New 52 | Week 1: Scrapbook Page

Tues 1/11/11: I wanted to add that links for Week 1 are now closed. In the future the links will close on time on Monday night at 9:00pm US Pacific time. I just figured out how to close the links so a few stragglers were allowed in. :) Go Week 2!


Credits: New 52 Template #1 by Listgirl Designs (me, Christine Newman); Innovative, Boardwalk, Beige Like Me, and Along These Lines v. 02 by One Little Bird @ Oscraps.

I made a digital layout template for this New 52 Week 1 layout, and I was thinking about this... I am totally in love with reading about your New 52 adventures, and I really want to give a small reward to those that are participating on time. So, I've decided to give a free download of my template each week to participants who link up their New 52 blog entries of the week by the deadline. Here are the "rules". (I hate to call them rules, they're more like guidelines. But if I didn't have any guidelines, this thing could turn into an ugly mess, LOL.)

To receive your free template download for that week, you'll need to:

1. Link me up to your New 52 blog post using Simply Linked at the end of my New 52 blog post for that week. Simply Linked will take me to your blog to read about your new adventure of the week, plus will provide me the email addresses necessary to send the free download to you.  Please only link up your post for the CURRENT week.  (In other words, if my post is for Week 2, please only link up your Week 2 post.)  Please use Simply Linked to link up to your blog post instead of leaving a comment on my blog.  (Although blog comments are welcomed, of course, but the link back to your blog entry should use Simply Linked.) 
2. I am planning to post my weekly New 52 posts on Wednesday nights.
3. I am planning to do the layout on the weekends and post it by Monday night. You will have between Wednesday night and Monday night 9pm (ish) U.S. Pacific time to link up your New 52 blog post from the previous week to be eligible for the free digital template. The deadline is necessary so as to reward people who are following along with the project and keeping up. I cannot keep it open indefinitely due to lack of time to administer this. If you fall behind or didn't have a New 52 that week, there's always next week. Plus, you can purchase the template for just $1 in my personal store, ListgirlDesigns.com, if you so wish.

So, my New 52 post last week has 6 links so far in Simply Linked.  Those six people will be receiving this template in their email as a free download.  You have until 9pm Pacific time tonight to use the Simply Linked at the end of my last week's post to post your Week 1 links and still receive the template for free.  If you miss the deadline, OR if you are not doing New 52 but would like the template, you can purchase it for just $1 in my personal store.

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Comfort Weekend

This January it has been cold and rainy for San Diego standards.  We were going to go running at Miramar Lake on Saturday, but the wind picked up during the day and it was a little too cool.  Well, Todd was going to run and I was going to walk, since I'm still in the middle of my physical therapy to get my leg rehabbed.

On Friday when I got home from work, I noticed that Noodle was congested.  It's pretty typical for a cat to develop an Upper Respiratory Infection while at the shelter, due to many cats being there and also their high stress level.  So Saturday morning, we took Noodle to the vet.  Noodle did so well.  He was scared but even the vet commented how he was a purr-monster and kept right on purring through the exam.  They sent us home with some antibiotics for him, because many times when cats get URI, they develop a secondary bacterial infection.

Noodle slept a lot this weekend.  Scenes like these were typical at our house.





Today we went to lunch at Phil's BBQ with Dejah and Roby. It's a favorite place for the four of us. We went early to avoid the long wait. When we got there at 11:15am, we walked right in and ordered! What a difference since last time, when we waited an hour and a half in line to order our food. Phil's BBQ is just SO good!









After lunch Todd went back to Dejah and Roby's house to watch the last two episodes of "Caprica", because our DVR had problems and never recorded it. SyFy had aired the last five episodes all at once and our DVR recorded none of them. Todd watched three episodes online and saw the last two with Dejah and Roby. I stayed home and scrapped. :)

So the weekend has come to a close. Any weekend that involves friends and food is a good one. And our first weekend with Noodle was awesome. Can't wait until he recovers from his cold.

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Sugar Bowl

On Tuesday night, January 4th, we invited some friends over for dinner and to watch the Sugar Bowl with us.  Our Ohio State Buckeyes were playing against the Arkansas Razorbacks!  Todd took the day off to bake and cook and get things ready for the party.

Our friends started arriving around 5:30pm.  Time for some delicious Tuscan Style Potato Soup!  This is my favorite soup that we make at home.  It resembles the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden, but it's a much healthier recipe from Cooking Light. 



The sausages went into the soup. The Balsamic-Browned Butter Asparagus was a side dish. Anne brought the bread.




