Thanksgiving Leftovers Wrap-Up

Sorry it's been a couple weeks since Thanksgiving and I haven't offered a decent report on those events!

As many of you most likely know, my birthday fell over Thanksgiving weekend this year (it's usually sometime around Thanksgiving).  I had a fabulous string of birthday-related events, starting with a wonderful surprise Team Trivia night on Wednesday with Super Husband, Alex and Kate and our favorite server Mindy.   I certainly wasn't expecting that!  They had party hats and a balloon and we all had some drinks, plus Super Husband got me cupcakes.  Hooray!  That was tons of fun and a nice way to unwind before Thanksgiving family stress.

Of course we had our turkey and ate it, too.  Our main Thanksgiving event with Super Husband's mom was very pleasant, and the fabulous weather didn't hurt!  Afterward I hopped over to my parents' house for a family birthday party, which included an Amazing Happy Birthday Candle  that looks like a flower, which opens, makes sparks, and plays music as the candles burn down.  It was like the 4th of July on a birthday cake.  Pure awesome.

The candle starts out like this (credit to some person's Instagram)...

... then finishes in a blaze of glory like this!  (Again, some person's Instagram via Amazon)

That was pretty show-stopping, and both Super Husband and I received some fabulous gifts as well.  I've been a bad person and haven't posted any pictures taken since Thanksgiving, and neglected to actually take any at Thanksgiving at all.  But I will get those up!  The mugs my sister in law Blair gave us are adorable and I've already had hot chocolate in one of them!

We did a little self-gifting too, making the effort to go Black Friday shopping at OfficeMax so Super Husband could get himself a new computer for cheap and we could nab a printer for his mom and a tiny flash drive for my sister.  I actually didn't get myself anything but I don't need anything, having just had a wedding and birthday and still having Christmas coming up!  I'm living in an embarrassment of gift wealth right now.

One "gift" I "gave" myself was a new cell phone, long overdue (same phone since 2008).  It actually still works pretty well, but I wanted to join the 21st century and be able to text, and since it was a flip phone it was not ideal for that purpose.  Plus it was starting to just not have the alarm go off, despite being set.  Not okay!  I need to wake up for work, phone.

This seemingly simple quest to get a new phone turned into a huge waste of time involving dragging my technophobe father and my tech-savvy brother in law to the "Verizon" store nearest to my parents' house, only to discover that this was but a mere authorized dealer, not a true Verizon corporate-run store.  So the best they could do was sell you devices and call customer service for you to set stuff up.  Thanks, I can do all that myself.  To add to their uselessness, they didn't even have the phone I'd chosen in stock, and refused to order it for me despite the fact that it was still prominently on display, since it is now considered "obsolete".  But I was told I could go online via Verizon's website and order it for myself, which is what I ended up doing.

But only after I sat on the phone with my dad and got designated as an Account Manager so that they'll let me do anything involving the account.  See, I'm still on a Family Share Plan from back in 2006, with no data, and up until recently no texting.  I had every intention of signing up for my own account, taking my number with me, and getting a smart phone for myself but when it came out to like $120 per month for one person, one device, one small data plan, I said no thanks.  

Maybe if I weren't facing a potential lay-off within the next month I'd have gone for it, but it seems ridiculous to have to pay that when I know other people in my family have smart phone plans with two people, two devices plus a hotspot device/service, and they pay about the same amount.  What. The. F.

I know this is all part of their pyramid scheme, just like DirecTV or the cable company.  The new people get slapped with the higher prices while the long-time customers keep paying their lower contract rate.  To add insult to injury, once I finally ordered my wonderous new device, I was coldly informed that there would be an upgrade fee of $30.  Despite the fact that I signed on for another 2-year contract and thus got a "free" phone, and have been "due" for a new "free" phone for 4 years.  Since April 2012, for all device "upgrades", be they replacing an old-ass phone or just getting the latest and greatest smart phone to replace the one you got last month, you pay $30.

Thank you, Verizon.  Well, here it is: the majestic and functional LG Extravert.  It actually suits my needs and use patterns quite well and it's a nice, snappy little phone.  But man I had to fight to get my hands on it about a week after I visited the store! I know, it looks like the phone everyone else got 6 years ago.  Don't burst my bubble!

