Vacation is rough...

Check out Cooper this morning. I had showered and already made coffee before he started to stir. He gets awfully cozy under the covers and I literally have to drag him out of bed...what a tough life.

Happy Holidays!

Since Friday around 4pm, my days have been filled with family, friends, Cooper and most of all gifts and food. Friday evening Erin, Jeff, my parents and I opened some of our gifts. Sam was home with a sitter for a little while. Then we all reconvened for homemade pizza.

Sam was a good little guy and we read books, listened to stories and opened presents. He was in a great mood and smiley, which makes our time so much more special! He's a real joy when he's feeling well.

Erin and I got some good laughs later in the evening after Sam fell asleep like a little angel in Grandpa's arms. Anyone remember the game for 6-year-olds called "Guess Who?" Well, Erin and I used to play this at the cabin when it was rainy, she bought it for me for Christmas this year and we had a great time. She played to win, I played to get her to laugh hard enough so water shot out of her nose (it worked too!) Good times with a simple game. I can't remember the last time I'd seen her laugh so hard. It was great.

Also had the chance to catch up with some friends over the weekend. It's fun to have people come home for the holidays...wish many of them would just stick around! But it makes our time together that much more special.

Happy Holidays everyone...I am so blessed with a loving family and wonderful friends.

pics of the zoo

The first picture is of my living room upstairs, the others are of the remodeled lower level completed earlier this fall

Alright, alright....

Okay, here goes a post full of uneventful happenings from the last couple of months. Today's post was prompted by emails and face-to-face harassment by "loved ones."

Work continues to fill most of my time and it is going pretty well. I am looking forward to some days off over Christmas though. If anything, I hope to catch up on some reading and some paperwork. Nothing like "working" during "vacation."

My weekends have been filled with movies, game nights and volleyball. Yep, volleyball. I am once again pretending to be physical. Our kickball season was sort of a flop and full of some drama and thus far volleyball hasn't been filled with any drama, so no complaints. Though, it is quite clear that I am more competitive each game. I have the altered thinking that perhaps I am the only person on the team and want to "float" all over the court in order to prevent other people from screwing up. Now, this would be an okay plan if I were as good as I think I might be in my head. Are you following?
So, our team has some skills, I think we have great potential. Of course there are a few players that seem to have an 'off-night' almost every night we play, but the spirits are high and team morale is carrying us through the season. I have high expectations for this evening as we strategized a whole lot after last weeks piss-poor showing. Let's go O-Fer's!

Sam and I also had birthdays, he's five now and I am twenty-(gulp) eight, since I last posted and my dad's birthday is on Monday. Sam had about 100 more people at his party than I did at mine! But my family went out for dinner for mine and Erin and Jeff had a sitter for Sam so got to eat in peace too.

My uncle Ken, aunt Carol and cousin Kristi were here for Thanksgiving...oh, here's a good story. Kristi planned her shopping "attack" for BLACK FRIDAY and I told her she was crazy and that I'd stay home with our dogs. Well, our dogs whined continually throughout the night and once Kristi's alarm went off, I hopped out of bed, threw open her door and said "Get your butt out of bed because I'd rather shop that deal with these whiny dogs any longer!" We were at Best Buy by 5:30a.m. and stood outside for about 25 minutes before even getting into the store. I made it until around 12:30pm that day and was looking to get out of the chaos of the "door-busters."
Anyway, it's always fun to see the Olson's and I'm glad Kristi made the trip down too.

Okay, that's all folks. I am looking forward to Christmas and to spend time with my family...