Archive for December, 2007

Sorry everyone, I’ve been working a crazy set of hours ever since Christmas ended. I haven’t had any time to post…but I wanted to give you the link to all the photos we took in Austin. Below are a few of my favorite pictures. Be sure to let me know if you’d like copies of anything! Enjoy and I hope your Christmas holiday was phenomenal!

The family celebrating an early Christmas with Griffin and his girlfriend, Courtney

Poor Lilly! She rubbed her nose raw on a Christmas rawhide, hence her nickname…Rudolph.

Cousin Caitlin, Griffin, and me opening presents on Christmas Eve

Me and Jabber the 13th Reindeer

The newest additions to the Trommer household

The whole Rose-Trommer-Johnson-Chao Clan (it may look like I’m blinking, but I’m not…sad huh?)

Hope everyone has their shopping lists completed! You really couldn’t convince me to go anywhere near a retail establishment right now. If there are throngs of shoppers and no parking spots at the pharmacy (buying cheap gift sets and tacky wrapping paper), I can’t imagine what malls and strip shopping centers look like. Count me out and I am most definitely feeling pity for you if you’re still scrambling to get your presents bought. Drive safely and remember road rage is bad.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my boss’s Christmas party. It was a lot fun, though I was slightly disappointed that more people didn’t show up. It’s to be expected I suppose, after spending 10 days in a row working with the same people, the last thing you want to do is party with them too. There was the usual white elephant gift exchange, lots of tasty food, beautiful decorations, cute kids, and just a lot of stories to exchange. Unfortunately, someone (ahem…ANDY) played with my camera all afternoon while I was at work, and the battery died after 3 photos. I’ll see if I can steal a few more pictures from the others, but sharing digital pictures these days seems to be a difficult task. Everyone takes pictures, but nobody shares them, weird no?

It’s me and Francis, the part photo tech, part pharmacy tech, 100% awesome

Me and Andy in front of Lloyd’s Christmas tree (I wasn’t quite ready for the picture, so I’m a little off kilter)

Kim, me, and Karen (with Lloyd, my boss, in the background working hard)

Just in case you’re wondering what else I’ve been doing besides working and Christmas partying. I’ve actually been working on a fun project. While looking for a suitable present for a few of my co-workers, I found this…I was stunned! People pay $129 for an unframed, computer generated, animal disguised name print for their babies? As with many of my projects, I thought to myself, I can do that! Just so happens the co-workers I was shopping for, each had a little girl. Perfect! I went out and bought some decent white frames, sat down with my card stock (construction paper is yucky), scissors, double sided tape, and scrapbook glue. I ended up with these…

I actually had a lot of fun, I just hope my co-workers like them. To get a closer look, or to see our other Christmas 2007 photos, just click here! In the bizarre case you happen to like my handiwork, just let me know. I’d be more than happy to make one for you. Please keep in mind, there is a very limited number of animals I can make. All this for the low low price of only $120!! I kid. ^-^

I’ll try to keep this short and succinct, but I have a lot to tell…so bear with me! Last weekend, my mom and grandma made a quick trip down to Texas to see us. I miss my family, so it was terrific to get to see them. We chatted, shopped, and ate massive amounts of delicious Chinese food (prepared by the talented Mommy Chao). Grandma had a wonderful time with Jabber. The two of them got along fantastically! So, I had to post this picture to show how much they enjoy each other’s company. (Plus one of my mom and me)

Then this weekend, we held our first, and perhaps to be annual, Trommer Christmas party! I admit, I went a little over the top with the preparations. But I wanted an awesome party, and I do love details. I am a firm believer that the special little details are what makes you stand out. (Don’t end sentences with a preposition, but I don’t know what else to add…suggestions?) I wanted to go with a red, white, and gold theme this year. So, I bought a lot of red, white, and gold everything! (ribbons, wrapping paper, decorations, flowers, to-go boxes…etc) I spent all my spare time for a couple weeks preparing. I cleaned, decorated, planned the menu, grocery shopped, arranged flowers, and wrapped presents. I love beautifully wrapped packages. I always study the crafts and do it yourself magazine pages, trying to remember what they’ve done. This year, I tried my hand at a prettily wrapped gift. I think I did alright for a first try, better luck next year. Andy was of great help. He created a very nice Christmas music play list, to be played during dinner. He also put up with my finicky ways, for that he deserves a prize, seriously. Here are the flower arrangements I threw together…