Tyler, Anne, Gilbert, and Todd, enjoying our dinner together. It really was super-yummy, especially because it's kind of cold here.


Of course, what's a Sugar Bowl viewing without some sugar?  Todd used his new Kitchen Aid stand mixer and made a Lemon Lime Layer Cake with cream cheese frosting. It was the most delicious cake!




Dejah and Roby enjoying dinner.


If you didn't see the game, it was a last minute exciting finish. The Buckeyes won and finally beat a SEC team. It was very exciting and fun to combine good food, good friends, and a good football game! :)

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New52 | Week 1: Noodle Came Home

Meet Noodle.



Noodle is a 6 month old kitty who just came home today. He hid behind the washing machine because he felt safe there. He's had a hard day being neutered and all. And he's had a hard week being at the county animal shelter. I wish I could tell him in catspeak that he's safe now. This is his new home and he's going to be loved and cuddled and played with. He doesn't have to go back to the shelter anymore.

Noodle's homecoming has been a long time coming. Five years and almost 10 months in fact. That was the last time we had a cat. We used to have two cats named Pepe (orange tabby) and Petey (all gray) and we loved them. But after they were both gone, we just didn't have the heart to get another cat. Time passed by and every day that we didn't have to clean cat litter or fur off the furniture, the less likely we were to get another cat. Our house was much cleaner without a cat. When we went on vacations we didn't have to worry about someone coming to take care of a cat. It was freeing.

But in the last year we've felt that a good cat would be a possibility again. But taking the plunge to commit ourselves to take care of and love a cat again was hard. We would say to each other, "Let's go to the shelters and look at cats." But we both knew that if we went, we would come home with a cat. Because we're not heartless. And as soon as that cat started purring in our arms at the shelter, we were goners. So we resisted going. As much as Peppermint would send us links to available cats at shelters in our area, we resisted. She loves her cats and wanted the same for us.

Talks of cats continued without any action. Until Christmas Day. I saw a rather large gift under the tree. It said, "TO: Todd and Christine. FROM: Santa". But strangely, it was in Todd's handwriting. I opened the gift and it was a litterbox. What was Santa trying to tell us? Maybe it's time to open our hearts again to provide a home for a cat.

So on Wednesday, Dec. 29th, we took the day off and went to the Humane Society to look at cats. We saw many cats but none jumped out at us. We were open to adult cats, but not past the age of five. We wanted to have some good years with our cat. There just weren't any cats there that tugged our heartstrings. Just as we were leaving, they pointed across the courtyard and told us that the county animal shelter was right across the courtyard on the same campus. It's a separate entity but they have cats there too. So we went over there and looked at all the cats. Still didn't see any that we felt were calling to us. I don't know why, but we went around the facilities again and didn't see any cats that stood out. Todd was about to open the door to leave, when I bent down and saw a gray cat crouched in the corner. What's that??? A gray cat!

We went to the front desk and filled out a form so we could have an interact with gray cat. As soon as gray cat came out of the cage, he started purring loudly. This was a sign that we had been looking for. Sounds dumb but our gray cat Petey used to purr loudly and it was something we loved. This gray cat was scared and crouching with his tail down, but he purred loudly when we petted him. Then I held him and he didn't struggle at all. Just settled into my arms and continued to purr. I loved him already.

Turned out, gray cat was 5.5 months old and had JUST been relinquished by his owner THAT very day we went in. His owner was allergic to cats and couldn't keep him. The rest is history, because we were goners. We filled out the paperwork to adopt him, but he couldn't come home with us because they require the animal to be neutered/spayed before going home. And because of the holidays, the vet next door at the Humane Society was all backed up and couldn't do the surgery until Sunday. So Noodle was scheduled to come home at 4pm on Sunday.

I called on Sunday and they said he was ready to come home, except one thing. They told me when they went in to do the surgery, "he" was a "she". No way. I told them there must have been a mix up because the cat I picked out was a boy. They said they don't know any more information because they just do the surgery on the animals that the county shelter send over. But the county shelter was closed to the public on Sunday AND Monday, so I couldn't get in to talk to anyone to clear up the confusion. I was sure the girl cat was not Noodle. I spent two sleepless nights Sunday and Monday night. Finally it was Tuesday morning and we got to the county animal shelter just as they opened at 9:30am. We explained the situation. I was so afraid that Noodle got adopted by someone else and we were too late. I explained that the BOY gray cat that I picked out had a half black/ half white nose. The lady pulled Noodle's photo up on her computer screen and said, "Is this him?" Yes! So she called someone to check if Noodle was a boy or a girl, because his ID chip said he was a female. That person came back and said, "Male". So finally it was straightened out! We redid the paperwork and Noodle was scheduled for neutering this morning and pickup after 4pm today.

