the quest begins

it's true. every year after christmas we begin another one of these. the really hard kind.

it usually takes about a month and a half. so check back in about 6 weeks.

it's a good thing hank is smarter than me, or it would be more like 15.

ode to work

my beautiful hotel.

and my beautiful office. i get a lot of work done in my office.

and on sales calls.

and on the couch. okay, not so much the couch.

and just a few other pics of me at work. i really do have a job guys, i promise.

yeah, i basically run the show around this joint. i should find a real job....

work in progress

and 8 months later, i'm finally putting pictures of mexico on the wall of our little mexico corner.

it's still a work in progress. but we're getting there.

for my mom

there are rare moments in my life when i'm feeling fairly creative and even somewhat domestic.

i had one last week and made this.

my mother would be so proud.

the garage

so while i was busy doing this

(i'll give you more on this later)...

hank was busy doing this.

and by "this" i mean cleaning the garage.

it was a very productive saturday.

let's paint

so one day, i decided i hated the colors of this room, and that i was going to paint it.

it was fun at first.

and i couldn't wait to brighten up the room with some new color.

oh man, here goes nothing....

i just needed to finish the top,

throw on some finishing touches,

and wha la, it's complete.

but hank hates it. so now i have to start all over again.

great.

view

i know it's wierd, but i love looking out my bedroom window and seeing this every morning.

i get to see purple mountains almost every day. and it's even better in the winter when there's snow.

airport

so here we are on christmas day, at the airport, on our way to vegas. hank is enjoying his brand new zune.....

i'm enjoying the really cool "smile" feature on my camera that automatically takes pictures when you smile...

(really it takes them if you show any teeth at all)...

and it appears as though our flight will be on time, arriving in vegas just in time for hank's dad's surprise party for his birthday.

little did we know, we would sit on the plane for another five hours before taking off.

it. was. brutal.

it's a good thing we had such fun rascals to play with once we got there. they made it all worth it.

so i may be a little behind....

but this is the story of our christmas

in the wee hours of the morning we woke up, rushed down the stairs and i waited in desperation as hank worked to set the mood with some christmas music.

hank was pretty creative with his wrapping this year. we ran out of bows pretty quickly...

my favorite part about this picture is that it totally reminded me of my dad when i was growing up. "well linds, that might be it for you..." no, no... it's cool.

okay, the best part about this picture is that you would think i'm opening the most incredible present of my life. but there was no "after" picture to see what it was. nice one.

i think it was this, but i'm not sure. either way, this was one of the best presents i got this year.

just what i needed... another camera!!!
yeessssssss.





hank's big gift this year was a ZUNE.

can you tell how excited he is?

and can you tell how excited i am about my electric griddle with a dishwasher safe, nonstick, removable plate that also has a front mounted temperature control and an extra large cooking surface?

no seriously, it's awesome.

and then there was the aftermath....

but it really was the best christmas ever...