The company celebrated their 50th anniversary in the old Boston Plaza Hotel. It's weird how many new people they've hired, I hardly know anybody anymore. When I started 9 years ago there were just over 100 employees and now there are almost 900. Only a few of the people who were there when I started still remain, so I guess that makes me a dinosaur. Anyway, there was a cocktail party after the company meeting:
The hotel was super cool; it was built in the 1920s and had retained its old timey appearance:
It snowed twice while I was in Boston, but I returned to a very brown Iowa. That's OK, I don't mind the unusually warm January. Hello again, 380:
In mid-January it finally snowed and we got to do all the winter stuff you're supposed to do. Like sledding:
Meet Mortimer the snowman:
As we sat outside around the fire one night, I'm pretty sure the snowman was closer to us than he was when I looked earlier...
Then all of a sudden Rose turned 14! I'm pretty sure no one saw that coming. She had lots of friends over for her birthday and had cake, ice cream, and a snow storm:
Her birthday celebration on her actual birthday:
And her birthday celebration with friends on Saturday:
Lily hates our good time:
The girls split into two teams and went to Lindale Mall to do a photo scavenger hunt. They were a little hyper and got yelled at by a mall cop, but they checked almost everything off the list and the team that won only had one item that they couldn't find. I don't think they had very much fun:
Also, Rose is studying for her permit, so lock your doors and stay off the streets.
Cynthia and I went to Riverside to see Everclear on a frigid Friday night. The temp without the windchill was -4. Thanks a lot, January. It was an awesome show, though, and cool to see Art still rockin' in his own weird way:
January ended with temperatures around -24 and a wind chill of -49, thank goodness. Can't wait to see what February brings us.