Cheating....

We had a wonderful time in Puerto Rico and I assume Maryellen and Michael did as well! Things have been busy, Claire hasn't been feeling great, and I have been a slacker about sharing pictures from our trip :-( So, I will cheat and send you over to Dans parents blog so you can see some good ones!

I hope everyone is staying warm today - it is freezing cold in NY and really nasty outside. Everyone be careful out there!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Tommy!
Happy Birthday to you!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday - did you do anything exciting?

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy birthday Officer Robillard! :) We hope you have a great weekend celebrating and enjoy your special day!




Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear David!
Happy birthday to you!

Inauguration Day

What a great day yesterday! Although I do think that it should be a holiday (companies can afford 1 extra vacation days every 4 years, no?), I watched the speech in the cafeteria with some co-workers. I had to laugh though because I was envisioning Sister P sitting there bawling and Kristin getting realllly mad that CNN.com streaming wasn't working great. I thought his speech was great! Here was my favorite part:

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

I haven't had a chance to watch a lot of coverage (what did we do before Tivo?) so I'll catch up on that but I did watch some of the neighborhood ball and got goosebumps when Beyonce was singing 'At Last'.



What did everyone else think?

Breaking News...

KRISTIN HAS FINISHED THE iPOD PROJECT!!!!!!!!!!

In case you don't know about the iPod project - Kristin was determined to listen to every single song on her iPod so she has been listening to it on shuffle for the last couple of months (this makes riding in the car with her FANTASTIC!). On her way to work today, she finished the last of the 4,435 songs. This will make our lives much easier in Puerto Rico because we will not be forced to listen to random music the whole we are there.

I was hoping to have a little fun with this and do a little question and answer session, but I have been sooooooooo busy. Here are the answers to a few questions I did get to ask her.

What was the last song? The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Blues Travellers

Albums that will be deleted immediately - Outkast, a Bob Dylan album, and an AIR CD that a friend gave her.

And this was the end of the E-mail she sent announcing the finished project - "I don't even know what to listen to now. I listened to my radio station for the first time in a while!"

Post your questions about the iPod project for her to answer...

Starting the New Year with a Bang...or a Pop

How was everyone's NYE? What did everyone do? I hope everyone had a great start to the year. My day 100% did not go as planned and will go down in the books - but for no good reasons...let me walk you through my day. (Longest Post ever!)

The night before NYE my friends and I still didn't have our plans finalized which drives me crazy! We finally decided to make dinner and then go out where I live in Morristown. Sounds simple enough, right? I decided to wait to drive back to NJ on NYE for some unknown reason (probably because I'm lazy) which was probably a bad idea because of the snow.

Mom came in and woke me up to say goodbye before she goes to work at some ungodly hour - but there was no way I was getting up then. Peter decided at 7AM it was time for me to leave because the snow was coming and kicked me out! So by 7:15ish I was on the road. The drive got pretty messy towards southern CT and in to NY but I drove nice and slow with my very full car and made it to Morristown around 11:30ish, about 45mins longer than it normally takes. Not bad...still a good day.

I ran to the post office when I got in town and considered stopping to get a few more copies of my key made - one of my friends has a copy in case I ever get locked out but thought it would be a good idea to give one to my friends down the street who were watering my tree while I was gone. I decided to do that later...I had all afternoon! I got home and started unpacking my car and realized I had a flat tire (Problem 1). Not sure how I didn't notice it when I was driving but it was pretty flat! It was good timing because my friends were coming to water my tree and offered to help with my tire. I said I would just call roadside but they insisted on putting on my doughnut - who am I to argue? So its blizzarding (kind of) now, its freezing outside, and after 45 minutes they tire is still not off...great! I told them to quit and I would just call roadside...

While all of this was happening, my friends I had plans with called to let me know they didn't leave early enough and were stuck at their parents house in CT, so there go any NYE plans (Problem 2)! Mere convinced me to go to Hoboken and hang out with them for the night so while I was waiting for them I got all my stuff together so I could leave as soon as my tire got fixed and try to find a parking spot.

Finally the guy from roadside came (it was pretty sketchy - don't know if I'll be using Amex roadside again soon). He literally kicked the tire once and it fell off. I had to laugh because they guys had tried EVERYTHING to get my tire off and this guy comes and kicks it once and its done. This is about the point I said 'Oh s*it - I don't have a key to get back in to my apartment!' I had left in such a hurry to go meet the car guy I had grabbed my car key, not my apartment key and realized as soon as the door slammed from the wind that I didn't have it! And my friends had literally given me their key back an hour ago!!!! I was not happy - but the sketchy man from roadside offered to break in to my apt using a credit card. I agreed because hey, it would save me money! No luck - which was actually a good thing because I wouldn't really feel comfortable if someone could break in to my door using a CREDIT CARD! After he left I tried to break in to my bedroom window which also didn't work...great...

