The End of the Year

Today is the end of 2010. It has been a very good year. It might have started out a bit rocky, but it ended peacefully. And peaceful is good. I'm looking forward to another great year ahead in 2011. And I wish all my blog readers much happiness in the New Year!

This past week, Alex had another meet in Cortland. It was on Tuesday, so I took the day off from work and went down to watch. It was a nice way to break up a short week. In case anyone cares or doesn't already know, the NY Jets host their training camp at SUNY Cortland. This is where they practice. It's really a great campus.

Alex ran the 1600 meter this week. I think the coach is trying him out in every event to figure out what is his best. He liked this a LOT better than the 3200. Interestingly enough, while I was at the meet, I ran into my old friend and former co-worker, Dave Eichorn. (He was the Chief Meteorologist over at Ch. 9, he's also no longer there...) Anyway, Dave's son also runs track. And wouldn't you know it, our boys were in the same race. So we cheered them both on. The results are below. They both had great races, Dave's son just edged out Alex by 5 seconds. Although... Alex is just a Freshman... and Dave's son is a Junior. :) But it was still a great race. The results from Alex's heat are below:


Also while I was at the meet, something strange happened to me. Something that has never happened before. I had an encounter with a very rude woman! Usually people are so pleasant and friendly at these events. I have never come across anyone who wasn't nice. But boy, this woman was awful. I took a photo of her below, she's the one in the white shirt on the left:

And this is exactly how far I was standing away from her. She was actually sitting when she started yelling at me. She was telling me that I was in her way! I was a good 10 feet away from her, not in front of her, and not blocking her view. She claims she couldn't see the finish line when she was sitting down. I tried to ignore her, but then she got up, came over to me, started poking me in the arm, yelling in my face and telling me that I needed to leave. I've never been so insulted! The two men who were next to me in this photo, who were sitting at the time, got up and stood next to me. They told her she didn't own the place and told her to leave me alone. I was so mad though! I might have yelled back at her and called her a name... She eventually went back to her spot and stood like the rest of us. And didn't bother me again. Oh and I discovered that she was from Fulton... anyone recognize her??

In nicer news, this is Eric's new set-up. He got those speakers for Christmas. And from what I've heard, they're awesome!

Much Better

Apparently it helps if you add the right amount of yeast and don't leave out ingredients.

We have success on the 2nd try!

Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Hayden House. We woke up early... well, around 7:30am. Which is probably late for those with little ones!

We opened our stockings first. Eric always enjoys getting Whoppers from Santa.

Speaking of Santa, Alex played Santa and passed out everybody's gifts. It didn't take too long this year... as most everyone only got 2-3 gifts. It's not the quantity... it's the quality!

Eric got fancy new Mackie speakers for his keyboard. He had a feeling Santa was going to bring them, he spent several days before Christmas setting up his room to get ready for them. Heh heh.

And Alex must have been a very good boy this year... Santa brought him his own laptop! (Now maybe I can blog more often!)

I was very excited to get a NookColor this year. I absolutely love it!!

Kelsey also came by, as Santa brought her lots of gifts too.

Including an X-Box 360!

Jenny wasn't left out... she got lots of treats. Which by this point, she had already eaten.

We all headed up to Fulton to Sheila's house for a wonderful Christmas Dinner. Kelly showed us how to dance.

Then Laura helped her cousin Kelsey figure out the purple guitar. Aunt Amanda ended up with the high score for the evening.... who knew I had such amazing hand-eye coordination... heh.

Gary was playing with Sheila's new iPad. While Eric was, well, I have no idea what Eric was doing.

Sheila always out-does herself with the desserts! Apple pie, cookies and yummy Cream Puffs!!

Alex got me a fun bread maker for Christmas. I think I need to read the directions a little closer or something. My first loaf of bread doesn't look much like a loaf of bread!

I think it looks a little bit like a chicken... (Anyone with bread makers have any advice??)

Oh and thanks mom for the beer cozies! They're working out nicely... Hee hee! (We'll give them back to Alex when he turns 21...)

Twas the Week Before Christmas...

'Twas the week before Christmas,
And all through the station....

Not a creature was working,
Not even the boss.

The employees were there,
But none really cared.

So we all went to lunch....
Two days in a row.

There was Emily. And Alana and Sue. And Caitlin and Andrea.
And part of Danita's arm...

And there was Rosie. And Emily, again.

There was Skip the web guy.
And Kris, no, not Kringle.

And I with my scarf and my new friend Cathy.

We had a fabulous lunch, two days in a row.
Not a whole lot of work was done,
Just some holiday fun.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Jenny and the Tube

Jenny loves Christmas wrapping season...

There's just something about that big cardboard tube!

