angela's blog

Want to see what cuties I got to spend Christmas with? There's Genna and Walker at their house on Friday. And then Christmas morning we opened presents. Christmas night we went to the Perry traditional Christmas supper at the Borahs'. The food was wonderful (as usual) and there was a new addition to the meat options: beef and pork tenderloin. Yum. The highlight of the evening was, however, Walker's own rendition of Usher's song "Caught up." I just watched the music video on launch.com and Walker's got the moves. Move over Usher, here comes Walker Levi. Well, kinda. But the little boy can dance. And spin. And jump. And flip. And whatever else. But he's all boy. Just like Genna is all girl. She got dolls and clothes and body glitter for Christmas, among other things. And Santa brought the kids a giant trampoline for the backyard. He even set it up for them in the back yard so Sean didn't have to! At least, that's what Genna told me. As for JJ and me, we got our food processor (7 cup, Cuisinart). And I got my dutch oven. Apparently people don't make dutch ovens anymore but my inlaws went and got me one. JJ and I both got gift cards and my brother got me 2 Steelers t-shirts. And coming soon ... my mom got us tickets for Heinz Field! Since the schedule hasn't been released yet for next season what we actually got was a certificate for them ... and when the schedule comes out we'll buy the tix. A Steelers game at home! How cool is THAT?? And now I'm going to enjoy the rest of my week off.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/27/2005 01:46:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Apparently in working out the playoff scenarios JJ and I were a little off. There are 2 scenarios in which the Steelers could win our remaining 2 games - against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland and against the Detroit Lions at Heinz - and still not make the playoffs, potentially being only the second team in NFL history to go 11-5 at the end of the regular season and not make the playoffs. From Jim Wexell of Scout.com:

1.) The Steelers finish tied for a wild-card spot with the Broncos (11-3).

The Broncos would have to lose their remaining games -- home against the Oakland Raiders (4-10) and at the San Diego (9-5) - and the Chargers would have to win their final two games. The Chargers would win the division because of a better division record. The Broncos would eliminate the Steelers with a better conference record.

2.) The Steelers finish in a three-way tie with the Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4).

Left on the Chargers' schedule is a game at the Kansas City Chiefs (8-6) and a home game against the Broncos.

Left on the Jaguars' schedule is a game at the Houston Texans (2-12) and a home game against the Tennessee Titans(4-10).

If the three teams finish tied, the two remaining spots would go to the Chargers and Jaguars because of conference record.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/21/2005 09:51:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

We were Busy this weekend. Busy with a capital B. We left Saturday morning and went to lunch. Then we ran errands for 4 hours. Actually, 4 and a half hours. But we got tons done. All our Christmas shopping is under the tree, wrapped and ready to be taken down to Perry. I've been showing off what JJ got me because I just think it's so cool. And yes, I know exactly what I'm getting for Christmas from him. I'm not a big fan of surprises, especially for presents, because I'm so picky about things working or being useful, so I prefer it this way. I will post pictures of exactly what I got when I open them on Christmas morning, though. I know of three presents about which I am totally thrilled. He might end up getting me a surprise he says. We'll see. I'm perfectly happy either way. On Saturday night Jamie and Rob came over and we opened presents. Rob got JJ a model airplane. And got one for himself. And then went outside to fly them. As soon as they left I turned to Jamie and pointed out that someone was going to end up getting bonked in the head with a plane or a wheel mark on the backside or something. I was sort of right. About 20 minutes later they came back up and JJ said, "Mine's on the roof." I about died laughing. Sunday was church day, Steelers-Vikings, 18-3. Go Steelers! Then Sabrina and Steve, Curtis and Rachel came over for a preview of Christmas dinner on Saturday. It wasn't great but I learned some stuff to make dinner better on Saturday. I was, however, very pleased with the way that the chicken turned out. For a first try at roasted chicken it was very good. Ice cream sundaes finished off the meal and we love hanging out with the Australies and the Mulders because we laugh and laugh and laugh. They are fun to hang out with and Rachel and Curtis are such gifted story tellers that they make sound everyday life sound like a fantastic adventure. Today was Christmas lunch with Sabrina at my favorite lunch place - Mad Hatter's. We did presents. We figured JJ and Steve would neither care nor want to exchange presents so we just did presents ourselves. I got Sabrina a bar set for making cosmopolitans, including sugar for the rim, and Sabrina got me a full set of wooden cookware and silicone chopping mats. My kitchen keeps growing and I love it. It means I can be a lot more versatile and more experimental. I love cooking. And JJ loves eating. What a perfect match.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/19/2005 10:12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

