The holidays are officially over now. Beth and I just got back from spending the past few days in Michigan visiting with Beth's side of the family. My last day of work for the year was the 23rd, which was one of the least productive work days I've ever had. After going home, I got my last minute shopping in (a cut glass flour cannister for Beth). In the evening, the stress of the holidays got to Beth and I actually threw her out of the house to go get coffee and cool down after she screamed at the kids a couple times. It helped. Anyway, Judy came to visit on the 24th on her way to Michigan and we did Christmas Day here. Santa brought Alex the Power Drive Plug & Play he's wanted for a long time, and brought Missy the play vacuum cleaner and sleeping bag she's wanted for a long time. There was also more Planet Heroes stuff and some clothes, adopted wild animals, candy and some other toys and games. Virgil and Sherri came over for dinner and they brought some art supplies for the kids, who spent a large part of the evening painting. Friday the 26th we were going up to Michigan with Judy. She left home a little while before us, and came back after about an hour because SR15 was at a standstill just north of town and the roads in general were very slick. I69 and the toll road were also both closed for a while during the day. We wound up leaving a couple hours late, and taking the long way through Fort Wayne to Kalamazoo. John and Stephanie's road was actually the worst road of all in terms of ice. We got there and had snack food for dinner and did Christmas again, this time mostly just presents for the 8 various cousins. Missy got her first Barbie doll and some Little Pet Shop stuff; Alex got an RC dune buggy and some more art supplies. We also played Rock Band 2 a lot on John and Steph's PS3. Fun times. John was at work much of the time, but came by for a bit to show the kids his ambulance just before we left. We spent the night at Ted & Jeanne's house (now just Jeanne's, I guess) while they were in Pennsylvania visiting Amy and Patrick. The house was COLD...Saturday we all went out to breakfast and hit the mall. Pam bought Alex and Missy both a Build a Bear stuffed animal - they both picked out the same stuffed dog, which Alex named Speedy and Missy named Princess. We spent the rest of the day at John and Stephanie's house again, played more Rock Band and such. We found the thermostat in Jeanne's house set to 64 degrees, which was why it was so cold the night before, and turned it up, so that night was much more comfortable. But we still couldn't get the kids to sleep before about 11 pm. Sunday morning we all got up and went to church with Pam and Marve and Steph and John and the kids. The church, like apparently the entire north side of Kalamazoo, had no power. So, we sang a cappella, and the preacher spoke loudly, by candlelight. And again, it was very cold. Missy cried when we left becuase she wanted to keep playing there. After the service, we all went out to lunch at King Wok, then to Steph and John's for a while. Marve and I watched the Lions lose to the Packers to complete their perfect 0-16 season, and everyone played some bowling and tennis and baseball with their new Wii. I imagine my shoulder will be quite sore tomorrow. We were there until late afternoon before heading home.

There was a big ice storm a couple days ago and the ice is still here, and this morning it was really windy, which resulted in the electricity going on and off all around town, including at church. About a dozen times during today's services, the power went out for a few moments. Then when it came back, the diffusion sock on the AC system inflated with a really loud WHOMP, which quite startled a few people. But the coolest thing was when all the AC and lights went out while we were singing Silent Night, immediately before we sang "all is calm," and the whole congregation kept on singing in the dark and quiet. Neat. Yesterday was a Katie day for us, and Beth and I went with the Churchills out to Das Dutchman Essenhaus to celebrate Sherri's birthday. We got a little shopping done there too.

I got home last night following a day and a half business trip to the Philadelphia area. Monday night I stayed in an Embassy Suites, where they have a reception / happy hour for guests every evening where they give out free drinks and don't check ID's or guest passes. They even had a strolling magician doing card tricks. The visit to the vendor Tuesday went well, I think we had all our questions answered. Then the weather started getting bad for the return trip. I not only got randomly selected for a security search while going through, but I had a front row seat to the entire de-icing process on the taxiway. The flight home was a bit rough but not too bad, but the drive home from FW took almost twice normal time due to the road conditions. Got home at about 10. Missy was still awake...she missed me.

