Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Jamie and I went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving, we went out Wednesday night and stayed over so we wouldn't miss anything. Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Ma. I'm telling you turkey just tastes better there! My dad cooked up a great meal and it smelled terrific, I love the torture of having smelling the turkey cook all morning long. My aunt came over with my grandfather. It was nice to have them over and to spend Thanksgiving at my folks. The turkey cooked fast and was done in 3 and a half hours, which worked out good because about 15 min. after we pulled the bird out the power went out! My dad was all stressed out about it but we made it through and ended up having dinner a little later when the power came back on.

On Saturday Jamie and I went up North for the day. I went with Jean to Erin's baby shower and Jamie went with Greg and Uncle Rick to play golf. It was nice to see Erin, Suzanne and Colleen all with their big belly's. They all looked super cute! Jean made a great cake, it looked just like Fenway Park with all the details. It was nice and taste-y as well! For dinner Jean made a terrific turkey pie. The best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers :o)

All day Friday and Sunday Jamie and I worked around the house. It was nice to have the long weekend to be able to see our families and be able to check off a few of the things we had wanted. The insulation is in and looks great! Our house is all tucked in for the winter now. We cleaned up part of the basement and got the yard all cleaned up and mowed. We had a lot of leaves from the neighbors tree that had fallen. I finally painted the small last section of wall behind the refrigerator. I really thought it would be one of those things that gets forgotten for a few years, but we pulled it out and cleaned up and painted it all up. We also got our new sink and faucet installed. It looks so good and clean now, plus we don't have to empty the bucket under the sink all the time. The old one leaked when ever you used the faucet and had gotten worse as time went on. Looking good now though!

I'm hosting a Partylite candle party at our house on Tues. for the neighbors, so I wanted to get these things done for that. I sent out about 50 invitations but I have no idea how many people will be coming. For the most part I don't know any of them and was hoping this would be a fun way of meeting new neighbors. We'll see if anyone is interested!

The days are getting so much shorter, it's hard to get outside while the sun is up which is a bummer. Jamie and I watched the sun rise over the river this morning from our picture window in the kitchen, it looked amazing. So there are good sides to everything, they day might be shorter but the later sun rise means that I might actually catch it. It was nice to take a few minutes and just enjoy them with Jamie. I can honestly say that with out Jamie I probably would never see a sun rise! They happen way too early for me.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Time to get ready for Christmas, it's right around the corner now.

11-20-06

Today is Jamie and my 6 month - a - versary!!

Whoo Hoo!

4 - 1

I had a great time up in Maine! Jamie and I drove up Thursday to Colleen & Rich's house and stayed the night to try and break up the trip and see the new mom. Looking good!! She has just about the cutest belly I have ever seen on a woman. It was nice to be able to hang out with them, it seems like it's been awhile since we've seen them.

Friday afternoon we set out for Bangor, the weather was amazing out. It was nice and sunny and perfect driving weather. Jamie and I stopped at the visitor's center just outside Bangor to pick up some pamphlets and maps. A very sweet looking old lady who worked there helped us out and showed us our trip on a map, she asked what we were planning on doing in Bangor. We told her that we were visiting a friend and seeing the UMass Lowell vs. UMaine hockey game. She gave us a sweet smile and said, "That should be fun, too bad your teams going to lose".

Grandma's talking trash!! I wasn't ready at all for this and just gave her a look of disbelief. Maine 1, Sondra 0.

We made great time up to our friend Matt's house and got to hang out before the game at 7 pm. Matt's 6 year old son Devon was a riot! He is super smart and has a great dry humor just like his dad. We hung out and played soccer, I tried hard to make Devon a Riverhawks fan before the game. We had dinner in time for the group of us to make it to the game on time, I love watching them warm up.

Walking into the arena, I definitely stood out. I was happy to finally be wearing my UML Hockey Jersey even in a sea of UMaine jerseys. I got some stares...

Our seats were partially obstructed, apparently Maine didn't consider the fans when designing the arena. We could only see the bottom of the net on the left hand side. I was very excited to be there, it's been a long time since I've been to a hockey game. We got there in time to see the warm up!

A few minutes after we sat down a group of die hard UML fans sat in front of us! It was great, I wasn't alone! Maine 1, Sondra 1.

The game was very exciting. Lots of action and talents guys working hard. We all had a great time watching. Devon was cheering, "Go UML, Go Blackbears!" It was so funny, he'd cheer when either team scored a goal. The final score was UMaine 4, UML 1, Maine kicked our butts but we played a good game. Maine 2, Sondra 1.

The next morning we went out for breakfast at a local diner. We all had a fun time talking, laughing and enjoying a big breakfast. Walking back through the restaurant there was a couple of elderly ladies sitting together having breakfast. One noticed my UML sweatshirt and said to the other while looking at me, "Did you see how well we did in the hockey game last night, we really kicked their butts". I'm not kidding! What is up with the old ladies in Maine? Why are they all taunting me? Sigh, Maine 3, Sondra 1.

