Turkey Day Recap

I hope everyone had a great turkey day as I know we did. Our friends made some really good food. I must say that I was impressed there was no canned cranberry mold sitting on the table. There was a green bean casserole though, and of course Andy had to offer me some green beans by following with “I know how much you like them.” He said this in regards to my previous post and he did this with a smirk on his face. Now anyone who knows Andy can definitely picture him doing this. They also had fabulous Yams. Yummy! Since I go to Turkey Day specifically for the stuffing I was very pleased to see they had three different kinds. I have never seen that one before. I was in stuffing heaven with three options to choose from. Of course that took up the majority of my plate. Following dinner we all filed out to the patio to watch football and drink some more wine. Apparently we went through 10 bottles of wine by the end of the night. It sounds like a lot, but it didn’t seem like a lot. We then went over to another friend’s house for some shits and giggles before we called it a day. Now, its black Friday and I will be doing my shopping online as I am not one to deal with all the crazy people out-and-about shopping today.

Two Days Until Turkey Day...

Or shall I say two days until my four day weekend? I have never been one for Thanksgiving, but I have always enjoyed my days off of work. At my firm we get Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after off, which then equals a really nice weekend. If it weren’t for it being the busiest travel time of the year then I think I would want to go somewhere for my extended weekend, but since I don’t feel like dealing with the crazy people at the airport we are just staying put. Andy’s dad and girlfriend are going to be in town for 24 hours and we are going to our friends, Tom and Karen’s, house for Thanksgiving dinner at 2pm. Why do they call it a dinner when it’s at 2pm? Mmmmm…never really got that one. I guess I have never been into the holiday because I don’t care that much for the food. Turkey is ok, but I am not a fan of mashed potatoes and I definitely hate green bean casserole that always seems to make it to the dinner table on Turkey Day. Just the look of it is awful. I do like the corn and the stuffing that is always served. I am a big fan of stuffing and so I guess I always go to Turkey Day looking forward to a big plateful of stuffing. Oh, the other horrible thing on the dinner menu is always a can of cranberries. That is also one I just don’t get. Why open a can of cranberries and plop it on a plate when it’s still in the shape of the can? Why not do something with it? Make it look like there was some effort put into the cranberries. So, I guess you can say I am not a fan of the canned cranberry mold that is typically found on the dinner table at Thanksgiving along with the nasty green bean casserole. So, needless to say Thanksgiving is not on my top choice of holidays like some people I know. My top choice of holidays are Halloween, Christmas and of course the birth of Jaimi!

Izzy Takes A Swim...Again

Today started out with Andy wanting to watch football outside so he took our flat screen off our bedroom wall and hooked it up outside so he could enjoy the fabulous AZ weather while drinking a beer. Our friend Tom also came over to watch football all day outside. I did go and check on them and I saw two men with their beers, each had a laptop so they could keep up on their fantasies while they were watching some game. However, Tom had his laptop plugged into the wall and this created a hazard around the pool with the dogs out there playing and wrestling. Izzy was chasing Madison around the pool, like she always does, and she tripped on Tom’s laptop cord, the laptop went flying toward the house and Izzy went flying into the pool. It was pretty funny to see. Izzy started paddling fast with her front paws to keep herself afloat, but the look on her face screamed that she was scared. Andy bent down and fished Izzy out of the cold pool…once again. Tom got his laptop and thank god it was still working after a quick reboot. Izzy was cold, wet and scared. I grabbed a towel from the closet and wrapped her up and held her until she fell asleep. Below is the picture of Izzy all wrapped up in the towel soaking wet. She laid in the chair all wrapped up like this for an hour.

Home Sweet Home...Again

I arrived back in AZ last night after my flight landed with a plane full of snow birds. I felt a little guilty like I was part of bringing the cause of our congested highways to Phoenix. I actually sat next to a snow bird and heard her story of her second home here and why her and her husband bought the second home. All I kept thinking was if she was on the highway at 5pm or not. After the plane landed I went to pick up the girls at the PetSmart hotel. They were so excited to see me that it was adorable. The hotel said the girls behaved themselves during their stay. However, Madison did chew up the pet bed they provide for each “hotel room.” I was not shocked as this is normal Madison behavior when she gets bored. I just thought that with Izzy in the same room as her she wouldn’t get bored and there would be no destructive behavior. Obviously that was not the case. Andy got home only a few hours after I did and the girls were just as excited to see him as they were to see me. Again, it was so cute that it was a Kodak moment! I did manage to bring home a cold with me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because I was out in 30 degree weather on Saturday for more than seven hours for the Badger game and the festivities. Andy does not have a cold at all…lucky guy! I must say it is good to be home, with our puppies and in the 80 something degree weather.

