2006: Year in Review

FEBRUARY: My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
MARCH: I saw Michael Bublé in concert and fell in love like a twelve-year-old schoolgirl.
APRIL: I joined a women’s softball team. I also made my first trip to Bangkok, Thailand.
MAY: My dad underwent prostate surgery and several weeks of recovery. He’s now cancer free. JUNE: Melissa, my dear friend from high school, got married. I took my second trip to Bangkok.
JULY: I got together with my college gang for a long weekend. Then, another trip to Bangkok.
AUGUST: Yet one more trip to Bangkok
SEPTEMBER: KB and I took a fabulous vacation to South Padre Island. I completed an intense ten-day makeover of sorts.
OCTOBER: I got a nice promotion and big ol' raise.
NOVEMBER: I turned 32 and bought my first brand-new car.
DECEMBER: I experienced my first mammogram and ultrasound. Fun!

Overall, it's been a really good year. I'm still finding it hard to believe that 2006 is over already, but alas, it is, and I'm looking forward to 2007.

Raindrops On Roses...

There are so many things to love about this time of year. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Christmas music on the radio 24/7
Houses decorated with tiny white lights
Finding beautiful cards in my mailbox almost every day
The Christmas Broom
Red Salvation Army buckets and volunteers outside stores
Wrapping presents
Ding - Fries Are Done!
Work luncheons that last several hours
Finding the perfect gift for that hard-to-shop-for person on my list
Messiah Sing-alongs
Reading on the couch, by the light of the Christmas tree

What are your favorites? Make time to appreciate them, because they'll be gone soon!

Blink And The Weekend's Gone

I can hardly believe the weekend is over, but since it's already lunchtime on Monday, I guess it's true.

Friday evening, my folks had their Christmas open house. The house was beautifully decorated and became even more festive as friends and family arrived. There were about 80 guests in all, touring the house, talking, laughing, eating, but not eating quite as much as Mom had planned. If I calculated correctly, we should finish the leftovers sometime in Spring 2009. But no matter, it was a fantastic time for all and reaffirmed the fact that I have a wonderful family and they have wonderful friends.

Saturday, I returned home in time to join KB, Ann, Chris and Conrad for KB's birthday party at Sakura. Afterwards, we returned to KB's house for cocktails and board games. As it was KB's birthday celebration, she got to choose the games. First on her list was Tabloid Teasers. In short, it's like Balderdash, but with tabloid headlines instead of definitions. Each player fills in the blank of a tabloid headline, then all headlines are read aloud, including the real one, and the players vote for the one they think is real. Everyone was very creative and we had some good laughs. We then played two short rounds of Family Feud, until we realized it was 2:00 AM and our beds were calling to us.

Sunday, I delighted in sleeping as late as Ernie would allow, then took him for a long walk, did some chores around the house, and treated KB to a birthday dinner at Bertucci's.

And now it's Monday. I get the feeling the rest of 2006 will be gone before I know it.

Hero Dog

A half-breed wolf dog saved his 81-year-old owners from freezing to death in a snowstorm.

After Shana [the dog] tunneled all the way to the house — a process that took until about 11:30 p.m. — she came back, grabbed the sleeve of Eve's jacket, and threw the 86-pound woman over her back and neck, which Eve described as "as wide as our kitchen shelf."

Norman grabbed Eve's legs, and the dog pulled them through the tunnel, under the trees and through an opening in a fence to the house, at which they arrived around 2 a.m.

I'd like to think that Ernie would do the same for me, but he'd probably dig the tunnel, come back for me, drag me a few feet into the tunnel, realize he didn't make it wide enough for my hips, and say, "You just had to eat that ice cream last night before bed, didn't you?"