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Isn't this such a beautiful sunset? After a day an a half of a rainy, windy Nor'easter, the sky cleared just in time for a beautiful pink and purple sunset. This shot is right out of the camera. The colors were so intense! I looked out the living room window and saw the pink sky, so I had to run outside for a photo. So lovely...

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Mmmmmmmm...bacon. And french toast with real maple syrup. I love weekend breakfasts!

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This was my accomplishment today. I went through all of my shoes and thinned out the collection. I am now down to around 25 pairs, give or take a few, including winter footwear. These shoes in the boxes at the top of my closet are either strappy heels for special occasions or flip flops and other summer shoes. I keep the sneakers I wear during the week along with snow boots out on the porch. The rest of my shoes are on an over-the-door rack inside the closet door. Two rows of heels on the top, then two rows of flats, one row of work loafers and one row of sneakers I wear for drag racing in the summer. On the outside of the closet door are hooks with my purses, belts and summer hats (all two of them!). I'll get a photo of them soon.

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Aren't these so cute? They are very yummy Halloween-flavored soda from Jones. Rob found them today at Target in the marked down Halloween section. I know, I know, discounted soda?! Whatever, these are good! Our favorite was the pomegranete in the Dracula can. The Frankenstein kiwi and Mummy lemon sodas were good too. The Wearwolf candy corn was just ok. It tasted like cream soda. It's too bad that these are only around during Halloween, I would like to get more!

305/365

Well, Halloween is over for another year. But I still get to dress up next weekend in my ghost costume for Tom and Brett's wedding!

Today was so windy! Our beautiful, brilliantly red Japanese maple tree has no more leaves on it. This morning it was covered and tonight it is bare. So sad! Our lawn is full of the red leaves and it looks really pretty. Except for the fact that I know we'll have to rake them up soon!

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Sleepy birds! It's rare to see them all together on one cage without bickering or chasing one another around. All four of them were just sitting there, chillin'. I wish they could get along like this all the time...

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Look at our beautiful Japanese maple tree. I love this tree! It is the nicest part of the whole yard and it puts on a spectacular color show in the fall. This photo doesn't do it justice, the leaves are a true scarlett red. I would love to press some of the leaves before they all blow off this year.

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I...can...almost...REACH!

Molly LOVES the frozen fruit Rob likes to eat. They are like Freeze-Pops, except good for you! They are made of pureed fruit instead of colored sugar water, so I don't mind if she eats them. She can't get enough of the grape flavored ones, which is no surprise, since she loves grapes and grape juice. Our birdies are so spoiled!

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Am I a good shopper or what?! Check out the receipt. I spent $111 on fabric at Jo-Ann's Fabrics today, BUT I saved $284! Yes, I know I still spent $111 on fabric when I really shouldn't be spending money, but I should have spent $395 on the stuff I bought. Score!

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I'm sorry plant, but you need a haircut. I have tried to ignore the five foot long extensions you insist on keeping, but now that you will be moved inside the house, they have to go. I can't fit your tendrils in the office without stepping on them or rolling over them with my crafting supply cart. Say goodbye and I'll keep this photo for you to look at from time to time.

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Happy 10th birthday Calvin!

Today I went over to Rob's cousin Meghan's house to help her make a birthday cake for her son. She wanted to have a lego theme, since they are planning to go to Legoland during their Florida vacation in a few weeks. She even found a digital camera that looked like it was made out of legos for his gift! When I got over there, she had baked the main cake, and some cake and brownies in a lego shaped baking pan for the top. We frosted it in white, then I put the lego shaped Pez-style candies around the outside. It was tricky to frost the lego shaped brownies with buttercream, so we made up some confectioners' suger, water and food coloring to coat the brownies for the top. When the kids arrived, they all loved the cake! Calvin did too, and the party was a hit!

286/365

Later this week, I will be taking this jar of coins to the Coinstar machine at the supermarket. We can use some extra cash to help pay the bills, and I figure there might be around $100 inside. We really need to order some heating oil, since it's abnormally cold right now and we're down to under 1/8 of a tank of oil.

284/365

It's naptime...mmmmmm...sounds like a plan!

283/365

Please preen my head feathers little bird in the mirror?

Roo likes to perch on the schoolyard playground we have and look at the bird in the mirror. I've wondered if he thinks that bird is real? He feeds it and chirps to it, and tries to get it to scratch his head! Roo's such a funny little bird.

282/365

While we were shopping at Target the other day, Rob spotted this griddle and immediately said we had to buy it. "It is on sale for $24.99," he said, "and we haven't been able to find our old one in a long time." Ok, good argument. So we bought it. This is it's shakedown run, and it's working great! It's nice to be able to cook both the bacon and pancakes at the same time. That way, they're both hot at the same time! Of course, we found the old griddle the day after we brought this one home, but found that it was broken, so out it went.

280/365

These are my eyes.