LG Extravert, photo courtesy of CNET.com

After that big disappointment, leaving the Verizon store empty-handed and downtrodden (first world problems), Super Husband and I met up with my dear ladies Caitlin and Sarah for some comforting pizza to binge upon.  We ate at Maciano's in Rockford, which none of us had been to before.  I Yelped about it here, but suffice to say it was delicious.  But all too short!  Everyone was tired - Sarah had just come off a 12 hour Black Friday shift, we'd been up all night shopping, and Caitlin had clinicals the next morning. It was still lovely to see them and I'm hoping they'll be available again soon!

After pizza coma, we foolishly enticed my sister and her husband to go to see "Skyfall" with us at 10:10 p.m.  I didn't know what to expect and am only a casual Bond film viewer, so my perspective is skewed.  But I enjoyed it.  It was different than other Bond movies.  More psychological and less power-hungry bad guys motivated by greed.

I won't give away any spoilers, but I would like to ask if anyone who is a Bond fan or has seen the movie at least can explain the whole Skyfall thing to me.  What's with that?  Is it something they made up just for this movie, or did it come from a book?  What does it even mean?  Seems like a weird name for what it is in the movie.  (If you've seen it, you know.)

After the madness of staying up forever and a half, we had an early-ish morning on Saturday that was made better by bacon and waffles (my birthday breakfast request at Nick's mom's house).  That was terrific! (No one says terrific anymore unless they're using it negatively - I'd like to change that!)  Unfortunately we had to sort of dine and dash, but I received some more lovely gifts.  In particular, a book about the American Museum of Natural History's taxidermy dioramas (how they were made, the people and the expeditions behind them, how the art was done, etc) that I find completely fascinating.   That book got me through the drive home!

I got to meet up with Kayla and Ali for drinks at Cafe Hollander later that night, and then we all did some ill-advised midnight bowling (despite, again, being very tired).  I appreciate them coming out and making the trip!  I had a nice time.

The weeks since then have been filled with the usual routine, plus a visit from the electrician for a new Coca-Cola ceiling fan (pictures to come sometime) and lots of gift buying and wrapping.  I'm going for a "give modestly but generously" thing this year.  Not sure how that works, but basically trying not to spend a lot of money while also giving nice, personal gifts to everyone.  I hope it works out.

And Alex, Kate & Kayla came by on Sunday!  Maybe I should start calling them "AKK" for short (not sure how they'd feel about that...).  We had pasta, chocolate fondue and played Cards Against Humanity, plus there was lots of wine.  Pretty dang good way to end the weekend/start the week!

Try Gooling Post-Wedding Pinterest, or After The Wedding. I dare you.

I think you will find that entering either of the search terms in this post's title will bring you nothing but links to actual Pinterest boards, or articles from the Huffington Post about Pinterest boards for wedding planning.

Former bride Hannah says it best here in her blog post about the disillusionment that Pinterest engendered in her, as well as her dashed expectations and the way that Pinterest robbed her of her contentment with her own real-life wedding.

I fell prey to a little bit of this for a while.  I scoured the internet for ideas of what our wedding could be.  I bought into what the Wedding Industrial Complex tells you that you must have:

1) An expensive, big-ass dress
2) A quaint and unique venue
3) Adorable and creative save-the-dates
4) Intricate hand-crafted invitations and response cards
5) Glass vases filled with water, colored lights, and plant life
6) Lots and lots of bunting and little strings of fabric pennants
7) Hand-written signs that say things like "Happily Ever After" and "Love At First Sight" and "Married Bliss"
8) Glass beverage dispensers  (I'm guilty of loving these and purchasing two, one by total accident/fate)
9) A colorful signature drink
10) Photo booths with mustaches

I'm not saying that I didn't find some fantastic ideas on Pinterest or other sites, and I still find Pinterest a very useful tool for cataloging all my ideas in one place where I can easily peruse them visually.  For someone who is a list-maker, this is very nice.

However, how many of the ideas that I pinned did I end up using or executing?  Around 20 out of 254 pins.  And of those, nearly half were things that were real-life items/ideas that I added to Pinterest myself based upon something I was actually doing, not something I saw online first and then decided to do.

There are so many details, and they're all so beautiful and marvelous.  It's hard to tear away from looking at them and feeling sorry for ourselves.  I know, I've been there.

