Pictures speak a thousand words...

Too early Tuesday morning I woke Carl's hung-over ass up and drug him to Pismo Beach. Yes, we spent Xmas at the beach. Apparently this is the California thing to do. It felt really "tourist-y". I had a kidney infection so I was feeling quite lovely myself. We wrote in the sand with our toes and watched idiots try to surf in 50 degree water. When we got home we opened presents. We were all in bed by 8:30. A special thanks to our friends Matt & Erica for providing the cheap boxed wine the night before. It lead to our 1st Annual Christmas Demise. We've never had so much fun...cheers to Franzia!! Erica and I spent an entire evening at Wal-Mart preparing our "Smart Holiday Attire" for the Xmas eve party. Here we pose to show you how even a cheap Wal-Mart holiday sweater manages to make you feel fancy by adding flare to the rear.

What do you think about this one? It has all the makings of a wonderful holiday photo. I'll just have to photoshop the red blur out of his eyes. Well and his face, since he seems to think he was a pimp that night.

Every year I do a themed Christmas. You know, one gift that I get for family from a theme. This year it was T-Shirts. Well, cause some of them are just so darned funny. This one was added to Carl's wardrobe on Xmas day. I have a good sense of humor, don't I?

Especially since this is what I got. Yep, it's a vacuum.

Oh and did I mention we also got a wii? Carl seems to think it's his, but he's wrong. It's mine. I just let him open it for effect. Just like the vacuum is his. I opened it for effect.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas in California?

When you live in a place with more palm trees than snow shovels, stereotypical images of Christmas just don't work. It's awfully hard to go on a sleigh ride at the beach, after all. Hot Cocoa and ear muffs lose their appeal when paired with shorts. Yesterday, when my girlfriend invited us over for Christmas Eve cocktails I thought, "wow, she's planning ahead this year" but then I realized, it's only 5 days away. I bet I know what's throwing me off. I didn't put up a Christmas Tree or Holiday Lights this year. The tree huggers here are worried my lights will fry up the planet with global warming even though I only turn them to simmer. I don't know if you picked up on my sarcasm, but I'm just not in the holiday mood this year. I think as long as we live in Cali we're going to need to start some new traditions. You know, something to get us enjoying the constant 65-70 degree weather so that when we move again in a few years we'll be really miserable and cold. I'll run it by the family for suggestions.

Watch for upcoming pictures from our first family Christmas...outside.

Squadron Officer School Graduate!

Carl is officially a S.O.S. graduate! Look at Mr. Handsome in his official photo.

Now, for Proud Military Wife Brag Time: My husband graduated in the top 1/3 of his class while managing a full time college master's degree schedule and calling me daily. (He tells me it was pure Hell) Also, it was announced last night at the Commander's Call that Carl will be (drum roll please) a Flight Commander in February 2008!!! Yah! I can honestly say his stamina and commitment to perfection can be directly related to my excellent cooking and other domestic skills. (lol) Hands off ladies, he's all mine!

2007 - A year in review

I looked back on the year but this is all I could come up with. In chronological order:



January - Had an ear infection.

February - Another ear infection Got Married in Vegas. Pics at www.freewebs.com/weddinginvegas

March - Attempted to add a spare bathroom to our basement in Minot, ND. After the laughs, spiraled into debt.

April - Saw the revival of big hair bands in concert. Scored a drum stick.

May - Took in a four legger from hubby. ANOTHER ear infection.

June - Turned 30, had fondue. Got ear tubes.

July - Sold the house in one hour. Vita was dx with Addisons causing all moving plans to screech to a halt.

August - Clearly did nothing memorable for an entire month.

September - Drove for days to end up here.

October - After living together for a blissful month, hubby is called to SOS.

November - All alone for days on end I decide to stop shopping 24/7 and find a J O B.

December - Nothing yet but I'll let you know if anything worthwhile transpires.



Man, broad strokes are almost depressing. Not that I was hoping for much more, because honestly it was a pretty good year, and the fun parts are in the details.

A few of my favorite things

Our friends, the Picchi's, invited us to see the Sound of Music at the Santa Maria theatre. Since I'm game for anything that involves singing (and by that I mean singing along) I'm there. Hubby isn't sure but that's okay, I'm sure they'll have beer there. Anyway, it got me thinking, what are my favorite things? Here is my list in no particular order. Order requires planning.

1) My furkids whiskers. I love furkid kisses and snuggles. They make EVERYTHING better.

2) Good friends. The kind that share their entire soul with you. Genuine and passionate people. You know who you are.

3) Pink. No caveats. It's pink? Its good with me.

4) Airport Hugs. They are the best ever. The smell of jet fuel, the cold tears, agh. I love airport hugs.

5) Short nails. Long ones get dirty.

6) Grandma's squash and potatoes. There is nothing they can't fix. Seriously.

Don't worry. I'll do a recap of the year soon. It promises to be much more entertaining.

Daylight Savings Time

While I'm getting you up to speed on the blog, I thought I'd share a funny story about something that happened to my friend Dan. Since I'm sure you love a good laugh as much as the next girl, I'll share:

I think the new Target by my house is still getting their employees up to speed, because some of them aren't so bright. I was at the checkout last Saturday night when it suddenly occurred to me that the Daylight Savings time-change weekend must be approaching. So I asked the cashier:
Me: Hey, do you know if Daylight Savings is this weekend?
Target Cashier: I don't think we have those kinds of savings.
Me: [confused silence, followed by] What kind of savings?
Target Cashier: Daylight savings.It was suddenly clear to me that she was confusing Daylight Savings with some type of Kmart-style Bluelight savings event, so I tried to clarify:
Me: No, I mean Daylight Savings, like, turn-back-the-clock Daylight Savings.
Target Cashier: I don't think we have that, but you can ask the Service Counter. They have all of our print ads.

At that point I just gave up, but I did seriously consider taking her advice to visit the Service Counter and inform them that one of their employees would most certainly be an hour early to work next weekend.