No Fuss NYE

Hi Family,

Well I am sitting here on our couch marveling at our new tv and tv stand but sadly without my husband. He had to work today, but we were both very thankful for the 3 days he did get off this week: Monday, Tuesday, and tomorrow (Thursday). So that is goodness.

The Ikea trip to yesterday was wonderful: A got some swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and a hot dog while I muched on a cinnamon roll and a diet coke - all for $4! You gotta love that store. Our tv stand was in stock and the only challenge, which was really more fun than anything, was the real life Tetris problem of how to get the 5 foot long box into Andy's tiny BMW. We eventually succeeded and were quite happy that we didn't have to either 1) open the box and transport the pieces individually or 2) run back home and get the Prius.

So that was our big adventure yesterday. Sunday we spent time with Mom-Ellen, B, B, and Elle and had a nice dinner and fun time visiting and opening gifts. I love how big Elle is getting - she is becoming a little person and it's fun watching her personality develop.

Monday we just ran errands, including taking the Prius in for her 10,000 mile maintenance, which she passed with flying colors.

Tonight we actually do not have plans yet. We are inclined to just stay home and cook a fabulous meal and watch a nifty movie on our new tv and avoid the overzealous police and other revelers tonight... still to be determined...

So that's it from out here. Love to everyone on this rather foggy L.A. morning!

Love,
T (&A)

The correct wine for gingersnaps

Here's the question. (First, the answer to the former question, not asked online. The former question: what wine would be best with corned beef and cabbage. The correct answer: champagne, or at worst a sparkling burgundy. Then again, maybe it depends on what's in the closet.) But again, the question. First, the context. The fish was grilled with herbs of Provence, so there were two wines on the table top: a cheesey but striving Pinot Noir, and a common (though certainly not lackluster) Savignon Blanc. We started out with the white, but it didn't work, so we pulled a red, in hindsight maybe a siraz would have been better.... Anyway, great fish. But wine left over. So comes the dessert: ginger snaps. Now the question. Which wine would taste best with the gingersnaps? (1) Savignon Blanc. (2) Pinot Noir. (3) Something that's in your closet, but probably not in ours. (4) Milk. Love, the wine maiden.  

Wally goes to IKEA!

Well, not really: it's more like IKEA comes to Wally. He truly enjoys his Bastis (as the Swedes call it, or as the Swedes who do nomenclature for IKEA call it). He thinks warmly of the tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights, as he happily chews the toe off the velvet slipper. IKEA kept more than the cost of the shoe, in our recent trip, however. But it was great fun -- one of those wintry Central Ohio days of 55 degrees and a south-west breeze. Jenny got her 1st-time trip and the rest of us got a 1st-time-to-Cincinnati-IKEA trip, and we ate Swedish meatballs and came home with lingonberry jam for my Norweigan canoeing buddy Andy Garnes (who will claim it's from the wrong country to be worth eating -- that's the fun of it). The shoe for pup was a carefully-made choice, and I expect it to last another 45 minutes. New Year is just around the corner!

Christmas of Firsts

I know it's been a while, but I'm finally back on to post a blog of what we were realizing today were all my firsts this year. It started with a first time to IKEA for me and what a fun time it was! We managed to get a cart full of purchases and also stop at the Pottery Barn/Williams-Sonoma outlet on the way home, by we I am referring to Pop, Linda, Chris and I. It was a great day!

And to back up a little, since I haven't blogged since before Christmas, it was the first time we've hosted dinner Christmas-eve after a German themed program at church (see picture), and for that fact, a first time of Christmas celebrated in our new home, first time for me not to be in Vermont over Christmas and last, but certainly not least, the first time to blog about Christmas:)

We leave for Vermont on Thursday, hopefully to some snow, as last I knew they had fifteen inches. But first we have a wedding of a close friend and former roommate of mine that I am in New Year's Eve. And when we arrive in Vermont, we will let you know, via the blog, what fun we have on the last leg of my vacation.

Good night,

Jenny

Well, can you believe it is the Saturday after Christmas already.  Hope all of you have recovered.  We did a little after Christmas shopping yesterday but held off buying much in anticipation of our trip to Ikea on Monday.  Otherwise it was a delightfully restful day (after I knocked myself out with a killer workout euphemistically termed a "fun bunch" in the morning).

Right now we are waiting for Chris to show up and then we will eat a bite of lunch and meet Jenny for the Worhol exhibit.  Then we will have dinner at Jenny and Chris' and see some Christmas lights.