One of my biggest anxiety points before the wedding was that it wouldn't live up to my expectations, and that it wouldn't be beautiful or come together like I'd hoped. In the end, it actually came together really nicely, and we dispensed with a lot of things at the last minute because we (or I) just did not care anymore.

I did not have an expensive dress.  I wore a $175 bridesmaid's dress that I ordered in white.  It was entirely and uniquely "me".  I love it and I still wish I'd also bought one in cherry red just to wear all the time.

Our venue was not quaint or particularly unique, but it suited us and our wedding very well.  I am completely 1000% thrilled and satisfied with our reception location (thanks Super Husband!) and I cannot recommend them enough (Country Inn & Suites - they are amazing!!).

Our save the dates were simple -  I used Vista Print, and an old photo strip from when we were first dating.  They were free, plus shipping, and I ordered WAY too many of them (chalk it up to inexperience).  Our invitations were hand-crafted by yours truly using just card stock and my old inkjet printer from 2006.  I designed the invitations to be attractive, informational, and practical.  Works for me.  They got the job done.

There were glass vases, but not by my doing - the hotel events guy actually created our centerpieces, free of charge.  They were not filled with water and lights, but colored glass stones and fake flowers.   No bunting.  No fabric pennants.  But I did have a string of lantern lights and some clear glass bulbs that I strung up.  No hand-written signs.  There were glass drink dispensers, because they're beautiful.  We had powdered lemonade and iced tea.  No photo booth  and no mustaches unless they were growing out of someone's face.

And you know what?  We had a fantastic and wonderful wedding.  It was perfect.

But when all is said and done and all the last wedding paraphernalia is packed away, it leaves one lingering relic from those maddening wedding planning days - the Pinterest board.  What does one do with the precious collection of ideas that may have helped shape your unforgettable wedding day?  Just delete it?  Let it hang around forever as a fond reminder?  Relocate the really cool stuff to other boards and cut the rest of it loose?

I haven't decided, but I'm leaning toward that last thing.  The most important thing, though, is to be proud of what we accomplished, and what that day meant for us.  And to remember that internet weddings aren't "real", and they are no measure of our own weddings' worth.

What to Pack for Thanksgiving

I've seen a lot of "what to pack" lists for Thanksgiving that relate exclusively to women's wardrobes.  They all make the assumption that you own half of a J Crew or AnnTaylor store already.

I'm less concerned about what to wear fashion-wise - everybody's got their own style, and we don't all have a designer collection.  And of course we all know how to pack an overnight bag (toothbrush, etc).  But there are a few things that not everyone might think to bring along.  Here are my tips on what to bring for Thanksgiving weekend when visiting out of town in-laws or family.

Let's start with the most obvious:

