Happy New Year!

We're getting ready to go out to dinner at Via with Steve and Helen... Wanted to wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Love you all!

Amelia Island Recap

We had a great getaway to Amelia Island for Christmas with Mike's family. We flew out on Wednesday, December 24 on a direct JetBlue flight from Boston to Jacksonville. The security line was like nothing I had seen before. There must have been 700 people in line (at least, no joke). It took us almost an hour to get through. Unbelievable! But, hey, if that was the worst of the travel experience (it was), then who cares!

We arrived in Jacksonville around 12:30 pm. The weather was a lovely 80 degrees. Aaah! A pickup service took us to our hotel where we were checked into our rooms by about 1:45 pm. We were lucky to get rooms on the club level overlooking the Christmas tree and ocean.

Day view

Night view

Our room, and the hotel itself, was quite beautiful. And what a treat to hear the ocean at night (we slept with our balcony door open).

The hotel was superbly decorated for the holiday. They had a ship made of gingerbread that took 3 weeks to cook and 4 days to assemble. It smelled delicious!

There were lots of fun activities for the kids. Connor and Fiona got to meet Santa, Mrs. Clause, and Rudolph on Christmas Eve before we went to Mass. They really enjoyed that.

We celebrated Mass on Christmas Eve at St. Michael's church in Fernandina Beach. The pastor had a big booming voice that Michael likened to the Wizard of Oz. Kind of intimidating... For about two seconds, until he launched into a well-prepared and interesting homily. He invited all the kids to the altar, where they gathered for the story of the birth of Jesus. He even let them sit there for the remainder of the service. It was really great.

We joined Deirdre, Pat, and the kids in Pat's room Christmas morning to see what Santa brought. Connor and Fiona were over the moon with their toys -- mostly because they couldn't believe Santa found them at the hotel!

Michael and I headed to the beach after breakfast for a nice walk -- another luxury as far as we were concerned. Kind of strange to see sand instead of snow on Christmas! I called my family to wish a Merry Christmas and enjoyed catching up.

Connor and Fiona enjoyed a puppet making and puppet theater activity on Thursday afternoon that the hotel put on. It was really a lot of fun. We enjoyed seeing what the kids had to say :)

We enjoyed Christmas dinner at Amelia Plantation's Verandah restaurant . The food was nice and the change of pace was enjoyable.

We rounded out the night with a bonfire on the beach. A famous pirate showed up and told the kids many stories about life at sea. She even cooked S'mores with them.

We spent Friday walking around Fernandina Beach and taking in Florida's sights. We had a great time seeing the ships, ocean, and pelicans. A local even threw some bait out so Connor and Fiona could see the pelicans up close. The children also had fun playing with the fake shark!

We headed home and Saturday and were welcomed back by rain. Not to shabby considering there was a blizzard while we were in KC last year!

We hope you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we enjoyed ours!

Smiles

Happy Birthay, Mom!

Here's a shout out to my fabulous Mom! Happy Birthday! We hope it is wonderful!

We love you and miss you!

Back Home

We are back home from a wonderful trip to Amelia Island, FL. The weather was beautiful, we had fun with the family, and the accommodations (Ritz Carlton) we top notch.

Below is a little slideshow with highlights from our trip (you may need to hit the green thing in the upper left corner to start the show). I'll have more of the scoop in the next day or so!



Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

We hope you have as much fun on Christmas as these guys did!

Love,
Mike, Tracy, and Mattie

Merry Christmas Eve

Thinking of you and yours on this wonderful Christmas holiday!

Smiles

Two More Days and Counting...

And just in time, YouTube dug up a copy of the '80s Budweiser Clydesdale Christmas Commercial.

Smiles

FeedFlix Gets Your Money's Worth from Netflix [NetFlix]

 

 

Sent to you by Tracy via Google Reader:

 

 

FeedFlix Gets Your Money's Worth from Netflix [NetFlix]

via Lifehacker by Adam Pash on 12/22/08

Netflix's subscription rental service makes it easy to get nearly any DVD delivered to your doorstep, but have you ever wondered how much you're actually paying per movie or whether you're getting your money's worth?

Web site FeedFlix aims to answer that question. It does so by tapping into Netflix's API and analyzing your usage habits. Once it does so, you can see how much each rental costs you and keep track of the average time you keep your DVDs. If you don't like what you see, FeedFlix can create alerts that will send reminder emails when you've kept a movie for too long. FeedFlix even takes Watch Instantly movies into account to give you a more accurate picture of your viewing habits.

FeedFlix is a great tool to help determine if your Netflix subscription is worth the money you're paying. If it's not, you can save the cash by canceling your account or let FeedFlix help you stay on top of your rentals so you're making the most of your account.

FeedFlix [via Mashable]

 

 

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Lifehacker using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

A Christmas Question

I got this from a friend today. I laughed out loud...

Merry Christmas!

White Christmas

It has been snowing pretty much non-stop since noon on Friday. We had a break for a couple of hours last night, but it has been going strong all day. We're estimating 20" or so at our house.

Mike raked the snow off the angled roof and shoveled the flat roof. I put food out for the birdies so they won't go hungry. Then, I topped things off with a snow angel. Boy is that snow cold when it gets against your skin!!!

Photos are below.

Smiles!

Winter Wonderland

We've been mired in snow all day. It is finally supposed to stop soon. Until the next storm -- tomorrow!

Pat has been gearing up for the holidays by baking cookies and making a gingerbread house. I think it is very cute!

Getting closer and closer to Christmas!

3 Days, A Few Hours... And Counting!

Christmas is almost here! We've changed the blog layout to the final "look" for December 2008. Ho -pe you like it!

We got our first snow of the winter last night. Actually, it is sill snowing now, expected to last through lunch. We've been plowed once already; David will certainly be back a second time.

In other good news, Steve and Helen got their power back yesterday. Woo hoo! It was 8 days on a generator for them. Thank goodness they had one. Steve still has not gotten to enjoy the pleasure of modern electricty -- he was called out to plow Worcester at 2:30 yesterday afternoon.

Have a happy day!

Carol of the Christmas Pickle

Yes, I am serious. No, I am not ingesting illegal substances.

I got this via my Serious Eats blog today. Watch if you dare... I did and had a mix of stunned silence and amusement. (video below)

Sparta and SMP Films

Someone at work told me about a dancing cat video on YouTube (search on that phrase -- you'll be amazed by the number of hits). I checked it out. It was not as funny (to me) as to my co-worker. But it did lead me on an interesting journey of another cat, Sparta.

I was introduced to Sparta with The Mean Kitty Song (below).

I cracked up. It is so funny. Turns out, Mean Kitty has its own account on YouTube. Cory aka "Mr. Safety" also has a ton of videos that may or may not include Sparta at SMP Films. A person could spend hours watching these... Turns out the Cory is a professional vlogger. His site is in the top 100 all-time subscribed sites on YouTube.  He's been on a bunch of TV shows (including the Tonight Show)...

You never know what you are going to find online!!!

Almost Time to Start Tracking Santa

Don't ask me how I fall into this stuff. I don't even know...

What I do know is that I am a kid at heart, and this is just so great...  NORAD Tracks Santa (embedded video below)

The site has the cutest Kid's Countdown ... I could play on it for a while (though I have not)! The shops have fun kids activities inside. There is a even a whole section About Santa that includes an FAQ with technical data on Santa's sleigh!

I hope you have as much fun at this site as I did!

Ice Storm

Massachusetts is still recovering from last Friday's ice storm. Businesses are still closed and homes are without power. I believe this is true of our friends in Paxton and Rutland since I still haven't seen any email.

National Grid, the main engery provider for a large part of the state, has a large facility in Northborough. When we drove by it (on I-290) this morning, there was a huge tent under flood lights and surrounded by trucks. It must be serving as a command center. All the way into Framingham we saw dozens (probably 50 in total -- at least) of power trucks heading west. Mike tells me that help is coming from across the country and from Canada.

The latest scam is for people to go door to door in Worcester telling residents they are employees of National Grid. For a fee they can be hooked up to power before their neighbors. Obviously, this is a scam. 1,500 National Guardsmen have already been deployed to help with the cleanup and act as miliary police to protect citizens.

