My life as I know it

This is where you expect me to come back and say, "Giving blood wasn't bad at all! It was easy!" And honestly, I thought I would be reporting the same thing too. But unfortunately for me, that is not what I'm about to say. The entire experience was awful. First, you have to get a finger prick that was surprisingly painful. At first I though, oh that wasn't that bad, and then it slowly started to hurt and as Elf would say, "My finger had a heartbeat." Then I had to answer all kinds of ridiculous questions basically all asking the same thing in a different way: no I do not have HIV or AIDS and haven't had sexual conduct with anyone that has. Once I made it through the finger prick (confirming that my iron was high enough) and the crazy questions, it was time for me to give blood. I was hoping that the nice man who did the finger prick and the paper work would be the same one drawing the blood but that wasn't the case. I got the very unhappy wom...

There are a lot of perks to working in a high school. I love interacting with the students and the days go by super fast! The work is challenging and I'm learning a lot. But there are some drawbacks, too. I seem to be a sucker when it comes to the kids and have a hard time saying no. They come to my office asking me for notes when they're running late to class (I always say no), they ask me to borrow money since I'm right across the hall from the bookstore and "promise" to pay me back (I usually say no), they ask me to buy their raffle tickets and support their fundraisers (I usually say yes), they ask to borrow my stapler and tape dispenser (I always say yes and rarely get them back) and then a few weeks ago, they asked me to sign up to give blood. At first I said absolutely not. Then they explained that one person giving blood can save three lives and it's the holidays and you should give the gift of life. They even said the lives that the faculty and st...

I realize this video is a little graphic. In fact, it makes me feel horrible for the turkey that I'm going to consume today. But, I also found it to be moderately entertaining and the overall message of being thankful is a good and appropriate one. Enjoy the video and more importantly, enjoy your Thanksgiving and don't forget to be thankful! :) Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Thanksgiving Eve: The most popular drinking night of the year. It's 12:25 a.m. and the only thing I've drank all day was a root beer and gatorade. At one time, I did partake in the Thanksgiving Eve drinking and partying festivities but tonight, my festivities were quite different. Today I baked 3 dozen iced pumpkin cookies with cream cheese (with orange food coloring) frosting, one pumpkin roll, 4 cheese balls and tripled the recipe of sweet potato casserole. I've been working on this stuff all day long and have a new appreciation for those of you who host Thanksgiving at your house. It became very obvious to me tonight as I turned the KitchenAid mixer on too high and sweet potatoes went flying all over my kitchen, that I am not even close to being ready to host Thanksgiving, or any large scale cooking event, at my house. I tip my hat to all of the rest of you who do. Goodnight.

I recently joined the group 20 Something Bloggers and stumbled across the blog below where Sandy is creating and releasing 1000 paper cranes with a different inspirational word on each one. She leaves them for others to find and to hopefully spread a bit of positive energy and "world peace" which is what cranes symbolize. She came up with this idea after reading "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Elanor Coerr which is a book about a girl from Hiroshima who was diagnosed with cancer and wanted to fold 1000 cranes before she died but unfortunately only made it to 644. I was inspired when reading her blog and thought you might be interested in learning about it too! Sandy and the 1000 Paper Cranes: About The Project : "So why 1000 paper cranes? What started this all? After reading the true story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Elanor Coerr, I was..."

For a number of reasons, I have only once in my life ventured out on Black Friday. Here are a few of the reasons why I make it a personal goal to avoid shopping on Black Friday: 1. I hate waking up early 2. I despise waiting in long lines 3. I try to avoid large crowds in small spaces whenever possible 4. I don't have a shopping buddy to venture out with me 5. My shopping list is never ready in time Here is one reason why I would, under the right circumstance, consider shopping on Black Friday: 1. I love getting a good deal I believe it was three years ago when I decided I would venture out on Black Friday for the first time because I was after a particular bargain. I wanted to get Pat a nice drill and Sears was having a really good deal on one. I talked my dad into going with me and I didn't go super early. I ended up getting a lot of shopping done that day and despite going out late, I was still able to get Pat the drill (which has been immensely beneficial to u...

