Mmmmm Sushi

I have been craving sushi for weeks, so Sid and I met at RA for lunch. Boy oh boy - it hit the spot!

Roses are Red

My down in the dump spell lasted another day. Sid brought me roses to cheer me up, and you know what? It worked!

Oopsy Daisy #2

Hi there. It's me again. Um, I sorta kinda forgot to take a photo today...again.

It's Monday and I'm feeling the blues. To capture my emotions, here's Ken Ken!

Oopsy Daisy!

This girl is BEAT! Do you forgive me for forgetting to take a photo today? Please? Pretty pretty please?

Here is a photo from the past week to make up for it. Truce?

Without an explanation, it's a pretty hilarious photo, don't you think? It looks like Sid couldn't find a potty so he chose a random spot at Grand Central Terminal.

Oh contraire! If you watch "Secrets of New York" on the Documentary Channel, you know of the "whispering gallery," an arched entryway in Grand Central where a person can stand in one corner and a friend in another corner roughly 50 feet away in a very loud and hectic train terminal and whisper to one another. Super cool! We weren't the only dorks trying it out, just so you know.

I'm Almost Caught Up

Sorry for going so long without posting! We were gone on vacation, came home for one night, left the very next day and didn't get home for 6 more days! Be sure and play catch up with all my photos - think I posted 8 or 9 days recently and you wouldn't want to miss one of them, now would you?

More Christmas Festivities!

Today Randy, Cindy, Ryan, Kenzie and Granny joined us at Mom and Paul's house for more holiday celebration. We had quite a day - hiking, playing the Wii, lots of hide and seek, hamburgers and marshmallow roasting.

Don't Mess With Me...

...or I'll put a cap in you.

Here I am playing with Sid's Christmas present.

Christmas Day

Kenzie and a few of her gifts from Santa:













Kenz beats everyone on the Wii:













Me and my girl:











The party favors Kenz made for everyone ("I worked really hard on them," she said):

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, we headed to Randy and Cindy's house for Christmas Round 2! Cindy's parents and her sister's family were there too, so we had a fun and festive celebration! Unfortunately, I forgot to ask Julie for permission to post photos of her kiddos, so I was careful to pick photos (yes photos, plural. I couldn't pick just one) that only had Ryan and Kenzie in them. Just take my word for it - Lane and Haley are PRECIOUS! It was such a joy to see all the kiddos together, to watch them write their letters to Santa, and to witness their escalating excitement as it got closer to bedtime.

Over the Lake and Through the Woods...

...to Sid and Linda's we go!

We headed to Sid's folks to celebrate Christmas with them! We had a wonderful visit and stuffed our faces with tamales and homemade chili. Yum!

I snapped this photo as we crossed the Lake Livingston bridge. The fog and the wind made me feel like I was on the coast!

And Now It's Time to Say Goodbye...

Finally on the plane. Of course, with all the cancellations from the recent bad weather, it could have been much worse than our two hour delay.

What a trip!

Sunday & Stef

Sid and I headed to Chelsea for lunch with my BFF from highschool, Stef. It was a trip highlight, for sure, and we played catch up and laughed a bunch and made fun of people from back in the day (including ourselves, of course). We all have those friends we can go years without seeing but the moment you're back together it's like time never passed, and Stef is one of those friends. Of course, we keep in touch through emails, but I haven't seen her in the flesh in years. Naturally, the photo is horrible of me and adorable of her, but I don't care!

No. Sleep. Till Brooklyn!

Another great day! We started with a stroll through the Flatiron District, breakfast in Union Square, the Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour (including stops at Grimaldi's and Spumoni Gardens), a 30 block walk back to our hotel taking in the sights, the NY Pops at Carnegie Hall (wow) and drinks at Stone Rose in Columbus Circle to finish the night. Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the day:

Brooklyn Bridge:













Coney Island:













Carnegie Hall:

Snowy Day in Manhattan

Today was an unbelievable day! We started with breakfast at Dean & Deluca, with a great table and view of the Today Show. The snow began tumbling down as gigantic snowflakes while we gobbled our quiche, and on our walk to the Museum of Modern Art we actually had a difficult time seeing through the precipitation! We loved it, of course, since our Dallas winter has been very mild thus far. If you've never been to MOMA, they have an amazing sculpture garden and beautiful views from huge windows on the higher floors. I took the first photo as the snow continued to fall (as it did throughout the day) and by the end of the night, Central Park was breathtaking with it's new white blanket.

Live From New York...

...it's the Saturday Night Live hallway!