So here is the real surprise for Christmas time in Ohio --- it rained (and thundered) a lot yesterday and is 65 degrees today!!!

Love you all.  Mom

Girls left alone!

Hi Family,

Well, my Dad and Andy have just left for a hunting adventure with my brother David and my Dad's cousin Mark. I think they will have a great time doing boy-type bonding activities like shooting ducks, eating chili, and drinking whiskey. Mom-Lynne and I are left alone for the day and evening but will be meeting up with the other "hunting widow" my sister-in-law Jen, David's wife, later today. The three of us girls are looking forward to an evening of dinner at Absinthe in San Francisco, a restaurant owned by one of the current contestants on the cooking reality show Top Chef, and dessert and post-dinner cocktails at Farallon on Union Square. Looking forward to some great girl talk time.

Yesterday was fantastic. Santa brought everything that everyone was hoping for, including new Ugg boots for my Mom, wine for Andy, new curtains for the Duck Club for my Dad, and new books for T! We had loads of fun being gluttonous all day yesterday and also playing with my cousins' new Wii! Andy and I have decided that we must buy one of these things. So fun! We had dinner at Aunt Lynette's and Ellen joined us which was wonderful. We will be bringing the recipe for the awesome potatoes we had to Dana Point Christmas on Sunday. B, B, and E will love them.

Christmas Eve was fun as it was the first year that my brother David dressed as Santa, taking over the reins from my Dad. He was great! He was the tallest Santa I have ever seen and he totally got into it and everyone loved it. Andy and I have some pics of that we will try to post soon.

This morning we got a chance to touch base with Pop and Linda and I have a chance to write about some of our adventures so you all can share them with us. We miss you all!

Love,
T (&A)

Pup & Pop on the morning after Christmas

Along my journey

through this temporal world, people

new-year-house-cleaning

Tabine shite

mishi ya ukiyo no

susu-harai

I still want to see

in blossoms at dawn the face

of the mountain god

Nao mi-tashi

hana ni ake yuku

kami no kao

Christmas Day

Linda, and I, and Linda's Christmas angels, want you to know how much we've enjoyed this Christmas day. We had Chris & Jen for mid-day lunch and fun visiting, and talked just now with Ben & Barbara & saw Pook on the video, and it was fantastic! And wearing, so now we're out to order Chinese and see what's left of the four-show series on Turner Classic Movies of Ben Hur + Casablanca + The Big Sleep + Maltese Falcon, as if we could stay up for it all.  

Christmas Eve, too, was great. We took Dot (former neighbor) with us for a fun "German" Christmas Eve program at Xenos with Chris, Jenny and a friend of theirs from Vermont.  We all then had a great supper at Jenny and Chris' new home.  When we got home a telephone call from A & T with Jingle Bells sung to us was waiting. 

It's not as great as having everyone together would be, but it is still a wonderful Christmas. We love you!

Pook Christmas Stuff!

Hi All!
Thanks for the Christmas read! We'll listen to it this evening with Shep and Pook.
Here's a video from this AM: breakfast after some gifties..... Babz had a fried egg [not shared with dog], while pook and I had scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast [all shared with dog].

It's been raining on and off overnight, so we won't be going to surf today (but will keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow). We did get out for a quick walk with pup and pook.
We're going to relax and nap this afternoon, and have a dinner feast of bratwurst, some silly TV, Christmas song-singing, and book-reading!

We're also waiting for a dry-spell so we can go out to the patio with Pook's new bike:
before:
after [1Hr and 2 glasses of wine]:


Happy Christmas!
Love B, B, E, and L.

For Pook, with love from Wally

 Woof. 

Happy Christmas Eve!

Hi all!
We're having our Christmas-Eve-Day-Post-Surf-Nap right now.
Babz is out for sandwiches and I'm hangin' with sleepy pook.
We all arrived in Dana Pt. last night safe and sound- Pook had an easier time in the car because I pulled up the second backseat so she and Luna were able to talk and share crackers on the road.

We had a nice time surfing at San Onofre this AM- just like on Thanksgiving, not much of a crowd out there [could be due to cold water!] so I had a ball...Babz and Pook had fun being social and chasing seagulls. I forgot the camera- so you'll have to imagine that one.

We had a very busy mon/tue with mom out of town, but are now pleased to have two adults minding the pack.

