Happy Holidays

It has been a little while since I have written, so I thought I would take some time today to blog. First off, you are probably wondering if we got another dog. No, we did not. I just thought I would put up a picture of this little guy cause we have been dog-sitting him for the last week. Our neighbor got him a couple weeks ago, but she had to go to Orlando for surgery, so we have been watching him while they are gone. He is a Maltese puppy, about 10 weeks old now. You can't really tell by this picture, but he is tiny. He probably weighs about a pound, if that. He and Divot are best friends. They run around and play all the time. It worries me a little bit because Divot is about 15 times his weight, but so far the little guy has proven to be pretty tough. We will only have him a couple more days, then he will be able to go back home. Coco will be really happy when he leaves. He is a little bit too wild for her.
It is just one more week until we will be heading home for Christmas. We are going to leave early next Sunday morning and make the 12 hour drive home. We will be home the entire week of Christmas, then we will probably be heading back to Arkansas that next Sunday. At work I only get Christmas day off so I will have to use 4 vacation days. I will have to go back to work that next Monday, then I will get another vacation day on Tuesday. We are really looking forward to coming home for the week. It will be nice to spend time with family. It is probably going to be a little bit colder up there, but I am kinda looking forward to it. Hopefully there will be some snow. The weather here has been pretty miserable for the last week or so. For the last 5 days it has been raining almost constantly. It has stayed warm enough so it doesn't freeze. Today it has been raining all morning, but I notice that it finally turned to snow just a little while ago. The ground is actually almost covered with really wet snow, but it won't be around for very long. I am sure it will all be gone by tomorrow. Snow doen't usually stick around for very long around here. The bad weather has given me plenty of time to spend with my big Christmas present. A few weeks ago I finally broke down and bought a new TV. We were still using the one that I had in my dorm room at college. We got a Samsung 42" Plasma TV. It is awesome. We bought an HD antenna at the store so we get all the local channels in high definition. Who would have thought that an over-the-air broadcast could be clearer that what a DVD is? We also got a great deal on it. I have been shopping around for TV's for over a year now, and I just always kept waiting because they kept getting cheaper and cheaper. Last year I almost bought a 32" flat screen from Sam's Club, but I am glad I waited. We got this 42" TV for over $300 less than what I would have paid for that one a year ago. We also got a free DVD recorder with the TV. So far I am really happy with it. I did a lot of research, and read a lot of reviews online, so I pretty much knew what I was getting. I think all of that waiting and deliberating was well worth it.
A couple months ago I made another purchase that has turned into my new hobby. I got a .22 Ruger Pistol and a membership to an indoor shooting range. I have been going there almost every weekend. .22 rounds are pretty cheap so I don't have to spend a lot of money every week on ammo.
I haven't ridden my bike very much since it has gotten cold. I have had it on the trainer a few times, but that isn't very much fun. I would rather freeze outside that have to ride on the trainer.
Well, I hope everybody is having a great time getting ready for Christmas, I know we are. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you to everybody who has commented on our blog, or sent me an email. It is nice to hear from you.

-Deric