Christmas Weekend Recap

Why do long weekends fly by?

Wednesday - Worked at home in the morning and then finished baking pine nut cookies to take over to Helen's. Dinner at Helen's with Christine and her crew plus Aunt Patty and Dave. Low key this year. No one got too rowdy from margaritas. In other words, no interesting pictures to share.

Thursday - Opened gifts from Santa Steve. The biggest surprise was the desk that I wanted but I had forgotten to put on my wish list. I also got replacement knitting needles since I accidently gave mine away; we'll save that story for another day.


Headed over to Mom & Dad's and spent most of the day playing Wii, stuffing our faces, and exchanging gifts which of course included our annual white elephant gift exchange. This year I ended up with Santa Spud. My sister was the big winner with a Granny Racers game.

Friday - Made the mistake of going to the mall along with the rest of NoVA. Note to self: don't go out to any store the day after Christmas. I have no idea what I did with the rest of my day. I think I spent it doing some combination of sewing, eating, and maybe more eating? Stayed in Friday evening to watch Hancock. Cheesy in some parts, but I was entertained enough that I didn't feel the urge to knit, crochet, or do something else to pass the time.

Saturday - Gym, Starbucks, then work. I wanted to finish the users guide that I was working on so that I could bill the company and get paid for the work. We lost power just after I e-mailed the document off so I had no choice but to go to G Street Fabrics. Spent the rest of the afternoon sewing before Steve and I went out to pick up some grub and another movie. This time we picked up Stepbrothers. Sucked. I was bored about 20 minutes into it and spent the rest of the movie crocheting.

Sunday - Met up with Steve's tri buddies for a tourist-y run in DC. Spent the rest of the day craftin' away.

Vintage Christmas Pics

1973 - making me about 1 1/2. Like the boots? Because you know I needed them in the Philippines.


These are all from 1974. Obviously someone thought I was a doll they could play dress-up with. (Mom)

Pre-Christmas Weekend Recap

Friday – Spent the evening with my Chipotle burrito bol and The Hulk (the movie, not Steve). Okay I suppose, but I can’t help but associate Ed Norton with crazy, just like I associate Adam Sandler with silly.

Saturday – Met Nina at 8:00 for a 2 hour-ish run around DC. We started at the Iwo Jima Memorial, headed out to Hains Point, the Mall, and took a quick detour to check out the National tree before heading back. It was the perfect way to spend the morning and a nice reminder that I really do need to get into the city more to take advantage of what’s out there.

Spent the rest of the day baking, baking, and baking. This year’s assortment includes chocolate with cherries (very dense), crispy chocolate chip, pretzels w/ Kisses and M&Ms, and pine nut cookies (my personal favorite). BTW, where the heck are all the Hershey Hugs??? I had to use plain ole Kisses because Hugs are no where to be found.

That night, one of the ladies that Steve has trained with in the past was having a party at her house, er, McMansion. This is now the second house I’ve been to in the last month that has made my jaw drop. Unless I’m housing Hugh Hefner and his bunnies, I just don’t understand why anyone would want a house that big. It seemed like this house had more unused guest bedrooms than we have rooms in our townhome. The stainless steel stove was big enough to roast a few toddlers and the entire house had been professionally decorated ~ I’m guessing decorating a place that big requires something more upscale than Ikea or Target. Anyhoo… it was still fun to hang out with Steve’s tri buddies.

Sunday – Woke up early to get some work done on the user guide I’m supposed to have ready by January. Steve and I stopped by my parents before we all headed over to my cousin’s pre-Christmas family get-together. Being in the midst of present-opening chaos reminded me of the many Christmas mornings I spent with these cousins when we lived in DC.

No sugarplums for you!

Sometimes you're just not in the mood for anything sweet.

2008 Stats

Running:

• Number of running shoes: 3
• Number of races finished: 6
• Total miles run: 1393.2 miles
• Hours run: 208 hours, 32 minutes, 32 seconds (8 days, 16 hours)
• Toenails sacrificed: ½. Despite suffering a bruised pinky toenail after the National Marathon in March, the little sucker never fell off. I’m guessing the new one decided to grow under the damaged one.

Food:

• Times we’ve eaten at Chipotle: Too many to count. For a while there it was a weekly thing, but we’ve cut back so that we don’t feel obligated to give the employees a Christmas gift. Kidding. Kinda.
• Burgers eaten: About 4: One mushroom Swiss at Cheeseburger in Paradise back in January with my family, and another mushroom Swiss a few weeks ago in NYC. I’m adding an extra two burgers for barbeques we might have attended. Burger trumps hot dog.
• Gallons of milk: Approximately 26. We go through about a gallon a week and I tend to use slightly more than Steve since I put some in my oatmeal/cereal and also have a glass to wash my vitamins down.