Go Badgers!!

Well, we went to the Wisconsin vs. Minnesota game yesterday and it was freezing. I think it was about 35 degrees yesterday. I did dress for the weather as I wore winter tights with jeans, four shirts and my awesome puffy North Face coat. I also had hand warmers in my shoes and gloves, and I was wearing one of those head bands as well. I must say that I was a trooper as I piled on the clothes to face the freezing cold and I managed to hang outside for about 7 hours before I complained. It was around the 7th hour that I was just done and sick of the cold weather. That is when we all walked to get some food and then onto an indoor bar so I could take off some layers and enjoy a WI bar in a sea of red. It was a good time. It’s always nice to come back to WI and hang out with friends…while you all freeze your butts off outside. I must say that only in the Midwest will you see thousands of people standing in 35 degree weather drinking, laughing and having a great time. Once we got to the game it wasn’t that cold because the stadium walls were blocking the wind. I might add that we did beat Minnesota and therefore we got to keep the rival ax. Andy is at the Packer vs. Bear game today freezing his butt off again. We will be heading back to a nice 80 something degrees tomorrow! YES!!!

Happy Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran’s Day and many people don’t even notice because they are so busy with work and family that they don’t even realize today is a holiday until they head out to their mailbox and find it’s empty. Another reason this day goes unnoticed among many is because this holiday is not recognized by many businesses. This holiday does not go unnoticed in our house because Andy is one of those rare “bankers” who get this holiday off of work; this holiday among the 50 holidays his employer recognizes. This is never fair because there is always some holiday that Andy gets off of work for, so instead of heading to work this morning he stayed in bed while I was up and getting ready for work. What’s worse is that he got to spend the day with the girls (our puppies) while I was super busy at work all day trying to get things done before I jet off to Wisco on Thursday. The only extra “holidays” I get off that Andy doesn’t is the Friday after Thanksgiving and the day after tax day, April 16th. This does not compare to Andy’s numerous extra holidays. It seems like he has one holiday every other week. Well, I did tell him that he should celebrate this day and head downtown to the Phoenix Veteran’s Day parade. He is not into parades so he did some errands and hung out at the house. Sounds like my kind of holiday!

All About Madison and Izzy

Yesterday Madison and Izzy had a vet appointment to get all their latest shots they need. We especially had to get this done before their stay at the Puppy Hotel next weekend. Before they get their shots they have to get weighed and Madison was the first to brave the scale and found out she is a solid 52 pounds while Izzy weighed in at 17 pounds. Izzy has gained 10 pounds since we brought her home a month ago. However, the vet thinks she is still pretty thin and we agree with her. First, she had a growth spurt recently and this could be the cause of her being thin. She has gotten pretty tall with her long legs…just like her daddy. Second, she plays so much that she forgets to eat. Her and Madison will play in the backyard for hours until they both pass out tired. So Izzy prefers to play over eat. We are now monitoring her eating better and make her take breaks from playing. Getting Izzy was the best idea ever! Her and Madison get along so well and they are just like little kids. They both want what the other has all the time and Izzy follows her big sister around everywhere. Izzy always wants to be around Madison; it is so cute! This morning Izzy experienced the pool as she fell into the frigid 60 degree pool. They were chasing each other around the pool (just like kids do) and of course Izzy slipped and fell in. Good thing Andy was out there to fish her out because he said she just started to sink instead of trying to swim. We expected this to happen one day because of how they run around the pool so fast and we didn’t get a chance to teach Izzy about the pool because by the time we brought her home the pool was pretty cold. This is one reason why we are always outside when Izzy is outside. The pool incident scared her. She didn’t stop shaking for a half an hour and I was there to baby her. I wrapped her in a towel and held her until she wasn’t scared. I wish I could have seen her when she fell in the pool because it was probably a funny sight to see. Below are pictures of the two of them. My favorite is of them sunning together each on their own lounge chair.

