Well it’s that time, I’m off for vacation next week. And for some reason, the week before it seems like everything goes nuts. The weather, work, me… you know, the usual. Here are my vacation tips that I always try to follow. Sometimes I may fail a little at one or the other, but at least I try!

1. Pack early and light. Most resorts have laundry facilities on site. They are normally located near the pools. It’s quick and easy to do, especially when spending time floating around the pool or lounging in the resort for some downtime. Also, if you don’t pack as much, that means you will have more room for goodies to take home! I have been known to throw away shoes and clothes before checking my luggage cause it was over the weight limit… I’ve also learned at many resorts, you can actually send items home to yourself or others instead of having to take home fragile or heavy items.
2. CHARGE! Ok, when I say that I mean make sure you have all the plugs for your electronics, and extra batteries. When we travel, we do not travel light in the electronics department. We normally both take our iPads, iPhones, laptop, camera, and two cpap machines. I like to put all our chargers into a plastic bag in one piece of luggage, so we have everything all together.
3. Split your clothes. When my husband and I travel, I pack half of his items in my bag with half of mine, and the other way around. If one of our luggage becomes lost, we will at least have some clothes. (Disclaimer: First time I tried this was on our honeymoon. Both pieces of luggage were lost. This did NOT work that time. We were out of luck)
4. For the ladies: did you know you can bring a carry on AND your purse? So… I am always sure to take my biggest purse that I can possibly bring. Even if its not full, I know it will be on the way home. If you don’t carry a purse, throw a tote in your luggage to use later.
5. Flip flops, Crocs, and sneakers. We all know how time consuming it can be going through airport security. My husband and I will always wear flip flops, slip ons, or Crocs to the airport, and pack a pair of socks and sneakers in our carry on. That way, we don’t have to worry about wasting time putting our shoes back on after we go through the check point.
6. Extras, Extras, read all about it! In your carry on, be sure to pack at least an extra pair of undergarments, a t-shirt, bathing suit (weather permitted), and socks. This way if you do have an unfortunate event such as late luggage or missing luggage, at least you have a few essentials.

Most important, try to relax and get some rest before you go. Ok, that last line made me laugh!

Ps… Guess where I am going??

So, Halloween is over and things are slowing down. What’s next, Thanksgiving then snow? There are other things to look forward to! If you are looking for a fun alternative to the traditional New England winter sports, skiing/snowboarding, check out Ice Fishing!

It is around this time of year that I am actually excited to see the temp dip below the freezing mark. Once the lakes and ponds have had time to freeze, usually by New Years Day, many outdoor enthusiasts head out on these frozen playgrounds to ice fish.

Ice fishing is very basic in theory. With a machine powered auger you drill 8-10” holes in the ice and set up a fishing traps called tip ups. A tip up is a wooden structure that has a basic reel with line attached to a hook. The hook is used to hold the live bait which swims around at various depths below the ice trap. Once the bait is taken by a predator then it triggers the tip up trap, which releases a flag alerting you that something is on the line! <img src=”{filedir_2}Ice_Trap.jpg” alt=”” height=”194″ width=”259″ />

The rules and regulations vary depending on body of water. Most allow 2-5 traps for use with live and artificial bait. There are also rules about how many and which types of fish you can keep. There are many opinions on which type of trap, type of bait, location, and time of day are best, but if you are sitting on the couch you are not going to catch anything!

We are usually awake by 3:30 and on the ice drilling holes before sunrise. One of the best parts about ice fishing is setting up a shelter (permanent or temporary), keeping it warm with a wood stove or heater, and cooking a ton of great food. It is a great time to hang out with friends and family and reminisce about past years of fishing. <img src=”{filedir_2}Ice_Shack.jpg” alt=”” height=”180″ width=”240″ />

Ice fishing is a fairly cheap winter sport in comparison to skiing and snowboarding, it also gets you outside and active. Give it a try!

Let us all take time to reflect on our work ethic, habits, weaknesses, and strengths! Here are some do’s and don’t’s that may be effecting your advancements in your work field!

1.Not Promoting Ones Work. Plain and simple, be proud of what you do, and showcase it! You know your fantastic, so why not let your management, co-worker’s, and even yourself appreciate your creativity, dedication, and hard work you put in on your eight hour work day!

2.Getting Defensive: Someone who is defensive typically will be less likely to get any feedback at all from their co-worker’s. If someone feels their interaction with you has no meaning, and you are “set in your ways”, the likely will not share with you their input! Your relationships and progess at work may suffer from the lack of open communication. So take all that constructive critisism and use it as a tool! We can’t be perfect always!

