Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thawing out
We fired up the fireplace for the first time tonight after temperatures dropped into the bitter 50's. Hopefully the pipes don't freeze up tonight.
Stupidity
Something (I don't know what) compelled me to get out for a run in the rain while Donna was at the grocery store. She had taken Buddy for a long walk, gone grocery shopping, and meanwhile all I had done was put a Christmas tree together and sat around.
Christmas: Step 1
While Donna took Buddy out for a walk, I got crackin' on putting out Christmas tree together. Somehow or another I managed to lose a branch but I'm guessing it's in one of our Christmas-decoration boxes. Time will tell.
Dreary day
It's a wet and rainy today, and we're actually loving it. When you see it so rarely, it's actually kind'a nice. We were excited about going to see a movie on a day like this, but there's not a single movie at the theater that we have any interest in seeing. Instead, I think we'll get a few things done around the house then maybe do some Christmas shopping this afternoon!
A hoppin' Saturday night
Saturday night was chill time - surfing the web, Netflix, pizza, wings and a very comfortable sofa.
Fighting to stay awake
All of Saturday's excitement really wore out Buddy, but of course since we were doing stuff around the house, he wanted to stay awake to see what we were up to - he really doesn't like to nap until someone sits down with him. A few times I swear he was out cold, even with his head still elevated.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
That late-day light
I love the golden sunlight, late in the day. Unfortunately, since I never see it any more, I have to settle for the glow of brake lights.
Riding shotgun
Donna drove us home for lunch today, which gave me a chance to, of course, take pictures of her. I don't think that's what she had in mind when she offered to drive. One upside is that she shaves about 5 minutes off my typical 12-minute drive, so we have more time at home to relax.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Ahhhh, SoCal
Not a bad day at all to sit outside for lunch and enjoy a little bit of Southern California's finest weather.
Spoiled rotten
Usually spoiling the 'child' is the job of aunts, uncles and grandparents. Not in this house. Nope, Donna takes care of that herself. Buddy just isn't crazy about eating and while I've suggested just leaving his food out and letting him eat when he wants, Donna just can't stand leaving for work without knowing that Buddy has a full belly. First, she started enticing him with yogurt-covered food. Then she started hand feeding him. Then she started putting his food on a plate instead of in dog-food bowl. Now, he gets a hybrid of yogurt-covered food on a plate, hand fed.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Curious George
Buddy is so well behaved (knock on wood) that even when he's sitting on one of the chairs at the outdoor table, I have to "egg him on" to get him to look up on the top of the table. What can I say, we believe in sitting down to meals as a family.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Simplicity
Buddy went right up on his chair when we got home from tonight's walk, and I still had the flashlight on since I forgot to leave on lights on in the house, so I ended up taking this snapshot using my point-and-shoot and a flashlight. Not too shabby.
One last conference call
Donna, on her last Saturday conference call. She's so relieved about moving to a Monday-Friday schedule, knowing she'll no longer have to deal with being a day behind on everything, due to starting her weeks on Tuesdays. It will also be a relief not having to work until 1am, which is pretty tough when all your other work days are 8-5(ish).
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The early bird gets the worm
As I pushed one foot in front of the other, time and time again, gasping for air, I wondered what it was that motivated me to get out of bed at 5:20am. Turns out, there are two great reasons for getting up that early - the company of my wonderful wife and the morning sunrise, which didn't come as early as I was hoping. A little more than half way through our morning jog, we came upon this scene.
I still managed to be in the office by 7:15am and even better, I can go through the day without any stress regarding what time I'll get out of here, and will it be early enough to get in an evening run.
A few changes
For a while, we had our hearts set on wooden shutters for our windows. Then, in occurred to me that our windows don't have any sort of framing to them, and wood shutters would look pretty odd, without also installing all the woodwork framing. Soooo, plan B. We headed to Bed, Bath & Beyond and picked up some curtains, etc.
I think the dining area looks much 'homier' and the kitchen is much brighter. The living room windows are only partially done, but already they look better than they did with the vertical blinds.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Our evening walk
The dark nights are already getting the best of me, to the extent that tomorrow morning I'm heading out with Donna and Buddy at 5:30am to see if I can get my body in the routine of morning exercise. There's at least a little bit of daylight by 5:45am.
Our evening walk
The dark nights are already getting the best of me, to the extent that tomorrow morning I'm heading out with Donna and Buddy at 5:30am to see if I can get my body in the routine of morning exercise. There's at least a little bit of daylight by 5:45am.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
An especially early night
Friday night is our 'fun' night - after work and our walk with Buddy, we rent a movie and get take-out to give Donna a break from cooking. Dinner was around 8pm and by 9pm Donna and Buddy were cuddled up, fast asleep. Needless to say, they missed the second half of the movie.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Another 'depressing' thought
We got out on our walk early enough tonight that there was a pinch of daylight illuminating the horizon. This'll be a thing of the past, starting next week. I wish I could shake off the blues, and I'm sure I will in a few weeks, when I've had time to adjust.
Goodbye sunshine
With the time change this weekend, it occurred to me on the drive home tonight that this is the last drive home, for quite some time, that I'll be seeing any sunshine. It actually rained earlier today and the remnants of the clouds made for a pretty sky.
Defining "chew toys"
We had our first incident today - coming home for lunch to find that Buddy had chewed a hole in one of the pillows to our new sofa. I'm thinking of patching it with dog fur.
Awww, c'mon
Arrived at 6:06am at the Starbucks that opens at 6am and suffered the consequence - people who dared to form a line in front of me. Oh the nerve!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Back to the real world
The weekend is over and it's back to cool, dark morning trips to Starbuck's for my morning jolt of decaf goodness. I think the cold, damp weather wakes me up more than the coffee itself.
The calm before the storm
Monday night is always our last chance to chill out and enjoy the calm before another hectic work-week schedule. Donna spent a lot of time in the kitchen Monday afternoon, following our hike, but managed to get some chill time with the little man & myself before calling it a day.