The Internets Are Magical

Saturday, December 19, 2009 | 0 Comments


Just a couple of weeks ago this bag was just a picture on the internet, now it is sitting in my living room with my bowling ball in it. Weird. I feel like the kid in Willy Wonka that gets the chocolate bar from the television set. The bag was just as pictured, only better! I couldn't see on eBay that the bag had silver piping!
Frickin sweet!

Fun With Haggling

Thursday, December 03, 2009 | 2 Comments

I love to bowl. I may not be spectacular at it, but I love it anyway. I have had my own ball and shoes for years, but have been using a backpack for a bag since I could not seem to find the perfect "Sy" bowling ball bag. Well, I found it! On eBay.

I must confess that the only things that I have ever purchased from eBay were Buy-It-Nows. The bowling ball bag that I found said $34.90 Or Best Offer.

Hmm... "Or Best Offer", magical words that sparked something in me: I must have this bag -- at a great price!

After a little offering and counter-offering, I am the proud winner of the bag at $20.10! It was so much fun haggling! I can see why whole cultures insist on it!

It should get here some time next week, but here is my collage of the eBay pictures:

It's a little smudgey, but I am confident in my ability to clean it real purdy! And it'll go real nice with my shoes.

My Ticket Out Of Crazy Town

Friday, November 13, 2009 | 4 Comments

I got a call from the library today asking if I could come back to the job that I had turned down a permanent position for back in 2008. I had turned it down back then because I had so many projects going on at my current job that only I would be able to finish and the fact that the library position would be a night position, ensuring limited time with my son during the school year. This position was eventually filled by a good friend of mine, KD so again, it was still a win situation.

Well, KD is now resigning because he is moving with his girlfriend out of state; thus, the position is open again. I am very tempted to more seriously consider the library job as my son is doing much better in school and my current boss is DRIVING.ME.CRAZY!!! SERIOUSLY!!

I have managed to train in a couple people to do at least some of the things I do there so it wouldn't be too devastating for the company, and we finally got a second pharmacist (who is now thinking about leaving because the boss is driving her crazy too)... she drives everyone crazy, really. I've tried to talk to her, but she just re-reasons situations and people's reactions to fit what she would like to think. She just refuses to see that she is driving people, good people, away.

I knew that KD was planning on moving to be with his girlfriend, I just didn't know he was doing it so soon. When the library called, I already knew that I would say yes to temping the position while they prepared to fill it, but a second chance at the position just opening up like this and dropping into my lap may be a sign. It may be time to move out of Crazy Town.

Princess Sy

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 | 0 Comments


I saw this costume at Target and for whatever reason really wanted it. I dressed up for Halloween and went out visiting friends. I chose a larger size so that I could wear warm clothes underneath - which was good because it was freezing Halloween night! My son likes to go to the Renaissance Festival and I figured that this could double for going there too.

This Is How I Will Die

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | 0 Comments

As I was out in the street in the dark mowing leaves last night I thought to myself, yeah, this is how I am going to die.

Mostly Annual Pumpkin Party

Saturday, October 03, 2009 | 3 Comments

Today I went to JJ's Mostly Annual Pumpkin Party. I haven't seen her in over a year, so it was nice to catch up with her and see how her Not So New Now Job is going. I off course brought my now Mostly Famous Pumpkin Pie, and with it I decided to make my Creamy Italian Soup that morphed into a Spicy Chicken Stew. YUMMY!!


Sy's Mostly Famous Pumpkin Pie

Spicy Chicken Stew

SSB carving his pumpkin.


My pumpkin and JD's pumpkin.

Soup Stand-off

Sunday, September 13, 2009 | 0 Comments

I was reading a bloggers story of a food stand-off when they were very young and it reminded me of my own food stand-off.

