HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Today is a time to stuff yourself and not feeling guilty…wait, you can do that any day, today it’s just that almost everyone in the US will be doing this.  Last year, my UK  friends wanted to take me out and some turkey in order to make me feel more like home.  It was very nice of them.

Anyways, I got put in charge of deviled eggs.  I tried some new techniques and recipes.  Not bad, but I don’t have time to make a new batch.  Oh well, not my best efforts, but I think they will pass.  I tried to make a spicy southwest version, but not sure if it worked.  I bought a chipotle hot sauce and the bottle had a “very hot” label.  So, I only put in a few drops.  Well, I braved the spiciness (or so I thought) and tried a little. 

And you know me, what a wuss on spiciness.  Anyways, nothing, nada.  No spiciness.  So, I put in more and more.  Now, hopefully I did not overdue it because I did not try it.  We’ll see what they say…more than likely, they would be happy with it.  They’re nice that way.

Anyways…oh the TVs were a splurge.  I was in the store and was going to buy something else, and I was probably a sucker on it, but did not buy the one I was really looking at.  {sigh}  Oh well.  I actually have watched TV in all the rooms.  Mostly I watch in the office, living room and master bedroom.  Hadn’t watched in the guest room often now since I don’t go in there.  I should do it just a few times to make sure everything ok.

As for the Sony e-reader.  I was thinking about getting one.  They are on sale now for only $200.  They usually go for around $300-$400.  Been waiting for them to go down in price.  The critics say that Sony is the best out of the current ones out there.  I would love one, but don’t want to impose on anyone to buy me something that expensive. 

Just thought of this, Cousin Dan has competition now, I am not sure you can sign your emails as “urfavcuzinlv” (your favorite cousin in las vegas) anymore.  Now that Cousin Margaret is now living with you in Vegas, you are going to have some competition.  Your not the only one in Vegas now.  At least you’ll have some of your own blood there amongst the in-laws.  ha ha ha

I guess that’s about it.  oh yeah…Happy Birthday Kerry.  I can’t remember if it was the 25th or 26th.  Just like Jordan, I could not remember.

It’s Sunday and I am soooo tired.  I’ve been thinking this has to do with my sleeping problems.  Since I can’t seem to get more than 2-3 hours at a time because I keep waking up, I wonder.  Since the company changed health insurance companies, I have been trying to find a doctor in the network…the doctor I was seeing is not in the network.  Need to find a new one and see what’s going on.

The same old same old, work, work, and more work. 

Anyways, I finally got my camera to work to download the pictures, not sure why it was not working before.  I ended up reloading the Kodak software, and then it worked, somewhat…I had to read the instructions.

So, here is a PowerPoint of my new place – furnished.  I’ll take any ideas how to fill up the place.  I still need a place to display all my souvenirs.

My New (Mostly Furnished)Townhome

Oh, it’s Monday, yet again, it seems to come around every seven days or so (hee hee hee). Anyways, to answer a couple of questions from my loyal readers, there were 6 of us (including me).  I made plenty of food.  Still have 2 bone rib roast, need to figure out what to do besides sandwiches.  I have 3/4 of a pork loin, 6 caprese salads on a stick (was not bad, but not the best, I think it needs something), 4 baked potatoes, lots of roasted potatoes and veggies, lots of raw veggies, dips, olives, pasta salad, 3 croissants, half a pot of lamb soup/stew and others.

I’m planning on packing and giving it to one of the auditors who did not make it.  He likes some of the stuff.  Otherwise, I will be having leftovers for a while.  Anyways, plenty to eat and choose from, plus I did not cook the other loin roast.  Good thing that’s sealed up tight.

As for CuzFest, I don’t mind being moved to F&B, I like to plan menus and going out.  That way I can be in charge and get what I want to eat.  Like finding an all you can eat seafood place or something like that…who cares what others want?  But, I like to believe I am good hostess and try to please the majority of the peeps.  Still not sure what’s going on since no one seems to be in charge of CuzFest.  Even though Marge gave some dates, who is really going to decide and the committment comes when someone buys the first ticket.

Anyways, today seemed to be an admin day for me.  Got lots of admin stuff done, like expense reports, looking at my peeps timesheets, scheduling, things like that.  Tomorrow I need to buckle down and get some reviews done.  I have 3 sitting on my desk and 4 halfway done. 

I have my first HOA meeting on Thursday night.  The HOA sent me a budget and I think we are voting on something, but I don’t know.  It will be interesting also because they already want to raise the HOA monthly dues by $5.  Hmmm, should be interesting, I need to find it on a map, so I know where I am going.  You know me and directions, and it will be dark, so I may need to do a dry run Wednesday night.

As for Sunday, as far as I know I’ll be there, Sarah.  I also can’t wait for Turkey Day because that weekend Gaylene and family will be coming over to finish fixing up the place.  I’ll the rest of my stuff from Z family and also hang some stuff around the place so it will not look so bare. 

