Sitcom Life

I don't know if you watch Modern Family, but I do and it's hilarious. I was watching this week's episode (yes, 5 days late) and I have to give a shout out to Val Rickman for obviously giving the writers tips on how a good big sister acts. At the very beginning of the episode, the little brother Luke is trying to work on a school project. In this project, the goal is to create a container to drop an egg one story without it breaking. Luke brilliantly realizes that the answer must be right in from of him... the container is him. Hayley, being the good big sister, helps Luke over the second story railing and is placing the egg in his mouth when their mother catches them. The scene took me back to stories of little Josh Rickman being guided under the kitchen table and told to stand up. What a good big sis and future comedy writer Val was. You should probably just drop out of law school and start making millions writing a new prime time comedy. The notes from the scribes we hired in college should be useful.

The Candy Man...or Dog

My dog likes candy. Particularly, he likes the shiny wrappers... or so he would have you think. Last night he took this love to a new level. I turned my back (actually went to brush my teeth) for 2 minutes and he decided to further investigate what was inside these shiny wrappers. I had 2 Hershey's kisses on a high end table. The table was definitely taller than Duke could reach. However, it is next to a chair and couch that he apparently used as climbing devices to reach these kisses he wanted.

All of that had happened without my knowledge, so after brushing my teeth I called him into the bedroom for the night. I reached down to pet him and noticed a morsel of something in his hair by his snout... oh wait, a CHOCOLATE morsel!

A million things ran though my mind, the loudest being "Isn't chocolate toxic to dogs?" So I go to investigate further and find the shiny remnants of both Hershey's kisses on the carpet. Crap. Now I google it. I discover that it is much more complicated than just all chocolate is bad for dogs. It varies depending if it is white chocolate or milk chocolate or baker's chocolate. Technically, it breaks down into the milligrams of theobromine and caffeine ingested whether it's okay or poisonous or lethal. Ultimately with Duke eating milk chocolate, he would need to eat about 15 ounces to have any symptoms. That's a couple of candy bars, so I was pretty sure he was in the clear. Just to be safe, I rolled the carpet up in case of any "accidents". Thankfully, other than some whining at 4am (probably due to a stomachache), we made it through the night just fine. We will also be keeping all candy on top of the fridge again; he definitely can't get it there.

Top Ten List

I've never really done New Year's Resolutions. However, I do have a number of goals I wish to accomplish (some already planned and some unplanned) throughout the year of 2012. After reading through some other's resolutions, I'm not really sure how my plans are any different. So I thought it might be fun to document my hopes for the year that way I can reflect back on my accomplishments (hopefully) at the end of the year.

1. Irish/Euro Trip 2012 - Planned on, but not yet booked. With my sister studying abroad in Ireland (and already there), I want to get to see her and travel with her while she's there. Even more exciting is the thought that I might actually make it to Prague this year! I have been saying that I want to go there since college, and I'm very excited to finally visit plus add Paris, Berlin, and a week in Ireland to that.
2. Niezgoda Family Reunion - Hopefully, this is already prearranged for right after the 4th of July. I can't wait to see my grandpa, uncle, aunt, and cousins (with their kids!). The only piece missing currently is confirmation that I have the time off.
3. No Smoking - I don't really smoke anymore and haven't for a few years. However, I have a few bad (but loved) influences that still convince me to join them outside. Goal for 2012: 0 cigarettes.
4. New Job - I love my career and I have learned a tremendous amount at my first job over the last 2 years, however I feel I have started to outgrow it. I want 2 things in a new job. First I want a job that continues to challenge me medically, and second I want a job that offers me better benefits (like paid time off, health insurance, retirement planning, etc)
5. Wakeboarding - Santa Claus brought a wakeboard this Christmas! The goal for the lake this summer is therefore to be able to get up on it!
6. Baseball - I want to continue the yearly tradition of getting to a Sox game. I managed to do it every year that I was in college in Boston, but lost a few years after that in grad school. Last year though, I made it to 2 Yankees/Sox games. Although sadly, it doesn't usually include Fenway Park anymore, I still want to watch the RedSox play.
7. Boston Reunion - This is also a yearly goal, but an important one to state. I don't ever want a year to pass without having at least one gathering of my college comrades. Thankfully, Jane and Chris have planned a fabulous St. Patty's Day wedding to aid with this goal.
8. More NYC Fun - There were a couple of superfun NYC weekends I did last year (like a wonderful birthday weekend and the Veuve Cliquot Polo Classic) that I would like to repeat. There are also a couple of weekends I missed (like restaurant week and a family dinner night) that I want to add this year.
9. Donate Blood - I've sporadically donated blood in the past, including once in 2011. I would like to make this a more regular occurrence as it only takes about 30 minutes to do. Let's aim for 3 times in 2012.
10. Blog - I think it did ok at blogging in 2011, especially because it was pretty much the first year I did it. I am particularly proud of completing the 30-day #BeThankfulChallenge in November. This year I'm going to try to increase my blogging to at least twice per month.