Christmas Wrap Up

I'm pretty sure this is the most pictures I've ever put in one post. There's sixteen pictures in it. Not really, there's only seven.

On Christmas day we went to Ft. Worth to spend Christmas with my mom and step-dad.



My crazy aunt and uncle were there. My aunt is especially crazy...crazy in a good way. Crazy in the way that she makes you laugh until your stomach hurts.



The day after Christmas Mom and Dick drove us to their house in the hill country outside of Austin where we met up with my sister and her family.



The girls went for a little walk. You can admit it, Eliza is a ten on the cuteness scale.


I love this picture of John and me even though we're ghostly white in it and I have no hands. I have no hands...I have no hands.


Our last night there we drove into Austin with my sister and her husband to listen to some music. Before the music Jen, John and I met up with our cousin Amy for dinner. This cousin makes me laugh like my aunt does.


This last picture was taken on our last morning. I had to give good bye hugs shortly after this photo was taken. Boo to good bye hugs.


So that was a brief description of our Christmas in Texas. It was fabulous but now I need a three month nap to recuperate.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve

John's mom really wanted a picture of us looking at each other by the fireplace. I actually have several shots because she just couldn't get the framing right. It was pretty funny. This one was my favorite.



Here's the Christmas Eve bunch. John's sister is now in her ninth month and she still cooked a full on meal for us. In fact, she cooked the whole time we were there. It was amazing. We felt bad but she wanted to do it and there's definitely no arguing with a pregnant woman.




Our two days in Dallas were lots of fun and we were so happy to be able to spend some of the holidays with part of John's side of the family (his side is really big). I only had one complaint. Pregnant women (at least our pregnant woman) are always hot. Their place was brrrrrrrr.

Christmas Stories until the New Year

The new year is on Friday so I have a small window to let you know about my Christmas. Why the deadline? I LOVE everything Christmas until January 1 and then I'm so done.

So here we go...

On Christmas Eve's Eve (Dec. 23) we got to Texas and started our trip with John's nine month pregolicious sister and brother in law in Dallas.

John was enjoying Chad's stories. This particular story he's laughing at isn't blog appropriate but pretty darn funny.



Here is John with Morty (Mortimore). Poor John, he'll probably never have a picture like this taken at our house. We're a cat free household due to my fear of them.


I did pet Morty once while we were there. He was on our bed. I took a picture of the interaction with my phone so John would believe what had gone down. It was okay until he showed me his teeth and then I was out.

My Holidays Have Begun

Friday was my last day of work for a couple of weeks. My last day was a whirlwind. I just can't believe that the school year is half way over.

I hope the second half doesn't go as fast as the first one did but they always do. Most of my students are fifth graders so they'll be going to middle school next year. I know I won't be ready to say good bye to them. I've worked with a lot of them for several years. One I just got this year but from the very beginning she captured my heart.

My holidays got started off with a winter Solstice party. I'm not used to having my camera usable so I forgot to take any pictures until we were leaving. This is a picture of my friend J and me after the Winter Solstice party.




On Monday night we did something we've never done since we've lived in Phoenix...zoo lights. As my friend Lauren says, it's something you have to do at least once. It's really a neat thing to do but there's people EVERYWHERE.

John was protecting me from a giant spider.



My favorite animal was the peacock.



Well my friends, I'm out for the holidays. John and I are flying to Texas tomorrow to spend time with a lot of family. I'll have lots of pictures and stories to share when we get back.

Happy Holidays!!!!!!

Christmas Decorations

Now that I can use my camera again I thought I'd show you our house decked out for Christmas. It's not so impressive but it does have some ho ho ho-ness to it.

We opted out of the Christmas tree this year. Instead we have a Christmas snowman set up.




I also took a picture of our little Christmas creature. The picture just didn't show how obnoxious he really is so I took a video.





Even though he's obnoxious I LOVE him. He also belts out "Deck the Halls".

Two Things

John and I watched Avatar today and LOVED it.


Also, I finally found our camera charger. After a very thorough search of the entire house I found it where we usually keep it. Isn't that always the way?

The charger is plugged in and charging right now. No more pictureless posts. Yay.

Mid week update

• The critter in our garage really was a squirrel.

• I entertained sales people at Bass Pro Shop by buying a squirrel trap. For some reason they thought that was very funny.

• The trap worked. We caught ourselves an Arizona squirrel. We let it go in Wal Mart. Just kidding. We drove it out to a large open area and let it scamper away.

• I left work early yesterday to go to the doctor. I'm finally getting my leg checked out.
  

• I got accepted into my Masters program. It starts in January.

Just a little creepy

I was looking back over some of my old posts and found my Coraline post. John and I really do look pretty creepy with button eyes. I think John looks creepier than I do though. Don't you agree?



I think it's his opened mouth that sends him to a higher level of creepiness.

Ewwww......

This morning when we were finishing breakfast we heard Kita doing a growl/purr that she does once in awhile but it kept on. I looked over to where she was and she was peacefully sleeping...no growl/purr. Uh oh.

