Four . . .

Yep! Luke pulled tooth number FOUR

tonight! Wow! He has really been

working hard on pulling all FIVE of

those teeth . . .

36 hours and counting!

Will he make it?!?

Friday . . . Gotta Love It!

Oh me, oh my . . . these beautiful

Ugg boots are as soft and yummy

as they look. There were many

great things about today, but

opening my door to find that

our little FedEx man had made a

little delivery ala Mom made it

all the more special. Prior to

living in Reno, Ugg boots were more

of a fashion statement, I must

say: Uggs are essential in this

part of the country.

Continuing on with loving my

Friday, Mike had positive news

after his mole removal extravaganza:

It looks as though he dodged the

bullet and all will be well. We will

continue to nurse the wound and

hopefully will find more positive

news in ten days.

We had a little fun at Red Robin

with the kiddos. Who knew a

burger joint could be such fun? Sam

was excited to spend on of his

CHRISTmas gift certificates, so we

were more than glad to keep him

company . . . I must say that their

commitment to vegetarians is

remarkable: Substitute a veggie

burger for a beef patty on any

burger for no additional charge.

Continuing with the excellence

of this day: Our plans were officially

approved at Somersett!! We will

submit them to the city of Reno on

Tuesday and hopefully in about

three weeks time the dirt (and the

ca$h) will be flying.

Top that you say? Sam was

excited to find a listing for

photographer services for the

upcoming Harlem Globe Trotter

Game here in Reno.

Applied.

Got the job.

Happy camper, Sam.

Zach, excited to begin his new

semester, decided to apply to

tutor students during his off

campus time.

Developing a resume proves to

be a daunting task at first.

Not for Zach.

Nailed it.

Yep, Friday was positive all

the way around.

My new courses started.

I am working on two quilts.

Paints have been purchased to

paint my lonesome rocking chair.

I can hardly wait for Saturday!!

Three Down, Two to Go.

My Luke is getting his braces in nine days!

How can it be that my LITTLEST boy

is actually getting braces?!? I think I

blinked or something . . . It seems

just like yesterday that he was getting

his first tooth.

Luke follows in Zach's footsteps in

that they like to keep their baby teeth

forever. Luke's orthodontist told him

that he would need to have five

baby teeth pulled on Monday.

Needless to say, he did not like that

very much.

When I spoke with the dentist's

office, they informed me that

it would be $625 to pull the

five baby teeth.

Needless to say, I did not like that

very much.

So, like any two rational human

beings, Luke and I came up with

an arrangement: If he pulled

all five teeth by Monday, I would

give him $50.

Being like a typical eleven year

old, he came back a couple

of hours later and figured

out that it amounted to $10

a tooth, proposing that he

would get $10 for each tooth

that he pulled between now

and Monday. I quickly informed

him that this is an "all or nothing"

proposal.

Hence, Luke has been a very,

very busy boy . . .

Two more to go!

The Flu Meets the Power of the Onion.

I tried to avoid it . . .

I tried to ignore it . . .

but today was my day with

the dreaded flu.

As much as I tried to click

my heals and jump my way

out if it . . .

I soon became apparent that

I.was.NOT.going.anywhere.

I had all of the yummy symptoms.

Luckily, Grampa had done some

reading onions and how they

can actually draw sickness

right out of your body.

He marched into the kitchen

and had the boys bring the

onion up . . . I am totally

not kidding when I say that

little onion . . . WORKED.

I did spend the day of chills,

hot sweats, headache, and

other special symptoms watching

some of the holiday flicks that

I had Tivoed.

I loved spending the day with

some of my favorites . . .

Audrey Hepburn and

Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.

Tomorrow.Bring.It.On.

Oh, yeah!

After . . .

*3 time zone changes

* a doctoral residency

*four cancelled/delayed flights

*an extra day getting home

*CHRISTmas

*New Years

*packing

*unpacking

*paper writing

*reading

*learning

*cooking

*packing away ornaments

*doing tons of laundry

. . .this is just what I needed.

A Sledding We Will Go.

Just to say that we had fun sledding

would be a definite understatement . . .

We had a total BLAST sledding!!

We drove up Mt. Rose highway a little

bit past Mt. Rose Ski Resort and pulled

off the highway where we saw

people sledding . . .

We couldn't wait . . . We jumped out of

the car, grabbed our sleds, and headed

up the hill. We had so much fun sliding

down and then climbing back up again.

It is a lot of work!!!!

We met a guy who let us ride on the

sled that he made out of skis and

2x4s . . . Holy Smoke! We flew down

the hill: laughing and screaming all

the way.

Sam had a great idea to hike really

far up the mountain and then

sled all the way down. We grumbled

all the way up the hill but had a ton

of fun sledding down in the powdery

snow, through trees, and over bushes.

My mottley sledding crew.

So Much To Do . . . So Little Time.

So . . . the NEW YEAR has just begun and

I am already feeling like I have a bazillion

and one things that I must accomplish.

My new courses begin on Friday and the

books have already arrived and are just

waiting to be read, digested, and

responded to.

I am dying, dying, dying to complete

this amazing quilt that is in progress.

I love this retro fabric and cannot wait

to see it all together.

Our family is so excited to begin

construction on our new home and

we are just itching to get started.

We should begin construction in

about four weeks from now.

On your mark. Get set. Go.