Running Bear.... loved little White Dove

My husband is fabulous. He danced shirtless in front of the extended family, with war paint on his chest, a feather on his head, and a mock loin-cloth over his jeans. Why? Because I thought it would be fun to perform a 50's song "Running Bear" at the Cope Family Variety Show a week before Christmas (mostly becase of an inside joke with his brothers). Peter was indeed a good sport, infact he was the star of the show, after 3.5 year old Caleb, of course. I appreciate his willingness to make a fool of himself, all for the sake of creating memories. And I'm grateful to Cassie who took the pictures to remember it by!
The next day, he went to a Triathalon with his brother Patrick and the so-called "war paint" was still on his chest. Naturally, he got a few interesting looks, smirks, and comments from fellow swimmers. When he told them it was for his wife, the looks got even more interesting.

New Year's Resolutions

Here are mine, what are yours?
1. Finish my thesis!!!
2. Graduate from UNO in May 2009 with a masters in history
3. Lose 20 pounds (I can't remember a year when this was not on my list)
4. Purge my filing cabinet and get organized!
5. Finish scrapbooking for the past two years
6. Get a real job and begin paying back my loans
7. Read the Book of Mormon daily from cover to cover
8. Go to the temple monthly
9. Remember nieces and nephews' birthdays
10. Get the Pete out of dental school

Because Jews celebrate Hanukah, not Christmas

Its a sad day when you realize that all of your education is essentially feckless. Three days ago, I was in a mad rush to secure a retirement community for my Faith in God girls to sing at. I'm in charge of their bi-monthly activities and holly jolly, we were going Christmas caroling on Wednesday, Dec. 3rd! So, I'm calling around, anxious to get this done and off my list, when I find myself on the phone with an obstinate woman who won't let my girls come and sing! Why not? I ask her. "Well, she said, its a Jewish facility and Jews... celebrate Hanukah, not Christmas." Duh. Thats when I looked down at the phonebook and realized I'd dialed up the 'Jewish Seniors.' Yep, folks, guess you actually have to graduate with a masters in history before you can process the details and function properly in society. I won't graduate until May. So, big world, be patient with me! In the end, we did sing at the retirement center at Miracle Hills and had a marvelous time.

I have been tagged

Four random things about my husband:
He eats cold soup out of the can and out of his locker for lunch
He talks to himself in front of the mirror, A LOT
He likes living in the ghetto
He is meticulous about servicing the car

Movies I could watch more than once:
Chocolat
Gone With the Wind
The Happiest Millionaire
School of Rock

TV Shows I watch:
The Today Show
Occasionally Reba
Occasionally Oprah
Frasier re-runs
Occasionally the View (now thats embarrassing)

Places I have been:
the Netherlands
Italy
Austria
France

People who email me regularly:
Peter
Annette
Angela
Mary

Favorite meals/ foods:
McDonald's ice cream cones
Papa John's pizza
Curry
Matta's Mexican Food

Places I would like to visit:
Greece
Jerusalem
Egypt
China

Things I am looking forward to:
Finishing my thesis!
The Cope Family Variety Show
Seeing my Mom in January
Moving to NY???

Some of the best books I've ever read:
Wild Swans
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Book of Mormon
Escape
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families

People I tag:
Amy Makechnie
Hyeson Bang Busbee
Diana Housley
Judy Stowers

The Glories of Gingerbread

Here is our gingerbread display... in all its GLORY! We've got the Eiffel Tower out of Rice Krispies, the Birds Nest and the Great Wall from China, a Nebraska home and the Pyramids of Egypt. In the center is the Baby Jesus! My Faith in God girls helped out; my main partners in creativity were Mar-bear and Keri Pratt. We learned that a hot glue gun is way better than frosting.... not as goopy and dries much faster and clearer! Shhhh.... Anyway, please notice and appreciate the Ninjas that are supposed to be Burqua'd women, the frowning prisoner (Mary's genius) the guy with the broken foot/ crutch, Spongebob! and the Hawaiian hula dancers!

The scoop on the Pete

Peter recently applied to 27 different oral surgery residency programs. So far, he has two interviews: one at Long Island Jewish in NY (Dec. 15), and one in Kansas City (Nov. 22). We'll find out in late January if he got accepted anywhere. If not, he'll apply for one-year internships all over the country, then reapply to oral surgery programs a year from now. Its likely that after an internship, he'll get accepted somewhere! I'm hoping we get to live in NY for SIX YEARS. You're all invited to come visit if that is the case! Of course, if we get accepted to Kansas City, you're still invited, but my guess is that the odds are better for NY.

Stopping for caterpillars

My sister Meredith came to visit last month. My FIRST family member visit, I might add. It was great! We laughed, cried, stayed up late talking, pigged out, went roller blading. The Omaha Zoo is fantastic (I didn't realize how crappy the AZ Zoo was until I moved to Omaha), so I made her go with Peter and me. Here are a couple of pics from that adventure. We spent nearly an hour with the gorillas. They are fascinating. At one point, one silverback was staring into our eyes, the next he slammed his fist against the glass. It freaked us out, of course! We thought we had upset him, but the volunteers told us that he does that to make people scream, which greatly amuses him.

I love to see the world through my sister's eyes. For example, we spent 20 minutes watching these "penguin" creatures as they huddled around some random door, waiting for who knows what. Meredith hypothesized about their daily feeding hour, or maybe one of them went there and the other followed, but they were such conformists. When one looked up, the others looked up. It was so fun to visit the zoo with her! Also, there were hundreds of GIANT catfish (some weighed 50 pounds) just flopping all over each other to get feed by humans over this bridge. It was cool to watch them.

Anyway, another funny story is that my husband Peter is all about "keeping it moving" when we are doing anything - from playing a game to rollerblading. He just likes to be productive at all times. To illustrate my point, in August he and I were rollerblading around a gorgeous park/lake (Zorinsky for those Omaha people) and a DEER and her two TWIN fawns were all of a sudden flanking us, about 6-10 feet away. We must have startled them, because they were running alongside us, trying to figure out to dart ahead or stop or what. It was incredible to watch them, and I was riveted. Peter interrupts my amazement to say "keep it moving." I teased him later - what, we don't have time to stop and look at the deer? I warned him that when Meredith came to visit, she would want to stop and appreciate not just the deer, but even the caterpillars. True enough, when we went rollerblading last month, Merf and Peter lagged behind and he later told me that she stopped to observe a caterpillar crossing the path! Do I know my sister or what!? I love it. Reminds me of President Monson's comments on "enjoying the journey." NOT that Peter doesn't enjoy the journey. He is the most productive, self-disciplined, and organized person I know, and I appreciate his ability to be unbalanced when it is necessary - like in dental school. But, it makes me laugh to think of the difference between those two!