Great News!!

Why is Zoe giving Amber a "high 5"? Could it be because Amber just got a new job?? Yes, that's it!! Amber just received an offer from AOL in Dulles, Virginia and has accepted. She was waiting for the "official" offer which they were overnighting her. She is going to be a very busy girl the next 3 weeks as she starts her new job on January 22. That's just three short weeks to find a car, find an apartment and get moved!!! She's really looking forward to a new job, a new town and a new exciting chapter in her life! Great job Amber! We are proud of you!! XOXOXO

Well, Christmas is over!! I'm exhausted and you probably are too! All that shopping, wrapping, decorating and then the cooking!! Then today Amber and I were back at the stores making a few returns. Surprisingly the stores we went to weren't crowded at all! Amber had several things to exchange and no problem doing it! Now she's trying to figure out how to get her backmassager into her suitcase!! I cooked 2 turkey breasts for dinner, one to eat for dinner and one for sandwiches later. My Mom came over for present opening and dinner later in the day. Amber leaves for New York in about an hour so she can get back to work tomorrow. Howard and I have the week off and the boys have to work a couple days, but no school. Still no real sign of winter. Today was overcast and a bit drizzly but no snow and none in the forecast. Please don't worry though, winter will arrive eventually and we will have to shovel at some point!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Amber arrived home early Thursday morning . It's always nice when she comes home for a visit! Thursday night the cookie baking started. Friday morning I went back to the Dr. for a re-check and apparently I wasn't as well as I thought I was. After a shot, breathing treatment and inhaler, I'm feeling even better. Apparently I now have asthmatic bronchitis. But like I said, I'm feeling much better! The rest of the day was spent baking dozens and dozens of cookies to give to our friends. Amber's boyfriend, Andrew, arrived around 9:30 this morning just in time for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast the cookie icing started and continued for several hours. Later in the day we were all involved in a rousing game of Scrabble, which Amber won, as usual. Dinner was a yummy white chicken chili and rosemary foccacia bread. A nice day spent at home with the family. I have a feeling tomorrow will be spent mostly wrapping presents as unfortunately not much of that has been accomplished this past week. We have a couple invitations for Christmas Eve but we aren't sure what we are doing yet. We usually attend a Christmas Eve candlelight service at 11:00 p.m. Before we know it Christmas will be over ! Watch for more pictures ! Merry Christmas to all!!

Under the Weather

I am really feeling the Christmas pressure now! I have been sick since Thursday morning when I woke up and could hardly talk or swallow. I didn't have time to be sick!! I was hosting 10 girlfriends for Bunco that night! Thankfully I had already shopped for food and the decorating was done. After taking myself to the Dr. and a 2 hour wait, I was home with medicine by 10:00 a.m. Diagnosis - Acute Bronchitis, possible Pneumonia. Geez, I didn't feel that sick! I managed to get through the day and had a successful Bunco party but have paid for it since then. Friday I layed around all day, Saturday managed to get dressed and then lay around and today got dressed and managed to do a few "must do" tasks. Bronchitis always takes it out of me. No energy, lots of bone-wracking coughing, yuk!! I just want to feel well enough for work tomorrow. We only have until Thursday but it will be a crazy week with both classes having parties and the All School Sing-A-Long on Thursday. Amber will also be home Thursday morning. Both boys are finished with school for the semester so one of them will be elected to pick Amber up in Detroit. Hard to believe by this time next week it will all almost be over!! Take care of yourselves and stay well. I will be busy wrapping and doing that last minute shopping this week. Thank goodness for the Internet as I was able to do alot of it that way and am just waiting for the deliveries!!

Busy Weekend!!

We had a very busy weekend but did manage to accomplish a few things. The outside of the house is decorated thanks to Howard and the boys. It looks so pretty at night. The tree had been up for a week but I finally got the decorations on with help from Howard. I also managed to get the cards mailed and a few Christmas cookies started. We still had a little snow left on Saturday but by Sunday it was pretty much gone, at least at our house since it was in the 50's. That's so unusual for us at this time of year. Guess we can chalk that up to global warming. Sunday Howard and I took Zoe to a local park for a walk and game of frisbee. In some places there was snow and in other places just mud! Yuck!! The House Porch

Backyard

The Tree
At the Park

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BRRRRRRRRRRRR

Well, so much for Indian Summer!! This past weekend it was really cold and now today it is snowing. I don't think it will be enough to shovel but it's very slippery. Last weekend was spent finishing up the Christmas letter until I ran out of ink. We have the tree up but no lights yet. I have been doing a little shopping, mostly on the internet. It's so much easier shopping in the comfort of the living room rather than running from the car to a store when it's below 30 out there. I wanted to take some pictures of the snow but it was just too cold to stand out there and take a picture. This weekend I did take a couple of Zoe though. In the picture on the right she's wearing an apparatus that Howard bought her! Can you tell she doesn't like it much? It really looks cute though, Zoe Reindeer. I already had this "embellishment" (on the left) purchased and she seemed to like it a little better. I'd say she's all set for Christmas now. I don't really like to dress her in clothes but I do enjoy an accessory now and then.