Christmas 2004 Highlights

Well the holidays are behind us now, and there are 3 main highlights that come to mind:

1. The “healthy eating / diet consciousness” left us on or about December 24th!

2. The fam is all doing well.

3. We missed our dogs terribly, and almost bought another one the day we returned!

Tragedy set in when we discovered mid-December that our pet sitter had plans this year for Christmas, so we couldn’t spend the actual holiday with either of our families.

Here’s how we spent our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (with no groceries in the fridge):

• Chopstix Charley’s Chinese Restaurant for dinner Christmas Eve (they were actually open ’til 11pm that night!)
• Movie on Christmas day — our traditional thing to do
• Then back to Chopstix Charley’s for Christmas dinner

Ya gotta love those non-Christians when you’re in a pinch!

 

Home For The Holidays

We left for Indiana the day after Christmas and spent a day and a half with Lynnette’s family. While we were there, we:

• Photographed little Karly ’til she became oblivious to the camera
• Helped Kay pick out a new car (an ’03 Mercury Sable with only 9,000 miles)
• Played Trivia 90’s Edition

 

Then, we headed to Ohio to spend a day and a half with Jim’s family.
While we were there, we:

• Repeatedly played “Bop-It” with Dylan — our gift to him this year
• Visited Steve & Lorrenna in their new house
• Played Boggle, Phase-10, and watched movies

We were back in Nashville on New Year’s Eve — which we spent at Neil & Abby’s playing Euchre and 80’s Edition Trivia.

Perhaps the most uplifting thing to come out of this holiday season is the fact that we (on Jim’s side of the family) have decided to completely do away with buying gifts for each other (even though we typically draw names & only buy for one person anyway). NEXT year, we’re “adopting” a needy family, and we’ll each buy something special for THEM — instead of for US. Can’t wait! Now that’s the real meaning of Christmas, don’t you think?

 

Diet / Weight Loss Update

We did the Atkins thing for 6 weeks. Jim lost 15-20 lbs. I never stepped on a scale, so don’t know. But I definitely felt better.

Then we got bored with it around Thanksgiving, and switched to the low-fat plan (so to speak). But it’s too daggone hard to do all the MATH required for that one — percentages and types of fat got really confusing. Too much work, so we just tried to “watch” it on our own & eat what we thought was smarter. Didn’t really work. It was too close to the holidays — lots of parties and very little willpower.

We’re not doing anything special right now. Still “thinking” healthy, but we can’t really “will” ourselves thin now, can we?

 

The Dog Days Of Winter

Believe it or not, the day after we got back from our holiday trip to the Midwest, we headed to the mall (surprising fact #1) to exchange a couple of gift items. Walking past the pet store, we just HAD to stop in and check out all the cute puppies!

The ones that caught our eye right away were the little black “labradoodles”. They’re a cross between black labs (cool!) and poodles (eck!). I’d heard about them before from the Bob & Tom Show (Tom has one & thinks it’s the best thing since sliced bread). But I’d never seen one before. They are the cutest little black, wavy-haired, rounded-faced, lovable, huggable, playful little things!

One would go very well with Destin! He’s such a playful dog, he would’ve loved it if we’d have brought one home. But we resisted the urge. Discussed getting one in the near future though… (but not from a pet store).

Here’s a brief run-down of the Labradoodle’s characteristics — if you can get past the opening photo without dying laughing, that is! This guy needs a trim!

Speaking of hilarious characteristics of “-oodle” dogs, did you know there are also: Schnoodles (Schnauzer and Poodle)? Goldendoodles (Golden Retriever and Poodle)? Cockapoos (Cocker Spaniel and Poodle)? Yorkipoo (Yorkshire Terrier and Poodle)?

UPDATE: Okay, okay… Jim doesn’t know this yet, but I officially no longer want a Labradoodle. Looks like they outgrow their “cuteness” and turn into miniature sheepdogs — with beards! They’re just not for me. Check out pictures of these silly looking dogs: Site #1, Site #2, Site #3.