Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy evening. May 2009 bring us joy & happiness!

Is it Over Yet?

Our holiday events are now coming to an end. On Sunday we went to Northville for brunch with our friends Ajay & Aditi. They have the cutest little boy, Jadin. He fell asleep in his high chair while eating a banana. He was just a little tired & it was nap time:)

After that we went to Milford to see Denise's side of the family. Kids grow up so fast, especially when you haven't seen them in years.

Today our friend Brad turned 35! We went out to dinner with him & his family, then back to his parents house for cake & ice cream.

I have this week off and love it! I love having this break from work. Hope you are having a good week.

Engagement Party

On Saturday night we went to an engagement party for our good friends Tim & Tracy. I have known Tracy for 18 years! She babysat for Ashley when she was just days old, which is how we met.

Congratulations!

Post-Holiday Gathering

Our good friends Joe & Robin moved away 3 years ago, but came into town for the week. So, we decided to have a get together on the 26th to hang-out with them.

AC is such a good cook, he made a bunch of appetizers for the party. Amit & Gaurav helped also!

Gregg, who also went to High School with AC, Joe, Robin & Brad

Anita & I, in front of my tree

J & TJ

AC, Me, Jamie & Michelle. Jamie & I work together. Black seemed to be a theme with us.

Joe & Robin

Brad

Christmas Day

Originally the holiday plan was for AC & I to go to my Dad's on Christmas Eve and stay the night. Denise, my step-mom, usually celebrates Christmas on the 24th with her family, so we would stay with my grandma and they could go and celebrate with Denise's family. Well, due to the bad weather Denise's family postponed their holiday celebration until Sunday the 28th. So, we drove up to my Dad & Denise's on Christmas day and spent the day with them.

Santa brought the kids a Wii, so we bought a game and accessory pack. They had a lot of fun playing.

Grandma seemed to really like her home-made cards. She said, "I really needed these!"

Jacob got a deer for Nerf shooting practice.

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone survived the holiday. It is a stressful time and it really shouldn't be. This is a photo from last Friday's snow day.

On Wednesday December 24, my sister Ashley turned 18! We went out to dinner to celebrate. Not too many restaurants were open late on Christmas Eve, but we found a nice place.

This is a picture of my mom, Ashley, Emily & me.

Emily & her boyfriend Josh.

The girls and their Dad.

Snow Day

It has been a while!

AC made it home from DC. The interview is re-scheduled for January 5th. Last Friday I had my first snow day in 10+ years! We got about 8 inches of snow and the roads were in poor condition. I live so close that I figure I have to make it in. I was told to call the office in the morning and when I called I was told not to come in! How exciting! It was a nice lazy day at home. AC used the snow blower and cleaned out our neighbors as well.

On Saturday we went out for dinner and then to the mall. We were originally going to dinner and a movie, but I wanted to go to the mall. I bought AC a few things for Christmas, so I picked out a few items for him to get me.

On Sunday AC's family came over and we had brunch. His brothers stayed most of the day to play Wii and watch football. I ran a few errands in the morning. Sunday was so cold. It was 1 degree and 20 below with the wind chill. Today it was 20 degrees.

I have to work tomorrow and that is it until January 5th! Work today was about empty, most people took Monday & Tuesday off. I have a lot to do this time of year, mostly because we close until Jan 5th, so I need to get payroll done ahead of time. Then update information to prepare for 2009.

On Saturday I decided to make some cards to give as Christmas gifts. I used only scraps and so far have make 38! I always buy so much paper that I always have at least one full sheet plus more remaining. I also scanned some layouts I finished recently:

Have a wonderful, happy & safe Holiday! Thanks for reading!

Interview?

Yesterday AC had a phone interview. It went ok and he isn't expecting to hear back until January '09. This morning his flight to the New York interview left at 6 am, flew to DC and then to NY. Well, we got a bunch of snow last night and he didn't get to the airport until 5:30 am then was randomly selected to go through the extra security screening. Missed his flight at 6 am, made the 10 am flight (which was late) to DC, missed his connection in DC and now is stuck in DC until at least 5 pm. He is waiting to hear from his headhunter about what they want him to do, either go on to New York and get a hotel for the evening or come back to Detroit and try it all again tomorrow. Always something...

Canterbury Village

Sunday night, my favorite night of TV! Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.


Weekend Re-Cap...

On Friday evening AC was going to play poker, so we met some friends for dinner quickly before he had to go. On Saturday we went to Canterbury Village to get into the holiday spirit. Canterbury Village is one of the biggest Christmas stores in the world. I like to see all of the different trees & ornaments.

After a couple of hours there we called Amit to see what he was doing and he was going to visit Gaurav. We decided to pick up Amit and headed to Ann Arbor.

Gaurav has one more semester at U of M and then he will have his Bachelors in Economics and Political Science. Gaurav told the funniest story... When he was getting ready for a Mock Trial event he went to get his suit out of the dry cleaning bag and realized that they had mixed up the items and put his mom's pants with his suit. He had no choice but to wear them. He will never live this down. He was going to an Ugly Sweater party on Saturday evening...

Today I got up and made Peanut Butter Temptations... A recipe right off the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups bag! They were great!

Anita & J took us out for our birthdays. We went to Crust, a pizza place by our house. We had never been there, it was good. Hope you had a good weekend and have a great week:)

AC has a phone interview on Tuesday with a company from Chicago, then on Wednesday he is flying to New York for an interview with a different company. Please keep your fingers crossed!

Potluck!

I mailed our Christmas cards today. I had bought a Christmas card kit from Creating Keepsakes last year and didn't end up using the cards, so I used them this year. I included the photo below...

Every year I say I am downsizing the list, so this year I removed about 15 people and my plan is next year to only send cards to people I receive cards from this year. I like sending them, a lot of people quit sending Christmas cards.

We had our annual potluck luncheon today. Everybody brings such good food in! I probably gained 10 lbs at lunch today! My favorite was a seafood salad and cheesecake. I brought cocktail sausages in my crock pot. AC mixed everything together last night. I suggested that the potluck be on a Thursday rather than Friday, so we could eat leftovers on Friday.

I got a call from an old co-worker today. He works as a recruiter for the big three & other automotive suppliers. He was calling with good news. He got a job in Florida and is moving after Christmas. I am so glad for him to have found a new job because it is such a scary time here right now. All of us depend on the auto industry for so much. I sure hope all of this is fixable.

30!

I turned 30 on Saturday December, 6th!

On Friday, Anita picked me up and we went to Max & Erma's for dinner with Jen, Stacy, & Sally.

We had a good time. I just stayed in on Saturday until it was time for dinner. We met a bunch of people (family & friends) at Macaroni Grill for dinner. After dinner we went to CJ Mahoney's for drinks.

After getting the above photo with our free CC shirts, someone stole mine ON MY BIRTHDAY!! The nerve of some people. Thankfully I left my purse at home!
It was a great birthday and fun to celebrate with everyone.

On Sunday we went to TJ's baptism... He is such a cute baby!

Yesterday at work 2 people got laid off and another this morning. This is all due to the uncertainty of the auto industry. The Michigan unemployment rate is going to go through the roof! Hopefully the loan from the government will go through and help ease the pain around here.