Pepsi Challenge of Pumpkin Beers

So a few cool CATs decided to have a Pepsi Challenge of Pumpkin Beers! An excellent idea I am proud to say I was a part of.

Our favorite varieties were present to include Shipyard Pumpkin Head, Saranac Pumpkin Ale, Horse Heads Pumpkin Ale, Southern Tier Pumpking, and Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider. Of course we knew we would vote for our own personal favorites, so we needed an unbiased way of voting. So 3 CATs and 2 DOGS got together one rainy Saturday and put the pumpkin to the test utilizing a numbered system!

I winner is : Horse Heads Pumpkin Ale, 2nd place went to: Southern Tier Pumpking, and 3rd place went to Saranac Pumpkin Ale, sadly Shipyard PumpkinHead although wonderful, didn't make the top 3, ranking 5th, below Woodchuck Private Reserve Pumpkin Cider. Please note, it was unanimous how the beers were ranked and also please note that the raters admitted that they enjoyed each of the selections.

The results were exactly in the same order Beer Advocate listed them, although none of the raters had researched the beers prior to tasting. Of the 5 selections, there was an obvious winner, although the top 3 were tasted again to determine the winner.

Bottom line: if you are in a store or bar and see anyone of these 5 selections, smile.

Thesis

Dear Thesis,

If you do not kill me, you will only make me stronger.

Fondly Yours,

B.

It's almost time to submit my research study proposal/thesis in for approval. Looking back on my time spent working on it, I have had a lot of headaches, coffee and red ink. I think I am down to my final draft. It's exciting and stressful all at the same time.

...Back to it....catch you next time I need a study break.

September 11th

A somber day; every Anniversary of 9-11. Sophomore year of college I returned from my work study job in the Department of Community Service to see a friend of mine, Molly curled up on the couch, tears rolling down her face as she stared at the TV. I told her if the movie was so sad she should turn it off. "It's not a movie," she said, "it's the news." Dumbfounded all I could muster was, "What?" and the vigil on the couch grew every time someone walked by. Classes were canceled and we were left with not knowing what to do. Despite this crisis a good friend of ours woke up a year older with this as a present...for the rest of his life. What is it like to be a 9-11 baby? That year it meant birthdays from then on would be different or celebrated on 9-10 from now on. It seems trivial to make a big deal of 9-11 being your birthday, but is it? Isn't life filled with little things that make life happy, like looking forward to and celebrating your birthday?

Nothing was the same after that day. We lost our innocence and were awoken to the reality that we weren't alone. There were people to fear, despite the fact we left our dorm rooms unlocked and walked across campus at all hours alone, sporting only pajamas and a smile. The world changed for everyone that day, but specifically for a bright eyed 19 year old that just wanted to help people and volunteer for a living. The building I had been inside only a year prior during our Senior Class Trip now not only didn't exist, but was a place of terror, fear, and horrific things I cannot imagine.

We remember 9-11.

(and we continue to Celebrate 9-11 birthdays, only now on the 10th)

Happy Birthday Mattie and Rob

Free Hug Art Experience 2011

BeeDZigns is BACK!!!!

My Etsy Store LIVES again!

Check it out HERE

More Desgins posted and more to come! Special orders encouraged. :)

2 days to Sweden

2 days left, approximately 50 hours until I leave for Sweden. I am excited and at the same time not quite ready. Life has been on full speed ahead since March.

I think the appliances in my life have had enough :) ...within 2 days our microwave and fridge/freezer have gone to that big appliance heaven in the sky. Of course they would do this while I am writing too big papers and getting ready to leave the country. I laugh at the timing.

Procrastination - the art of doing something quickly, with a limited self-induced time frame. :)

~definition by Bee1982 ...back to paper writing. cross your fingers I finish before I leave the country!

"All is Well"

"All is Well"

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me and if you want to, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect,
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was;
There is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you,
For an interval,
Somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.

by Henry Scott-Holland

Two weeks left...until a few days off and a new semester begins. so much done, yet so much to do. So many things I want to do that have been postponed and visits I want to make to see people.

Focus, center, breathe....log out.

wonderful day

it's past my preferred bedtime and I just finished a coffee, sleep is inevitable though, especially after today. The feds will be happy with me, I did my part. The state taxes are still in need of an overhaul. an exhausting venture.

today was a wonderful gift, despite the tax hell. it started with a professional massage appointment, a random gift from my wonderful boyfriend and then breakfast out, followed by coffee and wafer cookies and Greek food for dinner. Friends and homework included. No film fest tonight, but an amazing day none the less.

Found a cute new spot in the city, Javas coffee house. I shall return.

Time for dreams, 40pager and taxes tomorrow...

cultivate your passion - Jillian Michael's

cultivate your passion. -Jillian Michaels

Finals are approaching and I must keep this in mind, when I am writing papers, that really I am cultivating my passion, one paper at a time.

yesterday I felt pure joy as I spent five hours with six men between the ages of 60 and 90. The stories they told were captivating and although their desire to do art was below sea level, we shared a day, a struggle and a game of craps.

I reconnected with 2 of my best friends last night (one from childhood and one from college). We talked as though no time had passed, which I love. Yes time is a hot commodity this week, but it felt good to value myself and the people who I have grown up with. Homework, babysitting, laundry and more homework will dominate the weekend and next few weeks, but sometimes you just gotta call a girlfriend.

you're next!