Exhausted From Firm Holiday Party

Last night we attended my firm holiday party which I am glad it is over with because that is an annual event in which marketing is in charge of and heavily involved in. I spent most of last week revolving everything I did at work around the holiday party. It was crazy and stressful. It turned out great though and everyone seemed to have a great time, so that is the best part for me to see everyone enjoy themselves at a party that I put a lot of hard work and thought into. I had the party at the Venue of Scottsdale which is decked out like Bourbon Street in New Orleans so we had a Mardi Gras themed party with a casino event. I had the employees gambling for chips in which they could trade in for raffle tickets at the end of the night where they put their raffle ticket in a bucket for a prize of their choice. I had 30 prizes with some examples being a Wii bundle, a Kindle, a $500 airline gift card, a Sony Blue-Ray DVD player, etc. There were some pretty nice prizes and it was fun to select the items and shop for them, but the best part was to see the winners get excited that they won. Andy and I were trying to win the airline gift card, but we did not win anything. Oh well! It was the best turn out the firm ever had so I am pretty excited about that too. We didn’t get home and in bed until 3am. We are not used to being out that late anymore because we are old now, so we have both been exhausted today and just lounging around the house. I am exhausted, but happy the event is over with for another year, but now it’s time to start finding a location for next year that will top this year’s location.

Christmas Came Early for Captain

Christmas presents have begun to arrive at the house today. Andy and I received matching luggage from my parents while Captain received two large boxes as well. I don’t think my parents realized when sending the luggage that they were giving more than just luggage…they gave a crazy cat an amazing present made of cardboard. As many know Captain is very playful and definitely not your ordinary cat. He has always been different in a way that he liked to play in the shower when he was younger, he plays fetch with the ball and he loves attention and pets from all people. He has always reminded us of a dog. Anyway, we would have thought Captain would have become mild mannered by now since he is 4.5 years old, but tonight (and every other night) he proved to us that he is still a very playful kitten. He has spent much time playing in this large box batting his ball in and out and crazily jumping in and out of the box like a jumping bean. I wish I had video of this behavior to post so you can see his true personality, but I did take a couple cute pictures of him in the box while he was resting in between his crazy moments of jumping in-and-out and then up-and-down. I hope he doesn’t become mild mannered, like other cats, for a very long time as he is very entertaining. So, Merry Christmas to Captain has he enjoys his box from his grandma and grandpa.

Lazy Four Day Weekend

Well, the four day weekend was very nice and it makes me think that I need this kind of rest and relaxation every weekend before going back to work. If not four days, then at least three. We didn’t do much this weekend, but we did manage to see the movie Four Christmases and take the dogs for a couple walks to get some more exercise. It was Izzy’s first walk and she didn’t know exactly what to do. It was super cute. She just followed Madison and did whatever Madison did. She wouldn’t walk ahead of Madison, but only stayed behind and followed her. If she did get ahead of Madison then she stopped and waited. That Izzy does whatever Madison does and follows that dog everywhere. It is so cute to watch. I also managed to get a little Xmas shopping done too, but online of course. Yesterday, I realized that instead of lounging all weekend, we should have painted the retaining wall in our backyard or repainted our living room like we have wanted to do, but nope, instead we were lazy. It was great! I also managed to start the third book in the Twilight series. That series of books is so addicting. I wouldn’t advise starting the books unless you are prepared to become addicted to them. So, it was an enjoyable weekend and the retaining wall and living room, and all the other house projects will have to wait for another weekend.

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.