FIRST ADULT CHRISTMAS

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Jenn

I don’t care what you say – I wasn’t an adult until this Christmas. Ok, so I’ve lived away from my parents’ home for 10 years now. I have held several adult jobs. I have paid taxes. I have a cat and a dog of my own. Heck, I even have a husband. But, being away from your mommy and daddy on Christmas is a sure sign that you are an adult. Yuck.

But we made it on our own, and we had a great time. We got a little sad and nostalgic, but we were also excited about having our first Christmas as an official family. On Christmas Eve we got the house all clean and ready for relaxing. Ryan had to teach a brief lesson, but other than that it was two wonderful days of relaxing. We slept late. We opened presents. We watched the Nightmare Before Christmas. I made peanut butter balls and gingerbread cookies. We cooked a ham and the fixings. We had Jackie, Chris and Sayun over for dinner. Jackie and Chris even stopped by!

We are very thankful for all of the beautiful cards we received. It’s so nice to look at all of them and think about the people you care about and miss. And thank you friends and family for the wonderful gifts. You shouldn’t have! But we really really enjoyed having fun surprises Christmas morning! Izzie even got a fancy new toy from her Grandma & Grandpa.

It feels like Christmas came so quickly, and was gone just like that. I went back to work(s) today. At least I got to take Izzie to the office to play with Max and Coby! Also, I got lots of great visitors at work tonight to help pass the time – thanks Jenna, Stefania and Sarah!

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CHRISTMAS EVE

Posted on December 25, 2008 by Jenn

Well, technically it’s Christmas because it’s past midnight. Had a great day today. So nice to have a day off all day with my husband. We cleaned the house this morning. So nice to clean together, makes it go a lot faster, and it’s much more enjoyable when it feels like teamwork. Got the grocery shopping done for Christmas dinner. I made the dough for gingerbread cookies and rolled the heck out of some peanut butter balls. Baking and chocolate dipping will happen tomorrow, or today technically. Since I started my second job, I’ve been staying up a lot later. We enjoyed leftover pulled pork sandwiches and cheesecake today (from office potluck). We each opened our Haines Family Secret Santa present. Ryan got a Starbucks gift card and an awesome Gator sweatshirt from Uncle Roger and I got a great bag and a beautiful knit hat from our new cousin Kristen. It made me really wish we’d gotten Rick and Amy’s presents in the mail on time for Christmas.

I’m including a picture of our Christmas tree and of my new decorative wire Christmas card holder. It’s shaped like a Christmas tree and is a neat way to display cards. Of course, I got it on sale after the holiday last year at Pier One.

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WASHINGTON DC

Posted on December 24, 2008 by Jenn

This past weekend, Ryan and I met up with his mother’s side of the family in Washington DC for the service of his Grandmother, Virginia Lewis. She was buried at Arlington National Cemetary with her husband, who was in the Navy. While it was a very sad reason to be there, we were really glad to see his family just before the holiday. We took the train from Hartford on Thursday afternoon. The service was Friday at 3pm and was simple and beautiful. Afterwards, we visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and saw the changing of the guards. It was a beautiful, rainy, December day.

Also, on our trip, we visited the White House, which was about 10 blocks from our hotel. You can barely see the White House behind Ryan is this picture.

We had a great time playing with our neices, Isabella and Peyton. The Florida girls were pretty chilly in DC, but they managed to stay warm with all their winter gear.

We also saw the Washington Monument, from afar.

This picture was Ryan’s idea.

It was great to be with family so close to the Holiday.

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TWAS GETTING CLOSE

Posted on December 17, 2008 by Jenn
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.


Oh how I wish I was settling in for a long winter’s nap. I’ve always loved the visual and the feeling I get when reading this. It makes me feel so content, cuddly and warm. I can appreciate it so much more now that I live up north in the cold weather. Now that I think about it, how could I have even imagined that feeling living in Florida?

I do feel like I am settling into Christmas this year though. More than I thought I would. We have presents under the tree. Not much, but they are there. We’ve been hoarding small presents from friends and family sent in the mail, and putting them under the tree to save until Christmas morning. I’ve gotten Ryan a few things, a couple fun, and a couple of things he just needs. Sarah and her parents had me over to make cookies on Monday night. Was so nice to be with a family, even if it wasn’t mine. It was so sweet of them to have me over. Ryan and Izzie joined us later, and then we were off to watch the last Heros of the year with Ryan and Jen. We got the tour of their new bar and gigantic bean bag chair, and enjoyed their Christmas Tree and decorations.

