The Super Bowl E-del style, another solution to the writer’s strike.

As a few of you know I mentioned when there is a writer's strike and not much on TV you have to find entertainment on everyday life. I used Church as my first example. But what do you do when there’s a writers strike and church is only one day a week, well you go bowling with your team from work. Instead of our team having another holiday party to cram into the busy month of December we have started the tradition of going bowling at the end of January. January, 30th 2008 was the 2nd annual E-delivery Super Bowl.

I would say there was 45-50 of us that went this year so naturally there was lots of entertainment to be found. You know you are in for a range of skill sets when you have one guy that shows up with a little suitcase on wheels carrying his bowling ball and another guy that asks. “How do you hold the ball?” Toss in a few other guys that had never been bowling before, some beer, and eclectic group and you have something that could be better than just about any episode of the office.

Instead of trying to describe how things went I will let the pictures help out.

Here is the ring leader of this crazy bunch, Mark. I think wearing that shirt in public should be punishable by law.



Here we have Mike and Mike. The Mike on the right(yea the one in the ugly shirt) is our score keeper and the one who picked the teams (So anyone who wasn’t happy about who they ended up with see Mike)



Now there were a lot of different styles of bowling seen through out the day.

There was the cute little sashay done by “Z”



The let me see how far I can throw the ball down the alley, done by a few of the bowlers.





Then there were the bowlers that kept the ball on the ground







Then there was the “manly” ballet move while winging the bright pink ball down the alley.



There were a few who also tried to run down the alley and kick the pins down but I missed getting a shot of that. Actually I was probably laiughing to hard to actually get a good shot of it. I also didn't capture the shot of when my own team mate slipped and fell.

While waiting for his next turn my team Leader, Jeff, is just observing the action with Diba, and Sachin.



Uday, Mr. South India, was a first time bowler and did really well. Even better than me, but let's not talk about that....



For those of you wondering why there are all guys in my pictures, well I am back to being the only female in e-delivery again and since I was taking the pictures I didn’t have to be in them. Yes I did bowl also and managed to break 100 2 of the 4 games we played. Not great but not the worst(that honor went to Diba and Sachin). My team was fun and that is what really counts.. If you are really bored and want to see all the pics from the day they are Here… Bowling Pictures

What do you do when there is a TV writers strike?

Oh the writers’ strike for TV needs to end. Sure there is still a few new episodes being aired here and there, and I am very excited Lost is starting back up but let’s face it with the lack of new shows we have to find entertainment in other places. I found myself turning to church meetings for my entertainment. Now some might think church is more of a drama series then say comedy. I would have to disagree though, I think you can find anything from drama, comedy, a little reality, some action adventure, inspirational and occasionally even stuff for the food network.

You see I sit on what I have dubbed singles row. It is the last row in the very back of the church and there is always a few of us single women that sit back there. We run the gammit from never having been married, widowed and divorced. No we are not banished to the back row because of our single status, well at least as far as I know there is no official decree stating we have to sit back there. It is however one of the most entertaining places one can sit. (plus it gives me a great view point to scope out if there are any single men in the congregation, and no ladies I am not counting Brother Hope.)

Now today from my back row view point I was able to observe my very own 1 hour variety show. Naturally there was inspiring talks given. I have always admired Sandy so I really enjoyed hearing her speak today. The rest of the variety show ranges from a little girl happily enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, to parents that could be auditioning for wrestle mania, or American gladiators while they try and keep their kids seated in the pews. There are parents that have to make a mad dash out to the mothers room to change diapers before it becomes a complete disaster, other parents racing to the hall as their kid wails loudly(Personally I think they pinch the kids just so they can go out into the hall), and of course the mom’s that need to feed their little ones. Too some all this activity might be distracting or even annoying I find it all very entertaining.

But wait there is more. There are the parents that play gate keepers trying to keep their children contained on the row between them, and this would work great if kids did not crawl under the seats and pop up 3 rows away or do acrobatics and flip over into the rows in front or behind them. Then you have the parents that are alone with their kids due to the other half being ill or serving in another building and feel completely inept to deal with their rowdy kids and just sit lower in their seats hoping no one notices. You have the kids that stay put but are drawing on each other instead of in their coloring books and pinching, hitting, biting and stealing food from each other. Then you have the kids that the parents must have either bribed or drugged that sit quietly and reverently maybe reading a book or coloring. If I ever have kids we all know they will be in the acrobatic, escape artist range then in the reverent range.

