December 3

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

it would have to be during the first drag race i competed in this year. it took almost two years to get my honda back up and running after blowing the engine at the end of 2008. the race took place on july 24 of this year. it was the first time i had been in the crx since 2008, and i was cutting great lights all day - .002, .016 and .012 (out of a perfect .000 reaction time). i made it through the first rounds, then the quarter and semi finals. it came down to me and another very well known and very good bracket racer, manny, in his 60s era vw open wheel car. he is one of the most tough to beat racers at new england dragway because he cuts very good lights and is always right on his times.

i remember sitting at the light right after doing my burnout, smelling the burnt tire smoke filling the car. i was gripping the smooth shifter handle and listening to the revving engine as i waited for the tree to drop. my heart was pounding, adrenaline pumping through my body. yellow...yellow...yel-GO! i popped the clutch and spun out of the hole with my foot planted to the floor. first gear went by in a flash. second gear got the turbo spooling and i shot forward down the track. let the engine ride out to 7500 rpms, ok...shift! third gear and i was flying. i looked back to see the other racer gaining on me pretty fast. the engine is screaming and i'm almost at the finish line. come on car, you can make it! i don't want to have to shift into fourth, i'll lose too much time. he's right up by my door, but there's still a little left in the engine. come on, come on, almost there, he can't catch me! then i was past the traps and i had done it! YEAH! i looked over at him and he gave me a big thumbs up. not only is he a great racer, but he is a very good sport. this wasn't the first time i've raced him. he beat me last time, but not this day!

my hands were shaking as i took the timeslip from the ladies at the booth on the return road. there was the proof, i had won! and with a fantastic reaction time, a .006 to his .068. that right there was a victory! we pulled over by his trailer and he gave me a hug and congratulated me, his wrinkled hand shaking mine as we listened to the other racers flying down the track. then it was back to the team xxx racing tent and hugs and high fives from rob and all the other team members. what a high! and it lasted all afternoon as we were reliving the race in all it's details to one another. i felt like i was floating. it was my best race in the seven years i've been drag racing. i can't wait to have a rematch in 2011!

December 2

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

i don't really write much, but i wish i was better at journaling on my scrapbook pages.

Dec 1

December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?

it would be stagnant. i'm still stuck in the same old patterns i have been for the past few years. constantly looking for work, can't pay the bills, no motivation. i want 2011's word to be growth. i want to be in a different, better place by this time next year.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? for everyone to be healthy

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition? lately, we go to my boyfriend's dad's house for breakfast, then head to my mom's house for lunch/dinner/gifts

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? a running and fuel sipping car

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money? last year, i was unemployed, so i made everyone's gifts.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up? we played rummy a lot

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood? i like to open one gift on christmas eve

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip? where wouldn't i go?

8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year? a kinect, the new need for speed game, and a new xbox live headset

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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!

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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!

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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?

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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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