bluehighlights.com - 2008 archives

thanks giving, day 31

2008-12-31T23:51:00.000-06:00

december's just about over. did you enjoy 2008? i'm not sure i can put the proper thought into making a big "things i'm thankful for from 2008" list ... but here are a few smatterings from the year. you can be sure that there are more, but these are at the top of my mind right now.

- i'm thankful for marlana getting a job in indianapolis, and for the opportunities it has created for both of us.

- i'm thankful for the most amazing family i could ever imagine. their support and love is indescribable.

- i'm thankful for the month of may and sharing it with the best roommate i could have had.

- i'm thankful for the time i had with the rockstars and coach. it was short lived, but good while it lasted.

- i'm thankful for my bunco girls!

- i'm thankful for long road trips and great friends with whom to share them.

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'becca is blogging from work ... shhhh. ;)

thanks giving, day 30

2008-12-30T19:02:00.002-06:00

i'm thankful my work day is over. it wasn't bad ... just frustrating. somedays are just like that, i suppose. days like today make me want to scream "THIS is why we had a marketing DEPARTMENT! not just one person!" but, with a little focus, this too shall pass. :)

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'becca thinks she'll go get a pizza on her way home.

thanks giving, day 29

2008-12-29T15:06:00.003-06:00

i'm thankful for an at-work internet connection, as my phone line at home appears to be dead. i don't know if it's my line or a neighborhood issue. at some point, i'll probably find out.

i'm thankful for indian food shared with good friends. i do like indian food.

as a side note - i would be quite thankful for someone wanting to join me for indian food on a much more regular basis.

and since this didn't publish the first time i tried (why does blogger dislike me?), i'll add that i'm thankful for new games ordered from amazon. dave, i took your advice on Fluxx, though i ordered the Zombie version. :) and as i was ordering that i found Killer Bunnies, so i got the starter set of that, too.

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'becca is having trouble not consuming the entire box of chocolates right now.

thanks giving, day 28

2008-12-28T01:43:00.002-06:00

this morning, before i go to bed, i want to say that i'm thankful for the anticipation of lunch with mel & dan. :)

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'becca got trounced upon in today's game of railroad tycoon.

thanks giving, day 27

2008-12-27T11:41:00.002-06:00

as much as i like snow, i was thankful to look out this morning & see the snow is gone. i'm hoping my snow at home is melted, as well, as i have no desire to clean off my driveway when i get home.

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'becca thinks this week went way too quickly.

thanks giving, day 26

2008-12-26T23:50:00.000-06:00

in short list form, as i'm tired, tonight i'm thankful for ...

- bloody games.
- ruthless game playing.
- tablecloths to quiet the game pieces.
- fresh guacamole.

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'becca seriously needs a nap.

thanks giving, day 25

2008-12-25T23:50:00.000-06:00

i've said it before ... but i'm thankful for my amazing family.

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'becca has been having trouble getting her blog to publish.

thanks giving, day 24

2008-12-24T09:21:00.004-06:00

happy Christmas eve!

i'm thankful for Christmas cards - i got four more yesterday. i'm thankful for baked oatmeal - yumm-o (yeah, i said it). and i'm thankful for dreams that involve work people not at work having a good time.

i'm thankful for the bean game. and phase 10. and the repetitive playing of them both.

i'm thankful the sun was out on monday so everything ice-covered looked like glass. i'm thankful i was with a car full of people who so willingly indulge my need to take photos. i'm glad i didn't slip on the ice & break my camera in the process. :)

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'becca is having trouble getting her posts to publish.

thanks giving, days 22 & 23

2008-12-23T15:11:00.002-06:00

my dad's computer doesn't like me very much. we seem to consistently have issues. so i gave up on trying to post yesterday. i went to my house this afternoon & brought my laptop back with me ... so today you get thanks givings for two days. :)

i'm thankful for a day with the girls. mom, holly, laure, alicia and i went out yesterday. we did a little shopping in chesterton, lunched in valpo & bought sugary goodness at the candy factory in hobart.

