Easter Weekend 2007

Another set of major holidays are nearly in the books (I say this because Passover doesn't technically end until sundown tomorrow). It was quite the action-packed weekend.

We'll start with Thursday night. I don't really remember what happened immediately after work, so it must have been pretty uneventful. All I do remember was getting ready to settle in for the night around 10:15 and my work phone rings. Now, usually it's one of two things - someone in India expecting to leave me a voicemail or a complete emergency. Well, this time it was neither. My boss had left earlier in the day to visit family over Easter. He calls me stating he needed a huge favor.

Turns out he was pretty positive he left a candle burning in his home office. He now wanted me to go to his house and either 1. blow it out or 2. let him know he burnt his house down. One small issue, though - I didn't have a key. The only other person with a key was his mother-in-law and she was working at the Golden Nugget.

So Keds and I pile into the car and head out for Downtown. Little did we know that streets were closed off for the upcoming Grand Prix race. So what should have been a 20-30 minute drive to the Golden Nugget took us nearly an hour. Then it was off to Summerlin to check on his house. For the record - the candle had clearly been blown out hours previous to this. So I called him and let him know all was well.

Good Friday was slooowww. It was a holiday in India and a number of clients were out that day. However, since it was Passover and a Lenten Friday, our options were very severly limited. So off to Red Robin for dinner. Amy had Fish and Chips and I had Salmon Fish and Chips.

The highlight of Saturday was spending most of the day with my best friend Mike. He lives in Colorado now, and I don't get to see him much. I saw him over Christmas and we are talking more regularly now, but I miss him very, very much. We got some good one-on-one time and he kicked my butt in GoldenTee, but not quite as badly this time. They are coming down again around Memorial Day, and I'm planning a trip out there in June or July. Even though I spent a lot of time with him on Saturday, as we parted ways Saturday night I couldn't help but to be sad. I wish he lived closer, but he made the right move for him and his family. I can't begrudge him that. I just miss him. That's all.

Easter was pleasant enough. Went to church in the morning. Last year, Easter Mass wasn't nearly as packed, so Mom, Dad and I planned to meet at church at 9:45 a.m. for 10 a.m. Mass. Big mistake. The parking lot was packed and people were parking on the street and off the lot in the dirt. I got in to the sanctuary, and there wasn't a seat to be had and Mom and Dad were sharing a seat and a half. So I stood.

Folks showed up for dinner starting around 3, and dinner was finally served about 4:30. It was pleasant and after dinner we watched Happy Feet. Very cute movie. Everyone was gone by about 8:30. After Amy had a quick call with her attorney, we watched Desparate Housewives and then off to bed.

No matter if you are celebrating Easter or Passover, hope you all had a pleasant weekend.

Late week updates

It's been a little while since I posted, so I figured I better do a "catch up" post first.

First, work has been absolutely nuts. It seems that all of my clients have some sort of activity going on. Either they are doing something or we are screwing something up. I'm working a lot harder lately. I'm not saying I averse to hard work, but when you get used to your little breaks during the day, it's hard to switch gears.

Second, another weekend in LA. Keds and I both figured we were going to cancel due to her medical issues. However, the orthopod gave her clearance to travel, so off we went! This trip was longer by a day, but we had a couple of social events thrown in - namely our friend Samantha's Baby Shower and Keds' family Passover Seder. Since we didn't think we were going, we forgot to order a dumpster for the weekend. By the time we called on Saturday, it was too late to get one. We got some work done, but not as much as we usually do. However, we still think we are on track.

Third, we decided to get solar heat for our pool. Signed and faxed the contract yesterday. Should be installed next week some time. I can't wait. Our pool was still a little too cold to swim in. This should get us up to a good temperature and extend our pool season. I kno w Keds will use it for exercise. I think I am going to as well. I have been horrible with going to the gym lately. With the trips to California and the desire to do other things on the weekend, I just am not going at all, and if I do go it isn't consistent.

I'm debating joining either WeightWatchers, Jenny Craig or NutriSystem. I have a hard time paying someone to tell me to do things I already know how to do, but I really need the motivation. If I am paying, I'll be motivated (I hope).

Finally, I'm very sad. Teri delivered the bad news that the Coffee Bean in the Aliante Information Gallery has closed! That sucks! I guess with the neighborhoods getting closed out and Starbucks opening across the street it was probably a little too much for them. I heard they are going into Aliante Station. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Birthday Weekend

My wife and I make a great pair. We both thoroughly enjoy celebrating our birthdays and we take great pride in making the other feel special. I know I made her feel special on her b-day, and it was her turn with me.

