It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

Decorations up
Cookies made

White Stuff

Make that lots of white stuff

Presents wrapped

I think we're ready to go! We'll be in Horseheads for the holidays.

Cast your votes!

We have added a poll to the blog. Check it out on the right hand side.
Polls are open until "Tator Tots" due date of 6/28/08.

And baby makes three!

Yes that's right folks we are having a baby. We announced the good news to most everyone over Thanksgiving which was very exciting. Baby is due on June 28th and so far everything is looking good. The baby is still very small (about the size of a plum this week) and Dennis has taken to calling it "tator tot." I must agree as silly as it sounds to call your unborn child a lunchroom side dish, it certainly beats saying "it" all the time. I will now answer all the questions that everyone asks...

1. I am feeling pretty well, very tired and a little nauseous, but nothing I can't handle
2. No we are not finding out the sex
3. Yes I am still working afterward
4. The nursery will be that room in the house that holds all of our junk and has the flowery mural
5. Yes Dennis is excited
6. There's only one...no twins
7. We do not have names picked out yet it's still early

We will keep you updated on progress with the new little one!

"Viva Las Vegas!"

This past weekend Teresa and I traveled to Las Vegas for our very good friend Brian's wedding. Rather than sit here and describe our trip, I will post a collection of pictures.

Brian and Christina in the limo after the wedding.

This is the chapel where they tied the knot. No, Elvis did not marry them. Yes, that is a drive-thru window. We did see a couple drive-thru to get married.

We clean up nice.

There were mountains everywhere, it was such an awesome sight.
A view down the strip during the day.

The famous self-portrait in front of the Bellagio during the their fountain show (looks much cooler at night).

Sadly, this probably the closest she will get to Paris.

Have to love that there is not an open container law

Vegas at night...

Spending time at Madam Tussauds with some close friends…

Night out at the Playboy Club...

Some of the sweet rides we saw...

Even though it was a short trip, we enjoyed ourselves by doing all we could do in the little time we had. It was nice seeing an old friend and meeting new ones. We wish Brian and Christina the best of luck. Thank you so much for including us in your special day. We will see you in Buffalo....SOON, right??

Trick or Treat

Ahh yes, Halloween! As most of you know, Dennis and I are true Halloween freaks. This year was especially great because Halloween fell on a Friday. We had the infamous Halloween party on October 31st for the first time.

This year, Dennis and I decided to go with a scary movie villain theme for our costumes. I went as the Joker, and Dennis was Hannibal Lecter. My friends wouldn't talk to me all night because apparently I looked "too scary," and it was very entertaining to watch Dennis try to eat and drink with his arms tied behind his back.

This year, Kristin and Mike came dressed as characters from the show Arrested Development. Mike won the contest this year with his outrageous (lack of ) an outfit. We had to keep him from answering the door for trick or treaters for obvious reasons.

Second place went to Rob for his Ace Ventura costume. He had his mannerisms and everything all night.

We had a bunch of friends come as different drinks. Here you see Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Tequila Sunrise, Mai Tai, and a Redheaded Slut. Ace just liked to hang out with the cocktail crowd.

Jodi and John looked perfect as Shrek and Fiona!

Sarah Palin paid us all a visit, accent and all. She also had a tiara, which she busted out later on in the night and did some fancy pageant walking. Her daughter Bristol also came later in the night, but I failed to get a good picture of her. She had on a maternity shirt with a picture of Sarah Palin and it said "go mom!"

Duff man came with beers (of course)

Greg came as the second amendment. It's very clever, just give it a minute and you'll get it...

Juno and Bleeker
And then there's Beeker. This costume was hilarious. One of the funniest parts of the night was Andy breaking out and dancing to "Sexyback" with that mask on.

Leaf blower and con artist. These ones took me forever to get.

All in all, it was another successful Halloween party. It's nice to have such creative friends who aren't afraid to look silly once a year!

Train Weekend

Last weekend we went home for a visit with family and for Train Weekend at the Sullivan Railroad. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, so were rained out Saturday afternoon, but were able to run the train Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.Everyone seem to have a lot fun, especially the kids. .............................And the big kids too!

We have been busy...but what else is new?

Something that is new, is Dennis's new job. After working at the Goodyear Dunlop Tire North America manufacturing facility here in Buffalo as a Quality Specialist for the last 16 months, I have taken a position at SIGMA International as a Quality Engineer. In this position I am responsible for the validation of equipment and the manufacturing process, regulatory matters and compliance of procedures by the employees. (Don't worry if you have no idea what I do, Teresa still doesn't)
SIGMA is a medical device company that manufactures "smart" (drug error prevention) infusion pumps. These pumps are usually found in hospitals attached to an IV Drip. Check out their website. For all of the readers out there that have had an IV or work in the medical field, chances are the drug pump you have seen was the Specturm Pump from SIGMA.
After three weeks at my new job, I have found myself enjoying every minute of it and loaded with projects. I have hit the ground running since this position and industry is similar to what I did during my four year tenure at the Pharmaceutical company. The only down side to this job is the location. SIGMA is located in the small town of Medina, NY, which about 45 miles away from our house in Kenmore. On the up side, I have 3 colleagues that all live nearby so we are able to carpool, which helps during this time of high gas prices.

New Links

We have updated the "Links" section of our blog. Check out the new baby Nichols blog and the Family Cruise blog.

"It's a Major Award! "

You probably would not think that the birthplace of the Buffalo Wing is also very big on running. You can find a road race every weekend in Buffalo, no matter if it is January or May. Of course as the weather gets nice, it begins to get harder to choose which road races to run because there may be four or five races over the course of the weekend.
To help make that decision easier, race organizers will come up with different motives to attract runners to their race. It could be a technical running shirt, great post-party, awards that go more then three deep in an age group or the cause the race is supporting.
This year I was attracted to the "Fabulous Five Race Series". In the past this was known as the "Amherst Triple Crown." For this Race Series, you need to be the overall winner in your age group, but not necessarily in each of the five races that make up the series that is spread out over the summer. You just have to have the fastest combined time of the five races.
After getting third in my age group in 2006 Amherst Triple Crown, I was determined to win the 2008 Fabulous Five Race Series.
And the final results:St. Gregory's Great Race 5K: 23:44
Loughran's Alumni Cup 5K: 24:12
Ronald McDonald House 5K: 24:10
Moonlight Run 5K: 22:21
Lebro's Fall Classic: 21:36
Total Time: 1:56:03

Next up is the third race (11/22/08) of the 2008 Running with Jesus Triple Crown Series, which I am in contention to win my age group, but I do have someone right on my heels. Should be a good race. Stayed tuned for those results.

Mini (not extreme) Home Makeover

The fall air is upon us and we decided it was time for a new project. Okay, I decided and Dennis kinda went along with my crazy ideas. I have never really liked the color scheme of our house. The green and red was just a little...Christmas-y for me. So we got a can of paint and went to work on the trim.

BeforeAfter

Painting the porch and steps was not fun. Dennis was conveniently at his Notre Dame game when I was doing that part. He got home just in time to climb out of our windows and paint the shutters on the roof. Figures huh?
I was able to get my mums and pumpkins and all that stuff out too now that the painting is done. I love fall!