Four rainy days with Darwin

When Colin went to New Orleans for a conference last week, I was left by myself with Darwin for 4 full days.  It would not have been so bad if it wasn't for the bad weather.  I'll admit, it could have been worse (like getting the snow all our family and friends received up north).  But still, having a dog tracking wet, muddy paws in the house (a house that still has carpeting) is a challenge.

I kept trying to get him to sit still to wipe his paws each time he came in, but he loves to run full blast from outside - slamming the door open and bringing those wet paws with him.  I did a lot of vaccumming, and spot treating the carpet and exhibited a great deal of patience each time a paw print showed itself on the floor.  My type A personality was definitely put to the test!

I've also been trying to walk him in the mornings and after work to tire him out.  We have gotten into a routine of taking a 15-20 minute walk in the morning (the "take care of business" walk), and then a 3 mile (about 45 min-1 hour) walk in the evenings.

Darwin loves to carry the biggest stick he can find on our daily walks

Even with those walks, Darwin has what Colin and I refer to as "crazy time" in the evenings (usually closer to 10-11pm) no matter how much exercise we do during the day.  Our common joke when Darwin is passed out on the couch is that he is "resting up for crazy time."

The "resting up for crazy time" hour.

If you've followed the blog before or read some of my posts on Facebook, you know that Darwin has experienced some stomach issues on and off since September.  We think he's eating acorns in the back yard.  He loves to chew on elements of nature (sticks, acorns, pine cones), and he loves drinking water from puddles and the bird bath.  With the sticks and pine cones, he leaves a chewed up mess, but with the acorns we only find the outer shell. With all the rain, I also tried keeping him away from pooled water.  Although his stomach was upset 1 or 2 days while Colin was away, I am so grateful there were no messy crate cleanups.  A cleanup is definitely a 2 person operation. Colin's responsibility is to clean the crate and I give Darwin a bath.  For the past 9 months, I have frequently felt like we are caring for a young child!

On that note, I'll also share with you that Darwin just celebrated his 1st birthday on January 5th!  We hope this second year brings him out of the high-energy puppy phase.  I'm ready for the crazy time that includes chewing, barking, and sprinting to be reduced to a minimum (or at least earlier than bedtime).

One element of crazy time includes chewing. 

While Colin was away, the chew toy was the towel I used to wipe his paws.  I've been trying to get it on video, because it's actually pretty funny to see him grab the towel and jerk his head side to side with it in a very rapid motion.  I will admit we aren't the hardest disciplinarians.  While crazy time can be really annoying, it is often very amusing.

It's so hard to discipline this face too often!

Every new beginning...

....comes from some other beginning's end.

I've gotten pretty good at transitioning from one job to another, but it is never easy.  This week I said "goodbye" to some colleagues as I left one job and said "hello" to new colleagues as I began a new job.

Every transition brings with it some excitement and some sadness.  There are usually some good things and some bad things you leave behind and good things and bad things that await you.  There are people you hate to leave behind and others you are very glad to not see regularly.  There are projects you wish you could keep working on and projects you're glad someone else will take over.

I'll admit that I don't particularly like the transition period.  I want to know what I need to do off the bat.  I hate spending all day trying to figure out how to complete one project because I don't know how to send a fax, or don't have the copier code, or I have to figure out the filing system.

I am among the few fortunate ones who have had opportunities to move into a new job when the time comes.  In this economy, that is a luxury.  Thankfully, I've made some wonderful professional contacts in the past year and a half, which led to more prospects than I ever expected.  I got to choose the job with the decent salary, the window office, and a position with some authority instead of settling for something that was just available.  While I wish circumstances were different and I could have stayed on doing what I enjoyed in an environment that had great potential, I'm happy for the new challenges and opportunities that wait for me.

My old office served me well for a year.

But I'm looking forward to what awaits me in my upgraded office.

REI Garage Sale and A Quiet Start to 2012

After having family in town for a week, we opted for a quiet New Year's Eve.

The day started out with a 5:30am wake up to get my parents to the airport for their 7am flight.  We decided not to go back to bed, because we wanted to check out REI's garage sale I had heard a lot about.  The sale was set to begin at 10am and tickets were to be given out 2 hours beforehand.  We considered going straight to the store to wait in line after dropping my parents off, but opted instead to come home and eat breakfast first.

Arriving at the store around 8:15am got us #s166-167.  The first people in line had arrived at midnight and slept in tents outside the store.  Granted it is fairly mild in Raleigh, the overnight lows were in the upper 20's to low 30's.