So I had a few options: I could call a locksmith or I could just drive to Hoboken and take Mere's key when I left on New Years day. I didn't have any clothes or my purse, my chrsitmas tree lights were on, and I had bought a bunch of steaks for my friends for watering my tree and those were out on my counter so I decided to call the locksmith. Thankfully the locksmith is around the corner and I didn't have to wait long. $95 later and about 35 seconds worth of effort I was in to my apartment!

I eventaully made it to Hoboken and we had a nice dinner at my favorite little restaurant across the street. Dan was nice enough to wake us up at 11:55, we took a shot to bring in the new year, and I was happily sleeping again by 12:15 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Friday I brought my tire in to get it fixed. Good news and bad news - they couldn't find anything wrong with it and it didn't cost TOO much. I had hit the worlds largest pot hole in Westfield earlier that week (my friends brother popped his tire on the same one a few nights earlier AND had reported it and it wasn't filled 5 days later! Its filled now though) and we figure that may have loosened the seel but it didn't start leaking until I drove on it for a while...

So some good things I took away from this experience:
1) Always listen to my gut - If I had just stopped to get another copy of my key!!! (They now have a copy!)
2) Beware of Westfield and the craters/pot holes they have when driving at night!
3) 3 Bad things happening on the last day of 2008 is better than 3 bad things happening at the begining of 2009
4) I didn't have to buy a new tire!
5) It is not possible to break in to my front door or bedroom window using a credit card


So there you have it...hopefully 2009 will be better! 2 more days till vacation and we can't wait to see Maryellen and Michael when they get there!!!

Some of my Christmas favorites

You can see all our pictures from Christmas Eve here, but here are some of my favorites! I think everyone did well with the swap this year.

Nice camera Dan - Santa must have known just what you wanted! :-)

A good shot of everyoneEmma loves to give hugs!
I think Cindy enjoyed the Patron - thanks for sharing Sarah!
Showing off the gifts before the final swap!



I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years! The Snider household just laid low for the night. Andrea came over and we went to dinner and then hung out at the house. Dan woke us all up before midnight and we watched the countdown. What did everyone else do?

New Background

This background reminds me of Mimere - at the very least, I hope it makes you laugh!

Just something sweet.... :-)

Gail's Ireland pictures and Christmas eve 2008

Click here to see my pictures I hope you enjoy them!!

EMTing It Up

I finally started working as an EMT and I think I am done with my training. We had a long week and a half of orientation where we mostly sat in a classroom and learned about the company and other stuff. Then we each had to do at least 40 hours of training on the road. So, over the past week I worked 5 shifts as a third rider in an ambulance. They were all on paramedic ambulances so we responded almost exclusively to 911 calls, but none were too serious. I didn't get to see any cool things done, but it was good experience because I won't be on paramedic trucks when I'm working on my own so I will be mostly responding to minor calls anyway. We responded to a couple of car crashes where people didn't get hurt badly, some chest pain calls, a couple diabetic crises, some psych calls, and other random stuff. I was incredibly nervous at first and didn't really talk to the patients and messed up getting vital signs and pretty much looked like I needed a lot more training. Then, it started to click and I got more comfortable, stopped messing up, and now I think I'm ready to be on my own. I even got to drive fast with the lights and sirens to a couple of calls, that's pretty fun except that people don't move out of the way for ambulances and even cut us off sometimes. So, now that I am officially working on ambulances, watch out if you have an emergency in Springfield! Maybe you'd get lucky and David and I would both respond, haha.

I also started my internship at Tapestry Health, but I just started this week so I am still not sure exactly what I'll be doing. I know I'll be working with their case manager who helps HIV positive people in Springfield find primary care physicians, money for their meds, food pantries, and other things they might need. I'll probably help him with some administrative stuff and hopefully end up helping with his clients a bit. I'll also be helping out with outreach events when I can. Everyone I've met there so far is really nice and its pretty laid back. I think I'll like working there.

So that's the update on my life. I can't wait to see everyone for Christmas!

Not a Scrooge

So, last year I was told if I didn't embrace Christmas this year, I wasn't going to be allowed to come home and spread bad Christmas joy to the baby (ahem, Peggy). So this year, I've been TRYING to do just that, in Claire's honor. That means I decided to get a grown up Christmas tree! A bunch of my girlfriends from MA came down last weekend and we went and picked and decorated a tree on Saturday. It was fun and I must say it does smell delicious! This weekend I was a good little bargain shopper and got 95% of my shopping done and wrapped and everything is happily under the tree. Check out my festive apartment below:

Here is my tree and all of Claire's presents...maybe next year I'll work on getting better ornaments...

Here is my festive bookcase...can't you feel the Christmas spirit RADIATING from the picture?