I've included two photos from B's xmas party for kids- the santa ones were too dark- but here's some of the fun we had!

It's really good to hear what's going on with everyone, and I hope that you all are warm and happy this Christmas Eve!

Thanks again to Pop for getting us all Blog-savvy, and I appreciate all y'all posting so much.

Merry Christmas Eve

It’s amazing how quickly 12 days before Christmas have gone by with this little blog. Yes, Christmas Eve is only a short time away. And I’m happy this Christmas season.

I live with the love of my life, a beautiful, culturally aware, continuously inquiring woman. And she’s agreed to live with me, listening and loving and reflecting back and challenging.

A wonderful non-human friend shares our pack, bringing dog things into my view that challenge me to understand him while we play.

Just yesterday, I heard the voices of each of my three sons, a gift not often given to a father, each telling stories that make me wonder (continue to wonder) how I’d become lucky enough to be father to men men of talent and accomplishment who frequently don’t ask for guidance, and who may be smarter than me.

I find enormous satisfaction reading the words of three women in my life who’ve joined those men in callings together, finding and following new and authentic lives. And who may be smarter than their men.

And a first spectacular grand-daughter, yet to be hugged and followed around enough and who may be smarter than her mother and father, is a gift beyond price.

Linda and I decided we’d be most frugal in our gifting to each other this year, so we’ll find a time to go online during Christmas Day and give our gifts for each other to a charity each of us choose.
And I’ll read with eagerness what each member of our small family writes in the day and season to come, as there are still 12 days of Christmas, and you all have places to go and promises to keep I'll want to hear about, and maybe snow!

But tonight, we'll end the evening with champagne in front of the fire -- likely a pup there too -- and just be with each other and our smiles. Merry Christmas to each and all of you. Love, Pop.

The Cloud/Hock (read Sullivan and Segura) women rock, especially when it comes to Christmas blogging.  You make me proud. 

You go girls!!!!

Love, Mom

Pictures

Sorry, I forgot to put these in the last post, here they are...

Christmas Eve Day!

Well, the day before Christmas is finally here and yes, I wish we had snow instead of rain also!! I'm missing the white christmas this year. Although, with this being the last day of work for two weeks, there isn't much that can dampen my spirits:) And obviously by working, I mean blogging and sitting around telling stories with the few co-workers that are here. So it's a pretty easy day that I am hoping we get to leave early from so that I can get some appetizers and other things together for a wonderful dinner with family and friends tonight.
Tomorrow we are having a friend over for a late breakfast as his family is from Vermont as well and he doesn't get to head home until after Christmas. Then many fun family things, Linda and Pop's as well as Kip and Tereasa, with Eric, Jen and Julia. I know it will be a wonderful day and our first in the new home! I am going to attempt to post some pictures of our tree as well as the GIGANTIC cookies I had the fun of making with Linda. And despite the fact that Chris laughed entirely too hard when I brought them home at their unigue shapes and size, I still have a fondness for my Christmas cookies:) Um, did I mention that he still managed to eat them just fine too;)
We are excited to celebrate our second christmas together and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about everyone else's experiences as well, great idea!
Back later for more...

Happy Christmas Eve

Thanks to Babz and T for jumping on the blog bandwagon.  Pop is much happier (me, too).  Ben, Chris and Andy picked up on another option for contact --- phone calls --- and Chris and Pop had breakfast together.  So yesterday was a day that made demanding parents happy.  Andy pointed out after my e-mail plea for help that just because Chris and Jenny are in town and seeing us in person, they aren't off the hook for blogging since none of you in California are privy to what they are thinking about or experiencing unless they post it here (well, I guess they could call or e-mail, but where's the collegial communication in that?).

Today is a strange one for us.  Pop is working at Right all day (I covered Monday and Tuesday afternoons).  It is strange for one of us to have to "get to the office!"

It has been pouring rain all night.  We'd have a wonderfully white Christmas if it had been cold enough for snow.  I'll finish the tree trimming and pick up a couple of last minute items --- candles, a card for Pop, etc.  About 4 p.m. I'll pick up our former neighbor, Dot, and we will go to Chris & Jenny's to pick up Chris (and maybe Pop & Jenny if they can get off work early) and go to the 5 p.m. service at Xenos.  We'll have Christmas Eve supper and time at Chris and Jenny's new home.  I just realized this will be our first Christmas Eve at one of our children's homes!!!

MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH OF YOU AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS YOU ARE VISITING.

