A Handy Place for My Rolling Pin Collection

For Christmas this year, Adam and his dad made me an awesome holder for my antique rolling pin collection! I had been wanting something to put them all in, but had resorted to using an old crock my Mom gave me. Imagine my surprise on Christmas Eve morning when I got my amazing holder. It meant alot to me, not only because it helped display my collection, but also because it was really nice of both of them to use their free time to make it.

A couple of weekends ago, we painted it navy blue to match my decor and antiqued it so it looked a little worn out. Adam hung it up for me this morning. The pins can be stacked two deep, so I can collect five more.

So, without further adieu...here it is (!!!!):


I love it and I'm sure it will hang in my kitchen for many years to come!

Sometimes I hate my life

And today is one of those days.

All day yesterday, everyone in the Baltimore region was diligently watching the area weather. Snow, followed by ice and freezing rain equals a nightmare for anyone who A) has a dinky car that sucks in the snow B) is completely and utterly petrified of driving in the snow and ice and C) lives in an apartment complex and therefore has no covered parking.

At work on Tuesday, I felt like I was back in elementary school again...
Employee A: "Are we going to get out of work early?"
Employee B: "Oh it looks really bad out there"
Employee C: "Maybe we'll have off tomorrow!"
All day long, that is what I heard from my coworkers.

This morning when I woke up to my 5:30AM alarm, called the emergency line and heard that it was business as usual, and then looked out my window and into the skating rink that was the parking lot and the snow and ice encapsulated object that was my car, the truth hit me like a ton of bricks: there aren't snow days in the real world. Oh crap.

I bet the person in charge of calling off or delaying work at this office gets to park in a nice garage and doesn't have to take the metro into the city every morning.

After trekking down the snowy/icy grass to get to my car (because I would have lost a limb trying to teeter down the un-salted, concrete steps), cleaning off the 2 inches of snow and 1/4 of an inch of ice off of my poor, innocent Civic and safely making it to the Metro station, I thought I was in the clear! That was, until I stepped on the pathway leading up to the metro and did one of those slow motion falls that you see in the movies. Seriously, I wish I had a video to post of it: feet flying up from underneath me and me landing as hard as humanly possible on my rear end. It hurt. Very, very bad. And then I cried the rest of the way up the pathway, through the turnstile and onto the train.

Upon entering the office, I realized that only 5 other idiots decided to brave the trip in like me.

Sometimes life sucks.

Back to School, back to School...

Tomorrow is the big day...the first day of my graduate classes, and I have mixed emotions about it. I'm not sure that the first day of school ever gets any easier. On one hand, I am so excited to start getting my master's degree...it's been a huge goal for me for the past few years. On the other hand, I have SO many questions running through my head that are driving me crazy! How will I pay for it? Can I finish in 3 years? Can I still write an OK paper? How will I go to work all day and then study at night when all I want to do is relax?

Then I remember that lots of other people have done it and it makes me feel better. I have amazing examples all around me of educational success. Both of my brother-in-laws did it while working demanding jobs, my parents did it while raising a family and working, many of my friends are doing it....so I'm sure I can do it too, right?

My books are ready, I know where I'm going and I wrote the biggest check I've ever written in my life for my tuition payment, there's no looking back now. Wish me luck!

Trapped

This afternoon I was watching TV when I realized that I hadn't seen Tobey in a while. I looked around, called his name and heard nothing, not even the jangle of his dog tags. Then, he poked his head out from beneath the sofa, he was stuck! He had gone in after his ball but his shoulders were too big to get back out again.

Cake Crazed

This weekend Adam and I are heading to the bakery to pick out our cake, but we're having a hard time deciding what we want, so I thought I'd ask everyone to help! Here are some cakes that we like:My favorite is #4. Let me know what your favorite is!!

Christmas Gifts!

Since Christmas, I have been making good use of my presents!

Yesterday, I used my brand spankin new KitchenAid mixer to make some homemade cupcakes for my sister Sally's birthday! Adam even mixed up some frosting from scratch and iced them. Then, we delivered the cupcakes and watched the Raven's game with Sally and Andrew.

Tonight, I used my Le Creuset to make poppy seed chicken casserole! The picture is kind of blurry, but here it is!

Super Bowl Bound?

Let's go RAVENS! And JOE JOE!!

Check out my new shirt:


I had a great New Year's Eve and Day and hope that all of you did as well. Now it's back to the grind until my graduate school classes start on January 26th.