3. Make Rash Decisions: Think it all through! Jumping the gun on any decision making without really weighing all your options can prove to be risky business.

4. Not Being Assertive: Speak Up! When you find their should be a change, a raise, or you have discovered your boss has no idea what shes talking about, do not be too shy to make a comment. Be sure to watch your tone, you wouldn’t want them to be cornered into the defensive catagory!

5. Being too Negative: No complaining! No one wants to hear whining and complaining, the day is hard enough at work! You likely will be creating an unpleasant enviornment for all of those around you!

6. Lying: -Enough said

7. Being Chronically Disorganized: People always pay attention to whether you do what you say your going to do, by when you say you’re going to do it. If the do, the may feel they have more confidence in you and you are a reliable person.

8. Not learning Technology: (My personal Biggest Down Fall): Don’t fight it, just go with it! Technology is ever changing, and we need to be sure to keep up to date with it so we may provide everyone with the appropriate information to the best of our ability! Don’t resist it because it will always come back to haunt you!

This summer the Zombie 5K is coming to New England. This race is part obstacle course, part running from zombies, part muddy mess. The race starts with health flags attached to your belt. As you make your way to the finish line you have to climb over mountains of hay bales, crawl through a river of mud, all while trying to avoid the zombies who want to steal your health. If you make it to the finish line with at least one health flag you have survived the zombie run.

A friend of mine ran the race in LA about a month ago and said that almost 9000 people turned up to see if they could survive. At the end only 2500 made it to the end with any health flags. Visit their website for more details if you want to run. http://www.runforyourlives.com/

What a great excuse to get in shape for the summer!

A couple days ago I came across an article titled “35 Life Changing Ways To Use Everyday Objects” and was quickly intrigued. I wanted to share a few that made me stop and say “why didn’t I think of that?”
<strong>1.</strong> You know those pesky plastic packages that are hard to open and sometimes scissors won’t even do the trick? Use a can opener instead!
<img src=”{filedir_2}enhanced-buzz-5103-1337186025-12.jpg” alt=”” height=”141″ width=”225″ />

<strong>2.</strong> Use non-stick cooking spray to keep candle wax from ruining your votives!

<img src=”{filedir_2}enhanced-buzz-26946-1337192454-10.jpg” alt=”” height=”157″ width=”100″ />

<strong>3.</strong> Use mayonnaise to erase water stains from wooden furniture!

<img src=”{filedir_2}enhanced-buzz-25169-1337194567-10.jpg” alt=”” height=”121″ width=”270″ />
If you are intrigued by this as much as I was, you can read the full article here… <strong><a href=”http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/35-lifechanging-ways-to-use-everyday-objects”>35 Life Changing Ways to use Everyday Objects</a></strong>

This was surprisingly good and my daughter had me make it twice in one week. I used Broccolli instead of Zucchini and I am sure other veggies would work well.

Prep Time:
15 Min
Cook Time:
25 Min
Ready In:
45 Min

Original Recipe Yield 6 servings
Ingredients
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup crushed saltine crackers
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cups chopped zucchini
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch dried celery flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta, cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a blender or food processor, thoroughly mix the Parmesan cheese and crackers.
3. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the onion in the skillet, and cook and stir until tender. Mix in the zucchini, tomato, and garlic, and season with oregano, basil, celery, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir until the zucchini is tender.
4. In the prepared casserole dish, mix the pasta with the vegetable mixture and mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with the Parmesan cheese mixture.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is lightly browned. Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.
Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 271 | Total Fat: 7.9g | Cholesterol: 15mgPowered by ESHA Nutrient Database

Apartment hunting can be tough for pet owners; it’s hard to find two communities that have the same policy when it comes to owning pets. Luckily, however, lots of places <em>do</em> allow cats. (If you’re a “dog person” and you’re reading this post, I’m sorry to exclude you!) Having a cat in an apartment may mean that you’re forced to keep it indoors – which, to some people, may feel almost cruel. Do they have enough room to run around? Do they feel cooped up? Are they sad looking out the window and not being able to run free? These questions may sound crazy to some but, to cat owners, they’re real concerns. With a little help from <a href=”http://www.google.com/”>Google</a> search, I was able to find a great source of tips for indoor-cat owners courtesy of – who else – <a href=”http://www.mspca.org/programs/cat-campaign/indoor-cats.html”>mspca angell</a>. Check out the link – and feel free to leave more tips as a comment on this post. Meow!

You’ve all heard that saying before…you all know what it means….but did you ever wonder where it originated from? We did too.