Love, Mom

One of maybe 4 people at work

Hi Family,

Special shout out to my lovely husband A for helping me set up my own account on this super high-tech blog thingy.

Is anyone else sitting at work with quiet hallways and an eerie silence? There are about 4 people here in my little area and I don't think anyone is doing any real work. I just walked by my admin and she is filling out Christmas cards for her nieces and nephews and generously stuffing them with cash. I have been on facebook for about 30 min this morning catching up with friends that Andy and I hope to see when we're on the home front this week.

We leave for Saratoga tonight around 7:30 and will be there until Saturday evening. Andy has plans to go hunting with my Dad and Brother Friday night/Saturday morning, while my Mom and my sister-in-law and I have plans to go up to the City (aka San Francisco) Friday night for dinner and mayhem. Looking forward to that since although I was up in SF all last week I had food poisoning for part of it and didn't really get a chance to enjoy.

Last night I was trying to use up some organic carrots I bought and I made some maple carrots for A and I for dinner. I thought they were pretty good, especially with a small dash of red pepper flakes. Sunday night I made spaghetti with (fake) meatballs with a side of green beans and Andy and I enjoyed that meal with some red table wine and the First Season of the Amazing Race, which is our show du jour.

As always, we miss you all and hope you are doing well!

Love,
T (&A)

Love the Music Pop!

The music link is AWESOME!!!

Hello from TO!

Hello wonderful, supportive, enthusiastic family,

I am up in TO at my new post at Amgen. I love it. It's a REAL JOB!!!! We've heard of these things for years, places where inappropriate language and lewd photos are not allowed, places where all the instruments work -- all the time!! -- places where there are these things called 401Ks (hmmm....).

Yes, a real job, it's just wonderful. And, to start 3 days before Christmas, I really do have the hallways to myself. So I get a cup of tea and snuggle down to do my on-line training; lots and lots of on-line training.

The view from the hallway is just amazing. Looking north toward the Santa Monica mountains, the trees are in many shades of earthy oranges and yellows. Remember that???? Fall??? And, it's crisp and cool here. When I got in the car this morning, there was a layer of frost, so I had to warm up the car before I drove it. All y'all non-CA residents should be laughing at me by now....yes, yes, 5 years in CA is enough to make 39F seem really cold.

I am still working on logisitics for our TO move -- I tour an apartment and a day care this afternoon. Ben's job situation is still in limbo. This is tough because he's taking care of the pook AND el pooper (aka Luna). If you have a chance to send Benj a HUG (or a GIN-N-TONIC) I'm sure he would greatly appreciate your thoughts.

I miss my pie (Benj) and my pook (pook) but will see them tonight in Dana Point, even if they're fast asleep.

I miss each and every one of you as well. I'm sorry that my NUTSO job-seeking schedule threw a major wrench in our holiday plans, i.e. in our ability to think about buying plane tickets, getting on a plane with a pook, buying gifts, putting up a tree, putting up lights, etc etc. But: I love you, Ben and Pook love you, Luna loves you (especially if you treaties...) and we look forward to relaxing and having a good time OFF. Off off offffffffff! Off! Off!

Looking forward to communicating, hugging, being together, being apart-but-connected-with-hugs-by-blog,
love,

Babz

Real Christmas Activities on the 22nd

Since Pop took over my post last night, I thought I'd bring you up-to-date on real Christmas activities.  Pop put the lights on the tree yesterday morning and I have started decorating. It is always fun to pull out the ornaments and remember when (and where) we got them and the history behind other ones.  I always start with paper ones made by the three boys before they started school.  They go low so they hang nicely and because they are cat (often we have had a cat) and dog proof.

The angels are out on the piano and the nativity is out, though I'm not sure the nativity is in the right spot.  It may be moved.  When that is done and the tree is finished, the decorating is complete.  At least it will happen in time for Christmas.

I called Babz last night to leave a message congratulating her on her first day at Amgen and actually got to talk with her.  What a treat!  Such a busy, exciting time.

What do you think of all the music Pop added?  There sure is variety.

Much love to all of you.

Mom 

Help me!

Pop is going to write this for me, because I'm still sipping the cheesy Shiraz after the mackeral with the buttermilk and cilantro and honey, so here goes (I'm not sure about the dictation). Pop needs interaction with you and you guys better blog him because it's putting too much pressure on me.  So: put in some stuff! Love, Mom. P.S. This is the spot at Goblin State Park in Utah last year where Wally ran through the snow that lasted all of a nano second. Great spot and fun memories.