• Appropriate attire for Thanksgiving dinner
• This depends on who you're visiting, what their style is, and how fancy of an occasion you make Thanksgiving out to be.  
• Wear something that looks nice, wears well, and is comfortable but not inappropriate.
• For the ladies, a nice pair of a jeans, or a casual dress or skirt with a sweater or nice top is appropriate most of the time.   
• For guys, a nice pair of jeans or khakis (or similar casual dress pants) with a polo, button-down or sweater always looks clean-cut.
• Pajamas if you are staying the night (duh)
• This should go without saying, but if your normal pajamas are your underwear and a t-shirt, you might want to invest in some bottoms if you're staying with family/in-laws
• I advise bringing something that's not too heavy (no flannel) unless you know the room you'll be staying in is habitually frigid.  Nothing like overheating in someone's guest bedroom with no way to cool off besides getting naked.  You can always add more blankets or put on your sweater if you get cold.
• Reusable grocery bags/canvas bags
• These are useful in so many ways.  You can roll or fold them up, so they pack easily.  Some even are self-contained (like Chico bags, my favorites).
• If you have been asked to bring any food for the meal, this is a nice way to transport it.
• We use these to contain all the things we bring with for our dog (toy, biscuits, bowls, food, poo bags).
• If you're going Black Friday shopping, some extra, sturdy carrying capacity may come in handy.
• We also use these to carry leftovers home (see below), as well as birthday gifts (or Christmas gifts in December).
• In my family, holiday gatherings also serve as a "crap-swap" opportunity.  Hand-me-downs and books exchange hands pretty frequently, so you never know when you might need an extra sack to carry all your loot.
• Layers/Outdoor Wear
• I don't know about you, but for me family holiday visits often involve an excursion into some fields for a dog romp, or a post-dinner walk through the neighborhood.  Sometimes there's a trip to the shooting range as well, but I generally skip that one.
• You'll want to bring a warm jacket and hat/gloves just in case the air gets nippy.  Fortunately in the Midwest it looks like it's going to be a mild Thanksgiving this year.
• Your outdoor wear may come in handy if your sleeping arrangements leave something to be desired in the warmth department as well.  Think of it like camping, only inside with fewer bugs.
• Containers for Leftovers 
• This is one that many people might not think to bring.  I've begun the habit of tossing a few Ziploc containers into our reusable grocery bag.  Then, when the big meal is over and everyone's had their fill (whether it's later that night or the next day), if there are leftovers to be taken away we can get in on some of that turkey or those mashed potatoes.  
• This way, you're also not robbing your hosts of their containers (which somehow never quite make their way back to their owner and end up mismatched in your cupboard 5 months later).
• In my particular case, I'll be celebrating my 25th birthday over Thanksgiving and I fully intend to bring some extra birthday cake home with me!
• Holiday Gifts - optional
• Depending on your situation, you may not be seeing everyone at Christmas/holiday time, but they're here now for Thanksgiving.  If you live far enough apart that you won't see them again for a while, and if you've already squared away their holiday gifts, it might be easiest to quickly wrap them and bring them with now.  Or maybe I'm crazy.
• Electronic Entertainment
• Seems like everybody has a smart phone these days (except I don't).  For those that do, this may be less of an issue. 
• For those of us who don't, bringing along a laptop and a DVD or a Tablet with its own data plan can be useful when stranded in a no-WiFi zone (like my parents' house).
• Photos of Children/Pets/Events
• If you live far enough away from family/friends that you have added to your household or experienced a life event since the last time you saw them, they might like to see some pictures of your new addition or your big event (or meet the new children/pets per your situation).
• In our case, my parents don't  have the internet and we haven't seen them since our wedding in September.  Aside from the wedding album I put together for them, they haven't seen our photos from the reception or our honeymoon, and they haven't met our new cat, Jasper.

That's all I can think of.  Let me know if I've forgotten something, or if you have any tried and true holiday visit packing tips to share!  Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

PS - if you saw Twilight this past weekend, and you haven't read my review already, I recommend it.  ;)

Review - The "Twilight Breaking Dawn Parte Deux" Experience

Disclaimer: I am not particularly a Twilight fan, nor have I read the books.  I have seen each of the movies at least once, in the first-run theaters however.  This of course qualifies me as an expert and a movie critic.

WARNING: SPOILERS!!  IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN "TWILIGHT BREAKING DAWN, PART 2" AND PLAN TO DO SO, READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!

We went to see the latest and last Twilight film tonight.  Beginning with the previews, here are my impressions.  Join me in a trip to the theater...

Of the previews I could remember less than 2 minutes after seeing each of them, "Playing for Keeps", "Now You See Me", "Les Miserables" and "Safe Haven" were the ones that stood out from the fantasy romance previews.

#1 - "Playing for Keeps"
This is the upcoming Gerard Butler/Jessica Biel/Catherine Zeta-Jones flick, planned for release in December.   From what I surmised, this film revolves around the exploits of a washed up soccer star who now coaches kiddie soccer in an attempt to stay relevant in his son's life, whilst watching his ex prepare to marry Justin Timberlake, and fending off Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Looks kind of like a reprisal of his character in "The Ugly Truth", but I guess we'll see.  I'd watch it!

#2 - "Now You See Me"

Some sort of combination of "Oceans 11-13" and "Jumper" and "21", this looks like an intriguing movie.  Apparently Mark Zuckerberg and Gloria Cleary are master magicians/Time Lords who can somehow defy the laws of physics and steal tons of money.  And Morgan Freeman is there too, someplace.  Looks cool.  Trailer.

#3 - "Le Miserables"

Once again, though I am not a fan, this is one I'm excited to see.  I knew Anne Hathaway was in the film, thanks to her hosting SNL last week.  But I continue to be impressed by her singing abilities, and I am looking forward to seeing the other members of the cast play together (Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, and the obligatory Helena Bonham Carter), though with the addition of the last two in the list I can't help but feel like this is a "Sweeney Todd" revival.  Overall, this looks solidly executed and I'm hoping that it won't disappoint.

