Off to see the wizard.

Yesterday afternoon while I was watching the news a tornado watch was issued for some surrounding areas, including the county I live in.

Normally I just ignore them.  I know that sounds terrible, but I have been fortunate enough never to see a tornado in my area my whole life.  Plus, I'm a lover of crazy summer thunderstorms.

Last night was different though.  When the warning was issued I started to get anxious.  I was upset because I was scheduled to work at 11 last night, & I was planning to be napping when the wicked storm was supposed to hit.  DJ wasn't going to be home, & I was convinced that the house was going to be blown away without me knowing.  He assured me I was crazy, like usual.

Although I slept a little, I kept having bad dreams & ended up waking up long before my alarm was set to go off.

I turned on the news, & what do you know?

The report was bad.  The storm was headed to us, & would be on top of us within a half hour.  People were reporting seeing tornados where it was already raining, & the meteorologists were seeing cloud rotation close to me.

When the storm was about 10 minutes away & a few towns over, the weatherman said, "There is definite cloud rotation.  We can't confirm whether or not a tornado is already on the gound.  It's heading for Renee's house (I know I souldn't joke about this, but wouldn't that have been funny?).  You have 10 minutes to get into the basement."

And so, that is what I did.  I took my laptop, knowing I would lose power & not get news reports from the TV.  I just hoped the internet would hold out.  It did not, by the way. 

Next I trapped my 2 girl cats in the basement, which was easy enough to do with a bag of treats.  Then, I had to carry my dog downstairs.  She had never even seen a flight of stairs until we lived in this house, & she is not brave enough to venture down.  Once that was done, I had to fight with my boy cat.  He doesn't like to be held, so it was an  epic battle...that I ultimately won.  I essentially hog-tied my cat, covered his head with my shirt & ran down the stairs while trying desperately to hold on.

Once my fur babies were safely downstairs, I didn't dare open the door.  In my panic, it didn't occur to me to grab my flashlight or candles or anything I might actually need.   No, no, instead there I was with 3 misbehaving cats, a terrified dog, my cell phone & a laptop that soon proved to be worhtless when the internet failed.

In an attempt to keep myself calm, I talked to my mom & MIL periodically.  I had no idea what was going on.  There was no way for me to know what the situation with the storm was.  My only view of the outside world was through a tiny (& dirty, because I don't clean it) basement window.  I couldn't see anything because the sky was black, except for occasional pink lightening.

I'll be honest, I was pretty freaking terrified.  I was also sure this was not going to end well.  Thankfully, it did.  We got a severe thunderstorm & nothing more.  Everyone was safe.

We were without power for a few hours, so when I ventured back upstairs I lit every candle in the house & read a book by flashlight.

DJ got home shortly after the power came back on.  And although I was able to laugh a little about my disaster precautions, I was still a little on edge.

In hindsight everyone will probably think it was silly of me to go so overboard, but I don't think it was.  Not only did the newscaster say it was specifically headed to my town & I had 10 minutes to take cover, but I knew this was coming since 3 in the afternoon.

Call it a message, or maybe a sixth sense, but I was sure this storm was going to be bad & I needed to be awake when it arrived.

I guess the moral of my story is this:  trust your instincts.  They're right more often than you think.

Tuesday Ten

It's raining today.  It's been raining since Friday. It's supposed to rain until at least Friday.  It's left me with a total lack of inspiration.

Imagine that?

So today I'm phoning this one in.  I'm not being a Tuesday Ten hater, I'm just saying that I don't even have the energy it requires to make my Tuesday Ten creative & funny like my buddy G.

(Do you see what I did there, Gini????  I'm totally impressed with myself now.)

Anyway, enough of the inside joke.  Now to the Main Event:


1.  I took my mom shopping for a Mother's Day gift last night.  It was a week late, but that was her fault.  She wanted to get Ugg boots, but ended up with a ring instead.   That made me happy. 

2.  I came home from the grocery store to find a flock of geese milling around the field behind my house. Random.

3.  I'm still on vacation, & I don't go back until Sunday night.  The plan for the rest of the week?  Laziness.

4.  Maury reached an all time low today by having a stained blanket tested for an angry wife.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that Maury could have gone any lower than he already was.

5.  Is it wrong of me to want to delete some distant relatives from Facebook?  Is it wrong that I don't care if it's wrong?  Then, do those two wrongs make a right?