I followed the sound over to our dining room and heard something going on behind that wall. This is where I played my girl card and sent John to investigate.

He went into the garage and came back a few minutes later to report there was a squirrel in there. Uh, we've lived in Arizona for almost five years now and have NEVER seen a squirrel. I told him that I hoped it wasn't just a rat with a bushy tail.

He went to Ace Hardware and talked to a guy who is in the know and in fact it WAS a rat with a bushy tail. We have a pack rat in our garage. He BETTER BE SOLO or I'm going to LOSE IT.

Here's a relative of the effer who is making it impossible for me to get into my car without John going into the garage with me.

Seeing Stars

I will spare you the gory details but today while I was at my doctor's appointment, my nurse practitioner decided to run some tests. I hate tests. Tests mean needles. Needles mean I FREAK OUT.

I remained calm for about 30 seconds into it. Afterward I almost passed out. Seriously. Vampire lady had to call for assistance. I was fanned, brought orange juice and had those smelling salts you see on tv waved in front of me. It wasn't so fun.

Out early

I went to a behavior training today that was scheduled to end at four but our presenter wrapped things up at 2:20. She should be on Santa's Nice list for sure.

I'll use my new found extra time to find our camera charger. My blog looks so sad without pictures.

Realization

I realized today that when I clench my teeth together, leave my mouth open and frown I look like one of the Letter People.

Oh my goodness...

So John and I are having a rockin Friday night. He is fixing computers for this guy at his work. I'm watching Dan in Real Life on TBS. I just watched an ebay commercial that I just now got the joke in it (I've seen it more than a couple of times).

Have you seen it? It's the one where a husband is at a driving range and he's talking about how his wife said she bought a dress on ebay that was 40% off. He told her that he'd like it better if it was 100% off.

How is it that I'm married, in my thirties and until right now I thought he was telling her he'd like it better if it were free?

This week I've...

• Given our house a slight Christmas touch.

• Gone to bed feeling a little hungry twice.

• Gotten my bootie kicked by The Firm once...after this afternoon it will be twice.

• Realized I have too many tv nights.  I'm not willing to give them up though.

• Made stew and pasta (on different nights-both yummy).

• Found out that my application material for the Masters program has been reviewed and sent to the admissions office...keep your fingers crossed for me.

• Planned a hiking adventure with John for tomorrow.  

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.

Knock Knock...who's there? Banana... Banana who? Knock knock...

I told that joke to a student today and when I said "Knock Knock" for the third time he said,"Please stop knocking on my door."

That made me laugh. A lot. I thought his answer was better than the actual joke.

Socially Awkward...

That's me in a nutshell. Sometimes. Like today. If people were just in my brain they would understand.

Here's my awkwardness from today. This cute woman at my work was telling a small group of us how she is going to New York City with her family so they can go to Times Square for New Year's Eve. I said,"Cool. Are you going to wear your Depends?"

She started laughing and said something along the lines that she didn't need to wear them yet. I was like,"Oh no no. I didn't mean that I think you're old." I then explained why I asked her that question.

One of my good friend's has a sister who lived in NYC for awhile and said that Times Square gets so crazy on New Year's Eve that some people wear Depends because they can't easily get to a restroom.

See, if she had been in my brain that question wouldn't have been so weird.

Three weeks until Christmas vacation...yikes

That's so fast. We just ate turkey and now it's almost time for Santa.

Do you have your tree up already? We don't. Although, it is starting to look Christmasy around here a little. I'll spare you the specifics except for our Hawaiian Santa and Mrs. Clause smooching. For now they're sitting on our bookshelf looking super cute. Maybe soon they'll make an appearance on a tree.

Side note: I think I need to stop watching re-runs of the Ghost Whisperer. I had a very creepy Ghost Whisperer inspired dream last night. I didn't like it.

Thanksgiving Fun...

John and I just got back today from spending Thanksgiving in El Paso. We spent the holiday with his dad's side of the family. We had a great time.

I wished several times that I was walking around with a tape recorder or at least a notebook so I could jot down all the awesome one liners. John's family is full of characters. They're super funny.

Yesterday his dad wanted to take him and his brothers to play golf. While they were golfing I went to the other side of town to hang out with my grandparents and my brother's family.

Here's the best attempt from my picture taking with my brother's bambinos. I wanted to take my camera but I have lost the charger so we'll have to put up with this terrible picture quality for a little longer.



I had the best time with these three little crazies.

Thanksgiving Food...

Rocks...but only on Thanksgiving. I have no desire to eat stuffing, turkey (that's not in a sandwich), cranberry salad, green bean casserole etc. unless it's on Thanksgiving. That's it.

Good thing for green bean casserole Thanksgiving is in a couple of days or I would want nothing to do with it.

What good eats are you most looking forward to?

Cox should hire me

Our cable provider is Cox. I'm assuming that all cable providers are cool like Cox and rate movies on a scale from one to four stars. I'm OBSESSED with the rating system.

TV watching at our house: We're flipping through the menu looking for something to watch and see that a movie is on. I give a rating and we check to see what Cox has rated it. I'm right about 92% of the time (I just asked John to give me a percentage).