Just to make things more interesting today they tossed in a musical number, which was beautiful by the way. However this now meant parents that had been entertaining, comforting or wresting with their children now had to leave them and go up front to sing. So there is a quick hand off here and there, as the singers make their way up to the front. Some have people come sit with their kids and take over the wresting duties while others are handed to people that can make a quick exit when the child decides to test their own singing skills to express how unhappy they are to be handed off. Each parent would occasionally nervously eye the spot where they left their children, or flinch when they heard a scream they recognized as belonging to one of their off spring. But not one wavered in their singing and that is a feat within itself.

Now if you think the entertainment is just from the children guess again. Sure there are the adorable couples that sit there with his arm wrapped around her and her head on his shoulder as they listen intently to the speakers, but there are always people dozing off, picking their noses, (yes there are boogers even in church but don’t tell Trevor), stomachs growling loudly, and people trying to steal some snacks off the kids in the row in front of them.

I will end my tale here, I can’t ruin all the fun for you as you decide to look for your own next top 10 show while sitting in church, but if you think it is all downhill after the first hour I have one word for you. “poop” . Feel free to elaborate on this word if you would like. See I REALLY need the writer’s strike to end soon.

Some random thoughts

What disease did cured ham actually have? And is it really safe to eat?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Thoughts?????

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

So I headed back to work today and my family headed back to their respective homes. It was a short visit but as always we were laughing the whole time. With this group there is always comedy that ensues.

We did manage to get in a little shopping before the family left and we went to see a movie. At Jeff and Ryan’s request we went to see 27 dresses. They were so excited over the idea of seeing this movie we could not possibly disappoint them.

Okay Jeff didn’t really mind going to see it and Ryan was happy as long as we sedated him with movie theatre popcorn. We bought a large and poured it into ziplock bags so everyone had some to munch on then sent Ryan out for the free refill so he could have the entire bucket to munch on during the movie. Towards then end we thought he might hurl in the bucket from the sappy ending.

Some things to note after this weekend…. You apparently can inherit a lot more than eye color and nose shape from your family. For instance some how both Brad and Ryan inherited the “I despise Nicholas Cage” gene (I mean they both really can't stand the guy), Ryan and I inherited the "everything is better with movie theatre popcorn" gene. While my mother and Jamie both have the “I like to buy clothes and keep them in the closet with tags on” Gene. While Jamie, Ryan and I all inherited the Messy gene, although I apparently got a double, maybe triple dose of that one. My aunt inherited the “once you are a senior citizen you can’t eat after 6:30” gene from my grandmother. I think we all got the “we pick on you because we love you” gene. The list goes on...

All in all it was a great visit even if it was a bit short, and really cold out and poor Ryan had to be drug shopping and to a chick flick. I miss them already and I am already planning to go visit Jamie and Jeff this summer for a few days. Okay family if you are reading this leave a comment...

Brad got married

My cousin Brad got Married Saturday and it was great to see him so Healthy, and Happy after the rough year he had. Both he and his Bride, Julia looked amazing.






The church was full of loved ones there to see the couple tie the knot. We did wonder though if the teacher from Charlie brown was officiating the ceremony. It had nothing to do with the priest performing the ceremony. It was the sound system, we really could not hear what was being said it came across as Wawa-wa wawa wa Wa wa-wa

The reception was held at Normandy farms and the facility was beautiful. The cocktail hour was very nice and the appetizers were great. There were a lot of people in that little room.

As we headed into dinner we realized we were not all sitting at the same table. Jamie, Jeff, Ryan and I were at the “kids” table and my mom and Aunt were sitting with the parents of the groom. Yea even at our age we still have to sit at the kids table, some things never change. But aren’t we cute.




The band was great, the food was tasty, and the photographer was really on top of things. The whole event was really nice. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially the woman that was dancng really close to my uncle on the dance floor. We even got my mom up and dancing.

Both my cousin Ryan and cousin -in-law, Jeff think they are comedians but lets face it I am the funniest in the group.

This is the reason we all got stuck at the kids table for dinner.



Here is Jeff enjoying his 4th Shirley Temple of the night.





Here are a few more pictures from the big day.











