12/03 - Dodo and Peggy like noodles

It was a noodley kind of day, so Peggy and I went out to find some. Nom!

I guess that made Dodo feel kinda canoodley, because he started hanging out under the mistletoe...

11/27 - First Matey fuels up and finds friends

First Matey likes his lattes fancy!  Avast!

Then, First Matey found 'Mater and some friends.  Ho, ho, huh?

12/26 - Race Car Pen draws his own finish line

We had a lovely Christmas, despite the twins waking up at 3:30am.  It took about an hour for me to get them back to sleep, but they did.  Zzzzzzz.  Today, it was back to work for me.

This tow truck is all geared up for the holidays… Gotta love a truck that’s willing to wear a wreath in public.

I found Race Car Pen very helpful at the Post Office, where I mailed some late presents to Grandmother and Grampy.

12/24 - BowlMouth finds a winter wonderland

It’s very quiet downtown today.  Most of the stores have closed early, and the streets are all but empty.

This is the elevator lobby of a building where I used to work (you haven’t been there with me).  They put up fake brick walls and hung icicles from the lights and put snow and penguins everywhere!  I hardly recognized the place.

Look how cute you guys are getting ready for Santa!

12/21 - Slugina and the clouds of doom

It sure was cloudy and blustery this morning.  I thought we were going to have a big loud storm, but am only finding some gentle rain here in the city.  Work, however, continues to be loud and blustery.  Gotta love that year end stuff…

At lunch, Slugina did her best Christmas tree impersonation.  Not bad, eh?

Slugina asks, "Is there something behind me?!"  No, Slugina.  There is not a delicious chocolate Beard Papa cream puff behind you.  Not at all… Just slime right over here and I’ll take care of it for you.

12/11 - Jeanette would like new glasses for Christmas

She thought these designer frames would be perfect, if only they came in a smaller size.

Jeanette found an enchanted Christmas tree forest.  We knew it was enchanted because there was a BLUE Christmas tree!

12/10 - Jeanette is tired of meetings

We haven’t left the building today.  It’s almost 5pm and we’re waiting for our last meeting of the day to start. Jeanette would much rather have come on a day where there were cupcakes, she tells me. I agree. There is too much Monday in this Monday.

One good cure for a bad case of the Mondays is cookies.  Cookies also go well with Christmas.  So Jeanette and I rounded up some supplies (she was especially interested in the almonds) and started baking...

12/02 - Weekend fun: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas edition

Last weekend, we started getting ready for Christmas.  First, we picked out a tree.  Then, we had cookies and eggnog and decorated it.

The next morning, we put the ingredients for homemade soup in the slow cooker. I also made my famous Mommy Bread.  Between that and the Christmas tree, the house smelled delicious all day!

After that, we got all gussied up and went to see Santa.  Lil' Guy stepped right up and charmed Santa.

Lil' Gal has always been shy, but this year, we had a Plan B.  A letter!  Santa was very touched and thought she did a great job drawing him and Rudolph.  She was SO proud.  And when he asked for a hug, she gave him a big one!  (I was on the other side, and her face was beaming.  So cute!!)

My attempts at getting a holiday card photo were not as successful as I'd like, but I'll keep trying...

12/04 - Beagle spots the first eggnog latte of the season

It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of these.  It must be Christmas time!

Beagle wants to pull the sleigh.  He wants to bring presents to the boys and girls and wear bells that ring on his collar.  He thinks he’d make a fine reindeer!

* spelling words in bold font

11/26 - Gold Camaro finds a golden Christmas tree

While I was away for the long Thanksgiving weekend, someone came and sprinkled Christmas all over the city!  This is the first thing GC and I saw when we came up from the BART station.

My work building did not have a big tree, but we did have a Very Large Silver Reindeer instead.  (Lil' Gal – is this one of your friends?)

More sparkly came at dinner time, where we helped Sheila ring in her birthday week with a festive tiara.  Happy birthday!!

11/02 - Pluto works like a dog

Today, Pluto and I worked hard to get the house ready for our special guest.  First, we cleaned up all the fallen leaves and branches from last night's wind storm.

Then, we waited for the cleaning ladies to come.  After some time went by, we realized -- like the Whos in Whooville -- that no Christmas was coming.  We were a week off in our heads.  So we busted a move and got the house shipshape.

Then, we got a big pile of groceries to feed us and our impending guest.  (Who is it??!)

I got the kids from school in the nick of time, and off we went to the airport to pick up....  Grandmother!  Tada!

I'd like the record to show that I was beating her like crazy in Scrabble until we started falling over from sleepy.    And yes, "felting" is a word.  Thank you.

12/24 - C is for Cookie

I'm off work until next week, so only real helpers at home.  Here are the masterpieces we made today.

Lil' Gal has a heavy hand with the sprinkles.

Lil' Guy ate more candies than he put on the cookies.

Let's hope Santa likes them!  Merry Christmas!

12/21 - 'Ella, 'ella, 'ella...

Today, each twin gave me a toy to bring to work.  Since Lil' Gal doesn't usually participate more than giving a veto vote, I brought both toys in.  Hopefully this won't be a dangerous precedent and require me building an ark.  Although it *was* rainy today.

At lunch, we saw a larger-than-me Nutcracker while checking out the Snow Village at the Hyatt.

Later, Piggy and Ostrich were so cute hanging out together, I just took their close-up.  Hi!  Hi!

12/17 - Ostrich on ice

Ostrich found a big paper snowflake at Mommy's desk today.

Then, she wanted to help Mommy with a spreadsheet. And she learned some numbers!

We finished up the day with a team party at Jackie's (not pictured) lovely home, where even the chandeliers were decorated festively... and Mommy triumphed at Taboo!

12/09 - Hulk the herald angels sing

I've recruited the Hulk for our Floor Warden team.  The helmet's a little big for him, though.

  To the rescue!

At lunch, we saw a tiny Christmas tree.

Then, Hulk got high on life --er, Mommy's cubicle.

12/08 - Hulk 'n Honey

The mighty Hulk is small next to over-sized Christmas balls.

Hulk and Honey Bear.

Doug gave the Hulk a new pet. Lil' Guy named her "Periwinkle."  (Not bad for a 3-year old!)

12/07 - Trolling for friends

It was the kind of Monday where it felt like I'd already lived through an epic eastern European film before I even got to work.  And it was cold!

What is this fun little truck?

Then, we looked at the kids on the computer, and Troll made friends with the bug ladies.

After work, we went to a holiday party, where people dressed as Christmas trees, roller derby girls sat on Santa's lap, and we saw the big tree in Union Square, which was the same shape as Troll!

What do you mean "No Trolls?!"