#4 - "Safe Haven"

This movie receives honorable mention just based on the fact that I can't pass up a chance to complain that it looks like the same movie as "The Notebook" - right down to the riding around in rowboats, women wrapping their legs around men like tree trunks, beach splashing, and kissing in the rain.  Bleh.  I like "The Notebook", but for me once is enough.  Pass.  Here's the frickin trailer anyway.

And now it's down to the nitty-gritty.  The moment you've all been waiting for.

#5 FEATURE FILM: "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"

I always enter a Twilight film with skepticism.  I was pretty much sold on the opening credits this time, however.  They were almost James Bond epic, and set the tone with a "some serious shit is gonna go down" vibe.   They were also beautiful, until the whole red rose thing, anyway - then I barfed.

Also, who is Boo Boo Stewart?  (Seth, apparently.) 

I'm not going to go into crazy details.  The movie picks up right back where it left off: Bella is the devil with a blue dress on and whoa, she has super vampire strength powers now.  Oh no, stop Bella - you're hurting me, ow, it hurts so good.  Etc.  Things roll along at this pace, with a few humorous notes thrown in.  Everything's cool until it's suddenly her birthday again.  Is it always this chick's birthday?

Guess what they give her?  A sweet-ass house in the woods.  That looks like it's been there for the last 250 years, accumulating ivy, moss and charm.  Can someone tell me what the story is with this cottage?  As I've said, I didn't read the books (shame on me), in which I assume there is some sort of explanation provided.  And of course the cottage is furnished with the most posh West Elm furnishings and accessories, and a collection of books on loan from the Library of Congress.  Also a nursery that will become obsolete for Renesmee in about a day.

Just a reminder: my birthday is next Saturday.  Nobody ever gives ME a house...

After this point the plot becomes embroiled in the primary conflict, which is that no one knows what the eff to expect from Renesmee, probably because she's a creepy CGI-faced toddler-infant hybrid.  Also someone narks to the Vultures Volturi, and all hell breaks loose.

Well, more like all hell slowly crawls to a misleading crescendo.  For all the bad-ass-ness that the Volturi are supposed to possess, they sure are slow on the uptake and not so good at swift and decisive action, despite the implication that their vindictive leader has already made up his mind.

Lots of dread and terrorizing goes on, until finally the Volturi show up to assess the situation.  They march menacingly toward the Cullen coalition, then take off their black hoods in unison - much to the mirth of the assembled movie-goers.  Everyone cracked up, and I'm not sure it was supposed to be funny.

Their leader, Aro, is particularly foppish and ridiculous in this film.  He's always been an arrogant dandy, from what I recall (haven't seen the other movies lately).  But in this one he's giddily and gleefully absurd.  He giggles with delight before he gets to "meet" Renesmee.  It's pretty clear from this pre-battle scene that he's a knowledge addict and can't resist the deliciousness of reading anybody's thoughts. 

I think that 80% of the acting in this movie involves staring off into space, or at someone's face, while "reading their thoughts" or "using powers" or "listening to things 2,000 miles away".  Such talent.

Anyway, Aro gets a glimpse at the future from Alice, who has been mysteriously absent up to this point, then decides to sick the Volturi on everyone.  Kind of.  The two sides come to blows and all kinds of lovely people and animal-people are dispatched gruesomely.  There's some major ass-kicking, and it was a very satisfactory battle scene with a delightful outcome.  People clapped and cheered.

And then, wait for it - SERIOUSLY IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, TURN BACK NOW - it is revealed that all of this has been a vision, and will come to pass IF and ONLY IF Aro chooses to fight the Cullens.  SPOILER ALERT: he dies if he chooses that.  He has walked right into Alice's mind-f@#% trap.

Of course, his selfish nature and desire to remain in power win out, and he decides to let things chill for now.  Especially when another half-human, half-vampire specimen comes out of the woodwork stage left and says "Hey, it's cool everyone - sometimes I eat blood, sometimes I eat pizza.  I do whatever I want!  And I'm not dead yet!  But I also might not live forever-forever."

