It seems like every time I start a post lately, I feel like I need to say, "It's been a long time...". I'm not going to say that this time---but it has. I haven't even been exercising since the last time I posted--that is very strange for me. Today is my last day of slothfulness though---I absolutely promise. I tried to ease back into the exercise routine by getting on the treadmill for thirty minutes while the family was at church. ( I didn't go because of a disgusting fever blister/cold sore hanging out my nose--sorry if that's TMI.) It felt good, and perhaps it will put me in exercise mode again. Tomorrow is the day for getting back into routine, except B won't be going back to work yet. Speaking of B--he had major back surgery on the 17th of Dec. He had a 3 day hospital stay--that was not fun. Thankfully, my cousin came and stayed with the children so that I could stay with him. The surgery was in a town an hour away so it would have been hard to manage the children without help. Everything went well, and he is slowly getting back to normal. He will see his surgeon sometime this week, start physical therapy, and, hopefully, go back to half days at work soon. He won't be able to fly until summer--he will be a desk jockey for a good while. I am so looking forward to going on long walks with him again. We had a good, but very quiet Christmas. We were unable to travel due to B's surgery. The kids all got new digital cameras, and they were pretty happy about that. We also got the 'knifty knitter' and have been loom knitting scarves and hats. It's pretty fun. I sent my first scarf to my sister for her birthday this week. We have added a new member to our family--a beautiful chocolate lab named Mocha. He is a handful, but we all love him--well, K tolerates him.

MOCHA

He is about triple that size now! We love his first "Retrieve"!