December 27, 2009

I was supposed to write this on Christmas day but didn't get around to it. We had a white Christmas courtesy of last Sunday's snowfall. We started the day with a run which was very peaceful since it was cool and crisp but not bitter cold and there was very little traffic on the roads. Then after a shower it was time to see what Santa had brought. As you can see from the photo (isn't she cute!), we both did quite well and received some great new clothes along with a few other items we each needed. One highlight was the gift of a new two canvas paintings from my Mom - can't wait to get them here and hung (probably in a way that my Mom never anticipated, it's a habit I have). Jo spent the rest of Christmas cooking while I tackled starting to clean out accumulated junk in my study. It was amazing how much stuff I managed to clear out and I'm not even the pack rat of the family. I'm thinking now of starting to tackle the rest of the house but am meeting some resistance from the other house member. When you got momentum you should just keep it going.

The short update on the rest of the week - Jo and I had a pretty light week at work. Jo was in town and managed to take work from home a couple of the days. My big highlight was starting the process to replace my two front capped teeth. My current caps were in almost 35 years and were starting to show their age. I thought this would be a pretty simple thing - pop off the old covers, put on some temporaries while the new ones are being made, and then install the new ones. After 5 hours in a dentist chair and 6 Novocaine injections (I'll admit it, I'm a wimp when it comes to tooth pain) it hit me this was going to hurt more than just financially. But I managed to live through the drilling and now have my temps going. The rest of the week was pretty calm at work as everyone was either gone or going on vacation.

We started our vacation formally on Thursday at noon with an invite to our neighbor's - Bob and Judy - family celebration. It was nice to meet up with all their family again and get updated on the latest news. Then it was over to Sheri and Bruno's to help them install a granite counter top in their bathroom and an excellent dinner - roasted chicken with mashed potatoes (can never go wrong with mashed potatoes). Yesterday, after a morning run we headed to Best Buy to replace our DVD player that we managed to fry via a static shock to the unit. I would have thought they would ground and protect the machines from that - but apparently not ours. Apparently, Best Buy didn't get the message that the economy stinks and they should put everything on an incredible sale. Although at $70 it is hard to complain when a DVD player costs about the same as a pair of jeans. Then we hit the malls briefly to pick up some Christmas cards for next year at half-price and then home for the day. Spent the rest of the day doing a few home repair and cleaning chores (starting to see the theme for this week).

Today, after a run and yoga I'm hoping to put in some serious time on getting re-started on doing pottery on a regular basis. I need to have a hobby besides work and exercising. Later in the day we are going to see Emmet Otter's Christmas with Sheri and Bruno at a local theater.

December 20, 2009

Almost time for Santa to visit - the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. We are done shopping, the house is decorated, and have consumed several batches of Christmas cookies already (that's what all that running is for) so we are ready and waiting for the big, jolly guy. Work is finally slowing down and we are looking forward to catching up with some items around the house and each other.

The good news is mother nature finally cooperated and gave us our first snow accumulation which allowed me to fire up the snow blower - Yipee. Of course, you might want to check back in around March where the thrill of another snow plummets. We had a really impressive snowfall of 18-24 inches which made for some serious snowblowing. Between doing our driveway and helping our neighbor with theirs Jo and I managed 6 hours of snowblowing/shoveling today. Lots of fun to be outside in the cold, crisp air with getting some exercise. We'll probably regret it later tonight and tomorrow, but for now it is all fun. Before the snow came I got out in the yard and cut up a tree we had taken down last year to let more light into the garden - for all the good that did in our crop yields this year.

Last night we waded through the snow to see our last play of the season with Sheri and Bruno - the ever popular "Christmas Carol". During dinner we reviewed our annual predictions for 2009 - Sheri won with 9 right predictions (in case you were curious, here are the winning 9 - 1) Pittsburgh Steelers winning the Superbowl, 2) her boss having a new job, 3) Sheri and Bruno rented their house in Westerly, 4) Pfizer closes either the New London or Groton site - it was New London, 5) Sheri doesn't lose her camera - trust me on this one, that is a major accomplishment, 6) One of us goes to India - that was Jo, although only for 24 hours, 7) a colleague is no longer at Pfizer, 8) Gitmo is still open, and 9) Sheri and Bruno put in a hardwood floor on their second floor). Of course, this out of around 25 to 30 total predictions so we aren't exactly clairvoyant. We always enjoy doing this and the quality and number of predictions correlate significantly to the amount of alcohol consumed (in terms of quality it is an inverse correlation). Like any good bunch of scientists we have laid out an effective set of guidelines - for instance, any prediction that you have control over the outcome you only get half credit. What is more amazing is this was started back with my first boss twenty years ago - we used to predict what organizational changes were going to happen the next year. We will be making our 2010 set of predictions next Sunday and given my recent history, I need to work hard on improving my ability to see the future.