6. On my way to my next door neighbor's house this morning, I found 4 four leaf clovers.

7.  I don't care if chips & salsa aren't a suitable lunch.

8. According to some religious zealots in my area, the world is going to end on Saturday.  I'm glad I had vacation this week.

9.  I bought a new lunch box last night.  It has owls on it.  You know you're jealous.

10.  Given what the poor people in the south are currently bracing themselves for, I find it a little offensive to see a "flood watch" symbol in the corner of my TV screen.  The worst thing that's going to happen here is that we may not be able to use a low-lying road for a while.  Not really a flood, if you ask me.

A room full of sweaty, fat guys

I'm sure that title left you wanting to read more.  The thought of a room full of sweaty, fat guys is oh-so-appealing.

You must be asking why I would ever be writing about sweaty, fat guys in the first place.  It follows the usual theme of my blog posts:  everything is DJ's fault.

DJ is the VP of a gaming club in our area.  His club hosted a tournament for a tabletop game called Warhammer over the weekend.  There were approximately 50 sweaty, fat (and sweaty, thin) guys playing in the tournament.

It wasn't all bad though, because there were some super hot chicks hosting a bake sale too.

And the time & effort these sweaty, fat guys put into building an army to play this game is amazing.  I thought I'd share some pictures of the artwork...& some other things I took pictures of when I got bored.

In case you thought I was joking about the sweaty, fat guys.



The dragon was painted by one of the few ladies in the group, & was the winner of the painting competition.  Girl power!



We had a bake sale to raise money for the club.

Cake Pops decorated like the dice used for the game. Yum!



They were short one name tag, but leave it to the women to come up with a suitable replacement.  He wore that plate all day.  Heehee!



Even though he makes me hang out with sweaty, fat guys, I do love him.

Happy Easter!

The weather report for today was not good, so imagine my surprise when I woke up to clear, sunny skies.

It's raining now, but my family had plenty of sun to complete the egg hunt portion of our annual Easter party.

I'm the only "kid" who doesn't participate in the egg hunt anymore, which means the hunters range from age 5 to 20 - so my family comes up with some cruel inventive hiding spots.

Oh, & my aunt's dog also participates...& she knows how to open the eggs on her own.



Tribute

Tonight is my last night working 2nd shift & my first night working 3rd shift.

It's a bittersweet moment for me.  I'm ready to start the next chapter of my life, nursing school.  Working 3rd shift is necessary in order for me to achieve that goal.

I will be getting to know new residents, whose lives I know I can positively impact.

But, I am also sad.  I will miss those residents who I've become so close too.  After spending 40 hours a week with them for almost a year, the idea of hardly seeing them anymore is breaking my heart.

They have become like family to me, & I love each of them. 

These are people who have lived long, incredible lives.  And even though I'm sometimes so busy I can't imagine that I'll ever get finished with my work, I always make time to listen to their stories - which is the most important lesson I ever learned.

Throughout my career I will meet & care for many patients.  I will treat them all with the same love & respect, but I will forget most of their names & faces.  No one can remember everyone, & I think that's a good thing in the end.

But the names & faces I'll remember vividly are those of my original residents.

The people who say, "Hi there, honey bee!  How are you today?" 

The people who say, "I'm so glad to see you! You're one of the people I feel close to here."

The people who say, "You're my little princess, & don't you forget it."

They've shared their wisdom, as well as their goodnight kisses.  I have been through silly moments, frustrating moments & downright disgusting moments with these people - & every single one has been worth it.

When I started this job I had never worked in health care before. I was terrified because I had no idea what to expect. It was these residents who really taught me how to do this job, better than any book or lecture or clincial practice ever could.

The hardest part about this transition is knowing that I will not get to see some of them ever again.  Although I will get back to this unit in my travels, those days will be infrequent & some of my dear loved ones will be gone.  And given what their situations are, I am not able to say goodbye to them because they wouldn't understand if I did.

The blessing is, most of them won't realize I'm gone.  They're happy to see me, but when it comes to patients with Alzheimer's & dementia, out of sight really is out of mind.  While I'm glad there will be no hurt feelings on their part, my own heart is breaking.

So this is my tribute & my goodbye to those people who not only taught me how to do what I do, but also to love what I do.

Big, ol' sigh of relief.

Remember when I was studying for my placement test, & the math was killing me?

Remember when I did all that studying, & then there was no math on sed placement test, but there was random science & so I was sure I failed?

Remember when I accepted that I'd be taking the long route to being an RN, but was committed to my Plan B?

