Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tipping Glass

Starting Tuesday January 26th I'm going to have a weekly spot on the Tipping Glass website. As their travel blogger I'm going to start with just a spotlight on a different small town or mid-size city in the US each week, and will eventually add international spots and weekend get-aways. Stop by and check it out!

http://www.tippingglass.com/

Monday, January 18, 2010

GRRRRR.....

Just a little vent moment. SOMEONE ELSE STOLE MY NAME!!! www.theladynomad.com was launched in September, wheras I - www.theladynomad.blogspot.com - have been around since April. It's enough to really 't' me off. I do wish her luck on her website and say "Pbbbtttt!!!! I was here first!"

grrr....

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Hudson

This is Hudson:


But before we get to him, here's Little Tokyo where we bought the sushi for tonight:


And this is about 1/2 of said sushi:


Ok, ok, ok... Now for the more important pictures

Hudson and his Mommy (Jen)



Hudson and his Daddy (Dave)




Hudson and Alyssa




Hudson and Bob




And, last but not least, Hudson and Me!


Fat Baby Alert!!!

Dave and Jen finally had their baby, a week late and gigantic (8lbs 15oz)

Born at 10:45 New Years Eve, this is Baby Hudson...



I'n't he CUTE?!?!?

I get to see him tonight! Which is only one of tonight's highlights, the other is: SUSHI! I so rarely eat sushi anymore, so now I'm very excited about it.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Ikea

Ikea is the devil.

I mean really. How else can you explain someone (myself for example) going in to get a nightstand and coming out with: a nightstand, a bookshelf, doors for said bookshelf, a wine rack, 7 picture frames, 4 bowls, 3 wooden spoons, a set of steak knives (and a partridge in a pear tree - haha I just crack myself up sometimes).

The real issue may be my lack of self-restraint, but I prefer to blame Ikea. Those darn Scandanavians or Swedes or Nords or whatever the heck they are. And then to make things worse nothing is assembled!

So there I was Sunday evening with all the pieces to the bookshelf laying around me, swearing up a storm because I could not make heads or tails of the instructions. Sancho just sat there, in his easy chair (yes - my dog has an easy chair), watching as his mama yelled at inanimate objects for a disgustingly long length of time.

That said though, I am quite pleased with the outcome. My dining room now looks almost complete! The moulding is up, I have the bookshelf/ cabinet thing tucked away in a little nook holding my good dishes, and I bought new white shelves to go over said cabinet to replace the old dark shelves. So it will actually look somewhat polished for my Italian night next month (BTW - Manda, I'll send you the info on Italian night). The only other big thing left to do is finish the chairs so that we're not sitting on falling apart chairs!

I'll post a couple photos tonight - now that I finally bought a new cable to connect my camera to computer, I'll be able to post more up to date photos.

Happy Tuesday! (damn Ikea)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Last Night...


Last night I made the unfortunate decision to venture out into the cold, icy wasteland outside my door. OK, so technically it's not a wasteland - but it was cold and icy! Adding to my bad judgement, I decided to corral Sancho into the car and take him with me.

Taking Sancho anywhere is an adventure in and of itself. First there is the getting him to sit still long enough to attach his harness and leash, then there is the inevitable occurrence of his running out of the house as I'm trying to make sure I have my keys, cell phone, id, etc... (I can't stand carrying a purse if I don't have to, that's what pockets are for!) While I'm fumbling with the lock, he's racing about the (tiny) front yard and driveway, all the while I'm yelling at him to go to the car. Finally we get to the car, he jumps into the front seat, realizes he's not Kori size and can't jump to the back seat, can't turn around, and is basically stuck. After a few minutes of finagling with the front seat (moving it back, folding the seat back, pushing him over the seat...) we get situated and off we go!
Then there is the issue of heat, we like the car warm, but he is constantly fogging up the windows so it has to be slightly cool to defog them.

OK, so back to yesterday...

We're in the car, we get up my street, turn onto the next one and have to gun it to get to the top of the hill. Since it's icy we slide a little bit, I have a few minor heart attacks, but we safely make it to Brownsville Road. The average speed on Brownsville on a good day is 30 to 35 mph, last night it was 5. Sitting at the traffic lights I was enthralled the scene. Cars lines up, waiting for green, their exhaust billowing behind them in a dense fog, softly diffusing the headlights of the car to their rear. All the soft yellows, ambers and reds being further softened by the light haze of freezing drizzle falling from the sky.

The road were covered in slush and I had hoped that getting to 51 would improve road conditions, being that it is a slightly bigger road. No such luck. In the 40 mph zone the average speed was between 20 and 25.

Arriving at our destination, Best Buy, in about triple the time that it would have taken us on a clear day, I made fast work of my time inside and hurried to return home (well hurried as much as possible in such horrible conditions). Once home, Sancho ran for the front door and waiting patiently as I unlocked it, he ran inside and both of us jumped on the couch and hunkered down under some blankets, thankful to be home in the warm, and out of the slushy, icy, nastiness.



"Mama, please don't drive me around in the slush again!"

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Oops! Forgot one...

And my #6 New Year's Resolution is:

I will not run away with the circus, no matter how much fun it seems.

New Year's Resolutions

My New Year's Resolutions:

1. Blog more, don't slack off like last year!

2. Chronicle past adventures while plotting future

3. Try to get less frustrated with Sancho

4. Join a gym, and be Alyssa's workout buddy

5. Be more aware of what I am eating, resulting in eating less processed foods

That sounds like some good ones. Now let's see how long they last!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

So this was New Year's day last year (2009), it seems to be quite different from the snowy scene out my window right now! Last year I was in Oviedo Spain - a far cry from Pittsburgh PA, I know... It was crisp, clear, and decidedly not white. The wonderful thing about Oviedo is that just blocks from the downtown with its beautiful old buildings and cathedral square filled with varying nativity scenes, there is a plaza and in that plaza there is a fountain, and looking away from town past the fountain, is an awe inspiring view of the snow capped Cordillera Cantabrica mountain range. When I close my eyes I can still see those beautiful mountains off in the distance.