Memory point: a fast-moving Pook.

As promised.

What the solstice means

Pop is right, it is the Solstice.  That makes me very happy because it means tomorrow the days start getting longer!!!!  (Warmer and sunnier days can't be far behind.)  Happiness (or happyness).

Jenny and I had fun making cookies yesterday.  Clearly I do not come from a long line of expert bakers.  

Last night we had friends Linda and Jack (they are kind enough to help us at our open house each year and share their Buckeye Lake house with us) and Linda's sister Barbara join us for what is becoming a Christmas tradition --- dinner and viewing of the American Ballet Theatre production of The Nutcracker staring Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland.  We always enjoy the company and the ballet and Pop's great meal, including a new shrimp soup with peppers.  Yum, yum.

Today we might get to start trimming the tree (Pop brought it in on Friday, so I think it is acclimated), get the angels out and find the right spot for the nativity from Grandma Hock (Chris and Jenny have the white one from Grandma Crawford).  But we are busy with folks coming over this afternoon for a surprise birthday celebration for Dorothy, our neighbor to the north.  She turns 80 today, has no close family, and is still in the midst of moving from her house to a 2 bedroom condo.  The move is stressful because of all the stuff in the house and because of the circumstances of her husband's will. I am glad we can help her.

Got to get busy.  Have a great Sunday.

Love you all.

Solstice morning

New Year's first snow -- ah --
just barely enough to tilt
the daffodil

Hatsuyuki ya
suisen no ha no
tawamu made

Even the horse
catches my attention
this snowy morning

Uma wo sae
nagamura juki no
ashita kana

T's First Blog

Hi Family,

So, like Chris, this is my first time blogging as well. Well, once on my old myspace page I wrote a rant about global warming, and then there was the time I described Andy's and my visit with Bill Clinton at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, but besides those this is my first blog!

As A mentioned, last week I was in San Francisco, Sunday through last night. I was still feeling sick from the food poisoning at the Symphony last Saturday night so I didn't really get into the conference until really Wednesday. It was great - caught up with some old colleagues, met some new ones, and my research was fairly well-received. I had a paper come out last month so I gave a presentation on that research.

There was quite fantastic news on Wednesday morning. Basically, Northrop Grumman is buying Teresa and Andy a house!!! I applied for this Housing Assistance Program at work in October where the winners receive $50,000 towards a down payment on their first home. And guess what, Andy and I won! I guess my application was one of 10 to be selected out of 130. I don't know what the selections were based on but I had to write an essay about what my career goals at Northrop Grumman were, and had to include a resume, etc. Anyway, happily we won and we are very much looking forward to beginning house hunting in January. 2009 will be a great year for us, we think.

After returning from the conference late last night, A and I have just been relaxing today, putting the last of the wedding gifts away, and cleaning up. I'm making curtains for my Dad's hunting lodge for his Christmas gift so I've been working on that too. Right now we are watching Office Space (classic!) and Andy is making us margaritas with our new blender!!! Can't wait to have a sip. More than that, we very much wish you all were joining us, and the kitty, for some holiday margaritas.

Andy says he sends his love, as do I, and we hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
T (&A)

First Ever Blog Post for Jen & Chris

I know it’s hard to believe but neither Jen or I have done any blogging up to this point. I’m feeling a bit like a dinosaur considering that my techno savvy Pop is the one pulling us into the fold. :-) Thanks Pop!!!

Jen will be heading out for cookie baking with Mom later this afternoon. This morning has been a pleasant surprise for us as we have had some slow time this morning together. I was checking for special features from our movie last night to no avail, still a good flick though – The Departed by Marten Scorsese… A good drama with a sweet cast, lots of Irish brawling / music and a wonderful pick by Jen (no, ok it was me…)

So I don’t know if other folks are getting odd behavior from their fuzzy / furry members of the household during the holiday season but we sure are… Madison has a new best friend in the house, our Christmas tree! She’s constantly sleeping under it, crawling up through it, staring at it and so on. It seems to make here much more curious and energetic than normal. In fact, I was in bed when I felt a curious pat, pat on my toes… At first I wondered how Jen was able to manipulate her feet in such a way to only feel an odd fuzzy caress. I looked down at the foot of the bed to realize that Madz had moved the end of my covers up and was batting my foot!!! Clearly, it was some odd stuff in deed.

