Happy new year from Brenda and Marty!

The Year in Review: 2006

Well here I find myself on the last day of the year 2006.

This year was marked by a lot of moving. Many people in my life had to move this year.

Brenda and I moved this summer into our dream house. Becky and the kids moved into a single family house also. My sister Amy and her family moved to to their new house. My neice Emily and her family moved into Amy's old house. My townhouse that she lived in is ready for sale!

That is a lot of moving, not to mention painting and carpentry and cleaning.

--What will next year bring?

Total Package '07

I am joining my good friend Mr. Jer in his project for 2007:

Total Package '07

This will be a complete review and tune-up of our lives. I have already started on my fitness efforts. The key to the Total Package '07 is that it involves the mind, body and spirit.

--Keep an eye out for updates on the plan.

My Favorite PC Desktop Wallpaper of the Year

I collect pc desktops and change mine often.

This is my best one collected this year.

--Click on it for a full size version.

Selling the Rental!

I own a small townhouse that my niece, her husband and daughter have been renting from me for that last couple years. They headed for greener pastures on December 15th and we started getting it read for the market.

Last week the inside was repainted top to bottom. It is amazing what a simple coat of paint will do. Today Brenda and I started working on a long list of little things. We made a run to Lowes and got supplies, a huge variety of things.

Wednesday and Thursday I will finish up on the inside of the house. Friday I will be working outside. I will be painting the remaining trim, repairing and power washing the deck.

I hope Friday or Saturday we will have the carpets cleaned professionally!! Then it will be ready to go!

I can't wait to sell it.

--Motto for '07: Simplify

More Movies Watched

Fearless

I expected a simple action epic. I got much more.

"Cry when you are sad. When the tears are gone, life will move on."

The Christmas Movie Festival has begun...

Today BR and I will watch many movies and eat Shrimp.

It begins with The Lady in the Water, directed by M. Night Shyamalan!

I liked this movie a lot. It is a simple bedtime story. An excellent one. He is such a good craftsman on his movies. I will own them all as they come out.

Now if only I could figure out who borrowed them all!!

--More to come!

Peace on Earth, Good will toward men

It is early Christmas morning and very quiet as I have my coffee and cranberry muffins.

BR is sleeping in and I am here to wish the world a Merry Christmas.

I wish a happy holidays to those young men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan and other dangerous places around the world who want nothing more than to be home in their beds in America tonight.

I will be thinking of you today.

--Peace on Earth, Hope, Love.

Birthdays and Antiques

BR made me a beautiful viking tunic for my B'Day! I love it!

My daughter Cady shocked me with a present for my birthday.

She picked me out this Oliver No. 3 classic type writer!

I had her with me as I was shopping for the perfect gift for Brenda. Little did I know she was watching me and the items that spoke to me.

--And Gray got me the Die Hard Trilogy on DVD!!

Birthdays

My Birthday is Friday and I am falling off the diet wagon for a few days. A total food fest for my B'Day.

Currently I am at 239 lbs. I have lost 46 pounds so far.

We are doing a shrimp platter on Christmas day. A pot luck on Dec 30th. Lots of wine and beers and festive action.

--I can't wait for the Rice Crispy Treat action!

RIP Joe Barbera

Cookies of Doom...

We got a package today from Brenda's parents.

I opened it up. The good part is that it smelled soooo good I actually had a couple cookies!!

The bad part was the package was actually for her brother Steven and his family! Anne and Mark had presents in there!

--But the cookies are awesome!

It's a Wonderful Life

Last night BR and I watched It's a Wonderful Life.

We watch it ever year. It makes me misty in the same scenes every time I watch it.

As we were watching the scene in this picture where the guy says, "Why don't you kiss her in stead of talking her to death?!" BR paused the TiVo.

--So I kissed BR. Soundly...

Texas Monthly

For the first time in years I may actually have to make a point of dragging myself to a news stand just to buy a magazine.

--Hey! I don't want to get shot in the face! Do you?

Diet Status

This weeks weigh-in was 241lbs. That is a loss of 44 pounds so far.

If I can get through the next 2 weeks and just maintain where I am, I will be happy!

--I am eatin good on my B'Day!!

