Christmas

Fred REALLY loves to help open presents. ANY presents. They do not even have to be for him. On Christmas Eve, he was snagging presents from under the tree, and bringing them downstairs to open, or just carry around. He has a special love of tubes, and chapsticks. He scored doubly this year, as he was able to snag a tube of hand lotion that was wrapped WITH a chapstick. He managed to puncture the lotion, and enjoyed a little snack before i snatched it away from him. Here he is opening a present that was not for him. You really need to watch him...i turned around and there he was, ripping presents open before anyone noticed.

Here is Fred and Henry, looking out the window. Waiting for Santa to come back and bring more toys? Henry got a Kong and jingle ball, and Fred got some wrapped toys from their toy box. I know....kind of cheap of me, but whatever. For Fred, the GIFT is the wrapping paper!!

After all the present opening, you can tell the dogs were worn out, as evidenced by the fact that they are SHARING SPACE!

We had a bit of snow....

This pic is from about 2-3 weeks ago.

About a week later it COMPLETELY melted and we had some flooding!

Nana and Papa showed up, after their pleasurable cross-country train trip turned into a nightmare. They finally rolled into town on Christmas Eve, and they were EXHAUSTED. Henry was a little excited, and REALLY wanted Papa to wake up and play with him!

Fred? Well, Fred was Fred.

Thinking Sunny Thoughts!

This is where i wish that we were right now....at the great little bar next to the dog beach in Key West. This was our "Welcome Home From Iraq" vacation that the husband, the hounds and I took back in '04. That is the husband in the background, making conversation with another bar patron, while the dogs look on. We spent a great deal of time on that vacation at that bar. The dogs would get their swim on at the beach, and then we would move on up to the bar for some Corona refreshments, and to soak in the sunshine, and watch the water.

My poor parents are STILL stuck in the Chicago Amtrak station. Here is a tip...IF you travel by train, always always always book a room, or roomette. If the train is delayed, you get to wait in the warm, cozy lounge. There is a fireplace, comfy seats, big screen tv. If you go coach, you will have to wait in the virutally unheated lobby. My parents have been in Chicago now for almost 24 hours. Amtrak DID put them up in a hotel for the day though yesterday. Poor 'rents had not had a SHOWER since leaving Seattle on friday, due to the fact that the pipes on their train were frozen! ACK!!!
Mark my words, my father will NOT be traveling over the holidays ever ever every again!!
He is hanging in there though, and being a good sport. I am heading out to the grocery today, and i will be buying the man some beer. Could you imagine, if after all this, he got to my house and i did not have a beer to hand to him?

Snow....lots and lots of snow. I have done my morning shovel out, and i am now enjoying my first cup of coffee.

Cute dog stockings, and snow pics!

Henry and Fred are having a good ole time in the snow!! The snow was nice and powdery the other day...love it! The drifts looked like snow dunes.

These cute little stockings were a gift from my good friend Gaylen. SO cute!! I had to hang them up high in the kitchen, otherwise Fred will love them to bits! Especially after i fill them with treats!! She also sent some adorable ornaments, which have since been disperesed throughout the house. I know she is reading this, and wondering why i did not take pics of the package like all the other good bloggers....but i am not a very good blogger!! i will have to track down the rest of the package and snap pics of it all in a bit!

Thanks, G!! I love it all!!!

OOPSIE!

Henry is so stinking cute. I had both dogs do their annual Christmas Tree pose, and then Henry was so excited when the modeling session was over with. He picked up his kitty, and REALLY started to wag that tail. The tail smacked right into the glass ball ornament (you can see it in the pic, down low, right between the two of them) and it exploded. I was cracking up, so of course i had to have him pose with it.

Thinking about Germany

I am watching a PBS special on the German Christkindlmarkts right now, and it is making me miss Germany so much! i will never forget the smell of the fabulous Langoens Christmas Market! Champignon mit speck, and it was HEAVENLY. And all the gluhwein, which was so nasty, but the more you drank, the better it got. I remember being soooo cold, wearing thermals under my clothes, and still freezing. Our first Christmas was one of the best. We went with all of our friends to the market, and just got sloppy. Afterwards, we went back to the XO's house, and at about 2am, his wife cooked us up the BEST breakfast burritos ever. Donya is such a good Texan!
We hit several Markets during our three-years in Deutschland. Nurnburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, etc., but i think that small one in Langoens was the best. And their Oktoberfest was the best, too!!!

I just bought myself a Christmas present!

I have a tv upstairs in my office, equipped with rabbit ears. I can get CBS on this tv, and that is pretty much it. Come Feb, i will get zilch. So, today i called the cable company, and found that it will cost $41.25 for them to come out and equip me with a new cable box. Woowhoo...a treat for me. I spend a lot of time up here, as it is also my craft room. I like to have the tv on for background, and well...you know i am a tv addict. Honestly, i cannot believe i lasted an entire year with just CBS!! I see myself spending a LOT more time up in this room now, which will save us SO much money for several reasons. First, i do not have to have the propane fireplace running in this room, like i do in the downstairs tv room. Second, the tv downstairs is HUGE, and uses a LOT of electricity. By watching up here, i will lengthen the life of the tv downstairs, because heaven forbid i turn a tv off and read a book. So really, i did not just buy myself a Christmas present...i SAVED us money. SO, with that said...i guess i can go find another Christmas present now! ;o)