Ski Trip

Monday morning Dan & I got up early & drove up to Seven Springs for the day. We had actually wanted to stay the night but everything was booked when we tried to schedule online. Driving up for the day is not bad at all because the lift tickets they have let you ski until 7 p.m. so you're basically there the entire day. Dan & I arrived around 10:00 a.m. & bought our tickets, rented our boots, skis & poles & headed out to the lift. For a Monday there were a good bit of people there. I gave him a quick lesson on snow plowing & using his poles before we went on the lift. We got in line to get on the lift & he did very well; didn't fall like most people do the first time trying to get on. We made it up the mountain & went down the "Children's Skill Hill" first to make sure he could get the hang the of things. The first time down he was basically a kamakaazee. His poles were stretched out to his sides, he went straight down without snow plowing & almost hit one of the kids in the Tiny Tots Ski Lesson group. Going back up the ski lift for the second time I told him we were going to practice turning, stopping & snow plowing. We went down the "Skill Hill" again just to make sure he could control himself this time & he did a lot better. No one was almost killed that time. We decided to go down a circle slope which is the easiest of all the slopes they have there. He got better every time he went down; I was very impressed. There were a couple times when I would say "great job babe!" & he would lose his concentration & almost fall but that was only because I was talking to him & distracted him. Around 12:30 p.m. we decided to go into the lobby for some lunch so I told Dan to follow me to the lodge. We took a side exit which was a lot smaller than what he was use to stopping in. When I stopped to take my skiis off I noticed Dan was not right behind me; I looked back & he was lying on the ground with his left ski off & he looked like he was in pain. There was a little kid that was handing him his ski so I went over there & asked him what happened. He said a kid on a snowboard stopped right in front of him & he tried to hurry up & ski around him so he wouldn't hit him but his skiis crossed & he fell on his left side, hitting his head & his shoulder on the ground. The left side of his head was slightly swollen & he couldn't raise his left arm over his head. We took his skiis off & went into the lobby so I could have a ski patrolman paged. They came to check him out & told him that they needed to take him to their headquarters to be examined. They ended up putting a neck brace on him & had him lie on a gurney so he wouldn't walk to the vehicle. It was a little scary the way they were wrapping him up but the EMT assured me that it was only for precautions. We spent the rest of our afternoon at the Ski Patrol headquarters having Dan ice his shoulder & them checking his vitals to make sure he didn't have a concussion. They released him around 3:00 p.m. & we made our way back to my parents house. The day was going well & Dan was doing so great until the snowboarder messed everything up. Dan said on the way home, "if I ever see that kid again I'm going to kill him". I would say I have to agree. I'm hoping he feels a little better today than he did yesterday but I'm pretty sure he's going to be worse; that soreness is going to kick in.
At the end of the day Dan did say we would go back because he did have fun up until the incident. All I have to say is watch out for the snowboarders when you're out skiing, they stop in the middle of the trail & sit down which means you have to ski around them & they fly past you almost like they're going to run into you. I've been skiing since I was 5 & every time I go I have problems with snowboarders. They can suck the fun out of skiing for you.

Family Game Night

Last night after Christmas dinner, we all crowded around the TV to play the DVD game Scene It? which Ben started collecting several years ago but we've never actually got around to playing it. We're more of a Scrabble, Monopoly, Cranium, Taboo type of family. Since we didn't have an even number to separate into teams, Mom & Ben played against Dad, Dan & I. The first round we played the Scene It? TV Edition which Ben is an expert at because no one watches more TV than he does. Him & Mom were leading the entire game until right at the end when the 3 of us caught up & beat 'em. Needless to say Ben wasn't too happy; he is very competitive. Since that game was so much fun we decided to pop in the Scene It? Movie Edition. We used the same teams & the 3 champs won again. We may have another round one of these nights coming up but my favorite game to play with the family is Cranium. I have never laughed so hard while playing that game. Dan has never been much of a game player but after marrying into my family he's gotta get use to it at some point. I think he's gotten better over the years; now he just takes it as it comes. There is some moaning when we all say, "lets play a game!" but for the most part he's a team player once we get started.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas & had as much fun as we did. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Christmas Break - Jump For Joy!

