Okay I updated the pictures JUST like I promised I would. Sheesh, and you thought I wouldn't do it? Did you? Admit it!

For some reason I was thinking that New Year's Eve was Saturday...not tomorrow. Crap I wasn't mentally ready for it to be tomorrow. I guess I will have to get into the mode of it. I also need to make something swwet to bring to the party. In addition to something sweet I am trying to convince Hilary to take a night off and give her husband a night of guilt free video game playing to go out with us. I don't know how successfull that will be though. ;)

New Year's is my favorite holiday...everyone is in SUCH a good mood and even the biggest scrooge has a little hope...for even a few seconds.

Last night I splurged and bought a book at Borders...we went to look at that really fancy one on the westside. Wow, that place is huge...but almost too much to look at. I felt kind of dazed. Tim bought Mech Assault II and started playing that. I want to squeeze in some hobbit time, but I needed to update this first...as soon as this is done I am moving on. Oh the book is expensive...but I have been wanting and waiting to read it for a while. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susana Clark. After Tim and I are done I expect I'll lend it to Sarah and Dave or Heather. I think they would like it too. Unless of course, they have already read it...but that doesn't exclude them from not already liking it.

December 2004 Pictures

I hope everyone had a passable Christmas. Mine was pretty good, as far as good goes. Everyone seemed cheery and not nearly as depressed or sulky as they were last time. Awesome! Also, it only takes 3 hours to drive from Madison to Menomonie. Well, 3.15 minutes. Phil was TOTALLY right. What bothers Tim and I, is why we thought it was 4.5 hours....

I am glad I went shopping for stuff. They needed clothes like no one's business...everyone does if you ask me. I mean, we don't buy them that often anymore. I think Josh was disappointed that he only got clothes and mix cd's..but...tough. I bought the family a coffee maker...that is high tech enough for everyone to enjoy and fancy and stuff. I bought coffee and filters to go with it. ;) Mom of course, bought only gifts for me and Tim. I felt really bad that she didn't get anything for anyone else. We got: a green bay water t-shirt, a clock that has bird calls for the hour marks (really cool), a snowman sugar and creamer set (cool as well, I didn't have one), a box of caramel apple suckers, and golf chimes (forgive the golf clubs -- we were instructed -- it sounds so pretty)...which it does. I am going to hang it office. Tim liked his presents too and I LOVE my new fleece jammies, slippers and lip ring.

We made time and visited the Avery parents...it was a quick visit because Pluto was in the car. Bringing a dog along on a trip is a pain in the ass. I am glad that the Best Western accepts dogs though. We also stopped and visited my Dad on the way home. He gave me only four guilt trips about not stopping on Christmas day. He said that is what I said in the xmas card. I don't think so. I am pretty sure I said "christmas" which can mean either the day before, day of, or day after. Geez. Also, La Vere -- long time childhood friend and neighbor of Dad's had spoken to Shane the day before and said that Dad didn't want any visitors for Christmas. So, Tim and I kind of felt like we shouldn't go. I am glad we decided to the hell with that sentiment -- we are stopping by anyway, because he was pretty lonely. And pissed when I mentioned that is what La Vere said. Oops...I didn't know it was taboo. I think I am going to have to make another trip fairly soon to visit my dad. Just a day trip, but a it would be nice to visit nonetheless and I think he needs it.

Came on Sunday and chilled. Oh it's so nice to be home! I told Tim that he should have Monday off...so on Monday morning we went to the Orginal Pancake house to have breakfast with Christian and Cecci. It was good. Afterward we came home and got winterized...then went to a gaming store and then.......da da da dum! ICE SKATING! First time ever. I hated it five minutes into it. My legs and ankles burned and I had fallen and the ice really really hurt. However about 40 minutes later I feeling more confident but tired and we called it quits. We decided though that we do like it and are investigating how we can do more ice skating. What a wonderful work out. Speaking of which I don't have TKD this week....I have a week off. After the ice capade we came home and warmed up with hot coco and then spent the rest of the day doing whatever we wanted (which means Tim was on the computer and I watched movies on TV). OH wait, I forgot to mention that we bought a nice wooden table and three chairs that we don't' really need to help a friend out. I forgot to have Hilary look at the table after she dropped me off from shopping today. We went to target and I bought two more pairs of pants and discovered a great shirt .... but showed it to Hilary instead because it would probably look better on her and that is what friends do sometimes. Give up good finds. Besides I can always go back...;P

