It is a new year...again

Well, we never got the Christmas house lights up, but that saved us the trouble of taking them down again, right? At present, we're just focusing on getting our house, lives, and attitudes in order for the spring and spring semester. It has been gray and/or rainy for days, so as inspiration, I'm just going to focus on the wonderful times from our extended Christmas travels around the South. And like Muffin, we'll keep grasping for all the wondrous things (toys, games, stuff, jobs, Lotto tickets) that are just out of reach.

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Almost time for Ho Hos

We're getting ready for the Ho, Ho, Hos...almost. Geek #2 (me) is dealing with finals, Geek #1 is catching up on everything from the fall, and Muffinator is busy being a busy Muffin. But we've got a tree up and will perhaps get house lights up this week.

Mostly we're excited about visiting folks for the holiday break. We can't wait show off Muffin's new skills, but we'll try to leave her penny swallowing trick at home.

Everyone is talking about how much the economy sucks this year, which admittedly does put a damper on fun, festive, giving spirits. But in our case, we're just as broke as last year, so there doesn't seem to be much difference. :-o

And yes, as Geek #1 asks, where is our family bailout? I guess that'll have to come from a Lotto ticket, perhaps, as we seem to have run out of estranged, benevolent rich relatives. So, for now, we'll just have to celebrate the old-fashioned way...with family, love, and cookies!

P.S. What is Muffin doing in that picture? Why putting chocolate covered raisins between her toes, of course! Forget Christmas, food play is more fun!

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Oh, you mean fall involves leaves?

This weekend, Geek #1 and I performed the annual leaf roundup from the front and back yards... the big one. Requiring him to scale the roof with the neighbor's leaf blower and heavy duty gloves to clean the gutters. Necessitating us to make at least 10 trips with the tarp full of leaves.


Thank goodness Geek #1 is big, strong, and willing - and that would be a funny double entendre if either one of us had any energy left after pulling major subsets of muscles through this damned process.

The funny part will be watching the expressions on the poor waste collectors as they come by with the leaf vacuum truck. Or no, on second thought, I don't want to see that. Muffin was pretty impressed, though and enjoyed climbing the tree to look down on the leaves.



But for reference, here is a picture of our neighbor's 'normal' size leaf piles. We chose our house in large part for the beautiful old trees that distinguished the neighborhood from those hideous, tree-less suburban developments. Now we want a condo!

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Wow - News Happened!

Hey, have you heard? Barack Obama was elected to be the next U.S. president!!!! I've got to email and phone everyone and tell them! This is amazing! Even North Carolina is no longer a red state...what a crazy election! Wow!!!!

We sure hope that this change will mean great things for our nation.

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Stasis...or Static...or Stuck ???

Geek #1 and I have been waiting to update the blog so we could include new news. Big news. Happy news. Interesting news. Any news. But...so far, no news.

Of course, life happens in between the news-making times. Muffin is getting better at talking, climbing, getting into trouble, being cute, etc. We're doing things, little things mostly, the normal errands of life. We've done some 'big' things like visit the county and state fairs. We've been to the pool a few times. Last night I took Muffin to the public library for a 'Spooktacular' event that wasn't particularly spooky, but it was definitely exciting for toddlers to see so many other short people in costumes.

But aside from waiting to reveal personal news, I think we're holding our breath with the country waiting for the 'final' election news to be released next week. We saw Joe Biden speak on campus this week and it was pretty inspiring and gave us more confidence in the need for Obama's Change. Even if the nation only improves a bit -- in terms of economy, reputation, environmental abuses, charity, justice, etc. -- every little bit helps, right? I hope. We hope.

When we get news, we'll let you know and celebrate. When we get the nation's news on Tuesday night, I hope the world will know and celebrate.

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Fall - Or when all heck breaks loose

I (the shorter geek - #2) used to look forward to fall as a time of buying school supplies and settling into the new school year. Now, the Muffinator is settling into school and our schedules are fairly nuts with work, classes, preschool, playdates, and planning for autumnal holidays.

We actually started discussing Muffin's Halloween costume - almost 2 months early! What's up with that? Of course, discussions do not automatically lead to purchases or preparations, so we still have some time to procrastinate the follow-through part. It is rather tricky to find the right costume to be worn at a morning preschool party in North Carolina. To date, I've ruled out (1) anything furry and hot, (2) anything tacky and 'princessy', (3) anything actually scary to two year olds, (4) anything with face paint. That leaves what? That leaves us a fun challenge! I guess you'll just have to come back to the blog after Halloween...

School has started for all of us to some degree and mostly that just means there is more opportunity for illness to be spread. Students of all ages are just germy buggers. Muffin has contracted 'Hand, Foot, and Mouth' disease (not it isn't Hoof and Mouth and is not spread by sucking her toes). Geek #1 has stress symptoms and I just want to send in my resignation papers...again. But having some quiet time while Muffin is in preschool really has helped me be happier.

And remember, on some fall days, you can only feel better when hugging a ball while swinging.

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Fire Update & Other News

Our neighbor is doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances. She was checked out at the hospital for smoke inhalation and released within a few hours. On top of the smoking and emphysema, she also suffers from a leaky heart valve and is due for heart surgery in the next month or two, so her health was rather precarious before the fire. Her poor home is also in sorry shape and is currently being cleaned out by a disaster cleanup crew while she and her extended family members try to salvage what they can. As of yesterday, she was talking about fixing it up and returning to live in it, eventually, but I guess that will depend in part on the insurance settlement. For now, she'll be living in a long-term stay hotel.

In other news, Muffin and Geek #2 attended preschool orientation today and she had a great time playing with all of the toys and looking at all of the children. She'll start attending on M/W/F next week and should have a blast with all the activities and very sweet teachers. And I, Geek #2, will get 3 mornings a week to actually do things! Yippee!

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