Old Friends...

Years ago, this gaggle of people all worked together sharing a common green vested uniform at a fun outdoor retailer. We've all kind of wandered off in different directions but never lost touch. The holidays were a perfect time to bring everyone together again to share some hugs and stories. Unfortunately, I only had my iPhone camera, so we all look a little possessed.

I guess what they say is true... "most of us don't need a psychiatric therapist as much as we need old friends to be silly with..."

Lawn Oraments

We arrived home on Tuesday and I have yet to look out the window and not see a deer sleeping in the meadow. The big buck has been there for several days- isn't he grand? The two does are the same little spotted fawns that have been coming to the yard since they were born. They are all grown up now! Who needs fake reindeer lawn ornaments around the holidays? Our yard is decorated with a holiday peacefulness.

May big bucks show up on everyone's doorstep in the year 2012!

Christmas in Pennsylvania

Christmas was spent in a very special place! In a little town called Murrysville, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, all three grown (A.) kids gathered together along with their children and spouses to enjoy a merry little Christmas. It had been a long time since we'd seen V's parents and sisters, so it was great to get caught up. There are more pictures found HERE.

Hope everyone out there had a memorable one!

I stand today to catch the sun

The chilly air surrounds my soul

I wish on wings to fly somewhere,

The winds upon my shoulders roll

There’s peace out here, upon the bank

I stand, and stand and stand some more

I strive to learn, I listen well

Silent hawks above me soar.

My gift, is not my presence known

But quietness today, it seems

I’m lost in thought and carried off

On golden shores and spotted wings.

-Tami Asars

Wordless Wednesday

Sunrise

This morning, I witness the birth of the sun into a brand new day. What I calculated as a misfortunate early awakening, turned out to be a feast for my eyes!

Manuscript

Here it is! It was really fun to see it in print as opposed to on the screen. I can't wait until I see the final draft. The title and cover will be designed next month, so stay tuned for more details on how things will look and sound. Progress!

Merriment

Holiday merriment is everywhere. Saturday night was the town tree lighting ceremony. Our town does such a cute job of making this festival a small town, cozy event. There are fire pits all around the streets, caroling, kids dressed in santa hats, and people out enjoying the lights. V and I had fun looking at the tree.

On Friday night we were invited to an ugly sweater party. I found this little sweater vest (svest) in a thrift shop and Vil wore it proudly adorned with some flare of snowmen and reindeer (look closely). It was great fun!

It's been a while since I sat with Santa, so I figured it was about time I did so again.

We are waking up to frost nearly every morning. It's been a glorious December with sun busting through the frosty trees and the birds flitting about grateful for their feeder.

And of course, Santa would not forget about this guy...

Thanksgiving

As mentioned, we headed south for turkey day to Texas to find some sun and share some memories with my sister and her family. We packed in a full schedule of activities, including an overnight visit to San Antonio to watch the Riverwalk light up with sparking Christmas lights. It was a super fun visit!

Brazos Bend State Park

Lewis and Clark searched from great heights for the next adventure

Here's your Christmas Card, Trac!

At 6am, the morning of Thanksgiving, we got up and headed to the annual Turkey Dash. Traci, Justin and I did a 5k, and Jarin ran the kids 1k (the husbands took pictures and watched- circle the smart ones). It was one of those things that seemed like a good idea when we signed up for it, but at 6am...it was a little hard to get motivated. Despite puffy eyes, we had a lot of fun and made room for turkey and trimmings.

Later that day... we feasted...

Black Friday we were up and headed to San Antonio, with two silly boys riding in the backseat.

San Antonio proved to have a lot of fun hats and props for pictures. Vilnez Asariez...

Draw, cowboy.

Justinio Kujapeno...

This is the inside of the creepy Menger Hotel. It's one of the top 20 haunted places in the world. We didn't see any ghosts, but did see an odd face on the carpet (oh yeah and lots of odd faces in mirrors).

We got some great seats at the theatre for the floating Christmas Parade, right on the Riverwalk. It was super festive, but felt so weird to be in a warm climate and hearing "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."

Where does time go?

The ago old question keeps coming around when we realize that it's only a few calendar weeks until a brand new year, "where does time go"? Just like that the 1st snowfall of the 2011/2012 pre-winter came and went. Summit ran around rubbing his face in the snow, acting giddy.

Since the last post, Thanksgiving came and went. It was such a fun and special one this year, as we were able to spend about a week with Mike, Traci, boys and their furry children, Maddie and Shadow. We made some great memories!

My book came back from copy edit and I spent two weeks making changes, adding, deleting, correcting and reading...only to find out I had corrected the wrong version. DOH! So, I strapped myself to my desk with food and water and this time it took 3 very long, intense days to fix my 309 page mistake. Rookie boo-boo. It's a learning process and I'm grateful that the editors and publishers are good natured, understanding and most of all...forgiving. We are back on track with the schedule and all is well in authorville.

And so the years, like holidays come and go, but it is never without trying to hold on to the tails of time and remember that we only get one lap around this track. We are reminded, as always, to use that lap wisely.