Christmas in Texas

Back on Wednesday the 17th, I was getting ready for Texas, finishing packing, etc. Meanwhile, Tomkin brought in the huge piece of linoleum that he had bought so it could thaw before the guys came over to install it. There was melting snow everywhere, and I even noticed that water was dripping into the basement! Turns out that was actually from Chloe's water dish--her slobbery drinking had caused the wood under her dish to rot. Thank goodness we caught it in time! Tomkin drove me to the airport--it was a beautiful sunny day. My flight was delayed about an hour, which wasn't too bad considering all the other weather-related delays around the country. Mom picked me up at the airport in Austin about 6:30, and we headed home to Temple. I got to meet my new "sister," Buttons. She is so cute! I wasn't sure if I'd like a fluffy little white dog, but she totally won me over right away.
Thursday we slept in and then just hung out and relaxed for a while. Mom and I headed to the mall, where I got some new clothes and a couple last-minute Christmas gifts. We had lunch at Chik-Fil-A. I didn't even care about Weight Watchers--we don't have Chik-Fil-A here, and I love it! We went home, and I wrapped all my presents. Then I tagged along to Mom's weekly Weight Watchers meeting. She almost didn't weigh in, but when she did, she found out she'd lost nearly a pound! That evening we hung out at home and played some Skip-Bo. It was a nice relaxing day.
Friday we went to Macy's to take advantage of some good sales. Then we headed to Mom's hospice Christmas party. It was odd to be at a celebrational gathering and hear various conversations about death. Such is the nature of the work, I suppose! In addition to celebrating Christmas, it was also a chance for people to say good-bye to Mom, since she is officially retiring as of January 1st. Forty years of nursing is enough for her. We had a nice time visiting with her coworkers and eating lot of delicious food. Mom also had some gifts to open, and we got to play with Norman, the chihuahua who belongs to one of the hospice nurses. Mom cleaned out her desk and bid farewell to hospice work. We headed to the grocery store and got all kinds of good food for the week. When we got home, we took the dogs (Bosley and Buttons) for a walk. It was sunny and in the 70s--quite a change from the weather in Minnesota! That night, Mom and I went out for Thai food with Dick's daughter, Lisa. Then we went home and played more Skip-Bo, and I talked to Tomkin. While I was away, he had the new linoleum installed in our kitchen. It sounded like it was quite a messy process, so I was very thankful not to have been there for it! Tomkin also had a root canal. But he did get to spend more fun time with his family and with Chloe, so that was good.
Mom and I had planned to go to Fredricksburg on Saturday, but after so much running around on Friday we decided to just stay home and take it easy. I kept checking Tomkin's flight info, wondering if he would arrive on time. I played on the computer, we took the dogs for a walk, and Mom took a nap with Buttons. Tomkin said they were having a blizzard in Minnesota, but we were still hopeful that he would make it down to Texas. He eventually made it after a three-hour delay. Thankfully, he had the iPod I gave him for Christmas, so he just sat and watched movies and wasn't really bothered by the wait. And the flight after his from MSP to AUS got cancelled, so I was just glad he made it.
We relaxed on Sunday, and Lisa came over with her three big dogs (Jasmine, a weimeraner; Didi, a great dane/great pyranese mix; and Poppy, a St. Bernard/great dane mix). We all romped and played in the yard. I just wished that Chloe was there, too! (Though I knew she was happy at Kris and Dave's house in St. Paul.) I was also thinking about Scout that day--it would have been his ninth birthday. It's been almost eight months now since he died, and I definitely still miss him. After Lisa left, Tomkin and I went for a walk, and then we all had dinner and played Facts in Five. Tomkin got a Wild Card and picked "Motorcycles" as the category. I was excited because I actually named more than he did!
We had talked about going horseback-riding on Monday, but it turned out to be pretty chilly. So Mom, Tomkin, and I headed to the Texas Rangers museum in Waco instead. That was fun and very interesting. We watched a video, checked out the exhibits, and hit the gift shop. We took a walk when we got back, and that evening Dick took us all out for dinner at the Cotton Patch Cafe. (And he drove us there in his new Mercedes!) It was our unofficial Christmas Eve. When we got home we looked through some old photos, and then we each opened one present. We played more Facts in Five and then went to bed wondering what Santa would bring....
We celebrated Christmas on Tuesday. We all looked in our stockings and then opened our presents. We all got so much great stuff! Mom made Grandma Tack's traditional German Thumbprint Bread for breakfast. Tomkin and I took the dogs on a long walk, and then we took a little nap. Lisa's daughter Chelsi came over, and she, Mom, and I ran to the grocery store (where they already had their Valentine's Day candy out!). By the time we got home, Lisa had arrived with more presents. We all ate appetizers and opened more gifts. Everyone pitched in to help get dinner on the table--turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, Jell-o salad, lettuce salad, and rolls. It was SO good. I ate until I was truly stuffed. We played Apples to Apples and Who, What, Where and then had some dessert. Then we played Taboo. It was a really fun day, and it actually felt like Christmas!
Wednesday it was sunny and in the 60s--the nicest day since Tomkin had arrived. I got all our stuff packed while Tomkin helped Mom with some photo stuff on the computer. We took the dogs for a walk and then finished getting ready to go. Mom drove us to the airport in Austin--it was sad to say good-bye! We had such a fun time together. The airport was practically empty. Our flight was delayed about an hour, so Tomkin watched movies and I read. There were two bats flying around the airport, which was a bit unnerving! When we got back to Minnesota, we waited on the tarmac for about half an hour, and then one of my bags was "lost," so I had to fill out a claim. We finally got home about 11:00. Thankfully, Kris and Dave had dropped off Chloe at our house--she was so happy to see us! Of course we were happy to see her, too. And within a couple hours, someone from Northwest dropped off my missing luggage. Phew! So we and all our stuff made it safely home.

