• My nephew Michael was born in October.  He’s a perfect baby, named after my dad.  Say what you will about my sister and her husband, but they make beautiful children!  Just kidding – you guys are awesome.
• My baby sister (she hates it when I call her that) had two major exciting events: graduation from the police academy, and her engagement!  I’m so proud of her…she has become such an incredible woman.  And her fiance is just terrific – I’m so happy for them.
• Schenectady County’s Bicentennial Celebration is now over, and you have no idea how happy I am about that.
• Became President of the Kiwanis Club of Schenectady on October 1.  What a great bunch of people, doing great things in their community.
• Celebrated 2 years of marriage to the hubs.  Took an awesome trip to the Adirondacks, and was incredibly pampered.  Love you, honey!
• Got to cook (well, prep work, really), in an actual restaurant kitchen.  Thanks to Chef Mark for the great experience.
• Got to make a return trip to Nashville.  My prior visit made me think I didn’t care for the city, but my return was completely different and quite fun!  I attended the Grand Ole Opry (which was great), went to the Country Music Hall of Fame (loved it), and got to spend some quality time with my in-laws, who drove down from Kentucky to show me the sights.  There are still a couple things I missed, so I hope I get to go back again.
• I discovered social media.  And the world will never be the same.

And because no end-of-the-year restrospective would be complete without a look forward, I have come up withsome goals for the year ahead.  I try not to make New Year’s Resolutions, because they never work for me.  But, I thought I’d compile a list of things I would like to accomplish before 2010 ends.  Since they are positive, fun, and meaningful to me, there’s a really good chance that I’ll actually be able to make them happen.

• Take a French class, to re-learn that beautiful language.  Not sure where I’d use it, but I’d at least like to be fluent in something other than English.  No more stupid American for me!
• Become a vegetarian, or at least a flexatarian (no red meat, some chicken perhaps).   I’ve discussed this before, but this time I really mean it.
• I would like to have dinner at Angelo’s 677 Prime in Albany.  Seems like a small thing, but I’ve heard so many good things, that I feel like I’m missing out on a very important Capital Region event.
• Add a podcast to my blog.  No details yet, but I’ve got some irons in the fire, and a video podcast will hopefully be debuting here very soon.
• Take my dog to the beach.  I just think it would be cute.
• Manage to put $1500 in my savings account.  Trust me, this is huge.
• Get an iPhone or iPod Touch.  My birthday is coming up in February, so I hope to have this goal wrapped up quickly.
• Finally compile that cookbook I keep thinking about.  I would like to gather all the recipes from my family and Bob’s, throw in a few that I’ve developed, and produce a cookbook.  Not necessarily for sale, but at least printed and suitable for gifts.

My best wishes to all of you for a fantastic 2010, rife with love, laughter, and prosperity.  Happy New Year!

• PRO: A vegetarian diet is healthier than a carnivorous diet.  I know this intuitively to be true for me (I’m not making a universal statement here).  When I eat meat, I feel sluggish and tired.  When I stick to veggies for a day, I feel much lighter and healthier.
• CON: My husband is a dedicated and enthusiastic carnivore.  He must have meat and a starch at every meal.  My being a vegetarian would make cooking dinner a chore.  I’d have to cook 2 different entrees.  Bob would never eat a vegetarian meal.
• PRO:  Vegetarians tend to be leaner.  I could definitely stand to lose a few (ok, more than a few).
• CON: I would probably have to take supplements to make sure i’m getting enough iron and other nutrients.
• PRO: I would be consuming far fewer pesticides, additives, chemicals, and hormones.
• CON: It  may not be possible to get a vegetarian meal when we go out, or eat at someone’s else’s house.
• PRO: I would no longer be contributing to the disease known as the US meat industry.
• CON: Cheeseburgers are sooooooo good.  The good news: I don’t plan on being vegan, so I would still be able to eat cheese. 
• PRO: Sometimes, when Im eating an egg or a chicken breast, I think about where the food comes from, and I gag.
• CON: Fake meat products are usually pretty nasty, and taste nothing like the real thing.
• PRO: I would likely lower my cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure as a result of going veg.
• CON: It just seems like so much extra effort.  There, I whined.

Now, looking at my list, the CONS seemed to be getting pretty silly and flimsy.  The PROS seem to put forth a very strong argument for me personally.

I really should just take the plunge and go vegetarian.  I think I might do it!!  Right after I get back from Kentucky on Monday.  I don’t think there will be any vegetarian food at my mother-in-law’s house (too many people coming over to make something special for me).

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s made the switch to a vegetarian diet – Was it hard?  What did you miss the most?  What benefits did you see?  Got any good recipes?