Instead of waiting around until the store opened and then waiting some more inside the store until our number was called, we used the time to go grocery shopping and run a few errands at Target and Sam's Club. 


Back at the store, our numbers weren't called until close to 11:30am.  We managed to find some pieces we needed for a Yakima rooftop car rack (since 1 tower of the 4 that was supposed to come in the box was missing, we got 3 for $40) and picked up a few other small items.  Some people got amazing deals on things like kayaks, bike frames, and electronics.


By the time we got home, unpacked groceries, and ate lunch it was already late afternoon.  We managed to enjoy the rest of the beautiful afternoon outdoors with Darwin.  By 8pm, we knew it would be a struggle to make it to midnight.  We baked some oatmeal raisin cookies and made our own buttercream frosting as a special treat for the New Year and played some rock band to keep ourselves awake. 

Oatmeal Raising Cookies

 Colin's homemade buttercream frosting

 Delicious cookie sandwiches!

 Colin was the first man down.  By 10:30, he was failing on the guitar and we were losing fans.  We turned off the xbox and flipped through the channels (yes, we finally got a TV - but no cable), alternating between Ryan Seacrest/Dick Clark and the other New Year's show.  I don't know about you, but it pains me to watch Dick Clark since his stroke.  Colin fell asleep on the couch and decided to hit the hay not long before the ball dropped.  I stayed awake to see the countdown, Gaga's kiss with Bloomberg, and a few minutes of 2012 before putting Darwin in his little apartment (aka his crate) and heading to bed myself.


It was a quiet night after an eventful week.

One of the benefits of a quiet evening, is that you get to enjoy your first day in 2012 without being hungover or tired.  January 1st reached into the 60s in Raleigh/Cary and there was not a cloud in the sky.  We enjoyed a huge portion of the day walking and jogging through new areas of Cary, NC.  It was even better to have another day off after the first (extending my vacation to 10 days!).  I hope this year is filled with lots of great things for us and for all of you!!

How did you spend your New Years Eve and day?

A Vacation Week of Playing Hard and Working Hard!

I had lots of things I wanted to get done during my week off between Christmas and New Years.  With family visiting, I knew it would be difficult to find time to get projects completed.  Thankfully, my parents love to help!  Even with less days of working, we were able to get so much accomplished.  Though my dad has no training as an electrician, plumber, or general contractor - he helped (ie- did it himself) complete some serious projects.

Before we got down to business, we enjoyed the Christmas holiday, eating lots of yummy holiday food and rocking out to Rock Band on the Xbox.  We also burned off some of those calories by dancing on the kinect!

My parents were pretty good

 But my brother and I were on fire!

The first project we my dad tackled was the broken valve to the water dispenser on the refrigerator. Colin had worked on it for several hours with no luck, and my dad solved the problem with some thread tape and 5 minutes of his time!

Yea for having water and ice from the fridge again!

He quickly moved on to fix two broken towel racks in the guest bathroom.

Other quick projects included adding thread tape to a leaky shower in the master bath, fixing the "Darwin destroyed" fabric on the bottom of the couches, and showing Colin how to re-screen windows (which Colin says he knew how to do).  I missed that lesson, but hopefully we'll be able to get all the screens with holes fixed up before spring.

We are hoping the thread tape solves the problem of water leaking into the crawl space 

- it could be an expensive fix otherwise.

The new screen gives the window a much cleaner look!

Two projects I've wanted to work on for awhile were also completed. With a brick facade, Colin and I were at a loss as to how set up a motion activated flood light on the driveway.  We asked people at Lowes and Home Depot, but didn't receive much help from them.  When I told my dad what we were trying to do, he helped me get all the necessary tools and supplies (over the course of a few visits).  After a few attempts (and over several hours) of drilling through the brick, we he finally got the light up and working!  It is so nice to walk or drive into the driveway and have the light come on now.

My other project included getting things on the walls in the house.  Colin and I bought a few small mirrors at a yard sale this summer, and wanted to put them up in the hallway to open the space a bit.  Getting these on the wall really was a group effort with both my parents helping Colin and I.

I like how the mirrors came out, especially when the sun reflects through the window above the front door.  Hopefully, we can decide on some paint colors soon, because I am getting tired of the cream walls all over!