Thursday night - my actual birthday - Keds was taking me for my first of many surprises. We went to Vic and Anthony's Steakhouse at the Golden Nugget. Now, I love Binion's Ranch Steakhouse on top of Binion's Horseshoe (is that even still the name?) downtown. Well, this one gave the Ranch a run for its money. The mean was awesome - the steaks cut with a fork and melted in your mouth. The broccoli side dish was like a small bush of broccoli and the potatoes au gratin gave us heart blockage when they arrived at the table. What a wonderful surprise and quite the way to start the weekend.

I took Friday off from work. I did a whole lot of nothin'. Got a massage in the morning, met with our accountant in the afternoon to finalize our 2006 Return (yes - we are getting a refund), and then home to get ready for another dinner out with our good friend's the Bowens. That was laid back and nice. We went to Carmine's down the street from our house. It works, we talked politics and watched the UNLV game.

Saturday, Keds and I started our day at one of my favorite breakfast places - the Cracked Egg on Cheyenne. Banana Walnut coffee cake and a Greek Omlette. Yummy. Then we did some spa shopping and then home to chill. We spent most of the day on the couch watching TV. It was nice just to lounge. That night, we went to BJ's Brewhouse for dinner with my friends. That was a ton of fun. Thanks to everyone who came out. A few folks came back to the house and we watched Team America: World Police. Total guy humor.

Finally today, I made pancakes for breakfast and another lazy day at home. Went to Mom and Dad's for Stew Meat and Gravy for dinner. That was one of my most favorite dishes growing up and this certainly did not disappoint.

It was nice to have the weekend to relax and recovery. Keds and I have been running so much lately, this was a well-deserved down weekend.

To my loving wife - thank you very much to ensure that I had a special birthday weekend. I love you so much.

Now that I am no longer special, it's back to the grind tomorrow. Have a good week!

American Idol and I'm getting old

First, while I am disappointed that Stephanie was voted off the island and the creepy Sanjaya is now in the Top 10 - insuring his spot in the AI tour - I really think she did it to herself. She picked a good song, but the performance was utterly forgettable. I come back to the three mantras of American Idol 1. Song Choice 2. You need to be on your A Game every week and show distinct improvement and 3. The audience needs to vote (has Ruben Studdard, Fantasia and Taylor Hicks not proven anything?) I figured of all the African-Americans left in the competition, Stephanie would be the most likely to success with this week's theme. As expected, LaKisha (or KiKi) struggled the most with the theme, and Melinda proved what an talent she really is. However, Stephanie's performance was just flat. I think Keds took a nap during it. Do I think she deserved to go home? No. But unfortunately, with people propping up Creepy Sanjaya you really need to make sure that you are voting for the people you want to stay.

Second, I'll admit that I'm an attention whore. Today is my birthday. I'm 34 today and while I may feel fat (you know it's bad when your size 38 pants are just a little bit snug), I don't really feel old. Keds has quite a number of things planned, most of which I am in the dark about - and that's fine. I do the same to her on her birthday, so turnabout it fair play.

Anyway, have a good one. I need to get back to work.

Rocket Scientists All...

Today's blog post has two separate rants with the common theme being sometimes the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top.

First, I'll rant about our mailman. As many of you know, we spent most of February in California and as such, put a hold on our mail. The day after we got back, Keds went to the post office to pick up our held mail. She only got a little bit of mail. That night, we checked our mailbox and we found a note that our mailbox was full. So I trot off to the post office the next day to find that yes indeed, there was quite a bit of mail.

However, the problems didn't seem to stop there. Word is that Keds was sent two invitations that we have yet to receive and I'm waiting on an IRA application. The mystery deepened this past weekend when we received two pieces of mail (one a People Magazine that should have been delivered before the Oscars) that had a label indicating there was no forward on file. That's odd considering we aren't forward our mail FROM here, just from our previous addresses TO here.

So I trucked into the post office yesterday afternoon. There was a line out the door at 3 p.m. Ugh. I get to the window and initially the dude at the window tells me "everything is fine." Then he goes in the back and finds my Letter Carrier. Awesome. Some real answers. Except that it turns out that 1. he only processed the hold on my last name, not the whole address (which explains the full mailbox). 2. He thought that I had placed a forward on the address (which I hadn't) so he was sending it out to be forwarded. Since we spoke, he was going to stop that and I'll start getting all of our mail. The only problem is that all of the mail that should have been delivered will now need to come back slowly as it wasn't on site. Brilliant!

