We finally decided to get a snowblower. We have never had one before. After last winter, I really believe it will help us. So, if it doesn't snow this winter, this is the reason!

I decided to replace the 30 year old heater that we had. I use it to warm up my computer room in the winter. The room is in the northwest part of the house with a north window so it get a little chilly up there and I need it warm!

Here's Sierra on Day 3 of Jingle Cross. It was a little warmer today but her race was earlier. She got 7th today after she did the complete course and some of the girls went the wrong way on the first lap.

Here's Sierra on Day 2 of Jingle Cross. She got 9th today. She said the race was tougher than last night's course where she got 5th place. Today they added a long run up and she had trouble with her legs cramping. It was cold, windy, and muddy.

Here's the 20 lb. turkey all ready to eat. Rich and I will be eating it alone since the weather did not allow Sierra to drive home last night. We are going to pack up all the left overs and take them to her tomorrow. I used the dijon mustard, soy sauce, lemon juice marinade again and it was wonderful! I think I have perfected that recipe. I also made Sierra 2 desserts - a strawberry pie and a key lime pie. We also had green bean casserole, mashed potatos with gravy, and rolls.

Today, I went to work and then to K-Mart for a few surprise Christmas gifts. Can you believe that K-Mart was open today? It wasn't too busy and this will be a photo of what I got today to give Kristin, Tyler, and Sierra for Christmas.

Kristin recently lost one of her favorite bikes, the P3 Cervelo. It was mistakenly traded for another bike while left at Marian's cycling center. I had a hard time finding this photo, I thought it was digital. But I finally found it in an album so I must have not had my first digital camera yet. This was in June 2001. Kristin was thrilled to get this new time trial bike!

My new lens was delivered today. I've thought long and hard about getting this. Now, I just need to learn more about how to use it! I am afraid to open the box.......

Sierra is coming home after she works on Thanksgiving Day. She announced that she wants a turkey dinner on Friday! Here's the turkey I found for 39 cents per pound. I'm sure it will be yummy when prepared. Sierra will have to be careful how much she eats since she will be racing cyclocross in Iowa City on Saturday.

Shelby gave me this print by Charles Frace earlier this summer. Now that it is cold outside, I've been cleaning and got around to hanging it up. It really is beautiful and will keep me thinking about going on a trip to Corpus Christi soon!

Today was cold and windy. Here's Camo atop the wood pile, all fluffed up, waiting to come back inside!

Piper sent me this photo of Andy. I always say, "A dirty dog is a happy dog!" Andy must be overjoyed today! I wonder how he liked his bath?

I finally got around to unwrapping a birthday gift and hanging it up. Mother and I bought each other gifts while in Zion. We were exploring the park and just outside the east gate was a nice gift shop. I got Mother a t-shirt and she got me this. We each picked out what we wanted - makes for easy birthdays!

I got all my sweet potato vines pulled out of the garden. I'm hoping the "potatos" will make it through the winter inside and then provide me with beautiful vines back out in the garden next summer!

This is Andy, Piper's new puppy. They wanted an indoor dog so they adopted him. They think he is about 4 months old and is a West Highland White Terrier and a miniature American Eskimo mix. His face reminds me of our Samoyed, Misha but she was quite a bit bigger than him. He is so cute!

Here's a beautiful photo from my bike ride last weekend. I took it from the Monon Trail bridge over Fall Creek in Indianapolis.

As always, the salvage yard is nothing but fun! We didn't buy anything but really had a great time looking and taking fun photos. We are traveling home today. The weather is turning cold and I hear that it is snowing at home so I'm not really looking forward to it.

We called today "Day 2 of Kristin's birthday". We went to the bagel deli for breakfast and then headed off to the museum where Kristin wanted to see the Andy Warhol exhibit. We bought the family membership since it was only a few more dollars over the cost of the special exhibit and good for a year. We also got to see the Madeleine Albright exhibit "Read My Pins". We all enjoyed both exhibits and were surprised how much we enjoyed looking at the pins! For dinner, we cooked the shrimp that we brought from Corpus Christi last March. We made our favorite "the dump" that consists of dirty rice, sausage, corn on the cob, potoatos, and the shrimp. Yummy!

