  Great movie!
7.  Starting to think about going back to work on Monday...

We also went to Starbucks..

Vacation - Day Ten

Merry Christmas!!!
1.  Karen made me eggs and faux sausage for breakfast; Bill already had a turkey and cheese sandwich!
2.  Watched thw Partridge Family Christmas episode.
3.  Cooked dinner with Karen - lasagna!
4.  Watched "Muppet Christmas Carol" and "A Canterbury Tale".
5.  Played Uno with Bill and Karen; then War with Karen.
6.  Getting ready for bed!

Vacation - Day Nine

Merry Christmas Eve!
1.  Went last minute Christmas shopping with Karen - Bank, Starbucks, 1/2 Price Books, Taste of Asia, Bank, Post Office, Albertsons.
2.  Had Christmas lunch of Taste of Asia - Chicken Broccoli, Kung Pao Chicken and Terriaki Steak.
3.  Baked an apple pie
4.  Watched the snow come down!!
5.  Opened Christmas presents!
6.  Listened to Christmas music with my favorite people - Bill and Karen!
7.  "For unto us a Child is born..."

Vacation - Day Eight

1.  Went out early this morning to Central Market, Tom Thumb, Starbucks, Petco, Vitamin Shoppe and Walmart.
2.  Came home.
3.  Played Scrabble with Bill and won again!
4.  Spot cleaned the house.
5.  Watched "Thirteenth Guest" starring Ginger Rogers
6.  Ate dinner.
7.  Watched two short films by Alfred Hitchcock that he made during WWII.  They were in French.
8.  Watched "The Grinch" and "Mickey's Christmas Carol".

Vacation - Day Seven

1.  Was planning to stay home, but took Bill to Albertson's to pick up a cake for Tony Price's birthday.  The cake I made yesterday was a failure.  I added 2 1/4 cups of water instead of 1 1/4 cups.
2.  Took the cake to work and Bill packed up his laptop.  He was not feeling well today.
3.  Went to Starbucks.
4.  Came home and watched TV.
5.  Played Scrabble.  I won again.
6.  Watched more TV.
7.  Watched  one hour of "Under Capricorn" - boring Hitchcock movie.
8.  Watched "Criminal Minds".

Vacation - Day Six

1.  Supercleaned our bathroom.
2.  Took stuff to Goodwill, including our artificial Christmas Tree.
3.  Went to cleaners, bank, Walmart and Starbucks
4.  Pick Bill up from work.
5.  Made spaghetti.
6.  Baked a cake.
7.  Watched Criminal Minds.

Vacation - Day Five

1.  Missed church again this week, our timing is off!
2.  Went to Starbucks, Borders and Central Market.
3.  Gave Chance and Toffee a bath (60 degrees today!)
4.  Watched "How to Steal a Million" with Bill and Karen
5.  Began cleaning out the bedroom closet.  Finished the bottom portion, the top portion another day.

Vacation - Day Four

1.  Woke up at 8:30 am
2.  Went to Costco, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble with Bill.
3.  Played Scrabble with Bill - I won by eight points!
4.  Super cleaned our bedroom.
5.  Had tea and cereal.
6.  Did wash and loaded the dishwasher
7.  Watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

Vacation - Day Three

1.  Drove Bill to work.
2.  Went to work to chat with the ladies and approve payroll.
3.  Mailed a package to Beverly and Christmas cards.
4.  Went to Kohls, Lowes, Container Store, Bank, Ulta, Tom Thumb, Covey, BK Imports, Anna's Linens, TJ Maxx, Walmart.
5.  Came home and wrapped presents.
6.  Watching "Uptown Girls"
7.  Picked up Bill from work
8.  Went to Joe's Pizza and Starbucks with Travis, Carrie and Nancy
9.  Went to 1/2 Price Books.
10.  Now home and getting ready for bed.

Vacation - Days One and Two

Day One (Wednesday, December 16)
1.  The gentleman came to install our new OTR microwave
2.  Watched TV and took a nap
3.  Had leftover homemade chicken soup
4.  Went to 1/2 Price Books, Burlington Coat Factory and Starbucks with Karen
5.  Watch "Criminal Minds".

