Christmas Pictures.

Dave, Robbin, Lauren, & Rebel.


Craigory usually has a look of befuddlement.






Cross Country Skiing Trek in Lake Placid.



Our Blurry Christmas Tree in Chicago

Thanksgiving Pics

Just 1 Thanksgiving Pic. My cousin Kim's kids, Clayton, Ana & Spencer, riding on their older cousin's back. That would be Alexx, my cousin Randy's oldest.

Christmas Eve

And I'm in Ticonderoga, NY. I spent most of the day with Robbin's family, watching the kids. I wish I was in Chicago, at the Flynn's watching the kids opening their gifts. At the same time, Dave, Chad, & Lauren are also all not spending Christmas with their due to work, so we have had a grand old time tonight & also will tomorrow.

Our luggage was lost for 2 days, we got 8 inches of snow, we went on a great cross country skiing trek in Lake Placid, Burlington, VT is like a Christmans Village minature set mass manufactured, and I watched a 1 year old be more delighted by wrapping paper than any gift someone could possibly give him. Also, Chad got a new dog, Rebel, as 112 lbs. Malumute/Wolf who greeted me with a big bark & jump on the chest Saturday night. Rebel has since grown on me. He sits in my lap & licks my hands & face.

I still have pictures to upload from Thanskgiving & will put the Christmas pics up soon.

Really.

And there it is...

4th from the bottom.

Sociopath

My governor is a sociopath. Okay, maybe by the exact definition...but how else could he think he could get away with this? I believe that many govt officials are corrupt, but at least they are more subtle about it.

conspiracy theory

I am not a Rod fan. I don't think he handled the CTA budget crisis well at all. He pushed through state wide preschool (a good idea) with out real funding or plans. I get the impression that he doesn't understand basic math with his policy ideas. And my real beef with him is that he allowed the open road tolling project to go through with out any thought to the logistical nightmare that is the River Road Toll; resulting in a more congested bottleneck.

This morning I heard on the news that Rod stated that he is going to stop the state from doing business with Bank of America because of the Republic Windows & Doors employees' sit in. I thought, good for Illinois. Stand up a little. Even if it is a gesture that may or may not help the workers & BofA should not be lending money to those who can't pay it back; it felt right.

Not 10 minutes later, I hear that he is taken into custody on what I now know are bribery & mail/wire fraud charges related to filling Barrack Obama's open seat. I was pretty sure he was dirty. I'm glad he got caught. I do not believe him standing up to the banking industry has anything to do with his arrest.

BUT, I bet some will make that conclusion. And they will probably post it on reddit. And I am kind of anxious to see how they draw that connection.

I wish Patrick Fitzgerald had better timing; and I wonder what he would find if we had him investigate another governor's office.

Santa Claus

When I was six years old I inquired as to why we had no Santa Claus ornaments. We had angels, stars, Winne the Pooh, a rattle, and Wonder Woman; but no St. Nick. Apparently I must have gone on about this a lot or my parents thought it was cute and told everyone about it. That year I received around 6 or 7 Santa Claus Ornaments. And a collection was started.

I have my first tree this year. Turns out I have about 50 or so ornaments and 5 of them are not Santa Clauses. (Is that the correct plural of Santa Claus?) Anyway I truly enjoy Christmas ornaments & really like good Santa Claus ones.

I went to an ornament exchange for our annual P.E.O. Holiday Party. I almost came home with a kickin' large red ball ornament with a sparkly Santa belt around the middle. Loved it. It was then stolen from me as is the nature of ornament exchanges. I came home with a beautiful ivory and gold ball with a music motif from the CSO. And I'm a little more disappointed that I didn't get the red Santa Claus ball than I should be. It's a ornament. I could buy it myself.

Sigh.

Lots of Lasagna & Quantum of Solace & Ebates

4 trays of lasagna is too much for 14 people. I think we'll get through our leftovers this week though. I am capable of eating it for breakfast, lunch & dinner...plus Robbin is in town this week.

We saw Quantum of Solace this weekend. Very Bond. No other real strong feeling about the movie. I like that it started immediatley where Casino Royale left off; yet I think I'll start to miss the final frames with James in bed with his Bond girl. Perhaps once he gets over Vesper that will start up again.

I bought lots of Christmas gifts online. Ebates is the best site ever. I now always go there first before purchasing something online.

All for now. Pics of Thanksgiving up soon.