It was a cold and blustery day...

"The wind bites my face, drying my eyes and cracking my lips. My once cold body is covered in sweat, the dagger in my ribs sharpens. My legs feel as if I am trudging through quicksand. Each step is harder than the last. The sidewalk thumps beneath each stride, painfully shocking through my shoes and ankles. I don't think I can do this anymore. Why am I doing this to myself? I hate running. I hate it. God, I've been running forever now. Did I not set the timer right? That's it, I must have messed it up, I have probably been running for like forty minutes now. NO, I set it right, I made sure it was ticking away before I stowed it in my pocket. Seriously will this set ever end? I can't do it! Why am I doing this? The wind is so cold! I hate running! I think my legs might fall off. Just a little bit more. This will not be the set I don't finish. I can do this. I CAN DO THIS. And then the trumpets sound, the timer goes off, the imaginary ribbon appears as I cross the finish line of my last set. My breath puffs out in front of me as I tell Scout 'We did it. We finished.' Not that I didn't think we could."

Christmas was wonderful. I think I use that word too much, but it really was. I sent a list of every possible kitchen tool I could ever want, to my M&D and they made sure they all appeared under the tree at their house. Mom jokingly asked if I thought I could ever have gotten so excited about an immersion blender before a year ago. I honestly don't even remember before. I've always loved to cook, but I've become much more passionate about cooking since I started professional food writing. Of course!

Cory got a bunch of unimaginable car parts for the Coupe. Kind of, "I have no idea what this is, but you asked for it, so HERE IT IS!" And speaking of Cory, he is currently laid up on the couch, having thoughtfully had his wisdom teeth out today. Talk about taking advantage of your Christmas vacation time. Not. Vacation obviously has different meanings to both of us.

Moose had a wonderful fabulous holiday as well. Raking in many new cars and trucks. Of course the stars of the show are the simple one-button-conversion Transformers that Mark got him. They are pretty awesome I will admit.

Our car fleet has diminished lately, and I'm surprised Cory hasn't developed a twitch, what with all the driveway space we have available. We used some of the proceeds from the last car sale to finance the removal of the two huge trees in our backyard. I listened to them groan and moan after the Ice Storm last year, so I was pretty happy we were able to do this. But now the yard looks drastically naked. Next Spring I am expanding my garden, and I am hoping Cory will let me plant an apple tree. Think of all the pies!

My partner in crime who never seems to break a sweat.