As soon as he came home and got out of the carrier, he started purring. Right now he's curled up sleeping on a blanket in the laundry room. I love him already. I'm such a sap. I'm glad I opened my heart up to make room for Noodle. He's finally home.



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About This Project


New52 is a project started by me and Peppermint to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.

Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post, scrapbook page, photograph or other recorded history in the link list below. You can also post images to our New 52 Flickr Group! We would love to see what you were inspired to do.

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2010 Year-In-Review

Credits: Template #65: 2010 Year-In-Review by Listgirl Designs (me); Focal Point and Everyday Tags + Words by One Little Bird. Fonts are Sling and Amelie.

It has been my tradition since 2008 to create a Year-In-Review scrapbook page, along with a blog post that highlight the year. (You can see the 2009 Year-In-Review here, and the 2008 Year-In-Review here.) This year I had a lot of fun going through my photos to pick the ones I wanted to use in my scrapbook page. Seeing all the photos made the memories of good times all rush back, and I was able to relive those moments again. That is one of the things I enjoy the most about creating a page like the Year-In-Review page. I enjoy the process itself because I get to remember all the great times with family and friends, and all the adventures I had this year. This process also made me realize that I didn't blog about everything this year, like I did last year for Project 365. Thank goodness I did have photos of almost all our fun events, so I don't think I forgot anything.  I've always said, "If there's no photo, it didn't happen!"  The process also made me realize that I didn't scrap as many pages as I would have liked to have done in 2010. That's something I hope to improve in 2011 as I embark on my New52 adventures.

2010 Year-In-Review

January:

• 1/1:  Went to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, followed by the Rose Bowl football game, where our Ohio State Buckeyes played the Oregon Ducks.  Buckeyes won!
• 1/2:  Went to the beach with Todd's parents.
• 1/3:  Chargers vs Redskins at Qualcomm Stadium.  Loved Lee's famous chicken wings!
• 1/9:  Signed up to run the San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon.
• 1/14:  Todd went to jury duty but didn't get picked for a trial.
• 1/23:  I took an Adobe Illustrator class and made some stuffs.  Went to dinner with Sally at Tofu House.
• 1/28:  Todd got some "pepcorn" in the mail from Peppermint.
• 1/30:  Ran 5 miles at Point Loma and Harbor Drive and it was gorgeous!
• 1/31:  Photoshoot in Balboa Park, followed by dinner at Cafe Sevilla.

February:

• 2/5:  Todd's birthday dinner at Ortegas.
• 2/8:  I made a new dish, Bucatini with Mushrooms, and it was delicious!
• 2/11:  Had dinner at Barrel Room with Pete and Cassandra, super-fun!
• 2/13:  Ran 4 miles on Coronado Island with West Coast Road Runners.  Gorgeous views!
• 2/14:  Went to visit my mom's resting place in LA with Todd, dad, and Shelly.  It's been three years since she's been gone.  Valentine's Day hasn't been the same since.
• 2/15:  Took day off and went for a walk at the sunny beach, followed by eating at Beach City Cafe, which we had thought closed for good!
• 2/19-2/21:  Weekend in San Francisco for Uncle Sol's birthday reunion.  We ate at Scomas, went to the reunion, and ate at Scomas again!
• 2/22:  Dinner at Pho Cow Cali with Sally, just us girls.  Lots of chatty fun.
• 2/26:  Got some layouts printed at two different places and made comparisons.
• 2/27:  Embarked on a huge closet-cleaning spree and gave away a bunch of clothes to charity.
• 2/28:  Todd made homemade artisan bread; we went for a run at Miramar Lake, and went to The Rock Church with AJ and Meera, and Monika.  Afterwards we went to Vietnamese food together for dinner.

