Happy Thanksgiving

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It's Cold, but we have Friends

It was 27 degrees this morning when I was walking to work. It's cold, like crazy cold and it's only November. The farmers almanac said it would snow early and be a cold winter and those farmers were right. While you Californians basks in 70-80 degree weather, we are freezing.

It was so cold last night that when I was walking to the subway after work the inside of my nose burned.

Anyhow, fall was beautiful this year. All the leaves were beautiful! Now they are all gone, but last week they started putting beautiful white lights on every tree in the city it seems like. Its so pretty and magical. I don't think the excitement of seeing the white lights will ever get old.

Anyhow, this year I feel more prepared for the cold. I have all my hats, scarves, gloves, uggs, rain boots, snow boots and jackets. Well, I want to get one more wool coat like one that goes to my knees instead of my ankles for days when its over 25 degrees.

Anyhow, we've had a fun couple of weeks. The week before last we got to see 3 friends from California in one week!! Everyone seems to make it to NY eventually and we love seeing them when they get here.

My friend Allison from college was here while her husband was running in the NYC marathon. The 4 of us were able to grab dinner the night before the race.

And then Katie was in town for business.. The following Wed. we were able to have dinner with her.

And then Jen Sweeney came and stayed with us for a few days. We had a great time. One of the highlights was seeing American Buffalo on Broadway. It was starring Haley Joel Osment, Cedric the Entertainer, and John Leguizamo.

All in all it's been fun. We're not able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year. Mike has to work. I got the day off though. Right now our plan is to get up super early and head with our new folding chairs down to the Upper West Side and grab seats along the parade route. Then Mike will go into work and I will go home and make side dishes.

Our friends in the neighborhood, James and Laura, are having us over for Turkey dinner. The next morning we will get up early, pick up our rental car and head to Canada!!!

We're going to spend a couple of days with Mike's grandmother in Kingston, Ontario. It should be really cold there!!

RIP Murphy

Friday night, I got the call no one ever wants to get...it was my Mom...Murphy wasn't doing well...they were at the vet...and they were going to have to put him down....two hours later, I called back....he was gone...

Needless to say, I lost it. The Watts family are dog people, and we had just lost a family member. Everyone was devastated. I was really upset I couldn't be back there to see the boy one more time. It was awful....

When we got Murphy in 2002 a few months after Rusty (our first golden retriever) had passed away, I remember being angry. No dog was going to be able to replace Rusty, and I was mad my mother had gone out to get a rescue dog that couldn't possibly measure up. I told here, "I'm going over to your house, but I'm not going to like this dog."

So I stopped by while the parents were at work and met Murphy for the first time. He was a mess, all ratty and scabbed, because he had been on the streets before the rescue group got him, and he smelled to high-heaven. But, there was something about him. He was all about playing with the tennis balls, and all he wanted to be was loved....after an hour, I called my Mom and told her "Dammit, its awful hard not to like this dog."

And that was that...Murphy became part of the family. He was a great dog. He was obedient. He was gentle. He put up with just about anything. All he ever wanted was for you to play ball with him. He'd drop the ball in your lap, or near you...and then walk away and stare at you until you threw it...some people would be a little thrown by the intensity of the stare...he just REALLY wanted to play ball...

I'll remember lots of stories and quirks about Murph, but here are a few:

-- When I was substitute teaching, I would stop by my parent's place in Roseville to see Murphy on my longer breaks...and I always gave him a cookie...this quickly became a routine for him, and in fact, whenever he saw me, he'd get up, greet me QUICKLY, and then run over to the cookie jar and look at me....some spoiled dog, eh???

-- Murphy never barked at anyone, in fact I never saw him get upset at anything, except just once. Jen and I had just got Cooper in November of '04, and we took him over to my folks house for Christmas that year...Murphy had got a rawhide treat in his stocking and he was chewing it in the family room, and Cooper decided to investigate...well, he got as far as Murpy's nose, and Murph unleashed several large barks at Coop, sending him scurrying for Jen...you could do a lot to Murphy, but you weren't allowed near his rawhide...

-- And Cooper did beat up a bunch on poor Murphy. Watching the two of them together was like watching the two dogs from the old Bugs Bunny cartoons....Cooper with all the crazy energy, and Murphy the wise one putting up with it all...Cooper would jump on Murph's head, fight him over tennis balls, chew on his tail, and basically bounce all over him, and Murphy would just put up with it with a slight sigh...such a good boy....