I guess there is the big news....I got a job. Can you believe it? Yeah me. I got a job. Wow. It's working for the UW extention for 16 hours a week. Apparently the race was close but my references gave me the edge I needed...I am going to have to send them thank you ... cards? Email? I know cards is better...but email is so much faster. I also got the high end of the pay scale of 10-11 dollars at 10.75. ROCK! That's great translating for "You are WAY over qualified." You know that universities never pay the top end of the pay scale to begin with. Never. Penny pinching that way.

I start next week, then take a week off because they have something else going on and then back on again. Also UW employees get free bus passes....I think. I heard that rumor and the boss lady kind of alluded to it but I am not entirely sure. I hope so. I will be taking the bus home every day. At least I have my darling to take me to work in the morning. For three days a week he will be one time or early to work. Ha ha.

That is why I bought two pairs of pants...you gotta have options when you are out in public. My jammies aren't acceptable work wear for the most part. I need to start making a list of the things that we want or need. I can think of ...contact lenses and stupid eye exam, new bed, new computer, skates, coats, winter boots, 27 inch TV, and buffing up the savings account.

I'll put pictures up tomorrow.

I have been remiss.

Yesterday we got great news. Tim's company gave him a hefty bonus that has made Christmas possible! Yes, the property taxes will be paid in full, we have the money for the hotel and drive up north AND we even have money to buy gifts now. We are both so happy for that. Yesterday I went shopping at the Mall and Old Navy. Old Navy rocked! I found so many great things at super bargain prices (I feel like a commercial). Today Hilary and I are going to Target so we can hopefully finish up the present buying. Tim is SO lucky that he doesn't have to take me. To be quite honest going with him would have been a major pain in the ass. Shopping with darlings is always a major production.

Anyway. This weekend was SO hecktic. I got my purple belt! I made up my form in the hour before I went...I woke up with a basic idea of it, and Tim later helped me hammer out details. I even decided to name it -- Lunar Tide. Something I thought of as a joke but actually came in handy an hour later when Sir asked me what the name of my form was. I was the ONLY one who named it out of the whole bunch. Ha ha ha. I rock. The form rocked too.

We also walked dogs and Candy was still there. I brought her treats this time. She is SUCH a cutie. I would love to able to say I would take her. But really we are fine with just one dog. No really. Then we picked up our Little to play a video game of his choice and order a pizza. A quite special thing I thought....when we picked him up we saw his brother's Big Family....and his little brother was holding a Remote Control Hummer AND a huge tin of cookies for the whole family! Fuck! I wasn't planning on getting him anything other than a tin full of cookies and candy and a mini whoopie cushion. Now that would be some sibling jealousy...if that isn't enough...he gave US gifts! You bet. We got a Caress Body wash, puff, lotion and soap set as well as a brand new video game --The Hobbit (which I have been playing). Oh my god. Tim and I both felt faint and weak in the knees. We soldiered on. At home I put the tin together, made a card and eventually decided (after much panicking) to just write a check. I mean to be honest, we didn't really know what he wanted anyway -- I guess he did give hints like sports apparell....but that stuff is expensive and we don't know anything about it. Sigh.

I was happy when that was over and all the volunteer work was done. That night we went to the Inferno for the 8th Anniversary. Ahh I remember the first night the Inferno opened. Tim and Josh were DJing and I actually danced in cages. Oh dear lord. I did have a good time though and Matt even played a request.

Sunday I recouped from all my stress. I didn't even get dressed. Just kind of watched TV, played vid's and felt sorry for myself.