A friendly game of tug-o-war. Well, it looks like Madison is winning.

The two babies sunning themselves!

Below: A game of wrestle and it looks like Izzy pinned Madison.

Home Sick

I am home sick today, and actually I left work early yesterday because I felt just awful! I am feeling better today, but still sick. I am spending my day resting and pretty much bored. I am not a fan of being home sick, but then again who is? My stomach is upset, I am nauseous and my head hurts really bad. Kind of like a headache, but there is no headache. I wonder if it’s just filled with so much mucous and boogers and that is what’s causing the pain in my head. Yeah, I know that sounds hot doesn’t it? Andy worked from home today, but he didn’t tend to my sickly needs, but he actually worked. He is pretty good at this working at home thing. I on the other hand would not be so good at it. He worked all day long while I lay in bed or sat outside with the dogs while they played. I plan just to rest and relax all weekend since I need to make sure I am healthy for our trip back to Wisco next weekend. Go B adgers!

Pretty Good For Someone Who Is Directionally Challenged

Well, I am going to have to say I am pretty proud of myself for finding my way around the Phoenix area on Saturday without getting lost. I picked up my girlfriend from the airport (who by the way was in town for only 24 hours to attend a wedding, but that is another story) and then headed to Tempe Marketplace. After that I managed to take her to the wedding she needed to go to in Ahwatukee. I then proceeded to a Best Buy before heading home. I did all of this without getting lost or calling Andy for directions. Hey, this is pretty good for me since I am directionally challenged and my journey took me all over the Phoenix metro area. I was so proud of myself when I got home. Before I left the house I warned Andy that I might have to call him for directions to get around the city so be prepared for a phone call. Of course he wasn’t surprised because it surely was not the first, nor the 50th, time I have left the house and had to call for directions because I got lost. He just responded with “Pay attention.” I laughed and was on my marry, but nervous way. I did call later to ask him if he had found the batter charger for our camera, but he answered the phone with “Where are you?” expecting me to be lost and asking for directions, but instead I just wanted to know if he found the battery charger or not. I would have to say I did pretty well this past Saturday for someone who is directionally challenged.

Halloween Outcome

Ok, so yes, yesterday was a little rough so that is why I did not post pictures of the Halloween party like I said I would. We did have a lot of fun and therefore I have been delayed on posting about the party…I was out of commission yesterday. Andy and I went as Madonna and Alex Rodriguez. Some people figured it out, but others had no idea. I dressed up as the Like A Virgin Madonna from the 1980’s so some people thought I was just a bride while Andy was a Yankee’s player. I was like “Come on people, don’t you read your US Weekly?” Once I explained it people got it, but it’s not as funny when you have to explain things. We did see some great costumes though. There was a guy who dressed up as a golden parachute…now that was clever. There was another guy who dressed up as the guy on the DVD cover of Office Space. You know the guy wearing a million post-it’s…yeah that was funny. There was another guy who dressed up as Picasso’s Blue Period. He had a blue shirt on with blue tampons glued all over his shirt and Picasso’s signature on the shirt. I thought that was pretty creative. Anyway, we had a great time and here is a link to our pictures on Snapfish. Enjoy!

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=33331225754149341/l=438499064/g=36312535/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Fabulous Halloween

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween yesterday because it is the best holiday of the year! Well, we initially had plans to go out in Old Town Scottsdale last night with some friends, but we did not have our costumes ready for the big party tonight so we did not have costumes for the block party last night. We spent our night finishing up our costumes for the party tonight. If I wasn’t in Boston last weekend we would have been prepared and would have been able to go out last night, but I guess we don’t need two nights of boozing for Halloween. I guess one night is plenty. Andy did get me a Halloween card and a big bag of candy. I could do without the fattening candy, but he did get my favorite candy, Twix. What a thoughtful guy! We are going to the party as Madonna and A-Rod. Andy is pretty happy that he didn’t have much to do for his costume; however, he thinks he looks like a douche in his baseball pants. I think he looks pretty cute! I on the other hand have the big task of getting my mop top into a blonde wig. It’s a task every year. I also have a mock wedding dress with an actual veil…which should make mom proud. Anyway, I have to start prepping for 10 pounds of 80’s makeup and hiding 20 pounds of hair in a small space. Will post pics tomorrow.