Sad to leave but happy to be back...

I feel like if I blink Austin will be out of high school or Avery will be driving. Words cannot explain how much I wish I could be around my nephews ALL the time. I had a GREAT Christmas & I hope everyone else did too. We had so much fun; Spurs game, Riverwalk, developed a wii injury, jog/walked 4 days in a row with 2 overweight beagles, & ate way too much. Tomorrow will be the first day of "detox". :P

Tues was the coldest day there with a high of 47. It was also a bit rainy. I walked the dogs to the school behind my sister's house.

It's amazing how much that neighborhood keeps growing with new schools going up everywhere. Avery's school is directly behind their house.
We took the boys to Randolph Air Force base to eat lunch & bowl. Avery, always easy to photograph. ha!Austin bowling & never easy to photograph. :P I had forgotten how nice that base always seemed to me. (much nicer than any Army post!) I snapped a photo of the "Missing Man Formation" on my cell. Tues night we went to the Spurs game. (they won!) Tony Parker was on fire. It was a tight game & I could hear a few people behind me saying, "Give it to Tony!" We had a blast just like we did last year. Me with Deb (I had on my Tony Parker jersey & Titans scarf. Someone actually wanted my scarf! ha!) Avery (far left-white jersey) shooting hoops in the lobby of the AT & T arena. Wed, the temp got up to 68. I started the morning out with a 2.62 jog/walk/sniff with Toby & Eva. Both are a tad out of shape & that's putting it mildly. :P I guess they kept me from hurting my shin, who knows... Trust me we were slow on all our little jaunts around Belmont Park subdivision. We went by the neighborhood pool every day. Afterwards, I did manage some crunches on the floor & some pilates moves. This neighborhood loves to exchange plates of goodies so I was feeling the guilt big time. Everytime the door bell rang, we would get something different. "Oh let's see what they made! Yum!" We hung out at the house most of the day getting ready for Christmas day. We went to the Christmas eve church service & watched "Speed Racer". I sent that movie to Avery for his b-day in Nov. He loved his Titans training camp jersey. ha! (Yes, I will get another one.)Thurs, the temp was low 70's. After all gifts were open, I took the dogs out for a slow 40:47 min 3.1 mile jog, walk, sniff jaunt again. When I returned the wii playing had started. (By friday, we were all complaining about our "swinging arms".) My wii age started out at 49 but after two more tries to lower my age, I'm now 28 yrs old!! Whoo Hoo! Thank God, I rocked the bowling! The batting was the worst for me but then again, I could never hit the broad side of a barn anyway. I can see where it can be addicting!

Excited dogs on Christmas morning. Avery made a Christmas wreath out of clothes pins for Mark & Deb. :)
I got lots of books, gift cards, & Joe gave me the entire "Sex & the City" dvd collection. (He's going to watch every single episode with me, right Joe? ha!) A sure fire way to get exactly what you want is to create an amazon.com wish list. Deb started this with the boys years ago since so many relatives live way off. I did one this year. Let's just say that I won't be returning or regifting anything this year. :P Speaking of Joe, he informed me today that he's made reservations in Times Square for the weekend of the New York City marathon. Whether I can run it or not OR I get in or not, we are going. (Cheryl, I hope you can come into the city that weekend!)

We all headed to the movie theater in the afternoon for "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler. It was cute. If you have kids, they'll like it. I'm looking forward to seeing Will Smith's "7 pounds" this week.

Fri, San Antonio had a record high of 83 degrees & I felt it when I took the dogs out for 3.3 miles of more jogging/walking/sniffing. When we got back Toby drank a ton of water & laid on the cool tile kitchen floor as if he were dying. I got Mark's free weights & worked on my arms. I did some standing squats that I felt on Sat & I did some crunches on the floor. Our day included more wii & some after Christmas shopping before heading to the Riverwalk. As many times as I've been to San Antonio, I had never been inside the Alamo. It was cool & it sort of reminded me a bit of Nashboro downtown on the river. They didn't allow photos of the inside but we saw some cool Davy Crockett stuff. Avery patiently waiting in line. He's such a good boy. Unfortunately, he's inherited the sinus/allergy problems. The Smiths (yes, Deb married one she wanted to keep a long time. ha!) I've said it a million times, the best thing she ever did was join the Air Force. She got out after Avery was born & became a federal employee. Mark is a retired communications officer & federal employee now. They timed all this just right with the boys ages. NO MORE moving around. My 6 ft 2 in brother in law has a 13 yr old almost as tall as him. Austin also wears a size 11 shoe. To say he plays basketball very well would be an understatement.

We had some great mexican food on the river & I drank a margarita. The area was packed afterall, it was 83 degrees & the day after Christmas... Joe sent me this snowy pic from Lake Orion, MI when I told him it was shorts weather in San Antonio. ha! It did finally warm up to 60 degrees yesterday in Michigan. Patti said it literally went from one extreme to another in less than a week. Sledding on friday in Michigan.
Waiting on a patio table. Boys eating mexican on riverwalk. I finally caught them with their napkins down from their faces. :P

Sat, I got out for a slow 2.64 miles with the dogs for the last time this year. It got tumble weed windy & then hot. A lot of folks were fighting the wind while taking down Christmas decorations. We hung out at the house playing wii, of course, before leaving for the airport. Mark's step father was flying in from Jacksonville as I was flying out. My sister's got another big week ahead of her. It's becoming a tradition for them to host a huge New Years Eve party. They set up board games everywhere in addition to video games. She's got a loft area with ping pong, air hockey, & a pool table. Something tells me there's going to be a lot of wii going on this year.

Overall, no flying problems & no hassles anywhere. It's this good karma that I've been preaching about all year long. ha! I have another VERY busy, fun week ahead. I'm planning to hit the gym hard all week long, though. (We have plans with friends & the Music City Bowl game.) You can bet I'm heading into 2009 with high hopes of an "uncracked shin" & many adventures. Other than New York, not much else is set in stone. Hannah & I will catch up over New Years so I'm sure something will get planned. :) Much like previous years, '08 is ending on a positive note. It's hard to believe that one year ago I was with Hannah & family in Indy at the Titans game. 2008 sure flew by. As I read Hannah's yearly newsletter that she sends with her Christmas cards, I realize out of everyone I know she's had a REALLY busy, stressed year. Even in the face of adversity, that girl smiles right through it. We're all counting our blessings & hoping for a better economically sound 2009. Whatever gets thrown my way, I will handle it just fine. I took this in my Aunt Becky's yard after they picked me up from the airport. Christmas palm trees look cool! :)

Happy Early New Years everyone! Please be safe!