Christmas Celebration #1 (of 4)

Wow--I've got some catching up to do! Before I blog about our trip to Texas, I'll just say that it was a lot of fun, and I'll blog about it soon. For now, I'll at least get caught up on the few days before Texas....
Back on Saturday the 13th, we lounged around the house, walked Chloe to the library (it was so nice out!), and then I finished wrapping Christmas gifts while Tomkin took a nap. That evening we went to see the movie "JCVD." I had never seen a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie before. This one--which is a self-reflective vanity project--was pretty interesting and beautifully filmed. I found it quite entertaining.

That Sunday, we slept until 10:00 (Chloe hasn't been bugging us for early morning breakfasts these days). The weather was gross--falling slush. So we skipped a walk and worked out to "Project Runway" instead. That afternoon, Tomkin and I went to the annual Carleton alumni holiday party. Neither of us had ever gone before. It was held at a home on Summit Avenue, which was beautiful, but the party overall was pretty dull. No offense to lawyers, but half the alums there were lawyers--and not particularly interesting ones. Ah, well. That evening I wrote out holiday cards for clients. I'm sort of wishing that we had gotten photo cards this year, what with the wedding and all, but I figure that instead of sending out cards to everyone, I'll do some kind of year-end wrap-up on the blog.Monday was cold and snowy. I ran some errands and made one last pre-Christmas trip to Target. Tomkin and I bundled up Chloe and walked through the -5 degree temps to go get coffee. (There's a Starbucks where we can sit inside and warm up.) Chloe had a sweatshirt and dog booties on, which really seemed to help. Plus she looked adorable! (Altough Tomkin went ahead and ordered a really warm dog coat and high booties for her.) That evening we went to Tomkin's folks' house to celebrate Christmas with the Colemans. Jenny and Allison were in town, on their way between their old home in NYC and their new home in Portland, Oregon. We sat and visited for a while and then opened our gifts.Tomkin's dad, Tom, has been writing sonnets, so he gave each of his kids a copy of his recent poems, and Jenny and Tomkin each read one aloud. They were beautiful and really powerful. Tomkin's family is so warm and fun and interesting--I always have a great time hanging out with them.
Tuesday I went to Weight Watchers and was shocked to find out I had lost 4.2 pounds, for a total of 14.8! (I can tell you that that number will not be the same after the last couple weeks of holiday eating...but I'll get back on track soon.) I ran some errands--it was cold and snowy and pretty nasty out. I spent most of the day packing and getting ready to leave for Texas. Jenny and Allison had planned to meet us at our house for dinner, but the snow (and, thus, the traffic) was so bad, we ended up meeting them halfway, at Pizza Luce in Minneapolis. It was fun to see them again--they're both so funny, smart, and interesting. I wish they had picked the Twin Cities instead of Portland! Hmph. Anyway, Tomkin and I headed home and just relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Soon I'll blog about Christmas #2 in Texas! I hope you've been having a fun and happy holiday season. As always, thanks for reading my blog!

