What Christmas is All About

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I'll tell you what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown: That's what Christmas is all about. Puppies, kitties, babies, love, and family (not necessarily in that order). . . . and puppy smiles. We got to see a significant amount of family this weekend. That was pretty cool. However, we now need a vacation from our holiday experience. I miss bein' a kid around Christmas . . . (and I miss the serious vacation full of eating and sleeping and watching TV and doing nothing). Oh! We have new cell phones now. We also have new cell phone numbers. Apparently, if you have a contract with one company and if you switch to a new company and do pay-as-you-go, you can't keep the same number. We weren't really expecting that. So . . . if you want those new cell numbers, get in touch with us. Our house phone number is the same, though (and will be the same for a long, long, long time). We decided to go to Cingular and get Go Phones with as little as we use the things. Plus, the reception on these things can only be described as INSANELY better than Verizon. Thank God for contracts ending (and now, not having a contract at all). Other than that . . . we've just been soakin' in the holiday season, and I've been tryin' to rip through book 5 of Harry Potter. It's such a sad book . . . Speakin' of sad: Willi and I had received United 93 from Netflix about a week ago, and we haven't been able to bring ourselves to watch it. I think we're just going to send it back without watching it. I don't think we can handle it . . . especially not around the holidays . . .

Christmas Card

That's my way of sendin' Christmas cards. 

Christmas Lights

I had made mention before that my neighbors' house is just crazy with decorations for Christmas. I also mentioned that I might get some photos of it. Well, last night, I did. Check this out:


This is the front—the view we can see from our living room.


This is an angled, side view of the house plus garage. Believe it or not, there are houses on both sides of this house, but you can't see them due to the illumination (and the darkness).


This is our next door neighbors' house. They're the nice people that are always doing nice things for us.


Here's the view from our next door neighbors' house towards our house.


Aaaaand . . . that's our house. We went all out.


Angled view of our house . . .

And there it is, folks.

We're workin' this weekend, so we hope everyone else is having some fun for us.

Chimney Sweep

Okay. After my long, boring post, I'll spice things up a bit with a photo post. It's about time, I suppose.

---

This is a photo of Willi after he came down from knocking all the ugly paneling down in the attic. He looked so much like a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins, I couldn't help but to take pictures of him.


As you can see, he's not very happy about it.


Like . . . he's really not happy about it.

---

Hobbes has figured out that he's cute, unfortunately.


See what I mean?


It's almost disgusting.


He's gettin' better . . .


So serious . . .


This is a pretty regular thing for Hobbes—looking at someone over the back of the couch.


I couldn't have all those photos of Hobbes and not have one of Hank . . . so, here.

That is all!

Ditka and Dog

Yesterday, Willi had to be gone most of the day from the office to go to an event in Chicago for work. The plan was for me to meet up with him later at Ditka's Bar and Grill (where he'd be in the evening with his vendor Weil-McLain). We realized that we'd not be going home between work and Chicago, so we decided to put Hobbes in the basement all day.

I worried about what he might be getting into while we were at work. I was praying that he didn't bite through an electrical cord that we missed . . . and I was hoping that he wasn't poopin' up a storm down there.

So, the work day ended, and I drove to Chicago to meet Willi. The drive was somewhat rough, and I blame that partially on the fact that I haven't really driven in awhile—especially in Chicago (Willi usually HAS to drive when we're going to work . . . he apparently just HAS to). It went alright, though, I guess . . . no wrecks. I did see something amazing while driving on Lake Shore Drive, though. Check it out:







The pictures don't really do it justice. It was awesome.

I also saw Ditka last night. I didn't run up to meet him. I'm not one to run towards a celebrity and be like, "You need to meet me!"

So, I just stared at him and thought about the fact that this guy has been on Saturday Night Live and movies. It was pretty cool.

He really does look like a bear, though. He's got a perfect cro-magnon head.

It was funny: everyone at Ditka's restaurant was dressed to the nines, and this guy comes waltzin' in wearing a black sweatshirt, black jeans, and wrestling shoes. It was hilarious. He looked comfortable, and he wore a look on his face that said, "Okay. Let's get this over with."

It was pretty cool. I will admit that. I don't mind Chicago so much, either. It's always so weird getting into the city and seeing the different kinds of people walking down those streets near Michigan Avenue. You'll see guys in fedora hats and girls wearing something you'd have seen a girl wear in the 50s. It's crazy. Then, you'll see the lawyers with mullets (I swear I saw one). So different.

We got home faster than it took me to get there. I came from Portage to get there, too.

When we got home, I was certain we'd find a poo-ridden basement 'cause the monster was down there. We opened the door to let him out of the basement so we could take him outside to go pee, and he was squealing. While Willi took him outside, I ran down to the basement to see what the damage was, and much to my surprise, there was NOTHING. That dog held all bodily functions from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and I'm not really sure how. I was astounded. I believe he might finally be potty trained . . .

Maybe we can start caging him less. We let him sleep in our room last night because he was so good. We may use the cage as little as possible now.

This was Hobbes in the car from last week:


Isn't he just ridiculous with his cuteness?

It's Friday!