Today is my last day of work & then I am officially on vacation! I am so excited. Now I know how the high school kids feel when they get a week off for Christmas break. I am taking my vacation now because I did not get to take a vacation during the summer; I'm kind of excited that I held off because now I get to enjoy the holidays with my family. As I have said in previous posts, I planned my vacation for the same week that Dan has off of school. Now since we got that huge snow storm, Dan has been off this entire week so he actually gets 2 weeks off for Christmas break. I refuse to be bummed about his long break because at least I am getting a week off. Yes, he did try to rub it in that he did not have to work this week but I am being positive & will not get sucked into a pity party. You're probably wondering how I have time to post this on our blog considering I am leaving tomorrow but I told myself that I needed a break from my long list of to dos & since my boss went out to get some lunch I am seizing the opportunity to have some me time. I have already planned on being here after closing time in case I don't get all of my work done. Like I said, I am staying positive.
While we are up in PA for the holidays, Dan & I have plans to go skiing, visit old friends & spend time with my family. I am soo excited to go skiing. This will be Dan's first time down the slopes so it should be pretty hilarious. He has already said that he will be an excellent skiier & will have no problems because he's got "great hips". We shall see Lover, we shall see. :o)
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. Enjoy the time you spend with your family because I know I will.

Thankful For Neighbors

Dan & I woke up this morning to a TON of snow. Even though Dan's school got cancelled for tomorrow, I have to go into the office or my boss will absolutely kill me. So Dan went out to shovel out our cars & found that several of our neighbors were out helping others. We were so thankful for this because if it was just the two of us working to dig out the cars, it would have taken us forever. Having a team of 7 people with snow shovels really gets the job done. At first I came out with Lexi because she had a little cabin fever & I was just standing around watching everyone; eventually I felt bad so I put Lexi inside & then went back out to help. It was a good work out shoveling all of that snow, I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Dan will probably have to end up taking me to work in the morning even though I can get my car out of my parking spot because the main road was terrible when Dan & I walked around to check things out. I'm not sure how the roads will be tomorrow but I'd rather rely on Dan's F-150 with 4 wheel drive than my Matrix.
Thank you to all of our wonderful neighbors that helped us out today. We are so grateful for your help.

Snow Storm

This morning we woke up to several inches of snow & it is still falling. The news says we're suppose to receive 10 - 12 inches before the storm passes. I'm a little bummed that we can't go out & finish the rest of our Christmas shopping today, I was really looking forward to it. I guess we'll have to wait & see if we'll be able to get out tomorrow. Dan actually did go out this morning to make a trip to Wegman's & he said the roads are terrible; its a good thing he has his truck. On the way back home he stopped & helped a few police officers that were assisting others that got stuck in the snow. As they were pushing a girl up a small hill that was driving an Eclipse Dan said the police officer said, "idiots". I agree. You can't drive a sports car in weather like this, what are people thinking?
Dan & I tried to take Lexi potty this morning & she refused to go out into the several inches of snow so Dan had to clear her a little spot in the yard for her to go. Spoiled rotten! She's not the type of dog that likes to run around & play in the snow. Now you know why we call her Miss Priss. :o) Below is a photo of our back yard where the snow has completely covered the bottom of our fence. If Miss Priss went out there I think she would be completely covered. Today we plan on getting caught up on our cleaning and baking for our gift baskets. I might even wrap some Christmas presents because there is no way I'll have time next week after work. Dan & I are leaving on Christmas Eve to drive up to my parents house & I am so excited. Dan is out of school the week of the 28th so I coordinated my vacation so we would have the same week off. We plan on going skiing while up in PA & visiting our friends from college. Of course I am most excited to spend time with my family. Christmas time is always a fun time at my parents house. We do a lot of family activities together. We're that nerdy family that plays board games together, bakes cookies, watches movies together & listen to Christmas music. I absolutely love my family. :o)

