Holiday Report

Bless me blog for I have sinned. It has been 37 days since my last posting.....

ok so it's been a while, right? Many of you know that is not like me, so it seems I have a bit of catching up to do.

First on the list is the Holiday Report!

Our holidays were lovely. You saw our very fake tree... well we liked it so much we didn't take it down till... um... this is kind of embarrassing..... Jan 26th! Yes, a whole month after Christmas Day. I wasn't ready to get rid of it right after Christmas or even New Years because we didn't put it up till Dec 12th. Plus, you know, we were busy. Hence the lack of blog posts.

Elvis and Monkey after little kitty fight on Christmas Day... siblings...

Anyway, we both had lots of time off work. We stayed at home by ourselves on the 24th and 25th. Exchanged gifts. Ate LOTS of food. Watched Movies. It was a White Christmas in Chicago. On the 26th we drove to Columbus, OH to have a gathering with the Nyktas's. There was about 2 feet of snow here, but the day we left it began to warm up. All down 65 South there was lots of post-holiday traffic and fog. At some points the visibility was only 1/16th of a mile! The drive took a bit longer than expected, but it was an adventure.

Visiting with Steve's family was great, as usual. The temperature there rose to almost 70 F that day begging us to go outside, follow the kids as they rode their bikes up and down the street, and play some catch and monkey-in-the-middle in the yard. They guys worked on Louis's car and most of the ladies stayed inside with the babies. All of our fun and games came to a grinding halt when it was discovered that Otis, the family black lab, had somehow found and devoured the pumpkin pies that I had brought for dessert.... And you probably already know that my pumpkin pies are not from a can. Some tears were shed and twenty minutes later everything was fine. It really was no one's fault and obviously Otis could not help himself. (I still love him.) We enjoyed some lamb that George cooked on the grill and we had plenty of sweets made by Lynn, so we were not deprived of our holiday sugar.

Isaias, 7 mos


Drew, Lydia, & Eric, 8 mos

Vee with Yiayia Helen

the whole Nyktas clan


warm enough for Carly & Vee to ride bikes


Otis


my favorite photo of Miss Carly

The rest of the trip was all fun 'n' games in Cincinnati seeing the rest of Steve's family and our friends Forest, Ann, and their two kids. Usually we do a weekend in MI and a weekend in Cinci, trying to cram everyone into a day or too. This was a much more low key, slower paced, several days with some time to relax in between. In 2009 we will do Thanksgiving with members of the Nyktas family, and Christmas in Michigan.

George is swimming in grandchildren. Here he is with Emma.

self portrait with my sweet fiance

Also worthy of mentioning: Just a week before Christmas my little sister turned 21! I took a snowy train to South Bend to have a lovely dinner with her and my mom at the Studebaker Mansion, now called Tippecanoe Place. The mansion is absolutely GORGEOUS! and so is my sister.

Catherine, my "shyvester"

Happy New Year and New Ottoman!

Happy New Year everyone! I did not manage to stay up past midnight CST, however, I did watch the ball drop in NY on tv. Instead I was more focused on reupholstering our beloved ottoman. It is something we use everyday to put our feet up while we're sitting on the couch. It came from Steve's grandma and was originally a sea foamy green velvety material. The cats have gotten some good scratches out of that thing, though they were not encouraged to do so. (Click on the photo to see more.) It was time for a change.

Steve has been eyeballing some leather ottomans from Crate & Barrel for some time now. So I decided to go with some nice looking vinyl and that I found at Vogue Fabrics about a week or two ago. It is an espresso color with cocoa colored areas between the "scales".

I had expected this project to take a while, but I was armed with a staple gun and finished it within a couple of hours. I did use an upholstery needle to stitch the corner edges where the fabric overlaps. I might need to put a few more staples in as time goes by. I also removed the skirt around the bottom to make it look cleaner and more modern. This really feels like a new piece of furniture!!!

Hopefully the cats will not destroy it, but so far they have not shown any interest in it. I also started spraying it with Feliway every now and then to discourage them from marking it with their claws.