One of the local radio stations has been playing Christmas music since November 1st. I have been strategically ignoring this station so that I don't hear any Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. I know it might sound weird, but I am one of those people that like to take it one holiday at a time. Maybe it's because my mental capacity is too small to handle them both at once, or maybe it's because of the way I was raised, but I cannot partake in Christmas festivities until after Thanksgiving. There. I said it. I know there are people who strongly disagree with my stance, and that is okay! But because I really do love all holidays and all seasons, I like to make sure that I get to truly enjoy each and every one. My house is decorated for Halloween starting mid/end of September and once Halloween has passed, I leave up all the general fall decorations until after Thanksgiving. Pat and I are on the same page when it comes to leaving Thanksgiving and Christmas as two sepa...

Me surrendering in one of my dance offs And wave 'em around like you just don't care. That's pretty much my dancing strategy. It's all in the arms. Most people who know me know that I LOVE to dance. And recently, I seem to love DANCE OFF's and participated in many this summer during our marathon of weddings (most of which I lost, by the way). Not only do I love to dance, but I have pretty wicked awesome dance moves, in my humble opinion. Sure, my robot isn't the standard robot you're used to seeing, but it's the scarecrow like movement of my arms that makes my robot so unique. My biggest area of strength with my dancing is most definitely my arms. There's no limit to what my arms and hands are capable of when they get moving to the "right beat" - aka, anything Black Eyed Peas and most recently Like a G6 . Because my upper body dance moves are so good, I excel at dancing in the car. When you're sitting down in the car, all you ha...

So you know I love to sing, but what you may not know is that my voice is only half as good as my husband's. We both are extremely talented electric guitarists and decided this holiday season we would start our own band to help spread the holiday cheer. We want to thank my dad and Jill for purchasing Rock Band for us a few Christmas's ago, against their better judgment. It really gave us the skills and confidence to pursue our passion. We both feel we wouldn't be where we are today without their support. Happy Holidays from the Robinsons! Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

It's been too painful to talk about, which is the only reason you haven't heard about the knock-down, drag-out fight that took place in the Robinson household exactly one month ago. Since I alluded to the incident with Pat and "the sweater" in my blog last night, I feel as though it is my civic blogging duty to fully disclose the entire story with any other newlyweds out there who might be struggling through some of the same issues. By the way, I assume it goes without saying, but just so we are clear, no one was physically knocked down or dragged out of our house during this fight. The only thing that was bruised and scarred during the argument was both of our egos. A few months ago, I went shopping (weird, I know) and found some really awesome deals at Ann Taylor Loft, a store that I can't really afford UNLESS I find things on the clearance racks, which I did. I bought this super cute mustard yellow cardigan (one of the "in" colors of the fall, so I...

If you read my blog often, you know that my husband Pat is usually my favorite topic of discussion. Whether it be his refusal to read the labels on my clothes and his insistence on washing all colors together and then throwing them in the dryer on high, or the fact that after living in our house for 2 1/2 years he still can't catch on to the routine of making sure the shower curtain is pulled closed; he provides a lot of material for me to use in this blog. But tonight, I'm reprieving Pat of his role as the victim of my blog and instead I'm going to talk about myself. When I got home from Dale Carnegie class tonight at 10:00 p.m., Pat saved me food because he knew I didn't eat dinner. He heated it up for me and served me at the table. What a husband I have! Then, in a very soft, polite voice he said, "Emily? Can I ask you favor?" I wish I could say I responded with, "Yes, dear. Anything you want." But actually, I was busy facebooking so even thoug...

I know I'm all about putting myself out there with my embarrassing stories for you to laugh at and I swear, most of the time I'm okay with it. But the hypothetical situation I'm about to explain, is not something I'm 100% okay with yet and therefore, I can neither confirm nor deny that the following is true. A few months ago, I may or may not have created a playlist on my iPod titled, "Songs I like to sing along to" filled with tracks I feel best fit in my very limited vocal range and that I enjoy singing along with. I may or may not have burnt this playlist on to a CD and I may or may not be found belting out the songs during my long commutes to and from work. I may or may not pretend that I'm karaoking the songs while I'm practicing them in my car and perhaps I even rewind certain parts of the song over and over again until I feel I've hit a difficult note the best of my ability. I may or may not have listened to said CD so many times that I fe...

