Happy 2009 - 4 more weeks!

HAPPY 2009!

One month since our last post, so much has gone on. We hope you all had a great Christmas season, we know we did, save for a slight Christmas disaster. A few days before we left for our Christmas at Uncle David's, we discovered that our tree stand was leaking. Brian was devastated that he was going to have to take the tree down early and that a small section of our floors were warped. So we ended up decorating our little front porch faux tree with our extra special ornaments - our own Charlie Brown moment. We spent our Christmas in Minneapolis with the Erickson family. 16 of us in David's house, plus 4 more if you count the Eidsnesses who live down the street. We had the traditional lutefisk Christmas Eve dinner, which for all you non-Norwegians out there is a fish. A smelly, gelatinous, gross looking and gross tasting fish. Why do we eat it? Because it is tradition of course. In Grand Forks we have a different tradition, lobster and steak on Christmas Eve. That is a pretty good tradition to have, lutefisk is a little blah. Seriously, go to google images and google lutefisk, and then imagine the smell of fish, soaked in lye, then marinated in sweaty gym socks for 5 months. Yum. Madison made meatballs to accompany the meal, and those were quite fabulous. Max made the mashed potatoes which were also scrumptious.

David's family also got Guitar Hero World Tour, and a Wii for Christmas. We rocked out in a major way. Hunter and Madison formed a band called Granny No. Do they play REAL guitar? No. Do they sing? No. Do they rock? Granny yes! Watch for the rockumentary soon.

In addition to X-mas we had Danny in town for a few weeks. It was great to see him since it had been about 2 years since we last saw him. He was vintage Danny "I binge at life" Ryan, and for his binge this Christmas he chose bowling. I think I bowled 4 times in 2 weeks, about 3 times more than I normally bowl in a year. We had a good time down at the lanes, Mask of Zoro (I know its spelled wrong, talk to Garrett) is the proof.

Chilly is doing well and about 4 weeks away from popping out the tot. She asks if she has gotten any bigger every 5 minutes, and is actually measuring herself as I type this. She says she has topped out on the girthiness at 40.5", and had really hoped to get bigger (sorta). As a matter of fact she is going to get the logbook to double check her statistics. Yep, still twice as big as she was in May. In addition to going into nesting mode, she has also started hibernation mode. Hibernation mode is where every day is too cold to go outside, and she is more shocked than ever that it is cold here. So shocked she calls me at work to relay the temperature, since we all know there is no thermometer or internet at Northern Plumbing Supply.

Really though, she is a trooper. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't tie my own shoes. I know she is looking very forward to ridding herself of the additional weight and girth and meeting our squirmy little girl. (There's not a lot more room or skin on Chilly to stretch, so the baby just squirms and moves - she doesn't really kick anymore). Which brings us to the pool. We have not had a lot of responses, save for TJ and Lance, so I am considering calling the pool off. Any interest had better come soon.

Chilly has also been working at the Ralph, and just last weekend had the opportunity to see a 70 year old Sioux fan choke a 22 year old Gopher fan in the stands. What a great thing when people can gather for a gentlemanly game of sport and enjoy some good old fashioned camaraderie. I have been busy with end of the year Northern Plumbing work, and Buttercup has been busy chasing ribbons, her own tail, and sleeping.

Speaking of sleep, it is there that I am going to now. Have a good one, and get back to me with those bets.

Latas.