Halloween Weekend

Yes, I’m a week behind… but that’s how I roll!

Last weekend was super fun-filled.  It started off with a surprise 50th birthday party for my Aunt Shelly.    It was a great party–lots of friends/family, good food, etc.

I loved this idea:  They had “50 faces of 50″ where everyone got a mask/necklace with a photo of Shelly at various ages.  I think mine was 1972:

My cousin's son, Dylan, had a lot of fun with it too...

He's a ham

They also did a really sweet slide show set to music.  There were a couple photos of me in there that I’d rather forget ;)  If I can get a copy of them, maybe I’ll post.  Maybe not :)

 

Shelly and Dana watching the slideshow

Megan and I (photo credit: Dylan)

 

Dylan and Mom attempt a self-portrait

After the party, I made the wise decision to bring copious amounts of wine to my friend Kim’s house.  She’d had a rough week, so I decided to cheer her up.  Greeat idea.

And now… the Halloween pictures:

I had been teetering back and forth between going out for Halloween and not.  It’s my FAVORITE holiday, but none of my usual crowd was doing anything.  So I was happy when some of the boyfriends friends asked me to join them.  YAY for dress up!

Since I didn’t really have a costume “planned,”  I dug out the dress-up tub and put together this concoction.  Most people thought I was your average run-of-the-mill Streetwalker, but I prefer to call her Charlene.  I think she has an 80’s Southern vibe to her (maybe b/c I wore the same wig as Dolly Parton?  IDK)

 

The "getting ready in the bathroom" pic. LOL.

 

 

The bigger the hair, the closer to God

 

 

 

 

 

Outside a bar w/random cast of characters

 

our group at the party--note the tights

 

another group shot--this time w/Chad aka 'Death'

 

 

Charlene and Waldo

Andy's Hooter's girl was a BIG hit.... He makes a better girl than I do!

 

 

 

Bloggity Bloggity Boo

I’m going to stop apologizing for not posting more often.  To paraphrase a popular book/movie title:  I’m just not that into it.

But, since you’re all dying to know what I’m up to, here’s the rundown:

• Halloween– I was going to do a Foto Friday each day this month of my favorite costumes from prior years.  But, well, I didn’t.   Look for one soon.  Maybe.   I’m working on my costume for this year.  Last year I was lame and didn’t dress up.  This year I’m dressing up, but I don’t have any definite plans, so my costume might be lame.  Whatever.
  
  
• Family stuff-  Last weekend we threw a shower for my sister-in-law. It was fairly low-key but I think she got lots of stuff.  There were LOTS of babies there.  We figured out that out of the 7 “kids” in my mom’s family, 6 of them will have a new grandchild this year.  Yowzah!!   I’ll post pictures if I ever get any (I am still sans camera).After the shower my friend Kelly and her two kids stayed with me overnight.  It was the first time I had youngsters at my house.  It was fun and I  survived!
  
  
• Running--  I made it one full week on my new program and then completely fell off the wagon.  I started back yesterday.  I was hoping to run a race in late November, but it is already full, so I’m looking at one on Nov. 1.    There’s a 10K option and a 5K option. I can’t decide which to do.  I won’t “technically” be done with my 10K program by then… but maybe if I sign up for it, I’ll have the motivation to kick it into high gear?   Or should I just do the 5K and work on getting a better time.  (note: Nov 1 is the day after Halloween and thus far my longest run is only 4 miles.)Oh, and I still haven’t bought my “rewards” for the last 5K. I’m thinking of getting an iPhone instead of a sports watch.  They have apps for running PLUS it has a camera and I’ve wanted one for a long time.

