The 25th Hour ~karenjcardoza.com~

Can’t tell that I’m excited, can ya?  hehe… Not only do i LOVE snow, I LOVE Snow Days even more!!!  This one couldn’t come at a better time either.  I’ve got lots to catch up on and a long weekend is perfect right about now. The snow’s not expected to start until noon but they don’t want people to get stranded once it starts so they called school early. Hopefully I can go to the gym and get some errands done in the morning before hunkering down  with some tea in front of the fire. Luckily, all of my (minimal) shopping is done so I don’t have to worry about that. I hope to get some baking done and catch up on my web work before braving the elements and heading out to the Pats game in another storm on Sunday.

For now, I’m making a pot of tea then may even have a glass of wine or two tonight!  Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

Apologies to my fellow Pats fans who look to me for content… I’m just too busy with REAL life right now to spend much time online. Between the holiday prep, my job (with increasing demands and growing class roster), my kids, and my 3 dogs, I’ve been swamped.

I spent much of the weekend shopping because we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Sunday. This coming weekend is booked solid and unlike many of the communities around here, I still have school the following week.

I’m behind on:

• Website update
• Steelers tailgate
• Upload holiday pictures
• Podcast

We still haven’t taken our Christmas card photo, and at this point, who knows if it will even get done. Trying to get both kids home at the same time to take it has been a feat in itself. KLC is working a lot and JAC is busy with wrestling practices and meets. Love to keep the tradition alive but life is full of changes…

Phone Update: I decided to keep the Samsung Omnia and once I learned how to use the Optical mouse and set the orientation to the right side, it’s been much easier.

I’m just catching up on my feeds and ran across Matthew Ebel’s post of the Flickr Meme and see that he’s tagged me.  I’ve seen many of the posts coming through from others in my social media circle and have enjoyed seeing their 6th shot on page 6 of their stream.  Here’s mine:

Al took it a couple of weekends ago when he and Jake went to Florida for the  Miami game. It was taken just outside Aruba Beach Cafe in Ft. Lauderdale where we always go for brunch while down there. With the temps in the 20’s right now, it sure sounds heavenly!

I’m tagging Ed, Annie, and Diva if you care to keep it going. Just go to Page 6 of your Flickr stream and post the 6th picture. (Supposed to tag 6 ppl after that but it’s up to you

I’m sitting here quietly while the rest of family is asleep. Little Sugar is curled up in my lap and I’ve got a full cup of coffee. I love the early mornings… it’s still dark in here with just the pellet stove fire, some candles and the glow of my macbook pro’s screen to light my way. It’s been a very busy week filled with appointments and meetings and I’m very behind on my endless To Do list for the week. Last night, I planned on getting caught up online but Mother Nature took over and I crashed very early.

I’ve already got some laundry started and will head out to do a few quick errands in a little bit. The plan today is to buy our tree and continue decorating. I’ve really pared down on the decorations over the years and have put up just a few things so far this week when I took down my fall look.  I love textiles, so of course my table and island are already set with Christmas domestics as they are always handy, but it will be a big project to dig out the bins of Christmas ornaments and such from the black hole that is my storage room. The tree will need to sit for a day anyway so perhaps we can decorate tomorrow afternoon before the Pats game at 4:05.

I bought a new phone this week, the Samsung Omnia but I’m not sure if I really like it yet. I was told that I could sync to my Mac but it’s strictly Windows based so it doesn’t. Because I use gmail it’s not THAT big of a deal as it’s web based so I do have access from the web, but I can’t easily sync up with anything else and can’t transfer any music or files from my laptop.  I really wanted the Blackberry Storm but there was a waiting list. The guys at Verizon were really high on the Omnia, with it’s 5 megapixel camera and other features so I went with it. I’m still getting used to a touchscreen and in my opinion, the keys are not big enough to be practical without using the stylus. I’m not sure if all touchscreens are like that but it’s probably just a learning curve. I’m used to flying through texts on my LG enV keyboard and not spend more strokes backspacing than going forward. Also, I’m sure there has to be a way to prevent erroneous dialing and launching of programs but I haven’t found it yet.  Every time I bend over, it enters something. Like I said, there’s a learning curve… and I’m still figuring things out.

Time to refill the cup and switch over the load and jump into my email and feed reading before heading out. It’s a bitter cold weekend and unfortunately, I have some things I need to do in the yard as well.  (Why do I always pick the bitter cold days?!)  I’ll probably alternate between inside and outside tasks to make it more bearable… They’re calling for some snow tomorrow and I can’t wait! <3

*The pic has nothing to do with the post but I love it and they’re the most important thing in my life.

Just got in from a freezing cold 9 hour stint in the pouring rain at the Pats game and I’ve got the chills. Flannel PJs, a pot of tea, and 3 furry girls cuddled against me in bed sounds wonderful and it’s where I’m heading ASAP!

Unfortunately the Pats had a crushing defeat  and will be an uphill battle to make the playoffs this season from here on out. It’s still possible, but the boys will have to win them all, and we’ll need some help from some other teams in L column.

For now, I’m putting today’s loss to rest and planning on hunkering down under the covers and will deal with it and all I have to do tomorrow.

See you next November, NaBloPoMo!  I’m very proud that I made it through on my first attempt.

I’m all curled up in bed  with the 3 girls and have to type with one hand  while balancing the laptop with the other because I don’t want to  squish Little Sugar who is asleep in my lap. Today flew by although it seemed like I did nothing. We went to a funeral this morning, then did our tailgate shopping and I tucked in early tonight.  Al’s out this evening so we’re not having our usual Wine and Movie night so I think I’ll take advantage of the quiet night and roll over to do some reading or…. perhaps even closing my eyes and drifting off.

Tomorrow is the last day of November and it’s a VERY important game for the Pats. We’re playing the Steelers at home so I’ll get up early to cook then we’ll head out to our tailgate. It’s hard to believe that the long weekend will soon be coming to an end. See you tomorrow for the final NaBloPoMo!

Since it’s the day after Thanksgiving and I have the  day off from school, I was hoping to get some extra sleep this morning but still got up around 6:30.  I’m getting a bit sleep deprived because I haven’t gotten much all week. Unfortunately, we have commitments both Saturday and Sunday morning so there won’t be any sleeping in for me.

I did more or less take it pretty easy though which was good.. I had to make a run out to look at Luci’s computer then did a couple of CVS runs to finish off my deals for the week and grab them before the 3 day sale ends.  I ended up spending just $2.66 out of my pocket for a lot of merchandise because I had Extra Care Bucks from earlier purchases.

They are running an unbelievable number of promotions where the item ends up free when the ECBs print. The trick is to use them on the next purchase (and not let them expire!).  It’s even better if you have mfg. coupons because you end up buying it for less than you even get back.  It happened on mostly  everything that I bought tonight! So, I spent $2.66, got all of that stuff and walked out with $29 to use next time!

I also put away all of my glassware, dishes and serving pieces from yesterday. I needed to wait for all of the dishwasher loads were done so that I could put them away together so they would fit.  Tonight, I finally got the Jets tailgate up and posted which I’ve been trying to do for two weeks. But between the holiday and having Sugar added to the mix, her surgery, and my 3 Thanksgiving dinners,  it’s been harder to find the time. Once I get into bed, it’s not always possible to type and/or I’m usually beat by the time I get there.