Four to Go....

This will probably be my last BLOG entry for a couple of weeks. It's crunch time - both here at work and at home. I'm busy unpacking from one trip and finalizing my packing for this week's trip. Tomorrow is my last day of work until December 12th and I dread thinking of what I'll come back to - but that's what usually happens with vacations, isn't it? The men at the office are running around like little chickens trying to make sure that they can function for 12 days without me. (They can - they just don't know it. I've spoiled them.) As for home, I'm just glad that Bob has Kelli because at least she knows how to run the dishwasher and do a load of laundry. Just glad my house is decorated for Christmas and my shopping is done - except for those designer knock-off purses I'm hoping to snag in Nassau. Thursday is my "ME" day - getting my hair done and a manicure. (The pedicure is on Friday afternoon in Florida with Katie and my sister-in-law at her favorite spa. I'm sure there will be wine involved.) Our Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful!! I love seeing my grown children with their cousins. The hit game of the day was some kind of "Guitar Hero" DVD interactive thing that our nephew Joe had. By Thanksgiving evening, a crowd had formed around the television - all ages - trying to be a rock star. None of us could hold a candle to Joe!!! Friday was a day of shopping for some, sleeping for others, and hanging out in an old neighborhood bar and reminicsing for others. Saturday night, Bob and I attended our 35th class reunion. There wasn't a great turnout, but those of us that were there had a great time sharing stories of our high school days and photos of our children and grandchildren. For me, the best part of the evening was sharing it with two of my best childhood friends - Jackie (Oakley) Koonce and Susie (Fraenkel) Cattell. Will definately have to do my best to see them again before five years goes by and another reunion. So...to all my loyal and faithful bloggers - enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I'll be thinking of you all as I'm laying on deck with a little umbrella drink in my hand. Looks like I'm getting out of town just in time....after a week of temperatures near 60 here in Northern Indiana - things fall apart on Friday with snow and a high of 32 degrees.

Cozumel forecast - sunny and 82 degrees. Bon Voyage!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Thanksgiving 2006

The Knight children ...and their spouses.



Dozens of Cousins!! (...and this isn't even all of them.)

I Must Be Nuts....

Sitting here at my brother in law's computer trying to grab a few minutes of peace after a full day of shopping in St. Louis. If it hadn't been for needing those St. Louis Cardinal souveniers, I would have stayed at HOME! As hectic as it was, it was worth it. We found the World Series t-shirts, STL Cardinal Build-a-Bears for Jack and Ben's 1st Birthdays and even a STL Cardinal Monopoly Game. I know - we're a "sick" bunch!! Nineteen of us had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings and now we're regrouping before us adults tackle a night at a dueling piano bar on the river front. I'll need to get back home to Indiana to recover from this weekend!!

Happy Turkey Day to Everyone!!!!

We'll be on the road EARLY tomorrow morning - our little family caravan to southern Illinois. Our weekend will be spent eating and shopping and sharing memories with all of the Knights. For some of Bob's family - it will be the first time that they've seen Ben - who is almost a year old. Tomorrow will be a full day of food and family! Then on Friday, the girls will all head to St. Louis for some shopping and my sister-in-law (Patty) and myself will make our annual Thanksgiving trek to the Scrapbook Factory. We only get there once a year, but we make it worth our while! Friday night, I think a bunch of us adults are going to a Piano Bar on LaClede's Landing in downtown St. Louis - should be a great time!! Then on Saturday, it will be more lounging around - reminiscing in our little home town and attending our 35th high school class reunion on Saturday night, before heading home early Sunday morning.

Don't Hate Me....

...but I have my Christmas shopping DONE!!! Some things have been ordered and I'm awaiting arrival - but the thought process is over and done with.

Not wrapped, but in boxes - ready to wrap when I get home from the cruise. I just knew I couldn't face Christmas shopping while in Cruise "withdrawel."

The Christmas tree will have to go up this weekend, but I refuse to turn it on yet or start playing Christmas music. After this weekend, I'll be gone for the next three - so it's now or never. I could never leave it for Bob to do. His idea of Christmas decorating is to carry the boxes from the basement to the family room.

Grandma Duty

Colleen and Jimmy are in Las Vegas and I have "Ben Duty". So, I'm back to picking up children from the sitters - then home to deal with strained sweet potatoes and some sort of fruit concoction. So far, so good. We got the diapers changed and the pajamas on and his bottle. We settled into a comfy chair to bond. He proceeded to somehow dislodge the nipple of his bottle and eight ounces of stinky formula dumped all over my sweater, my pants, and his clean pajamas. Now he's MAD!!! No patience for Grandma to make another bottle. So, we've stripped off the wet pajamas and I've dug through my son in law's drawers for some 2001 golf/beer drinking t-shirt (to take the place of my soaked sweater) - which looked exceptionally stylish with my black tweed wool pants. We finally got a new bottle, clean pajamas and a dry grandmother - and he was ready for bed. By 7:30, Aunt Katie had arrived for the overnight stay and I drug myself home - only to do it again tonight.

Katie called me at 8:30 this morning, complaining about how much work it is to get him up and dressed and fed and to the sitter's. She was sooooo exhausted before she even got to work.

Don't even go there with me missy!

The Latest...

Bob's home - with the addition of a beard and a pulled hamstring. Other than that, he survived his week of baseball, beer and beach in Ft. Meyers. He says he's too old and he won't be doing it next year. Yeah, right. Wait until January when they have their annual Cardinal party - sharing their photographs and stories, and he'll be ready to sign his name to the dotted line for another year.

Kelli and I got along just fine for our week - did some shopping and ate out a couple of times - some mother/daughter bonding. Can't wait to see how the two of them get along when I'm gone for ten days. Hope she realizes there will be NO shopping and meals out will consist of McDonald's and Burger King.

I'm actually looking forward to the fact that cell phones don't work aboard ship and she'll be unable to reach me to complain about her father.

Is it REALLY November???

Where has this year gone? It just seems like a few weeks ago my sister in law and I started planning our cruise - but it was actually way back in January - and now it's just four short weeks away. Ben and Jack will be celebrating their first birthdays in 6 weeks. They're crawling everywhere and pulling themselves up and standing. Ben has a mouthful of teeth and Jack just got his first one - but Jack crawled weeks before Ben. (No competition here.) Bob's in Florida right now with his baseball buddies playing in the Roy Hobbs World Series. He's been looking forward to this since he got home LAST year. As of today, they're 2 and 2 and playing again as I type this. He actually sounded a little homesick last night when he called. Bobby just got his Official Honorable Discharge papers from the military. As thrilled as I am with that, Angela (his girlfriend) said that he was actually sad about it. I guess that's something that only someone in the military can understand. So that catches us up to the first week in November. Lots coming up this month - besides Thanksgiving, Bob and I have our 35th class reunion and then Katie and I head off to the sunny confines of Florida and the Caribbean. Somewhere in there, I'd better get my Christmas shopping completed!!!! Don't want to face that when I'm in "cruise withdrawel".