• Friends– I have another wedding in November. The bride’s sister had a super fun couples shower a couple of weeks ago complete with HILARIOUS scavenger hunt and newlywed game.  Alas–no pix of that either.   The bachelorette party is in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully I’ll be able to take pix by then.   Posts without photos are just no fun!
• Pop Culture stuff– Besides running (or not) and planning parties, I just watched the entire season of Warehouse 13.  Good, not great– Kinda like an Xfiles/Alias mixture with some Star Wars references mixed in.  The first season just ended, but I’ll probably watch next season.  I’ve also been catching up w/Glee on Hulu.  Hopefully I can start watching in real time this week.   This week’s Mad Men (which I just watched yesterday) had me dumbfounded.    I’ve been trying to watch Season 2 of True Blood, but I have to rely on the kindness of others for that since I gave up HBO (damn economy!)   I also watched the Rob Zombie movie House of a Thousand Corpses this weekend.   It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.  Kinda reminded me of a Nine Inch Nails video. 

Foto Friday: Automotive FAIL!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

True, but blog posts are supposed to be concise…. So, here’s the story, in 500 words or less:

On the way to Minnesota for vacation last month my “check tire pressure” light turned on.  I got off at the next exit, checked my tire pressure, aired up the tires for good measure and proceeded to drive the ~700 miles to my destination.  We continued to monitor the tire pressure, but everything looked fine, so we didn’t worry about it much.  I had my brakes replaced a few days before and figured the light was just a malfunction and carried on with vacation.

By the time we were ready to head back home I had all but forgotten about my tire issue.  We got on the road and prepared for the 12-hour trek.   About an hour into our journey, we stopped to re-fuel on healthy stuff like powdered donuts and chocolate milk.

I got behind the wheel, Ryan climbed in the back seat with his pillow and blanked and Jo assumed donut duty in the passenger seat.   A couple miles after our first pit stop, I heard a noise.

Ryan:  What was that?

Me:  I dunno

Ryan:  I think it might be your muffler or something.

Me:  Oh, I doubt it. I’m sure there’s just something in the trunk.  Do you think I should pull over?

Ryan:  Uh…yeah.

Me (rolling down the window and sticking my head out):  Maybe there’s a helicopter* flying over or something.

Ryan: No, you need to pull over… NOW!

I pulled over and Ryan got out of the car to check things out. Sure enough, I had a flat tire.  And over 600 miles to drive.   CRAP!

We had to unload ALL of our stuff on the side of the road so that we could get out the jack and the spare tire (ironically called… a donut! )– All of our luggage and vacation supplies for THREE people plus some random stuff,  including my boyfriend’s “artwork” that’s been riding around in my trunk for months.

While Ryan was working on changing the tire, lots of nice Minnesotans stopped to ask us if we needed help.  “No,” we’d say. “We’ve got it.”   

We asked one woman if there was a tire shop in Grand Rapids or if we’d need to go further down the road.  She told us that there were two in town, so we started re-packing our gear back in the trunk.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, the nice woman came back (she had been going the opposite direction).  She said she knew a guy who would help us out.    We followed her to the tire shop where we had to unload all of our stuff yet again, where they quickly changed the tire and sent us on our merry way.

You can't see the "velvet Elvis" artwork because it's hiding behind the muted abstract print

An hour later and only $35 poorer, we were back on the road.  A big shout out to my brother for not only knowing how to change a flat but also for asking them to put on a used tire.

–

* We couldn’t stop laughing about this afterwards. There aren’t any airports, air bases, or anything else in that part of Minnesota to make me think there was a  helicopter flying overhead. So naturally that was the first thing I thought of. Naturally.

Foto Friday: Minnesota Vacation

Last week, I was in Minnesota on vacation.  My aunt and uncle have a cabin up there and they let us stay for free.  I posted a bunch of pictures on facebook, so I won’t bore everyone with ALL of them, but here are some notable photos/inside jokes/general funny stuff:

This sign pretty much sums it up!

Roxie took a swim. And by "took" I mean "was forced to" :)

We were not lacking in the chip department. Aunt L. even bought us some Funyuns... cuz we said they were the only things missing!

Highlight of the trip: Getting up on waterskiis for the first time!

I was super stoked!

