Meghan's Musings

firstsnow Dear Snow, A more lovely, festive visage there isn't, than your pristine glittering white blanket draped over everything.  It's been several years since I've had a good visit from you. Last year you made a brief appearance that was quickly forgotten. Today you settled in for an extended stay! Because of you, the first thing Isaac begged to do was go outside!! He rushed into my bedroom, opened my window shade and exclaimed, "Look, Mommy! It snowed! I saw it first!" (Wink). "Can I put my snow pants on and go outside?" Isaac asked  to go outside??  For a moment I thought I was in the Twilight Zone. But snow, since most of his winter memories are from Southern Arizona, you are exotic and exciting. So I got up, grabbed Shiloh and we all shuffled downstairs. I bundled Isaac up in his snow pants, jacket, boots and gloves then dashed out to revel in your glory.  My dear friend, whom I haven't seen since August (whence I started my day job) tex...

wrap-up How was everyone's Christmas? Ours was a joyous success. Ben even surprised me with three Calphalon pieces - a panini pan with weight, a three-quart saute pan, and a five-quart sauce pot! I got him a book about the Higgs Boson particle. A bestie gave me some money to buy Ben a bottle of his favorite alcohol; I covered the balance. I spent just under two hours at Target last Friday on Santa Detail. The piece de resistance of Shiloh's gifts is this Fisher Price Pizza Table: The MOST awesome feature (in this OCD neatnik's humble opinion) is that the center is hollow and all the little pieces can be stored inside, transforming it to a toddler table: This is not Shiloh... There was one  left on the shelf, and nary a price to be found. My spending limit for this item was $69.99. I hunted down an associate. He was actually pleasant, given that the store was swimming with patrons in the same boat as I. He brought his nifty scanner gun and blasted the read-ray at the ...

Pretty Happy Hump Day... It's less than a week until the regularly scheduled Christmas celebration! Because of a generous gift certificate to Barnes and Noble from a VP at work, combined with an e-mailed 20% off one item coupon from Barnes & Noble, I crossed an item from each Ben's and Isaac's lists. Two down! One great thing about being on a limited budget AND not wanting to equate the genuine sentiment of the season with gobs and gobs of presents is - I won't have to spend an inordinate amount of time amongst the shopping masses! Woo-hoo!  I should be able to accomplish all shopping in the next few days easily because of the shopping center close to work . CharlotteBacon, 6; Daniel Barden, 7; Rachel Davino, 29; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay,7; Ana Marquez-Greene, 6; Dylan Hockley, 6; Dawn Hochsprung, 47; Madeleine Hsu,6; Catherine Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioli, 6; GraceMcDonnell, 7; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Emilie Parker, ...

My Yule Angel - how awesome is she? Tis the season, and with the season comes company holiday parties. Since I'm fond of my coworkers, I figured I'd enjoy myself, but didn't expect to have the rockin' good time I had - which was why I told Ben that I would pick the kids up from Jess's by 6:00.  The party was from 3:00 - 7:00; I'm done at 2:00. I didn't know how to get to the party's location and asked my charming coworker if I could follow her. She said was leaving at 2:00 but had to make some stops. Fine with me. First we stopped at the Post Office down the street to mail the holiday cards (whose design I chose and greeting I wrote) for the smaller of the two divisions housed in our facility .  We then motored on to Cumbies (Cumberland Farms for those of you not local) so I could cash in the $30 scratch ticket I picked out an allotment of pre-scratched winners one of the higher-ups was doling out as gifts. Our next stop was to a UPS drop ...

Happy Hump Day! These past days have been an interesting mix of irritation and inspiration... I've hit my threshold with the second job thing. I'm distraught over the $40 missing from my drawer I mentioned last Wednesday, even though they are going to dock my pay for it. But this past Saturday I didn't run the report that closed out my drawer before the next cashier took the register. Granted, it was only a couple of minutes into my assessing my register whence I realized my transgression - and the other cashier had only completed less than ten transactions. They pulled the report and were able to accurately balance the drawers. But still, I'm now wearing a metaphorical "DUNDERHEAD" sandwich board. Also since then, my constant companion, paranoia, keeps whispering in my mind's ear that the owner is thoroughly disappointed with my performance and is looking for a graceful way to let me go. I would just love to resign and return to my much more pleasant ...

