Thankful

Things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving (in no particular order)

My job - I may not love everything about it, but I am thankful to have a job at all
My co workers - I couldn't get through the day with out the HR gang to make me laugh, listen to me whine, commiserate with about difficult employees and situations and help me out in numerous other ways but professionally and personally.
Community - Best. TV. Show. Ever (next to The West Wing) makes me love Thursday nights even more.
The Soup for keeping me informed on crappy tv without actually having to watch those shows. (And being my second chance each week to stare at Joel McHale...sigh.... :) )
Coke - Besides giving my blog a name it also gives me strength to get through the afternoon. Some days that first sip brings tears to my eyes.
DVR - My life will never be the same.
Co workers who read magazines and books and then pass them on - you know who you are and I appreciate you more than you know! :)
My family - cuz, you know...
My little sister - I can appreciate now the life lessons about negotiating, compromise, and one's place in the world (here's a hint: the sun doesn't revolve around you) that I learned from from being a sister and your sister!
Friends that I can start conversations with "Remember in 2nd grade..." and the do remember.
A friend that I can tell absolutely anything to and know a) not the worst she's heard and b) there will be not judgment and helping me realize even the worst situations can be funny!

All the babies of friends and family that came into the world this year, a few a little early but all very healthy!
Facebook for helping me keep up with everyone for I am horrible at picking up the phone and providing the best procrastination tool ever!
A seven year old who teaches me to find patience I never knew existed inside of me several times a month while making me laugh, giving me an excuse to watch Phinneas and Ferb, and giving me the opportunity to experience parenthood while not actually having to be a parent!


And most of all my best friend, my chef, my fellow West Wing lover, my personal trainer, my cheerleader, my love, my partner in crime and in life: You make me feel butterflies in my stomach still and you make me want to be a better person! I love you!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

Fall

I love fall. For me fall is means more about new beginnings then even January. New school years, new TV season and a rash of birthdays (including my own) signal many new things to come. I love that slowly (very slowly this year) the weight of the summer heat begins to lessen and you find yourself able to breathe when you step outside again.
This year I decided to do Halloween up a little more than I usually do. Growing up we were not allowed to celebrate Halloween so it has always seemed a little foreign to me to dress up and decorate. As we got older we had a tradition of going to dinner and a movie on Halloween and to a certain extent that is still my preferred way to celebrate, but I do love handing out candy to trick or treaters!
I did inside Halloween lights this year as well as some other little Halloween figurines. My original plan was to have an overall pumpkin theme to carry us to Thanksgiving and I got about halfway there, as usual I didn't quite get all the way to where I wanted to, but I was happy with the lights!


I also did a little pumpkin baking this year. We made Chocolate Chip cookies with orange chips, a pumpkin cheesecake which was awesome and I made a butternut squash risotto which turned out pretty good!

My scary cheesecake and me with my assistant chef.


Risotto!!

We went to a local nursery and picked out some pumpkins to carve and or paint.











We also hit up a nearby towns Halloween festival which used hot air balloons to light the park. Carolina was Daphne from Scooby Doo and loved her orange wig...at first. The later the night got the further back the wig slipped!






And this was just the first of two weekends that we celebrated! We had Carolina two weekends in a row and they were both packed. This was just the first one, stay tuned for weekend two...

Carolina's Birthday

It is the beginning of birthday season for me. Carolina's birthday is August 5th and it just goes from there with most of my family and friends falling somewhere in that time frame, and ends December 11 with Isaac's birthday. Whew! Luckily nothing important falls right after Isaac's birthday...oh wait, shoot Christmas! :)
Anyway, there's not a better way to start off birthday season then throwing a birthday party for a little girl! This year I thought it would be fun to do something a little different, so we took her and Avery ice skating. Carolina loves to ice skate, she has even told me that she plans to have two jobs when she grows up; teacher and Olympic ice skater. I haven't had the heart to tell her she's getting a little long in the tooth by ice skating standards and since she's only been ice skating 4 times...well...

It's a fun afternoon outing though so we got the kids in jeans and long sleeve shirt, a rarity in August, and set out. Carolina had a rough start, she's very cautious and gets frustrated easily if she doesn't catch onto stuff as quickly as everyone else. Avery, threw herself (almost litteraly) into the skating and while she spent a considerable amount of time picking her self off of the ice, she kept going and never once cried.

