My first Christmas tree....

Lindsay, my roommate, is a Christmas fanatic. She loves everything Christmas! So, I was excited to hear that she was bringing back the Christmas tree that her family has used in the past. I had never officially decorated a Christmas tree before and had never had one reside in my place of residence. So, it was a new experience for me and it was a lot of fun! The tree is so pretty, don't you think??! I also got my first Christmas stocking, too! Lindsay was ever so kind enough to bring one back for me after Thanksgiving. YAY!!!

Thanksgiving was fun!

I arrived in Ohio about 4:30 on Wednesday. I was the first of my siblings to arrive, as my brother and his family were driving the 16 hours from Vermont and Leila was secretly in a Seattle airport waiting for her delayed flight to Chicago. I say "secretly" because we didn't tell anyone that she was coming. It was a surprise! Her flight was due in at 10:45 that night and I was certain my mom would go to bed well before that in order to allow me to sneak out of the house (sound familiar my high school friends??) in order to go get her without my mom noticing. But, alas, my mom stayed up until 11:00 and even with the delay in my sister's flight, I was getting antcy. So, finally, my sister-in-law, Wendy, told my mom that we had to run an errand. My mom thought it was quite strange that we would be leaving the house at 11:00 to run an errand, but she let it go. She was in bed by the time we arrived back at 12:30 and we snuck Leila up to my bedroom until morning. The picture here is of my mom seeing her in the morning...she's so cute getting all teary-eyed.

The rest of the trip was great! I goto to be with my both my brother and sister, which doesn't happen very often. We had a total of 17 people at the dinner. Check out my photos on Flickr to see the hooplah!

Thanksgiving!!

Yay for Thanksgiving! I can't wait to go home and see all my family, especially since my brother and his family will be able to make it. I haven't seen them in a looooong time. It will be fabulous! What are all of you doing for the holiday??

Squeeling neighbor....

So, as you all may or may not know, I live in a double (duplex, whatever you want to call it). My neighbors are two sisters living together. They are very nice and pleasant people to share a wall with, as they don't ever make any noise.

Well, the other day I was getting ready for bed and I heard a ruckus coming from next door (I love that word....ruckus. It reminds me of the line from "The Breakfast Club" that the principal uses after the dude falls through the ceiling of the library...."What was that ruckus??!"). I set my toothbrush down and went into the hall so I could get better audio. I heard yelling and I thought "Ooooo! A fight!!!" So, I went downstairs and leaned close to the shared wall. One of my neighbors was screaming fearfully, "NO! NO! NO! NO!," while stomping on the floor. Then all would be fairly quite for a few seconds and then it would start again..."NOOOOOOOO! NO! NO!" She kind of whimpered at one point, even.

I was a bit concerned for a minute, as I wondered if she was being accosted or something. But, then I heard her get on the phone..."Daddy! There's a mouse in the house and I don't know what to do!!!!"

I started laughing. I ran to go get a cat-carrier and went next door. She flung the door open and immediately turned around and jumped up on the couch. "So, I hear you have a mouse," I said. She pointed at the fireplace and let me know that it keeps trying to crawl out from under it. I tried catching it, but it didn't want to come out for me.....I assume it sensed that someone was in the room that didn't fear it. Then her boyfriend came over, so I let him handle the rest.

Cooking....Palestinian style

So, I decided that I should start cooking more. Not only because it's healthier, but also because it saves money. With my new endeavor of trying to pay off my car in the next 6 months, I am trying to stay on a strict budget.

Since I am going to cook meals, I decided to finally make some family recipes that my mom learned from my dad's mom. I grew up on this Palestinian food and it's oooohhhhh soooo gooood. Last week I made yukhnee bandora. This week, I made macaroneh. Basically, they are both a bunch of tomatoes, with a bunch of meat.... and then spices that Americans wouldn't normally use with meat and tomatoes. I now have enough food to feed an entire army, as the portions my mom's recipes make are quite gigantic.

Me....Interviewing??

So, we have an open position on our team. There are three candidates that we are planning on interviewing. Since I am the "interim director," I'll be leading the interview. ACK! Me, leading an interview?!? Yeeaaahh....not sure how this will go. It should be fine, I guess....I just don't really dig this part of the interim position. Actually, I don't dig most of the interim position. It sucks.

Anyway, instead of wearing converse sneakers, jeans and a sweater, I decided I should probably look like I'm professional. So, I'm wearing a dress shirt, dress pants and heels. Yep, that's right....I'm wearin' fancy clothes fer work! Amazing.