The Anti-Emily and Anti-Liz Meal

This recipe is called Bacon Explosion. It looks and sounds disgusting to me, and I like bacon, and while picky about sausage, I will eat some of that too. Basically, it is a huge mass of sausage, surrounded by bacon, then painted with barbecue sauce and cooked. How gross is that? Don't worry Liz, we won't serve this at your baby shower.

Best week of work ever....NOT

Monday - Layoffs
Tuesday - Ok day
Wednesday....

Oh Wednesday! I get up, dutifully check my work voicemail, office opens at 10:00. Get ready, face the perilous roads, slip and slide on ice, get a call when I'm on Ross from my nice coworker Nick, also out on the perilous roads.....oh, our group decided to work from home today! Did they call us? NO. Did they e-mail us? NO. Am I supposed to be psychic? Apparently that answer is YES. So, I sit here in this office alone, angry, about to run around and scribble X's on the faces of their loved one's pictures. Not Nick's though. He's angry too. Oh, and they changed the opening until 1:00. Apparently you are supposed to keep calling after you get the initial voicemail? Really? Umm, ok. It's like going to back to junior high and calling your friends or the boy you like 5 times in an hour.

Does Dodger need this?

Me thinks yes! He HATES being cold. He will stare at you and cry until you tuck him under a blanket. I was messing around on etsy tonight and found this! Plus, the skull and crossbones would make him look very tough. ;)

How cute is Mrs. O?

I think she dresses really well for a first lady! And her dress for the inaugeral balls last night was gorgeous! At least we'll have four years of good fashion to admire, that's something to look forward to.

Work - aka what a beating

Some weeks you love your job, some weeks you hate it. This is a week of hate. I know, I should be appreciative of having a good job in this economy, yada yada. But right now I would like nothing better than to drop kick my work laptop into our old pool. Or maybe have Phil hold it up like it is one of those boards that karate peeps kick, and go Jackie Chan on it. Not that this is the laptops fault, I really don't hate you poor laptop, you are just the metaphorical conveyor belt of hate that brings an unending heap of crap to me everyday.

P.S. For those of you thinking "oh my gosh, I would never talk about my work that way on my public blog.." well, my coworkers and bosses are all feeling the beat down too. I think my director would have a good laugh if he read it. Right coworkers? Yes, I know you are all shaking your heads in unison right now.

Nature Walks

The past month we've been taking advantage of the nature preserve right by our house. It is full of trails through the woods, and it is a great area for letting the dogs off the leash to get some exercise. It is so nice having it within walking distance from our house, and to have a place like this in the middle of Dallas. We've seen lots of creatures out there on walks. A woodpecker, several hawks, mice, and so on. I decided to take my camera along and see if I could get any of the creatures on film.

First hawk spotting of the day

Dodger prefers the trails
A little bit of color amidst the brown

A boy and his dogs

Not very clear due to mega zoom, but still neat

Hindview of the same bird

Phil and Patton

A Tale of Two Trees

Every Christmas we split time between Phil's parents' house and my dad's house in Arlington. This year instead of going out there on Christmas Eve, we decided that we would stay in Dallas for the night and go to our church for the candlelight service. I am so glad we opted to do that because the service was beautiful and some of the songs from the choir were so amazing they brought tears to my eyes. We both love our church and it was wonderful to spend such a holy night surrounded by people we know and love. After church we went home and opened our presents to each other. I loved watching Phil open his gifts and I have to say that he spoiled me this year!

Christmas day we headed to Arlington and had brunch with Phil's family. Tracy and Blake and Granny and Papaw joined in on the fun. The food was delish, the dogs were given plenty of snacks on the sly, and they had fun zooming around the back yard with their cousin Penny after the festivities. I even managed to sneak in a nap after the feast.

My pet and me

Tracy, very excited about her new presents! Haha, just kidding. Actually the camo suit was Jim's present, and Phil wanted me to model it, but I refused and instead Tracy was conned into it. Then Phil made her take a picture with the gun. I told her they are going on facebook for sure!

We went to my dad's that afternoon and I helped my dad with the cooking. We had beef tenderloin for dinner and it was so good! We spent the day hanging out, watching basketball and cooking. After dinner, we got to the last of the present opening. Some might refer to my dad's tree as a "green tree"...no cutting down a tree for him, but in reality this is what our trees have looked like the last 8 years or so. Kind of funny. It is hard to imagine that tree once fit into my Mustang, but it did. I got it for my dad for his birthday one year when I was in high school. I think Phil had to crush himself into the front seat WITH the tree. If I had pictures of our stockings from years past, I would post them. Dad would use a tube sock for my brother and our tights for my sister and I. It was quite the sight!

Christmas Patton

Dad's Tree