Raquetball, Raquetball, Raquetball

Well that about explains our December 26th Friday evening. We went to the gym for a normal workout and Mike decided, after I was already exhausted from my workout, that we try playing raquetball. We didn't know the rules but it was quite a workout...about 45 additional minutes of workout! Mike's first swing off the back wall caused the ball to directly hit his throat. Yikes! But we got better. We both took our fair share of hits into the wall and couldn't get out of each other's way sometimes, but it was a good time. For my first experience with raquetball, it was fun. Now we just need to learn the rules.

Happy Christmas!!

It's all over so quickly! But Christmas day was a great day in Maryland.(not to mention it was 50 degrees out so also a great day of weather) Stuart won't put his stuffed lobster down so I at least know I bought well for one person/dog. :) He took it to bed on Christmas night and at about midnight I heard it squeaking so I put it on the dresser. When we got up this morning, Stu knew exactly where it was and tried jumping up the dresser to get it. He also won't leave Boulevard's bone alone either so we have to hold onto Stu in order for Boulevard to enjoy his bone. Stu is kind of a bully and doesn't share well.

Our short Christmas story: We got up about 8:45am on Christmas(well I kind of pouted until Mike got out of bed...he wanted to sleep longer), we opened our presents, we let the dogs open their presents, we watched about 2 showings of the "Christmas Story," Kirsten worked out(I decided if I worked out, I could eat more at Christmas dinner), I cooked the corn casserole and hashbrown casserole, then we headed to Tim and Nicole's. Tim and Nicole's was great! I'm amazed that we sat at their dining table for 5 hours just talking. They are quite entertaining and it was great fun to be with them on Christmas...we talked last night of doing a monthly potluck with them. I hope it comes to fruition because it's always a good time with them! I probably drank too much, ate too much, and talked too much but that's what spending time with friends is all about, right? Mike, of course, didn't drink(since he had to get us home), he ate just the right amount of food he needed, and certainly didn't talk too much because he couldn't get a word in with me talking. We took a plate of our plethora of cookies(we baked a bunch of cookies last Saturday) and candy to Tim and Nicole so hopefully I'll stop eating sweets...I have such a weakness for sweets.


Thank you to everyone for all of our wonderful gifts! From food, clothes, books, moccasins, wine stuff, wii stuff, kitchen stuff, DVD's, gift cards...it was all excellent! We were pretty spoiled. It was tough being away from all of our family/friends but it sounds like everyone had a Merry Christmas in San Antonio, Texas and in Nebraska.

P.S. Congrats to my cousin Lynsi and Tyler on the arrival of their new baby, Drew, who decided to make his appearance into this world on Christmas Eve! What an amazing Christmas present!!

Is there such a thing as...

Is there such a thing as Bloggers Anonymous? I just got done have a conversation with my beauti'mus sister Beth and we were just telling eachother how addicted we were to blogging ALREADY!(since we just started not so long ago). I'm not into MySpace or Facebook yet but I'm sure it's the same type of addiction.
Why is it addicting you ask?
-You get to share all your fun thoughts and adventures with your family/friends
-Once you start blogging, you find out other people are blogging and you can't wait to read their latest entry
-You get in touch with people you may not have previously been in contact with on a regular basis
-You don't want to risk getting behind on the blogs you follow because then it takes awhile to get caught up
-You check back often so you can see the comments people leave on your blog
-Most importantly, it doesn't feel like your friends and family are half-way across the United States :)
I think that about sums it up.

I don't really have anything exciting to report from the Hansmeyer/Carpenter household. Mike only has to work on Sunday of next week...some such nonsense :) of President Bush declaring the 26th as a holiday as well and his holidays are back-dated to the days he works(Sun, Mon, Tues) and since he is still in Field Training, they don't want to pay him extra holiday pay...so he only works on Sunday. PUNK!! (don't worry, I still love you Mike!) Me on the other hand, I get to work every day next week except Thursday.
For Christmas Day, we are hanging with Nicole and Tim at their new apartment and sharing dinner duties. If it's anything like Thanksgiving Day with them, it'll be a good time.
Alrighty, my lunch break is coming to an end so I need to wrap things up.
P.S. If you're not already a blogger, I highly recommend it!

HoCoBoCo meetup

Yep, that's our name...HoCoBoCo...Howard County Books and Cooks :)

Is it nerdy that I get home from activities and then blog about them? Well, I guess I have a little "nerd" in me so I'm not going to be concerned. So, my meetup was today at Aida Bistro(www.aidabistro.com) and Wine Bar...and...it was great. The food and wine was amazing AND so was the company. My main course was "Grilled Kobe Beef Culotte Finished with Mushroon & Herb Demi, Served over a Bleu Cheese Risotto Cake." For not really knowing what any of that means, it was really good. We discussed the book and also had a gift exchange. I received a really nice(and it's red) corkscrew. Pretty cool!
After the bistro we went to a bar called Nottingham's, which is really funny because I was the only one that had ever been there before and I've only lived here for 2 months. HA! We played shuffle board and chatted. It's a really nice group of gals and I'm definitely planning to continue going. For the January meetup we are doing a "Anti-New Years Resolution" Cooking Party. :)
In my chats with these girls, the online meetup thing seems to be the "cool" thing to do. Many of these ladies are part of many meetup groups and that is how they socialize, which is cool. If I was in Nebraska right now, I'd probably think it was pretty silly and/or hokie but it was really enjoyable. You'd think living in such a big place, it would be so easy to meet people but I think it makes it harder because you don't even know where to start. These meetups are a good place to start if you're interested in meeting people.
That's all I know for now. Tomorrow will be yet another quiet Sunday since Mike is working. :(

