Happy New Year.

We traded in a white Christmas for a white new year.  Mostly because the U.P. was hogging it all.  There was absolutely zero snow in Ashland and then I roll over to Marquette for a week with Nate and Katie and it snowed the entire time I was there!  Well, for the most part at least.  Then we went to Milwaukee for the Mann party and ...NO snow.  None.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nunca.  Yesterday it snowed on our drive back, which was nice to see.

Funny that I'm complaining about no snow when earlier I said I couldn't wait to go to NZ where it will be summer again.

Being in Marquette for a week was nice.  Katie and I lazed around watching TV and facebooking while Nate worked.  The three of us went skiing on Marquette Mountain...great hill.  Its nice to go somewhere that isn't Ashwabay for a change...ha.  I enjoyed going fast down the hills.  Nate and I did a couple black diamonds but not a lot of them were open.  I fell twice, which was expected.  Other days we spent touring the city, looking at big houses, shopping downtown, and of course the occasional boat or train made an appearance.  We took a gander at our old house in Harvey.  It's still there, and has a front porch now.  We checked out a couple "pubs" and I got to help Nate and Katie fill out an entry in their Beer Log.

In Milwaukee we saw the movie Warhorse at a Marcus Theater.  I only mention this because Ashland's movie theater is tiny tiny tiny.  It gets the job done, but a Marcus Theater is worth the extra couple dollars, regardless of what movie you are seeing.  It's only January but I already look forward to seeing The Hobbit in Milwaukee, which comes out around next Christmas.

At the Mann/New Year's Eve party there was the usual great food and conversation.  I got to play a new game "Boxers or Briefs?" which was pretty entertaining, thanks Beth!  Kylee, the newest member of the family was most popular and adored by all.  And in between games, Katie and I were entertained by Xander, who drove us around in his imaginary fire truck and we put out fires together.  At midnight we drank sparkling grape juice and patted ourselves on the back for still being awake.

Before the drive home we all said goodbye.  I probably won't see Nate and Katie or Bridget and Forrest again until the summer, which isn't that unusual save for being on opposite sides of the world.

Now I've got to clean my room, it's like a natural disaster in here.

But first, I smell bacon.