out of office reply

i love Josh Griffin's creative out of office replies, and how he inspires the rest of us to create some fun from an otherwise boring office practice. here's my out of office reply as we're away in pittsburgh:

Cory is currently out of the office right now because he's spreading some holiday cheer with some family in Pittsburgh. He would love to respond to your email right away, but can't because he's roasting chestnuts by an open fire and trying to maneuver his way under the mistletoe with his wife, Shanna.

He will most likely respond to your email when he returns, unless you send him 10 or more emails over Christmas break. There then might be a chance he won't respond to any of them just to teach you a lesson.

Merry Christmas!

for fellow eagles fans everywhere... yesterday was a day to remember!!!

it was loud in our home ...to say the least.

camel wash

thanks Jill

mariska enjoying the snow

we don't have tons of snow here at our place because the wind drifts it away, but mariska is having fun nonetheless.

random h-man happenings

- back on thanksgiving day i blogged a random list of things i'm thankful for, one of which was a furnace that works and heat in our home. i thought i was thankful for that then, but now i REALLY am. since then, a whole new circuit board, pressure switch, and blower motor have been replaced after it stopped working two different times (all covered under warranty). after being without "furnace heat" for the last couple days we're REALLY thankful for it now!

- if you live in the greece area, you really should get your christmas tree from green acres. they should give me a deal next year for advertising for them (to all 3 of you readers out there lol). they are always so friendly, even when you pick the most frigid saturday of the year to pick out your tree. after pointing it out, it's not long and they've already got it tied to the top of the car. they even have a hotdog stand there to satisfy your pregnant craving wife, not that i would know or anything.

- really enjoying the "rediscovering christmas" bible reading plan from You Version. shanna and i decided to read it together this year (although we're a bit behind right now). if you're looking for a new reading plan as the new year rolls around, be sure to check out this site. their plans are different than the usual linear ones, and some are pretty unconventional. and they're starting to really tap into the social networking part of it all that can foster an even better experience.

- there's gotta be few teams in the NFL i detest more than the cowboys, and it was so great to see the 'birds beat em last night! VICKtory!

- speaking of the NFL, did you hear about this jet's coach caught on camera tripping a player as he ran down the sideline? to his credit he did apologize afterwards. i think this is an example of how good leadership sometimes is being humble enough to admit when you're wrong. not sure if the jets will keep this guy, but my guess is that he's the one coach on the squad LEAST likely to make that mistake in the future.

- had our 20 week ultrasound today for the baby. we are super grateful and thankful that the baby is growing and developing well, according to the tech has a "beautiful, beautiful spine", is 11 ounces, and the heart rate is right on target. the whole thing still feels so surreal and miraculous at the same time. oh...and it's a GURRRRLLLLLLLL!!!