The ShugaBowl: December 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

Easily Satisfied

Half a day at work today! Hooray! That makes me happy. Now I just need a Starbucks peppermint mocha latte and a new hat for complete bliss. :-)

posted by cori 12/31/2007 11:46:00 AM 2 comments

2 Comments:

At 12/31/2007 2:12 PM, Binks said…

Got to love half-days. I enjoy them myself when I can get them.

`Jon B
At 1/03/2008 7:49 PM, Anonymous said…

Don't forget to go to my blog and get that award!
((hugs)
mom

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Friday, December 28, 2007

Can you believe it? I was actually out shopping on Christmas Eve! Rather glad too that I was, because I ran into an old friend that I used to work with at the Hallmark store. I hadn't seen her in about two years. I was so glad to say hi and exchange general news. She looked great. I think I will see about getting together with her soon. I miss talking to her.

So anyway, the thing was, Dad didn't get to pick up all the things he wanted to get for Christmas presents, so we went as quickly as possible to the store to get them. This is a record. Never in my memory was there a year that he waited to the very last day before to buy his gifts for Christmas. However, I will grant him allowance. His shopping was interrupted Saturday when he went. He had to be back in time to receive the Slack family after all.

So my Christmas Eve was not really normal. We watched a movie. I played a little KOTR. We had seafood. The kids opened a gift or two. And we stayed up putting presents under the tree. Or rather, I brought presents down along with everyone else, and James put them under the tree while we watched Just My Luck starring Lindsay Lohan and the ever adorable Chris Pine. *sighs at the thought of those blue eyes*

Then came Christmas. What can you say about Christmas morning that other people have not already said? I mean, we've all been through it. The little kids tear into their stuff. The older kids hold off for a while to enjoy the day all the longer. The little kids get cranky at around ten o'clock. The older kids get hungry at about the same time. And then, inevitably, somebody is sick. This year I was sick. Got that 24-hour bug that was going around.

It made Christmas afternoon into a blur. I don't remember it because I was asleep half the time and half-asleep the rest of the time. But I was feeling okay the next day, just in time to go to work, where two coworkers had the same thing. :-P Not fun.

However, I was looking forward to the evening when I would not only not have dishes and not have to cook, but our family had been invited to the Bostons' for dinner. That was great fun. We met their oldest son, Jon, for the first time. We all sat around the table for a while after a dinner of turkey stuffing casserole (which, btw, was very tasty) and dessert of strawberry cheesecake and pumpkin pie. Then we split up. You know, that generational split that happens when families invite families over? The moms go on a tour of the house. The dads head for the basement to play darts or pool or whatever. And the "kids" sit around talking until nearly midnight. We did a little music first, but then the conversation took over and we sat cross-legged on whatever furniture was close by to face the others and be included in the chit-chat. :-)

That was fun. Gotta do that again sometime.

posted by cori 12/28/2007 07:30:00 PM 0 comments

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Monday, December 24, 2007

Can you say "over-exertion"?

Could somebody please stop this merry-go-round so I can get off??

I cannot wait for the new year so that life will slow down enough for me to catch my breath. It's been just one thing after another for like months now. And I haven't blogged for real in ages and ages.

So should I go ahead and bore you with details of my life over the past year?

No forget it. It would take too long. Let's just pick up with recent stuff okay?

Most of my life lately has been comprised of prepping for the Christmas holiday. I had my shopping done way back in November, so that wasn't even an issue. (Thank goodness. I never would've made it if it had been.) The whole month has been one thing after another. A housewarming party on the first, Jbear's birthday the second, work work work work work, and a party that Friday night at Lucia's.

It’s a dress. Whaddya want?