By the end of the week, the weather really warmed up and we all enjoyed walks with Darwin between working on house projects and playing games on the Xbox.  While my dad helped Colin fix the automatic garage door (a big project on Colin's to-do list), my mom and I took care of some landscaping.  It has been difficult to grow grass, but we managed to get rid of the leaves and debris for now.

I'm hoping to plant some flowers in there this spring!

I also pulled a bunch of weeds from under the mailbox and changed up the brick pattern.  It was quite a task without garden tools.  

As you can see, the mailbox still needs adjusting
and we'll have to plant flowers this spring!

  

For every project we completed, there are so many projects left!  I guess this is the wonderful world of home ownership!  I really want to paint some of the beige walls in the house, but I need some inspiration.  Because of our indecision, I haven't put much on the walls and I'm hesitant to buy more furniture.  

On the topic of furniture - we still have the formal living and dining rooms to furnish and the bedrooms still only have beds.

I am also ready for the yard to look nicely landscaped!  Right now, everything is so brown (I know - it's winter).  But, even in the summer, we didn't have much grass.  

One thing about home ownership is certainly true - a lot of money can be spent on home repairs and maintenance!!  My dad saved us so much money by showing us how to fix things ourselves.  We do need to invest in some pricey tools - but they will certainly pay for themselves in the long run.  We just need to find the right tools and take time and have some patience to do the work ourselves.  

We knew there would be pros and cons to buying a house that was fairly new without all the updates.  A house without a lot of updates gave us bargaining power, but now we need to invest in updates ourselves.  I'm so glad we didn't buy anything that required a lot of work to live in.  I would be so stressed about all the projects that really NEEDED to be done in a house like that.  I am impatient and want all the updates done now, but I know that it will happen in time and can live with bland walls.  For now, I will try to celebrate each small success - even it if is just hanging one new photo.

Where do you get your interior design ideas?

What tool(s) was/were your best investment(s)?

Hosting Our First Christmas!

This year, my family decided they would come down to North Carolina to spend the holidays with us in our new home.  Since June, we've been furnishing the house slowly and we don't yet have all the rooms complete, but we are furnished enough to entertain guests.  With my mom, dad and brother set to arrive mid-day on Christmas Eve, Colin and I worked vigorously to prepare ourselves for their arrival.

Throughout the week, we went grocery shopping, prepared the meals and desserts that could be made ahead of time, and cleaned the house.  I took a day off with the intention of doing my last minute Christmas shopping, and finished so quickly that I spent most of the day cleaning.  On three consecutive evenings, Colin made the three desserts for our holiday meals.  He decided that every dessert would have a "healthy" component to it, so he made pumpkin cheesecake, beet brownies, and lentil cookies.  I will admit that all three desserts were a huge success, and the beet brownies were divine!

On the eve of Christmas Eve, while Colin made lentil cookies, I made Eggplant Parmesan - the Italian portion of our Christmas meal.  I don't know about you, but Colin and I find that it always tastes better the day after it's made. In addition, it allowed us to have more time with the family on Christmas Eve.  When my family arrived, the house was mostly in order, snacks and lunch was set out, and Colin and I had each taken Darwin out for a walk or run.  Our goal was to tire him out so he wouldn't be too crazy for our guests.

With my mom serving as my sous chef, we had the traditional Portuguese Bacalhau (codfish) dinner, Eggplant Parm, and all the sides on the table by dinnertime.

Colin and I busted out our fancy wedding cake cutter to serve the Pumpkin Cheesecake 

After dinner, we went to the evening Christmas mass and
managed to get a great family photo in our holiday getup

No one can wait for Christmas Day to open gifts in my family, so we decided to exchange presents after church.  The evening was spent rocking out to Rock Band.  It has become a holiday tradition - and I must admit we are rather good!  I usually play the drums, while Colin, my dad, and my brother alternate on the 2 guitars (my dad prefers the bass).  My mom is a rock star on the vocals!  Colin and my brother are the best all around players because they can actually sing (unlike me).

After a long day (especially for my family - who had been up since 5am), we all retired for the night.  I went to bed with a fair amount of anticipation for Christmas.  I planned a complex meal for Christmas Day that would test my cooking ability.  The menu was based off of a cooking class I took a few weeks ago - creamed onion tart, pork tenderloin, and au gratin butternut squash.

Knowing this was a heavy meal, I planned to serve it at lunchtime.  Thankfully, my mom helped a great deal and served more as my co-executive chef than my sous chef.  We managed to have everything finished around the same time so it was all hot when we sat down to eat.