Or at least that's what I say when I have to take them out at the end of the day. I have to go "take out my eyes". I only wear these contacts on days that I am going out and need to see far away, say to the movies or even to a party. I can't wear them all the time, especially while I'm at work, because they give me a headache after a while. Trying to see properly while staring at the computer really tires my eyes out. I can see perfectly up to four feet away, so I'm constantly trying to focus around the contacts to see the screen. I still use glasses for everyday driving, and nothing the rest of the time. I just squint a lot, and that's why I have crow's feet at age 29!

279/365

I finally made it to Sonic! This is the first Sonic restaurant to make it to Massachusetts. It is in Danvers on Rt. 1. Sonic is pretty cool because not only do they have the typical drive-through window, but they also have a walk-up window and picnic tables to eat outside. There are no indoor tables. But the best part is the stalls where you park your car, order your meal, and have the waiter or waitress deliver your food to you in your car while on rollerskates/rollerblades! It is like the 1950's diners where they did the same thing. I am not sure what they will do when it starts snowing, but for now it's a fun experience. Plus their cherry limeade drinks are SOOO GOOD!

274/365

Rob and I drove down to Falmouth, MA to go to our friends Claudio and Carmen's wedding today. They are part of our drag racing team, Team XXX Racing. Claudio is the guy that I always end up racing in the final round, and he always beats me! It's all good though, I like our racing rivalry. Someday I'll beat him! Anyways, back to the wedding. I forgot the camera, so this is the only photo I got of the day. I wore the same dress I'd worn to Matt and Sarah's wedding a couple years back, although this time with black tights since it was chilly. Rob and I made it down there with just a few minutes to spare after getting completely soaked from the downpour outside. I had a small umbrella that didn't do too much, but poor Rob had nothing and he was completely sopping wet. Sorry honey! The ceremony was very traditionally Catholic, and some of it was performed in Portuguese. 45 minutes later, we left for the reception. When we got there, people were still setting up the tables and entrance hall. We were confused, and when we asked were told that the reception wasn't for three more hours! We didn't know what to do with ourselves, so we ended up driving around the south shore for the next three hours. 6:00 finally came and we headed back to the hall. It was filling up with people by then. Unfortunately, we didn't know anyone else, since the other members of our team could not make it due to the national event race that was going on in New Jersey that weekend. After a long cocktail hour, we were brough into the dining hall. It was so beautifully decorated! There were long swaths of fabric draped across the incredably high ceiling, beautiful tall, square vases with orchids, dramatic mood lighting and an exquisite cake. We were served a few courses before the main course. My favorite was the watermelon sorbet. There was also a field greens salad and some kind of traditional Portuguese sausage and potato soup. Rob wasn't feeling well, so right after we finished the main course (chicken for me and seafood for him) we decided to leave. I hated to leave so early, but what can you do? We said a quick goodby to the bride and groom, then made the hour and a half drive home. I'm glad we went, even thought we didn't know anyone there. It was good to show our support for our racing friends.

273/365

All the birds got some Cheez-Its for a snack today. At one point, all four were "sharing" the crackers at the same time. That didn't last long, but they all got some in the end. Here is Pip Squeak and Ty munching away on the same piece.

271/365

I love this tool. It is a Sizzix die cutting machine I got from A.C. Moore in Dover a couple years ago. It retails for $99, but I found it in the Clearance section for only $7! I couldn't believe it when I saw the empty box on the shelf. I brought it to the counter and the woman went and got me a new one and charged me the $7. Plus I found four packages of letter dies marked down from $149 to $19.99. Of course I snapped them all up! It's definately paid for itself by now. I love a great deal!

270/365

I can't believe how much wasteful packaging this Swiffer vac had. I had been wanting to get one of these for a while, so when I found a $5 off coupon, I bought it from BJs today. It is great for hardwood floors because unlike our regular vacuume, this doesn't have the spinny brushes that spit the birdseeds all over the floor. It is basically a handheld vac on a stick with a Swiffer pad attached behind it. The vac sucks up all the feathers and seeds and other big stuff, while the pad picks up the dirt and little stuff. It works great around the birds' cages and I can get the whole house vacuumed on one charge! However, the packaging really bothered me. It was in a box inside a box, plus there was styrofoam and plastic inside too. In this age of "green" how can a company justify all the extra packaging? I guess I'm no better, because I bought a product that uses throwaway pads and an electric vacuume, rather than just sweeping up the floors with a broom. Oh well, at least I recycled the cardboard...

264/365

Look, I caught a Goldfish!

8/23/09

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Awwwwww...

This is straight out of the bag of pretzels. Is this a sign?

250/365

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This is an experiment for me. It is an apple-cinnamon oven puff pancake. Doesn't it look delicious? It will be even better when I flip it over, dust it with powdered sugar and then dip it in maple syrup (real, not that fake ms. b. crap!) ooooo...I can't wait to eat this!

