Giving Back

You know what is the best feeling in the world? Helping others.

Every December, my boss brings us out for a holiday lunch. This year, instead of going out to lunch, we decided that we would volunteer at a local not-for-profit for a couple of hours - genius, right? I thought so!

An email went out today from our Events Coordinator saying that we will have a potluck lunch here at work (grab bag optional) and then we would go volunteer at whatever organization we choose. The Ronald McDonald House is looking to be the final destination (that's what I am hoping for anyways!) I suggested that instead of doing a grab bag, we could donate the $10 that we would spend on a silly grab bag gift, to the Ronald McDonald House ($140 total!)

My mom also asked a few of us if we wanted to adopt a family in the Hilltowns - why yes, yes I do! I have the great pleasure of buying some clothes (and a few fun things) for an 11 year old girl. My sister is buying the family a Price Chopper gift card as well as a "movie night" basket, my grandparents bought some clothes for the girls' parents and my mom will be buying a few things for the family as well.

Last but not least, I am on pie making duty for Thanksgiving at my moms. I love making pies and they are pretty easy to make. However, a girl that I work with brought in the owner of Pie ala Moe for a pie tasting. The pies were wonderful and I thought, instead of me making a pie, I should support small businesses and buy one of hers! So, I have a yummy sweet potato, chocolate crumble pie being delivered to me (for free) the day before Thanksgiving!

This holiday season, consider giving back in some way, even if it's donating a small amount of food to your local food pantry. It is so rewarding and I promise it will make you realize just how lucky you are :-)

Crap Giveaway!

Please see Michele's blog for stuff that her and I are giving away for free! Some of it is old and some of it is brand new but just sitting in our basements.

If you want anything, please leave a comment on her blog (family and friends only) - first come, first served.

Companions

These videos will bring a smile to your face! Companions

October 15, 2005 - one of the best days of my life

Yesterday was our 4 year Anniversary. It's amazing how time flies! It seems like yesterday that Joe proposed to me on my dads fishing boat on Lake George.
The date of the proposal was May 7, 2004. It was a brisk, spring day and Joe and I had plans to go up to Lake George for the day to kayak. I asked him if he still wanted to go up since it was pretty cold, but he was pretty adamant about going, so we went! We went to the village and ate at a pizza place (not Capris, some other place that I'm drawing a blank on). We then drove over to my Grandparents' camp and Joe said, "let's take the fishing boat out instead." I replied, "Are you crazy? That thing is dirty and filled with leaves." Again, he was adamant about taking that out instead of the kayak. So we dragged the dirty, old, alumnium fishing boat out from under the crawl space, loaded it into the truck and drove it down to the dock. I could tell something was up, but wasn't quite sure, or maybe I was in denial that I was about to be given a ring! As I mentioned, it was a brisk day which means the water was pretty choppy. We loaded the boat into the water and carefully climbed in trying not to flip over. Joe rowed us out to the middle and started saying, "so, you know we've been together for quite awhile..." This is when I started hearing the voices in my head, "oh.my.god. This is the moment!" He said some other things, but I honestly can't remember because I had so much going through my head "he's asking me to marry him!" "Is this boat going to flip?!" "oh my god I'm going to be a wife!" He actually got down on one knee in the rocky boat and asked me to marry him! I of course said "yes", we quickly hugged so the boat didn't flip and he rowed us back to the dock. He brought a backpack with him which held my ring, a champagne bottle and two champagne glasses.
It was so surreal and so exciting! We drove home and I called a few people to tell them the news.

After that, we spent the next year and a half planning our wedding. We both agreed that Fall would be the best time of year - leaves changing colors, cool weather - all around a nice time of year. I then went dress shopping, tried on a few and saw "the one" on another girl who was trying on dresses. I loved it at first sight! We decided to get our flowers from Rizzo's Florist. They are distant relatives of Joe and they did a wonderful job!! From there, we booked the DJ (who we loved, but he moved to Florida), photographer, Reception, ordered our invitations and wedding bands, chose the bridesmaids dresses and tuxedos.
We decided that our wedding favors would be cd's that consisted of most of the "important" songs played at our wedding.

Everything came together pretty easily.

Then the big day came. It sprinkled pretty much all day and then stopped around 3:30 and the sun came out - just in time for pictures before the wedding!
5:30 rolled around and there I was - walking down the aisle with my father to Pachebel's Canon in D and tearing up as I saw Joe standing at the other end of the church.

I can't believe that it has been four years since that day. It seems like it was yesterday. I fall more in love with Joe every single day. He is the love of my life. I am so lucky to have such a genuine, caring, honest, loving husband.

October 15, 2005 was simply the best day of my life!

We did it!!

Michele and I finished yet another 5k! Not only did we finish, we got our best time ever! We both crossed the finish line at 36:01!
Thank you Michele for introducing me to this athletic world - it feels pretty awesome :-)

Whoops!

Haven't posted in quite a few days!! Ummm, let's see...5k on Saturday!
Stay tuned for the results!