We spent a lot of time in the sun

The boys fished

but I think my mom caught the biggest one!

We also went out to eat a lot! The Gosh Dam Place...

Home of the Gosh Dam meatloaf!

And the "place in the woods" the last night (can't remember the name)

home of DELISH pizza & pasta (and a bunch of other stuff!)

Back at the cabin, we had homemade ice cream (store bought for the preggos)

And played layed some bags

Most importantly, we spent lots of QT together (and took lots of pictures. this one is my fave!)

I can't wait to go back, THANKS Aunt Linda & Uncle Denny!

Long time, no blog

I know the “too busy to blog” excuse is getting lame.  But it’s true.  I was hoping to write some proper blog posts, but since some of you like lists (shout out to Harley Quinn– I loved your last comment!), I figured I’d save myself the trouble of actually having to write anything.

In the last week and a half or so I:

• Witnessed masked Mexican wrestling in Chicago.  It was awesome.
• Tasted cucumber-flavored candy.  It was awful.
• Learned that you really can’t just miss your connecting flight or your entire ticket is invalidated.
• Re-booked my ticket.  Twice.
• Got hit on by a Greek waiter in Chicago and a Mexican bar patron in Minneapolis.
• Spent entirely too much time on Sporcle.  Finally learned the correct spelling of Kazakhstan.  It comes in handy.
• Ate some killer Malaysian food in MPLS.  Heard a great (albeit very broken) story about a fire in a Malaysian place in Chicago.
• Witnessed and responded to an on-the-job accident. Not real common in my line of work.
• Learned I like tamales.
• Congratulated a friend on her recent engagement. Yay Keem!
• Almost forgot, and then lost, and then found my journal/notebook.
• Saw Star Trek. Loved it, despite zero familiarity with the original.  Reminded me a lot of Star Wars, actually.  And Lost.
• Met (and held!) another newborn baby.
• Picked up a new nickname (which I’m trying HARD to not let stick).
• Ran my second 5K, less than a month after my first, with no iPod. After being gone for a week and out drinking the night before.
• Mowed my lawn immediately after the 5K.  Bad idea.
• Learned that I was selected to be a Nielsen “family.”  I can’t wait to report my 2.5 hours of TV watching a week.
• Improved my ability to ride public transportation.
• Received a comped dessert because dinner took so long.  Waited about 20 mins for said dessert.
• Had multiple weird conversations about weight loss.  Including one that started with “I hope you’re not offended, but…”  Um, no, not offended!
• Took a photo next to a statue of Mary Tyler Moore.
• Met a friend’s new boyf.
• Spent Mother’s Day with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Against our advice, my mom insisted on having it at her house and making all the food.
• Ran in Chicago.  Gave unsuspecting motorist directional advice.  Felt really bad afterward.
• Attended a baby shower and graduation party.
• Received invitations to two other baby showers.
• Witnessed teachers literally FIGHTING over free books.
• Engaged in some tipsy shopping.  Bought books and a belt between happy hour and an awesome wine-fueled dinner.

Things I haven’t done

• unpacked
• watched last week’s Lost
• slept, at least not much

30 Days of 30: By the Numbers

Those of you paying close attention may have noticed that the 30 days of 30 technically lasted only 29 days (Jan 5-Feb 2).  There were also a couple of unclaimed days in there, but I filled them by hanging out with my mom and a co-worker.  

BUT… the 30 days aren’t really over yet.  When this blog goes live, I’ll be in Chicago for the finale, so I’m counting my party on Saturday as the 30th day.

If my calculations are correct, here are some other interesting numbers about my 30 days:

60– Number of people I celebrated with this month.* 

36– Number of locations– 16 restaurants, 11 bars**, 1 bakery,  1 arena, 1 bowling alley, 1 movie theater, 1 out of town location (Galena), 1 shopping center, and 3 private residences.  

