Carol Ott: 01/01/2009

Hello

We had a little scare on Friday. Mom collapsed at Greg and Becky's house. She spent the day/night at Queen of Peace but thankfully everything turned out fine. It was probably the stress and lack of sleep that all came together at once. She is back home but cannot drive for two weeks. The only hard part is Dad is in Belle Plaine for rehabilitation. Fingers crossed that dad will heal quickly.

Spike's pictures will soon grace the web site soon as soon as there is inventory. Some photos that I love. . . .

Hello! I finally gave up on Dell and Windows operating system. I am now a MacBook convert for my home computer. I couldn't update my site since my piece of crap Dell laptop screen would go dark after about 5 minutes. The computer was still on but without a screen it is pretty worthless.

My dad fell on Wednesday night. We found out Thursday that he shattered his hip socket and broke his arm. He is at North Memorial for the time being. He was moved out of ICU on Friday evening. He will not be having surgery but will need to go to long term care and rehabilitation. Fingers crossed that all continues to go well.

The plane that landed in the Hudson was literally right by my old office at Hanover Direct. I talked with my old colleagues which witnessed the event unfolding. That is just unbelievable that everyone got out alive. How amazing!

I joined a health club near my apartment. I am kicking it into gear with a personal trainer and some pilates 1:1 sessions. I want to learn how to surf in the spring and before that can happen I have to find my core muscles! Ten years of laziness doesn't go away over night. . . .ugh! Got to love the alarm going off at 4:45 am.

Spike turned SIX today!!! We went for a walk at La Jolla Cove. I made up some Cheddar Biscuits (Three Dog Bakery Cookbook) and will bring them to work tomorrow for all the dogs to enjoy.

I am heading to NYC January 29 - February 1st. I am excited to have a social life for that weekend. :-)

I broke out the power tools this weekend to hang up my pictures and wall hangings. My apartment is finally ready for the web site.

This is from the hallway to the right is the kitchen and straight ahead is the dining room and the living room.

Kitchen

Dining room that leads into the living room

Master Bedroom - sliding glass door

Extra bedroom (it is considered a den thus no door)

Went to Vegas on Dec 30th to surprise Jen at Jess and Rob's house. We had a sitter for the evening and went to dinner at Tao.

Jess and Jen

Me and Jen

Jess and Rob

Shane, Rob and me

New Year's Eve - We had a great dinner at Jess and Rob's house.

Grace is getting so big.

Ysabel and Abby

Rhys

Sunday - December 28th
The whole family got together at Tom and Jean's to watch the Viking/Giants game. The half time show was provided by JT and Sam.

JT - has taken three guitar lessons. He started off the simple song Cashmere.

Sam then treated us to the trumpet.

Saturday - December 27th
Enjoyed a brunch with Karla and Buffie. I was then off to Maple Grove to see Astrid and Jeff's new house. I then met up with Andrea at Caribou. I was then off to Southdale Center to do some some shopping with my college friend Michele.

I spent the evening hanging with Tom, Jean, Marie, JT and Sam. I found out how bad I suck at playing Wii games. I did however beat my brother (2 out of 3)!! Woot Woot!

Friday - December 26th
Got together with Karla, Buffie and Carolyn to celebrate Karla's birthday. We got a room at the Embassy Suites and played games. We had a blast. It was fun drinking wine and hanging with girl friends.

Christmas Day

I spent the day with Mom and Dad. We enjoyed a very low key day. Mom and I actually finished Christmas cards. I was late in getting my letters to friends and family in Norway and the Netherlands.

Christmas Day Night - Ted and Amy had their traditional get together. It was great seeing Kristin, Joe and family (from Brooklyn).

Kora and Kate - LOVE the jeans!!!!

Rose and Kora - Kora and Kate were having so much fun taking care of Rose

I brought some of my mom's lefse and the kids devoured it. The devoured it since my mom (Eunice) makes the world's best lefse!!!

The pooh hat was a hit. This used to belong to Evan. Now Rose will sport this tasteful treasure.

Carolyn looked absolutely stunning.

Joe even had to get into the action . . . .

I flew home on Christmas Eve. I was overjoyed that my flight was on time! The entire family met up at mom and dad's house in Lakeville. We went to the 4:30 service at Christiania.

front: Carol, Marie, Sam, JT, Ben Dad, Mom and Carissa
back: Tom, Jean, David, Megan, Becky and Greg