Little Fuzzball

Have you ever seen anything so sweet and cute as a curled up little blue possum all snug in his nest?  Aww, wait, that's just the Bobosaur in his polar bear pj's... asleep in a little ball in his Christmas chair.

Why is it that he can fall asleep in the oddest places in less than 3 seconds, but it takes him forever and a boatload of whining before he will take a nap in bed?

 

Pure preciousness.

Good Things Afoot

As you may know, I've been hoping to find a full-time job since my last semester ended and I'm only taking a half-time course load this semester.  The tricky part is that I'm obviously not finished with my IT degree, but that's the field I want a job in (British history is just not a bustling industry, sadly), more specifically working with Oracle (which is really hard to get into without experience).  So, yesterday I started casting my net a little wider, and applied to this company that my friend works for... and this morning I got a call back from them!  I am very excited, so cross your fingers for me! 

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, a little while later I got another call and it was a *head hunter* (or recruiter, as they prefer), who found my resume on Dice!  Unfortunately, he didn't really READ my resume well and wanted someone with RAC experience, but it was still really neat to have a random stranger call up and try to offer me a job!  So, I'm a big dork and I'm getting a huge kick out of this lucky streak I've been having, and I really hope it keeps up long enough for me to get into a great position!  Oh, and here's one of the suit pictures that somehow managed to miss Bobo playing trains over my shoes. 

Oh My GOODNESS GRACIOUS!

So... perhaps some of you Pioneer Woman readers happened upon this recent post in her cooking section?  If not, maybe take a moment to peruse it... she's offering another one of her amazing Lodge-party contests with a make your own sushi twist... in February.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/surf-and-turf-a-weekend-cooking-giveaway/

Yeah... I'M GOING!!!   I never win anything, I can't believe my luck!!  I'm still waiting to figure out the details, so fingers crossed nothing falls through.  I couldn't be more excited, though!!!!

The Roller Skating Adventure

This afternoon we headed down to Roller Kingdom, the skating rink where we used to go as kids, to take Bobo for his first ever roller skating experience!  Things started off a little iffy... we got there 20 minutes before they closed for lunch so we had to leave and come back.  That ended up working out well- we had a tasty lunch at Panera and then hit the Home Depot for a while (too long a while).  Unfortunately, by the time we got back to Roller Kingdom, the previously empty parking lot was JAM PACKED.  Cars were parked everywhere, on top of each other, and even on the side of the highway...  The entire huge ice skating arena parking lot next door was also full... so we were headed out to park across the highway when we saw some guy leaving four spots away from the door... score!

Once inside, it was also really packed... apparently Saturday afternoon is THE time to have your birthday at Roller Kingdom. It was borderline ridiculous and crazy kids on rollerblades were everywhere... next time we will certainly get there right when they open instead of having to deal with the 'party scene' and parking nightmare.

Bobo did really well at roller skating... except for a melt down after they took his shoes away and gave him his skates (mini real person skates!).  I guess he thought they were stealing his shoes!  It took 10 minutes to convince him to even put them on, I thought we would have to leave before we even got to skate, but he came through.  Once they were on, Bobo was all for it.  He was SO good, he could skate across the carpet all by himself after just a moment.

We headed into the center of the skate rink, which is the area for beginners and little kids, with everyone else circling at break-neck speed around.  Bobo was really getting the hang of it as we skated back and forth, and then when Momo finally got some roller blades (they were so busy they didn't have ANY women's skates left) and joined us, and then we braved the big circle for a lap or two. After that, we had to wait through 10 races, so Bobo played with the arcade machines... and then we scored a free game of Ice Ball!  (Bobo is not ready for Ice Ball, I might add.)

It wasn't bad for a first experience, and now we know for sure to get there right when they open, or maybe try a week night.  It was too cute not to do again soon, I loved how his mini skates looked!

He was so tired afterwards that he ASKED to take a nap as soon as we got home!  So sweet.

Bobo Making Cookies

I'm a little obsessed with pre-sliced frozen holiday sugar cookies... they're just so easy, tasty and cute!  They used to have three different holiday designs for the whole year, and now they've caught on and made a ton, for every holiday.  I'm surprised they didn't have Martin Luther King Jr. ones.  The sad thing is, I will buy any new holiday design they come up with!

