Happy Birthday, Kathi!

Here's a shout-out to my future mother-in-law, Kathi! She is a wonderful woman who has a deep love for her family and is willing to help out those who need a hand. She is generous with her time, attention, and opinions. This is a woman who tells it like it is, which is a trait I can admire. I've heard horror stories from some friends regarding their MIL's, but I feel I got lucky with mine. She has taken me in and made me one of her own, which I absolutely appreciate. And best of all, she raised a wonderful man, for which I am truly, truly grateful. So Happy Birthday, Kathi! You are wonderful in so many ways, I just don't have room to blog them all. Enjoy the day and the whole year to come.

What are friends for?

My friend has so graciously stated that she will forgive me for being a liberal Democrat. And I have to object. When I was a Republican, I was considered liberal. Now that I've gone to the other side, I think I am considered a conservative Democrat. But I'm pretty sure my friend thinks that all Democrats are liberal. Based upon that logic, maybe I am a liberal Democrat.

But I forgave her for being a clenched-up conservative Republican, so all is well.

Seriously?

When your presentation is supposed to be 30 minutes long, that doesn't mean to take 50 minutes. Especially when you're boring. Why doesn't the professor stop them? I think he was bored to sleep.

I know I am bored to tears. Literally.

Random Date Night

On Saturday night, Kevin and I went up to do a session in Oakland, but, amazingly enough, the last session starts at 4 PM. We got there at 5:30. So, denied at the temple, we decided to wander around and see all the pretty lights that were up. And I insisted on a few pictures, just because. It seemed a shame to waste a "dress-up" opportunity.

Because no one gets tired of pictures of the two of us, right?
The City from the top of the temple
A proper view of the temple lights.
And then we went to dinner afterwards at the most amazing Thai food place in Livermore. Loved it. Food was amazing, beautifully presented, and pretty decently priced. Pumpkin curry. Yum!

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt!

The weekend after Thanksgiving was preparation for getting into the Christmas spirit at the Athey house. We loaded up kids, adults, and dogs and away we went to the Santa Cruz mountains to find and cut the perfect tree. It was cold outside, some people got lost, and some people were tired and cranky (and not necessarily the two-year olds), but we found the tree and a good time was had by all.

One of the cutest almost-two-year olds EVER!
Dad Athey--our fearless leader in the great Christmas Tree Hunt, 2009
Dan and his tight pants--a holiday memory to cherish for years to come.
Jessie in her seasonally appropriate and stylish neck wrap. It is so important to have the right outfit for every occasion.

Redecorating

You will likely see my blog going through some renovations in the next little bit. I decided it was time for an upgrade and am trying on some new backgrounds for size, just to see how they fit. Since I can't really go after my living space the way I would like (no time, and why put a lot of effort into decorating/arranging when I'm moving in three or four months?), I thought I would put my creative juices into my little blog. So bear with me, and enjoy the changing views.