Gratitude!

First and foremost - a very Happy Belated Birthday to my dear brother! You deserve a year of true happiness!
Secondly, a very Happy Thanksgiving wish to all. Looking back on the year, Jeremy and I have so much to be thankful for. We're both healthy, have a lovely home, are gainfully employed and are blessed with great parents and siblings. I hope you all have a healthy holiday weekend spent with those that you love.

I'll be baking shortbread and a spinach-asiago gratin for tomorrow's dinner. The gratin is a new recipe so if it is good, I'll share it after we eat. The shortbread is a great dessert that is the perfect amount of sweetness. This may be my cookie to share for this season, you really can't go wrong when you add your finishing sugars!

November, already?

I can't tell you what I did in October or the first part of November. Time needs to slow down and I'm definitely not ready for Christmas decorations or the new year. It's a mixed bag over here at Casa Ross. Here's something pretty to look at in November that would be a great centerpiece courtesy of Martha Stewart.

-I hate the weatherman's eager use of the word "upslope". But at least this morning Jeremy and I could work together in shoveling the driveway in record time. And, I'm glad the snow fell on a weekend and not Monday morning. Jeremy rewarded me with a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha - yummy!

-I actually did some scrapbooking yesterday; haven't done that in years. I was able to finish our vacation photos from 2003 and 2005. (I'm a little late on this stuff but at least I made some progress.)

-I'm trying to find a good purse to use in New York. It has to work well while we walk or take the subway, it must fit over my coat and it has to be one I'll use again. (Jeremy doesn't understand this but I think I've narrowed it down to a few choices. Hopefully there are some good sales around Thanksgiving to give me a break on price.)

-I'm making a large pot of sauce for dinner so we can try out the sausage from the hog Jeremy bought. (The half a hog has been his best purchase in a long time. We had some bacon for breakfast and it's incredible - little fat and great flavor!)

-I have some knitting projects to finish up in these next few weeks, so a few more snow days will help further this endeavor along.

-I'm looking forward to seeing The Blind Side with Jeremy for our Friday date.

-Finally, the BIG news for the house. I'm now in my pre-certification phase for becoming a full-fledged pilates instructor. This is exciting and scary at the same time. It's been some mixed emotions but has me so eager to finish my certification this summer. Not a full-fledged career change but it is something that has me rejuvenated.

Have a good week, start planning those Thanksgiving dinners and remember to stock your neighborhood food bank! (We'll be making our donation to Jeffco Action Center.)

Christmas 2009

It may seem a little early to be posting anything about Christmas but this year will be a year unlike any other.

Photo courtesy of Rockefeller Center

In one short month I'm headed to New York City with my mom and sister! I can't wait for this trip, it really will be the trip of a lifetime. I'm still so excited that my mom thought of this for Bec and I. We've always talked about going there during the Christmas season to see the store fronts, Rockefeller Center, and sip hot chocolate at Serendipity that this has me down right giddy. If you have any must-see places, please pass them along. I haven't been to NY in 11 years and I know it has changed. We actually may be able to make it see the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center - wouldn't that be great?

A Must Post

Disclaimer: I have to post this so I don't forget 2 months or even 2 weeks from now when the snow falls again the pain of shoveling a driveway.

Last week was the first big storm of the season, a good dumping of 2' in 48 hours. What's a girl to do while her husband is in Florida? I'll tell you:

I took the truck to work at 5 AM on Wednesday to miss the traffic then hightailed it home at 3 that afternoon. I had every intention of shoveling the driveway, which is the longest on the block, Wednesday afternoon/evening. After working for an hour it was apparent that it was a futile effort and simply not worth my time. So, by the grace of a very sweet neighbor, my driveway received a quick visit from the snow blower. I thought to myself at midnight, this is great, I can get up early Thursday and head into the office. (After all, I have two conference calls and I have to get to Jeremy at DIA Thursday night.) The plan sounded good in my head but didn't take into account that the snow kept falling and the City snowplow came up the street and boxed in the driveways. So Thursday morning at 5 AM it became very apparent that I'd be working from home and putting in a serious workout to clear the driveway. I couldn't tell the difference between the lawn and driveway and it was a long ways out to the street from the cul-de-sac. So after my calls I got to work at 11:30 AM shoveling. 3 HOURS LATER AND IT WAS COMPLETELY CLEAR!

A shot I sent Jeremy at 5 AM

The accumulation by 3 PM Wednesday.

After 30 minutes of shoveling on Wednesday - I gave up shortly after this shot!

It wasn't worth the effort, I couldn't keep up with the falling snow.

I love the snow drifts we get off of the front porch - they are gorgeous at night.

1-hour into my Thursday shoveling efforts.

3-HOURS LATER AND IT'S DONE!

I successfully had a clear driveway at 3:30 Thursday and was ready to head to DIA to retrieve the hubby. The drive out there was not fun (took 2-hours) and in the process of changing seats with Jeremy I lost my work phone in a snow bank. Big oops! After I realized it was at the airport we were too far into the drive home to turn around.

I was thrilled to see the snow melted on Friday from the street but I sure felt jilted from my efforts. Next time, I'm just going to wait for the snow to melt.

Confession Time

#1
Since the new year, Jeremy and I have been very good at going to the gym at least three days a week for a good cardio session.

9 times out of 10 I listen to the Bangles, INXS or Pat Benatar.

Don't judge, you know you love the 80s too.

#2
Last weekend was the first time in our 10-years together that Jeremy and I did something for Halloween. We didn't try very hard...dressed up as Duke and KU basketball fans. At least we had a good time at Bec and John's party complete with pork tenderloin and pumpkin cupcakes!

I hate Halloween. And someone please tell me why children who don't dress up still come to the door to trick or treat? It was good weather this year, no excuses not to have a costume.