My second rant has to deal with the NCAA Touranment Seedings. First, let's deal with UNLV. How a team that is among the hottest in the nation, contended all year in their conference and withstood substantial injuries can be a 7 seed is beyond me. Talk about lack of respect. Even more disrespectful was putting the Niagara Purple Eagles into the "play-in" game for the right to meet #1 seed Kansas. That's downright infuriating. The explanation was weak - Niagara hadn't won their conference regular season (but still managed to get 22 wins) and they they were trying to be sensitive to historically African-American universities. If that's the case, why don't they put Duke or Syracuse or some other power-conference school in the play-in game?

Sorry for the ranting, but something you have to wonder how some people's mind works...

A "down" weekend

I really hate the start of Daylight Savings Time. For like a week, it'll be hell getting out of bed. And we slept until like 10 a.m. yesterday. Other than that it was a pretty good weekend.

Friday night, we had Vegas Princess, Prince Charming and the "folks" over for dinner. It was nice. Dinner was tuna noodle casserole. I've never had it before, but it was perfect for a Friday night. After that, it was on the Melting Pot for a little early birthday celebration since it was my Aunt's last night in town. The Melting Pot was awesome! What's not to like about fruit and cake dipped in chocolate? Even my Dad, who initially resisted, got in on it and enjoyed himself.

Saturday was busy, yet laid back. We picked up Mom and Aunt Dolly and took my aunt to the airport. That was sad, but I was proud of my Mom - I know she was sad, but she didn't have tears streaming down her face. Keds and Mom went to the Zappos.com outlet and did a little shoe shopping. After that, as my reward for sitting through shoe shopping, we went to the CalSpas store. We damn near walked out with a Spa. But we really haven't started shopping, so we need to do our due dilligence and compare against our own family planning. After that, it was off to the Bagel Cafe for lunch. Mom had never been there. She was in HEAVEN. I was surprised when she got a full (1/2 pound) corned beef sandwich, but she took half of it home for Dad, and said it was the best corned beef they've had in 20 years. After running some other small errands, Mom and I went to church.

Saturday night was date night. Dinner and a Movie. We saw Music and Lyrics and then dinner at Cabo. It was a much needed night out. The movie was cute and enjoyable - not a lot of substance, but sort of like the 80s.

Yesterday was laid back. I went to the gym and watched the race. Bobby did well. Finished 13th, so that made me happy. Keds went shopping with Teri and then came home and did some work.

Anyway, back to work for now.

Randomizations

Some random items for a Tuesday morning:

1. From the same person that brought you the "Vibrator in the Girl's bathroom" comes the "Wacky Nun." Picture this - Staff Retreat. Previously, the staff of his school was used to boring staff retreats. Not any more. My buddy decided to turn a staff retreat into his own version of The Amazing Race. So, one of the teams included an 82-year old nun. The oldest member of each team needed to wear a funny hat and they were each given a Station of the Cross to go find. For the Station of Jesus being put on the Cross, he sent them out for a symbol, with the expectation they came back with nails. The Nun's team (BTW - she had gotten herself a Burger King Crown for her hat) came back with a six-pack of Guinness. When asked why, said Sister states "I thought you wanted us to get hammered!"
2. I cannot believe that it is barely 2007 and we are already talking about the 2008 Presidential Election. ALREADY! The new Congress just convened and we have yet to see what the Democrats can do. I think campaign fatigue will set it very, very early.
3. For right now, I'm supporting John Edwards. I liked him 4 years ago, and still like him. He's a normal person who is most likely to actually understand the plight of the middle class. Also, he's the only one right now talking about anything substantive. My big fear is that he'll run out of money.
4. Work is OK. Going to San Dimas on Thursday for one meeting, but other than that it should be an OK trip.

That's all for now!

Family Fun

My aunt is in town for the week. That's very exciting for us, as I haven't seen her in a year and a half, and when I saw her last she was pretty sick. She didn't make it out for the wedding because she had a horrible case of bronchitis. She's staying with my folks, and that's cool. It's actually a little more appropriate. However, we did manage to invite ourselves over for breakfast on Sunday morning and then invited them over dinner last night.

My aunt cracks me up. Amy and I want to take them out for dinner this week, and all she wants is a Costco hot dog. So, my she and I are going for hot dogs on Tuesday!