Sound Machine Happiness

I love waking up after a good nights sleep but towards the end of November I started having problems sleeping in complete silence. I would hear every little noise outside & I wouldn't be able to fall asleep. I use to have complete silence for me to fall asleep & now things have changed. I still cannot fall asleep with the TV on but Dan on the other hand has to have the TV on when he's falling asleep. So usually what happens is he watches TV down in his "man room" until he falls asleep & then he gets up & comes to bed. A few months ago when I went over to my neighbors Laura & Evan's she showed me the sound machine that her & Evan use; they also have sound machines in their daughter's room & their son's room. I thought this was a good idea since they take naps during the day & can drown out all of the noise that's going on during the day. I didn't think I would be able to sleep with one...until now. When I started having problems sleeping, I thought about buying one until Dan told me that the alarm clock that he used in college had a sound machine on it & I should try & use that one. Great idea Hubby! So I set it up in our bedroom & the alarm has 3 options for the sound machine: (1) birds; this sounds like thousands of birds chirping together at the same time & actually made me cringe when I heard it so that was out. (2) bubbling brook; this had the sound of trickling water & frogs. The frogs were enormously loud no matter what volume level I set it on so that was out too. (3) ocean; this was my pick. The sound of the waves & the seagulls was completely calming to me & now I have been using the sound machine ever since. The first couple of nights Lexi would bark & get off the bed to check & see what was going on but now she's gotten use to it. Dan has been having problems with the seagulls & can't sleep because he feels like they are "right in his ear". Hopefully he'll be able to get use to it because I don't think I can sleep without it now. I wonder what I'm going to do when we go to my parents house for Christmas? I may have to take it with me.

Sweet Dreams everyone. :o)

Secret Santa Gifts

This year Dan's history department decided to start a Secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas. They are doing it a bit differently though because they are having each person buy 1 gift a week for their person until Christmas. Obviously these gifts are not expensive because one person found 2 packets of instant cocoa in their mailbox the day of the Secret Santa exchange. Now that is a pretty cheap gift wouldn't you agree? This past week Dan found a book in his mailbox from his Secret Santa & he brought it home for me to see. I thought this was hilarious. I had never heard of this book but Dan & I read it on Friday night & we couldn't stop laughing. This is a great gag gift if anyone is looking for one. I even told Dan that we should buy one for my brother because he would think it was hilarious. The only other "poo" book that I know of is the childrens book "Everyone Poops". The first time I found out about that book was in high school when I was a student worker for a kindergarten class at our elementary school. The kids had asked me to read it for story time; great pick don't you think? None of them could stop giggling. So as I was looking online for a picture of the book "What's Your Poo Telling You?", I came across the authors new book which is "What's My Pee Telling Me?" I have not read this one but if its as funny as the other one, I'd like to.

This year my family decided to do Secret Santa instead of buying for everyone. I think this is a great idea. After all, Christmas is not about how many gifts you have under the tree. Dan's family decided to do the same thing this year also. All of us set a limit on what we could buy & I have to say that shopping this year is so much more fun than the previous years. I was always so stressed about what I would get everyone, how many gifts we should buy them & to make sure that no one was favored more than the others. That is a lot of stress. Setting a limit & only buying for a few people lets you use your imagination. I have liked every gift that we have picked out this year & am excited to give the gifts. I hope you all keep in mind what Christmas is really about & not get too wrapped up in the presents. :o)

