jesser – Page 27

December 18, 2012

2012 In Review: Books!

I somehow managed to read 74 books (my goal for the year was 65). This is probably the only goal (of the ones I wrote down, I mean) that I actually achieved this year, so yay to me. Since I “read” audio books, it’s actually easier for me to keep on track when I’m super busy like I was this year since I “read” while I’m working.

Stats (cuz I nerdily LOVE stats):

24/75 were non-fiction, 5 were fiction – I am pleased with this as I have been trying to read more non fiction
Sarah Dessen and Nora Roberts were tied for authors I read the most (6 books each) followed by Joshilyn Jackson’s at 4
I read THREE books about presidential assassinations: one on Garfield, one on Lincoln and one on Kennedy and I actually have another one on Kennedy waiting in the wings (it’s like 20+ discs and seems a bit daunting)
Other than novels, the type of book I read the most of was memoir. My favorites were Mindy Kahling’s sublime Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and the yummy Stuffed: A Restaurant Family.
I also read a lot of dystopian novels (all YA if memory serves). The only one that I really enjoyed was Thumped (the sequel to Bumped). I think I’ll avoid that genre for a while, at least until publishers stop publishing ANYTHING in a rush to be the next Hunger Games.
My favorite NF book for the year is a tie between Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me which are about as different as you can get. I loved Killing Kennedy because it’s probably the best history lesson on that period I’ve ever had and it was imminently readable. Mindy’s book though was pure comic genius. Like I said, toss up.
My favorite fiction book of the year was Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ The Great Escape. She writes such fun, fluffy, lovable, SMART chick lit and she’s one of my favorite authors.

I am really pleased with my year in reading. I feel amazed every year at the breadth of GREAT options available for consumption and I feel like I get really good knowledge and insight from these smart writing folk. I consider it to be as important as exercise. The other cool thing in reading this year was the fun I’ve had watching Tabby learn to read. I hope that both of my kids will one day love to read as much as I do.

December 12, 2012

The Petting Game

The Nichols household is currently in the throes of pet selection. It all started with our trip to Nashville. Tabby saw a mouse trapped in a sticky trap. It was all she told her classmates about her trip to Nashville. It is all she has wanted to talk about lately. And it culminated in some bizarre justice scales thing where she MUST HAVE A PET MOUSE. So she and Matt setup some system where she does her “chores” – which basically consist of keeping her room neat, putting away her backpack and lunch dishes, performing the small tasks we assign to her (put away silverware, set the table, etc.) – for 25 days, she could earn her pet mouse.

It’s all been a bit fuzzy because my Project Manager husband (engineer of this whole scheme) didn’t implement a chart or anything to track progress (hmmmmm). But it has been a constant with her – working on her chores and asking about the mouse. As M-day has drawn nearer, we’ve been hedging on the whole thing. Not that we won’t let her get a pet, we will, but to me, mice are something you … well find in a sticky trap or feed to a snake (sorry). They don’t really seem like pets. Add into that the fact that they smell a bit and don’t live terribly long and I’m just not convinced. So I have made some alternative suggestions to mouse ownership, namely gerbil or hedgehog ownership. So let’s meet our bachelors:

1. Bachelor #1 The Fancy Mouse –

Despite (in my mind at least) being more of the classification of “pest” or “food” these guys are really pretty cute. They are constantly active and everyone insists they can be tamed and make good companions. Their cost of ownership is LOW since they and their supplies are cheap and they require no veterinarian examinations. On the downside, they tend to be smellier than some other small animals and they do not live terribly long.

2. Bachelor #2: The Gerbil –

My sister and I had gerbils growing up. Matt and I had some gerbils when we were in college. We know and like gerbils. They, like the mice, are a low cost of ownership and they can also (we know first hand) can be very docile and friendly. Being desert creatures, they require little food and water and they have no discernible odor. They live slightly longer than mice.