Day Two (Thursday, December 17)
1.  Super cleaned my living room
2.  Watched "Holday Inn" while cleaning
3.  Took out the Christmas decorations
4.  Watched "Philadelphia Story" while going through the Christmas decorations.
5.  Now on to more cleaning...
6.  Finished playing Scrabble via Facebook with my nephew, Bill
7.  Had dinner of salad and scallop potatos
8.  Went to the YMCA to work out with Karen
9.  Talked to Bill

Favorite TV Shows

As of today, here are my favorite television shows, in no particular order:
Comedies:
1.  Partridge Family
2.  Dick Van Dyke Show
3.  How I Met Your Mother
4.  Big Bang Theory
5.  30 Rock (show de jour)
6.  Jack Benny Program
Dramas:
1.  Psyche
2.  NCIS
3.  24
4.  Alias
5.  West Wing
Reality:
1. Dancing with the Stars
2. American Idol
3. Not much of interest after the first two..

Next time..favorite movies

Chanticleer

On Tuesday I received an e-mail from Bass Hall about their upcoming concerts.  It mentioned a special concert price to see the group Chanticleer for those who are faculty, staff and students.  I called Karen and asked if she wanted to go and then ordered the tickets.

We went to the concert and had a wonderful time listening to this group.  There was music from the 14th century to the present, all in a capella.  Part of their visit to Fort Worth was to visit 10 different high school choirs to give Master Classes.  There were many school buses outside the hall, with lots of teenagers going to the concert.  It was such a joy to see them there, listening to this group and getting the chance to hear different kinds of music.

If you ever get a chance to see the group, do so.  You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Variations on a name..

Every so often we receive mail with our last name spelled in different ways.  These were actually addressed to us:
    DeWysokie (the most common)
    DeWyporkie
    DeWysockme
    Delvysockle
    DeWysorkie
    DeWysocky
Today we received DeWysockuie!  Makes getting the mail interesting. 

For the dog lovers...

The Pail List

The movie "The Bucket List" has motiviated people to create a list of things that would like to do before they "kick the bucket".  My list is called "The Pail List".  Since we do not know when when we are going to leave this earth, "The Pail List" seems more manageable than "The Bucket List".

Since turning nifty-won last week and reflecting on what the next year could possibly bring, I've decided to achieve five things this year.
 1. Go to a college football game.  I've always wondered about the cultural aspect of college football in the south. (Going to the TCU vs. Colorado State game today (October 17).
2. Visit the new Cowboys Stadium or better know as "Jerry World".
3. Participate in something out of my comfort zone at church.  This would be the toughest one to achieve.
4. Road trip with Karen.
5. Keeping up with this blog.  So far, so good.

Psalms 145:3

This was on the small calendar I have on my desk:
Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Psalms 145:3

I rest my case.

Cars

I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with their cars. I love our car (2002 Ford Taurus) primarily because it is paid off and we own it.

I hate it when it breaks down.

The repairs should not cost more than your mortgage payment. Oh, well.

How times have changed

Article by Leonard Maltin

As a fan of film, I found this interesting essay by Leonard Maltin' on his website (http://www.leonardmaltin.com/) about Adam Sandler's latest movie Bedtime Stories. It about sums it up for me!

LUMP OF COAL DEPARTMENT
When I launched this site I decided not to waste time writing about movies I didn’t like, but every now and then I can’t help myself. There’s a scene in the new movie Bedtime Stories set in a hardware store where Adam Sandler’s character—acting on a premonition that he’s going to be set on fire—purchases oven mitts, a fire extinguisher, and a garden hose. Then he spies a can of flame-retardant spray for Christmas trees and sprays it on his hands to see what it feels like. A worker comes along and asks what he’s doing and, for no apparent reason, he sprays some of it in the man’s eyes, which causes him to scream in pain. Then Sandler sprays some in his own eyes. Blackout.
It’s this kind of so-called comedy that’s made me want to run for cover whenever a new Adam Sandler movie comes along. I’d hoped that this one, his first for the Walt Disney company, would be different, and at first it is. In fact, it has the potential to be a sweet family film about an underdog who makes good, with the help of some bedtime stories and a big dose of imagination.
Then Sandler and his writing cohort Tim Herlihy (who coscripted with Matt Lopez) get to work vulgarizing it. In a western scene, there’s a closeup of a horse farting. In a Star Wars-inspired sequence Sandler and his rival (Guy Pearce) are attacked by a giant, slimy “booger monster.” And so it goes.
If one can get past this dispiriting line of humor there’s the script to contend with. The story becomes ridiculously complicated, and rather than simplify or clarify it, the powers-that-be decided to throw money at it instead. I can’t imagine what all the elaborate costumes, sets and visual effects must have cost.
I saw this at a Disney screening with parents and young kids who seemed to enjoy it. I don’t expect ten-year-olds to be critical; I just pray that some day someone will introduce them to something better.
By the way, not a single person at the screening laughed when Sandler sprayed the fire retardant in the man’s eyes and then his own. Maybe there’s hope for civilization after all.