Cleo also wants to attack and eat you.

Cara and I thought this was just great.

Hope everyone is enjoying your holiday.  I have a week off for Christmas and time on my hands-so check out the elf dance!  Make your own elves if you'd like.  Hurry-elfing ends January 2!

Mo, Cara and Cleo

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1762787321

Cara's dad, Papa and Lila, and Buster

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1763027560

This past weekend, Cara and I went to Branson, Missouri with some friends from church. I've been many times, but it had been almost 10 years since I had been last. It was Cara's first time to go. We had a lot of fun and were quite impressed with the town. We spent most of Saturday at Silver Dollar City which looked great with their Christmas lights up. Check the pictures out and let us know what you think.

David

Last night we took the teens from church to a corn field maze at Wild Things Farm.  We went after dark, so we went through the maze with only flashlights and glowsticks to guide our way.  Inspired by a video we saw on America's Funniest Home Videos, I decided to go for a little extra glow.  It was a fun costume-you should try it sometime!

-Cara

I took my car to the Star Wash today-it was really needing a good cleaning.  I had a coupon for the Premium wash so that's what I requested, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.  So here's what you get for $10 at the car wash:  I pulled around and a man motioned for me to wait while he hooked something up.  When he told me to pull on in, he was spraying something on my car and another man was turning on the industrial-sized bubble blower to blow little bubbles all over my car.  Why?  I don't know-maybe to set the mood-make me think getting a car wash is FUN!  Then the actual car wash started-I pulled onto the track and put my car in neutral and took my hands off of the steering wheel, as directed by neon signs all around.  The track pulled the car in and the first part was like a normal wash-but then came the rainbow foam!  Wow!  It was all brightly-colored-and scented like cotton candy or bubble gum or something.  I was alone in the car and I wished someone was with me to share the joy-I laughed out loud.  My friend Lori told me later that was the wax-I had no idea!  I'm so cheap-I always get the simple wash-boy have I been missing out!  I rolled ahead through the rinse cycle and the monstrous blow dryer, then by walls of mirrors where I could admire my pretty, clean car before heading out.  Out onto the streets where it will take no time for my car to get dirty again.  At least I'll know where to go for another car wash.  :)   

-Cara

Cara and I visited North "Cackalacky" this past week. Apparently, cackalacky is slang for Carolina. And before you ask, I have no idea where the nickname comes from. Not even the North Carolina Miscellany website knows for sure where the nickname came from. I'll tell you this, though, there are Cackalacky t-shirts if you're interested.

But enough about nicknames, on to the trip.

We left last Thursday and got to Raleigh around noon. We met up with some friends there for about 5 minutes of lunch before they had to head back to work While they were busy slaving away for the rest of the afternoon, Cara and I took off to go to the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. The museum was really great and really free. They have dinosaur fossils, an insect exhibit and a lot of other things spread across four floors. There is also a museum of history and a museum of art nearby that we didn't stop by to see. The state capitol building is right by the museums as well, so we stopped by to see those. All in all, our first day in North Carolina provided a great learning experience. And ice cream that night.

The next day, we got up in time to hit the road around 5:35 AM. We had a big day ahead of us. We ended up seeing Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Jockey's Ridge Sand Dunes, a lot of lighthouses, a national seashore, a car ferry and more. The Wright Brothers memorial was really neat. They had set up markers to indicate the distance that each of the first flights traveled. The sand dunes were also great. Hiking up a sand dune is hard work! And the sand was really hot. The day ended on a frustrating note when we hit a deer while driving back to Raleigh. We couldn't even open the passenger door to Jonathan's car afterwards. And their last car had been messed up because of a deer as well! So watch out for deer in North Carolina!

The next day included visiting NC State, Duke and UNC at Chapel Hill. I had no idea that all three universities were so close in proximity, but it didn't take but about half an hour to get between them. Each campus had a distinct feel and we enjoyed getting to see them. Duke had a really nice garden on its campus that we enjoyed. We also learned about Michael Jordan learning ballet. We closed the night with a visit to the movie theater to catch a cheap showing of Shrek 3.

Anyway, enough blabbing, eh? Show me some pictures, right?

Well, here ya go. Click here or the on the picture below to get to the photo gallery.

The much-awaited day finally arrived! I have been growing my hair out to donate for quite a while now. I decided to donate it to a program by Pantene (see http://www.beautifullengths.com) because they require just an 8 inch ponytail rather than the 10-12 inches required by Locks of Love and other organizations. I ended up having two ponytails to donate because my hair is SO thick. So, now most of my hair is in an envelope ready to be sent off and I am enjoying my new, much lighter hairdo.

While I set the self-timer on the camera, Cleo got curious.

So I took another picture.

My first automobile accident occurred when I was around five years old. And yes, I was the driver. My sister and I were sitting in the back seat of my grandfather's car and he had stopped to run into the post office to pick up some mail. I, being the rambunctious youngster that I was, decided that I would "drive" the car while he was inside the post office. I crawled into the front seat and started spinning the wheel just like David Hassellhoff did on Knight Rider. Papa (aka my grandfather) had put the car in park, but he hadn't anticipated that my foot would knock the car into neutral when I crawled into the driver's seat. I rolled the car right into the parked car in front of us. THAT wasn't supposed to happen. I vaguely remember getting into a lot of trouble for that one, though no one was hurt.

My second automobile accident happened last week. I was driving the car this time, too, though the resulting accident  wasn't my fault. I was in the inside lane going through an intersection when the other driver decided to turn onto the street. They had a red light, but there wasn't anything posted about not turning on red. There was actually nothing wrong with them making the turn except that they didn't quite turn far enough. Instead, my car helped them into the outside lane. Unfortunately, this "help" left a few impacts on my new car.

This car (a 2007 Toyota Camry) was my first new car. Cara and I got it on December 31. Easy day to remember, I suppose. Stinks that it happened to this car instead of the one I traded in, eh? The damage really isn't that bad, though, and the car is certainly still drivable. I took it in to a body shop this morning and they think they'll be able to get it fixed and back to me by the weekend, which will be nice. They'll have to replace the panel above the front right wheel as well as the fender. All they'll have to do to the passenger door is buff the scratches out and repaint it.

I'm fortunate that everything so far has gone very smoothly. The woman who hit me was very gracious and felt awful about the accident. Their insurance company has been very helpful thus far so, as far as accidents go, this one hasn't been too bad. Though I certainly don't want it to happen again!

NOTE - It is really, really annoying to get letters from chiropractors and lawyers literally days after the accident. Not only is it annoying, but it seems highly unprofessional to me. Particularly when you get the same letter from the same lawyer twice... in one day! But then again, I'm no chiropractor or lawyer. What do I know?