Stupid Packers

We had a really nice, but small, Packer party. And what do they do? Lay a turd on the frozen tundra. The play calling sucked big time. It reminded me of the two Bears games. Favre sensed that McCarthy didn't have any confidence in him, so he played tenatively too. Oh well, maybe next year. At least we have a young team. 

Sorry, no pics of me drinking beer and eating brats were taken.

Bathroom Update II...almost there!

Update 1/10/07: So despite being on-call this week, I've been able to make some big strides with the finish work. First is the new window, which now is complete with trim that I sanded/stained/cut myself (thanks to Nosaj for the saw!) The window was installed by Brian, and is a nice fiberglass frame that won't stain or get mildewy. Double-paned glass is tinted on the bottom so Brandy can't see me naked when he's outside.

We finally got our new vent cap by FedEx today. It is an unfinished oak, but will be stained to match the window trim. Might get to that this weekend, depending on how busy I get...

Here is the new door, which Brian and I installed on Monday night. It's a nice solid, mission-style that matches the window. I finished nailing up the trim on it today as well.

Here is the new door as viewed from the inside. We really love how solid it feels. (Andrew: no mirror going up on this one ;) )


Lastly, we just put up a little towel/robe hook, right next to the shower. We had been throwing everything on the floor, so this will be nice!

If anyone has any idea for curtains/blinds for the window, let us know. I was thinking of maybe a bamboo blind, but not sure yet. Other things left: fixing a couple cracks left in the floor grout, touching up the caulking around the tub and tile base, and the crown molding around the linen cabinet. Stay tuned!

Uli!

Okay, so Uli complained that Brandy was the only dog in the house with his own page. So The Dude abides and we present to you...Uli

Here he is as a puppy. So cute! It took a long time to potty train Uli, however, which was definitely frustrating. He has come around though.

Uli once was smaller than his older brother, but now he's bigger! Here he is posing next to one of our pumpkins in October.

On Halloween, Jason and I went as Walter Sobchak, and I was "The Ringer". Uli really wanted to come as well, as he is a Nihlist.
Instead, we tried dressing him as the devil (appropriate), but he just tore off his horns and tried to chew them up...so no lasting costume for Uli.

Uli has so much fur around his face, sometimes you can't see his eyes. He requires a lot of grooming.

More to come!

Brandy!

This is dedicated to Brandleson the III, the elder Statesman of the house.

This is when Brandy was a mere pup. Laura was in 9th grade! Guess what grade she is in now? Answer: 24th grade!!!

Brandy is too cool for school

Here he is quite happy after a teeth cleaning at the dentist

Brandy LOVES the dog park. He pauses from his explorations to pose on our favorite rock

This is how Brandleson feels about his new sibling, Uli Monster. He prefers to believe that this new creature is only a figment of his imagination, and tends to sleep more now. But they have grown closer now, and Brandy is still the Alpha around the house.

Thanks for visiting Brandleson's page!

Bathroom Update

We are getting close! This weekend the linen cabinet got it's decorative toe kick, and we installed the wood-panel recessed medicine cabinet. All and all, went pretty smoothly. We still need trim around the window, and of course, the door! That should be installed in about a week.

2007 Florida Christmas

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the pics from our Road Trip to Florida to visit Andrew and Cheyna, and of course Abby!

We left at the butt-crack of dawn to avoid another snowstorm, and we are glad we did.

But we still had 3 hours of fog to drive through in Illinois, my favorite state

Thanks to Mom and Dad for loaning us the Garmin Nuvi! It was a savior through the fog. The energy drinks kept our eyes open for the 16 hour drive.

The Dude's Car (from The Big Lebowski). Note the green-with-rust coloration.

It was golfing weather in Crestview, and we took advantage right away. Andrew wooped us though!

Abby was a huge help in the kitchen. She must have been inspired by her personalized apron!

We are all a little worried about Andrew's early-onset presbyopia. I'm presenting his case at Grand Rounds Friday.

Abby's first "good" experience with Santa, caught on film!

We all enjoyed a nice lunch in Destin at the Crab Shack, followed by a stroll on the beach. It wasn't warm enough for swimming, but the sunshine made it a beautiful day. We'll have to come back when the beach weather is in full force!

Brunello di Montalcino!

Back at the house, we prepared Christmas Eve wine (and dinner). Andrew had a great bottle of 1999 Brunello from our trip to Italy 2 1/2 years ago. We made porterhouse steaks on the grill, mashed taters, sauteed carrots, and a nice salad. The wine was a perfect compliment to the tender steaks!

Christmas morning was a huge treat. Abigail was sooo cute going over to all of her presents from Santa. She had so many presents it became a little overwhelming for us all! We needed to take a break after awhile, and we all had long naps in the afternoon.

Laura was sad that a purple jumpsuit did not accompany her purple bow this Christmas


It was a "white" Christmas in Crestview! Well, not exactly, but the brief shower of hail / sleet was a surprise! We were happy to not be experiencing the 2 feet of snow in Wisconsin this year.

Apparently Andrew took Hula-Hoopin' 101 at USAFA...and failed!

Dr. Abigail Reeves Vrabec returning her first page! She seemed to love her Kid MD doctor's kit!

After Christmas we enjoyed some shopping at the Pensacola mall, and Abby took time out to play on the toys, and had a nice afternoon playing at the park with the Duckies. Photos of Andrew and Josh golfing were censored from this blog...it was that bad!

But Andrew recovered enough to enjoy some good Wisconsin Beer that we brought for him.

We had a wonderful time, and hope to return to Florida to visit the Crestview Vrabecs again soon!