I've shared my love of these cookies with Bobo, and HE loves them because these are one thing that he can 'make' all by himself!  He gets so excited when he sees these because during Christmas he got to make them for the first time.  I didn't even finish unpacking the groceries when he grabbed them, began dancing around, and telling me he had to 'make cookies' right away.  Who could resist that?

After someone opens the bag for him, and slides out the tray, he meticulously takes one cookie at a time and places it on the baking sheet.  When he's finally finished they are all mostly on one side, so he has to spread them out (and gets a little help before they are popped into the oven).

Then of course comes the waiting... but that's no problem thanks to his ten thousand trains that he has.  Notice the nice MAT on the floor... that was a gift from Todd.  I asked for a Silpat for Christmas (and notice how we are using it for the cookies, I loves it!), and Todd went last minute shopping without a list and all he could remember was that I wanted some kind of a mat!  So he got me a PLACE mat, and this FLOOR mat!  Nice attempt, but the best thing is this floor mat is AWESOME... its so comfy and makes you want to wash dishes... I'm not kidding.

And finally we have the cookies!  They taste best when they're warm (but I pull them out right after 9 minutes so they stay really soft even days later), so of course we gobbled up a bunch.  Mmm!  I think next time I go shopping I'm going to have to get another pack... you know, because they have TWO different Valentine's Day designs, and we have to see how the arrow heart ones taste!

Hey Bobo... did you eat a million cookies or what? (I think that's a yes.)

The Unfortunate Bite

This week Bobo had a rather unfortunate experience at Miss Robin's... he got bit by a little girl.  Apparently Miss Robin bought a bunch of new trucks and cars, since all the toddlers there love them, Bobo included.  She went to the kitchen to heat up lunch while Bobo and this girl were using the new cars in the play room, and then Bobo started crying... and the girl ran away to hide.

Judging from how dark the bite marks are they must have hurt a lot and that girl must have really chomped down!  They were probably going for the same toy, who knows... apparently the girl has never bit anyone before.  It didn't break the skin, but still...ouch!  My biggest concern is Bobo now getting the idea it's okay to bite people...  he already chomped on Momo's hand once since the incident.  Right away we talked about how much that hurts and not to do it, and I think he got the idea... I hope so.  :/

So here is my little darling the night of the 'attack'... don't worry, the mark was all faded and gone by morning and he went to day care the next day just as excited as ever (the girl wasn't there though, we'll see how next week goes).  And the sad puppy face he's making here isn't from his traumatizing experience... he's just really sleepy.  He gets over things pretty quickly,  he's all zen like that.  :)

Long Road Ahead

Le Snow Suit

The Pajama Samurai

I guess Bobo was inspired by the Wii Fit to do his own special workout.  I like to think he looks like a training samurai!  He found himself a fashionable head wrap and then began to practice his meditative martial arts.  Rawr!

Is he a cutie or what?  Look at that concentration.  I couldn't perch and balance on the edge of a box like this!  And then of course he had to ham it up for a while.  Notice the green blanket fort in the background, I think it adds to the effect.  A little samurai house, if you will.

More Snow!?

Yes, it snowed again today... so if I have to look at it so do you!  Actually this is another one from yesterday, I took about fifty thousand... snowsuit pictures to follow.  On an unrelated note... doesn't Arin look like the kid from Jerry McGuire when he wears my glasses??

Oh Snow!

Said to the tune of... 'oh no'.  Yes, another day, another snow storm.  I suppose it's not been a bad winter snow-wise, and at least this storm was very wet and stuck to the trees very prettily.

January Rolling On...

I haven't been posting lately I noticed.  I had a bunch of things to take pictures of during the holidays... but now they're over and we haven't been doing anything exciting!  It's the beginning of that long stretch of winter where nothing happens and there is no where to go... until spring time.  Boring!  Not to mention it's ridiculously cold out and who wants to do anything in weather like that?

