I'm Dreaming of a Waggoner Christmas...

We had a great time at the Mom and Dad Waggoner's place - once we got there. For the third year in a row our flight was canceled. But quick response time got us on the earliest flight out the following day. We were able to get off the ground before they shut down O'Hare.
We were very glad to spend time with everyone while we were there. We enjoyed a tour of Grandma Waggoner's new pad, Uncle Bob's book signing, a cousin's piano recital, and a few family business meetings.
Here are some of the better pictures we would like to share with ya'll.

My parents always have the best tree. This year was good.....but last years was pretty hard to follow.

Stockings hung with care. Please note the sweet Target bag that filled in for "a certain new member" of the Waggoner family. I have been assured she will have a nice monogrammed one next year.

White Christmas breakfast.....an excellent tradition.

There were 2 new furry additions this year, one was Zoe's new dog Rylee. I think Rylee and I really connected......or at least she urinated when she saw me. I think that is a good sign.

The second was Puccini who Mom apparently found one day. Neat. Nice cat.

One of the nicer things about living out in the country is that there are wild animals roaming in the back yard. If your "big city" eyes cannot see there is a deer eating in this picture. One day Dad will get a .22 and we'll have venison for Christmas......mmmm.

Well those were the highlights. We hope you have enjoyed.

The Downturn of the Economy

Well our snowman is back - or at least there is a flatter version of him coating our porch. It snowed 5" today. On the news this morning they were telling people that it would be a good day to take public transportation....so we drove in! Well that wasn't the reason - actually Andrew and I are both really busy at work so in an effort to get more time in at the office we decided to drive in. The drive in was quick, we left plenty early and there were few people on the road. The way home was a different matter. It took us over an hour to get home, at 8pm - it was really amazing - it appeared that nothing had been plowed...AT ALL.
Now, for those not accustomed to driving in Chicago in the winter - it is usually not much different then driving any other time. It always seems that when a big snow is predicted they get the full fleet of snow trucks out and cruising hours before the snow is supposed to start. The roads - especially the main arteries - are usually well plowed and salted by the time we head home for the night.
Tonight was a completely different story. Politicians in Illinois aren't usually known for their honesty, but when Mayor Daley said he was going to reduce the numbers of plows on the streets and cut the amount of salt they use in half - he was not kidding around! The whole ride home I only saw 2 snow plows and neither of them were going in our direction. Even Lakeshore Drive was covered in snow and unplowed. It was the first time I have ever seen cars abandoned in the middle of Lakeshore Drive with snow piled so high, it looked like it had been there for hours - and we saw two such vehicles.
The snow driving seemed to put Andrew in the holiday spirit, as he spent a great majority of the ride either singing or humming Christmas carols. He even got to do a few fun turns when we got into Evanston. I am so thankful that he is so comfortable driving in snowy conditions - lord knows I get tense and scared enough for the both of us.
But we are home now and warm - and there is no snow in tomorrow's forecast.

Our frighteningly frosty foreign friend

When I went to the store I came back to this masterpiece. It appears that the first snowfall of the year inspired Michelle's creativity.

I tried to talk with it, but much to my chagrin it never talked back. Oh well, there goes that thought.

ps - I just checked and our snowman bff is.........not so forever.