March

• 3/10:  Last day of my 30's.  Made a list of stuff I did in my 30's.
• 3/11:  My 40th birthday!  Todd made me ebelskivers for breakfast.  I took some self-portraits.  Todd took me to dinner at Bernard'O's.  Fantastic day!
• 3/14:  Birthday dinner with my friends at Dumpling Inn!
• 3/17:  Todd found out that he got the Salesforce.com advanced certification!  Celebrated with dinner at On The Border.
• 3/18-3/21:  Todd whisked me away for a long weekend in Santa Barbara.  We ate at Four Seasons seafood buffet, hung out on State Street, went on a winery tour, and went to the spa and ate pizza.  Best weekend ever, planned by the best husband ever!
• 3/25:  Pete and Cassandra came over for dinner.  Pete and Todd cooked some delicious food, and we played Rock Band!
• 3/26:  We took the day off for a Go Car Tour of San Diego.  Super fun with lots of photos!
• 3/28:  Todd and Ashley competed in the Muddy Buddy!  Afterwards we went over to Anne and Gilbert's for dinner.
• 3/30:  Went to Shimbashi with Yaiza and Karsten for dinner.  Met Karsten for the first time.  Also the 20th anniversary of when Todd and I first started dating.  :)

April

• 4/3:  Went to dinner with Dan and April and the kids while they're visiting San Diego.  Also saw a huge public pillow fight downtown.
• 4/5:  Todd and Pete went rollerblading at Miramar Lake.  We had carnitas at Chile Peppers afterwards.
• 4/10:  Ran 7 miles in Encinitas, followed by breakfast at Potato Shack.  The start of Todd's water-softener installation/plumbing project.
• 4/12:  Lunch with Meera at Pho Cadao in RB.  Just us girls, pouring our hearts out.  I love her.
• 4/14:  Dinner with Dejah and Roby at Dumpling Inn.  Their first time there and they loved it!
• 4/17:  Ran 8 miles at Mission Bay, followed by brunch at Isabel's Cantina in PB.  Dinner at Outback to celebrate Todd getting his "Advanced Communicator - Silver" designation at Toastmasters.
• 4/18:  Went to Point Loma Seafood with Monika, her first time.  Then evening church at The Rock.
• 4/22:  Picked up pizza and went to AJ and Meera's house for our annual NFL Draft Party.
• 4/25:  Todd took me on a picnic on Coronado Island.

May

• 5/1:  Ran 10 miles roundtrip from La Jolla to Torrey Pines, all on the beach!  Great scenery. 
• 5/2:  Went to the Hillcrest Farmers Market.
• 5/8:  Ran 9 miles at Lake Hodges, very scenic.  Went to visit mom at the cemetary in LA, for Mother's Day.
• 5/15:  Ran 12 miles roundtrip from Carlsbad to Oceanside and back.  Longest training run before the RnR Half Marathon.  Lunch at Beach City Cafe.  Went to Station Tavern in South Park with Sally and her friends to celebrate her birthday.
• 5/16:  Went to dinner at Urban Solace with Roby and Dejah.  It was really good and they really liked it!
• 5/26:  Todd got his new (to him) bike!  He was so excited!
• 5/29-5/30:  Ran the last long run before the RnR Half Marathon, at Mission Bay.  Went wine tasting with Dejah and Roby at Vintage Wines.  Went to check out Sally's new house, then went to Bombay for dinner with her.  Went to the Hillcrest Farmer's Market again and did a classic Todd Shot of him and his big piece of cake.  :)

June

• 6/5:  Todd and I went to brunch at Opera Patisserie and it was delicious.  I loved the omelettes there!
• 6/6:  Todd and I both ran and finished the San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon!  My finish time was 2:33:06, while Todd finished in 1:53:49.  Afterwards we went to Red Robins and ate big burgers!
• 6/12:  I attended a knitting/crochet meetup at Panera Bread.  I went out of my comfort zone to try something new!
• 6/13:  Taste of Adams Avenue with Cassi and Dan.
• 6/15:  Roby and Dejah came over for dinner.
• 6/19:  Our last run with WCRR at Mission Bay.  Wine tasting with Dejah and Roby, plus a trip to the cheese shop and Nothing Bundt Cakes.
• 6/24:  Todd sent me some chocolate-covered strawberries to my work, for our wedding anniversary.
• 6/25:  We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary by going to Big Kitchen in South Park for breakfast.  Then we visited the Museum of Photographic Arts and walked around Balboa Park.  After that, lunch at Cucina Urbana.  It was perfect.
• 6/26:  Lunch with Sally.  (Todd eats sushi now!) Then American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in RB, where we met up with Todd's musician friends and AJ and Meera.  Dinner with AJ and Meera at DiCrescenzos.

