Office Flair and Tidbits

Here's a photo of my boss, Dr. Livingston, taken at our office party which he and his wife were kind enough to host at their house! We had HEAPS of food, played games and did "white elephant" gift exchange. For the most part, I love my work environment. I have a lot of independence which I LOVE! My co-workers are great and easy to work with. Business has been a bit slow, but hopefully that will pick up soon!

Michaela is in the Art Club at school and to raise money they ran around painting business windows. She did both of Dr. Livingston's offices and the office of the physical therapy crew that shares our Thayne office space. Good job!

Christmas comes again...

As I've been told all my life, Christmas comes faster and faster the older you get. It's absolutely true. I feel like we just did this! I probably said this last year. LOL

The kids went to their fathers' houses for Christmas so we celebrated when they returned. That was fine...only we have to travel to two VERY far apart airports to do this. Michaela can fly out of Jackson, 1 hr north, but because Alex isn't 8 he cannot make connecting flights. So he and Rebecca have to fly out of Salt Lake, 4.5 hours south. A complete unfun time, I can assure you.

I wasn't at all into the holiday spirit this year. I hardly baked, I didn't sent out cards (sorry gang!) and I think putting the tree up was about all the decorating I could do. I wanted to take the kids out and hike the mountain for their first REAL FRESH CUT tree, but decided not to since they wouldn't be here. Kind of a cop-out I suppose! I'm sure my mood is partly due to the recent move, partly to finances and partly because the kids weren't here and our families/friends are far away too.

The past couple of months have been very hard. Not only adjusting to this place, which is quite desolate in the winter, but not having Todd here FT is the worst. He still works in MN most of the time as the job he was to have here fell through. And there aren't an abundance of them here. I feel awful. I had to take this job. I needed the 'under the belt' experience. But this presents with new problems. This cannot go on for a lot longer. New plans will have to be formulated.

The kids had a great time at their fathers' and that was fantastic and always what "it's all about". They got some things they'd been wanting and have been having a fun playing with them. Tomorrow school starts again...The break went fast. Even I had a 13 day one. Can't believe it's over as I wasn't thrilled about taking 13 day mandatory vacation w/o pay. But back at it! Tomorrow I start a new semester of school too. Am looking at revamping my schooling plan. Which will mean I'll be at it longer than I had wanted to be. But for my own sanity and financial reasons, it will probably work out for the best in the long run.

Lucky Number 7

On Dec 5th, Alex turned lucky #7! I call it lucky as there are days I swear he wouldn't make it that far! And now, I can't believe that my baby is 7 and in first grade! We had a simple time at home. He requested a 'snake cake', so I did the best I could! His friend, Thomas, came over and played, had dinner and helped break in the new gifts!

He just cracks me up

Every night, before I go to bed, I check on the kids. Even Michaela, who is 15. Must be some undying Mommy duty. Anyway, I was absolutely tickled to find Alex passed out with his head perched upon his bunk guardrail. I'm not sure how this is even remotely comfortable, but sure made for a good photos!

Thankful in Wyoming

Ahhhhhhhhh Thanksgiving!! I had been a bit concerned this year as I cannot tell you when I was last 'in charge' of the big meal! Thankfully it all turned out quite awesome and we had more than plenty to go around. 26 lbs of meat/(3 adults + 3 Kids) = a lot of leftovers! We were very thankful that both Todd and Doug made it to Wyoming to be with us for the holiday and that their cross country travels went well and without incident.

She's not from around here...

Here's a little chuckle for ya....

At the end of the Jackson trip, we walked back to our car and Michaela stopped in front of the car above and said "Look! An electric car". Now I peered over the roof of ours and said "that thing's too old to be electric!" and she insisted I come around to her side - I already knew what she was seeing. An engine block heater's plug (click on photo to enlarge). And I was right! I was laughing so hard before gaining composure to explain what that device was for.

Jackson Hole: part II

Here are a few last photos taken on our trip to Jackson. Wanted to display just how touristy we were being!

One of the highlights was finding the "Yippee-i-o Candy Co.". This place is a fabulous sugar mecca complete with homemade fudge and an ice cream counter! The kids treat for the day was purchasing a pound of candy.. each! They're already asking if they can return on our next drive up.