i feel like the only person working today.

i need to book my Mexico trip who is going to be my roommate? if you want to fly out of philly with me i will share my travel companion pass with you.. as of today the week at the resort cost $480 for arrive Monday - leave Saturday. that price doesn't include airfare.

i stayed up wayyyy too late last night. but... i put together my new shelf with only one piece in backwards... and reformatted my computer and updated it, and installed an anti-virus program.

i have not heard yet from the furniture guy about when he is delivering my stuff... he said today or tomorrow on Sunday...

we are getting more snow.. and it's so lovely to skid and trudge down my not plowed streets in the morning.. hopefully by the time i go home they will be plowed. how dare the city not plow my streets. what do taxes go towards?

i'm going to have my first MA guests this weekend. L&TM are going to be passing through Syracuse on Saturday so they intend to stop in and stay the night Saturday night. this will be the first time that LM has visited me in Syracuse in about 9 or so years. well overdue.

hope everyone has a great new year celebration tonight.

xmas is over, let the fun begin!

after a somewhat rocky xmas, i'm ready to really start really living in my new place! this past weekend i managed to purchase a bedroom set, and secure a spare mattress for my upstairs bedroom. i also found some book cases after looking at a few big furniture chains and other stores. i found the ones i liked the most at target.. shockingly..

i set up my printer and its way more printer than i need. i'll have to think of some reasons to print stuff though, i don't want the cartridges to dry up. the best part about it is that its a network printer, and will even work wirelessly. shiiiiiit.

i've finally uploaded the random pics i've been collecting on my camera.. they can be seen here...

here is a little taste of what is behind the click.



we also shot our annual xmas photo this year...there are some great ones...

some thoughts before i drive out to rochester for the holiday

1. i fired the old plow guy and got a new one. thanks SLI for referring him to me. he costs more, but if his work is any bit a good as he did it last night, then he's worth it. now i just hope that the first plow guy sends me my refund.

2. i was able to buy and wrap everything i needed to last night. phew!!! i'm totally prepared for gift exchanging.

3. i'm sure EBH will have more to say about this, but i just heard that murphy broke into and ate half a cannister of infant formula... i'm praying that the consequences are realized at SBHs house, not mine. :)

4. anyone that is reading this and wants to join us out in syracuse Saturday night is welcome.. the grandparents are going to babysit!

5. my annual "year in review" photo album is coming, but i am afraid it won't be up until January.. i have been more busy than usual this year.. (plus i need to rebuild my computer and get some internet..)

6. merry christmas everybody.. and happy hanukkah to my jewish readers.

interesting visitor...

click for a bigger version
very interesting visitor to my blog this afternoon.... and what is more interesting is the post they clicked on/searched for.

i officially live in the 'cuse!

a number of you have already asked me for my new address.. but if you still need/want it, email me rebecca at brownshu dot com.

since i moved this past saturday mere hours after a huge snow storm rolled through CNY, i was scrambling on friday to secure someone to plow my driveway... i was referred to a guy who does residential plowing.. he said he could plow me out the whole season (including sidewalks and walkways) for $225. another "plus" about this guy is that whenever there is 2" of snow on the ground he will come, not 3" like other plow companies. after a lot of pondering i decided to go ahead with this.. i fantasized about waking up in the morning to a plowed driveway, and coming home from work to a plowed driveway..

saturday morning when we showed up at the house to pick up the trailer, the driveway was plowed, but he had kind of piled it in front of the garage.. wtf... we had to dig out the edges so we could get the trailer out.. no big deal, i'll juts have to tell him not to plow the garage in and put the snow in the yard...