Before & After

And after all that I fell asleep watching Elf. We didn't even pop open our bottle of champagne.... oh well. I'm not a big New Years Eve person. I think I had trouble staying up last year, too. It's better to go to bed and then wake up early to start the year off fresh.

Tomorrow, my vacation ends. But then I still have the weekend!

Christmas Trees

There was a bit of a discussion about what kind of tree to get this year. Last year's tree was nice and pretty when we bought it, but seemed to dry out too fast in our desert-like apartment. Every time I looked in the direction of the tree some needles would fall off of it. The cats were walking around with piles of needles on their backs from too many trips to the Christmas-Tree-Tea Oasis. By Christmas Eve we were looking at a stick with some ornaments on it.

I tried to do some research on what kind of conifer would do best in conditions similar to that of the Sahara with gray skies. I was also going for a specific shape. I really wanted a vintage style shrubby, scrubby, pear shaped tree. I found two helpful articles about what species are traditionally used for christmas trees: one on about.com and another on wikipedia.

Abies fraseri seems to be the most popular. I also considered Pinus sylvestris.

Other species include:
Abies balsamea
Abies concolor
Pinus strobus
Picea glauca
Picea pungens
Juniperus virginiana
and trees of the Pseudotsuga genus.

After much consideration, I decided on a specimen of the name Ebai searseventia (common name: 1970's Sears tree from Ebay). I love it! It will not dry out or drop needles, and if I'm going to go fake I want it to look really fake and kitschy. So I got what I wanted. At first Steve was really reluctant. He said that my tree looked like a broomstick with pipe cleaners. But after we put all of the decorations and lights on, it all turned out okay. Plus, it cost less than a nice, real tree purchased in Chicago would. Also I'm not sure how GREEN the act of using a real tree is... I guess if you recycle it, it's okay... but it seems like a big waste of energy. I wonder if there are fake trees made out of sustainable materials. Anyhow, I feel good about reusing this tree that someone purchased a long time ago.

Monkey & Elvis seem to approve, though they aren't getting their annual dose of tree-tea.

Mysterious Drunk Texting

My mom likes to keep in touch with me via text messaging . It's a nice way for us to send little notes to each other whenever. For instance she will send me an "xoxo" every so often. Then other times, like New Years Eve, I will get the random "funky co medina".

Last night I was having some drinks with some friends and it was pretty late... about 11pm our time, which is midnight in Michigan, and my mom is not one who likes to stay up into the wee hours of the morning, especially on a work night. So I was surprised to receive an unsolicited text from her and this is how our conversation went:

Mom: ha ha ha ho ho ho!

Sarah: Lol r u drunk? (in fact *I* was the drunk one)

M: Are you? YOU'RE up late

S: No U are up late! And yes we're having drinks.

M: We were sleeping. the santa suit is cute. i'll look for it on your blog later. (now i'm really confused. i have no clue what "santa suit" she's referring to.)

S: what santa cute? (at this point i'm slurring my txt mssgs...)

A couple of minutes later I receive this picture text from an unknown number (see below). Turns out this was from my uncle's girlfriend and when my mom received it, half asleep, she thought it was Monkey dressed in a santa suit.

I mean, I can see how she could mistake this cat for Monkey... I guess... but if I ever tried to put any kind of suit on Monkey, I think would have to suffer the wrath of her claws. And boy do they hurt. Just ask Elvis.

Sesame Street

As a youngster in the early 80's I was a big fan of Sesame Street (and I will admit that I watched it pretty much the entire decade because my sister was born in '87 and it was always on tv.) My family has several favorite cartoons that we STILL talk about. So I was happy to see that my friend Sally sent me a Sesame Street clip on youtube yesterday. I don't remember this one but it's very sweet, and I guess it reminded her of me - the greenhouse girl :)



Now here are some of my ALL TIME FAVES!!!! enjoy!