Then it was home to have dinner, cake, presents and for a sleepover. Carolina made out pretty well with lots of new Barbie stuff including a little folding Barbie house and Barbie carrying case, a Tinkerbell sleeping bag and a Little Mermaid slip and slide.



Dinner for the kids was up to Carolina and she chose Macaroni and Cheese (big surprise there!) and Kristina was nice enough to offer to cook for the grown ups. She made a great pork ternderloin thing, mashed potatoes and a salad. It was terrific, I have no culinary skills with the exception of my Mac and Cheese, so I am always impressed when people make a full meal! Dessert was a giant chocolate chip cookie cake specially requested by the birthday girl!


Yummy dinner made by Kristina!

Happy Birthday to you...

After cake the girls busted out the slip and slide and took turns trying to show off. Carolina started off every turn with "Watch and learn" Hmmm, I wonder who she got that from, maybe the same person who gave her those long dark eye lashes! ;)





Isaac watching the festivities

Unfortunately our backyard is possibly the meeting ground for all the mosquitos in Texas and there must of been a rally that night because even with copious amounts of Off we were all covered in bites. Slip and Slide time ended early. The girls then tore into the new gifts and set up the Barbie house. I don't know why but I thought they looked so freaking cute in their nightgowns and wet hair. They were exhausted, so play time was soon followed by movie and sleeping bag time and you know what that leads to...



Sunday morning aftermath:




Sunday was plain fun in the sun, swimming at Kristina's pool! Such a busy weekend, but a lot of fun.



I met Carolina when she was 4, she couldn't read, write, or pick our her own clothes. Now she can read, understand what we're spelling when we're trying to get stuff by her (ex: Donuts), write notes to people, she's lost 4 teeth and I can tell her to "go grab some clothes" and she comes back reasonably put together. She still loves baths full of bubbles, her "Susie" bear, to be picked up, snuggle on laps and be carried to bed though! Happy Birthday C! :)

I am honestly not a fan of the summer. Once summer ceased to consist of laying around either my mom or dads house swimming and watching soaps and became all about work, it lost all appeal. Now summer is just like every other part of the year except it's slightly warmer than the face of the sun and I have to find appropriate work clothes to accommodate that. I'm fair skinned so walking in the sun is dangerous for me and there's no good TV. That and I suffered through 3 fairly bad relationship induced horrible summers which turned me off to the season even more. However, the last 3 summers with Isaac have been nice and this summer was actually pretty fun. There was no money to see the world, but that was okay, the world came to us!

The summer started out with a bang when Isaac's mom came from Madrid for 2 weeks, we were both able to take off while she was here and had a good time showing her around Austin.

One of my favorite Austin spots; the Hula Hut

The full Texas experience in Fredericksburg.
Mini golf at Peter Pan Putt Putt Another Austin tradition; The Oasis (you go for the view not the food or service!)


Mon left just as World Cup fever took hold and we went all in and came out with a huge payout. Spain won their first World Cup!! We had a blast getting into the games and I finally had a chance to learn about Soccer. (I'd never really wanted to, but I very much enjoyed my Soccer watching time!)


Victory celebration with Cava!

Just as we were winding down from World Cup frenzy Isaac had two friends from high school come to visit. Eleanor from Paris and Michelle who now lives right here in Texas in Nacogdoches. It was very cool meeting people from Isaac's past. The majority of his past is scattered across Europe and most of mine is about 10 miles down Mopac here in Austin, so I've always felt he has a bit more mystery to him than I do, (he may like it that way) but we got to even it out a bit! Eleanor stayed for 4 days and we had a blast showing her around Austin!
Isaac, Michelle and Eleanor, Frankfurt International School graduate.


Eleanor and I at Trudys laughing at Isaac...or with him? :)

Flaming Dr. Peppers at Touch

After Eleanor left the summer heat hit it's crescendo and we became pool bums at Kristina's new apartment complex taking a brief break to hit the ice for Carolina's 7th birthday.

Carolina ice skating for her birthday.



Isaac and Carolina playing in the pool

The weekend before school started for Carolina, Avery, Kristina and I we hung poolside and then hit Chili's for dinner and best of all dessert for the kids.

Kristina and I braving the sun (well I'm braving the sun) poolside

Kristina and Avery

DESSERT!!!!

Now summer is over, although I don't think anyone has told the sun that yet, and I'm very much looking forward to the fall. We've got birthdays, holidays, and pumpkin patches to look forward to as well...fall TV!!!

Stay tuned...