Yikes

It's like I forgot this thing existed. So three months later I'll play a little catchup.
Crystal, her mom, B and I went to the '09 Meadow Highland Games & Celtic Festival and here are the pictures. We had a really good time even though it was pretty chilly that day.
We went to Ocracoke for vacation with Mom and K. We had a good time. The week seemed to fly by though. We stayed in a different house this year and didn't really like the house and we'll be staying at the house next door. It's smaller, but it's nicer. When we went fishing on the charter boat, I caught 3 fish. A total of 6 were caught for the day and we were able to keep 5. They were Good Eats :) Here are the pics.
I got laid off from TG in December. I was out for three weeks. I baked and baked and baked during that time. I made 10 different types of cookies! I also made the entire Christmas Eve dinner from the turkey to the cornbread stuffing to the pumpkin pie.
Christmas was good. We went to my dad's house in the morning and then my mom's in the afternoon. B's mom was out of town. Pictures of the cookies and from Christmas are here.
It snowed in Richmond in December for the first time in FOREVER. Pics are here. Of course it did this on my birthday weekend and ruined all my plans with family and friends. So, instead of being with them, I had to stay in the house. We did finally get out on Sunday and go to lunch with my mom and K, but not where we had planned to go originally. We went by her house on the way home and picked up my awesome birthday present. I got a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer. Words cannot explain how I feel for this machine:
I had to have a tooth removed the Monday after my birthday. That's always fun, but at least the dentist was professional, nice and handsome to boot! I have to go back for a root canal soon...boo!
I've been to two Norfolk hockey games, both with Crystal and once included B. The one where the three of us went, we stopped at the Cheeseburger in Paradise in Newport News on the way home and us girls got very drunk. That was the longest ride home, even when dozing. This past Saturday just Crystal and I went down to Norfolk. We had a good time, stayed sober and even went to Wild Rose Cafe for some karaoke before going home.
We've seen a few movies as well. The most recent are Alvin & The Chipmunks 2 with Crystal and Avatar with Crystal and Byron. Both were enjoyable and Avatar was visually stimulating.
Last weekend Dale and I went to a VCU basketball game and watched them win. We're going again on Wednesday and hopefully they'll repeat that win thing.
Well, that's not everything but it's a good overview. And until next time...keep your stick on the ice.

LOL 7: What's in a name?

My second Living Out Loud entry.
When people ask me my middle name I ask, "which one?". I was born Sarah Catherine Elizabeth. Sarah Catherine was my great-grandma on my dad's side and Sarah Elizabeth was my great-great grandma on my mom's side. I love my name. Not many people will actually admit it. I love having family history right there.
I'm very protective of the "H" at the end of Sarah. People at work constantly leave the H off even though we've worked together for 12 years. It's annoying. When people ask, "Is that Sarah with or without the 'H'?" I proudly answer, "With." I can't explain my attachment to one letter other than it's my name. I always do my darnedest to make sure I spell other people's names correctly and feel the same courtesy should be made to me.
Putting all my names on "official" documents was interesting. Sometimes I was able to put Sarah Catherine E. on these documents, but I usually ended up having to drop the Elizabeth all together.
I was the last of my surname to get married. I had always said growing up that I was just going to tack on my husband's last name to the great list of names since all of them meant something. Then I got engaged. There began the internal debate on keeping all of them and having five names. On the way home from meeting the florist, I brought up to my mom that I was thinking about dropping Elizabeth when I added on my hubby's last name. I promised her that when we had a kid and if it was a girl that I was use Elizabeth in her name. Mom agreed and when I filled out the paper work after getting hitched, I dropped the Elizabeth and kept my maiden name as my second middle name.
I miss Elizabeth sometimes when I fill out paperwork. I didn't think I would. It's just a name after all, right? But it was a part of me, who I was and what I was known by for 25 years. I think I'm allowed to miss it.