The butternut squash did not come out quite as delicious as it did in the cooking class I attended, but the creamed onion tart and pork tenderloin did not disappoint.  With no complaints and everyone eating hearty portions, I'd consider my cooking a success.

After two and a half days of cooking, I was exhausted.  I don't know how people host dinner parties on a regular basis.  It was exciting and fun to plan the meal and wasn't too bad while I was preparing it, but I felt like I spent all day in the kitchen instead of spending time with my family when I finished.  

At least we had lots of leftovers after those two days.  I didn't have to cook a meal again until Wednesday (we had to take my family to our favorite pizza place).

Stay tuned for details on how we spent our holiday week in the next blog post!

What traditional holiday meals do you make?

How do you host a dinner party so that you spend time with your guests?

Christmas Celebrations - part 1

My dear friend and college roommate, Michaela, hosted a Christmas party at her home in Charlotte the weekend before Christmas.  Since we are only 3 hours away and our friend Jen could watch Darwin that weekend, we decided to have a little overnight getaway.

On Saturday afternoon, after leaving Darwin with Jen, we enjoyed the scenic drive on route 64 from Apex to Charlotte.  We had bid on a hotel on Priceline.com a few days before our departure and managed to get the 4 star Hilton Charlotte City Center for $60/nt + tax!  I felt so sophisticated checking into the hotel and getting dolled up for the semi-formal party - although I had to rush because we arrived at the hotel when the party was scheduled to start (oops!).  Unfortunately, we also somehow missed the photo op of me in my dress and Colin in his suit (probably because we were rushing to get ready) - but I think we looked pretty good.

The intimate party boasted enjoyable conversation and we managed to keep the hosts up until after midnight! I must mention that Michaela and her husband have an almost 1 year old and an almost 3 year old (both of whom missed most of the party because of bedtimes) - so after midnight is late!  To spend a little extra time with our friends and see the kids, we made plans for a Sunday brunch.

The hotel accommodations were fantastic! We were able to find free parking across the street, the bed was so clean and comfortable, the room was tastefully decorated with a great view of a downtown plaza, and I really enjoyed using the Peter Thomas Roth bath products.  I finally remembered to use my camera and managed to take a few photos.

On Sunday, a large, inexpensive brunch was offered at the Landmark Diner, located just outside of the downtown area, near Michaela's home.  Colin and I received a taste of parenting two young children during our 30 minute dining experience - but the boys are so cute.  We resorted to kid's programming on Colin's cell phone to try and enjoy the last bites of our meal.  In hindsight, we should have met up at a park to enjoy the beautiful spring-like day.

Before leaving Charlotte, we stopped in the "Noda," or North Davidson, area to pick up some lunch-to-go at the highly acclaimed restaurants Cabo Fish Taco and Crepe Cellar.  This area of Charlotte is known as the Historic Arts district and was much smaller than I expected.  I assume this happens after you live in a place like NYC.  We enjoyed the Salmon Fish Tacos, Nopalito Salad and Nutella/Banana Crepe on our drive back to Raleigh.

It was nice to have a little trip away for the weekend. While Colin may not mirror my sentiments, I really enjoyed staying in a nice downtown hotel and getting dressed up for a party.  Next time, hopefully we can go a little earlier in the day so we can walk around with more time and enjoy a meal in one of the nice restaurants instead of eating on the go.  In addition, if we want to hang out with the kids, we should find a location where they can play.

Stay tuned for a few blog posts on hosting my first Christmas!

What fun pre-holiday events did you enjoy?

Fitting it all in at Thanksgiving!

Now that we are in Raleigh, NC, visiting family for the holidays is proving extremely challenging.  I think a lot of it also has to do with having a dog.  Unfortunately, he hates the car and we hate leaving him behind.

So, this year for Thanksgiving, I took the whole week off to try and see all of the family and bring Darwin along.

We started with a 12.5 hour drive from Raleigh to Rhode Island on Sunday before the holiday.  In the usual fashion, Darwin sat behind the seat, resting his head on the center console for the entire ride.  I can't imagine he's comfortable now that he's too big to really fit in that space!

His body is behind the driver's seat and then twists so he can rest his chin on the console.

We made an hour pit stop in New Jersey so Darwin and I could get out and stretch our legs.  It was dusk when we arrived at Jen's family's farm house, but the dogs still ran around chasing each other for awhile.