We have had back-to-back weekends of tailgating fun and watching our teams bring home victories! Last weekend we tailgated in the Muni lot in downtown Cleveland for the Browns vs. Patriots game. We had awesome (and rare) Cleveland November weather and couldn't have asked for a better group of people to tailgate with! In addition to the great weather and great company, we absolutely could not have asked for better seats at the game! I have never had such awesome seats at a Browns game before! Granted, it was only my second game ever, but still, I don't think I will ever get to enjoy better seats! But most importantly of all, we got to see the Browns bring home their third victory of the season against the best team in the NFL! Excited Robinsons after the big win! So far, Pat has proven to be a good luck charm for Cleveland! He got to see (in these same awesome seats) the win against Cincinnati. So far, he's 2-0 with his tickets. He's going to the game today agains...

I wrote the blog below on October 19, 2010. Why it stayed in "draft" form, I'm not quite sure but it's time to set it free. Enjoy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ingredients 1 (50 ounce) can whole cooked chicken, drained, bones and skin removed 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup 1 1/8 cups water 1 (8 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix 6 hamburger buns, split Directions Shred chicken, and place in a large pot or slow cooker. Stir in soup and water. Stir in the seasoning mix from the stuffing, and then stir in the dry stuffing mix. Cook over medium heat until heated through. Spoon onto buns, and serve. I realize I am long overdue for a new recipe of the week. I'...

I'm always joking about the fact that my life is like a comedy routine, a Michael Scott in the Office or Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents kind of comedy where the uncomfortable jokes are usually on me. Most of the times these "jokes" take place when I'm all by myself. This morning was a perfect example. I was just finishing up getting ready for work and realized I hadn't put any lotion on yet. I wear lotion every single day and I like to rotate the scents (weird, I know). As I was looking through my rather large collection of Bath and Bodyworks lotions and feeling like I wear the same ones all of the time, I realized there was a strawberry champagne Victoria Secret lotion that I hadn't worn in a while. Without reading the label, I picked it up and put a strip of lotion on both arms. I rubbed it in quickly and put the extra lotion on my chest, as I always do. I gave myself one last look in the mirror, not looking for perfection by any means since my hair was s...

Last night in Dale Carnegie, the students were learning and practicing how to accept compliments by simply smiling and saying thank you. The purpose of the exercise was both to help people understand the power of giving sincere compliments but also to recognize how difficult it is for many people to accept compliments. The first reaction of many people when receiving compliments is to respond with a joke or a statement that somehow takes away from the praise they just received. Even if you don't say anything out loud, many times your facial expressions and nonverbals say it all for you. I am very much guilty of this myself. I usually make a joke or say something sarcastic when receiving compliments. Today, I received a compliment from a man the same age as my dad (or older) that went something like this..."Well, don't you look cute today!" Practicing my DC techniques, I simply smiled and very politely said thank you, even though there were so many contrasting, not p...

On Wednesday, it took me an hour to get to work. Three weeks ago, it took me an hour and ten minutes. That's right. I could have driven home to my parents house in Bellville or Butler in the time that it took me to get 28 miles. As soon as I realize traffic is backed up, I always turn on the radio and start scanning stations until I hear a traffic update.When traffic isn't moving at all, I always expect to hear about some horrible, three car pile up. And sometimes, I do. On other days, when there are no accidents to report, I end up hearing the traffic reporter on the radio say, "traffic due to sun glare delays." Yes, you read that right. okroads.com Sun. Glare. Delays. I know. It makes absolutely no sense to me either! I understand when traffic is delayed because there's an accident or because it's raining or snowing. None of these situations make me happy, but at least they make sense. However, the sun shining, which is such a rare and beautiful thing...

I have always loved passing out candy to the trick or treaters. Growing up, I was usually in charge of this task at my dad's house in Shelby, which was in a perfect location to get TONS of trick or treaters since he lived at the end of a large Boulevard. When we bought our house two years ago, I was very excited to pass out candy for the first time. I was working late on the Friday of Trick or Treat. I didn't get out of work until 5:30 or so and Trick or Treat started at 6! I rushed home, threw on Pat's pirate hat that he wore for his costume that year and we sat on our porch together waiting for the slew of trick or treaters to arrive. We waited... and waited... and waited... but they never came. The only kids who came were our neighbors, which included three families and a total of six kids. We only got six kids! I was so disappointed! Pat, who probably dominated all of the candy we had left over, was not nearly as disappointed. I didn't have high hopes the follow...