First day of school jitters

As I was driving to work today, I noticed clusters of kids at every corner nervously awaiting the school bus. I remember these days like it was yesterday. I used to dread the first day of school. If only I knew then what I know now.

Some of these kids were laughing, others were moping, and some just looked plain tired.

Cheer up kids and enjoy these days. It's the beginnging of the rest of your life.

Hi, my name is Morgan, and I'm a hoarder.

I was sitting around thinking about what I could do today and I thought that I should probably declutter the basement. I have so many boxes down there and more than half of them are filled with things that I have been holding onto for years and years. Some of these things are sentimental and others are just useless crap. The funny thing is, is I have moved a few times and I just keep moving all of this crap with me!

Some fun things that I found:
- A small Mead Memo book that contains: A journal entry while I was in Lake George October 19, 1990; a list of things that I wanted to buy in Lake George; a slam book.
- A brand new hands free Verizon set that Joe never opened
- Stuffed animals from when I was younger
- A school folder from 1988 that contained drawings and stories that I wrote
- A 35 mm camera
- Lots of spare change! I now have some money for the vending machines at work!!

Some useless stuff that I found:
- homework from colleges days
- Lots and lots of loose leaf paper
- Old Verizon bills
- Misc. buttons
- Broken picture frames

Other stuff:
- Size 2 pants that I wore in 2002 - they won't get past my thighs now
- Hockey cards from my hockey obsession in 1995
- Various hand lotions
- Plane tickets/brochures from our Honeymoon
- Wedding/engagement cards
- Pictures

I was able to consolidate five boxes into one! I have about twenty more boxes to go through...This feels great!

Running brings family together

Tonight was a really nice night. Michele, Aunt Maggie and I met at The Crossings to do a little jogging. My grandparents also made the trip over to The Crossings to watch Maddy while we ran. It was so nice seeing my sister, Aunt, grandparents and niece all in one night!

I think I am starting to enjoy this whole running thing :-)

Maddy Madigans

Apples and peanut butter - check!
Pineapple chunks - check!
Raisin bread - check!
Bananas - check!
Yogurt - check!
Pink hair ties and a pretty sun dress - check!
Possible trip to the Troy Junior Museum - check!
Bathing suit packed for running through the sprinkler - check!

Yay! Maddy's sleeping over tonight!

Farm Town Anonymous

Hi. My name is Morgan, and I am addicted to Farm Town.

For those of you who do not know what Farm Town is, it is a highly addicting game on Facebook. Basically, you are given this piece of land where you plant and harvest crops - fake crops that is. The more crops you plant, the more coins you get. You use those coins to plant more crops, buy houses, dirt paths, animals, flowers, benches, barns...you get the idea. You can also go to this "marketplace" and hire other farmers (other people who are addicted to the game) to harvest your crops. They get paid and you also get paid which means more coins to buy more stuff for your farm.

I am consumed by this game every night and every morning. It's all Michele and I talk about - "do you have any crops that need to be harvested?" "how many coins do you have?" "what level farmer are you?" - it's sad, really.

If there is any help out there for people like me, please let me know.

Time to go harvest!

*Picture is of Michele's farm as mine is not ready for a photo op quite yet. I'm doing a little rearranging*

"Madelina Sophia"

My dad had Maddy overnight last night and watched her all day today. I stopped by his house during lunch to see little Madders and was greeted with her big smile and a "hiiii!" My dad said, "Is that Aunt Morgan!?" and she yelled "Ga-ga!" I'll accept that as my name for now :-)

Then my dad showed her a picture that we had taken last year and gave to him for Father's Day. It's a picture of Michele, Bob, Maddy (when she was just a baby), Joe and myself. My dad said, "Maddy, who's in the picture?" She promptly stated "DADA!" and then my dad said, "yup...and there's mommy and Aunt Morgan and...." And Maddy yelled, "JOE!!!" I was shocked! This was the first time I ever heard her say Joe's name! I asked my dad, "did she just say Joe?!" and he said, "yeah!". So he did this routine once.

So of course I ran to the phone and called Joe at work because I knew he would love to hear his "Madelina Sophia" (Joe has been calling her this since she was born) say his name. So I held the phone up and my dad asked her who was in the picture - silence. Of course the little squirt out smarted us and decided not to say the names out loud while Joe was on the phone. She just stuffed her face with snacks and laughed - good enough for me :-)

Snack time!

