New Year's Day 2009...Da Iggle is home.

Hey ya'll....it's 2009! Haven't you heard? :-)

NO ONE could have scripted a more perfect start to New Year's Day for us. I mean it. Why, you ask?

Well, this morning, as we opened the front door to take our boys out for a walk, guess what was waitin' for us? Yep! DA IGGLE!!!!!
OH-----MY-----GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDD!!!

Ed and I couldn't believe our eyes. It is a magnificent piece of art. Energy. Motion. Freedom. Emotin. Color. Awwwwwh, just outstanding! Amos must have come by some time while we were asleep and left it for us at our front door. He painstakingly painted it a gorgeous copper golden red on one side, and as it spins in the breeze, it reflects intermittent bright and copper light. The reflected light just bounces all over the yard. Everyone should have kinetic art in their garden/yard. I mean it. It just gives an already alive garden such energy, such emotion.

If you're an art lover and you're out there, commission a piece with Amos. I have no qualms about plugging his art. It is tremendous. Call him up. Tell him your vision. Tell him who you want to honor. Tell him what you feel. Tell him what you want to see come alive in your garden. What you will receive will be unforgettable. Honest.

As I talked to Lynne and Amos throughout the day, Lynne summed up what our Eagle means for us. For us, it is a symbolic wedding gift from people we love tremendously, created from Amos' artistic vision, arduously crafted by hand. He used his strong, corded arms to carefully shape cold, hard metal into undulating warm, supple curves. We lovingly refer to it as "Da Iggle". It soars, swoops, and coasts. And as Lynne summed up, it is just as our relationship has soared, swooped, and coasted through the mountains and valleys of our relationship and our life together, and no more so than this past year.

These videos do Da Iggle no justice at all, but once we get bolted up on the deck, I'll get some nice video and some great pictures to post. For now...




Lynne and Amos have their work cut out for them....how in the world are they going to top this next New Year's Day!!!!???? Ha ha ha!!! I have been giddy all freaking day long. Every time I see it out there spinning in the breeze I let out a delighted cackle, and then end up having to cough it out a bit. ;-)

Well, speaking of....we're beginning to feel better and better as each hour passes. We slept in until 10:30 in the morning today! In all the years we've been together, we've NEVER slept that late into the day. Wow. It felt wonderful.

After I popped a few Sudafeds, I was able to deeply breathe in the crisp, clean, winter air of San Diego. It is a breathtakingly gorgeous day! Sunny, wispy clouds, breezy, and warm. Just beautiful. What a day to start the new year. Thank you God.

Before we ever got out the front door and saw Da Iggle, I opened the back door to let some fresh air in while we dressed to take the boys on their New Year's Day walk. As I wandered past the patio door, I glanced out and saw this:
Milo, our resident sun lover.
You'll never catch Achilles doing anything crazy like this. No siree. He loves to find himself a shady spot in the yard and settle in, just like this--- But Milo, he is a pup after Auntie Laura's own heart right about now up there in Seattle. :-) His profession of choice is also 'Rain Hater'. He turns his face to the sun and lets his eyelids drift down in bliss. Just loves, loves, LOVES to soak in the warm rays...
See how his ears are perked up....he heard me coming closer with the camera, but he didn't want to waste the energy to open his eyes. He was so in love with the day this morning.
Last night was a different story. At 11:40 p.m. he decided he wanted to go out. I thought he wanted to stroll down the block and back, but noooooo, his energetic ass took to me to the end of our street and back! We were gone so long that Ed got worried and came out after us. We even missed the stroke of midnight, so Ed and I got our New Year's kiss in at 12:02 a.m. Tee hee.

I think Milo wanted to run off some frustration from always having to defer to his older brother.....here he is last night, New Year's Eve, when Achilles decided to sleep with his paw jammed up Milo's butt. Poor guy, we were wondering why he was so grumpy! He kept wuffing and making little scruffy sounds. He didn't want to get up and disturb Achilles' sleep, but at the same time, who can relax on New Year's Eve with a paw up their butt? I mean, c'mon!
New Year's Eve was romantice and peaceful, even in our sickly state. We made meatballs from scratch, some whole grain spaghetti, a little Chianti, and we decided to watch Lord of the Rings (I know, I know, like for the hundreth time!) with our new surround sound system. It was sweet!!! We have the entire LOTR box set, so I'm looking forward to watching the next two. Again, and again.

Today, we had the arrival of the Da Iggle, a lazy, sunny New Year's Day, took our boys out for two long walks, and now I'm going to settle in and prepare my 2008 wrap-up post. Hope ya'll are ready to wait for that looooooong post to open for ya. :-)

Hope all of my Blogistani friends had just as wonderful and beautiful of a start to 2009.

Before I go work on my next post....just wanted you to check out Milo Bear, our resident sun worshiper: