Calling All Book Lovers!

I just joined Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Wiki community! It's the coolest. Okay, I can probably think of a few way cooler things, but I'm pretty hyped about it right now. You should check it out if you love books!

This is a community of book lovers sharing what they love and why. You can also see what NP's reading! oooh aaaaah

Don't take my word for it...YOU, GO, NOW! tee hehe. suckers...

Ismael's birthday

These are some of the things I miss most about home...birthday parties and other family celebrations. Yesterday was my nephew's 4th birthday, and I wasn't there to sing to him and watch him blow out his candle. At least my mom is thoughtful enough to send me pics online!
Thanks, Mom!

Happy Birthday, ISMAEL!!

Hercules Candy Company!

Today, Benjamin and I, along with friends from Rochester, visited Hercules Candy Company in East Syracuse. It's housed in the owners' home, and the candy is made in the basement. We went on an informal tour where we were able to go into the basement and talk with the owners as they made the candy. Today they were making chocolates! Mmm....and we got to sample dark chocolate candies with a cherry cream center! Delicious!

After watching for a few moments and asking about all the different chocolates they had made, we went back up into the shop and bought some yummy treats! I chose a dark chocolate turtle (with pecans and caramel), and Benjamin bought a bag of green anise ribbon candy! We're pretty excited about it, especially since we saw the video of the ribbon candy making! You can see it, too, on Hercules Candy Company's web site! Just go to their "VIDEOS" page. You can also see how they make candy canes and peanut brittle. I could never make the ribbon candy myself because I'm soooooo terribly slow at everything.

I had fun...mostly because I loooooooove candy!! I'm so glad to have a candy company near my house! (only 1.8 miles away)

Check it out! Hercules Candy Company

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

I put up my Christmas tree this past Saturday! I had a great time listening to my Christmas music and hanging ornaments! I bought this tree two Christmases ago for my apartment in Buffalo; it looked great there, but it looks like a Charlie Brown tree in my new house! It's a six foot tree and looks teeny tiny next to the six foot window in my parlor. hehe. What can ya do, eh? I'll look into a bigger tree in the future...and I'll buy my own ornaments and string popcorn, mmm...

For now, my little tree suits me well, complete with a stuffed penguin on top!

Zoe's Blanket

It took me working everyday while I was in TX to complete Zoe's blanket. I'm glad I actually finished it. Thanks to Kari! She's speedy and helped me sew all the ribbons onto the yarn!

an evening with James Taylor

I had a nice, mellow evening last night at the New York State Fair. With my candy apple, buffalo gyro, glass of beer, praline roasted pecans, and coconut roasted cashews, I sat back and watched the sun go down in a combination of pinks, yellows, oranges, and blues...



...then there was James Taylor. Of course, he's much balder now than he ever was then, but what's hair when you've got a voice so smooth?

I really enjoyed myself. Now, if we can only convince Ani to make it out to the fair...

My Garden

I took a few pictures of my backyard today. I should've been taking pictures for the past few months because most of the bright colors are gone. I'm still enjoying it though. I could spend hours out there. It's probably obvious that the gardens need weeding!!

Zoe Antonella

ENJOY!!

Tia Amber

I'm an auntie...AGAIN!! This time, it's a girl; meet Zoe! Congratulations, Karina and Ashley! I love you, Ismael!!!!!!!!!

Ani Mania!

I just joined MySpace, FINALLY, two days ago. A high school friend was harrassing me asking why I didn't have a profile set up yet. Well, here ya are: http://www.myspace.com/librarianjack .
Obviously, I went a little Ani crazy! But I figure it'll keep me entertained for quite a while. I could watch her videos over and over and over and over and over and over...oh, and did I say over?!

Enjoy!

Oh so sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy...zzz

Thanks to great friends and family, we are now officially out of storage and into the house!! Thank you, thank you, thank you--a thousand times thank you!

I'm so excited to be in the house; now I just need to get excited about unpacking. That's the hard part because I'm only allowed to unpack my own things, which may or may not be buried under mounds of his things! I'm most looking forward to having everything in its place and getting rid of some of our junk. I want to unpack all those heavy books we've been having people cart around for us over the past five years!

