Cup of Non-fat Caramel

So, I had the week from hell last week at work. It was a hard reality crash after my trip to Michigan. Therefore, a little bit of retail therapy was in order. I had a lot of Christmas shopping left to do, so I figured I could make myself feel better by buying gifts for others....then I realized that I'm a rather selfish shopper and while I did get almost all of my Christmas shopping done, I also bought myself a little treat.

I've been looking at buying a fancier coffee maker for a while and used this as an excuse to do so. I also bought a fancy burr grinder....not the $200 version....I really need to improve my palate to justify doing that kind of damage to my checkbook.


So far, I'm really enjoying the new purchase. The coffee is an improvement over the coffee that we've had around here (we buy a lb of coffee every 6 months, so its a guaranteed stale cup of coffee normally). And maybe its my imagination, but I'd like to say that I am improving my palate some. And atleast the coffee maker looks cool... :)

Home

Well, I'm off the road for a few weeks, atleast. My project in New Orleans wrapped up last week. After a few morning meetings last Friday, I jumped on a plane to visit Mary & Richard. The dreadful weather that was expected last weekend avoided Ann Arbor and I did not have the travel troubles that we feared. I am not entirely convinced that I am not a deterant to snow, but I did get to see some pretty snow on Sunday morning and afternoon before my flight back home.

On Friday night, Mary, Richard and I headed out to downtown Ann Arbor for dinner at a brew pub....after some discussion with Richard over the virtues (or lack there of) of the Irish Stout, I enjoyed a couple of nice beers with our dinner and conversation. On Saturday, we walked around campus and then returned to the warmth of indoors to enjoy a few episodes of "Strangers With Candy". I never paid much attention to the show when it was on, but I have to admit that I am a HUGE fan now. It's fantastic!

Saturday night, Mary and I took on the adventure of driving to Howell to attend a party my friend Matt (from my KY project) and Matt's wife #1 (I'm #2...we were "married" by the Cinncinati Airport Marriott shuttle bus driver) were hosting. The food was good and it was really great to be able to see Matt and finally meet Lisa and Chewie (their Golden Doodle). We also were able to check out the Dradle game....never knew it was a betting game.

Sunday brought the snow (yay!). We met Michael for lunch at Zingermans (fantastic) and enjoyed sandwiches and dessert (although Mary did get taken down by the Chocolate Chess Pie). A few more episodes of "Stangers with Candy" then on to the airport.

I am now working on a New Orleans project, but I'm able to do it from home. I will probably head to the office tomorrow in order to be a bit less distracted, but for now, I'm working away at home, sitting in my pjs and getting quite a bit done.

Snow, Snow, Snow

Michigan was fantastic! I really enjoyed my visit...Thanks Mary & Richard!