Plants Need Water, Man


Loaf of Bread


Ladybug's Picnic


1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 pinball machine


Ten Turtles


No Cookies in the Library


I will admit, sometimes we DO have cookies in the library but we do not share them with patrons :)

Monkey Update

Many of you are aware of what's been going on with Monkey lately. She has been having a upset stomach and has started licking off all of her fur on the back end. From the front she appears to be normal, but on the other side, it looks like she is not wearing pants. She used to have the softest, fluffiest butt in all the land, with these cute little brown speckles on her hips.... so sad to see her in this state.

We have seen the vet several times for this in the past 6 months. A couple of months ago when we went in for a visit, Steve had left the house before Monkey and I, and had accidentally taken the car key with him! And there was no way to get it back. So Monkey and I had to walk 2 miles to the vet's office. It was a lovely September day so the weather was not a problem - I was wondering how I was going to carry the hard, sturdy cat carrier all the way there.

At that point I was wishing I had one of these cat strollers. Even though I know it sounds CRAZY-cat-lady-like.... I still kind of want one.

Instead I had to put the carrier into one of those huge blue Ikea bags and try to peel part of it down so Monkey could see what was going on. I thought, "Oh well maybe this method of transportation will be easier on Monkey because she won't get motion sickness like she does in the car!" Boy was I wrong. She vomited twice and pooped once inside her cage before we made it there. I think it was just all the bouncing around from me walking... she probably felt like she was riding a camel! Maybe if i had the stroller it would be a smoother ride.

At that point Dr. Miller decided to try a hypoallergenic diet for Monkey. She and Elvis decided they liked the Venison, and we renamed their food "bambi cereal" (dry) and "bambi souffle" (wet). It was expen$$ive but we would do almost anything for Monkey. She is our princess. We were very strict with her diet and she did not receive treats or table scraps for two months.

Recently we visited Dr. Miller again for an assessment because there wasn't much improvement in Monkey's condition. This time Monkey made it all the way to just outside the clinic where we were looking for a parking spot before her bowels let loose. Then she vomited. But they are SOO nice there they cleaned out our carrier, threw out our towel (yet another old towel lost to a vet visit... soon we will be out of them!) and put a disposal pet pad in there. The Dr checked again for fleas and for any other evidence of a skin condition. And she decided that a food allergy wasn't causing all of these symptoms. Which means we can go back to our lamb cereal by Solid Gold (much cheaper!) and Monkey can have treats!!! She was so happy to have treats when we got home.

Our next strategy is to do some blood work to see if there are any underlying problems (like diabetes, etc) and we should get those results back on Thursday. If that comes back fine, then Monkey probably has some irritated, inflamed bowels and that may be why she is licking the fur off of that area of her body. So we will try some steriods to get that under control. And hopefully that will take care of it! I hope so because this has been going on for about 9 months... poor Monkey. :(

By the way I highly recommend our veterinary clinic Uptown Animal Hospital!!! They are located in Andersonville. Their office is very clean and inviting. The staff is so friendly and I truly feel that they care about the furry members of our family. Dr. Miller is the best :) Plus she is an Albion alumn.

And I'm still looking for a way to take the cats out in some sort of stroller. I'm thinking a double decker cart would be ideal but I haven't found one that will fit the cat carriers. Any idears???

Thanksgiving with the Family

We spent this years Thanksgiving in Michigan at my mom's house. She likes to make this recipe for cranberry salad that my Granny (my dad's mom) always makes. You grind up cranberries, and few apples and oranges (one with the peel on) and then add a little sugar. Voila! However, there has been some controversy over how to process these ingredients. Granny always used a hand grinder and my mom prefers to use a Cuisinart. Granny says that the food processor chops everything too fine, and cuts open the seeds of the cranberries giving the salad a slightly bitter taste.