Merry Christmas!

I just don't have it in me to recap the last few days tonight. I've been running errands, finishing my Christmas shopping, getting presents wrapped and shipped, writing cards to clients (I'll do a year-end wrap up on the blog for friends and family in lieu of cards this year), packing, celebrating Christmas with Tomkin's family (Jenny & Allison are in town!), and trying to tie up loose ends before I leave for Texas tomorrow. So, instead of blogging tonight, I'm going to curl up and relax with Tomkin and Chloe. I'll catch up after Christmas. Have a happy holiday everyone!

Getting Into the Holiday Spirit

I honestly don't know where this week has gone! Here it is, 10:00 on Friday night, and I'm finally sitting down to blog. Last Thursday, Tomkin and I kicked off the day by exercising to "Project Runway." Somehow we ended up watching Season 2 earlier, so now we're on Season 3. We did some work, walked Chloe (brrrr!), and that evening we saw "Shadowlands" at the Guthrie. As is often the case with Guthrie shows these days, I LOVED the first act; thought it was amazing. Then the second act faltered a bit. Still a great show overall, though.
Friday we pretty much spent the day running errands. I went to the library, did some Christmas shopping, and went to Target. Tomkin had to take his car in to have the back window repaired (turns out you're not supposed to put down a convertible top once it gets too cold out), so I picked him up at his office. I hadn't seen it before--it's really nice! He's making it a very cozy place to work. We had noticed that Chloe was getting a little stinky, so we brought her to Grand Groomers for a bath. We walked home in the falling snow--it was so pretty out! And Chloe looked very cute in her new Christmas tree bandanna. Our plans for the evening fell through, so I used the unexpectedly free evening to get some work done. We also watched a few DVDs about Spain that I had checked out from the library. Only eight more weeks now until our trip!
Saturday morning I got up and worked while Tomkin slept late. We worked out to "Project Runway" and then walked down to Grand Avenue for Grand Meander. We went to Picky Girl and I used another of the gift certificates Tomkin had given me for my birthday. After walking through the cold and over the snow, we were pretty tired when we got home. So Tomkin, Chloe, and I curled up on the couch and took one of the coziest naps ever. We managed to rouse ourselves in time to head over to Syd and Dave's annual holiday celebration. They always throw a great party--they have lots of interesting friends, and Dave puts out quite a spread! We slept in Sunday morning and woke up to find more snow on the ground! I think that winter has finally arrived...and isn't going away anytime soon. That afternoon Tomkin and I went to the Walker Art Center to see the British Television Advertising Awards. This was the second year in a row we've gone--it's really fun to see so many creative and interesting commercials! I also enjoyed shopping in the Walker's gift shop. We went home and took Chloe for a walk, and then Tomkin popped over to another neighborhood holiday party. I was kind of tired, so I opted to stay in and get some stuff done at home.
Monday morning I did some work, and then I went to Dunn Bros for my second Profitlancers group meeting. (We decided we liked that term better than "free"lancers.) There were six of us at this meeting, and we had a good discussion about contracts, finding work in this "challenging" economy, and various other relevant topics. It's a nice little group--I enjoy getting their input and their insights into the freelance life. It's sort of like gathering around the water cooler, except it's at a coffeehouse.... Tomkin went to the dentist that afternoon and found out he has to have another root canal next week. (We're also getting new linoleum installed in the kitchen while I'm in Texas. I'm going to miss all the fun!) We were busy with work, and it was snowing heavily, so we didn't get out for a walk. That evening Tomkin went to the library while I led a premarital counseling session. By the time that was done I was pretty pooped, so I watched the "Amazing Race" finale and played on Facebook for a while.
