December 2, 2002Pre-Thanksgiving
Is it really Monday again? Can't we go back to last Tuesday when I was walking out of the office ready to enjoy my 5 day weekend? Oh well, at least I had a good time. :)
So as I mentioned, my parents arrived Sunday evening to spend a few days with us. While Jeff and I were at work on Monday, they had the opportunity to explore Richmond, mostly Midlooothian. We all met up with Jennifer at Traks for some oh-so-yummy food. Afterwards was another showing of Star Wars II. Is anybody tired of these yet??
Tuesday my parents headed out shortly after we left for work. From what I hear, they stopped in Tidewater to visit some family friends before going south to SC. They had hoped to drive down the coast, but were running a little short on time and had to take 95 like everybody else. When you've been landlocked for 3+ years, you're ready to see some water!!
Jeff and I got off to a late start on Wednesday. We didn't end up leaving Richmond until about 1:30. Oops! The unspoken or written plan whenever we drive south (or west) is to stop and eat at Sonic since we have none within an hours drive of Richmond. Unbeknownst to me, Jeff had another plan in the works.
So we're driving, and driving and suddenly Jeff asks how far into NC we are. I check the map and notice we're almost halfway. He makes some mention of Raleigh and how we'd get there, so I told him the road to take. He says he had a detour planned, but had missed the road (85) that would have been the best route to take. Figuring it'll be an extra hour or more, I say we should just skip it and move on. But does he listen to me, noooooo.
So we head west towards Raleigh. By this point I'm starting to get a little pissy. I'd already called my parents to let them know when we'd be getting into town, and now this little "detour" was going to put us even later. Jeff reassures me that they know all about it. That makes me even pissier because he still won't tell me what's in Raleigh that can be this important.
After one stop for directions we finally pull into this shopping center and lo-and-behold, it's a Baja Fresh! It's 4:30 by now, I hadn't eaten anything all day, was ready for some Sonic, and a little perturbed at the long side trip to Raleigh. So as much as I love Baja Fresh, I was not that happy to see it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my meal, I'm just not big on surprises. Maybe that'll teach him :)
Ok, so we eat and get back on the road again. I guess we got to Kingstree around 8ish? Hmm..I really have no idea. A little visiting with the family and then everyone bailed out and went to bed. Since we weren't sure how many people would be staying the next night, Jeff and I were volunteered to stay out in the camper, to allow for more bed space. It was a little chilly, but we had lots of blankets and a space heater to help out.
--End of pre-Thanksgiving--
Posted by Olivia at 4:26 PM | Comments (3)
Find me in: Family Fun
December 4, 2002Thanksgiving...and beyond!
Ok, so where was I? Oh right, Thanksgiving.
After sleeping in (as I normally do, missing the Macy's parade for another year in a row), we got up to find the rest of my family had arrived. My aunt and her husband -would he be an uncle or a step uncle since he's not my cousin's dad? hmm-had brought their two dogs, so I was immediately attacked as I stepped out of the camper. Don't worry, they're harmless; how much damage can a hotdog dog do? The lab is a different story, but I think he'd just slobber you to death. heheh
My cousin and her husband were also there and later his parents arrived. That would make them my....uhh..I don't think I have the brain power for this. Well anyways, there were a bunch of us there. We ate. End of story.
Ok not really. True, we did eat. And eat. And eat. My super cool mom fixed the stuffing veggie style so I could enjoy it too. :) And then there was the pie. *drool* Cherry Cream Cheese...mmmm. You could use blueberries or blackberries or whatever other kind of pie filling you can find, but I LOVE cherry. Might have to try making that one day; too bad it's so fattening.
The guys helped my aunt move some stuff out of their old house and then everyone left to share the rest of their day with other branches of the family. Really, like a whole other tree...anywayz
I got a chance to look through some photo albums my grandparents had and see pictures of them and my dad as kids. That's always fun.
My parents decided to head out on Friday so they would have a day to rest before jumping back in the fray that is Leisure Arts. Jeff & I decided to do the same since we both had some things we wanted to do too. But before leaving SC we made a slight detour to Myrtle Beach.
The extended-overnight-detour gave us all a chance to relax and have some fun. We split up for dinner (my parents have this favorite seafood place and neither Jeff nor I eat seafood). Jeff and I managed to squeeze in a little outlet shopping before eating at Hard Rock Cafe.