And last but not least, a close up of my festive table which 3 people should be happy about. Sister P - Look at my festive nativity scene! Pegatures - the candle stand you got us look very nice. And last but not least - Kristin - your most favorite picture EVER! proudly displayed in my new festive frame...
I have a few other random decorations around but I won't bore you with all the details. I hope everyone had a good weekend and can't wait to see everyone next week!

Santas got a big belly...

....and she loooooooooves to rub it! This is her newest bathtime trick.

Getting Down!!

Gail, thanks for reminding us all of this wonderful site. Check out Elf Yourself for some holiday entertainment. I would love to see some of you dancing around the screen! In the meantime, here are some of our favorites showing us their moves.

Don't forget to share your creations with all of us!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanks Claire!!!!

So, just curious if anyone else is sick this week. I'm not sure if it really was miss Claire that decided to share her cold with everyone but it sure feels like it!

I was out of work for a day and a half and still don't feel good. I went to the urgent care place near me and got some drugs and am now trying to get rid of my cold and sinus infection before my 6 friends come for the weekend tomorrow!

Mere and Dan aren't feeling well, Kristin is just starting to recover sick, Peggy is starting to come down with someone and Peter is also starting to get sick. I would steer clear of 60 Wishing Well for a few days!!!

How is everyone else this week?

Thanksgiving recap

Well, I guess I should post some of the photos I took over the past weekend while we were visiting Western Mass for Thanksgiving. Andrea, Meredith, Claire and I drove up from Hoboken Tuesday evening to avoid the massive travel day that is the day before Thanksgiving and we made it with little to no traffic, but the only thing that went wrong was the Claire had a pretty major breakdown in the car. After stopping and changing her, we were good to go.

Wednesday was pretty quiet for us. I slept in (surprise, surprise) while Kristin went to visit a customer and Meredith and Claire tagged along to hit up the outlets to return some stuff Meredith bought the previous week. The best part of the day (for me at least) was going to the best place in West Springfield.....Town and Country! We actually had a mission this time - to buy enough beer and wine for the Christening party. I spent the most I even had there and the place was PACKED! People were definitely not cutting back for Thanksgiving this year.

Wednesday night Meredith, Kristin and I met up with all the other cousins (minus Dave and Andrea) over at Erin's new place and then we went out to Carrigan's to celebrate Liz's 21st birthday. We all know she had a good time and get nice and "happy". And here's to next year.

Then the big day.....Turkey Day. As is the normal Thanksgiving morning in Wishing Well Way, we made our way down to the annual Rousseau Thanksgiving Breakfast Feast. This year, Rose was feeling under the weather, so Skip had all the cooking duties to himself, and he did great. The mimosas (right Andrea?), wine, OJ, and vodka was flowing and fun was had by all. Then after getting back to Casa Robillard, we quickly got our way out the house and over to Jean's for the big Feast. I ventured out side to check on the dogs - Molly and Tucker were just chilling out there.




Jean was hard at work in the kitchen with help from all.



And here is the star of the show!!



As always - all the food was amazing and everyone was stuffed when the forks stopped moving and people pushed away from the table. This being Claire's first Thanksgiving, we decided it would be a good idea to introduce her to green beans on this festive day. To say the least, she was not a fan.







Big Grandpa Calnen was in his glory as usual when Claire came for a visit. He's going not going to know what to do during Christmas when he has two great-grandchildren looking for his attention!








In our on going Thanksgiving travels - we were on our way over to Mary Ellen and Mike's place for dessert (like we needed any more.) Paul was happy that everyone was together.

This is the part of the story when the camera made its way to Meredith and I'll just post the pictures. Claire was passed around and Meredith got some pretty good pictures with everyone.












Well, that's it for now - we'll post the pics of the Christening once we get them from Marianne. We had a great time with everyone on Thanksgiving and the cousin's night out on Wednesday. And here's to the delicious lunch we had with Nicole, Petra, Andrea, Amy, Kristin, and Meredith at Opa! Opa! Maybe we'll hit up a different place next year.

Yet Another Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Mandy,
Happy Birthday to you!

We hope you are having a wonderful day...

Happy Birthdays

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Elizabeth and Joey!
Happy Birthday to you!!



We love you both and hope you both have fantastic days!

Friday funnies......

Jimmy Kimmel visits a local barber shop to consult on Obama jokes.

Save those Box Tops!!

How many of you see these Box Tops for Education and wonder what the heck to do with them? Well, Paige is collecting them for her school and she needs our help. Not only does the school get money, but she will also get entered into a drawing. Let's all do our part to help her out. You know there are boxes at your house with these Box Tops so start collecting them for Paige!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAULA!!!!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you dearest Sister Paula Robillard
Happy Birthday to you!!!!

We hope you have a great day and know we all love you very much!