We are slowly returning to a state of normalcy. While eastern Massachussets was pretty unaffected, central and western Mass still have a lot of folks without power.

Our friend Steve took the photos below on Friday and Saturday (December 12 & 13, 2008). I tried to put together a realistic view of the damage, along with some of the beautiful shots he took. Our many thanks to Steve for sharing.

As I understand it, Missouri is getting a snow storm right now. Stay warm everyone.

And only 9 more days until Christmas!

Super Cuties

We got these photos of Connor and Fiona today...

Doesn't he look thrilled with his soccer goal?

And Fiona all laid out in the sun :)

Super cuties for sure!

A Quick Way to Save on Online Shipping

This was so good, I had to share!

A Quick Way to Save on Online Shipping

via Simply Stated By RealSimple.com by Kate Ashford on 12/15/08

Today (the Monday two weeks before Christmas) is apparently the biggest online shopping day of the year. No surprise—you probably spent the weekend browsing online stores for the perfect gift, and now you're pulling the trigger on that cashmere sweater for your mother-in-law before the site sells out of Royal Blue and you have to pony up for express shipping.

I can't really help you on the might-run-out-of-your-color front, but I do have good news about shipping. If the site you're shopping is charging to send your present, wait until Thursday. It might be free.

Dozens of online retailers, including Macy's, Crate & Barrel, Brookstone, and the Apple Store have joined up to offer free shipping on Thursday, December 18th. All day. Zero charge. With guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas. (Does it get any better than that?)

Let's imagine you're spending $5 to $7 on every gift you send, and you have ten gifts on your list—the savings will definitely add up!

Check out participating merchants at FreeShippingDay.com to see if yours is on the list. (Obviously, if your store isn't taking part, it's a better idea to ship now rather than waiting.)

What's your holiday mailing strategy? Are you ahead of the game, sending everything by mid-month, or do you end up paying way too much for last-minute shipping?

NPR Driveway Moments All About Animals

I checked this out from the library last week and have been listening to it in the car. There are some pretty cute stories. Some happy, some sad (I cried while listening to the one about Katrina), some stupid. All in all, not a bad way to pass time in the car!

M -- doesn't the dog in the picture look like Storm?!

Atlanta Aquarium

One of the coolest parts of my trip to Atlanta was a reception held at the Atlanta Aquarium on Thursday night. I walked around a bit and got some pictures that I thought you might enjoy!

I highly recommend it if you are going to Atlanta!

All is Well

Hi!

To all of you who were worried about us, I extend my deepest thanks and many apologies. I should have blogged again on Friday to update everyone, but I was on my way home from Atlanta.

We regained power around 1 pm on Friday. The sump pump was able to get the water out of the basement before it hit the oil tank (we were next on the Fire Department's list to be pumped out). Whew! Mike's mom had a slumber party at our house Friday night (it was a lot of fun). She got her power back on Saturday night around 8 pm.

Many of our friends (Paul & Deb, Steve & Helen for sure) still do not have power and don't know when they will. Thank goodness they have generators. Steve shared some great photos from the storm. I'll try to get them up tomorrow.

Smiles!

Ice Storm

I am sitting in my hotel room in Atlanta (here for a conference) about an inch away from a meltdown. The ice storm that hit Massachusetts did not spare us. Mike has been out of power since early this morning (1 AM?). Since we are on well water and have no generator, that means no heat, no water. He tried to temporarily power the sump pump, as there is an imminent threat of our basement flooding, to no avail.

He went outside while he was on the phone with me and said variations of "Oh x!@#" (you can fill in any word really) as he saw the damage done to trees on our property. We have a 60' pine type tree (spruce or something) right next to the milk house that split and a large piece fell in the yard. Another 60'  tree behind the barn (about 2 feet away) broke about 2/3 down and fell right next to the barn. Yet another 60' tree, up hill from the one we had taken down this summer -- which also has twin peaks -- has so much ice on it that the peaks are pulled in opposite directions. One peak is leaning heavily toward the barn.

So, I am here in Atlanta feeling helpless. Worrying about something I can't fix no matter where I am anyway and feeling bad in general. The news is reporting this the worst ice storm in New England in 30 years. We'll see if my plane actually takes off tonight.