Christmas must be coming. The church leaders' Christmas party was last Monday. First time even at the new church! No more Golden Corral or Stonehenge, we can just gather at the church. That is so cool. The previous Sunday was also our first worship service in the new building. Anyway, in the traditional white elephant gift exchange, I took home a homemade toilet seat, one that apparently hung in the back room of Brenner's Drug Store in Warsaw (long gone now) for years and years until it was acquired by a family member who is also a church member, and they now wanted to get rid of it. Gary also got one; they were a matched set. Beth took home a stuffed reindeer that Missy has commandeered, she loves it. Saturday Alex had his last basketball game. This time he only stared at the clock a little, and was better at paying attention to the game, and got to handle the ball a few times. We were looking for something to do with the kids later where they could burn some energy, so we took them to the YMCA to swim at the open swin in the warm water pool for a couple hours. They loved it. Gary and Renee took them at their house for a few hours after that so Beth and I could finish Christmas shopping for them and get dinner.

Now start the odd 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. When going to work seems almost pointless sometimes. When all you're doing is waiting for vacation. But anyway. I finally got the garage door fixed this past week; a local company came out and replaced the spring (that thing can KILL you) and set it all up, so one can now lift the door with one hand. However, they didn't have the replacement belt, so I'll order one of those and replace it myself rather than pay more for it. Friday, We took Alex and Missy out to dinner at Pizza Hut because Alex had a coupon he got from school for reading, then we did some furniture shopping on a whim to look for a bookcase for Alex's room and a headboard for downstairs. We found both in the bargain loft at Warsaw Furniture Warehouse. The combined price as marked was about $180 so we were going to offer $150, then before we offered it, the sales guy went to find out how low he could go and came back $135. So we took them both. Both were slightly damaged but quite serviceable. Afterwards, Beth went out with Rachel, without me, to go see some teenybopper vampire movie "Twilight." Alex had a basketball game Saturday, and this time he had real problems paying attention to anything that was going on. At some point he noticed the clock, and for a long while afterwards he couldn't stop looking at it. Watching the numbers count down. I did at one point go stand in front of it to holler at him to pay attention. He could not follow where the ball was at any time. But he still seemed to enjoy playing.

Thanksgiving officially ended today. Mom, Dad, Laura, Thomas, and Ben were visiting with us for Thanksgiving weekend, and all are gone as of today. Mom and Dad arrived last Monday, however since I have pretty much no vacation time left I continued to go to work for the first half of the week. Wednesday was Missy's Thanksgiving feast at preschool, which I did not attend but Mom did with Beth; later on they visited with Alex's kindergarten class. And then...fortunately the kids were already home from school, but there was apparently a loud crack coming from the garage and then the door wouldn't go up. The garage door spring had broken in half. Dad and I got the door open and propped, but MAN that thing is heavier than it looks. Rather than pay through the nose to have someone come and fix it after hours or on a holiday or weekend, we just decided to leave the cars out and the door shut. So, that's what we did. Laura and Thomas and Ben arrived early Thursday. We had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, and then put up and decorated the Christmas tree. The day after TG, we all dressed up and headed to Fort Wayne to have a family portrait done at Picture People. Mom wanted to have one done with Thomas and Ben in it, and the last one was just after Missy was born. Nobody else was really crazy about doing it at a mall the day after TG but it went well. The kids got to ride the carousel while we were there and everyone got in some last-minute shopping. We came home after lunch and everyone quickly wrapped presents, then we opened presents. I thought Alex was going to bust waiting until we did. The big haul: luggage for Beth and me, a Planet Heroes playset and a Cars computer game for Alex, and a Robo-Panda and Littlest Pet Shop stuff for Missy, Kung Fu Panda and Toy Story 2 DVDs, and lots of other toys, clothes, and games. Saturday, We all took the kids out to lunch at Mad Anthony's and then to Somethin' Funn. We would have preferred the old T'N'T but it's what we have now. Anyway, we first took the kids go-kart racing, which was fun, then helped them play skee-ball and such and accumulated tickets to cash in for cheap Chinese crap, which the kids love. After that, we picked up babysitters and left the kids at home while all the grownups went for dinner at Trio's, a very nice jazz restaurant in South Bend. We were planning on having dinner and then listening to the live music, but the music didn't start until 9 pm so we weren't there very long after it did start. But the food is superb, and the band seemed to be very good. Sunday, Laura and Thomas and Ben left. Yesterday, I was back to work, and afterwards Mom and Dad took us (plus the kids) out to see "Bolt." Today they headed home.