Happy New Year!

Hope yours was as fantastic as mine! I was asleep, and it was glorious!

Dan and I had headaches that were fast approaching into migraine status so that allowed us to be anti-social. We did however go outside and watch our neighbors light a few fireworks off with the neighborhood kids. They were adorable. It was just 4 boys and all of them were bouncing off the walls. Every time a firecracker was lit they would each get closer to it like a moth to a flame.

After that we watched "Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny", which I fell asleep at during the end. When that was over I decided to go to bed and didn't even help Dan turn off lights or lock doors. I'm sure I was passed out before he came to bed a few minutes later.

He woke me up when a thousand fireworks were going off outside. We wished each other a happy new year and gave a peck and then we promptly passed back out. Like I said, it was GLORIOUS!

Instant Christmas

Dan and I cheated. We opened presents a day early. Dan had to work full days on Christmas Eve and Tonight so it was worth it. It only started as one present and then it turned into opening every single thing.

Since we were poor this year, due to buying a HOUSE, our gifts were not plentiful but they were much more meaningful. Dan bought me the 3 DVD pack for Ocean's 11, 12 and 13 since I loved all three equally. That was an incredibly thoughtful gift. I also got hair ties which are cheap but I did need some since I'm always breaking mine.

I went in a different direction this year and instead of buying Dan the usual video games and ect.. I bought him clothes. I know, how could I go from "awesomeness" to "boring"? Well he buys all the video games he wants anyhow and he complains that he looks like a hobo when we go on dates so I bought him some decent clothing that won't make him feel like a hobo or pretentious either. I also bought him a pair of gloves that have a removable mitten part so he can play his video games without freezing off his hands.

Then for dinner I threw together a ham with pineapple and cherries and some instant mashed potatoes and stuffing and voila! Dinner took less than 30 minutes. It was fabulous.

Now Dan is off to work and it is my job to clean. I just vacuumed the other day but the floor is a mess already. The Christmas tree needs to go this week. The damn cat is dragging pine needles all over the place and makes me look like I don't vacuum. Even the kitty got a Christmas present. It took him some warming up to it but now the feathers are pretty much all torn off. This cat is messier than a damn kid.

During dinner we lit a log in the fireplace and watched some of Dan's home movies from when he was a kid. The kitty cozied up right next to the mantle. It was nice. This Christmas is tough since we weren't with family this year but Dan had to work and we try to think of it as something positive. Since we don't have any kids it's easier to work on the holiday. Hopefully this will up his good work karma a bit and he'll be able to get time off for the next holiday season. Such is life.

Hope everyone had a pleasant holiday!

Christmas Tunes and Holiday Spirit

Christmas is about a week away and I don't really feel all that jolly. I think my Christmas spirit is already spent.

In an attempt to raise my spirits without spirits (pun intended! hah), I've started compiling a Christmas music compilation. This is no easy task.

There are a TON of Christmas music out there. I have about 10 albums and so far it seems I like about 10% of the songs. Part of the problem is that Dan doesn't like to listen to Christmas music so I'm trying to accommodate his tastes as well.

Turkey Day Thanks

I'm thankful for my husband. He is really thoughtful and sweet in the most quiet of ways.

He noticed my to do list on my desk and printed out a LES* for me without me asking for him to. When I brought it up, a mischievous smile grew on his face. Like I said, thoughtful in the most quiet of ways.

*LES stands for Leave and Earnings Statement. It's like a pay stub.

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Although we would've enjoyed the company of our families, we made the most of our weekend. I cooked a full traditional Thanksgiving Meal and it turned out pretty well for the most part.

What I found most perplexing was that the vegetable that I do no like to eat, but Dan does, turned out to be the best dish. Yup, Sweet potato casserole. I remember being horrified when my mom would scoop huge helpings of sweet potato casserole on my plate growing up. I could NOT stand it. Not even with the gooey marshmallow goodness. I tried it again on Thursday and I still don't like it. I tried it after I added additional brown sugar and it still tastes horrible to me. Perplexing enough, Dan likes it. Dan is one of the most pickiest eaters I've met and he likes something that I don't?! This one will forever puzzle me.