I'm so happy to have my kitchen in some kind of order because we were having to use plasticware and minimal anything before this weekend. Our very first cooked meal in our new home was bagels heated on the stove with scrambled eggs, jalapenos from the garden, and homemade blueberry jam that I made with a freezer jam mix the day before! We really enjoyed it! Our second cooked meal was breakfast this morning with our helpers: scrambled eggs, fresh blueberry waffles, jam, orange juice, and coffee--mmm mmm good.

Eventually (and hopefully SOON) I'll have a little extra time to finish the blanket I've started for my brother's baby. She's due next month, and I can't wait to meet her!! I'm ready to go home and visit with my family and friends back in Texas! I miss my Itty Bitty like never before, and I'm so glad she's agreed to be my MOH!

Speaking of...I haven't been doing much this month toward the wedding because of the moving and unpacking. I've gotta get on the ball if I expect to keep on schedule for next spring. I have so much to do still.

Well, I'd better get to those boxes downstairs before they permanently affix themselves to the parlor floor!

Ding, Dong, Ding...

" You could spend your whole life
being a bell, and never know it,
'til something strikes you
and you ring."

- Anonymous

the 'Cuse!

Facts and Figures

taken from the Post Standard's "Discover Syracuse: 2005-2006 Year Round Guide to CNY"

City of Syracuse

Population: 143,101

Number of homes: 33,420*

Average selling price: (east) $95,500, (north) $69,400, (south) $48,100, (west) $51,600

Residential building permits issued in 2004: 22

Property taxes on a $100,000 house:** $3,474

Police: Syracuse Police Department

Parks: Schiller, Sunnycrest, Rosa-mond Gifford Zoo, Burnet, Lincoln, Kirk, Onondaga, Thornden and others throughout the city.

Libraries: Onondaga County Central Library and its branches: Beauchamp, Betts, Hazard, Mundy, Paine, Petit, Soule and White.

Garbage pickup: Municipal. *2003 figures, latest available **Includes county, city and school taxes plus average charge for sewage.

-------------------


I can't say that I'm particularly thrilled with the city of Syracuse yet. I much prefer the cultural draw of Buffalo. However, I haven't given the city a fair chance. I plan to get out this summer and explore as much as possible so that I may have an informed opinion of the place.

I have found a diner that I love, and the waitors already know that when I go in I want a #8 with coffee and cream, eggs over easy. :o) (That's the French toast meal! mmm...) Thank you, Carl's Kountry Kitchen, at the corner of Teall Ave. and Court St. for making me feel at home!

Dinosaur BBQ's barbecue is also very tasty. I was surprised because I went in expecting the absolute worst. I'm used to Texas BBQ, and I'd have to say that the Dinosaur comes pretty darn close!

My next venture will be attending a play or musical. I'm in need of live theatre! I also want to check out the Palace Theatre on James St. because I've heard good things about it, and it's close to my house.

I do miss Buffalo, but I will work hard at finding the best in Syracuse because I love my job and want to stay for a long while in my gorgeous house! I can't wait to move in!

What I'm reading: Where Yet the Sweet Birds Sing by Richard Quinney

This One Is Juuuuuuust Right...

Okay, I know I've been super busy, but I do still exist! I just haven't had anything very exciting to post....until now, of course!

I'm getting a house!! If everything goes as planned, I'll be moving in by June 12th! Have a look...

I absolutely LOVE it! It was built in 1901, has 3 bedrooms/1.5 baths/1 car garage, and the back yard is beautiful right now. There are red and yellow tulips, pansies, and various other flowers that I know nothing about! I can't wait to move in and shave my legs in the clawfoot tub! hehe

Oh happy day...

Winter? Is it actually here?! I've been feeling gipped on snow lately, but this morning I feel like the centerpiece of a snowglobe as I sit at my computer staring past my cyclamen into the great white beyond...SNOWFLAKES!!

New job (1st career), new lease on life, happy day!!