Shop 'Til You Drop...Literally

Last night Dan & I had a date night at Cheesecake Factory & after dinner we went to the Dulles Town Center mall to do some Christmas shopping. We should be done with all of our shopping but unfortunately we are not. Even after 2 hours of walking up & down the mall, we still have more shopping to do. :o( When I was choosing my outfit to go to dinner I did not plan on walking up & down a mall for 2 hours so I am really suffering today with blisters & sore feet. A little tip from me to you, do not choose stiletto boots when you are planning to go shopping for several hours. Now you would think that would be common knowledge but not for me. One of my favorite sayings is "when all else fails, look cute". Once I started complaining about my feet Dan said he didn't want to hear it because I picked the shoes I was wearing. Again, no sympathy from the Hubby. The boots that I wore last night are similar to these:
Obviously not exactly the same because these are Manolo Blahnik's & completely out of my price range (but aren't they beautiful?).
Anyway, last night was a successful shopping trip because we got some great deals. I was pleasantly surprised. I still need to do some shopping this coming weekend but I'm hoping that will be easy. You know every year I tell myself that I am going to start Christmas shopping early & I end up waiting until the last minute. Man I hate it when I do that. I hope all of you planned better than I did. Happy shopping!

Family + Work = Fun

Since I missed 2 and 1/2 days of work this week because I was sick, I was pretty behind on the every day stuff that I have to get done in the office, i.e. filing, paying bills, organizing, etc. On Friday I stayed at work until 7 trying to get things caught up but since my boss was still there working, he kept interrupting me & wanting help with the things he was working on. When I got home on Friday night I mentioned to Dan that I was going to get up early in the morning & go into the office to do some filing, etc. To my surprise he said he would come with me to help & that we should bring Lexi. I said OK thinking that by morning he would change his mind & want to stay home & relax. My alarm clock went off at 8:00 a.m. & when I went down to take Lexi potty, he was up & asked what time we were leaving to go to the office. He is such a good husband. :o) We left the house at 8:30 a.m. & stayed until 11:00 a.m. Lexi was so well behaved probably because we took 3 of her toys with us & she ran around the office the entire time playing; so very cute. I put Dan to work alphabetizing & copying invoices that we were mailing out. He did very well & was a huge help to me & now I am officially caught up on all of my filing, bill paying & organizing. :o) My boss ended up coming into the office around 10:00 a.m. & was pleased to see that we had brought Lexi with us. He did try to play with her & her toys but she was a little hesitant since this was really the first time that they met. When my boss saw that I brought Dan in to help he commented that what I was making him do was "spousal abuse"; I informed him that volunteering to help does not fall under the category of spousal abuse & he eventually agreed with me. On our way home I realized that 2 hours of work with my little family was definitely more fun than spending 2 hours of work by myself on a Saturday morning. Hopefully I'll be able to have more "bring your family to work days" in the future. =]

Under The Weather

I am at home again today. I haven't got my voice back yet but I'm hoping tomorrow there will be improvement. I'm not sure how much longer I can stay home; I feel like I'm going crazy. It gets pretty boring. There is nothing on TV, I can't call anyone because I don't have a voice & there is only so much straightening & picking up I can do around the house until I have no energy & have to lie down. I hate to say this but I'm actually looking forward to going back to work; saying that will probably come back to bite me in the ass though. Life gets pretty exciting when you're at home sick. Some things that I have done the past 2 days are: (1) drank my weight in cups of hot tea; (2) taken 4 showers to try & feel better; (3) done some laundry; (4) eatin' 2 packages of original graham crackers; (5) ordered Christmas presents online; (6) taken photos of Lexi being cute; (7) spoken to my boss on the phone at least 10 times; (8) organized my shoes in my closet; (9) changed from my Fall purse to my winter purse; & last but not least (10) swept the living room/dining room/kitchen 3 times. Aren't you jealous? I hope everyone is having a more productive week than I am so far.

At Home With Lexi

Since Friday I have been fighting not to lose my voice & this morning when I woke up to go to work, it was gone. My throat has been sore & I do have a cough so hopefully I'm not coming down with strep. Losing my voice could not have come at a worse time because today my boss has a huge brief due by 5:00 today & of course I am not there to help him. I'm sure he is just thrilled! I am already counting how many phone calls I get from him today, right now we are on 4.
So anyway, I am staying home with Lexi for the day & when she realized that I was not getting in the shower & getting ready for work she was very excited. So we are having a girls day at home while Daddy is working. Now I ask you, what does one do when there is nothing on TV & you have seen all of the movies that you own at least 3 times? You take pictures of the house all decorated & some pictures of Lexi.
(Our fire place, of course Lexi gets her own stocking)
(Our first fake tree)
(Our dining room table, small yes, but perfect for us)
(Living in a townhouse you really have to learn how to use all of your space)

