Okay, here's my versions of the Christmas questions:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, with marshmellows or whipped cream on top.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wrapped, usually, and with different wrapping paper than we have around the house (the Santa wrap)
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored and the big old fashioned sized ones from the 60's, not those little ones for outside and colored lights that do things for the tree.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Never have, it's a parasite that grows on trees around here.
5. When do you put your decorations up? I try after thanksgiving, but like Becky, it keeps getting later and later.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Black and green olives, but they're not a dish.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: picking out Charlie Brown Christmas trees with dad at the Episcopalian church on 19th street. Ugliest trees you've ever seen, but still fun!
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 5 years old, found the doll house under mom's bed that supposedly was from Santa. Oh well.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No, but the kids always want to
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With ornaments the kids made when they were younger or with ornaments we’ve kept over the years. Kept Becky's answer since it was the same.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it, miss it, need it for the full Christmas feeling
12. Can you ice skate? Can I skate, people, PLUHLEASE!!!!! Still have the bum bruises to prove it!
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Nope, sad isn't it?
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Creating memories for my children
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I guess anything with pumpkin in it.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? just what everyone else usually does.
17. What tops your tree? a star.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Ooh, giving, easy. I always buy myself what I want throughout the year.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, but not because it's mine, but it's the favorite of a friend and always reminds me of her and my life in Canada.
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yum! - Especially wintergreen ones.

That was fun. Just finished a final so I will go and enter grades. One down, two to go.

Today's short blog is for anyone who thought that Missy's finger in the safe sound a little fishy (and you know who you are!). We have this cat that we saved from getting hit out on Highway 70 (the main drag through town) and Rob doesn't really like to have her in the house. The rest of us have really wanted another one ever since Ginger got eaten by coyotes when I was 8 months pregnant with Amy. Well, she never came back one morning and if cats disappear in our neighborhood, it's the coyotes. So we rescue this cat and since Rob grew up with cats in the house, he hates hair and dander, etc. Amy enjoys carrying the cat around its neck and by one leg, etc, and laying on her and mauling her, and all sorts of stuff like that. When we get to the point where we can't stand it anymore, we put her in the dog kennel we got for Wiley. Rob had to lock it up on Sunday because Missy kept taking her back out. So Rob took the key and hid it. Then that became a game for Missy to find the key (and she recruited Cameron, too). So they run around looking and Missy, of course, finds it and to stop it, Rob opens the safe to put in the key. Missy jumps on his back and reaches in just as Rob is shutting the door.

Thus, the finger in the safe. Luckily, I was not home to witness the whole ordeal, but according Missy, she cried like crazy. Just like my life, crazy!

Tonight is opening night for Missy! Hope all goes well. We're going tomorrow night. EAC plays Cochise tonight and Cochise is always #1 so hopefully we beat them. Plus their coach is a real jerk. Cam and I will be at the game.

Anyone know why Becky's blog is down today?

It's cold in my office today. I have a window, I'm right next to the outside door, and my heat is connected to two other offices that get really hot (when the heat is working and I don't think it is), so we can't crank the thermostat. I have a space heater (that just warms my seat) and my coat on. I had to send my work-study to the lab because it was warm in there. She's been sick with some bizarre virus (aren't they all) so I don't want her to get sick again. Well, I think I've made this week (which I thought was going to be the week from you-know-where) bearable. I've written both of my lab finals and my last two lecture tests. The finals are already written, and I just have to grade the lab finals by hand. Nicole (my work-study) can record everything for me, so life is great!

Aren't computers great? I just love clicking here, there and everywhere to get things done. What would we do without mouses (I don't think the plural for computer mouse is mice, I think it's mouses-- anyone know for sure?)?

Basketball season has begun in earnest for Cameron. He played his first game (they won, hooray) on Saturday, and it was really nice to have Uncle Tony there rooting for him along with the rest of us. So basketball is now our life. Missy's in a play on campus called "It's a Small World" and dress rehearsal is tonight. It runs Wednesday through Saturday nights. We've been running to rehearsals for a month now. It's been a fun thing for her, though.

Um, I guess that's all for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else, later. Oh, Missy smashed another finger on Sunday, this time in our safe. It's a wonder she has any fingers at all! Make it a good day!

Back at the old grindstone. Still working on grades since my work study (my students call her my secretary) hasn't been in since before Thanksgiving. So I have to do my work myself. I have a class this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon that will teach me how to set up my courses online, so if anyone is interested in taking my classes . . .