Most people are satisfied with this evidence that Renesmee isn't a threat to vampire kind, and the Volturi depart like they're on VHS being rewound.

The end!  Obligatory field of flowers love scene!  All I could think during that scene was how many bees there would be.

I make fun,  but that's why I go to these movies.  I enjoy them, and this one was probably the best.  Definitely worth watching, whether you're a Twi-hard or not!

News Around the Office

As some of you may already know, the company I work for is negotiating a merger with one of their competitors (mild competition, mostly complementary product offerings, which is why this is a good "marriage").  The merger has not been finalized, and decisions have not been made/announced about who will be let go or asked to relocate.  We will find out about this after the merger is completed on January 7.  That may be some people's last day - it may be mine.  Or it may not.

As far as I am aware, the Milwaukee office will remain open.  Our headquarters will no longer reside in Atlanta, but instead will be in Scottsdale, AZ (an improvement, if you ask me).  Our CEO will join the board of directors, and their CEO will become CEO of the new joint company.  The company will receive a new name.  There will be "reductions in workforce" and "redundancies".  There will be severance packages (rather generous ones).

I will keep everyone abreast of what I find out and am allowed to share.  For now, it's "business as usual", and we have been asked to "hold off" on looking for new jobs just yet.  I don't know where the next two months will take me, but it will all turn out in the end.  I have my suspicions about what will happen at my present job, as well as my own hopes for what will happen.  For fear of public disclosure, I won't share them here just yet.

In happier news, I had a fantastic weekend last week!  It started with Thursday actually, when I attended a bread-making class at our church and learned to make no-knead bread in a "dutch oven" (in my case, in a stainless steel soup put until I can get a dutch oven - worked just fine but not ideal).  The bread turned out delicious, and I'll be making some to bring to my mother in law's house for Thanksgiving as well as to my parents' house so they can try some.

I met up with my siblings for dinner on Saturday night, and we had a nice time.  I'm sad to say that the restaurant I chose was inconvenient and hard to get to, but I hope they enjoyed the food and had a nice time anyway.  It was great to just hang out with them!  I'd like to do it again sometime, after the holidays have died down maybe.

Sunday we went out to Oak Creek to pick up a free hammock stand that I found on Milwaukee Freecycle.  We were hoping it would go with the rope hammock that I got at a garage sale for $12 earlier this year, but unfortunately the hammock in its current state is too long/stretched out for the stand.  I think the stand is a 9 or 10 foot stand maybe.

The hammock could potentially be shortened/tightened if we were to re-tie the knots along the spreader bar.  I may try that and see if that helps.  We also need to get hooks for the frame, since it did not come with any.  But hey, one thing at a time - if all else fails, lesson learned, and we'll find a different hammock and sell or Freecycle the one we've got.  It beats shelling out hundreds of dollars for a new one.  If anyone has any advice or tips on this I'd like to hear them!

Our trip to Oak Creek was not in vain, for we also stopped at Woodman's and got some items that we had not found when we checked out the new Trader Joe's the day before.  You can read my Yelp! review of the new store on Bluemound here, but the short version is that it's not going to be our go-to grocery store.  We found some interesting items, but we just don't care about stuff being organic that much, and the items we usually buy we can find cheaper elsewhere.  It was interesting though, and I think we'll go back for a novelty item here and there to spice up our meals.  I enjoyed their frozen and pre-prepared food selection and prices the most.

Overall, it was a nice weekend where I got some house cleaning done (which has been largely undone already) and got to see some awesome people.  Sadly I missed out on game night on Saturday night in Port Washington, due to my siblings dinner running long, but we'll do another one.  This weekend, in fact, I think there may be some game-playing in store!

Anybody else getting pumped for Thanksgiving and keeping busy with holiday shopping already?  I've got gifts for everyone but 5 people on my list now, I think...

Very Busy Times!

We had a fantastic weekend!  Super Husband turned 27 on Friday, and I had a lot of surprises planned for him.  The first of the festivities involved breakfast in bed (a family tradition from his mom's side) - Krispy Kreme donuts by request.  I even put candles in them so he got to blow those out.

This was followed by a scavenger hunt around the house, where each clue was accompanied by a small candy treat (thanks to my coworker's kids, who are not allowed to keep all their Halloween candy).   The final clue led him to his gift, which was a Chipper Jones Atlanta Braves jersey that I won in a charity auction at work.  Chipper is one of SH's all-time favorite players.