Amanda's friend from highschool, Jonathan, was the coolest host on Thursday morning. He works in the Rockefeller building and allowed us access to his floor and our very own page! We wished for Kenneth from 30 Rock but we got an adorable Chicago boy instead who was an absolute doll. He took us to the Conan O'Brien studio (where I got to sit at Conan's desk!), NBC Nightly News, Sunday Night Football and Saturday Night Live! I had always heard that the offical studio tours don't allow access to SNL, especially if the show is live that week. We actually got to walk on the floor where some of the greatest comedians of all time have poured their hearts and souls out to make people laugh over the last 35 years. It was a surreal moment standing there, feet from the stage.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

The day finally arrived! We set our alarms for 3:30 AM, showered, dressed, collapsed like zombies in the Jeep at 4:30, headed to Amanda's, piled into another car, loaded the plane, stepped off the plane 3 hours later, took the train to NY Penn Station, walked up the subway stairs and...drum roll please...we were in New York City! Here is a shot of 5th Avenue near 58th Street.

Icy Day

As I left my very slick and very icy driveway, I laughed at the weatherman's prediction that the day would warm up to above freezing. It didn't warm up...not even a tiny bit. At 1 o'clock it was 24 degrees. Hooray for canceled school! My neighbors were happy.

Just Posted Four Picture Days in a Row - Sorry!

Ice Storm? What?!

Once again, I headed to Addison to help Sid complete the construction project he's been working on. I got there around 5:30 and we worked until 8 in freezing weather - literally. It was around 29 degrees with a windchill of 15. Not exactly the kind of weather you want to be 12 feet in the air lifting metal, bless Sid's chilly heart, but we finished up and were happy to head to Pei Wei for a yummy dinner before heading back home.

We finished up our dinner around 8:30 or so (we ate fast!), walked out of the restaurant, and stood in awe for about 1 minute. The ground was completely covered in ice pellets. Snow, I can handle. Ice? YUCK! We carefully made our way back to our separate vehicles and slowly exited the parking lot. Addison roads were almost completely sheeted in ice, and Sid and I had some fun sliding around, but surely the Tollway would be sanded and clear, right?

WRONG! In fact, all of our stupid radio weather people were scoffing at the winter advisory all day, claiming how unlikely the changes for significant precipitation were. (I actually heard one weather lady say with laughter in her voice, "Just don't drive 80 mph over the Lake Lewisville bridge.") The Tollway was covered in ice pellets and traffic was crawling. At Sid's command, I threw my Jeep into fourwheel drive and made the journey northward for home. We saw several accidents, none serious.

Highway 380 and 289, which lead to home, were empty and covered in ice pellets and what looked like snow. Sid and did some more slipping and sliding, on purpose, and finally made it to Celina. What a night! Thank you God for inspiring the concepts of fourwheel drive and traction control in the inventor's minds. What a lifesaver!

Me...Operating a Forklift?...Seriously?

So all this time, I thought operating a forklift was difficult work. Not so much! But, hats off to the guys/girls who do that for a living because you DO have to pay attention and handle the controls gently so you don't kill someone! Hats AND shoes off to the guys/girls who are at the mercy of the operator and have be lifted a zillion feet in the air! YIKES!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go!

Sid bid a job for his employer recently, enclosing two gigantic rv/car ports and adding garage doors. He got the job, and this weekend I headed down to Addison with him because he needed someone to help him lift the giant metal pieces and to operate the forklift. Oh, what fun we had! Well, not so much FUN, but we did survive the day and treated ourselves to burgers at Fuddruckers before heading home.

Here is Sid on the ladder - about 12 feet in the air and still smiling. If that had been me on the ladder the camera would have captured me vomitting from terror.

Me, Me, Me

Sid and I ventured to the mall today for some Christmas shopping. I ended up buying myself two pair of shoes, a sweater dress and some socks (all on sale, at least). So much for it being the time to give - I might as well have run around the mall hollering, "Me Me Me!" We did, however, buy lots of gifts too!

Christmas is Coming The Geese are Getting Fat...

Ever heard that song? Didn't think so. I had to sing it in the third grade. Follow that line up with "Please to put a penny in an old man's hat, if you haven't got a penny a half penny will do. If you haven't got a half penny, God bless you. (or as Sid always sings, "shame on you")

Anywho, we bought an advent calendar last year. I must say I'm more excited to see December 17th - the day we depart for NYC - than I am the 25th. I know once we get back from our trip, though, I'll be super excited for Christmas! It's hard to be excited about too many things at once...one thing at a time!

Poor Dixie

I realize I've been posting lots of dog pictures lately, but what can I say? I love 'em.

We took Bear to the vet today. Just Bear. Not Dixie. We put on his leash...he got excited...Dixie waited for us to put HER leash on....we didn't...I opened the door...Bear dashed out...Dixie tried to follow...I shut quickly shut the door.

I opened the door to catch a peak at Dixie, who I was SURE was highly irritated. This is how I was greeted (sorry for the blurry quality):

She didn't move. She didn't make a dash for the door. She stood there. Staring. Radiating disappointment. Poor Dixie.

Where's Bear Bear?

