Christmas at the Swensen's

Golfing on X-mas Eve Day

Andy booked an 8:43 tee time this morning......frost, believe it or not, kept us off the tee box until 9:43. No problem! It was beautiful golfing-not our skills but the scenery and the weather. We had our coats off after 3 holes. This was a gorgeous course and worth the money spent. I cannot think of a better way to spend December 24th. Can you?????? The pics are from the course,

A new hiking place

Sharon came at 9:45 this morning and we went on 7th street south by the Pointe Resort for a hike in the small mountain beside the resort. It was a fairly steep climb to the top and on our way down it started to rain. :-( I felt pretty cold by the time we made it back to her car but it was still fun anyway. Along the route we saw some hikers had definitely been in the X-mas spirit and decorated a cactus and tree along the way. That put me in the Christmas spirit finally. :-)

After the hike we stopped by to get Mark and we went for lunch at Costco. Big slice of pizza for Sharon and me and a hotdog for him. Cheap lunch and good to boot! Only three more days until Christmas...........only 39 more days until baby. :-)

Babysitting is tough work......

Especially when it is for two very active pups! Megan and Andy's friends Ann and Damien dropped off their little white fuzzy Bailey while they fly home to Iowa for the holidays. Since Megan and Andy are both at work we are babysitting the dogs today. I actually thought Sox was going to kill little Bailey, but was assured it was all in good fun. ???????? Oh well they have been together six hours now and they are both still breathing. Whew! They are both quiet for the moment so Mark is trying to take a quick afternoon snooze before WWF round two kicks in with the dogs.......

This and that.....

We leave tomorrow for Arizona. Mark and I are really excited to go. Mark gets to meet his granddog Sox for the very first time. I foresee him getting a rousing welcome from Sox, as Sox gives everyone a rousing welcome. We also look forward to seeing their remodeled kitchen and the progress being made on the new pool in the backyard. Sister Sharon had invited me to go hiking on Monday with her but then said we should wait until Wednesday because of this:

...A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH UNSETTLED WEATHER THIS WEEKEND...A MUCH COLDER AIRMASS SETTLES OVER ARIZONA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL DEVELOP WITH A THREAT FOR SHOWERS EACH DAY....HOWEVER HIKERS... CAMPERS...AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF MAJOR CHANGE TOWARD COLD UNSETTLED WEATHER.

:-( Oh well, it gets better after this system pushes through!

Matt had to leave Wednesday for Kearny, NE to take classes and tests for his appraiser license renewal. While sleeping at his hotel some apparent punks trashed his car. He was livid and I can't blame him. They took a crowbar to all his windows but they didn't shatter but all have to be replaced none the less. The small port window in the back door did shatter and they stole some CD's and a coat. His back seat is full of shattered glass and shards. The crowbar was also used on his door to try to open it and that was mangled all to hell, too. I feel so badly for him but I suppose worse things could have happened, such as an accident. I am sure they will never catch the jerks that did this. Some people's kids!! Geez.

To all my friends and relatives, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See ya next year!

A very nice day for December

It was sunny today and actually above 50 degrees. I decided to make hay during this nice weather and went for a run of 5 1/2 miles. I will pay for that tomorrow, I am sure. I must remember I am no longer a spring chicken but will never concede to being an old hen, either! I was totally soaked with perspiration afterwards and have never worked up a sweat like that in December, other than maybe getting my credit card bill......

I have been trying to decide what to take to Phoenix for our trip. Sister Sharon said to think in layers.....you peel them off as the sun warms the valley. I did notice on weather.com that our first week in the valley will be in the low 60's. Hopefully it will warm up a bit the rest of our stay, but 60's I can live with!! I rented a car for our first week there so we will drive ourselves to Megan and Andy's on Sunday. Megan is taking the second week off so won't need to rent a car then. Will probably rent a car our last week, also. The Valley was made for shopping so I need wheels to get me to those great malls. :-) (Insert Mark rolling his eyes and reaching for a beer after that comment.)

Well, only 3 more days until we leave on a jet plane and I am getting quite excited. Ready to take Sox for a walk with Megan, ready to see Megan 7+ months pregnant and ready to visit with Andy and see their new pool, a work in progress. They also have a completely remodeled kitchen since I was there in October so lots to see there. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

A week-end in Omaha

Mark and I left home yesterday to spend the week-end with Matt. He got us FREE rooms at the Marriott through one of his fitness clients and the hotel is just beautiful. Beats the Super 8's we had stayed in before. It is nice to have "connections"!

Matt was working when we arrived around 3 P.M. so we went to Westroad Malls to kill some time and money. :-) Actually, we got out of the mall quite cheaply: 6 pairs of men's briefs at half price in Penneys. Normally we would not drive all the way to Omaha for Mark's briefs but since I failed to pack him any it left us no choice. One can never have too much underwear....or is that shoes and purses???

Matt arrived at the hotel around 5:30, we visited for awhile and then walked down to the hotel's steak house. All three of us had their special, all the prime rib you could eat. It was a delicious meal. Following dinner Matt took us on a Chirstmas lights tour of the "better" residences of Omaha. We went to Linden Estates and Bennington Lake. Most homes started at one million dollars and it was truly amazing. Such wealth....and lights! The home included in thispost was one of the "cheaper" ones. Unbelievable.

He is working today and should be here in an hour. We are going to Cabella's then out to an early dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then to the Quest Center. Matt bought us all tickets for the Creighton vs. Xavier BB game tonight, so that will be fun.

We will be driving home tomorrow.