White Christmas

Here we are, another Christmas and it was a white one!  This was my 35th Christmas.  Unlike years past where we went far, far, away, this year we went to Wisconsin.  Last year I had to prepare for 80 degrees and sun in Jamaica, this year I prepared for -20 degrees and snow in Wisconsin. :(  

Work on Monday was a struggle.  There were very few people there and the few things I had planned to work on I couldn't because the NAIC did update their website.  So I read a book, yep, a whole book.  It was a fast read. The book was called "Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero." Such a good book.  After work, we went to the Mall of America to use up the free bowling certificate we got from my mom’s friend.  It was so much fun but man I suck at bowling.  We did a bit of shopping after that and came home and relaxed.  It was an early night. 

Yesterday I woke up early and went for a 4.15 mile run. It really was hard and slow.  But I did it so that is good.  After a quick stop at Mc Donald’s for some breakfast, I came home and we opened presents.  Eric got me a lot of stuff. I got pot holders, dish towels, a sweatshirt, a DVD (of course), bib belt, and running socks. I think that is it.  I got him a Doctor Who watch, Doctor Who T-Shirt, MN North Stars throwback T-Shirt, and discs for disc golf.  

Following all of that, we drove down to Eau Claire to my cousin’s house for dinner. It was nice seeing my cousins on my mom’s side again.  We stayed for a few hours and then we drove down to my uncle and aunt’s house in Independence where I got to see some of my cousins on my dad’s side.  It was a very family oriented day! We hung around until 10pm and went to 10:30 pm Mass at Independence.  The church was decorated so beautiful.  I’m spoiled with my hometown church it is such an amazing building (especially after going on a tour of the other churches around the area but more on that later). It was a long Mass and Eric was irritated it wasn't at midnight and the priest was upsetting him. At one point I think he was even pouting because the priest was doing the Vigil Mass instead of the Mass at Midnight.  But we did have the midnight readings.  We didn’t get out until almost midnight and we had a slow painful drive home in the snow.  It really snowed a lot.

Sadly, Santa did find me at my brother’s house. :(  I’m so disappointed!  We had great meal with my sister and her boyfriend and my mom’s friend, Jeanne.  It was a nice afternoon.  We played many games of Left, Right and Center. I won a few, Eric won a few.  

Around 2:30 everybody left and Mom, Mike, Eric and I went on a little road trip.  My mom is the president of the Arcadia Deanery of Council of Catholic Women.  She wants me to put a display together of all the parishes in the Arcadia Deanery for the Diocesan Conference in April.  Well we needed pictures of all the churches and that required the road trip.  We started in Arcadia, then drove the curvy, hilly roads to Waumandee, over the hills to Alma on the Mississippi River, then down river to Fountain City and finally ended up in Pine Creek.  We stopped at the local bar for a drink and then made our way back to Arcadia We ended up going almost 70 miles in the beautiful bluff country of Trempealeau and Buffalo Counties! We saw LOTS of deer and bald eagles by the river.  It was a winter wonderland! I really grew up in a beautiful area!

After seeing these 5 churches (we have to go to 6 more tomorrow) I realized how spoiled I was with an awesome hometown church. When I get pictures of all the churches I’ll posted them…but you will see Sts. Peter and Paul is by far the awesomest.   We stopped at Detox (great name for a bar don’t you think?) for dinner and played some cut throat Uno. 

We have had some fun the last few days and I got to spend some time with my family so I guess that is good.

Hope you all had an awesome Christmas!