One More Angel

I'm suffering from pure exhaustion from the last two days and while my brain is not thinking clearly at the moment, I just wanted to post this pic.  It's from my Grandma's birthday back on November 3rd.  It's one of the last pictures I have of just her and I.  Today at 3:06 pm, she lost her battle with cancer. 

I know she is looking down over me and everyone else and will continue to protect us as she's done over the last 79 years of her life.  It has been a horribly painful 48 hours.  Once I gain back some composure, I will dedicate another longer post to her.  Until then, I will just continue to remind myself that she is at peace.

Naughty or nice?!?!

I guess I was really good this year....

What's really funny is that out of all of these things on my wish list, I had only really asked for the knives and spice rack.  But, I have such an amazing family, that they all knew how excited and grateful I would be for the other gifts. 

I had been scoping out Kitchenaid Stand Mixers online for nearly a month but thought it was something too extraordinary for me and my cooking and baking abilities.  My mom, on the other hand, thought it would be fun to surprise me with such a gift.  I was definitely surprised and very thankful for her generosity.  I plan on baking many desserts and whipping up plenty of dinners to show off.

My dad gave me the Cuisinart Food Processor and thought that I could use it along with my spice rack to create my culinary masterpieces.  (Very good thinking Dad!)

Perhaps the craziest thing has to do with part of the gift I received from Broccoli.  While I was out at Bed, Bath and Beyond last Wednesday night picking up a few last minute gifts for my Mom, I happened to see a chef's jacket on sale.  I contemplated buying it for a few minutes, but figured I would wait until after Christmas to come back and pick it up.  There was no real reason I waited to buy it besides the fact that I just didn't want to carry more stuff upstairs to my apartment that evening. 
For the last few weeks, anytime I was stressing out or putting too much pressure on myself, Broccoli would joke with me about what I was getting for Christmas and without letting on to what I was getting would put me back into a better mood.
Thursday night, Broccoli and I exchanged our gifts and with mine was this awesome chef's jacket.  I was completely shocked and elated.  I told him the story about the night before and I think that relieved any uncertainty he had about whether or not I would like it.  (By the way, I love it!)

The entire weekend was fabulous.  I'm so glad I was able to spend 3 days with extremely exceptional people.   Today, I'm sitting at home playing with my new toys.  Who says Christmas is just for the kids!

Hope you had a fantastic Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

From my family,

to yours...

We wish you peace, love and happiness this holiday season.

May you have a blessed Christmas wherever you may be.

3 Days...

...3 Christmases.
While I may not have any Christmas decorations out or a Christmas tree up, I have shopped or made all of my Christmas presents and even wrapped them and ultimately, I'm ready for what's next.

Tonight is Christmas with my main squeeze.  Since we both have family functions on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we're celebrating our Christmas a tad early.  I'm making a semi-fancy dinner (only because I'm using wine in my roast beef entree) and we're going to exchange our gifts.  We aimed for the hand-made, thought-provoking aspect this year.  Hopefully he'll find my gift to be a clever one.  :)  He hasn't given me any clues as to what he put together for me but I do know he's searched high and low for materials.  I'm sure it will be perfect.

Christmas Eve, I'm heading to spend the evening with my Mom's side of the family.  A bit of good news came Tuesday night as my Grandma was released from the hospital.  While she is still struggling, it is comforting to know that she will be spending the holiday at home with her family.

That leaves Christmas Day and as long as the weather cooperates, my Bro and I will be driving out to my Dad's and spending the afternoon with him, my aunt and uncle and cousins.  We're playing it by ear until the system comes through the region but we're all hoping that its nothing major and that our plans hold up.  Otherwise, we'll move our celebration around to combat the snow.

It will be a fun-filled weekend for sure and the best part is that its not all lumped into one day.  I wish holidays worked this well every year.

Very grateful

Yes, I'm gonna gloat a bit.  Right now, I'm sitting here enjoying a wonderful lunch prepared by the most awesome Broccoli.  Realizing that I've pretty much run myself ragged this week, he was nice enough to drop by a delicious, home-made meal while I'm trying to wrap Christmas presents and clean up some loose ends here at home.

This has been one of the hardest weeks I've ever faced.  My Grandma went back into the hospital after getting extremely sick from this last bout of chemo late Sunday night.  Luckily, I was able to work obscure hours in order to be able to spend time with her and help out as necessary.  My Bro came to spend the first part of the week with me so that he could also visit my Grandma and was met with an apartment with less than plentiful resources.  My plan was to grocery shop last Sunday when we had snow and I decided not to venture out since I knew the stores would be nuts.   Being the clever guy that he is, he was able to piece together a few meals from my cabinets when he was hungry and we were able to enjoy a great dinner with my Grandma and Mom at the hospital on Tuesday night.

