26 & Counting

Since 2009 the hubby and I have selfishly taken over the holiday of Thanksgiving.  I say selfishly because we host both sides of the family which means we don't have to bounce houses for once.  The first year two years we had 27 people.  This year we had 26 as my cousin Richie wasn't in attendance.  You are probably wondering how we pull off such a feat.  Well, we have a wonderful sunroom which converts very nicely into a long dining room.  We borrow tables and chairs from the local high school where my mom works and everyone brings a dish to pass and/or a dessert.  My sister-in-law and I take care of the turkey, the stuffing, and a couple sides that we can make on the stove top (since oven space is at a premium).  I will tell you the first two years were chaos.  Year one was just mainly because we had no idea what we were doing, our timing was off, and we over did it on food.  Year two would have been perfect except for the fact that the turkey took forever since it was still a tiny bit frozen inside.  This year was a piece of cake.  We had a 26 lb turkey and he was thawing in the fridge since the Thursday before the holiday.  This year I can especially count as a success because the left overs fit in one fridge.  The prior two years we had so much food left over that a majority of it ended up in fridge out in the garage, aka Jay's "man cave."   I guess it's like they say "third time's the charm."  

Every year seeing all of our family in one place makes me feel extremely blessed.  Usually one of the kids, either a cousin or a sibling of mine, will say the standard "Bless us oh lord" grace, however, this year my Grandfather came prepared.  He said such a beautifully touching prayer over the meal and followed it up with "and that was from Dear Abby" which of course had us all chuckling, but the prayer itself was awesome enough that I thought I'd share his version on here:

Dear heavenly Father:

We thank you for the food we are about to enjoy here today and 

we ask you to help us to remember the hungry.

We thank you for our health and ask that you help us to remember the sick.

We thank you for our family and friends here with us tonight and 

ask that you help us to remember those who are without.

We thank your for our freedoms and ask that you help 

us to remember those who are oppressed.

For all these blessings we are thankful in Jesus name, Amen.

Parking

I'm going to let you in on a little pet peeve of mine.  If you have off-street parking available to you, USE IT.  It bugs me to no end to drive down cramped side streets to get to work and see that you have a 30 foot driveway but you are parked on the street in the way of oncoming traffic.  How many times does someone have to clip your mirror before you decide it's a good idea to use the driveway?  Does your driving-in-reverse skills suck that bad?  Or are you that lazy that when you finally get off your duff to go to work you merely have to turn the key and put it in drive since you are already in traffic?  Well, you have been warned.  I'm going to print a bunch of these buggers up one day...

FEMA Housing

As many of you are aware, Upstate NY got slammed in September by two storms causing much of some counties (i.e. Schoharie) to call for aid from FEMA.  Over the past month or so, probably close to sixty or more FEMA houses have found their way to a lot within a mile of my house, however that is where they have stayed.  Empty.  It makes me wonder how much help these houses are offering for those who have been without homes since the storms occurred in September.  We're already midway through November.  What's gives?

In talking with a coworker who has friends awaiting housing, she indicated that many cannot afford to take on a FEMA house due to the inability to pay for septic, water, and electric hook ups.  Not to mention that these units are "rentable."  So even though your house was destroyed and you probably still have to pay a mortgage on it, now you are faced with the costs of renting a unit from FEMA and paying to have septic, water and electric hooked up?  I don't know as though this makes any sense to me.  Sounds like just another way for the government to make a buck off those who don't have fifty cents to give.  Keep in mind however, that I am merely reiterating what I've heard.  I don't know how this process works for sure.


Is anybody else familiar with this process?  Good, bad, indifferent?

Hit and Run - Middletown NY/Slate Hill area

I normally don't post on the weekends but I am hoping to engage readers to help assist police in apprehending a hit and run driver.

My sister Jessie was hit last night by a presumably drunk/high driver on her way home from clinicals last night. 

A young blonde woman driving a four-door silver car hit Jessie in the rear end three times while driving on Kirbytown Road between Waywayanda and Mount Orange. While on the phone with 911 Jessie got out to get the license plate number and the woman ran her over and took Jessie's driver door with her.
Jessie is banged up, but ok.  She is having some trouble walking. Nothing broken bone-wise but her right knee is not cooperating.  There may be ligaments damaged.

If you have any information you are urged to call police.  If you reside in the Middletown/Slate Hill area, please be on the lookout for the vehicle and alert police should you spot it.

Thank you!

Furry Friday: Chatty Cathy

It's been a while since I've written a Furry Friday post.  As wonderful as my dog is, I've found it difficult to come up with new and exciting things to say about him (gasp!)  He does so many cute and quirky things throughout the week, but come Friday I have a writers block.  I really need to start writing things down when they happen and then Friday's posts will be much better prepared. 

Subway

Back in the day I ate a lot of subway at college.  I did not get famous like Jared, but I can tell you that I did grow tired of it.  All I ate was a chicken bacon ranch wrap or a club salad (yes, when I went to college they made salads) and it became very monotonous and boring.  However, it was the best option I had. The dining hall sucked.  I only went there for cereal, bagels, waffles, and more salad.  Then there was the Terrace where you could get popcorn chicken, chicken quesadillas, or enough grilled cheese to ensure you were entirely constipated.  So, Subway it was.  It took me quite a few years after college before I could bring myself to order at Subway again.  I've recently gone back and had my chicken bacon ranch on a 6" italian herb and cheese sub.  It was refreshing.