18 Nutritious Snacks from Real Simple magazine:

- Small handful of Sahale's Spicy Soledad Almonds
- All-Natural Multigrain Waffle with fruit preserves or honey or fresh berries
- One-inch cube of hard cheese (like aged Gouda), plus four to six dried apricot halves
- One cup of mixed cereal (like bran flakes, wheat chex)
- Endive leaves filled with part-skim ricotta
- Small bowl of pureed tomato soup with a dollop of low-fat sour cream
- Sliced cucumbers and one or two wedges of Laughing Cow Light Swiss Original Cheese
- Energy bar containing at least four grams of protein (like Larabar Cherry Pie)
- Three cups of air-popped popcorn sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings
- Rye melba toast with low-fat cream cheese and dried cranberries
- Apple slices dipped in a tablespoon of almond butter
- Two slices of low-sodium deli turkey and a handful of grapes
- Half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with chives and pepper, plus vegetables for dipping
- Handful of almonds mixed with dried tart cherries or blueberries
- A 1.3 ounce bag of Glenny's Soy Crisps
- Small bowl of plain oatmeal topped with fresh berries and a splash of skim milk
- Two to four tablespoons of hummus with crudites
- Three-quarters cup of shelled edamame

Like a kid again

Today was one of the best days of the summer thus far!
Here are some of the highlights from the day:
1. Being greeted by my favoritest little girl Maddy right when I walked in.
2. Swimming with my grandparents, sister, mom and Jim (Maddy was napping)
3. Doing three somersaults in the pool which I haven't done since I was probably 12.
4. Watching Maddy roll down the hill. It's amazing how big she is getting!
5. Doing a cannonball about a foot away from my sister when she wasn't looking (hee hee!)
6. Being hit in the head with noodles and attempting to kneel on them under water.
7. Watching Jim and my mom do hand stands in the pool and rating them with the noodles (bent the noodles into numbers).
8. Eating summertime food - grilled pizza, grilled salmon, corn on the cob, salad and bloomer droppers
9. Watching Maddy smoosh her face into the screen (see picture)
10. Leaving the house and hearing "Toy Soldiers" on the radio - one of my favorite songs from the 80's :-)

This is what it's like to be a kid again!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Well for me at least...

Today is my last day for a week! Joe and I will be heading up to my grandmother's camp in Lake George for our annual week vacation!

I'll return Friday, July 31.

Have a great week everybody!

Ginger Man, oh how I love thee

Today, my boss and I went out to lunch with the Account Executive from our outsourced phonathon program. We usually go to Avenue A on Delaware which is tastey, but this time I suggested Ginger Man on Western Ave.
I've been to Ginger Man a few times before and have always had great service and a tastey meal. They have an extensive wine menu as well as a cheese board, which I think is a swell idea! They also serve soups, salads and whole meals such as wild salmon, paella, scallops and steak.
I had a salad there once before which was so simple, yet so delicious! It consisted of greens, asparagus, beets (which I never eat, but loved!) and baked goat cheese!
They switched that salad up a bit and now it consists of greens, strawberries, black berries, blueberries, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese (this is what I had today).
I highly recommend Ginger Man for any occassion!

The Today Show at The Sagamore!

I just found out that Meredith Viera and Ann Curry will be in Lake George next Monday which is when I will be up there! I am super excited! Hopefully I will be able to see some of the taping or maybe I'll try to follow them around wherever they go...that's not too creepy, is it?

I need a vacation

Joe and I only have one alarm clock. Every night I set the alarm to go off at 5:25am for him. When it goes off, I reset it for 6:40am for me. This morning it went off at 5:25 as usual and I reset it (or so I thought). I woke up and the clock said 8:09!!!! So I fly out of bed, run into the shower, quickly wash myself, jump out of the shower, dry myself off, throw deoderant on, clean the old makeup off my eyes, put face lotion on, grab my clothes from the closet, run into the computer room all ready to send an email to work telling them that I overslept and would be late and I see that the time on the computer is 7:11am??????!!!! huh? So I look at the clock on the phone...that also says 7:11. Hmmm...
So I breath a sigh of relief and realize that instead of setting the alarm time, I reset the clock time on the clock radio an hour ahead.

Sigh. This is going to be an interesting day...

On a positive note, I was able to slow myself down and enjoy a cup of coffee!

A token of appreciation and thanks!

I work in the Development Office at a local school and every year we encourage all staff to make a gift to our annual fund. As an incentive, we decided to provide a bagel breakfast to the first office that reached 100% participation from their staff and a wine and cheese party for the second office to reach 100% participation.
Today was the bagel party for out ITS Department! I stopped by Brueggers on my way to work and picked up a dozen bagels and cream cheese. The staff annual fund committee members walked over to ITS at 9:30 and delivered the bagels!
It's a tough economy right now, so their participation really means a lot to us!

Summer dinners are the best!

I don't think there is anything better than eating outside on a nice, sunny, summer evening! Unfortunately, we haven't been able to eat outside much this summer due to our busy schedules. Joe is off from school until August so hopefully we will be able to take advantage of more of these nice nights!

Positively speaking

I was talking with my Grandmother yesterday and she asked why I hadn't posted anything to everydayputtering.blogspot since May. I told her that I didn't have anything to write about. She said, "write about the bunnies in your yard, or Meaghan's graduation party." So I started thinking about what I could write about and it led me to starting a new blog!
This blog will consist of positive thoughts, experiences, everyday happenings, what have you. I am sick of seeing negative articles in the TimesUnion and on the news each night. Negativity drags me down and makes me feel drained.
My goal is to post one positive thing a day along with a picture.

First positive thing today - the sun is shining! What a beautiful day!