Tuesday morning Tomkin got out the snowblower and cleared the snow off half of our block. I did some work, got a haircut, and spent three hours at Target. As much as I love that place, I'm starting to feel a little co-dependent. Target, we need a little time apart--it's not you, it's me! That evening, Tomkin came with me to the Professional Editors Network holiday party. One of the members hosted it at her home in the suburbs. I had only met one of the people there before. It was interesting to find out what kind of editing other freelancers do and how they get their work. Of course Tomkin was great about chatting with people--he's always a fabulous addition to any party!
Wednesday I did more work--I got to proofread a book about dogs, which was really fun. Tomkin and I took Chloe for a walk, and then I headed to Weight Watchers. This was the first week that I gained--up 2.2 pounds. So that was a bit discouraging. But onward and downward! As soon as I got home, we headed to Pizza Luce to have dinner with JimDog. We haven't gotten to see him in ages, so it was great to catch up. Tomkin headed to his weekly poker game, and I went to the holiday party for the Midwest Independent Publishers Association. This was my first time going to any of their events, so I mostly tried to introduce myself to as many people as possible. I headed home and talked to Mom--I'll be going down to Texas for the holidays next Wednesday! Rather than blogging that night, I opted to work on the dog book since I had to finish it up by Thursday.
Thursday I did indeed finish up the dog book. Phew! Tomkin and I walked Chloe, and then we got ready for our second Third Thursdays cocktail party (which was actually on the second Thursday this month...). This time our featured drink was hot mulled apple cider with spiced rum. We had a 20-quart pot, which was filled with apple juice, mulling spices, and rum. It was hot, sweet, and delicious! We also put out a bunch of food for people to nibble on while they were imbibing. We weren't sure how many people would show up since this is such a busy time of year, but we ended up having about 15 guests! And it was a really fun evening. One funny thing was finding out that Pete (a friend of Tomkin's since college) and Chris (married to my friend Jill, who I knew from Holy Covenant in Chicago) went to junior high school together! What a strange, small world. We had a few repeat guests from the first party and quite a few who were new. People were great about mixing and mingling, and Chloe was also a popular guest. She was pretty good around the food and mostly preferred to claim her favorite spot on the couch. Everyone headed out about 10:00, and Tomkin and I got the place cleaned up and headed to bed. I'm really glad we've started this monthly cocktail party tradition. I'm already looking forward to January's party! (All I'll say about the drink is that it will be January-themed....)
This morning (Friday) I did a little work, but I spent most of the day wrapping Christmas presents. We're having four family Christmas celebrations this year! I love getting to spread out the holiday that way. Tomkin and I took Chloe for a walk--it was really chilly out. The coldest day so far, I think. I tried out my new calf-length down coat--it was amazingly warm! Chloe was pretty cold, though, so we just ordered her a breed-specific winter coat. I think that will help a lot! We went to Garden of Eden on Grand Avenue so I could use another of my birthday gift cards from Tomkin. I love that store! They have lots of cool stuff, it's reasonably priced, and they are VERY dog-friendly. When we got home, I gave Tomkin his Christmas present--an iPod! His Shuffle had stopped working, and I knew he'd like an iPod for running, traveling, and just general entertainment. He was SO excited. He has spent the entire evening uploading music and looking for movies to download.
I'll try to blog again before I leave for Texas on Wednesday. I hope your holiday season has been fun and festive so far! Stay warm, and thanks for reading!

A Slight Delay....