The most common location for 30 days activities was Bunny’s, followed closely by a tie between Crane Alley and Boltini.   This is notable because I probably haven’t been to either of these places much in the past year, but I really like them.  Houlihan’s and the Courier were the most popular non-drinking establishments. 

6– Number of places I’d never been before: Galena, Bridget’s house, La Gourmandise Bistro, The Brass Rail, The Sandwich shop (whose name I’ve yet to look for), Cakes on Walnut.

14-  Number of different activites: lunch,  dinner, drinks, dessert, Illinois game, bowling, LOST watch, movie, snowboarding, Superbowl party, live band, book club, story teller, trivia

15– Number of times I went out for lunch

13-- Number of times I went out for drinks

6– Number of times I went out for dinner***

2– Number of times I went out for dessert.  Again, notable because I rarely go out just for dessert.

2– Number of Illini games watched**** (one at the Assembly Hall, one at Bunny’s)

2– Number of things I’d never done before:  go snowboarding and listen to a professional story teller

0– Number of pounds I’ve gained.  Seriously. I definitely feel fatter/less healthy, but according to the scale, my weight is the same.

I don’t even want to think about the number of drinks or calories I consumed.  Thank goodness I didn’t have this “by the numbers” idea earlier or else I really would turn into the guy from Supersize Me. Lol.

More importantly, though, I’m amazed at the number of things I was able to cram into one month… and the number of people I convinced to “play along.”  It was really a great experiment and I’m glad I did it.  I highly doubt 31 days of 31 are in my future, though :)

In case you missed them (or just want to relive the fun), here are the weekly recaps:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4, Part 1
• Week 4, Part 2

——————-

Notes on the Methodology

*Includes only people in “my party” and does not include repeats (i.e. if I had lunch with Lisa one day and happy hour another, she is only counted once).

**For this purpose a bar is defined as a place primarily for drinking whereas a restaurant is an eating establishment.  I chose to count them based on why/when I was there.  (i.e. Farren’s is a bar/restaurant, but I was only there for lunch, so it gets counted as a restaurant.)

*** This number is probably lower than it should be.  I counted an event as drinks if drinking was the primary purpose of the activity (i.e. happy hour). It’s more than likely that dinner was also consumed.

**** Again, possibly artificially deflated.  There may have been an Illini game on during a happy hour that I did not record as a “game watch”

30 Days of 30: Week 4, Part 2

Here’s the play-by-play of my actual birthday weekend:

Friday– Although I’d been drinking since Tuesday, I officially kicked off my birthday weekend with  Happy Hour at The Esquire with work peeps.    I was impressed by the turnout– Leslie, Steve,  Janet, Lisa, Paula, Paula’s Husband, Dave, and Andrew all came out.   Peggy was also there and came over to wish me a Happy Birthday– right before the first shot!!

It was Leslie’s day and she bought me a “Birthday Princess” Tiara (pink–which matched my shirt)  and a shot glass necklace (which matched my bracelet).  Here I am modeling my new gifts:

After Esquire, we went to Bentley’s.  Lisa’s husband’s band was playing there, so we had to check it out.  Here’s a shot of “the girls” at Bentley’s:

And me doing my first “shot” out of the shot glass necklace (note: it’s a shot of beer… this is after a Rock Lobster/Red Lobster shot at Esquire)

We drank a little more and then I headed home. It had been one hell of a week and I knew I had more festivities planned.  It was a great night. I really love my work friends.  Another successful “meeting” on the books!!

Saturday– 

Since Friday was a relatively early night, I was able to get some things done around the house on Saturday.   When I went to check my mail, I got the COOLEST SUPRISE… my mailbox was FULL…. of CARDS!!    At first I thought it was a mistake–that my doctor’s office or vet and accidentally sent me multiple cards or something.  And then I noticed that there was the same handwriting… on each of them.  And no return envelope.  