July

• 7/1:  San Diego County Fair with Monika.  Chocolate-covered bacon, yum!  :-|
• 7/3:  Dinner with Sally and her mom at her new house. 
• 7/4:  Independence Day Padres baseball game with Anne and Gilbert.  Garlic fries!
• 7/5:  Our neighbor Tyler came over for dinner.
• 7/9:  More knitting/crochet projects in progress.
• 7/10:  Dinner with Sally at World Curry, followed by Kool and the Gang concert with the San Diego Symphony Pops and fireworks.  Awesome evening!
• 7/13:  Went to a Toastmasters potluck dinner social at Ellen's house with ocean view in Del Mar.
• 7/14:  Todd went to his coworker Julie's wedding.
• 7/17:  Lara's big birthday bash at Mission Bay, with a Star Wars cake and a taco stand!
• 7/18:  I finished my crocheted airy sweater.  Todd forgot his water bottles on a long bike ride in the heat, so I drove them to him.  Todd took me to China Max for dim sum.
• 7/20:  Went to Glen Ivy Spa with Sally and Stacy, to celebrate all our 40th birthdays this year!  We got in the red mud bath and were coated with mud!
• 7/23:  Todd went swimming in the ocean at La Jolla Cove for the very first time, in practice for his triathlon in September.  He was so dedicated!  Afterwards we ate dinner at Burger Lounge.
• 7/24:  Went to LA to celebrate dad's birthday, and picked white peaches from his backyard tree.
• 7/26:  We took a day off and had lunch at Blue Water Seafood, followed by a visit to Old Town State Park, where we ate taffy candy and read books on our Kindle & Sony reader.  Then we bought some yummy olive oil.
• 7/29:  I started walking on the trail around my work at lunch time.
• 7/30:  Todd's second swim at La Jolla Cove.  He lost his wedding ring in the ocean, but didn't discover it until dinner at Sally's house.

August

• 8/1-8/3:  Todd's parents came to visit and we took them to Point Loma Seafoods for the first time.  Afterwards we ran/walked on a nearby trail.  We also went to Panera Bread and Pacifica Del Mar.
• 8/6:  Todd went swimming at La Jolla Cove again with the tri club.  Afterwards we met up with Cassi and Dan at Smashburger for dinner.  First time at Smashburger!
• 8/11:  Joyce and Alex and the kids arrived in San Diego.  We took them to Rubios and they loved it!
• 8/12:  Went to the beach and playground in Del Mar with Joyce & Alex and the kids.  Todd made Tuscan Potato Soup and Joyce couldn't stop eating it, she loved it.
• 8/13:  Went to Hilltop park and the kids loved the playground.  Then went to Pizza Hut buffet for lunch.  Went to La Jolla Cove to watch Todd swim and Andrew remarked that "Uncle Todd is so white".  Ha ha!  Then we had dinner at Porkyland.
• 8/14:  Dad joined all of us for lunch at Panda Buffet, then off to the beach at Coronado. 
• 8/15:  Brunch at Potato Shack, then Moonlight Beach playgrounds.
• 8/19:  Went to happy hour at Ortegas with Anne and Gilbert.  It was awesome!
• 8/22:  Reunion picnic at Olde Poway Park with our previous Bible study group.  
• 8/27:  Todd became famous for "Todd Shots" because of Peppermint's blog post.
• 8/28:  Went to celebrate Dejah's success at the Miss Filippines CA pageant.

September

• 9/4:  Went to Parkhouse Eatery for dinner with Sally and Stacy.  Then we all went to see Noah Heldman play music with Randi Driscoll.
• 9/5:  Phil's BBQ for the very first time, with Dejah and Roby.  Had to wait an hour and 45 minutes for food!
• 9/6:  Todd put up bamboo blinds on all the windows downstairs.  It took him many hours.
• 9/9:  Our new Canon T2i DSLR camera arrived!  
• 9/11:  Dejah and Roby came over for lunch and to watch Ohio State vs Miami football game.  
• 9/17:  Went to the expo to pick up Todd's triathlon race packet.  Had Five Guys burgers for the first time.  Todd loved the cajun fries!
• 9/18:  Todd finished his very first Olympic distance triathlon!  After months of training, he did so well as friends came to cheer him on.
• 9/19:  Went to Donovan's Steakhouse downtown with Sally for Restaurant Week.  So delicious!
• 9/22:  Todd and I went to A.R. Valentien at the Lodge at Torrey Pines for dinner during Restaurant Week.  Pretty good but not worth the price.
• 9/30:  Dinner at Dumpling Inn with Shannon and Ryan, and Ashley.  The start of the "Asian Food Club"!