right now i'm thankful that i'm done with my driving for the day. it's snowing again - and i do love snow, but i don't really like driving in it.

later tonight i'll be thankful for homemade pizzas. :)

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'becca wishes you a happy tuesday!

thanks giving, day 21

2008-12-21T18:03:00.002-06:00

i'm thankful for good times & stacks of cookies. between my mom, my sisters & i, we have sixteen dozen cookies after today's exchange. i have no idea what we'll do with all these cookies, but they ARE all quite tasty. :) a big thank you to everyone who was able to make it today. i hope you had a good time.

and no, i didn't take a picture of the cookie buffet. we talked about it; we all agreed i should ... but i didn't. so you'll just have to imagine a table filled with assorted Christmas goodies.

and it's 6 p.m. and the cleaning up is done - yay!

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'becca wants to take a nap.

thanks giving, day 20

2008-12-20T23:59:00.000-06:00

i'm thankful for a night out with the girls. for good food and fancy tops. for laughing - a lot. i'm thankful for a plate of stuffed strawberries, shared among friends. for the history we have between us. and for the comfort in knowing there are more memories to come.

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'becca has nothing else to say.

thanks giving, day 19

2008-12-19T22:16:00.002-06:00

tonight i'm thankful for safety on the roads - they were not as slick as they could have been. i'm thankful for salted caramel hot chocolate. i'm thankful for deep dish pizza. and i'm thankful for cameras. :)

these were shot before i went to work this morning. i started my car and let the defroster loosen the ice while i took photos.

joe & i decided we needed breakfast, so i ran out to mcdonald's - and took some photos along the way. this one was in the parking lot at work.

this one was in the parking lot at mcdonald's. i stepped in a big slush puddle taking this photo - so i spent the rest of the day walking around in my socks as my shoes dried out.

this one was taken after work, steadying my camera on the top of my car to compensate for the low light.

and this one was taken in the edwardo's parking lot after dinner. this may have been my favorite tree today. every needles was coated, and when you shook the tree it sounded like tiny bells.

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'becca is on vacation!

thanks giving, day 18

2008-12-18T21:18:00.001-06:00

this morning, on my way to work, i realized how thankful i was that my car has functioning turn signals. i was surrounded by vehicles whose turn signals were not functioning ... and i thought to myself "wow, i'm able to travel much more safely than they are."

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'becca thinks she's going to bed early.

thanks giving, day 17

2008-12-17T20:48:00.002-06:00

i'm thankful for this gorgeous book i got in the mail today: 1000 artist journal pages. it was a total surprise - thank you, dave!

i'm thankful that at&t yahoo! gave me a good six-weeks notice about the upcoming change to my flickr account. currently, i get a free pro account because my internet is through at&t. this fabulous perk will cease to exist at the end of january. i'm not sure what to do about that, yet. i had hoped it was because my flickr was set up through a subaccount on my parents' account ... but i checked into it, and the primary accounts are losing their pro privileges, too. what to do? what to do? the free flickr account limits me to three albums - i currently have thirteen. sure, i could get rid of some of the old photos, consolidate a few of the albums. but only three? hmmm. this is going to take some thinking.

i'm thankful no more snow accumulated today. tomorrow evening it should start up again.

i'm thankful i have next week off!

hmmm. since i have a primary at&t account and from that i can set up 10 sub accounts ... i could actually have 11 different flickr accounts, which would give me access to 33 sets. ooo, i like that idea! they think they can make me pay for a pro account? mwahahaha ... i'll pro account them!