After spending some quality time with my parents at the hotel they hit the sack to be rested for an early start. Jeff and I left there at 11 and headed north. We ended up searching forever for a Waffle House, but finally gave up and settled for Krispy Kreme. But as we pulled out of the parking lot and around the bend in the road, lo-and-behold a Waffle House. DOH!
Oh well, at least we got to stop at Sonic for lunch later. :) Rescued the little monster from the boarding place and made it home by 7:30ish. Sunday Jeff waited at Firestone to get his stock wheels put back on before the snow started and I did a lot of laundry. Hmm...yeh, I think that about sums it all up.
Posted by Olivia at 5:12 PM | Comments (0)
Find me in: Family Fun
December 5, 2002First snow 12/5/02
Not too much to report here. Jeff and I spent most of last night deciding on Chrtsimas gifts for everyone. We looked outside late last night to find it snowing. By 12:30 it looked like this. It fell steadily for most of the night, then the sleet/freezing rain started. It made really weird sounds on our skylights. When a chunk of ice would slide off it was really loud.
I woke up this morning forgetting it had snowed and that we might not have to go to work. Had Jeff not reminded me, I probably would have gotten up and showered before thinking about it. But luckily, he said something so we checked and found out neither one of us had to work! Needless to say, I went right back to bed. :)
After sleeping in, we decided to hang the curtains that had finally arrived. Maybe they'll help keep the heat in downstairs. Maybe we'll tackle some pictures later. Oh, and here's a picture of our dresser ..I'm a little slow at getting this stuff up. Jeff's spending the rest of his snow day playing games.
Gizmo's been meowing at the door most of the day, but everytime we open it he just sticks his head out. At the back there's still some grass sticking up through the snow..err..ice..so he tries to eat it. I should just dump him out in the middle of the yard and see what he'd do. Nah, that's be too mean.
I hope everyone is enjoying their day!
Posted by Olivia at 5:23 PM | Comments (1)
Find me in: Home Life
December 6, 20024-Day weekend!
I don't have to work today! I don't have to work today! 4-day weekend, yay!!
Posted by Olivia at 12:46 AM | Comments (20)
Find me in: Working Girl Blues
December 11, 2002Crazy-busy day
Monday was a crazy-busy day. Tuesday I had nothing to do. Today has been crazy-busy. And of course, I wanted to leave early to get in some Christmas shopping. If I don't leave in the next 15 minutes, I'll have to take a lunch break (stupid rules), so I guess I better get out of here!
Jeff and I had a great time skiing at Wintergreen this weekend. Sucks about the time though. Hopefully Jeff will remember to call and see if we can get some free passes or something.
The snow was perfect, wasn't too icy, and it wasn't overly crowded. And I didn't fall down. Well, just the one time, coming off the lift, but I didn't really fall, just kinda sat down because I knew I was going to fall. But that doesn't really count, does it?
But this morning, now this morning I did fall. We woke up to the sound of rain on the roof and realized it was probably sleeting this morning. I was so careful coming out the front door and down the sidewalk. But as soon as I went to step off the curb, bam, down I went. Didn't even look like ice. Oh well. My ankle hurts where I landed on it, but i think I'll make it.
Ok, gotta go!
Posted by Olivia at 3:18 PM | Comments (5)
Find me in: Weather Words
December 19, 2002Tacky Lights Tour
Tonight, Jeff and I, along with Jennifer, Kelly, Eric, Lauren & Mike, were passengers in a stretch limo driven by Purcell, our tour guide for the evening. As I'm sure everyone will mention it, I won't go into details or post a lot of pictures. I think we all had fun though. Definitely a one-time only kind of adventure. We saw more of the highway than we did houses, but that's ok. It gave us all a chance to be together. And we got to ride in a limo. :)
This has been one busy week. We've been trying to finish up Christmas shopping (almost there!), which means fighting the crowds at all the stores. One year I will do my shopping early! Then tonight was the Tacky Lights tour, tomorrow, dinner with the Pollards, for Jennifer's birthday. Friday the boys are planning to go to a hockey game. And no, Chris, I still haven't decided if I'm going or not.
At some point I need to wrap Christmas presents and pack. I'm supposed to leave for Arkansas this weekend. If I run out of time to do everything, it'll be Sunday before I can leave.
Work has been busy one day, slow the next. It's going to be pretty crazy when we get back from the holidays, so I'm trying to get as much cleared up beforehand. Not much else to say about that I suppose.
