Surprise Visit
In January Judi, Carol and I conspired to surprise Lori by having Carol and Judi show up (from Phoenix) at a restaurant where we were having dinner. It was planned since Christmas and VERY difficult to keep a secret. I nearly stumbled once or twice and we all worried that we'd give it away somehow. All went well though and we timed their arrival at Dulles and trip in via the Metro with Lori's travel by Metro (from the opposite direction) to Crystal City to meet me at the restaurant. I waited for Lori at the bar and when she arrived I sent a discreet previously typed email to Judi to let her know. They then made their entrance shortly thereafter. I gave Lori a little box with a note in it that said "turn around" (Carol's idea) and when she did there they were!

The ladies had fun that weekend shopping together. We also went to Mt Vernon for a presentation on George Washington in Bermuda (the only place he traveled outside America). Judi took the opportunity to catch up on her sleep in front of the fireplace with Brin. A well earned rest with all she has going on - arranging to open her own business in March. More on that will be provided after the grand opening in March which Lori and I will be attending.

Dogboy Moment
Here's another example of why we find the boy so entertaining. This is Brin with a biscuit in his mouth. He was given this treat as a reward for being good and staying in the kitchen with dad while mum was on the phone with Heidi. Otherwise he usually finds a reason to bark 'cause he's jealous of mum's not paying attention to him (spoiled). So he gets the treat and thinks he can then go eat it by mum in the formal sitting room. When mean ol' dad doesn't let him go he doesn't know what to do so just sits there with the biscuit hanging out of his mouth looking soooooo forlorn. He wouldn't even eat it there, just sat and pouted because he wasn't able to go where he wanted.

It's a Marshmallow World...
For Lori's birthday present I arranged for her to FINALLY have a "perfect snow" day (her words). The forecast was for "ice storm" according to the media hype-factory tabloid info-mercials that masquerade as "news" programs in this day and age. Anyhow, we looked out this morning at about 9:00 and it was snowing lazily with big fluffy flakes. Then sometime shortly thereafter it started snowing in earnest - don't ask me how that works, ask Earnest (when I hear groans from all over the world, my work is done). Anyhow, we took dogboy for a bound (he was soooo excited!) down to Safeway and back then spent the next 45 minutes or so clearing the driveway of snow (me on push broom, Lori on shovel). Well, she volunteered, what was I supposed to do? We got about 5 inches (12.5 cm) during the day.

So that done we called in to check to see if the historic walk that we were planning on doing today was cancelled (walking in George Washington's footsteps throughout Old Town Alexandria) and sure enough it was. Mixed feelings about this one as it would have been great fun but it also gave us an excuse to have a cozy day in. Lori of course started cooking a fabulously involved lamb dinner that took hours to prepare. I prepared to give her a un-birthday (she's getting 40 days of gifts leading up to her big day)to remember as we had finished setting up the bar yesterday including hanging the sign sis-in-law Heidi gave me for my birthday. Those of the more observant readers will notice that we finally found the absolutely picture perfect place to hang our 1997 Grand Prix souvenir picture.

Well, Lori finally made it out of the kitchen (everyone know one has to force her out of there!) being lured by the thought of a Scrumpy cuddle, a roaring fire and some cocktails (a Martini and a Pirates Bloody Revenge).

Poor Scrumpy was desperate for attention as she had snuck outside behind me last night when I went out with Brin and so spent the whole night alone in the cold and snow (brrr!) I think she's learned her lesson about sneaking out at night (kids!)