Thursday, December 31, 2009

Day 83


Once in a blue moon. Happy New Year! Here's hoping that 2010 brings you and yours great adventure, happiness and friendship!
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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Day 82


Nearly all the Christmas candy is gone, which is mostly because we didn't have very much around anyway. And for some reason, nobody ever wants the peppermints, no matter if they are in a candy cane, disk or these little deals.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Day 81


Less than a week after a White Christmas, we get hit again with snow. Is this Texas? Really? It started out as rain, then got fluffier as the temperatures dropped. It's still more icy than snow, which is kinda gross, but at least we don't have to go anywhere. Might make my 10-mile run tomorrow a little dicey, though...
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Monday, December 28, 2009

Day 80


A few years ago we spent the week before Christmas on the most hideous cruise ever - bad weather, seasickness, change of itinerary. Probably the best day of the trip besides the beach day at Cozumel was spent at the pyramids near Progreso. We missed seeing the Winter Solstice by one day - it would have been great to be able to be there when the sun lined up perfectly with the keyholes in the windows as they did when they were first constructed.
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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Day 79


Oranges, tangerines, clementines - all citrus are awesome, (except the yummy clementines are kinda pricey, and we can't keep a bag in the house for more than, oh, about four minutes). And they're pretty, too!
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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Day 78


Since Christmas was yesterday, the baby Jesus is now in his spot in the manger, awaiting the arrival of the Three Kings. This nativity set was handed down from my mom, who had it when she was first married in the early Sixties, and is one of my favorite things about Christmas.
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Friday, December 25, 2009

Day 77


Christmas Day dawned clear and cold, and the snow from yesterday lingered even as the sun was shining brightly. It was a beautiful morning, as is fitting for this day.
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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Day 76


Merry Christmas, y'all! We're celebrating at the Gaylord Texan this year, and so far, it's been spectacular, including SNOW in North Texas. Hope you and yours are enjoying the season!
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Day 75


Ben's been working on growing this at Grandpa's house the last few days. The mouth and nose fell off sometime earlier last week, apparently, but the hair is still keen. Or it was until he took the scissors to it and gave it a crew cut. It should grow back, though!
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Day 74



The team held a Dad/Son game tonight instead of practice. It got kinda nuts there toward the end, so I don't think anyone really knows what the score ended up. Also, I don't think we're sure who had a better time out there!
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Monday, December 21, 2009

Day 73


Portait of the Artist as a Young Penguin. This was one of Ben's many projects from his art camp this summer. His brush drooped a little before the whole thing dried, but the pallette cracks me up, as do the big ol' eyeballs. Penguins are awesome. Li'l clay penguins made by my boy are even better.
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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Day 72


So we wrapped up our Louisiana hockey weekend (our boys lost all three games - bah!) with a trip to Prejean's for breakfast. Except we got there at 10:28 so we missed breakfast and had to have lunch. Wahh (not really, lunch was great!). On the way out, I grabbed a praline from the claws of this little guy for the road. No matter how you pronounce it (pray-leen, btw), it was delish.
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Saturday, December 19, 2009

Day 71


Southern gentility. I can easily see myself sitting on the porch here, sipping lemonade and enjoying the wind blowing through the 100-year-old cypress trees. The Spanish moss is the only thing missing from this scene, I believe.
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Friday, December 18, 2009

Day 70


Hard to take a good photo through the window as we were hurtling down the highway at a ridiculous pace (which, depending on whether you are a Texas DPS or Louisiana State Patrol may or may not have exceeded 90 mph, ahem...), but I did capture the "Welcome to Louisiana" sign. Kinda, sorta. Saw lots of great swamps reflecting the sunset and trees and such, yet was not able to get a decent shot while at warp speed. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some gator pics, or some kind of Bigfoot swamp monster. But it will probably be more hockey pics...
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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Day 69


The boys got these figurines in their stockings a few years ago, and they are now a favorite part of our decor. Even though we scaled back the holiday pomp and circumstance this year, we HAD to put out Snoopy Claus, Charlie Brown and the tree swaddled in Linus' blanket. Merry Christmas!
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Day 68



My mother-in-law used to make dozens and dozens of tamales every year at Christmastime - she asked me to help once or twice, but eventually decided I mucked up her finely-tuned assembly process. I was then allowed to sit and watch without actually contributing any effort except taste-testing. It was awesome. We'd sometimes do a little happy dance when we found a lost pack in the back of the freezer in July. Store-bought are going to have to do this year, at least until I figure out how to do them on my own.
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Day 67


Someone pointed out today that because I'll be headed toward Louisiana on Friday for a hockey tournament and the gymnastics place will be closed next Tuesday-Friday, I won't see some folks until after Christmas. Wha? Yikes. So, um, Merry Christmas?
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Monday, December 14, 2009

Day 66





We'd really rather be skiing (or attempting to ski, in my case) in the Rockies again this Christmas.  Alas, unless the lotto numbers hit this week (and I actually go out and buy a ticket), we won't make it back there this year.  Bah. Daydreaming into this snow globe will have to do for now.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Day 65



Water stop past mile 12 at the White Rock half-marathon in Dallas. Went out to cheer for a couple of friends and ended up standing on a bench yelling at everyone going by for a good two hours. It was awesome - and a little less exhausting than running a half myself! Congrats to Cheyenne, Susan and Cathy on the half, and WTG to Moises on his first full in 4:15!!
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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Day 64


Crazy-busy day today, including a two-hour drive for a drizzly half-marathon, an afternoon hockey game, and culminating in a great gathering of some of my favorite people for a Dinner Club dessert party. Merry Christmas, all.
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Friday, December 11, 2009

Day 63


So we get to Six Flags for the boy's choir concert and as we pull into the parking lot, I turn on the camera (that I circled the block to go back for, by the way) and realize that the memory card is in the card reader, plugged into the computer. HCD! So, you get a fuzzy cell-phone photo of the tower with the big star at the top. I would have taken a photo of the boy on Mine Train, but I was laughing too much at his screams!
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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Day 62


So I said I wasn't going to decorate this year. And I haven't. Really. I did find my wreath in the closet today while I was looking for something else, though, and decided to put it on the table around a candle. Looks almost Christmas-ey, despite my best intentions.
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Day 61


It was crazy cold today, but the air was very clear, and the late afternoon sun came through my window in a way that drew both cats to the office to peer out at the front yard.
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Day 60


Seems like winter around here lately, and the tree out front is slowly losing its last leaves, just in case we had any doubts about it.
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Monday, December 7, 2009

Day 59


"I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love. "

Our little tabletop tree is about all we can handle this year. We really need a new one, but don't feel much like decorating with all we've been through lately, so we're going minimalist. The only challenge is going to be how long before the cats knock it over and drag it under the couch.
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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Day 58


Hockey great Brett Hull led a clinic for Sandro's hockey team today, so the kids got to learn how to shoot from an NHL Hall of Famer. Pretty cool experience, and something the kids will remember for a long time.
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