Annie's favorite gift...

...the cardboard box from Auntie Samantha!!

Christmas with the Wests

Opening gifts early Christmas morning.

New Coat

Samantha, I love this new coat! Thank you!!!

Yea!!! Family time!!!!!

The Tortoise and the...what?!

My dear husband found this amazing story in the news. Stories like this really make me smile. Even an old tortoise can have a mothering heart.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hippo-tort.htm

Christmas Time!

Boy, it sure was tough to get that tree up all by myself! 

Yum!

 

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday morning they said we'd get 6-7 inches, and I was doubtful...boy was I wrong! It came down in thick chunks until you couldn't but several yards in front of you. Earlier this morning it was so white we couldn't see across the street.

It's Annie girl's first snow! She was sleeping when I took these pictures this morning, or Joel would have taken one of her and I. She has this "baby bag"--a snowsuit that you just plop her in and go. We'll see if we can get a picture of it.

As a kid, this weather made my siblings and I so excited. We'd be out first thing sliding down the hill or seeing if the pond froze over. Even when we didn't have sleds we'd make them out of trash bags or see if we could just slide down on our butts. I can't wait until Annie's old enough to get excited about these things!

Hopefully we can get a Christmas tree tonight!

-melissa

This picture is weird because our camera has issues...but it's kinda cool. (no pun intended)

Ahhh sweet winter mornings...

The spider web on Joel's truck frosted over. I looked but I couldn't find the spider. I suppose he went on a vacation to Florida. :)

the grown-up part of snow...

...cleaning off your car for work

Annie & Papa and Annie's blankie

A little blurry but the expression is so cute I had to post it.

Hello

First I'd like to say that... it's cold. Really cold. A coworker and I went out for a meeting today and my jaw dropped to see the bank's big 'ole time and temperature display sadistically fronting a lethal 24 degrees, almost mocking me with it's bright and cheerful yellow-lit display. Now, you upstate New Yorkers who may or may not be reading may harumph all you want. Yes I know it gets so cold up there that the flames on your bonfires have icicles... and I know 24 degrees isn't that cold... but in addition to the icy air temp, the freakish-bonzai-ginsu wind was whipping our notably heavy SUV like Indiana Jones and that ambiguous-ethnicity-bald-guy with the painted face from that one movie where he steals stuff from underground and gets beaten up.

but I digress

Any school child knows that 34 degrees farenheight plus winds in excess of 20mph equals negative A MILLION! (Negative a million is coincidentally the temperature at which most fungus comes alive and sings Welsh folk music... but you probably already knew that)

So here I am. Melissa reminded me I haven't written one of these blog entries in a while. Once she reads this, she'll probably regret it. I actually heard from my office mate that it's now been qualified by notable "scienticians" that too much time on the internet "can be harmful"



I'll wait for the shock to die down.








So it's a good thing I don't spend all my time blogging. All I ever hear nowadays is "zangoo this", and "myface that"... spacebooks and what-not. I'm already too old to keep up.

Anyway, here's a short excerpt from an article at thescotsman.com

INTERNET addiction is a real phenomenon which could be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction, doctors in the United States have said.

Up to 10 per cent of internet users in the US have a dependency, experts on addiction have claimed.

The Proctor Hospital in Illinois is admitting patients to recover from obsessive computer use and doctors said they see similar signs of withdrawal to those found in alcoholics or drug addicts - including profuse sweating, severe anxiety and paranoia.

In Pennsylvania there are even "cyberwidow support groups" for partners of those having online affairs, treatment for addiction to auction site eBay and behavioural counselling to help clients wean themselves off the web. Internet addicts spend hours a day online, often lying about the extent of their use.

Thanksgiving 2005: Newport News, Virginia

Happy Thanksgiving La La La

Look at that wishbone! Where'd it come from?

Eat this sandwich and you'll sprout hair AND biceps. (sandwich courtesy of Sabrina)

Annie girl chillin' out with the relatives. I'm sure she wonders where they all went now that it's just me and her and her papa.



My aunt Jenny and uncle Dwight hosted 16 or so people in their Newport News home (as seen in my chalkboard sketch here).

Annie and great-aunt Jenny.

Annie and her grandma.

College student Sabrina; the glasses only make her smarter.

My grandparents: 50 years of marriage!

Joel and Melissa: not quite 50 years of marriage!




Annie and her great-aunt Marla. (These photos of Annie in the red overalls are the two that I took.)

"Great" Grandpa to Annie: "I'll whisker you!!! ooo!"

If you haven't heard of Dutch Blitz, you're missing out.

Joel's score at the end of the game? -65 (that's negative.) He doesn't much like the game, but he does like numbers and colors, and he was a great sport!

Fruitcake time!!! Here Mom and uncle Bob are mixing up around 10 loaves to later wrap in wine-soaked t-shirts to eat next year. (The only one who doesn't like fruitcake? Joel.)

Playing soccer with Yannick (sp?) and Sabrina.

"Aaaaaaa" (meaning: Thank you God for everything good you've given me!!!)