A Good Christmas

So, we knew it would happen one day… this was the first Christmas spent here in Austin (sort of).

Jeremy was hired full-time for a similar position with the company that hired him for contract work in July. He still works out of the house two or three days a week, and commutes to San Antonio when necessary. The job is great for him in many ways, from allowing him to use his strengths in a company with plenty of room for him to grow and accomplish much to great benefits that will allow us to accomplish our goals for the next year. Plus, the income will allow us to enjoy security, paying off cars and houses, and building up our nest-egg, while still living comfortably.

I did pretty well this year with my gift list. Jeremy received the complete Babylon 5 series on DVD and the complete Sandman--Neil Gaiman's classic graphic novel. It sounds so far that everyone else on our list was quite happy, including our cousins' kids. The middle kid, who currently has an obsession with puppies, received a giant soft stuffed one, just about twice his size. He was very insistent that no one else could touch it, including time to haul it downstairs to bed, although the steps are somewhat hazardous and again, the puppy was twice his size. We found a pup tent for the oldest, who loves to build forts out of couch cushions. It was hard to pull him out at bedtime, but who knows how long the cushions will remain untouched.

In the past year, I had crocheted baby blankets for several of our friends and family members. I thought it was time to step up and try knitting, which I had "tried" once when I was younger, but found it too complicated. Now that I have a little more determination, I have not only taken to it well, but have developed a new obsession. Naturally, I received a lot of knitting stuff from Jeremy and my mom, who really is responsible for my genetic pre-disposition toward crafting. I also received a cute jewelry box that plays our song, "Moon River" by Henry Mancini. I shall use it to place my rings in at the kitchen while kneading bread and other squishing stuff that gets caught in the small space between the set.

But, my fun present was Guitar Hero III for the Xbox 360. It was a little frustrating at first, but I found it is actually easier to practice on either the next slowest or full speeds. It seems like almost too much at first, but then you get the hang of it and three or four hours go by.

I had better get back to the grind. At least by now, some of the businesses I need to work with in the next time zone will be open.

This is a test to see if pasting into the Blogger post window from an external document causes the same problems my editor has…

Here is some text from a Word document.

From an MSN page: In response to Entertainment Weekly naming the smartest celebrities in Hollywood, The New York Daily News has proclaimed Lindsay Lohan the dumbest.

From an email I received this week:
This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinsk of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a
sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner’s manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver’s seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.
Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just incase Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

Hmm…can't quite figure out what the problem is here. Sounds like it is going to be a long day. I had better get to it.