Day 127 of 365: Bonne Année!!

Chin Chin! Here's to a wonderful 2009! May everything you are dreaming of come true this year! :)

Day 126 of 365: Back to running :)

First off, I should note that it is ridiculously difficult to take a picture of your ipod screen!!! Holy moly! Anywho, this was today's run. I LOVE my nike+ that I use with my nano. As you can see, it keeps track of time, distance, speed and calories! Now you, too, can see how slowly I run! I can set it with different goals (time/distance/calories) or just on go mode where it goes till I stop it without giving me feedback during the run. I love hearing the lady tell me how far I've gone, though. And the 400m countdown at the end is the best part! I always know I can make it at that point.... Anyone who's thinking of getting a nike+, I can't recommend it enough! I love it! And for the price point ($29.99) it can't be beat in terms of what it delivers.

The best part is, I'm back to running. I'm starting to feel human again and not just a workaholic drone. This was one of the best runs I've had in a long time. I am not looking forward to going back to that rat race schedule next week. :(

Day 125 of 365: It's a Beautiful Day!

This is the entrance sign to my apartment complex. I was sitting in my car at the red light waiting to turn left on my way to the running shop tonight. I figured I'd better go ahead and take my blog photo of the beautiful sunshine since by the time I leave work, it's dark already..... This was the first clear, blue day like this in a long while. The temperature was about 57 degrees (13C) and lovely for the run I took earlier today! It was quite windy, but the sunshine more than made up for that! I was just so thankful I wasn't stuck inside a school building or in my car going to tutor or something. I don't get many nice days like this with few obligations. Glad I could take true advantage! :)

Day 124 of 365: Relaxing

Been getting stuff done around the apartment today. Tonight, I felt like some wine (with dinner) and I put on this candle that was a gift from a student. It's been a long while since I've had on a candle, so it was a nice treat. :)

Day 123 of 365: Curry!

Just a follow up from this post. So here is the finished dish! I put in Quorn chicken strips, green beans, onion and green peppers. I haven't had a chance to dig in, but I am looking forward to it immensely! I've also got Trader Joe's veggie samosas in the oven... which I've just had a bite of... YUM! :) I'm just as hopeful about the curry!

Day 122 of 365: Let's Go Thrashers! Clap Clap Clapclapclap!

Here's my new official Thrashers' jersey!! Thanks, Mom and Dad!! I was going to wear it tonight to the Carolina-Thrashers game, but ended up not going to the game. I'm hoping to go to the practice scheduled on Monday morning. I might see about getting it signed! Only thing is, then I wouldn't be able to wash it. I'd also be paranoid about wearing it. I've got 48 hours to decide! Either way, I can't wait till I get to wear it to my first game!

Day 121 of 365: Christmas time is here again!

I love this photo of my mom's hands making biscuits. She makes them throughout the year, but since I don't live at home, I only get to enjoy them on Christmas morning! She is well skilled at making them and uses the same recipe her grandmother used. After mixing and a quick kneading of the dough, she rolls the dough out on wax paper using the trusty tupperware cup that is at least 25 or 30 years old!! It's always an amazing treat to eat mom's biscuits. Today, my sister also tried out a breakfast potato casserole recipe for the first time. Yummy! We also had our Christmas morning mimosas. Double yum!!

For fun, I am including other photos I took this morning of the biscuit-making process:

• After rolling out the dough, she uses her grandmother's biscuit/cookie cutter to press out the biscuits.

• Here are a couple of shots of the biscuits ritually lined up on the tray.

• Hot and golden coming out of the oven.

• Ready for immediate consumption!!

Day 120 of 365: Fararararaaaa rarararaaaa!

In the past 10 years or so, it has become the custom for our family (parents and siblings and whoever else was around at the time!) to go to the local Chinese restaurant for dinner after the Christmas Eve service at our church. Our family has been going here for almost 30 years actually and know the owners pretty well. This time, it was completely full! I guess it's become custom for some other families these days, as well! Sadly, no table-side Christmas carolers, though. ;)

Day 119 of 365: Hair change.. sorta

Ok. Here it is. I think I'm ok with the color, but not sure about the style. People who've seen it say it's not really that different? I don't know. I will live with it for now. I'll play with it over the break and see how it looks if I use the straightener.

Oh, and sorry for the goofy angle. It's actually harder than I thought to do self photos in the mirror! Plus, I still look kind of bad due to continuing to feel all stuffed up. I may have to give in and get some antibiotics tomorrow... great timing.

Day 118 of 365: More lights...

This is the leasing office of my apartment. I just wanted to take a picture of the lights they've put up. Have I said how much I love the lights this time of year?? I really should take a picture of the storage rental place around the corner. They went all out!! I'm also starting to wish I had a tripod with me when I take these night photos. The top of the car just isn't even enough to work.