I’ve been working a lot – from 8am – 11pm yesterday, and have been feeling really exhausted and irritable. I imagine I’ll be working a lot in the next 2 weeks, but plan to slow down after the new year by eliminating week night shifts. I’m glad to be heading away to be with Ryan’s family before Christmas. We’re looking forward to Christmas dinner at our house, and possibly a midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

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MEET LIBBY

Posted on December 14, 2008 by Jenn

Not too much going on this weekend. I worked 3 shifts, Fri, Sat, Sun. I planned to bake Christmas cookies, but didn’t. The main event of the weekend was watching Izzie’s dog mom, Libby. They had a grand time together wrestling and cuddling. And we had a grand time watching them (and taking pictures and video).

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THANK YOU CRAIGSLIST

Posted on December 12, 2008 by Jenn

I love love love Book Club. I have a renewed interest in it tonight though. It’s been slow the past couple of months, with not great turnout (including myself last month!). But, tonight felt like a reunion. Two people who were on “leave” returned, and vowed to make it when they can. We enjoyed good food, good friends, good wine. We stayed after 9pm. We had a new person, who was wonderful and we are excited about another new person in January. It was wonderful.

I won’t be going to Florida, or seeing my parents at all for the holidays this year. And as Christmas gets closer, that’s starting to feel more real. I am grateful for my friends, who have become my family up here. Thanks to my book club friends, and to all my friends, who do so much for me. It’s nice to know you’re loved for who you are. It’s just a really nice feeling.

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AN OPEN LETTER TO IZZIE’S FORMER OWNERS

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Jenn

We had the chance to take Izzie, or one of her brothers or sisters home as a puppy. We really considered it. With a wedding and a 10 day honeymoon coming up, we thought we’d better not. And we couldn’t be sure we were even ready for a dog, let alone a puppy! After seeing them in the basement that day in their pen, I really, really wanted one. But it wasn’t the right time. So all the puppies went out to their new homes, and none of them went to our house. I am not sure what happened after that, but I just wanted to thank you so much for changing your mind. I am not sure why you did, but I am so glad you did. Maybe you had kids that wanted to cuddle with her when she wanted to play. Maybe you lived in a condo and didn’t have the yard to entertain her. Maybe she was just a puppy and it was too much. Maybe she gummed your socks like she does to mine when I leave them on the floor. Maybe she wanted to play with your cat too much. Maybe you didn’t have time. Maybe she was more expensive than you expected. Maybe her bad breath was just too much for you. Whatever it was that changed your mind, it doesn’t matter to me, I am just so glad you did. I hope one day whatever it was that made you want to give her back doesn’t bother you anymore, or you find the perfect dog for you. I hope someday you can enjoy life with a dog as great as Izzie.

And a special note to Izzie’s Dog Mom’s Human Mommy, Daddy & Family,
Thank you so much for holding onto her for us. It took me what feels like months to decide, but you held on to her after she was returned, convinced I would come around. You offered a free dog with a mortgage refinance. I had a lot going on, with planning a wedding 1,000 miles away from my home and then being gone for 2 weeks. You offered a free dog as a wedding present. Even when other people showed interest, you told them you’d have to wait to see what we decided. Thank you so much for bringing Izzie into our lives. She brings us joy everyday. She brings us closer to each other and makes us feel even more like a family. I can only imagine that having a baby is like having a dog, ten-fold (or maybe like having a misbehaving puppy)!

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NYC / SNL

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Jenn

I had a great 24 hours in NYC! After working 1st job and 2nd job on Friday night, I packed for NYC. Jen & I left about 9:30am on Saturday, and were back home by noon on Sunday – a quick trip! We had brunch ($12 each for brunch and 2 mimosas – or 3 in Jen’s case!) with Sharon & Sarmad. After that, we headed into Manhattan from Queens to do some shopping in SoHo.

We went to see Times Square and the free Charmin bathrooms. This was a riot. Anyone who knows me, knows that this was a highlight of my trip to Times Square. I have to pee a lot and these bathrooms are cleaned after each use! This place was hilarious – there was a Charman Music Video playing on TVs everywhere. There were people who’s job it was to teach you the charmin dance, should you desire to learn it – we did not. There was even an MC of the bathroom area, who had a microphone and would ask people there names and make bathroom/poop jokes. Pretty silly!