Umm..yeh, ok. I've run out of things to say.
Posted by Olivia at 12:42 AM | Comments (4)
Find me in: Richmond Geeks
December 20, 2002A mystery gift giver
I'd like to thank our anonymous gift giver, we received The Richmond Magazine yesterday..Jeff-N-Olivia...very cute! Now, fess up!!
Posted by Olivia at 9:41 AM | Comments (0)
Find me in: Friends in Low Places
December 21, 2002Poor poor pitiful me.
I left work early today since I was feeling "ill" as my co-worker said I looked. I came home and slept all afternoon. When Jeff left to meet the guys for the hockey game, I got up and started wrapping Christmas presents. Now I have a stack of festive gifts waiting to be opened.
I was waiting on the guys to call after the game so I could join them..since I'm not leaving until Sunday, I didn't really care how late I stayed up tonight. Alas, it is after 1am and I never received a call.
Not sure what I'm going to do now..maybe just go to bed. I could clean...but I think I'll leave that for tomorrow, along with everything else.
Posted by Olivia at 1:16 AM | Comments (2)
Find me in: All About Me
December 25, 2002Christmas in Arkansas
I arrived here safely around 3:45 (Central Time) despite the pouring rain that hit once I crossed the bridge into Arkansas. The entire trip was pretty good. I detoured through Radford on Saturday; I've never seen the place so quiet. Looks like part of Adams St is torn up. Had lunch at Sonic then Gizmo and I were on the go, not to stop again until Cookeville, TN.
Cookeville,a midway point in this long trek, is a town my parents and I have always stopped in. So, true to tradition, that's where I decided to stay the night. It only took two tries before I found a hotel that would take pets. Since it was around 7ish, I left Gizmo (with dinner of course) and went to find food of my own. We spent the rest of the night watching TV and cross-stitching (looking out the window and playing for Gizmo). I fell asleep early which allowed an early start the next morning; I was on the road by 8:30.
Monday was fairly uneventful. Traffic wasn't bad either day and I didn't have to go through Nashville or Memphis during rush hour. After I got here I just hung out with my family for the rest of the night.
Bruce (my brother) and I went out for a little last minute shopping this afternoon. His girlfriend came over later for dinner; entertainment was provided by the cats. At the moment my parents have 4 pets; 2 inside cats, and 1 dog and 1 cat, both of which live outside. Misty, the perisan they've had since we lived in Myrtle Beach, is the queen of the house. She could care less about the other cats as long as they stay away from her. Stormy is the baby, about the same age as Gizmo. Twice as big as Gizmo, but just a big baby. The 2 of them have been following each other around since we got here. It's pretty funny.
Since Bruce has so graciously graced us with his presence for the night (he has an apartment across town, but is staying here tonight) I guess I'd better go spent some time with him. And then I'm going to bed; doing nothing sure is tiring!
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!
Posted by Olivia at 12:40 AM | Comments (2)
Find me in: Family Fun
December 30, 2002A week's gone by..
A week ago I was sitting here, in this same hotel. Only this time I am heading back east. I had a great week with my family; I wish I could see them more often. Maybe they'll decide to move this way sometime (because I'm not going that way!)
I told them if there was ever a reason to leave Arkansas it would be because of the roads. For those of you who have driven 295, imagine if all the highways around were like that. Ugh! I have to say, some sections have been redone, but man, it's hard on vehicles.
We had a nice Christmas; after opening gifts my mom and I watched a movie while the guys did..guy stuff... We eventually ate..way too much of course. I sure wish I could cook like my mom. Maybe I could hire her :) Bruce left to see his girlfriend for a while so the rest of us spent quality time together.
Since my dad had to work Thursday and Friday my mom and I ended up doing some shopping on Thursday. We had some items to exchange and I wanted to check out some of the after Christmas sales. I'm sure glad we didn't get up early to do that! Man, people are crazy! We checked out 2 Hallmarks'and the people in there were just vultures!! Hardly anything left on the shelves. Complete craziness.
The week has gone by way too fast. Why does that happen?
Well, Gizmo and I are going to go to bed now; we have a long day ahead of us. It's about 8-8.5 hours to Richmond from here. Ugh. But it's gotta be done. Night all!!
Posted by Olivia at 12:55 AM | Comments (1)
Find me in: Family Fun