I took some pictures, but for some reason I can’t download anymore.  I may have to do something illegal, like download the software again.  I’ll see if it works tonight.  I think that’s about it.  Not a very exciting Monday, but I never thought it would be.

Later.

Well, the snow stopped falling and the roads were clear, so the auditors came over.  As far as I can tell, it went pretty well.  No one threw up…so that’s always a good thing.  The guests have left and I put the final pots and pans in the dishwasher.  I’m pretty tired, but happy that I am hosting again.

Maybe this is what I want to do when I grew up…then again, I did in college, and not sure if I want to do it again.

The roast came out really well…medium all the way through, yeah!  No rare parts and not over done.  There was plenty of food, even if they did not one thing, there were others to have.  I am not sure if the caprese salad on a stick worked out well.  I used a marinated mozzarella, so I did not try it myself.  Lots of left overs, anyone for dinner?

Anyways…hopefully the auditors enjoyed themselves.  House is pretty much clean, need to just put the dishes away.

I got home Friday morning, which was a good thing because it started to snow around 3 pm.  If I got in later than that, it may have taken longer than 1 hour to get home, if I got to land.  I think, I may have been delayed, but have gotten in, but tired.  Which, of course, I worked for a few hours and got something done.

Also, there are some auditors in town, and I thought it would be nice for them to get a “home” cooked meal, instead of having to eat in the hotel.  A different choice.  Also, I had invited them to come over and hang somewhere else instead of a hotel room.  I was kind of leery about coming home Friday and having a dinner party on Sunday, maybe not enough time to prepare.

So, I stayed up late on Friday to try to get a menu together and I kept changing my mind.  I needed to clean the house, shop, and prep Saturday, so I kept looking.  I wanted to give them something nice, but hearty.  I was a little frayed, but a little excited for the party. 

However, the weather is not cooperating.  Friday night, it snowed, and then Saturday was clear.  Saturday night it started to snow around 8 pm, I think – was busy preparing stuff in the kitchen, and it’s now about 9 am Sunday, and it’s still snowing.  I think Denver got about 8 inches.  Not debilitating, but going to cause some traffic.  We’ll see if it clears up enough for the auditors to come down.  The party’s not starting until 3 pm, but I don’t know the weather up in the mountains.  We’ll see.  There’s a couple of things I need to get from the store if they are coming.

Anyways, I am going to continue to prepare until the auditors call and say they are not coming.  At that point, I’ll try to decide what to do with all the food I have.  Will let you know later if they come around.

Well, here’s my menu I would have or will serve:

Hor’s d’oeuvre

Antipasti – salami, 2 different marinated olives with roasted peppers, marinated artichokes, 2 different pasta salads,

Veggies with a veggie dip, pesto dip, and olive oil w/pepper with assorted crackers

Croissants – some filled with prosciutto and cap-a-something ham I found in the deli

Appetizer – shrimp cocktail (I know it’s kind of retro, but I got the nice big ones)

Salad- caprese salad on a stick

Mains

Lamb stew

Prime Rib Roast

Lemon Garlic Pork Loin

Sides: roasted potatoes, rice, asparagus wrapped in bacon

Dessert – Tres Leches cake with strawberries and raspberries

I placed candies around the living room, set up the dining room.  I actually did a lot.  If I have time, I will need to take some pictures. 

Later on the update…time to start cooking again.

What a tiring day this has been.  As I packed my computer and headed to the Tradewinds, I was trudging along thinking how dark it was and what I needed to do.  I went through the Pavilion doors and turned to watch the pretty break lights on the cars passing over the bridge.  I sighed and headed to the restaurant for some sustenance, wondering what I was going to consume tonight. 

I came in and the place was quiet.  I headed toward the gift shop to see how much the drinks were.  Still thinking that it was pretty quiet place.  There was not so much people traffic, as I asked how much, and the attendant said $2.57…wow, the vending machine was only $1.50.  So, I was heading to the escalator and I realized why it was so quiet.  The waterfalls in the Pavilion was turned off.  All of them…besides being quiet, there was no one around.  As I rode up the escalator I looked over at the buffet and did not see that many guests eating.

Oh well, I headed toward Tradewinds and wondering if I should splurge and get the lobster.  Hmmm…So, I was decided on the lobster, since technically, it’s not “real” money, but it was pretty expensive.  It’s not bad, a but spicier than I would have liked, which I need to remember that.  So, looking through the menu, I think I have ran through the Asian side of the menu.  There were some stuff I did not try, like the spicy foods.  There is one more soup dish I need to try, maybe tomorrow.

