whaaa happened?

i hope everyone was safe and happy over the holidays.

a recap of what i can remember:

- visited Karrie and the twins on the 21st. the girls are getting so big - they're almost 36 inches tall and haven't even turned 2 yet! they are very vocal and are little giggle bugs.

- went home to Monterey after visiting Karrie. my aunt Charlotte spends the holidays with us every year, and she arrived on the 22nd. i saw her for a few moments before i hitched a ride up to the Sharks game with our friends and met Gouda at the game. we had arranged to have Sharkie visit our friends, who celebrated their 40th anniversary on the 23rd. they were totally surprised and overjoyed. good thing, because the game was a stinker. kudos to the Sharks - very well organized and Sharkie arrived right on time.

- my friend Dan visited with his family on the afternoon of the 24th. i had met his wife a couple of times before, so it was nice to catch up with her. i got to meet Mika, their 13 month old daughter. she is such a sweetie - all smiles and easily entertained. she loved Maddy (really now, who doesn't?) and was very nice and let me hold her for a long time.

- we did our gift opening on the night of the 24th, as is our tradition. Maddy made out like a bandit - a new nylabone, a "talking" frog from Charlotte, and a smaller version of the duck she has. we call it "baby duck" so she knows the difference between the ducks. she also got a different version of the larger duck she has, but we call that "goose" since she already knows "duck". my mom held off giving her "baby goose" because Maddy was already experiencing a bit of sensory overload.

- Justin and Kathi went up to see her family on the 25th but the rest of us stayed home and took it easy. we made a bunch of enchiladas (typical Christmas dinner, eh?!) and had a nice quiet day at home.

- my cousin and his family were supposed to visit on the 28th but they came down with colds, so they didn't stop to see us this time. too bad, because i always like talking with them and seeing my little cousins as they grow. instead of preparing dinner for them, i made more cookie dough. Justin and i had just made ~180 cookies to distribute to friends at work a few weeks ago but my mom wanted some rat cookies for our New Year's Day party with this being the Year of the Rat and all.

- i baked the cookies on the 29th and then Justin, Charlotte, and i frosted. and frosted. and detailed each cookie. Justin did a great job with the rat cookie cutter - few local merchants sell rat/mouse cookie cutters (not a big surprise) so he re-shaped an old cutter we had. my mom also made a sort of stencil from one she found online - we realized it'll be easier to just order this cutter and i can use it for folks at work - us being a mouse lab and all.

- we started prep for the NYD party on the 30th - chopping, dicing, slicing, mixing, etc. my mom and Charlotte did the bulk of the work, as always.

- went to lunch with my friend Cindy, who is back in town (from Italy) for a few weeks. great to see her and get convinced to plan a trip to see her in Italy. just have to figure out logistics of when Nicole and i can go, but we're looking at either late March or late April. i vote for March, even though it's cooler then, because it doesn't conflict with oh, certain events, like the Cup playoffs.

- my dad and i gave Maddy a bath the morning of the 31st. she was so fluffy and silky! i was in bed by 11 on the 31st and asleep well before the new year. i'm an old fart. i figure there'll be plenty of time to see the new year.

- our New Year's party went off without a hitch. of course, it was a bit hard, not having our dear friend Richard there, but his wife was really strong and came and spent a long time visiting. great to see all our friends and hear what they've been up to.

- back to santa cruz on the 2nd and to work on the 3rd. so begins another year!