Monday I had my interview. I think it went well, but today is the day I should find out. I guess we will see how well I stacked up against other folks. I hope I get it. I'll let you know. After the interview, on Tim's suggestion of a dream morning....I went to Starbucks and read Time, The Onion and part of the Ithsmus for a few hours by the fire place, then wandered though UW book store, deposited some xmas money and then had a wonderful little lunch at Hurry N Curry. Afterward I stopped at the Elevehem to see the art, but it was closed so I just took the bus home. It was a grand morning. Tim has such a knack for thinking of nice little mornings.

That night we drove around and visited folks dropping off cookies and one birthday present. The most interesting thing was how many people were more happy to get a surprise visit then a gift. It was amazing to see the looks on people's faces when we stopped by. Everyone looked like kids on christmas morning. I think next year we are just going to do random visiting.

Oh, gotta get dressed.

Ugh. Just got back from the dentist. My mouth hurts. The gums hurt right above where they did the work...must be from the needles. Although my tongue isn't tingly, the whole back right half of my head is numb -- up to my ears! That's a first. The dentist was super quick in drilling out the crown prone tooth and filling it with that fancy white composite. It's strange to look in my mouth and see all the silver gone from the right half of my bottom jaw. That just isn't natural. ;)

I took some aspirin and am waiting for it to kick in. I am just so sick of dental work though. I am tired of being held captive to my mouth. I am SO glad everything is done for the time being. It was also four bucks cheaper than I expected. A small bonus.

I have a job interview on Monday morning. I was contacted by the UW extension...the lady I interviewed with over the summer sent my resume on. How cool is that? So I replied yesterday with a few questions and got some quick responses and set up an interview for Monday. It would be at the UW extension office (across the street from State Street McDonald's for 12 - 16 hours per week. Perfect! Although I wasn't looking for a job I would mightily appreciate getting this one. We could really use the extra cash, especially since brother in law Mark hasn't sent us a payment this month for the Saturn yet. And because of the Christmas season, the dentist work and the property taxes (we are 400 dollars short -- going to have to increase the payments to escrow this next year by 30 bucks).

So yeah. I hope I get it.

Hilary, the dentist -- First Choice Dental is awesome. State of the art stuff and she was the quickest, best dentist I have had to date. I was really impressed.

Tomorrow I am baking cookies, making crafts and hanging out with Hilary all day. Tim is going to drive me over in the morning with some of my supplies and we plan on having a sandwich soup lunch as well, along with coffee and donuts? Awesome! I should be baking today too, so I can get some of the holiday goodies ready to drop off at folks houses. On my list: Richard and Carla (who are moving to New York in January!), Sarah and Dave (along with Sarah's b-day present), Liama, Sigrid and Matt, Lowen and Jason and Heather.

But first I think I am going to go back to bed and hopefully sleep so that when I wake up my mouth will be back to normal. I also need to practice my forms for Saturday ... as well as make up one. I feel so unprepared.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Phil and Erin just left. Yesterday Phil was dropped off while Erin went to have lunch with her old co workers. We walked over to the Dairyland and had a nice lunch, and then came back and played Halo. Then when Erin came back we played X-Men and decided what they were going to do. Happily for me they decided to spend the night and make good use of the guest room! :) Woo....I love it when that room is used. I was also nice to have company while Tim was away in Boston...well still in Boston? No at this point he should be on his way to Detroit. He is expected back tonight at 11.30 - 12:00 AM. Sucky huh?

Tomorrow morning I have another stupid dentist appointment to fill a cavity and replace another. Estimated cost? 187. Bullshit. I would love to let it pass but they threatened the "c" word (crown) and am quite afeard of that.

I still need to do some cleaning up...I haven't completely cleaned up since the party (bits and pieces). It's just really hard to get motivated...and I did have company yesterday and today...so that is a good excuse. ;)

Off to paint my nails red again before changing the vacuum bag, vacuuming and sweeping and eventual dishes. Wait, I should do the dishes first right? That is that is the smart thing to do.