My thoughts and prayers are with my many many friends in New England who are without vital services (heat, water, electricity). I hope everyone is safe.

Has This Ever Happened to You?

more animals

Yeah, me neither. The cat was yellow :)

Have a happy day!

MattieZilla

We thought all was well in our Christmas Village. A girl was feeding a deer, children were building a snowman, a child was wrestling with a dog, two kids were sledding. Then, da dum, da dum, da dum.... MattieZilla invaded!!!

The villagers who were once safe, were now at extreme risk of the cat monster!!!

Well, that's how it looked to us, anyway!!!

Hope your week is happy!

Simon's Sister, Fed Up

Don't we all feel this way sometimes?

I love it!

Wonderful Weekend -- Completed!

It is nearly 8 pm on Sunday night and we have had a fabulous end to the weekend.

We went to the cemetery with Pat to put a wreath on the family plot.

We also deconstructed the stage/pole and put up the tree. There were a couple of stops along the way with errands to get this and that. We used EyeSight on our MacBook to take photos at timed intervals, then seemed them together with iMovie so you could see our progress (you'll have to go to the blog to see this if you get updates via email).

The final touch (and our favorite) was adding the Christmas Village below the tree. We got some nice snow, more trees and some people. We'll be doing more people shopping this week. You'll also notice a little kitty under the tree (left side).

I also wanted to add this cute picture of Mattie, who was desperate to go outside last night. We nixed that idea, since we saw a kitty identical to him in the middle of the road Friday night (a story for another time).

We hope your weekend was as nice as ours!

Wonderful Weekend -- and We're Only 1/2 Way Through!

We have had a truly wonderful weekend. The best part? It is only Sunday morning!

Michael had Friday off and I left work an hour early. We went out to dinner with Pat at Wildwood Steakhouse in Marlborough. Dinner was excellent. As we sat there eating, a giant -- and I mean, giant, cake went by us. It was probably 12" in diameter and 5 layers high. We were shocked. We asked the waitress about it, and she told us, "Oh, that is our chocolate cake. We cut it into 5 pieces and serve it." What?! Pat and I agreed, we had to share a piece of this cake.

Isn't that just amazing? We each had about 15% of the piece and took the rest home.

After our wonderful dinner, we went back to Pat's house and put up her new Christmas tree. It is very pretty. We decorated it together, then headed home.

Yesterday was especially fun because it was mostly spur of the moment. Michael, Pat, and I went down to the Reed & Barton factory in Taunton for a big sale. It was amazing. There were all kinds of deals to be had and the shoppers were very serious. I look forward to going again!

We went to the Erskine Open House in Paxton next. Pat got to see the Scottish Highland cows and the new sheep. Louise's glass shop was going full tilt, and everything was lovely. We were thrilled to see Alison (with her dogs Kaylee and Flash) and Rick and Vicky, too. It was a nice mini-get together of camp friends. I think Michael's mom enjoyed meeting everyone and getting into the Christmas spirit.

We stopped at a nusery on the way home and picked up our Christmas tree. We'll put it up today. Then we finally headed back to Northborough. We took Pat home, but we didn't go home yet.... Oh, no.

It was now time for us to run errands. A stop at BJs garnered some needed supplies. Then we refortified at West Side Grill. While there, Mike and I stragtegized our remaining tasks. We wanted to go to the adult superstore, Target, and Lowes. Mike creatively put it this way: "Toys for Tarts, Toys for Tots, and Toys for Mice." See what I mean? His powers of language and observation crack me up every time ;)

We finally made it home at 8:30 pm and began a nice evening of relaxing.

I hope your weekend is as fun as ous has been! Smiles -- and Merry Pre-Christmas!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Cheetos!

I've been pretty busy and have not had the time to "properly" blog today. So I popped over to YouTube to see what's shakin'.

Then I found this... I think I may be in the minority, but I really love Cheetos. I know they are unhealthy, blah, blah, blah, but I still love them (Mike thinks they are disgusting).

Makes me hungry just seeing this... Boy, that's sad!

Smiles!

The Elves are Back!!!!