She will probably cart this thing around with her for the next week.

And good luck getting it away from her!

Meets and Parties

Yesterday Alex had a track meet at Hamilton College, in Clinton, NY. (It's an exit away from Turning Stone, off the Thru-Way.) Alex was the only freshman on his team that got to run this week. His coach put him in the 3200 meter run. I'm not exactly sure Alex was terribly thrilled about that! But he did it. They even put him in the fast heat, which again, I'm not sure Alex was happy about. Actually I know he wasn't. But he did it.

The second fastest x-country runner in the state was in that race. And he came in 3rd in that race yesterday. It was a FAST race. Alex got lapped twice. And wished he had been in the slow heat. He placed 29th overall, out of 41 runners. And he's hoping to get to run the 1,000 meter next time...

Last weekend, Eric and I went to my friend Boyd's Annual Christmas Open House. I just love his parties. His house is amazing. I really didn't take enough pictures to really do it justice, but let's just say he could have been an interior decorator. Or a party planner.

He even invited Santa to his party!

These are the stairs to the finished basement.

He had a Christmas Tree in every room. Even the bathroom!

And that tree was decorated with Rubber Duckies.

There was Fooz Ball in the basement, massages in the upstairs bedrooms, tarot card readings, a photo booth, amazing food and drinks... and so much more!! He really outdoes himself every year.

I also ran into some old friends! (Actually, we brought Rebecca with us...) It was so nice to see everybody and catch up. I miss all my old friends from Channel 9, even if I don't exactly miss Channel 9...

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the WCNY Christmas Party this year. I was SO sad about this because I actually knew everybody this year and probably would have had an even better time than I have in years past. We had planned on going, but on our drive home from work that day, it was snowing so hard we could barely see 2 feet in front of us. And it didn't let up all night. I think Eric would have tried to go, but I wasn't up for the stress! But I'm still sad that we missed it.

Oh and if anyone is wondering where their Christmas cards are... I finally finished them last night. They'll be out in the mail tomorrow. (If I can remember to buy stamps...) I do believe this is the latest I've ever sent them. Christmas just snuck up on me this year! I can't believe that Christmas is next weekend...

Decking the Halls

We finally got around to decorating the tree this past weekend. I think it was the latest I've ever put up the tree! I feel so behind this year for some reason. I've barely started my Christmas cards!

Here are a few pictures from around the livingroom. I love this snowman.

Another favorite snowman.

I bought Eric & I new stockings this year. Kelsey and Alex still have the biggest though...

Oops.

I know, there are many angry blog readers out there wondering what happened to me! Ok, maybe there aren't. And I have no excuses. But, I can catch up a little on the goings-on around here. I've posted some photos on Facebook about our never-ending snow storm. But here are a few more.

This was the morning after the 45-ish" of snow we got in 4 days. (97 straight hours...) I've never been so happy to see the sun.

We are so very thankful for our snowplow guy. And a 2-car garage.

The house in the foreground (with the pool) is the house of the guy who killed the local girl that was missing for a week. This is a view from the other side of the park behind our house. Our house is the dark red one that you can see through the trees. (That's the back of our house.) We watched the Sheriff's Department at his house the afternoon that they found her body. Such a sad story and much too close to home...

Last weekend we went to the 50th Birthday party of my former boss (from Ch. 9). (Seems everyone I know is turning 50 this year!!) It was a great time. In lieu of gifts, we brought dog food for the SPCA.

This is Mike and his awesome wife Gladys.

Eric and I at the party.

And today was the very first Indoor Track meet for Alex. It was held at SUNY Cortland at Lusk Field House. Kind of looks like an old airplane hanger...

It was a nice facility, but there was really nowhere for spectators to sit.

Alex was very lucky to get to run this week. The coach only allowed 24 team members to compete. It was a "Relay" meet, so only relay teams competed. He was able to secure a spot on the very competitive 4x800 team.

Here he is running a lap (each runner ran 4 laps) of his leg of the 4x800. As you can see, he has the lead.

He maintained that lead as he handed off to his teammate, the 4th and final leg, Zavon Watkins. Zavon just happens to have the National Sophomore record in the 1000 meter. He's only a junior now. And he's a great guy to have on your relay team! Needless to say, they won the race. And with that win, Alex officially earned his Varsity Letter! If you'd like to see the results from the meet, they are here. Alex's race is listed on the side, the "Boys 4x800 Meter Relay". Scroll down for the "Final" results.

And I guess that catches everyone up on what's been going on around here. Although I still have yet to post any photos from Thanksgiving. There were just so many great ones, I haven't had the time to sift through them and re-size them. I will though, eventually. Hopefully before next Thanksgiving...