Fiona in January

Fiona in January

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Feeling Lazy (and rightfully so!)

So I'm feeling a little lazy as I type today...it's been a crazy week full of family and lots of high-energy Christmas fun. So today I am taking a quick breather and posting the following - a concept I snagged from one of my favorite author's blogs: www.jennsylvania.com (check it out, she's fantastic!) So read and hopefully enjoy...

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.

2. Post these rules on your blog.

3. Share four unimportant things about yourself.

4. Tag four random people at the end of your entry.

* * * Four Unimportant Things about Em * * *

1. I have discovered that I have a very weird palate on occasion. For example, my sister Molly made a pineapple upside-down cake this weekend for Christmas dessert and everyone loved it. However, pineapple upside-down cake always leaves me with a weird bubblegum aftertaste. It is not pineapple - I LOVE pineapple, I have yet to figure out why but yeah. My palate is weird.

2. I am a fairly intelligent person, yet I can't put together a pre-school age jigsaw puzzle. My 3 and a half year old nephew, Cameron, got several puzzles for Christmas. The kid loves puzzles. I have no idea where he got that as his mother and I despise them with all of our being. There's nothing quite like being mocked for my puzzle assembling ineptitude by a 3 year old. Humbling? Indeed.

3. I have found a type of Christmas music I actually like. Due to years of working in retail, I absolutely despise Christmas music. I maintain that there are only about 15 Christmas songs that people insist on "re-doing" constantly making them even more shrill and grating. Yet I was surprised that this year I found Christmas music that doesn't send me screaming over the edge of a cliff: INSTRUMENTAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC. It's not the music, it's the lyrics and vocals that make me want to take a sharp stick to my eye...God bless Christmas music sans vocalists...God bless us everyone.

4. Despite my tendency to dress like a 13 year old skater boy, I am extremely girly. Case in point: I couldn't have been happier when I received Bath and Body Works creams, scrubs, bath salts and lip gloss as gifts this season. Not to mention the fantastic masks and makeup samples thrown in...I also hyperventilate if I am at anytime without lip gloss/chapstick/hand lotion. I would never think of walking out the door without at least powder foundation and mascara on (hello - I have BLOND eyelashes) and can never seem to purchase enough shoes. Hooray for being a girl!

Ok, that's enough for now, I have to go drop my sister Molly off at Union Station so she can catch her train back to Indiana (SAD!) I am tagging the following people who will probably completely ignore this post:

Ruthie Jacoby

Abbie Proud

Monday, December 21, 2009

For The Love of All That is Sacred and Snowy!

Those of you who know me, or who have at least met me, know how much I absolutely adore this time of year. Not just Christmas, but the fantastic winter weather. I love everything about it! Ok, not everything - I despise sleet. It flies sideways in the wind and burns my eyes - whoever invented sleet obviously had some sort of defensive mask in place...perhaps something like this:
The thing I love most about this season is the cold weather and snow and the fantastic clothes that go along with it! Gloves, boots (especially boots!), scarves and sweaters - gotta love the sweaters.

This weekend I was lucky enough to have an extra day (SNOW DAY) since I work for a school and Baltimore got 21 inches+ of snow dumped on it! I got to spend the weekend with Aaron and his parents on the Eastern Shore...we did a tiny version of Christmas and exchanged presents and much merriment was had by all. Aaron and I decided to brave the biting cold weather and wander around in the snow for awhile. This resulted in the following:

Aaron PUSHING me into a ditch on the side of the road causing me to bury my left foot in icy snow and sludge up to my KNEE...







Aaron hysterically laughing at me and my soggy/freezing foot plight while I halfheartedly chased him with a snowball seeking retribution...he finally stopped and let me throw it at him smack in the chest...SO not the same as getting foot-frostbite from a ditch, but I'll take what I can get. When my toes fall off he'll be sorry!




The walk ended up in hysterical laughter, which is always a good thing and my foot eventually thawed.








It greatly helped that these were waiting for me at home...fantastic new Chucks as my Christmas present from his parents...love it AND them!






So now I am safely back home hanging with Cam and Andrew hoping that Kate finally gets to come home from the hospital today...plus my parents in flying into BWI any time now and will be over soon...more Christmasing will happen tomorrow when the Kiddo gets here...can't wait to see her!

Hope you all have a rawkin Christmas (can't help it - I'm now addicted to RockBand after this weekend) and I'll post again soon....

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Being Haunted by the Ghosts of Christmas Phlegm


Despite recent events (and the incriminating photo of my bedside table riddled with pharmacological supplies), I stubbornly maintain I am not a pathetic, feeble, ill person! Apparently the spirit of such person is haunting my sinus cavities and wreaking havoc. I count it as a triumph that I was able to make it through a full 8 hour work day today (the first time this week!)

I believe part of what got me through was counting the number of pitying glances I received every time I blew my nose or rattled my clavicles with a cough. The total number? 32 fantastically shocked glances from my rockin co-workers...glances tinged with pity and a barely restrained urge to back away and douse themselves with hand santizer.

Of course the combination of Dr. Pepper, Cold Meds and a Cough Suppressant (which did NOT suppress!) also helped.

I am off to take my Rudoph-esque nose and crackling lungs to bed...I got a ton of "Mad Men" from Netflix and can't wait to get into a new series. I hope it doesn't suck, otherwise it's back to re-watching Gilmore Girls for the flobbity-jillionth time.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A New Beginning

So as a self-proclaimed (and usually confirmed by others) writer, I began thinking that it is slightly ridiculous that I don't blog. Plus I so greatly enjoy the blogs of my other friends, fellow writers and mentors I thought I would stop procrastinating (like I am doing while I work on my second novel) and actually start writing.

Which begs the question...where do I start?

And what will this blog be like?

I'm not so clear on what this blog will focus on, but I'm fairly certain it will steer clear of the following:

1. Long rambling posts about how much I love my hunky hunky boyfriend
2. Blurbs on certain products and how great they are
3. Obnoxious posturing about my political opinions

I'm sure more could be added to the list, but I'll stick with these three for now with the following exceptions:

1. I will post about my hunky hunky boyfriend if he does a) something hysterical b) something shocking/slightly illegal or c) earth shattering news concerning him is released (i.e. "...this just in, Aaron Rohrer discovered the cure for (insert chosen disease here) and has become an instant bajillionare!)

2. I will post about a rockin product if using it results in something amazing (i.e. ..."I just used this new shampoo and it turned my hair pink!") Incidentally, how could you expect me NOT to blog about that?

3. Yeah there are really no exceptions to this one - I'm not crazy about politics or blurting out my political views in type with no context. Unless I see a bumper sticker about our current economic/political climate that makes me snort-laugh, I won't be posting anything about politics.

Well look at that - I think that might be long enough for my first post...

PS - I am also not going to vow to blog every day, that only seems to get me and my fellow procrastinating bloggers/writers in trouble! I will ATTEMPT to blog at least a few times a week.