Other useless stats:

• Number of in-person job interviews: 2. Interview number one was with VW. Approximately 2-3 hours long and consisted of a “test” and panel interview. They never returned my calls so I’m guessing I wasn’t Vdub material. Interview number two was with the company I’m currently working for. I was a little skeptical about taking it, but figured I really had nothing to lose. Okay, maybe I lost the parking garage and a window office but I can deal with that.
• Number of different colors of interior paints purchased: 15ish. Actually used 4 colors, the rest of the colors didn’t work out. Fortunately most of these were the sample size.
• Number of hair appointments: 6
• Number of people I know who have died: 3. Steve’s grandmom, John a former project manager, and a friend’s stepfather.
• Number of hangovers: 2. It’s funny how my definition of a hangover has changed through the years. In my 20s, a hangover would have meant praying to the porcelain gods while simultaneously trying to recall what I drank to make me so sick and vying to never drink that much again. These days, I define a hangover as anytime that I feel groggy (which includes a headache) due to having too much to drink. Event number one was the night before Steve’s grandmom’s funeral. The “quick bite to eat” with his NJ cousins who we don’t see often turned into closing down a TGI Fridays, a bar, and finishing off a bottle of wine back at the hotel. Event number two was Steve’s 40th just a few weeks ago where I had too many margaritas that resulted in me having a gnarly headache when I woke up at 5:30 am to find the boys still playing Wii.
• Times inside a church: 2 (one funeral, one wedding)
• Times thrown out of a bar: 1, but that’s one for my entire life.
• Times I’ve flown: 2 - pathetic. I need to go on more trips.
• Number of beach visits. 1 – truly unacceptable. I spent a few hours on the beach in FL while Steve and the rest of his tri-people were off doing their thing. Ran on the beach early in the morning, had breakfast, then plunked myself into a cushioned beach lounger. Heaven. Granted we went to a lake “beach” in NH and then to Deep Creek Lake in July, but I don’t consider those real beaches.

Rudolph the red-nosed SUV

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Originally uploaded by cherrydg

Two Cubes from History

I'd imagine that most if not all of us know exactly where we were and what we were doing on 9/11. Two cubes away from me is Ben, an unassuming man in his 60s with a New York accent who starred in a movie called United 93. Ben remembers exactly where he was on 9/11. If you met him, you'd never know that he was the one in charge at the Air Traffic Control Command Center that day and the one that issued the order to ground all the flights in the country that day. I'm so not worthy.

Pop-up Cards

A refreshing change to the corporate holiday card.

Weekend Recap

Friday - Low key evening with Esteban: lasagna followed by my beating him in 9 holes of Wii golf.

Saturday - Gym immediately followed by a trip to Target. I'm sure no one at Target appreciates my stinky, sweaty self in there at 8:30 a.m., but too bad. I don't like crowds and going first thing in the morning lets me get it out of the way. (Besides, I can treat myself to Starbucks while I'm there.) Went to JoAnn's to pick up some goods for a few tote bags I'm going to make. On my way out of the parking lot I saw my favorite pair: a guy in his early 20s and his elderly grandmom (or much older mom). I've run into them a few times at Michael's on Saturday mornings and am guessing it's a weekly outing he makes with her. Very sweet. He walks patiently with her although she moves r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w with her cane. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when I see how sweet he is with her.

We actually picked up our tree this weekend which is extremely early for us. Twenty-five smackaroos but it's definitely the tallest and fullest tree we've ever had. Afterwards I dragged Steve to Costco to get the grocery shopping out of the way then it was over to Claude Moore park to watch his nephews' swim meet. Spent the evening stuffing our face with a margharita pizza, drinking wine, and watching the movie Ironman.

Oh! Our neighbor gave us these gorgeous little candy things and said it was some kind of Thai dessert. I had to know what they were and found out they're called luk chup.

Sunday - 12-miler out on the Leesburg section of the W&OD. Spent most of the day craftin' it up and adding stuff to our wishlists on Wishpot. I love, love, love this site. Had this been around in the 90s, I'd like to hope that I would have gotten fewer sweaters with dainty little flowers and teddy bears sewn on them. Do I really look like the teddy bear wearin' kind?

Bonus Recap

It’s been such a good week I figured I'd do a recap while I chowed down on my ham, egg, and cheese bagel. Delish. Even better topped off with my gingerbread latte and sips of the pumpkin latte I got for Steve (don't tell).

Monday – Work was boring but I came home to find a care package from Al. I thought she had bought this therapeutic bag thingy she sent but it turns out she made it herself. I miss my craftletic pal.

Tuesday – Had lunch with former co-workers Jenny, Kathleen, and Lisa. I sure do miss working with them, but it was great to catch up even if it was just for just a little while. I also talked to a friend from the gym that I hadn’t seen for a few weeks. Good times.