he calls saturday night, i don't have time to listen to his VM till sat night.. sunday i wake up late (1030) and get ready to run errands at about 330.. i put in a call to the snow plower, he answers and wants to know if i will be using my garage.. i will. because of the narrowness of my driveway he decides he'll have to drive in, drop the plow, pull the snow backwards, and then back out of my driveway only to reverse back up it and push the snow out (and into the snowbank across the street?). sounds good to me.. he's on his way to my house then.. so i anticipate a fresh clean driveway on my way back from the grocery store, which is good, cause it was a little hairy getting out... when i get home i see another set of tracks, but still an s-load of snow. after the 3rd try i get up my driveway and see that the snow has been pulled away from my garage about a cars length and that is it.. wtf!

i get inside and about an hour later get a call from the snowplower.. his power steering died in the middle of my driveway.. he is profusely apologetic. he'll be over later with a snowblower. an hour or so later he shows up in a station wagon with a shovel. he shovels out the end of my driveway and then rings my doorbell.. more apologies. he's giving me a $25 credit. and someone will be by with a snow blower...

when i went to bed at 1030 there was no snowblower to be seen.. i didn't realize it was going to snow this morning until i heard a list of school closings and delays at 630 this morning. :( of course i wouldn't be plowed out cause mr snowplow told me that his part was ordered and the mechanic was going to fix it monday.. :(

i had high hopes for the driveway when i went home between jobs but they were dashed when it took 4 tries to get up the driveway this time. i am saying a prayer to allah that someone came by between 530 and 10 to plow. but i feel like i might be parking on the street tonight. :(

that comfort of that garage is so close, yet so far away!!

in other news... big thanks to my former roommates and KW for helping me move on a blistery cold saturday, i couldn't haev done it without them...

i have received so many xmas cards! only cards actually. i haven't told the post office about my new address yet! it's been so nice to see pics of everyone's kids when i open my mail.. shame on you parents though that don't get in the pics with your kids... wtf... you better next year.

babies don't remember their first christmas right?

it just occurred to me the other day that i have no presents for anyone (besides my 1 secret santa person). i guess that is the point of picking names right? nothing for the babies even.. but i argue that the babies will never remember what they got, nor will their little fingers be able to open the wrapping paper anyway..

maybe i can get everyone bags of chips from my work cafeteria, seeing as that is the only place i have time to visit. :) actually i have something in mind for every ones stocking.. i just have to carve out time between 9-9pm to go to the store. you'd think that wouldn't be impossible right.. well it is.

this weekend i am moving the rest of my stuff into my new house. cath and i (mostly i) packed up the majority of my stuff last night. cath was genuinely disappointed that i didn't have "more stuff" hanging out around the house. i think she thought the place was going to be cleared out when i left.. she got the rude awakening that it's her crap that is all over the place not mine. :)

if cath has a snow day tomorrow likes she thinks she does i am going to be bullsh!t! she has had two "delays" already this week. i need the snowday, not her... ugh...

the Hotel Syracuse sale was not that impressive. the hotel shut down in 2004, and the furniture was crazy outdated back then.. it's just dustier now.. there were a bunch of pieces from stickley though. very used.. nothing that i really would want.. if i were forced to buy something it would have been nightside stickley tables.. or a circular table with a post in the middle and 3 feet to it.. but you had to pay cash, and i wasn't going to shell out 50-100 per item..

hopefully once i get all my stuff into the house i can assess what i need as far as bookshelves, etc.. i'm hoping to be able to do all that kind of fun shopping on sunday.

i've recruited KW, but anyone else that wants to help me and my roommates on saturday mid morning is more than welcome to help.. i'll get you some lunch. :)

oops i did it again.

on the way to rochester on saturday this woman cop pulled me over for going 81. but she "cut me a break" and only gave me a ticket for going 80. :( what a sweetheart. mike and i had a good laugh in the car while she was writing the ticket, thinking about asking her to take a pic with mike.

here are the pics i took of SHs new house.

i got quite a bit moved in today.. my kitchen is completely in.. and most of my clothes are in.. i have a lot off boxes but nowhere to put the stuff.. i have a couple of shelves in the basement that i just didn't have room for today, and a ton of books.. big ticket items i still have to move are my bed, the treadmill, 2 shelves, and the marble top wood table. those things i think i am going to need help moving next weekend.