October:

• 10/3:  Went to visit AJ and Meera's new baby Keiji.  So adorable!
• 10/4:  Finished crocheting Peppermint and Tom's wedding afghan gift. 
• 10/8:  Todd's new Subaru Outback got delivered to our house.  Todd was very excited!  Also, Todd went swimming with Monika at La Jolla Cove to help her through her first open-water swim.  We went to Smashburger afterwards and Monika got chicken!
• 10/9:  Left for our 8-day epic trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota.
• 10/10:  Peppermint and Tom got married! 
• 10/11:  We had Norwegian food for the first time at Norske Nook in Osseo, WI.
• 10/12:  Went to Mall of America with Peppermint.  Also had lunch with Terry and Joan at Edina Grill.
• 10/13:  Back to Eau Claire and lunch at Mogie's with Tom.  Took a walk on the Chippewa River Trails and enjoyed the fall sights.
• 10/15:  Headed to Madison to check out State Street, U of W campus, and meet up with Todd's childhood friend Chris for dinner at Blue Moon Bar and Grill.
• 10/16:  Buckeye football game at Wisconsin!  Todd got a photo with Brutus Buckeye.  Too bad the Buckeyes suffered their only loss of the season at the game we went to!
• 10/17:  Long trip back to San Diego from Wisconsin.  
• 10/19:  Todd got a Whirly Pop and has been in love with it ever since.
• 10/24:  Chargers vs Patriots game!  We got to enjoy Lee's famous chicken wings again at the tailgate.
• 10/30:  Todd did the Fearless Mini Triathlon with Monika.  David and I had to watch them in the rain and we got soaked!  Good thing it wasn't a long triathlon.  Afterwards Monika and David came over and then we headed up to pick up Phil's BBQ and went to AJ and Meera's house to hang out with them.

November:

• 11/1:  Todd made chocolate chocolate chip cookies and we went to Dejah and Roby's house for dinner.  Dejah made Filipino pancit.
• 11/7:  Todd went for a bike ride along the coast and I waited for him at Pannikins coffee house.  It was really fun and nice weather to boot.
• 11/13:  Todd ran the Krispie Kreme Challenge West!  He successfully ran 2 miles, ate 12 donuts, and ran another 2 miles without losing the donuts!
• 11/15:  A second meeting of the "Asian Food Club" led us to Pho Cow Cali.  Went to Yogurt World afterwards and everyone was happy.
• 11/20:  Sally came over after an early Thanksgiving with her other friends in our neighborhood.  
• 11/21:  Went to Hodad's to check out the hype about their hamburgers and hated it.  Wrote a scathing review on Yelp.
• 11/22:  Todd made homemade caramel apples for his work friends.
• 11/24:  I cleaned up and reorganized my desk at home.  Started scanning documents with my new Scansnap scanner.  I'm going paperless!
• 11/25:  Dad and Shelly came for Thanksgiving and we cooked our first Thanksgiving turkey successfully.
• 11/27:  Buckeyes successfully beat Michigan for the 7th year in a row.  Todd celebrated the game by wearing his Jim Tressel vest shirt.

December:

• 12/4:  We made homemade chili and chocolate chocolate chip cookies.  Went to Anne and Gilbert's house to watch the ACC Championship game and had Gilbert's yummy homemade pizza.
• 12/5-12/9:  We went to San Francisco for Todd to attend the Dreamforce conference. 
• 12/11:  Todd's company's Christmas party "A Night of Surprises" at The Abbey. 
• 12/12:  Heat wave hits San Diego.  We walked around in Balboa Park, then went to have lunch at Burger Lounge in Hillcrest. 
• 12/14:  Our first annual "Elf" viewing party at our house.  Dejah and Roby, Anne and Gilbert, and Sally came for dinner and a movie!  Todd made caramel apple cider.
• 12/15:  My work holiday outing to see the San Diego Maritime Museum and lunch at Fish Market.
• 12/16:  My work holiday lunch potluck extravaganza.
• 12/18:  Todd and I volunteered to be sweeper and course marshall at the Christmas Card Lane Fun Run that Anne organized.
• 12/24:  Spent Christmas Eve at dad's house in LA.  Had great homemade dinner, followed by church, then the opening of gifts!
• 12/25:  Christmas lunch with dad and Shelly, then dinner at our house with Sally.
• 12/26:  Picked up Phil's BBQ and went up to watch the Chargers game with AJ and Meera.
• 12/27:  Lunch date with Todd at Macaroni Grill.  Todd took the whole week between Christmas and New Year off and enjoyed every minute of it.
• 12/31:  a quiet New Years Eve at home, with takeout Punjabi Tandoor, our new favorite Indian food.

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