"No man is a failure who has friends" Clarence ~ It's a Wonderful Life

The weekends been all right. Saturday my dad dropped off Matt's christmas present and he stayed to talk for a bit. Growing up we had a really close relationship, but since getting married I don't see my dad very often and rarely do we have time together just the two of us to talk.

We talked more about his plan to open a shop: He's definitely excited about it and there's certainly no way (in my opinion) that it wouldn't work, especially with the economy in the tanker.

We also talked about Matt and my infertility and I tried to explain to him how we're feeling and the why. I think that our families sympathize for us and feel horrible that we're having to go through this, and I know that anyone of them would do something to stop our hurt if they could, but they can't grasp our reality and there's no way for them to understand how we feel or why.

My dad was talking about how important family is, and how family is the only thing you can count on and somehow we got around to saying that money isn't the most important thing. I then said to him "Dad, you say that family is the most important thing, that money is unimportant (which I agree), but without money we won't ever have a family. Where other people have to pay for their childrens' up keep...we have to pay just to have children." I could see it in his face that he really didn't get an inkling of any of this until that moment. So, I think (some of them) are slowly starting to understand more.


I've just realized that I still hadn't posted the pictures from when my cousin was here from Germany (left to right: Lena [Henrike's friend], Matt, Me and Henrike [my cousin]! What a whirlwind it's been: Can you believe it's CHRISTMAS WEEK already! All the presents are wrapped and it's only 3 more sleeps until Santa's been here and gone!

We have finally managed to shovel out; it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. It is cold today: This mornings temp, at 5:30, was a balmy 6*: BRR!

I tried something different this weekend. I subscribe to the Hallmark magazine and in it there was a recipe for Garlic Herb Cheese, so I thought I'd try my hand at it (will post the recipe later). The first batch ended in the garbage, but the second batch came out really good. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. I think everyone enjoyed it!

Our party went well last night...of course there was way too much food and a ton left over: It was great to see the Ss though. I think our dogs found some new best friends!

Matt's off today, so he and his friend R were going to spend the morning replenishing the home-brew stashes. Of course, it's back to work for me today...so not fair.
(Click on the picture to view it full size).