For the Guest Room

For the Mantel

For the Dinner Table

For the Buffet Line

For the Guest Bathroom (not red and white, but I had leftover pink flowers…’twould be a waste to toss them!)

Lovely no? Slowly but surely, our friends showed up at our door bearing a number of cool gifts for us. Ethan won the prize for being the closest to being on time. Anni and David brought amazing cookies (fat free too!). Erin and her puppy, Isis, won the award for traveling the furthest (San Antonio). Eric, Griffin, and Courtney all came bringing beverages galore. I’d like to think a wonderful time was had by all. We ate, laughed, talked, and then rocked out with our new Xbox 360 game, Rock Band (thanks to my parents). Then, because I’m completely insane, I also filled to-go boxes with homemade (yes, by me) chocolate peanut butter brownies for people to take home.

All too soon, the party was over, and my hard work payed off for the year. I have yet to decide if I’ll try this endeavor again next year, though I’m pretty sure I’ll forget the woes and only remember the joys in a year’s time. With that, I leave you with a few photos (for all our Christmas 2007 pics, click here) and some sound advice. If you’re going to a Christmas party in the next couple weeks, remember that your host/hostess probably put a lot of work into the event, know that you’re loved and be grateful!

Me and the lab dudes

Rockin’ it out…

Erin, Andy, and 2 Adorable Puppies

Sorry friends for the sudden lack of posts. Life at the pharmacy has been more hectic than usual. Some of the other technicians have been sick, absent, and one of the gals I get along really well with has been transferred to another store. It’s sad, we miss her, and her extra set of hands. Don’t ask me why, but corporate has decided to cut our hours, even though we’re hitting the busiest season. Guess that means overtime pay for us!

As some of you long time readers might know, Andy and I always adopt an angel from Salvation Army‘s Angel Tree Project. I usually went through the university to find an angel to sponsor. Strangely enough, my current company doesn’t participate in this tradition. This year, it was up to Andy to find us a child who needed our help. It seems his work is running a program called the Forgotten Angels. It asks people to buy items for the children that either aren’t picked from the angel tree project or are homeless and currently staying in one of their shelters. I suppose either way you look at it, they are kids that deserve something to look forward to on Christmas morning. Andy chose the little boy (7 to 9 years) category for us, since in the previous years I always pick a little girl (I think they’re easier to shop for, I haven’t a clue what a little boy wants).

After researching the best prices for kid’s clothing (we decided on Old Navy) and toys (Walmart, of course), we were on our way. We want to thank everyone that was kind enough to help us with our cause this year. It means a lot to me that people were willing to donate money and thought to something I find so important. I was extremely lucky as a child. I always had mountains of presents, was always well fed, well clothed, and loved. Shouldn’t every child deserve the same? In the end, we got a lot of stuff, and we’re hoping it will keep some small child out there warm, happy, and safe. Time for the pictures! (and the proof that I didn’t just take everyone’s money and run…ha!)

Inventory includes:

1 hooded zipper sweatshirt, 1 fleece pullover sweatshirt, 2 long sleeve t-shirts, 1 pair of sweat pants, 1 pair of cargo khakis, 1 big bag of socks, 1 bag of tag less undershirts, a basketball, a football, a Spiderman fleece blanket, a starter kit of Legos, the Star Wars additional pack of Legos, the Uno card game, and a sports watch.

Jabber tried helping me pack the box with our newly purchased goodies. She would give everything a good bop with her nose before she would let me put it in the box. Andy, however…fell asleep on the floor. Here’s to another year well done!