Quiet Time

Things have been pretty quiet around Whitman HQ, which is pretty typical for January. After celebrating New Year’s with Matt & Amanda, we’ve mostly been hunkered down under blankets watching TV, though we’ve seen a few friends here and there.

Last weekend my dad was in town. It was nice to have him here with no agenda, and we enjoyed hanging out with him, Katie and Casey. We had some good meals, and he helped us with a few little projects, which we always appreciate.

Work is good for both me and Kevin. I’m never slow at work, but this time of year is the least hectic--a nice break after all the holiday hoopla. Kevin is gearing up for another bank conversion, so he was in Atlanta for a few days last week and will be traveling there for two days again in February. I’m glad he won’t be gone for a full week this time, like he was in November.

O Christmas Tree

We've had a wonderful holiday season so far this year. The first weekend in December we went with Katie and Casey to pick out our Christmas tree. I've posted a cute picture from that night here. We also saw "A Christmas Carol" at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park with my whole family. We've made it a tradition to see some sort of show together at Christmas every year, and this one was great. I love the Playhouse's intimate theater and highly recommend seeing a show there. On Sunday of that weekend, Kevin surprised me with an overnight trip to Brown County, Indiana, the place we went on our first out-of-town trip together 5 years ago. It was very romantic and relaxing.

The next weekend we celebrated Christmas with Matt and Amanda. We take turns hosting a big Christmas get-together with them every year, where we eat lots of yummy food, play games and spoil each other with presents. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I also participated in my company's annual Bizarre Bazaar that week, selling lots of catnip bags and dog treats again.

Last weekend, we went to the Over The Rhine (the band) holiday show at the Taft Theater with our friends Doug and Sue. We've grown to be huge fans of this band from Cincinnati in the last year, and the show was great, mixing their regular songs with tunes from their new Christmas album. And we always enjoy getting to see Doug and Sue.

In between all that, we got all of our holiday shopping and wrapping done early and are ready to spend a nice weekend celebrating Christmas with Kevin's family. Kevin and I are both on vacation until Jan. 2, the first time we've both been able to do that. If we don't get a chance to post again before Christmas, we hope you have a happy and safe holiday!

Kevin Who?

Katie pointed out this week that I haven't posted since September, so I'm stealing one of her posts to try to get myself back in the groove.
My last post coincides with the week I started my new job, so I guess that proves that I have been busy. I might post more on it later, but I will say that I love what I'm doing. It's exactly what I was looking for.
But here's a little Kevin Trivia for now:

Five Things

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Attending Cincinnati Bible College
2. Working at Structure (now Express) at the Florence Mall
3. Working as a banquet server at The Phoenix in Downtown Cincinnati (got to pay for college somehow)
4. Sharing a dorm room with Aaron Kupfurer, one of the coolest people I know. But I haven't heard from him in at least six years :-(
5. Getting my first cell phone and thinking that I am awesome (I think it was $10/month for zero minutes - emergencies only).

5 Things on my To-Do List today:

1. Lay on the couch.
2. Take a shower.
3. Go to dinner at Nada with our good friends Doug and Sue.
4. Go to the Over the Rhine holiday concert at the Taft Theater with our good friends Doug and Sue.
5. Not get in an accident driving on the snowy, sleety, wintry mixed streets.

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. Payoff all of our debts
2. Work less
3. Travel more
4. Share the wealth with family and non-profits that are important to us.
5. Upgrade a few things: house, cars, toys...

5 Things I'll never wear again (or never wore)

1. "Hammer" pants
2. Pegged jeans
3. Tank tops in public
4. Silk button down shirts
5. Mesh shirts

5 Favorite Toys

1. My iPod nano
2. My cell phone (I'm still awesome)
3. Our iMac
4. My Honda CR-V
5. Our digital camera

25 Most Baffling Toys

If you need a little time-waster, check out this compilation of the 25 most baffling toys from around the world. Some of the descriptions are a little naughty, but these toys truly are bizarre.