HVAC and Hobbes

Okay. Picture time! This is our air conditioner. Isn't it beautiful? This is our furnace. There's a Honeywell electronic air cleaner set up between the furnace and the duct that's there. I'm pretty stoked about that. This is Hobbes. A man and his dog. This is basically what Hobbes does all day. He's so stinkin' cute . . . He did pretty well on my parents' boat this weekend. He actually fell off of the dock at one point, which scared the crap out of us, but he swam right to the shore as if he'd done it before. He's also pretty cuddly. Here's Mom and Dad's boat. That's Dad. That's my Mom and Dad. Side view of the boat. Hank is feelin' a bit jealous these days, I think, but we're doin' what we can to make him feel just as loved as always. He is a huge cat. But . . . he's pretty stinkin' cute. Hobbes is pretty cool. Amanda called us last week and told us that there was a guy that she works with who was trying to get rid of some puppies. All we know about them is that their mother is a beagle, and the father is a mystery. We saw some photos of the dogs, and we picked Hobbes out of a photo of several puppies. Amanda went to pick him up for us. I guess that was a pretty sad event—he cried pretty hard when he got separated from his family. I'm so glad I wasn't there to see that. I just know I'd have come home with two dogs instead of one, and it's already a lot of work having just one . . . We met Amanda in Lafayette on Thursday evening to get the pup. He was so good in the car. Willis ended up sleeping on the floor with the pup the first night. Hobbes was scared of absolutely everything. He'd never really been indoors before, so he was terrified of everything in our house: the cat, the stairs, the fact that there were walls everywhere, you name it. We wondered how Hank would handle this intruder, but he's been great so far. I think he's excited to have someone to play with while we're gone. He does his crazy flip stuff around the dog, and now, they've gotten comfortable enough with each other to chase each other around the house. It's pretty stinking hilarious. I'm hoping to catch some photos of that sometime soon. Hank is a little jealous, I think. Last night, he hid under a bed for about an hour until I went to find him. After petting him and talking to him for awhile, he finally came out from under there to let me pet him. So . . . I think we're handling it as well as we can—we try to hold him and pet him as much as the dog (and maybe more in some cases since the dog is probably more forgiving). We had to leave Hobbes at home when we went to work on Friday, and we were quite nervous about leaving him and the cat in the kitchen/basement area of the house (better there than the rest of the house). When I came home to pick him up to go to the boat, I was sure I'd find a mess somewhere. Amazingly enough, he didn't go to the bathroom anywhere, and when I took him outside, he went in the grass just like he was supposed to. We didn't even have to teach 'im. I think it's because he's been raised outside so far, and the idea of going to the bathroom anywhere but grass is kind-of foreign to him. So . . . that's pretty awesome. His nose is gonna get him into trouble a lot, I think. When I take him for walks, he wants to stop and sniff everything. He is, however, learning quickly about the leash. I think we can train him yet! He's a good dog. It was good to see Mom and Dad this weekend. It's too bad we were so tired the whole time . . . that was a long drive. It all went so fast, too. We didn't sail for long, but that was probably for the best since I think the dog probably didn't want to wait anymore to pee. The pup was so good on the boat. I was impressed with him. Plus, I think Mom and Dad really liked him. Dad thinks that maybe Hobbes has beagle and blue tick in him. He might just be right about that . . . Mom and Dad took us to Nagoya—a Japanese restaurant. I ate sushi (with chopsticks), and Dad made fun of me for that. It's cool, though, 'cause I love sushi. It was one of those places where the cooks entertain you and cook your food right there in front of your face. I think that's so stinkin' cool. This weekend, the plan is to get some stuff done on the house. Scott and Mary are comin' up to help us, and we're gonna get some stuff done . . . finally. I'm just glad we're getting to stay home! We're never there anymore, it seems. That's all for now. I hope everyone is stayin' happy.

Mom and Dad Cheat Death

I got a call from my sister (Julie) while I was at work today. She goes, "Have you heard from Mom and Dad?"

I said, "No. In fact, I've emailed Mom today, and I'm surprised she hasn't gotten back to me yet."

She says, "Well, okay. Here's what happened. Mom and Dad were in an accident yesterday, but they're okay. Apparently, some 16-year-old girl (driving with several friends in the car) blew a stop light in Monticello and T-boned them. She was going so fast (about 35-40 mph) that she knocked them several feet into a light pole."

"Wow. I had no idea," I said.

"I guess Dad was pretty freaked out when they came to a stop because he was trying to get Mom to talk to him, and she wasn't responsive. After awhile, I guess Mom came to and turned to him and asked, 'What happened? Did I run a red light or something?'"

Ma got taken to the emergency room and got examined, X-rays, and a CAT scan. She whacked her head pretty hard in the car a couple of times (once at each hit). The doctor told my dad to wake her up every two hours last night to make sure she was alright. She's staying home from school today and tomorrow—doctor's orders.

Wow.

It amazes me that my sister in Texas knew about that before I did. How does that happen?

Regardless, I feel terrible about being frustrated that my mom hadn't emailed me back. I'll never do that again . . .

It's pretty scary—hearing bad news like that. I don't like it . . .

Weekend at Culver

Okay. I'll go ahead and share a few good pictures from the weekend at Culver.


Sarah and Tony are enjoying the boat ride.


Oh, Captain, my Captain. El Capitano. It's Jarsh, and if you look closely, you can see his lovely Mary Kay sunglasses.


I'm not sure, but I think Paige is laughing at Jarsh's sunglasses here.


As McGee says, it's, "WILLOW!"


McGoo. 'Nough said.


A little proof that I do, indeed, waterski.


A little proof that Jeffrey waterskis on one ski.


This is Jeffrey's lady, Christy.


I think this is just before we ran over Christy with our huge tube.


This is us actually going.


The boys are suiting up for their ride. Check out Tony's supermodel pose.


The boys are riding.


The whole crew. Yes. We are playing dominoes.

That was a good weekend. The company was good, the food was good, and we had some good fun.

In other news, I had a Charlie horse this morning at about 4:30. It was lovely. I think I scared the crap outta Willi.

Also: we're getting our stuff installed on Tuesday.

That's about it. CUT!