Next: I really should try to stop eating high fructose corn syrup.  In light of my research into the US food industry, Sisyphus had  it easy.

Do you have to send in a sample of your writing?  Do I just start posting more reviews, and hope someone will notice?

So much to talk about!

Eh, not really.

But, I do have a few nuggets from the past week or so:

• Last Saturday at midnight, Facebook began allowing users to create usernames for their profiles, to give them unique (and comprehensible) URL’s.  I wasn’t as thrilled as the rest of the universe was, apparently.  It just wasn’t that important to me.  I didn’t see the need to stay up until midnight to register my place in the universe.  So, when I finally got around to creating an UNCHANGEABLE username for my profile, on Tuesday, I was shut out of www.facebook.com/wendalicious.    Apparently Wendalicious Wong beat me to it (yes, seriously, that’s her name.  Click the link).  Eh, so what.  Life goes on.  If you want to find me on Facebook, click on over to www.facebook.com/WendyVoelker.  Perhaps I’ll even consider friending you…and for those who are already my FB friends, this is not the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT.  That will come in tomorrow’s blog post, probably.
• As you know, I also float around the Twittersphere.  A few of my favorite people to follow are my fellow foodies (some pros, some dabblers like myself): RuthReichl, healthchef, DominoSugar (yes really),  Tablehopping, LATimesFood, EvanKleiman…there are just so many!  They are constantly tweeting cooking tips, advice, recipes, and food commentary.  I wanted to share a few bits and pieces with you:

From @LATimesfood Bacon Bits: Vodka, chocolate and pancetta: All the recent bacon news that’s fit to print…

From @womenwhocook Sweet Chili Lime Grilled Chicken…Soooooooooooooooo easy to make and perfect for a Sunday BBQ

From @Foodimentary Who wants to celebrate? June 15 is National Tapioca Pudding Day!

From @nytimesfood Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun: Gardeners are raising fruits and vegetables on rooftops…

From @onereputation Who doesn’t love a lobster roll? Recipe for the New England Lobster & Crab Roll at Prime @ SN: http://is.gd/14BmE. Photo: http://is.gd/14Bu8

From @dominosugar Rich and Easy Peanut Butter Muffins http://ow.ly/eG3T #muffins #recipe #baking #foodie

From @healthchef A ‘ruby’ by the way, is rhyming slang for a curry, as in Ruby Murray = curry!!! After the Irish singer

Just a small sampling of the cool world of food that is out there on Twitter!!  If you like food, follow me on Twittter (www.twiitter.com/WendyTrue54 – Wendalicious was taken THERE, too), and we’ll get you hooked up to some of the coolest foodtweeters out there.

• Went with some friends to see a drag show (excuse me, DIVA show) at the Waterworks Pub in Albany, during Albany’s Pride Weekend.  It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision to go, but I am so glad we went!  We had a blast.  The best part was surprising our friend (one of the performers, who none of us had seen in about 15 years) with our very presence.  I believe his exact words, upon seeing us, were “Holy Sh*t!”.  Penny Larceny, you are the BOMB. Photos are over on my FB page.
• I discovered what is probably now my all-time favorite podcast: The Sick and Wrong Podcast.  You can find it on iTunes.  It is exactly what it purports to be: just absolutely SICK and WRONG.  The two hosts (Dee Simon and Lance Wackerle) find the 3 most sick and disturbing news stories of the week, and listeners get to vote on which one is the sickest and most wrong.  Oftentimes it’s hard to choose because they are all so…so…WRONG.  Like the drunk paraplegic who got pulled over for speeding, and proceeded to remove his prosthetic legs and throw them at the police officer.   Or the mother who fed her hospitalized daughter feces through her feeding tube, in a classic yet horrifying case of Munchausen-by-proxy.  I would go on, but this blog is strictly PG.  Dee and Lance are a bit foul-mouthed, but they are absolutely side-splittingly funny.  A shout out to my friend RL who suggested it to me.  I am forever indebted to you.

Well, that’s today’s update.  Tomorrow I hope to finish writing my big announcement – it’s food related, and has nothing to do with me being pregnant.  I swear.  I’d tell you – you know that!

Wow, it’s been quite a while since I posted something of substance (I am not counting the Bacon thing).  So, what’s been going on???  A lot, and not very much.