I'll miss that dog so much...I can't imagine coming back to my parent's house in April and him not being there...anyways, I can't write much more without breaking down again, so here's a video that pretty much sums up my feelings at the moment....Goodbye Murph, you were the best dog.

Mike

Election Ramblings

America made history last night....congratulations to those who took part..now go pay your back taxes...

In short, a quick ramblings regarding Election Day...

-- wait, the voting thing was Tuesday? Why didn't someone say anything?

-- I can't be the only one that hoped for Barack Obama to hit the stage for his victory speech and then yell, "Hey, where are the white women at??!!" I know Dave and Mike were hoping for that as well...

-- I missed this, but CNN apparently had a thing on their coverage where a woman was appearing on the set "via hologram." Like they literally beamed her image in there....this is the future...I'd like to be beamed "via hologram" into work next week, frankly...

-- So Obama wins, and Prop 8 in California passes...as does similar props in Arizona and Florida....so as Jen succinctly put it earlier today "America isn't racist...just homophobic."

-- Speaking of California, its now hitting me that I spent 22 years of my life in a state that is governed by an action movie hero and a city that now has a former NBA point guard as its mayor. Read that last sentence again.

-- Flipping around election coverage last night, watching Fox was laughable...they were absolutely the LAST ones to call ANY state that other networks were calling for Obama...in fact, when everyone else had called the Presidency for Barack, I think Fox still had him with 85 electoral votes...but no bias there...no sirree...

-- And I thought California was bad, but Minnesota now needs a recount to see if they voted a comedian into office for the U.S. Senate? Really? Wasn't this a Robin Williams movie last year....

-- No McCain victory means no Palin vice-presidency, which means no Tina Fey sketches for 4 more years, which makes me a sad panda...

-- The biggest outrage of Election Day? Jen not getting an "I Voted" sticker after she cast her ballot. I haven't seen her that sad since I was forced to tell her that "The Hills" is entirely fabricated...


Mike

Long Time No Bolg Part 2- Mike's Bday

Disclaimer: For those of you (Barb) who complain when we do back to back posts-- this disclaimer is for you... Scroll down... This blog has just been updated twice! :)

On October 23rd Mike turned 32! He's getting to be old. I'm still in my twenties! Hehe- at least I will be for the next few months anyhow... but back to Mike. His birthday was on a Thursday and we both took Friday off. We were going to spend a couple days with Will and Jen in Connecticut. We were going to catch a train from Grand Central after work on Thursday so on Wednesday I got Mike an Ice cream Cake so he could have some birthday fun while he opened up his presents from Cooper and I.



Cooper got him a new winter coat so he could stay warm and dry while he took him on walks. Isn't Cooper thoughtful!!! Anyhow, I got Mike a new sweater and a rugby shirt... As he where's them in photos I'll caption them so you know.

Ever since Cooper had his 1st birthday party he has had a complex-- he thinks that all presents are for him and that he MUST help take off wrapping paper --- as you can see in this photo.

Anyhow, Mike had a nice pre-birthday evening on Wednesday. Thursday it was off to work!! I took a small suitcase with me to work that had both of our belongings in for the next couple of days. Mike raced back to our apartment after he was done working and picked up Cooper and we met at Grand Central Station. We took a Metro North Train to New Haven, CT where Will and Jen picked us up and then we drove to their place in Farmington. This was Cooper's first time in Connecticut!

Anyhow, for those of you don't know Will and Jen- They are good friends of ours from Sacramento. Will used to work at News10 with me and he and Mike became fast friends as did Jen and I. An interesting note about Will and Jen: We've had meals together in 4 states!! California -obviously, Atlanta- Will had just started working at CNN when Mike and I got married- so sadly they weren't able to come to our wedding. When we flew to Jamaica for our honeymoon we had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta... Coincidentally, Jen was flying into the Atlanta Airport at almost the same time... SO the 4 of us had breakfast together at the airport. AND since we've been East Coasters - all of us moving here around the same time-- we've eaten out together a few times in both NY and CT- Anyhow - that's not something you can say for most friends!

SO we had a great time hanging out with them in Connecticut. Ever since i was a little kid I have always had a fantasy about living in Connecticut. It stems from the open to "Who's the Boss" Remember that show? Well, in the show open it always showed beautiful houses surrounded by tons of fallen leaves and trees that looked as if they were painted by a sunset. It was beautiful and Connecticut did not disappoint... it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

(this is the Rugby shirt that was one of mikes presents)

We got back late Saturday from CT... Will was working the night shift so that's why the visit was just for Thursday and Friday nights.