(Jamie and Ryan my little blog stalkers you better leave a comment on my blog.)

The family is here

So my cousin Brad is getting married and that means my extended family is in town for a quick weekend visit. They got in tonight and I went to meet them for dinner. (Actually I didn't eat dinner but hung out with them while they did) I am so excited to have them here even if it is just for a couple of days.


This is the adorable couple that are shown in the wedding pictures on my photo blog here.


Here is my adorable aunt and the equally adorable nugget head.

My cousin had a really cute coat and I found out she bought it at forever 21 but I then found out they now refer to the store as forever 57 ever since my aunt bought a little black coat from there. Yep thats my silly family for you. Can't wait to see what the rest of the weekend has in store

The case of the disappearing spaghetti

I chose to work from home today because I was running a fever last night and was feeling rather sick to my stomach. I decided not to take my germs to work with me and make anyone else sick for the weekend. By lunch time I was not feeling as sick so I decided to make myself some “real food” to eat. In other words I opened the freezer and chose the Lean cuisine spaghetti and microwaved it for the appointed time. Yea I know I live such a glamorous and gourmet life. After the microwave chimed to let me know my lunch was ready I took it back upstairs with me so I could eat it while working. Of course I am only about ½ way done when the doorbell rings, so I go down to and answer the door and then the dog decided he “needed” to go outside. Really just wanted to go outside and bark at anything he saw move, people, other dogs, a leaf blowing by...

So after all that I make my way back to my desk and my lunch only to find the nifty little tray I had prepared it in was licked clean. Now I knew I had not finished it and I did not have to look far to find the guilty party. Joey, my cat, was sitting next to my desk where the empty tray sat licking his paws and cleaning his face. Who knew cats liked spaghetti.

You are what you eat?

You know the old saying you are what you eat? Well I sure hope that is not true cause if it is I am going to start looking like a Oompa Loompa, and no not because I have been eating too much chocolate but because I have been trying to eat better and have been eating a lot of clementines while they are in season and the old standby baby carrots. Don’t worry I have been eating a lot of other things too but those 2 items have made their way into my lunch bag everyday for the last 2 weeks. So if I start to look like this to any of you please tell me to stop eating my orange colored snacks.

The fatal LDS disease

Someone asked me recently what my most unique missionary experience was. I would have to say it is one I had about 7 years ago:

I had been working some really long weeks back to back and one weekend it had reached a point where I knew I would have to work all weekend so I chose to go in and work right from the information technology center (Basically where we kept all our servers and the mainframe) which at the time was located in a different building, man that was a long time ago. There were always people there that are monitoring things. The weekend crew this particular weekend were two people I got along with pretty well so I knew it would make it a bit more bearable. We always found something to laugh about and have very similar senses of humor. Saturday had been a long and painful day (12hrs of things breaking repeatedly) so when Sunday rolled around I really didn’t want to do anymore work but knew I didn’t have a choice in the matter so I drug myself out of bed. I don’t remember the exact conversations that were had that day or the ones on Saturday but I apparently had said the phrase “being LDS…” more than once. I don’t think anything of it but forget that a lot of people don’t know what LDS stands for and apparently it stuck with the two that had been working but they never asked me about it.
I had gotten up to stretch my legs for a bit. When I got back I decided I could finish the rest of what I needed to do from home so I was getting ready to leave. Well I look over and The one guy working was writing something in the air to his female coworker and I figured I was the brunt of yet another joke. This is nothing new with this crew. We have a good time with our jokes. I have been in tears from laughing so hard down there and this time was no exception. They turn to me and say that they need to tell me something. I am thinking, “oh no here it comes”. Well apparently as soon as I had left the room to go for my short walk One coworker turned to the other and says with all seriousness and concern “What is LDS? I know it is some kind of disease but I am not sure what it is.” The other coworker just as concerned says, “Yea it is a disease but I don’t know what it is either. I hope she is going to be okay.” One of them quickly gets on the phone and calls his wife to see if she knows what this terrible disease is and the other gets on the Internet to find something on it. Then the light goes on for theone searching online when she found the church’s website.
They initially were not going to tell me but decided that they would. They go through the whole story and how they really thought I was really sick and possibly had a fatal disease. When they were done I just burst out laughing and so did they. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe, and tears were rolling down my cheeks. I assured them despite what my mom thinks it isn’t a disease and I will not die from LDS. One of them had already known I was a Mormon but the other didn’t so after the laughter died down we talked about it for a little. Now the joke in all of this didn’t die here and actually 3 weeks later it was still very much alive. Occasionally they would call to ask how my fatal disease was. Well when I got home that day I sent an email to them both titled “Yes I confess I have LDS” and it read as follows… The only major flair ups I have had recently are when I am at the ITC on the weekends. I believe you both may have contracted this disease also. Please do not worry though because although Laughing Doubled-over Syndrome is contagious it is not fatal. I believe we will all be fine. Thank you both for your concern though. I am deeply touched.
Well one of the two had to see if anyone else could figure out what it was. So she was asking everyone and then explaining the story sometimes she would make him or her call and ask me what it was. So I got all sorts of weird calls and even a couple joke get well soon cards. The fun thing is I get to tell all these people something about the church. A few weeks later one of the other women that worked with this crew called me. She was telling me she thought about me and my fatal disease when she went for a trip to see her cousin. She said when she went down to visit her cousin she passed “The Emerald City” (The DC Temple) she had asked her cousin about it and found out it was the LDS Temple. Jokingly she asked if that is where we go for treatment and my response was that it is the place where we send people that have really bad cases so it doesn’t matter and is actually a good thing if they further infect others. When someone reaches this stage of the disease the best treatment is to surround themselves with people and things that further spread the disease. I talked to her for about 25 minutes about the Temple and she made sure to visit the visitors center on her next trip down to DC.n I told her to look for the Missionaries because they are “volunteers” who like to pass on as much information as someone wants on this “disease” and how it affects the lives of those it “infects”.
So I guess this just goes to show that missionary opportunities can be given to us in many forms. I feel it is quite fitting that this one has such a good joke tied to it.

