Hiking, brothers and chaos

My brother came to visit this past week, and I had a really enjoyable visit. I didn't have vacation time to use, so had to go off to work while he and the dogs enjoyed hanging out and watching TV. We managed to get out 'n about a little in the evenings, saw the new National Treasure movie. The weather was awesome all week (in the 70's!), so I made a couple of afternoon trips to the park to walk the dogs and get a bit of exercise. My brother, David, joined me ... but his idea of enjoying the weather & exercising was a good book and a spot on a bench at the park.

This weekend I've been busy with my friends in the hiking group. Saturday morning, wearing my new lightweight long-johns under my hiking attire, I did the 3 1/2 hour Mistletoe Park hike. A bit hilly, but we kept the pace easy enough that I didn't need to be hauled out on a stretcher! It's a real social group, so afterwards some of us went out for dinner and hit the $2 movie theater to see Dan in Real Life. Good movie...I'd put it in the 'chick flick' category. We decided on another hike for today, not as long though, and at least the weather isn't too bad for January - 60 degrees. Maybe I'll even take "The Poodles" with me on this hike. That should be interesting.

After getting grief from my brother for still having my Christmas tree up, I forced myself to take it down today. I'd taken all the decorations off on New Year's weekend, but the tree was still lighting up every night. It's a new tree, and of course it doesn't fit back into the box!

David helped me rearrange my living room furniture. My niece, Crystal, and her 1 year old son Skylar will be coming to stay with me awhile at the end of the month. So I thought I'd work on baby-proofing a bit. Needed to get the TV backed up flush to a wall so the little bugger can't pull on the cables. Lots more to do to make this place baby-proof! Oh, and not only will these two be joining me, but since my sister Karen (Crystal's Mom) is moving to Alabama...I asked my landlord for permission to pet sit Karen's two Shelties (those little small Lassie looking dogs that bark a lot). Surprisingly the landlord said yes! So, two more dogs will join my household for awhile as well. How do you spell CHAOS?