There is something wrong with my nose. The base of it...right next to my eyes keeps wanting to explode. It's awful and I have had this problem for a week now. IT comes in the mornings and stays for a couple hours before fading away and then coming back at night. I took a pink allergy pill last night to help it and for me to go to sleep. Too thinky. I get caught up thinking about things and phrases and can't sleep, right now keep getting "lemony snickletts unfortunate events, take me a way, simplicity -- and a phrase from asong that is finally out of my head this morning. I shouldn't push it by trying to remember what the phrase was otherwise I will have it for weeks to come.

Saturday was the party! It was fun. I didn't take TOO many pictures, but the ones that I did take I will put up later this week. Of course, typical Tim and Laura we were behind and made the first guests ... rather...accepted offers of help from the first guests in getting things ready. Thanks to Lowen, Oliver, Shane and Tiara...at 8.15 when that was set we were able to relax and enjoy the party. Tim went out and got more beer at one point and now we have TONS of crappy...er, I mean bluecollar beer. PBR and Highlife. We won't have to buy booze for a long time! Someone brought Riverwest and we are working through that now. Yum...fancy beer is SO freaking good sometimes.

I was really pleased to see how many people dressed up and looked SO good. It was a little magical to see how great everyone could look, and the decorations turned out nice, there was a great array of food throughout the night, the nogg was good and spiced wine ....uh next time I should use a sweet wine...but was good....it was like those movies where they show a bit of a Christmas party. Tim and I were also able to actually visit with folks and enjoy it this year -- moreso than other years.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for coming out. Tim is hinting that next year's thing will be: Karaoke. It will be year five and one should do something a little extra on those big years (5, 19, 15 etc)

In other news...the SUN IS OUT TODAY! The first time the sun has been out for over a week or two. Holy moley it's so nice. But it is also quite a bit colder. Bah.

Yesterday after having a homemade breakfast of kings, Ben went on his way and Tim and I went to pick up Ty'quan (the little) for our activity. I decided that we would take him to the mall to help pick out those "holiday wishes" cards. Where needy folks fill out cards (based on organizations? We think? Hm) saying what they want. Unlike toys for tots which is randomly done. We forced TQ to make two decisions ... one to pick the card we had whittled down to five choices. He picked a five year old boy who wanted spiderman or DragonballZ stuff or clothing. The second choice was what gift we should actually give. Getting TQ to express an opinion is nigh impossible. We eventually settled on a Spiderman jammy set and a small spiderman parachut toy to go with it. Of course we bought this stuff at Toy R Us....hardly anyone ever actually gets the gift at the mall. There were so many target and bed bath beyond bags in the thing...it was funny. Anyway, we saw Sigrid and Matt at the glass store...the store that I had just passed and thought to myself "Who the hell shops there?" Well Sigrid and Matt do. And when we went in to say Hi, there was a huge line! Hah. They were there buying Snowbabies for Sigrid's grandmother.

Tim thinks TQ was bored to tears...I think ..."deal." It was something to do. Next time we are having a pizza party and playing HIS video games. Where he has the advantage.

This week Tim is on a business trip. He is leaving this afternoon in fact. The car is still in the drive way because Liama was kind enough to give Tim a ride to work. Man she's an early bird! So no TKD for me until Thursday. I am going to have to practice all week by my lonesome and create a form because my purple belt test is this Saturday. Purple....that will be cool. I am looking forward to Blue because then I am going to reward myself by buyinga black uniform.

I am baking this week and crafting. I need to start contacting people for holiday drop offs this weekend, and so I know how much to make. I am excited to bake. It will keep my mind off Tim being gone and the house just being with me and the animals. Ugh...that means I have to walk Pluto...but it's SO cold outside. He's going to have to wear a coat.

Mail is here! I hope we got something good...like cards or something. So far we only have four.

Last night Tim was driving me home from TKD. I was looking at all the Christmas decorations.

