simple gifts bring fun times

I was fortunate enough to get a Wii for Christmas this year, and extra-fortunate to get MarioKart with it! Icing on the cake was the carry bag, Wii wheels and extra controller I got along with it - thanks to Alpine, my parents and my sister. Simple gifts... not simply found or simply purchased for sure... but they still bring lots of good times. Here are a few shots of those early good times... we've gotten too competitive lately to worry about taking any pictures! haha... We're racing online with friends, too... that is a blast! It just blows my mind how far things have come since my last game system... the original Nintendo! (which, by the way, is still plugged up under my tv in my living room... though the Wii capabilities really make the NES completely unnecessary... if I'm willing to pay for the games again... =)

I LOVE THIS GAME!!

my cousin golfing

another cousin making his crazy mii

four at a time rocks! (looks like two fell off a cliff into the darkness, though!)

memories of Christmas

I was looking through my pictures today while sending my brother-in-law a nice picture of Alpine in the snow (nice, haha!) when I came across some Christmas picture that I fully intended on posting. So, here goes...

My mom and I made some dog cookies - one batch peanut butter, the other batch pumpkin - for... let's see... my two dogs, my sister's two dogs, my brother-in-law's dog, my in-law's dog, and a friend's dog. I still owe another friend's dog some cookies, and since it's more economical to make them, I'll be making more again soon - so she she'll get some, too! It'll be pumkin again, since I have lots of pumpkin in the freezer from last summer's garden. I need some excuses to make treats of the human kind, too... so if you need any pumpkin pie, zucchini bread or anything else you can make with pumpkin or zucchini, let me know! I want to try some pumpkin bread, too... I bet that's good. Anyway... back on topic. Here are the cookies... one batch made this many!

My sister and I decided to torture the dogs a little with the santa hats. I've tried them before, and they just don't like wearing them, but I got some decent pictures of them this time.

I especially like this one... she's trying desperately to get the stupid hat off her head!

change is here!

Well, I didn't plan it, but I guess it's appropriate that since Election Day was the last time I blogged, Inauguration Day seemed like a good day to start back up. It no longer matters who we voted for, but now, I guess our duty as American citizens is to give our support to the new president, until he does something un-American. Then we are allowed to spew all sorts of mean things in all directions, only stopping to take a breath at the next un-American act - right? That seems to be the way things go...

America seems ripe for Change... it seems desperate for Hope... and completely enamoured with Obama. Like it or not, with a Democratic congress and a Democratic president, change is here, for better or for worse. Two Americans took an important and significant oath today, so I feel compelled to take one, too:

"I, miss fluffy, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully support the office of President of the United States, so long as s/he will to the best of his/her ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

As much as Bush asked to be ridiculed... as much as the monkey caricatures made sense... the President of the US deserves our support and respect. If we cannot respect our own President, how can we expect the people and leaders of other countries to? Unlike the Bush-haters, I will pledge to support Obama as our president, though I will reserve the right to be skeptical and apprehensive. I don't think I agree with the Change that Obama has said he wants to make... and I don't think I agree with the type of Hope he wants to bring to this nation. His embrace of Personal Responsibility seems to be in contrast with most other things he supports, like the Redistribution of Wealth and most social programs.

I DO Hope that this administration brings about positive Change in this country. I am happy that we seem to have moved beyond skin color, in general, by electing a half-black president... but I'm sad that we must keep pointing out that he's black... not half-black, not half-white, not just a man with great oratory skills who doesn't really say much. But... we'll see how this road turns, and I sincerely hope I'm wrong.