Wednesday – Work then off to Il Fornaio in Reston to meet Terri and Flo for drinks. I finally got to give Terri-er the cross stitch of her doggy store logo that I’ve had ready for months, and Flo the knitting needle case that I made her. Oh. Did I mention I love vodka tonics?

Thursday – Found out I may actually have a chance to move to the new section of the office they’re building out which will have more windows. Our current cube area is pretty unwelcoming: no sunlight and black ceiling tiles. Bleh. Took a long lunch to meet with a small company that needs a user guide written. They need it by early January, but it seems doable. I’m not actively looking for freelance work, but the extra mula is always welcome and it’s a fairly straightforward project. I got back to the office just in time for the free luncheon that the building management was putting on. Artichoke & crab dip, roast beef sandwiches, chocolate fondue… these are a few of my favorite things. Came home to find more presents! This time Maricel send me some smell-good soaps that are too cute to funkify with my germs and dirt.

Friday – I won! Our building management had a raffle for a $50 Best Buy gift card and I won. Woohoo! Maricel suggested I buy Cooking Mama for the Wii, but we also need ink for our printer. Decisions, decisions.

Steve's Bday Weekend Recap

Friday - Stayed in making brownie cupcakes w/ PB icing, and a ham & potato crock pot concoction for Saturday's lunch. Dull, I know but too bad.

Saturday - Went out for a frosty 12-miler with Tracy at o'dark thirty. The DeGuzman crew came over around noon to watch Navy beat Army (34-0). Steve opened his bday presents during half-time and promptly went downstairs after the Navy game to set up his Wii. We all took turns playing until around 6ish when other family and friends showed up. Watched the pathetic Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya fight. I liked De La Hoya in his prime, but considering how his last few fights have turned out I think it's time for him to hang up the gloves.

Sunday - Made Steve, Chris, Rob, and Joe the Cupcake breakfast before playing 9 holes of Wii golf. Silly how pretty they can make a cartoon golf course. Spent the rest of the day lounging around. Realized around 6pm that other than my run on Saturday morning, I didn't leave the house at all. Eeek.

Turkey Weekend Recap

Thursday – Met Tracy at o’dark thirty for a field trip run to Great Falls . I think trail running is harder than running on pavement, but I managed to finish without falling or doing a Sonny Bono impersonation. After a quick breakfast and shower, it was off to my parent’s for dinner. Dad fried two turkeys: one for dinner and one for Steve to take home. Ever since my parents found out that Steve loves turkey, they make a point to make one just for him any time they cook one. In between dinner and dessert, we watched Get Smart. We stopped by my uncle’s house to visit and draw names for Christmas gifts. Yay! Buying two gifts for the cousins is much easier than buying 13. Steve, his turkey and I stopped by Helen’s before finally take our overstuffed bellies home.

Friday – Lugged myself to the gym. I spent most of the day tidying up and rearranging our wall décor. Looks pretty good if I must say so myself and I didn’t spend a cent. That night, one of the ladies in our running group was having a get-together for the group at her house, or in my opinion, mansion. The house was ginormous! They had a baby grand piano in the front room and if I could do cartwheels, I’m sure I could have done at least 10 before hitting a wall. We hadn’t seen a lot of these people since the summer so it was fun to find out how everyone did at their fall races. Turns out more and more of these crazies are running 50-milers and some are considering a 100-miler in Massanutfen. Insane.

Saturday – Went out for what turned out to be a tough 12-miler. It felt like I had Steve’s turkey friend and a case of beer strapped to my back the whole time. Most of the day was spent decorating the house for Christmas minus the tree. Just like I could do without turkey on Thanksgiving, I could do without a tree at Christmas. We usually get one when Steve realizes Christmas is a few days away. By then, all that are left are the reject trees. The good news is that we usually get our tree for a bargain. I think the most we’ve spent is $20, the least $5. Speaking of bargains, we found this World Market dining set last week on Craiglist. $275 for table and chairs.


Anyway…

Took a trip to Plum Grove Cyclery in Leesburg to check out their sale since everything was 60% off. I ended up buying a pair of Tifosi glasses for running. Merry Christmas to me! Swung by Spokes, Lowes, and the dreaded Wal-mart but managed not to buy a thing at any of those places. After three weeks sans-burrito bol, we went to Chipotle, took our loot home, and watched The Happening. Movie was okay, but I’m thankful for Mark Wahlberg despite his years with the funky bunch.

Sunday – Craft and laundry day. I finished a tote and knitting needle case, and cut fabric for some soon-to-be makeup pouches. We’re having company over next weekend so I attempted to clean up the guest room where I have all my sewing stuff. Al and had talked about opening a craft thrift store where people could bring unused supplies and unfinished projects. Considering the amount of stuff I have, we should do that soon.

Monday – Yes, I know that the weekend is over, but it looks like Santa stopped by our office and dropped off a 42” TV for the lounge. No more playing Wii on the old-fashioned 27 incher.