Laura: What purpose does Mrs. Claus have? Does she provide a family structure?
Tim: She recieves the yuletide log.
Laura: She does? A yuletide log? What is that anyway? You know, I made a yuletide log once. I decorated it with pine cones, glitter and stuff and brought it home. My parents said "What is that?" I told them it was a yuletide log. "What does it do?" they asked. I said "I don't know." What does it do?
Tim: . . . .
Laura: I mean seriously, are you supposed to burn it? Is it the ultimate in special logs?
Tim: . . .
Laura: Hm. So what does Mrs. Claus DO with the yuletide log?
Tim: . . .

Long seconds pass.

Laura: You're going to hell.
Tim: But Santa is already the devil!

Okay so I have watched too many Christmas movies. Sigh. I am feeling like I want someone to visit me.

I had waffles this morning! Wow. They were frozen waffles of course, saturated with syrup. Yum. I made half caf earl grey too....last night my mouth suddenly just felt a lot better. Of course I can't open it all the way or anything, but I can smile and talk like a normal person instead of a ventriliquist.

I bought vitamins last week cos Walgreen now sells a much cheaper version of One-A-Day. I got boy vitamins and girl vitamins and have started to make Tim take one with me every morning. Have I mentioned that I have Tim on a strict green tea and St. John's Wort tea regime every afternoon? In addition to this whole quitting smoking thing....I am like a health nazi. I dreamed about smokes this morning...I had a pack in my coat pocket and I was walking in a city looking for a cozy bar to have a drink and smoke in. Blast waking up.

Yesterday I went over to Heathers and checked out her place and did some cross stitch. MAN! Her place is so cute and adorable and I totally envisioned myself as the intrepid young woman bursting out on a path of liberation and freedom on her own. I imagined it decorated and painted and me coming home after a long day of secretarial or nursing work and taking tea with my kitty before getting ready for my big date or something. Whoa, I guess it's time to read a romance novel...or hell any novel in general. I started a book the other day, hopefully that will help with my case of wanderlust.

This week the house will be Christmasfied. BUT first I am going to watch Ringu and work on somethings this morning. Although I don't really want to watch Ringu. Maybe I should just send it back and get it again some other time when I am in the mood for it. I am much more interested in feel good movies right now. Luckily it's Christmas and there are craploads of them on.

Guess who confessed to finding one of his christmas presents this morning? If you guessed Tim then you are right. I had gotten him new socks and he wanted to wear them today and ... well he got to wear a pair. What a stinker! At least I said he couldn't wear the *really* good pair.

Still.

All the animals were bastards this morning. Every single on of them. When I woke up I had to take some pain meds because now the top of my mouth -- by the sinuses are starting to hurt.

I went and played scrabble last night and won both of my games! Woo. And they say I was drugged up. Ha whatever. IT only feels like being woozy for a hour after the first twenty minutes. Then it subsides. Sarah's place was awesome! So cozy and comfortable. I wish I could have had some of the lasagna...but the apple crisp goody stuff that Ryan made mushed down was good.

I am off to work on more christmas cards and watch morning videos. This is day three....this and tomorrow are supposed to be the worst days.

They were yanked yesterday. They would not give me my teeth. They said other people didn't get their teeth and that they were infected anyway. I tried to say that I wasn't planning on putting them back in. Tim had to excuse me and say "Sorry, she get's really surly after surgery."

And I was still waking up so I couldn't argue. But he's right. I am surly. Is that my true nature? One of bitchiness in which I expect my every demand to be fullfilled? I am probably a nightmare patient. Well crap I have been in the hospital enough times over my life and you gotta be assertive in order to get what you need.

Sigh. Last night sucked. I only managed a pudding but threw it up later along with a everything else I had to drink for the day. This morning the mouth hurts. I took pills and now I am sleepy and thinking I should take a mid morning nap. Even though I have only been up for an hour and a half. The more sleep you get the faster you heal right? Yeah...a nap wouldn't hurt. Can someone tell me why when I am sick though the damn dog want's to hog the couch? He doens't want it any other time. That fucker.