I can't believe that it's the eleventh AND I've shared only ONE confection with you! Amazing how time can zoom bye at times. Today's Confection is my quintessential (and favorite!) Christmas cookie - The Peanut Blossom. For me there's nothing so delectable as the flavor marriage between chocolate and peanut butter. The delight of these particular peanut butter cookies is heightened by the exclusion of an otherwise standard cookie ingredient - flour. Just peanut butter, sugar and eggs! Peanut Blossoms Mmmm...Tasty widdle gems 2 c smooth peanut butter 1 1/4 c sugar 2 eggs 48+ unwrapped Hershey's Kisses (48 for the cookies; "+" for you to snack on) To Make: Put all ingredients (minus the Kisses, of course!) in a bowl and mix until completely incorporated. Pour some sugar into another bowl. Scoop dough with a 1/2 tbsp, form into balls then roll them in the sugar until they appear lightly dusted by snow. Bake at 350 for twelve minute...

find this image here Greetings and salutations! How's everyones week passing? Things around here could have been better - but they definitely could have been WAY worse - so I guess it's been on an even keel. Last night at work, the owner of the store had a "sit-down" with me regarding a last Tuesday. I conducted a transaction where I charged a customer two times. It took a while but I vaguely recollected the occurrence. I entered the incorrect total into the credit card machine and thought I'd been able to cancel the transaction before it went through. I interpreted the read-out on the credit card machine that transaction was cancelled; I called the supervisor on duty over for a look and she agreed with me. Then I guess I couldn't run her card again and she gave me another one. I put the correct total on that and she left. Long story short - the incorrect transaction actually went through; she had to come back in for a refund, and my drawer ended up b...

Find this image here Guess what? Wait... How's everyone doing? Ecstatic that it's Friday, I imagine. I'll be ecstatic around 3:30 p.m. tomorrow - I'll have finished my shift at my night/weekend job and en route to pick up our Christmas tree. So, guess what?! Someone at work told me that they read this little bloggy-blog! (I'm not quoting them verbatim) If I could have done a pirouette without looking like an utter fool, I would have. If she's reading right now - thank you - and tell your friends! If I remember correctly, I left you pining for my Christmas traditions. Get it? Pining? Pine tree? Never mind... While Halloween is my favorite holiday, Christmas season is my favorite time of the year. Despite the fact that I don't believe in God, nor have I been involved in dealings in which I've amassed a great profit, the following quote from Ebeneezer' Scrooge's nephew, Fred Holywell sums up my feelings eloquently: "There are a great ma...

Find this image here Happy Hump Day! No this is not my street. I just love a serene picture of clean snow blanketing nature. How has everyones week been so far? I've been working since Saturday and don't have a day off until Sunday - but that's okay with me! Football Sunday is the best day to have off! Sure, I've managed to pop out a Tweet and FB status update or two, but this is the first moment I've had to sit down in front of my computer and communicate in a meaningful way in days! I was musing with my coolest sister on Turkey Day about how much happier I am since I've obtained gainful employment. Both my jobs total just over forty hours a week - a full time schedule. The way it's worked out is that the day job pays for Shiloh's daycare and the night/weekend job for us. If I had a straight nine-to-five job, Monday - Friday, it wouldn't work out as well since we'd also have to shell out for an after-school program for Isaac. ANYWAY.... ...

Have everyone else's waistlines expanded ever-so-slightly? Have you been portioning out leftover sides periodically throughout the day and reheating them as snacks, breaking the pact you made with yourself to do no such thing whilst staving off the pending food coma? Then I'm in good company! Dinner was scrum-diddly-umptious! Ben and I worked in tandem to put it together. He's a great sous-chef! Originally we were going to get a turkey breast because Ben doesn't really care for turkey, and a breast would be perfect - enough for dinner but no leftovers. Since procrastination is our favorite game, we didn't get the food until Thanksgiving Eve. Of course Hannaford's was a zoo, but it wasn't as awful as I'd mentally prepared myself for. We made a beeline for the turkey. The whole turkeys were $0.99/lb and the breasts were $2.00/lb. Looks like we were destined for a whole turkey after all. No big deal. I whipped out my phone, pulled up Food Network's ...

Find this image here Happy Hump Day - and Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I know, I know. You've been rapturously checking your social media feeds  for my next posting, anxious to know: "What was the second cherry on the sundae that was last week?" Well your wait is over! The second cherry (drum roll please....) was the smashing great time that was had by all at our little dinner party last Saturday. Ben's friend Mike (who hosts Friday night video golf) and his wife Jessica (who's responsible for Shiloh's blossoming) came over for dinner. We've lived in our little town for nearly two years, and Shiloh's been going to Jessica's daycare for at least three months. As I've gotten to know her through our brief daily interactions, I've come to like Jessica a great deal. Since Ben has been going to their house on a regular basis for about three yeas, and Shiloh's been attending Jessica's daycare for several months, it dawned on me - t...

http://mtiblog.mtishows.com/wp-content/ uploads/2011/10/Picture-7-300x284.png Greetings musers! How was your week? I certainly hope it was as enjoyable as mine! After a few months of hitching a ride with  Tickity the clock dog  through the doldrums, it's been glorious to glide through the lighter side of life. Some (not all) money worries have been alleviated because of the unexpected monetary gift bestowed upon us and I've not ceased being amazed at how the other issues that have been thorns in my side are less prickly. Remember that detox diet I mentioned? Yeah, that didn't fly. Caffeine is on the "abstain from" list of this diet. By the end of Wednesday I was just tired and didn't feel as great as I remember the other times I'd done this diet. Thursday morning I made a pot of coffee and within twenty minutes of having half a cup, I was perky and motivated. I crammed everything into the morning that I wanted to - including my workout before lea...