I get stumped sometimes between 3 1/2 and 4 stars. Let's get real here people, they're both superior ratings. Super fantastic movies are about the only ones that stump me. Example, what would you think Forrest Gump would be rated? If you said 4 stars like I did you would be wrong. Cox gave it 3 1/2 stars.

On Saturday the latest Batman was on (The Dark Knight). How many stars do you think that one was? If you said 4 stars (as I did) you would be right.

Maybe everyone has this talent and it's not so impressive. I impress John though. He thinks I need a career change. Me too...it would be a lot less stressful.

Random thoughts...take them or leave them...it's all cool

• My husband is one of the best people I've ever met

• Whatever makes you happy is aok...unless it's a felony

• You're mom and dad really do know what they're talking about...unless it's a felony

• Christmas trees need homemade ornaments

• Tears mean you're living

• Laughter is the best medicine...it's not a cliche

• Pictures do not mean you're living in the past. Even they do...for that moment, what's so wrong about that?

• Nicole is nicer than Donica. Sorry, it's an inside joke.

• Did I mention that my husband is the best person I've ever met? You probably just think I'm cheesy. But he's my favorite. By far.
  

• My cheese factor rises by 10% during holidays...maybe by more.

• As I get older...which is every year. I accept more that I love the past because it makes me who I am and I love now because it's what I'm feeling and it still makes me who I am. Life is fabulous. Even when it's boring and painful and real. I don't care that I'm cliche and trite.

• I apologize if I'm too cheesy right now. I tend to be that way during the holidays. I guess it makes me really think about what's really important to me.
  

• Thank you for coming to my blog. Thank you for not judging me for being such a cheeseball...because I am.
  

The Graduate...in the park...so fun

I loved watching The Graduate last night while outside in my coat, in a lawn chair. It's truly a great movie and the atmosphere was super cool. We're going in a few weeks to watch Elf. This time we're going early to stake out a close spot and we'll pop a squat...or chair.

I have a picture from last night of us but there's always someone in a group picture that doesn't want their picture posted on the internet. This time it was John. I must admit it wasn't his best picture but he's still studly.

Here's me from about three minutes ago. We're at home watching Texas Tech play. Well, John's watching. I'm multi-tasking.

Update....

Happy Friday you guys.

Here's my update:

• I'm almost done reading Superfudge. I haven't read it since I was a kid. It still makes me laugh. I totally want to get a bird and name it Uncle Feather.

• Have managed to get behind on my paperwork again....I'm working on it.

• Started reading my book for organization again. Apparently I have psychological barriers that are preventing me from getting organized.
  

• Still haven't made an appointment to get my leg checked out. It's on my to do list for today...promise.

• Going to movies in the park tonight to watch The Graduate. I'm really excited. I love that movie even though it makes me really uncomfortable. I think maybe it's intended to do so.

Have a great weekend.

Kita is an old dawg...

Kita turned 77 today...or 11 in people years. She's still as spry as ever. I remember the day John and I picked her out at the pet store. From the moment we saw her we knew she was the one. She was the only puppy John could afford.

Her sign said,"Mostly Chow-$49". Sold.




Kita is fantastic. She didn't start out that way though. She was CRAZY. She terrorized my sister's dog (we lived together at the time) and she bossed me around. She was trying to be the pack leader.

We got through it though and now she's the sweetest pup around. My cousin told me once that she gives her dog a hamburger on her birthday. John and I thought that was a pretty cool idea so we gave her two White Castle burgers today. She LOVED them.

I don't think we'll ever have another dog as awesome as Kita.

In with the Wal-Mart employees

Yesterday morning before work I decided to stop off at Super Wal-Mart for a breakfast quesadilla brought to you by Smart Ones, a frappacino for a co-worker in need of a frappacino and some Gala apples.

I realized when I was pulling into the parking lot that I looked like I worked there (I was wearing cacky pants and a navy blue shirt). All I was missing was the name tag.

Nobody asked me for a price check but at least five employees greeted me like I was one of them. I wasn't expecting to be mistaken for a Wal-Mart employee by actual Wal-Mart employees.

What do you know about blood clots?

For about two months now when I'm on the treadmill I have a slight pain (more like an ache) on the back of my right calf. I googled it and a woman with similar symptoms was told she might have a blood clot. What?!? That doesn't sound good. Ever since I read that my symptoms seem worse.

Stupid Google. I miss the days of just making my own non-scary assumptions.

GRE over....

Thank goodness. The good news is I now have a plethora of new words to impress you with. (Plethora isn't one of them...I already knew that one.) I'm also pretty excited to play Scrabble. I think I may be able to take John down now.

As for how I did on the test? Well...not so spectacular. If I don't get into my program I think I will try stripper school (as suggested by my cousin).

My brain is mush...

I have nothing interesting or amusing to say. I'm taciturn right now. I'm not sure if I used that right. It's one of my GRE words. It means silent, not talkative.

Here's another one: I'm feeling pretty diffident about the GRE. I take it on Monday.