I rejoined the gym last week and it's been quite lovely. Seriously. I'm lifting weights again and I'm spending a lot of quality time with the ellipticals because of the ankle I twisted last week. Today I might try some jogging on the treadmill. Anyway, I miss not being in shape. It's not like I'm horrified by the way I look or the way I do things or how much I weigh ... I'm not. But I miss being able to look at something and pick it up regardless of whether it's 10 pounds or 70. I miss having some muscle tone. I miss being able to grab my running shoes and just take off for 3 or 4 miles on a nice day (assuming, of course, that I don't fall down!). So anyway, after rejoining the gym I pulled out my old duffel, the one I used to use for swimming trips/on deck at meets in college and sniffed ... and eeeeeew. It smelled. It smelled bad. So after three days of Febreze-ing and scrubbing and vacuuming, it ... still smells. I was going to post a desire for a new duffel on the blog today but I mentioned it to JJ ... and he bought it for me for Christmas already! He got it online and found a coupon code that saved him 15 dollars and shipping and the colors I originally wanted, navy and seaweed, weren't available until January 6. I need the bag before that so he got me the Eddie Bauer small gear duffel in chambray blue. This time I'll Febreze it regularly so it never gets this foul. Yuck. Last night was JJ's office party. They rented out the backroom at Tyler's Taproom in downtown Durham. There was food (quesadillas, homemade chips, 5 different types of sandwiches, 4 types of salad, 2 types of dessert) and the old school multicade console with Pac-man and Dig Dug and Galaga and my favorite, Frogger. I loved Frogger as a kid. My aunt had it on her computer and every time we went to her house we got to play. Finally, after awhile, we got it on one of those big 5 1/4 inch floppy disks and put it on our computer. Last night I sucked at Frogger. I was terrible at it. And after 3 games I figured out why. When you play on the computer one tap on the arrow key moves the frog exactly one block over, up, or down. With the joystick, not so much. I died a LOT - like 2 dollars worth - and then finally gave up. John and JJ had a Galaga showdown. And JJ got demolished. He says I wasn't very supportive. But in my defense, he stood over my shoulder while I plugged away at Frogger and said things like "You're not very good at this" or "Oh, you died again" and "You know, at least for Galaga I'm getting more bang for my buck." These were all true statements. However, saying I wasn't being supportive about his Galaga battle was not entirely fair. By the end of the evening I was tired even though it had been a pretty good time. I'm sure I'll end up going next year, too.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/16/2005 09:54:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Lookit ... such a pretty video iPod: I know I'm not getting it for Christmas and I know I'm probably not getting it for my birthday and I am not one to buy into the "If I do this I will reward myself with that" mindset but when I get my master's in psychology it may be very very tempting to get one. And now that I've seen Jamie's, well it's like tasting the forbidden fruit.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/12/2005 11:36:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