Home

We made it home last night in one piece. Whenever I travel, no matter where, once I am on my way home I just want to get there. Yesterday was no exception. We made good time. Pulled out of the driveway at 3 p.m. on the nose, and pulled into our garage at 8:30 p.m., with a stop for dinner. After some debate, we took the backway out of the San Fernando Valley and avoided LA Traffic.

We were so happy to be home, we brought in the bare minimum, let the dogs out and fed all the pets, took our evening meds and went straight to bed. I think we were out by 9:45 p.m.

Evidently, the pets were happy to see us. I get the impression that while Dave was housesitting, he kept the dogs out of the master bedroom because if they have to go, they go in front of the bathroom door. So the pets hadn't interacted much in a few days. The decided to get reacquainted while we tried to sleep.

Between Rosebud's barking, Thorndyke's leaping over Amy to get at Flo and Flo's whining kept Amy up more than me. The only pet that really isn't on the list is Midge, but even she puked right next to the bed this morning. She stayed under the bed until the dogs were locked out this morning (after their third request to go out in 45 minutes) and then came up on the bed and snuggled with us. Very cute.

Anyway, I locked the dogs out of the master bedroom this morning on my way out, and Amy got about 90 minutes of solid sleep.

Now we get to get our house back in order ahead of Amy going back to work on Thursday.

Thanks to Dave and Jennifer for looking after the pets and the house and we are just thrilled to be home.

What a week - and it's not over yet

I don't think I've been so relieved for the weekend to come as this week. It's been a hell of a week. First, there was the relief of not having to go to India. Instead, it looks like I am going to week of March 11th - that's cool - it works better for me anyhow.

The work on Leni's house continues. Amy's had a ton of help during the week. We knew that our friends Brian and Amanda would be out here for two days and that would be of great help, but Jo, her family and Leni's friend Arlene have been tremendously helpful. While we aren't going to make our overall goal of having the house completely cleaned out, it's in much better shape now and we will be in a position to get it emptied, rehabbed and rented sooner rather than later.

Work has been crazy. I've never been quite so double booked in my entire life. We have two major implementations along with my client commitments. Calls starting as early as 6 and 7 a.m. and the last one being at 4 p.m. makes for some very long days and not a whole lot of work getting done.

Plus, with us being in LA, our time has been split. We want to see friends and family here, but that's balanced with the desire to get work done.

I can't wait to get home...

Ash Wednesday 2007

Well, it's here again. Ash Wednesday. Blech. It's not that I despise Lent. It's a good time of year for spiritual reflection (yes - I do that.) What I despise is the abstinence from meat. That that I am a huge carnivore. I just don't care for fish. Fish and Chips does nothing for me. So I'll be eating a lot of salmon (fish I like), Italian food and peanut butter the next six weeks or so.

This year Keds and I are doing the Lent thing right. We are giving up some additional items this year. Both of us are giving up all carbonated beverages. That'll be a test because it's so easy to have around the house. Keds is giving up fried foods. That'll be tough for her because she's been craving French Fries a lot lately. I am giving up beer. In a way, we are using this to kick start our health kicks. Now that the New Year's Resolution folks have stopped going to the gym, that should be more open as well.

Is anyone else giving up anything good for Lent?

Off the hook

Well, instead of packing to head to the airport and be off to India I am back sitting in our apartment and planning our week out. My client called me this morning with 103 degree fever and he was rescheduling his trip. So I get to stay home and be supportive for my wife as she finishes the horrible task of cleaning out her Mom's house.

Anyway, more later.

Free Fallin'

Everytime we come to Los Angeles, I can't help but think of that Tom Petty song "Free Fallin'" mostly because of the line about Ventura Boulevard. It's a key road through the San Fernando Valley (yes - I married a Valley Girl) and every time I see a sign with it the song pops in my head. That's OK, the Sheryl Crow song "All I Wanna Do" pops in my head every time we drive past Santa Monica Blvd.

Anyhoo, it's been a difficult week here. First, the purpose of the trip is not all that fun. Cleaning out Leni's house wasn't going to be a pleasant task under ideal circumstances, and these circumstances are far from ideal. Between the work done as a group on Saturday and what Amy's been able to accomplish on her own a tremendous amount of progress has been made. Tomorrow should be a highly productive day - we are having a PODS unit delivered today and have a bunch of folks coming to help us load that sucker up. We should be able to make good progress tomorrow cleaning out the non-personal items and items we know are coming back to Las Vegas with us.

