i love the holidays

this time of year makes me so happy, what with the snow (again!), decorating the tree (see below), wrapping gifts, making cookies, all that jazz. here i am, enjoying the season.

long time, no see

well, i have been away from the blog for a bit. i have had a crazy, life changing, confusing, lonely, happy month, if that makes any sense at all. give me another month and we can talk about it.

but the great news, i am an auntie once again! my fertile sister gave birth to my new niece Penelope Jo Hanks, the most surprisiest birth of the whole bunch of pregnant chicks I know. I say surprisiest since everyone in the family, except mom, was pretty sure she was going to have a boy. the babes, born Nov 17th, is healthy and happy in her new pink onesies with a massive head of hair. here is a pic for all of you, i am not the best at taking a bunch of pics tho, so this is the best I have...

I don't want to slight my adorable nephew, who has been very helpful to his mommy and new sister. here is your shoutout, mr. jonas!!!

this just in!!! great news!!!

http://www.kellerwilliams.net/news.full.htm


UPDATE: Keller delivers to Australia!!! Not personally, but you get the idea...

hilarious youtubage

i was searching some keller skits, and got this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN66e8TQyoM

these kids are brilliant. and mountainlarious.

be safe, sd

hope you are all safe with the fire blazing on every news channel.
let me know...

mr. bear says hello

a shout-out from bear.

best pic evs

going through my various pictures saved on the computer, organizing them into folders, etc., and ran across this gem... (courtesy pl)

man, do i look short.

new haircut

rate it.

new glasses

i am home for about a day and decide to waste some time, have some fun, and go crazy by going with my sister to get jonas his first pair of glasses. we thought he might have a lazy eye or something, because he tends to look a little crosseyed at times, but it turns out he is farsighted. the little guy focuses too hard on objects close to him so his eye goes crossed. i am glad i finally know the difference between nearsighted and farsighted. even as a non-glasses-wearer, you would think i would know the difference after 27+ years.

side note. pediatric optometrists (is that what they are called?) must have pretty hard jobs.

anyway, fitting a less than two year old for glasses was an experience, i will tell you. and not for the reason you think, jonas is really well behaved and was very good for the optician. but choosing the pair of glasses that will be in all of the pictures of this kid for his most adorable years is a daunting task.

do you go retro and get the black rims for the punk look?

do you get something small that will fade into his face?

do the round frames make him look too much like little harry potter?

etc. etc. etc. anyway, here is a look at the cutest future engineer out there…

Bijong Mix

1. In A Big Country – Keller Williams
Album: Spun
2. I Gotta Move – Ben Kweller
Album: Ben Kweller
3. The Idiot Kings – Soul Coughing
Album: Irresistible Bliss
4. Good to Be On The Road Back Home – Cornershop Featuring Paula Frazer
Album: When I Was Born for the Seventh Time
5. Food & Creative Love (Live) – Rusted Root
Album: Rusted Root Live [Disc 2]
6. Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well – Mike Doughty
Album: Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well
7. Long Way To Go (Live) – Railroad Earth
Album: Eko
8. Crosseyed and Painless – Talking Heads
Album: Sand in the Vaseline [Disc 1]
9. Will You Return – The Avett Brothers
Album: Emotionalism
10. 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues - White Stripes
Album: Icky Thump
11. Life, In A Nutshell (Live) – Barenaked Ladies
Album: Rock Spectacle
12. Gallivanting – Keller Williams
Album: Laugh
13. Luckiest Man – The Wood Brothers
Album: Ways Not To Lose
14. Diablo Rojo – Rodrigo y Gabriela
Album: Rodrigo y Gabriela
15. O.K., Alright – The Whigs
Album: Give ‘Em All A Big Fat Lip
16. V Neck Sweater – The Greyboy Allstars
Album: What Happened to Television?

maxie dog

my family and friends in cleveland know how excited i am to see them. they are equally excited to see me, if history tells me anything. one time i came home and surprised my nephew by getting him from his crib instead of his mother after his nap. he was so happy to see me that he banged his head into his crib and gave himself a fat lip. see picture as proof.

one of those family members that i sometimes neglect, but am always so happy to see, is my dad's/brother's dog maxie. she is a great dog, if somewhat hyperactive. when i walk in the room, she gets so excited that she can't contain herself. she jumps on me and grabs my arm with her mouth in this cute little hug-manner. she is just so incredibly happy to have a new face around to play catch with or lounge with or just sit on the front porch with.

my dad had three kids, but maxie was always his favorite. every time i look at her, i miss my dad a little bit more. she would sleep with him every night (unless i was in town, and then she preferred the company of women). she would follow him everywhere. she would be excited when he walked in the door every day after work, not just after a six-month hiatus as was the case with me. he would take her everywhere with him, to his cabin in pennsylvania, swimming at the lake, playing in the snow.

i recently inherited my dad's old digital camera, and downloaded all of his pictures onto my computer. of all of the great memories, trips to san diego to visit me, trips to florida with my sister and brother, the birth of my nephew, weekends in pennsylvania in the winter with the four-wheeler and my brother, there are more pictures of that dog than of anything.

which is why i can't wait to see her. adding to the collection is only appropriate.