OK, just in terms of Christmas decorations. We took them all down today and packed them away because we are leaving tomorrow for Colorado and our cat Stevie likes to chew on them, play with them and generally cannot be trusted alone for any length of time with them. We were worried we would come back to:
a) A house full of cat puke because Stevie likes to chew on the artificial tree and then will get sick.
b) A Christmas tree on it’s side because Stevie decided to play with the tree
c) Random ornaments everywhere because Stevie figured out how to knock them off and chase them around.

Really, he is a good cat. Christmas is just such a hard time for a cat… so many things to play with…
(Pic of Stevie today, hanging out under the Christmas tree.)

We’ve been having all of this unusually snowy weather – three snow days for Brandon this week! It hasn’t been a lot of snow but we don’t have snow plows here and it keeps warming up during the day, melting and then freezing into ice. Combine that with a bunch of people who don’t know how to drive in snow and ice, and well, you have some hazardous conditions.

Anyway, this morning was GORGEOUS. I used my new little “always with me” camera and went for a little walk at work to take some pictures. The snow was amazing, the morning light was amazing. You can see the results in this album.

Today was the traditional half day at work before the holiday. I am now on TWO WEEKS of vacation from work. Woohoo! This is a much needed break. No news on the work permit front, hopefully I’ll hear something soon!

Here’s another fun picture of a snowy Brandon this morning. Also check out the “ElfYourself” greeting Patrick created. We laugh every time we watch it!

PS – I changed the comment settings so that it is hopefully easier to leave comments. Let me know if this helps!

I didn’t have anything new to write about today, so I was looking for a Christmas-y picture to post and ran across this one I took of our dog, Tasha, last year at Christmas. She’s been the best dog! We got her at six weeks old in October 1996, so she’s 12 years old now. She is the dog that everyone loves – so sweet and calm, wonderful with kids. We are taking her to Colorado to live with Patrick’s sister while we are in Italy. We are so happy that she has a place to live with people who want her, and another golden to keep her “young” and active. We will miss her a ton though! The house is going to feel empty without her here to greet us or snuggle up with us.

So, we didn’t get rejected for the work permit but… we didn’t get it either. There are some complications that the folks in Italy helping with the application are trying to work through. The fact that we are employees of one company but will be working on another company’s site is apparently a problem. There was some additional documentation that our company had to provide and then they have another appointment on Friday. If I’ve learned anything after Tuesday, it’s don’t plan on a date for this stuff!

I liken it to when I was pregnant with Brandon… I didn’t realize until my due date passed how much I was looking forward to that date. And it was such a letdown when it came and went with nothing. But everything came out all right (no pun intended) then and it will now, just have to wait. And learn Italian.

Today is supposed to be work permit day. I expected to get up, check my work email and know that I have my work permit or not. But no! Not yet. I have to wait, so you all have to wait too. 🙂

Yesterday was a fun mail day! I got my box of books for the Italian lessons I’m taking, quite the stack of books. So I could do my homework. Yes, I have homework!! Tonight I have my second online lesson. 90 minutes of learning to speak Italian. Can you be “out of shape” for school? I think I might be.

I also got a box with my new camera – a tiny little Canon Elph. This doesn’t replace my amazing, wonderful Canon SLR camera for photos, but it does let me have a camera with me wherever I go. Brandon and I had a good time playing around, taking pictures of us together.

And it’s still snowing off and on…