Taking Care of Business...

We had quite a few bits of "business" to take care of this weekend and we definitely made a dent! Mark's major challenge was studying for finals which he'll be taking this week. Due to his surgery which is scheduled for Wednesday (we're assuming that it will go on as planned since the Stanford Hospital workers are striking only for 24 hours), Mark had the extreme displeasure of studying a ton of information so that he could take all of his tests in two days instead of four. We're sure he'll wow them!

MeLissa busied herself with a few other tasks while he studied. Primarily, she focused on Christmas preparations (which are behind due to our cancelled trip to Colorado). We can say that the female gift recipients will be coming out very well with all the little goodies MeLissa made for them...she's even contemplating saving some of the goodies for herself! The guys are a bit harder to buy for (though MeLissa did do a pretty good bit of shopping for Mark yesterday), but they'll be treated royally, too, once all is said and done. Once everyone has had a chance to see what they've received, we'll try to post some pictures here!

In addition to Christmas "stuff," MeLissa worked a little on her wedding planning certification course. Things are going smoothly and she expects to finish the course up by mid-January at the latest. If possible, she'd acutally like to finish by the end of December - she plans to use a good portion of Mark's surgery time reading and studying to bring her closer to this goal. She's really enjoying her studies so far - they definitely are helping her to remember how much work (and fun!) it was planning our wedding. Her studies are definitely tapping into the creative side of her brain and are leading to some nifty ideas for the 5th Anniversary party we're hoping to have in 2009! Mark your calendars the evening of July 31, 2009, is sure to be fabulous!

Finally, thanks to a bit of shopping MeLissa did on Friday night, Pixie had a very fun weekend. She now knows the pure joy (and frustration) that a laser pointer can bring a kitty. She and MeLissa spent a good portion of the weekend playing with her new toy (which was supposed to be her Christmas present, but MeLissa was too anxious to have fun!). Both MeLissa and Mark get quite a kick out of seeing Pixie try to catch the red light - it is especially fun when she runs in circles or tries to catch it when it's on her paw!

As for Banshee, she wasn't too impressed by the light, but she also enjoyed her weekend. She primarily spent it in her typical fashion by hiding (either outside in her home or inside under the couch) and, in short spurts, viewing the neighborhood from oh high (she enjoys going up on our roof to look over the land). She also enjoyed some really pleasant petting sessions.