It involved pea soup. My younger brother and I both tried it, spit it out, and refused to eat any more. My parents didn't tolerate waste of food. We were to sit there until we ate every last bit. 7 hours later we were still sitting there, obedient to the punishment, but not about to eat that soup! We were practically sleeping at the table as it was about midnight. They wrapped up our bowls, told us to go to bed and we would have to eat it for breakfast.

We sat down at the breakfast table the next morning with our heads hanging, not looking forward to another day sitting in front of those terrible bowls of soup. My parents retrieved the soup from the fridge, uncovered them and plunked them down in front of us, "Now, eat it!" We looked at each other and silently resolved to give it another try. We picked up our spoons and dug in... or we would have if they had not meet what seemed like concrete. We jabbed our spoons at the soup a couple more times, never even making a dent in the now hardened soup. My dad looked over at my mom, trying not to laugh, and said, "Oh, just get them some cereal!" We never had to eat pea soup again!

Currently Enjoying

Saturday, August 29, 2009 | 2 Comments



If you enjoy this video, check out The Guild series. Hilarious.

Because Mashups Are Fun!

Thursday, August 20, 2009 | 0 Comments



Lolrus

Sunday, August 09, 2009 | 0 Comments


Well traveled meme that SSB & I stumbled upon Friday.

Conversations At Our House v.34

Monday, July 27, 2009 | 2 Comments

[On on way home after buying Quizno's Sammies for dinner]

Sy: They need to make these Sammie baggies bigger or come up with a Sammie funnel.

SSB: They make em cheap, but then they make the workers try and pack them into tiny bags. They've got to be losing money.

Sy: [ignoring SSB] Oh! I know just how the design would be! Look! ... You're not looking!


SSB: Yeah, yeah. I get the idea.

Sy: But you're not looking! It's brilliant!

SSB: [ignoring Sy] Maybe they could just train monkeys to pack them. They have tiny hands.

Sy: Yes. THAT'S what I want touching my sammie.

SSB: They'd wear tiny gloves.

Sy: Why can't we just have children do it like every other country?

Conversations At Our House v.33

Thursday, July 23, 2009 | 4 Comments

[Folders commercial comes on TV]

Sy: Folgers sucks ass!!

SSB: They can't hear you, dear.

Sy: That's OK. The neighbors can, & maybe now they won't buy Folgers.

Conversations At Our House v.32

Monday, July 06, 2009 | 2 Comments

Sy: I saw a picture of Patrick Swayze the other day on one of those ragmags.

SSB: The one where he's got the earpiece?

Sy: Yeah. He's not looking so good.

SSB: Well, he's got cancer.

Sy: I don't remember celebrities dying so much when I was growing up.

SSB: Maybe it's because most of your celebrities were muppets.

Sy: Yeah, I guess they don't die, do they.

SSB: Jim Henson died though. I think it was cancer. Maybe from working with all that foam.

Sy: Ah. Muppethemiola.

That's Life. This Is Walgreens.

Monday, June 01, 2009 | 0 Comments


I can't wait to enjoy the savings!!

1 comments:

Lyvvie said...

More practical for those of a certain age, but not all that optimistic.

Love the new look!

June 19, 2009 9:16 AM

Wolves Rule!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 | 0 Comments

I like wolves, you like wolves, who doesn't, right?

But hot holy hell! Three wolves?! I nearly wet my Zubaz when I laid eyes on this mystaculous delight. What kind of mad genius designed such a heavenly creation? Surely it is far beyond the scope of mere mortal humans. It must have been created by super-intelligent aliens, or there really is a God. But there is only one question I really need the answer to -- where can I get one?

A taste of the praise:
Dual Function Design, November 10, 2008
By B. Govern "Bee-Dot-Govern" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women. The women knew from the wolves on my shirt that I, like a wolf, am a mysterious loner who knows how to 'howl at the moon' from time to time (if you catch my drift!). The women that approached me wanted to know if I would be their boyfriend and/or give them money for something they called mehth. I told them no, because they didn't have enough teeth, and frankly a man with a wolf-shirt shouldn't settle for the first thing that comes to him.