ON Sunday we had a few friends over. Mike recently bought a Nintendo Wii and he wanted to play some of his new games with some friends.. SO we had an Open House play date type of thing.. i made meatballs, cocktail hot dogs in puffed pastry, chili cheese dip and we had lots of adult beverages on hand. It was good times!

The interesting thing about the Wii is that it's motion activated. you have to move your hands and the controllers as if you were swinging a bat or driving a car or as this photo shows... Sweeping a curling stone down the ice.. Mike and Chris had a great time playing this game! And we all had a great time watching them.. It was too funny. Coincidentally Mike and Chris were born on the same day and the same year!!! We're not sure about time of day-- but isn't that funny? 10/23/76!

Anyhow Happy Birthday to Mike and Happy Birthday to Chris!!

Long Time No Bolg Part 1- Becca's Visit

HI Everyone!!!

SO I have a lot of catching up to do!

Let's see where to begin... A couple weeks ago

Becca was here and we had an amazing time!!! I LOVE it when she visits. We went to the Daily Show taping, wandered around my neighborhood and park (which Cooper loved), Saw Speed The Plow with Jeremy Piven- Great show.

Funny story actually about that.. So, Jeremy Piven is known best for his role as Ari Gold in Entourage. One of his characters catch phrases is "Hug it out." Well, when Kelli and Meghan were in town we took the "Sex and the City" tour. The tour ended- as most tours do- in a gift shop. BUT this was the HBO store gift shop. So I bought Cooper a Doggie t-shirt that said "Hug it out Bitch"

Now fast forward to Becca's visit.. after we see speed the plow we line up by the stage door to try and get Jeremy Pivens autograph...Everyone was standing there w/ playbills and posters and i had Coopers Dog shirt ready for a sharpy so Piven could sign it... but ALAS Piven was sick and didn't come out to meet the fans... but don fear... i have every intention of heading back over there some night soon, so I can get Cooper's shirt signed!!! While we didn't get to see Jeremy Piven, the other 2 stars (Elisabeth Moss and Raul Esparza) came out and met with fans and signed autographs. Per Elisabeth- who was incredibly sweet, Piven was really sick. IN fact the show started 30 minutes late because he wasn't feeling so hot.

Other things we did while Becca was here.. Went to Central Park, went to "the My Dog Loves Central Park Dog Fair", went to the Boathouse, went to the Met, had Frozen Hot Chocolate's at Serendipity, went to the infamous Dylans Candy Store- which is pretty much awesome AND we made soup!!! Bec taught me how to make the BEST Butternut Squash soup EVER!!! I'll post the recipe at the bottom of this blog.

CENTRAL PARK

THE MET

THE FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE

Anyhow-- It was a great time! We had so much fun!!!!

Butternut Squash Cider Soup Recipe

**FYI I added a teaspoon of ground ginger-- It was fantastic- - i suggest you do the same!**

Apples and apple cider lend a pleasant sweetness to this beautiful soup.

Servings: Serves 10.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)

2 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)

1/2 cup chopped peeled carrot

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves

5 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth

1 1/2 cups apple cider

2/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whipping cream

Chopped fresh chives

Directions:

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, leeks, carrot and celery; sauté until slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Mix in apples, thyme and sage. Add stock and 1 cup cider and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until apples are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Working in batches, purée soup in blender. Return soup to pan. Boil remaining 1/2 cup cider in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Cool. Place sour cream in small bowl. Whisk in reduced cider. (Soup and cider cream can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.) Bring soup to simmer. Mix in whipping cream. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with cider cream. Top with chives.

And We're Back!!!

OK, its been like, what, 3 weeks plus since the last posting on the blog? And while I'm glad we didn't hit the month long streak of non blogging record set by Brian and Katie in recent days (oh lets face it, its just Katie...), its still reprehensible that is has taken me this long to put fingers to keyboard and update ya'll with the goings on in the Watts household....

I blame my schedule in recent weeks. Covering as the producer for The Osgood File is fun, but it basically makes my schedule look like this....up at 1230am, into the office by 2am....work the Osgood shift from 2am to 10am....nap in the office til noon....work by normal shift from 12pm to 6pm...get home by 7pm...eat dinner...say hi to Jen...in bed by 9pm (hopefully) and then up by 1230am and all over again...