This is Jen now :-) I have been enjoying the busyness of the season and have had lots of work parties and other going on. I just hosted a bridal shower for my good friend, Emily on Thursday for her upcoming New Year’s Eve wedding. On the theme of Madison, she also joined us for the shower, being quite friendly with everyone, which again, is odd behavior for her! I think she likes women ;) I have also enjoyed decorating for Christmas this year with a new seven foot tree and many decorations accumulated from friends and family. Chris has tolerated most of it, only commenting when a few too many bows showed up :-) It’s nice to finally have the new house feel like home.

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday!

Melancholy Day

This has been a day of celebration and melancholy.  I met with about 20 wonderful folks who used to work with me at Columbus Recreation and Parks Department for lunch today (the CRPD Retirees group), one of whom worked for me for a year or so at the Human Services (a whole other story).  We get together every three months or so and it is really enjoyable.  Then I went to the main CRPD offices to give good wishes to some who are retiring at the end of the month.  They have all accepted a buy out that is possible because of the terrible economic situation the city of Columbus (and many others) are facing.  The employees are happy about the buy out but not a one of them is happy about retiring at this time and it isn't because of income, it is because of impact.  It is really sad to see folks who are focused on improving the lives of the community --- especially kids --- feel like they have no choice but to retire.  Many of them think that if they retire now some of the more recent hires can continue with the department and improve the lives of the community.  It is a real loss to the community.

On a happier note, we have our tree in the living room and, after a bit of tweaking (turn 1/4 to the right) it will be ready for decorating tomorrow.  Also, Jenny and I will be doing some baking of Christmas cookies in the afternoon (I am not sure Pop thinks it is such a good idea to give his kitchen over to us).  

Happy weekend to you all.  Let us hear from you.  Love the stuff from Ben, aka el-pooper (Sr.).

Post-o-rama #2

Hola Gang.
Another update on our super-busy days:

Babz starts at Amgen on monday. She'll work there Monday and Tuesday next week, then meet pook and I in Dana Pt. Tuesday night or Wednesday AM for some Epic Christmas at San-O time!
[We're pretty excited about using Amtrak for the coming month to come-and-go-to-TO: $25 from SD to TO]

The beach will be open on X-mas, and I'm thinking we'll bring a fire log or two, perhaps a poorly-behaved german shepherd, and el-pooper's new christmas present (actually not-so-new now, been used 5-6X already): a 3/2mm full wetsuit! [super comfy- makes me feel like a fat baby seal].

Included is a photo to put everyone in the christmas-at-san-O mood!

My second post

Hello christmas with wally blog.
Now that my silliness is done- here's the skinny:

In preparation for Babz' big transition to the biopharma industry (and a complicated January)- Elle and Luna and I had a practice run of "an evening without Mom" last night. I learned three things:

Don't give pook a churro before bedtime (nobody will go to bed).
Don't give luna any quesadilla leftovers (you'll be cleaning up poo in the AM!- hence my new "nom-de-blog").
Don't watch "The Dark Knight" with the volume too loud (cause Babz was in fact upstairs, not in T.O.- and I evidently kept her up too late!).

Here is a photo- to demonstrate that I'm all blog-savvy and stuff:

BEHOLD:
The blogging premier of the artist formerly known as M. B. Hock.
Now recognized throughout the blogosphere by his new and improved display name:
el-pooper (Sr.)
TA-DAAAAA!

Real snow...

Right, ma: it was this way last year, and this is how it should be.

Disappointing Morning

Last night we went to bed to a winter storm warning predicting 1-2 inches of snow here (5 inches in southern Ohio).  When I awoke I was disappointed to see no snow.  Then I was surprised to realize I was hoping for snow!  Does anyone remember me ever hoping for snow?  Well, yes, but only at Christmas time.  Maybe it will come next week.

Have a great day!  Love, Linda

Skaters, neighbors & trees

We hope you enjoy seeing the village skating scene.  We put it out on Sunday and it always seems to underscore the holiday season.  In case you were not aware, the figures are cast iron from the Chicago Worlds' Fair of 1893 and were Mike's grandmother's.

Last night and today, I got to spend some time with my sister and Elizabeth, her oldest daughter - a nice gift at Christmas time.  They came up for Elizabeth to take the State Cosmetolgy Exam (she finished her course work in October), so we had dinner last night.  My cousin Erma Jean (Mother's sister's daughter who lives in Grove City) joined us, so that was sort of a little "Justice" family Christmas celebration, too.  Today I had lunch with Diana and was the second person to congratulate Elizabeth on passing her exam!  A nice Christmas present for Elizabeth.