I tore open the envelopes and discovered that Tracy, Cynthia, and Julie had sent me 30 cards… for my 30th birthday!!    And all of them were different.  Yeah, they had to get creative a couple times… turning a “birthday boy” into “birthday girl”  and “congratulations” into “congratulations, you’re 30″ but it was great!   Coolest idea ever.

stack of cards--before they were opened

 

cards on display

Saturday night was the big bowling extravaganza.  Once again, I was thrilled with the turnout:  Cory/Bobbi, Lindsey/Luke, Steph/Drew, Kim, Red, Jeff/Erin and the kids all came out.   And we had a BLAST.   I actually won the first game (well, on my lane) with a personal high of 122.  Yes, 122 was my personal record AND the winning score on my lane.  We’re clearly not professionals!   It was such a fun night and I have TONS of pictures (some I took, but mostly taken by Macie and Elyce).  Here are some highlights:

 

Circle Girls

Cory and the chicks

 

Red and I... fine as hell

 

the obligatory self-portait

After bowling it was off to Rock’s to meet up with some boys.   They were there for a UFC fight, which –honestly– sucked the life out of me, but once it was over, the party was on!!    

 

Kfish showed up

And so did the Siemsens

 

Clennon and Drew stopped by for a drink (Not pictured: Drew)

A SUPER fun night with many of my very favorite people!

Sunday–  Superbowl Sunday!!!   I gotta admit that after such a long week/weekend, I was a little spent.  I went to a Superbowl party at Ron’s and had a great time– good food, lots of drinks, lots of laughs.    We watched the game, got out the 3D glasses during the commercials, the boys played poker, etc.   But after the game was over, I CRASHED!  It wasn’t time to go home yet, so Ron let me sleep in the back room while everyone else continued hanging out.  Turning 30 will do that to you.

Monday–  My actual BIRTHDAY!!   I took off work, lounged around the house and hung out with Kyle most of the day.   We didn’t get going until after 2 in the afternoon, so we just had a late lunch and went to the mall.  OMG– I couldn’t believe how many stores have closed at the mall.  So sad.  After lunch, we piddled at the bookstore for a bit and then I went to O’Charleys to have dinner with my mom and he met his mom and step-dad for dinner.  

Since I had a late lunch, I wasn’t hungry and just got a side salad and a slice of chocolate (dare i say “birthday”) cake for dessert.   It was PHENOMENAL and HUGE!!  My mom got me a bunch of much-needed gift cards and my brother sent up a  ”SO IL” hoodie.  It was perfect.

After dinner, I met Kyle back at my house and we went to see The Wrestler.  I liked it a lot… it was pretty much exactly what I expected. Plus, it had a killer late-80s hair metal soundtrack.   Shopping, eating, a movie– what a perfect day to spend my 30th bday.

So, folks— there you have it.  The 30 days of 30 experiment fully documented for your reading pleasure.   The 30 days aren’t officially over yet, though.  I’m heading to Chicago for the last leg of my birthday celebration.    I hope you all have enjoyed following my little experiment.

30 days of 30: Week 2

Whew… what a week!   Here’s the rundown:

Monday– Lunch at Luna with co-workers Kurt and Scott

Tuesday– Lunch at Houlihan’s with Tracy, Cynthia, and Julie. I used to play Bunco with these girls and now we keep up via facebook, so it was nice to see them in person after way too long!

Wednesday– Janet’s day (see earlier post).

Then I went to the Illini game with Cory, Bobbi, and Lacey.  They were the best seats I’ve ever been in:  12 rows up, right behind the Orange Crush (cell phone pic doesn’t do it justice.)

view from our seats

Thursday–  Book club.  We discussed Freakanomics, which was universally enjoyed.  I’ll consider this day Bonny’s, since she hosted and Scott and Kurt both have their own days.

Friday–   Ron’s day.   The plan?  To go to bars we don’t normally go to.  Ron was going to pick 3 and I was going to pick 3.  Cool.