I arrived at Wal-mart, mounted my courtesy-scooter (walking is such a drag!) sitting side saddle so that my wolves would show. While I was browsing tube socks, I could hear aroused asthmatic breathing behind me. I turned around to see a slightly sweaty dream in sweatpants and flip-flops standing there. She told me she liked the wolves on my shirt, I told her I wanted to howl at her moon. She offered me a swig from her mountain dew, and I drove my scooter, with her shuffling along side out the door and into the rest of our lives. Thank you wolf shirt.

Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women
Cons: Only 3 wolves (could probably use a few more on the 'guns'), cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark.

Clicky here for the best of the praise.

And why not indulge in a song?

5 comments:

Michael Manning said...

Sylvana: You are fascinating and fun! :)

May 28, 2009 2:14 AM

Sylvana said...

Michael Manning, like WOLVES? ;)

May 29, 2009 3:37 PM

sideshow bob said...

You are so 3 Wolf Moon.

June 08, 2009 9:39 PM

Michael Manning said...

Hi, Sylvana! Just stopped over to say Hello and see what you've been up to! :)

June 08, 2009 9:54 PM

Sylvana said...

SSB, so sweet!

Michael Manning, I have been gardening! Almost all my spring chores are done, tho so I should be able to post here soon!

June 10, 2009 12:35 PM

Garden Season

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 | 0 Comments

It's that time of year when I spend nearly every bit of my free time getting my garden up to speed. I have been busy building raised beds for my vegetable gardens (got to get those damn veggies planted before Obama outlaws gardening;), buying plants, weeding, making a brick floor for my gazebo, and making a brick privacy wall for our patio (a few summers ago SSB and I spent a few weeks tearing a chimney off a friend's demolished house for the bricks). My work hours are flexible, so if the weather is nice that day, I call in late for work and spend time in the garden instead. I do this throughout spring every year. It's one of the work perks I enjoy the most.

If you would like to see what I am up to in my garden, go to my garden blog and check out the pics. Good stuff, I guarantee.

I mean, if you are into that sort of thing.

1 comments:

sideshow bob said...

I love the second photo...that's some nice shootin'!

June 10, 2009 9:20 AM

Lovebugs

Monday, May 04, 2009 | 0 Comments

2 comments:

Michael Manning said...

A FUN photo of the cat and puppy! :)

May 05, 2009 12:17 AM
Sylvana said...

Aren't they cute? Our doxie was a little sleepy in this photo because the cat was giving him a nice relaxing massage.

May 08, 2009 11:51 AM

I Survived!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009 | 0 Comments

The visit from my parents went well. Hardly any arguing at all.

2 comments:

Mrs. Loquacious said...

Congratulations. This is a difficult feat to accomplish. ;)

April 23, 2009 9:59 AM
Michael Manning said...

Yes, it can get strained during the last day. But it gets better with time! :D)

May 05, 2009 12:18 AM

Scary Phone Call

Thursday, April 16, 2009 | 0 Comments

I got a phone call this morning at 8am. I thought that it was either JD asking us to bring him something to school (maybe his chapstick ;) or it was someone from work (which RARELY happens, even when they really should).

It was my dad, and my heart jumped into my throat he sounded so sad. He started out asking me if I got his message yesterday. It sounded like he was going to cry. I thought, OH NO! SOMEONE DIED! I got choked up and prepared for the worst.

Nope, he just wanted to know if we'd be around this weekend, because he thought they'd come for a visit.
Like tonight. In about 9 hours.
Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

3 comments:

Mrs. Loquacious said...

Gahhhhh! I hate calls like that. Thinking that something may/may not have happened to my parents usually brings me to tears, so I avoid thinking about this topic at all costs.

April 16, 2009 10:59 AM
Sylvana said...

Mrs. L, I'm terrible during sad movies or the news because I can easily imagine the people in the story being people that are close to me!!