My team leader is in India....

My team leader, Jeff, is currently in India for the first time. He is over there on business but is also getting a chance to do some sight seeing, and sampling of the local cuisine. One member of our team back here at the office felt Jeff didn’t have enough to do while on his trip and asked him to blog about his experience. Jeff very graciously agreed to do so, and it has turned out to be a very interesting and entertaining read. One thing I have learned from my readings is that they are very fond of their car horns over there. I think I would be a nervous wreck, not to mention car sick while being driven around over there. So if anyone is wondering what it would be like for someone on their first trip to India feel free to take a read here:
http://ljp-psugv.blogspot.com/

Another Semester has begun

Well Today marks the start of the spring semester for me. This week will be all online classes and next week we meet in class for the first time. So far I have only seen the syllabus for one class and there is a lot of reading in store for me for that class, not sure what the other class will bring. Just hope I can keep up with everything. You never know what to fully expect till you meet in class for the first time, and you meet the teachers for the first time.

Seems we dodged the snow bullet here again. Last night they were calling for snow but we only got more rain. My dad however is going to get another foot of snow to add to what they have already had this year. At least they had some warmer weather last week which let at least some of the snow melt. All the snow they have been getting is one reason I do not ever see myself living in Maine year round.

My Cousins Ryan, Jamie and her husband Jeff, along with my Aunt Lois are coming into town this weekend for my cousin Brad's wedding. I am excited to see the family. It is always fun when we are all together. I am sure I will have something to blog about after the weekend. Speaking of weddings I just found out my cousin Joel is getting married in April, in Maui. Guess I will have to miss that one.

No snow here, but I did see some while in Maine

Here in PA we might be lacking in the snow department but while in Maine there was more than one snow storm so I was able to get out and take a few pictures of the snow while I was there.

I have started a Photography Blog that I am going to try and post on from time to time and I have added a few additional snow pictures on that blog also.

The only skinny one in the family

So my very fuzzy cat Joey had a "spa day" yesterday. In other words he spent the day at the vet being poked, prodded, stuck with needles etc.. Too look at him you wouldn't know he was not much more than a bag of bones but when you pick him up you can tell he has lost a lot of weight. He is 15 so it is expected he will have some health problems. Well it turns out he has an overactive thyroid which is why we went from 17 pounds or so to roughly 11. He is still bigger than the dog but now weighs less. The good news is with some daily medicine (which should be interesting to administer to him) he should be fine for several more years. Which was good news to me. Hopefully he will get some of his weight back on. can't have one skinny family member when the rest of us are not.



