Happy December!

OMG, I cannot believe 2013 is 11/12 over!

Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  Ours was.  Randy should be home from Arkansas within the hour (got to love the Amateur Radio Positioning Service!!!) where he spent it with his mom & apparently his 7 month old great-niece (his sister is basically a useless waste of good oxygen and her 17 year old daughter is a chip off that block)  So I'm sitting up waiting.  Seems pointless to just get to sleep and get woke up when the dog & cats go nuts. 

Angel's studio didn't do the halftime show for the Lions game this year (we didn't even get to see it since Mom was hogging the TV, watching sappy Hallmark movies) but from what we heard, it was extremely lame.  A no-name local guy performing & a bunch of inner-city kids running out on the field.  A big departure from 400+ dancers and Kid Rock last year!  So I enjoyed getting off work early on Mon / Tue / Wed and doing my own thing!

We got up to sister Laurie's before dark Wednesday.  I had just told Angel I'd pull over as soon as we hit the dirt roads and I'd let her drive.  Not long after that, a huge freakin' doe leapt off the hill next to the road in front of me!  Luckily she was far enough in front of us there really was no danger of me hitting her, but it was still pretty scary!

We stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and this guy was parked in front of me.  

Deer rack (with tag!) on the grill & an arrow for the antenna. 

Classy!

Niece Lisa brought this little guy home from school with her, looking to find a foster for him.  

Sister Linda fell in love and guess who got a new home!

Baxter is a 6 week old Pomeranian / Shih Tzu.  1lb, 3oz of adorbz!

Jack did not like him at all (see his glowing eyes from as far away as he could get?)

Selfie with Miss Angela

We weren't supposed to see Dave "sharing" bits of turkey as he cleaned the carcass.

Jack & Charley - she's so ladylike!

Niece Lisa was having a riding lesson on Captain, so I brought Princess & Kisses out to graze for a bit.  Princess looked interested to see me kneel at her side so Angel could use my knee as a mounting block.  I'm glad she's a mellow horse!

Friday night we went to Huckleberry Railroad / Crossroads Village for the tree lighting & a ride on the Christmas train.  We got there early enough to walk around and go thru the village. It was cold, but we had fun. 

On the side of the Theater. 

Me with a ginormous nutcracker!

We rode on the antique carousel - that thing flew!!

All around the edge of the building were booths set up like a craft show or garage sale.  

I couldn't resist buying 3 more nutcrackers for my already extensive collection.  The lady said she'd make a deal if I wanted to take them all, but I don't need another 20 or so!  I just got the ones that spoke to me. 

Angel & niece Catie being rebels, climbing on the fence, right next to the "Don't Climb on Fence" sign. 

The tree lighting was supposed to be on an 80 foot steel framed tree, but it didn't survive the recent windstorms. We were bummed. This is the top section. 

Instead they lit the "Tree of Lights", which is still pretty awesome.  

I didn't get any pics on the train ride, which lasted about 40 minutes.  There were displays set up along the train route and we sang carols and had a good time. 

When we got back to Laurie's, Baxter had managed to escape his box and had a party in her office.  There were tiny pee spots & little tootsie rolls all over & he chewed on a Santa that was sitting on the floor.  It took that little booger another hour to settle down!  

Jack did NOT want to sleep in the office that night.  Even tho Linda & Baxter had left, apparently the scents were too strong and really had him worried. He kept getting up to sniff around.  I ended up taking his blanket out by Angel's sleeping bag and he slept by her. 

But he was OK with snoozing on my air mattress! 

Oh man, looks like Randy should be home in 10-15 minutes. I still can't believe he left Arkansas this morning!  How can someone sit that long??

Have a great day!