April 16, 2009 3:10 PM
Michael Manning said...

Glad it wasn't serious!

May 05, 2009 12:19 AM

Karma's A Bitch So I Don't Have to Be

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | 0 Comments

I went disc golfing on Sunday. As we were driving on the second hole, I heard what sounded like a disc whizzing toward the back of my head. Before I could turn around, I heard it thunk into a tree. The tree was about ten feet directly behind me, and there was a jackass about 100 feet back grinning sheepishly and waving from our hole's tee.

What the hell! We are on this hole!

We finished the hole as quickly as we could and decided to let him play through. When he finished and approached, I almost gave him a very loud, angry piece of my mind.

But I withheld since I was with a friend and didn't want to embarrass him. He later said that he would have been OK with it. He would have just wandered off and acted like he wasn't with me.

Fair enough. But I was glad that I didn't say anything. Jackass's first throw on the next tee, the one that we let him play through on, he treed his disc into some pines!

Ha! Suck that Karma, Jackass!!

0 comments:

Conversation At Our House v.31

Tuesday, April 07, 2009 | 0 Comments

[JD came home earlier than expected today]

Sy: Hey, I thought you had jazz band and tennis after school.

JD: No jazz band because we had a concert last night. And they are having a match in tennis with only the best 30 players.

Sy: Where are you in the line-up?

JD: 50 out of 70.

Sy: Well, that's not that bad. I guess you just need to practice more.

JD: Actually, I could be better, but I don't know because I've never done a ladder match.

Sy: What's a ladder match?

JD: It's where you challenge a better player, and if you win, you take their spot on the ladder.

Sy: OH!! Like Highlander! Except you don't cut off their heads!

JD: Uhhhh...sure.

1 comments:

Lyvvie said...

Deathmatch Tennis. I like it! There Can Be Only One!!

April 08, 2009 7:04 AM

Music Man

Sunday, March 29, 2009 | 0 Comments

JD has always been very musically inclined. He would drum on things when he was really little (not just bang on things, you could definitely tell he was following a rhythm). We were given a drum set when he 2 and he occasionally played. When he was 5 we purchased a piano and started him on lessons. He was writing his own music for the piano by 6. His teacher was impressed with the speed at which he could learn music. He has an ear for music, as they say.

When we sent him back to school after homeschooling for several years, he wanted to get into band. They didn't have piano, and percussion had been filled the previous year. His choices were trumpet, flute or saxophone, and they normally didn't let starters on the sax. He initially chose the trumpet, but immediately gave it up once he started practicing. Far too loud and sharp for his sensitive ears (and ours!). He was going to chose the flute next, but I told him that he would be much happier with the sax. "Besides," I joked, "if your Plan A fails, you can always play your sax on the streets for money." His teacher was fine with him starting on it since he had so much music previously. He wasn't so sure -- after all, look at all those keys!!
After one week, he was hooked.

We took him saxophone shopping a couple of months later. We went to several shops but they were all too brassy sounding and overpriced. Then we opened the case of a well worn used sax at Music Go Round well within our price range. It was scratched up and even a little dented, but JD's eyes lit up, "I want to try this one." The clerk cleaned the mouth piece and gave him a reed. The horn had a wonderful deep, earthy tone. I asked JD what he thought. He smiled at me and hugged the sax.

I convinced him last year to do Solo and Ensemble, a statewide competition for band and choir. He liked it so much last year, he decided to do it again this year. And he did so well last year (even though he miraculously learned his piece the week he was to compete because he just didn't practice before then) that his director urged him to choose an "A" piece; you can only go to state championship if you do well with an "A" piece.

Now, I have always told JD that he'd better get used to things not going quite right, because there'd be no getting away from that; he inherited it. And this time was no exception. His director told him Tuesday that he just found out that he was missing a whole movement in the sheet music that JD must now learn before the competition on Saturday (3 days away!) and his sax quit working on Thursday due to some repairs JD was supposed to have gotten done over Spring Break, but forgot. We had to send the sax in for repairs, causing him to miss his final lesson before the competition.

