December

Well, it's been almost a month since I posted but I figured I'd share a whole bunch at once to make up for it. A lot happened this month. Kevin dressed up in protective gear and tore out our gas fireplace to make room for a woodburning fireplace (he had to access the attic with all the insulation to install the stove pipe).

It's part of our "back to basics" kick that we're on right now. We wanted to have the real fire back that we love. It also involves a lot more work and mess but it's so worth it. I love the fireplace. We are working on the design for the surround and the mantle. We are thinking about rock work and a large old beam for the mantle.

Kevin had some wood delivered into the driveway and he was out there chopping it all with an axe. He got several neighbors asking what he was doing...talking to him about the project, etc. More contact with some of them than we have ever had. So if you want to know the neighbors, just start chopping wood in your driveway!

I think I mentioned my upcoming 50th birthday...well, it took place. The end.

No, I mean, it was really nice. Chelsie set up this beautiful table at a local restaurant (Barbacoa) and the six of us had a very nice dinner together. I got lots of nice gifts and one very special diamond ring from Kevin...a spiral ring that wraps around twice with diamonds in between the two spiral wraps. I was so surprised about the ring. I had wanted an anniversary band with diamonds for our 25th a few years ago but I was in school and it just wasn't anything we could afford. So I basically forgot about it. But Kevin remembered that I wanted a ring and picked one out for me.

Kari and Nettie (my two longest time friends) went out for our annual Christmas/birthday dinner together and Nettie...the goof on the right...made us wear the glasses and brought the black balloons for me. All our birthdays fall within a month of each other's. We have been friends for fifteen years.

And last but not least, I always have this Ladies Brunch every year where a bunch of us get together and eat and make something fun. This year it was covering readymade boxes with decorative paper and ribbons, etc. Chelsie and Polina came over early to help me with the food so I took some pictures of them (further down).

Here are some pics of the boxes that people made. I had my doubts about the project thinking that I didn't have enough cool stuff on hand to make it worth doing but everyone seemed to do just fine.

The only thing that went wrong was the spray-on glitter. We took the cans outside to spray a few of the boxes but when we brought the boxes back in, the fumes from the spray stunk up the house and gave several of us headaches. We ended up throwing those out. Polina used the glitter on her finished box and the colors on the paper that she used all ran. So her box was basically ruined...but she was cool about it. It must have disappointed her though.

Here's Chels and Polina in the kitchen making the shrimp appetizer...

...and the fruit salad...I basically asked them to do it all and they did!

Chels, Polina, and Chelsie's cousin Abrie making their boxes...

And a picture of the table...I love Christmas!