Last greetings of the year

Happy 2009 everyone, may the new year be all that you want it to be.

It's been quiet a week. We had a fantastic Christmas. We went to San Angelo on our usual fast trip but got a big surprise. We didn't call our friend Karla because we had some excitement. Unbeknownst to us Cyndi had arranged for Evie to come down for Christmas. She and her brother and sisters have kept this secret since Thanksgiving! We were sitting around at Pam's waiting for dinner to be ready and for Cyndi and Derick to show up. Then they arrived and Cyndi came in and said I have your present with us but it was to big to wrap. Then like an lovely apparition Evie came strolling in. Frank saw the look on my face and he turned to see what happened and he was speechless for perhaps the first time in his life. We were all laughing through our tears. It was something else. So she's here until the 31st because she could only take a week off from work but that's okay. It has been three years since she was here and 5 years since she was here for Christmas. I hope your holiday was a joyous as ours. My brother had a terrible trip home. You can read about it here. Blue Ollie. I have been walking but will post my stats later since they are kind of crazy what with walking here and there.
But all is well that ends well and so far so good. BTW...the Cowboys SUCK!!!
Photo 1. Evie at Joe's Coffee Shop on Congress 2.Evie with Fanita 3. Painting I did for Pam 4. Plastic bag that got sucked into furnace by accident

Greetings

Everyone have a Happy Holiday. Eat, drink, and be merry. :0)

Walking distances: 12-12-08 through 12-18-08-3.216, none, none, 2.00 on a mall walk, 2.75 cold and damp, 3.104, 3.201 foggy and damp.
There was a lovely fog this morning (check out the photos). I'm a lover of fantasy, you know Tolkien, Harry Potter, King Aurthur legends, etc. In most versions of the King Aurthur legend the fog is made of Dragon's breath. Kind of neat. I know it's not logical, true, nor scientific but it's fun.
The first photo is down by the river which was really deserted this morning which made it eerie and cool. The second one is taken down our street and you can see that the fog is quite thick.

I took a video with my phone this morning. It's not very clear but I think you can see a bit of the mist coming off the river. The commentary got cut short too, I was saying that the Hike and Bike trail was almost deserted. Only a handful of runners, all male, and three others, one female and two males, walking their dogs. It was cold and sort of misty but very nice. I did 2 miles in the mall yesterday because we needed to do a little shopping and it was 26 degrees outside with a good wind. This morning not quite as cold and almost no wind and I did 2.507 miles.
Things that make me go hummmm. They call children born to parents of two different races half-breeds like it's a bad thing when the best of both people make up a brilliant person...like Pres. Elect Obama or our very own grandson. But they call a car that has the best of two different types of fuel...(to put it simply) a hybrid meaning it's a better version of the original. Why is that? Why not call people who have the best of each parent a 'hybrid' and not a 'half-breed'?

Walking stats: 12-5-08 thru 12-11-08, 3.214, none, none, 3.156, 3.138, 3.410, and 3.323. The weather went from our usual sunny and warm days to sunny and cool to cold. We did get a bit of rain and some sleet and a tiny bit of snow. People here went berserk about it and even though the snow came late in evening they went out and took pictures and marveled at it. This proved to me that things are indeed subjective. I found listening to the sleet hitting our windows as we snuggled in our warm bed comforting and cozy. I'm sure if you had to work out in it or were homeless that your view of the sleet would not be the same. Also my brother who lives in Illinois detests the snow and cold weather while here people celebrate if it gets cold and snows. Go figure.

Have some more photos to share. 1.Evie making cheese-her shirt says Bad Witch ;-) 2. Cheese made 3. A pizza that she and Ann made from scratch. Evie made the cheese and dough, Ann made the tomato sauce from tomatoes and basil grown in her garden 4. White Cranes in the Auditorium Shore Pond taken by me. 5. Fall scene taken by me on Tuesday. The area is off of South 1st street.

Early December blogging

Aha fooled you...it's not Saturday and I'm blogging. ;-) Just had some photos to post plus it's actually cold and windy out so aside from my morning walk and a trip to pick up Krys and go to Target I've been inside all day. It's not Peoria cold mind you but cold enough for us warm weather cream puffs here in Austin to be cold.
Walking stats to date: 12-1-08 thru 12-4-08 - 3.107, 3.251, 3.079, 3.156. Not too many people out this morning so it was nice to walk in the peace and quiet by the river.
Photo 1 Evie made an adorable flower Christmas tree out of tissue paper, 2. Red Christmas tree at a typical locally owned Austin retail store on So. Congress Ave, 3. Black and White packages and elves dressed in black, same store, 4. Black and white tree, same store, 5. Celestial eye candy of the crescent moon with Jupiter and Venus shining brightly on Dec. 1. You can click on each photo to see a larger size picture.