So we conducted an experiment! My mom found an old grinder in the basement and my sister and I made Granny's version while my mom made her version. We used exactly the same amounts of everything. It wasn't hard to tell which was which based on texture because the grinder version was much coarser. But we tried our hardest to do a blind taste test. The consensus seemed to be that the processor version WAS slightly more bitter but Mom said she still liked it the best anyway :)

I actually enjoyed using the hand grinder. It wasn't as laborious a chore as I had originally thought it would be.

I also made pumpkin pies from scratch. But I need to start foiling the edges of my crust so they don't get too brown. Lynn makes the best pie crust. She brought cranberry pie and apple pie. I need to get that recipe from her. I WILL make more pumpkin pies at christmas, even if it's just for Steve and I to enjoy. They really don't have much sugar in them. And I'm sure they are healthy for you. Especially since I don't use canned - no preservatives!! One little sugar pumpkin from Whole Foods was all it took. I think I may even skip the crust and just bake the filling in ramekins - lower carbs and less fat.

Steve and Lynn

On Friday we joined my dad and Cheryl at the UT Rockets game for some tailgating and cooking of wild animals. I ate something that was called "roadkill stew". It was sort of like chili with venison, moose, elk and the like. Very yummy. Also had my dad's famous duck wrapped in bacon. YUM! I'm not a huge football fan but there is something about sitting outside in the cold bleachers, snuggling under blankets, and drinking hot cocoa. Not to mention the marching bands! I LOVE marching bands!!!! And BGSU's band was fabulous.

Dad, me, Steve, & Cat at the football game

Afterward we used my sister's car (because we had taken the train to Michigan) to go visit my Granny and my Aunt Linette. My sister has a rickety old '97 Neon that I was afraid was just going to fall apart on the ride from the train station. You know that scene in Planes, Trains, & Automobiles when the car falls apart? This is what I'm imagining in my head. Lo and behold, the breaks were pretty much completely out at the time we decided to borrow the vehicle. So we were driving around 475 in Toledo with practically NO BREAKS. You push the pedal down and nothing happens.

Luckily my mom and Ed met us at Auntie's house and Ed knew exactly what was going on. So he drove the car back to my mom's for us and fixed it up the next day :) He's too nice. Hopefully the Neon won't just explode GTA style without warning, but I have my doubts.

Slinky Cat

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Last night we made the journey from Chicago to my mom's countryside home in rural Michigan. A frosty layer of snow has coated the grass and the porch and we are cozy inside. Mom and Ed are preparing the bird! And Steve's mom is on her way up. Soon they will meet.... it should go well. I'm so thankful to have a great future mother-in-law. My mom is really excited to meet her.

I brought some bridesmaid dresses for Catherine to try on and she liked one of them! But that will remain a secret to all except the parties involved.

And now for a video of a silly slinky cat who looks just like Elvis! Thanks to Little Grey Bungalow for bringing this to my attention. Elvis is also one who loves to slide around on his side and back... he's very creative.

Prayers for my Dad and his Best Friend, Dave

Hi Everyone. Some of you may already know this, but I just wanted to send out an email to all of you so you are informed and updated. *Scroll to the bottom of this entry for the latest updates.

On Wednesday my dad was involved in a hunting accident. Everyone is alive, but my dad's best friend Dave was badly injured. My dad's gun discharged while he was not touching it, hitting Dave in the thigh while they were duck hunting on a small lake in Michigan. It is hard to comprehend this accident happening to someone like my dad who has hunted his entire life and takes ALL precautions in hunting situations. My dad was able to call 911 and get him to the campground on the other side of the lake so the ambulance could take him to a helicopter, which then transported him to St Vincent's in Toledo. If you have any questions please contact me or my sister.

Please keep Dave and my dad (Bruce) in your thoughts and prayers. Let's hope that Dave can make a speedy recovery. Also, my dad is very upset and is having a hard time dealing with this, as you can imagine. Hunting is an important part of his life and I hope it will still be that way. Here is a photo I found of my dad and Catherine with their ducks and Rosie, their helper. I could not find a photo of Dave, but I will see if Catherine can find one at home.

