Well, it’s Thursday morning. We’ve got a ton of stuff to do before we hit the road this weekend, so I’ll close out this ol’ blog until next week or next year.

It’s been a roller coaster of a year personally. We hit the ultimate low with our miscarriage back in March, and we hit the highest of highs watching and feeling our new baby grow. On a side note, our little girl is due two days after the anniversary of our miscarriage.

It’s been a pretty good year at work, too. I’ve had a lot more positives than negatives. I’m very thankful for that, and I’m grateful for the people I work with. You guys make every day a pleasure.

To all of our friends and family, we love you all. Thank you for being there when we’ve needed you, and thank you just for being you.

With that said, from my family to yours, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We wish you all of God’s blessings and mercies this holiday season.

Just a very quick update to say things are good again… so far. I’ve been a little preoccupied with things, but it’s all good.

Just gimmie next week, and I’ll be doing well in ’06.

This weekend, I finally applied the second coat of paint for the nursery. I just have to touch up the edges and corners, and I’m done. I also finished stripping the wallpaper down from our main bathroom.

I’m glad it’s finally Christmas. Only one more week to go. I’m in desperate need of having next week off.

I never mention negative things (at least I try not to), but I’m not happy Monday through Friday right now. Read into that what you will, but things have been different for the last two or so weeks. It seems I’m only happy on the weekends.

I’m not going to say that anyone in general is the cause of my dissatisfaction. I would put it squarely on my shoulders. Plus, there’s not one single factor. I can tell you exactly what’s eating at me, and it’s several things related to those five days of the week.

I’m just Burned out. Yep, that’s with a capital “B.”

That kind of reminds me of those ugly Whattaburger restaurants. I haven’t seen one since I was stationed in Texas.

Anyhow…

It’s been an awesome day so far. I got up, met Paulie (our chief photog) at the bureau around 8:30, and we shot the first of my February sweeps story. It’s a three-parter, and I’m not going to reveal anything else about it here. It should be a good one, though.

We finished up, and I talked to my boss about what to do the rest of the day. Part two of my story will be shot out-of-town this week, so he gave me the rest of the day off! Working 11 hours yesterday didn’t hurt, either.

And… WE HAVE HOT WATER! The gentlemen came this morning, and we have a brand new water heater courtesy of our home warranty people. I really think we would’ve renewed the contract for another year if it wouldn’t cost so much this close to Christmas.

We paid $339 when we bought the house, and we’ve had to replace the furnace and the water heater. So, for less than $340, we’ve had more than $2,000 worth of work done. Not bad, huh? They now want almost $500 to renew the contract, and most of our other appliances were new with the house.

So, what’s a man to do today? I’m about to leave and finish Christmas shopping for Amy, and I guess I’ll come home and finish putting the touches on the painter’s tape. I should be ready to paint the nursery by this weekend.

It’s a good day.

Friday night, we went to see “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion , The Witch and The Wardrobe” with my siblings-in-law. It’s an incredible movie! It’s beautifully done, and it’s very kid-friendly. There is a big battle scene, but it’s not violent in terms of blood and all. Best (and most shocking) of all, Disney kept the Christian themes intact.

Our water heater has been out since last Tuesday. We’ve been taking showers over at my sister-in-law’s house (Thanks, Mel!). The plumbers are supposed to show up Monday morning to install a new one. The biggest problem is our homeowner’s warranty runs out on the 22nd, so we’re trying to get the last big item for free while we can. Plus, we’re sick and tired of not having hot water.

We had a great time Saturday night at the WTVM Christmas party. Thanks for the gift certificate, and I picked a $50 Home Depot gift card off the tree. I spent it on the way home, too.

Here’s to hopefully only one more cold water morning. Have a great night!