The Parry Family Blog

As the holidays are slowly winding down, I'm finally getting to relax and really enjoy my time off. This week is great. I get to work from home half of the week and get the rest of it off to spend with my awesome and amazing family! Christmas eve and the days following it were a whirl wind of dinner parties and family gatherings... by the time Saturday came around, I was ready to ride the couch and chill at home with Neil and LJ. We purposely chose not to go anywhere during the holidays this year so we can catch up on all of the craziness that's been consuming all of our time since we moved in October. Since then, its been GO GO GO and I'm so happy to have this downtime!! Leonidus is just a ball of energy and SO MUCH fun to be around! He plays 24-7. If he's not playing, he's begging me or his daddy to read him books. He loves books (he got that from Neil or his Aunti Jo, not from his momma that's for sure)... He got a TON of new toys for Christmas and has love...

Christmas is around the corner and I fortunately got my last 2 gift items last night! I'm done SHOPPING! What a great feeling that is. I swear if you have gifts left to buy, it eats away at you everyday knowing that you haven't gotten them yet. Now I am relieved and ready to celebrate Christmas in full force. Christmas came WAY to fast this year. I swear it was just Thanksgiving and feels like yesterday when we went to buy our tree!! I have really enjoyed our holidays in the new house... I'm also SUPER SUPER siked that started Xmas Eve I get a WHOLE week off. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to spend full DAYS, one after the next, with LJ, Neil and the doggies + all my family and friends that will be around during the holidays. I wish everyone a safe and beautiful Christmas and a wild and crazy New Years!

I remember when Neil got to travel to the New Mexico Bowl game while he did his stint with Spartan On Air radio for SJSU. He got tons of swag from the bowl game but compared to the bigger bowl games shown below, what he got was NOTHING in comparison... Check out what the football players of the teams in each bowl game are expected to receive. Not to shabby eh? Article Retrieved From: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1028134 By David Fox -- Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer Fans like to pile on the bowl system, but they're not the ones receiving a laptop for finishing tied for fifth in the Pac-10 or an electronics shopping spree for finishing third in the ACC Coastal. December is a time for giving, and the bowls join in the action by showering players with gifts upon arrival. The latter is becoming more of the norm. At least half of the 34 bowls are giving players shopping sprees, opening a gift suite or allowing players to pick gifts out of a catalogue. The...

HOW TO STAY YOUNG 1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them' 2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. 3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' 4. Enjoy the simple things. 5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. 6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. 7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge. 8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. 9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to wh...

Yes its been about a gazillion months or so since my last post...what I consider the longest hiatus I have had on our blog since I started blogging back in 2003. Well I am back, for now, with tons of energy and my fingers ready to type away! Life Updates: Part 1: The working world… WORK: After being laid off in August 2009 from real networks, I never really slowed down. Neil was in the heart of his 1st football season with Sobrato, Leonidus was growing rapidly and I didn't have a moment to spare. I could not let myself get down about being laid off. The unemployment rate was well in the double digits and I had to be thankful for my health and family rather than dwell upon the fact that I was temporarily jobless. Having a strong family support group helped me with building the confidence that I needed to stay positive during this really hard part of my life. I was shocked at how horrible and low it felt to get laid off. I wasn't emotionally prepared for it but I am so thankful...