Christmas

I can't believe Christmas has come & gone. Life has been busy & the time is flying by. At some point since my last post I had a cookie baking day at my house. We made 2 cookies & a bark. Cookies were good, bark was so-so. We only had one incident & that was when my oven mitt caught on fire. No biggie, we didn't even need the fire extinguisher.

 

Later that night our friends that live next door had their annual Christmas Cocktail Party.

 

Cliff has a thing for tuxes. We brought him the very large bottle of Chianti. He loves wine & anything Italian.

 

 

The weather was actually cold that night.

 

I had a couple of days off, did some running, did more shopping & started planning an engagement party that's happening in 3 weeks. Good times.

 

Christmas Eve morning was spent a little differently than normal for me. I had a hair appointment. It was a great way to relax after a crazy busy week.

 

We went to 4:00 Mass which means leaving before 3:00 so that we can get a seat & don't have to stand. After Mass we went with friends to Ruffino's. We've done this for several years.

 

 

 

Starting at 10:00 we have our annual pajama party at our other neighbors house with the rest of the group. We have to re-evaluate that time next year. Some of us (me) are falling asleep well before the party starts.

 

We play the white elephant game & this was one of the gifts. It's called the Beer Beard?? I think? You can see the clear plastic tube. From what I could tell there's a place under all of that hair to put a can of bear & the tube goes into it & you can drink from it. Weird. I was lucky enough to get away with a Canes gift card!

 

This year we went all out with t-shirts.

 

 

They've got all the family names & the dates. It was cute.

 

Christmas Day was spent with our families at our house.

 

 

Logan's first stop is to find his name under the tree.

 

We ate a lot and then opened presents.

 

 

He was soooo excited with everything. He loves Hot Wheels so much & he got plenty!

 

 

Dean's mom, my mom & my uncle Donnie

 

 

My cousins & Godchildren Dylan  & Brooke

 

We played a few games of Jenga. My hands shake way too much for this.

 

Dylan, Brendan, me, Dean, Brooke & Logan  - all of these kiddos are my Godchildren

 

Dean bought me a Garmin Vivofit 2 activity tracker. It's showing me just how little I move on non running days. My average deep sleep during the night is 2.5 hours. That explains a lot. He also got me a gift card for a day at the spa. I can't wait to use that!

Allison sent me this pic of her little girl. I bought her this outfit for Christmas.

Seriously, the cutest outfit ever!!!

 

Saturday we spent the day in Bayou Pigeon at Dean's parents. His brother & fiancé & kids were there so we had Christmas with them.

 

I gave Dean's mom this Christmas cactus last year. It was so small.

 

Mine is still alive but hasn't grown like this.

 

Our cute gift to hang on the patio!

 

Sunday morning I got up early & went for a run. My Half Marathon is on Jan. 17th so it'll be here in no time.

I ran 10 miles then did a 1 mile "cool down" walk. I use the term "cool down" loosely. It was close to 80 degrees when I finished the run. The humidity was at 80% when I started. The weather is CRAZY. Shorts on Christmas Day, 80 on Christmas Day, horribly muggy & humid on Christmas Day, raining on Christmas Eve. AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL!

 

Can you tell I haven't been happy with the weather??

 

So today's Monday & I'm back at work. Yay. (That's sarcasm). At least it's only a 4 day week.

 

How was your Christmas?

 

Toodles!

Here, There & Yonder

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. It's ridiculous how fast time goes when you get older. I hate it. I still have gifts to buy, gifts to wrap, decorations to put up, Christmas cards to be mailed. Let's face it, the chances of it all happening is slim & that makes me sad but it's my own fault. I just haven't been in the mood. 

Dean & I were both off Friday so we did some shopping & had lunch at VooDoo BBQ. We also found out that Dean's brother got engaged so that was exciting. 

Friday night we had Christmas with Dean's cousins. I ate way too much! 

These cookies were so good. 

The kids sang a lot of Christmas carols & then it was time to Whip & Nae Nae.

Notice that Cody is wearing shorts. That's because it was 80 degrees Friday. Ridiculous. 

Saturday morning we were up bright & early to book our next vacation. 

This picture cracks me up. They're so serious. We're going to an all inclusive resort in Cancun in June. So far it will be us & 2 other couples but there's always a chance more of the group will join us. 

After the vacation stuff was handled I went for a run. It was hot. 

I was really slow too. Slower than I've been in awhile. I'm sure the fact that I had 2 Dr. Peppers, a Coke Zero, 3 glasses of wine & very little water on Friday had something to do with it. I know better. I was so hot that I actually got in the pool. It was cold but it wasn't unbearable. 

Dean & I were off again yesterday & the plan was to finish the shopping. It didn't happen. We got a lot done but not everything. We  had breakfast at Another Broken Egg. 

I had the Crab Cake Cavallo. It was delicious.

My plan was to run when we got home yesterday but it was hot, I was annoyed & I took a nap instead. Ugh. 

I got up early this morning & ran before work like normal. It was 44 so that was nice but I was still really slow. I didn't feel bad so I don't know what the deal was. I'm trying to improve my time for my half in January. At least I got out there & did it.  

Tonight I have dinner with some friends that I haven't seen in awhile & then tomorrow night is a birthday dinner. Such a busy time of year. 

Toodles!

Thanksgiving

Last week was crazy busy so I'm playing catch up. I feel like that's all I do these days. The day before Thanksgiving I went to Trader Joe's to get some flowers.

Tulips are my favorite!

They didn't live very long which was a bummer. 

Our typical Thanksgiving is to eat then watch Logan play football with Scott & Dean.

Yes, it was ridiculously hot & we all had on shorts. 

Notice Logan's mouth is wide open in both pictures. He's got the trash talking down to a science.

The wind was blowing about 150 mph. 

Logan's head is wet from sweat. He's the hottest kid I know. 

I bought this at Sam's.

I loved it. Dean said it was ok.

The most exciting thing of the day was when my neighbor ran in the house to borrow a bottle of champagne because her daughter got engaged. It was all very exciting. The first 3900 Krewe Wedding.

Friday I got up & ran. It had been over a week because in keeping with my Thanksgiving tradition I was sick & had to get a steroid shot. 

I ran 4 miles & then walked 1 mi.

I decorated the house & the tree. 

Monday I ran 5 mi.

It was chilly.

I ran 6.5 mi. on Wednesday to try & run off some of the cheesecake. I got a couple of weight workouts in too. 

Not a lot of excitement is happening around here. 

Toodles!