who wants to help move some stuff sunday?

it's sat evening and i have had the night to myself since about 6. granted, i had a 2 hour drive, but it was alone time! woot..

i spent most of my day assisting SBH move yet again. i should have my own room in her house by now.. it was good to see though that she's changed her moving style from "bag it up, throw it out" to "kinda box it, and keep it". her new house is cute.. i took a lot of pictures. unfortunately i took them after we were all moved in, so it looks kinda new orleans, post katrina right now. but i am sure that the busy bees got most of it squared away after i left.

tonight i am trying to burn all the important files off my lappy so that i can reformat it. it's still sucking big time. and burning these files is painfully slow.

last night mike and KW helped me move the stuff i brought back from PA (everyone's favorite futon) to the new place hoping to avoid any (further) damage from the elements.. so for the meantime, i will have some sort of sitting device, while i shop for furnishings. there is a syracuse hotel sale going on next week.. they are selling all their furnishings.. i think i might check it out.. i always admire hotel furniture, mainly the lamps... but maybe i can get some decent things...

after moving last night KW and i went to tokyo seoul.. guess what they have? rice cakes!! omg. they were delicious. i hadn't had kimchi in a long time, and it was also very tasty.

so tomorrow i am going to be moving what i can.. i would welcome anyone that wants to help, seeing as my roommates laughed at me when i asked them this afternoon to help me tomorrow.

cookie party...

last weekend was a gluttonous weekend of cookie making. these are some of the things i learned.

these babies don't know the difference between cookies and ornaments

1. carolyn and al drink 4 gallons of skim milk a WEEK. 4 gallons!!! good god. i don't think i use that much water in my showers in a week.


2. carolyn has some baking supplies from the turn of the century... does parchment paper from the 40's expire?


3. 10 dollars is 10 dollars. this is the most important lesson..

here are the rest of the pics.

thoughts on the eve of my closing.

i am so surprised that there have been pretty much no hiccups in this sale/purchase. i've heard a lot of horror stories, but this has been pretty painless so far.

i wonder why people keep wishing me "good luck". is something going to happen at the closing table that i don't know about? do i have to give a speech? am i going to be expected to know a bunch of stuff that i've failed to study for? i don't understand the well wishes...i'm under the impression that if i show up at the designated time with a certified check that all i need to do is sign a million papers and then they hand me the keys.

it still hasn't fully sunk in that i have achieved my 2008 goal of buying a house by the end of the year. i think when i finally move in it will seem more real

we did the final walk through today and i was relieved to see that they left the bar.. i've been kind of worried that they might have taken it afterall...phew!!

i got a call from the lawyers today with the amount i need to make my certified check for and it's about 1K more than i was anticipating... and my contact at the mortgage company has left, so i'm dealing with 3 people that i get the impression really don't care about my case... hopefully things get worked out in time...

my new drive to work will pass by a "jreck subs". life is good. another interesting thing to note is, i pass by this graveyard that has a house that is essentially in the graveyard, not 2 feet away from the house on 3 sides are headstones.. it's crazy.. i will totally take pictures at some point.

i have crazy amounts of things to buy for this new house. i don't even know where to start.... probably with some furniture..then a tv... then a spare bed... a matching set of silverware would be good. ahhh. the excitement!!!