RIP Peter Boyle

NEW YORK (AP) -- Peter Boyle, who played the tap-dancing monster in "Young Frankenstein" and the curmudgeonly father in the long-running sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," has died. He was 71.

--Rest in Peace Peter Boyle. I may have to watch Young Frankenstein tonight.

Barnes and Noble and Cabins...

At Cady's B'Day party yesterday she received some gift cards from Barnes and Noble. I love going to bookstores, especially HUGE ones.

I was wandering aimlessly looking for random goodness and found this excellent book on Cabins.

After we sell the townhouse next month I'll be having a long talk with BR.

--Probably while scratching her back...

My friend Kim has a B'Day today.

Today is my friend Kims B'day.

She has seen me through thick and thin.

I am really glad she was born.

I love you Kim!

--Marty

God Help Me Please

I am in the middle of a sleep over, birthday party, for my daughter Cady, with ten kids all together.

She is turning 13.

What the hell was I thinking?

Ten pre-teens, filled with pizza and sugar, running amok with my video camera.

Only one fight so far. Hurt feelings already resolved.

Thank the makers my ex-wife Becky is here. She is totally amazing with these kids!

--BR is great also. Between the two of them I might survive...

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!!

Every Christmas I must watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

It makes me wish for snow and time with friends and a Christmas Tree to Love.

Now you can buy the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

--God I love the Internet!

Weight Loss Update

I am completely back on track for my diet. I lost another 2 lbs this week.

Thanksgiving day I enjoyed myself and ate what ever I wanted. I wanted lots of pie. I got what I wanted!

I didn't lose any wieght that week but didn't gain any either. Back on track. Doing good.

--I need to buy a new belt...

R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

Santa Teresa private detective Kinsey Millhone is hired by wealthy Nord Lafferty to pick up his daughter at the California Institute for Women and get her through the first few days of freedom. Out on parole, Reba takes to Kinsey and the two women go out to dinner together when her former boss Alan “Beck” Beckwith arrives at the restaurant. He invites himself to have a drink with the two women and Kinsey knows she has been set up by a pro.

--Great stuff!

Long Spoon Lane by Anne Perry

By the summer of 1893, the English have become concerned with the bombing activities of anarchists who set explosions recently in London and Paris. A tip has come into the Special Branch, whose mission is to stop terrorists, claiming a bomb is set to go off in East London. Special Branch Chief Victor Narraway and Agent Thomas Pitt rush to the area; they capture two of the bombers. A third, a parliament member's son, is killed.

--Anne Perry is great! London in the late 1800's!

P is for Peril by Sue Grafton

Dr Dowan Purcell is Kinsey Millhone's missing person in P is for Peril, the latest of the Alphabet mysteries from Sue Grafton. Kinsey sometimes says she thinks taking a case is a mistake - missing person or whatever - but she always takes the case.

Dr. Missing is a respected doctor running a nursing home. He left work and never showed up anywhere. There's money missing from his savings and where is that passport? He's disappeared before but he's been gone an awfully long time. His first wife thinks the police could be doing more. Everybody thinks he's dead.

--Kinsey is Hott!

Dark Assassin by Anne Perry

A Thames River Police superintendent struggling to win the respect of his men, William Monk is on a patrol boat near Waterloo Bridge when he notices a young couple standing at the bridge railing, apparently engaged in an intense discussion. The woman waves her arms and places her hands on the man’s shoulders. A caress or a push? The man grasps hold of her. To save her or to kill her? Seconds later, the pair plunge to their death in the icy waters. Monk can’t help but wonder, was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder? It seems impossible to determine the truth, but haunted by the woman’s somber beauty, he is impelled to try.

--I love the depth of description of the settings in these books.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

--Thomas Edison

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Today we did a very BIG project. A new fireplace surround.

We found this beautiful, antique, oak, fireplace surround at a small store in Manassas a few days ago. BR and I were talking about doing one from the beginning when we bought the house. The existing one was a total yawnfest. This was exactly what I had imagined for the spot. All oak, double mantles, beveled mirror, and the perfect spot for out manger!!

We Bought it and installed it today.

It is not really the final install because we also need to replace the gas fireplace insert. It works but it is not good. It doesn't look good, doesn't give off much heat. It is hard to light.

But now it has an awesome new look.

--Notice the beautiful woman reflected in the mirror...