Yesterday I had my interview with the director of the nursing program I applied to.

We reviewed my scores, & let me just say that I kicked that test's ass!!  I scored in the 99th percentile overall, & in the 96th percentile on specifically the math portion.

Then we reviewed my high school transcripts & my references.  I can't thank the lovely ladies responsible for my wonderful references enough.  Their very kind words & their belief in what I'm capable of mean so much to me.

It was at that point that the director said the words I've been longing to hear,

"You can consider yourself accepted if you meet the rest of the requirements."

The rest of the requirements being background checks, fingerprinting & not being a secret drug addict or felon.  I can safely assume that, those being the last hurdles, I'm in.

At that point she could have told me to get the hell out of her office & slammed the door in my face, because I got what I came for.  But to further improve my day she kept the compliments coming.

She asked me, "I'm sure you qualify for an RN program anywhere.  Are you sure you want to come here?"

She being an RN herself, so that comment meant a lot to me.

When I explained that the best RN program in my area didn't agree, but that I wasn't willing to give up on my goal & that yes, I really did want to attend her school, she said, "Well, it'll be refreshing to have someone as bright as you in our program."

Have I mentioned that I love this lady?  Because if I didn't, I do.

So to celebrate I went out for dinner with the people I love & a boy name Colin. (That was for you, Jenn.)

Afterwards we continued the celebration with more people & lots of alcohol.  It was St. Patrick's Day after all.

I've got a rare Friday off today, & the weather is going to be gorgeous.  I plan on doing lots of outside things in the yard & capitalizing on my leftover good mood from yesterday.

(Semi)Wordless Wednesday

This is my cousin, a PA State Chess Champion, & his big ass trophy!  He placed 1st in his division at the state tournament a few weeks ago.  I'm so proud!

She did what?

I've talked about my mother before on my blog.

She's a little nutty, & it's amusing to laugh at the crazy things she does.  And once again, she didn't disappoint today.

She's at war with her neighbors - but she's the only one who thinks so.  Shortly after we moved into the house where she lives now (10 years ago), she & my stepdad were making some improvements on the backyard.  They built a new, bigger deck & garden area.  These neighbors, who I will admit are a little off, approached my mom in the backyard one afternoon to adress their "concerns" with the home improvements.  While I can't recite the entire conversation, I can tell you how it ended.

          Crazy neighbor:  How would you feel if someone new moved in & suddenly made all these

                                     changes?

          Crazy mother:  I don't really fucking care how you feel.


I think it's safe to say any cordial, neighborly relationship was over at that point.  From then on, my mother spied on them through an upstairs window, & Mr. Neighbor purposely threw sticks & shoveled snow into our yard.

Well, not to be outdone, my mother had a fence built - down only one side of the yard, which happens to be between these two houses.  Really mature, right?

After that, she continued with her spying, but they were powerless to throw random things into the yard anymore.  That's pretty much how the relationship has continued over the better part of a decade.

She spies so much that she knows all the following informaiton:

• Where & when they grocery shop
• When they are planning a birthday party for their children
• When they are having medical issues
• When the couple separated, & ultimately reconciled

Crazy, huh?  Yep, that's my momma!

And the saga continued this evening, when my mother attended a school board meeting.

Why you ask?

Because Mr. Neighbor works for the school district, & they are planning to make spending cuts - so she wanted to know if he would be fired.

She seriously needs to get a life.

Fingers crossed!

I've got another week or so wait before I  find out if I passed my placement test for nursing school.

In hopes of having positive thoughts & putting good energy into the universe for myself, I decided to make a change yesterday.

I put in a bid for a 3rd shift position at work.

If When I start nursing school, my schedule will be Tues/Wed/Thurs from 2-9:30, so I'll need to work 3rd shift.  Lately there haven't been a lot of 3rd shift openings at work, so I was getting a little nervous about being able to get the position I needed when the time came.

All of a sudden, a full time position was posted yesterday, so I didn't waste any time.  I submitted my letter of interest, & called to follow up this morning. 

I don't want to be a pest, but I got screwed out of a position I bid on a few months ago because someone lost the paperwork.  So as you can imagine, my level of trust in these people is not so good.'

True to fashion, this person still hasn't called me back, so I'll be stopping in for a visit before I start today.

Anyway, enough about the crappy office staff at my job...

