Thanksgiving, Black Friday

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Rob and I had a quiet day at home. We cooked a turkey breast, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, some sweet corn that I froze from this summer, green jello salad, and jellied cranberry sauce. It was a delightful meal...and we'll be eating the leftovers the rest of the weekend :). After our afternoon dinner, we watched Angels and Demons...which was an entertaining movie.

This morning we woke up at 6am and pulled on some clothes and combed our hair and went to Target. We were actually surprised that everything we had noticed in the ad that we were interested in was still there (the store opened at 5 and we didn't get there until about 6:20). Rob got his XBox360 that he had been wanting. They had the bundle that the other stores had (with two free games), but it also came with a 50 dollar gift card. Not to mention that they were giving 10 dollar gift cards to anyone who spent over a hundred dollars this morning...AND I had a 10% off day card from my Target credit card....so it ended up being a very good deal. We got a few dvds and an Xbox game and a couple of Christmas gifts for family...so it was a good trip, until we got to the line to check out...which wrapped around the store. We were in line about 45 minutes. After Target, we were pretty spent, but we decided to check out Best Buy and Walmart. We made quick trips at both stores and were home with a couple of Egg McMuffins before 9am. The only painful part about the whole morning was the wait at Target...which wasn't all that bad since we were jazzed about finding the things that we wanted and there were two of us, so we would each take breaks by running to look at something while the other waited in line.

After our shopping today, Rob crossed the 50,000 word mark on his novel. He has officially become a NaNoWriMo "winner"! I'm very proud of what he's accomplished this month, and I look forward to reading his novel.

Once we go back to school on Monday, I'm down to just two weeks left. I have a giant stack of essays to grade this week...and then the final portfolios start coming in the next week. It's been a rollercoaster of a semester. I look forward to only teaching two classes this spring.

Restaurant Review: Smashburger

Tonight Rob and I went to Smashburger which recently opened nearby. They have a selection of burgers and chicken sandwiches along with a few salads. This restaurant seems to be joining the growing numbers of cafeteria-style places where you pay as much (or nearly as much) as you would for the food a sit down restaurant but you don't get waiters or plates or real silverware (think Chipotle, Panera, etc...). The burgers were certainly above average. We both had the "smashfries" which are fries with herbs and garlic on them. They were pretty good--they only cost 30 cents more than their regular fries--so worth it for a change of pace.

Verdict: Good, but a bit expensive for what you get. We will probably go back to try more of their menu.

Update.

Goodness, it's been too long since I've posted. October was dreary and cold. The leaves fell off the trees more quickly this year than any year since I've moved to Iowa. The trees are mostly bare, but the weather this first week of November has been warmer and sunnier...so things are looking up.

There's about 5 and a half weeks of the semester left. It has gone by VERY quickly. I am currently grading essay 3 (of 4). Next semester is going to be much less hectic. I am back to teaching my usual two courses and I will only be on campus on MWF.

Rob is participating in NaNoWriMo this year for the first time. He is trying to write an entire novel (50,000 words) in one month. Tonight he is at a "write-in" with other participants at the local mall. He has been on pace or slightly above pace all week, and he seems to be enjoying himself. It feels a little backwards for him to be going to creative writing meetings and not me. :)

They started remodeling our hallways last month and they finally finished painting (well mostly, they still need to come back and put the switch plates back on and what not). It took them about a month from start to finish, but we now have freshly painted tan walls and green doors. This week they added new stainless steel kick plates and new door numbers. Since they made no attempt to cover the carpet, I'm assuming that's in the works too.

Here's a photo photo that I took the day before they put on the new numbers and the kick plate.
More photos of the remodel can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahjanesetnes/sets/72157622571469706/

visitors, seafood, board games, grading papers...

This last weekend, Sarah Ann came to Des Moines. She stayed with us on Thursday night and then we hung out with her and her boyfriend Alan on Saturday. We went to a local seafood restaurant that I had been wanting to try for a while (Waterfront Seafood Market). It's close by, and for seafood, the prices are good. We went on a Saturday at lunchtime and had to wait for a table and the service was slow in general. There is a warning on their menu that the food takes a while to prepare as everything is made from scratch....but if we weren't there with two visitors that we hardly ever see...the wait would have gotten very long. The food was good though, and I'll probably go back during an "off time" to see if the service is better.

We also did a little shopping and went out for ice cream. I found a copy of Rumis at Tuesday Morning (which I had been tipped off to by a forum that I read on Board Game Geek). I was excited because I had been wanting to play that game. Sarah and Alan helped Rob and I test it out. It's an interesting game. I think I like Blokus better, but it was a nice change of pace.

This week I'm grading papers like crazy and trying to get their progress reports done (which are due during week 6 instead of week 8 because they figure it gives the students more time to get their grades up before the drop date--but it turns out to just be a more inaccurate grade).

I'm still enjoying my new car....yesterday I figured out that I have at least 18 30 radio presets. I don't like that many radio stations ;)--it's just nutty.

Car!

Afte 12+ years of driving extremely USED vehicles, Rob and I purchased a brand new 2010 Chevy Malibu. It's a sweet ride I tell ya.




I was long over due for a car that didn't need a quart of oil every other week...and with the economy and the clunker program driving up the price on good used cars...and the tax deduction that's currently available on new cars, we decided to go with a new car. It's such a treat to have remote entry and a cd player and power windows. These are no small treats to someone who has been driving a car that was older than most of her college students.

ARRRR! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

http://www.savagechickens.com/2005/09/talk-like-pirate.html

School days...School days...

We started school a week and a half ago. I am teaching 4 classes this semester, which is twice as many as usual and the most classes I've ever taught at once. Enrollment is way up at DMACC. I guess I can thank the economy for that, but it sure is making parking a pain.

http://www.kcci.com/money/20570436/detail.html

4 days into the new school year, I got a nasty cold. I've been coughing ever since. I am feeling better. I have a distinct feeling that the next 3 months are going to go by either very quickly or painfully slow.

For Mythbusters Fans

http://fora.tv/2009/08/06/MythBusters_Just_the_Facts#fullprogram

Hour long (or you can watch it in chunks) interview of Adam and Jamie--I swear it's the most I've ever heard Jamie talk :).

The Great Lemon-Lime Taste Test

We were in Target one afternoon picking up the usual supplies. I'm not even sure how the conversation started, but we got the idea that we should have a lemon-lime soda taste test. I was adament that my favorite was Sprite--Rob's favorite was Sierra Mist. "I bet you can't even tell the difference..." ...and the challenge was on.

I don't drink much lemon-lime soda....but it's Rob's favorite kind of soda. So we set out to test if we could tell the difference between the 3 top brands in a blind taste test. We also marked which of the three were our favorites.


Rob went first. He accurately distinguished all three and correctly chose his presumed favorite. I went second, and only got my favorite right. I confused Sierra Mist and 7up (I remembered 7up as having a stronger flavor).

The consensus: We both liked 7up the least. Rob was in favor of the stronger flavors of Sierra Mist, and I approved of the smoother flavor of Sprite.

Rob gets the bragging rights though--he won the Lemon-Lime taste test challenge. Cola next?

P.S. Like my new Hickory Park Pepsi Glasses? :)

Weekend

This weekend Rob went pain(t)balling with co-workers (all of his welts went away after a day, so I don't have any fun bruise photos to post). I think he had a good time :).

While Rob was paintballing, his friend Beth from college came to town. Beth's family was having a reunion/anniversary party for her grandparents in Waukee (which is one suburb to the west of here). So we got to hang out at the family reunion and play some games and catch up. Was great to see Beth again since she currently lives in Arkansas.