happy holidays and safe travels...

tis the week of holiday parties, travel, presents & time off of work (for most i hope!)

we have a combination of all of that here in our little abode.

but first, the big news.

cooper louis noll was born on 12.24.08 at 5:07am. he came in a just over 7 lbs and has really big feet for such an itty bitty thing :) must take after daddio already!

stacy called at 2am on the 24th to say 'hi jennifer'. (per my offer as her due date drew closer that if she needed anything, to call me. no matter what time.)

'hey stacy, how are you?' (a bit of knowing in my voice here)

'um, i'm pretty good. could you come over for a bit and stay with maddie til my mom gets here?' (madalyn is 2 1/2 and pretty much one of the cutest kids on earth with an amazing vocabulary as her pa loves ginormous words).

so off i go, finding non-pj clothing, spectacles, & make the 20 foot walk next door.

after a few hugs and 'have a good birth!' off they went to the hospital at nearly 2:30am and cooper arrived just after 5. stacy is very fortunate so far to bear children pretty efficiently and without complications...lucky girl from many other stories i've heard!

mark and i got to visit today for the first time and meet cooper at st johns. and he was, of course, adorable. stacy was very thankful for my being around to jaunt over as it likely made the difference in her being able to get the magic shot for pain...any time i can lend a hand, i'm glad i can help. and we love our neighbors/friends very very much. they are wonderful...

today's paper featured a local family who makes my day every time the visit the library. here's their story. a wonderful piece on a wonderful family.

last night we got to hang out with some friends we haven't seen much this year, but had a bang up time enjoying fondue with the 6 of us and one really really HOT oil pot! it was quite the sight and we all had good food & laughs through the evening...we took the dogs (aimee has 3 greyhounds as well) so even the hounds had a good christmas eve hanging with *their* friends :)

today, christmas day, was a mixture of laying low, visiting the new babe, and i was able to get a run in at como park with another friend/teammate of mine who met me there. seeing as i have a half marathon in maui one month from today, and i'm in the OFF season of running, any mileage i can get outside is a big deal. this race coming up by far will be my slowest, but i'm already okay with that. it's MAUI. so walk or slow pace be damned. it's another medal for this girl and that is the big payoff. did i mention it's MAUI? with my Gram. (mark will be traveling to texas and mississippi then...damn i wish he could be there...)

tomorrow i work some, as with the rest of the weekend, and then i know before i realize it it'll be a normal monday-back-to-the-routine week.

sorry i have no pictures for this post. i just haven't taken any lately.

so whether you are near or far, be safe, happiest of holidays and please use a designated driver if you're out celebrating and be safe. or call me. i'll fetch anyone who needs a ride.
peace, love & joy, ~jd

my new mantra...

well, it's not new.

it's been in my heart & mind for a long, long while.

and will carry me into 2009 which i feel will be a life changing year.

the mantra?

one word.

believe.

kind of fitting during thie time of year as well...

merry christmas to everyone near and far. ~Jen

determimation...

i should learn from my dog. dig deep and get what you want. or something like that...

this comes on the heels of me finishing this book over the weekend...

great book, great story, many tears at the end, yes i'll see the movie..i related to some of the angst dogs can cause as...

i came home last night from some errands and found my formally zipped gym bag contents sprawled all over the floor.

quinn is our resident 'eater'. usually just paper (tp, newspaper, junk mail, $20 bills, etc)

when we leave the house, both hounds are muzzled.

usually to just put our minds at ease that they're not getting into mischief, but quinn is king of eating through his muzzle. he must have a tongue like a giraffe! but we still just try to keep things out of reach...

apparently last night he was bound and determined to find *something* to ingest so he found my energy gel that i use for really long runs in the training season. these are vacuum sealed and you tear into them to drink em up.

i found this *in* his muzzle when i got home:


nothing else had been touched. and seeing how much of the gel was still in the package despite it being completely open was my christmas miracle. because cleaning that stuff up (think corn syrup) out of carpet, couch cushions, etc, would have been horrible :(

dogs. can't live with em. can't live without them. (this coming after the cat helped me just knock a mug of coffee onto the floor into many broken pieces :( sigh...

don't mess with some librarians...

including this one.

i'd do the same thing...chasing this inconsiderate grinch >:-{

you go girl!


(not the smartest place to set the table up i'll admit though...)

way to go, josie girl!

now back to your regularly scheduled programs...

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