Holiday Cheer

After putting in a ton of hours at work, I was finally able to head home for the holidays. While in Virginia I saw both sides of the family, had a long dinner and good chat with a friend, went to the Christmas Eve service at church, did a little cooking, watched it snow outside, played with the pets, and enjoyed not setting an alarm clock. 

 

My favorite hymn, Bryan all tuckered out after opening gifts, my new cantaloupe ornament, and snow on the mountains behind the house.

 
 

After Christmas Christmas Party

We had our work Holiday Party Thursday night. It is always fun to socialize and get to know fellow co-workers outside of the work setting. Kitchen folks, office folks, and store folks all mingled and were merry!

 

The "sisters" (clockwise from me: Laura, Jess, Lulu, Averill and Amy) & a pretty selfie of me, Laura and Lulu

 

Laura & I channeling Buzz Lightyear due to the spacey looking art behind us & Tariq with Jamie, Sara, and Mandy getting a sneaky selfie in!

Who says a Christmas party has to happen before December 25th??

A Taste of Tailgating

I have never tailgated before. I did not go to a school with a football team and though I have attended a hand full of Saints games, I've just never partook in the pre-game festivities. Last Sunday however, Brie and I fell into some tickets and ended up tailgating with Amy before watching the Saints shut it down 41-0!

 

Amy & Me, then Brie hanging out under the interstate ramp with the Superdome in the background.

 

In our awesome seats that were made even more awesome by the fact that the Saints pummeled the Buccaneers!

Norman Reedus Love

So next to the show Dexter, my favorite "serial drama" is definitely The Walking Dead. And next to Dexter the character (Michael C. Hall), my favorite socially awkward-yet lovable bad ass is definitely Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus). Pretty much if you like TWD you love Daryl--he's a fan favorite for sure. I follow him on Twitter which is how I have come to  hear about two recent live interviews he was doing.

 

Left: Extra Skype-style interview with fans. Right: MTV's "Big & Best Of 2012" live interview.

 

 

Nothing like sitting at work on my lunch break with my headphones in laughing about Norman telling the world about the oddest things fans have given him (squirrel meat in a plastic bag, a breast implant, tons of stuffed animals, etc.). He really seems like a very pleasant person and though he has been an actor for years (The Boondock Saints, American Gangster) I feel like playing a post-apocalyptic zombie killing machine with a soft side has been his best role and luckily the writers have been giving his character more depth and screen time. Though The Walking Dead just had its mid-season finale that left Daryl in a less-than-ideal situation, I have faith that his time is not over and that he will continue to develop on the show. If the writers kill him off...there may be a riot that ensues!

Pilot Light Conqueror

When my handy dandy clock/calendar/thermometer/moon-phase-guide said that it was 45 degrees outside and 61 degrees in my room I decided that it was time to turn the heat on! So, like most normal people this day and age would, I flicked the thermostat to "HEAT" and waited to hear that magical *poof* sound that means modern technology will prevent me from freezing to death. The *poof* came and I prepared to bundle up in bed and bask in the warmth...but the warmth didn't come. My vent was spitting out chilly air. No bueno.

 

 

Hmmm...no one else was home, so it was up to me to figure this out. First step: make sure I tuned the thermostat to "HEAT" and not "AC" (I mean, I consider myself pretty smart, but I could have accidentally done that). Nope, it was indeed on "HEAT". So I started poking around in the laundry room where I know the furnace is located. After struggling to remove the metal panel separating me from the innards and making sure I had read and re-read the instructions at least three times--I don't want to be responsible for blowing our house up!--I found the spot where the pilot light was supposed to be lit.

 

Again a struggle ensued. Per the instructions I was holding the button down that lets gas flow with one hand and wiggling my lighter towards the pilot with the other but nothing was happening. Sad face. Who can help me figure out what I am doing wrong? At this hour, I guess I'll see if my brother can be of assistance--maybe he is still up. Via a few texts and a picture of a valve it was concluded that there was no gas flowing. A slight flip of a knob and voila: gas! Again with the pushing of the button and the lighter and *poof* the pilot was lit!

 

 

Once I was sure the flame was going to keep chugging along I put all of the metal doors back on and turned the power on to everything, re-flicked the thermostat to "HEAT" and BAM!! Warm air was flowing out of the vents! I feel a little badass for being able to get it going sorta on my own--thanks LB for being up and willing to help out.

 

I'm not going to freeze tonight!!

Not A Winning Season

Welp, looks like the Saints won't be making it to the play-offs this year. Their season has been less than mediocre with a current record of 5 wins and 8 losses. There are still three more games to see if they can squeak out an 8-8 season. Playing without Sean Payton coaching and continuously dealing with the repercussions of "Bounty Gate" have proven to be too much for the boys in black and gold. While the Superbowl will be hosted at the Dome in February, the only Saints players that will be there will be the ones watching from the stands. 

What's With the Warm Weather??

My internal thermometer is freaking out. December/Christmas time is supposed to be cold weather time. Every day this past week has been at least 70 degrees here. I know that I live in a warmer climate than I grew up in, but the weather in early November felt more like holiday season than it does now. Work has picked up...I am not going in today out of principle, but Sunday will see my putting in extra hours... so I know that technically it is Christmas time, but if I look at my handy Weather Channel app on my phone it says today's high is 75 and tomorrow 78. Thankfully it appears that a cold front will be coming in next week and dropping us into the 60s (woo hoo!). Hard to believe this time in two weeks I will be on a plane flying home: where it will really feel like Christmas!