3. Bachelor #3: The Hedgehog –

Hedgehogs are cute as hell. They are a sort of higher-level mammal and they seem to be very docile (we just visited some at a pet store yesterday) and nice to play with. They don’t have quite the same inherently jumpy twitchy personality of mice or gerbils (though as I said before, that can be somewhat calmed out of the mice & gerbils) and as an added “fun” thing, they can SWIM! On the down side, they are hugely expensive, especially if you want to get a pair. And there’s also the spikes. They can’t throw them like a porcupine, but they can become quite prickly when they’re scared or agitated. But they do live upwards of 8 years … which kind of goes both ways.

For her money, our Bachelorette, Miss Tabby, is not entirely certain what she wants, just that she wants a little snuggly pet. She seems to be most fascinated with the animal she last held, so I want to give it some time – we will not be getting a new pet in any case until we’re back from our post-Christmas ski trip – and really give her some time to make up her mind.

December 9, 2012

Zoolights!

This weekend we made our yearly trip to the Denver Zoo’s Light display. We have had days and days of unseasonably warm weather and yet the night we went? FREEZING. Oh well, we’ve done colder.

Continue reading “Zoolights!”

December 4, 2012

Howdy, December

Well I did better with the blogging thing last week … but I’m still a bit behind. We’ve been having all sorts of fun – I just haven’t had the time to sit down and write about it. But here’s a mini update from this weekend.

Friday I started the weekend off right with a run and a trip to Tabby’s school to volunteer. Instead of the normal reading groups like I’ve done before, we made Eric Carle paper for the projects the kids are going to do soon. Eric Carle (author of such classics as A Very Hungry Caterpillar) paints beautifully textured paper and then cuts it up for his artwork in his books. The kids had seen a movie on this process and were very excited to cover their papers with paint. COVER. They were adorable and so enthusiastic.

After school, I went Christmas shopping with my mom. We got a LOT accomplished but I’ve still got a lot to do. That night my sis and I went to our Bootcamp party. It was TONS of fun. We drank wine, ate a little food and chatted up our fellow gluttons for punishment. It’s a great group of ladies.

Saturday we got up bright and early and went to the gym for a swim. Then we headed back to the mall, but this time we were there for a different purpose. We picked four kids from the angel tree at the mall and spent the morning buying gifts for them. We had to order one thing (a remote control motorcycle) off the internet, but we should be ready to take them back in a couple of days.

Saturday evening, Kelly came over and stayed with the kids so Matt and I could go to my Christmas party. They were thoroughly spoiled with cookie baking, movie watching and Mariokart playing. Meanwhile, Matt and I had a fabulous time at the party. Everyone seemed extra exuberant this year and there was much dancing and merry-making.

We got home late but of course the kids were up early. We let them play independently for a while and then we ran a couple of errands. The normal fare for a Sunday. We spent much of the afternoon working around the house while the kids napped. In the evening we made some mac ‘n’ cheese for dinner which was a pretty big hit. And before long it was time to put the kids in the shower and get everyone ready for the week. It all goes so fast and I’m really starting to look forward to my week off in January!!

December 3, 2012

Deckin’ the Halls

The kids are at such a great age for this. Good understanding, amazing enthusiasm, off-the-charts cuteness.

Love them. They’re having so much fun. They make all of this so cool.

November 28, 2012

Random Crap on a Wednesday

Last night we took photos of the kids for our Christmas card. We wanted a specific effect and weren’t able to get it with ambient lighting and the flash, so Matt and I teamed up and came up with the idea of using his big work light reflected off this nifty piece of polystyrene to light the kids very well. We got some great shots, which I will have to share later.

I made these brussel sprouts for dinner last night. These have never been my favorite vegetable, but I keep trying them in different ways to see if I can find a recipe I love. This was OK, but not quite perfect. Roasting wins so far. But how pretty, right?? And usually I can get the kids to eat anything if I top it with craisins … not so much in this case, but a girl’s gotta try.

When we were at IKEA on Saturday, I noticed this sign. It advises patrons to use the “travelator” if you have a basket cart or are just on foot (presumably to save the elevators for those with the flatbed carts. I have never before heard a moving sidewalk (albeit on a slight incline) called a travelator. It is definitely going to become part of my lexicon. This year has been a great one for new words to add to my lexicon, including: omnishambles, Eurogeddon, voluntold and sarchasm.