Not that this week is completely without drama. The push-pull of the fact that I am working while Amy is dealing with this hasn't been easy on either of us. We were both pretty frustrated and needed to talk it out last night.

No trip to LA is complete without me getting pissed at Jill. Jill is a friend of Leni's who has an opinion on EVERYTHING (I know - it's the pot calling the kettle black.) My favorite line is typically "You don't need to explain yourself to me" as she presses for details and makes you explain yourself to her. In September, Jill pissed me off something fierce, and I don't think I've let it go. Amy tries to protect me by not necessarily giving me details, but they eventually come out and I go off the handle. I realize that Jill is just trying to protect Amy, but it really says that she doesn't trust me. Either that, or she really doesn't have anything else to kibbitz about, so she focuses on other people's issues and makes them miserable.

I should probably get back to work. On Sunday, I'm off to India, but it looks like I am in Business Class at least one direction. WOO HOO!

Back in the Saddle

I am slightly sore today, but that's a good thing. Went to the gym for the first time in almost a year. Chest, back and some cardio. It felt good to be in the gym again. While the 24 Hour Fitness by my house is nice, I could totally tell I wasn't in Green Valley anymore, but it wasn't ghetto by any stretch of the imagination.

With Keds back doing Pilates and me getting back into the gym, I'm confident that we can achieve our fitness goals for the year.

Never a dull moment in a Catholic High School

OK. I was going to do my standard weekend update today, but then my friend Denis called me. He was quite troubled. He is the principal of a Catholic high school in western Kansas. There was an issue today right around lunchtime. There was a battery-operated replica of male genitalia that was found in a woman's restroom. It's a restroom that students and faculty alike use. Oh, and the device was turned on. It was off to the side. Some folks find it funny, some are simply stunned.

Poor Denis wants to figure out a way to identify, the, um, culprit. Keds and I are both at a loss. Can you help out poor Denis?

Update: They are still no closer to figuring out who left their personal property there. The good news is that nothing happened on Tuesday. He is suspecting (jokingly of course) that it is either Thorndyke and/or a blonde friend of Keds' that is married to a very tall cabinet maker. The funny thing is that I can totally see her doing something like that...

I really do watch way too much TV

So I admit it - I watch way too much TV. The sad thing is - I wish I could actually watch more! I would love to get into 24, and we have like 6 episodes of Studio 60 on DVR, not to mention that Keds wants to give Dirt a shot as well. So what did we spend Monday and Tuesday night doing? Watching TV.

Can I just say once again that Barney truly makes How I Met Your Mother one of the funniest shows on TV? And the way Marshall played him to get some extra cash for their honeymoon was legend - wait for it - airy. The Ritchie character on The Class is starting to steal the show as well. His nervousness and general clutziness crack me up! Get that man another chocolate gorilla!

Tuesday night was a bizarre pairing - The State of the Union Address and American Idol. We watched the State of the Union and Democratic Response. In terms of the President's speech - I think it was the speech he had to give. He said a lot of things that sound good, but as they say, the devil is in the details. I don't buy this tax deductibility for health insurance because it has the potential for a lot of employers to drop health coverage and force people into the marketplace. Also, the call for tougher fuel mileage standards is nice to say, but again how?

On Idol, I've decided that I really, really don't like the audition portion of it. First, two hours is too long. Second, the bad singers are really, really bad. I would prefer a good mix of clearly excellent, some middle of the road and some bad auditions. I like it when Randy, Paula and Simon discuss and debate a little more often. I'm afraid as the Idol franchise continues to grow, the audition episodes are going to focus more and more on the bad ones then is giving us a peak into the process...

Is it Monday already?

Wow. Where did the weekend go? It feels like it was just Thursday, and I was looking forward to the weekend. Now, it gone already. As many of you know, Saturday was Keds' birthday. I did the best I could to make it a nice birthday for her. I'll let her go into details on her blog, but I think I succeeded in my goals.

I wanted to thank all of our friends for pitching in for the birthday girl. From her Dad, her long-time friends Teri, Lora, Laura, Janell and Annie to our new friends - Amanda and Brian, Casey and Jennifer, Jennifer and Ian and Lisa and John to my best friend Mike and my family. You all helped in making this a good birthday for Amy - which was no small feat this year. We love you all and you are very important in our life.

Sunday, we were amazingly productive. We cleaned out the guest room, which was no small feat. It turned into the dumping ground for all the shower and wedding gifts as well as some of the stuff that we've brought from her Mom's house in California. Our goal is to get the house organized before we head to LA in February.