To top it off, it was the busiest week of the year at work for me with preparing for our Christmas party, handling our employee appreciation for 5+ year employees (this is our first major milestone as a company since we were only formed in late 2004), completing the retro increases we were promised and then explaining the calculation to every employee that called for clarification and then dealing with other miscellaneous issues that popped up.  I was completely exhausted when I finally was able to make my way home at night.
In the back of my mind, I was also bothered the fact that I hadn't really started Christmas shopping and knew that this weekend was probably going to fill up fast with other priorities, so by Thursday, I was in full freak out/overload mode.  Somehow, Broccoli pulled me out of it and got my head straight so that I could "schedule" and plan for nearly everything that needed to get done.
Amazingly enough, I was able to run around like crazy yesterday and not only finish my Christmas shopping but also my Mom's (she's been at the hospital pretty much non-stop since Sunday night), re-stock my pantry and fridge and then spend the rest of the evening with my Grandma.  It didn't take long for me to fall asleep when I finally decided to go to bed.

Through all of this, I'm realizing how very grateful I am for the little things.  The idea that someone (or a few someones) is thinking about me and trying to lighten my load and ease my mind a bit is amazing.  In spite of how busy others are, it's nice to know that I have surrounded myself with people that do look out for me and are willing to do what they can to help out.  While the circumstances stink, this Christmas season is a special one.

Who called for snow?

All week, the meteorologists had been saying that the snow was gonna bypass us completely and we'd only be dealing with extremely cold temperatures.  Not sure what it would look like here if they had actually forecasted snow --

This is what I woke up this morning.  Perfect for a day when I'm supposed to be finishing up my Christmas shopping.  Most people would say, "oh that isn't too bad."  Yeah, here in STL, when it rains, we're in for great fun on the interstates, when it snows, you just better plan to stay put for most of the day.  It also doesn't help that the wind is blowing 20-45 mph.  Brrrrrrrrr!  I'm definitely not ready for winter.

Guess it's the perfect day to stay in and work on my homemade Christmas gifts.

Doesn't get much better than this

 
Nothing says Merry Christmas like an acoustic Shinedown show and tonight I'm headed out to see them perform live.  WOOO HOOO!!!  I've warned Broccoli that he just may have to save me from my heart exploding from all of the excitement tonight.  I believe he's prepared for just about anything with me.

To make this early Christmas gift to myself even better --
I have tomorrow off from work!
DOUBLE BONUS!!!

Photos of the Day

These pictures sum up my Thanksgiving.

It was a hard day, given the fact that my grandma was stuck in the hospital when we were able to get the rest of the family together for the first time in 23 years, but my brother and I were able to pull through and realize what was important.  Given the circumstances and knowing that Grandma would want us to enjoy our day, we decided to be silly and have some fun.  It sure gave her a much needed laugh too when we visited the hospital this evening.  I would call this a pretty awesome day and a semi-successful celebration.

Happy Thanksgiving!

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” – Albert Schweitzer

May your day be spent sharing laughs and love with those who mean the most to you.

7 Day Forecast

Can someone tell me what's wrong with this picture?

This is our 7 day forecast for this week.

Umm yeah, from 70 degrees to 39 degrees highs in 5 days???  That's St. Louis for ya.
I start with a light jacket for today and end with my winter coat and probably still freeze my tush off on Friday. 

The Next Iron Chef

Tonight it is on -- after 7 competitions and a double elimination last week, the final 2 chefs compete!!
Who will become the newest Iron Chef? 

Chef Marco "Where's the Parchment Paper?" Canora or Chef Marc "the Forge" Forgione?

It will be an exciting battle in Kitchen Stadium for sure and you can bet I'll be tuned in. 
Also, I'm waiting to see what Canora will whine about this week.  I joked about the parchment paper incident all day on Monday -- even when everyone else looked at me like I had 3 heads.

My Best Friend

I went to the wedding of the son of one of my co-workers last night and this was their wedding song.
My Best Friend by Tim McGraw

I never had no one that I could count on
I've been let down so many times
I was tired of hurtin', so tired of searchin'
'Til you walked into my life

It was a feelin'
I'd never known
And for the first time
I didn't feel alone

You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh, we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you

I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend, oh yeah

You stand by me and you believe in me
Like nobody ever has
When my world goes crazy, you're right there to save me
You make me see how much I have

And I still tremble
When we touch
And oh, the look in your eyes
When we make love

You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh, we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you

And I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend

You're more than a lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh, we just get closer
I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you

And I don't know where I'd be
Without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend
You're my best friend, oh yeah
You're my best friend
You're my best friend

I don't think I had heard this song before the reception last night, but I'm in love with it now and I can't get it out of my head.  Feel free to check out the CMT Invitation Only performance here: My Best Friend/Something Like That

As for the reception, it was a lot of fun and I'm so glad that in spite of everything going on right now, I was able to attend   We danced and sang and I even won a lunch bet after coaxing BP to the dance floor.

