952 W Hartmas Lane...

Neil has been putting lights up, little by little over the last few weeks. Finally, tonight we turned them on. I attempted to video tape this moment, it's kind of dark out - so bare w/me.
At one point I ask Neil "What do you think?" His reply, which you can't hear is: "There should be more, we need more." Great. Look out Christmas 2010.
You can hear me fine, but if you want to hear Neil - you'll have to turn it up a bit.
Of course, at the exact moment we want to film this, a police/ambulance siren goes off in the distance, and a car drives by. Oh well....

1/2 a Brace-Face

As you can see, my bottom braces have been removed... I'm not sure how much longer my top ones will be on. (I'll drill my orthodontist next time I go in.)
In 2 weeks I get my retainer. I was so excited to be able to pick out a crazy color...but guess what? They don't do that anymore. They all come in clear. BORING!

Anyways. I'm excited!

Thank you Jesus

....for this amazing weather. Last year, this very week - we were at 20 inches of snow.

Last weekend, it was in the mid 60s w/clear skies. In Erie?! I know I've only been a part of this crazy-weathered city for 18 months, but I've picked up on the chaos. We're 18 days into November, and NO snow. Do you know, people have their Christmas lights up, bright & shining? Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK people!!!! When I think of Christmas, I think of snow...I don't want the ice weather yet...I don't. Next week, sure.

We did however take advantage of the nice weather, and Neil pulled out the ladder & got himself up on the roof to hang our Christmas lights. Turned them on for a brief few minutes to test them out...then shut them right off. Next week, on November 26th - after we've stuffed our faces...we will come home, pop in a Christmas movie, (or spin Frank Sinatra on the record player), and deck out our home with Christmas cheer.

But not a minute sooner.

71 in November?

I took full advantage of the beautiful weekend we just had. And from the looks and feels of it... it's continuing through today. According to the news (and my memory), it was snowing this time last year. So far, so good on this Fall season lasting - and winter not bulling it's way into November.

Friday I had the day off and decided to take Cali to the groomers for a manicure, then a walk through Frontier Park. I got a hold of Autumn and asked if she'd like to join me. And I got a very excited reply: "YES!!!" I beat her to the park by about 15 minutes and let Cali take advantage of the empty park. She was a very good baby doggie, and came when I called her. She wouldn't stay put though when I attempted to take a photo of her. These are what I ended up with...not bad, but there was a lot of yelling involved.

Then on Sunday, another gorgeous day - 71 degrees, I texted Autumn in hopes she would like to join me again for another walk - and without fail, she came with Owen and Emma in tow. It was a bit chilly down by the water, but she shnuggled up her little ones and we were off. Cali about pulled my arm off with excitement....she's working on her "walking" skills. We were not the only ones who wanted to take advantage of the weather - the peninsula sidewalks were packed with cyclists, walkers, runners, doggies - it caused slight difficulty due to the somewhat not-wide-enough path. We had quite a few run-ins with other doggies, but all canines were on their best behavior :)