James Family Christmas...

Christmas highlights. Shopping with my Aunt Liz, basically we giggled our way in and out of Antique stores and home decor shops. We had a great time. Games, we played Mexican Domino's (fun) and Clue. Food...lots and lots of food, over 4 days we had ham, Portuguese soup, Roast beef, potato salad, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, spoon corn bread, beets, pork and beans, chicken, fudge, cupcakes, cookies, pie. I think I'll be working off Christmas on the treadmill for a few months to come. Presents, Mike got XM Satellite radio, an assortment of sauces, money, and toys. I got a coat, a piece of Hawaiian jewelry, a Brighton neckless and earring set and money. David was spoiled and I won't even begin to list all that he got but it mostly had to do with Rollerblades and clothes, oh and an Ipod. Duke and Jemma received a couple of big bones.

My mom and Bruce have a small dog named Icsis (spelling?). Duke and Jemma thought that they were little lap dogs too and loved her bed. Poor Icsis put up with a lot. They would follow her around in circles until she snapped at them then they would follow her just a little more to make sure that had really annoyed her, then they would go and lay down in her bed. Brats!

Overall it was a great time. We all appreciate my families hospitality. Thank you for all the wonderful Christmas cards we received. I hope you all had as pleasant a Christmas as we did.

Mansitting...

Mansitting, much like babysitting, is hard work. I come home from work to find a seemingly clean house. Now that two men live in my house there is double trouble. I find the meat thermometer in the Pyrex baking dish on the counter. The same Pyrex baking dish that is to be returned to my friend, Courtney. I can only assume that the meat thermometer is clean since the kitchen counter has been cleared of all dirty dishes. A pleasant surprise. I begin my 4th round of Christmas baking, I can't find my glass measuring cups, my frustration rises as I scour the kitchen searching only to find my glass measuring cups nestled deep within the Tupperware cupboard. Now as the woman of the house I know that these glass measuring cups belong in the lower cupboard to the left of the oven and that the meat thermometer belongs in the drawer below the silverware. I look up to find the dish detergent front and center on the counter top. That too has a place to call home. Under the sink next to the dishwasher. I begin to think, how hard is it to put stuff where it belongs.

My next effort is to clean the house before leaving for one day in Moscow with my friends Vic and Sharon and 4 days with my Mom in Lewiston. I find socks stuffed behind couch cushions, sweaters on window sills and a whole array of other items in places they do not belong. I know that they probably have great reasons for all of these things but I personally would never put my sweater down in a windowsill or shove my socks deep within the couch cushions. NEVER!

Soon my men find me with smiles on their faces. Did you notice that we cleaned the kitchen? Thoughts race through my head, "Oh I noticed all right, who taught you two to clean, you didn't' even wipe all the counters down or sweep the floor. That isn't clean." Then I shake myself back to reality remember the rules of mansitting. They did try. If they hadn't the meat thermometer would be drowning in a sea of suds with the glass measuring cups, I wouldn't have dish detergent because it would still be at the store stocked neatly on a shelf instead of on my kitchen counter and I would have been mad that no one had done anything at all to help me. So I smile warmly back at them and politely and genuinely say "Thank you." Mansitting is tough work.

New goals...

Another year gone by. The end of December symbolizes the beginning of a new year. With a new year comes resolutions, I prefer goals. This years goal is to run a 5K (roughly 3 miles) race. I know some of you are probably thinking, why? I have gotten tired of weight loss goals that I have no control over. I can't lose weight no matter what I do. So new goal. Instead of giving up all together I am going to try something new. Fitness goal. Embarrassingly enough I have never even run a mile. Once in high school PE I got in trouble for taking to long to walk a mile because I was too busy talking. The only time I ever get into trouble involves me blabbing. So currently I can't run more than a minute and a half at a time. I have selected a 5K run that is March 31st. I am going to work really hard to be able to run the whole thing by then. IF I can't run the whole thing I want to be able to run most of it. I am very excited!

Fun with the James'...

While attempting to take a picture for our Christmas cards, Jemma, decided not to participate. She literally wouldn't move. She just laid there and let me try to move her. It was so funny. The proof is in the picture.

I spent most of the week making cookies, cupcakes, layer bars, and peppermint bark. I am still not done. My brothers motto is "aim low, so low that you cannot fail," I guess mine is the complete opposite. I always take on way more than is humanly possible. On top of all that we attended 3 Christmas parties this week. It was a lot of fun but I am exhausted. You'll be happy to know that 7 treat trays, 3 parties, a bunch of pictures and 40 Christmas cards later I just need to buy one more gift, address a few more cards and I will be done and ready to relax.

See they can be cute! I've started calling them the twins.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!

We celebrated Mike's 27th birthday on Monday instead of Tuesday because he has his work Christmas party. I made my very first cake from scratch. It was devils food cake with cream cheese frosting. It was pretty good for my first time. My friend Nicole I have heard is an excellent cake maker and I will have to hit her up for some tips. I have decided however that I am too impatient for cake making. I don't want to wait for it to cool to put the frosting on. When we went to cut into my 2 layer cake the frosting came oozing out the sides of the cake. It still tasted yummy though.

This week is super busy. We have Mike's birthday and 3 Christmas parties. It will be a fun week but a busy one. Plus I am still trying to get our Christmas cards out. I hope I get them out in time. Send us an email with your addresses if you think we don't have it and I will be sure to send you a card. I don't want to miss anyone.

Have a great week!

I can't believe it's already Wednesday...

Everyday I wake up and think, today I will write a blog entry. Then I get going about my day waiting for some magical moment to come along that is either picture or story worthy. I hope for both and at the end of the day when my life is neither I feel disappointed. I guess not everyday has to be full of something exciting.

Thank you for those of you who called to check on Mike after his oral surgery. He is recovering fine. It is slow but he is going to make it. He is bummed because his post op. is on his birthday as well as his office Christmas party. I wish he had just one year where he could have a good birthday. I don't think that has happened since the first year we were married, maybe next year hun.

I don't know if any of you have been following the family who was stranded on a back road in Oregon for over a week. They found the wife and 2 kids and they are fine but the Dad is still missing. I can't stop thinking about it. I keep checking the web for updates. I can't imagine. They are in my prayers today.

Hope you all are having a great week!

Mike's surgery....

So Mike was scheduled to have oral surgery yesterday. It was his first surgery. He took yesterday and today off and was a little nervous but glad to have the time off from work which is becoming very stressful for him. He did manage to sneak into work early in the morning and then sneak back home before his surgery. The doctor put Mike under sedation but he wasn't completely unconscious, awake but non-apprehensive was the term they used. I of course had every bad though that could exist about how his surgery could go. His surgery went really well and his recovery is going great.

Today, is just a lazy day while we let Mike relax and recover. I am going to get my hair cut, hopefully clean the house (never ending) and go workout. I am trying to get back into my routine after being gone. That's funny though because the holiday season is the worst time to try to have a routine of any kind. We have 3 Christmas parties the week of Mike's Birthday. His work Christmas Dinner is on his birthday, as well as his post op. We were supposed to be in Maui this year but we had to change our plans after my Grandma passed away. He feels like his birthday is doomed to be bad. Poor guy.

I don't have any current pictures but here's a couple cuties from when Duke was just a little guy or as Ethan called him. "Little Duke. " Look at those guilty paws.