Then Cory called and wanted to do Happy Hour.  Since Ron had dinner plans, it worked out well.  I met Cory and Co. at Bunny’s for happy hour. (If you click the Bunny’s link, you’ll see a pic of Cory at a parking lot party last summer– he’s as famous for Bunny’s as I am for the Esquire–ahah!). We drank buckets, ate Bosco sticks and played some Euchre.  Ron showed up, hung out for a bit and then it was off to meet Chad for the bar crawl.

First stop:  The Embassy.  There was a band, so we had to pay a $5 cover charge, even though we only stayed for one drink.  Then we went to Crane Alley, The Brass Rail and Bentley’s.  The last two bars are the only ones I hadn’t been to before.  And  I don’t ever need to step foot in the Brass Rail again, but I’ll definitely go back to Bentley’s.

All in all, it was a good night… but Happy Hour + Bar crawl was probably not one of my best ideas.

Saturday– Saturday was like two nights in one.

First I met Andrea and Amanda (from boot camp) at La Gourmandise Bistro for dinner and to listen to a storyteller.  I’d never been to the bistro before and I’d never heard a storyteller, so it was a bunch of firsts for me.  The bistro was cute (although I made a poor soup selection) and the storyteller was entertaining, but nothing to write home about.   We left after the first act and went to Crane Alley for drinks and dessert.   It was great to be able to hang out with those girls.  I miss boot camp!

After that, I met Erin, Jeff, Jaime, Dave, Chachi, Bubba, Nikki and Andrea at Boltini.  They had been out for some family birthdays and were getting ready to leave when I got there.  I had one drink and then we went to Fat City.  If you haven’t been there yet, it’s exactly the same.  Only nicer.  If that makes much sense.   Erin, Jeff, Jaime, and Dave left and the rest of us headed to Tumble Inn.

Chachi & I @ Tumble Inn

Erin & Chachi @ Fat City

As usual, TI was a late night Mecca for Unity grads, so there were plenty of people I knew there (some of whom I didn’t actually talk to).  I stayed until close, but this was a much calmer night than  the bar crawl.  It pays to pace oneself.

Sunday–  Since Monday is a holiday, my sister Kelli signed up for Sunday night.   Kelli, her boyfriend Doug, and my brother David picked me up at noon and we went to Radio Maria for lunch.  To my surprise, my mom, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Denny were there as well.  We had a nice lunch and I think I was able to introduce some of them to a new restaurant, so that was kinda cool.

After lunch, we had a drink at the Esquire and then went back to TI to watch some football. (Okay, it was mostly so some of the crowd could smoke, but whatever.)   It was a fun afternoon, but I was super tired from the rest of the weekend.   I came home with full intentions of watching the Steelers game, but fell asleep on the couch.  For 12 hours.   I must’ve been tired.

Definitely a super fun-filled week.  It’s so cool to be able to hang out with so many different people and try new things. After the first week-o-lunches I was starting to think all I was going to do was eat… but now I’m looking forward to some low-key non-drinking events in the days to come!

A few observations at the half-way point:

• If “professional storyteller” is a real job, then I think I might have a new career path.  If that lady can get up and tell stories–so can I!!
• I really need to try to take more pictures, but I’m usually just having a good time hanging out with people that I forget I even have my camera.  Maybe next week.
• Pacing is key.  Even though 8 bars in 3 days sounds like fun… functioning the next day is important!  I really am starting to feel almost 30.

2008: The Year in Review, Part 1

I was without internet for a little over a week, so I’m a bit behind on my blogging.  But I didn’t want 2008 to go un-documented, so here is part 1 of my month-by-month account of my life’s activities.   Luckily, I have this handy little blog to help me remember what I did!!

January started with New Year’s eve in Tuscola.

Then it was Cops & Robbers Bunco at Kim’s

And a wine tasting at my house:

February, of course, is my birthday month, what more do you need??

March–  I started blogging, albeit covertly.

We had Bunco at Tonyas:

I went to Vegas with my family:

And Cooper Philip Pollard was born:

April– I got a new car, saw a baby left alone in a car seat; and Backyard Tire Fire at Highdive; there was an earthquake and Lost came back on the air after a much-too-long writers strike.

