Catchin Up

I'm sitting here in front of the computer thinking through what Teddy and I have been up to so I can catch up on my blog.  And sadly, there really isn't much to say.  I guess when you're working 65 hour weeks, it doesn't leave much time for anything else.  With Teddy traveling most of the week and me at the office all day on Saturday it doesn't leave much time to do anything but scramble around and try to get all the errands run on Sunday.  Friday and Saturday nights consist of eating some dinner and collapsing on the couch for an hour before heading off to bed.  Sundays leave some time for doing some things.  Here's what our last few Sundays have been:

• Spending the day shopping, returning wedding gifts we didn't get a chance to
• Laundry, lots of laundry
• Grocery shopping
• Paying bills
• We did have a great super bowl sunday in there hanging with my family and Teddy's parents.  My sister wrote a nice post about it here
• And today the big plans are to go shopping for a new bed and then have dinner with my parents.

So, not too much has been happening.  I'm in a busy season funk and May can't come soon enough. 

This week I'm...

Loving: That I found time to go shopping and was able to get two new pairs of shoes for $42 with all the sales and coupons I had.
Disliking: How behind I am on my blog.  Three weekends now with no updates from me.  I need to get caught up!
Craving: A massage.  I need to cash in my Kohler Spa gift card from Christmas.
Wanting: More hours in the day
Reading: Not much, but I did get a few minutes to look at this month's Food Network Magazine.  It's an Italian themed issue and I want to try to make every recipe in it!  I'm going to shoot for two this week.
Watching: The Grammy's.  I thought it was pretty good, although there are always weird combinations of artists together.  On another weird note, I thought the graphic for the Grammy's this year looked a lot like it said The Crammy's...am I alone in this?
Listening to: That F#*k You song that was on the Grammy's last night and is played on the radio constantly.  I can't get it out of my head!
Looking forward to: Celebrating valentine's day with my hubby tonight!
Hearing buzz about:  Two cars crashing into a freight train this morning because the gates weren't down.  It looked pretty bad.

This week I'm...

Loving: That I just got to spend a whole week with the hubby with no out of town trips...too bad its over
Disliking: How short the weekends are this time of year.  Working 10 hour Saturdays stinks, no matter how you slice it.
Craving: More sleep
Wanting: Some time to shop.  I really need some new clothes
Reading: Nothing really for fun right now
Watching: The super bowl, which was pretty tough to watch - being a Bears fan
Listening to:  My dog snoring
Looking forward to: Crossing things off the to do list
Hearing buzz about: Christina Aguilera butchering the National Anthem at the super bowl

Snow Day?!

I don't believe it!  The weather forecast was right, it was snowmageddon last night.  I am so glad that I left work early yesterday before it got too crazy, but last night watching the storm was kind of like watching a snow globe being shook to death by a small child.  Wind was coming from every direction it seemed and you couldn't tell if the snow flying around was new snow or just snow being blown around.

Well, this morning it was clear that it was new snow.  Here are some pictures from my front and back door views.

My front porch is one big snow drift

I'm not sure where the front yard ends and the driveway and street begin

Also, see in the far distance in front of the brownish house a small yellow speck sticking out of the snow - that's the fire hydrant. 

The backyard is where most of the swirling snow was last night and that's evident by the crazy snow drifts.  There are snow drifts as high as our four foot tall pool.  Our pool filter is out there somewhere, do you see it?

Check out the snow drifts on my back neighbor's house.  I hope Jared and Marie don't need to use their back door any time soon.  Also, it looks like it continues up the roof.

And one final shot, of our shed with it's snow drift.  Part of me wanted to suit up and jump out there in that snow, and then I remembered that I probably will get plenty of snow action as I help clear the driveway...once we find it.

I hope everyone is home safe and can stay home today.  Even though I'll be working on my snow day, it's still kind of fun to be snowed in and working in front of my fireplace.  Stay warm everyone!

This Week I'm...

Loving: That my new years resolution of "move more, eat less" has been sustainable for a whole month now with 8.2 pounds less as a result!
Disliking: That I'm way behind on catching up with family and friends.  I need to get on that and see what's going on with everyone.
Craving: Dark chocolate
Wanting: More hours in the day
Reading: Not much.  I started LA Candy by Lauren Conrad, but haven't picked it up since I first started.  Yes, it is chick lit, trashtastic, but it's my escape from the constant technical reading required daily
Watching: Not much.  The DVR is getting full
Listening to: The sound of typing on the computer
Looking forward to: Heading to Beijing in April
Hearing buzz about: An insane blizzard headed our way that may be life threatening according to the news

Date Night & the Bears

This weekend Teddy was home!  So we focused on getting some quality catch up time together.  Friday night was pretty low key.  I made us some baked chicken and we relaxed watching a little TV and chatting. 