And of course, I hate going to bed early, so that 9pm bedtime usually turned into 10pm....and there were several days where the late morning nap didn't happen...I had one stretch of 72 hours where I got sleep in like 7 of those hours....oy...

Amazingly, we were able to do some fun things during this schedule nonsense, and in the days following it as well....so without further ado, here's 9 things that have happened in the past 3 weeks:

-- Singing karaoke at a Mob bar in Brooklyn. So a few weekends back Chris and Shirley had us, Dawn, and their friends Steve and Kelly over for dinner on Staten Island....Shirley teaches yoga now, so Jen, Dawn, and Kelly went to her class, while Steve, Chris and I hung out at the apartment...then after dinner we went to a bar in Brooklyn called Goodfellas....

Now its probably hard to believe that a place with a cheesy name like Goodfellas would actually be a place where Mafia members hang out, but I had been told that there would be made men there, and frankly, they were pretty easy to spot...some of them actually sang...along with those folks, there were other old guys with names like Johnny Sinatra and Mikey Suits who sang Rat Pack songs...

I eventually got up and sang two songs...and while I should have listened to Jen and not sang the first song "I Get A Kick Out of You" (since we already had TWO Sinatras in the house)....but my second song went over much better...."Help Yourself" by Tom Jones (better known by the youngsters as the dream sequence song from "Anchorman")....anyways, I sang, the girls danced, and we brought the house down...

All in all, a good time....can't wait to go back to Goodfellas again soon....

-- The reinvention of our Trivia Night team...most of you know that Jen, Dawn and I play trivia at the Piper's Kilt here in the neighborhood...we usually finished in 5th place every night, week in and week out....occasionally we'd finish 4th...once even 3rd...and that was like we'd won the Super Bowl....

So when the new season started, we reinvented the team a little bit....we had added Kieran, this old guy that I befriended on my first day in town, towards the back end of last trivia season...this season we picked up two people...Lori (who's good with the music, like Dawn)...and her friend Jim (who's good with obscure historical stuff and just about everything else)...

Now, we're unstoppable...we finished FIRST a couple of weeks ago, and then took second last week....we're still a little behind another team known as the Rangers, but they have like 14 people on their team to our 6, so frankly, they should be beating us....but we're holding out hope we can catch them by season's end...

-- Having our friends James and Laura over for dinner a couple of weekends back. James and Laura are friends who we met at trivia months ago, and who live in the neighborhood. We finally had them over for dinner a couple of weekends back, and of course, we busted out the Watts specialty for dinner parties...homemade gnocchi and flank steak....Dawn couldn't make it, and our friend Andy came over for a bit, but then had to rush off for a date...so the four of us had a grand old time....

-- Going to the Bronx Zoo. The day after the dinner party with James and Laura, Jen and I decided to spend a Sunday at the zoo. It was so much fun, we decided to become members for a year...pretty cheap actually, and we can go whenever we want. Cool exhibit on Madagascar, with lemurs, and a couple of Nile crocodiles...and other cool stuff...I could always spend hours at the zoo...

-- Celebrity spotting: A few of the folks we saw wandering around town over the last couple of weeks:

Colin Quinn (corner of 57th and 10th as I was walking to work)

Martin Short (inside Borders at Columbus Circle

Debra Messing and Kelly Ripa (walking outside Columbus Circle)

Lou Dobbs (over by the Time Warner building)

-- My new shift at the top radio station in the country. So when we had the layoffs in the company a while back...one of the guys that got let go was the guy that did weekend news at WABC for us....so we've been filling that hole every weekend, and I've been chosen to cover some of those days over the past six weeks...good exposure for me...we should find out soon whether I get a permanent place on the weekend shift...would mean six day work weeks, but I'll take it for the opportunity to be on WABC.

-- Going to see "W" last weekend....it was good...wasn't great. Josh Brolin does a really good job playing George W. Bush, though...he's head and shoulders above everybody else in that movie...you should see it just for him...

-- Going to see "The Daily Show" last Thursday. Jen was able to get tickets for us and her sister Becca, who came into town on Thursday, and was with us til Sunday. I got the afternoon off, and we went to the taping. Jon Stewart was awesome...very funny. I'm glad we got to see the show immediately after the last presidential debate, made it even funnier...can't wait to go see the show again...good times...

