On the way home, this is what I bought for New Year’s Eve. We are also having steak (fresh from Nebraska) some shrimp and stuffed baked potatoes.
But the margaritas are the important thing. 
Have Fun!
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Archive for December, 2007
Year in Review 2007
Well, this year, I am willing to talk about my year. It’s been a relatively quiet one, compared to 2006. Thank God.
During the first part of the year, we were all dealing with my husband’s double knee replacement. I got to coordinate a bunch of pain relievers and encourage removal therefrom. Overall, the recovery went very well, and things can be done that were not done before, like walking for longer distances without severe pain from the arthritis that had eaten his joints away.
We have seen several major home improvements:
- A new heater and air conditioner
- A new roof
- New carpet throughout the house
I guess the good news is that the house is in pretty good shape.
My daughter has grown considerably; always the light of my life, she is becoming more and more her own person. She tried a lot of new things in Girl Scout Camp over the summer, and I learned to let go just a little bit. Her new passion is ice skating, which I was scared to death of, at first. I mean… blades and ice and fast speeds.. do they really mix with your little kid’s health? She amazed me with that, and many other things.
In July, we gained a second dog, Molly, a miniature schnauzer. Molly’s owner died and we decided to adopt her. She fits in very well with my daughter and our golden retriever. She even has not eaten my quaker parrot, which I really appreciate.
We have seen two car accidents; one mine and one his. Both were rear-end collisions that we were ticketed for. One car is fixed; one is not. It’s day is coming sometime soon. As far as we know, no one was injured, so that was a blessing in itself. We learned to pay attention when we are driving. No radio, heating or air adjustments that we need to take our eyes away from the road on.
I purchased a Harley! It’s a 2006 Sportster Custom. Black. It rocks! I love to ride, and the snow, ice and cold weather is really kind of detrimental to my riding. But I’m even learning to deal with the weather.. Heck, I’m ice skating in December and sledding with my daughter. Soon, I will be ready for the summer, though. I see some indoor tanning in my near future. Just one or two sessions. I swear I will wear sunscreen, Melissa. Well, maybe just a little.
We had one family trip, to Dallas in November to see all of my family. I am lucky to see my family every 2 years. It was good to be amongst them.
We gained a niece, just recently. She remains in NICU and I know that she will thrive and get out of there sometime soon.
I continue to enjoy my job as a technical specialist. Some days it is a major challenge, but most days it is quite ok. I’ve become an expert at replacing laptop LCD’s. I trained my arse off to get end users up-to-speed on a major software/network upgrade this year. I wrote instructions to go with it all. Loaded laptops, replaced desktops and did TONS of shopping with a PC salesperson I get along with quite well with. It’s important, when you’re shopping for technical stuff, to do it with someone you trust and get along with. Seriously. (Bad dealings with D*LL, people. Totally unpleasant to buy a lot of stuff from)
My hopes for 2008… Learn to breathe and relax more (Yoga, anyone?). Find more opportunities to think positively. Continue to enjoy my family and friends. Do more insightful writing. Spend more time ice skating. Learn some French (language, that is). Continue to find my way in this crazy world, and not do too much damage in the meantime. 
Happy New Year!
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Dare Ya
I have received a “dare” from Mike Achim for 2008. It is this:
Lisa: I challenge you to get completely away from all the city
lights, and watch a major astronomical event, and then write about it -
not about what happened up there, but what happened to you.
I’m posting this as a “note to self”.
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Reading Recommendation
I have spent at least an hour of my morning reading through WaiterRant. You should, too. I’ll try not to sound like a commercial; you know the kind…”Not only is it..lalala, but also, you can clean your kitchen cabinets with it.”
The truth of the matter is that the writing is good. It made me look at my own blog, although, GIVEN, I don’t have the insightful, inwardly analytical writing I sometimes feel I should have, and think, “I don’t deserve a blog. My writing stinks.”
The fact of the matter is that, WaiterRant lets you get inside of the author’s head. While I’m reading, I am thinking of my own thought processes throughout the day. I’m reenacting sorting it all out and reacting to whatever is affecting me, and why. In the back of my head, I am thinking, “Yeah, this all sounds really familiar.”
I enjoy that when the author finds a situation he doesn’t like, he reacts to it. Gracefully. He gets the job done when, for example, he’s out shooting an AK-47 at the range and overhears that a man has left his dog in a hot car. I’m not sure what I would have done; AK-47 in hand, dog abuser within range. Hmm.. Tough call. Yet, he joins the rest of the room in staring the man down and making him feel uncomfortable enough to pack up his stuff and leave.
Then there is the other side of me, where in 5th grade, I said my dream jobs were being:
1. A waitress
2. An astromomer
Of course, I still love everything skyward, in the night sky. I follow the phases of the moon and secretly blame it for my good luck or my bad mood.
Waiting on tables, however, a job obviously involving skill for the good ones, and amazing customer service skills; thinking and troubleshooting on the fly, especially where small children throwing fits is concerned.
So, if you’re curious now, stop by WaiterRant. Don’t forget to leave a tip.
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AC in Neonatal ICU
This is my niece. She was born a few weeks ago prematurely and has been in NICU since, hoping to go home in early January. Problems at the hospital today, apparently. Hopefully, she will be completely fine. If you have a prayer to pull out of your pocket, do it for her, ok?
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Ice Skating 101
Today, The Little Kid and I headed out to the ice rink. Since I haven’t been in ice skates in probably 30 years, I asked her if she could give me a couple of pointers.
Getting out on the ice was easier than I thought. For 30 years, I’ve been thinking I couldn’t ice skate, but I did really well after the first couple of laps.
I guess some of that hockey watching is paying off.
Also, do you know there are tricks to doing spins? “Hold your hand out flat beside you and look at it,” TLK said. I thought, “Right. Whatever.” but did it anyway. Guess what? Even if you are really standing relatively still, it works. God forbid you are going fast and do that.
I only had two falls, which didn’t hurt much at all. I did pay, muscle-wise, later, but it was nothing a long, hot bath and a good night’s rest couldn’t resolve.
Overall, a LOT of fun and an amazing workout! I’ll go again.
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Shopping with The Little Kid
So, we went off to Kohls to spend our Christmas gift cards. She picked out a few toys and I headed off to lingerie. We took stuff into the dressing room, where I promptly told her not to look. It’s not that I’m shy. I just don’t want to hear, “Mom! I see your boobs!” echo unceremoniously throughout the dressing room.
So I picked out what I wanted and we headed for the cashier. Upon laying my stash on the checkout counter, the tag on the underwear showing a picture of how it looks on the underwear model appeared for her to see.
“Mom? You want your butt to look like that??”
“Yes, honey. Yes, I do.”
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Our Christmas Day Stash
Santa shows up, once again.
Happy Holidays everyone!
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Christmas Day
Merry Christmas from Ginger and her rawhide card.
In a rare moment, the bird and the hamster are awake at the same time. The bird (Joey) likes to be sociable.
Hoarding food in the cheeks, Mousey is getting ready to deposit these into her secret hiding place, otherwise known as her “tunnel”
“WTF are you doing?”
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Wildlife Photos
I snapped these at my step-daughter’s house on Christmas Eve day.
A bird in the back yard.
A maltese poodle mix
The duck hunter
I caught this excellent (if I do say so myself) photo of this squirrel. You should see the large picture. I take back all the terrible things I’ve said about this camera. (well, most of them)
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Lisa
punctuation