• I bought a new laptop.  I was jumping for joy when it arrived (on my birthday), but now I’m a little frustrated.  It’s working fine, but I can’t seem to get the TV tuner that it came with to work the way I want it to.  I wanted to be able to record TV shows, since Bob and I don’t own a DVR or a VCR.  I know, I know…cry me a river, you geek.   But, see, this was a major selling point for me in buying this particular laptop.  I’m kind of annoyed.  Does anyone know anything about HP MediaSmart????
• I have a nasty, lingering cold that hit me like a ton of bricks on Monday night.  It sucks.  So, I’ve been home from work with a lot of time on my hands.  I can only spend SO MUCH TIME asleep in my bed (I am as surprised as you are).  I thought, hey, why don’t I contact HP tech support to see if they can help me fix my little TV problem.  Big mistake.  “Paulina” (not her real name) was very nice, but has only a tenuous grasp of the English language.  Her native tongue is most likely Hindi or Urdu.  We didn’t get very far, even after an hour of online chat.  I’m just as frustrated as ever.  But now I think I’m getting closer to buying a DVR.  And when I say “I am getting closer” I mean that I have almost convinced Bob that HE should buy me one.
• Which brings me to my next frustration: why on God’s green earth am I not able to purchase a stand-alone DVR??  Why must I purchase one through DirecTV??  What a racket.  You cannot tell me that you NEED to be connected to a satellite service (or cable service) to be able to record the damn TV shows you want to record.  It’s killing me!!!  If I can upload my internal body temperature to my Facebook application on my Blackberry, then I should damn well be able to buy a DVR and record whatever I damn well please.  Damn!
• In what will seem like a complete non sequitur, my baby sister was recently hired by the police department in out hometown.  She’s happy, so I’m happy for her, but I am also worried about her safety.  Call me an overprotective big sister, but there you have it.
• I am in desperate need of a vacation.  Someplace that does not involve cold weather, family members, young children, or getting up before noon.  Someplace outside the US would be preferable, but anyplace that requires a plane trip will suffice.  I may stow away in Sarah’s luggage on her trip to Jordan (I’m GREEN with envy). 
• Bob’s “busy season” has been going on since October, and I’m about to lose my mind.  His business line is ringing constantly, all day long, and frequently after 8:00pm.  I know his staff is helping us live a very comfortable life, but I swear I’m going to commit hara-kiri if the goddamn phone rings one more time. 
• We bought a new refrigerator.  It rocks.  French Door refrigerator, freezer on the bottom, ice and water in the door.  I am totally in love with a monstrous piece of shiny black metal.  Every time I look at it I smile.
• I just realized that I sound like a spoiled brat.  It’s not intended.  I have a good life – it just happens to be filled with minor annoyances right now.

So, that’s it.  We’re all caught up.  How’s by you?

1. Bob and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  The first year was rough, especially getting used to living with each other, but I believe we passed with flying colors.  I am thrilled to say that our marriage gets better with each passing day.
2. My baby sister graduated from college.  I know it didn’t happen to me, but I am just so proud of the incredible woman that my sister has become.  Smart (she has officially out-nerded me in the academic department), beautiful, and incredibly talented, Kristen is going to go a long way.  You rock!
3. I finally paid off my lawyer.  Woo hoo!
4. I learned how to knit!  Thanks to Sarah (and her online knitting video recommendations), I know can competently knit a beautiful scarf!  Guess what everyone got for Christmas?   Goal for 2009: learn how to purl.
5. I reconnected with friends I thought I had lost forever.  I am so happy to have them back in my life.  You know who you are!
6. My brother in law has almost fully recovered from his illness – the aorta which spontaneously dissected itself back in June.  Our entire family is overjoyed that he’s doing well, and is back to work.  It will be some time before he’s back to 100%, but we’re all so grateful that he’s still here and can watch his beautiful daughters grow up.
7. Which reminds me – our niece Madeleine was born in January!   She just celebrated her first birthday.  She’s been mobile since 9 months of age, and is apparently creating a path of destruction wherever she goes.  She’s absolutely adorable.
8. I joined Facebook, and have been in touch with so many people that I had nearly forgotten about, from high school and college.  Best part: seeing all of the embarrassing photos from the 80′s and 90′s.  Worst Part: Facebook is more addictive than crack.
9. Speaking of crack, I got a BlackBerry.  I love it.  I have no idea how I managed to function as a human being before.
10. My neighbor Chef Mark, gave me a personal cooking lesson in his kitchen.  He taught me to make Osso Buco.  I had the time of my life being his sous chef.   We got to share the results with our spouses afterwards. We plan many more of these lessons.  Mark and Mary are such good friends!

I’m sure there are more good things that happened to me last year, but these are the highlights.

Here’s to an even better 2009!  L’Chaim!

Irony Wine.  I love it.

I haven’t yet seen this wine on the shelves here in the CP (and no one up here carries it just yet, according to the website), but I am going to run right down to the liquor store and ask them to order me some.   With a name like that, how can I resist?

