Merry Christmas !

We spent the morning at Leta and Christine's for brunch - so nice to have family close by now.




Then dinner at Tom and Ashley's - prepared by Nels.


It was fantastic ! Absolutely delicious....a great Christmas all together with family and good friends.

and more snow...

It just keeps falling. With a little freezing rain thrown in this morning to give everything a nice shine. Even my rosemary plant...

It's a ghost town out there. Dan and I walked to the corner store to grab a newspaper. We talked to some poor guy along the way that had been waiting two hours for a bus to downtown. Probably could have walked in that amount of time. Wonder how I'll get to work tomorrow ??

none too happy...

Some may say that this blanket of freshly fallen snow this morning is a beautiful sight - NOT ME. I have too many things to get done and I can't get anywhere. It's a mess out there. And it looks like it's only getting worse.

Luke loves the snow

Jake has no legs

Update: snow level at 1:48 p.m.

cookie day ...

My "I'll-sit-on-Santa's-lap-too" friend - Erin - came over today and we made some Christmas treats. Here's what resulted from our efforts:

photos from our LA weekend ...

Wish we were still there !

heading back home ...

It's been a spectacular weekend in LA - we have had a blast. But all good things come to an end and we head home this afternoon. Here's a video of us yesterday on a ride called the Dive Devil at Six Flags Magic Mountain, just north of LA.

More photos later....

same old birthday post ...

but these are some of my favorites...

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY:

1978
Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco's first woman mayor when she was named to replace George Moscone, who had been assassinated.

1991
Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson, the longest-held Western hostage in Lebanon, was released after nearly seven years in captivity.

1997
The NBA suspended Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors for one year for choking and threatening to kill his coach, P.J. Carlesimo. (An arbitrator later reduced the suspension and reinstated Sprewell to the Warriors, which had terminated his contract.)



and not so favorites...


1993
Rock musician Frank Zappa died at age 52.

2000
A Florida state judge refused to overturn Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's certified victory in Florida, and the U.S. Supreme Court set aside a ruling that had allowed manual recounts.


I came home from the hospital in this:

haven't done this in 25+ years...

Happy Thanksgiving

I think I posted this clip last year, but it is a classic and appropriate for today ...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone !

recommendation for your holiday season ...

provided you live in the Seattle (or NYC this year) area ... very funny show.

my new digs...

I moved into the Computer Science and Engineering Department this week for a new position. The building I'm in now is one of the newest and nicest on campus. Paul Allen subsidized a good portion of the building's construction costs, hence its name Paul G Allen Center. What a change from my old office.

Veterans' Day...

Dan and I are enjoying a day off due to our current occupations in the educational system. Too bad it's an awful, rainy day here.

A special shout-out to my father-in-law on this holiday. He received many medals and commendations during the two wars in which he served. I personally think his biggest award should come from raising four crazy boys. Happy Veterans' Day Pop !

From History.com:

Formerly Armistice Day, Veterans Day is a holiday observed annually in the United States in honor of all those, living and dead, who served with the U.S. armed forces in wartime.Some states observe the holiday on November 11 and others on the fourth Monday of October. Armistice Day, the forerunner of Veterans Day, was proclaimed in 1919 to commemorate the termination (at 11 am on Nov. 11, 1918) of World War I. On the first anniversary of the truce, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation eulogizing fallen Allied soldiers and referring to November 11 as Armistice Day. It became a holiday in the U.S., France, Great Britain and Canada. The holiday acquired its present name and broadened significance in the U.S. in 1954. In Canada it is known as Remembrance Day, and in Great Britain, as Remembrance Sunday.

election night in two minutes...

yes we DID !

We witnessed history in the making last night and look forward to the next four years.

Make sure to vote (Obama) today !!

I always knew I liked Dennis Hopper ...

Studs ...

(Tribune photo by Chris Walker / April 22, 1992)

One of my favorite Chicagoans died on Halloween. Louis "Studs" Terkel was 96. A nice article from the Chicago Tribune here.

Happy Halloween !

I won the costume contest at work today ! Eve had to be a close runner-up though. She was Sarah Palin - Miss Wasilla banner, rifle, baby and trademark glasses. Her co-worker came as Bristol - pregnant (she really is), holding baby when Mom was busy, with a GED preparation book in hand. It was brilliant. I'm Tippi Hedren from "The Birds", in case that wasn't already apparent.

neither rain nor sleet nor snow can stop him...

(AP Photo)

... or the estimated 9,000 people that came to hear him speak in Chester, PA yesterday. However, the rain for McCain was too much for his brain - so he refrained. Wuss.

seven days and counting ...

(thanks to Lisa for the graphic)

our votes are in...

I mailed in our ballots today. Now our fingers are crossed...

poster children for posters

If it wouldn't have been grounds for probable incarceration - or caused a huge rift in the whole family relationship thing, I would have kidnapped my niece and nephew while back east last weekend. They are the cutest and were SO much fun to be around. I couldn't get enough of them. My in-laws are obviously great parents. I really wish we lived closer so we could see them more often. (I've already explained the aversion to long plane rides)

We were back for Dan's cousin's wedding. She was a beautiful bride !

mmmmmm, warm nuts

Dan and I are not the best air travelers - at least for long or multi-leg flights. We don't like feeling cramped, typically end up with some sort of shoulder/neck ache and Dan is almost ready to explode as we wait to deplane. So we treated ourselves to first-class upgrades on the first leg of our flight home from Hartford last nite.

As we found our seats, drink orders were taken immediately. And were served with a bowl of hot, steamy mixed nuts.


Dinner came on real plates - with actual glassware and silverware. It still sucked, but at least it looked nice. That glass of milk tasted good though.


I think the best part of the upgrade is the "priority baggage" status. What that equated to was having our luggage roll onto the baggage claim conveyor belt as soon as it started rolling. Quickest wait ever...

Now I know how the front of the plane lives...