Rock star video

I wanna be a rock star

Still basking in the post-vacation bliss, I figured these pictures warranted some attention: we accompanied the Berrisfords & the Bjerkens to Wisconsin Dells this past weekend. And while the water park, hot springs & holiday food garnered some of our attention, I must admit that many of the hours were whiled away playing Rock Band, and frankly, I like it. A lot. There were some wistful, Partridge Family-type moments as I foddered away on the drums. We're already planning our next vacation. Rock on.

Blessings of abundance

As we come to a close of this holiday season, let us remind ourselves of what we always want to have in abundance: family, friends, our health, safety & peace of mind. I hope the next year provides these gifts to all of you.

Back to life

It's great to be back in the land of the living. For the last 10 days of working, I have been able to make it in for about 3 days. First I had a cold and then developed laryngitis (this has been happening relatively frequently for the last year when I get sick), then several members of my family (who were all visiting) got the stomach flu. I felt so bad for them, as they were sick and not even in the comfort of their own home. Grandma Taylor came to the rescue, though. I called my friend from work and asked for a popsicle delivery, as that was the only thing that I could eat that didn't continue projectile activity. I was so relieved to see my co-workers again! I hadn't been outside for 4 days. Now I'm finally feeling like celebrating the holidays again--we are going to do some Christmas shopping this weekend, maybe I'll make some cookies...getting back to normal.

Welcome home, Koufax

The first weekend of December, I drove to Rochester to meet our puppy's breeders. I guess I would use that term loosely, but we really checked them out and were happy with the setup they had. As soon as I met this little guy he came right to me and practically licked me to death. We stayed at my sister's house for two days, much to the delight of my three-year-old nephew, Nathan, and then picked up Corey from a conference on our way home. He's adjusting to our family quite nicely; with the exception of the typical puppy bursts of energy in the early evenings, he's mostly just cuddly and wants to be played with. I don't even really mind taking him outside, as he's learned to climb the deck steps and is pretty autonomous. We had really thought he'd have an Irish name, but we couldn't find one that really stuck, but this one's a good fit.

Geez.

I guess I wasn't really sure how/if this was reading material for the blog world, but since every time I have gone to post something I really just considered posting about this topic, I figure maybe there is some cartharsis in getting it out, despite leaving out major details out of respect for others. The thing is something in the universe is crazy right now concerning many people in my and Corey's family, and "family" of friends. It just seems like the bad news, which I have come to predict to arrive in threes, just keeps coming! It's gone way beyond three: there are numerous people in our lives that are just going through some really difficult times right now. I've considered needing to get the bad energy out--do I have my house blessed? Do I smudge it? Anything to help with this seemingly bad turn of events in the lives of so many. It's hard to know how to help them, even though most of the time, just thoughts, prayers, calls, and just being there is all that they expect/you know how to provide. My mom was in a car accident on Saturday night, and thankfully is doing just fine. However, the weather wasn't as forgiving for some of the other travelers, so it just becomes a very scary reminder as to how fragile all of our lives are. I know we often forget, but please, just tell those in your lives that you love them, even for the 500th time. I had a really good talk with my parents that night and it was an amazing reminder as to why we are really here, celebrating the holidays. It's about tradition and sharing it with those you love. If we don't have our friends and our family, we have nothing.