My next post will be during the post-Christmas high so - MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

One side note for the season: It would be great if every playwright on the planet was required to write a Christmas play - one that had nothing to do with Ebenezer Scrooge or Dickens - and every playhouse was prohibited from running "Christmas Carol" until they had put on all the other plays. Don't get me wrong, Christmas Carol is a wonderfully heartwarming story and well written (and Ebenezer always reminds me a bit of my Dad, especially when it comes to buying something) - but a little variety year to year would be nice. While I'm on this theme, maybe all the ballet writers (or whomever writes ballets) should have to do the same with the Nutcracker.

December 12, 2009

Only 2 weeks left of shopping for Christmas. Be sure to get out there and help the economy. We were both in town for the entire week which was a nice change. Of course, I'm almost always in town so not a big switch for me, but it was nice for Jo to actually see the inside of her office and her house. Work is busy with the usual year end rush on getting projects complete along with performance review time. But there is always the week off just in front of you to keep you focused and refreshed. We continue our integration and reorganization efforts within Jo's and my group although no new exciting announcements this week. It appears that it will probably be somewhere in late January before the next step of decisions come out.

We have had an interesting weather week as it was relatively warm at the beginning and then with each advancing day a trend to lower and lower temperatures. We fortunately missed having any really bad snow from the storm that covered the Midwest in the middle of the week, although just north of us got 3-7 inches (depending on how far north you went). We just had rain at our house, so no need to power up the snowblower yet this year (too bad!!!). We have a quiet weekend planned, we want to tackle getting our Christmas cards in the mail, get massages, and there is a tree out by the garden that needs some chopping up - if you can't fire up the snowblower might as well be the chain saw. That along with some cooking, baking, and the usual weekend chores should fill out the time nicely. Finally, I need to finish the last of my Christmas shopping so I'm doing my bit as stated at the beginning of this blog.

The upcoming work week starts the wind down for the end of the year as it is the last week that the majority of everyone will be at work. Then it is a slow week followed by 5 days off - yeah.

Have fun and think snow!

December 6, 2009

Only 19 days until Christmas. Most importantly - only 14 more days of work this year. The best way to describe our past week for both of us, is work, work, work, and more work. Jo was in New York all week with days full of meetings and evenings full of dinners and meetings. She was very busy and came home tired and ready for some rest. Unfortunately, she pulled a muscle in her back during her Saturday work out so there hasn't been the rest she was hoping for.

The more fun portion of the week has been decorating the house for Christmas. The weather cooperated yesterday as it was raining or drizzling all day so it made it the perfect day to stay inside, put on some Christmas songs, and trim the tree. So first we had to get the tree. We decided this year to try something new and use a tree on our property. As you might imagine we didn't have a perfectly shaped and sized pine tree, but we figured out we could cut down a bigger tree and only use the top. It is the one in the middle in the top photo. So out came the chain saw and off we went. The first part started out fun with the tree falling the wrong way - despite my planful cuts - and landing up on top of me. No harm, but having a 20 feet tree on top of you isn't the best way to start the day. Naturally, it meant that Jo needed to strain her back some more to help me get out. We then lopped off the top and brought it inside (middle photo). This is where we discovered the advantages of trees raised at a Christmas tree farm. The tend to more compact, denser branches, and perfectly trimmed. After trimming and moving the tree around we managed to get it to fit in the space we had and then it was off to the official tree trimming. Most of the ornament hanging consists of us reminiscing about where we had purchased the various ornaments. A great time to reflect back on family, friends, and trips we had taken. We got to enjoy our first CT snowfall during the evening to make the tree trimming even more special - although no accumulation at all. Needless to say, we both went to bed tired but happy with our homegrown tree.

Sunday dawned bright but cold. After a morning run and yoga we finished the last bit of decorating the tree and made a batch of Christmas cookies. The rest of the day has some naps and reading on tap. Also, need to do a little bit of planning for Christmas gifts.