By the time we arrived in Rhode Island, I was exhausted and Darwin's stomach told me he was not feeling well.  We both needed a good night's sleep, but had a hard time resting that first night after a stressful day.  It took a solid 36 hours of being "home" and a more restful night's sleep before we both felt normal.

On Tuesday afternoon, I made my way up to Worcester (without Darwin) to celebrate with my dear friend, Juliamy, on her 30th birthday.  Since she works in the schools, the party started at 3pm!  Even though it started so early, we still closed the bar down at midnight!!  I'd call that a successful party.

Here is "my best friend Juli" with her birthday cake.

(Apologies for the "fuzzy" look - it was taken with my phone camera)

After a very filling breakfast a the local diner in Spencer, MA, I made my way back to Rhode Island.  I had been trying to get walks in with Darwin each day after the 12 hour drive, but I decided to up the ante and run on the eve of Thanksgiving.  My parents are so fortunate to have a greenway less than 0.5 mile from the house.  At some point it will connect from Worcester, MA to the southern beaches in RI - but for now it is an easily accessible 8-10 miles of well maintained pavement.  Most of this section travels along the Blackstone river and offers an abundance of opportunities to view, and experience, nature.

While I catch my breath after a 5 mile run, Darwin acts like it was no big deal!

 

While traveling, there are 3 main things I need to feel at my best - rest, exercise, and eating right.  Unfortunately, it's difficult to combine all 3 of these things when away from my routine at home.  I'm pretty good about getting a run or walk in on the greenway when visiting my parents.  It helps that they love to go walk/run as well.  Colin and I also frequently run in the neighborhood at his family's house.  The resting part is hit or miss.  When we try to do a lot, I don't rest much.  On this trip, I felt tired the entire week and didn't really get caught up on sleep until the weekend after I came back home.  Eating is also hit or miss.  My mom makes really delicious foods that are mostly healthy.  During the holidays, there are always a few extra desserts that I really don't need.  I always find myself choosing the less healthy options when I am away from home as well.  On this trip, I did pretty good with my eating - until we celebrated our niece's 1st birthday!

My mom's Thanksgiving spread was amazing!!

My fairy healthy portion of turkey, stuffing, corn, potatoes (white and sweet), and veggies.

I wanted to make sure I left room for dessert (which I will not show you).

From RI it was on to the Albany, NY area.  I think Darwin remembered how awful the last car trip was, so he would not get in the car.  Colin threw out his back getting him into the car (I think he just likes picking Darwin up - but this time it backfired).

In upstate NY, we celebrated Snow White's 1st birthday (our niece) 

with lots of food, desserts, and presents.

Darwin was also a big hit, especially with our nephew Brian.  

As Brian says, "I'm Darwin's best friend."

It took Darwin a little time to adjust to his new surroundings, but I think he was just so happy to be out of the car again.  We managed to get a few walks in the neighborhood, but didn't run because of Colin's back and rested only a little because we snuck in some visits with friends.

So after 3 days in Rhode Island, a day in Worcester, and 2 days in upstate New York, it was time to drive back to North Carolina.  Knowing the Sunday after Thanksgiving would be an awful driving day, we decided to leave upstate NY at 6am in the hopes of beating the traffic (although we had low expectations for south of DC).

Halfway to NYC, we saw the first signs of daylight.

Making just one pit stop in Jersey to get gas, take a bathroom break, and stretch our legs, we made it to DC in about 6.5 hours!  Unfortunately, by noon, people were on the roads heading home.  After sitting in N. Virginia traffic for an hour and only going about 20 miles, I needed to take a real break.  A consultation with Google Maps on our phones allowed us to see that we were very close to "Prince William Forest Park" - a national forest near the Quantico Marine Corp base.  Since it was about 70 degrees and sunny, we pulled off the exit, parked the car, and hiked a 2 mile trail.

It was a really pretty trail and the day was fantastic.  The hour break was just what I needed to rejuvenate for the 250 miles we still had left on the drive.

Thankfully, there was only another hour of traffic before we had 3 hours of stress-free driving again.  I could not have been more thrilled to pull into our driveway - 14 hours after leaving NY - safe and sound.  

I think this image of Darwin summarizes how we all felt.

 

It was great to visit family and friends - but oh so exhausting.  That drive up I-95 is brutal!!  I'm looking forward to having family visit us in North Carolina in a few days for Christmas!!

How do you keep your sanity when traveling long distances by car?