This week is going to be hectic! Tonight we are going over to Ma and Pa's hacienda for goulash (Amy's request). Tomorrow night Dave is coming over to watch the first night of American Idol. Wednesday, we are getting together with Shannon for Amy's birthday. And then my Mom's best friend and my uncle are coming to town for a couple of days as she moves cross country from Boston to San Diego. Plus, we need to close out our Macy's Registry by next Monday. UGH!

And you know it's bad when it's Monday, and you already know you are like four hours behind on good TV!

Well, if I get a chance to come up for air, I'll post again. If not, have a good week!

Weekend Recap

All in all, it was a very productive weekend and I got to watch a good amount of football. Can't really complain too hard.

I was amazed at the competitiveness of most of the playoff games, with both NFC contests really coming down to the wire. I do feel bad the Cowboys lost, but only slightly. I was pleased the Eagles won though. I was however, horribly disappointed in last night's BCS Championship game. The game was over by the end of the first half. Ohio State just flat out embarrassed themselves. What a boring game.

Monday night TV was entertaining. How I Met Your Mother and The Class were funny as always, and we caught up on Sunday's Desparate Housewives.

This week is looking like it will be lots of follow up on open items. Keds and I need to plan our household budget going forward. That should be a barrel of laughs. Lots of dinner plans this week. Dinner out tonight, having friends over Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Looks like we'll be busy!

Have a great week!

Anger Issues

OK. I admit it. I'm dealing with some residual anger issues. And for some reason, they are almost all directed at the Dallas Cowboys. Why do I seem to hate them so much more this year? I'll admit to not being a fan. Having "your team" lose two consecutive Super Bowls to them will do that to you. But it's not like they've been some powerhouse dynasty or, gasp, the New York Yankees.

I could say that I just can't stand Jerry Jones. I can't, but in a "take it or leave it" way. That man is clearly dealing with some residual childhood issues.

I could say that not only did this team beat my team in two consecutive Super Bowls, but the current head coach was the NY Giants head coach that beat my team in their first of four consecutive appearances. But I don't really think it is. Or maybe it was because they signed Drew Bledsoe (aka Frankenstein)? Maybe.

My best guy friend is a huge fan. One of Keds' best friends is a huge fan. My brother-in-law is a die hard fan. I'm surrounded by people I care about who are fans of the Cowboys. So why do I hate them so much, especially this year.

As I sit here and think about it, I think it comes down to having learn to interact with my sister around the Cowboys schedule. They won't travel on Thanksgiving Day because it will disrupt the pre-game routine. Christmas Day plans HAD to be tailored so my sister wouldn't deal with an overanxious husband. I'm really thinking that is it. I know it's not a good reason, but it's why. I think I just don't like planning my life around 1 team anymore. I'm a huge sports fan, and ardently support my teams. But I don't hold my life hostage.

So for my friends out there that are Cowboys fans, I'm sorry. However, I think we'll just have to ride this one out. Go Seahawks!

Friendships and Happy '07!

OK. So it's taken me a while to post. Sorry about that.

Now that we are through the holidays, you would like to think that you can sit back and take a deep breath. However, work is really busy. That's life in a world where you provide phone support for consumer products. One of the things I really like about the holidays is how it makes you want to reconnect with the people that are important in your life.

In a one-week period, Keds and I were touched by new and existing friends alike. My best guy friend was in town to spend Christmas with his inlaws, and we got to spend all Christmas Eve Day Afternoon together. He lives in Colorado now and we don't see each other as much. Circumstances kept him from our wedding, and we were able to close any remaining issues out and move on. I am planning a trip to see him this spring. I can't wait.

One of Keds' best friends from high school was in town visiting her Mother in Law for the holidays, and they were able to spend some quality time together. Plus, it gave Laura a needed escape from her inlaws.

Later in the week, we were able to meet up with two sets of our newest friends. Vegas Princess and Prince Charming had us over for dinner, and a hard-fought game of Apples to Apples. Dinner was very pleasant and we have a great time. It's too bad that, even though we live in the same area code, that we are on complete opposite sides of town. We spent New Year's with a neighbor couple that are quickly becoming close friends. Keds cooked dinner and we have a good time playing board games. I can only think of one better way to ring in the New Year, and we ate too much for that.

All of our friends are very dear to us, and we are grateful that they are in our lives. These were just recent examples.

There are so many people in our lives that I am thankful for, but none more so than my blushing bride and Bestest Friend in the whole world - New White Keds. I love you honey. Happy New Year!