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I missed the Parade for the 2008 World Champions of Baseball because I woke up Friday morning with a migraine! Boo hoo!! But I did feel better for Halloween Trick or Treating last night.

After wearing the same costume for both her first and second Halloweens, Lilia had TWO costume to choose from this year. After perusing one of her Baby Magazines (aka the One Step Ahead catalog), Lilia announced that she wanted to be Cookie Monster for Halloween. This was in August. I found a half-price one on Craigslist.
Here’s a video of her enjoying the costume back in August.

It’s a 2T, so I wasn’t sure if she’d still fit in it 2 and a half months later, but didn’t have a back-up plan. Until the other week– I saw a super-cute cat costume at Old Navy for $15, and asked Lilia if she’d like to be that for Halloween. She said NOOOOO, so I didn’t get it, but later, she started talking about the costume. So we went back to Old Navy, and they were only $11.75… that’s practically Thrift Store prices! So I got it, and she wore it immediately (and had a nice video chat with her Papa Gram while wearing it).

Of course, she wanted to wear the Cookie Monster costume to the library Halloween party. She really did grow– the feet were definitely much shorter and the elastic seemed tighter. I don’t understand why it has to be a one piece costume… Although I think she looks really cute in a big furry suit, so I guess that’s why. We convinced her to wear the Cat for Trick or Treating last night. She had a Blast with a capital B! Last year, we didn’t really get candy– just walked around a bit, went to the library (Halloween was on Wednesday, so the library was open), and did Trick or Treat for Unicef. This year, we ended up with a HUGE bag of treats. A lot of people gave Lilia lollipops, and called them “Taffys.” Is that a Philadelphia thing? I never heard that before!

How about some pictures!
Cookie Monster paying attention to Storytime at the Library Halloween Party

Lilia has had a runny nose, and her face is all chapped from it!! I am starting to think that her issue is teething, and not a cold, although it is cold season. She started drooling terribly yesterday– after this, she’s done till she’s 6 or 7, right?

This is why it was appropriate that she be Cookie Monster. She LOVES cookies!

The Cat Costume

I was going to put cat make-up (nose, whiskers) on, but with that chapped face, I didn’t want to cause any more trouble. Some people couldn’t tell what she was supposed to be, but they all agreed that she was super cute!

Note Squirrel-Like tail…

Cool pumpkins…

These doggies were dressed as Princess Leia and Darth Vadar!!

Lilia went right into this house, and the woman who lived there took her upstairs to see her cats! She shouted down to us, “Hand out the candy,” and these little kids were all saying, “Wow, You have a nice house!”

Lil and Dad

Lil and Mom

Happy New Year, Everyone!

As per Pennsylvania Dutch Tradition, I have Pork and Sauerkraut cooking in the Crock Pot. I used to think every New Year’s that I needed to find a diner that had Pork and Sauerkraut, or I’d buy hotdogs and have them with Sauerkraut (of course, we usually get Hebrew National dogs, and those are 100% beef, not pork). I guess it was when we finally moved into this house that I realized that I could MAKE pork and sauerkraut! DUH! :-P
It’ll be ready around 5, if you want some.
Joe started a new tradition for New Year’s Eve: making lasagna. We’d never done it before, so we just sort of winged it, and used up some ground turkey I had frozen a while ago, and spinach. It was delicious. We have tons of leftovers, if you want some of that instead…

We watched Dick Clark slur his way through the countdown to 2006, and then promptly switched over to a Louis Prima special on WHYY. I fell asleep before 1 AM. We are so exciting, aren’t we? Our street was FILLED with people setting off fireworks and running around with noisemakers– we watched the revelry from our bedroom window.

I guess in the old days, they used New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to throw out a lot of garbage. I spent a huge portion of NYE sorting through files and files of paperwork that related to student loans, college programs I applied to, and jobs I interviewed for. There is a ton ready to be shredded now. It was actually kind of depressing to see all the debt I’ve had for so long, and all the wasted time I put into applying to programs that I would never go to, but hey, now I don’t have a huge tub full of that crap– it can all be recycled now. Joe spent a huge portion of the day recovering from the 4 beers he had the night before. He has become a lightweight since I’ve been pregnant.

A friend from NY is in town to see the Mummers. I want to see her, but I don’t feel like going down to the parade! Plus, I have to be back here by 5 or earlier to get the mashed potatoes started… Yummmm mashed potatoes.