Today was Kristin's 26th birthday. We met her for breakfast at the "Donut Shop" and then she had to go to work for a few hours. Then, she chose Brugge Brasserie in Broad Ripple for dinner. We had Steak Frites and Moules Frites. 12 difference dipping sauces were supplied for the frites. Rich, Sierra, and Tyler also had some of the "divine juice of barley" by sampling the "Tripple de Ripple" We went to eat early to beat the busy Friday night crowd and then spent some time window shopping where the shops were having a "Holiday Preview".

We are all loaded up and ready to drive to Indianapolis for the weekend. We are taking grid wall for Tyler's new shop and taking the MTBikes back after Collegiate Nationals. Chase and Charlie are excited to go anywhere!

I'm not really sure why the cats think they have to drink from a dripping faucet but 3 of the 4 of them run upstairs if they think we are going to the bathroom. It's not like they don't have fresh water to drink from their bowl!

WOW - it was 73 degrees today! It was not a record though and they tell us our warm days are numbered, as in OVER.  As if we didn't know that. I think the burning bush is at its best so I took another photo. Tomorrow, it is due to cool down with rain later in the week. Hopefully, we won't get the snow that is in Wyoming and Colorado today.

Charlie usually comes to get me when he wants to go out for a walk. Sometimes, he waits patiently and sometimes he lets me know that he wants to go NOW! Could you resist this big, beautiful face?

We got almost everything cleaned up and put away for the winter. We decided to move some of the ceramic pots inside this year because some of them with delicate glaze were damaged last winter. We covered up the more "hardy" pots with tarps in the hopes that they will make it through in good shape.

Today, I spent a lot of time cleaning out the flower pots and beds. I got quite a bit done and it will really save me some time and work next spring. Charlie loves to lay in the sun outside and today he chose the soft discards from the garden. He can enjoy them before we burn them!

Today, we heard from the insurance adjuster. There is about $5000 worth of damage to my car. They are afraid that there will be more once they get into it. So, we can decide if we want to go ahead and have it repaired but if more damage is found, they will total it. Or, we can just total it now and they will give us $7500. Now, we just need to decide.......

Ahhhhhh Peter Frampton - now and then. Now was today on Oprah! Just brought a smile to my face as the audience (and me) sang along!

Shadows grow so long before my eyes 

And they're moving across the page 

Suddenly the day turns into night 

Far away from the city but don't hesitate 

'Cause your love won't wait hey 

Ooh baby I love your way every day 

Wanna tell you I love your way every day 

Wanna be with you night and day 

Moon appears to shine and light the sky 

With the help of some fireflies 

I wonder how they have the power shine shine shine 

I can see them under the pines 

But don't hesitate 'cause your love won't wait hey 

Ooh baby I love your way every day 

Wanna tell you I love your way every day 

Wanna be with you night and day uh yeah 

But don't hesitate 'cause your love won't wait 

I can see the sunset in your eyes 

Brown and grey and blue besides 

Clouds are stalking islands in the sun 

Wish I could dry one out of season 

But don't hesitate 'cause your love won't wait hey 

Ooh baby I love your way every day 

Wanna tell you I love your way uuhh 

Wanna be with you night and day 

Ooh baby I love your way every day 

Wanna tell you I love your way uuhh 

Wanna be with you night and day 

Well.....it has been years so I guess it was my fate to hit a deer today. As I remember it, he was a HUGE buck! I remember his antlers, eyes, and perhaps a leg flying to my right up over the windshield as I hit him at 5:30 this morning. It was dark so hard to see the damage. We could tell that fluid was dripping from a couple of places and the air bag sensor was lit on my dashboard but they did not deploy. We had to have it towed and Rich stopped by the lot this afternoon to take a look. We hear that the air bags not deploying but the sensor light on is NOT a good sign. I would expect that since I do not want this car to be totaled, it probably will be. I am not looking forward to buying a new car! We also could not find the deer so maybe he really was huge, not just my imagination, and he survived for another day and/or collision.

Did you?

Sierra sent me this photo of the "green monster" complete with all the dust stirred up by the racers. This happens to be the Elite Women's race during the USGP of Cyclocross - Derby City Cup in Louisville on October 24. Sierra raced in the 1/2/3 Women's race and got 6th.