Playing Catch-up

Oh boy it has been a long time since I have written anything. I can’t say that nothing has been going on in my life. Actually we have been pretty busy and crazier than usual. Yesterday I thought of a good analogy for my non-blogging. It’s like when you have a friend that you haven’t talked to in quite some time and you don’t want to call them because you’ll have to go through all the BS instead of just jumping to the most current news; and you know it’s gonna have to be an hour long conversation. So you just keep putting off calling them.
So to catch you up quickly here are the highlights from November in no particular order.

1. I am going to be an Aunt! My brother and Stephanie are having a baby, due sometime in June. I couldn’t be any happier, and can’t wait to baby sit and spoil the new little one.

2. John and I are in the process of buying a condo! It is in Evanston just a few blocks from the downtown shopping area and the train. The place is beautiful; it is a 2 bedroom, fully rehabbed, brand new everything, masterpiece! So far everything is going smoothly and we are hoping to close on Christmas Eve.

3. Marena came to visit and we had a blast! She came in for a weekend and we really enjoyed spending time together. On Saturday we went to my mom’s for her “tea party”. Thanks mom we had a great time. Then Saturday night all of the girls were good sports and went to Millennium Park to ice skate with me even though I am sure it wasn’t top on their list of things to do. We had fun. We finished off the night with Portillio’s and then back to my place to have some wine and gossip, always a good time. Thanks for making the trip Marena!

4. We went to Houston for Thanksgiving. I think I ate more while we were there than I have in a long time. We had a nice visit with the family, got to see the nieces and nephews and just relaxed. We went to the racetrack to watch the horses and after countless times of going to the track, I won my first bet, only $22 but still fun.

Okay now that you are all caught up and I hope I haven’t forgotten anything or anyone, we can go back to the everyday stuff.

Here are some pictures from the month.

Ice Skating with the girls

(top row left to right: Darcy, Kate, Amanda, Chris, Becky, bottom row left to right: Erica, Me, Marena)

John playing with Colleen, one of his Mom's Yorkie's

Now that it's cold I put our flannel sheets on the bed, Morgan loves them, he likes to burrow under and get comfy hoping that no one will find him.

On Monday Becky, John, and I decided to carve pumpkins to get into the holiday spirit. We had a good time. I used to carve a pumpkin with the kids every year when I was teaching, of course it was always the typical triangle eyes etc. So this year I decided to go with something different.

Christy's pumpkin

John's pumpkin
Becky's pumpkin

Then of course we had to light them and admire our work. John's looked funny lit up, all you could see was the one eye and the mouth.

Last night John and I went to see the opening night of Phantom of the Opera. I love seeing plays, well good ones at least. I have seen quite a few of the major musicals and I was surprised that I had managed to miss Phantom prior to now. I have known the music since 6th grade and was pretty excited because I knew I would enjoy it.

I have to say I wasn't disappointed, it was great. The music was good, the singing was phenomenal! The special effects were pretty cool. **Spoiler alert!!*** Although I was disappointed that when the chandelier fell it didn't look more realistic, I guess that's hard to do with people underneath it in the way. Overall I was very pleased with the show and I highly recommend it to you. It ranks in my top 5 musicals of all time. Hmmm... there's an idea.

Top 5 musicals I have seen:

1. Les Miserables

2. Phantom of the Opera

3. Sunset Blvd.

4. Miss Saigon

5. **Tie:

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat & 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee