Almost two months........

Well, it has been almost two months since my last post. WOW, huh? I don't know what got into me. Just for whatever reason I was not into blogging for a bit. Needed a break I suppose. Well, let's see, I suppose there is much to catch up on. Half of which I will no doubt not remember, but I will give it a shot anyhow. (No doubt it will be a marathon post & I may split it up into a few post over the next few days as I have a few days off & it is icing & snowing out again as I type so no traveling for us, but instead seems like a good time for me to catch up here!)

Thanksgiving was okay. It was a little hectic & tough too for us though as it was also my b-day (11/25) & for the first time in many years Thomas & I did not get to spend either occasion with any of our family. As most of you know, he was working in the Cameron store about two & a half hours from our home. We were living in two places between here & there as work schedules wouuld allow; sometimes together, sometimes apart. He had to work over the Thanksgiving Holiday there at the store. I did not want him to spend Thanksgiving alone, so I went there & stayed most of that week. We had our Thanksgiving meal at a truckstop! Cameron doesn't have a lot of choices in the way of restaraunts & what they did have wasn't open Thanksgiving Day. It didn't matter though as we knew even eating our Thanksgiving meal at a truckstop that we have so much to be thankful for. My b-day as I said was the following Sunday. Thomas was off that day. He took me to Kansas City for the day. We had a great time. We went to Crown Center & to the Plaza. We walked around & did some sight seeing & a little shopping. Everything was all decked out for Christmas which made it extra special. We went to this restaraunt on the Plaza for my b-day dinner & I had the best steak & all around meal that I think maybe I have ever had. Immediately after that we walked down the way a bit where Thomas surprised me with a horse & carriage ride all around downtown K.C.'s Plaza area. It was chilly, but we were all bundled up in blankets & snuggled up together & the Christmas lights & music were so beautiful that neither of us seemed to mind the cold. After the carriage ride was finished we walked a bit up to a Starbucks & each got a coffee. YUM! Then, we walked to the HUGE Barnes & Noble there on the Plaza. It is like three stories & even has escalators. We were impressed. Thomas bought me a couple of last b-day presents there (cookbooks that I had been wanting). From there we decided to head back to our hotel in Cameron as by this time it was almost 9:00. We arrived back to our hotel around 10:00 & went to the pool & enjoyed the sauna & hot tub for about forty five minutes. It was the perfect ending to my perfect b-day day as we were the only ones using it so it was cozy just he & I! Thank you Thomas for making my day so special!

Thomas spent a total of five weeks managing the Cameron store. He is home again now. I am so glad to have him back home full time & he is very glad to be back home. Hotel living, fast food & a very small town began to make him weary at about the month mark. Overall, it went very well. He did an excellent job & everyone was very proud of him. Way to go Thomas! On his last day at the store the associates surprised him with a very nice card in which most of them had written in & signed & also a carry in meal! He was so surprised. One of the ladies took photos of this & for that I am grateful as she got some great shots & you could certainly see the surprise on Thomas's face. He is now back working in the Kirksville store again. For how long we are unsure. He is now beginning to apply for stores in areas that we are interested in. This could be a short or possibly a long process. Only time will tell. Generally when a store becomes available many applicants express an interest. Sometimes as many as seventy or more. Usually only the top three will get an interview. We would like to stay in Missouri or in one of the surrounding states, Kansas would be a good option for us as well. It appears that Branson is in the process of building a new store that will need a manager in February 2008 so maybe something will come of that.

Our Christmas Holiday is not looking much better as far as work schedules & not getting to be with our family! Thomas has to work Christmas Eve & I have to work Christmas Day. If we are slow at the hospital I can probably just take call, but then have to be within a thirty minute drive of the hospital, so we still couldn't travel to be with our family. Hopefully though I will get to just take call as that way at least I can be home on Christmas Day with Thomas. We have some time off coming up in January & plan to catch up with family during that time. We are just grateful that everyone is happy & healthy. We can celebrate & have our traditions anytime.

We weren't sure if we would be home this Christmas as early on we did not know how long Thomas would be in Cameron. We hadn't planned on doing much decorating here at home. However, when I found out at the last minute that Thomas was coming home, I wanted to at least do a little. I couldn't manage getting out our big tree by myself, so I did a small fiber optic tree & just some various decorations. I wanted it to be cozy & "homey" when Thomas came home that day. I also couldn't manage our usual outside lights either so I just did some wreaths & such outdoors. It is just enough for us. Here are a few shots of a little of what I did. I did some other decorating around with wreaths, arrangements & candles & such, but here are a few shots.

Here are a few of our big tree last year. It is really pretty & we always enjoy it, but I couldn't even get it out of the box by myself!

Okay, that is probably more than enough in one post. I will be back again soon.

Jen