Seriously North Carolina?

I love snow. But part of our deal was that I would put up with 3 months of humid 95+ degree days in exchange for a winter that rarely dropped below 50 degrees. What gives?

Ok, I do really love the snow :D

Also, because I just keep forgetting to post this picture....

One of the computers at work was reverse Trogdor'd.

give up

Ever just have one of those weeks?
Where nothing seems to go right...
And nothing you do seems to matter?
And every step forward feels like it's immediately followed by one giant push two steps backward?
(sigh)
I'm just having one of those weeks.

I know it will turn around.
It always does.
And of all the things that could be going wrong, my life really isn't that bad.

Some times you just want to wallow...
Keep your hood up and sunglasses on...
Listen to alternately depressing and angry music (don't worry I have playlists for these types of days)...

(sigh)

I need to move back to the midwest.
I miss you all.

Boo Apple

If you haven't yet heard...Apple held a press conference today and announced the iPad. There's been quite a bit of hype about the "new Apple tablet" and to be quite honest I'm disappointed. It's a big iPod Touch. That's it. It's an expensive toy.

I never expected to say this but... Booo Apple. iPad shmiPad.

I want an Apple tablet that could replace my laptop (or at the very least compete with the netbooks out there). I want it to run OSX. Is multitasking really too much to ask for? It's great that they've upped the memory to 64GB, but no USB port? No Flash support?

Seriously Apple.

Weak.

Shiver

Just in case you haven't heard, the South (and most of the rest of the country) has been experiencing record cold temperatures. Have no fear though, I've not become a complete cold weather sissy. We're still talking about daily highs of 35 degrees. I'm just saying that this is abnormally cold for North Carolina... and that I've been eating a lot of comfort food:

Grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Not just any grilled cheese and tomato soup, however, Grilled Havarti and Apple Smoked Garlic Cheddar on Asiago Peppercorn Sourdough. And Roasted Red Pepper Tomato soup. Mmmmmmm.

As you can see in the picture, grilled cheese and tomato soup is never complete without pickles and chocolate milk. Don't laugh until you've tried it. You've probably been missing out on a good thing.

Roll

Tonight I attended my first ever Roller Derby match? bout? I think they're called bouts. Well anyway, my friend Angel had joined the Charlotte Roller Girls a while back and this was their first home event of the season. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was crazy! So many people! So much cheering!

Angel is the purple blur at the bottom of the picture there

Also, at the event were Angel's husband Will (who works at Trader Joe's with me), son Tyler and some of our other friends.

(My friend Chris and Tyler posing)


Who's ready for some Roller Derby?

and yes, that would be Will giving his own son bunny ears

Donate! It's Child's Play!

Hey there! Christmas is soon upon us and if you're like me, you'll do a fair bit of your shopping online. (I talked about this last year, but it's important enough to me to bring up again.)

One of my favorite things about Christmas shopping on Amazon.com is how easy they make donating to Child's Play Charity. Check it out!

Here's a basic overview of what Child's Play does: "With the help of hospital staff, we’ve set up gift wish lists full of video games, toys, and movies. You can go to each hospital’s list and buy a toy, and that toy will be sent to the hospital. Some of these kids are in pretty bad shape. Imagine being stuck alone in a hospital over the holidays... Some of the stuff the hospital will give away for kids to keep, while other gifts (like consoles) will be kept by the hospital for patients to use throughout the year."

I've been blessed in my life with a job I enjoy (most of the time) that pays me enough to take care of my own needs and still have more left over to give away. Whether you want to think of it as tithing or just giving back, if you're thinking about making a donation this holiday season, please consider Child's Play.

All the hospitals affiliated with Child's Play have wish lists saved on amazon.com. Just looking at this year's list from Univ of Iowa Children's Hospital, there are items as simple as a $3 box of crayons, all the way up to a $300 Xbox, with lots of choices in between.

Ok, I'm done on my soap box.

I will soon return to my regularly scheduled programming... aka food pictures and random stories!

Decorate the Store

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! Hopefully you spent the day with good food and good friends and family. Of course while you were feasting and relaxing, I was working... Woohoo! Don't feel bad though, there were multiple food deliveries throughout the day so I still ate my fill of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes and more turkey.

In one day we (the store's artist and myself) had to bring down all the Fall and Thanksgiving themed decorations at the store and change it over into "winter holiday" mode. Because calling it Christmas decorations may offend someone. And we can't offend anyone. Of course.

In all honesty I'd really been looking forward to getting this done. Not just because it's nice to have it all completed, but also because we kept our plans top secret from the rest of the store.



We even covered up the doors all day while we worked.

I wish now that we had taken "before" pictures so you could see what the store had looked like. We changed just about every display and decoration.

Ok, that's enough rambling, you really just want to see the pictures, don't you? I recommend clicking the actual picture if you want to see the details of each.

As you approach the store:



The first display:



The entry way:



The next display:



On top of the cooler case:





Display number... 3?



Next:



The corner that isn't quite finished:



The Demo Station:



Did I tell you my cracker assortment joke?



Wine displays:




Front office:



Front displays:





The last? display:




Ok, I maybe lost track, but I think that's all of them. Also, a couple of ends didn't have the product available yet, so there are still some pictures that I'll try and get up in the next week or so.

I think it was time well spent. What do you think?

Eat German nachos

While the rest of the working world dreads Mondays, I love them. Why? because Monday is my Friday!

Huh?

Since I work in a Grocery store, which is of course busiest over the weekend, I take my days off in the middle of the work week. My weekend is Tuesday/Wednesday.

It took me a little while to get used to, but now I love it! When I go out running errands I don't run into traffic or lines. When I go to movies, there's often only a handful of other people there. And last, but not least, The Flying Saucer has Monday night Pint night! With some 80 or so different beers on tap and all of them being $2.75, it's the perfect place to end a long week.

The fact that you can get food like this doesn't hurt:

What sort of heart stopping deliciousness is that?

It's a soft pretzel smothered in swiss cheese and sliced Usinger's bratwurst! (Before you freak out, I didn't eat the whole thing. I would like my heart to continue beating, thank you very much!) I ate just over half of it and it was delicious. Sort of the German equivalent of nachos, don't you think?

Make a mess

Ok, so I know I should set the good example at work. I know I should be neat and organized as I go. But sometimes it's just so satisfying to get on a roll and make a mess...

oops.

Bake

Aah fall weather... 72 and breezy. Ok, so maybe my definition of fall weather has changed a bit since moving to North Carolina. But believe me, if you lived here all summer, you'd be loving the drop to mid 70's too.

As much as I love the new cooler weather (and having bonfire plans for later tonight!) it has also deceived me; deceived me into thinking I can bake. For as long as I can remember my attempts at baking have gone slightly awry. I don't get it. Everything I bake turns out tasty, but the wrong consistency.

exhibit a:

These should be raspberry muffins. I either added too many raspberries or not enough something else. I can't tell. All I know is that they've completely fallen apart. Getting them out of their baking cups was quite the challenge.

This is the remnants of the 12th muffin. Disaster. What else can I say.

I guess I'll have to just stick to cooking. That I can do.