Anyway, Bobo was home with me for the long weekend and I was trying to take a 'professional' picture for my Linkedin resume... let's just say it wasn't as successful as I hoped.  But, I got some cute ones of me and Bobo!  I wonder if that would impress hiring managers?  I think you're not supposed to let them know you have young kids, so I should probably change my facebook profile picture (because they show up on google, and companies like to search interviewees.)  Though, that's probably not as bad as the old photo links you can find attached to me all over the place!  Oh well... most of them are overseas so it doesn't count right?!  :)  I created a new email for my resume, which is good because the old one brings up a whole bunch of old pictures and stuff that are kind of embarrassing.  No I'm not telling you my email (shoot, it's probably on the side isn't it?).  Don't do it!

Bobo is loving spending a few hours a week with Miss Robin and his new friends at 'school', he talks about how they play with trucks and watch Thomas and the best part is that she has a PUPPY... it's a cute little dog and so sweet.  It's great, it's like he gets to have a pet but we don't have to clean up after it.  I'm just keeping up with the job search and trying to learn as much about Java as I can before my classes start in another week... it's not a full course load but I'm taking a lot of programming stuff which I find difficult.  I'm hoping to be in a full-time position before the end of February, and to graduate (again) this summer, so cross your fingers for me!

Snowy

January means cold, cold, cold and lots of snow!

PatternCooler

OMG, I just found the best utility ever... PatternCooler!  It let's you customize all these amazing seamless patterns... you can use them as-is (they are really awesome) or change the size, colors, etc!  This is the best idea ever if you want to customize your blog, or it would be awesome for digital scrapbook pages or other websites.  Go check it out at: http://www.patterncooler.com/index.php

Now I am going to play for a thousand hours until I find a new one for this blog.  Yes, I know, there are a thousand other things I should be doing (like vacuuming or learning Java before my class starts), but this is way too much excitement to pass up.

Edit:  Check out the new look!  I am so in love.  Here are three of the patterns I customized in the last hour!  Okay, the little ones don't look that impressive, but they're much cuter when set as backgrounds.

 

Welcoming 2010

Happy New Years... a few days late of course.  We had a nice little party at our house to watch the ball drop.  Sadly, our party was not the most exciting, and everyone ended up sitting in the living room watching one person at a time play Chicken Shoot on the Wii (don't ask).  Then we watched some questionable musical dance routines on the various New Year's programs... the one we found the most enjoyable and family-friendly was one of the spanish (Mexican?) networks, go figure!


One exciting moment for me (before the ball drop... that's *always* exciting) was when Mom brought this little gem of deliciousness from the store for us:

Haloumi!  She found it in a Lebanese store but this stuff is CYPRIOT all the way.  It only comes from Cyprus and is so delicious.  You actually grill it to make it taste the best, its a little rubbery and slightly crumbly once grilled, and very salty, buttery and mild.  It's a great treat, and we all fell in love with it while in Cyprus but it's pretty hard to find here (in the UK it's much easier to get a hold of).

So, I grilled it all up and we enjoyed it with some tzatziki that I actually just had sitting in the fridge from making souvlaki... what good fortune!  I think it's a sign for the new year, which has been quite nice so far.  The past few years have been a little rough in their own ways, but I am rooting for this year to be the best of the decade, who is with me? 

Stocking Stalking

So... what have I been up to during my downtime this holiday season? Well, besides manically changing the theme and style of this blog about 50 different times (still going with that, btw), I've been touring holiday homes across the country. Legitimate stalking ensues (stocking stalking, hee hee!).


Nester's site has a grand Christmas Tour with over a THOUSAND links people submitted to posts about their holiday decor. I cannot resist. If you have an hour or a million, go check it out if you haven't already. Even though Christmas is over now, it's still super fun, trust me.


So, I may or may not post any more of my own holiday pictures... or post anything ever again.  :)

Summary of Christmas

This basically sums up our Christmas morning! Lots of fun, family, and TOYS. We had a wonderful day, hope you all did too!