Jamie and I had a great time visiting Matt and his family and seeing the hockey game. It was so nice to do something different and fun for the weekend. I loved the game even though we didn't win. Leaving Matt's wife says something to me that I didn't quite catch and I ask her what she said. She said, "It was great to see you guys, thanks for coming up, sorry your team Lost!" Ohh man, I walked into that one...

Maine 4, Sondra 1.

Go Riverhawks!!

Tonight Jamie and I are starting out on the first leg of our journey to Maine to see the UMass Lowell vs. UMaine hockey game. We'll go up and stay at our friend's Colleen and Rich's place tonight and then tomorrow morning continue up. Google said it would be 6 hours up there, yuck, but it should go by fine because we are breaking it up and have all day Friday to make it up.

I've always been a big UMass Lowell hockey fan. I loved going to their games when I was in college. The excitement in the air, the smell of all the food and ice, the cool entrance of the players, seeing the guys get slammed up against the glass. I love these things! I have a luck red shirt that I wear under my hockey jersey that my parents got me for Christmas. I can't wait to put it back into commission again!

Saturday and Sunday we are going to Bar Harbor, which I feel was named that just to exaggerate the New England accent. I truly can't say it correctly even when I'm trying!

Baah Hahba

When Jamie and I had been living in South Carolina for a couple of months I distinctly remember talking to my mom on the phone. I thought she was joking around and super exaggerating the New England accent for me, I told her to cut it out. She had no idea what I was talking about! She was just talking like she always did, not joking at all. This was a distinct moment for me because my mom always had felt like Home, she was my measuring stick of Normal and now I had changed from that. I think that everyone needs to travel and meet and learn about people from a different area then they are used to, you are able to learn so much about others and yourself.

Maybe I'll learn something new about myself on my trip to Maine. Even though I've lived in Mass. my whole life I think that I've been to Maine twice. I'm excited to check out the UMaine arena and taunt the fans. I'm also excited to see Bar Harbor and check out all the local shops and people. I'll let you know how the trip went when I get back. Have a good weekend!

PartyLite

This past weekend Jamie and I worked down the basement trying to get it cleaned up a little. Jamie also continued to work in the attic, it's coming along great but sure is tough work. We both had a good weekend, I had a tough time getting up for Monday once it rolled around.

Last night I went to my first Unit Meeting for Partylite, I've signed up to be a consultant with them. Partylite sells the best candles and candle accessories that you'll ever find and I'm excited to be starting with them. I'm working hard to try and get off to a good start and really make it worth it. So far I have 2 shows set up and trying to set up another for neighbors at my house but I think I've been kind of shy about it because I don't know my neighbors too well and so I've been kind of putting it off.

I really think that I'm going to do good at selling Partylite candles. I've used and loved them for many years now because my brother Dax has worked there for a long time and gets us all sorts of stuff. I also have been good at sales in the past and have a good level of confidence to be able to talk to a group of people. Hopefully it goes well for me.

I've found that the conferences and meetings that I have been attending for work related to being a leader at work will also be useful for my new line of work as well. How to lead, be confident, speak to groups, dress properly, listening skills, knowing my own strengths and weaknesses; all these things will help me out when I'm up there and interacting with everyone.

I'm excited about it, let me know if anyone you know is interested in hosting a Partylite show! The hostess gets credit towards free merchandise!!

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a success. We kids all different ages come trick or treating this year. It seemed that me and Jamie were more excited then the kids. We would sit by the window and peek out when we heard people going by; the candy bowl was stocked and ready at the door but the groups would skip over our house sometimes. All the kids that came though were dressed up, even the older kids who travel in packs. It was fun to see the costumes and we met a few new neighbors which was nice.

Near the end of the night there was a gaggle of teenagers that came by at once, honestly must have been 25 kids. It was fun seeing all the outfits, my favorite was Raphael from the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles. We ended up with just a little candy left which worked out good, I'm glad I had gotten the two large bags from BJ's to be on the safe side.

I remember canvassing the neighborhood as a kid and how much fun it was. I remember the stress of deciding on a costume. You'd stay up at night thinking of what you could be and all the super cool outfits that you would love to do. One of the guys at work was telling me how his son dressed up as the Grinch and they dressed the dog up in reindeer antlers to go along. They had done a dry run of the costume the night before to make sure that everything was just right. It brought back good memories of my own dress rehearsals.

Jamie carved his pumpkin last night. He had been talking about carving it for awhile now, about how he wanted a Chinese Jack-O-Lantern that had Chinese letters on it. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff! It came out really good, and it was fun to see all lite up at night. Overall it was a fun Halloween, I hope that all of yours was just as great!