Saturday I had to head into work, but got home in the late afternoon.  Teddy had been busy working around the house and focusing on his latest Lego project.  We decided last minute to have date night on Saturday and headed out to one of our favorite local places, Aodake for some sushi.  It had been a really long time since we went there and the place was packed.  They have the hibachi grills as well, so most were at those versus the sushi tables.  I guess a lot of people had the same idea.  Even my sister did date night with her husband at a sushi place over the weekend. 

After dinner we headed out to see a movie.  We got some AMC gift cards for Christmas in our stockings, so we thought we'd put them to use.  We ended up going to see No Strings Attached with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.

It was yet another romantic comedy, but I thought it was pretty funny.  There were some holes in the story as they never really explain why Natalie Portman's character is such an emotional train wreck, but there were some really funny moments in the movie.  It was nice to cozy up with the hubby and watch a movie.  It's been a while since we have been able to do that. 

Sunday was all about the Bears!!

We were so excited for the biggest game of the season for a team we didn't think would see the off season at all.  The day was just bad karma all around.  We decided to check out one of the local DG bars, Another Round, to watch the game and headed out around lunch time to snag a seat.  Well, when we got there we found all these tables that were being "saved" by peoples coats, drinks and other crap.  It was unreal.  I couldn't believe the bar was allowing people to just block out tables and chairs from paying customers because they were saving them for their friends.  So, we did a couple of laps and decided to head over to BW3's to check out if they were any better of a set up.

This was miles better.  They had the Hawks game on.  There was plenty of open seats and TV's a plenty.  They also were giving away all sorts of prizes during the commercial breaks, well, it was mostly free wings. 

So, we settled in, got some beers and some grub, and proceeded to watch the Hawks lose.  At that point I made the big mistake of saying, "I hope this isn't a sign of a bad sports day for Chicago."  Ugh!  Why do I say such things.  It's like I was asking for the karma kick in the butt.

We got excited to watch the Bears come out blazing.

Teddy sporting Hester

Me sporting Briggs

And the game started with the Bear's deferring on the coin toss (was this really a good call?) and then the Packers just marched right over us on the field.  It was one ugly first half, but Teddy and I were still having a good time.  Until half time and we were suddenly surrounded by the strangest people.  These people were obsessed with high fives to everyone around them at the most awkward moments of the game.  They were wearing Bears jerseys, but every time the Bears had the ball, the one lady would start screaming like a wild women to "Sack him!" which was quickly followed by an incredibly confused look when the Bears snapped the ball.  At some point this couple decided they wanted to try to be friends with Teddy and me.  They kept high fiving us and telling us to smile.  Um, the Bears are playing like sh!t, and we have annoying people that keep trying to touch us and won't leave us alone.  There wasn't a lot of smiling happening.  Teddy ended up moving seats to put his back to them because at the time he was sitting next to me. And this nutter of a women kept peaking around Teddy's head to try to make eye contact with me so she could yet again wield another high five.  I did everything to avoid her eyes.  Then at one point she came over to tell me I looked just like her cousin.  Seriously?  Can we just watch the game?  UGH! 

Luckily Teddy and I were smart and got the check early so that after the game ended we could bolt before our new found buddies followed us home.  And we also all know how that game ended.  While Heine did a respectable job coming in cold and getting two TD's - it was too little too late.  Some bad decisions with a time out on the third down with one minute to go just sealed the coffin for us.  In the end, for a team we never thought would make it to the off season, not too shabby.  Although, it would sting a little less if we hadn't lost to the Packers. 

This week I'm...

This week I'm....


Loving: Having some quiet time to relax
Disliking: The way the Bears played.
Craving: A bright blue sky, with white puffy clouds and lots of sunshine
Wanting: To plan our next vacation
Reading: My Food Network Magazine looking for new recipes
Watching: American Idol.  I'm kind of liking the new judges, but am thinking Hollywood week will be a mess because they're letting a lot of crap through
Listening to: The sounds of Teddy sleeping since he's actually home, for a few days anyway
Looking forward to: May
Hearing buzz about: Oprah having a half sister that she never knew about.