A Martin Family Christmas

Back: Ron, Wes, Michelle, Daddy, Ray, Gail, Chris

Front: Amy, Me, Heather

Christmas 2005 is in the books. It started at midnight with a beautiful mass at Holy Rosary. I only slept through a few minutes… then we all slept in this morning. Lots of great presents and family time followed. Gail took the time to put together some beautiful old photos of my great grandparents, grandparents, and dad. They are so pretty in black and white frames. Heather and Amy once again were showered with gifts… but what’s new right? At least they enjoyed everything they got.

Tonight the whole family had an amazing Turkey dinner, and played “Would You Rather” (I had to lick Heather’s belly button and suck her big toe… way gross, but I won’t turn down a dare) and Apples to Apples. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.

We just got done watching family movies from my grandparents’ (who passed away several years ago) 50th wedding anniversary, and Christmas of ’88 and ’89. Heather and Amy were hysterical: beating the crap out of each other, and opening piles and piles of presents. It was also wonderful to see my mom in the videos; walking around (with a bit of trouble of course) and talking to everybody. I wanted to jump back to that day and give her a big hug to tell her how much I love her. Watching those videos brought back some of the happiest memories of my childhood, and what Christmas in Indiana is all about. I hope everybody had as wonderful of a Christmas as I did.

Bad News and Good News



I'll start with the bad... Great Outdoor Games are cancelled for 2006. This pretty much kills my chance for sponsorship and I'll just miss the whole fun event in general. Merry frigging Christmas. But... there was log rolling before the Great Outdoor Games, so there will be after. Plus because of the Great Outdoor Games, there are many more contests and opportunities for us rollers and boom runners. So that pretty much ruined my day on Tuesday. But you know what makes bad Tuesdays much much better? Chocolate! I got hot chocolate from not ONE but TWO friends. And Olivia gave me the best kind in the world... Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf! When we were out in LA, all I wanted after competition was over was a yummy hot cocoa from Coffee Bean. We were so busy we never got a chance to stop. So she ordered some! Yum! And Erin was kind enough to give me even more hot chocolate (you can never have enough!) and a gift certificate to paint some pottery. That could be a disaster, but hey, it's worth a try.

Tomorrow I have to open the health club (blah) then I leave for Indiana around 5ish. Yeah for long car rides where I can sleep in the back! My daddy is so wonderful. Ken leaves for Vermont on Saturday. The poor kitties will be home all alone on Christmas! So if anybody wants to stop by and bang on our window to say hi to them, please do! Okay, totally kidding... stay away from our windows you freaks. I'll probably post again over the weekend, but if not... Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah!

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!!



A note from my Daddy:
Hi Everyone, This is a reminder to watch ESPN2 this Sunday, December 18, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm CST. Shana wins the gold in Women's Boom Run at the Stihl Timbersports Series in Virginia Beach. There will be other events during the three hour show, and we don't know exactly when the boom runs will air. They usually jump around from one event to another, so you may see Shana's various runs spread out over the three hours, with her gold medal run near the end. If you want, you can video tape the whole show, then fast forward until you see the boom runs (women racing across a chain of floating logs). I will be video taping the show as well.

New Stuff!
With about a million and one problems, I'm finally able to update ALL pages of my website (not just this blogger). There are already some changes to the "life" page, and keep your eyes open for even more!

I got my first batch of photos back from my fitness america weekend. The one above was take after Ms. Fitness Universe in Corona, CA by James Scarpetta.

Egg Nog



One of my favorite treats of the year: milk, sugar, cream, corn syrup, dry whey, egg yolks, and some spices… 180 calories and 8 grams of fat per serving… EGG NOG! And damn is it good!

Right now I’m baking Christmas cookies, while the snow is coming down like crazy outside! Talk about getting into the spirit!

Above is the picture we used on our Christmas card. In that photo Frankenstein is quite upset because he wants to be playing in the snow. Roscoe, on the other hand, is scared to death and won’t let go of Ken’s chest.

This year we hung up lights, set up a tree, almost finished our Christmas shopping, made our own wreaths, and already sent out Christmas cards! I know, I know, it’s disgusting, but we’re having a lot of fun with it!

I did a great “Shape Up with Shana” segment for Channel 3 on Tuesday morning. Our topic was “Healthy Holiday Gifts” and was a success! I’ve been flooded with phone calls and e-mails asking where to purchase Dance Dance Revolution and other items I demonstrated. Seriously, if you are still stuck on what to get somebody for the Holidays, consider Dance Dance… it’s a video game that will make you work out and sweat for hours… and you won’t even realize it! For more info on the game visit: http://www.ddrfreak.com/aboutddr.php

I’m heading down to Indiana for the family Christmas on Friday the 23rd, and will be coming home late on the 26th. I used to be able to stay longer, but this whole “working in the real world” thing makes it a bit hard! Ken is going out to Vermont to spend the holiday with his family.

Have a very happy holiday season everybody!