Napoleon Is Dead

John found him lifeless this morning around 8:02 am.   The memorial service was held around 8:23 am.  It seems he was sick even before we brought him home.  We were very sad.  We have since replaced him with Napoleon II.  Josephine is swimming around much more...we think Napoleon II must be more her type.

Our New Friends

Readers, meet Napoleon and Josephine.  To my delight, I received two African Dwarf Frogs for Christmas from my dear husband.  How cool is that?  I love him.  And them.

The Weirdest Christmas Ever

We have made it home after a far-from-normal, but still good, Christmas in DC.  We spent most of our time at the hospital of the National Institute of Health (NIH) visiting and playing games with Dad and Mom.  We were glad that Dad was well enough to get out of bed and walk a bit while we were there.  

On Christmas Day we carried our gifts from the lodge, where we were staying, over to the hospital to exchange with Dad.  After a lasagna dinner provided by the lodge, we drove downtown to see the National Christmas tree by the White House.  This was my first time in DC, so I enjoyed seeing the sights.  Upon returning to our car, we noticed our flat tire.  John changed the tire with a bit of aid from the bike cop.  I think John wants to be a bike cop now so he can get a sweet bike.

That night, mom got sick...just in case it was the flu, John and I spend the last two nights in a hotel so as not to get sick.  We got a sweet deal on a room at the fancy-schmancy Hilton thanks to Priceline!  We bid $50 per night and our bid was accepted!

On Friday we took our tire into Sears, and we ended up having to buy a new tire.  BUT, there just happened to be an Apple Store in the mall next to Sears...so, we bought a MacBook.  And I am now happily blogging from our Mac that I have already fallen deeply in love with.  This is mostly because it doesn't take an hour to check my email.  This helped brighten our spirits a bit.  

Saturday was sightseeing day!  We only had about 6 or 7 hours to DO IT ALL...so, we walked and walked and walked and walked and walked...and this is what we saw:

The Air and Space Museum

The Capitol

The National Archives

The Natural History Museum

The Washington Monument

The World War II Memorial

The Vietnam War Memorial

The Reflecting Pool

The Lincoln Memorial

The Korean War Memorial

Arlington Cemetery (the changing of the guard)

Okay, so we didn't see it all.  But it sure was a lot for one day!  And I loved it.  It was fantastic.  And it was the most beautiful December day...60 degrees and sunny.

AND THEN...

On Sunday before we drove home, we stopped in Baltimore to visit Charm City Cakes.  For those of you who are not Food Network junkies, this is a cake bakery that hosts a fabulous show called "Ace of Cakes."  We took some photos and got in the car to leave.  As we were driving away, I looked back and spotted CHEF DUFF!!!  John made the best three point turn I've ever witnessed and I yelled out the window, "Chef Duff!  Can we take a picture with you?"  And so we did.  And now we're pretty much famous.

So that's how our Christmas was crazy and different and fun.  We are very glad to be home and permanently unpacked (for now).

PS

Levi is still alive.  But, he's quite doped up on the medication for his seizures, so his butt droops to the floor sometimes when he walks, and he falls over at the slightest tap.  He's still cute, though, for an old fart. 

Happy Christmas

Well, we've just barely returned from Chicago and we're off again in the morning to Maryland. Our time with the Hoekstra fam was great...we celebrated Christmas together on Saturday by going downtown in the snowy, freezing cold weather, having a nice dinner, and exchanging gifts. Thanks for the cool shoes, Dad. They rock. You rock. Unlike our 1/2 inch of snow here in Canton, they have TONS of snow on the ground. It was beautiful.

We'll be in Maryland for the weekend visiting Mom and Dad at the National Cancer Institute. We are excited to see them (it's been a while!) and hopefully enjoy a different, but really fun Christmas together.

I am getting quite used to being off work, which may be a bad thing. Last week I only worked three days, this week I worked two, and next week I'll work four. I guess eventually real life will return.

John is walking around like a hunch-backed old man. He's tweaked something in his back/neck and is convinced that this will be his permanent state. Oh, and he's also convinced that he now has a free ticket to a back massage. HA.

Steelers played like poop. So did the Bears, but at least they won. Go Bears.

Watching Elf and decided to post...

That is this year's staff christmas picture.  

So anyways update time...students are almost gone. Thank goodness. This semester has been great but it's been full of craziness and it still hasn't ended.  I'm really looking forward to them all being gone for a while.  Leah's work is still lame but that is to be expected.  It is Christmas time and we leave for Chicago in a week and a half and we still have to Christmas shop and it is stressing me out.  I realized that I am now old as I was really excited when I got my 10 pack of Mann oil filters for my Volvo in the mail.  I used to get excited about toys and basketball shoes...now it's oil filters.  Mom and Dad are still in Maryland.  There is a chance that I might be going down there next week. Tomorrow we are having our student development christmas party.  Leah made a chocolate cake that I love but it is for her work party tomorrow and she wouldn't let me have any of it. So I am mad at her.  Ok, that is the end of the updates. 

Sleepless in Canton

Maybe it was the coffee I had at 10pm.  I've tried to fall asleep for an hour now and can't.  So, I'll blog.

Thanksgiving was strange...we traveled to Pittsburgh, but spent the weekend without Mom and Dad, who are still at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.  The trial has been called off and a new chemotherapy regimen has been started, but Dad is not well enough to travel home.  He is experiencing extreme pain...continued prayers, please. 

Nun and Uncle Mark cooked us a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.  It will go down in history as the quietest dinner ever to be had in that family.  The meal was fantastic (thank you!) and we left with plenty of left-overs.  Although we were quite sad that Mom and Dad were not there, we were able to spend some time with some cousins and friends. 

Thanks to Mike and Ali Baldauff for giving of your time to fix our car!  While the boys worked in the garage, I enjoyed time with Ali and their new baby, Abigail (even though she pretty much slept the whole time).   We later met up with John and Mary Nelson, cutest couple in all of Erie!  We miss those guys.

On Saturday, John and I enjoyed a day out in Shadyside.  We walked and shopped and had coffee and hot dogs from the sidewalk vendor.  :)  Later we had dinner at Lulu's Noodles with Katie, Jake, and Laura, our friends from Geneva!  It was so refreshing to be with old friends.  We sure miss being closer to you all!

No updates yet on PA school.  I am still awaiting a decision from Chatham University in Pittsburgh.  I am nervous and scared and sad and glad.  Can't wait til this process is all over with.

Well, maybe I'll give sleeping a try again.  Thanks for reading.