Holiday TV Specials

I found a great list of holiday TV shows and movies on the Cincinnati Enquirer website. It includes everything from classics like "It's a Wonderful Life" to Food Network holiday cookie specials to "A Very Brady Christmas." My favorite is the description for last year's movie "The Nativity": Mary gives birth.

Even if you don't live in Cincinnati, the list might be useful since many of the programs are on cable. I printed the list (16 pages!) and set my DVR to record everything I want to see.

Melissa: Don't miss this year's airing of "The Christmas Shoes." ;-)

Nerd Alert

Check out my latest Cin Weekly "article," a mini review of some new flavored chips. Excuse the goofy photo.

New Articles

I have 2 more reviews in CIN Weekly this weekly. One is a review of The Bar at Palm Court in the Hilton Netherland downtown. The other is a restaurant review of Sweet Basil, a Thai/sushi place in Northern Kentucky. We enjoyed both! Hope you enjoy the articles.

Freelance Update

This week's CIN Weekly features my review of Market Street Grille, one of the few West Side restaurants I've found to satisfy my East Side taste. I know, I sound like a snob, but this vegetarian isn't down with all the meat and potatoes-style home cookin that my hood has to offer. You fellow westies must check out Market Street if you haven't been there already. It's worth the drive to Harrison.

Giddyup

I think I had too much fun last Friday night. We started off at The Palm Court with Doug and Sue to collect info for my article. The space was beautiful and we had excellent half-price drinks. Next we checked out Trattoria Roma, an authentic little Italian Restaurant, and had yummy dinners and a few glasses of wine. It was really warm out, so we decided to sit outside at Cadillac Ranch, a new mega-bar downtown, and have a few more drinks. I hardly ever drink too much, but I always seem to overdo it a bit with Doug and Sue. I think I get so wrapped up in talking that the liquor just slides on down without my noticing. Anway, I had a pretty good buzz going, so I decided I wanted to ride the mechanical bull. Totally out of character for me, but it seemed pretty harmless (there's a big inflated ring all around it), and Sue said she'd ride with me. After standing in line for a while and making sure to tip the bull operator, it was our turn. The only time I had second thoughts was when I had trouble actually getting ON the bull, but adrenaline (and a helping hand from Sue) were on my side, and I eventually pulled myself up. I clutched both the leather strap and the horn, while poor Sue only had the back of the saddle to hold on to. We didn't last long, but it was fun. Sadly, the camera phone pics were really bad.

Back from Hiatus

Like many of our favorite television shows, I'm back from hiatus. I didn't take an intentional leave of absence from the blogging world; life just got busier than usual for a few weeks.

As many of you probably read on Katie's blog, Katie, Casey and I took a long-weekend trip to visit our uncle Mark (my mom's youngest brother) in Tampa near the end of September. Mark and I were very close when I was growing up, and we've kinda lost touch since he moved to Florida, so it was awesome to spend some time with him. We also saw Grandma Marie and Uncle Dave (another long-lost bachelor uncle) while we were there. It was very relaxing, and it was fun to spend some concentrated time with my perfect little nephew.

I've been doing a lot of freelance work since then. For our anniversary, we went to Market Street Grille in Harrison, and I wrote a review about it. I'm also writing 2 reviews this week—one of Sweet Basil, a Thai and sushi place in N. Kentucky, and the Palm Court bar at the Hilton Netherland. We're actually scoping out the Palm Court tonight with our friends Doug & Sue then dining at Trattoria Roma. And freelance proofreading has kept me busy too. I'm trying to take on as many projects as possible to pay for our latest unexpected expensive household repair: a new central air conditioner and furnace, which we had to replace at the beginning of September.

And I won't lie: TV has my full attention again now that the new season is starting. I still love Heroes, Brothers & Sisters, The Office, America's Next Top Model, 30 Rock, and I'm keen on a couple of new shows too: How I Met Your Mother (new to me), Dirty Sexy Money, and a few others I've yet to check out (thank god for the DVR).

So that's the high-level recap. Hopefully I'll find more time to post more in the coming weeks. And I'll be sure to link to my 3 reviews when they're published in a few weeks.