A New Year!

At long last, we are having decent weather - chilly, slightly damp, lots of fog and the sun peeking out for a long 5-minute stretch here and there. I'm hopeful the snow and really awful stuff is over for now. We're at home and as much as we enjoyed staying at David's house on the ocean, it's always good to be home.

Max and Glory and Vi are still with us; Max's nurse may be leaving this weekend. We're hoping for good news from the doctor. Max is doing really well; he stands unassisted, walks a few steps on his own but can get around with a walker. His speech is getting clearer all the time; everyone can now understand all the naughty words he shouts for no particular reason... He's reading a little; learning to cheat at chess (not that I would know anything about that)... has a lot to say about the lack of fine cigars in his daily routine and the state of the world in general.

Patrick is still with us and will probably be going home soon. His mom has been away on business and expects to return any day now. We'll miss him. We'll also miss him flying through the house - dog in tow - on his Segway. Santa brought him one for Christmas and he has become addicted to speeding under his own power.

David is overseas again. I'm hoping this is his last tour and that he will retire this spring. Bull goes back and forth between our house and David's house and is giving serious consideration to leaving the Marine Corps when he fulfills his latest commitment.

The giant squid... is still recuperating from RUN AMOK WEEK!

Oh t'was glorious!

I outdid myself.

We had several peachy moments, a melted chocolate wrestling match, he vs. me pushups. (He had to do one-armed pushups while trying to toss me off his back - I won!) There were crunches while balancing me on his knees (Tsk. Ended up on his lap but fortunately, the band was tuning up and started to play.) We had a whispered tug-a-war with dares and threats and ended up in the closet... Naughty Vi hung a do-not-disturb sign on the door. One night when everyone else was in bed, we passed out on the living room floor in front of the fire. Woke up with dogs pushed up against our sides and all the cats sleeping on our bellies. The critters tried to follow us into the shower to continue the love fest but the giant squid managed to lock the door before a paw or a muzzle could wiggle its way inside.

I took a page from Cassie's blog... on one occasion when Cowboy was up before me and in the shower... I threw ice water over the shower door and it hit him as he was drying off. He bellowed... unadmirally phrases and I got the hell out of dodge!

Slid down the banister... the giant squid chasing me down the stairs. He was wearing a towel... He grabbed my arm; I grabbed his towel and Patrick segwayed by and asked nobody in particular... "Why is the Admiral running around in his birthday suit?"

Couldn't help myself. I laughed.

The giant squid yelled.

Then I yelled and made threats.

Unfortunately, he's bigger than I am and his threats were carried out as soon as we were back in our bedroom. Then the band tuned up and we were at it again.
Never a dull moment in our house. And...

In just a few days, it will be February! Chocolate month!

~Sar~