This year I have also discovered that there is no such thing as homemade. I phoned home to get the recipes for Green Bean Casserole and Grandma Carol's Stuffing only to find out they are just generic recipes you find on the bag/can. I was only slightly disappointed though. My green bean casserole turned out as terrific as my mom's since the recipe was easy to follow. The stuffing however was not so tasty. My timing was off so I was rushing to get the stuffing done (I hate eating stuffing from the bird so I stuffed my bird with an apple, cinnamon stick, herbs and an onion to keep it moist). Because of my rushing I didn't chop my onion and celery fine enough plus the bag stuffing was too crumbly. I am sticking to the box type from hereon out. Heh heh, I am way too lazy to tear up pieces of bread for my stuffing.

Other than my timing, Thanksgiving was a hit. There was no one to please but me and Dan so it was completely stress free.

It's been almost two years of marriage and four years that we have been together. I still feel like newlyweds and it still feels like we just met. I'm so thankful for a kind loving husband. He treats me so well and I can't believe how lucky I got. Meanwhile Dan is on the couch rubbing his big belly trying to figure out how he got so lucky. Heh heh.

My Favorite Veteren

I will always remember Veterans Day from an old memory of someone doing an impersonation of a speech giver saying "the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month". I'm not sure if it was my Dad or maybe a school teacher.

What I like about this holiday is that it is celebrated on the day of the week it falls on and not on the closest Monday. Some years it may fall on a Wednesday. That is a strange day for the banks to be closed. *scratches head* Oh! It's Veterans Day. Falling on a day during the week really helps people pay more attention to it rather than falling on another 3 day weekend.

My Grandfather, Howard Bennett Sr. was about 21 years old when he was stationed in beautiful Hawaii when the Japanese attacked. He earned a Purple Heart that day for helping someone. I'm not really sure about the details.

In actuality, I don't know a whole lot of details about my grandfather. I've spent quite a bit of time with him throughout the years though. I know that he likes to joke and he was always keeping us on our toes.

While spending time with out grandparents, Jason and I were in the backseat of the car when we passed a cemetery. My grandfather asked us how many dead people were there. We scrambled to count as many as we could. We gave our response. "Wrong", my grandfather would respond, "All of them". Jason and I would roll our eyes. We got outsmarted.

On the way back my grandfather asked us the same question. Jason and I were quick to triumphantly respond "All of them". "Wrong", my grandfather would respond. "All except the guy mowing the grass".

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01 Jason picking muscadine grapes with Grandma in Alabama
02 Grandpa with his cane. Every now and then he'd whack Jason or me with it just to make sure we were still awake, paying attention or just because he wanted to. Sometimes Jason would take it and pretend to whack Grandpa back with it
03 Jason riding the golf cart around
04 The only time anyone was ever able to pull one over on Grandpa was his surprise birthday party in 2005.

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08 Notice how the numbers on the cake are reversed? That's how I will remember my grandpa.

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09 This picture was taken right after a nice birthday kiss :)
10 My cousin Clint dressed like Grandpa today
12 Even though my mom divorced my dad, she drove 5 hours to make it to her in-laws surprise party. The whole family continues to make her feel like she's still part of the family. Even here, my grandfather is always watching and usually in the background.

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13 I don't know what they were discussing here but it was probably Grandpa telling Jason to behave or maybe he was just giving him a good speech about how to be a gentleman or something.
14 I wish I could remember this joke, it looks really funny; or at least to me and Grandpa, Jason and Jeremiah look like they are just smiling for the sake of the camera.
16 Grandpa taking a nap with my Uncle Jimmy and his grandson CJ.
17 Grandpa wakes up to take a family picture.
18 He's back asleep again. I love you Grandpa.

I'm glad you are no longer in pain. I'm really thankful for your presence in my life and I feel really lucky to have known you for as long as I did. I love you Grandpa.

an update

Hello to everyone. If you haven't heard yet, my grandfather passed away October 19, 2007 .

I haven't really been in the mood to blog since then. I'm currently working on a memorial blog for my grandfather. I have all the pictures organized but I just can't find the right words yet.

Other than that, everything is okay in the Remus household. We had our first Halloween in the house and we managed to give most of our candy away so we didn't have too many leftovers. I'm sure the rest will be gobbled up by our friends.

Thank you to everyone for all your wonderful messages. It means the world to me. I love you all.