We met up with my father in law for lunch at Noodles & Co then I surprised SH again by working from home that afternoon.  This meant I was able to be there when he opened his gift from his dad (awesome Frisbee golf set) and have some cake with them.

The rest of the afternoon I worked, then we waited around until 7 pm for his big surprise outing.  I had secretly arranged an evening of greasy food and mini bowling with our friends Alex, Kate, Kayla and SH's best friend Erik.  Alex and Kate arrived at our house and hid behind the garage, so they were able to jump out and surprise SH.  They scared me too, even though I knew they were back there!

We headed over to Fratelli's on Lincoln Avenue, a little place that serves hot dogs, cheese steak sandwiches  pizza and other classics.  Kayla surprised SH by being there already.  We had blindfolded him so he wouldn't know where we were going, and Alex threw him incorrect clues the entire way.

Everyone had a nice little meal, then it was on to Koz's Mini Bowl.  I think SH suspected that we were going there, but he had no idea his friend Erik would arrive!  The six of us played a few rounds of bowling, then Kayla had to head home (long day at work!).

After bowling, we went back to our house where we ate some cake and just talked for a while.  Alex and Kate got going, and Erik stayed overnight.

The next day I had a church meeting to attend, and then my mother in law came over.  We all grabbed some McDonalds for lunch then paid a visit to SH's brother.  While MIL and BIL visited, SH, Erik and I went to the Walmart Neighborhood Market (a first time for me!) to grab a few supplies for dinner.

After that we went home and SH opened his gifts from his mom - a nice outfit with dress pants and a shirt and some cool puzzle backing tape (plus a 3D puzzle).  We played some Apples to Apples until it was time to start prepping food for dinner.

Everyone chipped in and we had fruit, bread, angel food cake, and lil smokies to dip in cheese and chocolate fondue.  It was a very tasty meal!

Erik stayed overnight again, so we went to see the movie "Flight", which turned out to be more about drugs and alcohol and addiction than any of us were prepared for.  It was interesting... I'm still not sure what to take away from it.

We got home and I crashed.  The next day Erik got going, and SH and I went to church, then came home and had a lazy day to recover from all the fun.

We have another jam-packed week coming up!  Obviously we'll be voting tomorrow, as well as meeting with our insurance agent for a yearly update.   We've got Team Trivia with R U Bot or Not on Wednesday at Buffalo Wild Wings at Bayshore, then SH will be bowling as usual on Thursday while I attend a bread-making class at our church.

Friday SH will head down to Rockford for a weekend overnight with the youth group from our church.  I'll be attending the ladies' game night at church (going to see my friend Tammy and meet in-person with my newer online friend Jenn!).  Saturday my siblings are coming up here to meet for dinner, then I'm headed up to Jonah and Kristen's place in Port Washington for even more games and fun.  AND THEN on Sunday there is a potluck at church for the young adults at 2 pm.

Whew!  Think we are busy enough yet???

And here I am thinking about how it would be nice to find an amateur ballet class for adults as a way to get in shape...

Halloween Fun Time & Updates

Yesterday was Halloween (newsflash), and I had a freaking awesome time with some fantastic people!

We headed over to Kayla's place for delicious chicken limo tacos and a feast of fantasticness. Everybody came in costume and then we were off to team trivia.  We must have some Halloween magic, because we won!!  EAT MY SHORTS, TAUTOLOGY CLUB!  That was a really nice way to end our Halloween outing.

Last weekend we got all our leaves raked out of the yard, which was a big accomplishment.  We also did a little cleaning, which turned into completely rearranging the living room furniture, like so:

Living Room Before:

Living Room After:

Maybe this isn't quite exactly right, but you get the idea.  It's a lot more direct and close-up when you watch TV now, and the room feels a lot more open if you walk in the front door or are looking at the living room from the dining room.

Some of you may notice we got rid of a few things.  The big bookshelf, which used to be in the top left corner, now lives in the dining room (not shown) and the end table that was on the right of the couch was taken upstairs to be a bedside table, which is what it really is.

Anyway, some small changes but it's nice to mix things up once in a while.  Nick should go into professional furniture staging.