Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
friends

the day the talking stopped

Our good friends, the Shaffers, invited us over this evening. I guess you could call it a holiday visit.

We were hanging out in the kitchen eating, drinking, and swapping stories. For the first time ever, Brian was at a loss for words–he was in the middle of telling a story and suddenly had no idea what he was talking about and completely clammed up. Come to think of it, this happening was probably funnier than the story would’ve been so it all worked out ok.

Jake enjoyed playing with Katie and Johnny. The poor kid was hoarse by the time we got home. No sooner were we walking through their door to leave did he ask “when are we coming back?”

There always is a downside to hanging out with the Shaffer clan, though. Every time we end an evening with them, my face hurts from smiling/laughing so much. What can I say, my facial muscles aren’t used to such a workout.

pets

wascally wabbit

I was letting Lizzy out after supper this evening when she started barking her proverbial head off. I figured it was probably the one neighborhood kid who always seems to be walking his dog whenever I let ours out. But no, it was a rabbit. A rabbit. In December. I suddenly had a flashback to May and June–the two months out of the year with the worst proliferation of rabbits. Starting in May, there are always rabbits outside–particularly at dusk and dawn. So, I always have to go chase the bunnies away before I let the pups out. You can normally see me around 5am in my PJs chasing rabbits (well, hopefully YOU don’t see me). Not only do I have to chase rabbits out of the yard, but out of the dogs’ sight as well (and this can take me quite a distance). At dusk, I’m normally fully dressed, so feel free to watch and/or help out.

Anyway, I digress…I brought Lizzy in, put on my shoes, and then chased the rabbit out of the yard. Just like in spring/summer.

You know, the only good thing about winter is that I never see any rabbits. If you can’t count on that, what can you count on? But, I guess if the worst thing about the winter is that it is too spring-like, I shouldn’t be complaining.

holidays

christmas 2004, day 5

OK, this is my last Christmas post of the year. Finally.

Brian’s parents came over this evening for a visit and to check out the goods we got for Christmas. Alcohol, cookies, and snacks were consumed. It was an enjoyable evening.

Since they were coming over, I had to straighten up a bit after work. I moved a bunch of the boxes and whatnot to the garage. I was also able to put away some of the gifts they already saw (i.e. the ones we opened at their place).

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year–putting all of the Christmas presents away! I’ve always enjoyed doing this, though I admit it is more of a challenge than I like now that Jake gets a roomful of toys every Christmas. But, putting my own stuff away is always fun.

On a side note, Jake had a soda hangover this morning. All of the caffeine and sugar he consumed yesterday kept him up late last night so he wasn’t able to get up this morning. Seeing that he had to go to daycare this morning, this wasn’t a good thing.

holidays

christmas 2004, day 4

Today seemed like the most hectic day of all Christmas weekend. I don’t know if it was because we had to leave the house so many times or if it was due to all of the hours we spent in the car.

It all started off with church this morning. The Sunday after Christmas is always student recognition Sunday and there is a combined service (rather than the usual two services). This year’s service took place at 9am, so I had to get up rather early this morning. Jacob and Brian are used to getting up early on Sundays, because Brian takes Jacob to Sunday school every week and that is also at 9am. After church, we came home, had lunch, and fooled around with our Christmas gifts for a bit.

Sometime around 1:00, we went to visit Brian’s grandmother. She was staying at Brian’s aunt’s house in Scottdale, PA. Luckily, the same people who entertained Jake at Thanksgiving were there, so Jake had a great time. We stayed there for a few hours–pretty much till the Steeler game ended, and then we came home. Jake and Brian crashed out in the car while I drove.

We did some stuff at home for an hour and then headed to my parent’s for a short visit. We only stayed there for an hour or so before we headed home.

Jake is still wired from all of the soda he drank earlier in the afternoon, so I don’t know how he’s ever going to sleep tonight, but we can only hope he does at some point, because it’s back to the old grind tomorrow for all of us. At least it’s a short week. The three of us are off Friday. Brian and Jake are off Thursday. Gotta love those long weekends. Too bad it’s the last one until Memorial Day…