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'becca has very tired eyes.

thanks giving, day 16

2008-12-16T20:47:00.003-06:00

tonight i'm most thankful for my neighbor who shoveled the snow from my driveway. :) i came home and decided to make dinner before messing with snow removal. honestly, all that's under the snow is ice ... and i kinda like the traction the snow gives. there's only 3 inches or so out there, i can drive over that. but i feel like the sidewalk should probably be cleared & the walk to my porch, too. i do have a mailman & a paper deliverer to be concerned about. so after dinner i opened my front door to see if it was still snowing; it was not. so i called my mom to catch up on a few things. as i'm laying on the sofa, talking on the phone, i'm thinking to myself "wow, i know my neighbor is out shoveling his walk ... but it just sounds so loud. why does it sound so loud?" so i look out later - and it sounded loud because he shoveled halfway down the sidewalk in front of my house & the driveway from behind my car to the street. how sweet! now i just need to get over my self-consciousness and go thank him in person. :)

our seats at sunday's blackhawks game were in the 300-level. i was a little concerned we wouldn't be able to really see the game, but this was our view of the ice. not bad at all.

and our view with a little zoom of the lens. :) the seats were great. we were on the top level, but only three rows from the front so the seats weren't angled too steeply. funny story - april was at the united center the night before us for a bulls game & sat only two sections away. small world, eh?

we wanted a photo of all four of us at the game. i, of course, obliged by taking this photo. i think you can actually see frank saying "this isn't going to work" - but, as you can tell, we ARE all in the picture.

after the blackhawks won, we had one of the ushers take a photo of us. sure, it's better than mine ... but i still think there's something to be said for self-sufficiency. :)

i think that makes two times now that i've posted pictures with frank where he isn't really smiling.

after the game i couldn't help but shoot photos out of my car window. i love cities at night.

after dropping frank off, we drove down michigan avenue. if it hadn't been raining, i think i would have sprung for a parking space & walked around.

i must remember to take my camera friday night. we'll be downtown again. and, as i said, i do love cities at night. perhaps i'll even volunteer to be the second car to drive downtown ... that way i can stick around taking photos if everyone else decides they're ready to leave. :)

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'becca needs to work on her to-do list for the week.

thanks giving, day 15

2008-12-15T23:37:00.003-06:00

this weekend was fabulous. it seems completely surreal it went by so quickly. lynn was in town for less than 48 hours, and when i got into the office this afternoon i was completely overwhelmed with "did that really just happen? she was just here, right?" it was crazy. sunday felt like saturday, and today was just a blur. the rest of this week should be pretty busy - and then i'm hoping to have next week off work. i'll keep you posted on that. ;)

thanks givings of the day?

- i'm thankful for safety on the slick roads this morning. not just for me - but for my people who were out driving them, too.

- i'm thankful for clear, dry interstates on the way to & from the airport.

- i'm thankful for a warm bed with flannel sheets just waiting for me to crawl in.

- i'm thankful for a good group of people to bowl with tonight.

i've got photos to show you from this weekend, but i'm too tired to do it tonight. they'll come soon. some from the blackhawks game; some from driving down michigan avenue after the game.

did you have a good weekend?

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'becca is very sleepy.

thanks giving, day 14

2008-12-14T13:13:00.003-06:00

i'm thankful for target, jo-anns and starbucks. i'm thankful for an amazing out-of-town friend and her remarkable sense of design. and mostly, i'm thankful for time quietly spent just being.

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'becca is going to see the blackhawks tonight!

thanks giving, day 13

2008-12-13T08:32:00.003-06:00

this morning i'm thankful for two very simple things.

i'm thankful for warm sweatshirts. how is it that the house feels perfectly warm when i go to bed, but i'm shivering when i wake up in the morning?

i'm thankful for clean water, readily available. i woke up hearing a definite scream of WATER! from my body. all i had to do was walk to the sink & get some. and when i'm done with this glass, i'll go get some more.