Well, let’s see how I did on my 2005 Resolutions (from 1/1/05 LJ entry):

Resolutions
Walk more
Learn to drive the @#$% car
Take classes and work on this life plan
Cook more

Well, I would say I did a good amount of walking throughout the year.
BZZZZ on learning to drive the car. Oops.
Life Plan… well, I didn’t mention it in last year’s post, but part of the life plan was to work on “Plan B” (Plan Baby), so that’s certainly underway. I didn’t complete any college courses, but I did become an Official Tree Tender this fall. Oh, in fact, my pic is in the Fallser this month. Hehe. I’ll have to scan it as proof.
I cooked some this year. More than the previous year. So that’s a success.

Overall, not TOO bad, although the car thing is pretty darn important. :-(

Not sure what resolutions to make for the new year. More of the same… except instead of working on a grand “life plan”, I’ll just work on little things that enhance life… get involved with the Tree Tenders as much as I can (with babe on the way and all), find a job (or some sort of income) after the babe is born, and just overall try to enjoy life, even when it seems overwhelming.

I wish you all peace and love in the New Year!

My favorite version of White Christmas

I also wanted to share with you my favorite Christmas song of all time, but I can’t seem to get it working right… I’ll have to consult with Joe to figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Anyway, hope you all had a lovely holiday!

Edited: for some reason, it was an mp4 instead of an mp3?
Anyway, here it is:

The best version of the Little Drummer Boy you will ever hear.

you see the earth
as a bright blue and white
christmas tree ornament
in the black sky.

it’s so small and so fragile -
you realize that on that small spot
is everything that means anything to you,
all of history and art
and death and birth and love.

-Russell Schweikart
Astronaut

I am recuperating from working all weekend on having Turkey Dinner yesterday.
Prepping for Turkey Day was exhausting!
Friday, I stayed up late making a shopping list and picking out some recipes.
Saturday was a big day. We started by cleaning the kitchen. Clearing any old junk out of the fridge to make room for the new food we’d be bringing home. Cleaning all the counters– I don’t know if we had looked under the toaster oven in the last 2 years.
Joe had to clear up the spare room (which will be the baby’s room) to make room for my sister who would be arriving later that night. With my shopping list in hand, we drove down to Reading Terminal Market (after cleaning snow off the car), and had a nice lunch at the Dutch Eating Place before buying veggies and picking up the Turkey. We also went to Whole Foods to get the rest of the stuff I needed, and then unloaded at home before going back out to do some random errands– Holod’s Hardware to get replacement bulbs and exchange the present I got for Joan… we also got some greens there– REI for Joe to return his bum bicycle light– Big Box Bed Bath and Beyond for a new rug for the front door– Pet store for some cat food– anything I’m forgetting? Anyway, it was exhausting. We finally got home around 6 something, and Maria showed up after 7. Joe mopped the floor, I did laundry, Joe tried to hang the new lights (they shorted out, and after he replaced the fuse, a few burnt out, so we decided they were crap that need to be returned). We ordered sammies from the pizza place because we hadn’t gotten any food that wasn’t for the special dinner! Then I made Oatmeal cookies. My neighbor was having a party, and I guess due to cold weather, decided to let everyone smoke in their house, which actually seeped into my dining room– covering up my yummy cookie smell! BLECH!!
The only thing I needed to do the night before was soak the dried corn with milk, and I almost forgot! I was in bed when I remembered. Even if I had forgotten, it only needs to soak for 4 hours minimum, so I could have gotten away with it.

Sunday was spent cooking the Turkey, baking a pecan pie (Joe’s specialty), baking sweet potatoes, making maple glazed carrots, cranberry stuffing, Garlic/mushroom mashed potatoes, creamed corn, getting rolls and gravy and cranberry sauce ready, and keeping cats off the table.

Unfortunately, around noon, poor Joe started feeling really sick! Some sort of stomach kind of bug, but with no fever, and hopefully not contagious– I don’t have it yet, so I hope it’s not. He’s still feeling icky whenever he eats something. :-(

One less guest
Also, unfortunately, my Grandmother had canceled. She called Thursday to say she had a bad cold, and had been feeling a little better but went out to clean the snow and ice off her car and felt worse. So she wouldn’t come. She started off the conversation sounding really bad, but perked up as we talked a bit, so I’m not too worried about her cold– she always gets them this time of year. I don’t understand why she had to clean off her car on Thursday– she wasn’t going anywhere, and they had an even bigger storm on Friday, so she really wasn’t going anywhere. She’s so stubborn too. Why is an 84 year old woman cleaning her car off at all?

So, the dinner was only for 5 people, although I could have fed 10. In fact, if you are in Philadelphia, and would like some left over turkey, come on over!

I think everything turned out a-okay. And I think I could probably make a turkey unassisted in the future. However, I’m not sure if standing up for 2 days straight was the smartest thing to be doing at 30 weeks pregnant. I have aches and aches and aches.
But, I’m glad we did it!