MacDonald Baby

All blogging from this point forward will be done at macdonaldbaby.com Thanks for reading Sharpened Pencils!

Christmas Carols

I've finally given in to listening to Christmas music on a regular basis now that Thanksgiving is long gone. In doing so, I've noticed songs that I really really like and those that I really really dislike. So here is my Top 5 Best and Worst songs of the Christmas season!

Top 5 Best Songs
1. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - I've liked it ever since the mannequin scene in Home Alone!
2. O Holy Night - I just think it's pretty and good to sing to when you're alone in the car.
3. Mr. Grinch - Cute and clever, a nice break from reality.
4. Baby its Cold Outside - Makes me want to cuddle up and drink hot chocolate with my hubby!
5. God Only Knows - Okay so technically not a Christmas song, but it plays at the end of my favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually, and I always, always, always cry. It's just perfect!

Top 5 Worst Songs
1. Christmas Shoes - Who wants to sing about shoes for their mom to die in? Debbie Downer!
2. Little Drummer Boy - This song has annoyed me ever since my brother had to sing it in our daycare Christmas concert.
3. All I Want For Christmas is You - I played Mariah's Christmas album non stop back in '94 but 14 years later, I'm way over it!
4. I don't know the name of the song but it started out "Christmas always comes this time of year" - No duh! Stupid.
5. Celebrate Me Home - I actually like the song but it always makes me miss my family big time around the holidays. It always seems to be on the radio on my way home from work and I end up crying and other drivers look at me like I'm crazy.

MacDonald Baby

The word is out - I am pregnant! For whatever reason Brian wants our baby blog to be separate from my lovely personal blog. So, to read anything baby related, go to the MacDonald Baby website! I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to differentiate this from my regular life but we'll see how it goes!

Denver!

Saturday I left for a business trip to Denver. I was pretty overwhelmed going into it because I was head of the Networking Committee for this 160 person conference. I kinda had a lot on my plate and some responsibility on Sunday. After that, my responsibility pretty much died down and I had ample free time network. Despite being quite friendly to the people I know, I am a huge wallflower with people I don't...I choose to hole up in my so-very-comfortable Westin Heavenly bed and read.

I had heard some buzz around the Twilight series so I thought that would be a good book to have while I was on my trip. Holy cow! I was not prepared to be totally blown away and become obsessed with vampires! I instantly fell in love with Twilight and devoured every single page within 48 hours. The day that I knew I'd finish it, I frantically searched Denver for a bookstore to buy the next one in the series, New Moon. I even posted a little bit about loving the book on Facebook and, boy, did I get a response! I am not the only vampire lover out there!

The weather in Denver was lovely and my last day there, instead of sightseeing after the conference sessions, I got comfy on my oversized patio (thanks, Westin!) and read, read, read! I took a 15 minute break to scarf down room service pizza and then continued to read until 11pm Denver time! That is super late for me given that I've been going to bed at 9pm EST! Oh yeah, I also took a break to go to borders.com and order the final two books of the series because I knew I was hooked! Of course, I finished New Moon that night.

Now I keep checking my Borders shipment tracking page every five seconds. I cannot wait to start the next one! I don't want to talk about the intimate details in the hopes that those of you who haven't read it will start and I don't want to ruin the fabulous-ness of it! I've also watched the trailers for the movie about 10 times, practically sitting on top of the screen taking in every little detail! Cedric Diggory playing Edward Cullen is a perfect match!! *sigh* I am just so in love with these books, I can't stand it! Five minutes have passed - perhaps my shipment is closer to Cincinnati now...

Shop Till You Drop!

I knew it was going to be a good day when Brian said to me this morning, "Go to gap.com, fill up a shopping cart, then send me the log in information so I can add to it." It was music to my ears! I have been very good about my shopping recently and I think he's noticed! It probably helps that he also noticed that the Gap brands (Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic) were having a nice online sale as well!

I mentioned Brian's lovely quote to my friend at work who had indulged in the sale a day earlier but still wanted to get more. So the two of us went to "work" filling our shopping cart full of fabulous deals! Brian quickly added his items to the cart and turned it back over to me for payment.

It was like a magical game watching the discounts being applied to the 23 items that the 3 of us had put together! Almost $100 in savings!! In the end I walked away with:

1. Free shipping
2. 12 clothing items just for myself at $200 (that's quite the deal if you ask me)
3. 5 items for Brian that should last him about a month (since he wears button downs and khakis EVERY day *no joke*)
4. A few gap gift cards since I paid with my Gap Card
5. One less hour in my work day

A job well done! Hopefully this fiscal responsibility will be remembered when it comes time for my performance review!!

Follow Me!

Wow, typing the word "Follow" really creeped me out...doesn't it just look weird sometimes? It's one of those words where if you think about it too much, it's just not right. ANYWAY, I added the Blogger "Following" widget (you should see it on the right). I look like a ginormo loser right now because I have ZERO followers. Apparently if you choose to follow me, you'll know when my blog is updated! I know you're all dying for this kind of information!! Apparently if you choose to do so publicly your picture (if you have a blogger profile) shows up on my page. So not only do you get to read my blog, but you can look at yourself too! Win-win-...win (The Office, anyone?). You can also follow me anonymously, which is cool too. Okay, I have to stop writing, the word 'follow' is getting the best of me!

So Fresh and So Clean

I wasn't feeling so hot the other day and was just laying in bed after work. I hadn't even changed out of my work clothes so you know I couldn't be feeling good! Duke, my cat, came and joined me because he's the most awesome cat ever and loves people and me! We laid there for a long time then he started cleaning himself. I watched for awhile while he cleaned himself and was so amazed by it. I never really thought about it but he never smells funny (unlike my dog) and he's a tuxedo and his white parts stay SO white - even directly under his chin - how does he get there?! I have yet to see him clean the under the chin area, hopefully I'll catch him one day. My favorite move of his is when he licks his paw and then moves it over his ear and face. It's so cute. I stole that move for my "cat" action during a game of Thumper recently and it was a huge hit!!

Then he started licking my hand. Does he do this because he feels my hand is dirty? Or, does he do it as a way of expressing affection? Or does my hand taste good? It reminded me of how I would always lick my arm after swimming in pools when I was younger. Gotta love that chlorine taste!