wait! i'm thankful for three things this morning (hey, i've only been out of bed for 30 minutes, three things is a good amount.) i'm thankful for weather.com. i remember going up to the wisconsin dells one summer with my family and having the tv turned on the weather channel almost the entire time we were in the cottage. when i go on vacation now, i turn on the weather channel in the hotel room. i don't know why i'm so fascinated with weather, but i sure do like being able to see the predictions from the comfort of my own home. :)

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'becca wishes you all a very happy weekend.

tgd12 - part 2

2008-12-12T22:29:00.003-06:00

i'm pausing my company-is-coming cleaning for a very serious and sincere thanks giving. this one goes out to marlana and val (and, in fairness, handy man bill). i went downstairs this morning to move laundry around & found that the sewer had backed up through the floor drain. gross, yes ... but i was more wrapped up in the "seriously? this weekend? when lynn's coming into town?" as val said, it's the timing of life, right? so i called marlana and val. and as quickly as they could, they had handy man bill out here to rout the pipe & pull out a small mass of tree roots. he was in and out in about 20 minutes, and he's a very nice guy. since he left, i've run three loads of laundry, ran water in the shower, cleaned (and therefore, flushed) the toilet, and did a big stack of dishes. so far all is well and the draining water is going where it's supposed to - NOT on my basement floor.

thanks for acting so quickly, ladies. i truly appreciate it.

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'becca was pleased to learn that lynn is flying into midway, not o'hare.

thanks giving, day 12

2008-12-12T11:09:00.001-06:00

i'm thankful for xylophone hero. and to doug for pointing it out. :)

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'becca is having trouble finding the motivation to clean.

thanks giving, day 11

2008-12-11T23:02:00.002-06:00

i'm thankful that it's Christmas card season. i do love getting mail.

a couple of answers for marlana ...

the izoom is indiana's answer to illinois' ipass. it's an electronic toll debit device that gives me half-price tolls without have to stop at toll booths. i'm thankful for the izoom. :)

icebreakers makes these pomegranate lemon-aid mints that are superb and addictive. they come in a tin ... therefore, crack-in-a-tin. they're hard to find, but worth the hunt.

mom & i went to dinner at red lobster tonight and then for candy cane pie at bakers square. i am definitely thankful for candy cane pie, but much more thankful for such an amazing mother to share it with.

i'm thankful that tomorrow is friday. this week has worn me out, and i'm ready for the weekend. on that note, i'm also thankful that lynn's coming into town this weekend! so excited to see her.

i'm also thankful that mike's continuing to write life in heaven, so i can get my fix of fiction-in-progress. are you reading it, yet?

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'becca has some major cleaning to do tomorrow night before lynn comes. :)

thanks giving, day 10

2008-12-10T23:59:00.000-06:00

i'm thankful i get to have dinner with my mom tomorrow night.

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'becca is enjoying her fleece pants.

tgd9 - part 3

2008-12-09T20:45:00.004-06:00

part 3? wow, you're getting your money's worth today. ;)

i'm thankful for inquisitive commenters. and commenters who make me inquisitive.

dave: what kind of pierogi? i've wanted to try making pierogi, too. specifically mushroom. and possibly an artichoke/spinach/cheese variety. kinda like a self-contained pocket of the yummiest dip ever. regardless, i say go for it! and then let us know how it goes. :)

laure: why do the bat-catching cool whip containers have to be previously used? the bat would do a lot less flapping around in a full cool whip container. or, at least, his flapping attempts would be quite muffled. very important, however, not to let him get back out of the container.

marlana: the french fry embargo is a self-imposed rule against eating deep-fried french fries. i was eating dinner at bennigan's one night and remarked how bennigan's french fries are some of my favorites. they have one of the best seasoning mixes. although, in fairness, the restaurant is really inconsistent with its application of the seasoning ... but when they remember to shake that stuff on - yowza! anyway, so i remarked how i like bennigan's fries and french fries in general. i mean, the potato is an amazing thing. fried, baked, mashed, double baked, boiled, roasted, julienned ... the possibilities are amazing. what was i saying? oh yeah, the embargo. so as i was remarking about their yumminess, i also (in fairness) had to remark that they're probably horribly bad for one's health as they are deep fried. so i decided to see if i could go a month without deep-fried french fries. the oven-baked ones are totally acceptable. and i can't swap my restaurant fries for onion rings or any other deep-fried vegetable because that's just not acceptable. (hey, it's my game ... my rules, right?) so i'm currently at 7 months and 8 days. now i'm shooting to make it an entire year. we'll see. i do miss my french fries.

