Friday, December 17

  Thanksgiving, Knitting and School, Oh My!

(I'd like to apologize up front for the totally lame title, but that was all I could come up with!)

When I started keeping this blog over the summer, I told myself that I would write an entry at least once a week. Now, I’m pushing myself to remember to do it once a month. School has been keeping me very busy. I really thought I’d feel better once the math class was finished because I’d have more time to devote to my english class but the truth is, I don’t. There are four term papers, eight journal entries and a ten to fifteen minute presentation on the final paper. The eight essays are due at your own pace throughout the semester, but I didn’t plan very well because I still have three to hand in before TOMORROW! I am also currently working on the presentation that is also TOMORROW! I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Why is she blogging if she has so much work to do?" The answer is simple. This will count as two journal entries because of the length, that's why. No more about school though, just please wish me luck on my presentation. I am so worked up about it that I can't decide whether to cry, scream or vomit. Is this what a panic attack feels like?

On to less important, non- school related things. I had to get a new cell phone last week. I thought I needed a new battery because my phone could no longer hold a charge, but I kept putting off going to the Verizon store because I’m terribly impatient and don’t like waiting in line. After I dropped the Jeffrey off at school, Steven and I finally went to the Verizon store in Downingtown. The technician took one look at my phone and at my account and told me that he had good news and bad news for me. The bad news was that my phone had somehow gotten wet a long time ago and is now completely corroded. He was amazed that it was still working at all. The good news was that I had insurance on it so it would be replaced for a $50 deductible. More bad news though; the camera phone I had had been discontinued. It would have to be replaced by a different camera phone. I was not a happy girl because I LOVED my phone. However, I was attracted to the features the new phone had to offer- it has a built in flash and can shoot fifteen seconds of video. For the record, my old phone couldn’t do that! The tech head in me who loves being dazzled by new gadgets with better features, told me to get the new phone. While I was there, I finally had my New Jersey cell number changed to a Pennsylvania 610 number. I have been living here for about eighteen months now, so I felt it was time. I have to say, being able to shoot video came in quite handy when my husband, who was more than a little buzzed at a Christmas party, decided to do karaoke to "You're the One That I Want" from Grease last week!!! Can I upload video clips to my blog? :-D

Our Thanksgiving was nice. Steve got out of work early on Wednesday and was home until Monday, so that was a nice treat. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s house, so I was in charge of the desserts. I usually make two pumpkin pies (one to leave there and one to keep here) and an apple crisp for my dad. I planned to be as organized as possible, so I made the pies on Wednesday night after dinner. As a special treat while we watched The Bachelor finale, I thought it would be nice for Steve and I to each have a piece of our own pie. We paused the TiVo while we dished out the pies and sat down to enjoy our quiet night while eating the dessert. I took one bite of the pie and had to spit it out because I forgot to add sugar! It was terrible. Of course I then threw a little temper tantrum and threw both pies in the sink. Not my finest moment, but what a waste of time! Steve ran out to the supermarket after The Bachelor was over and bought all of the ingredients I needed to make two more pies. I really had been hoping for a nice relaxing Thanksgiving morning, because I thought I’d only have to make one last dessert. Instead, we spent the whole morning baking. I didn’t even get to take my Thanksgiving nap! I was especially disappointed to learn that the Starbucks near my parent’s house closed at 3 pm for the day. I understand that the employees need to have dinner with their families too, but I really don’t see why they couldn’t come back to open up again around 8 pm so I could have a latte on the way home. However, my dad saved the day by getting me my favorite drink, a venti Pumpkin Spice latte, and saving it for me until after dinner. It totally hit the spot. I was still a little bitter on the way home because I had to drink a Pepsi instead of another latte, but I managed to survive.

Friday, I went out to lunch with my neighbor Maria. Neither of us had our kids with us, so it was nice to have an adult conversation without all of our kids interrupting. We went to Chili’s in Downingtown. I highly recommend the grilled chicken Caesar salad, it was delicious. After lunch, I went to New Jersey to visit my friend Arlene and to give her the three scarves she had asked me to knit for her. She has been paying me to make a few scarves for her to give as gifts for Christmas. I’m glad she asked me to do this for her, because it has really gotten me back into knitting. The problem is that I have a total of seven scarves that need to be done before Christmas day. Three of them are for Arlene and the other four are gifts from me. I know that everyone in my Stitch-n-Bitch knitting group could probably get them all done in about a week, but they are faster knitters than I am and are much more experienced. The deal with Arlene is that she pays for the yarn, I knit the scarves and she is going to take me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, drinks and dessert. I hope this time I’ll actually be in the mood for cheesecake; the last time I was there, I actually didn’t want any. I almost went to the doctor to make sure I was ok, I was so concerned.

The rest of Thanksgiving weekend was very relaxing. On Saturday, I had off from my class so I was able to go with Steve and the boys to see Steven’s swim class. He takes swim lessons every Saturday at the Brandywine YMCA. This was the first and only time I would be able to see him during his eight week session. He is in the beginners class. The objective for the beginners is to enter the pool without a parent and without crying. They also learn to float, kick their legs and go underwater. I really enjoyed watching his class and Steven was thrilled to show me his new skills in the pool. After class was over, I talked to his teacher and she recommended that Steven move up to the next level class at the end of the session because he has met his goals and is no longer being challenged by the “Pike” class. Steve has already registered Steven for the next class called “Eel” that will begin on January 8. I am not registered for a Saturday class next semester, so he signed Steven up for another Saturday morning swim lesson for the next session so that we can both see him every week or take turns. After Steven’s swim class, we took the boys to lunch and enjoyed a quiet afternoon together. Later that weekend, we decorated the house for Christmas together. It was very nice that we all had the entire holiday weekend off to spend together. Now I’m really looking forward to the week after Christmas because we all have the entire week off. I love it when our family has time like this to be together; it makes our holidays even more memorable.

**Special thanks to Nicole, Cindy and Kate from Chesco Stitch~n~Bitch for giving me such awesome quotes about the Tivo to use in my presentation tomorrow! Wish me luck**
 

5:50 PM