Happy New Year!

I wish you all a happy, healthy, and surprisingly wonderful year in 2006...! Boiling mudpots at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Day in the life of a dog

Peter and I are finding amusement on a daily basis watching Sammi navigate her way around in the snow. Sometimes she's so eager to get outside that she's not even careful of the slippery, icy snow on our deck. Other times, she stands in the doorway with the cold air blowing her in face, and then turns around to come back inside (this is just seconds after she's been begging and whining to go outside...). On this particular day last week, she had lots of fun roaming around in the backyard.

Sniffing and romping in the backyard

Running for home when I call her! (I love this shot...)

"Please, Mommy, can I get back inside where it's warm?"

Calming down and fluffy snow

Ok, most of the Christmas gifts we're giving have finally arrived, so I can relax now. I'm excited about the presents we got for people, so now I'm getting happy about Christmas! It really is much better to give than receive especially if you feel good about the gifts you've found for people.

We had a busy but fun weekend. Sunday we spent nearly the entire day in our cold garage with 6-7 neighbors, making Luminaries for the whole neighborhood. We ended up making about 900 of them and delivering and lighting them up and down the streets... It was a LOT of work (and over 1,600 pounds of SAND!), but they looked beautiful. It was snowing while we were placing them down... that big fluffy kind of snow that is so beautiful and peaceful...

River Run Luminaries!

The waiting game

So, I felt a little behind in buying Christmas gifts for all my loved ones, but I succeeded in finding things pretty quickly and did most of my ordering online. That was 13 days ago. Everything was promised to arrive by the 16th. If they couldn't promise that, I wasn't ordering it. Well, lo and behold... we're getting emails on a DAILY basis now from Amazon: "due to unforeseen circumstances.... your order is delayed... will not arrive until Dec. 23" GAH. Well, that date doesn't work for me, because once they arrive, I need to wrap, package, and then ship them all around the country. *sigh* So I think I can go online (this is Amazon we're talking about) and change the shipping addresses -- just get them directly to the recipient, even if I can't get it wrapped, which would be sad. Well, I can't. They have a message on my order page that explains that my order is "in the packaging and shipping process" and therefore NO CHANGES can be made to the order. And there's a link to their returns policy. Yeah, so I can deal with that in freaking January.

So, after daily messages that seem to basically be laughing at our stupidity for ordering from them in the first place and expecting to get our gifts within 2 freaking weeks... we get an email this morning (at 2:00 AM) to announce that the order has shipped! But it's UPS ground, and still may not arrive until Dec. 23. GAH. Merry Christmas to everyone who might not get a gift from us until January...

Winter coat

Sammi just got her winter coat... she's a little embarrassed walking around the neighborhood in it, but doesn't she look cute? Oooh, that plant in the corner has been dead for a few weeks... I need to clean out that pot. *sigh*

Sammi and Peter on the back deck

For the 3 of you...

... who read my Blog: Sorry I haven't posted in awhile... I've been very busy at work and just tired from all the holiday preparations. Last night I started having an anxiety attack... nothing serious... but it was like I could hear the ants marching 5 blocks away and felt hyper-sensitive to everything around me. I hate that feeling because I cannot control it or fix it on my own.

The weekend is almost here (another 20 minutes or so of work to get done) and I'm relieved about that. We'll be watching college basketball tomorrow (Duke game on CBS) so that should be relatively relaxing. No idea if more snow is expected. We had a huge storm last night and got about 3 inches or so. We actually expected at least twice that, but it seems Mother Nature went easy on us... for now. We've discovered that Sammi really doesn't seem to like the cold whether at all. She looks adorable in all her blackness, pouncing through the snow, but she comes running right back in and just wants to be snuggled with blankets. She's our little old lady... "LOL" How appropriate!

Giving Thanks

A few days ago, I complained heartily about the stressed of the Holiday season, so I thought I should interject here that I DO enjoy the holidays and my family immensely. Maybe that's where some of the stress comes from... wanting those perfect moments. This past weekend, Peter and I spent a wonderful couple of days in Chicago at his sister's (my dearest friend's) home. We woke up every morning to a little curly-haired blond child smiling in our doorway and telling us stories. It's amazing how many adventures a child can have before 8:00 AM. It's a little sad that as we get older we'd rather sleep away those morning hours. These girls have the most amazing playroom you've ever seen, complete with a stage, puppet-theatre, art tables, and little secret rooms and areas for private adventures with their dolls and toys. Colorful, creative, and fun... I wish I had a room like that!

Thanksgiving was at Peter's mom's home and it was just lovely. The food was delicious and we sat around and drank wine, listened to music, and just enjoyed eachother's company. Her apartment is like a mini art gallery and so there is something beautiful and interesting to look at in every direction. And it's also the home of our kitty-cats, Circe and Calypso. They're doing great and seem very happy in their Chicago condo. They have a deck on which to play and lounge in the sun, and they have a home full of great crevices and places to climb and hide and snuggle. And of course, their new mommy just loves them, so they are very lucky girls. It was great to see them so happy again and bonding as the sister they are.

Cash and June

We saw the movie WALK THE LINE last night... it was excellent!! I had no idea until I saw the closing credits that both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon SANG every note in the film as Johnny Cash and June Carter. Amazing! I had been plenty impressed that they lip-synched so well... but to learn that they had both taken intensive voice lessons and somehow managed, in just 6 months, to become amazing stage performers and vocal talents... wow. Phoenix sounded EXACTLY like Johnny Cash. They both should be nominated for Oscars, and I can't think of anyone more deserving this year (so far) than them to WIN. (Though David Strathairn in GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK was pretty great too.) See WALK THE LINE... the music is great and the performances are entrancing.

The point of the Holidays?

Christmas is supposed to be peaceful and relaxing, right? Full of love and warm-fuzzies and memories that make you smile years later. Pretty lights and Christmas trees and warm drinks and chocolates... That's how they are in the movies, and that's how I remember *most* Christmases from my childhood. Now I'm realizing, however, that it's a very sadistic holiday! As adults, there is so much to DO before Christmas that by the time it's here, we're too frazzled to really enjoy it. I've already addressed the envelopes of my Christmas cards for 2005... there are over 90 of them. I feel like there are only liek 10 people I talk to regularly, so who the hell are these other 80 people? But I feel compelled to do it, even though most of them will never write back. And then... there's gifts. Thank you cards (have you bought yours yet?). Travel plans to be made. Vacation days to be arranged at work. Pets to be boarded. Snow to be shoveled. Presents to be WRAPPED. Presents to be shipped as if you are UPS-central. Don't get me wrong... I love everyone in my life dearly, but... how are we all supposed to be rejuvinated in January if we're just coming off the maddness of December? Possible New Years Resolution: Buy Christmas presents in July. Write Holiday Cards in September. Seriously. Think how much more FUN December would be if it were all done! *sigh*

I thought these pictures were funny... like the holidays are sideways and too big...

Self-portrait

My friend Kerstin participates in a blogger's "self-portrait Tuesdays," which I always look forward to checking out. Don't think I'm ready to go "public" with mine (and I probably won't be very consistent in remembering to do it), but here's my self-portrait for the day...