A fond farewell

I am not a "shoe-girl." I could careless about most shoes as long as they are comfortable and allow me to walk from A to B, I'm pretty happy. But there are exceptions to every rule and for me that exception is my Chuck Taylors. Since middle school I have had six pairs, four of the traditional hi-top black with white toes, one low-top blue with white toes and my "work Chucks" which are black with black toes.

With the arrival of my new "non-work" Chucks, my last pair has departed. I received those shoes as a gift from Nathan when we had been dating for a year...it was a fantastic present.

I have had them ever since. In five years we have really gotten to know each other, they have molded to my feet, become dirty and riddled with holes where the rubber and canvas meet. More pairs of shoelaces have passed through those sixteen silver eyelets than I can remember.

I have had them longer than any other pair of Chucks I've ever owned. I will miss them.

Christmas

I hope everyone enjoyed a Merry Christmas. Ours was lovely, despite the weather and my new schedule. Because I'm new at work and my trainer has Mondays and Tuesdays off, I had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

It is traditional in my family to spend Christmas Eve with my dad's family in Pecatonica, where he grew up. After I got off work Christmas Eve, the weather was already turning nasty and I did not feel like making the drive all the way to Pec, so Nathan and I opened our presents to each other (I got a puzzle and a T-shirt with a great British TV reference on it and a food processor). Then we went to Mass at my church in a nearby town, then we went to Nathan's church service.

After that we went to his mom and dad's house to spend time with them and his sister and her husband.

After work on Christmas Day, I stopped at home and we rounded up the presents and then set off through the softly falling snow for my mom and dad's where we had a lovely meal and opened presents.

After that, we packed up and headed back to Nathan's mom and dad's where we opened presents with them. Through all these gift opening, we received many lovely presents, including Nathan's new computer monitor and my new pair of non-work Chucks, which I love.

St. Nicholas Must Really Love Me

To celebrate his feast day, he brought me this, which I have been wanting for a little while now:

It's a puzzle and after some initial frustration, it came together quite well. I love it! St. Nicholas brought Nathan a Christmas ornament of a French horn, and we both got candy as well. Happy St. Nicholas Day, everyone!

I HAVE A JOB!!!...

...Details to follow...