Cold and Cable

We finally have cable and internet. Hooray! I never really appreciated how much watching TV in the evenings helps me unwind from a long day of Lincoln-crazed visitors until we couldn't watch TV for a while. But all is well now. It has been SO COLD here!!! Today when it got up to 21 degrees, it felt like a heat wave. Wind chills have been in the negative numbers for at least a week now. But on Wednesday it's supposed to get above freezing, so that will be nice.

One good thing about the snow/cold is that it makes everything look beautiful--especially the Lincoln Home! The cold does complicate moving though. I think that moving in the winter is a bad idea, but we are happy to be in our nice, warm house now. We are getting settled in slowly but surely, and the condo is really starting to feel like home. The animal children freaked out for a few days (they're as bad about change as I am!), but they seem to be settling in as well. I'm going to wait until we have fewer boxes and things strewn about the house before I post the before/after pictures, but they will be coming soon.

Fido's Ghost

We still don't have internet access at the condo, but luckily I can spend a few minutes on the blog at work. It snowed quite a bit here last night! Everything is very pretty and white outside, and I enjoyed only having to drive four miles to work in the snow instead of 17. Something really funny just happened when I was walking over to my office from the visitor center. It was completely still and quiet outside, with the snow falling, and when I looked up in front of the Lincoln Home I saw a BIG dog (it wasn't Kaiser). He looked just like the Lincoln's dog Fido, only this dog was solid black--which was quite the contrast in the snow. I stopped and stood there looking at him. He stood there looking at me. And then just like that he gave one "Woof," turned around, and ran off into the snowy mist that has settled on Springfield. I have no idea where he came from, where he went, or whose dog he was. Maybe it was Fido's shadow back to check on his old home?

And then it was 2010!

2010 snuck up on me! We've been so busy moving that the approaching new year was pushed to the back of my mind. But it's always nice to start a new year, and this year we'll be in a new house! Greg and I spent all day today moving (I am truly pooped), and tomorrow night will be our first night staying at the condo. Poor Greg has to move all of the big furniture items tomorrow with the help of his boss, Rich. I will be working at the Lincoln Home tomorrow, so I won't be much help. The weather has not been much help either. It is SO COLD outside!!!! It is currently seven degrees outside with -9 windchill. But tomorrow the high for the day will be 13 degrees, and the middle of the day temp will be somewhere around -15 with windchill! I am going to wear my warm, fuzzy ranger hat tomorrow. We're only supposed to wear those hats on days when the cold is extreme, and I consider -15 extreme. So the moving conditions are not ideal, but at least we're moving into a warm, cozy house.

Last night Greg and I were going to go to Olive Garden to celebrate New Year's, but it was packed. So we ended up at Denny's and had a fun New Year's Eve dinner there. Moving and working at the same time wears me out, so I didn't make it to midnight, but that's okay. It was nice that the Lincoln Home was closed today, but it's back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Unfortunately Comcast will not be able to hook up our cable/internet at the condo until January 11, so we will be without the internet at home until then. So, I will probably not post anything on the blog until then, but by that time we should be pretty well settled in the condo so I will post a lot of pictures. Happy New Year, everyone!

Belated White Christmas

I was a little disappointed when I woke up on Christmas morning to see that it was raining. A gray Christmas instead of a white Christmas? But then that afternoon it started to snow, and it has been snowy and icy ever since. In fact, they even canceled church today because of the snow/ice. My drive home from work last night was horrible. It took me about an hour to get home, and I couldn't see because of all the blowing snow. But luckily I only fish tailed once. That's what I get for wishing for a white Christmas! :-)

Christmas morning started for us at 1:15 a.m.--not because we got up really early to open presents--but because someone died, and Greg had to go pick them up. He didn't get back home until 4:00 a.m., and then he had to go meet with the deceased man's family later on Christmas morning. So Christmas didn't really start for us until 1:00 in the afternoon, but it's better late than never. We received a lot of fun, nice gifts. Thank you everyone! One of my favorite presents was the Abraham Lincoln Jim Shore statue from Mom and Dad. Richard also sent us some cool Lincoln stamps and portfolio.

Greg gave me a lot of nice gifts, including this signed Jason Heyward baseball jersey! Jason Heyward played for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the minor league team in the division just below my Mississippi Braves. He even played for the Mississippi Braves last year, and will play the 2010 season with the Atlanta Braves. He was the 2009 minor league player of the year.

Tiger Lily thought that unwrapping Christmas presents was great fun. "I is de favowite Christmas pwesent?" she asked as she posed for this photo.

And then there was the ferocious Little Spike who is seen here guarding his new blue flamingo toy from Big Spike. Greg's parents sent some fun presents to the animals. The funniest gift was a laser pointer, which is meant for cats, but Big Spike likes it just as much--if not more--than Lily. It is so funny to watch him chasing the elusive red light around the house. He paws at it and tries to bite it. It is so funny to watch! That evening we went over to our friends David and Teal's house for a delicious dinner. Since we couldn't be with family for the holiday, it was nice to be with friends. So we had a fun Christmas here and hope that all of you had a Merry Christmas as well! We've been busy trying to get things packed up here and finish getting the condo ready to move in. Hopefully we can do most of the moving this coming week.

Meowy Christmas from Tiger Lily