The Old Stomping Ground



Entrance to Hartwick College




Autumn Cafe

Michol and I took a road trip to Oneonta, NY to visit my old college stomping ground. It has been at least a couple of years since we have made it out to the rural college town. It was a nice warm 40 degree day while we walked the main street. We stopped at the Autumn Cafe for lunch (www.autumncafe.com) and had a couple of great sandwiches. From the outside it doesn't look like much, but the  food is really good (and mostly health conscious). After lunch, we stopped by the famous Southside "Mall" which still only has about 20-25 stores. It was fun to just people watch and not spend any money. Hard to believe I survived 4 years in that town!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great and safe holiday weekend. Michol and I changed things up this year and had early morning gifts with the Astriab's, then headed over to the Merriman's for a great brunch, split up for dinner, and then met back up for dessert at the Astriab's. This holiday, unfortunately, seemed to be the year for "ailments" as Mom and Dad Merriman were both recovering from colds, many Astriab relatives were battling colds, Michol was feeling the grind of the holidays, and I was dealing with an apparent 24 hour bug (body aches with a nice headache) .

Other than that, it was great to spend time with family and see everyone. Michol and I got some nice presents from the family that will help with the arrival of the baby. Speaking of baby, on Saturday, Michol was 17 weeks. The size of the baby, according to the experts, is that of an onion (about 5 inches long).

I also would like to point out that this Christmas was the first for Mom and Dad Merriman as Retirees! Congratulations Mom and Dad...time to finally relax and never think about work again!

Christmas Shopping!

Doesn't this picture just raise your blood pressure! For those not familiar with the scene, it is the famous Wolf Road in Colonie. Michol and I spent a well needed day off from work on Friday to do some Christmas shopping, have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, and catch a movie. We weren't as productive with the shopping as we hoped for but managed to get most of what we were looking for. While waiting to see the movie "The Fighter", I couldn't resist taking a picture of the traffic outside. The movie was great...definitely not your typical boxing movie. 6 more days until Christmas!!

9 More Days!

Hi All! As you can see from the date on my last post, there hasn't been much to share these last couple of weeks. Work has been extremely busy, for both of us, trying to wrap up year-end projects. Michol and I are hitting the malls this weekend and wrap up Christmas shopping...actually, we haven't even started.

Baby Update: Michol is doing really well. She will be 16 weeks this Saturday and has still managed to avoid the morning sickness (knock on wood). According to the websites, the baby is about the size of an apple. We have a big appointment in a few weeks where we will hopefully find out the sex of the baby. Stay tuned...

Hope everyone is doing well! 9 more days till Christmas!!!!

Lazy Weekend

This weekend was nice and relaxing...Michol and I put up the outside Christmas decorations which consisted of wreaths on each of the front windows. I included a picture of the house from last year to show you what it looks like. It looks so much better with snow on the ground...soon enough the snow will be coming. Duffy came in from Atlanta for the weekend and came up to the house on Saturday night to visit with Chiara and Jeanette. The four ladies worked on their paper cutting skills while I got to lounge with the pups watching a soccer game.   

The pups were content with basking in the sun while we worked around the house this weekend. As you can see, this is their favorite spot to relax. They took turns laying in the "window seat".



Laila up front, Oscar hanging in the back



Oscar up front, Laila hanging in the back







Ten Fingers and Ten Toes!



Full Body



Hands and Head



Foot



Arms Crossed

We had another Doctor's appointment this afternoon for an ultrasound screening and everything checked out great. The Doctor said everything looks normal and ok at 13.5 weeks. We were amazed at the rapid development of the baby since the last ultrasound was taken at 10 weeks. We were able to see hands and feet moving around right away. After moving around for a few minutes, the baby appeared to take a nap. We also saw the spine, ribs, heart, brain, and facial structure...truly amazing! We believe the next ultrasound will determine the sex of the baby! Stay tuned...

Countdown to Christmas!

After recovering from all the Thanksgiving feasting and Black Friday madness, we pulled out the Christmas decorations and put the Christmas tree up on Saturday. As always, it is tough to get moving and motivated but once we dragged everything up from the basement, it all seemed to move along. We will be saving the outdoor decorating for another day!

Oscar and Laila were so tired from watching us decorate, they crashed on the couch and demanded blankets :)

It's Official!

Happy Thanksgiving! Michol and I shared some exciting news with the family. It's official, we are expecting a new "pup" to the litter! Michol is 13 weeks pregnant and our tentative due date is 6/6/2011. We'll be providing many updates in the months to come!

To see the video of the Big Announcement, click the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/themerrimantales75?feature=mhum

Flooring Project is Complete!

We finished the Master Bedroom over this past weekend! It was the largest of the three rooms but worked out much faster and smoother than the other two. Once again we have our share of aches and pains from all the kneeling and bending over. Laila and Oscar were extremely good downstairs while we worked. We did have one casualty in the Living Room. Oscar mistakenly took one of our photo albums for a toy and proceeded to chew it up. Thankfully the photos inside were unscathed!

Let it Snow!

We had our first snowfall of the year and the pups didn't know what to make of it. Oscar sprinted out of the back door like a race horse and could not stop running around the yard while pushing his face into the snow. Laila took a little longer to make her way out to the yard but eventually was running around throwing snow all over the place. It is supposed to be in the 50s this week so this will all be a distant memory...at least until the real winter snow comes our way! 

Flooring 101!

Michol and I spent the weekend laying laminate flooring in the office room. A few weeks back we tackled the extra bedroom and managed to pull of our first flooring project together without any major injuries or blood shed. This time, things went a little smoother. We had some more difficult cuts to make, but all in all it turned out great. Now we have to deal with the aches and pains for the next few days! The pups behaved very well and did not get into trouble downstairs while we worked! Next up...the master bedroom!!

Let the Journey Begin!

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my new online adventure. This is the first of many posts I plan to share with you all.  Why now, you might be thinking? Well, I had this revelation recently that as time goes by (way too fast), we get so busy with our routines, work schedules, and weekend projects, that it is easy to forget the most simple experiences that play a part in our lives. It is these experiences that we don't always get a chance to share with those we love...so each week I will post one or two of these experiences for all of you to share with us.    

I hope you enjoy this journey into the lives of the Merrimans!