What's New -- the first 4 days

So where has 2009 brought us so far?  4 days into it, and here is what is going on.

The tree and all decorations are down!  Hooray!  Next year, if we are not in here for Christmas -- meaning we are visiting Mi -- we are just going to get a small table top tree.  Even though we put it up at Thanksgiving, I feel like it just didn't serve its purpose and took up much needed space.  Not to mention that it looked silly underneath since the cat continuously rolled up the tree skirt in all kinds of configurations to make it either her newest hideout, or most comfortable nap spot.

We had a great impromptu thunderstorm this morning.  A couple of flashes of really bright lightning brought thunder that shook the windows for quite a while.  Needless to say I had one of the dogs and Greta glued to my side until it was completely over.

Even though Clara is still up minimum 3 times at night, she has put some more pleasant consistency to it (it will probably change since I bring it up...).  She is up for the last time at either 3 or 4 and then has not woken up again until 7:07 (3 days in a row of that exact time).  It's great, because even Greta has been playing in the other room and letting me sleep in a little bit.  

On the down side, our house has decided to make things difficult for us.  As I type I am sitting here listening to the dishwasher sound like a jet engine in the next room, please don't give up the ghost....  The garage door has become demonic and needs several pushes of the button to decide it actually is going to close all of the way.  AND, of course the piece de resistance -- the heating unit needs to be completely replaced.  After seeing an electric bill 3 times what it has ever been last month, we knew something was up, and the house just didn't seem to be warm.  After monitoring the thermostat, and calling out the company on Friday, they let us know -- in a severe southern twang -- that we would need to replace the whole unit.  UGH.  Guess we won't be seeing Mickey Mouse this year after all....Luckily I am still off of work this week, so Monday or Tuesday workers will be here ALL day putting in the new unit.  Hopefully all other appliances, etc. can just hang in there.

Let's hope the rest of the year -- or at least January -- brings nothing but boring regularity.  It's cheaper that way.  

It sounds like there are still some awful bugs going around the U.S. right now, I hope you are all staying healthy.