Last night I'd seen a Subway commercial and even though I'd seen it before it has now made it into my "Favorite Commercial" hall of fame.  I love a good laugh now and then, don't you?  Makes me want to go to Subway now.

Insanity

The Duggars are expecting their 20th child.  That is pure insanity to me.  According to Babycenter.com the average cost of center-based daycare in the United States is $11666 per year ($972 a month) per child.  Aside from getting a television show to help pay their bills, how else would a family handle the astronomical costs of such a brood??  Notice how I didn't say a typical, normal, or average family since none of these terms captures the Duggars for what they are.  Average they most certainly are not.

I read an article not too long ago, I think when they had their last child, about how their children have to schedule meetings with their parents in order to get any one-on-one time.  I also read that their household is basically children raising children.  I can believe it and in all honesty, that saddens me.  What is the purpose of having so many children if you have to schedule meetings with them for them to feel loved?  The concept seems wrong to me.  Obviously they have something in common with Kim Kardashian's wedding fiasco - they're doing it for the attention, the television show, and the money.

I also have to wonder if they need their heads examined.  Are they sex-addicts like Tiger Woods?  Are they religious extremists who don't believe in birth control?  Is she a pregnancy-hormone junkie? Are they attempting to start their own Baby Boomer generation and take over the world?  Whatever their reasons, I think they took "go forth and be fruitful" a little too literally. 

The thought of popping out one child scares the hell out of me.  How can someone subject their body to this process twenty times??  I imagine her feminine organs must be extremely tired by now, not to mention the other stresses pregnancy puts on all the other organs in the body.  Geez... I'd like to see Dr. Oz do a show on the detriments of multiple births to a woman's body.  It's got me curious.

Any thoughts on the Duggars?  C'mon, don't be shy.

Chxn Pox

I can remember the very week that I developed chicken pox.  The uncomfortable blisters began exposing themselves on the long car ride to my grandparents in Upstate New York.  By the end of that mini-vacation, I had blisters so bad they were even present on the roof of my mouth.  Pleasant, right?  Fortunately I was old enough to semi-control my scratching because I understood that permanent scarring could result.  My sister Jessie, five years my junior, had them within the next few weeks after having been exposed to me. Scarring was a little harder to contain with her, but Mom did her best.  Which brings me to an article I read today about parents going so far as to order used lollipops from children supposedly infected with chicken pox.

I know my mom was a little concerned that the older I got, the less likely I was going to have chicken pox and apparently it's better to have them while your younger... blah-blah-blah.  She did try to expose us to neighbors' kids who may or may not have been contagious at the time.  However, I don't believe my mother would have ever stooped so far as to order used lollipops.  I don't believe any mother in their right mind for that matter would either.  

First off, chicken pox are only contagious when they aren't visible.  So good luck having your kid suck on that lollipop so you can sell it on ebay.  If the spots are already present, it's run it's course.  Secondly, the internet is a criminal's playground.  "Here little kid, want some candy?"  God only knows what was present on that lollipop before you stuck it in your kids mouth. 

It never ceases to amaze me what this world is coming to!

SNOW!

Ah, the joys of living in Upstate New York.  It wasn't even Halloween yet and already we had a few inches of snow come down.  In a way it's depressing that I already have my heat turned on at home.  And, of course I wasn't ready for any of that white stuff to be flying around.  I had to have my snow tires put on this weekend.  And do you remember that tree we had taken down only a few weeks ago?  Yeah, that puppy still needed to be split into firewood sized pieces and stacked.  For those of you who don't know me, manual labor is probably my least favorite part of home-ownership.  Yeah, I'm a whiny baby  and I'm okay with it.  My arms (mostly in the forearm area) and my lower back are still protesting today from the splitting and stacking that needed to occur before the snow fell.  Not to mention I hadn't yet swapped out my summer clothes for my winter clothes so this was a must seeing as how I only had a few sweatshirts in my drawers.  Side note: for those of you who do not have to swap clothing out by season, let me explain. We own a 1950's Cape Cod so our closet sizes  unfortunately make this a necessary chore. 

Aside from the nuances of getting ready for winter, I can say that I enjoy the snow moreso now that we have a snowmobile.  The last two winters have resulted in a decent amount of snow and we've made the most of vacation days and weekends to get out and about in it.  Last year we went as far as Utica, which is quite a ways from us by car so you can imagine how long of a day it was via snowmobile.  The great thing about getting out and snowmobiling are all the little bar/pubs along the trails.  There are some real gems that we look forward to stopping at along the way.  The Pleasant Brook Hotel, for instance, has the best honey-mustard wings.  The Red Barn in Summit has awesome texas style bbq, and Jack's has a humongous burger and sweet potato fries.  All relatively cheap, but equally delicious.  The only downside is snowmobile season does not open until December.  So you can imagine my dismay with snow in October and November.

Do you partake in any seasonal sports?  Do you snowmobile?  Any little places you recommend?

Beer & Teddy Bears

In keeping with tradition, the Krueger side of the family planned a fall pilgrimage to a remote location roughly four hours from home.  Last year we'd decided to imbibe at a few wineries in Western NY.  This year we'd decided to do a brewery tour in Burlington, VT.  The tour included the Vermont Pub & Brewery, American Flatbread/Zero-Gravity Brewery, Switchback Brewing Company, and the ever famous Magic Hat.  I would strongly recommend utilizing a touring service such as Burlington Brew Tours.  It's a good time and a good excuse to start drinking before noon.