And I have always told JD that no matter how crazy things might seem to get, they always tend to work out in the end; he inherited that, too. The shop got the sax back to him that same night and the director felt so bad about the music that he cleared some time Friday afternoon for him. And he's going to state!

Great job, JD!

4 comments:

Michael Manning said...

Sylvana: I am so appreciative of your comments over at my site. JD sounds gifted. Sight reading was always very, very difficult for me. But for a child who has a suportive parent as you are is rare! This is something he will be forever grateful for his entire life!!! lol to you! :)

March 30, 2009 2:11 AM
Sylvana said...

Micheal Manning - he has always been fairly advanced in a lot of ways. He certainly keeps things interesting!

March 30, 2009 10:24 PM
Lyvvie said...

Sweet, Sweet Validation with a side of pwnage! Awesome. You must have felt brilliant and well you should.

April 06, 2009 1:42 PM
Sylvana said...

Lyvvie - last year part of the reason that he learned that piece in less than a week is because I played drill sergeant. This year, it was all him. In fact, I haven't even heard the piece except through the walls and floor of our house. He wants to perfect it before we get to listen to it.

April 07, 2009 8:41 AM

Coincidence?

Sunday, March 22, 2009 | 0 Comments

I just finished watching Australia, I mean the credits were still rolling, when SSB asks if I got his email yet. I start to log into my email, and as always I check out the headlines on the main page before heading into my inbox. I see "Biker Brawl in Airport Leaves 1 Dead". Weird. So of course I must clicky. And then I am reading this:

Bikers brawl through Australian airport; 1 dead

SYDNEY — Warring bikers brawled through Australia's largest airport Sunday, beating one suspected gang member to death and brandishing metal poles "like swords" as they rampaged through the main domestic terminal in front of terrified travelers.

Police said a group of suspected gang members was ambushed as they disembarked from an airplane.

"A fight ensued, the fight moved through various parts of the terminal," said Police Detective Inspector Peter Williams. He said 15 men were involved in the violence, which rampaged from the ground floor up one level to the departures hall before most of the men fled.

Williams said one man died in a hospital from head injuries after the brawl, which appeared to bear out warnings of an impending biker war in Sydney.

"They came running through picking up the big metal barrier poles and swinging them like swords at each other," witness Naomi Constantine told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"I saw one of the men lying on the ground and another man came up with a pole and just started smashing it into his head," she said.

Four men were arrested, Williams said. The others escaped, some of them by hailing taxis, local media reported. No charges were immediately laid.

Police did not identify the gangs suspected in the violence.

Authorities fear a gang war is brewing in Sydney following string of drive-by shootings and an explosion last month outside a fortified Hell's Angel's clubhouse.

Well, it seems that not much has changed in Australia.

(Here is the email that SSB sent me, speaking of interesting news stories.)

5 comments:

Lyvvie said...

I'm sending this to Malcolm....

March 23, 2009 9:34 AM
Sylvana said...

Lyvvie, I was thinking about you guys when I was reading it. It just seems like something you might see in a Guy Ritchie film. Weird, a little scary and definitely funny.

Hope Malcolm is up on his sword fighting :)

March 23, 2009 5:12 PM
lindsaylobe said...

Sylvana – the biker wars which have surfaced anew will finally be met with a policy of zero tolerance _ new state laws to more effectively deal with this ongoing national problem.
Best wishes

March 26, 2009 5:47 PM
Sylvana said...

Lindsay, I hadn't heard of this war until this article, but it sounds similar to our gang wars.

March 27, 2009 8:32 PM
Michael Manning said...

Sylvana: Just today here in Scottsdale, Arizona where I live we had Biker Celebration Day. Quite a different event. But we have this problem in select cities as well! Very sad, indeed.

