Not very pretty...

But, it tastes good! : )

I decided to make a pie last week. Not completely from scratch, of course. I'm not THAT ambitious! I bought the pie crust dough, so all I had to do was roll that out.

I was craving berries for some reason, so I made a three berry pie (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries).

I learned something new about the husband. Apparently, he does not like blueberries. Or at least, that's what he told me so that he doesn't have to try the pie. I do believe I've seen him eat blueberries before, but who knows.

Yay!

I just saw this...

Betty White confirms she's going to be on Saturday Night Live! : )

I'll be watching it for sure!

Ever since her Snickers commercial for the Super Bowl, there has been a big push by fans to get her on the show. There is even a Facebook fan page!

Umm... you have to be kidding me.

For some reason, I am unable to log into my retirement benefits at work today. I used to be able to. Can't anymore. Doesn't recognize my employee ID. So strange.

I need to update my beneficiary to be Matt. I'm getting these emails/letters in the mail that I am not allowed to have someone other than my husband as a beneficiary unless I have him sign a form.

At the bottom of the login screen, there is a number to call for help (exact words are: "If you need help accessing the system, please contact the Towers Perrin Benefits Service Center at 800-...")

I call the number, the woman on the phone gives me a big sigh and says "Oh, I hate these kind of questions (more sighing) because I don't know the answer". Really? Isn't this your job? Did I dial the wrong number? She tells me she has to talk to someone else and they'll call me back tomorrow. She doesn't even TRY to help me.

Before she hangs up on me, I tell her that all I really need is to update the beneficiary information on my account. I figure, this is the Benefits Service Center, right? She says "Oh, I don't know how to do that either". She seriously said that to me. I almost wanted to say, what CAN you do? Besides pick up a phone and say your name?

Ski Trip

This past weekend we went to Devil's Head in Wisconsin to ski. We had a group of eight: me, my sister Erin, my brother Brett, Justin and my cousins - Kyle, Kelsey, Kelly and Chris.

We drove up early Saturday morning. Saturday was a beautiful day for skiing! Sunny and warmer! The snow was a little slushy in places, but that was probably good for the newbies. Erin made most everyone wear helmets - we didn't want any head injuries! Turned out to be good for a few of the skiers! : )

Here are a few pics from the weekend...

Everyone heading up the "magic carpet" on the bunny slope


And we have a man down already! Chris is horizontal and his skis are vertical = bad combo!


And another one bites the dust... Kelly is down!


Chris gives me the thumbs up as he heads back up


Brett and Erin on the ski lift; and Kelsey and Erin on the ski lift

Give me a smile, Erin!


Chewbacca, a storm trooper and Luke Skywalker (carrying Yoda) - who knew they were skiers?!?


By the way, their friends were wearing bikini tops to ski in (guys and girls). One of the guys wiped out and scraped up his back and arm pretty badly. Wearing bikinis to ski = not the best idea that guy ever had.

Taking a break in the bar

Even a stormtrooper needs a break now and then


Ski bunny Kelsey


Brett's helmet may be a bit big!?!


Chris and Kelly call it an early day


Kyle and Kelsey (she's a natural!) skiing


The people mover was pretty cool (but it was really slow!)


There was a special race at the end of Saturday called the Chinese Downhill. Basically, everyone starts at the top at the same time and whoever makes it to the bottom first wins. Doesn't sound like the best idea to me. The medical staff was on stand-by with their tobaggons. We saw it from inside the room... everyone was snaking down the mountain together in a big pack. It looked cool!

Flyin' by

This week is going by so fast! Yay for Friday! : )

There was another meeting of the book/wine drinking club on Tuesday night... heavy on the wine drinking, less on the book discussions. : ) I picked up a new book to read, Prep. I already started it and I'm determined to actually finish it before we go back for the next book club!

On Wednesday night, my team swept in volleyball! And then we celebrated with drinks/dinner at Four Shadows. Good times!

My company is doing this new "healthy snacks" initiative, so yesterday we got fat-free yogurt, berries and nuts for a little afternoon snack. Pretty tasty! I am an idiot, though, because I forgot and right before they set out the snacks, I was hungry and I ate a cookie (leftovers from some client lunch). Figures.

Last night, Matt and I went out for sushi at Izumi. Yum! So this was a little uncomfortable... sitting right next to us was a couple that was having a pretty heated discussion and apparently not too happy with each other. They acted like no one else was around or could hear them. It was so distracting and awkward. Seriously, you are in public, folks!

Today, is the big head-shaving at my office. Every year, our office participates in St. Baldricks and people shave their heads to raise money for children's cancer. It's always a fun time... alcohol in the office, crazy designs shaved into coworkers heads... and it's for a great cause.

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'm heading up to Wisconsin to Devil's Head. My sister and brother arranged a ski weekend, so a bunch of us are going up. Matt is staying home to work. Boo to that! Last time I went skiing, it was freezing cold and the hills were like sheets of ice, which made for lots of falling and LOTS of bruising! Yikes! But, this weekend is supposed to be warmer, so hopefully we'll have good conditions! : )

Conjoined?

Not sure why we thought we should pose like this...

Before I forget...

I am going to update the blog this morning!

On Thursday night, Matt and I went to Piccolo Sogno for dinner (our last Restaurant Week venture). Ironically, as we arrived, April was leaving... funny, because she is the one who reminded me of this place. The food was really good. I had lasagna and Matt had the Porchetta alla Romana (Roman pork). We had a nice bottle of wine and we both left super full! The prices for pasta were not that bad, so I could see us coming back here. Especially in the summer, because they have an outdoor eating area (and it's not the kind where they throw a few tables on the sidewalk out front - Matt refuses to eat in those "outdoor" areas!)

On Friday night, Matt and I stayed in and had make-your-own-pizza night. We're kinda lame. But, Matt had a big day planned for Saturday.

Oh, CONGRATS to Matt... he found out he got a promotion... yay! We found out bonus, raise, promotion info on Friday. Well, some of us did. My boss is on vacation and couldn't log in from wherever she was.

On Saturday, I went to my favorite Spin class. Matt went up to Loyola to catch a basketball game with a bunch of guys (an annual event). He rolled in pretty late and appeared to have had a great time! : ) The next morning... not such a great time for him.

Sunday morning, we went to brunch at one of our bosses' house in Downers Grove. As I said, Matt was feeling a little crappy and was moving kinda slowly. Matt told me before we left for brunch that I wasn't allowed to say anything about how hungover he was. He had that morning after drinking a lot voice - scratchy, dry, you know what I mean - and our boss called him out. So much for him keeping it a secret. She says "did you have a rough night last night or something?" He said "the night was fine, it's this morning that's rough!" The brunch was really good and we were in a food coma when we got home. We veg'd on the couch a little bit.

Then, it was off to bowling. We played against the #1 team, but they had pre-bowled so they weren't actually there. I think that helped us out a lot because we knew what we needed to get at the beginning of each game to win. We ended up winning all the games by just enough. And I won the standing weekly bet with Matt. Date night is on him this week!

Back to work... how can it be Monday already???