Day 117 of 365: My excuse

The reason for my recent lapse in posting....Stupid sinus crap still hanging around. I'm hoping that tomorrow I will start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have so much to do (shopping, errands, cleaning, etc!) and hardly any of it got done this weekend.

Day 116 of 365: You've got mail!

This is an assortment of many of the cards I've received this year! Fun! I love opening my mailbox and seeing all the happy envelopes, instead of just bills. :) A sidenote- the cloth below the cards on the table is 100% silk from China. A student of mine gave it to me as a Christmas gift! It's beautiful. Despite not having any relevance to Christmas decorations, I still wanted to go ahead and use it.

Day 115 of 365: 'Bout time!

Finally! I've got my new shoes! (cue Paolo Nutini!) My running shop co-worker brought them over to my store Wednesday and I finally had a chance to go by today to pick them up. I haven't even tried them on yet, since I came home feeling all sick this afternoon (sinus/cold crap). I hope to take them for a spin tomorrow...

Day 114 of 365: Sid the Kid

Despite losing to the Pens tonight, it was a fun game. I was in section 120 behind the goalie and had a great view! Here's the golden boy of the Pens at the moment. Hopefully you can appreciate how close I really was! Best part is that there are 3 more games Mandy has tickets to in these seats. Woot!

Day 113 of 365: Secret Santa!

I came home from my twelve hour long day to find a box from Amazon.com on my doorstep! Not having any idea what it was, I just had to open it. I thought that maybe I had ordered something and forgotten or that my sister or mom ordered something for my dad and sent it here for safe keeping (which has happened in the past few years). It turns out it was a new vegetarian cookbook from my secret santa! Fun! I can't wait to try out some of the recipes over the break. Thank you Secret Santa! :)

Day 112 of 365: Finally!!

I've made it a point to check out the British food products area at the supermarket every time I go there. I've been waiting for this curry sauce to come back in for a couple of months now. Today, my patience paid off (ok, well, I had no choice really!) It was a bit expensive, but judging how quickly it sold out the first time, I'm guessing it will be worth it. I will probably use it sometime next week while I'm off from school for Christmas break! Yippee! :)

Day 111 of 365: Holy Moly!

This was a real gingerbread house inside the lobby of the hotel. I'm glad I waited till the morning to take this photo since it meant I didn't have any random people hanging around in the background. The receptionist said that the kitchen cooked gingerbread for two months straight to make enough cookies for the house!! It was really amazing! Inside, you could see a little teddy bear family with a Christmas tree and everything. To give you an idea of scale, I could have walked in through the doorway there with just a slight ducking of my head. Oh, and I'm 5'9".

Day 110 of 365: They really do this!

Chocolates waiting for me on my pillow! I haven't eaten them yet. I think I'll wait till this weekend so I can pretend I'm back at the Ritz! Hehe.

Day 109 of 365: CHEATER!

So, Saturday, I was just uninspired.... I didn't take one photo. :( I realized this a few minutes after midnight, of course! Gah! So, days 109 and 110 are a twofer. Sunday night, the running shop I work at had its annual Christmas party. It takes place at the Ritz Carlton Lake Oconee. We are treated to a WONDERFUL dinner (the best crème brulee I've ever had!) and a night at the Ritz! Needless to say, I had a great time. I swear I have been out of the house before, but I had to giggle when I walked into the bathroom and saw this phone! It reminds me of the episode of Friends when Joey has just received his first paycheck from working on Days of Our Lives and has a phone installed in his bathroom. Chandler is the first to say, "please, don't ever call me from that phone!" Me, I was thinking of who I should call first! :D

Day 108 of 365: It's hockey night tonight!

I took TONS of photos this night, due to playing with the continuous shooting function. There were several good fights and if I point and shoot while holding down the shutter button, I can catch some really great action shots. I have a wonderful series from the Valabik/Thornton fight! I chose this one, though because, well, I love the cool position of Eric Perrin (left). He's at a 45 degree angle to the ice! Oh and I love it because it's got my favorite player in the shot: Eric Perrin! There are rumors that he may be looking for a trade. I'm seriously hoping it's all talk and that he decides to stay with the Thrashers.

Day 107 of 365: Well, what had happened was....

Ok. I promise. I'll get the ornaments up this weekend! I've been working late every night. Ok, so to be completely truthful I could have started them tonight, but I did some cleaning instead. And made dinner... and caught up on some tv... and maybe took a brief nap! Tomorrow night is hockey night (yea!!) and Saturday I'm working, then shopping, but I will do it then. Really. I will. I promise!

Day 106 of 365: When the rain comes...

More rain today. Deluge and tornado warnings this morning apparently (so I heard). I got to drive around in it for 4 hours today after school, doing the tutoring rounds. Oh well, at least the temperatures are mild (about 16*C/60*F)!