From the Irony Wine website:  Did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? Most of us didn’t imagine where we would be right now. Sure, we dreamed of being firemen, astronauts, rock stars and superheroes, but life often takes you where you didn’t expect it to.

I’ll say.

Irony Wines makes Napa Valley Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon; Russian River Valley Pinot Noir; and Monterey Pinot Noir.

I feel it is my duty to you, my readers, to find some of this wine and drink it.  You can count on me!

I am not a photographer, but every once in a while something is so beautiful that I’m inspired to grab the ol’ digital camera and snap a few shots.

Last night and this morning, the Capital Region was socked with a pretty devastating snow/ice storm.  Trees were felled, cars were crashed, more than 200,000 people lost power (including my in-laws, who are coming over later to warm up!), schools and businesses were closed (including mine – which declared a state of emergency).  Luckily, I did not have to venture out past my driveway today (and that was just because the dog had to go).

The two trees in front of my house provided some beauty in the midst of chaos, though…enjoy!

Granted: things change, people change, and my career aspirations have certainly changed a lot over the past 15 years or so.  But, I’m still not in a place where I’m satisfied.

I often wish I’d had the guts to apply to grad school, and become a research scientist.  I sometimes wish I had had the ability to save my first marriage.  I long for the strength to ask for what I need.  I hope someday I’ll have the discipline required to lose this extra weight once and for all!  And most of all, I wish I knew how to be a better friend to the people I love.

I’m not sure how to accomplish these things (well, not the second one.  That’s dead and buried), but I think it might be helpful for me to discover what’s been keeping me from doing them.  Maybe I can gain some insight as to what’s blocking me from reaching my full potential.

I was driving home from work tonight, thinking about how I could start, and I came up with this: drawing up a schedule of a “perfect day” – what I would consider an ideal way to spend my time, that would make me happy and fulfilled (most of the time anyway – I know life gets in the way sometimes).  I am hoping that if I can figure out how/why my actual life differs from my ideal life, I may have a place to start.  So, here goes.  The things that I actually do right now, I’ll boldface.

And, please – feel free to comment, and maybe give me a glimpse of what your perfect day might look like, or how I might improve mine – I’d love to hear from you!

• 6:00am – Get out of bed and get ready for work.  Shave legs every day!
• 7:00am – Sit down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee & breakfast, read the newspaper or watch the morning news; check the weather BEFORE leaving the house.
• 7:30am – Kiss husband goodbye before leaving; leave for work on time ; listen to NPR news on the drive in.
• 8:00am – Arrive at work; my work is a job that I like and that I am good at
• 12:00pm – Eat a nutritious lunch away from my desk.  Eat mindfully -  don’t work through lunch!  Take a 30-minute walk outside.
• 4:00pm – Leave work; listen to All Things Considered on my drive home.
• 5:00pm - 45-minute workout at the YMCA
• 6:00pm – relax and unwind at home; chat with my husband about the events of the day
• 6:30pm – Start preparing a nutritious and delicious dinner (ha! my dinners always taste good, they’re just not always nutritious)
• 7:30pm – Dinner at the dining room table, with the TV off.  Eat mindfully!  Enjoy pleasant conversation over dinner, with a glass of wine.
• 8:30pm – Watch as husband cleans up the kitchen. (ha!)
• 9:00pm – Catch up on email/blogging/surfing.
• 9:30pm – Turn off computer.  Call friends or do yoga.
• 10:00 – Get into bed with a good book; read until sleepy. Try to get 8 hours of restful sleep.

What usually happens is this:

• 7:10am – hit snooze button
• 7:20am – hit snooze button
• 7:30am – hit snooze button
• 7:40am – hit snooze button
• 7:45am – get out of bed after husband reaches over to shake me awake, race around for the entire morning, frantically trying to get out of the house by 8:30.  Walk the dog at 8:40, THEN leave.
• 9:10am – arrive at work 10 minutes late, get to work.
• 1:00pm – eat lunch at my desk, working the entire time.  I only get out of the office if I force myself, or if I forget to bring my lunch.
• 5:15pm – leave work, drive home, skip the gym ’cause I’m too tired.
• 6:00pm – arrive home, go upstairs to change into pajamas, plop on the couch while we decide whether to cook or order out.  We usually order out.
• 7:15pm – Eat dinner on the coffee table in front of the tv.
• 8:30pm – get on the computer.
• 11:00pm – turn off computer, get into bed.  Read until 1am.

Yikes.  It really sounds horrible when you write it down.  I’m in a real slump.

Help!  How do I turn my normal chaos into the peaceful and organized first option???