laure: the electric cutter is an industrial paper trimmer. the blade is about 16" long & it can cut fairly comfortably (depending on the paper stock) through a stack of paper about 1.5" tall.

laure: my friend kathy's mom was murdered a year ago tomorrow. there's a memorial service at kathy's church tomorrow evening. for anything bad i've ever had to say about my place of employment, i will say with ten times the passion that i work with some amazing people. the outpouring of support for kathy (did i mention we work together, too?) last year was mind boggling. it's a year later now - and it's been great to hear people say they'll be at tomorrow's service to continue to support kathy & her family.

laure: i'm making chocolate chip oatmeal cookies - often called "mrs. fields cookies" and accompanied by the tale that some lady asked for the recipe, was told it would cost two fifty and found out later her credit card was charged $250 not $2.50. so she's spreading the recipe around to get even. i don't buy the story, but the cookies are go-od. yes, that good has two clearly defined syllables. :)

and on the subject of cookies, i think i'm going to make lime shortbread cookies for the cookie exchange.

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'becca is assembling her grandpa's Christmas present tonight.

tgd9 - part 2

2008-12-09T18:42:00.002-06:00

i am currently in a much more thankful mood than i was this morning. today was a good day, and my thanks giving list is currently as follows.

- i'm thankful for chinese food that ryan so willingly orders & picks up.
- i'm thankful for the electric cutter in the pressroom. it's fun. it's quick. and it makes beautifully clean cuts.
- i'm thankful for meetings that are painless and end with everyone feeling quite agreeable.
- i'm thankful for tentative plans for lunch on sunday.
- i'm thankful for an almost absolute answer from our #4 for the hockey game sunday night.
- i'm thankful for the variety of goods sold at cvs pharmacy. tonight i went in to purchase my izoom and left with dinner, a dozen eggs and the ever-elusive crack-in-a-tin.
- i'm thankful for the internet as an option for activating my izoom, as i really don't like talking over the phone.
- i'm thankful for humorous izoom mounting instructions that say "make sure the surface of the windshield is clean, dray and warm (above 68F)." really? they don't expect people to buy these gadgets in the winter? i wonder how long i'll have to run my heater to get my windshield to 68F?
- i'm thankful i made it home before the roads got slippery.
- i'm thankful for co-workers planning to attend tomorrow night's memorial service. very thankful, actually.

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'becca is going to enjoy herself some pepperoni pizza and then make cookies.

thanks giving, day 9

2008-12-09T08:12:00.003-06:00

this morning i'm thankful for my flexible work schedule.

it's 8:13 a.m. - i've not showered, yet. i have no motivation to get ready for work. i snoozed my alarm for a little over an hour this morning. i was in bed by 11, so i can't really blame it on staying up too late. i'll blame it on the rain. does rain in the morning make you want to sleep in? or is that just me?

rain in december. on one hand, it's nice because it's getting rid of all the traces of snow & ice. however, before i start my evening commute home, the temperature will drop low enough that wet roads will probably just be a sheet of ice. and then later tonight it's going to snow on top of the ice. and, without fail, people will forget that it rained for 12 hours before freezing and be so surprised when they slide on the ice under the snow as they drive like morons.

yeah, not much gratitude in that paragraph. perhaps i'm motivationless and a little grumpy. it's possible.

can i call it an evening "commute" if i'm on the road less than 15 minutes?

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'becca wishes today was friday.