Surprise, Surprise....

...I'm in beautiful and warm California! I flew in on Christmas day to Ontario, where Danielle and Luthor picked me up. They promptly dropped me off at my brother's house for Christmas brunch, where I thought we were going to have to mop my mother off the floor. "You're here! You're real!" She kept pinching me to make sure I was really here, until I reminded her that she was supposed to pinch herself to wake up from a dream. Dad had happy tears all over the place. There was just a lot of general excitement, since I hadn't told any of the rest of my extended family, except my brother and sister-in-love. I'm here for a while (until January 13th), but even a long time like that doesn't mean I can meet with each person I'd like to see for a personal lunch. Make sure to give me a holler if you're interested in getting together - maybe a group of us can meet!

So far, I've enjoyed the sun, the blue sky, the mountains, the warmth, a wedding (where I enjoyed the fact that I was outside without a coat on, and silently laughed at all the people huddled around the outdoor heaters), my mom preaching (yay, Mom!), meeting the new "niece dog", a Mary Kay party, Mexican food and In-N-Out. I plan on repeating several of them as often as possible while I'm here! Tonight I'll get pure girl time with Jenn and Danielle, and then tomorrow, I'm off to Wes and Nancy's for "friend family" time. Whew!

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year!

I Smelt

It sounds like it's raining outside. It's not. The ice from the storm last night is melting off the trees, and it's dripping everywhere because..... well, you know, it's a whopping 35 degrees outside.

Snow Day in Madison

Got this from a friend who loves to see what we think of all things Madison. This is what happens when all school is canceled, and college students at the UW are let loose:

(you might want to click on the picture to see this one enlarged)

Yup. That's dead center in the intersection of University Avenue and Park Street. (Normally a VERY busy intersection...)

You're Giving Me What?

Last Saturday, good friends of ours stopped by for an early Christmas time together with the kids. Our 2 1/2 year old god-daughter, Hannah, came tottering over to us, arm outstretched, glass jar in hand.

"Here. It's sauce."

"What kind of sauce, Hannah?"

"Brown."

There you have it.
Caramel, in all its simplicity. Brown is good!

14 Degrees

Today it was 14 degrees. I wore long underwear and a bubble coat, a pair of wool mittens. No wind. I thought to myself, "It's not too bad out here." That's kinda funny - and a little sad...

My Day

Decorating Christmas cookies with friend and her 2 year-old daughter: Good.
Eating Christmas cookies for lunch: probably not-so-good, but OH! So good!
MRI to check latest polka-dots on brain: Bad.
Non-claustrophobic MRI machine: Good.
Trip across town on ice-skating rink to MRI office: Bad.
Husband willing to take the afternoon off to drive his chicken wife: Very good.
Culvers for a real lunch after MRI: Good.
Long underwear: Good.
Long underwear: Ugly.
High of 9 today. Nine. One number. Nine. : Bad.
Long underwear: VERY good.

Snow Day!

When I woke this morning, I thought,
"Yay! Snow day! Oh, wait - I'm an adult. Shoveling. Crap."


That didn't stop us from enjoying the beauty,
laughing at the humor in things, or playing a little!

Enjoy these photos of our day:

Believe it or not, this photo was taken at 1am - no lights! The reflection of the moon through the clouds and onto the snow is actually enough to let you see all the way down the block without any lights!

Quesa really loves playing in the snow!

Our backyard

Yes, they really DO plow the bike path before the streets!

Front of the house

Discovery of a new tool: the roof rake! Look out, below!

Blizzard

So I took this photo last night, intending to say something cute like, "Extra points for anyone who can figure out what this is."

Here was the answer.

Now I dare you to try to find:


...the roof...

...the trash can...
(...or the fence from last night...)



...the car...



...the driveway...



...the birdhouse...



...the Adirondack chair...



...or the picnic table...




Here's the view from the guest room window.
Now, who wants to come visit?

White Stuff

It's our first official snowfall in our new backyard! Although I'm not a fan of the icy stuff, the white stuff is gorgeous. I can't wait to see it tomorrow in the daylight! Looks like we'll have a white Chrsitmas, after all! :)