March 30, 2009 2:13 AM

All New Look

Monday, March 16, 2009 | 0 Comments

I was really getting sick of my old template, so I have been working on new one. This is a tweaked freebie from a template site - it had an integrated title header that I had to change in a photo editor to the title of my own blog. That only took a few hours! First I had to figure out the photo editor since it was new to me - another web freebie: GIMP 2. Thanks SSB, it is AWESOME! Well, once you get it figured out that is.

I will be working over the next week to get the other bugs worked out of it and add back in some more personalized things. Until then, bear with me and let me know if there are any problems that you notice so that I can add them to my list.

In any event, I think it will be great!

9 comments:

Mrs. Loquacious said...

I love the new souped-up template! :) It's feminine and clean, making it very easy to read. Great pick!!

March 16, 2009 4:32 PM
Sylvana said...

Mrs.L, thanks! It was hard finding one that fit me and this blog, and didn't have a bunch of problems.

March 16, 2009 6:25 PM
sideshow bob said...

Bring out the Gimp!

March 18, 2009 8:18 PM
Shannon said...

Love it!!

March 19, 2009 10:40 PM
Sylvana said...

SSB, thank you! I have so many projects to work on!

Shannon, every time I see it I like it more and more.

March 20, 2009 9:50 PM
Michael Manning said...

Sylvana! It was nice to see you over at my site! Hey, this is a nice template; I looked around. Time to get caught up with your recent posts here too. Have a great weekend! :D)

March 22, 2009 3:06 AM
Sylvana said...

Michael Manning, thanks, I will. I'm grilling!

March 22, 2009 1:27 PM
Heather said...

The new look is completely fab! I love it!!

March 23, 2009 1:20 PM
Sylvana said...

Heather, thanks. I've always been a fan of your blog design.

March 23, 2009 5:08 PM

Movie Marathon

Sunday, March 01, 2009 | 0 Comments

I've gotten a little bit of time to do some fun stuff - like watch some movies.

Wall-e -- ADORABLE!! It is a farily tight plot with a little social warning thrown in.

Ratatouille -- LOVED IT! A movie about being a foodie. And Janeane Garofalo? Never would have guessed it was her, even though I thought I recognized the voice.

The Butterfly and the Diving Bell -- extremely interesting. I love true stories and ones that are done from unusual perspectives. This is now my favorite movie about strokes. (My favorite movie about cancer is Wit)

X-files: I Want to Believe -- I am a big X-Files fan. I once drove through an ice storm to get home in time to watch the X-Files. This was like a long episode, so if you like X-Files, you'll like this.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop -- it was as it would seem, a goofy comedy with not much substance. Paul James is funny, I always like watching him in action.

Slumdog Millionaire -- there is a reason it won awards. It is a very good movie. I would recommend it to my friends. I love the fearlessness and smart-assedness of the main character; and how it prevails throughout everything that happens.

How To Lose Friends and Alienate People -- very good movie, smart and funny. I LOVE Simon Pegg, and this one even had Kirsten Dunst. Simon usually plays a loser in love with a great girl and the lengths he'll go through to win her back after blowing it.

Hamlet 2 -- a very strange, fun movie. And how could you not want to see how they come to a song called "Rock Me Sexy Jesus"?

Coraline 3D-- I now can't hear or say this title without starting to sing "Sweet Caroline" as "Sweet Coraline" thanks to Shannon. Loved this movie. Loved the story. And I just found out today that Neil Gaiman lives nearby here in Western Wisconsin. I was wondering why there would be rumors of Tori Amos looking for property in this area. Why the hell would she want to live in Western Wisconsin? I mean I love Wisconsin -- but not necessarily the most inspiring place to live. But then, Neil made Coraline and it was fabulous. Must see in 3D.