I did try a couple of items on the grill side, like the foot long corn dog, which not bad, was hoping more dog than corn.  Then I tried the nachos, not so bad.  I tried their pizza awhile back, not so bad.  It was kind of funny that a cheese slice costs $4, and a whole cheese pizza costs @$14…so, if you bout 3 slices, you may as well spend $2 more and get 5 more right?  Seems weird, but then again, it would probably be easier to make one pie and sell the whole thing.  Anywho…

Today I went to Chili’s and tried their hamburger, pretty good.  Although, I think I still like their Fajita Pita.  The co-worker I went with said their burgers were really good.  And they were, first time I had a burger at Chili’s.  Anyways…

There were another stirring of the company executives.  A few got whacked and then some were moved around.  There were four who got whacked on my properties, so now I will be dealing with 2 new General Managers.  I was told that they are pretty good peeps, so we’ll see.

I think that’s about it.  Still in Lake Charles and moving along with the work.  {sigh}

Oh what a day it’s been.

Couldn’t sleep too well last night so I ended up going to work kind of early.  Then there was a plethora of things to do.  There was a bunch of things I wanted to jot down, now I forgot.  Guess it couldn’t have been too important, huh?

Hmmm, what was I thinking?  Man, I am forgetting a lot of things lately.  Not good.

So, let’s see…CuzFest seems to be at a standstill.  The date has not been chosen, which kind of stops the next step of where, so I’m waiting on that.

Still waiting to see if the auditors want to have a small meal party…maybe brunch would be better, easy to make some omelets.  We’ll see.

Oh, wait I remember.  I was walking down the hall and saw these guys about 20 feet in front of me and when I got close to where they were a cloud of cologne struck me.  I mean, OMG, it was pretty strong.  It wasn’t something pleasant either.  Can’t seem to figure what it was, I know it was not Drakar Noir.  It lingered.  Hopefully, it will dissipate by morning.

Okay, I think that’s it.  Later.

So I’m leaving for Lake Charles tomorrow, it’s throwing me a bit off traveling on a Wednesday, usually I travel on Sunday or Monday, where I have the prior day off.  So, this time I had to work and then come home to pack.  Good thing I planned and did laundry last night.  I had my clothes folded and ready to put in the suitcase.  Bought some snacks to take with me and some work to do…surprised, huh? 

Not work work, but more like CPE work.  Got to keep that up and going.  What else?  Nothing much going on.  Depending on how the auditors feel I invited them to my place for a meal.  Not sure if they want to come, I told them no pressure.  We’ll see.

There’s still so much I have to get done.  Well, I will just have to put my head down and plow through it.  Nothing much going on, maybe tomorrow I’ll have an interesting story to tell.

Okay, so it’s been awhile since my last entry.  There was a lot going on and there was no Internet available where I was.  Are you as shocked as I was?  What kind of place was this?  Oh wait…it’s an Isle.  Darn, should not really bash my own company, huh?  Oh well, all I can say it was really in the middle of nowhere.  I mean nowhere.  But it’s on a map, so it’s gotta be somewhere, right?

Anyways, the meeting went well.  There was a lot learning, a lot of coughing (me, that is) and there was a lot of smoke.  I think it aggravated my lungs and I was hacking up a lung, well only two, get it? two?  Anyways, there were a few times, more than a few, that I had to leave the room.  So, the week went by and things happened, blah blah blah.  We went home, there was a wild night and I think someone took pictures.

Tried to get home, the flight was delayed for a couple of hours.  Was kind of nice to be in first class, but it was not a great first class, better than economy though.  Was really tired, got home, went to bed.  Woke up, did stuff, before I know it, the night was over.  Turned back the clock didn’t really sleep much.  Got up, went to Sarah’s for breakfast, did some laundry, time passed by, and the weekend was over.

Well, it’s Monday night.  Actually got some work done today.  I made a list, lost the list, had to make another one, then finished the list.  Felt very satisfying, until I found the old list and saw how many things I forget to do on the list. {sigh} 

I need to get a lot of things done, am still behind.  Maybe, I can get caught up again.  Who knows, there is so much to do.  But now that I don’t have to interview anymore, maybe I can get through and get the QAR done.  Oh boy…

Let’s see, what else?  Not sure about CuzFest.  Someone has to begin and set a date and then we can start making some real plans.  So, that’s Cousin Lisa’s job.  Not sure what else there is.  Will be working and hoping I can get things done.

Am going to Lake Charles on Wednesday and will be there for awhile.  However, I know they have Internet, so my crops in Farmville will be okay and I can get some jobs done for my mafia.  Hope this cough goes away.   It’s like there is this tickle and dry spot at the back of my throat.  Hacking away once in a while.

I think that’s about it.  Wow, it’s already November.

Went in to work today, had a lot to do for the team meeting tomorrow.  Am flying out to Memphis tomorrow morning where the team meeting is at the Lula, MS property.

Have been working on my presentation, which I changed a couple of times.  I’m going to leave it aa is now.  I am pretty tired now.  It’s only 10pm, yet I am sleepy, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

We got our assignments for CuzFest, and I am in charge of scouting out the locations of where we’re going to be.  But without knowing when, it’s hard to pick.  Not sure if they want to be in CO for the winter, or Vegas in the summer.

Anyways, not much to chat about now.  Just really thinking about the coming week.

Will try to keep the blog going.  Later.