Here is my favorite picture of Amy. We took this last summer (2005) just as you go into Grand Teton NP from Yellowstone. My favorite landscapes in the whole world are, of course, mountains (gee, I wonder why) and this pose shows exactly how Amy is. "Yes, here I am and I'm great!" I taught a Gospel Doctrine lesson a couple of years ago and asked my class to describe what they thought were beautiful places. To a person the comments included mountains. Then another time our GD teacher asked us to tell about our most influential people. Yep, you guessed it, they were all teachers (oh, there was one scoutmaster). God bless our teachers and scout leaders (and since I am both, hopefully I will get extra blessings!)!

Time to run. Hope everything goes well for Becky tonight and her scrapbooking. I want to be her when I grow up!

Just a quick post today, since I have to go pick up Cameron from basketball practice right now. It tried to rain here today, but only succeeded in being windy and cold. It snowed in Brighton, I understand, but since T and K are on their cruise (I'm guessing), they don't really care!

Our furry menagerie continues to grow. We just discovered 6 more mice babies and 6 new rat babies. Rob is raising them to sell to the pet stores here. We have two sets each of 2 female and 1 male combinations in mice and rats, so you do the math. We still have 4 babies from the last batch. They're about big enough to sell now. Fun, isn't it? We still have Wiley, Daisy, our new cat, Trinity, Fuzzy Butt the hamster, seven chickens (Jessica, Fluffy, Maisy, Angel, Hershey, Penny and Bo Jangles but only the last two lay eggs anymore), and Stanley. Don't you wish you were me?

Okay, I'm late and Missy slammed her fingered in car earlier today. It's not broken. We're off to the boys and then play practice and I keep the scoreboard for the women's and men's basketball teams and we have games tonight. The fun never ends.

Here's a picture of the wonderful people that I work with in the Science Division. The real heights of each person are not quite as they appear. Some of us are using the tree to enhance our height! Although the tall man with the purple jacket to my left is really almost that tall!

Okay, here's part two of today. I just finished my healthly lunch of a Whopper Jr. with cheese, fries, and a Coke and Becky just sent me the blogs of the rest of my family. What beautiful children my wonderful nephews and their lovely wives have blessed us with. I don't know when I'll get to see them, but wish very much that I could. Bryan and Jeff were once a very big part of my life (just over 19 years ago -- egad!) and it's hard to believe that they are daddies! But what wonderful daddies they are!

On Mondays I have to take Cameron to school because he has piano lessons after school and he rides his bike there and then rides to the college after they're over. It's too far to ride to school, so we have to take it in the van in the mornings. Most times I stop at our corner store to get my morning Cherry Coke and Cameron usually complains. Yesterday, he said, "Why do you stop? You're not even supposed to drink that stuff." It's hard to be reprimanded by your children. Hopefully, I can stop over Christmas vacation (yeah, right).

Cameron and I just played our first duet for family home evening last night. It was Jingle Bells. What an exciting thing for me! I never thought Cameron (or any of my children for that matter) would be musical. Was I wrong! Cameron's only been playing for two months now, and he's great (at least I think so)! I don't even have to tell him to practice! Isn't that amazing? He's also doing magnificent on the trombone in band at school. He's so funny about music. He called his NeeNana (Rob's mom) the other day and put the cordless phone on the piano so she could listen to him play. What fun!

Missy is also progressing on the violin and has started picking out the songs Cameron plays by ear on the piano. I've got to start her soon! Amy is always playing whatever instrument she can get her hands on. She really likes the piano and the ukelele. Okay, I really have to go back to work.

I got the rest of the wall painted in the family room and it looks nice and warm and cozy in there. It is now our favorite room of the house and not just because it has the TV there. We bought Rob a pellet stove this summer from a friend who used to sell them but needed to get rid of his stock because he was moving. So we got a deal on it and now the family room is also the warmest room in the house. I've set the thermostat at 68 degrees (because pellets are cheaper than gas) so everyone runs in there when the pellet stove is on. But I guess it's the closest thing to a fireplace that I'll have in this house. We're still arguing over the fireplace in the new house, but I know I'll win on that one!

Okay, back to work. End of semester and all that, so I have grades and stuff to do.

The First Day

I'm envious of Becky's blog so I thought I'd start my own, but it will be nowhere near as neat as hers. Unless someone wants to give me a digital camera and some grandkids for Christmas. Although, my kids are still cute, so maybe I'll just take pictures of them. So, there it is. I have to go home and finish painting my family room. School's almost over for the semester and then I can finish all of my other unfinished jobs! :)