After all was said and done and I drove home, I realized how very lucky to have found my best friend.

Cure for a bad week?

I stopped into the mall on my way home from work tonight and visited 2 stores in my limited amount of free time -- Vitamin World and a shoe store.  If a boost of serotonin and new black boots, purchased on sale!, don't fix my week, there is no hope for a good weekend.

Quote of the Day

Tonight, as I was sitting at the stoplight at my exit, the radio station I was tuned into starts playing Kanye West's Stronger.  Not a huge Kanye fan but there was one line in the song  that totally summed up my off of the wall day --
Now th-that don't kill me, can only make me stronger 

The rest of the song, not the least bit relate able, but that one line had me pumped for the last 2 minutes of my ride home. 

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day, across the board.  It's Wednesday so that means there is at least one good thing to look forward to -- my weekly lunch date (ham & cheese paninis and home-made oven fries).  Let's hope the rest of the day is somewhat drama-free and smooth as well.

Just one of the guys...

Wish me luck -- I'm playing poker with the guys from work tonight. 

MO invited the regulars over for a poker party and ironically I'm the only girl from work that both knows how to play poker and the only girl that they are willing to put up with while playing cards; so, I became the only girl invited to the guys' poker night.  Nice....

However, just to prove that I am still a girl, I did offer to make snacks for the night as well.

Vember 13th

My sweet, precious Nicole is no longer the toddler holding my hands and dancing while listening to Hanson's MMMBop, or the first grader sitting in my bedroom pretending to do college homework with highlighters and ledger paper or the 10 year old that thought it was so cool to have a girls only weekend at her older cousin's place and have ice cream sundaes as a midnight snack because there were no parents around.
No, today my little Nicole is 14 years old and much smarter, more confident and much more social and outgoing than I could have imagined being at that age.  She's an honors student, a talented dancer and a great friend to those who have the pleasure of crossing paths with her and she continues to make all of us proud.

While Nicole may no longer call her birthday Vember 13th, today is a very special day.

 Happy Birthday Girlie!  Hope you have a fabulous fun-filled day!!

A little bit of luck & a lot of talent

 
Congrats to Jonathan Duhamel, this year's WSOP Main Event Champion.  He won a whopping $8,94 million Monday night after beating John Racener.  Of course Racener can't complain with his second place prize of $5.55 million either.  Heck, if it were me, I would mind finishing in 747th place and nearly doubling my buy-in., but I'm no professional.  In fact, right now my main goal is to not finish dead last in the poker nights with my friends. 
You can be sure that I'll be watching the action from the final table when ESPN televises it in the next few minutes -- maybe I can pick up a few pointers for our next poker night.

Oh and if you're following hockey this week, did you catch that the St. Louis Blues are on top of the Power Rankings for the 2nd week in a row?  

That's right, the Blue Note continues to dominate and have won 7 in a row following a big win on Sunday in New York.  Goaltending has definitely been key for the success so far this season and both Halak & Conklin have pulled their weight.  It's great to see the team succeeding.  Let's make it 8 in a row tomorrow night in Columbus boys!!

Bieber Fever hits the 'Lou

St. Louis is all a buzz tonight as this guy has come to town --

My teen cousins Nicole and Emily are there with my aunt, decked out in home-made Bieber Fever t-shirts and screaming their heads off like I did when the Backstreet Boys came to town 13-14 years ago.  Incidentally tonight there is a live Q&A online with New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys which has been dubbed a Once In A Lifetime event.  Somehow I'm ok with missing it.....sorry NKOTB and BSB.

A wish for a very special lady

Happy Birthday Grandma!!  

May your day be an enjoyable one!!

I've committed to making dinner for the family for this special occasion and in honor of my Grandma and the inspiration she has given me with cooking, I'm going to try to recreate her amazing roast beef recipe.  I know it won't be exactly like hers, but a decent duplication would suit me.  But, even if my dinner fails, just getting to spend the time together is well worth it and in my book, that's success.

Just doing my civic duty

No matter what your political views are,

Today is a big day across the country and in order to make sure your voice is heard, you have to make an effort.  There are many important issues and races on the ballot here and I intend voting for what I think is best for the greater good of my community and hopefully the country.

Plus, one of the best things about today --
It's the last day for seeing and hearing all of the mud-slinging ads!  That's definitely a breath of fresh air!!