The prospect of a schedule that would work well with school is not the only reason I'm excited.  This new schedule would mean I work the same weekend as my MIL, so we won't be on opposite schedules anymore.  Plus, 3rd shift weekends are Friday & Saturday, so I've be off every other Friday & Saturday night.

And, the icing on the cake is, although it would be a different shift, I'd work the same weekend as the co-workers that I love - which means we'll also be off on the same weekends.

At my job there are two types of job postings, ones where bids are based on seniority & others where it's first come, first served.  I'm really, really hoping that since this position just got posted yesterday I was the first one to bid on it.

Wish me luck!

Where have I been?

I haven't blogged for a while, mostly because I haven't had anything interesting to stay, but also because work has been C-R-A-Z-Y!

Here's what I've been doing in my absence from the Blog World:

• Seeing a SteamPunk exhibit with my aunt
• Hitting up the Border's liquidation sale.  I'm so sad to see my local store go!
• Joining Paperback Swap, an online book club that my friend suggested.  Thanks, Steph!
• Reading Patton Oswalt's Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
• Catching up on my DVR back log
• Not cleaning out my purple room
• Waiting (im)patiently for the results of my nursing school placement test
• Reading your blogs.

I've also been trying to ignore the Charlie Sheen drama, which has been a fairly successful endeavor.  Now & then I hear some random piece of nonsense about him being a warlock or having tiger blood or whatever, but I'm mostly in the dark & I'm comfortable with that.

Day 7 - Link up!

I took a few days off from blogging over the weekend, but now I'm refreshed & ready to get back into the  challenge!

The challenge prompt for today suggests linking up with other bloggers, allowing you to expand on further topics, take an opposing viewpoint or promote another post that you think really deserves it.

I'm linking up with my SIL Jenn of South of Sheridan.  She's the one who got me into this challenge, & got me into blogging in the first place.

January 20th of this year was the International Day of Acceptance to promote disibility awareness.  Jenn asked her readers to ask whatever burning questions they may have had about using a wheelchair for mobility.  Please take some time to read the questions & answers here & here.

As I'm sure most of you know by now, my boyfriend DJ also has LGMD & uses a wheelchair full time.  When we started dating I got lots of perplexed looks from people, & I could see the wheels turning behind their eyes.  Much like DJ & Jenn, my attitude towards the situation is this:  I'd rather have you ask instead of just staring.

So, in that spirit I'm taking a queue from Jenn.  If you have any questions about being the other half of someone with a disability, please ask away!

You can contact me by:

• Leaving a comment on this post
• Emailing me at closedonsunday@hotmail.com
• Tweet me @ClosedSunday

I'd like to take questions until Friday, & then prepare an answers post for the weekend.

I'm excited to see what people want to know!

No turning back!

It's here!!

We went into the wee hours of the morning, but it's finally done - the tattoo, that is.

I love, love, LOVE it!

For those of you who may not have known, I wanted the tattoo as a memorial for my grandmother & aunt.  Both of them loved cats & Egyptian mythology.  The Egyptians worshiped cats.  Siamese cats in particular were thought to be protectors of the pharaohs.

And now I have a physical reminder of my protectors - who always have my back, even if I can't see them.

What's going on?

I've been absent lately.

I haven't had anything very interesting to write about.  Things are pretty much the same around here.  Although I have finally been spending much more time at home.  The holiday season was a killer, & I felt like I was always either working or shopping.  So being able to just play  Wii & watch movies with DJ has been so awesome!

Like I said, not much to talk about.  Just a few updates.

I submitted my applications to 2 different nursing schools in the area, one for an RN program & one for an LPN program.  I have mixed feelings about the subject. 

I really, really want to get my RN  & be done with it, but that's a very intensive 3 year program.  I'm a little worried about being away from DJ so much because he does depend on me for certain things - & that list will just keep on growing as time goes on.

On the other hand, the LPN program only takes a year & a half.  The schedule is 3 days a week, so I could technically continue to work 2nd shift instead of make the switch to 3rd.  However, being an LPN is not really what I want.  LPN jobs are few & far between these days, so it will likely be difficult for me to find a job when I get out of school being that I'll have no experience - unless of course there's one available where I work now, but who knows if there will be.

I also have this nagging feeling that because I'm naturally bad in math (& didn't plan on a nursing career when I was in high school) that my math grades will hinder my acceptance to the RN school.  That would seriously suck ass, because I know I can do the nursing job.  It's not astrophysics or anything.

So now it's the waiting game.  Great...