National Christmas Tree and Stuart

Tonight Mike and I drove into the city to see the National Christmas Tree,which is located in front of the White House. They have music entertainment every night and tonight we listened to an opera group. The singing was great but it pained me to watch them because it was so windy and cold and they had no coats, gloves, scarves, or anything. One of the singers just looked miserable. I could only sit in the bleachers so long and then we headed back to the Yule-log to get warmed up. :) Here is a picture of the tree with the Washington Monument in the background. It was very neat!
We also had some excitement with Stuart tonight. About two weeks ago, Mike bought one of those pet pedicure things(You stick their nail in and the spinning file trims their nail...I'm sure you've seen it on TV before). Well, Stu is scared to death anything that makes a buzzing noise. We tried clippers quite a while ago when we were in Nebraska and Stuart fought and fought and I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore so we returned the clippers.(I felt like such a bad mom) Then since we've lived in Maryland, we have one of those back-massager things and when Mike turned it on, Stuart bolted up the stairs and wouldn't come down until I picked him up and carried him downstairs. Then we get this pedicure tool and he is scared of it as well so wanted to see if we could ease him into it. We started with just holding him next to the tool(in the 'off' position), then moved to holding him next to the tool with it on but not actually putting his nail in it. So tonight we thought we'd try actually trimming his nails, and it worked!! He was less than pleased with us while I held him and Mike trimmed his nails but he got a treat out of the deal so I think it was worth it for him.
Here's a recent picture of Stu...this is in the office right next to my chair. This is his typical location where he camps out during the weekdays while I'm working. He's so funny!

the coolest thing

I recently heard of this web site called www.meetup.com. There are groups about everything and anything on there. You should check it out if you are interested in meeting new people or getting involved in something new. I just joined a book and cook club...they meet once a month and discuss a book and also exchange recipes, etc. The December meet is next Saturday and I'm going to go! There are 13 of us getting together so I'll be able to meet some new people. YAY! Now I have a week to read the December book("The Wednesday Letters")...I'm going to the library to get it tomorrow.
The newest excitement in our lives is joining a gym. It's very simiar to the Lincoln Raquet Club. I've been running(planning on running a 10K on Dec. 20th) and trying out all the group classes. Over the past week, I've tried classes like yoga, beach body, step, zumba, hip-hop, and a variety of sculpting classes. I will start off by saying, I thought I could dance...I was a cheerleader, I like dancing when bands are playing, etc. So, I go to this hip-hop class and it was completely like learning a dance routine. Every heard of 'white boys can't jump'? Well this 'white girl CAN'T dance.' (Why haven't my friends ever told me?) I felt like the most ridiculous person especially since there are mirrors on all walls of the classroom so I could see how silly I looked. Oh well, I made it through the class and will probably go back to suffer again. It was fun and even though my body could not move like others in the class...I'm sure I'll go back. :)
Well it's 8:45pm on a Saturday night and Mike went to bed around 8:15pm. :( He gets up at 4am to get to work by 6am so I don't blame him. Tomorrow will be another lonely Sunday but I'll be going to my 'beach body' classes and then hopefully I'll get some good reading in for my book club. :)
19 more days until Christmas!

Mike's graduation pics

Here is the class getting ready to take their oath during graduation. Mike is on the left side of picture.

This was right after the graduation. This was their class inspection by the Chief. Mike is on the left-hand side of the photo facing the class. He was the class Sergeant so he "facilitates" the inspection when the Chief gets there.

This was after their class inspection.

Boring...

Now that I've had Mike around for the last 4 weeks and he has been getting home by 3:30pm everyday, I'm very bored now that he's working these 12 hour shifts. I get off work at 4:45pm and now Mike isn't home to greet me when I get home (aka...walking down the stairs to the living room from the office). It's too quiet around here when Mike's not around. Granted I'm usually the one that does a lot of the talking but still it's just not the same when I'm talking and he's not around. (Yes, I tend to talk to myself sometimes...call me crazy, that's fine) This schedule stuff will take some getting used too. I'm sure on Thursday I'll be blogging about how frustrating it is that I have to be at work and Mike is off work. :)



I have some sad news to report...Tim and Nicole(if you remember...my first 'girl time' in D.C. was spent with Nicole and we spent Thanksgiving with them) are moving to a different apartment complex in Virginia. :( We'll miss them!