Season's Greetings!

Just wanted to wish all of our friends & family a very Merry Christmas! We hope that today brings you happiness, joy, & moments to remember for a lifetime.

We love you,

Pat, Mel & Nala

Elf & Christmas Vacation

So as Christmas draws near, Mel was finishing up some paper-grading before she breaks from school for a few weeks. Yes, I did help, but we decided to pop in Elf to kinda get that holiday spirit brewing. Will Ferrell is great! Might have a screw loose, but great nonetheless. It was early enough that we ordered a pizza, stayed in and watch not only that, but also the best Christmas/holiday movie ever, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I think this movie is funnier everytime I see it because you can relate so well to these situations over the holidays.
Family with interesting characters, decorating for the season, having work issues, shopping for all the right goodies.
Let me tell you that after watching that movie, as we do every year around this time, it puts into perspective that the holidays can be what you make it -- they can be very stressful, fast, and hard to get through. But, with a little patience & organization, you can enjoy time with family & friends and celebrate with the ones you love.

Merry Christmas to all our family & friends. Hopefully you all have a wonderful time with all of your friends & family as well!

*Yawn*

Welp, its about 11:30 pm, Wednesday night, and I just got home from work about a half-hour ago. Cheever brought it to my attention today that I hadn't paid much attention to my blog lately, so here it is -- my first post in quite some time.

*Yawn*

I'm tired. Literally drained. Tomorrow is my first day off since Dec. 3rd. Its only 10 days, but gosh they feel like 2 weeks! I think its because I dont work 8 hrs in a day....matter of fact, I dont think I've put in just 8 hrs in one day since I've been at this store. Good thing I dont keep track of my hours, cuz I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be legal.

*Yawn*

At any rate, tomorrow I'm takin' the dog to get her haircut -- then I'm going to get MY haircut. Im a friggin shag and it looks bad. I need to get a ton of other stuff done and, frankly, I have no time to do it.

*Yawn*

Honestly, I don't really see things getting much better either. My manager got promoted to District Manager, and I finally put in for his old position. Doubt I'll get it, just based on experience, but it looks better if I go for it. But if I get this job, who knows what my hours will be. Im pretty sure I'll stick to mainly days but I'm getting way ahead of myself....get the job first, then worry bout the rest...

I've just re-read this post and I'm rather disappointed by its outcome -- but hey Cheever -- HERE'S YOUR POST!!!! haha

*Yawn*

Goodnight.

Nala

So I just realized that our banner up there says, "A dash into the life and times of Patterz & the Melsther....with a splash of Nala mixed in." However, I don't think I've even mentioned Nala on any posts.

Welp, here it is....Nala's own posting! Nala is going to be 3 yrs old on Dec. 13th. She is a miniature pinscher/poodle mix. You can really see both in her I think, because shes got the body shape and markings of a min-pin, but longer hair that curls when its long enough. She's got the yapper of a poodle and the attention span of a gnat. (which is pretty close to how a min-pin is)

We found her on the Internet and Mel told me as soon as she saw her picture, that this was THE DOG. So, we drove up north to Michigan and got her. We knew she was special right from when we saw her and lets just say the ride home with a 2 month old puppy was memorable. I'm not real sure how we came up with the name Nala, but we saw it somewhere and liked it. Of course, Nala is also a character in The Lion King.

Anyone who knows Nala knows that she is one of the most friendly dogs you'll ever meet. Almost TOO friendly as people routinely get face-planted kisses, she runs wild when company is over, and she rarely relaxes when people are around. On the other hand, if you really know Nala you know that she can be pretty chill and relaxed. She's definitely Mel & I's best friend and the three of us make our "so-far" perfect family.

Ladies & Gentlemen, I give you Nala