The YA Christmas party was this past Friday and it was very well done. Granted, I didn't know about half of the people there, but the half I did know seemed to have a good time. In the white elephant gift exchange we got a Nutcracker doll. Kim and Howard brought it. Then after the party we went to City Beverage. I hadn't been in awhile so that was fun. Saturday, in retrospect, wasn't that busy. But it felt like it I think because we were moving around a lot and changing location a lot. First we met Sabrina at the church, then we had lunch with Heidi, then we worked out, we threw together leftovers for dinner, and then I think we watched a movie on TV and went to bed. Not very exciting I know. Sunday was a totally different story. Church, worked a hopetown service, came home, made lunch, made snacks for our AVL team meeting during the Bears-Steelers game (Steelers 21, Bears 9), went to the AVL meeting, came home, wrapped all our Christmas presents (for other people - I shipped JJ's directly to Perry and I know he hasn't gotten me mine yet), and by then it was 10:30. It was one of those days where time goes shooting by and you don't notice till the day is over. This week is finals week at UNC which means I get to work in my pajamas, from my couch, all week long, which is nice. Thursday is JJ's office party and Saturday Jamie and Rob are coming over for their gift exchange with us, Sunday the lovely Jamie and Rob are babysitting the Mulder girls so Steve, Sabrina, Curtis and Rae can come over for dinner, and then suddenly we're less than a week from Christmas. I'm not really sure how that happens but there you go, we're currently less than 2 weeks from Christmas. While the parties and other goings-on put a lot of things on our schedules, I really do enjoy this time of year because it gives us excuses to hang out together and give each other presents and just have a good time. Not that we should need an excuse to do that on a regular basis, but people seem more willing to crowd their schedules with social events if the words "Christmas party" are involved. Good friends, good food, good fun. I know that's not what Christmas is all about, but it's a good bonus.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/12/2005 09:42:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

A year ago today JJ asked me to marry him. It's been a busy year come to think of it. And although I blogged about him asking me to marry him, I don't think I ever blogged about how we started dating in the first place. There were a number of reasons for that, first and foremost being we didn't know if it would last (it did) or whether our friends would think it was weird (they didn't - or in the words of one Steve Australie "It's about time!") and plus, for awhile it was fun to just tell the story. The thing was, every time we told it we left some details out here or there and it was never quite complete. Well, now that we're married I suppose it's time to let the cat out of the bag huh? The night JJ and I started dating involved policemen, milkshakes, and a fight that broke out at my apartment complex. JJ had offered to give me a ride home after small group (which was held at his house and I was the leader of at the time) which, if I had thought about it, sort of indicated he was interested in me. By that time I had figured that JJ was that nice to everyone so I didn't think twice. As we pull up to the intersection outside my apartment complex 4 police cars come zooming, complete with siren, from the other direction, take the corner and turn onto the street where my apartment was. I was hoping it wasn't my complex that was under siege. We take the corner, another police car pulls up behind us and follows us. It IS my complex! It gets better - it's my building! As we pull into the complex I'm a little (understandably I think) nervous. JJ reached over and held my hand. Oh the beginnings of hand holding. :-) We notice that the policemen, numbering 7 cars total, have surrounded my building. From a little distance away, there's a cop standing in the parking lot. JJ rolled down his window and asked the cop "I was going to drop her off, is this not a good time to do that?" the cop responds with "No, I don't think you should be around here right now." So JJ and I drove off to McDonald's and got milkshakes, drove around for awhile and then he took me home. When we arrived back at my apartment it looked like whatever it was that was causing chaos had calmed down somewhat. We later suspected it was a fight as there were two groups of people that had been separated and the cops were talking to them both. JJ offered to either "stick around down in the car until the cops leave or I'll walk you up and stay with you until the police leave." Well, given that I had a pretty good sized crush on the guy I opted for choice (b). So JJ walked me upstairs. I went to put my stuff down and went into the living room and found JJ sitting on the loveseat. We had an armchair and a couch. So I sat with him on the loveseat, he put his arm around me and as again, one Steve Australie put it, "Action first or talk first?" JJ leaned in ... and ... action first. Definitely action first. JJ asked me out for that Friday night. The next day, we helped the Mulders move into their house, not knowing that when we left Steve and Sabrina were telling Curtis and Rachel that "those two should totally date." Little did THEY know! We went out on our first date that Friday night to Macaroni Grill and then we went over to JJ's house to watch the last episode of Friends. And we've been together ever since. JJ was the first guy to ever ask me on a proper date. And, apparently, the last. And I'm okay with that. Every girl should be so lucky. So there you have it. The beginnings. Except since then we've had a ton of other new beginnings. And I'm sure there are tons more for us to share. Happy 1 year engagement day!

