Chef Alex

Alex is learning how to cook. He made dinner for me last night. He's got a few things mastered. Spinach with garlic and baked salmon are his specialty. 

It was all quite delicious!

Room Makeover

It's here! The new furniture arrived last night. I love it. More spaces for seating and a new room layout. We're going to replace the artwork on the walls and get a new curtain too. And clean out that bookcase and stuff on the far wall. But it's already a huge improvement!

2016

We're almost into the middle of January already, the year is flying by already.

Here are a few photos from New Years Eve. We went out with the Pelo's to celebrate. They are always fun to hang out with!

Me with John & Louise.

Here's to the new year!

And with the new year, comes new furniture! This is our new family room furniture. We're going with something bold and bright. We needed some more seating in that room for when guests visit and kids come home. It arrives soon... at the moment the family room is empty... 

Minus the lone pink chair. (Which will be going to Boston soon.) The couch was given to a friend and the coffee table was posted on Craigs List and picked up 2 hours later. Gotta love the internet!

New Job

So, I have some good news. I got a new job! I wasn't really looking, it just sort of fell into my lap. Isn't that always the case. I bust my rear for months to get a job with no luck. Then when I'm not looking, one is basically handed to me. It's with the same company I've been working for - CNYCentral (aka WSTM, WTVH & WSTQ-TV.)

Was it fate? Irony? Luck? Well, you see, Alex's father worked at the same tv station as me. He'd been there for 14 years when I started working there in January. He was the Art Director. In October, he got a new job in Albany at another TV station. And so his job here was available. Several people told me to apply for it (including the General Manager and my own boss.) So I did. I start Monday.

I feel like I should be jumping for joy, but it is bittersweet. It's a lot more money, it's doing what I used to do, and it's still with the same company. These are all good things. But I'm kind of sad. I've liked my current job. It's been easy and kind of fun. I'm comfortable. People like me there, I love to help them, they appreciate me and tell me so on an almost daily basis. It's nice to be appreciated! But the money was terrible. And I know soon enough that other people will appreciate me as well. But there's that learning curve and starting over again. But from where I was sitting 18 months ago, I'll take it. I've traveled a long road to get back to where I was.

Post Thanksgiving Post

I've been slacking again with the blog posts. It's not like we haven't been doing things. I'm just lazy and forgetful. And even over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I totally forgot to take pictures of anything. Except the tree lighting/decorating. Which is below.

2 weekends ago, Eric and I joined some friends for the "Escape the Estate" challenge. There's a place up in Fulton called Frightmare Farms. They have an attraction where you have 1 hour to figure out how to escape. It was fun and challenging, but we did it!

I celebrated a birthday last week. Here's my cookie monster cupcake. 

And Eric took me to dinner to our going-to-be-new-favorite-place, The Bull & Bear. It was wonderful.

I received this wonderful arrangement/centerpiece from my parents.

This was the only photo I took on Thanksgiving day. I guess I was too busy cooking! The turkey came out great though! 

Eric putting the star on the tree (Which doesn't seem to light up anymore..)

Alex made a quick appearance to hang his ornaments. (In reality, I decorated the entire tree by myself... sigh...)

The finished product. We'll have to figure out the problem with the star on top. 

I can't believe I have the entire house decorated and it's not even December yet! I think this is a new record for me. Might just have been that I had the opportunity, so I took it. The next few weekends up to Christmas are going to be pretty busy.

The Producers

Last Tuesday we got to go see the musical "The Producers," compliments of work. I entered a drawing for free tickets and I won! (Along with 3 other people.) It was a fun night! It's always nice to get these kinds of perks from work.

Pumpkins and Popcorn

Today was a good day to make some caramel corn! Now we have tasty snacks for the rest of the week. It also kept the house warm while it was baking.

The pesky squirrels stole one of my pumpkins today. I found it out on the front lawn. The funny thing is that they were leaving them alone for the last month. I sprayed the pumpkins with a glossy clear paint. I thought we were in the clear. But I guess not! Maybe all the rain we've been having washed the paint away.