Speaking of family Christmas celebrations, we will have our "Crawford" Christmas here on January 10.  It's much easier to get it scheduled in January at a time when Rob's daughters are with him and Melody.  They are fun, bright girls and we don't get to see them very often. January also helps keep the focus on time together.

I'm spending lots of time helping our neighbor, Dorothy, move to her new condo.  She is really overwhelmed with it all since she and Bob were real collectors.  Chris helped, too, and Chris and Jenny got some really nice tools and yard items from her and bought a lovely dinning room set (more Christmas gifts --- for Chris and Jenny and for Dorothy, too).  Tomorrow the movers come --- for the second time!  I think all the big stuff will be gone then.

Today Pop and I got our Christmas tree amid some snow flurries.  Great timing.

One more thing for all of you --- DO NOT get gifts for us.  We want your time --- posting on the blog, phone conversations, skyping, etc.   That is true for all of you, but in addition, we do plan to spend as much time as we can with Chris and Jenny.

Love you all.

Gifts

Snow's due today: not much, but a dusting to move my spirit. Family gifts came today: word from Barbara of a new year. Family gifts came yesterday: word from Andy of a happy weekend. Family gifts came Sunday: Linda and I spent the late afternoon hearing Benjamin Britten's ceremony of carols, the voices of a marvelous chapel choir. Gifts came in the mail: a note from Jenny's parents recalling the joy of August when we shared food and hospitality, and a note from the Sullivans with their hightlight-of-the-week grand-daughter Elle. And amidst all that, snow's due today, not much but a dusting -- to elevate my spirit!

Just accepted Amgen offer

Hi Everyone,

I just sent off my signed offer letter from Amgen -- I start up in Thousand Oaks next Monday. It's been a real whirl-wind. Thanks for your support.

We have no tree, no holiday lights, no gifties (ok, except one for Ben and one for pook.....) but we have excellent family and so we're getting into the Christmas spirit!

Love you all,
Barbara

Saturday night with Marin, Sunday with Will...hyphens throughout

Hello family and Happy Holidays from the Andy/Teresa household!

Saturday night, Teresa and I went to see the LA Philharmonic. We saw Marin Alsop conduct a beautiful all-Brahms program. Unfortunately, we suspect T had a run-in with Norovirus or E. Coli or something food-borne. Keeping with the theme of virulent strains of something-or-other, I spent my Sunday afternoon watching Will Smith in I Am Legend, a post-apocalyptic movie about the mostly-solitary adventures of a military biomedical researcher after a genetically modified strain of the measles decimates the human population--around Christmas time, no less--leaving a small fraction mutated in to crazed zombie-types. This leaves Will Smith to save the planet...guess we should consider ourselves lucky.

This week, T is in San Francisco attending the Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union and I am continuing a small(er) optics project in support of a subsequent small proposal.

More later, maybe with pictures and definitely with lots of love!
-A (&T)

A morning with George

Early in the day often brings the best colors. The dawn today was orange and blue, reminscent of the painting over our living room fireplace. Nearly 10 years ago, I met George Raab, a printmaker from Ontario, with his special talent of producing intaglio etchings on large plates and coloring the result, the original design from photographs George took throughout his travels in the natural world. Ours -- this one, anyway -- is woods in winter, the dawn light filtering through in identical colors to the morning's light. Wally and I sat to watch the dawn emerge, the lights on the clouds moving from deep purple blue-grey through orange to peach. Five minutes with George, a magnificent holiday season morning.

Mom's First Day of Christmas

Well, the season is under way. Our Open House was, again, a great way to start the holidays. We really enjoy having Chris and Jenny able to join us and wish the rest of you had been able to, also. Well, maybe sometime (a Christmas dream from me).

Wally was a great hit during the party. He was so well behaved even though there were between 100 and 150 guests. We have some new neighbors (Erin & Brandon) on the south side of the park with a 9 month old Golden Retriever, Dudley, who is Wally's new favorite playmate. Erin and Brandon came to the party through the park and really confused Wally since he was looking for Dudley!

I am looking forward to hearing from all of you and seeing some pictures, too. Maybe a Skype time is in our (near) future.

The editor

Simple pleasures. The joy of the pack. A spot in front of the fire after a romp in the snow. Good food. Connection. I want it!