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/09/2005 11:04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

It's snowing and sleeting in Dallas where JJ is. Although reportedly that shouldn't be an issue by the time he flies out tomorrow at 11:15 am. Which is good because while the emptiness has been somewhat nice, I miss him and not only do I like having him around but he comes in quite handy. Today, for the first time since the marathon allergy appointment I had a few months ago, I went running outdoors. Just under 3/4 of a mile out on the road, I slipped on some pine needles, my foot went off the asphalt path, I twisted my ankle and skinned my left knee. And that wasn't even the fun part. The fun part was that after I fell off the path, twisted my ankle and skinned my knee I had to hobble back home. I made the command decision of not taking off my shoe when I got home, instead I grabbed my keys and hobbled back down the stairs. First order of business was to get an elastic bandage for my ankle and some bandages and tape for my torn up knee. That done, I finally had a chance to shower and wash up - which was interesting trying to keep the water away from the hole in my left knee while not putting weight on my right ankle - and then I made dinner. Finally I sat down, wrapped the ankle and bathed it in ice. That's what I'm still doing. My toes are getting cold. Time to watch UNC-SLU though.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/07/2005 09:03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last night Jamie and Michele and Dylan came over and we hung out, drank wine, listened to music on Jamie's new video iPod (*Angela drools, shakes self denial at herself, and forces herself out of her reverie*) and made Christmas cookies. We just used the ready-to-bake-already-shaped Pillsbury sugar cookies, baked them up and then we put frosting on them and Dylan put red and green sprinkles on them. Speaking of sprinkles, I now have 2 jars of sprinkles, one red and one green, that are 2/3 full. I never use sprinkles for anything. This may have been the first time I've used sprinkles ever. I hope they keep. After the girls and Dylan left, I talked to my mom for a little bit and then JJ and I talked until I went to bed. I've discovered that during the day, right up until the moment I crawl into bed and go "OK, time to go to sleep" I am totally and completely fine. In fact, I kind of like having all this space to myself, watching (and recording) whatever I want on Tivo for the next few days, eating meals I normally wouldn't have if JJ were here (yesterday for lunch I had a really good tomato and mozzarella salad that I put cucumbers into and plain chicken soup), and relaxing on the couch where I can stretch out, or even reading (I'm working my way back through the Harry Potter books, not to mention the New Testament - I'm probably going to miss my goal of "Read the New Testament by Christmas" but I'll hit "Read the New Testament by New Year's") and having the TV on at the same time. Tonight after small group I might finally break out Final Fantasay X and start playing it since I've been so flipping busy that I haven't had a chance to play it since my brother got it for me for our wedding (JJ got a flashy computer case, as in a tower cover). I suck at video games, though, so I'll probably have to have the instruction manual not that far away. My whole point of this little rant was that during the day I rather enjoy being alone. Not that I don't love being married but this is the first time we've been apart since the wedding and during the day it's kind of nice. Night, however, is a totally different story. I suddenly became aware of how very large a queen size mattress is, how loud the cars outside really are, and how cold it can get if the blankets aren't tucked around you just right and there's no one else to give off body heat. On the other hand, once I fell asleep, sleep is sleep, and here I am awake ready to head off to work. Speaking of which ... I suppose I ought to ... yeah, head off to work.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/06/2005 07:41:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

This weekend was again, busy busy busy. Saturday morning we helped with the newhope float for the Christmas parade and there were lots of cute kids there. Here's one, little cutie Meg: And then the Kelleys came and we tried to bury Caleb in leaves: Note Curtis' seemingly enormous foot kicking leaves onto Caleb. He actually stood there pretty still (Caleb, not Curtis) until the leaves got halfway up his chest. Then you could see the cogs working in his head and suddenly he started crying. I personally think he figured out that if he let himself get buried it wasn't going to work out for him. Then came the joy of Saturday night. We went to Chamas in Brightleaf Square for our annual pilgrimmage to a Brazilian steakhouse for Jamie's birthday. Here's JJ waiting for the meat: Of course I can't blame him for that look on his face. Because this is what came out very shortly thereafter: This is how it worked. They brought out big cuts of meet on a sword. And sliced it onto your plate. See those 4 cuts of meat? They were presented in order of done-ness: medium rare, medium, medium well, and well done. I, of course, went for as rare as possible. Like this: Doesn't that look incredibly good? JJ and I love red meat but we don't eat much of it - we're lucky if we get it twice a month. So this one time a year we splurge. And it was really really really good. I think JJ kind of hopes that this is what heaven is like. JJ's off to his annual Baseball winter meetings today and will be back Thursday night. Tonight the girls are coming over and tomorrow I have small group. Wednesday night I have the apartment to myself and Thursday he'll be home. Friday night we have the YA Christmas party and Sunday we have a meeting for the AV team. Whew!

