December 30, 2013 - Monday

Had some car problems yesterday and had to take my car to the shop this morning. My oldest sister picked me up and I hung out with them all day. She was kinda mean and bossy when we were little, but these fresh, homemade tortillas and the ones she sent me home with are helping me forget all that.

December 29, 2013 - Sunday

Met a friend for lunch and then to go see a movie. I've had a few pictures of the nachos from the Yucatan Taco Stand. They closed the two locations nearest me. Fortunately we found these nachos in Plano. Not quite the same, but delicious in their own way. Thank you Urban Rio.

December 28, 2013 - Saturday

Drove out to my sister's house to watch a MMA fight with a bunch of the family. One of the guys in the main event broke his leg. Very Joe Theismann-Lawrence Taylor-esque. My brother-in-law did make some incredibly awesome little ham sliders. They were little bites of perfection.

December 26, 2013 - Thursday

Went to a friend's to see their new home. They have a relatively new baby. This was on the counter. I thought it was funny that this is a brand name for a baby's bottle. Things have changed a bit since Riley was a little baby.

December 25, 2013 - Wednesday

Spent Christmas Day out with the family doing stuff around the house with my dad. Ended the day watching TV with Barkley. For a small dog he snores like a girl I once dated. Not loud or anything that would wake you up but enough to let you know you're watching a movie and she's asleep.

December 24, 2013 - Tuesday

Our family does our big get together and gift giving on Christmas Eve. This is my niece's baby Ava. I don't usually post pics of people but I couldn't resist this sleeping baby beauty.

December 23, 2013 - Monday

I had the day off today. It was a good thing since I still had some wrapping to do and some retouching I've been working on for a friend. It took a while but I got it all done. Grace was being so supportive all day. She only came over and insisted on some attention and snacks 100 times today.

December 22, 2013 - Sunday

I spent the day at a friend's house helping her paint a room and some cabinets. I got home a little late and did some present wrapping. To keep my energy up I had some snacks that a friend gave me for Christmas. These are a little beat up. They were at the bottom of the tin.

December 21, 2013 - Saturday

It rained all night. When I got up to take Grace for her morning walk the sidewalks down the street were covered with lots of worms. It reminded me of the Calvin and Hobbes strip about wormmucking. It was actually kinda gross at one point it was almost impossible not to step on them.

December 20, 2013 - Friday

After all the ice and cold weather my back patio is covered in leaves. I guess Grace thinks it makes a decent bed. I let her out back for a while and after she realized we weren't going anywhere she decided to take a break. I had to get some treats to get her to come back in.

December 19, 2013 - Thursday

Today we had our Christmas lunch with all the guys in the office. My boss gave us all a pair of these. Either he's pretty generous or he doesn't like our taste in music. Either way they sound pretty awesome.

December 18, 2013 - Wednesday

My first official Christmas present is wrapped. It was delivered to the office and I had some paper, ribbon and bows at work. I still have a lot of wrapping to do and only a little bit of shopping.

December 17, 2013 - Tuesday

I love shortbread cookies and butter cookies. These were delivered to the office from a vendor. This is a very deep tin of cookies. I guess I do need to bulk up for the winter. I have some time off between the holidays to hibernate.

December 16, 2013 - Monday

Today was not necessarily a long day or a hard day, but I still came home and felt like a drink. A drink for The Order of Gentlemen.

December 15, 2013 - Sunday

I was out walking Grace early this morning and I heard some weird noise in the neighbor's tree. I looked and saw that there were at least a dozen small, green parrots in the tree. This is going to throw off the ecosystem of North Texas for sure. What's next, capuchin monkeys?

December 14, 2013 - Saturday

The ice knocked pretty much all the leaves from my trees. I picked this one up the other day. It's almost as big as a dinner plate.

December 12, 2013 - Thursday

We had our Christmas party last night after the weather canceled our party last week. I work with a really cool group of guys. It's very different working in a small agency and even more different work with only guys. Very different but cool.

December 11, 2013 - Wednesday

I took Grace out for her morning walk. The frost is on the edge of everything on the ground. It makes everything look fuzzy.

December 10, 2013 - Tuesday

The ice is almost gone from the trees and the branches aren't sagging like they were this weekend. Our normal December weather and colors are coming back.

December 9, 2013 - Monday

I hadn't brushed Grace since before we went on our trip. I brushed her yesterday on her back and one side and had a pile just as big as this from her belly and the other side. If she sheds like this in the winter what's she going to do in July???

December 8, 2013 - Sunday

I took Grace out this morning for a walk. Everything is still coated in ice. I'm not sure if it's gonna get above freezing today or not. This is an oak in my neighbors yard. Lots of people have lost trees in my area. One around the corner fell on the house. The damage wasn't horrible but I'm sure it sucks.

December 7, 2013 - Saturday

I thought it was amazing that the ice stuck to the sides of these spines. I know its kinda a blurry picture but I was next to the highway at a red light with the window down. It only took one day to to get a little stir crazy. It was nice to get out even if it was a little slippery.

December 6, 2013 - Friday

SNOW DAY!! NO WORK DAY!!! It's really a Freezing Ice Day. I took Grace out for a walk this morning and took some pictures too. All the trees are coated with a thick layer of ice. I lost a small branch during the night and a big portion of one tree this afternoon. It blocked the street in front of the house.

December 5, 2013 - Thursday

Went to visit a friend before the weather got crazy. Her Japanese Maple turned this vibrant red in this cold weather. And with the rain beginning to freeze on it's leaves they really began to shine.

December 4, 2013 - Wednesday

My neighbor has put up their Christmas lights and the Bo Bo China sign is a little over the top and not really Christmas themed unless you make the stretch to the end of A Christmas Story. Maybe I should give them a leg lamp for their front window.

December 3, 2013 - Tuesday

Went to meet a friend for dinner and drinks and to catch up after the holidays and my vacation. I parked in the parking garage. After having such a great trip it was great to have someone to come back to and share it with.

December 2, 2013 - Monday

I guess this was Colorado's parting gift to me. I woke up and rolled over and saw the sun rising out the back patio door. It was beautiful enough for me to get out of bed and take a picture. The bed in this place was amazing. It's so much easier to get up for a sunrise when it comes an hour later than usual.

December 1, 2013 - Sunday

I went sightseeing with my uncle for part of the morning and then Grace and I went out on another long hike. It was really great being at a dog friendly hotel that lets you take your dogs everywhere. It was cool to sit inside at the lounge and eat and drink with Grace.