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A dilemma...

Stay where I am safe but extremely unchallenged? Or take a chance on something new and uncertain?

My horiscope for today reads:

You are at a crossroads of sorts now, but instead of making a choice between two different alternatives, you need to choose how to expand your options. That's pretty exciting -- but time is short!

I am not entirely sure what that means, but it is very relevant to what I'm going through today. An opportunity has come up for a new job. Right now I am working at Measured Progress. I started working here last September, and it lasted through the beginning of March (it's a temporary position). Then I was called back at the end of May, and I am fairly sure I will be here through the winter again. So far, I have done approximately one full weeks' worth of work in the two and a half months that I've been back. It's that slow here right now.

Most days I sit and stare into space, or read crafting blogs and try to look like I'm doing actual work. Yes, I'm getting paid to sit here and do nothing, but it is depressing and the days drag on forever. I feel like I'm just wasting my time here, when I could be doing so many other things. I know the work will pick up in about another month, then get super crazy since everything's on deadline in November and December.

But...

A coworker sent my name to her temp. agency in response to a catalog design position that opened up at Brookstone in Manchester, NH. I actually had worked with this particular man and his agency before, so he remembered my name. He sent me the details for the position. It will run from September to November/December, and it pays $25/hr. $25/hr! That is a nice number to see on your paycheck. That's $5 more per hour than I make now. Over the course of a month, that adds up to an additional $600 take-home.

But...

It is only 2-3 months long. I'd be unemployed by the end of the year, rather than sometime in February/March. And who knows what else I'll be able to find for work once it's done? Ahhhh...I don't know what to do. I really want to take the new position, but my brain/monthly bill calculator takes over and says "no f-ing way!" I guess I'll be doing some serious thought about it this weekend, and lots of talking with Rob to find out his opinion. I'll keep you posted...

239/365

What a surprise when I got home! Rob had the day off and he spent most of the afternoon mulching our new flower beds in front of the house. Mom and I had spend a few days yanking out the old dead shrubs and planting new ones a while back, but we didn't mulch the beds, so the weeds were running rampant! It almost looked like the grass extended all the way up to the foundation, rather than new dirt and plants. So when I got home, he lead me out to the front lawn where the valiant plants were no longer struggling to rise above the weeds. Instead, they were shown off beautifully by the thick layer of black mulch that matched so nicely with the front door and shutters. Our front lawn finally looks presentable!

238/365

237/365

Yuck. Another trip to the dentist. I had another bad cavity on my little molar on the bottom left of my mouth. This time, I insisted on having a white filling rather than the silver he used last time. It took almost three weeks before I could stand room tempature liquid in my mouth without doubling over in pain last time. I am SO sensitive to silver fillings! After jabbing me with the insanely huge novacane needle a few times, he went to work. It took about a half hour, then he was done. Once the novacane wore off (about four hours later) my tooth didn't hurt at all! I can drink cold water, chew crunchy and chewy food, and there is no pain. Hooray! I wish I'd had the option for a white filling last time...even if it was more expensive.

236/365

I always get happy when I see another CRX driving down the road. Especially red ones! This one was following me home from work for a while before turning into the Market Basket plaza by the Rt. 4 rotery. BTW...don't try to take photos while driving. It's really difficult!

235/365

What cute little wedding favors! Easy to make, and full of yummy M&Ms. Good job!

234/365

Today was Kerry and Rob's wedding. Don't they look so happy? Kerry looked beautiful, of course. Her dress was so pretty. Rob was hansome in his suit. I was very glad that we were invited, along with a few other members of Team XXX Racing. Andrew and Kathy, Claudio and Carmen, Chad and Caroline, Jared and Charles and their dates. It was strange to see everyone in clothes other than their racing tshirts and jeans and helmets!

After some missteps earlier in the day (like me forgetting my shoes and having to drive an hour back home to get them) we arrived at the church a little late. We snuck in as quietly as we could, just in time to see Rob and Kerry say "I do." Then we went back to Claudio's hotel room for an hour to wait until it was time to drive to the reception.

Once at the hall, we had cocktail hour with an open bar and yummy snacks. Everyone from Team XXX pretty much hung out together, as we really didn't know anyone else there. Then we were led into the dining room, where we were stuffed in the corner like I knew we would be. We were the rowdy table after all! It was ok though. We all had a great time laughing and exchanging stories about the bride and groom and each other's antics, and of course, cars! It was a wonderful night and I was sad when it came time to leave. It's fun to get together somewhere other than the racetrack with this great group of friends.

233/365

I brought in this plant a few days ago to spruce up my cubicle at work. It had taken over cabinet shelves above the sink in my kitchen with it's tendrils, so it was time to go! It adds a nice little touch of life to my typically uninspiring cube. If I try hard enough, I can pretend I'm outside in the woods. Err...maybe not.