Christmas - Week in Review

Last week Allison and I were off work all week. It was a great week spending time with family as well as just hanging out at home, just the three of us. The first few days of the week we finished up our Christmas shopping. I had done about half of what I wanted to do, so I finished that up. Allison had some to finish as well and we did some shopping as a family. On Wednesday we had lunch with our niece and her mom. We don't see them very often, so we were excited to see them both. I am amazed at how big Natalie is getting. Christmas Eve we gather with my mom's family as well as Allison's dad's family. We had a good time at both places and Cooper really enjoyed opening presents (his and other people's). Christmas Day we do not usually leave our house. We spend Christmas morning together as a family and in the afternoon Allison's mom's family. That was a lot of fun. There were some of her family there that we had not seen in a long time. There are now many kids running around with one more on the way. I loved watching the kids run around playing! The day after Christmas the three of us got out and did a little shopping. Allison always likes to get out of the house the day after Christmas and other than the traffic at Opry Mills, it was fun to get out. Sunday we took down all Christmas decorations and tried to get ready to go back to work. We had another short week and our friends, the Omohundros, are coming in from Lexington today. We are excited to see them and spend some time with them.

Handgun Safety

Today Allison and I did something that I would never have thought we would do in a million years--we took a handgun safety class together. It was so much fun. Allison was co-counsel the guy who is an instructor at Personal Responsibility, Inc. He told Allison that if she was going to defend police officers then she needed to at least know how to handle a pistol. We left early this morning and made the drive to Nunnely, TN for the class that started at 7:30. After about 4 hours in the "classroom" and a test that allows us to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon, we went to the shooting range for about 4 hours. This was when I thought Allison may get nervous. Each time the instructors would take their pistol out for demonstration in the classroom I could tell her tension level rose a little. When we got to the range, however, it did not appear that she was nervous at all. She did great.

Now I have to admit, I am a total city boy. Most of this know that already. I thought that once we started using live rounds I may get a little nervous. I actually never got nervous and loved every minute of it. I still don't think Allison will let me get a gun, but I think I would really enjoy learning more about handling a pistol and going to the gun range to shoot. We probably shot about 130 rounds each and qualified to get a handgun carry permit. I don't know that either of us will ever get the permit, but it was a ton of fun. Thanks again to John for inviting us out and providing so much for us. And thanks to all of the instructors at PRI, you guys were great.

If anyone is looking for a firearms training I would definitely recommend these guys. They were awesome and provided so much help to Allison and I. Allison had not ever shot a gun before and I had not shot one in many, many years. They offer classes from the basic handgun class we took on up to much more advanced handgun and shoulder fired firearms. If you are interested go to their website, http://www.prifirearmstraining.com, for more information.

This is a picture of Alli at the range. I never imagined I would see her with a pistol on her side.

Here are our targets. I will let you decide which one belongs to me and to Alli.

Hello Mr. Blue, Good to See You Again!

Because our weekend was so busy, my brother met me to pick up a Christmas tree and Allison stayed home while Cooper took a nap. We go the tree up and put the lights on, but decided to wait until Monday night to decorate it. Cooper was so excited. He asked Allison to let him put a few ornaments on while I was at family group. Monday morning, when I woke Cooper up, the first thing he said was, "Can we put the ornaments on?" Then Monday evening when I picked him up that was the first thing he asked me again. When we finished dinner Monday night we decorated the tree. It was so much fun. Cooper was so excited to bring the ornaments in the living room and to start putting them on the tree. The tree is probably about 9 feet tall, so needless to say, Cooper needed a step stool to put most of the ornaments on. We had to ensure that we moved it often because at one time I looked over and he had 4 or 5 ornaments on the same branch.

Also, Ole Mr. Blue Ornament made his way back on the tree this year. For those that have read this blog for more than a year know that Allison has a "red" Christmas tree. I did, however, manage to get a blue ornament on the tree last year and the year before. I think now she just accepts it and doesn't even acknowledge my quest.

What a Fun Weekend

We had a busy, but fun weekend. Friday night was the annual Rudolph Red Nose 5k and Nashville Christmas parade. We were both signed up, but because Cooper had been coughing for a few days and the forecast was for the temperatures to be in the 30s, we thought 30 minutes of cold wind in Cooper's face wasn't the best idea. We decided that I would hang out with Cooper and Allison would run the race. She ran a great race and finished 4th in her age group. We were also excited to get to see our friend, Heather, finish her first 5k. Congratulations Heather!

Saturday morning Allison, Cooper, Heather, Hannah, and I all went to Sesame Street Live. It was much better that I anticipated, and Cooper had a great time. At first I couldn't really tell what he thought, but I think he was just amazed by the show. He and Hannah both were very good during the show and seemed to have a great time.

After that we went to have Cooper's 3 year old pictures taken. Typically our neighbor, Shannon, takes Cooper's pictures. Since she is due to have their newest addition in about 10 days, she wasn't able to take them and we asked another friend and photographer, Alison to do it for us. We had fun taking pictures with him and can't wait to see them.

Never Take a Moment for Granted

Over the past few days I have been reminded why we so often hear, "Don't take anything for granted." On Sunday I learned that the wife of a friend of mine that I played ball with in college had passed away. She was 30 years old and they have 3 children ages 1, 3, and 5. Just a few days prior to learning this news I told Allison "If anything ever happens to you, we will have the worst kid on the block. It will be sleeping in my room and brownies for breakfast everyday." I said this jokingly, but I can't even begin to think about what my friend is going through tonight. When we saw him at the visitation the first thing he said to us was "Guys, go home and hug your wives." At the time Allison was on a plane from Cincinnati to Nashville. You can bet, however, that as soon as she walked through that door she got a big hug from me. It's now been 24 hours since I talked to my friend, but what he said to me is still resonating through my head. Hug your spouse tonight as if you won't get to tomorrow. Unfortunately for my friend, he doesn't have that opportunity.