Just a quick note to say that I'm finishing up an editing project, which I have to send out tomorrow. I'm hoping to blog on Friday this week. Check back then!

Thanks!

A Lot to Be Thankful For

Phew! It's been quite a week. Lots to catch up on! Last Wednesday I had lunch at Granite City with Mary Beth (one of the Game Day Girls from Chicago, who was visiting family in MN for the holiday). It was SO much fun to see her. We sat and talked for a couple hours. There was a lot to catch up on! When I got home, I went on a quick walk with Tomkin and Chloe, and then I headed to Weight Watchers. I had lost 1.8 pounds that week, for a total of 11.2 so far. That evening, Tomkin went out with Pete, and I opted to say in. I hadn't had a quiet, relaxing evening alone for a while, and it was really nice.
Thursday was Thanksgiving! Tomkin got the ham in the oven while I set the table. We took Chloe on a short walk to a nearby park and let her run off some energy. Then about 2:00, Tomkin's parents arrived, followed short thereafter by my dad, Sandy, and Alex. I love doing holidays potluck style! Tom and Nancy brought a huge salad, and Sandy made scalloped potatoes. Everything was so delicious! After the meal, Alex headed downstairs to watch football, while the rest of us looked at photos and chatted. Eventually we had room for dessert--Sandy had made a cheesecake (yum!) and had also brought along sugar-free ice cream. I had a little of everything, but not too much of anything. And, really, the meal is just a good excuse to get together with loved ones, which was the best part! Everyone took off about 5:00, and then we cleaned up and just chilled out for the evening. We played on our computers and watched a little TV. What a wonderful day!
Tomkin had a wedding rehearsal on Friday afternoon. I got stuff done around the house. We drove to Solo Vino to pick up some wine and browsed around the Paper Patisserie (I love that store!). We went home and got Chloe, then walked down Grand Ave. to the liquor store to pick up rum for our next Third Thursdays gathering. (We'll be serving hot mulled apple cider with spiced rum.) Chloe graciously carried the bottles home for us. That evening we went to the Surly Brewery tour. Neither of us had been there before, and it was fun to see the brewery itself and to hear Omar's stories of building his business. Of course it was also awesome to see Becca slinging beers while she had baby Leo strapped to her. Christopher and Pam were in town (an excellent bonus of living here is getting to see them more often!), so after the tour the six of us went out for dinner and drinks. We went to Salsa a la Salsa and had delicious food and margaritas. We laughed a lot and had a great time. It's so much fun to hang out with all of them!Saturday morning we slept in, which was heavenly. Luke came over to rehearse an "illusion" with Tomkin, which they later performed at the Scooby Doo Mansion Talent Show. [Note: The photos from my new camera take a few minutes each to upload, so I'm scaling back on the numbers of shots I'm including in this blog post. However, this link will bring you to my album of talent show photos on Facebook.]Tomkin ran some errands, and I got stuff done around the house. We walked Chloe to the coffeeshop and back, and then Tomkin took a two-hour nap. He had to officiate a wedding, and I headed over to the talent show. We all mixed and mingled for a while, and then the show began (just after Tomkin arrived!). There were lots of amazing acts: Tomkin did a couple magic tricks (including the chain trick he had practiced earlier with Luke), Jacqueline demonstrated how to make Pow Wow Buns (hilarious!), Charles did a reading, Roxanne belly-danced, and Mark taught everyone how to do a loon call. However...nothing could really top the fire breathers. We bundled up and went outside, and these two guys started by "manipulating" fire with their hands. Then they "ate" fire. And then they breathed huge bursts of flames into the air. It seemed really dangerous, but it looked really cool. Not surprisingly, they took first place in the voting. (Jacqueline came in second.) My "talent" for the evening was taking pictures. Maybe next year I'll do something more.
When we woke up Sunday morning, there was snow on the ground! We hung around the house for a while, then walked Chloe to the coffeeshop and Kowalski's. We watched some TV, played on our computers (Facebook is such a timesuck! If you're not on it, you should totally join....), and then we exercised while watching the season one finale of "Project Runway." We knew who won before we even started watching the show, but it was still dramatic to see how it all unfolded. I can't wait to start watching the next season! That evening Tomkin read while I worked and watched "Amazing Race." I'm just a sucker for those reality shows!

