Thistle!

Ouchy, ouch, ouch.  That hurts!  What an emotionally wrenching and exhausting game.  According to the referees the Saints won, according to the overall stats for the year the Vikings deserved it.  But the only numbers that matter in the end are the ones on the scoreboard and we had too many mistakes that cost us points and they beat up our quarterback pretty bad.  Back to Minnesota........ 

., sigh, sighed, sigh·ing, sighs.
v.intr.

To exhale audibly in a long deep breath, as in weariness or relief.

To emit a similar sound: willows sighing in the wind.

To feel longing or grief; yearn: sighing for their lost youth.

v.tr.

To express with or as if with an audible exhalation.

Archaic. To lament.

n.

The act or sound of sighing.

**p.s.  For a more in-depth look at the weeping and gnashing of teeth see Rachelle's blog at http://rachelleann41.blogspot.com/

Petals !

Petals in January! 

My rather pathetic looking Christmas cactus is blooming,
I wondered if it ever would. 

It is quite an elaborate flower, actually.

It is enough to lift my spirits at least until February!

Skol Vikings!!!!!

They did it! 

Minnesota vs. Dallas and the Vikings not only pulled it off- they crushed the Cowboys, even though the Cowboys were bigger and the Vikings helmets were cock-eyed and the football had been chewed on by the dog and they played in their socks!

So anyone who knows us well knows we are avid Vikings fans, even me.  I decided about 13 years ago that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and so as a family we have enjoyed many victories, endured many defeats and consumed many gallons and pounds of root beer and pizza with many friends every Sunday from September through January.  However, I am not a total football fanatic like some people I know (and am married to), who religiously check all the web sites morning, noon, and night all year long, and who would watch it morning, noon and night all year long if they had NFL network.  But, hey, we all have our addictions, mine is smooth and sweet and brown. :)

Here's us with our faithful Viking friends, the Houle's,

I think this was in 1999.

Bill had season tickets for the 2000 season but sold most of them. 

He got to three games, one game we bought tickets for the two seats next to ours and brought the boys, who thought it was awesome. 

This was taken that day...

This year my husband gave me a pink Farve jersey!

Next to Brett Favre, my favorite player is Sidney Rice.  He is amazing.

On to New Orleans!!  SKOL VIKINGS!!

Tea and Truffles

One of the perks of my job as a billing tech is that I get to work from home a couple days a week.  I like this very much.  I can just crawl out of bed, put on my robe and fuzzy socks, and get right to work by 6:30 or 7 a.m!  

I crank the oldies on the radio, drink herbal tea in my mug from Sweden that Brian gave me, and eat Lindor truffles all day!  Okay, not all day, and not every day, but I WISH I could eat Lindor truffles all day every day.

The birds and squirrels provide entertainment out the window.

And some days Bill works from home too and brings me re-fills of tea and makes lunch for us.  Could I ask for much more?  Well, yes, if my office chair was a massage chair that would be nice!

Girlfriends.....

Thinking today about all the women in my life who bless me with their friendship.  I have been ginormously (I am borrowing that word from a friend) blessed to have a plethura (borrowing that word from the great movie The Three Amigos) of girlfriends and I cherish and thank God for each one! 

Long time BS-ing friends.............

More long time friends..........

Sister friends............

Friends-in-law............

Another friend-in-law.........

Friends from college.............

Adventurous friends..............

Mom/daughter friends...... yes, she's that much taller than me!

And there are more!  If your picture isn't on here it's either because I don't have one (send me one!) or I had one but it was lost when our computer crashed (Nov. post)!

Here's to Good Women...

May we know them

May we be them

May we raise them.

A New Years Prayer.....

Dear Lord,

This year may we get a clean bill of health from our dentist, our cardiologist, our ophthalmologist, our gastroenterologist, our urologist, our proctologist, our gynecologist, our podiatrist, our psychiatrist, our plumber and the IRS.

May our hair, our teeth, our face lift, our abs, our honey cakes, and our stocks not fall; and may our blood pressure, our triglycerides, our cholesterol, our white blood count, our weight and our motgage interest rates not rise.

May what we see in the mirror delight us, and what others see in us delight them. May someone, as well as God, love us enough to forgive our faults, be blind to our blemishes, and tell the world about our virtues.

May the telemarketers wait until after we finish dinner to call us.  May our checkbooks and budgets balance and include generous amounts for charity.

May we remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to our spouse, our child, our parent, our siblings, but not our boss, our secretary, our nurse, our hairdresser or our accountant.

May Jesus come this year, and if He does not, may we live as if He will at any moment, with awareness of God's love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile, every lover's kiss, and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat our our heart.

Amen

(A revised version of a revised Jewish prayer found on the internet.  Not sure what the honey cakes are referring to- boobs or butt cheeks? but both are falling that's fer sure)

Movin' on down the road of life.

Sunset on 2009. 

This wasn't actually taken yesterday or even this year but two summers ago as we were coming home from a canoe trip.

Sunrise on 2010. 

This was taken this morning but you can see the sun is quite high already (I slept in until 8:50 a.m.) and it is through the window because I wasn't about to go outside to take it.  We have lived here for exactly 10 years now- moved in on the eve of Y2K.

Ringing it in with Bill's brothers and wives...

CHEERS to a New Year!!!!