I spent most of the morning downstairs - on the computer, making/drinking coffee. The dogs were nowhere to be found and that was fine with me.

I walked into our bedroom to take a shower and there was Bear...on the bed...curled up and cozy...with a very guilty look on his face. Instead of pushing him off the bed, I kissed his head and walked away. He's too cute to be mad at. Plus, his back hurts and I'm always happy for him to stay in one place for a few hours, rather than running up and down the stairs, jumping on and off furniture, etc.

Ah, Sookie!

I am having furious Sookie Stackhouse withdrawls. You know the series by now, don't you? The Charlaine Harris book series about Sookie Stackhouse, the telepathic waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana? The series that HBO's True Blood is based on? Well, do you know it? DO YOU?

The 9th book of the series won't be out until next spring. Arg! I bought "Real Murders" by Charlaine Harris before I even read the Sookie books, because that was the ONLY book by Charlaine Harris in the entire Half Price Books store. I didn't read it because I finally tracked down "Dead Until Dawn."

Now I've read "Real Murders"...and "Bone to Pick"...and now "Three Bedrooms, One Corpse" - the third book of the series. It's super cute - if you can call a murder mystery "cute" - and the books are super quick reads. Aurora Teagarden is no Sookie Stackhouse, but she'll do.

Have I Found You, Flightless Bird?

NOTE: I'm on Santa's naughty list for being a terrible photo blog participant. I didn't take a single photo over the weekend, except for our Friday night outing. So, for Saturday and Sunday, I'm cheating and using some photos I took during the week.

Sid and I were walking hand-in-hand to our car after a scrumptious meal at Lucy's, enjoying the Christmas lights on the square, when he looked down at me with mock excitement and exclaimed, "Look! You can pretend to be Bella in the gazebo!" [From the Twilight movie for you Twilight haters]

We laughed and laughed as we imagined setting up a video camera, putting "Flightless Bird" on the stereo and dancing for all the locals to see as he pretends to bite my neck.

Our Annual Campisi's Holiday Feast

Taken during our annual Campisi's/light tour holiday feast:

Fire!

Sid's attempt to burn our house down...

NYC Planning Day

Amanda and I discussed our NYC plans today - making lists, checking them twice. Tonight, I bundled up in bed (where did this cold front come from? I had no idea!) with my maps and my books and planned a walking tour for our first day. We'll see everything! Bryant Park, NY Public Library, Toys R Us, Grand Central, Chryster Building, all the department store windows, St. Patricks, FAO Schwarz, Rock Center, the tree....we'll be tired, but by golly, we'll be beaming from ear to ear.



P.S. Sid complained that I need to stop using my cell phone camera and start using my nice camera. I didn't realize the photo quality was so bad that you guys would notice! Oops! Starting tomorrow....

Any excuse for cake...

Our local diner, Lucy's, was recently listed in Texas Monthly's "40 Best Small Town Cafes." We celebrated with them tonight by chowing down on fried pickles and their delicious cake. Yummy!

Uh Oh.

We pulled out the Playstation. We thought it was broken all this time but it sure worked when we fired it up! I kicked Sid's butt at ATV Fury, as usual.

One of My Favorites

I thought I'd snap a few photos throughout the month of my favorite Christmas ornaments.

This one we bought last year in Grand Central Station. I know we'll love hanging it on the tree for years to come, remembering Christmas 2007 spent in our favorite city.

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty is an old pal. We've had him for several years - some of which we left him dismembered in a stuffy box in a hot, lonely attic. Miraculously, he still loves us. I remember one Christmas several years ago, we had him inside thinking Makenzie would get a kick out of him. She didn't. Instead she ran screaming from the room. Way to go, Aunt Leigh.

Black Friday

Sid and I jumpstarted Black Friday with a latte on our way to Cabellas - at 6am. We met Mom and Paul in Frisco for some mall shopping and headed to Lucy's for dinner.

By the looks of Dixie, you'd think she joined us. She didn't. She slept...all day...like she does everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mmmmm. Pumpkin Pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. I skipped a few days. Forgive me?

I Will Return

Don't forget about me. I'll be back soon.

Christmas Time Is Here. Wait, Already?

So, it's only November 22. What gives?

Well, my family and I decided to cancel Thankstmas this year - the made up holiday I host at the beginning of December. We're also taking the 5 night trip to NYC as well as spending Christmas in the Houston area.

See where I'm going with this? We won't have much time at our house this holiday season, so we figure, why not start the celebrating a little early?

Leigh at 38?

So, why would I post such an unflattering photo? I don't know! Of all the photos in my camera for the day, I was drawn to this one. I think it's because I see myself in ten years. The camera angle draws attention to crows feet that don't exist in the normal light of day. Sid says I'm being hard on myself, but truly, I'm not! The photo doesn't bum me out one bit.