(As soon as I moved the couches to take a photo of the tree, Lexi grabbed 2 of her toys & went to play under the tree; how did I get her to look at the camera? I said, "where's Daddy?")
As I am working on this post, Lexi is MIA; I have been calling for her & she hasn't come yet. This usually means she has gotten into something that she's not suppose to so I went to look upstairs & this is what I found:
(Someone got into Mommy's closet but before I took it away I took one more photo)
Happy Monday everyone.

HHS Silent Auction

On Friday night Dan & I went to the Herndon High School Silent Auction that was being held at the Holiday Inn in Chantilly. All of the money was going to the Herndon High School baseball team & the night was a hit. There were so many people that showed up & it was a lot of fun. Dan & I did bid on quite a few things but unfortunately we didn't leave with anything except a large poinsetta that was used for decorations which is behind Lexi in her Christmas photo above. Our friends Doug & Meta met us at the auction & it was so good to see them; we hadn't seen them in a few months. After the auction was over we went to the hotel bar called Bob O's & had some dinner & drinks. Below is a photo that I had Meta take of Dan & I: On Saturday we hung out at home & watched the first snow fall of the year. We got about 2 to 4 inches & I absolutely loved it. I was going to take some photos but I got side tracked while getting out our Christmas decorations & putting up our tree. This year I was so excited to decorate because last year we didn't put a tree up because we were going to be in PA for Christmas & thought it was a waste of time. We bought our first fake tree this year & even though I miss the smell of a real tree in the house, I really do like it. This is the first fake tree I have had. My Mom always had real trees when my brother & I were growing up. I can't wait to see what she decorates her tree like this year, it always looks so great. One of the traditions that I miss is helping my Mom decorate our tree. We still have one tradition that is going strong which is watching the movie While You Were Sleeping on Christmas Eve. That is one of our favorite Christmas movies. :o)
This morning while Dan was cooking a big breakfast, I made the attempt to take Lexi's Christmas photo. I can't even count how many photos I took of her before I got the perfect one. She really doesn't like getting her picture taken so I have to bribe her with either treats, people food or naming her toys in order to get that head to the side look. Dan even tried to help me with a handful of turkey & asking her to "sit". This obviously didn't work because she just stood up on her hind legs & begged for the turkey. I was laughing the entire time. She really didn't know what was going on. Eventually, I ended up with the adorable photo above. Here is one of the photos that did not turn out (can you tell she is smelling the turkey?): This afternoon our neighbor Laura is going to come by to take some Christmas photos of Dan, Lexi & I. We are so thankful that she is coming over to help us because she is busy with 2 babies of her own. I will be sure to post the photos for everyone to see. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. =]

Decorating Weekend

Dan & I will be pulling out our Christmas decorations this weekend to make the inside & the outside of our house a little more festive. I am pretty excited about it because we are putting up lights in the front yard & I have been wanting to do that since we first moved in. I have a ton of Christmas decorations for the inside & we recently got decorations for the outside. I like the simple white light look so don't expect every inch of our townhouse to be lit up in ugly Christmas colors. Dan & I argue about that probably every year because he was raised in a house where they only used colored Christmas lights. I can't stand those; white lights say Christmas to me. One of my biggest pet peeves is driving past a house that has used all colored lights & only some parts of the house are flickering on & off because they used a combination of regular & twinkle lights. Just thinking about it makes me irritated!
Anyway, speaking of decorating, I was searching online this week for some ideas & came across this photo: I think the stairs is a great place to hang your stockings if you don't have a fireplace. Of course our house never looks that neat & put together but its nice to dream. If you are looking for more Christmas decorating ideas, you can hop over to these websites:

~ Martha Stewart
~ Rachael Ray
~ Better Homes & Gardens
~ HGTV

Have fun sprucing up your home for the holidays, I know Dan & I will. :o)