Sick of being sick...Happy Holidays!

I've been sick since Thursday, and it's getting old. I have a really nasty cold + fluish stuff, too, so it's no fun. I think I caught my cold from Gus, but for all I know, we've just been passing it all back and forth to each other. Andy has yet to succumb to the bug, so that's good, especially since he has to travel this week to Texas.

The weekend was nice, even though I didn't feel that great. I felt terrible on Thursday night and basically went to bed around 8:30pm or so. Friday wasn't that much better, but I still went to Andy's work holiday party. It was nice, but my stomach was killing me, so I was afraid to eat anything b/c of that. The food was awesome, too. After the really nice dinner I immediately went to bed. Andy stayed up with his co-workers and had a good time, so that is good. I felt bad for being a party-pooper, but I felt like crap at that point. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed, which is exactly what I did. I was kinda sad b/c I bought a special dress and shoes for the party, and I literally had them on for about 3 hours. And Andy's work holiday parties are amazing...they do it up. They have a catered fancy meal at a hotel, and everyone goes all out on their outfits. Andy said that it was like prom for grownups, and he wasn't joking. It is always really fun to see the different outfits. There were over 700 folks there, and they feed you, let you drink from an open bar all night long (until 1am) and then most people do afterhours drinking after the bar closes, and they put everyone up at the hotel. They also have a 70's band playing music all night. So, it's really fun. I wish I could've enjoyed more of it. There's always next year.

Saturday the weather was iffy, so my family's xmas thing was off (although the weather never really turned into the "WINTER WEATHER STORM!" all the weather folks were promising). My father-in-law and sister-in-law, Lindsey, were in town so they came over with Anthony (Lindsey's boyfriend) and we all hung out and watched the awesome KU game and ate pizza and mexican food. My stomach felt better by Saturday, so that was good. I was starting to get really bitchy b/c I couldn't enjoy a damn thing to eat. I really love to eat, so it was nice to pig out again. Lindsey is moving from Iowa to Kansas City, so we are psyched. She found a nice apartment downtown (she's working downtown, too), so that was good. Anthony is a PhD student at KU, so it'll be awesome to have them both here for awhile. Here's Anthony reading to Gus...Gus loves Anthony and vice versa. Although Gus doesn't recognize Anthony when he puts his glasses on, so that's funny. He left his glasses off this weekend, so all was well.

Yesterday we finally got our Christmas tree and we got a good deal. The tree was marked at $20, but it was obviously mismarked b/c it was a pretty big tree. So the guy sold it to us for $30, and after we paid for it we found out it was supposed to be a $55 tree. So we got a deal. As Andy put it, "Yahoo, we ripped off the Optimist Club!" The Optimist Club is a philanthropic organization...we felt kinda bad. But the dude helping us just said, "Oh, come back next year and buy from us." So, we will. As long as the Hy-Vee parking lot has trees, we'll be customers. It's a lovely tree. I've posted a photo here. I tried to get a photo of Gus in front of the tree, but as you can see, he wouldn't stand still. He's really into touching (very gently, I might add...at least for now) the ornaments. We often say, "Be gentle" when he's by the tree. We say that to Gus when he is around the cats, too, but so far he likes to smack the cats more than pet them. Anyway, I digress...Most every time Gus walks into the living room, he stops to look at the tree and quietly says, "Whoaaaa...." It's freaking hilarious. He's really into saying "Whoa..." Andy thinks he sounds like Joey from Blossom.

That's it from me. Gotta run and blow the ol' nose. Nasty, I know, but it is what it is. Stay warm!

ek

Oh, p.s. Gus' 15-month check up went really well. He had to get 3 shots and just cried a little bit. He was more mad than sad about the shots. The doc said he's in the 80% for weight (27 lbs 4 oz) and 66% for height. Dr. Riordan said, "He's what we call a big boy." If I had known all this back when Gus was 3 weeks old and not gaining sufficient weight, I think I would've had a few less anxiety attacks. I can barely remember when he wasn't gaining weight properly! And that didn't last long...once he (we!) figured it all out, he never looked back. He's been a little buddha ever since.