We had an absolutely gorgeous sunrise this morning … oranges, reds, pinks, purples. Lovely thing to look at as I drove to work.

November 27, 2012

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I LOVE this time of year. We’ve been shopping and decorating and listening to Christmas music and generally making merry. The calendar is packed with parties and outings and fun of all kinds. The kids are going just a leeetle mad and the darlings are refusing to nap which is exacerbating the situation. But it is so fun to see all of this through their eyes.

And in the aisles of the grocery store, they are taking notice too and putting out tons of holiday-flavored goodies. I picked these guys up at Target a couple of weeks ago and may or may not have eaten 4 before I even got them home. Surely not, right? Anyhow, THESE ARE AWESOME and if you have a Target near you, you should try them and then you will love and hate me because they are super tasty and yet not health food of course.

My biggest challenge this time of year is not taking advantage of every tasty goody that comes my way. My office is usually full-to-overflowing with gifts from our vendors and by Christmas Eve, all anyone around the office wants is some fruit and vegetables. So I’m working on limiting my consumption of goodies and adding in some extra running to compensate as well.

Speaking of running, I keep having to talk myself out of buying a new treadmill. Technically, ours still works even though it is almost 8 years old and has a LOT LOT of miles on it. It is a little creaky, especially when my hulking hubby runs on it, but that is a small complaint. Yet I keep seeing excellent deals on new treadmills – treadmills with built in Android tablets that show you beautiful outdoorsy things while you run and track your stats and stuff. Cool, no? Of course, but also not exactly a necessity.

November 25, 2012

Four Days Well Done

It was such a nice long weekend. After our wonderful Thanksgiving, we slept like babies, but the kids, of course, were up by the crack of dawn and ready to go go go. So we went … shopping. We got some good black friday deals, including Tabby’s “big” gift.

I went for a nice long(er) run in the afternoon (and about to do a bit more of that!).

My folks came over in the evening and we served them Chicken Gumbo and we had some post-Thanksgiving vegging sort of fun, including building the lovely Gingerbread Home Depot.

Saturday, my parents met us for breakfast and took charge of the kids and Matt and I headed out for a date day. We did quite a bit of Christmas shopping. Matt finally found a new Christmas tree and got a great bargain on it. After two separate malls and about 5 hours on the job, we took a break for lunch and a movie. We saw Skyfall, the new James Bond movie. It was AWESOME.

Today was a more typical Sunday. We picked up the kids. Tabby had a b’day party. Ben and I did the grocery shopping. We put up the Christmas tree (but didn’t decorate it). Matt and I worked around the house. The kids refused to nap.

I’m not quite ready to go back to reality tomorrow …

November 24, 2012November 23, 2012

Thanksgiving Celebrations

We started out our day with a run … the 5K Turkey Chase, just a few miles from home. The kids were jazzed and ended up running a good portion of the race. Ben shocked me by running the first .9 miles solid. They had breaks in the stroller, but ran well over half.

The kids’ stellar performance may have been due to a promise of donuts afterward. We kept our promise and met up with our friends just down the road at King Soopers. The dads went in and grabbed donuts and drinks and we parked away from the traffic and popped open the backs of our cars. In the unseasonably warm weather, we tailgated with donuts and milk and babies.

When we got home, we had showers and Matt decided to check on the turkey. Despite the fact that it had been hanging in our fridge for a week, it was still partially frozen and so it too got a shower before we headed out.

Then we headed for the hills, to my uncle’s house. Matt got the bird ready for frying

and the kids played in the great out of doors (did I mention the unseasonably warm weather??) and bonded with all of the relatives they don’t see that often.

Before long it was time for dinner.

I think I showed admirable restraint, don’t you??

All the food was super nummy (and very very plentiful) but the Sweet Potato Spoonbread was a HUGE hit (there was actually less left than this by the time it was said and done.

There was much more time spent sipping beverages and catching up with everyone. It is always nice to be with the extended family and even better seeing my kids loving on their great aunties and uncles and cousins.

November 23, 2012