Amanda Wins $100!!!

congratulations to ACH!!!

i was so glad nick and starr won last night.. i wanted them to win, they worked so well together!

so.. i have my money, SH's and ACH's money. cath is going to give me hers, mikes, E&RHs and JHs.. so that just leaves HEKD & DDs money.. HEKD, want to send me $20? you cna prob send it to my new address if you want.. i should be closing no later than the 11th.

rebecca aja and ty (ninjas)
cathy andrew and dan (frat boys)
mike mark and bill (comic book geeks)
amanda nick and starr (brother & sister)
ryan terence and sarah (newly dating)
emily anthony and stephanie
hope ken and tina (football player & cheated on wife)
dan marisa and brooke (southern idiots)
sarah kelly and christy (divorcees)
jr toni and dallas (mom & son)

pictures!

i am at emilys making cookies.. it's gross how many we made..

the important part of this post though is that i got my pics up from last weekend.

here they are.

here are 88 pictures of thanksgiving. mostly pictures of audrey. as you can see, things got a little violent.	these are the NYC pictures

so sick of travelling...

i'm traveling again this weekend..

actually.. this is just in the "middle" of my traveling..

• it started the weekend of the 22nd when i drove to PA so i could work that week of T-giving.


• then i was in PA/NYC for the weekend after thanksgiving


• then this weekend it's back to PA to make 5 dozen cookies that i don't need to eat.


• next weekend SH needs help moving in rochester. well she better be available the following weekend when i need help moving.


• christmas weekend... back to rochester..

the only weekend i "semi" have off is the 20th, where i will be moving into my new house. ugh.

i'm so not traveling for at least a month straight after christmas.

oh thank god!

in case anyone cares, my computer started this evening after i reseated the memory. i thought maybe i had too much stuff on my harddrive, so i've been slowly deleting stuff off all night, and it appears to be working... at least now i can get in there and back up my photos and music. shiiiiit.

also.. my house purchasing is going along swimmingly.. i am on target to close on the 10th or 11th.. how freaking awesome will it be to have my own house?!?

i've been seriously considering doing a 30 day raw trial once i get into my new place... i think it would be really good for me. i have two books on order from amazon to help me. :)

omg, my 1,000 post!!!

i really wanted to title this post 8 effing hours, because that is how long it took me to get home from NYC yesterday. ridiculous.

before all the exciting details, i am sad to report that my computer was acting strange before i left last saturday, and after the week off, it's still broke. so upsetting.

i put the vhs copy of RDJs "last party" on the amazon store, and it sold this weekend!! someone paid $25 for it! yay!

when i was in PA i had my snow tires put on, and with all the driving (or sitting on the highway) i did yesterday i noticed that my speedometer is off by like 3 miles... and it feels like these tires are much slower, almost like i am driving with my e-brake on...

so after the holiday i went to NYC and met up with the boston ladies...

friday B&MK met us and showed us the ropes in Chinatown, and how to get the "good bags". it was fun, i had never been to a back room before, i am glad we were all together, it could have been scary.

we wandered around for an hour at least, looking for joes shanghai on Pell St. when we finally found it there were like 80 people waiting outside, so we ended up going back to the italian restaurant that promised us free glasses of sangria. i'm kind of glad we did because i had carpaccio. it was raw beef with asiago cheese and capers, and greens.. it was so delicious i am on the quest to have it again.

i am happy to report that i did not choke myself to sleep, nor throw up in the middle of the night friday night.. or saturday for that matter.. i did so well.


saturday we started off the day with a SATC tour. AR kicked pigeons all over our cupcake stop. the reason for the trip, equus, was sooo good.. it was a play that was set in a mental hospital, very minimal stage... it was totaly dark, and also inspiring.. the narrator character was the psychiatrist and he comes to an epiphany where he is jealous of daniel radcliffes character's passion... who doesn't love passion? i sure do!! that is my immediate goal, to figure out what my passions are and get them back! there were 6 "horses" in the play, and they wore the coolest shoes... i can't seem to find them online anywhere.. sorry.

sunday's traffic was horrid... i was driving through the lincoln tunnel at about 1:30, and i didn't get to fayetteville until 9:40.
but one cool and scary thing was when i decided to get off at an exit and let the GPS tell me how to get home avoiding 81N, i was driving through the dark of rt 11, and this scary trestle popped up in my peripheral vision...



i will totally drive by this in the daylight.. i love bridges.