Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I have had a truly wonderful Christmas this year! It was filled with lots of love and joy from around the country!

In Chicago we definitly have experienced a white Christmas! The pictures below show the view from my office window of the snow and wind that we have been enduring off and on the past few days. This was Dec. 23rd.

On Christmas Eve, we got up and started to shovel. Our cars had been completely blocked in by a wall of snow and ice. Since it had warmed up a bit, Ruben and I got out and cleared the area around our cars. Ruben, of course, works very hard at this! I only shoveled my car, but he shoveled his and my car both! He's so good! :)























I still had to work on Christmas Eve. It wasn't that exciting, and I ended up with out much to do, and no one with me at work. It kind of felt like a waste of time. After work, however, was when the festivities started and I couldn't wait. Ruben and I had plans to go see the play The Christmas Carol downtown at the Goodman Theatre. We decided, though, that since our good friend Sarah would be moving back to Texas on Jan 1, we would give her Rubens' ticket to see the play. It was really great! She's never been to that theater and it gave Sarah and I a really nice memory.











Before the play, I left work and walked around downtown. The pic here is of the Daley Palza. You can see the big Christmas tree and the Picasso scuplture as well as the nativity display. Chicago really is beautiful this time of year!











Here I am walking on my way to the Goodman. I have worked with a few actors that were in the play, and thought I would stop by early and leave them some cookies as well as pick up my tickets.





I made them some wreathe cookies made with Frosted Flakes and marshmellows.

Here are Sarah and I in the audience during the intermission.

Unfortunatly we were not able to take pictures of the beautiful production! Here Sarah is making her "HUMBUG" face at that fact! :)

There was no denying that it was a great play, and a wonderful way to start the Christmas festivites.

Afterwards, Sarah and I parted ways and I went home to open my presents with Ruben!
Canon is excited to see what we got from Mom in the big box. It turned out to be a portable washingmachine! Thanks Mom!



Ruben found some characters that matched the Snow Villiage! Aren't they sweet!

Here's my music playing gift bag from The Hills!

Thanks for the TomTom!

Ruben got me this great silk screen of Picasso.

He also gave me a couple of photos, one of me and Grannie on a road trip and one of canon as a baby. I also got 2 vintage watches! One from the '40s and one the '60s! They are very cool!

It was a really nice Christmas exchange!

Christmas Day!

Santa had come! Stockings are full!

Canon and Nikon were waiting patiently by their stockings until Sarah came over. :)

When Sarah arrived we ate a brunch of sausage egg casarole and pancakes! The pancakes were so good that they were gone before I could get a pic!

After opening our stockings, Sarah and I worked on a final touch for her two hats that she made for her mom and sister. She wanted to knit some flowers. I showed her a really easy pattern and we worked on it together.

Luckily I have the next three days off! I have some time to get ready for some up coming events, like, Rubens' recital and trip to Peru. I'm also taking a road trip to Houston to hang out with Mom during her recovery.

I'll keep you posted!

Yikes! It's cold!!!

It is COLD in Chicago!





It was -3 degrees when I left the house. Which definitely made for an interesting journey to work this morning.























To stay warm is simple; it's all about layers. When it's this cold, however, no amount of layers seem like enough.

Here I am waiting on the corner for the bus. (I realize that I have a look of bewilderment, I don't always look like that in the mornings.)
I'm wearing a hat that I made, which is very warm, and I'm wrapped up in a shall/scarf that was once owned by Grannie. It's really warm as well!










Here comes my bus! Whoo hoo! You can see the mound of snow that's been collecting the past few days. You actually have to climb it to get a newspaper. :)

At the train stations they have areas with heat lamps. It helps a bit, a slightly warmer area to wait for your train.

The button to push to get some heat.















Here comes my train to the "Loop" aka downtown.















Here I am on the train and on my way to work! The coldest trip I've taken all year!

















And here I am nice and cozy in my warm office, with the view of Cold Chicago outside my window!

Shan-nanigans Begins

So, I was inspired by my friend Tina Louise's blog and decided I wanted to create one for myself. I like the idea of having a virtual scrapbook. I also hope that this will allow my Texan family to check in on me and see how I'm doing.














So here it goes....;)

The Start of Christmas 2008

We started the Holiday season the day after Thanksgiving. Season of Concern, a non-for-profit org. that provides aide for professional actors who have become terminally ill, was having a fundraiser at the Goodman Theatre downtown. For a donation, you could have your dogs' picture taken with Scrooge from the play A Christmas Carol. It's sounded like a lot of fun, so Ruben and I took Canon and Nikon. It was their first trip downtown, and they did very well. During the photo shoot, Canon decided he didn't like Scrooge, while Nikon, as usual, was chill. I love the pic! It made for a fun morning, hangin out with other dogs and owners.

Like many people this year, Ruben and I have been feeling the pinch in our wallets. To my surprise, Ruben learned of an organization called The Benton House that was giving away free Christmas Trees!!! It was the perfect opportunity for us to still be festive. The doors were to open at 4 and trees to be given out at 5:30. This opportunity turned out to be more than picking up a tree. While we waited for a tree, as we mingled with the people in line, Ruben and I realized just how very blessed we are. In the end we ended up being the last ones to pick out our tree. Ruben picked a tall one, but I thought it was too skinny. With the help of the Director we picked a fat tree and learned about the House. Turns out that the organization provides lunch for the elderly of the neighborhood, as well as teaching kids about sound recording and engineering. At the mention of a performance space, Ruben expressed his interest in playing, and that lead to a tour of the space. We left with a free beautiful tree and our heads swarming with volunteering possibilities. It turned out to be a really great evening; not only did we have an ENORMOUS tree, but a more positive outlook on the neighborhood that we live in, Bridgeport.

Below is a pic of the final tree. I love the way it turned out!

The stockings at the bottom are hand knit for 2 spoiled dogs! Santa visits them too! :)

A close up of some ornaments

I also put out the Snow Village pieces that were given to me by my Grandmother.

December 20, 2008

3 Year Anniversary

Yep, it's been 3 years since Ruben and I have been living in Chicago together. It was actually the first year we've been together on our anniversary since I moved in. I was looking forward to celebrating together! We both had a lot to do in the morning, but made appointments to both get an hour massage downtown in the afternoon. We rode the train, had our massage, then walked around a bit downtown after the massage. We debated ice skating, but decided it was way too cold! We headed home and cooked a pizza and made ceaser salads and enjoyed our anniversary feast!

Here we are, all together! We're glad to still be putting up with each other! HA!