Onto the good news now:

• My very good friend/co-worker asked me to host her bridal shower!  I'm so excited to do it.  We're thinking a beach themed shower because she's having a beach themed summer wedding.  If anyone has ideas for beachy decorations & party games, please send them my way.
• DJ & I have a meeting with our local bank in the next few weeks to try to finally get a mortgage.  Have I ever told you the unorthodox circumstances to building our house?  I don't think so.  I'll have to do that, because it'll make our personal mortgage crisis make a lot more sense.  Anyway, I think we're on the right track now!
• And finally - the tattoo is scheduled for Sunday night with I get home from work!!  I'm excited & nervous - really, really nervous.  I'm not sure why though.  I'm not nervous about living with the tattoo, & I think it just may be the idea of it.  But anyway, I'm mostly excited & I can't wait to get it done!

I'll be sure to keep you updated on all the goings on, & I'll be posting pictures of the tattoo as soon as I can!

Shut your pie hole, dork face.

Happy New Year!

Ok, so I know I'm a day behind schedule, but the sentiment is what's important.

Now back to the blog title, which I'm sure you're all wondering about.

My family was here yesterday for pork & sauerkraut.  As is normal for them, there was lots of noise & inappropriate jokes at eachother's expense.

My MomMom drank a whole bottle of wine before dinner was over.

My uncle got lost, even though he's been here before, & my aunt was losing her shit in the car.

Everyone always labels their plastic cups so none of the little ones end up accidentially drinking a cocktail instead of fruit punch.  Writing ridiculous things on eachother's cups is sort of a loving tradition.

A few years ago on our annual family vacation my mom was on the phone with my aunt, who was driving with me.  Suddenly, & for no apparent reason, my aunt screamed, "Shut your pie hole!" & hung up on my mother.  It was hilarious, & it stuck with her all this time.  She even got a "Shut your pie hole" t-shirt for Christmas.

In any event, when she wasn't looking someone wrote "Shut your pie hole, dork face," on her cup.

She used it all night too.  She's a champ.

A New Year's Eve Story.

Two years ago I spent New Year's Eve at my MIL's house, although at that time she was just Jenn's mom.

I got all dressed up & did my hair for the party -  but not for DJ.  It was another "fancy day" with the bestie.



Aren't we adorable?

Bestie was in the middle of his tour in Iraq, & so I outlawed military talk while he was home.  I told him if he needed to talk he could, but I didn't want anyone else to do it.  So naturally, that's all that anyone at the party wanted to talk about.

FML.

But, there is a point to my story.  It was during all that military talk when DJ noticed it was making me cringe & tried his hardest to distract me from it.  It didn't work, but it was a very sweet gesture on his part.

It was after that night that DJ & I started talking amongst ourselves, not just when I was with Jenn.  That lead to our "first date."  I use the quotes because it wasn't a real date.  We made pizza at his house, & then his mother got lost somewhere on the road so we to babysit his little sister while BIL & SIL went to save MIL.

Regardless of how unorthodox it was, we've been together ever since & we'll celebrate two years together in January We have a beautiful home, a herd of furry babies & an all around happy life together.  Even though I make fun of our "first date" to this day, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way - just don't tell him that.

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope that 2011 is everything you hope it will be!

I guess if I have to.

It's 9:30 in the morning.  I had to set the dreaded alarm to wake up this morning, which I never have to do (thank you 2nd shift!).  I'm currently blogging getting ready because I have to leave the house in an hour.

Why?

Because I'm going to a freaking crappy buffet with my freaking coworkers to exchange gifts.

Why did I ever agree to this?

Actually, I didn't.  The coworkers I'm not all warm & fuzzy about decided on this plan - because none of them have anything to do.

Look fellow bloggers, I know I watch a lot of Maury & Springer before work, but I do actually get a lot of things done.  I have to cook a meal, tend to the animals, help DJ get up & dress, etc..

I do not have time to drive to sed crappy buffet, pretend to like the people I'm there with & then turn around & come back home so I can rush to get DJ & I ready. 

Oh right, did I mention I have to go to work later?  That's right.  So I should be eating crappy buffet, & then  going to work at my very physical job for 8 hours tonight.  Good plan!

Again, the people who planned this adventure have no clue - one is on medical leave, one is on a month long vacation & the other is a charge nurse who never leaves the damn desk all night.

Wanna know what the icing on the cake is too?  I decided not to go last week, & then one of the coworkers I do like says, "You're the only reason I'm going."  Guilt trip much?