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/05/2005 09:38:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

There are a few times in life when you look around and go "I've got an amazing bunch of friends." And if you're lucky, one of those friends is really one of those extra special people. I, for one, am in fact that lucky. Because Sabrina is one of those extra special people. I actually didn't know Sabrina very well at this time last year but what a difference a year makes. And I'd been keeping track of all the wonderful, nice things that Sabrina has done and then yesterday she did something that made me go "You know, she really deserves a blog entry all to herself." So here I am, blogging about Miss Sabrina. Or as I sometimes call her, smart Sabrina. When I asked Sabrina to be the matron of honor in my wedding (see our pretty picture?) I did it partly because I knew she'd do a great job and partly out of practicality (Sabrina is the most organized, calm, rational person you will ever meet. Or at least definitely in the top 3) but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made for the wedding at all. She threw me a lovely red-and-gold shower with kitchen stuff as the theme. She and Jamie made the beautiful invitations. Then, she and her husband Steve spent many an hour teaching me and JJ to dance. She came with me to all my dress fittings. She tried on TONS of dresses to help decide which bridesmaids dresses to get. She went to cake tasting with us (although in retrospect, that was probably a privilege for her, rather than a chore - she got to taste about 10 kinds of cake and frosting all for free). And then the day OF the wedding she carried around my stuff, made sure I didn't forget anything, got the dress on me and made sure stuff happened on time. And then AFTER the wedding she waited around for the tuxes and turned them in for us. Not a glitch in any of it. Not a one. Sabrina's also one of those people that just doesn't get stressed out. Which, for people in the world like me, is an amazing trait to have. She does tons and tons and tons of stuff! It makes me tired just to think of what stuff Sabrina has done. She showed up at my house one day with my wedding bouquet dried and put in a vase of red and silvery marbles. I didn't know she was doing that. One day, JJ and I both had to work, Sabrina had the day off, so she dropped by with dinner. And of course, it's not just me. If you missed it, Sabrina made 30 cakes for Rachel's birthday. From scratch. Different flavors. 30 cakes! See the 30 cakes?!? And then yesterday I was asking her stuff about face wash because mine has caused a minefield to be planted on my forehead and we were talking about the one I had bought that didn't do its job. And I said something like, "Well I'm not sure they'd let me return it." and Sabrina said, "I'll do it for you if you don't want to." Who does that? Who offers to run other people's errands when she's already one of the busiest people in the whole world? Sabrina, that's who! I'm pretty sure that Sabrina knows how much she's appreciated around here. But given the last year of getting to know her and being friends with her I just figured it was about time that I told her how much I appreciate and love her. There's no one quite like Sabrina - she's special!

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/02/2005 04:33:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Why is it that December is the month of perpetual movement? It's like suddenly places to be and things to do all get crammed in. And it's not like we're not busy the rest of the year, it just seems like it's worse around now. Case in point? Last week: Monday - AV interview Tuesday - AV interview Wednesday - day off Thursday - people over for Thanksgiving Sunday - lights for church This week: Monday - Dave's birthday Tuesday - small group Wednesday - Church visit Thursday - WAM practice Friday - WAM party Saturday morning - Christmas parade Saturday evening - Jamie's birthday Sunday - sound for church, Steelers Bengals @ 1 pm Next week: Monday - JJ leaves for Dallas Tuesday - Small Group Wednesday - breathe - yay! Thursday - JJ comes home Friday - YA Christmas party Chaos, I tell you, chaos! But it's all going to be fun and as of next Thursday my classes are over. So that's nice.

Posted by Mrs. Cooper at 12/01/2005 11:52:00 AM | Permalink | Comments