Resolutions for 2005 1. Finish potty training the critter 2. Read the pile of unread books in my study before buying any more 3. Dance if I want to. Leave my friends behind. 4. Actually walk up the river behind the Coach House 5. Teach the critter the Electric Slide 6. Finally get all my cd's burned to the iPod 7. Get my very own kilt made 8. Learn all the words to any Phil Collins song that is not Su-Su-Sudio 9. Update the 'Groove more often 10. Enjoy ____________________________________________________ Hey - look. The 'Groove has a web cam. So now you can see what we see, 24 hours a day. Except a little more blurry. So it's kind of like what I see before I have my first Diet Coke of the morning. Aren't you thrilled? If it's dark outside, you may get a reflection of the action at 'Groove central. Note to self: no more sex in the office with the lights on.

Christmas Eve with a two year old in the house. It's midnight. The critter's finally asleep. Quick - everyone out of bed. We have to go build her Christmas presents. This is our first time at this, really. I mean last year she was just 18 months old, so she was just really excited that Mommy and Daddy were actually encouraging her to tear the pretty paper. The year before, she was pretty much content to watch the pretty lights and drool on anything that didn't move too fast. So we went all out: every time we go to someone's house or to her school where they have one of those kitchen playsets, she elbows us out of the way and makes a beeline for the make-believe microwave cutlets. (Which is really odd, seeing as the Grady household hasn't had a microwave since the elder Bush was in office.) My bride went out and bought this modern megalith of a kitchen set called "The Complete Kitchen" (batteries and accessories not included). The box was mammoth. So now it's midnight, I have a diet coke, 3 screwdrivers, a set of allen wrenches, and my Swedish-English dictionary handy. Ah... But you see all those nifty silver pipes crooking this way and that, holding the bits together? Oops. The elf at the factory apparently had a bit too much gluwein and left those parts out. I have the base. I have the fridge/oven-y bits. I have a sink. And a bunch of loose shelving. And it's now about three and a half hours until the monkey smells Santa and comes running downstairs. Fortunately, we purchased enough plastic food to feed a plastic legion, and we're pretty sure she'll be more than content with that, no doubt, along with her other main present. A doll & doll's stroller. I read the handbook they handed out when they gave her to us at the hospital. This wasn't covered. Ain't parenting fun?

I figured I should put up the Thanksgiving pictures before Christmas actually showed up. (I've still got 8 hours). Flying half way around the world with a two year old - that's my idea of fun! Thanksgiving was in Tennessee this year, with the deer, and the turkeys (wild, on the lawn, and cooked, on the table) and goats. That's right. Goats. My parents now own 18 goats, 3 dogs and random herds of wild critters roaming over their mountain. These are the same people who wouldn't let me have a pet growing up. Anyway. enjoy the pictures The pretty town hall, by the way, is in Carthage, TN - that's the home town of Al Gore, you know. And still a solid Republican county.