Yesterday, I was asking Andrea what she thought I should blog about this week and sarcastically she replied, “Why don’t you blog about the price of tea in China!” We both laughed. Then we stopped and asked, where did that saying come from anyway? And what about a Catch-22? We know what it means, but what exactly does it <em>mean</em>? So I started to do a little research about these little phrases known as idioms. These are the little sayings you hear all the time – “I’ve got an axe to grind”, “We’re going to paint the town red”, “Don’t let the cat out of the bag”.

The more I researched these, the more I am convinced that my mother speaks only in idiomatic phrases! There are so many of them! And she USES so many of them!

The funnest part about researching them was thinking that I could actually figure out the origin before finding it on the page. For example- “Mind your Ps and Qs” was something my fourth grade teacher, Sister Antonita, would always yell at us if she caught us looking at our classmate’s paper. The origin is this: <em>Comes from the early pub days when beer and ale was served in pint and quart containers. The tab was kept on a chalkboard used to count the pints and quarts consumed. To watch your Ps and Qs is to control your alcoholic intake and behavior</em>. – Very interesting coming from a nun!! 🙂

But my favorite so far is “Saved by the bell”! You would think this was an easy one – saved by the school bell, perhaps? Or maybe it has to do with the ringing of the bell in a boxing match, possibly. But this is the origin I found and I was completely surprised:

<em>There was a strange disease in the 1500’s that would slow one’s heartbeat and breathing enough that upon inspection, the afflicted person would indeed seem quite dead. When England began to run out of room to bury recently deceased people, they dug up the coffins of people who had long been deceased, removing their bones from the coffins and placing them in a bone house and re-using the gravesite. When opening the coffins of long ago buried bodies, they noticed that 1 out of every 25 coffins had scratch marks on the inside. The town folks had been burying people while they were still alive. To avoid anymore people being buried alive, a string would be tied to the wrist of each corpse, threaded through the coffin,up through the ground, and tied to a bell.
Someone would have to sit in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell to ring, just in case the corpse was not really a corpse. Hence the phrases: Saved by the bell, Dead ringer and Graveyard shift.</em>

Anyway, I found this to not only be fun, but very informative and I can’t wait to start throwing origins at my mother when she starts throwing the idioms my way! (which may be as early as this evening!) 🙂

Here are a couple of links to see some other fun idioms! Enjoy!

http://www.bachelorsdegree.org/2011/01/30/30-common-english-idioms-and-the-history-behind-them/

http://www.pride-unlimited.com/probono/idioms1.html#a

Fall in New England isn’t complete without a visit to the Mega Maze at Davis Farmland. Davis Farmland is located in Sterling MA is only 20 minutes from Worcester. The Davis’ Mega Maze was actually drafted in England by Adrian Fisher, the world’s leading maze designer. Mr. Fisher has designed hundreds of mazes for castles, palaces, and visitor attractions around the globe and holds 7 Guinness World Records. Since designing the world’s first cornfield maze, Adrian has created a number of “Signature Series” maize-mazes each year. These creations include the finest field maze in the United States at Davis’ Mega Maze.

For more information visit https://www.davisfarmland.com.

What do you do with your pumpkin after Halloween? The past few years I have tried not to just throw it away. I try to use the pumpkin in a new recipe that I want to try. I came across this recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Soup and I am going to try it out. It looks pretty easy and has gotten very good reviews!
INGREDIENTS
• 1 (4-pound) sugar baby pumpkin, cut in half and seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup small-dice bacon (about 3 slices)
• 1/2 cup small-dice shallots (about 2 medium)
• 1/4 cup dry (fino) sherry
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Parsley Croutons, for garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Rub the cut halves of the pumpkin with 1 tablespoon of the oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet, cut side up, and roast until fragrant, tender when pierced with a fork, and golden brown, about 70 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on the baking sheet until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.
2. Using a large spoon, scoop out the flesh, place it in a medium bowl (you should have about 3 cups), and set it aside.
3. Place the bacon in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat and cook until crispy and the fat is rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a small paper-towel-lined plate; reserve for garnish.
4. Add shallots to the bacon fat, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes. Add sherry and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, water, thyme, and reserved pumpkin and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer until flavors have melded, about 10 minutes.
5. Using a blender, purée the soup in batches until smooth, removing the small cap from the blender lid (the pour lid) and covering the space with a kitchen towel (this allows steam from the hot soup to escape and prevents the blender lid from popping off). Place the blended soup in a clean saucepan. Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve garnished with the reserved bacon and croutons, if using.
I don’t want to wish Hallowween away but I really want to try this recipe out! It is the perfect day today for some Roasted Pumpkin Soup!