Happy New Year !

Be safe out there tonight.

Fireworks explode over the London Eye in the annual display to celebrate the New Year in central London. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (December 31, 2007)

Today would have been my Dad's 70th birthday. I miss him a lot. Happy Birthday Dad !

Back from the East...

We made it back safely from the East Coast late Friday night. (Jet Blue rocks) We had a great time and it was so nice to be with Dan's family again. Our neice and nephew are the coolest kids - we wish we lived closer so we could see them more often. Here are some pics from the week...

Happy Holidays

We'll be without easy internet access for the next several days, so an early Merry Christmas to everyone !

Happy Birthday James !

Our nephew turned 2 today - what a cutie !

Christmas craziness = lack of posts...

No time for anything creative...just a clip from my favorite Christmas movie.

at least you don't have to shovel rain...

Say what you want about rain; I'll take it any day over snow and the cold. Both our families have been hit with good amounts of snow this weekend. I'm just hoping for some good weather this coming weekend as we travel back east for the holiday.

(photo from the Chicago Tribune)

(photo from the Hartford Courant)

blast from the past...

One of my favorite TV shows from my 70's childhood was "Land of the Lost". Here's the episode that started it all...

The song "Guaranteed", from the Into the Wild soundtrack by Eddie Vedder, has been nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media" category. Although not my favorite track from the album, it is a beautiful song.

A short clip from YouTube.com about the collaboration between Eddie and the film's Director, Sean Penn...

(some of) the lights are up...

Even though I-5 reopened to all traffic late Friday, we ended up staying in town for the weekend. We'll venture down next weekend when we know all is well with the roadway. So we got a bunch done at home instead. I started putting up the lights outside:

Half of our strands of lights were burned out. So my display is much smaller than I was hoping for. I'll buy more tomorrow.

we need to get to Portland this weekend, but...

photo courtesy of WSDOT flickr page

...this is what 20 miles of the interstate between Seattle and Portland looks like. We're keeping our fingers crossed for the possibility of it reopening this weekend, but things aren't looking good.


Update: It's looking a bit more positive as of Friday morning - still keeping our fingers crossed.

the last year I'll be counting...

It's the big 3-9 for me today. I've decided this is where I'll stop counting birthdays. Some other notable things that happened on this date:

On Dec. 4, 1783, Gen. George Washington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York.

In 1816, James Monroe of Virginia was elected the fifth president of the United States.

In 1875, William Marcy Tweed, the "Boss" of New York City's Tammany Hall political organization, escaped from jail and fled the country.

In 1918, President Wilson set sail for France to attend the Versailles Peace Conference.

In 1942, U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II.

In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration, which had been created to provide jobs during the Depression.

In 1965, the United States launched Gemini 7 with Air Force Lt. Col. Frank Borman and Navy Commander James A. Lovell aboard.

In 1977, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Empire, crowned himself emperor in a lavish ceremony. (Bokassa was deposed in 1979; he died in 1996 at age 75.)

In 1978, San Francisco got its first female mayor as City Supervisor Dianne Feinstein was named to replace the assassinated George Moscone.

In 1991, the original Pan American World Airways ceased operations.

In 1996, the Mars Pathfinder lifted off from Cape Canaveral and began speeding toward Mars on an odyssey of 310 million miles. (It arrived on Mars in July 1997.)

Ten years ago: The NBA suspended All-Star Latrell Spreewell of the Golden State Warriors for one year for choking and threatening to kill his coach, P.J. Carlesimo, three days earlier. (An arbitrator later reduced the suspension and reinstated Sprewell to the Warriors, which had terminated his contract.)

Five years ago: United Airlines lost its bid for $1.8 billion in federal loan guarantees, a major setback to the nation's second-largest air carrier in its efforts to avoid bankruptcy. Supreme Court justices heard arguments on whether federal laws intended to combat organized crime and corruption could be used against anti-abortion demonstrators. (The court later ruled that such laws were improperly used to punish abortion opponents.)

One year ago: Lacking the Senate votes to keep his job, embattled U.N. Ambassador John Bolton offered his resignation to President Bush, who accepted it. Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was convicted in the Philippines of raping a Filipino woman and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Truck driver Tyrone Williams was convicted in Houston of the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants crammed into a sweltering tractor-trailer. NASA announced plans to build an international base camp on the moon.

early birthday gift for me...

I've been wanting a digital SLR for a long time. And even though my birthday isn't until tomorrow, Dan gave me my gift a bit early. All my cameras since 8th grade have been Pentax. I was SO excited to get this one - the K10D. I've only taken a few shots - Jake was my model:


This was also his first experience with snow. Looks a bit perplexed, doesn't he ?

snow for a day...

It started snowing Saturday morning and kept up until Sunday afternoon. Then it turned to rain. Today, it's dumping buckets and is supposed to be close to 60 degrees. I still prefer rain to snow, anyday.

some Family Guy fun...

I love this show.

Today would have been Bruce Lee's 67th birthday. Some UW students have signed a petition asking UW administrators to officially recognize the man they think could be one of the school's best-known minority students.

what were we thinking ?