I just laughed and laughed when I watched the our Christmas video (embedded below -- if you don't get it by email, visit http://tlhorgan.blogspot.com)...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas! And many thanks to ElfYourself and JibJab :)

Spaghetti Cat -- I Did Not Make This Up!

Apparently, a talk show called The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet aired a segment on binge drinking back in August. For some unknown reason, they producer dropped a photo of a cat in front of a plate of spaghetti, then flashed back to the segment. No explanation was given. Check out the video below.

The spot was featured on The Soup, and apparently inspired the video below.

It is pretty funny, but boy, don't people do strange things with their spare time?!

What I'm Reading (November)

Time is flying by! Here is what I read in November

	Dirty Martini by JA Konrath Jack Daniels is back and better than ever. The story kept me reading as she hunted down "The Chemist". As in previous books, the story line was a little far fetched. However it was much less violent than previous installments. I liked this one a lot.
	The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver This latest installment in the Lincoln Rhyme series is one the most engrossing so far. Someone is framing innocent people for crimes they didn't commit, and are using data from Knowledge Service Provider (KSP, aka data miner) SSD to make it possible. The power of the KSP is very frightening in terms of "real life" and the story was well written.
	Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (Audiobook) Based on his best-selling book, David Sedaris narrates this audiobook of favorite holiday stories. "Macy's Elf" and "Cow and Turkey" were my hands-down favorites.
	Dark Summer by Iris Johansen from Amazon: Devon Brady is a devoted veterinarian working in a makeshift hospital on a remote search and rescue mission. When a man arrives with his wounded black Lab, Ned, she has no idea that she is about to be plunged into a whirlwind of terror and destruction. Jude Marrock is out for revenge and has no choice but to involve Devon in a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game with an escalating body count. She doesn't trust him one bit, but when the shots start flying and friends start falling, she finds herself with nowhere else to run. And there are innocent lives, both human and animal, at stake, including Ned and his mysterious pack. Is Jude her salvation or her damnation? Are the secrets he's protecting worth killing for . . . or dying for? I really enjoyed reading this. I like Iris Johansen a lot, and this book kept me turning the pages.
	Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs I really enjoy reading Susan Wiggs. Her stories are always uplifting and ring true (even though the endings are always happy). This book was a bit of a departure from others she has written, but certainly just as good. Sarah Moon, a cartoonist, thinks she has the perfect life. That is, until she discovers her husband [in the act of] cheating on her. She begins the journey of discovering herself and her future. I cried happy tears.
	Dreams of My Father by Barack Obama (Audiobook) This audiobook was narrated by the author. It is an interesting portrait of the President-Elect, his family, and the past that has formed the man he is today.
	Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Audiobook) In this audiobook, Sedaris hilariously recounts stories from his childhood in North Carolina. The common theme: the inability of humans to communicate.

I have a bunch more on my list for December. Stay tuned!

Weekend Getaway

Mike and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend getaway at Abbott's Glen. This Vermont B&B is a true gem, with elegant country style and outstanding food. Hosts Amy and Lindy were gracious in their hospitality and everyone had a wonderful time. Now we have to start working on our article for N magazine!

We took a drive into Wilmington on Saturday. We had a nice walk around the downtown and enjoyed some shopping. We stopped into the 1836 Country Store (which I just think is so cute) and bought some fudge. We had a nice lunch at Jezebel's Eatery. I got a New Englander sandwich, with turkey, Granny Smith apples, Vermont cheddar cheese, and cranberry sauce. It was yummy.

We read the local paper while we were eating, and I chuckled at the ad below. What a way to invite people in to drink at your establishment :)

We also stopped at the Irish/Scottish Importers (whose name I cannot remember -- have to look at the receipt later) and I got a nice Alps sweater for 30% off. I just love those Alps items :)

All in all, we had a great weekend! Smiles :)

The Simpsons Go to the Mapple Store

I ran across this as I was perusing my reader this morning. I don't watch the Simpsons, but every now and again, they have a funny segment.

This one pokes fun at the "Mapple Store" for a solid 6 minutes. It is harshly funny :) I am totally in the Mapple camp, so I post this in good fun!

I love to start my day with a laugh!