Merry Christmas to me!!

So I got my last Christmas present in the mail the other day.....


Only two days late but well worth the wait.










notice there is no "made in mexico" stamp on the headstock. This one is all American, don't ask me what I paid. (I suppose you could if you really want to)


Oh and this has nothing to do with Christmas, but I passed this guy on 417 yesterday. That's a Ferrari 360 Modena, for those of you who don't keep up on high-end vehicles. You probably don't want to ask him what he paid for it either, because that will totally make you sick, but I can say that your house was probably cheaper. And I passed him in my Nissan ($4k woohoo!!) On a side note I would like you all to know that I am in no way claiming that I raced and beat this guy, if he wasn't poking along at 30 mph, trying to dodge potholes so as not to bend up his rims he would have eaten me alive. His car did cost him six figures after all.

~ the XY (putting the testosterone back into blogging)

Overheard:

prologue:
Most of you know that (in my mind) wrapping gifts is to be avoided. I will do most anything to have someone else do the "honors". For years Emily has known everything she was getting, having picked out the wrapping method and wrapping each gift herself. Junk food has even been offered as a bribe (hot chocolate, what in the world else would I be offering?). This year I thought that I might have Nora hooked, but that fell through, so I utilized my senior (year) citizens. Enter: Tim and YeonJun.
Overheard, Asian to American, on Christmas Eve 2006:
"But, Asians can't (w)rap!"*
epilogue:
It was the most calm Christmas ever. (Nate used the word "pathetic" but I can't imagine he meant it). Calm, even the 6 hours of cleaning house on Christmas morning. Oh, yes, fun was had by all.

*get it? This is why he got 11/12 on his SAT writing despite English being his second language - he not only speaks well, he makes jokes (knowledge of the american absurd) and makes puns. For those of you who don't know, YeonJun put up with us last year and is in the dorm this year. He visited us at Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. But he didn't wrap our gift to him. I know where to draw the line.

I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas...

The proverbial "Christmas Letter"

I don't have to send one because I update y'all about every little nitty gritty detail of our lives (complete with pictures) at least once a week as is.

so there.

anyone want to validate me before I feel a twinge of guilt?

I suppose I should feel badly for those who don't have our blog as their homepage or in their list of bookmarked sites...but whose fault is that? maybe I'll send a Christmas email with a link to the blog.

and does everyone realize that Christmas is next Monday?? I certainly did not, until the pastor mentioned it at church...oops...

5 months (click on pics to enlarge)

I unofficially weighed the boy at my appointment yesterday (sat him on the "big people" scale) and as long as I wasn't inadvertently supporting some of his weight, he's a whopping 18#. That's probably pretty accurate since a couple of days ago, he started doing this all by himself (yeah, that's me behind him, but I'm not touching him, I swear!):


















rolling over is great, as long as there is a new (to us)toy to look at...














he LOVES to flip over backwards, so this is my view if we're both at the computer:














Showing the changing table love while modeling the WNY diaper and booties,














and naps are one of our favorite times of day(his or mine, I'll let you decide).


















and a comparison shot:

5 days old





5 months old (notice the outfit is too small...oops)

Whoops!

So I have realized that we never posted anything from our Catania trip in September. Well, here you go.



This is Piazza Duomo, the central square in Catania. Also this is where the bus dumped us.








This is one of the many fountains in Catania. There is one in every square.





This is the amphitheater in the middle of town. It's old, and interesting to think about what might have happened there. And no I don't know what that says on the wall.






More amphitheater.










This is Russel Crowe the cat. In case you don't watch as many movies as I do Russel Crowe was in "Gladiator" and this cat lives in the amphitheater. It's a cute joke, trust me.




Half way up Via Etenea (it's obvious why this street is named such when you walk up it. Perfect view of the mountain) is this garden park. It's cool.

(ps from xx: what is it with back views of me when i look fat?? mom took one very similar in NO (when of course I had an excuse to look fat))




The crazy thing is that someone has to replant all this crap every day.







The clock works, in case you were wondering.









Here is the famed "fish market." Recently I drove by this place at night and save for the smell you would never know that is what went on during the day. There seems to be quite the theme of doing a lot of work every day to function.



Oysters...yuck!















A guy shucking oysters for people to eat raw. Grody. I had a picture of one of the guys on our trip eating a raw oyster, but someone, who will remain nameless but is the only other person in this house who knows how the camera works, deleted that one because "it looked weird." That was the point. He was eating a raw oyster and grimacing, it wasn't supposed to look normal. Oh well.

I know someone who will appreciate this one, having chickens/roosters of their own.

Can't say it wasn't warned though.



That's about all for now, next time we go somewhere interesting I will be sure to take the camera.
~Ciao xy

baby blues

as we speak, the puppy is playing outside. alone. The baby is sleeping (as is his father), the floor is swept, and the dishes and laundry are (mostly) done. I am fed, dressed, and have gone to the bathroom in the recent past. There is a hot cup of french roasted coffee in my hand. Savor the moment.*

earlier today: trying to get a self portrait

































practicing running away, and collapsing on the couch (ps: check out how huge EP is!)
































*'cus it's only going to last 7.5 minutes...

Oh look, they're bonding.

Sorry, it was too cute; I had to.

Oh and as a disclaimer this picture was in no way "posed."

The pup is here!

Here she is checking out her new surroundings.

















An hour later she's passed out in her crate/bed.













I'm sure we'll come up with more later.
xy