I also went to New Orleans for work (yes, there are better pix of this trip, but I’ll just post this one to spare the, uh, innocent!!)

May--  We celebrated Lisa’s birthday with a happy hour, I went to  Atlanta for work, and took in a stray dog.

My dog had surgery:

I saw Chicago in Peoria with Jen:

And went to St. Louis to celebrate Jeff’s 30th birthday:

June- Can you believe the only thing on my calendar is that I started boot camp? I’m sure there were other things going on, but I didn’t write it down.

So, there you have it– the first 6 months of 2008 as told through photos and blog posts.  I’m sure there are plenty of things that I’m missing, but those are some of the high points.

Stay tuned for part 2 and a New Year’s Resolution post.  Then, it will be back to your regularly scheduled programming :)

A SoIL Christmas

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law in Southern Illinois (affectionately referred to as SoIL).  It was a really great time.   After a quick lunch, we toured some of the wineries on the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail.

We started at Alto Vineyards and worked our way north.  We toured a total of 5 wineries that day:  Alto, Hedman, Von Jakob, Pamona, and Hickory Ridge.  Each one was different.  My favorite wine was either the Cabernet Sauvingon from Von Jakob (the only 100% cab sav grown, made, and bottled in Illinois) or the Kir (pronounced Keer) from Pamona.   Pamona was the most unique in that all of their wines are made from fruit other than grapes.    Here are some of my tasting notes*:

I was planning on giving wine as gifts, so of course I had to buy bottles at almost every stop.  Here’s a photo of all our “loot.”  It’s not all mine, but I picked up quite a few bottles:

Then it was back to the house to open presents. We’re nearly 30 years old, yet our mom still goes overboard for Christmas.  Check out the number of presents under the tree. I kept telling my mom it was “garish.”

 

Ryan and Jo don’t have many pictures of the two of them together, so Jo asked me to take one by the tree.  In typical fashion, Ryan wasn’t playing along.  So I took one of Jo pretending that Ryan was in the picture:

Then one of Ryan doing the same thing:

And, finally, one of them together:

Everyone got a lot of really great presents, but Ryan wins the prize for most creative wrapping materials.   Jo outlawed bows this year because the dogs just chew them off, so he came up with a compromise…. Yep, that’s duct tape on my present.  Classy!

After gifts, we went to dinner and then came back to the house to play some games.  We had been snapping photos all night and Ryan noticed there weren’t many of me.  Maybe I should take my very own photo in front of the Christmas tree with a gun.    My brother is a hunter and is very pro-gun and I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum.  We argue the gun control issue all the time and he’s always trying to get me to go out shooting.  I never do.  

Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the warm, fuzzy holiday spirit, but for some reason I agreed to taking pictures with the guns.   And, I must say, they make me laugh every time I look at them.

After that, we drank some mulled wine, played board games and went to bed.   The next morning Jo, Mom, and I went to breakfast at Harbaugh’s Cafe.  Our friend Lesley has been raving about this place for quite some time, so I had to check it out.   The food was good, but the atmosphere is what really caught my eye.  

It was kinda funky and kitchy.  None of the furniture matched, the dishes looked like they came out of someones lake house.  It was just really eclectic and fun.  Here’s a shot of my chair at Harbaugh’s:

As we were getting ready to leave, Ryan suddenly remembered that there was one more present under the tree.  As you may recall, there’s a bit of a tradition in our family for both surprises and somewhat extravagant gifts.   The surprise gift this time was a flat screen TV for our mom.  She cried.   Over a TV!

All in all, it was a super great weekend.   I loved being able to go do stuff with my family without the usual pressures of Christmas.  I think this may become an annual tradition. 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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* I apologize for the poor quality of the scans. I just got a scanner for Christmas and I’m still playing with settings, etc.  The good news is that new scanner = more pictures/documents to share!!