We also saw the tree and ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center. In about a 10 minute span, we saw two people get engaged on the ice skating rink! We had a great dinner with a few of the rink, did some shopping in the NBC store, and then headed for the line for Saturday Night Live. We met some nice people in the line, and after making friends for a while, headed in to see the show. The host was John Malkovich and the musical guest was T.I. The show was great! After trying to ride the N train to Queens, but finding it was under construction for the night, we found an alternate route and made it back to Sharon’s by about 2:30am. We crashed, and then headed back to CT this morning. I’ve been lounging all day, and it’s been great. Really fun weekend! I love going to cities, I love riding public transportation.

Overnight it snowed. Not much stuck in NYC, but as we got back into CT, it was really pretty. Not much left on the ground at my house, but enough to make my doggy happy.

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THANKSGIVING 2008

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Jenn

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving this year were quite a whirlwind. First hours were reduced at work, I got a second job at a clothing store, layoffs shook up things at work even more and then Thanksgiving snuck right up on me. I did the grocery shopping ahead of time, but because I had to work Tuesday and Wednesday nights before Thanksgiving, Ryan and the crew (Gretchen, Graham and Jack) did most of the prep cooking. I stressed a bunch that things wouldn’t be just right. I was upset when the table wasn’t even set up as guests started to arrive at our house. But, eventually, actually more quickly than I had thought, and thanks to a therapy session from Gretchen, I got over it. I was just really happy that Gretchen and Graham could join us from New Hampshire and Jack could come from Georgia!

Gretchen, Graham, Jackie and I (along with Jen V, Jen B, Cathy & Mandy) participated in the 72nd annual Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving morning. It’s a 5 mile course with a one mile hill very close to the beginning. I walked a lot, but survived. I was so exhausted from working 14 hour days leading up to Thanksgiving, that I considered not getting out of bed Thursday morning, but I am so glad I did. I usually walk some of it and end up separated from my friends. I usually meet new people, but this year it was really nice to stay with Gretchen the whole time. Unfortunately, we didn’t take any pictures.

Dinner on Thursday was great. We had 11 people total, which is about half of what we normally had, but this was a good year to scale back. Although, we still made just as much food – I do love leftovers! We ate, we walked the dogs to the park, we ate some more, I went to bed while a few guests were still there. I worked 2 shifts that weekend, Friday and Sunday, but other than that, I did a lot of relaxing and knitting. Oh and shopping. I got 2 new coats, a new hat and some clothes with my 50% discount!

It was a really great time off from work to just relax and not think too hard about life.
But now I am back to the grind. My day job has gone back up to regular hours, but since I made a commitment to my 2nd job, I am going to keep working 15 hours a week through the holiday season. I’ve almost finished the Christmas cards and the fake tree is already up. It’s going to be a busy few weeks. I’ve got a trip to NYC with Jen V planned (SNL!!!) and a weekend in DC with Ryan’s family for Grandmother Virginia’s service at Arlington.

Izzie really enjoyed the new bed that G & G bought for Banjo & Happy.
The dogs were really into watching Ryan cut the Turkey . . .

They wouldn’t leave him alone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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DON’T TELL JASPER

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Jenn
I think I’ve been doing a decent job at being positive. I wouldn’t say a good job, but a decent job. I’ve still been projecting my feelings in the wrong direction a lot, instead of just dealing with them internally, and getting over it and moving on. I got myself a little down before leaving work today, and then stayed another hour and a half late, hoping getting some work done would make me feel better about work. News Flash: It just made me more upset. At the situation. At my self. At external things that don’t affect me.
So . . . I kept in mind what Sarah said at work today, that dogs are like therapy for people. They really are. After this I felt a lot better . . .

Although I got a big scratch on my neck. Oh well, it was worth it. Immediately, I felt better. Then I opened the mail and my custom Christmas cards had arrived! And I searched in the cupboard for something for dinner, and came up with a fabulous mix for some Potato-Corn Chowder (currently simmering)! And I read Caitlin’s blog, and I missed home, but felt content and happy that home is also here. I’m planning a nice relaxing, quiet evening of reading and eating. And then curling up in my nice clean flannel sheets.
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