Day 105 of 365: Starbucks

Here's where I spend one hour every Tuesday night. I tutor my only adult student in French here. I try to at least purchase something every other time we meet there. I am getting to know the barrista who is there every Tuesday as well. It's at least comfortable and semi-convenient....

Day 104 of 365: I met Rachael Ray!!!

This is my sister Mandy meeting her (since the "rule" is for me to take the photo for the blog...) She was so nice! She's really just how she is on tv. She was nice enough to sign two books for me- the new one (of course...) and my Veggie Meals book that was like one of her first cookbooks ever. Yea!!

Mandy screwed up the settings on my camera so the photo of me with her got messed up and my smile looks weird. Seriously. It was on "automatic" and all she had to do was press "click". How did she manage to set it on timer?! :(

Day 103 of 365: Tree (Dressed!) part 2a of 2

Twenty-four photos later and I've still not really got the shot I wanted, but it's 10:30 at night and I have to go bed at some point! Anyway, I managed to get the lights up, but I still need to put up the ornaments. It will be a project for the week, I suppose!

Day 102 of 365: Naked! (Tree part 1 of 2)

Well, here's my tree! It's my first one in several years. I'm finally feeling the Christmas spirit again this year, so I had to get a tree. In fact, I found this one for just $19.99 at Home Depot! Woot! I'm going to let the branches fluff out over night and then get all the decorations and lights to put up tomorrow. Can you guess what tomorrow's post will be? :)

Sing it with me... "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... every where you go....!"

Day 101 of 365: Merlot

I enjoyed the second half of this tonight. I just took a photo of it because I really like the label! What the heck does "free range" have to do with wine though? Are they letting the vines go where they may???

Day 100 of 365: Color

One of the houses I was at to tutor. Strangely, when I decided to take this photo, i'd forgotten about the theme of color this week! Anyway, I just like the reflections and lights and holiday spirit. I told you I love Christmas lights! I'll likely try again tomorrow for a better picture.

Day 99 of 365: Well at least it looks pretty!

I got this on Sunday and have yet to even listen to it. I WILL remember to take it with me in the car tomorrow. Since I'm tutoring all over, I'll have plenty of time to listen in the car as I drive from place to place....

I was hoping to have a photo of my new shoes here tonight, but sadly they aren't in at the running shop yet!! Come on Mizuno! Get on the ball! I need to run!!

Day 98 of 365: In training.. officially!

My dirty old shoes! I desperately need new ones, as it seems I can only go about 2.5 miles before my knee starts aching (my usual signal that shoes have gone bad). Yes, I know the irony. I work in a running shop and I can't get myself new shoes?? Well, they haven't had my shoe in my size for about 6 weeks now and the new model is arriving this week. So I'm holding out. I'm going to call tomorrow and hope they are there so I can use them for my run tomorrow. That would be ideal. I would like to go 3 miles tomorrow, so I'd really need the new shoes for that. *Cross your fingers for me!

Now, as for the title of the entry for today... after having run the half marathon the other day on practically no training, I set up my own training schedule to follow for my next event (another half- which is 13.1 miles in case you were curious). It started Sunday with 2 miles and 2 miles again today. I did 2.75 Sunday and 2.5 today! Yay! I beat my own goals. I'll be posting more about this on my running blog over the next 4 months. It feels good to take time for myself again!

Day 97 of 365: SNOW!!!

I know this photo looks out of focus, but really, it's just focused on the snow flakes! It was falling hard and fast at this point. It's hard to capture snow on a camera, though. Well, this lasted about 2 hours this afternoon. The students were transfixed looking out my big classroom window! It was hard to keep their attention, but luckily it stopped by last period. Fun while it lasted, however!

Day 96 of 365: Crack!

These are called "Crash Hot Potatoes". A friend of mine referred me to the recipe here, after she tried them recently. I am calling them "Crack potatoes" since you have to crack them open before you cook them in the oven and they are addictive like crack. I keep going back and nibbling on the leftovers which should be for tomorrow's lunch! Oops. So easy and delicious!!! I see these becoming a regular on my dinner table. :)

Day 95 of 365: So what had happened was....

Honestly, this is the picture I intended to take yesterday, but forgot. I got home and couldn't be bothered to get dressed again and go out.... so I know, "cheater cheater pumpkin eater". Oh well, I've been pretty good so far! But anyway, look at that price! And at Kroger, you get another 3 cents off with your Kroger plus card! In just a week, the price has fallen another 12-15 cents! It's crazy. Of course, now I have a full tank, since I filled up the other day for $1.67. Damn!