Topsyturvey-World
If the butterfly courted the bee,
And the owl the porcupine;
If churches were built in the sea,
And three times one was nine;
If the pony rode his master,
If the buttercups ate the cows,
If the cat had the dire disaster
To be worried, sir, by the mouse;
If mamma, sir, sold the baby
To a gipsy for half-a-crown;
If a gentleman, sir, was a lady--
The world would be Upside-Down!
If any or all of these wonders
Should ever come about,
I should not consider them blunders,
For I should be Inside-Out!

Chorus
Ba-ba, black wool,
Have you any sheep?
Yes, sir, a pack-full,
Creep, mouse, creep!
Four-and-twenty little maids
Hanging out the pie,
Out jumped the honey-pot,
Guy Fawkes, Guy!
Cross-latch, cross-latch,
Sit and spin the fire,
When the pie was opened,
The bird was on the brier!

--William Brighty Rands, 1823-1882

What I'm reading: Citizen Girl and The Covenant (1st in the Abram's Daughters series by Beverly Lewis)

Benne's Recovery

My poor, poor Benne...I took him in to get neutered, but instead, SHE got spayed! Yes, you read it correctly! My Benne is female, and it's been weird calling her a she. I still slip sometimes.

She's doing well after surgery. She had her front paws de-clawed, as well. I've been giving her plenty of pain medication so she doesn't have ghost pains later in life. She's quite active and eating well. I didn't expect her to be in such great shape! She was a little strange last night, her first few hours home. She would walk a little, stop for a while, and then fall over. She's acting pretty normal now, thank goodness!

Check out her Elizabethan style decor...let's just call her Queen Benne! (If you look closely enough you can see her incision where the fur is shaved away on her belly, and her paws are still a little matted with whatever because she hasn't been able to groom them yet.)

I've been TAGGED!!...thanks, jennimi! :oP

four jobs i have had

1. student assistant
   
2. children's librarian intern
   
3. sales associate/cashier
   
4. nanny

four movies i could watch over and over

1. Tombstone
2. Benny and Joon
   
3. Shrek/Shrek2...3
   
4. Ever After
   

four places i have lived

1. Houston, TX
   
2. Dallas, TX
   
3. Buffalo, NY
4. Syracuse, NY
   

four tv shows

1. Everybody Loves Raymond
   
2. The Simpsons
   
3. King of the Hill
   
4. The Weather Channel?!
   

four websites

1. Righteousbabe.com
2. Unshelved
3. Nancy Pearl
4. Live Maps

four favorite foods

1. tiramisu
   
2. chimichangas
   
3. tres leches bread pudding (Saltgrass Steak House)
   
4. stir fry or pizza w/mushrooms and jalapeños
   

four places i'd rather be

1. working!!!
   
2. with Benjamin
   
3. with friends
   
4. with family
   

Doo doo doo lookin' out my backdoor...

"Wait until tomorrow today I'll buy no sorrow
Doo doo doo looking out my back door" - CCR

Benjamin and I had pizza with Christian last night, and it was mmm
mmm good!  I'll be having the leftovers for lunch today.

I was just thinking last night that it doesn't feel like January at all,
weather wise.  It feels more like April!  Today's started out rainy,
and it'll be nice to get out into the fresh air for a walk.  I'm looking
forward to spending the entire day with Benjamin.  I'm loving being
able to see him everyday now.

Benne Update...

Benne is adjusting very well to the new apartment. He still has a few behavioral issues, but I expect that's just the adolescent kitty in him. He'll mature in time. He took his first trip to the veterinary clinic and received shots and had blood drawn. He's very healthy and happy!

He may not be so completely happy after our next visit to the clinic because he's getting both neutered and declawed. :o(

We'll check back in afterwards...

It's Finally Complete!!

Yes, that's right! Benjamin's blanket is finally complete! I started it last Christmas with the intention of giving it to him (completed) this Christmas. When the first deadline came and went I, of course, set the second deadline as January 1, 2006.

Needless to say, this 2nd deadline was just as speedy as the first. The blanket was officially completed January 12, 2006. (Do you see Benne by the sofa?)

It covers a full-sized bed, as seen in the picture; however, I think it'd be perfect on Benjamin's twin. He had better enjoy it!