*UPDATE 11-21-08 After another surgery it looks like they will have to amputate. There are many family and friends at the hospital spending time with Dave. I think everyone is just thankful that he is alive. Please keep the prayers coming.

*UPDATE 11-24-08 9:34am
Dave is going into surgery right now and they are going to take the leg. Not sure how long it will take.

*UPDATE 11-24-08 3:51pm
Dave's surgery went well this morning and the doctors didn't have to remove as much as they anticipated, which may allow him to have a prosthetic. Let's hope everything goes up from here.

*UPDATE 11-25-08 6:26pm
Our prayers and good thoughts are working! I spoke with my dad this evening and he said Dave is doing great. "Almost 100% better than yesterday", he said. The meds are making him feel a little ill so he hasn't been able to eat much yet, but he's started doing some physical activities.

Weekend Chat

Let's talk about weekends.

When I was a kid it seemed like weekends were a time for staying home and helping Mom and Dad do chores around the house or in the yard, but with an ample amount of time for watching tv, playing with Barbie (or whatever it was at the time), sleeping in late, and eating lots of home cooked food.

Well I don't know what has gotten into me now that I am adult, but it seems like there have been major things going on every weekend. For a while there, we were having a little too much active-exhausting-fun time and not enough down time. Our friends asked us to come over for dinner and we had to schedule for a whole month later!!! And Hotel de la Ellis Nyktas was in full swing (they have great rates), but is now closed for renovations.

In September we took two trips: one to Cincinnati for Labor Day weekend, and one to Kentucky for a wedding, however I took a detour to Michigan for one night. Two weeks later we had family visiting.

Two weeks after THAT George and Mary drove into Chicago for a conference and they let us use their Subaru (b/c ours is old) the next day to drive Steve's art work all the way to freakin' Baltimore. And then drove back to Chicago the following day. (See photo above) Boy was that an adventure. George and Mary stayed with us for two more days and a mere twelve hours later we were visiting with Bryce and Christy who needed a place to stay in between trips.

These November weekends have been reclaimed by the original concept of the weekend and are devoted to lazing around the apartment, as well as being productive at home, and hanging out with local pals. Such as Myles and Jennifer! Myles is the first baby I've seen wearing one of the sweaters I've made! We walked around and went to the park and then we all went out for Indian food.

Myles Conrad wearing the BSJ in Noro. AND a hat knitted by his mom, Jennifer!

When Steve flew back to Baltimore for his show opening I stayed here and got some major cleaning and knitting done. (p.s. i really need to talk about my knitting, but I haven't been able to because everything I'm working on right now is a SURPRISE!!!) I've had the chance to catch up on some shut-eye, which I desperately needed. I started recycling, woot woot! Got some wedding stuff organized. And yesterday I went shopping by myself for my bridesmaids dresses to see what I liked.... I just hope my girls like what I've picked out....

Additionally, we've clocked in a decent number of tv hours. We recently started watching Lost and Pushing Daisies, and are getting up to speed with Dexter. Oh and MAD MEN! That show is great. Steve is into 24 and Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but I just "watch" them because it's good knitting time for me. I love the knit sightings in Pushing Daisies... both in the cute sweaters that the lead female wears as well as the detective's act of knitting as a hobby. Love it!

I can't believe the holidays are creeping up so quickly.

Join the Impact

This blog is definitely a journal of sorts, and a way that I have been sharing my life with my friends and family who are hundreds of miles away from me. I have tried to keep this blog in neutral territory but there are certain issues that are important to me, so I feel they must be discussed, especially at this moment in time. Please keep reading...

Last week several states voted YES on a banning gay marriage - otherwise known as Prop 8 or Proposition Hate. I feel that this choice to eliminate the rights of many American citizens is a severe regression for our country. And it was a choice many people made based on fear and a lack of knowledge.

