Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2010? Really? What do you call it? oh-10? Two-thousand and ten? 2K10? However you say it, it's going to be a great year... more wag and less bark, I say.

Have you made your resolutions yet? I was at work last week on a ladder cleaning gook out of gutters in the rain and I made mine. At first I was miserable, but then I thought of something: there's going to be a day when I'll be begging to be 22 and cleaning gutters in the rain. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sure enough, some day. So that's it, I'm going to appreciate the little things, no matter how bad they seem now.

Anywho, I spent the holidays at home in Stow and had a grand ole time with my Dad, Barb, Robert, Taylor, Grandma, and a little bit of Victoria. I came a little late, though, and missed these two...

...aren't they precious? Now if you didn't know me or them, and I showed you this picture, and then I told you that the one on the right is in law school, and that somebody actually likes the one on the left enough to marry him, you'd call me crazy, right?

Here they are with padre, checking out the new office.

Sooooo angry that I missed this. Its like watching the first humans use tools. Andy looks like a big help...

But they did it! And it looks fabulous.

Meet Bailey... the newest Stief. 50% yellow lab, 50% German Shepard, 100% heart.

She really is pretty...

...But she is absolutely no help whatsoever when it comes to shoveling the driveway. Look at her? I'm toiling away and she is sticking her head in the snow.

Luckily I had some help.

Maybe my favorite part of the entire trip... nobody ever plays Monopoly with me! I can always count on Grams, though.

It was nice to see some wildlife in suburban Stow... apparently these deer are frequent visitors of the back yard. I tried to get a better picture, but as soon as I walked up next to them, they told me that they didn't want their pictures taken that close.

And before I left, I had to have a power meeting with Robert and Taylor... we're thinking about making some moves in the Southwest region, but we decided to wait until all the numbers come in. Flagstaff is on the rocks, let me tell you.

Speaking of Flagstaff, I went snow shoeing this weekend for the first time and it was a whole lot of fun... I'll put some pictures up next week.

Oh and just for kicks, here are some shots of the food I've been preparing myself lately.

This is the meat of a single Dungeness crab that I used to make this...

...a crab pot pie.

Then this is a steak dinner.

And finally some baked falafel.

I'm trying to cook lots of new stuff, so if anybody has any recipes they think I might like, please send 'em over.

Happy new year everybody!