12 things

Hello, my neglected blog.  Lots has happened since I last posted. I'm not going to attempt to catch up.  I'll just start from here.

It's Christmas Eve!   We have eaten and are sitting around watching "A Christmas Story," so I thought I'd take the time to post something I saw on Facebook. 

12 things about the way I celebrate Christmas...

1.   The Big Man and I were engaged around Christmas of 1988.  We bought a teddy bear with the year on it that year and vowed to buy one each year on....and we have!  We bought #26 this year.  So here are numbers 1 and 26. 

2. We read the Christmas story from Luke 2 as a family before going to bed on Christmas Eve.  I love it in the King James, so we use the Bible that was my late grandmother's. 

3. We always attend the Christmas Eve service at church.  It is my favorite service of the year.  Tonight was no different.  T. Willy's favorite carol is "Angels We Have Heard on High."  They sang it at church tonight, and we all loved watching our sweet boy belting it out.  I smile just thinking about it. 

4. My favorite Christmas movies are "A Christmas Storyl" and "It's a Wonderful Life."  I've directed both of them as plays.  

5. We have appetizers for our Christmas Eve meal every year.  T. Willy is picky and MK became a vegetarian this year, so we had a lot of variety tonight.  

6. We have hash for Christmas breakfast every year - other things too - but always hash. 

7. After the Christmas service, we drive around looking at lights. This year it seemed that a lot of people didn't put up lights.  Kind of sad. 

8. Christmas color of red and green are my two favorite colors.  

9. My mom did Christmas right.  I never feel that I can live up to the way she did it. 

10. T. Willy usually sleeps in MK's room on Christmas Eve. This year he has decided not to do that.  Sad face. 

11.  Our Christmas tree is more sentimental than fancy.  We try to get ornaments whenever we go somewhere new, and we have some from when the Big Man was a kid  I love them. 

12. In 1992, I think, I nearly ended the bear tradition. We didn't buy one that year.  The next year we bought a generic bear, and put a 1992 on it.  It's the only year we've faltered.   Whenever the Big Man gets sentimental and talks about the future, he says we need to stay together forever because we "need more bears."  It has become something of a mantra.  They take up a lot of space, but they're meaningful.   

So that was 12.  Merry Christmas!

Etc....

The school year is going really well.  I love my classes.  We are busy busy busy, but that's nothing new.  T. Willy seems really happy at school, and MK is doing well too. She now gets "on the floor" with customers and is learning new things all the time.  The Big Man is enjoying a rare weekend off and looking forward to a few meetings in Orlando coming up in the next month or so. 

We are still really enjoying the puppy.  She is growing so fast and learning so much.  She is getting spayed this week, so I'm a little nervous about her recovery, but the doctor assures me it will be okay.  

So that's about it.  Pictures!

All my chicks have come home to roost.

MK's friend, CD, has been living with us for about a month. CD is from Seattle.  This weekend, CD's mom sent them to Seattle for sightseeing and a Taylor Swift concert.  They had a wonderful time, and they're now home again.  

The Big Man and T. Willy and I had a quiet weekend. Tomorrow is the Big Man's birthday.  We celebrated a little tonight. I made one of his favorite meals and a cake.  We will do presents tomorrow. 

Yesterday was puppy school. Emmy did well.  If we could get her to outgrow carsickness, it would be even more enjoyable.  

So here are some shots of her at school. She didn't master "down" as in "lie down," but she rocked the tunnel!!!

Newest project.

Before, close up and after!

Busy days!

Just a random post: school has started for everyone, and we're settling into a routine.  Even Emmy went to puppy training class today!  She will go for 5 more weeks, so we are busy every day!  We start auditions for the fall play on Monday, so that's adding to the craziness. However, it will be over in late October, and then we can relax a little until the spring show begins.  

We had some out of town surprises last week. A friend of the Big Man's from high school was visiting the area, and we had a great dinner out with him and his family. Then a cousin of mine was here, and we had another great time visiting with him and his family. That doesn't happen for us often, so it was especially enjoyable. 

Here are some pictures!

The floors are finished!

It took exactly 3 weeks as we were promised!  I am so happy with the job they did, and I am also happy that we are able to put our house back together!  We are finished with the office, living room and T. Willy's room. So here are some pictures. 

Meet the new band

For the past 4 years, we attended "Meet the Band" to watch MK participate.  This year, she sat with me, and we watched together.  It was definitely bittersweet.  We had a great time, and the rain held off  until the very end.

The floors should be finished Sunday. I cannot believe it!!  We're so pleased with them, and we will be thrilled to have our house back to normal.