On Summit Avenue

Monday I spent almost the entire day running errands. I hadn't wanted to shop around Thanksgiving because I figured the stores would all be crazy. So by Monday I had a two-page shopping list for Target. I spent three hours there! Ugh. That's too much even for me. Tomkin and I walked Chloe, and then we all went to Syd and Dave's house for dinner. Chloe and George hoping that Dave will drop some beef.

Chloe loves going over there, and playing with their dog, George. (She also likes it there because they let her sleep on the bed when they dog-sit!) Dave always cooks such amazing food. That evening's meal was pho, the Vietnamese soup. It was incredible! We also had blueberry martinis and wine. Their friend Bill joined us, and we all had a great time hanging out and talking.

Tuesday was Tomkin's first day working in his new office space. He finally got sick of working in the small, cold attic and decided to find a space he could rent. And he found one that's perfect! It's in a cool old building on University Ave., in an up-and-coming artsy area. His office is really big and has a window that opens. It's five minutes from home and across the street from a funky coffeeshop. He's still settling in and getting it furnished and homey, but he's absolutely thrilled. Tomkin's new office building on University Ave.

I went to the dentist on Tuesday morning to get my teeth cleaned. I hate having that done, but I had the nicest dental hygenist ever. The rest of the day was crazy busy. I've been getting lots of calls and e-mails for marriage preparation classes. Tomkin just had my website (BeforeYourWeddingDay.com) redesigned, and it looks gorgeous. We took Chloe for a walk, and then Tomkin met with a couple. (He's been booking weddings for this month!) Then last night we went to McCormick & Schmick's for dinner with Peter and Mandy. We talked about their recent trip to Ely (which included a visit to the shooting range and watching the Ice House Parade), local politics, efforts to curb panhandling, Obama versus Bill Clinton, the housing market, exes, and all kinds of other interesting topics. The food was incredible--we had shrimp as an appetizer and then I had salad, scallops, and potato croquettes for dinner, along with a glass of wine. By this time, despite my efforts to be as good as possible all week, I had blown threw all my Weight Watchers points (and then some) and figured the week would be a loss (or not!) weight-wise. But, regardless, it was fun to get together with so many friends during the week and enjoy so much delicious food.

Today I worked on editing my first article for NEED magazine and did some other work as well. I left early for Weight Watchers so I could shop at Barnes & Noble. I think I'm just about done with my Christmas shopping! Good thing, since I leave two weeks from today for Texas! I did not have high hopes going into my WW meeting. I just hoped I hadn't gained anything.... Turns out I lost 1.6 pounds this week! I was really amazed. That puts me at a total loss of 12.8 pounds. Woo hoo! Pretty soon it'll be time to go shopping for new clothes. Tomkin realized today that since I started doing Weight Watchers, HE has lost 10 pounds! I guess we were attending too many happy hours and just not watching what we were eating. Thankfully, Tomkin is a great cook, and I'm learning good lessons from WW, so I don't feel "deprived." In front of a well-lit home on Summit Avenue

Tomkin had dinner (chili!) on the table when I got home, and after we ate we took Chloe for a walk. We got a little more snow last night, and people are getting their Christmas lights up, so it looks very pretty and holiday-like outside. When we got back, I talked to Mom, and Tomkin headed out to see the movie "Bolt." We've got another fun week coming up--some holiday parties and other fun outings.
I hope that your Thanksgiving was wonderful and that you're enjoying the holiday season so far! Until next week...take care, and thanks for reading my blog!

MSP: Best for Business

For the second time in a row, Minneapolis/St. Paul has been named the best metro area for business. Apparently this is surprising to people in warmer climates. If you click on the link, there's a video of a news report--I'm not sure it really helps our cause since it features nothing but white middle-aged Minnesotan men. Still, it's always nice to be number one!