So, I agreed...& now she's not sure if she's going.  Her BF has to get a drug test for his new job, which is actually very important...but how could she leave me with these sucky people that we can't stand?  Who will sit with me & judge them?  Sniffles.

Who am I kidding?  I don't need help with the judging part.

But I will feel lonely, so think of me.  Wish me a speedy lunch with no traffic on the way back!

Only 363 more days!

I had a wonderful (but hectic) Christmas, & I hope it went well for all of you too!

We had DJ's family over for lunch on Christmas Eve.  I made chicken parm & spaghetti.  Yum!  Afterwards we exchanged gifts.  DJ's mom got us a Wii!  And DJ's little sister loved the iPod touch we got her.

That night I went to my mom's house for our annual Christmas Eve party.  I was exhausted by that time, & I swore I wasn't going to stay very late at all - so naturally I drove my aunt home at 10:00.  Just for the record, she was also "not staying very late."  You can see how well that worked out for us.  But, it was a great party.

On Christmas morning I headed back to my mom's to open gifts with our immediate family - & by immediately family I mean14 of us.  It was chaos as usual, but I wouldn't trade it for anything - except maybe a venue that wasn't 45 minutes away.

And to top it off, my mom, stepdad & sister came over for lunch yesterday so we could exchange gifts with DJ. My mom got us a ton of cute stuff for the house, my favorite of which is zebra accessories for my bathroom. It looks so good with the teal paint!

DJ & I got my sister her very first guitar.  She's taking lessons at school this year & she loves it.  DJ is a  fantastic  guitar player, so he was really excited to give it to her - & she loved it, although she was a little too shy to play for us.

My family left in the early afternoon, & DJ & I spent the rest of the day hidden from the outside world.  I gotta tell you, after all that crazyness, being alone was the best part.

It's going to be a busy  week, & I can't promise I'll be back before then.  If I don't get a chance to say it, Happy New Year to you & yours from me & mine!

No, I won't wear the antlers!

DJ has a very large extended family.  My MIL is one of 6 children, all of whom who have children & grandchildren - lots of 'em.  Every year they get the whole family together shortly before Christmas because everyone is doing their own thing on the actual day.

Our Sunday afternoon was at the party.  It's loud & chaotic, but I think that's the way family is supposed to be.

Every household is asked to bring a covered dish, a dessert item & drinks to share.  I planned on taking pot roast in the crockpot - but the roast wasn't  defrosted in the morning, even though it had been sitting out overtnight. FML.  As a last minute substitute, I made pasta with sausage & cheese instead.  It was yummy.

A few weeks ago another blogger shared a recipe for pummkin pie dip.  You essentially make the guts of the pie, & use ginger snaps or apple slices for dipping.  It was super easy to make, & turned out really well - but no one but BIL touched it.  I don't think anyone knew what it was honestly.  Sigh.

They have a raffle to raise money for the next big party, Easter.  We also played some games & a whole lot of bingo.  By the end of the party, DJ & I both had our fill of the togetherness - but all-in-all, it was a really fun day.

Meet me on Monday

Meet me on Monday is a weekly blog hop hosted by Java at Never Growing Old.  Just answer the questions & link up!



Questions:




1. What will your Christmas dinner consist of?

We're having a Christmas Eve lunch with the boyfriend's family.  I'm planning on chicken parm & spaghetti, salad, beer bread & who knows what else.  My family will have more traditional food (ham, turkey, etc), but we don't have a sit down meal.  We just have sandwiches, potato/macaroni salad & other finger foods.  And we never forget the Polish food!   It's nice, because extended family & friends come & go throughout the night, & every eats what they want when they want.

2. Do you watch commercials or flip through the channels?

I do a little of both.  Sometimes I'm too impatient to wait, & other times I just have to watch because the commercials are so funny.  Did anyone else see the Penelope Cruz commercial for Kahluah??  Love it!

3. How long will you leave your Christmas decorations up?

My family will be here on New Year's Day for pork & sauerkraut, so I'll keep them up until then.

4. What movie makes you cry every time you watch it?

Steel Magnolias.  No matter how many times I see it, it gets me everytime.  You would think I'd learn my lesson after a while.



The armadillo cake is one of the funnier points in the movie.  If you haven't seen it, you must!  Total chick flick, but I love it.

5. Do you have a Facebook?


Yes - & I'm an addict.