I fell a little behind on my post from last month, so I’ll try to catch up without making this too long. Two bigger holidays have passed. Many great meals were had. Time was spent with lots of family and friends. All was good. Now, for some specifics…

Ben has been growing like a weed. He’s now about 17 lbs. and about 26″ long. He’s eating and sleeping well and has started to “talk.” He makes the funniest sounds sometimes. He has also discovered his feet just this past week and has started to grab objects in front of him. His eyes have yet to make the full transformation. There have been 2 big brown specks in his right eye for about 2 months now, but they are still mostly dark slate blue. Here are some of the latest photos:

I got a ticket to go to the Duke/VT football game (11/22) with some friends of mine. It was around 20˚ F outside, with some wind, so the pre-game festivities were a must. Jackson, Derek, and 2 other friends of Jackson’s started out at their parking spot. Jackson used his MacGyver-like skills to light a fire in their firepit (read: dump a box of matches on the fire logs) the rest of us enjoyed some food and drinks while watching Captain Outdoors work his fire magic. Derek and I ventured out to visit with our friends Mac, Michelle, and some of their friends. After that, we went to visit our other friends Katie and Brian. She’s been telling me about their “Big Beer Game” that they play every home game, and that I needed to play it. Well, I lost (2nd to last) and ended up with a big can of what appeared to be rotten cough syrup called Four Loko Fruit Punch.  The game was fun, we had great seats, I ate a turkey leg, and Tech won. It was a successful night.

Our friends Mac and Michelle stopped over the next day to see Ben. We hadn’t seem them since their wedding, which was 4 days before Ben was born. Here are a few photos of their visit:

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the second year in a row. Our friend, Bryan J. joined Mama G, Holly, and me. Holly and Mom prepared a wonderful spread.

About 2.5 weeks ago, our cat, Smokey, went missing. We would let him outside since he liked it out there. He had a habit of coming right away if you called for him, but not this time. I had a soft spot in my heart for him since I picked him out at the animal shelter. He would visit me when I would go to the bathroom and lie on my chest when my alarm would go off in the morning because he wanted me to get up to feed him. Holly saw some unfamiliar dogs outside the house around the same time he disappeared and one of our neighbors said she saw a coyote around lately, too. We’re not sure what happened to him, but I’m sure he’s up in kitty heaven weaving in and out of people’s legs. I miss you Smokey.

I found some time to clean up the Univega bike I picked up last month. It cleaned up pretty good for being a 20-year-old bike. I got some tubes and tires for it and will use it for cruising around when I need some more flexible gearing which I don’t have with the fixie. I ended up pulling the original front wheel from the Raleigh since the front wheel on the Univega had some bearing play. Here are some photos:

I also got the fixie bike back! It took a long time to get all of the right parts, but it’s finally done. I rode it right after I picked it up from the bike shop and I’m really pleased with it. I didn’t have the head badge at the time I took the first round of photos, but I snapped a photo of it on the bike. I also am waiting on some leather straps for the toe clips, then it will be 100% finished. I can’t wait for some nice days so I can ride it. Today was promising, but I ran out of daylight. It looks like there are some nice days early next week that I might be able to get out and ride. Here are some pics:

We had a few Christmas celebrations this year, and one more today (12/28) when Mama G. comes to visit. The first was at my Mom & Dad’s place with our family, Greg & his family, and Mom & Dad (12/20). We all had fun and was great hanging out with our family. Here’s a link to some of the photos from the day.

The next day (12/21) was our yearly “Yohn Christmas” which was traditionally at Nan Yohn’s house, but has moved to either my parent’s house or my Aunt Denise and Uncle Marlin’s house. This year, my parents hosted it and we had a full house…25 to be exact. We had a special visit from Santa Claus, lots of presents and got to catch up with some relatives we only see a few times a year. Here’s a link to some of the photos from the day.

We left my parents’ house around 4:30 on Sunday (12/21) and stopped in Maryland on our way back home. We stayed with our friends Greg and Krista, and stopped by Holly’s Granny’s house. We also met up with some other MD friends while we were in town. Here are some photos from the visit with Granny:

Then, on Christmas Day, Holly, Ben, and I opened up gifts from each other and Santa. We all got some very special gifts. While looking at a poster and print blog (OMGposters!) I stumbled on an artist named Jason Sho Green who ran into some bad luck and was selling some of his original art. I really liked his style, thought it would be cool to start a collection of original art for Ben, so I picked 2 pieces up from him (one for Ben and one for Holly). I surprised Holly with a piece I personally designed on Christmas Eve. Here’s a link to the piece and here’s a link to some of the photos from the day.

Today, Mama G. stopped by for a belated Christmas dinner. The ladies sure outdid themselves with another great meal. Standing rib roast, potatoes, green beans, macaroni & cheese, rolls, and some cannoli cake for dessert. It was great to see her and spend an evening with her since we haven’t seen her in a while. She brought our other cat with her, so we are no longer kittyless. Here’s a link to some photos of the gift exchange.

We also got a very special gift from the guys at Fender. They sent a very touching letter along with a Custom Danny Gatton Signature Telecaster for Ben’s first Christmas. Here are a few photos of this beautiful guitar:

Lastly, I found some free time to do some design work. I contribute to an art/design/photo blog along with a few friends of mine. As you can see by the name of the blog, it really has fallen by the wayside. I try to make time to do some design projects for myself, and this is where I showcase that work: fallenbythewayside.

I think that’s all I have. I know that was much longer than I expected, but I had to catch up on quite a bit. I’m sure there won’t be too much to write about in the next few days, so have a very happy 2009. I wish you all the best. Take care and goodnight.

Categories: Baby, Cars, Holidays, beer, bike, cats
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