Happy New Year!

Anyone who has ever wished they could make a special moment last for just one more second will have their chance tonight.

According to timeanddate.com, tonight will be the 24th leap second since they were first instated back in 1972. I don't fully understand the science behind it and don't change my clocks to fall back an hour, let alone one second.

As friends and family countdown to 2009, I'm thankful that I'll have an extra moment (3,2,1,1) to reflect on what 2008 has meant to me.

Christmas Dinner!

The crowns were in our Christmas Crackers. Here I am with my family just before Christmas dinner:

From left to right: Jessica, Melly, Ruth, Hunter, Aunt Ellen, Granddad, Stephan, Auntie Margaret, Alex, Dad Not Pictured: Uncle Scott

Coal in my Stocking....

My dad tells me that Santa wanted to cancel my Christmas because the North Pole is a red state...

Good thing I celebrate holidays multiple times. :)

Including the gift exchanges at work and Three Kings Day, I have three Christmases down and three more to go.

Can you guess...

...which "cookies" I brought to Bunny's cookie exchange?

Cookie Casualties...

During the snowstorm last Friday, Amelia and I discovered that our oven was broken when I tried to make dinner and the apartment began to smell like gas.

We called our landlord and let him know that our pilot light had gone out. Determined to fix our problem and armed with a lighter in his hand, he began tinkering with the oven. Sadly, it was no use. The igniter was broken and he would send a repair guy on Monday.

Alas, we have a cookie exchange to go to on Monday evening and needed to use our oven to prepare for the festivities. The most logical solution to our problem was to ask our landlord if we could use his oven (he lives in our building). When he informed us that he had plans, Amelia and I began our quest to find an oven by calling all of our closest friends within a five mile radius of our apartment.

When we found our oven (available at 10, Thanks Bo!), Amelia and I set forth to start baking only to have our plans foiled once again. We did our grocery shopping by memory and remembered everything except for the vanilla.

It was getting late so we ruled our baking extravaganza a lost cause (I'm sorry Bunny, we tried!).

MINI Parade & Toy Drive

The MINI club of WNY organized a parade of MINIs led by a fire truck from Station 12 to bring toys to the Pirate Toy Fund office on Main Street:


Channel 10 News met us at the Pirate Toy Fund office on Main Street to videotape our arrival. I was in the MINI on the right with the checkered roof!

And to get footage of us unloading toys:


The full album is here. The news story and video is here:

A Day in the Life of A Downtown Employee: Financial Crisis & Expense Control Edition

Yesterday was a cold cold day in the office. It turns out that the maintenance crew had received instructions to turn off the heat in the entire building because it was going to be a nice day.

A nice day during the month of December in Upstate, New York?!

I hope my company saved a lot of money yesterday because I'm shivering again today...

This is Why I Love Volunteering...

In April 2008, the Make-A-Wish foundation sent Barry and I (wish-granters) to Seneca Falls to find out what Richard wanted more than anything.

The conversation went like this:

Barry & Melisa: If you could have or do anything in the whole wide world, what would it be?

Richard: A clubhouse!

Barry & Melisa: If you could have a second wish, what would it be?

Richard: A playhouse!

Richard loves firetrucks and was so excited to show us the certificate he received when he was named an honorary firefighter with the local fire department. We knew that his very own station would be the perfect place to display his firefighting gear and memorabilia:


Over 100 friends, family, and community members came to Richards house today to watch the ribbon cutting ceremony for his new clubhouse, include four fire trucks and over 10 firemen.:

From left to right: Barry, Robin, Richard Sr, Melisa, Richard Jr.

Today has been an amazing day. I'll post more photos as soon as I can.

Playing Soon at a Table Near You: The Vegetable Orchestra

The Vegetable Orchestra

My Social Life is Almost Here!