Lucia’s is the coolest restaurant. I spent a lot of effort to procure a particular dress for the evening. I’ve not been to a restaurant this upscale before, no, not even Adelphia’s. So here is the dress at the right. (Duh. I know. You totally didn’t need to be told that.) I adore it. Got it from Target.com from their Isaac Mizrahi collection. The shoes are my absolute favorite!!! And it was the first time I had ever worn chopsticks in my hair. James was my date and we sat with Manda and Derek. We had fun being silly and making everyone else think that the daquiris we’d ordered were just what they appeared and not what they were in reality, non-alcoholic. The most fun thing we did was challenge each other to come up with original toasts. Original was the key. And there were some crazy ones. Mine was very clever and witty, but apparently very forgettable as I cannot remember it now to save my life. Just take my word for it. :-)

Choir practice took up the better part of Sundays and Saturdays. Since it takes a good 35-40 minutes to go one way to the church, we have to block out a larger amount of time than the other choir members. Sad to say, we were not always on time. But since Pastor used the first ten minutes to teach theory, and he didn’t want James or I to answer questions because, having studied music theory, we already knew all the answers, we didn’t miss much. I got to know the choir members pretty well. Spending two to three hours once a week for four months with a small set of people, that’s to be expected. I learned a lot about the lives of people I used to nod hello to on Sunday morning. Our organist, Mrs. Dye, for instance, has a much more hectic and strenuous daily routine than I would ever have thought a woman like herself likely to support.

After practice on the eighth, we met Mom and Dad at the Appel Theatre in Elmer to see A Christmas Carol. I can’t say much for the building itself. It is rather rundown and little more than bleachers and a stage. But the performance more than made up for the uncomfortable seating. What acting! What voices! Wow. I am so totally getting tickets again next year. It was fabulous!! The character of Scrooge was played by a young man of about thirty that delivered a wonderfully convincing, captivating portrayal that drew me in so willingly! There were not above five other actors, who all played several roles. The songs were lively, funny and memorable. It was altogether worth any inconvenience of schedule juggling. :-)

That weekend, of course, included church service the next day, choir practice that afternoon, and a children’s program that evening that was charming in the extreme. Little kids always make these things humorous. What more can be said?

Jbear and I went to the mall next night with Danielle and Derek Davis. We had lots of fun shopping for ourselves and others. Derek tried vainly to convince me that the grey cardigan sweater from GAP was cool, simply because he said so. I tried vainly to convince him that the brown boots from Naturalizer were adorable simply because I said so. (They were adorable, but they wouldn’t go with anything. They were just adorable by themselves.) Danny got her little sis a Cowboys jersey from the sports store. Derek got himself the other sweater (not the cardigan) and I found a beautiful Starbucks-green button-up on sale at Express.

Work, work, work, work, more choir practice, and the adults’ Christmas program came around that Sunday. Derek and Manda came to see us, but they couldn’t stay long. (It was Manda’s birthday, so they had guests which they had left at home to come hear the singing.) Two sick days off from work, finally getting my room cleaned (which did no good because it’s a mess again now), work, work, and more work brought us up to Saturday.

Ever since I was twelve I think we’ve had a year-end party with the Slack family. We try to work around David’s schedule since he’s the only one living out-of-state. Since he came home for Christmas this year, we were able to have them all down on the 22nd for dinner, snacks and a game of Apples to Apples. It’s always fun with more people, but with two two-year-olds and two one-year-olds, it was a little more difficult. Since we all crammed into the family room with limited couch space and dining room chairs filling in the gaps between, several conversations went on amongst those sitting next to each other. I sat near David and my mom, so I was definitely in a good spot. We laughed all night. David is too funny. He remembered us dressing him up as a girl when we were little. And he was telling us about his job as an electrician in western PA. Emily and Christian took their kids home around ten, but the rest of the family stayed until 11:30. I think Mrs. Slack is not as nocturnal as her children. She kept telling them they had to go and they kept visiting. Well, we only see them once in a while. What can I say?

The next day I was so tired! I was sure I would fall asleep in service. :-) Daniel is home from college after a week of mid-term finals. I brought him a book by Michael Card filled with some really awesome songs. I’m so glad we share a love of music. We are supposed to have the special for church service the first weekend in January. We’re starting to sound very well together. He’s playing and I’m singing Mary, Did You Know?. A little late for Christmas, but never inappropriate. And always an incredible song. Just hope I hit those high notes.

posted by cori 12/24/2007 12:56:00 AM 0 comments

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