Day 94 of 365: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

People have started putting on the Christmas lights. I love it! This is honestly my favorite thing about the season and I always get sad after Christmas when people start taking them down. Since it's been a fairly good year for me, and I'm once again feeling the Christmas spirit, I will be getting my own tree to put up this weekend. :)

Day 93 of 365: Thankful for feet

As much as they hurt right now, they carried me 13.1 miles this morning. Some running, some walking, but I made it. And oh yeah, the rest of me is in pain as well! Can we say stiff???? Oh well, this will remind me that I really DO need to go out for that 2 miler (or whatever it is I'm putting off at the moment!)

Day 92 of 365: SIGNS

About the only time I ever go to our local art museum (the High Museum of Art) is when we have exhibits. They do get pretty good ones here (we've been getting rotating ones from the Louvre for the past three years) I'm looking forward to going to see this one. It just opened a week ago.

I do have to say that it was a lovely day to be downtown today. I really love being in the city and I try to enjoy it every time I get the chance to walk around down there. It's also nice to see "city stuff"- the tall buildings, crosswalks, subway, folks on the sidewalks, signs, etc.... That's what I was thinking about when I was sitting in my car waiting for the light to change (so I could get onto the highway) as I looked up and saw this sign. Then I snapped out of it in time to remember to take a picture of it for the blog! I would have saved the theme tomorrow, but since it's going to be Thanksgiving, I figured I'd go ahead and do it today!

Day 91 of 365: F%$#&@*~!!!!

Isn't she a beauty?? My new combo modem/wireless router! $139 later.... Stupid Comcast internet blew my router and modem this morning. They kept giving me the run around about how it was not their fault. I went out and got this new one tonight at Best Buy and got connected within a few minutes. Luckily, the guy at Best Buy was familiar with Comcast and was able to point me in the right direction! This combo one was cheaper than buying two separate ones. At least now I can stop "renting" the other one from Comcast.

One funny aside from when I went to Best Buy. Since both the modem and router wouldn't even power up anymore, I took them into the store to make sure that I wasn't just doing something wrong. As I walked up to their Geek Squad tech counter, I calmly asked if Chuck was there. You know, Chuck from the show "Chuck" who works at Buy More?? LOL The guy just said "oh, Chuck's already gone home!" I had to explain it to him! At east it calmed me down, since at this point I was livid after dealing with Comcast customer non-service!

Day 90 of 365: Rainy days and Mondays always get me down....

This was my rear view on the way to the running shop tonight. Lots and lots of rain causing lots and lots of traffic. I just liked the effect of the rain and the mirror and the headlights.

Day 89 of 365: Lookie what I bought today!

I just watched this today on tv, but I had to get my own copy! I found this one on sale at Target! Pardon the crap picture, but there were tons of people around looking and I was trying to hurry.

Seriously, though. How did I miss this movie before?? It's so sappily wonderful! :)

Day 88 of 365: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!

Fun and exciting stuff at the hockey game tonight! Several fights broke out (even one involving my boy Eric Perrin!! He NEVER fights!) and I was able to capture this one using continuous shooting on my camera. I'm going to post the entire series on my facebook. I'll post a link to it here once I do. :)

Just ONE of the many reasons I LOVE hockey!!

Day 87 of 365: Ok, so I tried!

After being told how easy making homemade tortillas was, I thought I'd give it a go tonight. I was going to make fajitas (with mushrooms and asparagus!). Um, yeah. These were kind of a pain. They are way too thick and I think I needed more water really to make them stick together. I tried to make them the way I saw the ladies in Honduras make them when I was there so many years ago. Apparently, it's not as easy as it looks! I thought a tortilla press was just a gimmick. I will be buying a tortilla press this weekend, I think! I never got around to making the fajitas. After all that effort, I couldn't really be bothered! I made a salad later instead.

Day 86 of 365

Outside my school as I left today. It was a beautiful day, to be sure! But what happened to all the leaves? It was autumn just a week ago or so. It's starting to look more like winter every day now. At least it's not freezing cold (for the moment).

By the way, I was this close to going to the Pittsburgh-Atlanta game tonight (with killer seats!) Mandy couldn't go in the end, so I just came home and made a nice dinner instead. I will have a nice photo of hockey on Saturday, though. :)

Day 85 of 365: Talk about HAPPINESS!!!

Happiness is getting gas/petrol for $1.77 per gallon!!!!!!!!!!! I filled up (with my tank on empty/light on...) for $26! 14.6 gallons, too! Now THIS is how I can save more money for the move. Loving it!

Day 84 of 365: TIME!

Been at work already 6 1/2 hours. I still have another 6 hours to go, too. *Sigh*

Day 83 of 365: TBA!

I"m posting this space holder, since I took the photo, but the batteries died and I can't upload the picture until the batteries charge again. I will post it when they are ready....




My classroom wall, all ready for the Lighthouse Committee visit. We got all gussied
up for the visitors. They never even came to visit my room, though, so it was a wasted effort! Oh well. I've piqued the 7th graders' curiosity about the project since they know that they'll have to do the same project later in the year.