New Years Eve - Welcome 2009

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Originally uploaded by FuzzyKryton

Once again, we had some friends over for New Years Eve. Why go out and deal with how is out for the evening! We would much rather have a nice evening at home with friends! This year, in addition to the usual gang (Beth, Chad and Dan), Bill (a co-worker) and his wife Sarah joined us, and then Nicole (another co-worker) also stopped by for a while.

It was definitely an interesting evening! There was no shortage of food, as I once again, went overboard on the food! BBQ Meatballs, homemade chicken strips with various dipping sauces, the usual chips, dips and cracker, plus a HUGE variety of John's homemade chocolates!

With the chocolates, it was really hard to say which ones were the biggest hit... Bill and Sarah loved the chocolate coated coffee beans, but Beth and Chad... not so much! On the other hand there was only 1 of the s'mores left (marshmallows dipped in chocolate and then rolled in graham cracker crumbs), a larger amount of turtles were gone, I think ALL of the homemade peanut better Twix were gone as well as about half of the dipped potato chips! Needless to say, there was not a shortage of chocolate!

There was also not a shortage of beverage... one would think that we drink all the time with the variety of alcohol in our cupboard. We just have varying tastes and have started a grand collection of flavors. Some bottles we bought just to try a specific drink and then it sat there. So we were on a mission to maybe have some of those almost empty bottles become empty. As a way to make it easier to decide what to drink. John pulled everything out of the cupboard and turned the counter into a bar - it was a well stocked bar! I never realized just how much was up in the cupboard until it was all taken down! I think we need to use what we have before we buy anymore!!

The entertainment for the evening once again centered around Wii... upstairs it was a variety of games including Raving Rabbids, Redneck Jamboree, Bowling and more. The basement however had been turned into a rock concert as RockBand got a great workout!

Beth and Nicole had their own laughs playing pinball and pool. At first Beth was very confused as to why the 8 ball was white instead of black. That was, until I told her that was the set of pool balls that glowed under the black light. So that brought a whole new dimension to the game! Nicole even brought out the "Yooper Cue" - made out of a long stick with all the bark shaved off! Straightness was not high on the detail list when this cue was made - controlling your shot is a bit difficult!

Of course the highlight of the evening was the countdown to midnight... I was just really glad that I did not pass out the noise makers until right before midnight! From 11:53 until at least 12:05, it was a constant stream of noise from the party horns! I don't think the cats came out of hiding until morning!

The only drawback to having a NYE party at your house is the clean-up that you get to wake up to in the morning! What a great way to start off the new year... cleaning and dishes. But of course, we had to have fun with that! John pulled out the ice shot glasses that he had made for the occasion and figured that they would make a great subject for some photo's... Yeah, I know, big surprise there... John taking pictures of weird things! But I have to admit, they turned out really cool!

Surprisingly enough, even with all the food that we had the night before, there was not a lot of leftovers!

To see a full presentation of the photo's from the evening, go here

Winter Storm Carter plus Cat and Mouse... and cat

So I wake up this morning on this powdery white morning, wondering if Winter Storm Carter will cause closings or if the schools will actually be open and if I will be able to make it to work. By watching the news I find that there are several of the schools that are closed, but not us. Go figure. But it is still early, so there is still time.

As I head down to the basement to get in a morning workout, I find 2 of the cats sitting right next to the elliptical. Almost as if they were waiting to say hello to me right away this morning (even tho Fozzy had already jumped on me shortly after the alarm went off while I was still in bed to say good morning and make sure I was getting up). Ok, no big deal, as soon as I start using the elliptical, the start wandering away slowly.

But I should have realized they were up to something. a few minutes later, I see little miss Silver dart along the wall behind the rocking chair... hot on the tail of a mouse. Yup, they were not waiting to say good morning to me...they were on mouse patrol - aka toy hunting! As they disappear to the other side of the basement, with Fozzy right on their tail also, I am distracted by the weather/news on TV. Still no word on if there is school or not. More and more schools all around us are closing, but nothing for us... the workout continues...

A streak across the room catches my attention tho. Silver is on a mission to get across the room, with the mouse tucked strategically in her mouth, with Fozzy right on her tail. He looks pretty determined to get his hands on this fun little play toy. But Silver is not in the mood to share, so she darts behind the couch, heading to the stairs. Fozzy, not to be left behind, decides to take a short but OVER the couch, pouncing down right on Silver's tail as she heads upstairs.

Great. Now I have mouse upstairs in my house. I can deal with them if they are in the basement, but they need to stay out of the rest of the house - that is MY space! Ok, I will deal with that later. As I continue on my elliptical journey, I turn back to watching the news. Any news yet on schools? More schools around us are being added to the list, but still not Green Bay.... go figure! What are they waiting for? Apparently the roads mus not be slick enough and we didn't get enough snow - even though on the news they are telling people to stay off the roads since they are so icy and that we are gong to continue to get snow.

Oops, they are back. Silver, with Fozzy right on her tail, mouse still tucked in her jaws. She does not want to share... and she does not want to let go of that mouse! A few laps around the basement, around the rocking chair and back upstairs we go. Once again, Silver went around the back side of the couch be Fozzy had to go up and over to try and get in that good pounce... and there they go back upstairs.

Hey, schools are finally on the closing list. I think our school system was the last one in the area that decided to close! Some schools were closed before I even woke up, but they wait until 6am to close our schools. go figure. At least Darrin's Snow Day Dance last night appeared to work for him. But that does not mean that I get a day off... I still get to head out to work. Can I have a snow day too??

Ok, I think I need to get my cats some more mousing lessons... wander back to the basement, one right behind the other, with noses to the floor, trying to find their lost toy... the question remains... did they leave the mouse upstairs or is it hiding safely in the basement? I don't think I want to know! But I did get some great entertainment during my workout this morning!

Ok, I guess I have delayed long enough. Time to get ready for work and head out into the white abyss!