Now I was raised in the Catholic Church where we were taught that being gay was wrong and a pretty serious sin. I even had several friends in high school who were gay and lesbian, and even though I thought they were "wrong" I maintained close friendships with them. And let me tell you, Hudson, MI (population 2,500) is not as easy place to be openly homosexual. My feelings were not based on fear, I just believed everything the Catholic church had told me. But then my perception began to change and I saw this issue from a more logical point of view.

I don't care what the Bible says - it says A LOT of things that can be interpreted A LOT of different ways. Two people loving each other and making a commitment to each other cannot be wrong. Love is never wrong. Not one thing is hurt by this love. In fact it's quite the opposite. No one can explain exactly WHY they love someone. It's just something that you feel is natural. Every person should be able to experience that feeling. And build their lives around it. And nourish themselves and each other.

I am getting married next fall, and while I'm happy and excited for Steve and I to be make this commitment in front of our family and friends, and to be a legally married to one another (instead of playing house like we have been for the past 4 years) I'm heartbroken to think that other people are being denied the same right. I hope that some day soon, everyone will be free to love the way that they chose to be loved. And you can help our country and the world achieve this TOMORROW! There are many rallies going on around the US, just go here to find out how and where you can participate.

This man's story is just ONE reason why gay marriage should not be banned. Read here. (you'll need tissues for this one)

Here is another story of a straight man standing up for equal marriage rights that I was really touched by. (it's a podcast)

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Camille came to visit me last night!! It's always nice when she breezes through town and makes time to visit with me.

I made pizza for dinner (no photos available) using a crust mix that I picked up at Whole Foods - 365 Gluten Free Pizza Crust. I know a lot of people are gluten free and Camille is one of them.

Okay so this mix includes a packet of yeast. And there are instructions on the back... you also have to use additional ingredients such as eggs, water, cider vinegar, olive oil, sugar and salt. Sounds like a lot... and maybe it would be cheaper in the future to buy the flour or whatever is in the mix and yeast separately and make it yourself.

Anyway, when I was following the directions it was really weird. It told me to beat the eggs and then add the mix gradually. Well there was a lot of the dry mix to only a little bit of eggs... so it ended up being really crumbly and pieces were flying out of the bowl when I was using the mixer. So I switched to a whisk and just tried to mix it as best I could. Then you add the other ingredients and after I added the water it was more like dough, but not exactly like dough. I was scared that it was not going to end up right. But it did! It was really good. I usually like thin crust pizza but this was really thick and spongey like bread and soooo yummy!!! Topped it with sauce, zucchini, yellow pepper, kalamata olives and mozzerella. MMMMMmmmm.....

Best served with a bottle of wine and conversation with an old friend. Enjoy!

This Day

Lots of things going on today! First off, I went to the dentist for the first time in 4 years and my teeth feel amazing. Secondly, the weather is absolutely beautiful. It is pleasantly warm and the colorful leaves dangle from the tree limbs to fall on the ground and dance around in the breeze.

Next noteworthy item: it's my one year anniversary of starting my job at NU!!! woot woot! I love it. Many things have happened since I started working here. I am happily enjoying the financial freedom that comes with being paid a livable wage. I have paid vacation days. And best of all - affordable healthcare!!! Also, Steve and I were able to become engaged and start planning our wedding.

On top of all of these wonderful things, Barack Obama is our president elect. The American people have spoken and I have never been more proud of any other decision we have made than this one. I truly trust him with all my heart to lead this country into peace and prosperity. I feel that he is more like the average American than any other politician in Washington and I have faith that he will always be thoughtful in his decision making and honest with us as citizens of this amazing country. I am so hopeful today.

Why Cats Don't Like Election Day

These cats have seen rough times. The economy has hit them hard - in ways neither you nor I could ever imagine. Just look at their faces. They are ready for CHANGE. And they want it NOW.

However, they are yet to be impressed with Election Day. Because Election Day means Mom is too busy with baking cakes and voting to remember to give them their breakfast.

Mmmm.... cake....

Who wouldn't want to wake up in the morning and see this in their fridge???!! Looks like the cake fairy was here last night :)

Here's the recipe.