Timeless Christmas

Cleaning Up for Christmas

Previously Arin's toys ruled the living room... but we had to make room for the Christmas tree. It's a good thing we did, because we ended up with the fattest, widest tree ever! It takes up almost all the space that you see Arin clearing here. Isn't he so sweet, deliberately picking up all his books and stacking them up on his chair?

Official Mall Santa Picture

Here it is, the 'official' Santa shot. I was too lazy to take it out of the frame, so I just took a picture of it on the mantle. I did fix it up a little bit! If I get more ambitious later I'll actually scan it and make it glowy or something.

Merry Christmas!

Santa Comes to the Mall

During my take-home final last Tuesday, Mom took Arin out for a fun night at the mall, so I would have some time to complete my test in peace. I'm jealous thought, because he had such a fun night and I wish I had gotten to go! They met up with Carl and JJ, and first went to see SANTA. Arin loves Santa, even if this one is a bit creepy looking. Carl was smart and brought his camera, so he got these shots while they were taking the official ones.


It turns out that the night they went was DOG AND CAT night to get your pet's pictures with Santa! So my Mom, who is allergic to furry critters, had to stand in a looooong line with them and a toddler. Fun!


Apparently Arin would NOT smile, no matter what they did, and they tried everything! They were wiggling stuff in front of him, telling jokes, and even gave him a candy cane!



The one thing that did get his happy attention was Santa's fuzzy sleeve. Apparently he loved it, and sat there and pet it for a few moments! How precious is that? Here is him petting it, with the petting part cut off... oops. But in the 'formal' picture Mom bought it has his hand resting on the fuzzy sleeve part, so that's a cute inside story to tell when he grows up.


When they came home, Mom told me that after spending all that time there that they hadn't got one picture of him smiling (which they didn't), so she refused to buy one! I was like, what, you can't do that! But it turns out she was waiting to surprise me, and on our 'early Christmas' before Julie left for England, she gave me the framed picture that she bought, and gave mini ones to Julie and Dad.


After all this fun with Santa, Arin and JJ went on to ride the special Christmas Train, then they had a yummy dinner at the Food Court, followed by *ice cream cones* and some fun holiday walking around the mall. I'm jealous! But not really jealous enough to brave all the crowds with a stroller until after Christmas.

December Storm

We had a large storm, the first of the 'official' winter season. I'm not counting the storm we had earlier in the year, because that was just uncalled for. Now, though, we have enough to ensure a "white Christmas"... probably. We got almost a foot of snow last week and let me tell you, it was heavy and not at all fun to shovel. This "storm" was only an inch or two and came a few days before the big one... but the snow was very wet and stayed on the trees for days, so pretty!

Candy Canes

This year Arin discovered he has a deep and abiding love for *candy canes*. He is always asking for more, and is very excited every time he gets offered one. He doesn't lick or suck on it like a normal person, however... he crunches them down to nothing in record time. Guess he's just too impatient to sit there and enjoy it, he's got to chomp it up as fast as possible!

Putting the Lights on the Tree

Christmas Tree Shopping

We got our tree a little late this year... but not as bad as other years when it seems we were out a few days before Christmas. We took it easy this time and just headed to the local town courts where the Lions Club was selling trees. It was *freezing* and we were the only ones there, so the two guys were jumping through hoops to sell us a tree. Which was even more funny because the first tree they showed us we liked, and then ended up getting after seeing them all... at least we all got some exercise I guess!

Of course they knew to ply the kids immediately with candy... though Arin was so smart and wouldn't take candy from strangers, I had to take it and give it to him. Safety first, hahah!

Speaking of safety... the way they secured our tree was almost certainly a safety violation. They had this extremely thin rope, like dental floss thin (okay it was kite string), and just wrapped it around the top and bottom of the tree.


Mom is here being like... there's no WAY that is going to stay, it's going to fall off. But the guys assured us the tree would make it 'to the rotary, or your money back'. The rotary is directly outside the lot, btw. After we pointed that out, they said fine, if something happened they would give us another tree for free... on December 26th. Nice.


So the six minute drive home took more like 20 because I was driving like an old grandma... and STILL the tree slipped halfway off the car! As you can see below, by the time we got home it was sticking way off to the side of Arin's window. But, we made it!!