How did we end up here?!: Chirstmas Re-cap

Looking at my sidebar, I see that I wrote exactly one post in December 2011. Well, what can I say? The first half of the month was super busy at school, and when vacation started at 3:31 p.m. on the 21st I immediately got crazy sick. :(

I spent the entire Chirstmas break coughing and hacking and blowing my nose and sleeping... 10 - 12 hours a night, plus many daytime naps. On Chirstmas Eve I went to InstaCare and got a prescription for codeine cough syrup, which helped a tiny bit. The family all came over here for our usual Chirstmas Eve dinner (chicken and noodles) and presents, which only happened because Niece spent the afternoon helping me get ready. Same thing on Chirstmas Day - went to GolfDad's an hour early to get the table ready, and took Niece with so that she could do the bulk of the work. GolfDad fixed us wonderful steak and baked potatoes, Mrs. Igor provided delicious rolls (on both nights), and we did green salad and dessert duty (again, with Niece's help). I'm so glad we were able to keep things simple, as most of the actual holidays were spent curled up on the couch feeling miserable.

Presents were low-key also, but happily given and warmly received. Niece has been using the cookbook and silicone cupcake set we gave her like crazy all week, and her creations have been regularly featured on Facebook. She and Nephew both received their usual gifts of books and clothes (black jeans for him, fleece pants and a cool hoodie for her) from us as well. We also got Nephew a nice multi-tool pocket knife item that he seemed to like a lot.

We gave Mr. and Mrs. Igor a "date in a box" present of gift cards for the movies and dinner out, along with jeans as requested for Mr. Igor and a Denver Donkeys - I mean, Broncos - t-shirt for Mrs. Igor. I was really excited to give GolfDad a 27 ounce Kleen Kanteen stainless steel water bottle with an additional sport top - he's done a good job of cutting back on his use of throw away plastic water bottles, and I wanted to reinforce and acknowledge his efforts. GrandmaT wanted "consumables," as always (she doesn't want STUFF) so we got her a big jar of her favorite Utz Pub Mix, 60 granola bars, 18 packages of Costco trail mix, and a box of See's chocolates.

For our own selves, Mr. Mamie and I got a pair of below-0 rated sleeping bags on a great sale at Sportsman's Warehouse. We're excited to use them for camping in the future, but in the meantime we've spent a number of hours snuggled under them on the couch over the last 10 days. We also got Mr. Mamie some new T-shirts and me a pair of jeans. From the family we received a Cuisineart immersion blender, which I LOVE, and a nice little rice cooker - kitchen gadgets we've been wanting.

With my Grammie's generous Christmas check we caught up on and paid ahead on several bills, renewed our Costco membership, and did a major stock-up on groceries and supplies. Between this and our practical but wonderful presents, we're feeling well-gifted, well-supplied, and very fortunate.

Probably the best part of this holiday season has been the addition of two new family members. Losing Scout the Wonder Beagle on December 4th was crushing, and no one can possibly take his place. But I couldn't stand how quiet the house was, and before long we had opened ourselves up to looking for the "right" new friends.

Icarus the orange kitty came to us via Craig's List first, and he's been a fabulous cat. It's been about three years since we had a cat, so we had to purchase some supplies. Icarus likes to look out windows, eat GrandmaT's houseplants, and sleep at the foot of our bed. I have always wanted an orange cat (and have had every color BUT), and Icarus is a beautiful specimen and nice companion.

Icarus, looking watchful on the back of the couch

Copper was an inhabitant of the animal shelter in TheVillage. We went down to meet another dog (who turned out to be too hyper for a household with an elderly resident), and were drawn to Copper - but at the time he wasn't available. The animal control officer called me two days later, on the afternoon of the last day of school, to say that Copper had been released for adoption. We raced down after school to pay the adoption fee (and for his and Molly's 2012 city licenses). We also left a check made out to our vet, as TheVillage requires spaying/neutering before adoption and Copper had not yet been neutered. OfficerM delivered Copper to the vet on Thursday morning, and that afternoon we picked up our groggy little doggie. He was listed as a Beagle (hence, part of the attraction), but based on his size and some other physical and personality characteristics, we are pretty sure that he's a Beagle/Jack Russell terrier mix (or, "Jack-a-Bee" as they are called). Copper loves to snuggle, run, go on long walks, chase the laser light, chase a ball, play tug-o-war with his rope, and go places in the car. He's only 18 months old, so he's still very puppy-ish and energetic. He's a lot of fun and is already making us be more active!