Last night after dinner, I presented the brilliant notion of going shopping at 4 am this morning to cash in on all the holiday bargains of "Black Friday". Dan, Mark and I loaded up at 3:45 with coffee in hand and headed to Kohl's at Southcenter. The first indicator of the total chaos that awaited inside should have been the lack of any parking spaces within a one mile buffer of the front doors. But we finally found a spot and headed in. Good god. We lasted about 6 minutes and left. The line to check out was over an hour wait. I know, I know - what did I expect ? We drove to Target also, but the line was out the door and around the corner. So now we're home, shopping online. Mark went back to bed.

People were wondering why Dan was taking photos of them. Look happy about that hour wait, don't they ??

Happy Thanksgiving !

our first game at Qwest...

My brother is visiting this week for Thanksgiving. He, Dan and I went to the Seahawks vs. Bears game this afternoon at Qwest Field. We had a fun time and it was nice to see the inside of the stadium. The audience, however, is QUITE different from baseball games. And we were sitting in the north end zone or "Hawks Nest", so it was extra amped.

Matt Cameron from Pearl Jam joined the Seahawks drum squad, "Blue Thunder", for the game. He and Jerry Cantrell raised the 12th Man flag before the start of the first quarter.

at least I get my new couch now...

The only dog we've ever had as a puppy was Gabe - and he was a perfect pup. He chewed up two things in that stage - a corner of his wicker bed and one of Dan's baseball hats. That's it. Jake, however, is showing us another side of puppy life. This is what greeted us after work yesterday:


I was just saying how much I wanted new living room furniture too. Maybe he overheard me. When I asked him why he did it, this was his reply:

long ball Larry...

One of my favorite shows is HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm". I was a huge Seinfeld fan, but I like this show even better. One episode I found particularly funny was on a few weeks ago - here is a short clip from it: (remember - this show is on HBO, so it may not be suitable for all viewers)

all that Jazz...

My sister and nephew are visiting for the weekend. Dan and Aaron went to the Sonics - Jazz game last night. They sat a few rows behind the Jazz bench. Here are some of their shots:

my nephew was extra psyched to see Deron Williams (ex-Illini ) play ...


acrobatics at halftime...

for some reason, I don't think Dan's trying to take a photo of the ref.....

and then I saw one...

Not long after we bought our scooter I wondered "do they make sidecars for these things ?" While at a stoplight not long ago, I saw this across the intersection. It looks like an older model, but how cool is that ? And the color rocks. I could fit myself and the dogs in one.

Happy Friday

a girl can always dream...

Dan picked up some could-have-been World Series tickets for me from a Cubs season ticket holder. (this guy had great seats) I also have a stack of NLCS tickets. Best bookmarks I've ever had !

Don't forget to vote today.

it was supposed to be seasonal...

For our anniversary ( 9/21 ) this year, I decorated our upstairs bathroom in Red Sox gear for Dan. It was impossible to find a Red Sox shower curtain, so I ended up making one instead. (if you wanted an NFL team shower curtain, no problem - they were everywhere) There's a Red Sox rug, various signage, photos of favorite players, even a seating chart for Fenway. The works. It was supposed to be seasonal - to last through the post season play. Now that it is all over, I'd like to revert back to a non-sports themed bathroom. I'm getting some resistance.

Anyone want a Red Sox shower curtain ???

Happy Halloween !

I love Halloween and I love carving pumpkins. I did these three the other night during the last Red Sox game. I really like how the spider turned out. I made some holey ones for inside. Another use for the drill's wood bit.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone !

how sweep it is !

newest addition to our family...

We adopted a dog last night. He had been on craigslist for about a month and his situation was getting more desparate. He had to be out of his current home by the weekend. We took and hour and a half ride yesterday afternoon to meet him and ended up taking him home. We renamed him Jacoby, or Jake for short. He is adjusting quite quickly, considering he lived outdoors most of his life. Luke is basically disinterested in the newbie and Brenda hasn't made up her mind yet. But he seems to love it here. He is half border collie, half aussie and is 7 months old.

1 game down, 3 to go...

What a game that was last night. Beckett was phenomenal. Let's hope they can keep the momentum up.

Happy Birthday Madeline !

Our favorite niece and goddaughter Maddie turns 3 today. Such a cutie.....

a forward I didn't mind getting...

Kosan sent this yesterday - these two folks are awesome musicians. This particular clip is a beautiful rendition of Suprise Valley by Widespread Panic. I'm hoping they'll add more clips in the near future - maybe some Pearl Jam. Low Light would sound fantastic...

bring on the Rockies !

Great effort throughout the series by the Tribe - they deserve some kudos too. But the Red Sox prevailed and now it's on the to World Series ! Dan has worn a Red Sox t-shirt every day since the whole post-season play started. Today he's sporting his "I'm Coco Nuts !" one. How appropriate.

familiar to anyone else ?

Here's the culprit in our house - her name is Brenda.

No bat to the head yet, but she is persistent. Her preference is a slow drool over the forehead of her victim.