W -- Josh Brolin IS GW Bush, unfortunately for him. Although to hear him describe his character, you'd swear he thought he was making a comedy. It was very hard to watch. It was like re-living the last 8 years, feeling like the makers of the movie could have changed things, made things better, stopped it all from happening. It's a good movie though, if you can stomach it.

2 comments:

sideshow bob said...

Max Payne!!!

March 08, 2009 2:35 PM
Michael Manning said...

The last movie I saw was Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. It's rumored to be his last as an actor. It was quite good, very heart-rendering! I think he'll just direct now.

March 22, 2009 3:08 AM

The Economy Finally Hits Me

Sunday, February 22, 2009 | 0 Comments

I know that the economy is crap, has been crap, is getting crappier by the day -- but to tell you the truth I didn't feel it until today.

Cost Plus is closing all the World Markets in Minnesota!! AHhhh!!

I almost cried. But, then it would be too hard to find the things that I'd like to get 40%+ off. I will let the comfort of my savings and acquisition of all these goodies console my grief.

I have been meaning to get the blue rimmed goblets and the stovetop espresso maker for some time - no time like 60% off time. The espresso maker works great too.

The green mortar and pestle and the infusion tea cup were 60% off. The carved stone appetizer service forks and the stainless steel dip cups were 70% off. And the beautiful glass candle stick holders were 75% off.

All these great savings and I can barely enjoy it.
Well, at least the ones in Wisconsin haven't closed. The nearest one, Madison, is on the way to my sister's house; so looks like I will be visiting my sister more often!

3 comments:

sideshow bob said...

Sucks!

Double sucks!!!

February 22, 2009 10:30 PM
Shannon said...

My heart would break if all the Cost Plusses (?) closed in Vegas. It would be sad day- you have my sympathies.

February 25, 2009 8:41 AM
Michael Manning said...

Hang on, though! My friends at ASU tell me by the 3rd Quarter we will start to rebound!

March 22, 2009 3:09 AM

18 Years

Thursday, February 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

WOW! SSB and I have been together a whole 18 years!! In some ways it seems like we have been together forever, but in a good way.

We had made plans to have a fun-packed weekend -- but we will be dog-sitting instead. Our older dog had a tumor removed on Wednesday and we are on chew-watch. He's far too nervous a dog for the "lampshade", a his vet calls it. I got a peek at his chart and in the "Warning" box was written "Caution: NERVOUS!"


Happy Valentine's Day!

4 comments:

Lyvvie said...

Congratulations!!

February 13, 2009 7:18 AM
Sylvana said...

Lyvvie, thanks. And we're keeping up our anniversary tradition -- we can't go out and celebrate. Zero needs watching and just to be sure, I got a stomach virus. Blah!!

February 14, 2009 5:19 PM
Shannon said...

Congratulations! I hope you guys make it out to celebrate at some point, and your dog gets better.

February 25, 2009 8:40 AM
Sylvana said...

Shannon, we still haven't celebrated yet, but our dog is much better. Benign granuloma.

February 26, 2009 9:59 PM

Because there are only so many Nog Days...

Saturday, January 10, 2009 | 0 Comments

4 comments:

Lyvvie said...

You could freeze some, with heavy cream and have egg nog ice cream for the next three-six months!

January 14, 2009 10:08 AM
Heather said...

Mmm...egg nog....{drooling like Homer}

January 14, 2009 7:37 PM
Sylvana said...

Lyvvie, frozen nog is good as well, but nothing beats fresh nog!

Heather, noggy goodness!

January 14, 2009 9:22 PM

Neil Patrick Harris

Tuesday, January 06, 2009 | 0 Comments


I was over on Heather's blog Matted Spam reading her list of songs that get stuck in her head, when I read the fascinating words - Neil.Patrick.Harris.

Neil Patrick Harris in a song list? What the hell does Neil Patrick Harris sing? At first I thought, perhaps there is another Neil Patrick Harris? Maybe there is a band that named themselves Neil Patrick Harris? It's totally plausible. I could see NPH totally digging that.

But NO! It's the real deal! The real NEIL effin PATRICK HARRIS!
SINGING!!!!
And it gets better. It's a whole wonderful, magical, hilarious operetta!
Thank you Heather!!



Note: This take a bit to load and is a 45 minute show, BUT IT SOOOO WORTH IT!!

4 comments:

Heather said...

It thrills me when I turn people on to Dr. Horrible!! YAY!! I'm glad you liked it! I think it's amazing! We made my family watch it on Christmas Eve and they were lukewarm in their reception of it. Don't understand how I ended up being related to them!! ha! Hope you have a great 2009!!

January 07, 2009 9:28 AM
Sylvana said...

OMG Heather! This really started off my new year right!

I emailed it to my family and friends.

January 07, 2009 9:05 PM
Michael Manning said...

Sylvana: Sending you all the best for your weekend! :D)

February 08, 2009 1:30 PM
Sylvana said...

Michael, thanks Michael!

February 15, 2009 8:40 PM

New Year

Sunday, January 04, 2009 | 0 Comments

Wow! A whole new year! And what a great 2008 I had!
Celebrated my 17th anniversary with my awesome husband, SSB!
I had to turn down yet another fantastic job offer.
Planned a trip for the family to go overseas.
I completed a wholesale switch at work.
I got my taxes done in APRIL!! Earliest EVER!
Celebrated SSBs graduation from college.
Whipped our pharmacy into shape for accreditation.
Traveled overseas with the family for over three weeks using only carry on!
I met Lyvvie and her fabulous family.
I got my family passes to Stonehenge's inner circle!
Obama won!! and I helped.
JD, my wonderful son, turned 16!!
Our pharmacy got accredited!
And I got my best bowling game EVER!

I decided that I needed to celebrate all that awesomeness with a party. We invited a dozen people over to ring in the New Year. I made SO MUCH FOOD! And everyone brought food as well -- we're still eating it! I made apple brie flatbread, humus, bruschetta, pico de gallo and we had mixed olives, Pepperidge Farm cookies, mixed cheeses and crackers, various wines, various beers, and various ginger ales and ginger beers (I found the best ginger beer outside of Scotland -- Main Root Ginger Brew. Absolutely fabulous!). Guests brought falafel, salmon cakes, buffalo wings, salsa, tzatziki, praline pecans, and various other goodies. [You will be able to find recipes for all my offerings in the "Sylvana Recipes" drop-down in the sidebar].

One of our guests, Obi, is always worried that he will break our wine glasses, and I hate to have him drink out of plastic cups, so we had gone on a special mission to find unbreakable wine glasses. Mission accomplished at Target. They have a whole line of wonderful acrylic "glass"ware, located with their real glass counterparts. Picked them up for $2.99 each! When he arrived, I showed him the wine glass. He was really excited. I decided to demonstrate it's unbreakability to get rid of any doubt, so I whacked it on the piano bench. His wife yelped and nearly fell over she was so startled; she thought I had a real wine glass. Hilarious! Obi said the look on her face was priceless. See, I've given them a memory that they can cherish forever. And the acrylic wine glass really is tough -- not even a mark on it!

Since we have been too busy to show our trip pictures, we doubled the party as a slide-show party too (by demand, I swear!). We discovered that the Wii is also great for showing slide-shows on your TV. The resolution was far better than the DVD that we burned for the same purpose. Wii's are awesome.

Happy New Year Everyone!!
And for you, here is a slide show of our travels in Scotland. More to come...

2 comments:

pastamasta said...

Wii's are indeed awesome, as the 7 pounds I've lost since buying a Wii Fit board prove! (A fair sight cheaper than a gym membership, too.)

January 07, 2009 10:43 AM
Sylvana said...

Pastamasta, Congrats! I keep fluctuating on the weight part, but the yoga has improved my strength and tone. I love the way that it can let you know if you are balanced for better performance.

January 07, 2009 8:08 PM

About