-- Hitting Broadway Friday night with the girls. Jen, Becca, Dawn and I all went to see Speed-The-Plow on Broadway, starring Jeremy Piven, Raul Esparza and Elisabeth Moss (from Mad Men)...its still in previews, and it actually started 30 minutes late, we're guessing because Piven was sick ( he looked a little dragged, and he didn't sign autographs after the show like the others, who told us he was sick), but it was still an AWESOME show....

It's been a busy three weeks...and more to come. My birthday is Thursday, and we're headed to Connecticut for a couple of days to celebrate it with Will and Jen Selva....which is always fun....

So hope everyone is well, and we promise not to drag so much in between posts...

Mike

J-E-T-S Brett! Brett! Brett!

I couldn't do it...I just couldn't do it...

When we lasted visited me talking about Brett Favre, I spewed so much hate and vitriol towards good ol' number 4, I probably fast-tracked my ticket to hell...

But I was bitter, I was lashing out....and I knew that when push came to shove, I would fold like a cheap suit...

So when Sunday rolled around and Jen and I were getting ready to go to the Jets-Cardinals game at the Meadowlands, Jen suggested that I wear my Favre Packers jersey.

I had planned to boo the crap out of Brett, but as soon as I pulled the jersey on, we all knew that wasn't going to happen...

So we went to the game, and while we were waiting to get in, the NFL Network pulled Jen and I aside and told us they were filming people talking about the most exciting NFL moment they'd ever seen.

Well I signed up immediately. Because I knew the story I was going to tell. The one about how I was on the sidelines when the 49ers stole...yep, STOLE a game from the Packers...1999...playoffs...at the Stick...late in the game, Pack is up, and Jerry Rice fumbles the ball...yep, FUMBLES THE BALL...only the refs don't call it, the Niners keep the ball, and Steve Young hits a young Terrell Owens in the end zone to win the game for SF...

Tough moment for me, but still a great NFL moment. Anyways, they videotaped me telling the story...they're going to pick like the top 50 and put them up on NFL.com...if it goes up, I'll let everyone know...

So we got inside and got to our seats (right on the 40 yard line...perfect) and then watched the Air Show take off....I was immediately rooting for the Jets, and made a few friends in the section who thought it was cool that I'd be rooting for number 4 even those he isn't playing for the Pack...

Most know by now...Favre threw for 6....SIX touchdowns....and no one was cheering louder than I was...

So I'm a hypocrite...I admit it....but I'm rooting for Number 4 this year...even though he's not on my team anymore....

So...better get used to hearing this.....

J---E---T---S---Brett! Brett! BRETT!!!!

Mike

Mom & Dad Weiss' NYC Visit

We had a wonderful time with my parents! We had a great visit. I took the picture of them above in Brooklyn standing under the bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge, the east river, and the Manhattan skyline is behind them. That area is known as DUMBO. Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Bridge Over Crossing. There's your lesson for the day. :)

I took them over to my work.. here they are on the News set. My desk is just to the left of the the set behind the glass.



We took them to Dinosaur BBQ in Harlem. Here we are standing outside...

They toured the city on a double-decker bus for 2 days. Now they know more about the city then we do!!!

On Saturday morning they took Mike and I on the Brooklyn tour with them. Afterwards we had Grimaldi's Pizza.

Another thing they did while they were being New York Tourists... They went to Ellis Island. Ellis Island is where Immigrants arrived before being granted entrance into the United States. My Grandfather , My Dad's dad immigrated this way. Ellis Island is now a museum where you can look up old manifests and discover all the details of how your relatives came to this country.

My parents were able to find my Grandfather Sam Weiss. He came over a ship called the Roon in 1909. He was only 13 years old , but he told them he was 15. You had to be 15 in order to come by yourself. We learned his height, weight, eye color, ethnicity and even how much money he had on him. He also had to give them his Occupation. He was a barrel maker also known as a Cooper. That's right, in the ships manifest it lists his occupation as a Cooper.

In 1950, Sam Weiss along with his wife and 2 kids (my Dad and my Uncle Art) all moved out west to California and then Arizona.

My Grandfather died before I was born.

Who could of have imagined, almost 100 years later, his granddaughter would move back to New York City with a dog named Cooper and live on Cooper street.

It kind of gives you chills, huh?

Ironically, Mike's sister named Cooper. I guess it was fate that I met and married Mike.

xoxo

Jen