Grover was very happy to see Joey come home fro the "spa day" since he missed having Joey around for the day but as soon as he arrived home Grover's sniffer went into over drive and he had to sniff Joey all over several times cause he suspiciously smelled like Dr. Dave's office. I think Grover wanted to make sure he didn't bring home anyone from the office with him. Then of course Grover wanted to play and poor Joey just wanted to be left alone.

Funny Commercial

Every now and then a commercial makes me laugh. This is one such commercial so I thought I would share. Who knew one could make a living at being a geek on national TV. I am in the wrong business. Thats somethign I could do with little to no effort.

Christmas 2007

So this year I celebrated Christmas twice. See even at 34 you still get the chance to have Christmas twice when your parents are divorced. I spent Christmas Eve with my mom and MomMom as we normally do. I also treated them to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory like I normally do. We started that tradition a few years ago and it has just stuck. Then after Dinner I opened my presents from my Mom and from MomMom and they opened theirs from me. Grover got to open his present from MomMom so that I could see it. He is in love with his new toy, literally. He has found himself a new girlfriend. Her name is Pearl and he had a little trouble unwrapping her since she is 3-4 times his size.






That night after the presents were opened I packed up my car and early Christmas morning I headed up to Maine. Now as one might imagine the roads were pretty empty at 6AM Christmas morning. They were pretty bare most of my trip up and the trip that normally can take 6-10 hours was made in a mere 6 hours and 35 minutes a personal best for me. I chalk it up to almost no traffic and a slight lead foot on my part. It also appears that in most states cops were given the memo it was Christmas day since I did not see one cop, well that is until I reached Maine then I saw at least a dozen. Someone forgot to give them the memo it was a holiday.



I arrived in great time at my dad’s house, used the restroom and ate some lunch. Then after the girls finished watching a movie it was time to open presents. Emily and Susie were very happy I made it earlier than I had planned on making it there because it meant they didn’t have to wait till after dinner to open presents. It was my first Christmas with my almost 21 year old baby sister so that was fun to get to have a Christmas with her.


As you can see from the picture we had quite the landfill of wrapping paper after unwrapping everything. This is only about 2/3 of it since we had cleaned up a slightly smaller pile earlier. No reducing our carbon foot print this year.




As we finished unwrapping our presents Bobbi’s family started to arrive for Christmas Day dinner, and their family gift exchange. We were informed that little 4year old Nicky wanted to be called Nick going forward. He was not overly thrilled with seeing the “y” at the end of his name on his gift tags but got over it quickly. He was more than happy to still open his gifts. He also helped his baby brother open his.




All in all it was a great Christmas. I wonder what next Christmas will bring.

Another work Christmas celebration

So I am a bit behind on blogging so I will probably post a few today and tomorrow in order to work on getting caught up. The holidays are over and that is probably a good thing since I ate entirely too much the last few weeks and shopped a bit more than I should have on all those after holiday bargains.. So we had our annual technology unit luncheon here at work. This year they decided to have a Texas hold’em tournament, and it seemed to be a pretty big hit. Here is a shot of a few of the players and spectators during the e-delivery playoff. Naturally the representative from our group in E-delivery was the first one out. Thanks Ashish.



The way our desks are arranged at work we sit in a shape that some what resembles a circle. Here is a picture of all the people that work in the circle, plus our supervisor Jeff. This was on the day of the holiday luncheon towards the end of the day.



It was a good way to end the week and for many a nice start to holiday vacations.

I took a few other pictures of my coworkers that day also.Now this first picture is of the newest member of our team, Anshuman. You can tell he is the newest member because he is still smiling and it is a genuine smile.




Next we have Joydeep, he has been here for a long time, notice his smile is much more forced...




This is Ashish.. I have no idea why he is smiling since he was the first one out in the poker tournament...



This group shot is of Ashish. Dibakar, Anshuman, and Uday (Also known as Mr, South India in the circle here)



Next we have Manish. As you can see our team spends a lot of time on the phone, not really sure who they are talking to but they are on the phone a lot.



And finally we have poor Sachin getting "yelled" at by Jeff for something that he probably really didn't do wrong.. That Jeff guy can be a real tough boss.



This is just part of the larger team I work on here at SEI. We are like one big dysfunctional family here sometimes...