Merry Christmas

We were a bit slow with our Christmas cards this year. So if I miss you or you didn't get your card yet, Merry Christmas!

Surprise!

The ground work had been placed over a month ago when I noticed that I was scheduled to work an extra day the week after Thanksgiving. When I brought the subject up to the woman who did our time plan she told me that the floor was really short the week after Thanksgiving, so ,maybe should could just take me off another week, maybe the one before Christmas? I jumped at the chance. I was suppose to fly in to Minneapolis on my mom's birthday, but now due to the change in my work schedule I could come in the day before.

I called my dad, and after explaining the plan of a surprise for my mom, we came up with the idea for me to fly in. I would have a friend pick me up at the airport, and for my Dad to take my mom out to dinner on Thursday for her birthday. I would meet them at the restaurant and surprise her.

It was hard not to tell my mom I was coming home a day early. I almost let it slip out a few times, but by the time I was taking off from Boston there was nary a leak in our plan.

I sat huddled in a booth at restaurant by my house waiting for my parents. I knew they wouldn't be long because my dad had called me on his way home from work when he was only a block from my house.

I heard them come into the restaurant and my dad walked around the corner and said "This looks like a good place to sit." My mom took one look at me and almost fell over in surprise. She started to cry and we hugged. It was a good surprise and good birthday present. The best part is that the next day there was a huge snow storm that hit Boston so instead of sitting in Logan for a delayed flight I was able to take my mom out for a birthday lunch and go shopping with her.

Happy B-day Mom.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

This year Moose got both Steve and I a present. That present, given on two separate days, was a dead bird. He even left one under the tree. How thoughtful!

With A Bow On Top

Growing up my Aunt would send us Christmas presents with the most beautiful and elaborate bows on them. Velvet, glitter, satin, the bow would always be impressive. I had always hoped that one day I could make equally beautiful bows to send to my nieces. Now that I have nieces to send presents to, I thought this would be my year.

Until fate in the shape of a fat, furry, orange cat stepped in. It seems Moose has a certain obsession with any sort of ribbon or bow. I had wrapped the gift for my in-laws and placed a shiny bow on top of it. I tucked it under the tree for Steve to take home with him. The next day, when I got home from work the bow was sitting next to the gift and pushed under the tree. I though maybe it had fallen off when I watered the tree in the morning so I placed it back on. Out of nowhere Moose ran in and smacked the bow off the present. He gave me a look like I had just committed some type of horrible crime then started chewing the ribbon tied to an adjacent box. He has even gone so far to sit on top of the box to get a better angle to chew the ribbon in.

Moose has now torn all ribbon off of the gifts under the tree. We have many presents wrapped and sitting under our cozy tree, waiting for their recipients to open them. They just don't look right without a bow though.

Arrival/Departure Update

Steve got an earlier flight then he was scheduled to. As a result, he came home as I was doing the dishes and singing along to "I'm the one who wants to be with you" at the top my lungs. We kissed, we hugged, it was a tender 80's band moment that was a bit cheesy.

Moose was so happy to see Steve he even put up with being in the middle of our hug.

Arrival/Departure

Steve is coming home tomorrow. I always picture his homecoming the as a scene from a romantic movie where I drive to the airport to pick him. I run through the moving walk ways to greet him just as he is passing the security check point. I stop for a moment, our eyes meet, he sets down his bags and overcoat he has slung over his arm and open up to hug me and lift me off the ground as I run up to him. He hug, we kiss, it's truly a sappy moment.

Reality? I'm going to be asleep when Steve comes home tomorrow. He asked if I wanted him to wake me up and hesitantly told him yes. I'm sure we will kiss each other hello and as I drift back to sleep I'll mention something about the open can of cat food in refrigerated.

Welcome home.

Come Home Soon

When I was a kid every time my dad left for the weekend/business trip something bad would happen. The toilet would break, the sink would plug, a squirrel would get into the house. Anything could happen. We all sort of braced ourselves for what would be the next thing broke/unusable/trapped until my dad came home.

Living with Steve has been no different. Steve's been gone for almost a week now on business and since then Moose has managed to expose himself (and me) to a fiber glass fort he found in the basement which required me to give the cat a bath. Not something I would like to ever repeat.

Also, the black cat, from last month’s adventures in home invasion, has come back into the house and helped himself to cat food, prompting Moose to have a stare down cat fight in our kitchen. (All these cat problems for a girl who considers herself a dog-person).

I'm not saying these things are happening because Steve is gone, but it is a weird coincidence.