From Thanksgiving to Christmas

We're going to go from most recent to oldest here and this is going to be a long post!  Got your coffee?  Your favorite blanket?  Here's what we've been up to lately...

CHRISTMAS

We went down to Victoria for Christmas.  Lee and I were lucky to be able to be in the same city as both of our families so we could go back and forth between houses fairly easily.  I have to say that it felt a little like Four Christmases at times, but we were thankful for being able to celebrate Christmas with family.  My ENTIRE family got sick.  We're talking cousins, parents, kids, EVERYONE!  It is some weird virus that lasts about a week--Lee and I got it Christmas Day so that is where we stand.  Aside from being sick, we had so much fun in Victoria.  I know, I know Victoria can sometimes be a bit of a bore, but we really had a lot of fun!  I finally got to taste the infamous spice bars that Lee's Aunt makes.  His Grandma used to make them and my Mom absolutely loved them as a kid.  We had fun at his family's white elephant gift exchange and it was exciting to meet more of his family.  I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas and is looking forward to a Happy New Year.

Maggie all tuckered out on Christmas Day

Libby is too hopped up on treats to sleep!

Lee and his Godson, Leith on Christmas Eve

Me and Leith (notice I just don't look right--I should have known what was coming!)

WORK

The week before Christmas my company had an event.  There were thousands of people at the Hilton Anatole and the entire thing was a huge success.  I was working from 5:30am until 12:30am all week and those of you who know me also know that I am the kind of person that requires a lot of sleep.  You also might say that this could be part of the reason I got sick.  I honestly think I would have gotten sick either way, and I had so much fun working the event even though I felt a little like a zombie at times.  I got to see Saturday Night Live Comedian, Seth Meyers, twice.  He's absolutely hilarious.  I was laughing through both performances so hard that I started crying.  Mike Ditka was the keynote speaker during the day.  I honestly never imagined him being such a fantastic speaker--the things he said were so moving and very motivating.  I got the chance to meet him in person and shake his bear paw, I mean hand.  I am happy it was a success, but was also happy to head down to Victoria to be with family the next day!

KEEP IT CLASSY SAN DIEGO

The weekend BEFORE Homecoming/Reunion, I was in California with my sister, Shelley.  Now all of you who thought I dropped off the face of the earth know why I have neglected our little blog for so long!  Shelley is in San Diego completing her Masters Degree at Chapman University.  She lives in the Hillcrest neighborhood which is very diverse for those of you who don't know San Diego well.  I saw so many things while I was out there that were eye-opening.  Those of you who think Austin, TX is liberal--HA!  Anyhow, she has the CUTEST apartment.  It is actually a 4-plex behind the landlord's home right in the middle of all the action.  We walked to cafes, a fantastic tapas place, and little boutiques the first morning.  All of the food is ridiculously fresh and your taste buds are kind of in shock because everything tastes so good.  You haven't tasted an orange until you've jumped up to grab it off the tree, peeled it and eaten it right there.  OOOHH so good.  Shelley has orange, lemon, and banana trees in the courtyard of her place and the oranges are in season and delicious!  We drove to Coronado Island where I rented a bike to join Shelley and Adam (her boyfriend) on a bike tour of the beach, Hotel del Coronado, and the town.  We happened upon an Italian place that was delish and walked up and down the beach.  My family has this thing with sand dollars.  Don't even ask where it came from, but we get ridiculously excited when we find a whole one.  Well, we found not one, not two, but FIVE whole sand dollars on the beach that day!  We went out for Italian in downtown San Diego that night and met up with one of their Navy dentist buddies.  The last day we drove up to Pacific Beach where Adam lives to check out his place and the surfers that congregate in that area.  We saw some surfers (who weren't very good) and some kite boarders (who were excellent).  I was very sad to leave, but I'd like to go back soon and take Lee with me so he can see how much fun San Diego is and why I enjoyed it so much.  I told him I'd like to live there for a year or so--just for fun!

Shelley and me at the Hotel del Coronado

All of the shells collected (5 SAND DOLLARS!!!)

Shelley and Adam checking out an orange tree on Cordonado

Shelley and me (we have no idea who wrote that)

ETC...

Lee and I have been extremely busy between Thanksgiving and Christmas and there are tons of other things going on, but this post has just about reached the limit!  I leave you with two pictures.  The first is a prank we played on one of the Senior Directors at my office and the second is a picture from the Dallas Mavs game Lee and I attended.  The company I work for has a box and we were lucky enough to be offered tickets to see them play.  Great seats and even better...the Mavs won!!  Everyone have a Happy New Year and great start to 2009!!!

That squirrel is pretty angry that someone found his nuts!

Lee and me at the Dallas Mavs game (December 2008)